"One dog walks into a bar, and the bartender asks 'Well, how did you get in here?'
"Another dog walks into the bar and the bartender thinks 'What's going on?'
"Three Dog walks into the bar and the bartender yells, 'Hey! What's up Three-Dog!'
"Because your old pal Three-Dog's got the scoops that keep your ears full.
"By now, everybody knows that the big bad General has been putting the lean on the fine people of the Capital Wastes. And even though your boys in shining power armor, the Capital Wastes' finest, have been fighting off the super mutant menance, they've been holding the line against the General and her shock troopers trying to end our way of life.
"But finally, the why has been revealed. Three-Dog, yours truly, has the inside skinny from a very reliable source. The nuclear weapon that the General falsely claimed was sent to attack the Commonwealth was instead - and hold on to your loved ones for this bombshell, no pun intended - launched by herself against her political rivals. That's right, the General fired a nuclear weapon at her own people just so she could keep living cushy.
"Some people are just plain evil, you know?"
1
Two women walked away from the citadel. The blonde was dressed in a plain pre-war military jumpsuit and Navy issue body armor. The Asian was dressed in a shimmering black body suit that wasn't activated with her mask dangling from her waist and an also depowered electrical sword across her back.
"Well, at least they let us stay the night." Reilly said.
The Lone Wanderer said nothing.
"They seemed to charge us enough for it, considering how light on caps this bag is.", the blonde continued.
The Lone Wanderer said nothing.
"But they shouldn't have charged that much. With all the tossing and turning you did last night, neither of us got much sleep.", she continued.
The Lone Wanderer said nothing.
"Oh don't do that!", Reilly exclaimed.
The Asian woman turned to her. "Do what?", she snapped.
"That.", the other pointed out. "I've been through this before. It may add to your reputation but it's hell on everyone who knows the real you. Fawkes didn't even talk to you for a year after your last breakdown."
"Breakdown?", the Lone Wanderer replied.
"Yes: breakdown.", Reilly confirmed. "I don't know what they taught you in that vault of yours. But it's like you get a result in your head and then you're only as good as the result. And then you start believing that you've tried everything and that you need to throw everything away so you can try something new. And by new, I mean wrong."
The other woman snapped back. "Well, it works doesn't it."
"People aren't going to buy it this time.", the blonde warned.
"They don't have to buy it.", the Lone Wanderer explained. "They just get to keep living free lives. I have to take on what others can't do."
Reilly shook her head. "That's some straight communism. 'From each according to their ability, to each according to their need.'"
"Then tell it to the Enclave!", the Lone Wanderer spat. "Oh, that's right. I saved us all from the Enclave. And no one was telling me about how wrong I was to do anything that was needed then."
Reilly took her hands in her own. "The people don't know you/"
"The people know me!"
"Not like we do!", Reilly continued. "We're your friends. We see what going on these...these tirades does to you. You aren't the same person for a long time."
The Lone Wanderer took her hands back. She folded her arms and looked away. "What's a woman lose if she can gain the whole world and only at the cost of her own soul?"
Reilly looked at her friends back. "That's not how that goes."
"I'm up against a woman who might as well be playing by those rules.", was the reply.
"So's the Brotherhood of Steel.", the blonde continued. "And look what they ended up doing. They aren't even hiding from the fact that they bankrolled that contamination of the Commonwealth just as much as they bankrolled us. Is that what you're defending?"
"I'm not...", the other woman trailed off. "I can fix that. But not if the General ends the Capital Wastes first."
Reilly shook her head. "Maybe this is why Nick left. We've seen him call things way before the rest of us could see it. I didn't think you'd do this again. But maybe he saw what you were thinking. Maybe you were even planning it and tipped him off."
"Even you don't know what I'm planning!", the Lone Wanderer shot back.
"But you are planning something.", Reilly pointed out. "And something you can't put in front of my team because you know that even a mercenary squad like mine wouldn't help you for all the caps you can muster."
"They're my caps. I'll do what I want with them.", the other woman whispered. "As for your caps, you take them back to the Rangers. They earned them."
"I'll dole out your share."
The Lone Wanderer dismissed her. "Keep them. It'll give Fawkes a reason to open the door when I come back for them."
She was hugged from behind. "Good luck then. If you're going to go it alone, you're going to need it."
The Lone Wanderer shrugged Reilly away and left into the wastes.
