Hawk was still sitting by Sally's side, attempting to read a manual, when the word came. The Tradewind had stopped at the Island and was sending out a radio message. Jack was looking for Sally. The Citadel had sent a reply that she was there and the Tradewind was now sailing for the Citadel. It would make its usual stops for trading and would be there in 3 days. Hawk wondered if Sally would be awake by then. Why wasn't she waking up? He gently brushed the red strands from her face with a giant hand.
"Sally.", he said quietly. "You need to wake up now. Jack's here. He's coming for you." He sighed as she remained unresponsive and went back to his book. Her favorite radio station played softly in the background.
Hawk was waiting by the dock when the Tradewind came in at mid-morning. Jack hailed him from the deck.
"Hey, Hawk", he called. "Is Sally here?"
"I have to talk to you.", Hawk called back. As soon as the ship was tied up, Hawk headed up the gangplank. Jack met him.
"What's wrong?", he asked more urgently. "Is she still unconscious? I hoped she would be awake and come to meet me. She isn't worse is she?"
"Don't worry, she hasn't died. She woke up yesterday morning. I told her you were coming.", Hawk replied. "Let's go to your cabin. I need to talk to you." Jack looked around worriedly and nodded, calling to Aaron to take over as he led Hawk to his room.
"And that's how it is.", Hawk concluded after explaining about Sally. "Jack, she needs you. You need to take her away, make her live again. Get her out of the wasteland. Let her grieve for her losses. She won't grieve, Jack. I heard she never cried for her father. She doesn't cry now. Maybe you can get her to cry. She loves you." Jack ran a hand through his hair agitatedly.
"How am I going to get her to stay with me if she doesn't even want to see me? She wouldn't sail with me before, why would she go now?", he demanded.
"I'll get her here and get her to stay. The rest is up to you.", Hawk replied grimly.
Sally was sorting through her armor when Hawk returned.
"Oh, there you are.", she said. "Do you think that Enclave camp is still up near the old slave quarters?"
"It doesn't matter.", Hawk replied. "We're not going there."
"What? Why not?" Sally was surprised. Hawk rarely questioned her decisions.
"Because.", Hawk replied. "We're not going to be here. Listen, Sally, I hardly ever ask you for anything, do I? But I'm so tired. I want to go home to the Settlement, to be with Halnet for awhile. I can't do that unless I know you're not alone. You know Jack's here, don't you? I told you they docked this morning. I want you to stay with him. The whole way this time, all the way to Baton Rouge. You need a change of scenery and I need a break. Will you?", he asked. "Do this for me?"
Sally slowly sat down on the bed and considered Hawk. "I understand. You've been away from the Settlement for a long time and I'm sure you miss your wife. Don't you want me to go with you?", she asked in a small voice.
"Sally, why don't you want to see Jack? I told him not to come here, you said you don't want to see him. He won't push you but you know he loves you. What's wrong?", he asked quietly.
"I don't know.", she sniffed.. "I'm just afraid. If I see him, maybe I'll lose him. Maybe he won't like what I've become. I don't know."
"Give him a chance, Sally. Make the trip. If it doesn't work out, you'll know. Then we can go chasing Enclave till they're all dead or we are. But at least try. For me.", he said, his voice tired.
Sally nodded, not looking at him. She rose to see what she could find that would be suitable to wear on a sea voyage.
Sally strode onto the deck of the Tradewind standing tall and proud beside Hawk, as though it had been her idea to be there.
"Jack,", she greeted him, her voice constrained. "I'm so happy to see you. I was afraid you weren't coming back. No one heard from you in so long."
"I'm sorry, Sally.", he responded. "We took quite a bit of damage. We barely made it home to Baton Rouge and it took a while before we could sail again. I thought you were out in the wasteland. I didn't know you were in the blast until I just got back. There wasn't any way to get a message to you until we hit the Island. Please, Sally, sail with me this time. Let's spend some time together."
Sally nodded. She was supposed to be in the wasteland. She hadn't let him know what she was doing. She had expected to die. "I would like that, but there's some things you need to know about me before I can go with you.", she said.
"Then tell me.", Jack said, taking her hand to lead her toward their room. Sally smiled tightly.
"Let me say hey to the crew, first, ok?", she said.
"Sure." He released her hand and watched her go off to greet the crew.
Jack sat on the bed beside Sally, not touching her. She frowned nervously at her clasped hands. Jack waited patiently. "How much do you know about me, really?", she asked finally.
"I know you're an exceptional scavenger, a great trader, and a good person. That's all I really need to know.", he said firmly.
"No, it isn't. I've been exposed to mutagens over the last few years. The first time I was only out of the vault a day. I had to leave the vault since the Overseer was trying to have me killed. I had to live somehow so I took the job to expose myself to radiation to help crazy Moira with her experiments. I didn't know what it was going to do. Then I got the knife wound taking out some raiders."
She ran a hand over her abdomen. "The knife was dirty of course. It was a very deep wound and I got a severe infection and was sick for days. It left scarring so deep Doc told me I'd never be able to have kids of my own. Maybe that's why I let myself be deliberately exposed to another mutagen that gave me some fire resistance. But that wasn't even all. I don't think I ever told you how I met Hawk." He shook his head. There was so much about her he didn't know.
"I'll have to tell you all about it sometime, it's a long story, but what you need to know now is that I may have been exposed to the super mutant FEV. You probably don't know what that is but it's a man altered virus. It's what was used in one form or another to create most of the mutations found in the wasteland, like the super mutants and ghouls. It doesn't work by itself. Specific strains paired with certain types of radiation creates different types of mutations in genetically susceptible people. As for my time in the Pitt all I know is I got really sick and there were some changes to my DNA. I'm really not sure what all I might have been exposed to, but I do know this."
She held out her wrist and drew his attention to her pip-boy. "See my radiation level? Do you know why I keep it so high? When it goes down, I deliberately expose myself to more, because it helps me to heal. That's one reason I heal so quickly. I'm not purely human anymore, Jack. I don't even know what mutations I've had. I only know they help me to heal fast and withstand radiation and fire. Now I've been exposed to GECK radiation and I have no idea how it's going to act with the mutations I already have to affect me. Now you know."
Sally kept her head down, waiting for Jack to say something. He placed his hand over hers, curling his fingers around hers.
"Sally, look at me.", he said. She reluctantly looked up. He took her face in his other hand. "I'm glad to know this about you. It will help if I ever have to take care of you. Just know that it doesn't make any difference in how I feel about you. I fell in love with you that first time I saw you standing on that dock and that's never going to change. I love you now and I always will."
Jack pulled her gently to him as sobs erupted.
"Oh, Jack", she gasped between sobs, leaning into his strength. "I was so..so..afraid, you would..wouldn't want me anymore." He held her tighter, as though he could make her safe with his grasp.
"I'll always want you, love, always.", he whispered fiercely into her hair, rocking her against him until the sobs subsided. He lifted her tear stained face and stared into her storm grey eyes, his golden cat eyes glowing with liquid fire. "Always", he said firmly, lowering his lips to hers.
Sally leaned over the rail watching the wasteland fade behind her. Water surrounded them on all sides, a landscape as alien to her as the moon. It had taken them nearly a week to complete the trading rounds of the Potomac but now they had finally left the Island behind and were on their way down coast.
Jack had been wonderful. He was patient and loving, letting her take her time to adjust. He was gentle and undemanding in his lovemaking. He held and comforted her when she cried. For the first time in many years she felt safe and loved. Her heart was beginning to heal.
Jack came up to lean on the rail with her. "Shouldn't you be guiding this thing?", she asked a little uneasily. He laughed softly.
"Aaron'll take care of her." He scanned the horizon with his seaman's eyes. "Looks like we'll have fair weather tomorrow. We should dock at the next post by day after tomorrow. Look at that sunset, Sally, isn't it gorgeous?"
Sally agreed it was indeed the prettiest sunset she could remember seeing, the reds and golds sinking into the sea on the horizon. The thought just didn't make her feel cozy. She smiled at him as he put his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.
"It's not as beautiful as you are.", he said. "I love you, Sally. My family will love you too, I'm sure." She snorted.
"I doubt your mother will.", she said. "What mother wants a wasteland scavenger for her son?"
Jack laughed. "Sure she will, but it doesn't matter. I want to marry you anyway."
Sally stiffened. "What did you say?", she said, as if she hadn't heard it right.
"I said I want to marry you. Marry me, Sally, make an honest man of me.", he said. Sally didn't say anything, her thoughts in turmoil. "Think about it, will you?", Jack asked when she didn't reply.
"Okay, I'll think about it, but you'd better think about what you're asking. Do you really want to be tied to a scavenger? I can't even give you children. Let's see what happens in Baton Rouge after I meet your family. If you still want to marry me, ask me again." Jack rested his chin on the top of her red gold hair.
"I will", he said simply.
The stops at the coastal posts went without incident. Each post had something unique to offer as well as the usual assortment of pre-war items and salvage. Sally enjoyed the newness of the posts and the familiarity of the trading routine. Jack encouraged her to help with the trading. She was also interested in helping him keep his records, which he was more than fine with. It wasn't his favorite part of the job.
After leaving the mainland coast behind they sailed for the first of the Florida Isles. Sally was looking forward to doing some exploring if Jack didn't mind. She was getting used to being on the ship surrounded by water but the land was her home, especially a wild wasteland. Perhaps there would be new challenges to conquer.
Sally sat in front of the mirror in their room, combing her long silky hair. She had let it grow since the explosion though she usually kept it shorter as that was more comfortable in her helmet. She leaned in to study her face more closely, frowning. She ran a finger experimentally down the long scar from her left eye to her mouth. She had gotten the scar when she was just out of the vault, a violent introduction to the wasteland. It had been part of her for so many years. Now it seemed to be fading. Her hair appeared to be less full than usual too. She looked at the brush, full of long red strands. It had seemed over full the day before too. She ran a hand through her hair, brushing across her scalp. It came away with several long strands.
Jack came in and caught sight of her wide, frightened eyes.
"What's wrong?", he asked anxiously. She blinked back tears.
"I'm losing my hair. Look,", she said, turning to him and holding out the handful of silken red strands. "And my scars are fading. It has to be the GECK radiation. My god, Jack, what if I turn into a ghoul? What if I go feral? Over 80% of ghouls go feral.", she said fearfully.
Jack went to stand in front of her. He tipped up her face and studied it, then ran his hands down her arms.
"Is your skin getting dry and flaking? I don't see any. Do you want me to check the rest of you?", he asked
"Yes, yes do that.", she said, rising and pulling off her top. She had started wearing the loose clothing favored by the sailors on the ship. Jack carefully inspected her back and the back of her neck, the insides of her knees, running his hands over her legs and arms and abdomen.
"I don't see any sign of dry or flaking skin. Your eyes look clear. Your scars are fading though. I don't know what changes are happening but I don't think you're turning into a ghoul.", he said thoughtfully. Sally sighed, only partly relieved.
"I guess we'll just have to see what happens.", she responded, turning to look into the mirror again. Jack leaned down and looked in the mirror with her. She looked at his reflection, studying his familiar face. "Um, Jack, I think your scar is fading too."
He studied his scar in the mirror, then pulled back, took off his shirt, and studied some other scars.
"I think you're right. My scars are fading. It looks like whatever is happening to you is happening to me too. Well, love", he grinned lopsidedly at her, "it seems we're changing together." Sally reached up to pull him to her. Jack put his arms around her. They held each other quietly. It didn't seem there was anything else to say. The GECK wasn't done with them yet.