#antietam having the yes-man pipboy is forever

[sleepysailorjunko]

Sunshine and Scars

It has been a long time since Christine Royce was at peace. True, Elijah's death had relieved her of her duty, but to be at ease in the Sierra Madre was to die.

Christine had been glad to see the Courier. How strange, that her life had been so affected by couriers. She owed a lot to the couriers of the Mojave. Did the Mojave Express accept payment for life debts twice over?

She had spent part of the long and dangerous journey to the Mojave trying to put how they felt towards Antietam into words, so they would know how deeply grateful she was. Only, she hadn't needed to.

The Courier had grabbed her hand, ostensibly to pull her out of harm's way. After, their grip loosened, leaving Christine free to remove her hand. Instead, she tightened her grip. That was how they had returned to the Mojave, hand in hand.

The Courier had described their friends as they walked to Antietam's home. They spoke so kindly, so affectionately of their friends. It made Christine half-jealous and half-curious to see how she would be described.

Perhaps as a broken knight who passed off their duty to a courier like it was a mere package. Christine thinks that for a second, and then hates herself for it. The Courier would never speak of them like that.

Antietam had no obligation to return to the Madre for her, but they did anyway. They wouldn't have come for her if they saw her like that.

The Courier gently dances around the topic of Veronica, not trying to overwhelm or guilt Christine into seeing her before she felt ready. She was not at hotel Antietam had brought them to, but a man of equivalent height to the Courier was. He seemed greatly relieved to see the Courier, who hugged him tightly.

"Just like last time, huh?" He said, wrapping his arms around Antietam. He looked down at the Courier fondly, and then leveled a less fond look to Christine. "You and your friend make it back okay?"

The Courier let go of the man and stood back.

"Yeah. Everything okay here?"

"Yeah. Mostly just waiting for you and shooting legionaries."

"Ha, wish I'd been here."

The Courier's strength seemed to sap as they recognize they were in friendly territory. This is their home, Christine realized, and then thought that they had brought her without evaluating the threat she posed as a Knight.

She knew that she could not return to duty as a Knight. She had been through too much and the Brotherhood would not be the home she left. Still, perhaps she and the courier would visit, if only for the hilarity of Antietam passing for a paladin.

They rested in a hotel room that night. The way Antietam moved showed their familiarity with the room, if the key they had brandished and their belongings spread throughout the room didn't. Christine thought she saw the jumpsuit the Courier had worn in the Sierra Madre peaking out of a cupboard.

That was one thing Christine had learned of her friend-their insatiable need to pick things up, from checkerboards to boxes of abraxo. Even now, they're dropping off their haul.

"Courier." Christine heard herself say, only it wasn't really her voice but Vera's. It took getting used to.

"Yeah, Christine?"

"Thank you." And the courier smiled at that, ran their fingers through their hair.

"It's what I should have done. Ah, I have something for you." They walk over to the cabinet and produce a rifle and armor that's familiar to Christine. Her Circle of steel uniform. "It's yours. If you want it."

When she wakes in the morning, she asks them about travelling to the Divide.

"Sure thing," the Courier says, and then looks a little flustered. "But I have to warn you. It's very dangerous in the Divide and we can't go immediately. I used up too many supplies getting to and from the Madre. You can stay here if you'd like, or I can set you up somewhere else. Oh, and you're welcome to come with me if you'd like."

That was another thing the Courier did: give her options, return to the Brotherhood, visit Veronica, visit the Divide, stay with the Courier. Maybe they were trying to stop her from feeling trapped.

So she travelled with the Courier throughout the Mojave. The Sniper came as well, although he didn't talk much and neither did Christine. But she could tell that he respected her and that he cared about Antietam. That was enough for Christine to respect him.

Travelling with Antietam wasn't like it had been in the Madre. The sun shining down on them reminded Christine of that with every step. It felt good to breathe in fresh air and walk under the Mojave's blue sky. With every breath she took, the Sierra Madre's fog left her lungs a little.

While gathering supplies, she asks the Courier to accompany her to the Brotherhood bunker of Hidden Valley. They were at the 188 Trading Outpost, and the Courier had ran under the bridge rather than head to the outpost. It was only for a second, but Christine is sure of what she sees: Veronica.

Her chest pangs at the sight, and she knows then that she still loves her.

Christine did not think she would ever see Veronica again. Had planned on it actually, when she resolved to be the warden of the Sierra Madre. Although the Courier had swayed her from the casino, she didn't lend any creedence to the idea of seeing Veronica. She had nothing left to offer her; she was a broken and scarred person and Veronica deserved better than her.

Antietam would probably argue with that, but it's not their decision to make.

Arriving in Hidden Valley, the Courier is treated as a paladin, although they certainly haven't welcomed them into the fold. The recycled ammo and poor quality armor is proof of that.

Cristine almost says something, and then she remembers the Courier's great love of fixing things. The armor was probably just a repair job they hadn't gotten around to.

In some ways, the base feels like home. It's not home, however, not for Christine or Antietam.

They see the elder by simply walking in. If Christine had done that during her time in the Brotherhood, it would not have gone well. Still, everyone seems more or less afraid of the Courier. If the story Christine was told regarding their first encounter with the Brotherhood was accurate, they should be.

The elder accepts Christine as a member of the Circle of Steel, even though her uniform is ragged and her holotags are somewhere in the Big MT. The Courier vouches for them, swearing on Steel, that this woman is Knight Christine Royce of the Circle of Steel.

Once the elder accepts that, Antietam announces that Father Elijah is dead. The elder's eyes widen and then narrow, before he asks if they can verify this.

"Well, I'm sure he's dead. I pumped him full of shotgun shells and then dropped a casino on him." Saying this, the courier dropped a parcel of Elijah's belongings on the desk.

The elder's face looks as if he wants to scream and is narrowly holding it in.

"I'll be looking forward to your report, Paladin." He says, after he took a good second to compose himself.

Christine laughs at the Courier's exit, and then resigns her commission with the Brotherhood of Steel. No longer if she a Knight of Steel, but Christine Royce, Survivor.

The Courier leaves without writing a report.

When the Courier announces that they're ready to leave for the Divide, it has been a month. A voice chirps from Antietam's pipboy, but it's not Elijah, a much softer voice.

"Oh boy, is this your friend? She looks...Dangerous!" the voice says.

"Yeah, I know, yes." The Courier says, and then introduces it to Christine, holding up their wrist. "This is Yes-Man, he lives in my pipboy. He's not evil or anything, just curious. Yes-Man, this is Christine Royce, she's a friend of mine."

"Hello, Christine! The Courier's wrong, I'm a little evil!" Yes-Man greets.

"Hello, Yes-Man?" Christine responds.

"I give free will to one computer and it turns evil." Antietam mutters, and looks down at the trail ahead. "Ready to head into the Divide?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The trip is difficult, but the Courier is familiar with the path. As they walk, Antietam tells a story of the Courier who once walked this path, bringing death to their home. It fills maybe an hour of their long journey.

The rest is filled with near deaths and tapes played through Antietam's pipboy. Old world music, gameshows, and radio dramas copied onto holotapes and scrounged up throughout the wasteland. Unanimously, they skip Dean Domino tapes. Still, they come into rotation enough that the Courier removes the tape and holds it out for a second, like they were going to throw it away. They look at it real long and hard, and then put it back.

"It's too valuable to throw away."

Eventually, they make it to the cliffside at the end of the world. The man waiting there is the courier who saved her from the Big MT.

"Courier."He greets Antietam. "Didn't know we were having guests."

"You should know my name, Courier-you gave it to me." Antietam returns, and his eyes narrow in response.

"So I did. Did not expect to see you again, Knight Royce. Did you hunt your enemy?"

"Yes, and you?"

"Stands next to you now, no longer an enemy." Ulysses's eyes narrow on the Courrier. "Something else now."

Christine looked over at Antietam, a look in her eyes that says "you didn't mention this!".

"Well, that sure is something. I'm no longer a Knight, however."

"Put the Brotherhood behind you.... you are a changed man, Royce."

"You as well."

"I'll leave you two to get caught up." Antietam said with a smile, and turned to leave, but the voice on their pip boy spoke up.

"Aww, that's no fair! I wanna meet your friend!" Yes-Man whined.

The Courier rolled their eyes, and then flipped their wrist up.

"There, happy now?"

"Oh, I know you!" Yes-Man beeped. "You're that man that's been following us!"

"What? Yes, that's not right." The Courier ran their hands over their face. "Sorry, Ulysses. He's just a computer program and he doesn't mean anything. I'm not sure what he's on about."

Ulysses did not say anything.

"I am right!" Yes-Man argued. "I've seen him before!"

"No, you couldn't have. Ulysses was here, in the Divide, so he couldn't have been following us."

Christine thought about it. Antietam had known where Ulysses's camp was, but it didn't appear to be lived in for all that long. Could have meant anything.

"Sorry, I'll just...uhh leave. I'll talk to y'all later."

When the Courier was out of earshot, Christine looked at Ulysses.

"What's the truth?"

"Antietam came here for me. To the Divide. And then I followed them back to the Mojave."

"Didn't stop when they returned to the Mojave, did you?" Christine's voice is flat, unamused. "They didn't know they were being followed."

"No. Followed them through the mountains and deserts and into Vegas. Courier carries my heart, even if they don't know."

"They could. If you would stop following them and talk to them."

"Wouldn't matter. Couriers who have committed the wrongs we have and lived as we have...don't deserve happiness together."

"I understand. Before we met, I loved a woman named Veronica. But we were seperated by Elijah. And I hunted him despite how Veronica loved him like a father. Now I am free of that duty and too broken for Veronica to love."

"You argue despite that? Two of a kind, you and I." He thought for a second and then continued. "Perhaps you should return to the woman you love. Allow her to see you as you are now...to see if her feelings remain the same."

"Perhaps. Could say the same about you."

"Not the same. Courier and I were never lovers. Different history between the them and I, one filled with the death of our home."

"Cares about you though." Christine retorted, and when Ulysses didn't respond, she huffed. "I'm going to find them."

To Christine, the Divide screamed that she shouldn't be here. It wasn't her history that was buried under the ash. The land was still in the worst ways. Reminded her of the Madre, as she hunted through the land for Antietam.

Didn't have to go far, and Antietam smiled at her when their eyes met.

Christine opened her mouth to speak, but found that the words would not come.

"Did you and Ulysses have a good talk?" They asked.

"Yeah." Christine croaked out.

"Alright, I'm going to talk to him for a moment. We'll probably camp out here for a few days, then head home to the Mojave."

"Fine." She settled behind the Courier to follow them back to the camp.

The Courier laid close to Ulysses, putting down their heavy pack and pulling out supplies to show him. He looked amused as Antietam showed him their rollerskates and books they had brought their friend.

When they had emptied out their backpack and Ulysses had a stack of supplies littered around him, they leaned against him. Although Ulysses startled for a second, he relaxed and settled against Antietam.

"Hey, Ulysses...I've been thinking and I wanted to know..would you want to return to the Mojave with me and Christine?"

Ulysses didn't say anything for a moment, and then he responded.

"Perhaps it's time for me to leave this place." He rubbed at his jaw, and he looked at the courier, who was tucked into his side. "Yes, let the Divide belong to the past now."

It was like that then.

Christine held her friend's hand as they returned, just as they had when returning from the Madre. It feels right, the way their hands fit together.

The Divide has brought something back to her, she thinks, and she realizes her decision has been made. As the sun rises over the desert, she tells Antietam of her choice, and they wish her well.

Pack on her back, she leaves for Veronica.

She doesn't think that Veronica will recognize her. It has been years since they met, and her hair has been shaved, scars carved over her face and throat. Even her voice is different.

The 188 is her destination, as it's the last time she saw her. It takes her a few days, but she finds her way there.

She dons her Circle of Steel uniform, even if she no longer belongs to the Brotherhood.

"Excuse me," She greets. "May I speak with you for a second?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Veronica responds, lowering her eyebrows.

"You did, once. You were Scribe Veronica Santangelo, and I was Knight Christine Royce." Veronica startles back from her, and Christine thinks that this was a bad idea, and maybe listening to Ulysses on romantic advice was doomed from the start. "I know it's hard to believe-I don't look the same and my voice is different. Please let me explain."

"Alright, explain." Veronica responded, although she still looked hesitant.

"I was sent by the Circle of Steel to hunt Elijah down for his crimes. He elluded me and escaped to Big MT, a land controlled by robots who experimented on humans. After I confronted Ellijah, the robots captured me and they...cut into my head. A courier freed me and helped me back to health, but we parted ways so I could track Ellijah to his final destination."

"The Sierra Madre." Veronica breathed.

"Yes. However, when I arrived, I was trapped in an Auto-Doc. It tore out my vocal cords, leaving me mute. Another Courier freed me, and helped me to enact vengence on Ellijah. When our work was done, I decided to stay there."

"And yet you're here?" She shifted her weight from one fit to another.

"They convinced me to return. I believe they are a friend of yours."

"Christine...I can't believe it's you. I thought you were dead. Everyone did."

"I didn't think I would ever see you again." Christine smiled a little.

"I just don't know how to handle this. What do you want from me?"

"Anything you are willing to offer me. If you want nothing, I'll disappear and you'll never see me again. If you'd like to be friends, I'll be your friend."

"And if I want more?" Veronica said.

"I could be more. I'm not the same person I was."

"I don't want to push you away, but I don't know what I want. I didn't think I would see you either."

"Maybe we just need to take things as they come. See where the road takes us."

"I'd like that."

And Christine was at peace.

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