Knock Knock.

Two metallic raps woke James from his dreamless sleep. His eyes shot open, his right hand instinctively reached for a holster before his mind could register that he had safely stored it in a locker in the far corner of the room. He had done so because he was sleeping in a place he knew he was absolutely safe.

Knock Knock.

James sat up in the bed and as he did so he realized the quality of the mattress. Things were coming back to him and he was starting to remember. James threw his legs out of the bed and shuffled over to the door.

"Who's knocking?" James asked, trying to speak loud enough to be heard but not so much that he would disturb nearby guests.

"Sorry to wake you so early Mr. Young, but Chief Mack wanted to speak with you." Chief… A man clad in the Vault City Security uniform was standing just outside the door. James yawned before replying.

"Tell Wally I'll be there soon. Let me collect myself." James replied. The man nodded before stepping away. James closed the door and shuffled to the desk just to the right of the door. The alarm clock on it read 4:05 AM.

James slowly stretched before walking to the locker to put on his gear and equipment. He thought twice about leaving some of the gear behind but decided against it. As much as it could be interesting to stay, he needed to talk to Marie before even thinking about moving here full-time.

James threw open the door and walked out into the empty night. He had returned to the Capital Wasteland, and not a single person had recognized him outside of a handful of people. Paradoxically, it felt comforting for James to be a relative nobody again after being virtually worshiped in the Pitt. Hell, even a few years ago everyone here knew my name. James shook himself awake. Lacking a form of caffeine, he figured the cold morning air would have to be enough.

James strode his way down the street. This, he recognized very well. It was the main road that passed through the Pre-War suburb of Springvale. He was currently walking in the direction of old Megaton since the school was his current destination. There were few lights on at this time. Despite being told of the city's recent electrification campaign, it seemed there were still some kinks to be worked out in the grid. In fact, the only sources of light were the school itself and a neon sign flashing "GOB'S" periodically. James smiled and thought once more about visiting but ultimately decided against it. It had become a habit of his in the past couple days to think long and hard about seeing his old business partner and friend. For now, he had to act under the whims of Security Chief Wally Mack who was not too happy about receiving a sudden visit from the former Chief Executive Officer of the Pitt while the Overseer was out.

After a brisk walk, James arrived into the school. He could tell that the people here had been hard at work rebuilding the school. There were some areas that were clearly patchwork scrap covering holes but now there were entire areas that were being completely redone from the ground up. How solid it would serve as a structure was beyond James's knowledge but he could tell there were putting in real effort.

Since there was no one working the desk, James decided to tuck in his cloak and sit at one of the folding chairs off to the side. Just as he lowered himself to sit, the door swung open and in came Wally with a cigarette in one hand and an unidentifiable bundle in the other.

"Young." Wally grunted as he shuffled past James. He made no gesture for James to follow but James elected to stand and do so anyway. "Smoke? Drink?" Wally asked brusquely as he led James into a medium sized office. Wally threw the bundle onto a sofa that James was thinking of sitting in, then he threw his coat onto a rack and moved straight to a hot plate with a coffee machine. James shook his head and instead searched for another seat that wasn't the cheap folding chair opposite Wally's desk. Wally threw a pot of instant coffee on the hot plate and strode over to his desk. He tried turning on the terminal but when it didn't turn on fast enough, he slapped the machine on its side as if that would make it work faster.

"Damn thing." Wally muttered before finally settling into his swivel chair, apparently satisfied. He puffed once more on his cigarette before extinguishing it on an ashtray on his desk. "Sit." Wally gestured to James. Having not found another piece of adequate seating, James obliged.

"I got good news and bad news." Wally began. He shuffled through a hefty stack of papers, reports, and notes as he spoke to James. "Which would you rather start the day with?"

"Let's go with the bad." James replied curtly. Wally nodded.

"Overseer is still putting out fires with the Rivet City debacle. Won't be able to get back for weeks, maybe months."

"And I can't just go there?"

"No you can't just go. It's a testy diplomatic situation, one where your presence might interfere with the talks."

"Interfere how exactly?" Wally raised his eyebrows at James as if incredulous as to why James would ask. "

"Let's just say the presence of the frickin' Lone Wanderer would be shocking to many people. Hell, they might be thinking you're there to save them from the evil Vault-Tec empire." Wally gestured his fingers with mock apostrophe marks to emphasize the empire portion. James thought to ask about that perception but Wally simply moved on.

"That said, with the Overseer busy, neither me nor the Mayor can authorize your proposal. We cannot sanction anything related to giving sanctuary to you and your entire government now that you're on the outs with the new Council."

"Is that what you put in the report? I just want to see if my and my people have a home here the way I did in Megaton. I'm not asking for any special privileges or anything like that." Wally nodded as he listened.

"Yeah, I hear you but you have to understand, lots of folks want to become citizens and we don't have the space for everyone yet."

"Why not?"

"Well, not everyone's got the cash for starters. Even you, the government and its people owe you a debt and we can't just give you a spot that other people paid for. I mean, unless you have the caps. You have enough to buy an opening?"

"No, everything I had, I put into the Pitt."

"Yeah, clearly." Wally muttered and chuckled to himself. "Listen, I want to help but without the Overseer here, the thing that helps me help you is cash. You don't have that then we have to wait." Wally shrugged. James studied Wally's face and saw the bags and the stress lines on his face. Wally was dick but he did seem sincere at being stuck within the system.

"Okay, Wally." James sighed. "Thanks for everything." James began to stand before being interrupted.

"Whoa, I ain't done with you." Wally gestured to James to sit again. "I still got the good news."

"Okay, tell me the good news." Wally flashed James a toothy grin.

"I can get you a job."

"Thanks Wally." James began to leave again.

"Hey wait, this isn't just any old job."

"I have a kid to take care of Wally, I only came because things are really testy in the Pitt right now."

"Whoa wait, you got a kid? Well, that changes things."

"Enough to get me a house?"

"No, but we could spin it into something. Raise some money for you or something."

"Okay, Wally."

"Wait, wait." Wally stood to stop James from leaving. "I was joking, sorry. Listen, the job offer's real. Things over here aren't great either. The Brotherhood pull out was not joke, they're committing to make the Pitt their new home and only left enough people to guard the 'important' goods like Aqua Pura and the Citadel. Everyone besides that is supposed to be Regulator territory."

"Go on." James replied, trying not to seem too interested.

"That's it, man. There ain't enough regulators to go around and word on the trail is that Talon Company is back on the map."

"How?" James asked. He now sat back down. Being so isolated from the Capital Wasteland ensured its problems didn't reach the Pitt and the Frontier to the West but it also meant that James was not privy to any of the goings-on from there.

"What have you been sleeping under a rock or somethin'? Jabsco or whatever survived that raid you and the Brotherhood did." James shook his head at the idea. Jabsco was the leader of the Talon Mercenary Company that had hunted him in and around the Capital Wasteland during the Enclave-Brotherhood War. In fact, the destruction of the Enclave led some of their members to seek out James in the Pitt due to the botched payment. Each time they met a lot of people died and James was not happy to learned they survived what he hoped was their last encounter.

"That was years ago, Wally. What, they disappear and now they suddenly reappear? What's with that?"

"I dunno." Wally admitted. "But things don't look good. You and the Brotherhood pushed them out and a bunch of raider gangs out of here years ago and with the current situation, we don't have numbers to replace the Brotherhood."

"Even if you did, it wouldn't do much Brotherhood barely controlled the main roads even in their best days." James agreed grimly. "So then what's the job? You want me to whack somebody?"

Wally shook his head and stood dramatically from his desk.

"I'm having a kid, James." He spoke solemnly. "And, that really changes your perspective you know?" James thought of Marie. How often he hadn't been there for her. How he had left her behind again in Midea's care while neglecting her himself.

"Yeah." It was all he could manage to say.

"Things were bad when we were kids but at least we had the Brotherhood." Wally continued. "But without them, the Capital Wasteland is ripe for the pickings. We need someone to take their place. This is something that I can give you and that's the job of Vault City Marshal."

"Marshal?" James asked. Wally nodded to confirm.

"The former tri-city compact between Paradise, Vault City and Rivet City once agreed that creating a military force to replace the Brotherhood of Steel laid out the important legal frameworks."

"Legal? You gotta worry about that now?"

"Had to." Wally corrected. "Civilization is a nasty, boring business, Young." Wally joked but his tired eyes gave away his true feelings. "So we need someone to enforce the laws of the compact within the Capital Wasteland. The compact and its signatory powers may no longer exist but the framework does and Amata is currently on a tour to survey the Capital Wasteland to gather interest in it. Once it goes through, we'll need someone to lead us. I'm hoping you'll pick up the slack."

James thought about it for a moment. Returning to the Capital Wasteland for good was a chance to take Marie away from the dangers represented by the Brotherhood of Steel. The danger is greatly made worse if James was correct on his suspicion that the Brotherhood followed the Railroad's trail to the Pitt and not his own. The Brotherhood's militant stance on seizing technology could embroil the Pitt into another Scourge. James thought once more of the Enclave's Scorched Earth campaign against Megaton and Bigtown. If they unleash that violence onto the Pitt

"I can't make any promises." James offered. Wally nodded grimly.

"I understand. You're not just thinking about yourself. You also have a kid to think about."

"Yeah." James confirmed, wiping his face with his hands. Leaving the Pitt behind meant leaving all of the people behind to the mercy of whatever the Brotherhood had in mind. Coming back meant returning to a land that had never truly known peace. Which was best for him? For Marie?

While James was thinking, Wally continued to stand and watch the sun rise just outside the window. The city woke and grew increasingly active. It was relatively homely and backwards compared to the hustle and bustle of the Pitt but James could tell there were good people here.

"Once I'm done with the Pitt, I'm coming straight back to help you handle whatever it is you got going on." James stood, resolute with his decision. This wasn't his first time taking on something that seemed insurmountable. What's a second and a third? Wally smirked and offered his hand out to James. James shook it firmly and the two men exchanged handshakes.

"Glad to have you aboard." Wally spat, as if he were disgusted in having to say so.

"I'm here whether you like it or not. You can't just kick me out again this time." James replied.

Wally quickly returned to his desk to draft the paperwork. In the meantime, James watched the city move with the hours of the day. Just as he had done back in the Pitt, he found himself watching how people lived their lives. Happy. Peaceful. This was the closest he could get to peace himself. He wondered if one day he might be able to do so himself. Move here with Marie. Raise her right. Maybe find time for himself to settle up with someone.

"Okay, Marshal." Wally's voice interrupted James's thoughts. "Officially, there is no such office until approved by both Mayor Creel and Overseer Almodovar. Unofficially, do what you do best when you see raider gangs and the like." James nodded as he skimmed through the legalese.

"Wally, is it true I'm able to deputize people under the office of the Marshal?" James asked, looking up to Wally. For his part, Wally wore a smug smile.

"Best I can do when you don't come to Vault with caps." he replied. James smiled and slapped Wally on the shoulder.

"Then, make sure you give Amata my regards." James said, turning away from Wally's office.

"You're not going to see her yourself?"

"I've got a kid to go back to. I've been gone long enough!" James replied, striding through the door.

When he was sure James was long out of earshot, Wally chuckled to himself. Many problems were being solved at once with a man like James at the helm.

"James Young has a kid." Wally murmured to himself. "Go fuckin' figure."