Since she was hardly injured in comparison, Cade and his team focused on Rhys instead of Shiloh. She worriedly stood outside of the medbay, covered in dirt and bruises and cuts, until Cade left the room to get some air. He saw the Sentinel standing there and gave her a soft smile, "He's going to be alright. He's very strong and even regained consciousness for a time. It will be a long recovery, but he's going to live."

Shiloh still frowned, shoulders slumped in worry and emotional exhaustion. Since she woke up with Nora at her side, she felt like she was on the brink of tears. She was experiencing flashbacks to Sarah, her former comrade who survived a suicide mission as well. She had barely spoken to anyone. All she knew about the mission is that the Watchers were still being held at the tower until they could be safety transported to the airport. She didn't even know where Nora was. Cade advised her to get some sleep before she was on one of his gurneys again and she didn't have it in her to fight him.

In her room, she pulled off the armor Nora gave her. It saved her life today. Some vital areas were marked from close calls with bullets. Placing it in her trunk, Shiloh headed to the showers in just her Brotherhood fatigues, carrying a bundle of clothing.

She sighed under the warm water, feeling the irradiated salty water in her hair drain away. Taking a shaking breath, she covered her face. Even here, she was unwilling to cry. She didn't want to fall apart alone in the shower like this. Her body shook as she scrubbed the soap through her hair. When she was in front of a mirror, wearing only a towel, she was able to examine her bruises. Her ribs would be tender for a while and there were quite a few small cuts and scrapes all over her body, but she felt better. Only her eyes gave away the feelings she was trying to hide.

She looked haunted in the mirror, much like she'd looked after her father died, then after the purifier. She came close to dying nearly every day, but there were times when she felt like no human should have survived what she did and it scared her. By some divine intervention she'd survived being inside a collapsing overpass. She swallowed, turning away from the mirror to pull on a standard teeshirt and comfortable pants that would keep her warm. Something told Shiloh she would be waking up shivering and scared for many nights to come.

She left the showers, hair already drying from being scrubbed with a towel. As she padded to the mid deck, she passed multiple soldiers who looked like they wanted to say something. They got one look at her face and kept quiet. Maybe she wasn't as good at hiding her feelings as she thought.

She practically stumbled upon Maxson, not expecting him to be standing outside her door. She blinked at him and he only stared back, arms crossed. He gave nothing away as she unlocked her door and let him in.

Something told her she was preparing for a fight. It was a feeling she hadn't had since the last time she'd fought with Sarah. Still, she wasn't sure how something like that would go with Maxson. While he could be intimidating, she knew she wouldn't just stand by and let him yell at her.

He didn't yell at her. Instead his tone was level, shaking slightly, which felt worse in a way, "You said you wouldn't throw yourself into danger like that."

Shiloh turned away from him, "I told you I can't promise those things. I'll just keep letting you down."

He repeated himself, like she hadn't heard him, "You said you wouldn't." She turned, seeing him gripping his arms in anger.

"Don't do what Sarah did. Don't-"

"Don't what? Don't care about you? I tried, but you had to come back from the dead and ruin that."

Shiloh didn't know what to say to that, "I didn't ask to go away and I didn't ask to come back."

"I didn't ask for that either, but here we are. And there you are, standing in front of me when your actions today nearly guaranteed you wouldn't be."

Shiloh took a step away from him when he paced across her room. She stood in front of the bare steel wall now, watching him, "I'd do it again."

His back was turned to her, "Repeat that."

She stood her ground, "I'd do it again. It was you getting blown up on the Prydwen or me and I'd do it again. I told you I chose the Brotherhood. I chose your Brotherhood. Becoming Sentinel means I would die for you. I was scared to dedicate myself like that for a long time and I should have given Sarah my life like I did at the purifier. It's too late for me to tell her, but I can tell you here and now. If another super weapon sprouted on one of those skyscrapers outside and threatened everything you built I'd take it down even if that means the whole building comes down on-"

He suddenly turned around, looking uncomfortable. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he crossed the room and pressed her against the wall. Her face was in his hands and she could feel the warm fabric of his gloves. She blinked up at him, stunned to silence. He took a shaky breath, "I can't do this."

She reached up and grasped his wrists, pressing gently with her thumbs, "Can't do what?"

He was so tense that she could feel it, with him pressed against her like this. This wasn't gentle or comforting like before. This felt like he was strung out and about to explode. He dropped his hands from her face, beginning to retreat. No. No, she wouldn't let him. Any other day, and she might have. But she was at her wit's end and emotionally frazzled. She felt like a live wire and he was giving her sparks and she wanted more of that feeling.

As softly as she could manage, she stepped forward as he pulled away and wrapped her arms around him. She was too short to wrap her arms around his shoulders, so she clasped her hands around his back and pressed close. It took all her willpower to keep looking at him. She wanted to shy away, considering she wasn't very good at initiating these things, but she knew that if she let him leave he might never let her get this close again.

He swallowed, eyes locked on her lips as she looked at him. He reached up again to tuck her damp hair behind her ears, but they didn't leave her face. Briefly, he looked up and took a breath. When he looked down, she pushed up on her toes and briefly, finally, kissed him.

She tilted her head and gasped when he suddenly deeped the kiss. His hands were back on her hips again and she let go of him in surprise. She was still on the balls of her feet, blushing when he pressed harder against her. She pulled back briefly, flushed red, "You're, um, tall…"

Wordlessly, he bent to hook his hands around the bottom of her thighs and picked her up while pressing her against the wall. At this angle, she could run her hands across his shoulders. His mouth was back on hers before she could speak again, not that she was complaining. It was hurried and slightly messy. As far as thank god you're alive kisses went, this was her favorite.

It had been a while for both of them. He was cut off from any form of intimacy upon coming to the Commonwealth. It had been months for her since the caravan worker...if you didn't count the nine years she was frozen. She breathed in, not letting him pull away for long. His grip on her thighs tightened when she ran her tongue against his bottom lip.

She was overwhelmed. She suddenly wanted to feel his beard all over her skin. She suddenly wanted to yank his jacket off and touch him. She pulled back slightly, looking at him again and he set her down. He played with her hair, not quite smiling but giving her a soft look. He understood. Of course he did.

The day's events hit her harder than the cold waters of the bay did. She pressed her lips together, unable to control the shaking in her voice, "I fell. I fell so far, Arthur."

He ran his thumb down her jaw, other arm wrapped around her waist, "I know, I know you did."

She pressed her forehead against his chest, trembling as her eyes filled with tears. Part of her wanted to pull him down to kiss her again, but it wouldn't be for the right reasons. He was more than a distraction to her and as much as the thought scared her, she let it calm her down. She swallowed, trying and failing to hide the fact that she was crying all over the Elder's jacket, "I'm so tired."

"Come on," he gently tugged her towards her bed and she sat on it, blushing still from the kiss. She wanted to ask him to stay with her, but there were a thousand reasons he couldn't do that. For one, she'd just kissed Arthur Maxson. For two, she'd just kissed the Elder. She needed to think about things a little going forward and if she was even prepared for things to go forward. Most of all, she had no idea how he even felt. Suddenly self-conscious, she wasn't prepared when he ran a hand along her neck.

She couldn't read his expression, but he nodded and briefly held her hand, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Arthur," she sighed, exhausted physically and mentally. As much as she wanted to stay with him, her body was giving out from the day's trauma. She was out before he even left the room.

-0-

Maxson left her room quietly, but practically slammed his own door shut. He pressed his back against the door, unwilling to answer it for anything short of an emergency because his body was preoccupied with what had just occurred.

He was practically in pain when he took off his jacket. He needed to calm down and think. Still, his mind couldn't completely wrap around the fact that he'd just been kissing Shiloh. As wild as his fantasies had gotten, never would he have even suspected she would ever kiss him. He was certain she still saw him as an angry kid, being her commanding officer aside. It had made him feel inadequate for a while.

As he pulled off his jacket and tossed it onto his desk, he quickly unzipped his flight suit and sighed in relief. If Shiloh had felt his erection pressing on her, she didn't say anything about it. He could only hope his jacket was thick enough.

He was practically throbbing when he grasped himself and sat on his mattress. Leaning back against the pillow, Maxson stared at the ceiling as he hoped to get himself in control. It was doing absolutely nothing. He pulled down the bottoms of his flight suit and his standard-issue briefs, freeing himself to the cool air.

This wasn't the first time he'd done this to the idea of her, but it was unlike before. Before, he hadn't known what she tasted like, or how soft her lips were. Or how eager she was to be touched. He could only imagine the kinds of noises she would make if he touched her sensitive spots. He liked playing with her hair, always finding it so shining and pretty from growing up in a vault.

When she kissed him, she had no idea that it wrecked him. He was already so angry before. Angry at her for going into danger and angry at himself for how scared he was. He hadn't been that scared since before Sarah died. Every emotion he'd buried beneath his skin was clawing at the surface. He'd felt that spike of dread the moment he saw Shiloh again. Because he knew, he knew, that it would destroy him to ever lose her to this godforsaken wasteland.

Pumping in earnest now, he focused on the present. The muscles in his legs flexed as he imagined her hand where his was. He would trace her jaw and run his fingers through her pretty hair until she looked up at him. He didn't know if he preferred her sly smile or that serious gaze of desire she'd had after kissing him. He imagined both.

The tight Brotherhood fatigues were the best look he'd gotten at her figure and she didn't show off much skin, making him crave it more. As much as he wanted her lips and tongue on his cock, he wanted to touch and taste every inch of her. To see if she was still soft from vault life or if the wasteland had hardened her.

Throwing an arm over his forehead, he bit his lip as he came to the image of her pulling that flight suit off her body, just for him. His arm fell back to his side as he regained his breath, panting. After a moment, he sat up and cleaned himself off with a towel. He pulled his jacket back on and grabbed his favorite bourbon before sitting at his desk. Turning the terminal on, he opened a communication for California, namely for Giovanna's father.

He'd been putting this off for long enough. It certainly wouldn't risk his job after everything he'd done, no matter how important Giovanna's father was, but it would be an unpleasant call. It wasn't everyday he informed someone that their daughter dumped the Elder and was planning on running off to Chicago.

Rolling his shoulders so they popped, he waited for the communication to go through while sipping at the bourbon. He had a lot of thinking to do, namely where he wanted to go from here. He was a tactician in every aspect of his life. He couldn't deny that he held strong desires for Shiloh, couldn't deny that at all, but feelings were complicated to him and he didn't have very much experience to go on. And he definitely didn't want to talk to anyone about this.

Maxson sat back and continued waiting until the line picked up, "Sorry to interrupt your evening, sir, but there's something I need to inform you about."

-0-

Every Child of Atom soldier hired by the Watchers was dead. The airport battle had made sure of that. What Gen-1 synths they could track down were destroyed by vertibird fire. Only the Watchers themselves remained. They called themselves such, still loyal to the Institute despite their direct disobeyment of Father's recall. The recall happened shortly after Father released Nora from Vault 111, as he began to fear that they would be killed on the field in her hunt for her son. Unwilling to abandon their projects, they stayed above ground. Watchers in control of projects like where Shiloh was held were some of the first to be abandoned.

Any Watcher who had anything to do with Shiloh's freezing was likely dead from when the Brotherhood sacked the Institute. The interrogations concluded that Shiloh would find no answers there. The Watchers they had captured were working on weapons projects, namely laser weapons. They had heard about cryogenic testing to study the effects of radiation poisoning and knew Father was looking for a cure to radiation entirely, but they had nothing to do with that branch of side projects.

Out of the group, seventeen Watchers and their families remained. All agreed to be taken on by the Brotherhood as closely-watched researchers like Dr. Li. The only other option was prison with no guarantee of their families' safety. Shiloh sighed. At least Dr. Li would be in the company of those who hated the Brotherhood as much as she did. It wasn't real freedom, but it was the best they could do without imprisoning or executing them. They had proved too dangerous to simply be let free in the wasteland.

Only one scientist would be judged differently. Dr. Wikhard, the man from the top floor who built and programmed the gatling laser aimed at the Prydwen. He was one of the head scientists, and from their interrogations, the Brotherhood concluded that he was an outlier of the group and took on more terroristic methods. He loudly and openly feared the Brotherhood and sought vengeance for what they did to the Institute. With this evidence alone, Maxson ordered for him to be tried for his crimes. The trial would likely end in execution, just as Ripson's would for directly betraying the Brotherhood. Maxson would keep them as prisoners in the meantime. The trials would have to take place at the Citadel.

Shiloh was sitting in thought as Haylen approached her, looking misty-eyed, "I never got a chance to thank you. For saving Rhys."

"I didn't save him," Shiloh waved it off, "he saved me. That man's a hero. Keep him close."

Haylen blushed slightly, "I will. I already told him I'll be with him through his recovery. Knight-Captain Cade said it would take a while, but he seems positive that Rhys is going to recover."

"There were so many times that I had a companion like Rhys who didn't wake up from bullet wounds like that. He's tougher than anyone I've ever met. And I've met friendly super mutants."

Haylen smiled, looking out over the bay like Shiloh was, "He'll never tell you. So I will. I think he's really glad he got to work with you. It's not the same, but it's helped after everything with Danse. He really needed someone he could work with who didn't flinch away from his attitude."

Shiloh laughed, "He's all bark and no bite. But that man's got a heart of gold. I'm looking forward to working with him again. I plan on recommending another promotion for him from Elder Maxson."

Haylen blinked in surprise, "That's going to mean the world to him, even if he acts like it won't. Speaking of Elder Maxson," she placed a gentle hand on Shiloh's arm, "he was really worried about you. I-if you don't mind me saying, Sentinel."

The other woman smiled, still looking out over the bay, "I don't mind at all, Scribe Haylen. I know that everyone's concerned about my relationship with him-"

"It's really not anyone's business, ma'am."

"I don't blame anyone. They love him. Of course they're concerned about his well-being and I'm a stranger, legendary hero aside."

"I think," Haylen swallowed, steeling herself for what she was about to say, "I think he's lonely. And he has been for a long time. And it worries so many of us because we care about him, but we know that isn't enough."

Shiloh turned to look up at the Prydwen as it floated gently above the airport, "I understand."

"It's just my interpretation."

"I care about him," she looked down at her hands, suddenly shy, "I care a lot. But there are a lot of things we need to work on. Mostly, we need to finish our business in the Commonwealth."

Haylen sighed, "I can't wait to be home."

"Me neither. It's been too long for all of us. I have so many places to visit and people to see."

"So...you'll be leaving us when you return to the Capital Wasteland?"

"For a brief time, maybe. But I'll come back. The Citadel is all the home I've got."

"What about Maxson?"

Shiloh turned to Haylen immediately, blushing red. She was surprised at the scribe's sudden cheekiness, "Well you don't have to be so blunt."

Haylen laughed, "I like to be honest with you, ma'am."

Grinning, the two women continued watching the bay. They could feel this stage in their lives ending. This would likely be one of the last times they could ever sit back and watch the Commonwealth skyline shining in the sun.