(Fallout) Ch 7: Same Old Story, Whole New Century

Chapter 6: Lost in the Outfield

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We were packed in tighter than a can of Longneck Lukowski’s, with a smell that was twice as bad. Of all the carts we could have picked, we managed to find the one that was filled with fresh salvage scraped off the bottom of the Charles. The stench of rotting fish and mirelurk could have peeled the flesh off of a ghoul’s backside, but I held myself together as the cart slowly came to a stop. 

I looked out and watched as the driver walked into one of the newly constructed warehouses sitting on the edge of town. As soon as the coast was clear, we tore off the tarpaulin and clamored out as fast as we could. We only enjoyed a few short moments before we heard the driver coming back, and so we dashed down the darkened alleyways until at last, we were able to slip in with the rest of the crowd as they bustled from shop to shop during the mad midday rush. 

As we made our way through the main square, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Colorful neon lights dazzled us from all sides as the once dingy shanties now shone with new coats of paint. Not only were there renovations that made my old home look almost new, but there had been massive expansions into the outer stands until the city had nearly doubled in size. Even Ilya looked a little impressed, as the shopkeepers struggled to keep up with the trader’s demands and the line for Takahashi’s noodle stand snaked beyond the chapel door. Even old Moe Cronin was doing well as he stood on his soapbox, calling out to passersby “Swattahs here, get ya swattahs! Can’t say ya really from Diamond City without ya very own, gen-u-ine swattah!”

The contrast to the outside couldn’t have been more stark. While the world around us had been crumbling beneath our feet, it seemed life behind the Wall had only been getting better than ever. As the once familiar sounds and smells of the Diamond surrounded me, I began to wonder why I had ever left it in the first place. 

That was, until I saw the sign. 

Though the rest of the city may have passed it by, it hadn’t changed one bit. Crooked, cracked, and written in a style straight out of a history book, the words “Publick Occurrences” bore down on me with a green glare that always reminded me of a certain someone else I knew…

There really was no way of knowing how she would react to seeing me again, especially after all of this time, but it wasn’t as if I had a choice in the matter. She was my last hope, and if I was lucky, it would be in and out with no questions asked and I could finally get out of the Commonwealth at last. 

A pang of guilt ripped through me at the thought. As we walked up to that red door I’d seen so many times before, I knew I hadn’t been a saint in all of this, and she had been there for me more times than I could count. Still, I shoved the feeling down as I reached up and knocked on that door, and we waited.

And waited.

And waited…

But nobody answered.

I tried once more, but still there was nothing.

Curious, I tried the handle and to my surprise the door fell open at the slightest touch. Checking to make sure no one was watching, I slowly peeked my head inside and called out.

“Hello?”

At last, I got my answer, in the form of a lamp cracking over my skull.

************

"JACOB?!" 

The shrill shriek reignited the throbbing in my head as I came to, lying on the ground and staring up at a face I never thought I’d see again. The shock reflected in those eyes told me she’d thought the same, and probably wished it would have stayed that way.

Well, that was Piper Wright, alright. And lord knew she always thought she was right too. She’d tell you so herself, and point to a long list of articles to “prove” it too. Journalist, photographer, and possibly the most stubborn woman I’d ever known… She looked exactly the same as the day we’d first met, right down to the ink stains on her hands. She was wearing her long red trench coat, a pack slung over her shoulder and a “Press” ticket sticking out of the band of her old newsie cap. It was a look I’d seen her don a million times before, just before she went out on the prowl for her next big scoop. Well, she caught something alright. Too bad I was the last thing she was looking for.

“What are you… how did you… I mean… WHAT?!” The black-haired woman sputtered in disbelief, shocked into a rare bout of silence before she finally remembered that we were still standing out in the open. Curious stares were already turning our way as she snapped to her senses.  

“Dammit, never mind, just get him inside, quick!”  

Before I knew what was happening, I was being dragged inside by my arms and legs, but no sooner had the door shut behind us, then I was dropped to the floor faster than a sack of nuclear waste. Suddenly I was under attack, tiny fists of fury were beating down on me from all sides while Ilya stood shocked in the corner.

“What … the HELL… are you doing here?!” Piper screamed as she landed a punch to my gut and a kick to my ribs. “Or better yet, where were you three months ago, huh? You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face around here after what you pulled, Jacob Burns. Do you honestly have ANY idea what you put me through? Well, do you?!” She said before kicking me once more for good measure. 

“Well, a fine hello to you too!” I yelled as I staggered to my feet. “Oh no, don’t help me get up or anything, I’ve only been living on the street and running for my life for months on end, what with the Brotherhood at my back and the bounty on my head, which you just cracked open by the way, thanks for that. Really,” I said as I rubbed at the newly forming welt and it occurred to me I was bleeding. “And here I thought you’d be happy to see me, ya know, not being dead and all, but hey, I guess that’s one way to greet an old friend.”

“Friends? Oh so, we’re friends now are we? Just regular old pals!” She howled in response. “That’s real rich coming from you. The last time I checked friends don’t disappear without so much as a goodbye. Friends don’t make promises they can’t keep, and friends don’t leave friends stranded in the middle of nowhere without any way home!” 

Oh boy, here we go again… I thought, as I rolled my eyes. It was just like Piper to make this all about her, as if I had just abandoned her out in the wilderness to die when she knew damn well that wasn’t the case. I wanted to say something, but it was far too late now. She was already in full swing, brewing up a guilt trip bigger than a radstorm in the Glowing Sea.

“What ever happened to “Come with me Piper”, “I can’t do this without you Piper”, “I need you with me on this Piper,” or maybe you remember this little gem? “Don’t worry, I’ll be right back,” she added with a smirk, and just like that it was like when we were dating all over again. Fighting every night, trying to one up the other with whose got it worse. 

“Oh yeah? Well you certainly didn’t take long to get over it, now did you?” I snapped as my head began to throb harder than ever. 

“How about these headlines, huh? Any of these ring a bell? ‘NEWSFLASH! Prydwen still Burns in Bay as Burns roams Free’, or how about ‘Jacob Burns… Man Gone Rogue or Synth in Sheep’s Clothing?’ And then there’s that exclusive interview you did… you know, the one with the “anonymous” source? Now I KNOW you have to remember that one… it was everyone’s favorite after all. Your best seller.” 

I smiled with a smug satisfaction as her face flushed a deep red. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Oh that’s right, I read it. In fact, so did everyone in Goodneighbor. And I can’t tell you what a treat it was to hear it recited onstage at the Third Rail… every night… for three weeks straight.” 

I mimed the headline in the air with all the flair and gusto Hancock himself would have given it.

“I DATED A SYNTH!: The True Story of Sex, Lies, & Betrayal - The Secret Lover of Jacob Burns tells all!” I spat on the ground.

“How could you do that to me?! You know damn well I ain’t a synth, and you know exactly why I was leaving the Brotherhood, and you go and publish that crap? Why? Just to hurt me? To make money? Just tell me what the hell possessed you to publish that…that… tabloid trash!” I yelled, a little too proud of that one as I watched the blow land home, her face white with rage. 

“Don’t. You. Dare… try to turn this on me, Jacob!” The woman doubled down even as she reeled from the blow, “You were the one that broke your promise, you were the one who walked out on us, and YOU were the one that broke that little girl’s heart! I waited for you Jacob… WE waited for you, and when we needed you most, you were nowhere to be found!”

“Oh puh-leeese, you’ve been doing just fine on your own. I’m the one that’s been eating out of trash cans and cleaned out stockpiles. You think a 200 year old salisbury steak is bad? Try one from fifty years before that. And you? Hell, you’ve been living it up and raking in the caps hawking that cheap, two-bit, cage-liner you call a pa-“ 

“AHEM…” 

We whipped around to see Ilya standing there with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, none too happy with the whole situation. With the shock of everything, both Piper and I had completely forgotten that we weren’t the only ones in the room. 

“Who. The hell. Are you?” Piper said as she glowered menacingly at the girl, sizing her up as she did.

“Oh! Um, hi… er hello!” she stuttered, suddenly much less sure of herself now that Piper’s cruel gaze was suddenly upon her. “I’m Ilya. Ilya Astor.” Piper glared as the girl offered her hand, but said nothing.

“Uh…” she said as she withdrew, “I realize that this is a personal matter, but um, this fighting really doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere, and, I mean, I know I’m a stranger and all, and maybe it’s not my place to say anything, but…”

“Oh I wouldn’t, if I were you.”

“But-“

“I really… really wouldn’t, if I were you…” she continued dangerously, as her eyes narrowed into slits and her hand twitched towards her pistol.

“Maybe… maybe I should just go…” Ilya was out of breath, a little bit of a panic flitting across her face.

“Best idea I’ve heard all day.”

“…”

An icy wind blew through the room cold enough to freeze over Saugus Forge and it was then I realized there had been a terrible misunderstanding.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on a second Piper, you got this all wrong! She’s just some vault dweller I picked up yesterday, see?” I signaled to Ilya and she untied her trench coat to reveal the pristine blue vault suit underneath. Piper’s expression softened ever so slightly towards Ilya, who was finally able to breathe again.

“So, why are you both here, then?” She said, her words laced with genuine curiosity beneath her loathing.

“I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” I confessed. Piper let out a short dry laugh. 

“Why am I not surprised?

“Hey, It was either that or leave her out there to die! Kid’s got no idea what she’s doing, wants to run off playing hero. Trust me when I say I wouldn’t come digging all this up if I didn’t have to.

“What do you want from me then?”

“What do you think I want? I want to know if you’ll take her in or not?” 

I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as Piper smiled and shook her head, almost laughing as she did.

“I’m afraid not, friend. As it happens, I have much more pressing matters to attend to, and don’t have time to watch after your stray, so if you don’t mind…” She opened the door.

“I really have to get back to packing.”

Piper turned and walked right passed us, leaving the door wide open as she returned to filling her pack full of supplies. I turned to Ilya, who looked to be on the verge of tears. 

“Look I’m sorry about all of this, this may take some time to smooth over. It’s my fault really, I should’ve known she’d react like this…”

“She… she wouldn’t have really shot me, would she Mr. Burns?” She was more shook up than I expected, and it was a hard one to answer to be honest. Piper can be a tad… unstable when angry.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s me she’s mad at. Why don’t you head into the market and pick up some new clothes or something, while I try to work this out, okay?” I said as I handed her a small bag of caps, the absolute last of my money in a single pouch. “Just, try to blend in. Do what everybody else is doing, okay? You can manage that, right?”

“I guess…” she said uneasily as she weighed the bag curiously in her hands. “You really think you can get her to change her mind? 

“I sure hope so…” I said as I looked back over my shoulder to see Piper violently shoving useless knickknacks into her pouch instead of the bandages and stimpaks sitting right next to them.

“Good luck…” she said. “You’re going to need it.” 

************

Once the door was closed, I turned back to Piper to find her holding a small doll she must have picked up by accident. Her stare was a million miles a way as she let out a quavering sigh and dropped it into her pack.

A part of me still wanted to wrap my arms around her, hold her for hours and tell her how very sorry I really, truly was. But we were long passed that point. I had burned down that bridge the same way I’d burned down the Prydwen. Funny how much destruction can happen that way, by one man simply doing nothing at all…

It pained me now, but once upon a time I’d actually thought of making a home here, living my life as a guard or a merc or even a detective if I’d ever went in for that job posting… But then again, things had always been far too  complicated for either of us to make that happen.

When we’d first met, I had just been reassigned to one of the smallest outposts imaginable, one that sat just outside of Diamond City. It was the kind of place you only got sent to for stepping on the wrong toes and I had stepped on the biggest.

Arthur Maxson… 

Even after all these years, I never once addressed him as “Elder”. We used to be friends, comrades… but he and I started having the occasional disagreement. It was fine at first, just like when we were kids debating over how and whether technology could be used for the greater good. I never could get him to come over to my side, but it always ended with a laugh and a race to the next class.

But then things changed. Once I started questioning him on his methodology, we stopped seeing eye to eye. And “Once a man breaks ranks,” he told me, “I am no longer that man’s friend, but his superior, and I must act accordingly.” So as punishment for my disobedience, he sent me to serve under none other than Paladin “Diamond” Danse. 

Trust me, no one called him that to be cute and no one dared say it to his face. The man had a love of rules and order that bordered on zealotry and found nothing holier or more pure than that of the chain of command. If you didn’t follow his rules, you weren’t in his company, and that didn’t matter if you were injured, on a vertibird, or halfway through your midmorning shit, you’d better get out of his sight or he’d take you out himself. Hence, “Hard-as-a-fucking-Diamond” Danse.

At that time, the city was still wary of the Brotherhood, and not for nothing either, but I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to blow off some steam in the few hours I had while the hard ass was asleep. I figured out how to sneak in pretty easily, a small bribe here, a greased palm there, and I was finally enjoying myself for the first time in weeks. I became a regular at the Dugout Inn and got to be good friends with Vadim the bartender, who taught me how to play Caravan along with the rest of the locals.

It was on one of these nights that she walked in. Tall, dark, and mysterious, she sat at the end of the bar and gave me a wink with those pretty green eyes. I smiled back, but didn’t make a move. The Brotherhood strictly forbade fraternizing with the native populace. Our mission was paramount and our mission was finite. Once the Institute and their synthetic menace had been neutralized we’d be out of this dump and back to the Citadel and civilization for good. 

But, that didn’t stop her from coming over with a whiskey in hand.

“Hey there fella… you look in good shape, you a mercenary?” She asked coyly.

“Ah… no, well sorta, I guess.” I shrugged as I accepted her offering.

“No, you’re right. You’re too disciplined for your average mercenary, too sweet to be a gunner, definitely too sane to be a raider… So who are you really? I know every face in this city and I’m certain I’ve never seen yours before.”

“I’m a wanderer, nothing more.”

“Oh aren’t we all… The names Piper, Piper Wright. What’s yours?”

I wish I could say I put up a fight, but the truth was I never had a chance. I’d been so lonely and frustrated with everything the Brotherhood had thrown at me, that I was dying for someone to talk to. As it turned out she and I had a lot in common… maybe a little too much. That didn’t matter then, but it mattered a whole lot right now.

It was time to swallow my pride, for the sake of the girl.

“Piper, I… I’m sorry. I know that ain’t worth much, but it’s the truth. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, I had every intention of picking you up, things just… didn’t work out that way. But please don’t take it out on the kid. It really ain’t her fault, she’s helpless is all. If she’s left alone out there she’ll get eaten alive, whether by a raider, a deathclaw, or a fricken’ mole rat for christ’s sake!”

I turned around, expecting to see a smile on her face. We used to love making fun of the vault dwellers, they always had some exciting image of life in the wasteland, of action, adventure, and treasure by the wagon full, but every one wakes up in the end, whether by hunger, exhaustion, or a bullet to the brain. 

But instead of a smile, it was tears streaming down her face.

“Whoa…” I said, taken aback. This wasn’t like Piper at all. She was an emotional woman, but never like this. 

“Piper, what’s going on? Seriously.” I led her to the couch where she sat and wept for several minutes before she was able to speak again.

“It’s Nat, Jacob. She’s… gone!” Piper let out a wail that broke my heart, but not as much as the thought of little Natalie being out there all alone. My heart sunk faster than my own hopes. Nat… little Nat. How could this happen? It seemed just yesterday I was playing with the kid right here. I looked around at Piper’s disheveled home, just beyond her early century printing press where Nat’s tiny little bedroll lay empty, surrounded by toys covered in dust.

Poor kid couldn’t be more than eleven years old. 

“When did this happen? Who would even want her?”

“Who do you think? The same monsters that kidnap everyone these days, but no one wants to talk about!” She said spitefully as she reached for another tissue. 

Oh god, this couldn’t get any worse, could it? It was then that a thought crossed my mind and struck me. I got down on one knee and put my hands carefully on Piper’s shoulders. I made her look me in the eye as I asked her the next question.

“When? When did this happen?”

“Only… sniff… just last night, and of course the guards are as useless as ever and just my luck the detective was gone before I could see him this morning…” Piper continued on, but I wasn’t listening anymore.

Last night… Could it be? I mean, it’s a hell of a coincidence, that’s for sure. But what are the odds that on the same night I unearth a mysterious Pre-War girl surrounded by early synths that Nat, my ex-lover’s little sister and only living family, would go missing?

“And honestly I wouldn’t put it past that slime ball if he did look the other way with Nat, just like all the others. Don’t you think?”

“Uh… huh?”

“Oh, just forget it! You never did listen to a word I’d say,” she hollered as she stormed up from the couch.

“Wait, hold on, I was just thinking about what I could do to help.”

“Help? You want to help? Alright, you can start by telling me the truth.”

“About what?” I feigned ignorance.

“Oh, for once in your damn life Jacob, just tell the truth!” She said, exasperated. “You said you’d be there, that we could trust you, but you never showed up. What could have been so damned important for you to leave Nat and me in the middle of nowhere? How did the synths get ahold of your vertibird, and why didn’t you write me, even just once!? Just tell me Jacob, what on earth happened that night?”

…The truth.

The truth was a funny thing.

The truth had gotten me into trouble with the Brotherhood, and the truth had gotten me labeled a synth by everyone who had heard it. If I told her the truth now, she would accuse me just like all the others, not that I could blame her for not believing me, hell I barely believed me. But I know what I saw and I know what I’ve done, and not done for that matter. I know I’m still flesh and blood and I can say, for whatever it’s worth, I’m proud of the choices I’ve made. One of them at the very least.

“I’m sorry.” It was all I could say. Piper just shook her head and sighed, not the least bit surprised.

“…Me too, Jacob. Me too.”

We stood there in silence for a long time, neither sure what to say to the other. At last a knock, broke the quiet and Piper walked over to the door. She opened it ever so slightly and spoke to the person outside. She let out a great sigh as she turned back to me.

“Sorry Jacob, looks like this one’s for you,” she said as she opened the door wide.

With one look, I knew my luck had just run out.