The Vault Child (A Fallout 4 fan fiction)

Unlikely Valentine: Part 2

The station was not nearly as ruined as I expected it to be. Then again, I wasn't sure what to expect from a two hundred year old subway station. Whether it would be collapsed or sturdy or somewhere in between, I couldn't say until we entered.

The escalators were frozen and the only source of light in the entranceway was a lantern at the lower level. As we went down the steps, I heard voices in the next room.

"I'm telling' ya, joinin' Skinny Malone's crew was the best decision we've ever made. Look at this place!" One voice said. It was man's voice, so raspy it reminded me of Beatriz. Maybe it was another ghoul.

"I still say Malone is weak." That voice also belonged to a man, but was definitely human. "We caught that detective snoopin' around and what does he do? Locks him up! Like he ain't got the balls to just kill him."

I let out a soft breath of relief. Nick Valentine was alive after all.

Piper and I reached the bottom and pressed ourselves against the walls, out of sight. Piper peeked around the doorway for a second, then pulled herself back. She pointed at the room, held up her hand with all her fingers spread out and mouthed 'Five men.' I readied the laser rifle. 

"Well, don't let his new girl... Hm?"

"What?"

"... Thought I heard somethin'."

I held up three fingers and counted down. Three, two, one. We leaned around the corner, and began firing. I was able to down two men and Piper downed the other three. Two other men jumped out from a room off to the left and open fired.

Something hit the side of my midriff and I thought it was a chunk of the wall flying off from the gunfire. 

Piper was able to get both of them and the room was quiet at last. Piper entered the room and looked around.

I was about to follow her, but when I moved, I felt stinging on my right side, and as the seconds went by, it rose to a throbbing burn. I grunted and put my hand to my side. When I drew it away, my palm was wet with blood. 

It looked like a bullet had torn through both my coat and Vault suit and left a gash in my side. Based on how long the gash was, it seemed the bullet had only grazed me in it's trajectory and was probably embedded in the escalators behind us. I was lucky, but the gash still hurt.

"Piper," I said as I set my bag down. "Hold- rgh!- Hold up a minute." 

"What's-" Piper gasped. "Blue, are you okay?!" She knelt at my side as I dug through my bag.

"Just a scratch. I think I- agh!... Here we go." I pulled a stimpak out and handed it to Piper. "Do you mind? I hate needles."

"Sure thing!"

I looked away and closed my eyes. Piper's fingers slid under the tear in my Vault suit and she squeezed my split skin together. I felt the jab of the needle and the burn of the antibiotics being injected, and as quick as it started, it was over. The needle was out and Piper pulled her fingers away.

"That'll leave a scar, but it's looking better already."

The burning faded into a dull, throbbing pain. I looked down and saw that the skin Piper had pinched together was staying close and it looked like a cut. Before my eyes, the blood flow slowed to a trickle as it began to clot, sped along by the medicine. 

"Thank you, Piper."

"No problem." She replied with a kind smile. She tossed the stimpak away into a dark hall, where I heard it clatter, dusted off her hands and picked up her pistol.