Piper lifted the handle from its rest and gave it a hard turn. She pulled the hatch cover back away from the steel plate toward the chairs they had been sitting in front of. Downstairs the lights automatically turned on. The brightness of the white made the room seem cool from upstairs. She could see the metal ladder leading down and the metal plate on the floor downstairs that matched the one she was standing next to.

"Downstairs is a motor-driven lift to move things up and down through the hole. The big metal plate is controlled by the terminal downstairs too. It will be easy to bring the dinette up if you like it, Nat. And Danny's stuff." Alex said with a smile. "But before we do all that, I need to show you what I have for you guys downstairs. Let's go."

Piper quickly made her way down and looked around the large room. The room downstairs was half the size of the room upstairs. It was directly under the area with the high ceiling. Piper figured it was maybe part of the original construction.

The basement room was rectangular, and painted light gray, except for the white ceiling. Around the room were larger ceiling light fixtures, keeping the place well-lit. The ladder dropped them down, just offset of the center of the room and near a double metal-mesh door that was painted the same green color as the wall outside that Diamond City was famous for.

Piper took a second to peer through it, hearing her sister climb down the ladder behind her. Through the mesh, she saw the second room that was mostly unused. She could see shelves to her left and wrapped around the corner of the left wall with boxes, food, and supplies stored on them. There were also some more blue velvet chairs and a coffee table. It also contained the dinette set in the back of the room, near the door with the exit sign above it and a terminal on the wall.

There was a separate large room on the far right made of concrete block. Piper guessed it was the other bathroom Alex had mentioned last night even though she thought it was a little too large a space for just a bathroom. She wasn't sure what else would be in there.

She turned back to the room they were in as Alex started to come down the ladder. To her right were two workbenches and an expansive built-in wooded workbench. Together, they filled the expanse of the wall and wrapped around in an L-shape. On the far end of the L-shape sat a terminal and Alex's Pip-Boy. There was a separate chair for the terminal, and a stack of holotapes sitting in a clear glass container. Above the workbenches, two large fans we set into the wall, but neither was running. Piper wondered where they exhausted out since they were underground. Against the interior wall on the left of the weapons workbench were several gun racks and toolboxes. The armor workbench had a tall rack next to it that had several garments hanging on it.

Piper walked over to the workbenches to have a closer look, not that she was handy herself. The most she knew how to do was clean and care for her pistol. After that, she had settled into a routine of helping Alex whenever they worked in a settlement outfitting people with weapons and armor. Alex and the other Minutemen worked on the radio towers, security, and making sure the settlements were properly set up to defend themselves. Piper chipped in wherever she could, staying close to wherever Alex was. That way they could work together on projects.

She absentmindedly shifted through the clothes on the rack. Most of the garments were disassembled or in the process of being repaired. She slipped her hand between a black jacket and a burgundy one and pushed them apart. The burgundy jacket turned out to be a leather trench coat similar in style to her own. She pulled it from the rack to inspect it.

"It has a ballistic weave fabric liner and is waterproofed with wax. It's made with Brahmin leather, so it's tougher and won't wear out as fast. Most of the imperfections are on the inside so you can't tell they're there. The ghouls at the ranch dyed it for me, I had them get it as close to the one I picked up as possible."

Piper looked at her in disbelief, "This is incredible! You made this?"

"Yeah," Alex blushed, "I added impact protection to the elbows since you like to use them as lethal weapons." Alex shrugged at Piper's look, "You needed a new coat, and I needed a challenge."

A small smile spread across Piper's lips as she examined the coat.

"To be fair, I cheated a little. I took the pattern from a coat I found at Fallon's for that one and the black one next to it. I just made the black one a little shorter in length." Alex walked over to the workbenches. "You can try it on if you like it. It's not that different than the coat you own now. I even added front pockets like yours."

"Put it on, Piper, and let's see it." Nat opened the coat Piper was holding to inspect it. "Where did you learn to sew, Blue?"

"My grandmother taught us since we were young how to alter and make clothing. She'd have us work on projects with her at her sewing machine in the back room. Eventually, we got to work on family projects with her, everything from Grandpa's golf pants to my uncles' motorcycle jackets. She'd worked as a tailor and pattern maker, so she was a phenomenal teacher."

"Us? Who was the other person?" Piper slipped on the coat and buttoned it.

"My sister, Maddie, uh Madison, and I." Alex turned Piper around looking at the coat. "How does it feel?"

Piper didn't want to press her further about her family knowing that it would be painful. "It actually fits better than mine." Piper ran her hands down the sides and over the pockets. She looked down at it, turning to look at herself. Her hands found the leather strap in the middle and tied it shut. "This is… just… I can't believe you made this!" She untied and unbuttoned the jacket, taking it off.

Nat picked up the long black jacket on the rack and examined it. "You have a sister?"

Alex cleared her throat and walked to the shelves, "I had a sister, Nat. Maddie and my dad died when she was fifteen in a car accident." Alex pulled the cover off the box and looked inside.

Piper and Nat shared a look and Piper elbowed her. "I'm sorry, Blue," Nat said quickly.

"Me too, I didn't know," Piper added.

When Alex turned back to them, she offered them a small smile in exchange. "Don't be. It was a long time ago and I've had a lot of time to come to terms with it."

"Was she older than you?"

It took Alex a second to answer Nat. "Maddie was two years younger than me. I was seventeen when she died."

Alex touched the jacket Nat was holding. "You should try that one on. You and Piper are around the same height and build, so that should fit. I doubt you're going to grow much more than you have. I made it for Piper, but I think it will fit you just fine."

Nat slipped the jacket on, pulling her long chestnut hair out from the back, and turned to Piper, "How do I look?"

Piper looked at the similar cut to her own jacket. She admired Alex's ability to pay attention to the little details about them that mattered. The books, the jackets, everything they talked about she seemed to remember. Then again Piper realized she was a little biased. The jacket wasn't quite as long as the burgundy one, but it did fit Nat well. "That looks really good on you." Piper watched her sister turn in a circle. "Did you add ballistic weave to this one too?"

"Yeah, like I said I originally made it for you, but someone had to go and grow up on us." She grinned at Nat, but Nat didn't return her smile. Piper thought it was odd.

"I figure at some point she will be joining us, and you'd want her protected. So, it also has padding on the elbows, the weave, and is waterproof just like the other one." Alex pulled out two black jumpsuits. "I got these at vault ninety-five, they should fit you. They're insulated like mine, so they are nice any time of year. Really, the only difference from mine is they're black instead of blue. Oh, and these can also be monitored with a Pip-Boy to keep you comfortable out there."

"So, does this mean I can finally go with you?" Nat took the jumpsuit from Alex and looked at her sister.

"We can discuss it later in private," Piper answered after a minute. She could tell Nat didn't like the answer, but she wasn't going to like any answer Piper gave her. She didn't want to end up arguing in front of Alex again.

"And… you'll need those Pip-Boys…" Alex reached into the box next to where the jumpsuits were and pulled out a pink Pip-Boy, and handed it to Nat. "When your sister is ready to unleash you on the world, that one is yours."

Nat's eyes became huge. "A pink Pip-Boy?!"

"It took me a couple of tries to get the color right… bubble gum pink is still your favorite, right?"

"Yeah, it is!"

Alex reached into the box and pulled out a black Pip-Boy and smirked at Piper handing it to her. "I didn't think pink was your color."

"Where did you get these?" Piper took the Pip-Boy from her and inspected it.

"Vault ninety-five had quite a bit of tech on lockdown. When we left, we packed out as much as possible. I found where they were maintaining the Pip-Boys and modified the color of one for Nat. I had to repair them, so it took me a bit to do with all the running around. The last parts came in while we were at Starlight. I was up late the other night to finish putting the black one together and upgrading it. I'm updating mine now with some new programming Tom gave me."

Piper gave her an odd look. "I thought you weren't planning on coming back after helping Cait."

Alex gave her a long look before answering. "I wasn't."

Nat stopped what she was doing and made a face. "What? Why not and when did you help Cait?"

"It was a while ago, kiddo." Alex sighed and Piper could tell she didn't want to explain things. "Anyway, I gave them to Cait with the key to this place. She brought everything here."

Piper set the Pip-Boy down on the workbench. "Why would she bring it here?" It bothered her that Alex seemed to be giving half an answer.

Nat picked up her Pip-Boy and scrolled through it.

"I told her to give you the key after I left," Alex said quietly. "I wanted to make sure you two were taken care of no matter what. So, I told her that I wanted you to have this place."

Piper let out a long breath as they watched each other closely. She finally understood how deep Alex's feelings ran and for how long. "That… Heh. That's awful sweet of you." Piper never had a doubt about the way she cared for Alex, and any reservations she had about Alex's feelings for her melted away as they both stood there. "You really are all heart, you know that, right?"

Alex gave a half-hearted laugh. "I just wanted to see that you and Nat are taken care of no matter what. Cait gave me the key back the next day when I met up with her at the Dugout and I told her I was staying. She surprisingly looked relieved when I told her."

Piper didn't need to think about the reason why Cait would be relieved. She already knew. She glanced at Nat, who was still focused on her Pip-Boy. She looked back at Alex and bit her lip. Alex searched her face, her eyes landing on Piper's lips. Alex blinked and looked directly into her eyes and mouthed 'later' at her. Piper nodded, letting the thought of what later would entail curling her lips into a smile as they watched each other.

"Oh, since I figured we'd need some entertainment out there." Alex leaned over, turned the unit so she could see it, and clicked the dial to inventory. She toggled to the 'BPL Compressed File', highlighting the file. She looked back at Piper and Nat, pushing the Pip-Boy so they could both see it.

"What's that?" Nat glanced up at her.

"The entire Boston Public Library was digitized by scribes, and I took a copy. I put every book on both of your Pip-Boys in this compressed file. You can add the files to any terminal, including yours, and read at your leisure or download a book or two to holotapes for your Pip-boys for when we're on the road. The best part is, we can leave the entire library for folks to enjoy as well if they have terminals in their settlements. Which at some point, they all will."

Piper didn't bother waiting anymore. She hugged Alex, being careful not to hurt her arm. "You're incredible, you know that?" She whispered to Alex. "They don't make them like you anymore."

"I think the same thing of you," Alex whispered back, pulling her as close as possible.

"I'm still here and I can totally hear you." Nat clicked through the Pip-Boy. "What's vats?"

Piper pulled away from Alex, playfully rolled her eyes, and mouthed 'later' at her. She watched the large smile bloom on Alex's face, and it made her stomach flutter.

Alex stayed close to Piper and put her hand on Piper's hip. "VATS is a little complicated to explain. It stands for Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System." She turned the Pip-Boy so that all three of them could see it. Piper felt her fingers push the hem of her shirt up and slip underneath along her side. "When you're wearing this, you can use VATS to help you target weak points on the bad guys or monsters."

Piper closed her eyes as Alex's thumb and fingers stroked her skin. She really wanted to drag Alex back upstairs. As Alex continued her explanation, Piper opened her eyes. "Basically, you see them through the computer virtual targeting system. It gives the perception of time slowing so you can be more accurate. It also provides a combat probability for targeting critical areas."

"Whoa, ok, that's cool. But how does it work?" Nat turned the dial and opened the menu.

"VATS… well the way it was explained to me… basically, you aren't seeing it with your eyes, but in your brain, since it's electrically connected to us." Alex's nails scraped over Piper's back, affectionately stroking her skin.

"That doesn't mean anything to me, Blue." Nat waited patiently for a better answer.

"Oh, ok, um… The Pip-Boy integrates itself into our own bio-electrical field when we put it on and calibrate it. Once it's calibrated to you, it can monitor your health, auto-inject stims, or allow you to use the virtual targeting system." Alex clicked further into the menu, pulling up the calibration functions. "VATS works in our brain, which is why we can see where to shoot, and it feels like time is slowing." She clicked through the menu quickly to the miscellaneous section, "It also will thermally regulate the insulated jumpsuits to keep you comfortable any time of year." Alex shrugged at her, "After that, I'm not really sure about how to explain how these things work. There's a lot of science that I don't understand involved. I just know it works but it takes a few tries to get the hang of using everything on here."

Nat's eyes lit up. "Will you show me?"

Piper ran her hand through Nat's hair. "How about we do that later?" Nat flinched away from her touch. Piper didn't show it, but it hurt her feelings. She was tired of Nat being angry with her.

"I'll show you tomorrow. Sound good?" Alex let go of Piper and walked to the double doors. "The terminal down here is programmed with a stand-alone maintenance simulation for the Pip-Boys. When we come home, we have to make sure they are in good working order like any of our gear. I'm running diagnostics on mine." Alex unlatched the green door farthest from them. "How about we take a look at that dinette now?"

"Don't forget we need to grab Danny's stuff too," Piper added taking Alex's hand.

"We can do that right now." Alex pushed open the door and let Nat and Piper enter first. "On the left is storage. I'm keeping canned and bottled stuff down here for emergencies." Alex walked over to the first set of shelves, "I also have water, alcohol, medical supplies, cigars, and cigarettes down here. We just need to grab Danny a couple of boxes." She pulled open a box and pulled out a carton of Grey Tortoise cigarettes and handed it to Piper. "Don't worry, we won't be running out any time soon."

Piper looked at the pristine carton and then at the box, "Are you kidding me? Is this full?"

Alex let the wicked grin consume her face. "Yeah, it is. Just don't tell the neighborhood where you get your candy from, little girl."

Piper snickered at the ridiculousness of her statement, "Sure thing, Blue. I'll keep it under my hat."

Nat rolled her eyes at them as she walked to the table.

Alex opened another box and looked inside. Piper looked over to the table and Nat with a smile. She leaned in and gave Alex a quick kiss.

Alex gave her a seductive look. "Nat's going to really complain if you keep that up," she whispered to her.

Piper stepped closer to her, "I just wanted to say thank you." Her whisper was equally flirtatious.

Alex slipped her fingers under Piper's chin, "For what, doll?" The husky way she asked made Piper wet and Piper wanted to pin her to the shelves.

Behind Alex, Nat slid a chair noisily across the concrete floor. The grating noise pulled Piper from her lustful thoughts. "Everything," she answered breathily, the butterflies in her stomach swarming under the woman's ardent gaze.

Piper watched the smile form on Alex's lips. "How about you show me later?"

Piper looked over Alex's shoulder at Nat, wondering if she could hear them talking. "I promise, I will tonight."

Alex's smile grew larger. "Then I need to go soon so I can get back quicker. I don't want to keep you waiting."

Piper chuckled, "I might fall asleep if you don't hurry."

Alex stifled her quiet laugh, "I know what will wake you up." Piper sighed softly at the thought.

"I have a question," Nat called over to them.

Piper gave Alex an apologetic look and Alex shrugged back at her, pulling a pen from her pocket. She quickly scrawled Danny's name on two of the boxes. "Shoot, sis," Piper called back to her.

Nat gave Piper an insulted look, "Why did you give me all this stuff, Blue?"

Alex stuffed the pen in her pocket, took Piper's hand, and they walked to the table. They slid out the chairs and sat down with Nat. "Well, for a couple of reasons," Alex gave her a warm smile as she spoke. "First, if we need to get out of Diamond City, you'll have what you need to survive out there. I wanted you to know where it is and how to find it. And second, when you do come with us, I want you to have as much as possible to keep yourself safe. This stuff isn't easy to come by and I wanted to make sure you and your sister are taken care of."

Nat weighed her words, "So, when I can come, but I can't come with you right now?" She looked pointedly at Piper.

"I said we'll discuss this in private later," Piper answered curtly. She knew Nat was about to start another fight and she didn't want Alex there for it.

"Uh, so what do you think of the table?" Alex hastily countered. "I'm sorry I didn't consider bringing it up before. Will this work?"

Piper appreciated her attempt to deflect the conversation. But she knew her sister well enough to know that Nat was just as willful as she was. The look on Nat's face told that the fight was coming whether she wanted it or not.

"The table? Yeah, it's fine," Nat paused. The look that crossed her face became calculated. "In two weeks, school is over and…"

Piper caught Alex looking at her, but she stayed focused on Nat. "I know that Nat and like I said, we'll discuss it later."

Alex scooted her chair back quietly, "Maybe, I should go so you two can talk now."

"Don't bother, Blue. She's just going to keep avoiding me."

"Nat, I'm not avoiding you, I'm telling you I want to discuss this in private."

Alex cleared her throat, "Hey so… I should leave then."

Nat ignored Alex and talked over her, "You know what? Now works for me." Nat narrowed her eyes at Piper, "My friends want to leave Diamond City after school, and I'm going with them."

Piper felt like she got the wind knocked out of her. "What?"

"Where do your friends want to go?" Alex quickly followed up.

"To South Boston, to join the Minutemen training at the Castle." Nat sat back against the chair watching them. "I'm leaving the day after school lets out."

A hole opened in Piper's chest. She couldn't speak.

"Nat, the world outside the gate is not the greatest. Getting to the Castle is one thing, making it through training with Colonel Shaw is another. There's a reason I put her in charge of training the new bloods." Alex looked at Piper, but Piper couldn't respond. "Have you two talked about you joining the Minutemen already?"

"Piper doesn't talk about anything with me," Nat crossed her arms, staring at Piper. "I've heard her tell you she doesn't want to be around me either. So why stay any longer than I have to? She should be happy I'm leaving."

Alex sat back appalled, "She has never said that about you the entire time I've known her. When we're out, we spend a lot of time talking about you and…"

"Really? How do you expect me to know that? She's only been here because you tried to feed yourself to a yao guai." Nat focused her glare on Piper.

Piper felt the world crashing down around her.

Nat was on a roll and not willing to stop. "It doesn't matter, Blue. I'll leave as soon as school's done."

"Look, Nat. Don't make any rash decisions. You should talk about this like a family…"

"Family?" Nat snapped back at her, "We aren't a family, Blue. This entire last year was a lie, and I don't even know how to think of you now."

Alex looked like Nat had punched her. "That's not fair, Nat." Piper mumbled weakly. "You're angry at me, not her."

"Oh, sorry. I'll just forget the last few years happened. That will make it all better for you, right?" The anger on her face reminded Piper of all the conversations she'd had with Alex warning her what might happen if she kept Nat at a distance. "Not like you fucking care anyway, Piper."

"Nat, that's uncalled for. Come on, don't talk to your sister like that, please. It's rude." This time Alex snapped back at her.

Nat pushed her chair back, standing angrily. "Of course, you'd take her side." She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "You aren't anyone's mother here, Blue. Hell, thinking about it, you aren't really anything to me, are you?" She leaned in, her red face bright and expressive. "My sister's friend doesn't get to lecture me on how I can or can't talk to her."

"Natalie!" Piper snarled her name watching Alex's face drain of color. "I cannot believe you right now!"

Alex held up her hand, motioning for Piper to wait. "No, Piper," Alex stood and stepped away from the table. Her voice was devoid of any emotion. "She's right. I'm not anyone's mother and I've clearly overstepped." She looked at Piper, but Piper couldn't read her at all. "Please make sure Danny gets his boxes. If you'll excuse me, I need to go." Alex turned on her heel and hit the double doors, blowing through them. She climbed the ladder and was gone in a few seconds.

Piper waited until she heard the door slam upstairs. "I hope you realize; grass is less grounded than you are right now."

"You're grounding me for telling you I'm leaving?" Nat rolled her eyes disgusted, "That's nuts."

"No, I'm grounding you for being a horrible person." Piper turned to stare at her scowling sister's face. "We're going to discuss how you've been acting. But right now, I'm trying really hard not to yell at you." Piper got up slowly. Her hands were animated in her annoyance with her sister. "I cannot believe you'd talk to either of us this way. And what you just said to her, it was heartless."

"How I'm talking?" Nat crossed her arms and gave her a defiant glare. "It's better than not talking at all, isn't it? Because I just planned to leave and not say anything. Not that I think you'd actually care."

"How can you say that?! Of course, I care, Natalie! I'm terrified of losing you. And with the death threats lately…"

"Death threats?"

"You heard me." Piper gave in to her question knowing she needed to be forthcoming. Piper sighed knowing she needed to tell her or risk losing Nat to her anger. "I've gotten death threats since I started the paper. But this one… this one was different. It was personal."

Nat let her arms drop and held onto the back of the chair she had been sitting in. "What are you talking about? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why do you think we're staying with Blue?" Piper gave her an earnest look.

"Because someone tried to blow up the generator at the school."

"It's more than that, Nat. A lot more." She ran her fingers through her hair, angrily. "Blue found out we got another death threat, and that they…" It was suddenly difficult to speak. She could feel her throat tense, hurting from the strain of her emotions. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill hotly onto her face. Her fear and anger made her ribs hurt. She'd promised herself to never tell Nat; to always protect her. But she was so close to losing her. It was suddenly all too much.

"Blue knew?"

Piper made the mistake of looking at Nat's face. The burning red had given way to the worried look that was spreading. Nat's green eyes probed her. Piper lost her battle with her tears.

"Piper?"

Piper sat down in the chair as her own emotions stained her face. "We get them all the time, Nat." Her answer was so quiet that she realized Nat might not have heard her.

Nat inhaled sharply, "We do? What did they say?"

Her tears pooled silently on the table as she leaned over it. Wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand, Piper tried to reign in her feelings. "This time they threatened you. The things they wrote…" Piper took a deep breath before continuing. "That's why I've been walking with you to school every day." Her voice was shaky, and it hurt to talk.

Nat quietly sat back down in her chair. "Has anyone tried to… to hurt you?"

More tears slipped down Piper's face as she nodded. She stared at the growing pool on the table. Piper didn't hear her sister move when she felt her arms wrap around her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nat asked shakily.

The tenderness and worry that colored her voice, made the hurt Piper felt more painful. She hugged her back, crushing her eyes closed. "I didn't want to scare you. You worry about everything, and I'm supposed to be the one to take care of things." The more Piper talked the more tears came out, like the dam had broken and there was no way for her to control the flood.

Piper heard Nat tut disapprovingly. "Piper, you dumbass." Nat ran her fingers over her sister's hair. "You should know by you can count on me for anything." She tipped her sister's face up to look at her. "If you… if you're in trouble you have to tell me. You can't hide anything from me, it's not fair." Nat wiped the wetness from Piper's face.

Piper knew she was waiting for an answer. "I've been getting death threats since I printed the first article, Nat." She watched her sister's face become more apprehensive. "I've been poisoned, shot at, and almost executed. Every time something happened, I wondered how I was going to take care of you if someone did catch up with me. Who'd watch out for you? Then you started to grow up, and I've lived in fear of something happening to you. The more attention we got with the paper, the more I worried." Piper brushed her hair back over her ear. "Hell, I was afraid that the Institute would pay us a visit at some point." Piper sat back a little to look up at Nat. "And this time… this time they said they were coming for you." More tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. Nat knelt in front of her and grasped her hands. "I've had Danny and the guards looking out for us. I made Blue promise me a long time ago that if I… that if something happened to me that she'd take you in."

Piper's breath hitched, and her throat was raw from her emotions. She lit a cigarette, trying to calm her nerves. Nat brought her the ashtray from the coffee table. She smoked the entire cigarette in silence, trying to get herself under control. She crushed out her smoke before she continued. "Then Blue shows up out of nowhere yesterday and I finally felt like everything might be ok." Piper chuckled quietly, "She always makes me feel safe."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this sooner?"

"Because it's hard to talk about stuff like this and I'm your big sister. It's always been my job to take care of you since Dad died. I have to make decisions for us every day and I know I've made mistakes along the way." Piper wiped her face on the inside of her tee. "Blue told me that I need to stop making myself scarce a long time ago and to be honest with you. That you'd grow up to be your own person. I just needed to love you and be there for you. That's what I'm trying to do." Piper reached out and took her sister's hands again. "I do love you and I'm proud of the person you are growing up to be. I'm sorry if I've made it seem like I don't want to be around you. I've been trying really hard to protect you from everything that's going on in the world outside of Diamond City. Not talking to me for the last three months, it hurt Nat."

"But Blue knew about these death threats?"

Piper fixed her with a sterner look. "Yes, she knew. She's always known and it's why she takes care of us like she does. She doesn't deserve to be shit on. Especially, after everything."

"Are you serious right now, Piper? You both just spent all morning telling me how the entire time I thought we were a family wasn't real. What am I supposed to think? Now you're telling me that you get death threats all the time and you've never once told me. How am I supposed to help you? I'm your sister, dammit. But you never talk to me about anything."

Dumbstruck, Piper just gaped at her.

"I told you I love Blue too. But this whole time... it wasn't real." Nat shook her head and sat down in her chair, looking at her hands.

"Look I know that things with Blue were… are a little complicated." Nat looked up at her incredulously. "If you want me to say I was a coward, I straight up tell you that. There were so many times I wanted to tell her. But what we had, it felt so good, Nat, and it was too good to lose. I had a best friend, for the first time, ever. I had someone I could talk to about anything, and they weren't afraid of me or call me a nosy snoop. She was the only person I could count on other than you. I didn't want to push her away." Piper reached out and put her hand on Nat's, "I really… really need you to try and understand this from my point of view. I had you and the paper and that was it. I thought the paper was the best thing I was ever going to do with my life, then I met Blue."

Nat slowly turned her hand in Piper's and Piper thought she was going to pull away. Nat took her fingers and squeezed them. "Then what are we? Because I wanted us to be a family…"

"We are a family, Nat. It's not pretty or clean, but it is ours. And she doesn't deserve what you said to her just because you're mad at me. She's trying her best, just like you are, and just like I am. We're only human and we're all going to fuck things up occasionally." Piper watched her sister's shoulders slump. "She really does love you and so do I." Piper tried to brush the hot tears away before they fell. "How many people have carried a complete Giddy Up Buttercup across the Commonwealth for you? Then convince a roboticist to get it working and that was after killing a group of super mutants just to get into the factory." Piper hugged her tightly, "She loves you and you have to find a way to apologize to her. You hurt her badly, and it's up to you to make things right."

"I know and I'm sorry," Nat sighed sadly. "I have been really mad at you." Nat's voice was quiet, her brows were threaded together. "You just leave and sometimes I think you aren't ever going to come home. When you're here, it just seems like all you want to talk about is the paper or leaving again."

"Come here, we're going to talk about this." Piper got up, pulling her sister to her feet, and taking her over to the couch. Piper sat, pulling Nat down with her. "Why do you think I'm not coming home?" Piper hugged her sister and held her. She felt Nat slump into her.

"I read your notes and your journal." Nat tucked her feet under herself as Piper stroked her hair. "You write everything down and sometimes; it reads like you didn't think you were going to make it out of wherever it was you were. What if you don't?" Nat smacked her leg with her hand upset. "Then you just left Blue after she got hurt…"

"I needed to come home to take care of you. We'd been gone for a while; the doctors were doing everything they could. I made the only choice I could make." Piper ran her hand over Nat's hair. They hadn't sat on a couch together talking in a while. Piper couldn't remember the last time Nat needed comforting or wanted it. It had been so long that she'd forgotten when the last time was. "The paper… it's how we stay fed. I know you want to do more, and I want to let you. But I need you to listen to what I'm about to say. The Commonwealth is always trying to kill us. Between raiders, deathclaws, and everything else; there's always something out there that will try to get us. When you walk out there, you need to be ready. It's why Blue and I have been teaching you how to survive. Why do you think she gave you everything today? She knows what's out there and how fast people can die…" Piper got choked up thinking about the yao guai and Alex.

"What happened to Blue?"

Piper closed her eyes, "She saved my life, Nat."

Nat sat up and studied her before she spoke again, "How? You said a yao guai attacked her."

"It did, but I didn't tell you it was trying to get to me." Piper looked at her sister's anxious face and sighed sadly, "There were two bears that night. We killed one but didn't know the other one was still in the woods. We'd walked around to the far side of the brahmin pen on the other side of the settlement to check the damage. That's when other bear came out of the woods." Piper wiped her eyes, trying hard not to cry again. "It was almost on me, and she tackled me into the shed. I saw her shut the door, then it…" Piper couldn't hold back the tears any longer. "I heard her scream. I tried but I couldn't get the door open. It had her pinned against it. All I could do was listen… to her shrieks while she screamed for help and the noises it made trying to eat her alive." Piper swallowed the thick saliva in her mouth as the tears leaked from her eyes. "The sounds… I can't forget the sounds… wet… tearing… the sound of her bones breaking." Piper looked back into her sister's eyes. "I don't know how she killed it. I heard the gun go off, but I lost count of how many times. In the dark, I could smell blood. I heard it die and I still couldn't get the goddamn door open."

Nat pulled her into a tight hug and Piper felt Nat's hot tears on her cheek.

"They wouldn't let me see her. So, I knew it was bad. Then Preston and one of the doctors came to talk to me. Preston held my hand when the doctor told me that she wasn't going to make it through the night. I was in shock; we'd gone for a romantic walk and then she…" Piper bit her lip and wiped the tears from her face. "They told me I could see her, but she wouldn't be awake. That I should say goodbye to her."

Piper lit a cigarette trying to calm herself down. "The only person who stayed in the room was Curie. She didn't say anything to me, she just kept working on Blue." Piper took a drag and Nat pulled the cigarette out of her hand, taking a hit. "I remember all the wires and tubes they had in her. The white Pip-Boy attached to her arm kept beeping. They had put a chair next to the bed for me and so I sat in it." Piper took another long drag and inspected the filter. "I told her everything I didn't have the courage to say to her before that moment. It all just came pouring out. I told her how I wanted to kiss her so many times that night and that I should have. Then I finally told her that I loved her. I didn't even know if she could hear me." Piper lit another cigarette from the remains of the first one. "Curie came around to the side of the bed I was on and hugged me. She worked on keeping Blue alive that night and told me to just keep talking to her. I couldn't bring myself to do anything but sit there, talk, and hold her hand. I fell asleep at some point before morning." Piper watched Nat pull a cigarette out of the pack and light it. "When I woke up, Curie was hopeful because she'd made it through the night. I remember looking at our hands and it was the first time I saw she wasn't wearing her wedding band. Curie said she spotted she hadn't been wearing it for a while, and I felt bad because I never noticed."

"Preston sent me home after a couple of days. Said there was nothing I could do." They both took a drag at the same time before Piper continued. "When I got home, I was so numb. But I still needed to take of things here and you. I had to carry on like… like nothing had happened."

"That's why you were crying at night."

Piper nodded.

"But there were Minutemen that came here. I figured they were telling you how she was."

Piper took another hit, exhaling the smoke through her nose. "Yeah, they did. For a little while she got better and eventually woke up, but she was really sick from some kind of disease she caught from the yao guai. They had to put her in a coma to treat her. It was touch and go for a while, that's why they were here every day. It took a long time before she got better. Preston told me not to get my hopes up, but Curie and Doc Garrett were doing their best."

"That's why you wouldn't go get her." Nat took one last drag from her smoke and then crushed it out.

Piper's head hurt from crying. "Yeah," She whispered sadly. Piper needed a cold drink; she wondered if Alex had any beer she kept hidden away. Alex was a bourbon girl, but Piper loved the cold suds. She got up and went to the shelves and looked through the crates. She looked at the four crates on the first shelf and smiled as she pulled out a Gwinnett lager and opened the bottle with her lighter.

Nat got up and wandered over to the shelves with her. "Do you think there's a Nuka Grape somewhere?" Piper moved to the next shelf and looked at the bottles.

Nat pulled a bottle from the crate in front of Piper, inspecting the contents, "It's all cherry and grape."

"What are our favorite flavors?" Piper took a drink of the cool beer.

Nat took the lighter from her hand and opened her bottle, "Cherry and Grape." Nat sighed and took a drink.

Piper turned to her sister. "Are you surprised at all?"

"Not really. Guess she was serious about making living together here a thing, huh?" Nat wiped the soda off her lip like she had done since she was little, it made Piper smile.

Piper turned to her sister, watching her take another drink of her soda. "What do you want to do?"

Nat looked at the Pip-Boy on the table, "Will that thing let me go back in time and not be the world's biggest dick?"

Piper laughed, "No, but you could wait until tonight and apologize when she gets back."

"I guess," Nat mumbled. "Do you think she'll even talk to me?"

Piper contemplated her sister's questions before answering. "I've seen Blue angry plenty of times," she thought about Alex and how she'd acted in the past. "She doesn't lash out at people. She just needs time to cool off and so do you. I think if you talk to her tonight, she'll listen." Piper watch Nat as she took another drink from the bottle. "Why don't we take this stuff upstairs and wait for Danny? We could listen to some music, and you can read that book."

Nat gave her head a quick bob, "Sure."