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Chapter Text

the wind is whistling and rain is pelting the roof as the sole survivor of vault 111 brushes her fingers against the sleeping ex mercenary's cheek. she watches the way his chest slowly rises and falls, his messy hair falling over his face. she looks at his lips, chapped and scarred from him biting them so much, a habit she's trying to get him to break. his cheeks are textured, small scars scattered across them like freckles. she admires all these rough spots, despite his constant criticism of himself and his looks.

"mac," she whispers, not wanting to startle him awake. she smiles as his nose twitches, giggling as he softly groans at the idea of getting out of bed. 

"damn...is it time to go already?" his lids slowly open, revealing blue eyes that reminder her of diamonds or the bright blue skies she would see before the bombs fell. 

"yes it is, we're getting a special delivery we have to pick up today." she reminds him, sitting up in their shared bed and leaning over to the small bedside table to check the time on her pip-boy. he turns onto his back, looking at her with confusion in his eyes. he doesn't understand, special delivery?

"it's almost 8am, if we get up now, we can make it to the meeting spot on time," she looks over her shoulder at him, smiling softly as he tries his hardest to stay awake, "it's an important delivery." she reiterates, leaning down to kiss his forehead. he turns back into his side, throwing his arm over her lap. she runs her fingers through his hair, smoothing out the bedraggled look she loves so much. she then gets up, walking over to the piles of clothes and armor that was discarded last night. the man watches her, admiring the was her body moves as she dresses herself.

"robert, we have to get up." she uses his first name. he knows she's serious. 

the hired gun groans, throwing the thin blankets off of him and sitting on the side of the bed, the cold air hitting his body like a truck. he takes in his surroundings; sanctuary hills, her old house before the bombs fell. the old house that was falling apart when she first brought him here, but he and sturges helped her fix the house up. they helped fix all the houses up. fortify the windows and walls, fix the roof, light the rooms, build beds, etc.

maccready stretches, his bones crack like an 80 year old. years of carrying a rifle on his back, wandering the wasteland didn't help. he leans down to pick his duster up, his clothing in the same pile of clothes hers were. he moves to the bathroom where she's putting on her makeup, he looks over her shoulder at himself, fixing his brown hair with some old world hair product. his hair would still be a mess if it wasn't for meeting her.

"penelope, would you please tell me what this delivery is?" he begs her, putting his hand on her lower back, his fingers dancing up and down her spine. he kisses her neck, all while still managing to look at himself. 

penelope smiles, turning around to face him. she kisses him, a hand on his cheek and when she pulls back, he's grinning, thinking he's going to get an answer.

"no."

maccready watches her saunter out of the bathroom, her hips swaying back and forth. he huffs, putting on his hat before walking back into their bedroom. he grabs his rifle, throwing it over his shoulder and walking into the shared living area. he watches her as she packs her backpack full of cold drinks and food, stimpaks and rad away. she closes the bag, making sure the supplies were secure. 

"we're meeting them in jamaica plains, so it'll take us about 7 hours to get there." penelope says, walking over to the mister handy unit her family had before the war. 

"codsworth, do you know where dogmeat is? we're going to jamaica plains and i want him with us." penelope motioned to maccready who was standing behind her at the door. he still hadn't gotten used to the robot butler, although penelope seems to trust him, so he's trying his hardest to like him.

"miss penelope! mister maccready! yes, dogmeat is going to the bathroom right now, i just finished feeding him!" if the robot had a mouth, he would be smiling, "he should only be 10 minutes." 

after dogmeat finishes his business, he runs into the house, looking up at penelope expectantly. she gives him a small smile before throwing him a piece of cut up mole rat meat. she leans down, getting down to the german sherpard's level. the girl scratches him behind his ear, making sure to hit that one spot he loves. 

"ready boy?" she asks him, earning her a happy woof. she then turns to maccready, whos still waiting at the door, reading through an old grognak comic. she goes over to him, standing in front of the merc and quietly waiting for him to look at her.

"time to go?" he questions, his blue eyes looking into her mismatched blue and amber ones. she nods excitedly, holding out her hand for him to hold. he takes her hand, brushing his lips against her knuckles before pulling her in for one last kiss.

the lone wanderer from vault 101 takes in the area. she's sitting in a old house, the stairwell is blocked from the roof collapsing in on itself. the floor is splintering, the appliances are rusted and the wallpaper is tearing. she put a tarp up on the window, shielding them from the earlier rain. 

she runs her hands along her favorite gun, the trusty 10mm she got from her first friend. the beat up, dirty, dented metal was cold to the touch, having been with her for a decade now. three tic marks have been carved into the metal, one for that eulogy jones fuck from paradise falls, one for eden-yeah, she didnt shoot him, she talked him into self destruction but who cares-and one for the scumbag who killed her father. sure she had her combat shotgun and her sniper rifle, but her 10mm was her baby. she even named it such.

she's tired. her feet are in pain from walking for seven days, muscles sore from sleeping on the hard, wood floors all week and her head hurts from the change in weather.

the australian cattle dog is laying down next to her. the dogs fur is slightly matted, but other than that, he's healthy and well taken care of. she makes sure he gets fed every day, even if it means she doesn't eat that day. she always carries excess purified water for him and ceramic bowls for whenever they stop. the vault dweller reaches over n scratches his back at the base of his tail, his favorite spot on his whole body to be scratched.

she looks over to her husband, a ghoul she met a decade ago, when she first left the vault. his skin is necrotic, crater-like scars line his entire body, while the only hair left on him is small red patches on his head. his eyes are a hazy blue, damaged by radiation. she admires the scars that riddle his body, a testament to the time he's spent on this earth.

he's holds a small, sleeping child in his arms, letting the small human lean against him. a full head of blonde hair on him and shinning blue eyes, cant be more than five. he's a nice kid, not like his dad when he was little. she was just told to pick up this kid and take him to the commonwealth, his dad is asking for him. 

"y'know, i wouldn't mind having a kid someday." he looks over to watch his wife's reaction, smirking as her eyes widen. she looks over to him, a curious, almost scared expression on her face.

"can you even have kids?" she wonders if ghouls can still have children, especially with all the radiation exposure and their age certainly doesn't help. the ghoul shrugs, smiling over at the woman.

"i dont know if i can, but i know several ghouls who have had kids." he explains, going quiet as the kid in his arms moves around, making himself more comfortable, "he's so small, i don't want to hurt him." the ghouls eyes are wide, looking down at the blond kid. "they're all so small and fragile it feels, like one wrong move you could break them." he explains further. she laughs at his fear.

"charon, didn't you have kids before the war? you know that they're resilient." she reminds him, "i mean, i fell down the stairs in the vault once and didn't break one bone when i was five. granted, if something did happen to this kid, his dad would kill us, but that's besides the point." she looks down at her pip boy, checking the time.

"well yeah, but still, they're still so tiny. no matter how much kids get hurt, its always so painful to see. like a physical pain you get in your chest" charon looks down at the child, making sure he's still asleep, "any time мої маленькі got hurt, it was the worst thing in the world. hearing them cry, it just...it breaks your heart. i can't explain it." she nods, wondering if she would feel that if they ever had children. she doesn't push anymore, allowing them sitting in a comfortable silence.

"iris?" charon looks to his wife. she looks up from her pip boy, attempting to get the local radio station, "did you know you're the most beautiful softskin in the world?" iris rolls her eyes and blushes, turning her head away. 

"shut up." she continues to fiddle with the pip boy, finally getting the radio.

"...diamond city radio, and i'm, uh...you know, it's me. travis...anyway." the voice coming through the pip boy is grainy and crackles every few minutes, but neither of them care. 

"miss iris?" charon and iris both look down to the sleeping-now awake-child. his blue eyes shine, similar to his dad's when he was little.

"yeah, buddy? what's up?" she asks the kid, who's now standing up, eye level with the woman sitting on her butt. he blinks at her for a second before pointing outside.

"what's that?" iris turns around, making a disgusted face as she realizes what she's looking at. she grabs her 10mm and the ghoul puts his hands over the little boy's ears. the boy instinctively closes his eyes, being told at the beginning of the week to 'shut his eyes when his ears are covered'. iris gets up, stepping out of the house into the street.

"i'm gonna send you back to hell!" she mumbles to herself, but the mutated mosquito explodes before she can pull the trigger. she stumbles back, shocked at the bullet and at the amount of blood that's splattered across her face now. she wipes the blood off on the sleeve of her leather jacket, and turns to run back to her hiding spot before hearing something that stops her in her tracks.

"101?!"

Chapter Text

maccready lowers his rifle, angry that he wasted a bullet on a bug. penelope runs up to him, looking at him with a guilty look on her face. he turns his head to look at her, unable to be upset with her. dogmeat runs up behind the two, his tail wagging and his tongue out.

"next time you want to pick stuff up, at least check the surrounding area. you could've been seriously hurt if i wasn't here," he throws his rifle over his back, grabbing her hand and rubbing his thumb against her knuckles, "now let's get going. we're here, so when will that caravan be here?" maccready starts walking towards an old decrepit house before stopping in his tracks. the german sherpard circles the two, surveying for enemies that could sneak up on them.

“rj?"

vault 101, as she was so eloquently nicknamed, is standing in front of him.

"rj, what's wrong?" penelope grabs onto his arm, worried around the mercenary, while simultaneously looking at the woman about 200 yards in front of them. he puts his guard up, not knowing if he's hallucinating or if he's dead...or both.

"101?!" he waits for her reaction, scoffing in disbelief as she stops in her tracks. he watches as she turns around slowly, her gun still in her hand.

"how'd you know that? nobody calls me that anymore!" she aims her gun at the pair, observing carefully as they both continue standing there. she looks like a deer in headlights, fear across her face. dogmeat growls, going into a defensive pose. he lowers his body to the ground, 

"i'm from the capital wasteland." maccready watches as she falters slightly, wanting to believe him. he looks almost familiar to her, like that annoying kid she met at the little lamplight caverns.

"where?" the woman in front of them says, waiting carefully for their next move, "where in the capital wasteland?" she looks over to her husband and small child, one who still has his hands over the other's ears and one who still has his eyes closed, then looks back to the people she has at gun point.

"little lamplight, by vault 87." she lowers her gun, making sure to be aware of their pair's hands, all while keeping her hands on her gun. the dog relaxes, still weary of the woman who pulled a gun on her humans. 

"are you here for the delivery?" she questions them. penelope perks up, smiling as she lets go of maccready arm. 

"yes, we are!" she exclaims, "can we, uh, can we approach you or..." she trails off, hoping the woman isn't as cold as she seems. she understands the fear of people, especially not being from around here, but penelope felt she didn't have to pull a gun on them. 

the lady nods, motioning them to come foward as she walks back into the old house. penelope begins to run forward with dog meat following, before maccready grabs her hand and pulls her back. she looks slightly annoyed, wanting to pick up the special delivery already. 

"that's the woman i always talk about. that's the lady who came into little lamplight when i was mayor." maccready looks over to where the woman was just standing, still not wanting to believe she's here. penelope looks confused for a minute then her eyes go wide. all the times her boyfriend would get drunk and ramble on about the chick who showed up in little lamplight with a ghoul bodyguard and an australian cattle dog in tow. he would go on and on about how she saved their friend's from slavers in paradise falls. he would mention how the only reason he let her into little lamplight is because she said his face looked like her butt. 

"you mean that's 101?" she looks over her shoulder to the house, the woman peaking her head out of the house waiting for the two to walk over there, "that's the one who said you looked like her butt?" she stifles a giggle, remembering how he responded. maccready's cheeks darken slightly, the blood rushing to his face as he remembers how vulgar he was as a child.

"are you two coming or no?" the lady yells at the two of them, looking expectantly at the couple and their dog. she raises her eyebrows, waiting for them to start walking.

penelope walks to the house, maccready and dogmeat still behind her. they reach the house and she abruptly turns around to face maccready. 

"okay, so this surprise is big, and i hope you'll like it and it's taken a lot of time and a lot of caps for this to happen." penelope explains to him, watching him frown at the mention of a lot of caps being spent, "no, no, no, don't frown it's worth it for how many caps this cost." she smooths out his jacket and fixes his cooked hat, before standing on her toes and kissing him quickly. he kisses back, gazing into her eyes as they shine with anticipation. she grabs his hand and looks up at him one last time before dragging him into the house.

maccready eyes widen. standing in front of him, was his son. the ex gunner rips the gun off of his back and throws it to the ground. he rushes over and scoops his son up, hugging him tightly.

"daddy!" duncan giggles and wraps his arm around his dad's neck. maccready turns to look at penelope, tears in his eyes and a smile across his face. he mouths a 'thank you' over to the sole survivor before sitting down on the floor and cradling the boy in his arms. he sniffles, allowing the tears to fall. he sits there, holding his son close, feeling as if he lets go, duncan will disappear into thin air.

maccready pulls back to look at the boy. his blond hair is longer than the last time maccready saw him. his eyes are still as blue as they day he left, if not more blue, and his skin has splotches of discoloration where the boils were. he's grown a few inches taller and his cheeks are slightly sunken in. maccready's eyes are darting back and forth, taking in his son's appearance. 

"hi dunks." maccready whispers, holding his son's face in his calloused hands. duncan wraps his arms around his dad's neck and hugs him again.

iris, charon and penelope all look at each other, giving awkward smiles, before iris turns to penelope and sticks her hand out.

"hi. i'm iris, lone wanderer, vault 101, etc. i'm sure he's told you the story." the woman says. penelope shakes her hand and smiles slightly, nodding her head.

"yeah, he has. many times. especially when he's drunk." iris laughs and lets her hands fall to her side. 

"yeah, he was about 10? 12, maybe, when i walked into little lamplight. oh, he was-" iris looks over her shoulder and charon shakes his head before motioning to the kid, "well, he was something." she looks back at the girl in front of her.

"thank you, i really do appreciate getting duncan here," penelope looks over iris's shoulder to maccready, who's son is still in his arms and is now pulling at his hat, "i'm sure maccready appreciates it too." iris smirks, chuckling softly.

"yeah, he better. we walked seven days to get here." she jokes. the ghoul walks over to the two and puts his hand on his wife's lower back. 

"do you know if there's somewhere we can stay?" charon asks, "just for the night. maybe two." 

"yes! yes, there is. diamond city. it's not too far from here. i can take you there. it's the closest, and the safest, settlement in the area." penelope tells them, looking at her pip-boy. she sets her marker for diamond city and goes over to maccready. he looks up at her, smiling wide before standing up and putting his son on his hip.

"duncan," maccready looks at his son and back to his girlfriend, "this is penelope. she's daddy's...friend." he explains, giving her 'i'm sorry' expression. she smiles at duncan and waves.

"hi duncan. it's nice to meet you." penelope looks at the boy closely. he's a carbon copy his father, blue eyes and a sharp nose. duncan buries his head in his father's shoulder before waving shyly. he mumbles something, unable to be heard by anyone.

dogmeat woofs softly, tapping his paws and wagging his tail. he's looking at the boy in maccready's arms, whining ever so slightly. duncan's head pops up and he looks at the german shepherd, laughing at the dog. maccready puts duncan down, watching as his son walks towards the dog and pets him. dogmeat licks the boy's face, the little boy's giggles filling the air around the group and it somehow makes the mood happier than it already is. the australian shepherd walks over to the two of them, sitting behind the boy so he doesn't fall over. 

iris grins. children's laugher reminders of her time in the vault, when everything was easier. she looks over to the mercenary, who's now walking over to her and she takes a deep breath. maccready stops in front of her and sighs harshly.

"thank you. so much, you really have no idea how much this means." maccready sticks his hand out, waiting for iris to take it. she scoffs and pulls him into a hug, much to his surprise.

"don't act like we don't know each other." she pulls back, her hands on his arms, "god, you really have not changed. still uptight and standoffish." iris pokes fun at him, smiling widely as he frowns.

"i'm not standoffish." he argues, furrowing his brow. iris lets out a loud laugh, making the man jump.

"totally not standoffish." she says after she finishing laughing, patting maccready's arm. she walks over to where her backpack is, picking it up and throwing it over her shoulder, "either way, i'm ready to find an actual bed to sleep in instead of on the floor." she claps her hands together, looking around at the group. penelope perks up.

"like i said, we can go to diamond city." penelope fixes her vault suit collar and her bun, while maccready picks up duncan from his spot with the dogs. 

“why is diamond city called diamond city, exactly?” iris asks as the group start walking towards the great green jewel.

“oh! it’s old fenway park!” penelope explains, making sure they going the right way. charon perks up when he hears that.

”you mean, the fenway park. like the red sox fenway park?” he gets excited, “i remember seeing them play the dodgers in the 2065 world series!”

“oh my god? yes, the fenway park! nobody ever knows what i'm talking about when i say that!” penelope exclaims, excited someone else knows what shes talking about, "everybody looks at me like im crazy or something!" her and charon converse while iris and maccready look at each other, knowing they're in for a long walk.

penelope throws open the red door to home plate, walking over to the fuse box as she flips the lights on to reveal an intricately designed house. to the left of them is a bright red work bench with tools scattered around the surface and next to that is a sitting area, with a torn couch and a loveseat. near the sitting area is a radio playing crazy he call me by billie holiday. past the sitting area is a little kitchen with a functioning fridge and a small cooking station. a janky kitchen table with five folding chairs up against the wall is next to the cooking station. to the right of them are three mannequins, one with pre war combat armor, one with leather armor and the other with a set of metal armor. there's a chest sitting near the mannequins with what looks to iris and charon to be children's toys.

the walls are decorated with old world pictures of penelope and her family, along with new world photos of maccready and friends. several baseball bats are on display, some covered in died blood, and some signed from before the war. there's a flag with the minutemen insignia on it hanging in the makeshift kitchen and framed old world movie posters along with it.

"welcome to home plate!" penelope says excitedly, allowing the group into her home in diamond city, "now, i only have two beds here, but the couch is a pull out and the dugout inn has rooms to rent, only ten caps a night!" she explains to the vault dweller and the ghoul. she takes her backpack and drops it on the dirty floor, before walking to the kitchen and grabbing ice cold nuka colas for everyone.

maccready, still holding duncan from the trip sits on the couch and puts his feet on the makeshift coffee table-which in reality is a thick, wooden board and four cinderblocks stacked up in piles of two.

"get your feet off my damn coffee table before i whack you with a spoon." penelope calls from over by the kitchen, somehow knowing what he did without turning around. the merc rolls his eyes before putting his feet on the ground. iris sits in the loveseat that's opposite the couch and charon walks around, looking at the old photos on the wall, smiling fondly as he remembers life before the bombs fell. 

"was this is new york?" charon asks, pointing to a photo of penelope as a little girl in front of the empire state building. 

"yep! i was born and raised in manhattan.” penelope sets the bottles down, walking over to charon. she points to a photo of her and her dad, “that was at central park, it was my 12th birthday. literally an hour later i was in the er with a broken arm. it never did heal correctly.”

”and what about this one?” charon asks, pointing to one with snow covering the ground and a bustling city in the back, “that looks like canada.” he smiles at the memories that plaster the wall.

”correct. we we’re in toronto and it was a…oh, fu…dge,” penelope looks over her shoulder at the kid sitting in his father’s lap, then turns back to look at the ghoul “a, um, oh i can’t remember…” she sighs and looks off, trying to figure out where she was. it takes her a moment, then she smiles and claps her hands together. “it was the ‘75 world series! yanks vs  blue jays. game 3, the yankees had just won and were about to drive back to the city to watch them win the fourth game, because y'know it was the yankees.” penelope rambles on as iris and maccready look at each other with funny looks on their faces.

”so bobby, have you really changed?” iris opens the nuka cola bottle, taking the bottle cap off with her teeth. she sits back, resting her arm on the back of the love seat and crossing her legs. she looks at the man sitting in front of her, taking in his appearance. her use of the name bobby rattles him slightly, but he regains his composure quickly. he laughs softly, trying not to scare his son, the son he hasn’t let go of since he laid eyes on him an hour before.

”i have. stopped cursing,” maccready covers duncan’s ears, “stopped killing people for fun, stopped eating strange meat, the whole nine.” he smiles, remembering his time in the capital wasteland fondly.

duncan starts squirming, not liking his ears being covered for so long. maccready lets up on his ears, picking him up and walking over to the toy chest. he puts duncan down hesitantly, as if he’ll disappear if maccready puts him down.

”why don’t you play with these toys, okay? i’m sure penelope won’t mind.” he looks over to the girl, who was just talking about her class trip to the grand canyon. she nods and gives a thumbs up, before going back to talking about pre war times. the ex-gunner turns back to his son, smiling at him. duncan nods excitedly and opens the chest looking for cars and trucks. both dogmeats lay down near the child, almost as if they’re guarding the small child. he kisses the top of duncan’s head before going back to sit on the couch. 

“god, i was such a little shit back then, wasn’t i?” he laughs, plopping back down into the old couch. he grabs his bottle of nuka cola, popping it open with a bullet that was bent in half, letting the bottle cap fall to the ground. 

"pick that damn bottle cap up, this is a home, not a bar." penelope scolds him, shooting him a look as he rolls his eyes. maccready leans down and picks it up, showing it to her to prove he did it, "on top of that, did you forget we have a dog, and now a child, living here?" well, now he feels bad for rolling his eyes.

"i thought you didn't curse anymore!" iris exclaims, smirking at him at taking a swig from her cola. he rubs the back of his neck and shrugs.

"ehh, sometimes it just comes out, especially when i'm talking to old friends." he raises his bottle up, cheering to her.

"penelope," iris calls over to the girl, smiling at her as she walks over to where the two friend's were sitting, "how would you like to hear about baby rj?" she asks, pointing her almost empty bottle to the girl. penelope grins widely, looking over to the merc who was now a blushing wreck. he sinks down into the couch, bringing his hand up and lowering his hat to cover his face.

"i would absolutely love to." penelope says, her tone bordering on devilish, as she sits down on the couch next to maccready. she sits on the very edge, legs crossed at the knees, "how would you like to hear about how adult rj?" penelope interlaces her fingers and puts them on her knee, smiling evilly at iris.

"oh boy." charon sighs as he sits down, grabbing his bottle of nuka cola and opening it with a bottle opener, like a normal person. he grabs the bottle cap before it hits the floor, his reflexes fast and cat-like. penelope smiles and motions to him with her hands.

"see, at least charon is respectful!" she exclaims and maccready waves her off. she gives him the finger, and he sticks out his tongue before iris says something.

"children please," she mocks them playfully, reaching into her bag and grabbing a bottle of bourbon, "let's talk about bobby." she smirks, opening the bottle and taking a long swig. the bottle comes down and she cringes at the taste.

"bobby?!" penelope blurts out, grabbing the bottle as iris hands it to her. the mercenary blushes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"yes," he says sharply, "she did call me bobby and no matter how much i wanted to kill her, i couldn't because everyone else in little lamplight liked her." he huffs. penelope giggles and takes a swig of the bourbon, gagging as it goes down.

"oh my god," she retches again, managing to hold down the contents of her stomach, "why the fuck do you guys drink this stuff?" she puts the bottle on the coffee table as the three of them laugh at her. she flips them off and gets up, walking to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of half full strawberry vodka. 

"hey, tone it down with the cursing," maccready looks over to his kid, who's now passed on out the floor, using the australian shephard as a pillow while the german shephard lays next to him, "never mind, he's passed the fuck out." maccready grabs bourbon, taking a few big gulps of the liquid, smiling as it goes down. penelope looks at him like he's insane. 

"jesus fucking christ," she mumbles under her breath as she sits back down next to the ex gunner, "i need to know what he first said to you when you walked into the little lamplight, please." penelope looks at the woman, who begins laughing.

"ohmygod okay," iris stands up and grabs the gun she discarded earlier. she makes sure the safety is on and throws it over her shoulder, standings up straight before grabbing a hat and putting it on, "hold it right there lady!" she makes a face, like she's about to throw up before composing herself, "don't take another step and we'll blow your fucking head off!" she finishes, before both girls bursts out laughing, iris throwing a hand over her mouth as to not wake the sleeping child and penelope falling back into maccready while giggling like a child.

"shh, you two are gonna wake duncan up." charon scolds the two of them, walking over to the sleeping child. he scoops the sleeping five year old up and looks to maccready, silently asking where to put duncan. maccready takes that as a sign to get up, leaving the two girls to laugh amongst themselves. 

maccready leads the ghoul upstairs to the one bed they have, the dogs trailing closely behind them. he sighs and cringes at how he was as a little kid.

”oh god, was i really that mean to you guys when you first got there?” maccready asks the ghoul. charon smiles and nods.

”yes. you were. but i understand.” charon places the small child onto the bed, and maccready pulls the blanket up. the german shephard jumps onto the bed as the australian lays down on the floor. maccready runs his hand over his face tiredly, and grabs a teddy bear off the shelf.

”it was mine when i was younger.” the bear is brown and there's spots where it's clear it's been sewn back together. some of the fur is missing and matted down, but it's still in decent condition for traveling the wasteland. he puts the teddy bear in his son's arms, who moves onto his side and cuddles with it, all while still sleeping. he hopes the ghoul won't go into any more detail of him as a child, he already hears the two vault dwellers downstairs making fun of him.

"we understand, you had to protect all those kids. we're not angry at you. granted i did want to shoot you for a couple years after we met, but i came to understand." charon smirks ever so slightly, unnoticeable if it wasn't for his decayed skin, "it takes someone really brave to do that. now have a little fun and loosen up." charon then walks downstairs, going to make sure the two girls don't get too drunk. maccready stands there for a moment, then follows him, thinking about all the friends he left behind.

"you never told me she called you a butt!" is the first thing that penelope says to maccready when he comes back into view. maccready laughs, remembering exactly what he said to the lone wanderer.

"well, she must like having such a good looking butt." he replied, making iris choke on her drink. she looks at him incredulously before swallowing the alcohol she had in her mouth.

"you remember!" she excitedly raises the almost empty bottle, nearly dropping it before charon takes it out of her hands, "yeah, your mom sure likes it." her words are slightly slurred and her eyes are droopy.

"you're funny for a mungo." maccready sits down, smiling as penelope looks at him confused, "mungo, it's an adult or a grown up. we used to use it to insult adults who came through little lamplight." the sole survivor from vault 111 looks at him like he's crazy, then gets up and walks to the chem stash she has.

"if you're gonna be talkin' crazy, i need something to relax." she pulls out a bong, a metal cylinder that looks like it comes apart, a lighter and some green stuff, waving it around and smirking. charon laughs, the first time of the night, and shakes his head. maccready and iris look at each other, confusion laced their faces. 

"wha...what is that? it looks like...i don't even know what it looks like." maccready stutters out, his eyebrow raised ever so slightly. penelope laughs and sets everything on the table, then walks over to the fridge and pulls out purified water. she opens the water and walks back over to the table. she pours the water down the neck of the bong, filling it up to about halfway up the base and putting the cylinder, lighter and baggie in her pocket, she picks the bong up and begins walking to the stairs.

"upstairs to the trailer we go." she tells the group, stumbling up the stairs and out the hatch, onto the roof. they follow her, and maccready turns to the german shephard.

"bark if he wakes up, okay dogmeat?" the australian shephard perks up and cocks his head to the side. maccready makes a face, "the other dogmeat, my dogmeat." he rubs the heads of both the dogs before going onto the roof. he takes off his duster and shoves it in between the hatch and the roof.

the trailer on top of home plate has curtains covering the windows and a sheet cut up the middle covering the door. there's six pillows on the ground, a small end table against the wall and a rug beneath all that in the south side of the trailer. on the end table are three skinny white candles and one thick pink candle. the wicks are black and burnt and there's wax pooling on the table. a plate with a half eaten leg from a cooked radchicken sits in front of the candles. there's a box by the end table with it's top off that has pre war pictures inside-pictures of penelope and her mother. next to the box is tissues, some used, some not.

in the north side there's a lawn chair and a few strange looking plants in pots on the floors. there's a old metal watering can next to the plants along with a few pre war bag of fertilizer and a bucket full of old food scraps. several books are stacked on the law chair, most with titles involving some plant growing. one of them is open to a page, the same plants in the pot are on the pages, just in pictures. the plants are in different stages of growth, two fully grown-or almost fully grown-and two just in the middle of seedlings. a fifth is freshly cut, some fabric gloves, pruning scissors, and a small handheld shovel. 

"how is it already dark outside?" charon pulls back a curtain slightly to look out over the makeshift city, "holy shit you can see the green monster from here!" he gets excited, almost like a child on christmas. 

"the green monster?" maccready and iris exchange looks of confusion. the two are still standing while the sole survivor is sitting on a pillow already. penelope snorts as she takes the top of the cylinder off. it looks like there are teeth, but maccready pays no mind to it.

"the green monster was what people called the giant wall before the bombs fell. it was where the scoreboard went, which is surprisingly still there," penelope explains, putting broken up green stuff into the top of the cylinder. she puts the top back on and starts twisting back and forth. 

"okay, what are you doing?" penelope looks up at iris, smiling. 

"a pre war thing called grinding." iris and maccready exchange another look.

"i thought grinding was a type of dancing?" penelope cackles, 

"it is, but what she is doing is called grinding weed." charon walks over to where penelope is, taking a pillow and putting it on the floor near the door, "weed was a pre war plant that people, usually teenagers, hippies-"

"woah, hippies are cool people." penelope cuts him off, putting more broken up weed into the top of the cylinder.

" as i was saying before i was interrupted, hippies, teenagers, people who had cancer and chronic pain, et cetera. would smoke weed. it helped with pain because you would go numb and forget everything that was happening around you." the ghoul continues, "i couldn't smoke it in the military, i would've gotten dishonorably discharged."

"i smoked it because it was fun. and it made me feel funny things" penelope laughs, then looks up at the two people born post war, motioning them to sit down, "sit, we're not gonna bite." she finishes grinding as the two sit down next to their respective partners.

"wait...so what is that thing you're using to...grind?" the mercenary asks. 

"a grinder."

"it's literally just called a grinder?" iris looks at her incredulously, not believing what she's hearing. the ghoul snorts, similarly to the sole survivor did minutes before. iris looks at him with an eyebrow raised. 

"yes, it's literally just called a grinder," penelope tells her, doing whatever she has to do to prepare to smoke, "can you tell me more about baby maccready? i think we need to bully him a little more." she shoots an evil smile to the lone wanderer, who gives her one back.

”i thought you would never ask.” iris sits straighter up, more clear headed than before, “so i ask him how the hell he kept lamplight organized and this little 12 year old goes ‘organized?! have you seen this place? it’s pure anarchy! and i wouldn’t have it any other fucking way!’ and just continues to be a little shit.” maccready groans 

“wait, wait, wait. robert joseph maccready, this man right here,” penelope motions to the man sitting next to her, “used to curse?” she takes her lighter and presses on the ground up weed into the bowl of the bong.

"you mean to tell me he wasn't lying about not cursing anymore?" iris asks her, bewilderment across her face as she watches the girl with the bong, “and what are you doing?”

”i’m packing a bowl,” penelope giggles as she watches the faces of the humans from the capital wasteland twist in confusion. she holds up a small glass piece of the bong that looks like a small funnel, “this is where the ground up weed goes so you don’t burn your fingers when lighting it.” she explains, sighing as the two friends share another confused look, something they’ve done a lot of tonight. penelope looks down and continues explaining the intricacies of the bong.

”anyway, when you light the weed, you inha-“ she looks back up and sees them looking at her like she has two heads, “just…just watch me.” she mutters, growing increasingly tired of having to explain things. 

the sole survivor takes hold of the neck of the bong before she puts her mouth on the mouth piece of the bong and flicks the lighter on. she holds the flame over the packed bowl, the green plant turning to black as penelope begins to slowly inhale. the water begins to bubble and smoke begins to fill the base and the neck. she puts the lighter down, the flame now out and takes the bowl out of the downstem. she breathes in the smoke, completely clearing the bong. she takes the bong away from her mouth, her chest puffed out and holds it for five seconds before letting out the smoke in a slow, smooth breath.

smoke is now surrounding the group. maccready is looking at his girlfriend incredulously, surprised she could even have that much lung capacity. she smirks at him, knowing what he’s about to ask.

“yes, you can try it. but watch me one more time.”

the man from little lamplight is currently laying on his back, his head resting in his girlfriend’s lap and his left arm is strewn across his face, covering his eyes. the woman from vault 101 is leaning against the wall of the trailer, her lids low and her arms limp at her side.

”jesus christ.” penelope mutters, looking at the two lightweights, “are you manually breathing?” she asks the mercenary, who nods and lets out a grunt, “this was a mistake letting you guys smoke that much.” she shakes her head, seeing the two mountains of ash in the ashtray. 

“i think you broke them.” charon checks to make sure his wife is still breathing, her eyes moving to look at him. he nods softly, kissing her forehead before turning back to the pre-war relic sitting before him.

”yeah, probably should’ve warned them, huh?” she smiles, clearly amused at the display of low tolerance, “what year we’re you born?” she asks the ghoul, who seems taken aback by the question. 

no one ever wanted to get to know him, besides iris. 

iris broke down his walls slowly over the years, letting him become vulnerable and open with her. he hadn’t felt something like that since before the war. it started off slow with her asking the ghoul about his life now, then life before the war, then more in depth questions.

at first, he didn’t know how to answer them. half of the time, he thought iris was asking to see his weak spots.

charon still remembers the first time he really opened up to iris

"що за піздець." charon lowered his shotgun, watching the raider blow up into millions of pieces and blood splatter everywhere. 

"what?" he turns around to see the 19 year old he's been following around for the past few months. she has a large gash across her face that's oozing blood, a few small scars scattered across her arms and her chest and blood running down her lower leg from a cut on her knee. her brown eyes are looking at him intensely, expecting an answer soon. her blonde hair is pinned up in a bun, now with hair sticking out in random places. 

"fuck." he curses under his breath, this time in english. he sighs and runs a hand across his face.

"no, you said something in...a random language, not english." she stands frim, "what'd ya say?" she questions again, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"it means what the fuck in ukrainian. y'know, ukraine? the country from before the war?" he asks the girl, "did they not teach you this in that little vault of yours?" he mocks her, something he's done quiet frequently over the past few months. he walks over to her, towering over the small framed girl. she grows red but charon can't tell if it's from him looming over her or his mocking of her. 

"yeah! i know ukraine." she lies, clearly embarrassed by her lack of knowledge. the ghoul rolls his eyes, pushing past her back to where they had previously been sitting. he goes into his things and pulls out a map from 2076. its town in some places, clearly taped back together. 

charon unfolds the map, placing it on the ground and motioning for her to come over to where he is. she stalks over, upset to be proven wrong-about what, he didn't know and it seemed she didn't either.

iris sits next to the ghoul and looks to where he's pointing at the map. 

"that's ukraine." he tells her, going into detail about the history of the country.

"so that's where you were born?" the girl questions, having calmed down after her little history lesson. charon nods, smiling ever so slightly at the memories of his home country. 

"i came here, to america around the age of ten. i still remember when i first stepped foot in this country. i had my parents and all six of my siblings next to me. we were obviously new, anyone could tell just by looking at us. i mean we were dressed in bland, dark clothing, everyone else had bright clothes with color and designs, it was strange. i mean people were nice to us, but it was still strange. we weren't used to people seeing us as...people." he explained, the pain in his voice slowly starting to creep out, "i had just watched my grandfather and oldest brother get killed by russian soldiers two weeks beforehand. how else was i supposed to feel?" he whispers, running his fingertips across the map image of ukraine. 

charon looks to his wife, who's still sitting there, but now she's playing a game on her pip-boy, hype focused on winning. he smiles at her, thankful she got his contract and not some other fuck ass who would've left him to die the first chance he got hurt.

"2043." he lets out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in, "august 13, 2043." penelope nods slightly, happy that the ghoul can remember his birthday.

"so you're 244 years old?" she asks. it's charon's turn to nod, "wow, so you remember before it all went to shit? like the pre war world?" she continues with her line of questioning.

"yup. it was peaceful, we didn't live in constant fear of nuclear anhelation." he reminisces, his eyes glossing over at the memories of the past.

"do you think we'll ever get to see that again?" penelope whispers, clearly deep in memories of pre war life as well. charon shakes his head.

"no...no probably not. but we can always be hopeful. i mean, people are fending for themselves just fine, if only we could agree on a form of government." the two pre war relics laugh at the joke, something other people wouldn't understand. 

"so, how did little rj maccready here meet someone like you? no offense to him, but you seem way too sweet for him." penelope smiles at the question, running her fingers through  hair of the man laying on her lap.

penelope is sitting at the wooden bar of the third rail, a bar constructed in a subway tunnel. she threw back another shot of vodka, slamming the glass onto the wooden surface and throwing her fists up in victory. the men beside her groaned, upset that they lost whatever game or challenger they had going on.

"pay up boys, 100 caps each, you know the deal." she smirked at them and holds out her hands, gaining 400 caps in one game, "who's next?" she asked the bar, but no one takes her up on the offer. they know they'll lose, but maybe the next sad sacks of shit who stop in goodneighbor will fall for her tricks. she scoffed, before hopping off the barstool and making her way to the vip room, stumbling as she does so. 

"...wondering how long it would take your bloodhounds to track me down, winlock. it's been almost three months. don't tell me you're getting rusty." penelope heard a smooth voice, very obviously hiding the distress in his voice, "should we take this outside?" she walked further into the room, dogmeat following closely behind her. 

"it ain't like that, i' m just hear to deliver a message." a gravely voice, who she assumes belongs to winlock, filled the room. the man sitting in a chair gets up quickly. he's taller than penelope thought he would be. 

"in case you forget, i left the gunners for good." the man stated, irritation lacing his voice.

"yeah i heard." winlock crossed his arms, staring a the other man, "but you're still taking jobs in the commonwealth. that isn't going to work for us."

"i don't take orders from you! not anymore. so why don't you take your girlfriend and walk out of here while you still can." penelope made a face, disgust evident all over it. 

"ew, i'd never date someone that looks and dresses like that," she pointed to the man, who seemed offended and shocked all at the same time, "neither of them, actually."

"what?! winlock, tell me we don't have to listen to this shit...": the third man finally spoke up. it's evident he's winlock's lap dog.

"listen up maccready," winlock got closer to maccready, "the only reason we haven't filled your body full of bullets is that we don't want a war with goodneighbor. see, we respect other people's boundaries...we know how to play the game. it's something you never learned."

"glad to have disappointed you" venom dripped from maccready's voice, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he says this. winlock laughed and took a step back.

"you can play the tough guy all you want. but if we hear you're still operating inside gunner territory, all bets are off. you got that?" a clear threat disguised as a compromise.

"you finished?" maccready spat. he wasn't intimidated, rolling his eyes at the two men in front of him.

"yeah...we're finished. c'mon barnes." winlock and barnes walked out of the room, leaving only the girl, clearly drunk, her dog and this man she happened to stumble upon. he sat back down, his body language saying he didn' t want to deal with anyone else.

"look lady, if you're preaching about atom, or looking for a friend, you've come to the wrong guy. if you need a hired gun...then maybe we can talk." maccready looked her up and down. stood in front of him is a girl with pink hair tied up into two buns on her head, something he's only ever seen once or twice. she has bright blue eyes and is short, estimated maybe five feet tall. she wears a blue jumpsuit, one right out of a vault. she looked at him with an insulted look.

"are you telling me, i need a hired gun? do i look like someone who needs a hired gun?" she hiccupped, about to accuse him of judging her because she's a girl. 

"no, it's just what people usually come to see me about." he shrugged, tilting his head ever so slightly. she scoffed and crossed her arms, almost falling flat on her face in the process. 

"who said i was hear to see you? i want a place to lay down." she told him, moving to the couch across from the man. she laid across the couch, her dog down at her feet, almost standing guard. maccready watched her closely, wondering what her motive was.

"if you need a place to stay, you can go stay at the rexford." he muttered, taking a drink from one of the many bottles strewn around him. 

"don't need a place to stay and don't need a hired gun." the girl drunkenly got out, before falling asleep on the couch. the ex gunner groaned, upset he would have to look after some random girl who decided to drink too much. 

the mercenary sat there for about 30 minutes, doing what he usually does, when the girl popped up. she looked better than when he first laid eyes on her, but the expression on her face said she didn't know where she was.

"the vip room at the third rail." maccready told her. she nodded, somehow completely fine with waking up in random places. 

"who're you?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. she was much more coherent than when she first walked into the room. her eyes weren't open fully, and her hair was messy from sleeping on the couch, but that's expected after sleeping on a small couch. 

"rj maccready, hired gun, ex gunner, menace, whichever one you prefer." he smirked, crossing his arms as he watches the girl, "how about you? what's your name?"

"penelope, vault dweller, pre war relic, sole survivor, whichever one you prefer." she stood up, no longer stumbling or falling over. maccready looked at her like she was insane, "i'll be back, i'll let you know if i need your skills anytime soon." she sauntered away and maccready followed after her, standing at the entrance of the vip room. he watched as she climbed the stairs, turning back around to wave at him and call her dog.

charon chuckles at the story, partially believing it, partially not.

"you outdrank four grown men?" he questions, wondering how someone so small can handle that much alcohol.

"yes, yes she did." the man laid out on the floor speaks up for the first time in 30 minutes. 

"he speaks!" penelope jokes, watching as he flips her off. he sits up slowly, making sure to not flop back down and risk waking the child downstairs. the ex gunner moves his body to sit against the wall opposite of iris, taking in a deep breath in. penelope looks at him, smirking as he takes manual breaths. 

"she did outdrink four frown men. she's outdrank ten grown men. i don't know how the fuck she does it, but she does it." he mumbles, taking his duster off, "Is anyone else hot?" he asks, fanning himself and turning a soft shade of green. penelope rolls her eyes and grabs a bucket that had been used as a table.

"you're gonna green out, do it in here. i'd rather not clean up vomit tonight." she makes a face as the man gags, pointing for him to go outside the trailer. he crawls his way to the doorway, bringing the bucket with him. penelope turns to the other vault dweller from the capital wasteland, smiling as she seems to be handling her high better than the other.

"so, was maccready really that much of a douche when he was a kid?" she asks the older woman, who nods and closes the game she was playing on her pipboy. she looks to the younger girl, who's looking at her with an amused look on her face.

"oh he was the biggest fucking douche. i asked him for directions one time, because the caverns were fucking huge and he goes-"

"what do i look like, your tour guide?" maccready finishes from outside the trailer. iris points to the doorway.

"exactly what he said, but i don't like being interrupted jackass," iris rolls her eyes and continues her story telling, "so eventually i'm done talking to him. i tell him that's all for now and he responds 'about time'. about time? what the fuck is that supposed to mean. the little douche nozzle made me want to punch him in the mouth." the older woman laughs, "i also asked him if we could make a trade with the fungus that grows in the cave, because it helped with radiation or some shit, and he goes 'yeah, i'll bet you've heard all about the fungus in my cavern' what the fuck does that even mean?" iris throws her hands up, still clearly wondering what the boy meant ten years after the conversation. 

"it meant what i said." maccready replies, making his way back into the trailer and leaving the bucket full of his stomach contents outside. penelope hands him a water bottle, silently telling him to rinse his mouth out.

"that doesn't help at all."

"well, i dont know what to tell you ma'am." iris flips him off, scoffing at his response. maccready snickers, swishing the water around his mouth before he sticks his head out the window and spits the water out, accidentally hitting someone down below.

"headshot." he pulls his head back into the trailer before he can be seen by the person he hit. he smirks as he hears them yell, looking around for the person that hit them. 

"oh my god, it's two in the morning." charon reveals. the three other members of the small group look at him, shocked they've been out here this long.

"have we been up here for four hours?" penelope asks, interlacing her smooth fingers with maccready's rough ones. he smiles softly, already feeling better being by his girlfriend's side.

"i'm going to bed. i dont know where, but i'm going." iris states, and penelope smiles.

"you can both stay up here for the night, or i can get you a room at the dugout inn. it's right around the corner." she offers, going to reach into her pocket to pull out caps. charon holds up a hand, causing her to stop.

"no need, we have plenty of caps, more than we know what to do with." he jokes, wrapping an arm around the wastelander who is still currently high out of her mind.

"i'm sure yefim wouldn't mind if you stayed in a room and payed him in the morning." maccready offered, knowing the russian might be a little pissed off in the morning. but glad he's getting business. 

"then the dugout inn we'll be going to." iris smiles wildly, standing up quickly and almost falling right back down if not for charon catching her. 

"why don't i go down first, sweetheart." he offers the woman, who nods. maccready grabs his hat, that was still wedged between the roof and the trap door, and opens said door for the woman and the ghoul.

charon goes down the ladder first, iris going down shortly after he sets his feet on the ground. she manages to get down, almost falling off the ladder twice. maccready goes next, somehow managing to get down carefully and without almost waking his son up. he looks up, expecting to be met with penelope, but is instead hit in the face with his duster, the one he forgot he had taken off earlier in the night. he throws the duster on the ground, sputtering as he tries to get the dirt out of his mouth. his girlfriend slides down the ladder with ease, clearly having done this hundreds of times. 

"i can walk you there." penelope offers, smiling at the couple standing in front of her. charon nods before scooping up his wife in his arms, carrying her like a bride. he walks down the stairs to the door, smiling as iris wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face into his neck. penelope turns to maccready and kisses him softly.

"i'll be right back, stay here with duncan." she tells him, smiling as he nods. she follows the ghoul down the wooden stairs and opens the red metal door for them. charon calls the australian shephard to him, making sure he follows his people closely. she closes it softly, not wanting to wake up the five year old that's still asleep in bed. 

"thank you." penelope says to charon, who looks at her with a questioning look, "for bringing him here. i mean, you really have no idea how much this means to him." she explains. the ghoul smiles.

"of course, i know what it's like being away from your kids for so long. it's not fun." charon walks through the doorway of the dugout inn, and waits for the sole survivor to direct him to the rooms. 

"vadim! where's yefim?" penelope asks the man at the bar, who charon assumes is vadim. he shrugs.

"he's probably sleeping. just go find room and pay in morning." vadim waves the guests away, knowing they'll pay one way or another. charon stiffens up at the russian accent, but continues moving towards the rooms. 

"room two." penelope opens the door for the couple, both of the pre war relics nodding at each other, "come see us in the morning before you guys go!" she closes the door behind them, but not before making sure their dogmeat was in the room with them. she walks out the door of the old baseball dugout into the cool boston air. she shivers slightly before beginning her way back to home plate.

penelope once again opens and closes the red door quietly, slipping into home plate and walking back up the stairs. both maccreadys are asleep, the older one on his back, while his son lays on the elder's torso.

penelope smiles, sliding into the full sized bed next to the mercenary. she runs her fingers through his chestnut brown hair, watching as his chest rises and falls. the blond haired little boy clutches the old teddy bear in his hands, his mouth open ever so slightly as he sleeps on top of his father. 

"goodnight, my love." penelope whispers, kissing the forehead of her boyfriend. she feels him shift, something that would be hardly noticeable if she wasn't next to him.

"goodnight, beautiful." he whispers back, smiling and cracking one eye open. the sole survivor smiles, leaning down to kiss him. 

"i love you, rj." she tells him. it's his turn to smile now.

"i love you, penelope," maccready kisses her again, "thank you for this." he motions to the boy sleeping soundly on his chest.

the vault dweller just smiles back at him, pulling the blanket over the three of them, and cuddling up to the ex gunner. he wraps an arm around the girl and kisses her forehead, realizing he might actually feel complete for once in three years.