Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was an average afternoon in the di Angelo household. Maria and Bianca di Angelo were making lunch for Nico and Hades di Angelo as Hades fervidly watched the football game that was playing on the television, shouting at the screen as if it would have any effect on the game, while Nico glared at him as he tried to reread Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, keyword tried. It was too hard to focus with his dad screaming at the tv. Codsworth, their Mister Handy, levitated around the house, cleaning and tending to Nico and Hades' beverage needs.

They lived in a small blue house at the bottom of a hill, which held a structure surrounded by sharp barbwire fences. Many teens had tried to go up there and see what was behind them, but there were armed guards standing around the perimeters so no one would look or dare to trespass. Even at night. Many people were confused to what was being built behind those fences.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Hades di Angelo huffed in exasperation before getting up from the couch, eyeing his somewhat-content son whose eyes followed the words on the pages of his book. He sighed and opened the door, seeing a man holding a clipboard. The man was wearing a tan suit with a red tie, looking like he was a door-to-door salesman. His features were a little wrinkled, but he had a smile on his crinkly face.

"Hello, how may I help you?" Hades di Angelo asked.

"Hello, sir, sorry to bother you," the man started. "But I'm from Vault-Tec. I'm sure you're well aware of the war going on, and we are looking for volunteers to go into a safe vault, in case if a bomb falls on the area."

"Vault-Tec?"

"Yes, we're offering a safe fallout shelter underground, trying to improve our future," the man grinned, as if he wasn't discussing a grim topic. "Atom bombs are inevitable, unfortunately, but major deaths aren't going to be! So, what do you say? Should we sign you up?"

"Why not?" Hades asked rhetorically, shrugging his tired shoulders. "Is there enough room for my family, as well?"

"Who is your family?" the man inquired, looking down at his clipboard.

"My wife, my son, and my daughter," Hades told him.

"Yes, there is enough room," the man stated. "Should I write you down?"

"Yes, please," Hades said.

"What are your names?"

"I'm Hades di Angelo, spelled H-A-D-E-S, di Angelo spelled D-I-space-A-N-G-E-L-O, my wife is Maria di Angelo, my son is Nico di Angelo, and my daughter is Bianca di Angelo, spelled as they usually are."

He wrote down the information on his clipboard quickly, then asking other details, like endurance. Hades di Angelo responded to the questions accordingly, despite how strange the questions seemed.

"Perfect," the man grinned. "I'm going to run this up to the vault. I hope we don't see you there!"

Hades nodded impatiently and closed the door. Nico looked up, a look of shock at his face, for he was listening to every word.

"Inevitable? We're going to be bombed?!" Nico shouted.

"I hope not, but war is unpredictable," Hades shrugged. He sat down and frowned once he saw the game had ended. "Bombs might be part of it. You know war. War never changes."

A shiver went down Nico's spine at the thought of it.

- - - - -

Nico was finally able to indulge in his book in peace. He was lounging on the couch like a cat, lazy and not planning on getting up anytime soon. However, the peace had to end eventually. Nico started to hear planes outside, the loud engines roaring in the sky. Enemy planes. Codsworth turned the tv channel to a panicked news broadcast, calling the rest of the family over to look at it.

"...Followed by... yes, followed by flashes..." said a shocked news reporter on the tv, reporting the terrible news with his stressed tone of voice. "Blinding flashes, sounds of explosions... We're...we're trying to get confirmation...we've seemed to have lost contact with affiliate stations. We do have...coming in...confirmed reports. I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania... My God..."

Nico looked at his family, who were circled around the television. They had expressions of shock on their faces, nearly identical to his own.

"We need to get to the vault," Hades said sternly. "Now."

The other di Angelos did not need to be told twice. They raced out of the door of their blue house and ran down the trail that led up the hill to the formerly barb-wired area. Nico could feel his heartbeat in his temples, and that was the only thing he could hear at the moment. All of the other sounds around him seemed to have been tuned out.

He and his family ran towards their safe shelter, his heart racing as he saw the crowd of people around the fence that guarded Vault 111, or so he heard the officers telling the people who were registered to go to. He was grateful that his father agreed.

The crowd of people were screaming, crying, begging to get into the vault. The officers calmed them down, well at least attempted to, and shoved them back. Hades di Angelo's hand grabbed Maria's, who gripped onto Bianca's, who was already holding onto Nico's, and led them to the man who was taking information.

"Let us in, we are on the list," Hades told him. "The di Angelo family."

"Yes, you are," the man confirmed. "Go in and stand on the platform."

They ran over to the platform, their breathing patterns heavy, their hands gripping each other, not wanting to let go. Hades looked over at Maria, a sad look in her deep, brown eyes.

"Someone didn't show up," one of the vault officials told another. "They're late! We need to give them more time!"

"There is no time!" the other shouted above the screaming and crying of the crowd. "Everyone on the platform! Send it down!"

Abruptly, a bomb fell out of the sky as the platform began to sink down beneath the Earth's surface, forming a large, blindingly bright mushroom cloud on the horizon. It swiftly spread out across the ground, destroying everything as quickly as it passed over it. All Nico could hear was the explosion of the detonated atom bomb, which was nearly as bright as the sun; the planes, which were soaring above them in the sky; and the people above the ground screaming and weeping, knowing immediately that they were going to die. That their lives had come to a painful, abrupt end.

Just as soon as the dust and radiation reached them, Nico and the other people on the platform had disappeared below the ground, seeing the dark, poisonous smoke just before the hatch closed. Then, all that they could see was darkness. Nico's heart beat in his ears, making him feel lightheaded as the platform slowly descended in the earth. He felt Bianca's hand gripping tighter on his own, feeling the sudden desire to wipe the sweat that formed between their hands on his pants, but the need of not letting go of his sister's hand was stronger than his instincts.

It landed on the floor of Vault 111 with a loud crash, but given the size and weight of the platform, the youngest di Angelo assumed that was normal. Nico could actually see where he was now, other than complete darkness, but he didn't want to see what he was seeing.

The officials were instructing the new inhabitants of the vault where to go and what to do. The instructions they had given were simple, but the officials acted like it was nothing that everyone above ground was dead now. Reyna, his best friend, who was almost like a sister to him. Will, who could've been his boyfriend if given more time. Hazel, the sweetest girl he had ever known. They were all gone. The thoughts brought tears to his eyes. Everything he knew was gone. This was his new home.

He felt his grip on Bianca's hand tighten, the older girl looking over at her younger brother with a reassuring smile, which calmed him down slightly, but not a whole lot.

They walked through the gates, giving their information to one of the staff members. Nico looked at his surroundings, which looked plain, but he didn't know if the rest of it looked that way. Over the intercom, a woman's voice said, "Welcome to your new home."

But to Nico, this place wasn't home. Home was above ground, all blown up and destroyed, inside a massive cloud of heavy radiation from the nuclear bomb that recently detonated, not this.

After the new inhabitants of the vault had given their information to the men and women in lab coats, they were being issued identical blue and yellow jumpsuits, all having the number 111 on the backs. Nico reluctantly accepted one. After receiving the jumpsuits, the doctor told them all to go through a certain door which led to a hallway, an instruction which everyone obeyed.

Nico, his family, and a few other people he had never seen before were led to the room at the end of the hall. The room was full of people in white lab coats standing next to large chambers that could fit humans inside of them. Maybe that was what the chambers were made for. Were those their beds?

"Change into your clothing, then step into the pods for decontamination," a woman's voice ordered the di Angelos and the other people in there with them over the intercom.

They did as they were told, changing into the blue and yellow jumpsuits and then climbing into the chambers. Nico was questioning why they were being put in chambers, despite they already explained: decontamination. Why did they need to be decontaminated to live in an underground fallout shelter?

"Decontamination process has begun," the female voice over the intercom announced.

Once the doors had closed, all Nico could hear was his own shallow breathing. His anxiety rose, and the sixteen-year-old began to panic. Unexpectedly, he heard a hissing noise, which was louder than his escalated breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest. Everything began to feel cold. Extremely cold. As cold as if someone started poking his skin with thousands of pointy, frozen needles. He felt his limbs stiffen, the glass of the pod door beginning to fog and freeze. He let out a startled cry before his vision turned completely white.

Chapter Text

Perseus Jackson had a rude awakening when red and white blared behind his eyelids. He opened his eyes, the lights in the room seeming brighter than they actually were. The nineteen-year-old sat up and groggily wiped the exhaustion from his eyes.

Unfortunately, he had to get up, and he knew it. As he stood up from his bed, he toggled with his Pip-Boy 3000 and changed his clothes, which was always the same Vault 101 jumpsuit. It never changed. He didn't mind, because it was kinda comfy, but it rode up on him a lot, which he didn't care much for.

The soporific boy stretched before walking out of the door and subconsciously aimed for the diner for a bite to eat before he started his work day. Once he got to the red-and-white-tile-floored room, he was met instantly by his mother after the door slid open for him.

"Good morning to you too, Mom," Percy smiled tiredly. He had hoped the walk to the diner would have woken him up more, but it hardly did anything. He cursed his brain going everywhere so that he couldn't sleep as well as everyone else could. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"The usual?" his mom asked him.

"Yes," Percy said as he slid into a booth, his mom already walking behind the counter to get his food. He didn't have to wait long before a plate of blue pancakes and was set in front of him. He smiled at his mom before pouring syrup on the pile of pancakes and cutting into them. "Thank you."

His mom smiled at him before attending to the other vault dwellers who had piled in to get something to eat.

Once Percy had finished, he thanked his mom and walked out, heading for the water purification room, at which he "worked". His definition of working was working a little, goofing off the rest of the time. He had perfected the skill of making goofing off look productive.

As he toggled with a switch that moved in a way that slightly entertained the bored nineteen-year-old, the automatic door opened with a swish, and a loud "Perseus Jackson!" boomed from behind him. He whipped his head around to see who had addressed him, and saw one of the security guards of Vault 101, Chiron.

"Yes?"

"We assigned you to make a treaty with the Brotherhood of Steel, so they could protect our Vault," Chiron told him.

"The Brotherhood of Steel," Percy stalled. He never really listened to news from his friends, nor had he ever been outside his vault, so he had never heard of the Brotherhood. "Right, I know exactly what the Brotherhood of Steel is. Now, why don't you tell me what that is so I can see if you're right."

Chiron pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, emitting an annoyed huff of breath. "The Brotherhood of Steel is an organization that specializes in collecting the latest and greatest technology that will help them flourish as a group. They protect people that they have allied with, and if we have any more raider attacks this month, we will need to take extreme measures to keep the Vault safe."

"So, you want me to make a treaty with them?" Percy asked in an unsure tone of voice.

"Yes," Chiron confirmed.

"Me?" Percy repeated.

"Yes."

"Why me?"

"According to all of our records, you have the highest charisma of people that are available at the moment," Chiron explained.

"So you think I'm charming?" Percy asked smugly.

"Don't push your luck, Jackson," Chiron warned. "We will download the direction to Megaton on your Pip-Boy, so you can go and meet them—"

"Wait, hold on a second," Percy interrupted. "I have to go outside?"

"Yes, Percy, you have to go outside."

"But... I've never been outside before!"

"You'll be fine!"

"What if I get attacked by a super mutant, or raiders? What if I starve to death, or get dehydrated and die?" Percy panicked.

"You'll be fine!"

"Okay... If I have to..."

"You'll leave the vault once we get you supplies and download the directions to Megaton. Come with me."

"O-okay."

The directions downloaded onto his Pip-Boy after what seemed like hours, but was more like ten minutes. The technology in Vault 101 was slow and not very modern, which was just another reason to ally with the Brotherhood. He was given lots of food and water, and a couple of stim packs just in case.

Percy told Jason, Leo, Piper, and Annabeth about his mission, who were happy for him, but a little concerned as well. Especially Annabeth, his best friend. She hugged him goodbye and he returned it; although he probably wasn't going to be gone for very long, he loved hugs, especially from his friends and his mom. Well, those were the only people who hugged him. It would be very strange if Chiron or the Overseer walked up to him and gave him a hug.

He also said a goodbye to his mother, who gave him some of her Nuka Cola caps in case he needed anything. She gave him a long, suffocating hug before letting her son go, so he could help protect the Vault.

He stood in front of the Vault door, which was huge. He heard from Leo that it weighed about thirteen tons, which was not very surprising now that he got a good look at it. The Overseer was opening the vault for the nineteen-year-old boy as he waited impatiently. He didn't want to leave at all.

The door made lots of noise as it opened, first unlatching, then sliding open for him, exposing some of the outside world: a slope and a red door at the end, the exit from the safety of Vault 101 to the Wasteland.

He gulped once the vault door was completely open. He looked over at the Overseer, a pudgy man who looked at the boy in an irritated manner. He looked back at the task at hand and stepped out of his home, everything he knew.

He took a deep breath before nervously walking up the slope, hearing the vault begin to close and latch shut behind him. He anxiously approached the red door, which he expected to open for him. It didn't open. He raised his eyebrow and pushed it gently. It didn't open. He pushed at the knob of the door. It still didn't open. He gave an exasperated grunt before twisting the knob and pushing it, the door finally opening.

He didn't know what he expected when he saw the Wasteland for the first time. To say it was barren and desolate would be an underestimation. The air was full of radiation, and there was a tall, mangled, dead tree next to the entrance to the slope that lead to his home.

His home. He missed it already. However, he knew that the faster this mission was over, the sooner he could have blue pancakes his mother made for him. He didn't know how she got a hold of something to make it blue, but she did, and he was grateful.

He stepped out into the Wasteland, pulling the door shut behind him, and following the directions on his Pip-Boy to Megaton. He hoped that he wouldn't be out there very long; he didn't like it out there at all.

"Off to Megaton I go, to protect Vault 101, my home, sweet home."

Chapter Text

The chamber opened with a loud hiss. Nico's vision cleared up as he toppled out of the chamber and fell to the floor. He felt his heartbeat in his head again as the black spots in the edges of his vision slowly dissipated. Once he could see clearly, he tried to get up from the floor but collapsed, his stiff limbs shaking terribly. Not to mention, he felt freezing. Violent shivers coursed throughout his body as he lied there on the dirty floor, helpless and cold.

"Why is the floor this filthy, anyway?" Nico thought. "Weren't we put in the pods for decontamination? Those hypocrites. Wait, where are they?"

He noticed that the place was quiet. Awfully quiet. All he could hear was his own shaky breathing and his heartbeat pounding in his temples. No one else had been released from their compartments but him. He lifted himself from lying on the floor to his knees, taking a look around. Everything looked... abandoned. Were they left there? If they were, for how long?

He brought himself to his feet, knees shaky and hands trembling. Why was no one else out, shaking off their stiff limbs, trying to bring themselves back onto their feet to stand and walk around?

"Hello?" he called out in a tremulous voice to anyone who could be listening. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? Anyone? Hello?"

He tried walking, his steps unsteady, until his sister's "decontamination" chamber caught his gaze.

"Bianca?" he called out again. "Bianca?

His steps more stable, he walked over to Bianca's pod and looked inside. She was...frozen, or something, but her brown eyes were wide open, lacking the warmth they usually held.

He pressed the red button next to her chamber. It opened with the loud hissing noise his made when it had opened, then she fell limply to the floor. However, she made no effort to get up. She simply just lied there on the floor, lifelessly.

"Bianca," the boy repeated.

Nico nudged her shoulder. It was cold, like he was. He rolled her onto her back so her face wasn't on the floor, and so he could wake her up, but when she was on her back, her eyes were still open, no warmth, no sign of life, no anything. Only a dead brown. Her skin was also incredibly pale, and her chest wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. She was...

Nico couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe any of his senses. It had to be a really, really bad dream, and he would wake up soon, in Bianca's arms as she stroked his hair and sang gently to him until he ceded into her warmth and fell back into a dreamless unconsciousness. It was all just a nightmare. He closed his eyes, trying to hold back his tears, but to no avail. He let out a pained sob, tears escaping from his eyes and sliding down his cheeks.

His chest racking with pain from his sobbing, he scooped his older sister into his arms and held her lifeless body close to his own, crying as he looked upon her face, and running his hand fondly through her cold, dark brown hair. He leaned his cold cheek against the top of her head, emitting another painful sob.

He bent down and pressed his pale, chapped lips against his dead sister's forehead, holding her closer to him as he cried more. He knew everyone else in the room was just as dead. His mother, his father, the people he had never seen before. They were all as dead as his sister. As dead as Reyna, Will, and Hazel.

What had he done to deserve this? What had any of them done to deserve it? His father's grim saying was repeating itself in his head like a depressing mantra. War. War never changes.

He ran the backs of his fingers against the side of Bianca's frozen cheek. If he had known that was the last time he would ever see his sister again—his sweet, kind, supportive sister who convinced him to come out to his parents, who convinced him to make friends at school, who sang Italian lullabies to him when he had a nightmare, who made soup for him and got his homework from his teachers for him when he was sick—he would've refused to go into the chamber. But, he didn't, and this was the price they paid. The price he paid. It was an experiment gone wrong, and he was the lone survivor lab rat.

With his fingertips, he closed Bianca's eyes, and he kissed her forehead once more before before setting her stiff body back onto the floor, attempting to lift her up and seat her back into the chamber. However, he was still trembling, his stomach hurt from all the crying, and he was hardly able to drag her toward the chamber and slowly position her into a sitting position on the bottom of the pod. She looked so peaceful, resting against the wall of the chamber.

He kneeled down on the floor and gripped her hand in his, squeezing it tightly. He rested his forehead against hers for a second or two before pulling away, removing his hand from her stiff, cold fingers.

He ran out of the room, the lights flickering as he ran through the blue corridor with long yellow stripes running horizontally along the walls of the hallway. He checked the other rooms for any more survivors, but there was no open chambers to be found, all of the poor people used in the experiment as lifeless as everyone else in his own room was.

He let out another sob. What if he was the only one alive on the planet? There must've been someone else; he'd seen plenty of apocalyptic movies. However, a voice inside his head reminded him that this was reality, not a movie. It was all real. Everything. The thought made him feel even worse.

It all happened so fast. So fast he couldn't comprehend it all at once, nor did he want to. It happened so suddenly, as well. He didn't even get a chance to finish his book. That was an extremely minor fact, considering all the deaths have occurred. Eight billion people, and he could have possibly been the only one alive. The only one alive. He hated the thought. He hated war. He hated atom bombs. But, most of all, he hated himself.

It wasn't his fault at all, but, somehow, he thought he had a hand in it. He thought that maybe, just maybe, if he had done something else, walked in a different way, did different things, that none of this would have happened. He would be sitting on his couch, reading about how Ron was jealous of Viktor Krum as he danced with Hermione, pronouncing her name wrong, and Harry longingly watching Cho Chang dance with Cedric Diggory, wanting to be the one that she was dancing with. All of those were pathetic dreams by now.

He found himself on the vault platform, lifting him up toward the surface. Oh, how he wished he would have died with the rest of his family.

As soon as the platform had risen to the surface of the hill overlooking the town, the sun in the murky sky began shining violently in his eyes, and the foul, radiated air infiltrated his lungs. He blinked and coughed a few times, trying to let his eyes adjust to the brutal sunlight and to let his lungs get used to the toxic air that probably shaved a few years off his life.

Once his red-rimmed eyes adjusted to the light, which he had been deprived of for he had no idea how long, he wished he hadn't seen the sight that was in front of him right then. The once domestic and cozy residences were now hardly intact, some of the roofs caved in with large, gaping holes on tops of the houses, and some barely even standing. The once smooth and familiar sidewalks and roads were cracked and destroyed. The once glossy green trees were bare, and the once pristine lawns were now patches of brown and yellow grass peeking out from behind rocks and crevices.

He gasped, feeling more tears well in his eyes, blurring his vision. The sight made him realize exactly how destructive war was. How destructive people were.

He walked down the trail that lead to the little suburb that he lived in, just outside of Boston. Seeing it closer didn't help his mood. The houses were now covered in moss and mold from age and looked as if they would collapse if he simply touched the outer wall. Only a few were intact and looked somewhat sturdy, one being his own.

He opened the front door, which had extremely rusty hinges, as if it hadn't been opened in a really, really, really long time. What he saw inside made him want to cry again. The couch was disgusting, covered in grime and scorch marks, the tv was cracked, all of the windows he saw were broken, and the floor creaked horribly as he walked. He was afraid that he was going to fall through.

He stepped cautiously through his house, well what used to be his house, as he looked around. He used to lounge around on that grimy, old couch reading book after book, binge-watching episode after episode of the shows he liked. His mother and Codsworth used to make him lunch on school days once she got fed up with his complaining of how bad the school lunches were in those ruins that were once a kitchen.

Nico couldn't stand to see anymore, he didn't even want to check his or Bianca's room. He turned around and ran out of the house, past Will, Reyna, and Hazel's old, destroyed houses, two of which had their roofs caved in.

He continued to run out in the desolate wasteland that used to have green grass, but now was just dead, all shades of golden rod and brown.

He was sure he was exposed to more radiation than a human should have. He was surprised he was not dead by now. He was far from it, actually, trying to run away from everything that reminded him of his past, how happy it was. Now it was gone, and he was going to run as far away from it as his legs and feet could take him.

However, he had no knowledge of what existed in the Wasteland, the mutants and the raiders that would not hesitate to kill him if they saw him. He also had nothing to eat, nothing to drink, no where to stay. He didn't even know where he was running. He just needed to get as far away from the ruins of the suburb he used to live in.

He walked for several miles, but it seemed like a million. Although he had comfortable boots that were issued with the vault suit he had, his feet ached, and he was dying to find somewhere to sit down and have a drink of water, but he had neither of those things. He was in the middle of a desolate field, full of dead trees and grass destroyed by the atom bomb. He walked for a little while longer, his legs begging for release.

Suddenly, he heard the dead grass shuffling, and he looked over at where the sound came from, now on edge. Was there someone else there? Or something? Like a dog, or a cat? He was hoping that something would be alive, other than cockroaches, since those things definitely survived. He also hoped it wasn't dangerous.

He looked closer at where the patch of grass shuffled. Unexpectedly, a naked animal jumped out at him. It looked like a mole, with its ugly eyes, long yellow teeth, and loose pink skin. If one said the shriek he let out was manly, it would have been a lie.

"Shit!"

The naked mole lunged at him, and he turned around and ran as fast as he could, suddenly invigorated by his life being threatened. After a while of running, he lost the ugly mole-rat thing. He hunched over, out of breath and his heart pounding loudly.

After he caught his breath, he began to walk again, more cautious of his surroundings now, since he didn't want to be attacked by that ugly creature, maybe something even worse. A chill jolted down his spine when he wondered what happened to tigers, or bears, or humans. But, if that thing was still alive, maybe another person could be, as well, and not be mutated by the radiation, as that mole most likely was?

After a little while, he found a truck, overturned with boxes of Nuka Cola spilled out the back of it. He checked the boxes, hoping for something to drink, but they were empty, to his dismay. He was dehydrated, exhausted, hungry, with no where to go.

He decided upon resting at the truck, just for a little while until he gained the motivation to keep traveling. He stayed there for about twenty minutes. He was bored, but he wanted to rest his legs, since he knew he had been running and walking all day. The sun now sat in the middle of the sky, which indicated that it was about noon.

He stood up, stretching his legs, before walking again, in the opposite direction of the way he came. He climbed a small hill, before he saw a large structure in the distance. That renewed his hope that some people still must be alive. His inspiration found once more, he walked toward the tall building.

His legs were eager, since he had such a long break. It took about an hour and five miles before he stood in front of the large structure, which wasn't a building, like Nico expected, but tall walls around something, as if it was guarding whatever was inside them. The walls were made out of metal, which was unexpected.

All of a sudden, he heard a loud, booming voice from on top of the walls. "What is your business?"

Nico was relieved, excited even, that another human was alive, and he wasn't alone in the desolate world.

"Uh, hi, my name is Nico," he introduced. "Are there other humans alive, other than us two?"

"Do you know where you are, boy?" he asked.

"No," Nico answered.

"Well, you're outside of Megaton."

"Megaton?"

"Yes, Megaton. Even Vault Dwellers should know what Megaton is."

"Um, I technically never lived in a vault," Nico told him.

"But you're wearing a Vault suit."

"Yeah, I am," he said. "But I didn't exactly live in it. But, um, how long has it been like this?"

"What, Megaton?" he asked. "It normally looks like this."

"No, not Megaton, but everything. How long ago did the bomb destroy everything?"

"You mean the Wasteland?" the man asked, incredulously. "You sure ask some stupid questions, boy. It has looked like this since after the war, which was centuries ago."

"C-centuries?!" Nico couldn't believe his ears. It felt like a simple night's sleep while he was in the decontamination chamber, but centuries had flown by. Lifetimes had flown by. However, it felt like only a few minutes. "Had it really been centuries?"

"Yes," the man said. "Now, do you have business, or what, boy?"

"Do you have water?" he asked.

"Ah, so you're a beggar," the man said in an irritated voice. "Go away beggar. Megaton doesn't want the likes of you around here."

"B-but-"

"Off with you, boy!"

Nico's heart sunk into his stomach. He had just lost everything, and now he was being labeled as a beggar. He felt even more heartbroken. He leaned his back against the large metal walls, sinking down to a sitting position and pulling his knees as close as he could to his chest, burying his face in his knees and beginning to cry again, desperately wishing for the sweet release of death.

Chapter Text

After a while of walking, Percy finally saw the large walls of Megaton. He smiled gratefully, for he saw the location he was trying to reach. He wanted to get inside the safety of something, especially since he was attacked by a couple of radroaches earlier, and he didn't want to encounter them again.

Once he stood in front of the huge metal walls of Megaton, standing tall with all of its glory, he saw a boy, looking like he was in his mid-teens, with his face tucked into his knees and his body shaking with sobs. Feeling immediate sympathy, Percy approached the sobbing boy, placing a gentle hand upon his shoulder. The dark-haired boy jolted in surprise at the contact.

"Oh, I'm sorry for startling you," he apologized to the boy, seeing the tear stains trailing down his cheeks. "Are you alright?"

"No," the boy answered, his voice hoarse from crying and dehydration. "Have you come to chase me away?"

"No," Percy responded. "In fact, I just got here. Are you lost?"

"Not exactly," the boy replied, wiping his eyes.

"What Vault are you from?" Percy asked. "There might be someone in Megaton who knows where it is."

"I don't wanna go back," he told him, his eyes drifting from the boy and onto the ground.

"You ran away?" Percy asked in surprise. "Why?"

"They're all dead," the boy explained. "Everybody but me."

"What about the Overseer? He or she must be alive."

"What's the Overseer?"

"Okay, I'm guessing not," Percy sighed. "Do you want some water?"

He nodded, and Percy swung his arm to place his backpack onto the ground. He opened it and reached into it to pull out one of his many containers of water, offering it to the boy. The boy grabbed it quickly and gulped it down, feeling the relief of the liquid running down his dry throat.

"Whoa, hey there, slow down, I have plenty more," Percy told him.

"Thank you so much." the boy gasped for breath, wiping the stray liquid that dribbled down his chin.

"No problem," Percy replied. "Say, would you like to come with me? I've come here to discuss 'terms' or whatever with the Brotherhood of Steel. Maybe we can find you a place to stay and something to eat?"

Nico smiled gratefully, for what seemed like the first time in forever. Well, a few centuries, but that fact was irrelevant since it did not feel like centuries to him.

He nodded. "Thank you so much. What's your name?"

"Perseus Jackson," the sea-green-eyed boy told him. "But you can call me Percy."

"Percy," Nico repeated, testing the way it felt on his tongue. "My name's Nico di Angelo."

"Huh, that's an interesting name," Percy commented.

"You're telling me," Nico muttered.

Percy offered Nico his hand to help him up. Nico accepted it, lifting himself to his feet.

"There, all good," Percy smiled, letting go of Nico's hand. "Come on, they are probably waiting."

Nico followed the other boy to the entrance to the city, guarded by the large walls made from scrap metal.

"What is your business?" asked the man who had dismissed Nico a while ago.

"Hello, I'm Percy Jackson from Vault 101-"

"Another escapee?" asked the man.

"Uh, no," Percy told him. "I just came to discuss terms with the Brotherhood of Steel. The Overseer sent me."

"Very well," said the man.

Suddenly, the giant doors opened to let the two in. Percy flashed a smile at Nico before walking inside, the shorter boy following him anxiously.

Megaton was interesting, to say in the least. It looked like a huge pile of debris, like the ruins of other things he saw, except that it did not have the abandoned aura to it. There were people rushing around, not very many, but there was at least some. There were settlements and small businesses, and even a large thing lying in the middle of the town. Nico did not pay attention to it as he was busy following the boy who was helping him. He just met him, and he was already giving him precious nourishment and a place to stay. What a great guy.

"Do you know where the Brotherhood of Steel are?" Percy asked a resident.

"Oh, yeah, they're right in there," he pointed at a business that looked like a pile of metal, but had a sign that read, "The Brass Lantern".

"Thanks," Percy waved and headed for the bar, beckoning Nico to accompany him, which was unnecessary since he was going to follow him anyway.

He opened the door to see two soldiers armed to the necks with power armor and plasma rifles on their laps, one lively gesticulating at the person working the tavern.

"Hello?" Percy called. "The Brotherhood of Steel, I presume?"

"That's us," the older one said, placing his glass of water on the counter. "Vault 101?"

"Yes, that's me," Percy grinned.

"Take a seat," the soldier told him. "Would you like a glass of water?"

"Why not?" Percy shrugged. "Two please."

"One for you and your... friend?" the soldier asked, gesturing at Nico.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, I just found him outside. Oh, yeah." The resident of Vault 101 turned to a bartender. "Do you have any places for him to stay? He doesn't have anywhere to go."

The bartender clicked his tongue. "No, we don't, sorry. Our town is full."

Percy gave Nico a sympathetic look.

"If you are looking for lodging, you are free to join the Brotherhood," offered one of the men. "There is food, water, protection, and somewhere to live."

"Really?" asked the pre-war boy. That was the best news he had received all day.

"Of course," answered the man. "However, there is training involved and that-"

"Yes, I'll join," Nico interjected eagerly.

"Alright," the older man said, unfazed by being interrupted. "Welcome. We will supply you with power armor and everything once we get back to headquarters. In the meantime, you will be coming with us to Vault 101. We usually don't bring new recruits on missions this early, but we are currently in the middle of one."

Nico nodded in understanding. He was merely grateful that he had a place to stay and food to eat, despite the desolate wasteland and what it held.

"So we need to go back to my vault?" Percy asked.

"Of course," the member of the brotherhood replied. "Why negotiate when we can see what we are dealing with and how we can do whatever we can to protect your vault? Also, we can see what we can gain from it."

"That makes sense," Percy grinned. "Let's go, then."

The men stood from their seats before placing Nuka Cola caps on the counter and walking out of the bar, greeting the sun and the habitants of Megaton. Nico also met the sight of the large structure in the middle of the fortified sanctuary. He immediately covered Percy with his body to protect his savior from the dangerous object.

"Get down!" he cried.

"What's wrong, Nico?" Percy asked him, surprised by his sudden outburst.

"That's a bomb! Are you blind, everyone?! It could go off at any moment! You could all be killed!"

"Nico, it's fine," Percy told him. "The town was built around it, according to rumors."

"Why would someone do something as idiotic as--"

"Praise Atom," greeted a passing man, which halted Nico's eruption.

"Excuse me," Nico asked. "What?"

"Praise the Atom," the man repeated.

"You- you mean the bomb?!"

"Yes, it wiped away all bad things to bring forward good things."

Nico did not reply. He looked at the man for a split second before connecting his fist violently against the man's face.

"Whoa, whoa, Nico!" Percy, shocked, grabbed the boy and held him back from hitting the man more.

He struggled in Percy's grip, trying to attack the man further, whom was sitting on the ground with his hand held against his cheek, which was wracking with pain.

"I lost everything!" Nico continued to struggle as he felt the tears begin to stream down his cheeks once more that day. "I lost everything because of that fucking atom bomb and people are worshipping it! Worshipping it!"

"Nico, he's a child of Atom," Percy tried to calm the crying boy, not loosening his grip on him until he stopped struggling in his arms. He looked to the members of the Brotherhood for assistance.

"I'll have to give it to you: you have a nice right hook," the man complimented. "However, Megaton and the people in it are our allies. You have to protect them all."

Nico continued to sob, before feeling Percy's warm hand on his bony shoulder again. With tearful eyes, he looked up at the Vault Dweller.

"It'll be okay," Percy said.

"No, it's not okay," Nico told him.

"Well, maybe it's not okay right now, but it will be soon, and to get to where it's good, you have to endure all the bad stuff, right?"

Nico hesitantly nodded.

"Alright," Percy smiled, offering Nico his hand to help him up from the ground. Nico begrudgingly accepted the warm gesture. "Lets go home. Well, I mean, my home."

"Okay," Nico sniffled, settling on his feet before they made their way up the stairs that was full of hindrances, such as debris and other things Nico did not want to know what they were.

"So, where do we go, Vault Dweller?" asked the older man.

"Call me Percy, please," Percy told him.

"Alright, Percy, where do we go?"

The raven-haired, nineteen-year-old looked around the barren wasteland before realizing that he did not see anything he recognized, nor did he know where he came from.

"I- I don't know."

Chapter Text

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Nico asked him, his voice heavy from his crying earlier.

"I don't know which direction I came from," Percy admitted. "I've never been outside before this."

"You've never been outside?" Nico asked incredulously.

Percy merely shook his head. "No."

"Well, do you see anything familiar at all?" Nico asked.

Percy paused for a moment before he saw a withered shrub on the grassy ground that he remembered avoiding so it wouldn't ruin the legs of his jumpsuit.

"Yeah, I remember that bush."

He approached it, bent down, and felt at the branches. He then looked up and saw a hill that looked like one he had to climb.

"I think it's this way," Percy told the others before walking off in the direction of the hill.

Nico felt a strong sense of foreboding in the pit of his stomach before waving it off. Percy knew where he was going. Probably. He followed the nineteen-year old reluctantly as they walked over the hill—going in the wrong direction.

- - - - -

The sun was nearing the horizon and Percy was utterly lost. He did not have directions on his Pip-Boy for his own vault. He regretted it, but he did not want to admit to the others that he had no idea where he was going. They would yell at him and he didn't know how to deal with strangers yelling at him.

Eventually, he voiced his ignorance of direction when they reached an old baseball stadium. "Yeah, this is definitely not it. I—I have no idea where it is."

The three other males groaned out of exhaustion and exasperation.

"Do you know where we are?"

"This is Diamond City. It was a pre-war stadium for some sport before people began to inhabit it. Baseball, I think," informed the commander.

"Baseball?" Nico tilted his head at the green building before realizing what exactly it was. "I-I know this place! This is Fenway Park! My dad took me here when I was six and we watched them play. Some guy caught a foul ball and gave it to me."

Percy and the others looked at him with a confused look.

"...Right," Burke raised his eyebrows. "So we should go in and ask if we can stay there for the night. We can head back to Headquarters to download the directions to Vault 101 tomorrow."

There seemed to be a unanimous agreement on that, since they all filed into the former baseball stadium.

As they went inside, Nico saw that there were many scattered buildings in the middle of the large, reinforced structure. Nico remembered the bleachers, now old, rusted, and empty, full of cheering people. He could still hear the echoes of the people and the loud cracks the balls made against the wooden bats when they collided. He remembered the smell of hot cheese and corn dogs, but it was all gone now. Everything was gone now.

"Where can we stay?" asked Percy.

The commander merely shrugged before walking toward a man holding a baseball bat.

"Do you know where we can find lodgings?" It was formulated as a question, but it sounded more like a demand.

The man shrugged. "I can't say, but would you be interested in a swatter?"

Nico looked at him, confused. "What's a swatter?"

"It's a tradition. You see this place here?"

Nico looked around the shoddy shack where the man stood.

"No, this whole place," the man gestured to the structure that surrounded them, "used to be a stadium. Here, they played this game called 'baseball'. Two teams used to go against each other and beat the other team to death with things called 'baseball bats'. The best bats were called 'swatters'."

"...That's not baseball." Nico looked at him skeptically.

"What do you mean?" The man moved the baseball bat from its resting place on his shoulder onto the ground and leaned upon the wooden stick.

"I mean that that's not baseball in the slightest. A guy stood in a place on the middle of the field and threw a ball to the batter, who hit the ball and ran around as many bases as he could before being touched by the ball and being out. If he missed hitting the ball three times, he was out. If the ball was caught, he was out. Three outs and the outfield switches to the batting field. Whoever gets the most runs back to home base in nine innings won. That's baseball."

The four other males looked at him silently, blinking a few times in disbelief.

"That's what it was," Nico murmured.

"I'm sorry, he's going through some sort of emotional thing," Percy apologized. "I don't know what it is, but he'll be fine soon."

"But I—" Nico decided to stop himself from them thinking he was crazier than he already was.

They ended up talking to the mayor, and—thanks to the Brotherhood being a well-known protector and a group talked about quite a lot on the radio—they had a place to lodge for the night. Percy got the couch, while Nico, the commander, whose name was Burke apparently, and the fellow soldier, Theo, took the floor. Nico was so tired, he fell asleep rather quickly.

- - - - -

The next morning, a shake of his shoulder brought him awake. His vision was blurred by exhaustion, and, in his sleepy state, did not register his surroundings.

"Bianca? I had the worst dream." He sat and yawned, his eyes remaining shut. "It was so realistic, though." He wiped his eyes with the back of his fists. "A bomb dropped and we had to go down in this vault, and I was frozen for, like, 200 years. Then, you were dead and I ran to this weird metal city-thing—"

"Wake up already," a male voice interrupted his monologue as he felt his shoulder being nudged by a greater force.

He gave a noise in surprise at the sudden push, forced to open his eyes to see that his dream was real, greatly to his dismay.

The first sight his eyes caught were Theo and Percy, crouching down over him. Theo had an annoyed expression, while Percy had a more concerned one.

"Good morning, Princess," greeted Theo. "Jesus Christ, you're battier than I thought."

"Are you alright, Nico?" Percy spoke up as Nico stood, embarrassed. "You were talking to a girl named Bianca, or something... You were saying her name in your sleep, too. Is she your girlfriend?"

Nico felt immense heat rush up in his cheeks. "N-no, of course not! She was my sister."

"Oh." Percy gave him a pitiful look when he noticed the presence of the word "was". "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Nico muttered, gathering his blanket he had borrowed off the dirty floor. "Damn, this place is filthy. These guys should get a Mr. Handy, or something."

Nico then realized that he didn't know if they were still in existence, especially since he didn't see Codsworth around the house, or any trace of him at all.

"Oh, actually they do!" Percy grinned. "He has the same name as me; isn't that funny? What's funny, as well, is that the girl with him is named Piper and I have a friend named Piper, too."

Nico smiled at his child-like innocence. "Yeah, I guess that is pretty funny."

"Are you guys gonna stand around all day, or are we gonna get something to eat?" Theo asked as he put his stuff away and began to walk out of their shack.

At the mention of food, Nico's stomach began to get angry with him for not eating all day yesterday. Food sounded pretty good to him.

- - - - -

As soon as Nico smelled food, he rushed to the table, sat down, and didn't even spare a moment before digging in. He ate quickly, hardly giving him time to chew before swallowing. It didn't taste as great as his mother's or Bianca's cooking, but he was so hungry, he didn't give a damn if it was dog food.

"Shit, Nico." Percy looked at him as if he doing something strange. "You look like you haven't eaten in years."

"Over 200, to be precise," Nico muttered to himself through his mouthful of food.

"You should probably chew," Percy joked.

Nico smiled at him before taking Percy's advice and pacing himself, giving himself time to eat properly.

- - - - -

After thanking the mayor for their place to stay for the night, they left Diamond City, making their way toward the Brotherhood of Steel Headquarters, where Nico would be staying and where they were going to get Percy directions to his vault.

"Hey, Percy?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, Nico?"

"How long ago, exactly, was the war?"

"The war?"

"Yeah, when the bombs dropped and turned everything to—well, this."

"The Wasteland?"

"Yeah."

"Well, my friend, Annabeth, studied a bit on it, because she was interested in how everything got started," Percy said. "She would not shut up about the war and everything for so long. I think she said it happened around 2070-something."

"2077," Nico muttered.

"Yeah, that," Percy told him. "Well, if you know better than me, then why are you asking?"

"You'd think I was crazy if I told you the reason," Nico said.

"It's fine," Percy shrugged.

"You wouldn't believe me."

"That depends on what it is."

"Trust me, you won't."

Percy nodded. "Well, how many years has it been, then?"

Nico shrugged. "I dunno. Over 200, I know that."

"210," Theo butted in. "I read quite a bit on the Great War, too."

"Cool," Nico said. "So, where exactly is this Headquarters and how long will it take to get there? Just asking."

"We won't get there for a while."

Nico wasn't looking forward to the aching feet.

Chapter Text

"This..." Percy and Nico looked in awe at the Citadel.

The Citadel, the Brotherhood of Steel's Headquarters, looked either like a colosseum or a prestigious government building, or at least once was. Nico no longer noticed the aching of his feet nor the dryness of his throat as he stood, staring at the impressive building. Even after the bombs and 210 years, it did a pretty good job of standing up. However, he would not say the same about the debris that surrounded it or the rubble that was the ruins of what used to be streets.

"C'mon, let's go, don't wanna keep everyone waiting for too long," Burke ordered.

"Yes, sir," Nico answered before catching up with him. Percy followed.

After making their way through piles of rubble, they entered the inside of the large building. It was vast; Nico felt like an ant when he looked at his surroundings. Stone debris and metal structures were everywhere and little practice dummies were scattered around the place. There was no roof to the building they had just entered, as Nico could look up and see the sky above him, which was murky and only had small hints of ever being blue in the first place. Nico missed that color of blue.

"This is our practice and training area," said the commander. "You will also be sleeping out here for the night."

"What?" Nico asked.

"You are an initiate, so you'll be sleeping out here. Pick a spot, any spot. Then, run 10 laps around."

Nico nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Yes, sir." Then, he walked off to find a place to sleep.

"As for you," Burke spoke to Percy, "you will be coming with us. For the time being, you are under our protection, so we will find you a place to sleep inside, and we will download directions to your vault in the morning on your...device."

"My Pip-Boy," Percy told him.

"I know," Burke said. "Now, follow us. We're going inside."

"Bye, Nico!" Percy shouted to him. "See you tomorrow."

Nico looked up and waved at him before he disappeared inside.

- - - - -

Nico trained for two hours to be able to wear his power armor, and it was not all that comfortable, but he supposed he needed something, as he was entering the "good fight" or whatever Burke called it. Theo laughed after he left, telling the recruit that he listened to too much radio.

Nico noted that radio still existed, not bothering to say it aloud because everyone already thought he was crazy. He did not want to make them think he was dangerously so.

He was led to the armory to be issued a laser rifle. He held the gun in his hands, feeling the heavy weight of it, but he told himself he'd get used to it.

"Have you any experience with this class of weapon?" asked the man who handed him the gun.

"What?"

"Can you shoot a gun?"

"Well, kinda," Nico replied. "I shot a rifle and a pistol a... a while ago."

"Like, a few years, while ago, or...?"

"I dunno," Nico said, his gaze drifting to the floor at the memory when his father first took one of his rifles and took Bianca and Nico out to shoot. His mother wasn't too fond of the idea, but his father insisted that they needed to learn how to protect themselves. Bianca was so scared of the guns she wouldn't even touch one, but Nico liked the feel of them in his hand. He was about ten at the time.

"Well, would you like to shoot at some of the targets to practice?" he asked, gesturing at the rifle in his hands.

"Well, I guess so," he shrugged, taking the rifle with him as he was led off to the courtyard to begin his training.

- - - - -

Percy was looking everywhere for Burke and Theo in the headquarters. He looked down the hallways, in the recreational areas, the mess hall, everywhere, but he had not caught any sight of them. He even asked other soldiers, but they just dismissed him, and he walked away, confused and offended.

Eventually, he heard a gruff old man speaking to a familiar voice. His curiosity got the best of him, so he hid behind the wall and listened into the conversation after he heard the mention of "Initiate di Angelo".

"You have recruited without my permission, Burke," the old man said. "If you weren't so much to my liking, I would have you demoted, exiled even."

"I apologize, sir," Burke responded.

"However, you must have had reason to. Does he show any particular promise?"

"Yes, sir. He seems to be kind of well off unarmed, and he has extraordinary stamina. He can run for miles straight without stopping, apparently. He said he just likes to run."

There was a contemplative pause before the old man spoke up.

"So be it," he said. "If you see promise within him, you can train him. Take Initiate di Angelo with you as you're taking the boy back to Vault 101."

"Yes, Elder Maxson. I apologize once again."

"Do not do any further recruiting without my permission, Paladin Commander."

"Yessir."

Once Percy realized their conversation had ended, he straightened his posture and waited for Burke to come out.

"What are you doing here?" was the greeting the Vault Dweller received.

"I was looking for you or Theo."

"He shall be referred to as Knight Provowsky," Burke retorted.

"Oh, alright," Percy replied. "But, where will I sleep? I kind of lost my way."

Burke sighed despondently. "Shall I escort you? You have a tendency of losing your way."

Percy nodded gratefully. "I would appreciate that."

- - - - -

Nico wiped the sweat from his brow before aiming the laser rifle at the practice dummy. He exhaled, shivers coursing through his body. Out of the fifteen shots he had taken, only seven of them hit the dummy. He was determined to get better, as this place was so generous to him, and he wanted to prove he was of worth. If he was not of worth to them, then he might have been thrown out of there or even killed. He did not want to take his chances out in the Wasteland alone again.

"Initiate di Angelo," came a gruff voice from behind him.

He turned to see the man who had taken him in, his bearded face worn with stress and exhaustion.

"Commander Burke," Nico greeted.

"Be sure to eat in the morning," he told him. "We are going back into the Wasteland. Usually, you would be training here, but Elder Maxson ordered me to bring you along escorting Percy to his vault. Consider it as training, but at the same time, a mission. We must keep the Vault Dweller safe at all costs."

"Yes, sir."

"Resume training, Initiate."

"Yessir."

Chapter Text

"Here we go," said the Brotherhood scientist.

Percy glimpsed down at his arm doubtfully, a wire connected to the Pip-Boy 3000 on his arm.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

The scientist laughed. "Of course it is. We only need to transfer the data from our terminal onto your Pip-Boy. Getting you home safe is our top priority."

Percy glanced occasionally at his Pip-Boy to the terminal to Nico, who had a bored expression on his face.

"My Pip-Boy has never been good at giving directions. The map only glitches from time to time. The directions worked for Megaton, but..."

"Well, this is why I'm downloading the data. It will give you the directions from our terminal."

Percy nodded in understanding. The room was filled with a silence that Percy itched to break.

"I'm glad you're coming with us, Nico," Percy told him. "This will be fun. Having a friend come along will probably shorten the journey."

Nico shrugged. "I suppose."

"I can show you my vault," Percy continued. "You can meet my mom and try some of her food. It's way better than the stuff out here."

Nico nodded. "I guess. That will be cool."

Percy smiled back at him while the man disconnected the semi-functional device on his arm from the computer. He looked back at his Pip-Boy and tapped on the map, showing a gear icon and two words beside it: "Vault 101".

"You fixed it! That's cool. Even Leo couldn't fix it and he's good at that kind of stuff."

"Well, it's time to go. Initiate di Angelo, Knight Provowsky, do you have all the supplies you need?" Paladin Commander Burke asked.

The both of them nodded.

"Alright. Vault Dweller, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Let's get a move on, then." Burke walked off with the heavy clomping of his power armor.

The three males followed their commander as they set off for the Capital Wasteland one last time. Percy led the group while the other three stood near him, their laser rifles prepared in case if anyone wished to attack him.

They already encountered a small group of Raiders, from whom they looted some ammo. The Bloatflies they avoided also scraped Percy's shoulder, but it was nothing but a little pain.

They had been walking all day and it seemed as if they were getting nowhere. They avoided the city like the plague. When Percy and Nico asked why, Burke said, "Would you like to fight some bulky yellow men who shoot at you and try to take you off to who knows where, plus Raiders, Mercenaries, and Feral Ghouls?" That shut them up about the subject.

Percy felt sweat drip down his temple before he wiped it away. It was hotter out here than the cool, air-conditioned vault. He was not used to the heat.

"This way, now." Percy said, glancing at the device on his arm.

"Are you sure the vault is this far away?" Burke asked, a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"That's what this says."

After walking in silence for a while, Percy decided to spark up another conversation with his new friend.

"You never told me where you came from."

"Sanctuary Hills."

"Where's that?"

"It's a... well, it was a suburb of Concord, Massachusetts."

"So, in the Commonwealth?" asked Burke.

"I guess."

"You came all the way down here from there? Man, you really can travel," said Theo.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"That's pretty far, Nico," Percy complimented. "That's impressive."

"Thanks."

"So, what was it like there?"

"It was nice," Nico reminisced. "All my friends and our Mr. Handy, Codsworth, lived there. My family, too. Then that happened, and now everyone is gone."

"Oh. Well, I bet it was a cool place."

"Yeah."

Their conversation was cut short by a gunshot firing past them. The group looked behind them to see a group of raiders in their scanty, bloodstained armor.

They shouted threats at them before the three soldiers shot at them.

"Ah, I love it when they fight back!"

Nico aimed his rifle at man with the bloody baseball bat who charged at him. He fired at him several times before he fell to the ground in a heap.

"Nice job, Nico!" Percy encouraged.

The boy looked back at him for a brief moment, giving him a slight smile, before he turned and helped his associates with the others.

Once their enemies were dead and they took the ammo, they continued on their journey to the elusive Vault 101.

"Two groups of raiders in one day," Theo grumbled. "I hope there won't be anything worse."

Percy nodded in agreement, glancing down at his arm to ensure he was leading them in the right direction this time. Before long, he found himself standing before a large metal vessel that looked like a pre-war ship that had been beached.

"Umm..." Percy looked down at his Pip-Boy to see that where he was standing, and, surely enough, it marked Vault 101.

"Is this it?" Nico asked.

Percy shook his head. "No. I don't... It says Vault 101 right here."

"This is Rivet City," Burke spoke up. "This definitely isn't Vault 101. Your Pip-Boy is not very good."

"Then why don't we use yours?" Percy asked him.

"What?" He glanced down at his arm. "No. I don't use it. I broke it a while ago."

"Then why don't you fix it?"

"Because I don't want it," Burke finalized the conversation. "Here, I know a couple of people here, so I can ask if we can stay a night."

They walked up the staircase to the metal structure. Nico did not necessarily trust its stability, but Percy cast him a comforting look and his doubts mostly diminished.

"It's Burke," he spoke into the intercom. "I'm here under Brotherhood business."

"All right, please wait until I extend the bridge," the voice on the intercom returned.

It was not long until a large metal walkway slowly swung around and connected to the platform the men were standing on. Percy and Nico looked at the bridge skeptically until Burke continued to walk across, greeting the man who had let him in. The other three followed suit before Burke led them to a staircase, connected to a long hallway with many metal, naval-appearing doors.

Once they reached the lab, Burke ordered the other soldiers to stand guard and keep Percy safe while he spoke with an old colleague of his father.

"So..." Percy spoke up after a seemingly long moment of silence. "How is the Brotherhood treating you?"

Nico nodded. "It's good. I get food and water and a place to stay. I like shooting guns, I guess."

"I bet you'd like the vault, too," Percy suggested.

"I don't know. I think it'd bring back bad memories."

"Oh, ok."

Nico thought he heard an twinge of disappointment on the edges of his voice, but he brushed it off as his imagination.

"Good news, we have a place to stay," Burke announced as he left the room. "Bad news, they only have two rooms to spare."

"Nico and I can share a room," Percy proposed.

"Alright, then he and I can share a room." Theo gestured at Burke. "Is that convenient for you, Paladin Commander?"

"That sounds in order," Burke said. "Those two are closer in age, anyway."

"Okay." Percy grinned at his friend before they were led off to their rooms by members of the Rivet City guard, all wielding guns at their sides.

Once he entered, Nico blushed as he beheld the furnishings of the room. There was only one bed, which sat against the center of the wall. There was a shower and a couple of places to store their items, much to his relief, as he did not like carting all of his possessions around with him if he did not have a use for them.

"I'll take the floor," Nico offered.

"No, it's fine," Percy said. "You can share the bed with me."

Nico looked at the bed once more before agreeing, albeit hesitantly.

He set his items upon the floor before pressing a hand down on the bed to test its comfort. It was not the best bed he had ever felt, but it certainly was not the worst, either. At least it was not the filthy floor in Diamond City. He shrugged it off before snatching his bag and putting his unneeded possessions in the footlocker.

Nico took off the heavy armor he wore on his body and grabbed some of the spare clothes he was given. He brought them around to the shower and undressed fully, testing the temperature of the water before he stepped in.

His shower was brief—mainly because the water smelled funny, but also because if he were alone for too long, he would think of scenarios he did not wish to cross his mind. He dressed in his spare clothes, which were tattered, but he did not complain. He returned to his footlocker, placing his power armor inside, as well as his laser rifle.

"Hey, Nico, do you miss your home sometimes?"

The pre-war boy looked over his shoulder at his friend, who was lounging on the bed. A longing look was upon his countenance as he stared up at the ceiling, his hands folded over his abdomen.

"Yeah, I do."

"I miss mine so much," Percy continued. "Wandering out here and meeting new friends was fun and all, but I miss my mom and the food. I miss all my friends."

"I miss mine, too."

The room was encased by silence for a few moments before Percy's voice broke through it.

"What happened?"

"Hmm?"

"You mentioned that something happened to your home and you can't go back," Percy told him. "Then, you said everyone was dead but you. What happened?"

"I told you before," Nico sighed, "you would think I'm crazy if I told you."

"I'll listen."

"I can't tell you."

"Please? I promise I won't think you're crazy."

"You can't promise something like that," Nico snapped.

Percy pouted, causing Nico to roll his eyes. "Fine, fine. Just promise you won't laugh."

"I promise."

Nico closed the footlocker before walking over to the bed and lying beside his friend, who scooted over to make room for him.

"It was October 23, 2077," Nico began in a low voice, his eyes locked on his hands in his lap. "It was a nice, cool day. It was a Saturday, actually, so I was off of school and I was free do to whatever I pleased. I could have spent time with Reyna, Hazel, Frank, and Will, but I chose to stay inside and read a book. My father was watching sports on our tv when some guy knocked on our door."

"Who was it?"

"Some guy from Vault-Tec who invited us to stay in a vault that was built on the hill near Sanctuary Hills," Nico responded. "He said that we were going to be bombed and that we could stay up there. Papa agreed. Later that day, after Mama made us lunch, I was finally able to indulge in my book. I was nearly asleep when Codsworth turned on the tv to some panicked news report which was advertising the detonations of bombs in New York and Pennsylvania. Papa, Mama, Bianca, and I immediately ran out of the house and headed up to the vault."

"They dropped bombs on you, too?"

"Yeah," Nico said. "There were people around begging to get in the vault, but they were denied. We were let in and we stood on the platform, waiting for it to be lowered down into the vault. I remember how Bianca was trying to calm me down, but she was panicked, herself. Then, the bomb fell. It was so bright. It looked like the sun."

He felt tears prick the corners of his eyes. "The platform began to lower and the hatch closed right as the smoke reached us. I knew everyone outside was dead."

Percy looked at him with genuine concern and sympathy in his eyes.

"Once we hit the bottom, we were escorted to the vault and people in lab coats issued us jumpsuits just like yours, but 111 on the backs of them," Nico continued. "We had to answer lots of strange questions, like, 'On a scale of 1 to 10 how strong are you?' or 'How smart are you?'. 'How well can you talk to people?'; stuff like that.

"Then, we were led to rooms with large compartments. They looked as if they could hold humans inside. We were told to dress in our jumpsuits and step into the chambers for decontamination. We obeyed, then the door closed behind me. A hissing noise started, and I didn't know what was happening. The air started to feel cold, like a million frozen needles were poking into my skin. Then, all I could see was white.

"It felt like a night's sleep, but my chamber suddenly opened and I toppled out, my limbs stiff as if they were frozen. Once I recovered, I stood and noticed that it was extremely quiet. I eyed my sister's chamber, and walked up to it..."

Tears blurred his vision, his voice heavy. "Her eyes were blank. They were open, but they lacked the warmth they usually had. Then I opened it. Bianca fell to the floor, but she made no effort to get up. She was as cold as ice and she wasn't breathing..."

He emitted a sob before wiping away his tears. "I— I'm sorry..."

Percy merely shook his head and pulled the crying boy toward himself, enveloping him in his arms. Nico froze, surprised by his friend's action, but he didn't struggle away. It felt...nice.

"You don't need to be sorry. Oh my God, are you okay?"

Nico shook his head as the tears flowed freely from his eyes. Percy leaned his cheek on the top of his head as he embraced him.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Nico. How long ago was it?"

"Three days ago."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Nico told him, his voice muffled by the cloth of Percy's jumpsuit, as he wiped the tears from his cheeks with the pads of his fingers. "After I found that she was gone, I... I ran away from the vault. I wanted to get as far away as I could. I rose up the platform, only to see that my town, and everything in it, was destroyed. All the sidewalks were cracked, the grass was brown, and most of the houses had collapsed. I didn't want to know what was inside them, I just... I wanted it back. I wanted my life, my friends, my family back. I never knew how good I had it, y'know? I wished that I could have it back and cherish every moment of it."

Percy held him tighter. "Oh my God..."

"Then I ran to Megaton, only to find out that I had been asleep for centuries and be dismissed as a beggar," Nico continued. "Then, you showed up. You gave me water and offered to find food and shelter for me. You were like my guardian angel."

"I like the sound of that." Percy smiled into Nico's shoulder.

"What?"

"Percy Jackson, the guardian angel of Nico di Angelo."

Nico laughed slightly before Percy joined in, the two laughing until tears formed in their eyes and stomachs began to ache.

"I think I like the sound of that, too."

Chapter Text

Nico fell asleep not too long afterwards. He was exhausted from all the walking, shooting, and the crying he did afterward.

Percy, however, was having a difficult time getting to sleep. Usually, he would curse his mind floating every which way possible, but he felt it was plausible this time. There was a lot to process from what Nico had told him not too long ago.

Percy knew Nico could not have been lying. He held so much pain and sincerity in his voice as he spoke of his misfortunes and he could not merely make all that up when he described it in such detail. Furthermore, he had no idea how vaults operated in the Commonwealth, so there might have been a vault up there that could have preserved pre-war people.

But, Nico being from pre-war blew his mind immensely. How old was he, technically? More importantly, what was pre-war like? He heard rumors and saw old posters, but how did it look? How did it feel? How did all those dilapidated buildings look before the bombs dropped and destroyed them? The bare trees and brown grass were actually alive and growing. How beautiful was it all? It all must have felt safe, even peaceful, outside when everyone was not out to kill or steal from one another, or that they wouldn't have to carry a gun or weapon wherever they went because they did not have to be wary of radroaches, mole rats, or bloatflies. Percy wondered what it would be like if he lived in pre-war instead of born in a vault, isolated from the world.

He had half a mind to shake Nico from his slumber and ask the infinite questions that dwelled in his brain, but he decided against it. He already had seen the boy cry, and it hurt him almost physically. He never wanted to see him cry again. He never wanted Nico to experience the pain he had endured again. He made it a personal goal to protect Nico. After all, Nico said it himself: Percy was Nico's guardian angel.

With the happy thought lingering in his mind, he turned over, his back facing his friend, and pushed all the questions to the side. He'd ask them when Nico recovered from his trauma. He soon allowed his subconscious take control, and he fell asleep.

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When Nico woke, he felt arms around him from behind, holding him securely, yet loosely. Confusion welled up in his mind, but he knew who was holding him. Against his own volition, his cheeks began to feel hot as he grew flustered. His heart pounded as he tried to pull away from Percy's unconscious grasp, gently to not wake him.

Apparently Percy was a cuddler in his sleep, so Nico's attempts were futile. He slumped in his hold, giving up his efforts, but he at least wanted to turn around to face him. When he did, he deeply regretted his actions. His face gained heat, but at the same time, he felt somewhat...intimate. Percy's eyelashes fluttered in his sleep, gentle breaths warm against Nico's skin. Having someone sleep next to him, after all he went through, felt nice for a change. Being held by someone who kept trying to keep him stable and safe, even though he hardly knew him, was like a breath of fresh air.

His chest clenched with an unfamiliar feeling as he reached toward his face to brush a strand of stray, raven hair from his eyes. Nico wished he could see them. When they looked at him last night, full of compassion and a gentleness Nico could not describe, he felt like he was protected. He felt like nothing could ever go wrong for him again.

A small smile gracing his lips, he pushed Percy's restricting arms from around him and sat up on the borrowed bed, stretching his arms above his head to loosen his stiff joints. Miraculously, the boy beside him remained asleep.

Stealthily, the Italian boy crept out of bed and over to his locker, where he gathered a box of Sugar Bombs and slowly opened it. He poured some of the sugary contents out of the box and into the palm of his hand, from which he picked the cereal and popped the pieces into his mouth. It tasted funny: they definitely tasted a lot different than the Sugar Bombs he had eaten before the whole Great War calamity occurred, but it was food, and he was going to eat it.

An abrupt noise alerted Nico's senses, and he snapped his head over to the bed, where the other male was stirring in his sleep before slowly lifting himself onto his elbows.

Percy looked beside him, where only disturbed sheets denoted that someone had slept there. The person, however, was absent. Confused, Percy looked around the room, rubbing his eyes, heavy from sleep, until his gaze found the boy sitting on the floor, watching him while eating some Sugar Bombs out of a box.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked, his voice groggy and husky.

"Eating," was Nico's response. "Want some?"

Percy shook his head. "No, I'll eat downstairs."

A palpable silence enveloped the room as the two boys looked at each other before standing from their places of rest and exiting the room, only to see Nico's two superiors waiting for them in the corridor.

They ate downstairs; Sugar Bombs aside, Nico was hungry. Percy laughed as he saw him nearly inhale all the food he was given. Percy chewed his food, ignoring the strange aftertaste that was not present in the food his mother cooked in the Vault.

The Vault. Even thinking about it gave him a wistful twinge in his heart. He shook the emotion off, replacing it with determination. He felt that this was going to be the day he was going to see his home again.

Why did that thought also bring him pain?

He looked up from his food at the younger—or was it older?—male, who had long since finished his meal. His cheeks slightly reddened at their locked eyes before he cast him a demure smile. Nico returned it before breaking eye contact and looking elsewhere for the missing Paladin Commander, from whom he would receive orders when they were ready to depart from the large, dilapidated ship in which they sought refuge for the night.

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It was not too much longer of a wait until the four found themselves back in the Wasteland. They had to detour around the city, the same way they came, so they would not have any unfortunate run-ins with any yellow-skinned menace armed with a caliber rifle or a mini gun.

Percy was reluctant to lead again, as he led them all in the wrong direction more than once. He feared that Burke would realize that this was a monumental waste of time and abandon him in the Wasteland to fare for himself and leave his vault for dead.

Fortunately, the man was very patient with him and urged him to lead the way, even with his Pip-Boy 3000 having a faulty map. He smiled at the bearded man before he navigated around the massive heaps of rubble.

His heart sunk a little when he could see the Citadel not too far from where he stood, although they had spent the whole, previous day traveling. However, he knew that he could lead them to his vault. After all, how hard was it to locate a vault he had lived in his entire life?

He looked over his shoulder at Nico, who stared despondently at the golden grass that crunched beneath his feet. Percy wanted to say something. He wanted to hug him again, or comfort him in some way. He wanted to distract Nico from his despair, but all the words had vanished from his mind. He wanted to paint all the grass green again for him if that would make his spirits lift. However, he did not. He smiled sadly back at Nico before continuing on, leading the group to a place he hoped would be home.

He decided not to rely on his Pip-Boy anymore. After all, that only led them to Rivet City.

They walked beneath a broken bridge and past demolished cars until they met a small town, or what used to be one. A factory made of brick stood vacant, skeletons of trees looming over the four men. However, what caught their eyes the most was the large tower, the light glowing from the windows creating a golden path in the hazy mid-evening sun.

Nico stared in awe at the large tower with four needle-like protrusions on the roof. It was surrounded by a rock wall that encased the courtyard of the formerly exquisite building Percy and Nico had only seen in photos.

"Tenpenny Tower?" Theo asked. "Yet again, I don't believe this is Vault 101."

Burke ignored the Paladin Knight's remark. Instead, he was focused on the crowd congregated around the entrance. They seemed less than ecstatic. If anything, they seemed desperate.

"Why are there so many people here?" Nico asked, voicing the older man's thoughts.

"I'm not sure." Burke hoped his suspicions were not correct. "We should go investigate. Keep Percy back, just in case if this is what I think it is."

"Yes, sir," replied Nico and Theo.

Burke led the other three to the crowd of people, who all possessed decaying skin and gravelly, hoarse voices. Curiosity plagued Percy's insides as he peered at the people—were they people? Percy was not sure—and followed the other three to the hotel.

As they neared, Burke was less than amused to see that he was correct. The crowd was composed of ghouls. Fortunately, none of them seemed to be feral.

"Please! They are coming for us!" said a male ghoul, his withered, decomposing body adorned in torn, faded clothing.

"For the last time, I'm not letting any of you zombies in here. You can all die, as if I care. Go somewhere else. We are not a refugee camp, especially for the likes of you!" barked an annoyed voice over the intercom.

"Prepare your weapons," the Commander ordered quietly.

"What is going on here?" Burke spoke up to the crowd, removing his helmet and holding it in the crevice of his inner elbow.

The once-human creatures looked up at the man.

"Ghoul hunters," one answered in her shriveled voice. "Someone hired a group of Mercs to kill us off. We are the only survivors."

"Mercs, huh?" Theo asked. "Which company?"

"We're not sure. They probably were some underground company that wanted a paycheck."

Burke nodded in understanding. "Soldiers, remove your helmets. We have to lead them to a safe place."

Theo looked discomforted, but he did not say a word against it. However, Nico was horrified. He did not voice his disgust, but as he took his helmet off, he was met with what happened to some of the humans that faced the nuclear holocaust. Their decaying skin was revolting, to say the least, and their eyes were a murky color Nico thought looked like mucus.

He locked eyes with one who had dark eyes. She was female, but her dark hair was thin, wispy threads on top of her visible scalp, which matched the rest of her skin. Her skin was somewhat darker than the others', but it had nearly the same amount of decay. The most strange trait about her was that she was accompanied by a Mr. Handy, which levitated not too far behind her. Her face was contorted in surprise as she looked at Nico's face, her eyes filled with a feeling Nico could not describe. Was it disbelief?

He could also not describe the horror that dwelled within him when she started calling his name in her scratchy voice, which sounded somewhat familiar.

"Nico? Nico, is that you?"

Chapter Text

Nico's eyes widened remarkably as he scrambled for words to respond. How did this ghoul know him? Why did she look so familiar? Another wave of astonishment hit him when the robot beside her began to talk to him as well.

"Master Nico! Welcome back, sir!"

"...Codsworth?" his voice was filled with incredulity at the fact this robot still existed.

"Yes, sir. It's been a while."

A thousand questions flooded into Nico's mind. It felt as if his brain was going to explode.

"You know Nico?" Percy asked the two who greeted him, breaking the excruciating silence.

The ghoul nodded, turning her head back to Nico. "You might not be able to recognize me now, but you've known me for a long time."

He looked into the ghoul's obsidian eyes and Nico was reminded of a dark braid, a strong physique, and a sarcastic smile. He was reminded of a teasing demeanor on good days, and a serious one on neutral days.

"Reyna?"

The ghoul's cracked lips curled into a pleased smile. "Yes."

"I thought... I thought you were dead."

"I am."

"No, I mean... dead dead."

"I thought you were dead, too."

Nico told himself that he would not cry. He would not. "I'm alive. I went to the vault."

"It's been so long," she reminisced in her scratchy voice. "You went to the vault? What was it like?"

"Terrible," he said with distaste. "I would prefer it if the bombs never happened."

"You and me both."

"Wait, wait, hold on a sec," Percy interrupted stepping forward to stand with the two reunited friends and the hovering robot. "I'm confused. Who is this?"

"This is Reyna," he told him. "She was my friend before the war."

"And you are?" she asked.

"I'm Percy. I'm Nico's friend."

"Friend, huh?" Reyna teased. "Kind of like Will was your 'friend'?"

Nico flushed red. "Will... He... He was different."

Percy felt something stir within him. Was it curiosity? No, it felt too much like anger. "Who's Will?"

"He was... Well, I don't want to talk about it."

Reyna looked at him with a skeptical expression. "You should probably tell him."

Nico huffed resignedly. "Well, Will and I... He was sort of my... um..."

Reyna rolled her eyes impatiently. "He was his boyfriend."

Nico turned even redder than before. "He was not my boyfriend."

He could not believe this conversation was happening in front of his superior officers.

"Boyfriend?" Percy asked, the strange feeling spreading throughout his abdomen.

"He was not."

"He could've been," Reyna teased. "He liked you, and you liked him. You knew that you did."

"Reyna, please, my Commander is standing right there," he told her as he gestured wildly at the bulky man dressed in heavy power armor.

"Oh, please, continue," Burke responded. "Don't worry about us."

Nico sighed, hearing the amused smirk in Burke's voice.

"This is embarrassing," Nico groaned as he buried his face in his gloved hands as if to hide himself from the world.

"It's okay, Nico, we've all had our crushes," Reyna reassured.

He looked over at Percy, who had a thoughtful look on his face. He did not like this Will guy one bit.

"Well, let's clear the crowd out of here, or else Tenpenny might send another mercenary out to kill all of these ghouls," Burke cut in. "How about the city? I'm sure we can set up a nice little ghoul camp, safe from the Brotherhood. Maybe I can send some escorts to lead you to Underworld. It'd save a lot of caps, soldiers, and time."

The ghouls seemed ecstatic at Burke's offer, but the soldiers on the other hand were not anticipating the walk back to the Citadel to gather a few Brothers to lead them there. At least Nico could use this time to catch up with Reyna. Despite not seeing her for what seemed like a short time to him, he had tons of things to talk with her about.

Percy stayed up behind Burke, pondering on this Will guy Reyna had teased Nico about. Who exactly was he? He knew he shouldn't have worried about him, since the guy was long dead, but the mention of him made his stomach churn. Nico, he liked guys. He could see that. It was not wrong for him to like guys, as some Wastelanders were into that sort of thing. It was practically unheard of in the Vault, as procreation was important to maintain population. The Vault was open to anyone, anyway, except for some stray bands of Raiders, usually out of Springvale, so that could have helped population quite a bit, but, still.

Thinking Nico was into other guys kind of made him feel strange inside. It was not that he did not accept his friend's preferences; after all, he told him he would be his guardian angel. He would look after him, no matter what. The guy had gone through so much in such a short time. He looked back at him, chattering away with his friend, who teased him a bit more. He could tell by how flustered he looked.

He felt insignificant at the moment. The way Nico felt so at home with her made him feel as if he played no role in Nico's life, other than being there for him to listen to him. He turned his head back to the ground in front of him, not wanting to think of the matters any further.

Why would he be significant in his life? He only met him a few days before. He tried to force himself into his life because he really wanted a new friend. Nico did not seem to be too fond of his personality, anyway, as he never really talked to him. The night before changed everything, he thought. He understood Nico was enduring so much pain at the moment, so he should not have blamed him for any cold behavior, but he still felt insecure about it. He felt upset when he talked to Reyna instead of him, and that made him feel selfish. Why did he have to be like this?

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"So, this Percy," Reyna said. "Do you think he's cute?"

Nico blushed at the question. "Yeah, I guess."

"How'd you guys meet?"

"It was after the whole vault ordeal," Nico began. "I did not want to face the ruins of Sanctuary Hills, so I ran away. Half the day later, I found myself in front of this large metal construct. It was a settlement, apparently. I was turned away, so I did what anyone would do. I cried. Then, he showed up and tried to comfort me. He gave me water, which was incredible of him, as I had been running the whole day, and I was dehydrated. He offered to find me food and shelter, and he didn't even know me. I was grateful to him. I still am. He listens to me and comforts me when I'm sad."

"Sounds like a crush to me."

"I think it might be, honestly. Laugh if you will, but he is so genuine and incredible I'd be stupid not to like him."

"By your description of him, and his figure, wow, I'd think you'd be stupid not to, as well."

Nico smiled. "He does have a great body, I agree. Look. His ass is fine."

"That statement is accurate."

"I like his eyes, too. They're such a pretty green."

"I'll have to take a second look," Reyna said. "I didn't notice."

"Well, when I told him about my past," Nico continued, "he didn't interrupt at all. He just listened and held me when I cried, asking me if I was okay. God, I hope he's into guys. He's perfect."

Reyna laughed. "I'm rooting for you, Neeks. I hope for you."

Nico looked forward, noticing Percy had been quiet practically the whole walk, which was unlike him. He usually broke the silence when it was too quiet, either by asking Nico a question or trying to start a conversation with someone.

"What's wrong?" Reyna asked.

"Percy's being quiet."

"So?"

"It's unlike him," he told her, walking faster to catch up with Percy's long strides. "Percy, are you okay?"

He looked up from the ground with troubled eyes. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm good."

"You're being too quiet," Nico told him, lightly punching him in the shoulder. "It's unlike you."

He smiled. "I guess. I thought you just wanted to catch up with Reyna a bit."

He shrugged. "Doesn't mean that you should walk alone."

"But I'm not alone."

He gave him a sarcastic look. "I know. You know what I meant."

Percy sighed. "Okay."

He grabbed Percy's wrist and waited for Reyna to catch up with them so they could all talk. Nico noticed that Reyna and him spoke as if they had known each other for years, but he supposed that's how Percy was. He got along with everyone. That was one of the reasons why he liked him. He just hoped Percy would reciprocate his feelings.

Chapter Text

The walk was shorter than all of them thought it would be. They faced the Citadel in what felt like a half an hour, although it had been several. The Brothers that stood guarding the Citadel were surprised at the Paladin Commander's new company to say in the least. However, they let them in and even called people to help escort them to the Lab.

Elder Maxson, their leader, who was a young man despite his title, was pleasantly surprised at the cliche of ghouls Burke had brought to him, contrasting his soldiers' initial reaction to the group of rotting undead people that suddenly appeared at their headquarters.

"We need to get these ghouls to the Underworld. I know it's a big favor to ask of you—"

"What are you talking about?" Maxson asked. "These ghouls are people, too. And we help the people from life threatening creatures and events. I'll assign someone to it immediately."

Nico was surprised by his leader's approach to protecting the Wasteland, but at least his best friend would be in a safe place for the meantime. He gave her his goodbyes, she wished him luck with his "friend." She understood why he did not wish to hug her goodbye, but they got their points across. Percy waved goodbye to her, but she beckoned him down to whisper in his ear, something Nico did not hear. Percy nodded and smiled humorously. She then returned his wave and went off with the soldiers that would lead them to a sanctuary.

Elder Maxson promptly sent Burke back to his journey, which put Percy in the leadership role again. He did not have a problem with that, per say, but he felt nervous about leading them in the wrong direction again. Nico, noticing his insecurity, pat him on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. His confidence replenished, he agreed and they were on their way, their hopes high that they were not to run into any more obstacles detrimental to their mission.

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"Why don't your directions on your Pip-Boy work?" Nico asked as they strolled past a decaying park.

The day was already fading into evening, and they were somewhere near Tenpenny Tower again. High confidence was not very effective in Percy's direction sense, but it kept him patient and concentrated on hunting down his Vault. He missed his home, but for some reason, whenever he thought about returning, a feeling of sadness accompanied the feeling of anticipation. He shrugged it off, but he wondered if this feeling had something to do with the boy walking next to him.

"I dunno," he replied. "They've always been like that. No matter how many times I've gone in to get it fixed, it doesn't work. Even my friend Leo was trying to fix it, and it worked for a while, but then it went back to the way it was."

Nico frowned. "Then, why did the Megaton directions work?"

"I don't know. They just did. It only works for Megaton, somehow."

"Do you have the directions to Megaton that you followed from the Vault?"

"Yes, I do. For some reason, they are the only ones that led me to the place I needed to go."

Nico nodded in understanding. "Can you follow them backwards to the Vault?"

Percy paused for a moment before lifting his arm to look at his Pip-Boy. He tapped on the map, moving it around to view the Megaton icon and a bunch of dots that led off another direction to a icon that was blurred and glitching.

"Nico? I think you may be right."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Look, it's leading somewhere from Megaton, that looks like it's not too far from it. I didn't have to walk to far from the Vault to get to Megaton. That's probably the Vault, Nico. You're right."

He smiled. "Well, I guess that we can head to Megaton and follow it from there."

"Well, not right now," Theo told them. "It's dangerous to travel at night. We'll have to talk to Tenpenny and see if we can lodge there for the night. It's not safe anywhere else near here."

Burke agreed with his instructions and led the group back to the hotel, now free from ghouls.

Burke took the liberty of approaching the entrance and pressing the button on the intercom with a gloved hand.

"We told you, we don't accept your kind in here, you zombies! Now, go find somewhere else to rot!" shouted a rough-voiced man through the intercom.

"We are not ghouls, we are part of the Brotherhood. We took care of your ghoul problem, now may we speak to Tenpenny?"

The man was silent for a moment, and Burke was about to press the button again.

"Good luck!" he said. "You so-called 'soldiers' have been—"

"Excuse me, but we made the ghouls leave, and that solves your problem, but it doesn't fare well unpaid. We ask for something in return."

"There is nothing we can give you in return. What do you expect? Caps?"

"No, just lodgings for the night, is all."

"We'll see."

The gate opened, letting the four men inside the courtyard to the elegant tower. It would have been prettier if the fountains were still flowing or if flowers were growing in the lush green grass, but the grass was withered and the fountains cracked and chipped. Mold grew freely on the unused fountains, and dead, barren trees surrounded the large building.

They beelined for the front of the hotel before Burke opened the large doors. The sight they beheld once the doors swung open sent the two younger males in awe. A grand chandelier hung from the ceiling, complemented by the balconies circling around the upper walls, which diverged into two elegant staircases that reached to the ground floor in which the four men were standing. They trod upon a rug more well-kept than many of the destroyed carpets and rugs and other floorings Nico had seen; they walked between domestic plants and well-maintained upholstery which had somehow escaped the destruction of the war. The people traipsing around were dressed in a sophisticated manner, and Percy could tell their chins were high in the air by their snooty mannerisms they carried around with them. It might have been a better place than most he'd seen, but Nico already hated the place.

Burke met with the guard sitting at the front desk, which sat before the staircases, the bright and pretty flower in the pot that sat on top of it contradicting the mean frown on the man's face. By the way he composed himself, Nico could tell he was the head of the guards, the captain of all the men who walked by, who stood at every doorway, armed and ready to shoot anyone whose eye went awry.

"We wish to speak with Allistair Tenpenny."

"Why do you wish to speak with him?" he asked guardedly, his eyebrow raising and his arm prepared to whip out his weapon if need be. He eyed their own weapons and calculated tactics in his mind before the Paladin Commander could even give his response.

"We are responsible for the departure of the ghouls outside. We wish lodgings for the night in return."

The captain of the guard squad narrowed his eyes in suspicion before standing from his chair and leading the four to the elevator in between the staircases. He made his large gun very noticeable by placing it on his back as a warning that if anyone were to try and start violence in his home, he was going to finish it by killing anyone responsible for the uproar. The Brotherhood knew better than to do this, as they were a peaceful, diplomatic group.

They entered the elevator, which Nico was surprised still existed, although he did not say anything out loud, despite that everyone there was on terms that he was from prewar due to his ghoulish friend and Codsworth, the Mr. Handy they now kept at the Citadel.

Percy felt a lurching feeling in his stomach as the elevator began to rise, but it came to a sudden stop at the third floor, appeasing his uneasiness. The silver doors opened for the five men, and the guard began to walk out, beckoning at the rest to follow. They obeyed silently, accompanying him to a red door, at which they stopped and knocked before entering.

Upon seeing the room—a king-sized bed sitting against the wall, a lamp, a ornate wardrobe, a table, and a desk—the men saw a rancorous old man with a fancy suit and a cane. He immediately demanded the reason for their presence. This man was Allistair Tenpenny, an irritable 90-year-old man whose patience and benignity faded with age.

After some failed negotiating, Percy stepped in and reasoned with him about staying at the tower for the night, and the old man, to the rest of the men's surprise, agreed. Percy shook his hand and they left the room before being escorted to two separate suites in which the four men could stay for the night, as long as they cleaned up after themselves and did not make a mess of his rooms.

Of course, Percy volunteered for Nico and him to share a room, at which Nico eagerly agreed, despite there only being a single bed, alike the last time.

Burke shoved off his armor, but remained in the under suit, before he placed everything he needed in the footlocker he claimed as his for the night. He noted that he would commend the Vault Dweller for his remarkable negotiating skills the next morning. He heard the sound of water rushing in the bathroom and knew the Knight was showering, which sounded like a marvelous idea, taking into account of walking all those miles in hot, heavy armor. At least they did not have to fight much that day. The next day, they would bring Percy to Megaton and follow him to his vault so they could see what they were dealing with, especially after the Vault was opened to anyone in need. He wanted to see it again.

Chapter Text

Burke lied on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and waited for Knight Provowsky to get out of the shower so he could wash the sweat off of his own body. He heard an abrupt knock on his door, and his initial thought was how much he did not want to get out of bed. However, the knock sounded urgent, so he forced himself into a sitting position—he surely wasn't getting any younger—and trudged to the door to answer it. He found the Vault Dweller standing before the door with a nervous, apologetic look on his face.

There was not much height difference between them, he realized—in fact, the nineteen-year-old might have been taller than he was. He remembered when he was at that age: temerarious and determined. He stopped at nothing and for nothing. Those two really were different, even though Burke deemed that they had similar traits.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Paladin Commander. I'm sorry for bothering you, but I need to speak with you."

"Where's the Initiate?"

"In the shower."

The shower. What a tempting thought.

He stood aside so the man could enter the room. "So, what is it you need to speak to me about?"

"It's about...Nico."

"What about him?"

"He really is prewar, you know?"

Burke nodded. "Yes. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, he talked to me about it the other night. He was so sincere in his words and in his emotions that it was hard not to believe him. He told me I was his guardian angel. I..."

"What?"

"It's really going to be hard when we have to say our goodbyes. We haven't even known each other for very long, yet I feel like I've known him my entire life. I don't... I want to go home and have you help protect it, but... I don't want to leave Nico behind."

"I understand he's your friend, Percy—"

"What if... What if I like him, you know, more than just a friend?"

Burke closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Even though he had a soft spot for teasing younger ones about their love interests and how embarrassed they got about them, he did not have the patience right then.

"Sometimes, if you love someone, the best thing you can do is leave them behind."

"Why?"

"I had to do that. It turned out for the better, actually. I left, and it was more beneficial for her."

"Would it be more beneficial for Nico if I left him behind?"

"Perhaps. No one can say. It's a choice that only you can make."

Percy stood solemnly in Burke and Theo's shared room before bidding him goodnight and returning to his own suite, where Nico sat on the bed, his hair darker and flattened from the shower.

"Hey, Percy," he greeted, his stomach filling with butterflies. "Where were you?"

"I was talking to Burke about something about the Vault," he replied, closing the red door behind him. "No big deal."

"If you say so," Nico shrugged. "So, you're really going home tomorrow. Are you excited?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I am."

There was a reserved undertone in Percy's voice, Nico noticed. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking, is all."

"That's dangerous," Nico joked.

Percy chuckled slightly as he made his way to his side of the bed and sat down. "Yeah, it is, huh?"

Nico smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat. Why did Burke want him to leave him behind? Would it surely benefit him? Would Nico be happier knowing that he would not have to worry about some Vault Dweller anymore?

"Percy, what's wrong? Seriously, you look sad. Don't you want to go home?"

"No, I do!" Percy told him. It was not exactly a lie, but not exactly the truth, either. "I do want to go home."

"Who are you going to introduce me to, now?"

Percy smiled at Nico's diversion. "Well, my mom, first of all. She's the best, and you're going to love her. She's going to love you, too. Then, my best friend, Annabeth. She's going to be fascinated by your background. She'll probably ask you a million questions, but don't let it bother you. If it gets too much, I'll stop her. Then, my friends, Jason, Leo, and Piper. They're amazing. We've been together since we were little, always protecting each other from the gangs and bullies down in the Vault. There's always people like that everywhere you go, y'know?"

Percy's excitement filled Nico's heart with a feeling of adoration. How amazing was he, exactly? God, he wished he could love him back already.

"I'm looking forward to meet them. We should go to sleep now, huh? So we can get to your vault sooner."

"Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea. Night, Nico."

"G'night, Perce."

He smiled at his little nickname for him before he saw Nico close his eyes. His midnight hair fanned out on his pillow. It looked so soft that he wanted to rake his hands through it. He always noticed that Nico had really long eyelashes, but it was made more evident now. His dark eyelashes cast long, thin shadows across his cheeks, on which Percy only now realized pale freckles were splashed. His eyelashes would flutter every now and then, his breath now evenly leaving his lips, informing Percy that he was asleep. His lips were parted, emitting soft breaths and small murmurs occasionally. Percy lied there, watching this ethereal being look so peaceful in his sleep, even if only ephemerally.

How would he be able to leave him for good? How would he not choke up while telling him goodbye? How would he fare knowing that after he left, there was a good chance of never seeing him again? To never travel the world with him or getting lost in the wilderness with him? To never again share this transient moment of tranquility that the two had known over a course of a few days? Would he be able to sleep alone now that he had felt what it was like to sleep with another person and knowing their vulnerabilities? To know that you can protect them from their insecurities by holding them close until the sun rose and waking up beside them?

Percy swept a piece of stray hair out of his face and stared at his delicate features, lost in his thoughts. There was no way he could leave him, knowing that they would never meet again. Although he lived his life in a cold chamber, isolated from the world, he knew what warmth was. He knew what love was. He knew that was what he felt for this boy that lied beside him, who shared his pain and his heart with him. He was his to protect, and it worked the other way around. They were codependent on each other, he knew now. They would always risk their lives for each other. They would always roam together, never knowing where their feet would take them. Percy had every intention to go home, but that would mean he would have every intention of leaving Nico, and he was not—and he was convinced he would never be—prepared for that.

Chapter Text

The sun rose over the murky horizon, coloring the sky a brilliant red. It shone over the destructed buildings that had fallen into dilapidation and held mere remnants of the past. The golden grass woke to its call, brightening with the presence of the sun. Brahmin and molerats wandered in these grasses, searching for food and prey. Bloatflies maneuvered through the barren trees, all denuded of any sign of life, attacking radscorpions and anything else that came wandering past.

What would have been a peaceful morning was lost to violence and the shouts of creatures as they met their demise. Such was life in the Wasteland. Tranquility was rare, if it even existed out there. It occurred for people hidden away in cities and sanctuaries, such as vaults that were still in operation or settlements that were protected from Raiders and the other threats of the Wasteland.

Nico was ignorant to what was occurring outside for the first time since he bust out of his vault, which had imprisoned him and sentenced everyone he loved to a miserable and untimely death.

He felt a great deal of remorse. The first person who was kind to him, who listened to him and comforted him when he cried, was going home. He felt selfish, as he did not want him to. He did not want to leave him behind. After he returned to his vault, he did not know when he would see him again, if ever, and it pained him to think about it. His newfound crush, with eyes as gentle as the blue skies before the war, but as green as the beautiful, rippling ocean he saw when he was younger, his calming touch and consoling voice—he would never see him again. He was afraid of that.

There was something in his voice and his eyes the night before, a small sign saying that he did not want to go home either, for the same reason as Nico did not want him to. He knew he would never see his friend again, and he worked so hard to create the bond they shared. He did not want to throw it all away. He did, however, want to see his family and friends again. Nico could relate to that. He would have a difficult choice between leaving Percy and never seeing him again and returning to his family and friends, if they were still alive, but, instead, visit them regularly. He would. He loved his family and his friends; he missed them immensely, but he knew nothing would bring them back.

He shook his head to relinquish the negative thoughts that plagued his mind, instead observing Percy in his peaceful slumber. He smiled adoringly at his fluttering eyelashes. He was a tad disgusted by the small stream of drool that escaped from the corner of his mouth—he used the blanket to wipe it off. He was not a fan of the pompous, old Tenpenny, nor the white-suited Mr. Burke that followed him around, so he thought a little Percy spit would not do any damage to himself or his colleagues.

He ran his fingers through Percy's silken hair, gently to not wake him, and admired his features in silence for the brief moment he could, while Percy was not awake to observe him.

Percy kept his eyes closed as he felt Nico's fingers played with his hair fondly. He resisted the urge to smile, because then Nico would know he was awake and cease his adoring action. It felt nice to have his hair played with, especially if it was by the troubled boy that lied next to him, who wandered with him, who depended on him. He practically melted into his touch.

Nico continued the calming action before he stirred. He drew his hand back quickly, just as Percy expected him to do, to his disappointment. He opened his eyes and smiled tiredly at the boy he shared the bed with, his brown eyes glazed with a feeling Percy could not tell from tiredness or sadness.

"Hey, Nico, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little tired, is all."

Percy nodded. "Okay."

A knock on the door sounded through the borrowed suite, alarming both boys to get up and prepare for the day's travel ahead of them.

Percy tried not to think about goodbyes. He wanted Nico to stay with him, although he knew that it would not happen. He already offered, and he declined. Perhaps he would accept now that they had talked over things and forged a special bond that he knew was not one-sided.

After Nico finished equipping his heavy power armor, he placed his rifle on his back and held his helmet in the crevice between his arm and his upper body. Percy flashed him a grin, at which he returned with a demure smile of his own. He finished preparations, and now they were to meet with Percy's guides and Nico's superiors, perhaps for the final time.

✇     ✇     ✇     ✇     ✇

They trudged through the Wasteland. The heat was heavy on Percy's shoulders as he led them back the way they came, which was beneath a crumbling stone overpass that collapsed at several different points in its long trail towards Arefu, a settlement surrounded by dangers that somehow was still prosperous.

Percy knew he was close when he saw the large metal walls that protected Megaton, the place he was supposed to go then promptly return to his vault, an objective that took over five days to accomplish rather than the forty minutes they assumed it would take. The Vault probably deemed him dead, or a lost cause. A strange feeling blossomed in his gut at the thought of the Vault leaving him behind. It was his home. All his loved ones would never do that to him, right? He hoped not.

Even if they did, he knew he had Nico at his side to comfort him. Perhaps he would join him on his travels in the Brotherhood of Steel. He would make his way up the ranks and land a decent role where he could meet and protect lots of people. The idea seemed appealing, but he knew his Vault believed that he would return, rather than shun him for not being able to follow a simple task. Anyway, the Wasteland looked similar from every angle. It was not his fault his Pip-Boy decided not to function correctly.

He stood before Megaton, with its tall walls forged from ruins of aircraft, the carcasses of dead, yellow, giant ants lying before it, and the newly repaired Protectron that was not present when Percy first beheld the settlement, and relief filled his insides. At last, he was at the location he was trying to reach. His clothes and face now dirtied from the Wasteland, he felt much older than he had when he wandered here alone and found the scrawny, sobbing boy sitting against the walls, his voice hoarse from dehydration. He wondered if Nico felt the same.

"Where do we go now, Percy?" Nico asked, his helmet removed from his heated—almost too much so—head.

Percy glanced down at his Pip-Boy with a look of despondency and doubt.

"This way," he pointed at the ruins of a street traveling up a hill. "It's this way."

I'll be home soon, Mom.

Chapter Text

The mangled, dead tree that stood next to the faded red door looked shorter than it did a few days before. Percy looked back at Nico, who, with a gloved hand, gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder. He inhaled confidence and opened the door, and the sight he anticipated since the beginning of the journey faced him.

The rocky slope descended deeper into the cave and ended at a giant, metal Vault door, engraved with a large 101. He smiled, although his emotions were weighing him down.

"That's the Vault?" Nico asked.

Percy nodded, approaching the large door that led to his home. He heard the three other's footsteps behind him, which made him feel a bit better. At least he was not alone. He surely was not looking forward to saying goodbye to them.

He connected his Pip-Boy to the terminal at the door and typed in the password that was stored in his notes. Loud, metallic noises sounded, and he unplugged his device, returning his arm to his side and waiting nervously for the Vault door to roll open for him like it did before.

Nico stood at his side, a despondent expression on his face. Without a doubt, he thought of the Vault he escaped from. Percy tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. This one's okay."

He nodded, thankful for Percy's attempt to console him. He considered leaning against him, but the Vault door rolled over and disappeared, showing a room full of grates. Guards rushed from the Atrium to see who had entered. They were armed with 10 mm pistols and batons, thick armor and helmets as apparel.

The group of four stood idle, until the officers observed Percy's jumpsuit and lowered their weapons.

"I'm back," he told them. "And I brought some friends along."

"Paladin Commander Burke," the eldest man introduced. "This is Knight Provowsky and Initiate di Angelo. We're here to inspect your vault."

The guards seemed surprised at his introduction, but they seemed convinced. "We need to take you to the Overseer."

Percy, Nico, Theo, and Burke followed them down the stairs to the Atrium.

"Knight Provowsky and I will negotiate," Burke ordered Nico as they reached the bottom. "You and the Vault Dweller will stay down here."

He nodded, giving a Percy a demure smile. He was thankful, as he knew that he would have to say goodbye to him soon, and he wanted to spend as much time with Percy as he could.

Percy was right: Vault 101 was very different than Vault 111. The Atrium was a large room that was circled with grated walkways in the upper level, beneath the giant dome that protected the Vault from the terrain above. Automatic doors opened, and people walked through them. People in identical blue and yellow jumpsuits conversed. Some of the residents looked over at the two boys, curious why they looked different. They made Nico feel out of place.

"C'mon, Nico, I want to show you around," Percy grinned.

He nodded, albeit hesitantly, and followed Percy through one of the automatic doors and down a set of stairs. He opened another door at the bottom of the stairwell, and was met with a red-and white tiled floor. A cordial woman stood behind the counter, serving people food. Once she looked up from the person she was serving, she saw Percy and a large smile graced her lips.

"Percy! I was wondering when you'd come back." She gave him a hug. "You're filthy, dear. You should wash up. So, how did it go?"

"It went well," he discontinued the hug so he could properly talk to her. "I brought them here. Oh, here's someone I really want you to meet. This is my friend, Nico."

He gave her a demure smile and a wave.

"Oh, he's a doll."

He blushed slightly.

"We travelled together. You would not believe where we went. You know how my Pip-Boy's directions glitch? Well, I got lost, and I found him at Megaton. He went through a tough time, so I helped him out."

"Your son is a really good person."

"Don't I know it," she laughed.

"Well, then I met the Brotherhood of Steel, and we were heading back to the Vault. I did not know where I went, but we ended up at a baseball stadium! Then we went to the Citadel, and Rivet City, which is a giant ship, and Tenpenny Tower. We went all over."

She smiled. "Well, was it fun?"

He nodded. Nico stood nervously, but Percy ruffled his hair to ease his anxiety. He cast him a half-hearted glare.

"Watch it, Jackson."

He stuck his tongue out at him as a rebuttal.

"Hey, Mom, can you make Nico something? I told him that you could make really good food."

"Of course, sweetheart."

She made him some of the best food he had eaten in his life. His mama was an amazing cook, but he knew he would never eat anything like it again. He was grateful to her for doing that for him, because he knew she could see the sadness lurking within him. After the meal, Percy stood.

"Wanna see my room?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

Nico followed Percy through the winding labyrinth of generic, gray corridors that Nico knew he would get lost in if it were not for Percy. He was surprised Percy was not; after all, he did have a tendency of losing his way.

The two stood in a blank room, connected to another bedroom. It had a white couch, a bed, a dresser, and a desk. A prewar baseball cap sat on his dresser, as well as a teddy bear, a toy car, and a Nuka Cola truck. He owned a couple of books and issues of Grognak the Barbarian comic books, a series he remembered reading when he was about thirteen years old.

He smiled at a picture of him when he was a child, his mom, and a man he had never seen.

"Who's that?"

"That's my dad," Percy said sadly. "About ten years ago, two people escaped. I don't remember much about that time, but the current Overseer was murdered by one of them. Then, some crazy guy became Overseer. The guy that escaped came back and killed him, too. Then, a girl named Amata became Overseer. She helped the Vault open up so more people can move in, or trade for supplies. It also allowed people to leave, if they wished. My dad left."

"I'm pretty sure he loved you, Percy," Nico comforted.

"I know he did," he said. "The Vault was not very safe, with the radroaches and the raider attacks becoming more common. That's what my mom told me. She told me he tried to find somewhere safer for us. Then, he never came back."

"I'm sorry," he said, offering a hug.

Percy accepted. He wrapped his arms around Nico with a smile. "I'm going to miss you, too, you know."

"Yeah, me too."

"We should probably return to the Atrium."

"Good idea. Burke might be back."

Hand-in-hand, they returned upstairs, only to see no other suit of power armor present. They decided to wait around for the two to return.

"I'm really, really going to miss you, Nico."

He nodded against his shoulder. "I know," he said despondently. "I'll miss you, too."

Percy was going to miss wandering around with him, laughing with him. He would miss Nico's reassuring gazes and playful shoulder punches. He would miss waking up and seeing the beautiful lashes, his pink lips parted, and midnight black hair fanned out on the pillow. He would run his fingers through that silky dark hair, knowing that feeling of contentment would be the happiest he would ever be. Being with Nico was the happiest he would ever be. He knew that as he looked at Nico lean his forehead against his collarbone. He felt tempted to lift his chin and place a kiss on those soft lips. But he did not. Nico would never forgive him.

"C'mon, Initiate," said a familiar gruff voice, the last one either one wished to hear at that moment. "We have to go and issue orders for the soldiers that will stand guard. Those flimsy police batons won't do anything against a Supermutant. Say your goodbyes quickly."

Nico nodded. He turned again to Percy, pulling him into a hug. They stood there, content in each other's companies. Percy felt as if they could stand there until the world ended, yet he thought he would never notice, because with Nico around, he was happy.

The two drew away from the hug. Nico looked into those gentle green eyes, the same feeling overpowering his insides. Percy drew closer. He tilted his chin up and closed his eyes, waiting for the pressure on his lips that he thought he would never receive.

"Nico, what are you doing?"

He opened his eyes, only to see a confused countenance.

"Nothing," he answered ashamedly.

Percy nodded, not asking any further. Instead he held Nico to him again.

"You can stay with me, you know," he offered. "You can live with me in the Vault."

Nico shook his head. "I already have a place, with the Brotherhood. I have my place and you have yours. Maybe our paths will cross again someday. Until then, I'll wait for you. I'll miss you."

Percy smiled. "I'll wait for you, too."

Nico revoked his arms back to his sides and gave a despondent, "Goodbye, Percy."

Percy returned his farewell, watching Nico's back as he accompanied the other two armored men. They walked up the stairs and disappeared. Percy's heart sunk into his stomach. He hoped he would see Nico again. He would wait for him, no matter how long it took.

Goodbye, Nico.

Chapter Text

Life in Vault 101 was always the same: effortless work, nice air conditioning, fresh food and water. Percy would eat pancakes made by his mom and head off to work. Afterwards, he would converse with his friends about what it was like outside, or, in Annabeth's case, about the war 210 years ago. Leo would offer to have a crack at his Pip-Boy again. Piper would complain about her job. Jason would attempt to console her, to no avail. Percy would laugh.

Despite it always being the same, it was the life he always knew. He never wanted it to change. He wanted to have kids and raise them with whoever he chose. Who knew his dreams and desires would change in a mere five days?

After the Wasteland trip, he felt incarcerated. It was as if the walls were closing in on him and he could not find a way out. Even his mother's usual ways of comforting him would not help. The work seemed dull, the conversations with his friends redundant. The food was good, and the water was healthy, but those factors could have been easily overlooked. He found himself staring off into space for large amounts of time.

His friends asking him how it was like outside gave him some solidarity in his lifestyle that seemed so different now, although he lived that way his whole life. He never saw how it would impact him if he ever did go outside. He gave brief descriptions of the weather, the large, bright lightbulb in the sky, and some of the creatures. There were so many people and so many places out there; it was not compacted down beneath the earth, isolated from the world.

The first time that escaping crossed his mind was when he was sitting in his bed, wide awake, unable to sleep. He held his teddy bear in his hands, staring at the soulless, black beads it had for eyes. He felt at its brown, rugged fur and its dopey, thread smile sewn on its mouth in the darkness. He felt like that teddy bear: unable to move on its own, unable to be free, forever to be imprisoned in a vault and made to entertain others, despite its unwillingness.

He clenched the stuffed bear in his hands. If only he could leave. If only he could travel to the Citadel again, to see Nico training. To see sweat leaking from his pale skin from his exertions. To see his warm, brown eyes, staring gently into his own. He held the teddy bear to his chest and lied back on his mattress. At least it was comfier than sleeping on the floor in Diamond City. He imagined the stuffed toy was the object of his affections, with his silky hair and entrancing smile. He hugged it tighter at the thought. He did not want to let Nico go in the first place, but there he was, holding a stuffed bear as if it was him, trapped in a cage.

Perhaps he could. He could see Nico again. He could breathe freely again. He could just slip out the front door and find a Brotherhood soldier at Megaton to direct him to the Citadel. He still had the directions on his Pip-Boy. It would be so simple.

However, the thought of never seeing his mom again tightened his chest. His friends, he probably would never see them again, either, and after all the anticipation he built up about being reunited with the ones he loved. If only Nico agreed to stay there with him. But, then again, he would be incarcerating Nico, too. Like he said, "I have my place, and you have yours." What if he was not satisfied with the place he had?

He tossed and turned in his bed before he fell into repose. It did not seem like long until bright lights were flashing him in the eyes, telling him it was time to rise and pursue the day ahead of him. Yet another dreary day, doing the same thing he did yesterday, and the day before. Doing the same thing as he would be doing tomorrow. He changed his jumpsuit and left his room, eyes heavy with exhaustion and his limbs tired.

Was this how he was going to spend the rest of his life? Roving through the empty hallways of the Vault, without a purpose? Eat at the diner, leave a couple of caps and then head off to his meaningless job, doing meaningless work for hours, then returning to the Atrium to talk with his friends, then start the same, repetitive cycle over again?

He smiled at his mom tiredly before making his way to his job. Then, he would sit in the Atrium until it was time to return to his quarters. He flicked a switch that slightly amused the bored nineteen-year-old. He was then lost to his thoughts, which would prefer to be anywhere but there. They escaped to Nico, his hair lightened by the sun, his lips pulled into an amused smile. He imagined pulling him away from the training in session and kissing him, out of anyone else's view. Just his and the other boy's. They would steal a couple of kisses from each other, then slip back into the training grounds as if they never left. What an alluring thought, he mused.

The time passed by slowly, as if an hour lasted an eternity. He kept glancing at the clock, as if that would help it move faster. Eventually, to his relief, his shift ended, and he was free to do as he wished for the time being.

He sat with his friends in the Atrium, who were chattering away about something Percy was not listening to. He stared at the floor and thought of Nico. He thought of the night they shared at Tenpenny Tower, the advice Burke had given him. Was it truly to Nico's benefit that they parted? He could not see how he fared from it, the more he thought about it. Maybe Nico was enjoying their time away?

He remembered their farewells, where Nico hugged him and told him that he would greatly miss him. When Percy said it, he knew it. He felt it right as he sat there. He remembered Nico close his eyes and tilt his chin up, as if expecting something. He thought he was messing around and trying to make him laugh, but he surely was not, as he knew Nico would not keep a straight face. He pondered on it, what Nico was doing and why. Where else would someone close their eyes while being close to someone?

His eyes snapped open in realization. His hands flew up to his face, where he slapped repeatedly. "I am such an idiot!"

His friends overlooked him curiously on his strange behavior.

"Percy, what's wrong?"

"He was trying to kiss me! And I didn't know it. I thought he was just being weird, but no! He was trying to kiss me! And I missed it!"

"Nico? That one boy that you could not stop talking about?"

Percy nodded his head, which was still in his hands.

"He was trying to kiss you? Why?"

Percy shook his head. "He likes me, I guess."

"Do you like him?"

"Yes, I do. I miss him so much. I imagine kissing him sometimes. He's beautiful, sweet, and funny. It would be stupid of me not to like him."

"What are you going to do?"

"I... I need to get out of here."

Chapter Text

"Percy what are you talking about?" Annabeth asked concernedly. "Leave the Vault? It's all you've ever known! You've been out in the Wasteland for five days, and you want to leave?"

"Annabeth, I'm sorry," Percy said. "I know I'm being selfish. It's just so... suffocating in here. I feel as if I can't breathe at times. I love all of you, don't get me wrong. Living here is just not the same anymore. I feel trapped, Annabeth. I can't..."

She hugged him quickly. "It's okay. I don't understand how you feel, but I can learn."

"You've always been good at that," Percy joked.

The blonde girl smiled. "Yeah. Are you sure about this? I mean, there's always space for you if you wish to return, and I don't advise you going outside on your own again, but... If you feel unhappy here, you should chase what makes you happy."

"Ha, Chase," Percy laughed.

"Yeah, I know." She shook her head adoringly.

"Thanks, Annabeth." He pulled away from the hug. "I'll never forget any of you. I should say my goodbyes and leave, then. Nico's waiting for me. He told me he always would be."

She smiled. "I want to meet this Nico someday."

"I'm sorry I didn't get to introduce you," he apologized. "Burke seemed in a hurry to leave."

"Who's that?"

"His Commander."

"Ah."

He gave her one last hug before venturing down to his quarters, where his mom was sitting on the couch, reading a book. He explained the story to her and gave her a hug as she tried not to cry. Her baby boy was leaving for good this time. He promised he would come back and visit her as much as he was allowed. She accepted, but not before she gave him a broken watch.

"It belonged to your father," she told him, placing the cold metal in his hand and closing his fingers around it. "He would've wanted you to have it."

"I don't want to leave you, Mom. It's just..."

"You want to be happy. I can accept that. Maybe I could leave and find a job somewhere out there, too, one day. The Jackson family was never meant to stay in one place. We always were meant to wander."

Percy nodded. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, sweetie."

They embraced once again, a longer one this time. She held his lean figure in her arms and somewhat cradled him. They rocked back and forth as the both of them tried not to cry.

He drew away, departing to his room to gather his essentials: a baseball bat (he smiled at the memory of Nico trying to explain baseball to the swatter guy, and all of them thinking he was crazy), some water, some stimpaks and Radaway from the first-aid kit that hung above his desk, some extra food, and, for old times sake, the teddy bear that sat on his bed. He hugged it before setting it in his bag. Then, with the bag over his shoulder, he was off to say goodbye to the rest of his friends, who he would miss dearly.

✇     ✇     ✇     ✇     ✇

Nico wiped the sweat off his brow with a gloved hand. He raised the gun back up and shot at the target, the rapid fire sending his shoulder back a bit. However, when he looked up at his progress, a slight, pleased smile graced his lips. All but one hit the target. Content with his practice, he decided it was time to return downstairs and take a break.

As he sat on his newly issued bed, his mind returned to Percy. He felt embarrassed that he tried to kiss him when he obviously did not share the same feelings. Why would he? He only knew him for about five days. It did not really matter, anyway. He knew that Percy was going to stay in his vault. He was going to have kids and raise them and forget all about him.

This feeling in his chest would not disappear. It remained since he left Percy in his vault with an empty promise about waiting for him. He knew he would never see him again.

He was not going to try to move on; it was too soon for that. Maybe one day, while on a mission or anything else, he would find an attractive man and they would be happy together. They would kiss and hold each other and stay with each other until their worlds ended. It seemed so far away. He missed Percy, but he was several worlds away from him now. He was in the domestic life of Vault 101 while he pursued Super Mutants in the Wasteland. He missed him, and he told him he'd wait for him, but he knew he would have to let go eventually. The thought was painful to think about.

He took a gulp of water and walked upstairs to the Citadel Courtyard to continue his training. It was the only thing that could keep his mind off of him, anyway.

✇     ✇     ✇     ✇     ✇

He pushed the faded, red door open, the familiar sight of the Wasteland before him. He looked back at the closing Vault door, engraved with a large 101. His home, or what used to be, was now behind him as he continued into the vast wilderness, full of adventures and excitement, and, most importantly, love and friendship. He found his home in someone else, and now, he was going to him.

With the thoughts of his mom and his friends, he trod on the irradiated grass, past the mangled tree that indicated the whereabouts of his vault. He continued down the cracked, faded road and past large stones until a familiar sight was in view. It was faint, but he knew what it was. What used to seem so far away was now in his sights.

The tall, metal gates of Megaton were before him now, as well as a Protectron, serving as both a guard and a form of advertisement. It made cowboy impressions while promoting Moriarty's. He was not sure what Moriarty's was, but he assumed it was a bar.

After he entered the gates, he strode down the debris-covered staircase alongside a long, metal pipe. The first time he had been here seemed like an eternity ago. Everything seemed so long ago.

He eyed the large, undetonated bomb that sat in the pool of water that some preacher was dramatically giving a seminar about how everyone was impure. He just thought he was crazy. He remembered fondly of how Nico tried to protect him from it. God, he missed him. He could not wait until he saw him again.

He turned into the Brass Lantern, the restaurant in which he met the two other men that led him home. Then again, he led himself home when he met the crying boy against the metal walls surrounding that settlement.

As he opened the door, he was met with the sight he wished to see: a man, a little taller than him, dressed fully in power armor. He sat at a table, staring at several clumps of cooked squirrel meat that were speared by a skewer as if it would digest itself by sitting there on the plate.

"Excuse me," he spoke up, approaching the man.

The helmet looked up at him and the man beneath it paused. He lifted his arms to remove the helmet from his head. As he placed the helmet on his lap, a familiar, amused countenance faced the former Vault Dweller.

"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes," the dark-skinned man mused. "Didn't expect to see you out here again. What, did you get lost on your way to the bathroom?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "No, Theo. It's sure nice to see you again. Actually, I wanted a favor."

"Lay it on me, Princess."

"I need directions to the Citadel. Then again, as you know, I'm terrible with directions, so I might need you to escort me."

"And in return?"

"I won't tell Burke that you sing 'Crazy He Calls Me' by Billie Holiday in the shower when you're by yourself."

"Damn, you caught me. Well, looks like we're going. And, if you don't mind, I'll lead the way this time."

Percy laughed. "Sounds good."

Chapter Text

Nico di Angelo sat up from the hard ground, rubbing his sore back and wiped the exhaustion from his eyes. As it was cold the night before, he did not sleep as well as he did with Percy at his side. He shook his head. When was he going to accept the fact that Percy wasn't there anymore and he needed to get used to life without him?

It may have been a mere five days, but it seemed like weeks, and he felt more attached to Percy than he had to others that he encountered throughout his life. Perhaps the feelings he thought he had were just that Percy was one of the first attractive boys that paid him mind. But if that were the case, wouldn't he be accustomed to his absence by now? Emotions were confusing, he thought as he stretched and stood, prepared for the long day of training ahead of him.

Apparently, it was rare for a new recruit such as himself to go on a mission that high in caliber. They were sent to D.C., near the radio station and the Washington Monument frequently, but never really around settlements, such as Rivet City and Tenpenny Tower. He considered himself lucky to have the opportunity, but he wished that he could have seen them before the war. Well, if the war never happened, he never would have met Percy. He probably would have been married and then died from something usual, like old age or a sickness. He would have been dead by now, and he was grateful to be able to live.

He began his day with running laps around the Citadel. It was just training that day, and in about a week, he would be stationed in D.C. He hoped he would live for a few days after the fact.

He loved training. It took his mind off the injustices of the world for awhile until he was alone again, and, at the moment, that was just what he needed until he could get over Percy. As he ran, he noted the checkpoints he became acquainted with throughout his short time as a soldier. He thought of his progress. He thought of how strong he would become. Super Mutants were terrifying with their haughty voices and their large stature, and he wanted to be strong enough to be able to kill them effectively. He wouldn't be doing his job if he couldn't.

He finished up his cardio session and moved onto accuracy with his shooting. It was fun, he thought, when more and more of the bullets hit the target each day. But, other than his concentration, his mind would ask questions. Trifling questions, but they made him wonder.

The most reoccurring one was why Burke had a Pip-Boy. Only Vault Dwellers received them. He never put much thought to where the other soldiers came from, or the reason they came to fight. He never bothered to ask, either, in fear of intrusion of privacy, but Burke's reason? It seemed appealing to him, he supposed. Could he have been a Vault Dweller at some point? It would be understandable, as he held such compassion toward Percy, but why did he leave the comforts of a vault to a place like this, he wondered. Perhaps he was forced to leave, or something terrible happened, alike him.

He sighed, shoving his thoughts aside. If he deemed them necessary for his knowledge, he would have told him. It was a trivial subject, and he should have forgotten about it. Some things were not meant for him to know, he thought.

After a long walk in silence, Theo thought it a good idea to tune into the radio.

"You can listen to the radio on those things, right?" Theo had asked.

"Yeah," Percy shrugged.

Now, they were singing loudly and terribly their own rendition of "A Wonderful Guy," sung by an unknown woman. They didn't care if they caught some creatures' attentions; it was simply a way to pass the time walking tireless miles to the Citadel.

Percy thought of what Nico's reaction would be once he got there. He probably would criticize him, since he spent all that time complaining how homesick he was and how much he missed his family, but he didn't care. He just wanted to see Nico again. He wanted to hold him and laugh with him and kiss him, make him the happiest he'd ever been. He'd endured so much pain, and Percy wanted to alleviate his burdens from his shoulders.

"What's with that dreamy look, Princess?"

"Hm?"

"You're looking all dreamlike, like you're thinking of a girl."

"Well, sort of."

"Some vault lady?"

"No."

"Ah, is she from our ranks?"

"Well, kind of."

"Yeah? What's her name?"

Percy scratched the back of his head. "Nico."

He was quiet for a second before speaking up. "...Nico? Like, our new Nico? The one we'd..."

Percy nodded.

"Wow, I should've known. You two were thick as thieves, in hindsight."

"Yep."

"So, did you kiss him yet?"

"No."

"What? You left your vault for him, I assume, and you haven't even been to first base yet?"

Percy shook his head.

"Well, you gotta then. Make the biggest spectacle this world has ever seen."

"How?"

"Well, you'd walk in. He'd be all surprised-like, and you'd be like: 'I left my vault for you...' blah, blah, blah. Boom, romance! Then you kiss him, right then and there."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "That just sounds embarrassing."

"Well, who said love wasn't? Burke is going to tease you for the rest of eternity, call you Lover-Boy, or Casanova, or something like that, but it's not too bad. Besides, you've already got your lovely nickname from me, Princess."

"Don't you call Nico that, too?"

He pursed his lips in a thoughtful look. "Yeah, I guess I do. Well, he can be Princess, you can be... Um..."

Percy wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"Ah! I got it! Hotcakes!"

"Now it feels like you're flirting with me."

"No, no, that's Nico's job from now on." He winked at him.

Percy rolled his eyes and continued to follow him until he noticed a flash of yellow in the distance.

"Hey, is that..."

Theo perked up to his voice, looking over at the large, yellow man charging at them.

"Time to die!" shouted the Super Mutant.

"Here!" Theo threw Percy a gun and ammo. "Use these to ward him off."

"Can't we just run?"

Theo didn't answer, instead he shot at the dangerous creature. Percy followed suit.

"Wait, take cover!" Theo said, dragging Percy to the ground behind the scrap metal from a detonated old car.

"What?"

"There's more of them. And one has a mini gun."

He took his laser rifle, reloading it with energy pods, and continuing to shoot at the threats.

One emerged from the side of the car, wielding a long, wooden plank with a lone nail lodged in it. "I love a good fight!" he exclaimed.

Percy swiftly dodged a blow from the mutant's strong arm, instead shooting at his head. Three of its bullets found themselves lodged in its bloody face, a fourth disintegrating it before his eyes. Shocked, he drew back from the pile of ashes, only to find more ammo and some food. He pocketed the food and continued to help Theo and his efforts.

Before long, the horde of super mutants were now bodies lying dead around them. They searched them for supplies, then carried on to the short walk to the Citadel, which was now visible.

"Y'know what, Hotcakes?" Theo began, sweat glistening on his ebony skin. "If I knew you were so good with a gun before, we would have asked you to join on the spot. Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

"Well, my dad took me shooting down in the vault. It was just a BB gun, but..."

"But it still taught you how to handle a gun. Wow. We could really use someone like you. We should've asked earlier."

"Yeah, you should've."

"Why'd you leave, other than your lover boy at home, huh?"

"Well," he began, "it's boring down there. Repetitive. We do the same things over and over, but for what? It seemed my life didn't have a purpose down there, not now. I've been exposed to this lifestyle, to more important things I could be doing, and... I just want to fight back."

Theo nodded. "Just reasons."

"Basically."

Theo chuckled. "Well, we all have reasons, I suppose."

The Citadel stood before them shorter than either of them anticipated, but they were relieved. They already had run into nasty opponents, and they did not wish to encounter them again. They were quickly let into the premises.

Once he entered the courtyard, he saw Nico: strong, brave, and deadly, now that he could see it. His shooting was getting better.

He watched Nico for a moment, as if he was living a dream. He could wake up in his vault any second now, lights blinding him and preparing him for the day ahead. But, this time, it was real. He wasn't dreaming of seeing him again. This time, he was tangible. He could walk up to him and hold him, if he liked. He wanted it to be real, and it was.

Nico felt the sensation he was being watched, so he turned his head, only to see the familiar blue suit and messy, raven hair that lived in his subconscious. He nearly dropped his gun in shock. His form straightened, and he stood there, speechless, as he watched Percy stroll over to him.

"Percy?" he asked, incredulity lining his tone.

He smiled. "Yeah."

"What— What are you doing here?"

He stopped when he stood in front of the object of his affections, looking him in the eye with a playful, but meaningful gaze.

"I missed you."

"You should be at home, Percy. I told you, you have your place, and..."

"And I have mine, I know. But, I know now where my place is supposed to be."

"At home, Percy. It's too dangerous out here."

"I don't care about that. My place in this world is with you, Nico. I don't want to wait for you anymore. I'm tired of waiting."

"Percy, what are you talking about?"

"I thought I was being straightforward, Nico," Percy told him. "I want to be with you. My life is boring without you. How am I supposed to be your guardian angel when I'm not with you?"

Nico blushed slightly. "Well, you should..."

"I should, I should... No. I want to be with you, Nico. There's no place I'd rather be but at your side. I... I love you, Nico."

Nico's eyes widened with surprise at Percy's words. "Percy, I..."

"And I'm an idiot for not realizing that you wanted to kiss me when we said goodbye."

Nico's blush intensified. "I... That was..."

"I love you. I love everything about you. I've come all the way out here. Can you at least humor me?"

Nico froze. "Well, I... I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything," Percy said. "But I believe I owe you an apology."

"An apology? For what?"

"For being blind. For not telling you that I love you earlier. If I did, we would have been together all this time. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for something like that," Nico told him.

"Well, then I can recompense you in some other way?" he asked, suggestively, sending heat into Nico's cheeks.

"What did you have in mind?"

He wrapped his arms around Nico's waist and held him closer. "Like this."

He pressed his lips to Nico's, pouring as much emotion into the kiss that he could. How much he missed him, how much he depended on him. How much he hung off his every word like it was a new religion.

Nico smiled against his lips, cupping his cheeks in the palms of his hands. He didn't care how dirty they were, nor did he pay any mind to the whistles and catcalls from the soldiers that observed their exchange.

Percy pulled away, breathless, giving him a playful smile. "I believe that sufficed."

Nico shook out of his daze, searching for a response. He was not good with words, but it was harder to search for words after something so unexpected happened. Of course, he enjoyed every second of it.

"Well, well, I never expected to see you again," came a familiar voice.

"Burke," Percy acknowledged, releasing the flustered Nico from his hold.

"I heard from Knight Provowsky that you were searching for a role in our ranks."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, approval from Elder Maxson was granted, so welcome aboard, Initiate Jackson."

He offered his hand, which Percy accepted.

"Good to serve under you, sir."

Chapter Text

Percy awoke with a start when Nico nudged him. He looked down at the angel in his arms, pressing a kiss to his hair.

"'Morning," he murmured tiredly.

"Time to get up," Nico said, pushing his arms aside and standing. "We need to start running."

He looked up at him. "Running?"

"Yeah. Running. Let's go."

Percy sighed, reluctantly standing up. "Don't we at least eat breakfast first?"

"Running first, breakfast later," Nico told him.

The Paladin Knights stood outside, watching the Initiates run, enjoying their pain so early in the morning. Nico seemed to be wide awake, but Percy's eyes were still bleary and his mind foggy from sleep, or lack thereof.

They spent all morning doing strenuous, torturous workouts that left Percy numb in most places, then they practiced shooting all afternoon, taking small breaks to eat and go to the bathroom.

"How's your first day of training, Lover Boy?" Burke asked him during dinner, with all the Brothers and Sisters congregated in the dining hall.

Percy smiled slightly. "I'm kinda sore."

Nico looked over at him with humorous sympathy. "Oh, it'll be worse in the morning. Trust me."

Percy didn't want to relate to what he said.

Nico stood before the place that plagued his nightmares since he crawled out of it, bare and vulnerable, not knowing what the world had to offer. It took a long time before he confronted Elder Maxson about coming here, all the way back to the Commonwealth. It took equally as long to recover from Burke's valiant death in battle, but the party was here now, and Nico felt sick to his stomach.

The houses in the suburb looked smaller than Nico remembered, but they were nothing but crumbling rubble, now. His own house still was one of the few left intact, grime smearing the shattered windows and the blue paint chipping off its exterior.

"This is where... This was my home." Nico drew in a sharp breath.

They ventured up the hill that loomed over what used to be Sanctuary Hills, guarded by the tall, twisted fences, warped from the radiation.

Black spots began to invade the edges of his vision once he faced the platform, and painful memories flooded his mind. His breaths grew erratic.

He didn't want to wander down the threatening, suffocating hallways. He didn't want to enter through the heavy Vault door. He didn't want to imagine what Bianca must've looked like, her corpse rotting and festering, surrounded by the other frozen bodies, dead as they possibly could be.

He fought back tears, and Percy held his hand.

"You're brave, you know," he told him. "You're so brave."

Nico shook his head. "I don't think I can..."

Percy kissed his forehead. "Don't worry. We'll make sure they're properly taken care of."

"Do you want to wait out here, Sentinel di Angelo?" asked a man, his voice muffled by his helmet.

He shook his head. "No. I... I want to be there for them."

If he was pushing his bounds, he didn't care. He wanted his family to be put to rest, the proper way.

The platform shook before it lowered them down into the darkness.

Nico felt his heart pound in his chest. His throat felt dry. It was like it was happening over again. Everyone is dead. Everyone is dead. Welcome to your new home.

Nico shook his head violently and reached for Percy's hand in the darkness. Percy raveled his fingers with his.

"It's going to be all right, Nico."

His placating voice calmed him down, if only slightly.

The platform hit the bottom with a lurch. Nico felt queasy, but he never released Percy's hand.

It felt like the hallway was closing in on him, the bright yellow lines running along the hallways leading to the sickening fate that lied before them.

One team took the room to the right, and the other to the room ahead. He didn't want to see Bianca. Her cold, dead eyes and decomposing skin. The smell. He felt unwelcome tears pool in his eyes.

He felt warm bile rise up his throat, and he vomited on the floor.

"Nico. Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay."

Percy's voice was muffled behind the heartbeat pounding loudly in his ears. His vision was swimming.

"Hey, someone get him out of here," Percy ordered, but Nico shook his head.

"No. No. I don't want... I want to stay."

Every instinct told Percy to get him out. He would be pissed off at him, but he would be less traumatized than he would be seeing his family, frozen and lifeless as the soldiers carted them out.

But he didn't. He let him stay. He didn't know why. He felt stupid for doing so. They were Nico's wishes. He wanted to see his family one more time.

Fortunately, the second team couldn't smell Bianca's corpse through their masks. Two men covered her up with cloth and placed her on a stretcher to carry her above ground.

The telltale sounds of hissing apprised the two of them that the others were being removed from the chambers.

Nico sat with Percy on the floor, leaning against a wall. His breathing was loud beneath his helmet, but he hoped it wasn't noticeable. Everyone was already worried about him. If he showed any other signs of trauma, he knew Percy would have him removed from the situation to protect his wellbeing. He didn't want that.

Soon, there was the sound of quick heavy clomping of footsteps approaching them.

"Commander, Sentinel..."

Both their heads perked up.

"There's another survivor."

Nico stood quickly. "Who?"

"We don't know..."

Nico pushed past him and barreled down the hallway to the chamber room. The door opened for him and he ran to the man trying to regain the strength to stand. Percy was not too far behind him.

"Who the hell are you?" his gruff voice demanded. "What the fuck do you want with me?"

"Sir, it's all right," said a soldier, who held the man's arm to help stabilize him. "We are rescuing you."

"From what?" He looked up at Nico, who had paused in surprise.

Nico removed the helmet from his head, tears streaming down his face.

"Dad..."

"Nico? What..."

The twenty-year-old wasted no time in dropping his helmet on the floor with a resounding clatter and bolting over to his father, nearly knocking him over. He sobbed violently in his father's chest, wrapping his arms tightly around his thawing body.

"Dad, I was so scared."

"You're... older. What's going on?"

"It's been 200 years. The world, it's... terrible."

As his father tried to wrap his head around things, the soldiers retrieved a blanket to wrap around him. Nico caught him up in all the details. Bianca, the town, Percy, the Brotherhood, Reyna, and their wild goose chase around the Wasteland.

"Can I see her?" Hades asked. The soldiers begrudgingly agreed.

Several more survivors were pulled out of the cryogenic chambers that day. Most of them were unwilling to leave, so they created a settlement in Sanctuary Hills.

Along with Nico, Hades left his previous life behind—his wife, daughter, and the people he once knew were now buried and put properly to rest.

However, despite the state of the world, there were three things that he couldn't get his head wrapped around. First of all, his son was now twenty and had a boyfriend. He wasn't a bad guy, but he still wished, as his father, that he was the one that had been around for Nico and all his suffering. To support him and to listen to him in the harsh world. He felt like he missed the four biggest years of his life.

Second of all, no one knew about the concept of baseball.

Lastly, Nico was part of some makeshift military group with his boyfriend, and they went on dangerous missions. He strongly expressed his disapproval, but he was too old to supervise him. His current state wouldn't be able to put up with the military anymore. Additionally, being frozen for 200 years gave him some killer arthritis.

Hades now lived in Megaton, in a makeshift house that used to belong to some man named Paladin Commander Burke. Nico and his boyfriend visited often, especially on holidays. He liked the guy. He just wished Nico had found someone who he could talk sports with. This Percy guy didn't know shit about baseball, but he treated Nico like he was a rare, precious jewel. Nico was happy when he was with him. By the stories Nico and others told about him, he wasn't a manipulative bastard that just wanted to get into Nico's pants. However, he had one rule: no funny business under his roof.

Nico laid in bed, Percy's arm holding him to his warm, solid chest. Four years of being in the Brotherhood suited Percy more than Nico could ever know. His arms were strong, there was an undeniable presence of abs, the sex was great. The list continued on and on.

It had obviously taken a toll on the both of them, however.

"Hey, Perce," Nico spoke.

"Hmm?" he answered sleepily.

"Do you ever think we could...settle down somewhere?"

"Like where?"

"I dunno. Somewhere. You know, not worry about fighting or dying. We can settle down and maybe start a family."

Percy smiled. "I heard the house next to your dad's was available."

Nico laughed. "Oh, God, we'd never get a chance to have sex ever again. He's relentless."

Percy laughed along with him. "You're right. But I'm sure he wants grandkids."

"I'm pretty sure he won't get one that way," Nico flicked his forehead lovingly before liberating himself from Percy's constricting hold.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Percy asked, pulling Nico down next to him.

Nico shook his head adoringly. “Nowhere, apparently.”

Percy smiled, nuzzling into Nico’s bare shoulder and pressing a kiss to his skin. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

He grew comfortable next to him. It felt like it was four years ago in the hotel, crying in Percy’s hold as he consoled him. He never changed. Percy had always been his guardian angel.

As he looked into his soft green eyes, he realized all those years ago, Percy had been right. Things had to get worse before they could get better. In Nico’s case he had to experience the worst possible scenario to be able to find the best thing to ever happen to him. Percy was there for him through thick and thin. Through pain and triumph. He loved him just the same.