Hello everyone! I hope that you are all doing well. In this chapter will mostly be dealing with the fallout from the revelation of Arcade's association to the Enclave. Enjoy the chapter, and reviews are welcomed and appreciated.

Amata shot up out of her seat and went over to Mark, looking where he was looking. It was small, but it was there. Imprinted on the side of the grip, under the name "GANNON," was the symbol Abby described. An uppercase "E" surrounded by twelve stars. The symbol of the Enclave.

"Oh no," Amata said quietly.

There was a tense atmosphere as Mark continued to glare at the gun. Abby was unsure of what was going on that made her daddy so angry and her mommy so nervous. "Mommy, daddy, what's-" "Abby, go to your room," Amata said. "But mommy-" "Abby, go to your room," Amata ordered, brokering no room for argument, her eyes never leaving Mark.

Abby left, still very confused. Once her bedroom door opened and closed, Amata spoke to Mark. "Mark, honey, sweetie, love of my life, what are, uh, what are you thinking?" Mark made no indication that he heard her. Cass got up and came over, looking at the gun as well. "Wait, what is that symbol?" she asked. "It's the Enclave's symbol, Cass," Amata replied. Cass raised an eyebrow. "Ya mean the group that-"

Amata nodded. "Ya think that Arcade is-" She was interrupted when Mark seemed to awaken from his trance, dropping the pistol on the table and quickly walked out of the room, the elevator his destination. Amata, realizing where he was heading, immediately followed him, running to catch up to him and getting in front of him, forcing him to stop. "Mark, please, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation."

"Oh, I'm sure there is," Mark growled out while staring at her, his eyes still aflame with fury, "and I'm gonna get it out of him, one way or another." His eyes looked down to his right leg, where his knife was sheathed. It was then that the elevator door opened, with Arcade, along with Boone and Veronica, who had apparently returned from Camp McCarran. Arcade and Veronica were looking at one another while chatting, with Boone trailing behind them.

Mark lightly shoved Amata out of the way while she was distracted and zeroed in on Arcade. Amata, suddenly realizing that she was too late to stop him, could only warn Arcade. "ARCADE LOOK OUT!" Arcade looked up, only to see the sight of a fist heading towards his jaw. Time seemed to slow down as Mark's fist impacted, sending Arcade spiraling towards the ground, blood coming out of his mouth and his glasses flying off his face.

Mark went to dive on Arcade to attack him again, but Veronica and Boone each grabbed one of his arms and held him back. Mark struggled to get free, but the two of them were able to hold him. "Mark! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Veronica exclaimed, as Amata went to check on Arcade, who was in a daze, sitting back against the wall. She told Cass to go and get her some med-x and a towel, which Cass did.

"Let me go! I'm not done with that bastard!" He then yelled at Arcade. "DID YOU THINK THAT I WASN'T GOING TO FIND OUT! ARE THERE OTHERS? ARE YOU STILL WORKING FOR THEM? I WANT ANSWERS, AND I WANT THEM RIGHT NOW!" "Mark, calm down and tell us what's going on." Veronica said. Mark stopped struggling but continued to glare at Arcade. "You want to know why I hit him? Arcade is part of the fucking Enclave!"

That seemed to knock Arcade out of his daze, as his eyes widened in shock. It also shocked Veronica and Boone enough that Mark was able to break free, although he did not make any moves towards Arcade. "Wait, what did you just say, Mark?" "You heard me, Veronica. Our friend here declined to inform us that he belongs to a group of goddamn murderers!"

Veronica looked at Arcade. "Arcade, is that-is that true?" Arcade, who had been watching in fear while Amata held a towel to his mouth, motioned for Amata to remove the towel, which was now stained with blood. "It's not that simple. I-" "No, it is really fucking simple, Arcade!" Mark said, pointing a finger at him. Veronica and Boone stood in front of him, preventing him from getting at Arcade again. "Are you now, or have you ever been, associated with the Enclave?!"

Arcade sighed. "Well, technically yes, but-" "SHUT UP!" Mark yelled. "Mark, calm down!" Amata said from her kneeling position near Arcade. "No, I will not calm down, Amata!" He then looked back at Arcade. "If Amata wasn't pregnant, I'd throw your ass out of here. That being said, you are no longer allowed on this floor or in the Penthouse."

He then walked towards the elevator and pressed the button, the door opening immediately. "Mark, where are you going?" Amata asked while getting to her feet. "Out," he said without turning back. "When will you be back?" "Whenever I damn well feel like it," he said as he stepped in and pressed a button, not turning around. Right before the door closed, he took off his pip-boy and tossed it behind him back into the hallway.

The doors closed, leaving everyone in an awkward silence, until Arcade coughed, which spurred Cass and Boone to help Arcade up, taking him into the kitchen. "Ya okay doc?" Cass asked as they went in. Veronica, meanwhile, watched Amata go over and pick up Mark's pip-boy, turning it over in her hands. "Is he, uh, is he gonna be okay?" Veronica asked. Amata sighed.

"Eventually, yes, he'll be fine. He's let a lot of things from DC go, including his issues with my dad, but the Enclave, he's never been able to get over that." "Well," Veronica said, coming over and standing next to Amata, "it couldn't have been easy to watch his dad die in front of his eyes and not being able to do anything about it. Although, from the way he told it to us, his dad did technically kill himself."

"I know that, Veronica, and deep down, Mark probably knows that, but that purifier was his parent's life's work. With all that that purifier meant to Catherine, James was never going to help the Enclave get it working and then just stand by and watch them pervert the original purpose of the project. The Enclave forced his hand, and while no, they didn't technically kill James, Mark sees it as that since James was forced to kill himself, that the Enclave is guilty of his murder." Amata shook her head. "I thought we were done with this," she then said quietly. She then turned around and went to the kitchen, Veronica trailing her. In all the confusion, no one had noticed that the door to Abby's room was slightly ajar.

They walked in to find Arcade sitting down, drinking some water while Cass sat next to him and Boone leaned back against the wall behind them. Arcade looked up. "Amata I-" She held up a hand to silence him. She then sat down across from him while Veronica sat next to Cass. "Are you okay, Arcade?" "For the most part, yes."

Amata nodded. "Good. Now explain," she ordered, pointing at the pistol that was still on the table. While he started to explain, Veronica picked up the pistol and examined it. Cass pointed out the Enclave symbol to her. "Look," Arcade started, "it wasn't originally mine. It was my dad's. Technically, I was never officially part of the Enclave, but he was. He died on a mission when I was an infant, and when I was old enough, my mom gave that to me. I grew up in Navarro with my mom and my dad's old squad."

"What's Navarro?" Amata asked. "Oh, right, I forget that you weren't born out here," Arcade said, smiling a bit. "Navarro was the designation for an old Poseidon Oil refinery slash adjacent military base located near San Francisco. It was the Enclave's primary base after the destruction of the old one. Many years ago, the NCR besieged the base and killed a lot of people. Myself, my mother, and my dad's squad were among those that were able to escape."

"Problem was, both the NCR and Brotherhood were tracking down and killing those that escaped. Eventually, we made it to the Mojave and we were able to hide our past associations." "What did the Enclave do out here to warrant two groups that are at odds with each other to both hunt them down?" Amata asked.

"Amata," Veronica said nervously, "this might be one of those situations where you shouldn't ask a question that you don't want to know the answer to." She didn't know the whole story, but she had read enough after-action reports while still in California to get the gist of what the Enclave had done. "She's right, Amata. This is one of those things that you do not want to know," Arcade added, not really surprised that Veronica had some idea of what went on.

Amata shook her head. "No, Arcade, tell me. Whatever it is, I can handle it. I'm not some delicate flower, so just spill it already." Arcade though it over for a couple moments before sighing in resignation. "Alright, fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." He paused for a moment. "Look, east coast or west coast, the Enclave was a bad organization. There were some decent people, but overall, they were bad."

"When the Great War started, the US government evacuated its top officials to a Poseidon Oil rig in the Pacific, which was just a short flight from Navarro. It was more than an oil rig, however. It was more like a military base. From what I remember, after about a century of isolation, they sent scouting parties out to California, where they discovered Mariposa. In there, they found copious amounts of the Forced Evolutionary Virus." Amata gasped.

"Yeah, you're right to gasp. The Enclave considered themselves to be the legal continuation of the US government. They became hell-bent on wiping out mutants. They kidnapped and forcibly exposed both vault dwellers and tribals to FEV to see how it reacted, so they could then in turn make a strain to kill mutants."

"Amata, they did horrible things to try to get some end-game that was unlikely to ever happen. I honestly had no idea that they made it out to DC until Mark mentioned them, and what they did to Mark and his dad was horrible. I understand why Mark reacted like he did. If our positions were reversed, I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same. I've never agreed with anything that the Enclave has done. Most of it was disgusting and amoral and goes against everything that I stand for."

Once he finished, he looked around the room to try and gauge the reactions of the others. Amata stared down at the table, looking to be deep in thought. Boone's face was as stoic as ever, while Cass and Veronica both looked pensive. Arcade started to stand up. "Look, maybe I should just-" "Sit down, Arcade," Amata commanded. He immediately complied.

"Despite what Mark said earlier, you don't have to leave this floor, and you can still go to the Penthouse. He needs some time to cool off, and then he will apologize. Like I told Veronica in the hall, Mark has let a lot of things go, but his hate for the Enclave is not one of them. I didn't know that the Enclave came from out here. I had hoped that time and distance would allow him to let go of his anger, but this just brought that anger back in full force."

Arcade massaged his jaw. "Yeah, you're telling me. So, is no one else seriously mad at me?" Amata smiled. "Do you want us to be mad at you, Arcade?" she asked. "Well, no, but-" "But nothing, Arcade," Veronica said. "You were born into it, like I was born into the Brotherhood. You didn't really have a choice but to be associated with them, but you did choose to not follow their teachings. They chose to take lives, while you have chosen to save lives."

"She's right, doc," Cass said, giving him a slap on the back. "'Sides, it ain't like our resident vault dwellers didn't keep somethin' from us." "Yes, but with good reason," Amata stated. Arcade turned around and looked at Boone. "I've got no problems with you," was all Boone said. Arcade nodded and turned back around. Arcade looked visibly relieved. "Thank you, all of you. This is a huge load off my mind."

"Arcade," Veronica said, "I'm curious about something. All that stuff you told us, that information was probably classified, so how did you find out about it?" "Yeah, that is a good question, Arcade. So how did you find out about it?" Amata asked. Arcade gave a sheepish grin. "Well, I may have stolen some credentials and used them to access secure information. There was no malicious intent or anything like that. I just wanted to see if I could do it. I was only twelve at the time, and the son of two respected members, so they weren't going to do anything too bad to me if they caught me, which they didn't. In a weird way, I'm actually proud of myself."

Cass burst out laughing. "I'm proud a ya too, Arcade. Breakin' an' enterin' at tha tender age a twelve. Brings a tear ta ma eye, really." Cass wiped away a fake tear as the others started laughing as well, Arcade included. "Well, again, thank you guys. There's just one thing that I am curious about. I didn't leave that gun out, so who went into my room?"

Amata and Cass looked at each other. Cass quickly decided that she would take the blame. If Arcade was mad at her, that would be fine with her. She could take it. It wouldn't be the first person that she'd ticked off, and certainly wouldn't be the last. She didn't want Arcade to be mad at Abby. Plus, she figured it was part of her duties as an aunt to cover for her from time to time.

"It was m-" Cass began, but she was interrupted. "It was me," came a voice from the doorway. Everyone looked over to see Abby standing in the doorway, her head bowed demurely. Arcade looked surprised. "Abby? It was you?" She nodded. "I'm sorry. I went into your room without asking and I saw the gun and I wanted to know what the symbol was. I didn't know it would cause so much trouble. Please forgive me."

She then started crying, and the three women in the room got up and went over to comfort her while Arcade and Boone looked on. It took a few minutes, but she eventually calmed back down. "Abby?" Arcade said as Amata held the young girl. "Yeah?" she asked weakly, not looking at him. "I forgive you," Arcade said. That made her look at him. "Huh?" Arcade smiled warmly at her.

"Yes, Abby, I forgive you. You were curious about something and wanted to know more about it." Amata put Abby in the seat next to Arcade. "Sweetheart, you are a very smart girl who loves to learn new things, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to learn. I'm part of an organization that advocates for the sharing of knowledge, so I'd be a hypocrite if I chastised you for learning something new. Besides, the truth was bound to come out sooner or later, I guess."

Abby smiled and leaped out of her chair and into Arcade's arms, giving him a big hug. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became lighter. "Thank you, Mr. Arcade. So, that's the Enclave's symbol?" "Yes, Abby," the Followers doctor said. "But my daddy said that they're all bad people, but you're not a bad person." Arcade felt relieved to hear Abby say that. "Thank you for saying that, Abby, but I wasn't technically part of them, but my parents were."

Abby still looked confused. "Well, you're a good person, so your parents must have been good people, so did my daddy lie to me when he said that they were all bad?" Arcade was silent for a few moments as he thought about how to answer that. "Abby," he said eventually, "as a whole, the Enclave was bad. They did bad things. They took your grandfather away from your father. Just like any bad organization, however, there are good people in them. Look, my dad died when I was a baby, so I never knew him. I was told that he was a good person, but that was according to other people's definitions of "good.""

"My mother, Diane was her name, she was a doctor for them. There were a lot of demands on her time, but she did the best that she could. To me, she was a good person. So to answer your question, he only partially lied, but he's a bit biased for obvious reasons, so you shouldn't hold that against him."

"And Abby," Amata added, "just because someone's parents were good, bad, or somewhere in between, doesn't guarantee that a child will turn out the same way. Take my dad, for instance. I believe that he is a good person at heart, but he was a control freak, whereas I am not. A control freak, that is. The only person who ultimately decides how you turn out is you. Do you understand what we're saying?"

Abby nodded. "Mr. Arcade, is my daddy mad at you?" "Um, why would you ask that, Abby?" Arcade inquired. "Well, I saw him, well, I saw him hit you." The adults looked at each other worriedly. "You saw that, Abby?" Amata asked. She nodded. Amata scowled slightly. Mark was already in trouble with her, but Abby seeing him hit Arcade just ramped up her anger a couple notches. She took a couple breaths to calm herself back down.

"Abby," Veronica said, "what your dad did was…well, he shouldn't have done that, but he doesn't hate Mr. Arcade. In the heat of the moment, sometimes we all do things that we normally wouldn't. He's only human, and he made a mistake." "Yes, and while I wish he would've talked to me instead of hitting me," Arcade said, flexing his jaw, "I know that he doesn't hate me. I was just a convenient target for his anger, and I don't hold it against him."

The room then went silent. "Ok," Amata said, "so that's out in the open, and the rest of us don't seem to have a problem with it. I'll deal the one person who does later. Abby, you're still on punishment, so go." "Yes, mommy." She gave Arcade a kiss on the cheek, got down off his lap, and then left the room.

(2 hours later)

After the events of the morning, everyone had gone off to do their own thing. Arcade was in his room, Boone was in the gym, Veronica was in the Penthouse, and Cass had gone over to the Tops to do some gambling. Once Abby's punishment was over, Amata continued to help the girl with her math skills. They were sitting at the kitchen table when she saw Arcade walking by the doorway with his duffel bag.

"Abby, keep working. I'll be back in a minute." Abby nodded and continued to write on the paper. Amata ran out into the hallway and saw Arcade near the elevator. "Arcade," she said as she approached him, "I told you that you don't have to leave the floor." He turned around. "Oh, sorry, Amata. Yeah, I know. I just have some personal business to take care of. I'll be away for two days, three tops."

Amata became worried. "But, but, but, what if I need you for something? What if something happens with the baby? What if something happens with Abby? What if-" Arcade smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Amata, calm down. You're doing everything that you're supposed to be doing with regards to the baby. There are instructions on how to use the auto-docs downstairs, and I'm sure that Boone and Veronica were given some emergency medical training from their respective organizations, and Mark was raised by a doctor."

He paused for a moment. "Look, if it will make you feel better, I'll stop by the Old Mormon Fort on my way out of Freeside and see if I can get one of them to stop by tomorrow to check on everything. Is that okay?" Amata smiled. "Yeah, that's fine, Arcade, and I'm sorry about freaking out. You have your own life and I can't stop you from leaving. I'll make sure the securitrons let the doctor in."

He nodded. "Thank you. I need to be off. I'll talk with Mark when I get back." Amata gave him a quick hug. "Good luck Arcade. If you're not back in three days, you can be sure that I'll find out where you are and then I'll sic the securitrons on you," she threatened, although it was tempered greatly by her grinning face. Arcade chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't want that now. You have my word that I'll be back."

Arcade then pressed the elevator button, and the doors opened. Arcade stepped in and turned around, waving goodbye. Amata returned the wave just as the doors closed.

(Several hours later)

Mark was currently sitting at the bar in Gomorrah, a bottle of beer in his hand. He no idea what time it was, only the fact that it was nighttime. After the incident with Arcade, he had initially gone to Vault 21 to see Sarah so that he could vent to someone. It turned out that they were busy, likely as a result of what happened at the Ultra-Luxe. Not wanting to bother her, he took off before she even knew that he was there.

Instead, he went into Freeside with no particular destination in mind. He eventually found himself at the Silver Rush, which was still unoccupied since the day of the explosion. The Kings had kept a guard on it since that day. The guards let him in, recognizing who he was. Taking a look around, he found that it had been stripped of all tables, chairs, mattresses, the works. Speaking with the guards, they told him that they had been evenly distributed between the Followers and the Kings. The old slot machines, however, had been stripped of their useful parts and traded or sold off.

After that, he went over to the Atomic Wrangler. He stayed there for a bit, having just enough caps on him to buy a beer. In his fit of rage, he left the 38 with only a few caps in his pocket, wearing only a blue t-shirt, khaki shorts, and his combat boots. He was also only armed with his 10 mm pistol and his trench knife. He left once the beer was done, hating the atmosphere and finding the ghoul comedian to be horrible.

Shortly after he left there, he had been confronted by a couple of mercs in combat armor who tried to take him out. That was a mistake on their part, as his fighting skills, combined with a still-burning rage, ensured that today was their last day on Earth. He put them down quickly and without mercy, although one of them did catch him with a lucky shot in his upper left bicep.

He tore off a small piece of his shirt to staunch the bleeding and then went over to the Old Mormon Fort for treatment. Julie treated him, although he was not in a very talkative mood, which she quickly picked up on. After that, he left Freeside, deciding to head over to a place that he had heard about, Westside.

According to the information on the 38's network, Westside was an area west of the Strip, and it was a poorer residential area, much like Freeside. However, they were largely self-sufficient, having their own militia, and growing their own crops. Once he got there, he could see that there was a Followers presence in the area, mainly near the crops. That made him scowl as it made him think of Arcade.

Walking around, he saw a few interesting sights. One was a super mutant patrolling the streets. It was roughly the same size of Fawkes, although this mutant's skin was more of a dark green, whereas Fawkes' skin was more of a yellow-green. It also appeared to have straps around its mouth, although what purpose they served, he was unsure of. Seeing as no one was panicking, he left the mutant alone.

There was also a sign on some pipes that read "The Thorn," with an arrow pointing into the sewer grate below it. Asking someone who was passing nearby, he found out that The Thorn was a place where creatures fought each other, or where you could fight a creature if you were so inclined, and you could bet on the fights. He found it intriguing and went down for a few hours just to watch the fights. It was apparently allowed by those in charge that you could watch even if you didn't place a wager.

The last interesting thing that he saw in Westside was a person. Mark was walking on a sidewalk when he looked across the street. Sitting at a table on the street corner was an old man dressed in rags, wearing a red baseball hat. Mark caught the man's eye, and they stared each other down. Mark got a weird vibe coming from the old man, but eventually shook his head and continued walking.

He eventually found his way back to the Strip. As he entered, he looked up at the 38. He knew that he was going to hear it from Amata, but he didn't care right now. Instead, he delayed the inevitable and went over to Gomorrah. Taking Cachino up on his offer, he got fifty chips with a free beer thrown in as well. Sitting down at a blackjack table, he got off to a bit of a rough start, but his luck turned around and won a decent amount of money.

It wasn't like it would've mattered if he lost, anyway. The chips were on the house, and the money he won would've been his anyway. Unlike Vault 21, which had paid fifty percent of their revenue to House, the casinos were charged sixty percent. Learning that House had (sort of) given Sarah a break almost made Mark feel bad about killing him. Almost. House may have been a visionary, but he was still a bastard who kicked people out of their homes.

Sitting at the bar, he finished his current beer. He hadn't had enough to get drunk, just a bit tipsy. Putting the empty bottle back on the counter, he decided that he needed to go back and face the music. He got to his feet, staggering slightly. After collecting his weapons from the front desk, he made his way back to the 38. Stepping off onto the Presidential Suite, he saw Amata standing in the middle of the hallway, a scowl on her face and her arms crossed over her chest. Yep, he was going to get reamed.

"Kitchen! Now!" she ordered. She went into the kitchen, Mark following slowly behind her. Once in the kitchen, she ordered him to sit down. His pip-boy was on the table, so he grabbed it before he took a seat. Amata paced along the opposite side of the table for a couple of minutes, occasionally looking at him. Eventually, she stopped and stared him down.

"You have no goddamn idea how pissed I am at you right now! You're gone all day doing god-knows-what at god-knows-where, no armor, no pip-boy, and now you come home at ten at night, smelling of alcohol, and to top it all off you have a bullet wound on your arm! I've been stressed out all damn day, and that isn't good for the baby. What do you have to say for yourself?" Mark rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Amata."

Amata looked at him incredulously. "You're sorry? That's it? You made me sick with worry, and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'?" "That's what you wanted, isn't it? What else do you want from me?" Mark replied. Amata slammed both hands down on the table.

"I want you to use your goddamn head, that's what I want! You attacked one of our friends! Arcade was not in the Enclave, you idiot! That gun belonged to his father! Arcade despises what the Enclave did! He felt horrible about what happened to your dad, and he isn't even mad at you for hitting him, because he knows what you associate the Enclave with!" She paused and took a breath.

"You want to know the worst part of all of this is? Our daughter saw you attack him." Mark felt like he was punched in the gut by a super mutant. "She did?" "Yes, she did you moron. You want to know what Arcade told her, though? He told her not to hold it against you. That should tell you all that you need to know about him."

"Mark, Abby may love all of us, but she may just love you the most. She is most definitely a daddy's girl. You are her father, her protector, the main male role model in her life. You are her hero, and after hearing everything that you've done, how could you not be? She thinks that you are invincible, that you can do anything. In her eyes, you can do no wrong. Well, before today, that is. She wouldn't talk to me about you for the entire day. You may have just shattered that vision that she has of you."

"Tomorrow, you are going to apologize to her, and if you have to get on your knees and beg for her forgiveness, then so be it. And when Arcade gets back from wherever he is, you will be apologizing to him as well. Is that understood?" Mark nodded and then looked around, wondering why Amata's yelling hadn't attracted others. "Wait, were did Arcade go? And where is everyone else?"

"Arcade had some personal business to take care of, so he'll be gone for a couple days. I asked Boone to sleep on another floor for tonight, and Abby, Veronica, and Cass are up on the ship with Sally having a girl's night." "Well, why aren't you with them?" She looked at him like he was stupid. "Did you seriously just ask that question? I'm not with them because they don't have idiot husbands that they needed to yell at!"

She sighed. "Mark, I know that you're pissed at the Enclave, but here's a newsflash for you: They're gone, and so is your dad. I miss James too, Mark, but being angry towards the Enclave is not going to bring him back. We're not kids anymore. We can't just go storming off when something upsets us like we did in the vault. We have responsibilities now, first and foremost being parents. There's also a war going on, one that you're in the center of. You have more important things to worry about than a defunct organization."

She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed, and you are not welcome in our bedroom. You can go sleep in the Penthouse tonight." She started to walk out of the room, but then paused in the doorway. "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster. For when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." With that, she went into the hallway and then into their room.

(3 AM)

Mark turned over in bed for what felt like the thousandth time that night. He had gotten absolutely no sleep at all. There were multiple factors involved in this. The first was that he had gotten used to sleeping with Amata next to him. He had kept reaching over to cuddle with her only to realize that he was alone. He tried using a pillow, but it was a poor substitute, and he ended up flinging it across the room.

Realizing that sleep was likely not in the cards, he got up, turned on the bedside lamp, grabbed his pip-boy off the nightstand, and walked over to the bay windows that overlooked the Strip. He looked down, seeing the bright lights and the people scurrying about, even at the late hour.

The second reason for his lack of sleep was what Amata had said, more specifically, the last thing that she had said, kept running through his head. Did she think that he was a monster? No, that couldn't be it. "She would never let me become a monster. She'd notice any changes and talk to me about it." He smiled and shook his head. "I really do not deserve her."

"Why would she say that to me, though?" He took a seat on one of the couches and stared out the window. "This must have to do with Arcade. Part of that was not becoming a monster, so that has to do something with changing. Maybe…maybe she wants to think about how I would've handled something like this is the past? Or normally?" That was the only thing his sleep-deprived brain could think of that made sense, so he explored that avenue.

"Ok, so how would I have handled something like this normally in the past?" He thought back as recently with the issue with Christine. Yes, he was mad at her, but did give her a chance to explain. He found his answer right there. Normally he would give someone a chance to explain. Instead of hearing Arcade out, he let his anger towards the Enclave cloud his rational side and attacked him. He ran a hand over his face. He attacked one of his friends in anger, and if what Amata said was true, the man wasn't even angry at him.

The final reason that he was unable to sleep was the fact that Abby had seen him hit Arcade. That made him feel like a world-class jerk. The question now was, what did Abby think of him? Did she think that he was a monster? He looked at his pip-boy, sorely tempted to go up to the ship to talk to her. Then he saw the time. It would have to wait until morning.

Sighing, he pressed a button on his pip-boy. "Yes Man?" "How can I help you, sir?" The AI answered. "Play some music, please." Maybe the music would help him fall asleep. "Sure! Anything specific?" "Eh, something mellow, please," Mark answered. "Yes sir!" A couple moments later, a song began to play.

"Sometimes in our lives

We all have pain

We all have sorrow…"

Mark snorted. "Ain't that the truth," he muttered.

"But, if we are wise

We know that there's

Always tomorrow…"

Mark opened his eyes and groaned. His head was pounding, and his mouth was dry, the after-effects of the alcohol he drank the previous night. Sun was streaming through the windows, so he apparently did get at least a few hours of sleep. He sat up, shielding the sun from his eyes with his left arm. He squinted at his pip-boy and pressed a button. "Yes Man!" "Sir?" "Yes Man, get me some med-x and-" he felt some bile rise in his throat "-and a bucket, quick."

About fifteen seconds later, a securitron rolled up with a syringe of med-x and a metal bucket. Mark grabbed the bucket and began to throw up. Once he was done, he grabbed the med-x and injected himself, the majority of the pain from his headache going away shortly thereafter. His immediate needs taken care of, he looked at his pip-boy again. It read 8:37 AM, so he had gotten about five hours of sleep. It wasn't much, but it was something.

He then staggered down to the kitchen area and drank water until he was no longer thirsty. He sniffed the air, smelling something rather pungent. Sniffing his armpit, he nearly threw up again. He needed a shower in the worst way. Luckily, the bathroom in the Penthouse was right off the kitchen.

Stepping out of the shower, he toweled himself off, then realized that he didn't have any clean clothes. Thankfully, there was a white robe hanging on a hook in the bathroom. Deciding to leave his rank clothes, he grabbed his weapons, pip-boy, and boots and went into the office. Yes Man's face was already on-screen.

"Have Abby and the others returned from the ship yet?" Mark asked. "Yes sir, they arrived approximately twenty-two minutes ago, and are all currently in the Presidential Suite." Mark nodded. "What about Arcade? Has he returned yet?" "No, he has not sir." "Thank you, Yes Man. That will be all for now."

Mark then turned and headed towards the elevator. Once again, it was time to face the music. He stepped out of the elevator to see Amata coming out of Abby's room and shutting the door. She turned and noticed him. "Morning, babe," Mark said, stopping a couple feet in front of her. "Good morning. How are you feeling?" she asked. As mad as she was at him, she still loved him and wanted to ensure that he was ok.

"Felt like crap last night, felt even crappier this morning." Mark replied. "Well," Amata said, lowering her voice, "that's what you get for acting like you did. Now go get dressed, and then go apologize to your daughter. Understood?" Mark nodded. "How is she?" he asked, lowering his voice as well.

Amata shook her head. "Not going to tell you. You can find out for yourself." With that, she went into the kitchen. Mark then got dressed, stepped back in the hallway, and walked over to Abby's room. He stood there for a few moments before working up the courage to knock on the door. Doing so, he heard Abby give permission to enter. Opening the door, he saw her sitting on her bed, smiling, reading what looked a children's book. ED-E was circling above her.

She looked up, and when she saw Mark, the smile transformed into a slight frown. She didn't look scared of him. She appeared to be apprehensive, if anything. "Morning sweetheart. Can we, uh, can we have a talk?" Mark asked nervously. Abby nodded, so Mark sat down on the edge of the bed, leaving about a foot between them. She didn't move any further away, so he took that as a good sign.

She noticed the bandage on his arm. "Are you okay, daddy?" she asked. "Yeah, I'm fine, sweetheart. Don't worry about it." He ran a hand through his hair. "Abby, I need to talk to you about yesterday. You see, what happened was…" He looked into Abby's eyes, and the explanation died on his lips. What Amata said to him last night came back to him. The Enclave was truly gone, and he was an adult now and had responsibilities, the biggest one sitting in front of him. Part of being an adult was to stop making excuses and accept responsibility for your actions. And he didn't think that his dad would approve of how he acted either.

"Abby, there is no excuse for what I did. I shouldn't have hit Mr. Arcade, and I'm sorry that you had to see that. You should never hit your friends or family." He lowered his head, feeling extremely ashamed at himself. "Despite what you may think, Abby, I'm not perfect. I have my faults, just like everyone else, but I'm not a bad person. I made a mistake, one that I highly regret. I just hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

Tears began to leak out as he continued to look down, waiting for Abby's response. A moment later, he felt the bed shift, and then felt a small hand touch his cheek. He looked up to see Abby kneeling in front of him, a concerned look on her face. "Daddy, I know that you're not a bad person, and I know that you made a mistake. I forgive you." Mark smiled as he felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders. He grabbed Abby and pulled her in for a hug, her head resting on his chest.

"Thank you, Abby. That really means a lot to me." "You're welcome, daddy, but there was something you said that was wrong." Mark looked down at her in confusion. "What did I say that was wrong, sweetheart?" "When you said that you weren't perfect, of course," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But Abby, I'm not perfect. No one is," he replied.

"You are to me. You're perfect because you aren't perfect. You're just being you, and that's all that I need. I love you daddy." Mark had no idea how to respond to quite possibly the sweetest thing that he had ever heard, so he just held Abby tighter, still crying a bit. He had been fearful that he wasn't doing a good job as her father, but Abby had just washed those fears away.

After a few minutes of silence, Mark was able to compose himself. "Abby, you are truly one of a kind. I love you so much. I don't know what I did to deserve you and your mother in my life, and I don't care. You two are the best things that have ever happened to me." She gave him a beaming smile, which he happily returned.

"Now," he said, perking up, "I want to hear all about your girl's night. Don't spare any details." For the next few minutes, Abby told him all about her night, which included a prank they pulled on Cass that Mark found hilarious. "Ok, Abby," Mark said when she was done, "you wanna go see what the others are up to?"

"Yeah! Can you carry me on your shoulders again? Please?" she asked, pouting and looking at him with puppy-dog eyes. Mark chuckled. She may not be Amata's biological daughter, but she acted just like his wife. "Whatever you want, sweetheart." Once she was securely on his shoulders, they came out of the room, ED-E right behind them, to see Amata pacing in the hallway. She stopped when she saw them. "Hi mommy!" Abby said. "Hi sweetheart. Are you two good?" Amata asked. "I don't know," Mark said, a bit of mirth in his voice, "are we good, Abby?"

The young girl rested her chin on the top of his head. "Yeah, we're good, mommy. Daddy apologized." Amata smiled, finding the two of them like that absolutely adorable. She then had an idea. "Wait here, you two. I'll be right back," she said, running into her and Mark's room. She came back out shortly with the newly-acquired camera in hand. Mark smiled as he realized what Amata wanted to do, but Abby was confused.

"What's that, mommy?" she asked. "This is a camera, sweetheart," Amata answered. "You know those pictures that mommy and daddy have in our room?" Abby nodded. "This is part of what you use to get them. Now look at me and smile!" Mark and Abby both smiled, and Amata took the picture. After that, Mark took a picture of Amata holding Abby. "We need to get a picture of all three of us," Amata said. "Ooh, and then we'll get a nice frame, and then we can put it in your room, Abby. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great, mommy!" Abby said excitedly. "Good. Veronica!" Amata called out. "Coming!" Veronica said, coming out of the kitchen a couple moments later. "What's up?" she asked. Mark handed her the camera. "Can you take a picture of us, please?" "Absolutely. Strike a pose, you three."

They lined up, Amata holding Abby while Mark stood next to them and put his right arm around Amata. "Ok, on three," Veronica said. "One…two…th-" All of a sudden, there was a loud crashing noise from above them, shaking plaster loose from the ceiling. There was a lot of screaming as Veronica dropped to the floor while covering her head. ED-E beeped worriedly, while Mark instinctively covered Amata and Abby with his body.

The shaking stopped a moment later, as did the falling debris. Boone came out of his room, pistol in hand, and Cass came out of the game room, wiping some dust off her shirt. Mark let go of Abby and Amata. "Everyone okay?" he asked. Abby was thoroughly being checked out by Amata, who looked to be okay, and Veronica was just getting up, dusting herself off. "Yeah, I think we're good," Cass replied. "What tha hell was that?"

"Cass! Language!" Amata said. "Don't worry, I'm about to find out," Mark said. "Yes Man, what was that?" Mark asked into his pip-boy. "Sir, it would appear that a satellite crashed into the helipad on the roof," the AI answered. "Wait, this place has a helipad?" Mark asked. "Mark, not important right now!" Amata exclaimed. "Uh, right, sorry babe. Yes Man, doesn't this place have laser cannons on the roof? And some type of radar system?"

"We do, sir, but the satellite appears to have some sort of stealth technology, as radar did not detect it until it was close to the building, and by then it was too late to do anything about it." "Alright. I want a full damage assessment, Yes Man. Have it ready for me in an hour." "Yes sir!" the AI replied. Mark cut off Yes Man and looked at the others. "I'm going to go check it out. Veronica, care to join me?" Veronica nodded.

"Mark, maybe it would be wise to let the securitrons handle it," Amata said, a hint of worry in her voice. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be fine, babe. I just want to examine it before we strip it for parts. Come on, Veronica." "Wait, what 'bout tha rest a us?" Cass asked. "Cass, do you or Boone have any electrical engineering knowledge that I am unaware of?" Mark asked. "Oh, uh, no. Never mind. Ya'll go ahead. Tha rest a us will just, uh, do some cleanin,' I suppose," Cass replied.

Mark nodded, and then he and Veronica headed to the elevator. The elevator took them to a small hallway that led to a stairway that led to a hatch. Pressing a button to open the hatch, the two of them stepped out onto the roof. The roof was circular, and other than the hatch and a small spire with a blinking light on the top, the roof was asphalt with four large white circles spaced evenly with an "H" in the center of each.

"A little breezy up here, but it is quite the view," Veronica said, looking out over the desert. Mark didn't respond, seeing the satellite on the opposite side from where they came up from. The satellite had left a gouged trail of asphalt before it ultimately stopped. The satellite had a circular metallic body with panels connected to arms sticking out in three directions. Partially buried in the roof was a radar dish on one end, and on the other end was a small blue dome. There was writing on it as well. It said, "BIG MT," with two interlocked squares next to it. That name sounded familiar to Mark, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before.

"Mark, did your guys on the ship do this?" Veronica asked as she walked around it and examined it. "Unlikely," Mark replied. "As you well know, if the ship fired on a satellite, it would've been blown to pieces. No, this came down of its own accord." "Ok. Well, it doesn't appear to be working anymore, and I can't find a panel, so it must be underneath." She gave it a weak kick, and all of a sudden, the satellite started to make noises, and the blue dome on the end began to glow. "Huh," Veronica said, a mild look of surprise on her face, "spoke too soon."

Mark went over to examine the blue dome, while Veronica examined the radar dish. Looking closely at the dome, he could see what looked like a giant eye moving around at random. "What the hell?" Mark said as he placed a hand on it. All of a sudden there was a flash, and Veronica looked over. Her eyes widened as she saw a cone of blue light encircling Mark. She was so stunned that she didn't move as Mark let out a yell and appeared to be disintegrating before her eyes.

There was then a large flash, forcing Veronica to shield her eyes. When she looked again, Mark was gone, and the satellite had powered back down. Veronica stared at the spot where Mark had been for a half-minute before speaking again. "Oh shit."

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Yes, we are about to get into the Old World Blues DLC. I have a few ideas planned for this that I think you're all going to like, or at minimum, not hate. Until next time, and reviews are welcomed and appreciated.