The elevator went down several floors, the whirs of the centuries old mechanism filling the whole space with a soft, metallic, droning sound. It was somewhat soothing but also terrifying, like the groan of an ancient being. Joshua could feel the descent down the cavernous shaft in his stomach. Wherever they were going, it wasn't good.

The elevator suddenly jolted to a halt, slightly bringing him off his feet before he caught himself on the handlebar. Carrie seemed unfazed, like she was used to the unpredictable movements of the climb down.

The doors opened, revealing a hub filled with bright blue and green lights, all flashing and pinging. Multiple people, some wearing Brotherhood Scribe uniforms, typing away on terminals. At the center, a man in his 30's or so with short, blonde hair and wearing a Follower's lab coat.

Before Carrie could say anything, a dog sporting a few cybernetic limbs and, most notably, a blue container on its head with, what Joshua assumed to be, its brain, jumped onto Carrie excitedly and barked multiple times. Carrie fell onto the floor as she embraced the weight of the dog.

Carrie seemed to giggle and started stroking the few spots of fur on the dog and gave it compliments in a baby voice.

"Awwww Rexie! Who's a good little boy? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!"

Rex eventually got off her and barked again. He then circled around and rested his head on the cold, metallic floor.

The blonde man, upon hearing the commotion, turned around and spotted Carrie.

"Ah! Miss Blake, the search for the-"

Carrie interrupted him.

"It's Carrie, Arcade. C'mon! Pffft, 'Miss Blake'. We've known each other way too long for you to call me Miss. Anyway...what've you got?"

"Sorry...Carrie. As I was saying, the search for the remaining vaults have turned up some interesting results. Seems our friends at Vault-Tec were pretty thorough in their placement of vaults. Scans have shown well over a hundred and ten vaults across the country, a few seem to still even be working! I took the liberty of sending out a few scribes to investigate vaults up North."

"That's great! And uh...the other thing?"

"Hm?"

"You know, the-the thing..."

Arcade seemed confused for a second but then seemed to catch on.

"Oh! Right. We checked those rumours of that tribal up North and uh, we had a LOT of info about them. An Enclave oil rig was destroyed about 40 years back, same one my father worked in. There were also reports of some kid making moves in D.C. From what we've found, they provided fresh water to the entire area and beat back the Enclave."

"Nice work, Arcade! Oh, uh by the way, got someone for ya to meet."

Carrie pushed Joshua Graham in front of her and upon seeing him, Arcade's eyes widened in surprise as he surveyed the fiber-wrapped man.

"Oh...um...wow...you're uh..."

"It is fine, I was...severely burned due to an...accident."

"Well...if by accident, you mean doused in pitch, set ablaze and thrown into the Grand Canyon by Caesar. You're the Burned Man...aren't you?"

"Ah...I see you've heard of me."

That nickname...

Joshua, ever since the defeat of the White Legs, had realised just how destructive his legend was and vowed to never again use the moniker of 'The Burned Man' to rectify this and, to be honest, because it was a stupid name, something he'd use in his teenage years to seem cool.

"Thought as much, Carrie mentioned you a lot. She said a couple months back she was obsesse-"

Carrue quickly rushed up to Arcade and clasped her hand on his shoulder with a bone-crushing grip.

"Ahaha! Oh Arcade, you prankster. Let's not bother our guest here with stupid jokes!"

Carrie then whispered something into his ear which made Arcade's face turn pale. Joshua couldn't quite make it out but he picked up something along the lines of, "Try that again, I'll let Big MT know to expect a new test subject."

"Anyways Arcade, we gotta bounce. Take care of Rexie for me, will ya? He's gonna be a father soon and you're good at cheering people up!"

"I'm not a vet, Carrie! I'm a doctor!"

"Same difference!"

Carrie walked away, towards a side room, Joshua following close behind, the quiet, exasperated sigh of Arcade behind them.

"Carrie...where are we going exactly?"

"Just gonna show ya the guy who made this all possible. He's pretty charming so don't get jealous." A wink followed, aimed at Joshua. He, again, ignored this.

A set of huge metallic doors stood before them, almost like a vault. They were labelled with two logos. One was two hexagons layered over each other at an angle, the other had lines reminiscient of a handheld fan horizontally opposite to each other. Between the fans were words Joshua had heard before...The Sierra Madre. The fabled casino of the heavens, thought to be lost in the wastelands, hidden behind valleys of stone.

Only one person had come out of that place alive...Carrie. She told Joshua tales on her visits to Zion of what horrors awaited her. A red rotting mist, capable of corrupting anything and anyone with enough exposure. Undead servants of the mist, trapped in the suits that were supposed to protect them, their glowing green eyes the last thing anyone ever saw, before being dragged into the fog, never to be seen again.

Carrie seemed...different after travelling there...for a while at least. The bubbling, outgoing Carrie became reserved, nervous, paranoid. At times, she could hear the sounds of the ghosts muttering, hunting... and the music. That...song. That fucking song.

'Begin Again'. The slogan of the casino. A promise to everyone who came there. A promise broken to those who never left. There was one thing she would never forget about that place, that hellscape.

It's not finding it that's the hard part...

It's letting go...

These words resonated within her, the people she found there. Christine, Dean, Elijah and Dog/God...and whoever came after the two merged. Man, she always believed.

She could feel the sweat sliding down her forehead, her breath quicken. She cursed Dean's name. The one responsible for almost everything in the casino. The tears wouldn't stop.

"Carrie? Are you alright?"

Joshua had clasped his hand around her arm, snapping her out of her trance. She turned her head away and wiped her eyes away.

"Y-Yeah...I'm...I'm fine. Yeah. Just...nothing."

Joshua didn't believe her, of course. He saw what happened to her after she came back. She was quiet, wary, jumpy. Those months were the worst. She didn't want to talk about what happened there, and Joshua had to stop her from turning a gun on herself many times.

She eventually healed, with the help of the Sorrows and Dead Horses unconventional therapy methods, but he always could feel a part of her was still there...at the Sierra Madre.

"If you need to talk, I am here for you."

Carrie looked at him...and kissed him, not caring about the awkwardness after. She didn't want to hide behind thinly veiled excuses just to touch his hand anymore. She just needed him now. Even if only as a shoulder to cry on.

Joshua, surprised by the sudden contact, stood still for a few seconds before lightly seperating himself from her.

"Carrie...I...no."

"I know...I know..."

Her eyes welled up in tears as she accepted the inevitable conclusion.

"I just...I want you so bad. But I know I'll never...fuck..."

"These feelings for me, Carrie...you will get over them, in time. Believe me, this will not affect our friendship."

She took a breath and looked at the ceiling, shakily sighing before turning back to him.

"It...It wouldn't work anyway. You're busy with the tribes and me wi-with Vegas. The sex would've been great though..." She joked, still saddened by the heartbreak but understanding why it can't be.

Joshua tried to hide his grin but Carrie could see his cheekbones raise as he tilted his head down.

"What? We would've had great babies!"

Somehow despite the conversation they had before, rife with emotion and lost love, they were both laughing. Carrie, boisterously laughing loudly and Joshua, chuckling quietly.

The laughter eventually ceased and they were left, looking at each other.

"...I love ya buddy."

Joshua scoffed.

"So who did you want me to meet?"

"Oh right! I forgot about that! Trust me, you're gonna love him. He does what you do, but better!"

Carrie placed her hand on the door, covering the Sierra Madre logo and looked at Joshua for approval, who nodded, before flinging the door open...