Note: Been under a lot of stress, and busyness. Working on it
"We're placing down here, sir," a soldier called, over the loud noise of the Vertibird. "Ground troops will deploy first, sweep the area. Colonel?"
James watched the Colonel nod, stiffly, his hand wound around a strap and standing inside the Vertibird. He turned his attention onto James for a brief moment, shoving his hand into a pocket before resuming his gaze over the wasteland. James followed his line of sight, saw the town in the distance. His chest constricted with emotion and panic.
So close to freedom. He was almost certain that Autumn was going to yank the rug out from under his feet as soon as they hit the ground. It was too good to be true―even if his presence in the area was allowed only to guarantee the success of the Enclave mission.
Lillie's mission. He sighed to himself.
She was suspected to have become ill, in the wastes. Autumn explained she had not eaten much, and that she had been known to be unconscious for an extended period of time. James knew all too well what sickness brought one, out here. If he could not find her, then she would be at the mercy of whoever found her first―
Thankfully she was in Megaton, so he could guess that the Children of Atom would take over her case. But he did not like that she was alone, possibly sick, and without anyone she might have ever known. That list was so small to begin with...
Regardless of what happened, he needed to maintain his cool exterior. Once he was away from the Enclave, he could freely worry. For now, he must remember that he was still technically imprisoned.
The Vertibird approached a Metro area, circling the area before setting down in a parking lot just outside of the station entrance. Soldiers in power armor stepped out and moved over the ground quickly, their sweep punctuated by the sounds of gunfire and the particular sound of plasma weaponry.
Autumn gestured for him to get out of the Vertibird once the soldiers had returned. "This is as close as we can get while maintaining low profile," Autumn said, raising his voice to carry over the sound of rotors and chopped air. "You do understand, there is to be no information unnecessarily spread about?"
James nodded, clutching at the sack of medical supplies he'd been given. "Yes, Colonel," he said, confirming aloud.
"And you will find Lillie, and get her into that Vault?"
James repeated himself, wondering at the Colonel's strange manner. Autumn stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I recommend that you scout the immediate area for resources prior to heading east," Autumn said. "And... James?"
He watched the Colonel, cautiously. Autumn held out a hand, offering him up a pistol. "To ensure you reach your destination," he said.
It was more than James had expected. "Thank you, Colonel."
"I also..." the man hesitated, his hand moving to his side. "I need you to deliver a message." Autumn grabbed up his hand and pressed a piece of paper into it, surprising him. Shook his hand firmly, nodded to him, and released him abruptly. James moved the paper into his pocket and looked out over the wastes.
"Move out!" Autumn barked, and James strode away from the Vertibird. He took refuge under the Metro entrance awning, until he could no longer hear the sound of the transport.
Once they were away, he pulled the paper from his pocket and looked at it, frowning. He understood that he was being asked to deliver it to Lillie; he wasn't aware of what the Colonel meant by giving him the message. It seemed nonsense―
It was... like Lillie's poetry messages to the Enclave. He'd never heard the final explanation of those. This one... James put the paper away and cautiously moved away from the Metro. This message seemed to him that Autumn was expressly telling Lillie to commit treason against Eden.
It didn't make any more sense than her own messages. He supposed he could be interpreting it wrong. But, whatever happened, he had to get her into the Vault and free of the Enclave monitoring. It was a great deal safer inside―
And Eden could not get her out, so he would have the time to undo what terrible brainwashing the supercomputer had instilled in her. It was going to be an uphill battle.
But this was his plan all along, and he would follow through. Damned be that computer, and damned be Autumn and his men. James' feet propelled him into motion, east toward the rising sun.
James came into Megaton after a tiring journey, but relatively unharmed. He'd moved faster than he had in quite some time, and his feet ached from the strain. As he entered the town, he found the Sheriff almost immediately. The man approached him, first, and gave him a speech about behaving.
"Of course," James said, nodding to the man.
"Now that the introduction is out of the way, is there anywhere I can point you?"
"Looking for a young blond girl," he said. "About my height, wearing combat armor."
The sheriff nodded. "I recall. Last I'd seen of her, she'd gone up to Moriarty's."
James sighed. His previous visit to the town―the information that he'd hidden from Eden―was it likely that Lillie had been told? About the Vault, and about her true origin? He hoped not, but if she had―she might not be willing to speak with him.
She'd been particularly obstinate with him, before. She'd believed that President Eden was worthy of respect, over her own father. The father whom she had presumed dead for more than five years. Given her established loyalty to the Enclave... and if she'd found she was not of the Vault...
He'd lied by omission, just as he'd told her he preferred. It was a betrayal that she would not take very well. There... there was no one left for her to trust, if she found out he'd lied.
James could only hope that her ignorance of the wastes would keep her from the information. That she would not have the capital to get the information from Colin Moriarty.
...He doubted she was that ignorant, however.
James sighed and made his way up to the bar.
Moriarty's Saloon was not very busy. James glanced around, trying to remember. It had been years since he was there; he recalled Moriarty having salt and pepper hair, back in the day. Twenty years had improved that into a silver mane, but his gray eyes were just as cold as they had been. He didn't have any reaction whatsoever to James' reappearance, at least not until he walked toward the man―
"My, my," Moriarty said, and leaned over the bar where he was standing. Smiled and gestured for James to sit. "And here I thought I had all the pawns in this little game, figured. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
James moved to the bar, staring at the man. Damn. Lillie had, at least, made it this far. And it would only be that much harder, if Moriarty knew the game, to get anything from the man. James sighed and steeled himself for a verbal confrontation.
"Colin," he started, and breathed out. The look on Moriarty's face was one of respect, which was odd―
"Looking for your little flower, then?" the barman asked, dropping a rag onto the surface of the counter. He leaned forward onto his hands and stared at James.
"Yes," James said. "I know she was here."
"Was, aye," Moriarty said, shrugging. "She was around. I can't recall precisely where she's gone off to." He smiled, and James felt the sudden shiver of worry again.
Why was the barman giving him―telling him this, without asking payment? Moriarty had been very loathe to give up the knowledge about the Vault, so many years before. If he had this knowledge, now, and he wasn't asking payment, what did that mean?
James wouldn't assume that the man had turned over a new leaf. He must have gotten something as payment, that he felt justified this sudden divulging. ...Or he was expecting a payment, yet. It did not make James very confident. Lillie may have made promises she couldn't keep, in playing the Irishman's game―
"Colin," he said angrily, stopping himself before he snapped. "Where is my daughter?"
The Irishman smiled. "Ach, now, don't be rude." He glanced about the bar. "Little flower is out at the moment." He looked down at the bar surface and shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be back soon."
"Where has she gone, Colin?" James asked, a little more forcefully. "I have a right to know!"
"Aye, I know that," Moriarty said, scratching his chin with a finger. He stared at James for a second longer. "But she's safe, Da, no need for worry."
"God―" he stood up and made to leave, nearly knocking over the stool in his hurry. "You're not helping! She might be dead by now―"
"She certainly wasn't when she left here about an hour ago," Moriarty said, casually. "Death finds one quick enough, out there..." he smiled, pleasantly. "But I think your little flower has more thorns than the wasteland. She'll be just fine, Da. Just fine."
The look on Moriarty's face was enough to make him shiver in the hot interior of the saloon. "So where's she gone," James asked, through clenched teeth. Another―another man who acted as if Lillie were some pleasant thing to be around―
"Why not sit down and tell me whither you wandered, when that Vault wouldn't let you in?" The Irishman gave him a knowing look.
Thank God, that explained it. Moriarty wasn't able to get anything out of Lillie about the Enclave. He was curious because all knowledge was valuable to him―and his attitude was deliberate, he was sure. To get him off guard, to force him to make that mistake.
"I'm afraid I can't," James said, slowly. "I've got more... pressing problems to attend to."
"And I've a problem with your attitude." The Irishman looked at him critically. "Little flower owes me a favor, y'see? Maybe dear old dad ought to pay that debt."
James sat for a moment, considering. He had checked his outfit and gear for recording devices. He knew he was without any considerable monitoring. If he were to give Moriarty the information―the Enclave might find out, anyway. In that case he was mincemeat. Autumn would enjoy every second he held a gun to his head.
God, he didn't understand. Where she had gone, why she'd been unconscious―
"I don't know that I can," he said, his voice strained. "It might be detrimental to my health, Colin."
Moriarty grabbed up his rag. "Suit yourself, James. But you mind the girl, when you find her. She's got some nasty habits." He tapped his head.
James noticed he had a bruise across the top of his forehead. He truly hoped she had no other option but to compel Moriarty with violence. The man seemed to be less intimidated than he ought to have been, if he was beaten by a little girl. Whatever Lillie had done to him―
She was so violent now. The wastes did that to people, but he'd hoped―after she'd attacked Autumn―that she wouldn't voluntarily use her combat skills to get results, not like this. She'd compelled Moriarty in the same way―James shuddered. He did not like this person that his child had become. Had been molded into, being outside of his protection.
How did one deal with an unstable hormonal teenager capable of efficiently killing oneself, without oneself getting killed?
If only Catherine were still alive...
No, he couldn't think like that. There was still time. Lillie had only been in the clutches of that computer and Colonel Autumn for five years―there was time yet, to reverse their damage, but only if he could find her. He must find her.
Catherine would have killed him long ago, if she were yet alive―
James stood and left the bar. Where the hell was Lillie―