Lillie stepped out into the wasteland, shielding her eyes as the three of them left the Metro. Her dad was leading the way, southeast into the ruins. She stared at her feet and hazily picked out the small pebbles that shifted under her rubber-soled boots.

The newly-created signal noise wasn't just disrupting the transmission to the Enclave, but also causing some interference with VIOLA's ability to allow her sight, giving her the equivalent of mild static. She was having trouble adjusting to it―but she had to. There was no other option.

Not if she wanted to follow through on her, admittedly, vague plan of luring President Eden into a trap. Using the purifier her father had dangled in front of her as a way to drag the Enclave into her own web―to remove the threat that was President Eden―

Jericho mumbled a swear under his breath, striding forward and ahead of her. She didn't bother to look up, but kept her eyes on her feet. Stared at the gray dirt under her, thinking and thinking hard. She had a headache, already, from the extra noise generated by the eyebot as it broadcast a nonsense signal over the air. It was going to be an uphill battle, from here on out.

Lillie rubbed her eyes and glanced around them, following the men into another Metro. She felt warm tears falling down her face, though. Didn't like to think about what she was doing.

Treason. If she wanted to take down President Eden... she had to use Colonel Autumn. She hoped he would understand―what her plan was―that she didn't want him to be in danger, anymore, but because of how everything was going, she had to introduce a new threat. That she had to utilize the wasteland's resources in her effort to take the President down.

He should understand. He was... he was smart enough to comprehend what she intended. But so was President Eden―

"What's your plan, kid?" Jericho asked her, cutting through her thoughts. He sounded impatient.

Her dad was staring at her, and she ignored him as best she could. "We'll head for that radio station the ghoul talked about," she said, calmly. "Galaxy News Radio."

Jericho shifted his rifle off his back, spat on the ground and grunted. "Fine, let's go."

The trip through the Metro should have been relatively easy, between the three of them. But for Jericho's incessant complaints, it would have been a great deal quieter, too.

"Why the hell you continue to make so much noise, especially given all the... things, that lurk down here, I'll never know," she snapped at him, as they moved through a mezzanine. A nasty smell lingered in the air, the by-product of a slew of feral ghouls that had to be destroyed before they could pass.

Her head ached terribly, with the radio noise still in strong effect. She really just wanted him to shut up and walk in silence. Was that too much to ask of him?

"I ain't exactly used to the quiet," he growled, kicking a dismembered limb off into the darkness. "Don't you fuckin' start with me, neither."

Lillie felt a painful twist in her eyes, closing them against the bright glare of her Pip-Boy. The only light they had, but it was so inconvenient―

She didn't reply to the ex-raider's comment, choosing to ignore him as they moved to the lower platform and removed more feral ghouls from existence. Her dad took the lead, and Lillie let him. Now that he knew where they were headed... he didn't seem as perturbed. She wondered why, but her head hurt so badly when she tried to think―

It was a long minute or two before Jericho snickered at her. "Don't tell me I hurt your fuckin' feelings or somethin'," he said, jabbing her with an elbow.

Lillie sighed. "No," she told him. "I'm... thinking. Which is hard enough to do, without your running commentary." She glared at him.

"Yeah, 'bout what," he prompted, pulling out a cigarette pack and lighting one. "Shit," he muttered, tossing the pack into the ground.

"Why do you care?" she muttered, grumpily.

Jericho shrugged, eyeing up her dad's back. "Bored," he muttered, frankly.

Lillie sighed. "There's a lot going on, Jericho," she muttered, in a low tone. "Things that have to happen, but I'm not happy about."

"So what," Jericho said, breathing in deeply. He coughed a little and spat to the side. "Ah, Christ, not that shit again," he muttered.

Lillie ignored him spitting up blood. "So now... I'm a traitor―" she growled a little, in frustration. "And I have to be that, or else nothing matters."

Jericho nodded, thoughtfully, finishing his cigarette before he continued talking. "Got that," he replied, flicking the cigarette butt off into the distance. "People after you. That Enclave shit."

"Yes, that 'Enclave shit'," she replied, sorely.

"Being on the run ain't no fuckin' fun," he grumbled, glancing back the way they'd come. "People watchin' for you. Waitin'. Makin' a fuckin' plan to drag your ass back home and skin you alive over a fuckin' campfire." He looked again, his motions paranoid in their jerkiness.

"That's why," she told herself. Jericho was afraid of the raiders because he'd done something, just like her. He was still alive because he was careful, and had holed up in Megaton, and―well, because he was tough, she guessed.

She really did find him very interesting, and not just because he was similar to herself. "What did you do when you were a raider?" she asked him, curiously.

Jericho snorted and laughed at the same time, making a disgusting noise. "More like what didn't I do," he said, shaking his head. "I was a fuckin' beast―" he stopped himself and shook his head. "Don't wanna talk about it."

They were quiet for a moment. "Why did you run, then?" she asked, pressing the issue. She'd asked him to be honest with her, but he hadn't followed through on every part of that, yet.

He turned to look at her, rolling his eyes. "Jesus Christ," he said, disbelievingly. "You are fuckin' naive. I already said, I ain't talkin' about it."

Lillie growled a little, out of anger and the reminder that she hadn't been very good at persuasion―especially if she couldn't persuade a nasty old man to tell her a story about his past. His past that he was obviously so proud of, given his previous comment. Lillie narrowed her eyes at Jericho and pouted.

Her dad cleared his throat and motioned for Jericho to move forward. The ex-raider spoke to him in low tones for a moment, then dropped back and walked beside Lillie again. A minute or two later, he elbowed her in the arm, halfheartedly.

"I fucked up," he said, quietly. "That's what I did. Took what I wasn't supposed to, then ran off because why the fuck not."

Lillie frowned. Jericho kept talking, his eyes on her dad's back. "I went to Megaton and begged for fuckin' mercy and promised I wasn't gonna be a raider no more. Told them how to take down the bitches in the elementary school and got a price on my head." He glanced at her, a serious expression on his face. Looked away and rolled his eyes, in response to her curious gaze.

Lillie waited a moment or two to let the information sink in, then nodded. "Thank you for telling me," she said.

"Don't get all prissy on me," he muttered, patting a pocket and then frowning. "I liked you the way you were. All hardass and―" He shook his head, jamming his mouth shut.

Lillie sighed and smiled a little. "I like you, too, Jericho," she said, moving forward to walk beside her dad.

She felt a little better. But only a little.

"Let me see if I understand this," Three Dog said, rubbing his chin and staring down at Lillie. "You want to help me get my baby crying again. In addition to that..." he cracked a grin. "You're giving me a way to counter that bullshit on the Enclave station?"

Lillie considered the man, evenly. She'd heard the radio; she was aware of the "bullshit" that he was referring to, and even if she didn't like how hateful he was toward the Enclave in general, she understood why he acted that way.

"That is... essentially, what I said," she replied, cautiously. "You do understand how signal power works, right?"

"I have my tricks," he shot back, grinning ear-to-ear at her. "But are you for real? Hell, President Eden goes around spreading peace, love and government, but no one even knows how old that Enclave signal really is."

"I am for real," she said. "The Enclave is absolutely, one hundred percent, real. And President Eden is out there, biding his time."

Three Dog nodded, looking thoughtful. "People need to know the truth about President Eden and his goons. If you give me the chance to fight the Good Fight―I'm not going to argue with you. But what the hell are you getting out of this deal? I mean―"

Lillie interrupted him curtly. "I want you to overpower the Enclave radio. That is all. If I get this lunar lander dish you want... you can do that, right?"

"Incredible," Three Dog said, shaking his head. "This is great. Yeah, I can do that. You get that dish, my signal will be strong enough to be heard all the way to the end of the Capital Wasteland."

"And strong enough to overpower local signals on the same frequency." Lillie stared at him with a hard face.

"Yeah, girl, don't get your panties in a twist," he said, laughing. "Wish I knew why you're so hot to put a bee in the grand old apocalyptic bonnet, though."

Lillie nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Don't worry," she said, shooting a glance behind her at her dad, who hadn't said a word about this whole matter. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."

"Well, don't just stand there gawking... go bring that sucker to the Washington Monument so my lady can sing again!" Three Dog made a shooing motion at them, then crossed his arms again.

After a moment of thought, Lillie turned and faced her dad, staring him down. "Dad," she said, softly.

"Lillie―" he started, his eyes on the ground. "...I have to admit I'm not entirely sure what you're doing. What the purpose of this... newfound plot, is."

"Would you like to stay at GNR while Jericho and I retrieve that dish?" she asked him, ignoring his cue. "It'd be safer. Shouldn't take more than a day or two to get around the Mall."

He sighed, rubbed his eyes, and stared at her. "I suppose I'll have to, won't I?" he strained out. "Seeing as I've no idea what's going on."

Lillie rolled her eyes at him. "Honestly, dad, I thought you were smarter than this," she snapped, irritated at his attitude. He should have been able to get all the ideas he needed, from her earlier admission in the pump room.

He shot her such a pained glare, she was forced to look away. "Okay," she muttered, under her breath. "Okay. If VIOLA's signal is jammed, President Eden can't... detonate the plasma charge." She breathed out. "And if they aren't getting any feed, they'll be forced out into the wastes... to look for me, or whatever it is they want to do." She closed her eyes for a moment.

And Colonel Autumn... might come to find her, and maybe she could convince him to work with this plan against Eden―her heart thumped dully against her chest. She hoped he would. But she didn't know what to expect, really.

"Lillie..." He sighed. "I realize that everything that has happened, is not what you want for yourself. I really am sorry that―that I made this happen." He sounded remorseful, but she still didn't want to believe him.

"I shouldn't stay here," he added, after a painful silence. "I should head down to Rivet City and let Madison know that I intend to restart the purifier. If... that is what you are aiming for, correct?"

She opened her eyes to look at him. "Yeah," she said, but she wasn't completely convinced of herself.

Her dad smiled, tiredly, looking over her head. "Then... you know where I'll be, Lillie." He turned and walked away slowly.

He really couldn't do her any more harm, she supposed. Leaving him to his own device wasn't any more dangerous than going with him, was it?

She watched him leaving, before motioning for Jericho to follow her out of the radio station.