Hawk walked in to Cave Entrance and nodded to Stew.
" Is she here?", he asked. Stew nodded towards the barracks.
"She's been cleaning like crazy.", he said. Hawk sighed.
"Calli.", he said, approaching her where she was frowning over a suit she was working on.
"Oh, Hey, Hawk.", she said brightly, looking up at him. "I was waiting for you. Say, if you're going into Arhome, I brought some things for the kids. Take them with you, will you?"
"Why don't you come with me?"
"I can't", she said.
"You're just going to give them up? Not even see them?", he asked.
"Yes!", she said fiercely. "I'll do whatever I have to to protect them. Even give them up. Are you planning on showing Jack where they are?", she asked coldly, her face tight.
"No, I'm not. I'm sorry you feel like I betrayed you.", he said calmly. She turned away from him.
"When you come back we have to go to the Pitt. They've been having some problems with raiders lately.", she said tightly.
xx
Calli sat on the top of the old building where she had first observed the Tradewind those many years ago. It was one of the few buildings that had been solid enough to be rebuilt and now housed several families, but she didn't care about that or the bustling traffic below. She was intent on watching the ship slowly passing on the river, watching the bronze haired captain move about the deck, searching the shoreline. She knew what he was searching for. She turned her attention to the dark haired girl sitting on the deck, the small dark boy playing at her feet. She missed Aileen, but she couldn't go to the ship. She watched until it sailed down the river toward the sea. Finally she lowered her glasses and turned away.
She had left him in anger the month before. She was sure he was waiting for her this trip, watching for her, but she wasn't going to go to him yet. He couldn't know how much he had hurt her when he accused her of not wanting her babies. She had given them up because she wanted them, she loved them so much. She would give them everything but herself. Couldn't he see that was the best for them?
"You need to talk to him, Calli", Hawk said.
"He wouldn't listen to me. How can I talk to him if he won't listen to me?", she asked.
"He was upset. Why wouldn't he be? You really hurt him, you know, not telling him about the twins. Give him a chance.", he pleaded.
Calli gathered her pack. "The outcasts have made some headway on that new radio they've been working on. I think we should pay them a visit and see how it's coming."
Hawk sighed, rising to follow her. It wasn't going to do their business any good if she continued to avoid the Tradewind ll.
The next month dragged slowly by for Jack. He didn't tell anyone about the twins. Calli must have her reasons for hiding them, and he had no idea how to go about looking for them. If she didn't want him to find them he probably wouldn't be able to in her wasteland. His best chance of finding his kids was to find Calli. He loved her so much even when she was being unreasonable and aggravating. He wanted her back.
He asked on the Island but no one had seen her there since the month before when she had made a trip on the riverboat to see her friend. So, she definitely was avoiding him then. She usually would take the Tradewind ll to the Island.
When they docked at River Port Jack went looking for Calli's friend. He handed the bartender an envelope.
"Would you give this to Calli the next time you see her?", he asked. Derek accepted the envelope with a brief nod. He owed Calli a lot since she had helped him start up the bar. If she was having problems with her husband he wasn't going to interfere, but he would help if he could.
It was late the next day when Calli came in. Derek hailed her, and handed her the letter.
"Captain Lelland asked me to give this to you.", he said. She took it without comment. "If there's anything I can do…", he trailed off. She smiled sadly at him, shaking her head.
"There's nothing anyone can do, but thanks." She stuffed the letter in her pocket and ordered dinner. When she and Hawk were done they would head over to Rivet City to do some trading and socializing.
Calli curled up on the bed in her room at Rivet City and pulled out the envelope. Hawk had gone to the barracks as usual to play cards and would probably stay the night there. She stared at the envelope for a long moment, and then ripped it open. The message was short and to the point. Calli, Please talk to me. We can work this out. I love you. Jack. She appreciated that he hadn't mentioned the children, in case anyone else read the letter.
She made up her mind. If she left in the very early morning well before dawn she could catch the Tradewind ll at the Citadel. It would take almost 6 hours to walk there, less if she trotted most of the way, more if she ran into trouble. The ship would stay docked there for an entire day and night so if she didn't get there early at least she wouldn't miss it. She would leave Hawk a note and go to bed right after dinner so she would be well rested. It was aggravating that they never seemed to leave the bikes where they would be the most useful.
Jack was despondently watching the river side. He was finding it hard to sleep. This was the second month Calli hadn't come to the river. He couldn't just wait for her to decide to come to him. He discussed his plan with Aileen and she agreed. Though Jack hadn't told her what he had done to upset the small warrior, Aileen knew Calli probably wasn't going to come to them if she was hurt. In the morning he was going to leave the ship in Aaron's charge and go looking for her. The Citadel was the place to start.
At first light Jack left the Tradewind ll and approached the guards at the gate of the Citadel. Inquiries elicited the information that Calli had been there 2 days ago and had indicated she was heading home. Home, as far as Jack knew, meant Megaton. He stopped back on the Tradewind ll long enough to fill a wasteland pack, change into light leather armor, and let Dawson know he was heading for Megaton. He had her map. Follow the road north past Wilhelm's Wharf, on past the Super Duper mart, and it would take him to Megaton in about 7 hours at a normal walk. He would head on south from there and meet the Tradewind ll at River Port before they left the Potomac. Dawson would handle all business transactions while he was gone.
Calli approached the Tradewind ll with a feeling of anticipation.
"Hey, Dawson.", she greeted the first mate as she came aboard.
"Hey, Calli.", he returned the greeting. "If you're looking for Jack he isn't here."
"I didn't think he would be, I expect he's at the post. I think I'll surprise him.", she said lightly.
"He isn't at the post. He went looking for you about 2 hours ago. Said he was heading to Megaton.", Dawson said.
"What?" Calli's face paled. "Did he take the North road?"
"Yeah, he headed that way. He said it lead right to Megaton."
"Oh, my God.", she said. "He won't know to cut over the hill. There's an Enclave encampment on that road! I've gotta go now! They don't let anyone come within range of an encampment. They'll shoot him on sight! I just hope it's deserted!"
Calli flung her heavily laden pack onto the deck. She would move much faster without it. She quickly stuffed her pockets with stimpacks and ammo. Aileen came out of her room and approached the warrior.
"Calli!", she said, alarmed. "What are you doing?"
"Not now, Aileen. I don't have time. I have to get to Jack." Slinging her combat shotgun and Chinese rifle over her shoulder she took off at a run. Calli was used to long treks and could run for hours at a time. Aileen stared worriedly after her before turning to Dawson for answers.
The sudden eruption of gunfire ahead alerted her that the camp was no longer deserted. She grabbed her field glasses from around her neck and scanned the road ahead. There was Jack, crouched behind some boulders, holding off three Enclave soldiers. As she watched he hurled a grenade toward the enclosure. She blasted into a dead run, reaching him in minutes. He spun around at the approach then whirled back to the fight. Calli grabbed grenades from her belt and hurled them in quick succession.
The soldiers broke cover, heading toward them, guns blazing. Jack and Call leaned over the boulder, their shotguns barking in unison. One by one the soldiers fell. Calli leaned back against the boulder, listening to the wasteland sounds resuming after the noise of the battle. Jack sprawled beside her.
"Did you get hit?", she asked him.
"A couple times, nothing serious. What about you?", he asked conversationally.
"Nothing that won't be healed by morning. Here, have a stimpack. It'll make you feel better." She handed him one and injected herself with one.
"Dawson said you came looking for me.", she said.
"Dawson? Then you were at the Tradewind?" , he queried.
"Yeah, I got your note. I've missed you, Jack.", she said quietly. He reached out a hand to touch the side of her helmet.
"So what do we do now?", he asked.
"Now", she said. "we have a mess to clean up." She stood up and started toward the camp. Jack sighed as he got up to follow her. He wished he could see her expression behind that helmet she always wore.
It was actually hard work to strip the soldiers and gather the weapons and goods from the camp. Sally didn't have her pack, and couldn't carry it all anyway, so she stored most of the goods in a handy crate.
"I'll get it later, if it's still there.", Calli explained. "They'll send more soldiers sooner or later to man this camp. It's a field study camp, so they haven't deserted it yet though I think I've cleaned it out 3 times now. I thought about destroying the computer, but sometimes they leave interesting information on it. There's usually a scientist working here. Those were just the guards. They must've run off, or they're hiding. Well, there's nothing on the computer this time, so we may as well go. Megaton's just up the road there about a half hour. That's why I keep cleaning this camp out. They're too close to my home. I'm afraid they're going to attack it one of these days."
Calli shut down the computer, gathered what weapons she could carry, and they went on up the road. Jack wasn't sure if he should respond to this. He wasn't sure about Calli anymore.
Calli waved at the guard as they approached the front entrance. He would notify Lucas she had come in and wasn't alone. Before long the whole town would know.
"We may as well get some lunch at The Brass Tavern. You're going to attract a lot of attention, so we can visit while we eat.", she grinned.
As Calli had predicted, they spent most of the afternoon entertaining townspeople, but finally they were alone. They were sitting in the sparse living room.
"Calli", Jack began. "I would really like to see our kids. Please let me see them." Calli studied her hands.
"I've been thinking, and I know it's wrong to keep them from you. Jack, listen", she said, looking up at him pleadingly. "These aren't just our kids. They're special. They're born from the GECK, don't you see? We don't know what they're going to be like. I can't let the wasteland know about them! We have powerful enemies, Jack, both of us. Do you think they would hesitate to use our kids against us? How can we work and still protect them every minute? But, no, listen, let me finish..", as he started to say something.
He nodded. She hesitated. "How much do you trust me? Enough to let me lead you blindfolded into a pack of Deathclaws and believe I'll protect you?"
He looked at her, astonished. "Is this a rhetorical question?" he asked suspiciously.
"No, I mean it. Do you trust me that much?", she asked.
"Yes. If it means I can see our kids, I'd do that.", he said firmly.
She gave a sharp nod.
"You know I might not be able to protect us. We could both die, especially since Hawk isn't with us. I depend on him a lot.", she said seriously.
"I understand that. We could die anyway, at any time. I'll do whatever you ask.", he said.
"All right. We'll leave first thing in the morning.", Calli said. "Now how about we go down to the diner? I don't keep much here anymore."
They spent the evening in the bar socializing with the local residents. After a visit to Doc Church to see how the old man was getting on they made it back home shortly after dark. It had been a long day. The stimpaks had worn off but by then they had healed sufficiently so the wounds were just bothersome, not particularly painful. Calli made Jack use her de-tox equipment. It was part of her routine to keep her from becoming addicted to the meds and painkillers that were a standard part of her battle gear.
She looked up at him shyly. "Do you want to go to bed now?", she asked hopefully.
"That depends. Are you going to make me sleep in Hawk's room?", he asked. She blinked.
"Why would we do that? Our bed is plenty big enough.", she said, puzzled. He laughed, standing and holding out his hand to pull her to her feet.
"Are you sure about that?", he teased, leading her up the stairs.
In the morning they had an early breakfast. They weren't going to need travel packs. It wouldn't take that long to get to Arhome on her bike. She loaded the saddlebags with any items they might need in case of an attack or accident. She shoved her rifle in the side scabbard, leaving her back empty. Jack had ridden with her on the bike before and knew what to do. His shotgun was slung across his back and readily accessible.
They said good bye to their friends in town and shoved the bike out the gate. The old guardian robot waved at them as Calli revved up the engine and they sped off on the trail to Tennpenny.
The old trader's routes had become hard and firm from years of constant use. The bike had little trouble. It took less than half an hour to reach the tower. They didn't stop but followed the south east trail. As they neared the town of River Port Calli suddenly stopped in the middle of nowhere. She carefully surveyed the area, making sure no one was around, then veered off the path onto a Deathclaw trail. Jack recognized it for what it was. Maybe Calli had been serious!
They climbed the trail, heading up the mountain, back toward the west. High up in the mountain, in the middle of the trail, with nothing around them, Calli stopped the bike and got off.
"We're here.", she said, scanning the area behind them, though she was sure they hadn't been followed. Jack looked around.
"I don't see any Deathclaws.", he said.
She nodded. "We're lucky, usually there's one or two around. They don't bother me much anymore, I mez them all the time so they've learned to be a bit shy of me and Hawk. They'll attack anyone else though, so I would have had to protect you. We try not to kill them; they're part of the defense system.", she explained.
She had Jack push the bike and led him off the trail and around a large bush. He now saw a trail on the other side of the bush. They followed it around a maze like series of bushes. Coming around the last bush they were right on top of a large opening in the side of the mountain. It looked very much like the opening to a Deathclaw cave. Not many people would venture in there, even if they got this far. Calli led the way into the opening.
I want to thank Genesis Vakarian for the reviews and encouragement. Without your continued support I think I would have given up on this. Thank You!