Chapter Text
There hadn’t been much time. As soon as she heard her colleague say he didn’t feel well, she figured it out. The water tasted weird and she already felt the effects. She had slapped away the nearest glasses, Fergus’ and Aiden’s. She couldn’t focus, they would’ve figured it out soon enough but… she had taken a whole glass and she was panicking, the poison quickly spreading.
She was losing balance, and Aiden had to catch her, in time for her to weakly blurt out “...don’t drink… th-the water… Charles… poi…son…”
As she collapsed in his arms, Aiden looked up to see everyone but Fergus either slowly fall to the floor or lean against the wall in pain.
“Oh god… I only took a sip- I’LL GET HELP!” Fergus rushed through the door.
Aiden was still in shock, holding Brook in his arms. Looking down at her, she was still gasping for air, still fighting for her life. She had to make it. She just had to…
“Hold on, Brook,” he encouraged.
He wanted to carry her to the atrium and get all the doctors to do everything they could to save her. But he had to stay with the others. Fergus would be back with help.
The workers from the lounge soon arrived and did what they could, a few having training in how to handle lethal intoxication - which came in handy. Their techniques to help everyone cough out the liquid eventually had most of his team stay conscious and recover.
But Brook. They did what they could. But it was too late.
The others would be fine, but they needed to be treated for the traces of poison still inside them. They would be too weak for regular duty for several days, someone guessed. So Brook’s team would have to cover for them.
Aiden knew it would come to this once again. It had been too peaceful lately, and his time with the Minutemen had taught him to be prepared to lose people - lose friends. Still, the pain remained the same. He blamed himself for relying on Brook to handle it. She was capable, but he never should have underestimated Charles. The focus that weasel had, dancing around people’s senses for so long, like a snake.
He’d make him pay, no doubt about that.
With Charles arrested, his true nature was revealed. Aiden and a few others took turns trying to interrogate him, make him reveal all his secrets - where he hid the rest of the poison; what his backup plan was; if he was alone or not. He kept teasing them but reluctantly told them about a few things he hid, but not where he got it from.
They managed to find his cache of poison and weapons, notes on schedules, and ideas on how to cause as many problems for HQ as possible. He really wanted to sabotage them, and clear the place out. But why? He didn’t seem like the type Gunners would recruit.
His lips were sealed about his origins, on whether or not he had friends waiting to take over while HQ’s defenses were weakened. No matter how they played, they couldn’t scare, barter or trick him into telling them.
“Save yourself the trouble and just put a bullet in my head already,” Charles chuckled, a little blood dripping from his lip, “I know you want to…”
“You won’t get away that easy,” Aiden growled. “You’re lucky we need your head intact.”
Before Aiden could pick his next move, there was a knock on the door.
“Oh, could it be Theresa coming back to play the nice cop for me again?” Charles smiled smugly and sarcastically. She had given him a good beating, but it was mild compared to what Aiden had done.
Answering the door, Aiden was a bit surprised to see who it was. “Hello, chief.” He stepped back to let her in and close the door behind her.
Ilene took a moment to observe Charles before asking, “How are things going?”
“Oh, just peachy, lady chief!” Charles chuckled, “When I signed up to work here, I never imagined I’d be treated this friendly! I just might stay forever!” His long braid was cut off, his chest was bare and he was covered in sweat and bruises.
“He gave us hints as to where his cache was and we managed to find it. And also a few other secrets he failed to mention,” Aiden reported. “All that remains is to learn if he has any outside help. From what I can gather, he does. Just won’t tell us.”
“What about 8-BA11?” she asked.
“That’s how we found the rest of his secrets here in the building. But it couldn’t find any concrete intel about friends or allies,” Aiden replied. “It’s as if he evades the scan.”
Taking it in, Ilene sighed, “Come with me, let him rest for a moment.”
Sending Aiden to help the poison-free guards with their busier schedules, Ilene headed over to the chemistry lab in the atrium. Finding Curie and Cassandra, she got their help preparing something.
“But… madame, this combination, it could…” Curie hesitantly protested.
“I know what it’s capable of… that’s why it’s a last resort,” she explained.
“I don’t know, chief… this isn’t like the neurotoxin grenades I gave you,” Cassandra added. “While I am quite curious, I don’t know if he’ll be able to handle it, after being in Aiden’s gentle care. It might be a short window.”
“Despite what he’s done, I’d rather not have him suffer more of Aiden’s “gentle care”. We need to get those answers to keep HQ safe,” Ilene pointed out. “Better use this now while he still has a chance to survive it.”
With the dose ready, she headed back to find Aiden. On her way, she met Jake and Lupe.
“Hey, chief!” Lupe cheerfully greeted.
“Hey, Darlin’, how are things?” Jake asked, then noticed what she was carrying. “...what is that? …you’re not gonna use that, are you?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not psycho and it’s not for me,” she assured, “...it’s a secret prototype interrogation method I learned from the military. …I’ll explain later.”
“W-wait, you’re going to use that on Charles?!” Jake asked worriedly, grabbing her arm to prevent her from leaving.
“It’ll be okay. He might survive,” she assured.
“I don’t care about that prick, I’m worried about you,” he calmly clarified.
She smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his, “He doesn’t have the strength to get violent. But I’ll let Aiden handle it. …it’s more personal to him, after all.”
A bit less worried, he let go of her arm, “Alright. I trust you know what you’re doing.”
“Cassandra and Curie didn’t stop me,” she assured. “I don’t like using it but…” she looked over at Lupe, “I won’t let him or his companions hurt us again. I feel somewhat responsible for this and I’ll do what I can to make things better.”
Finding Aiden, she explained the plan as they headed back to the interrogation room. It felt too easy, and Aiden wanted Charles to suffer more, but Ilene insisted it never would ease the pain. No, to avenge Brook and the team, he should make sure Charles won’t get another win. And knowing what this injection would do, he seemed happy to be given the task to use it.
Entering the room, Ilene stayed by the door as Aiden walked up to Charles. They both remained quiet for a while.
“Got anything to say, Chatterbox?” Aiden sneered.
“Aren’t you here to make me talk?” Charles grinned.
“I am,” Aiden leaned forward and jammed the concoction into Charles’ left arm, then stepped back to observe.
Recovering from the injection, rolling his shoulders to adjust to the slight pain, Charles took a moment to try to figure out what it was. “...strange… was that a stimpak or something? I just feel a bit… refreshed?”
Ilene and Aiden remained silent.
“...hmm… no? Heh, can I get a clue? Are you returning the favor by giving me poison?” he asked, getting a little nervous. “...I’ve had all kinds of chems, this is nothing…”
Seeing Ilene look away, as if a little scared, Charles started breathing more heavily.
“...WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU INJECT ME WITH??!!”
“You’ve lost, Mr. Garman. No one will fall for your tricks anymore,” Ilene explained and started walking around the room. “The game is over.”
“T-Tricks?! …haha…” Charles was getting frantic, and started mumbling to himself, “You really think it’s over… I’ve lost, huh? …Mr. Garman… fucking polite as ever…”
“There’s no one to save you,” Aiden continued, crossing his arms. “You barely made a dent in our defenses. We will not let people like you destroy what we’ve built.”
“Your little game only helped us see a few flaws in our headquarters, which we’ve already improved,” Ilene added with a smug tone.
Charles started laughing again, “Oh you motherfu- you just… you just wait…”
“Wait for what?” Aiden shrugged, “you planted a bomb or something?”
Twisting and turning in his chair, getting frantic again, he laughed, “No no… can’t blow the place up… no, can’t- hehe, can’t blow it up. …we want it… we WILL have it! We will KILL… EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU BASTARDS AND TAKE OVER THE PLAZA!!!” he laughed hysterically, “We… we know the tunnels… WE KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS! YOU WON’T GET TO THEM IN TIME!! Heh, unless you’re some fucking expert AT PUZZLES! HAHHAHAHAAA!!”
Ilene had walked a full circle and was now back beside Aiden, “Oh? So high and mighty? And who are you folks really?”
“WE’RE THE TUNNEL SNAKES, BABYYY!! TUNNEL SNAKES RULE!!! AND YOU’LL WISH YOU NEVER MESSED WITH US!!! HAHA-HAHAHAHAAAA!!!” he continued to laugh hysterically until his eyes suddenly rolled back and he collapsed in the chair.
It was silent for a moment, Ilene being a bit confused. “Strange… MacCready said the Tunnel Snakes were just a small group of rascals from Vault 101, they never really grew into a serious gang or anything…”
“Could be coincidence, or they just heard the name and liked it,” Aiden pointed out and walked over to the lifeless body, “Raiders aren’t always very creative with their names.” Checking Charles’ pulse, he waited a moment before concluding “he’s dead. Good.”
“Cassandra said this might happen,” Ilene began. “A lot of bad things can happen to the suspect when using this method, not the least of which being cardiac arrest. Had he survived, he’d be in a coma and likely lost all his memory. We could’ve given him a new chance at life. …I know I’m a bleeding heart, but I hope this was better than beating him to death.”
“Giving us more clues with his last breath… it’ll have to do,” Aiden sighed. “You have any idea where that hideout is?”
“The station. West Roxbury Station,” Ilene quickly figured out. “When my team and I cleared it of Super Mutants, we had to figure out a puzzle to get through the whole place. If there are tunnels leading to HQ, they need to be dealt with, ASAP.”
“I’ll handle it, but I’ll need help.”
“I wish I could come with, use the little memory I still have of how to solve the puzzle,” she sighed, “but I’m needed at the Brotherhood. And I don’t think I can spare any Minutemen right now with the war preparations… maybe we could…”
Aiden knew where this was going, seeing her hesitate a little, “...ask Algernon?”
“He’s our ally and said himself he’s more than happy to help us. It’s worth a try,” she encouraged. “...or would you rather have me try to convince the Brotherhood to send a squad?”
He sighed in defeat. He may not like the idea of working with a Gunner - or ex-Gunner, or whatever they’d call themselves now. But at least they wouldn’t be as professional about it as those self-proclaimed “guardians of technology and bringers of peace”.
“Alright. You got him logged in the radio?”
Contacting Algernon, Aiden explained the situation and asked if they had any soldiers to spare. And while the captain was glad to help, he too had some bad news.
“I’m afraid we just lost a squad trying to access a military cache. I got no soldiers to spare for another week,” he sighed.
That’s it then. No help from anyone. Aiden wanted to curse, to vent about the fact that something had to be done NOW. But he had to bite his tongue. There had to be someone else to ask, he just had to remember who that could be.
“...but wait,” Algernon began, “…maybe you could track down Arleigh and see if she can help you.”
Arleigh, one of Algernon’s former sergeants - now back by his side as a special ops lieutenant. She went rogue when Wes took over the Gunners and spent years in Connecticut and Rhode Island helping settlements by hunting monsters, only came back about a year ago to do the same in the Commonwealth. Everyone knew her as “Ronin, the monster hunter”, a man who killed several massive beasts, like Behemoths, Mirelurk Queens and Deathclaws. Aiden first met her when following her and Ilene to rescue Jake, where he learned the “man” was a woman, that her name was Arleigh, and that she was a good friend of Algernon.
“She’s not with you?” Aiden asked, a bit confused. The last time he saw her was after the battle for the plaza - when she was by the captain’s side discussing their next move.
“I let her pursue a lead out west. She’s doing her investigation by the edge of the glowing sea,” Algernon explained. “We spoke this morning, so I’m certain she’s still near her camp. It’s a cave halfway between Somerville Place and the radio tower. I’ll radio ahead so she’ll know you’re coming.”
“Alright. Thank you, Captain,” Aiden replied.
“Good luck, over and out.”
As he turned off the radio, he noticed Jake peeking over from behind a console, “Nice to hear Ronin’s still kickin’. Say hi to her for us, will ya?”
“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m away, alright?” Aiden simply replied and started walking out to the corridor.
“Yeah, good luck to you too,” Jake sighed and walked over to check so Aiden disconnected the radio properly. Aiden may know how it works, but Jake still couldn’t get over the one time he left it tuned to that strange broadcast that sounded like someone breathing heavily into the mic. Which had poor Mansfield scared of the place being haunted again.
“H-Hello? Is Lupe here?”
Jake turned to see Cedric standing by the doorframe, “Oh, hey there Mansfield, she’s working on something in her room right now. Did you need something?”
“Yes, just ask her to send for some more notebooks, if you can.”
“Already low on them? Did Theresa teach some folks to write or somethin’?” he chuckled.
“I’m… not sure, I just know I need a few for a project.”
It wasn’t a very long trip to the location Algernon described. But the fastest route would be through the swamp. And just his luck, the weather had a turn for the worse and he was forced to rush over to an old abandoned tree house. The rain poured down so hard that even the nearby critters left him alone. Mirelurks burrowing into the soil, ghouls crawling into pipes, and bloatflies holding tightly onto trees.
Up in the tree house, he got a fire going. Luckily, the previous owner had left behind what he needed. Some firewood and a canister with a little bit of gas still inside. Finally able to sit back and rest, he took a moment to think through his plan.
He made sure Brook’s team would keep their eyes on the station, and have the guard dogs roam the lower levels in case they’d hear any underground activity. Volunteers would help fill the less important jobs until his team recovered.
And while it’d be safer to have a full squad for his mission, he’d take who he could get. He wasn’t sure if Arleigh would accept his invitation, but it was worth a chance. They would go back to West Roxbury, scout out the area using the intel Ilene provided, and then go in and deal with the “Tunnel Snakes”.
“A decent plan now is better than a perfect plan tomorrow,” he remembered Brook saying once. And he agreed. He couldn’t wait for Algernon or Ilene to get him a temporary squad, or wait for his team to recover. They waited for Charles to act, the same can’t be done in this case. He had to convince Arleigh to help him. He just had to.
When the rain eventually calmed down, he took the chance before the critters awakened. Rushing over the swamp, a few Mirelurks got in his way but barely slowed him down, his rifle making quick work of them. Reaching the shore, he checked his surroundings and found a trail leading up the hill. After a while, he felt a foul smell and noticed a brahmin skeleton. Sneaking closer, he saw a deathclaw, lying on the ground. He couldn’t hear it breathe and risked a closer peek.
It was dead. The deathclaw was slain and butchered, and that foul smell came from the remains of the open torso and limbs. Clean cuts. It had to be Arleigh’s handiwork. Looking up, he noticed smoke to the west. Getting closer, he eventually found a shack built around a cave entrance. The smoke came from a hole near the top of the hill. Someone was home.
Knocking on the door, he listened carefully for footsteps. But nothing. To avoid attracting attention, he carefully opened the door and let himself in. By the door were a few traps, but nothing he couldn’t sneak past. He could see light flickering deeper inside, but he didn’t know what to expect, so he approached carefully.
He soon arrived by a campfire. In a corner was a sleeping bag, a makeshift desk with books and notes, and by the fire was another makeshift desk covered in blood and pieces of meat, with a couple of empty coolers next to it. From a wire going across the room and over the fireplace were a few hooks holding pieces of meat, being dried and smoked. But still no sign of Arleigh.
He was about to walk over to investigate the notes when a bloody machete suddenly appeared right in front of his eyes.