Addicted

You Found Me

Elder Arthur Maxson awake shortly after dawn, the pink-orange light of the sunrise leaking into the windows of his quarters, as it did every morning. He followed the same routine day-in and day-out. He rolled out of bed and performed some quick stretches, limbering himself for the day ahead before heading across his room to check his terminal. As he sat in his office chair he read through the messages from the Citadel that had come in during his slumber. After sending off a few response he stood and got dressed for the day, trading his grey sweatpants in for his black flight suit and his brown battle coat before returning to the Terminal to continue some work.

Breakfast was brought at the same day daily, about an hour after he woke-up. A light rap came at the door and he snapped his head up to meet the eyes of a small Squire poking his head in, carrying in his hands a tray of breakfast from the mess hall aboard the Prydwen. Arthur waved the pre-teen in. The scampy boy quickly placed the tray on the table, gave the Elder a curt salute and mumbled 'Ad Victorium' before he vanished out the door to continue his duties.

This morning was like every other morning on the Prydwen, every morning for the past month or so. Every morning since the fall of the Institute. Once the task had been completed Arthur had expected to be called back to the Citadel immediately. However, the Elders had different ideas. After the Institute was taken care of many rogue synths wandered the seemingly endless wasteland that was the Commonwealth. This meant that the people still needed protection, which was part of the reason Arthur and the Brotherhood had been sent to the Commonwealth to begin with. The Eastern Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel was extending their stay until most, hopefully all, rogue synths were properly dealt with. There was also interest in establishing a permanent Eastern Chapter when the Prydwen returned to the Capital Wasteland.

The Commonwealth was mostly unchanged after the Institute was destroyed, except maybe a bit more harmony existed between the remaining factions: the Brotherhood and the Minutemen. The Railroad had seemed to cease existence after their leader, Desdemona, had been killed. Arthur shook his head at the memory, moving his thoughts elsewhere. There was no time to dwell on past quarrels and foes when there was so much to deal with in the present.

The Minutemen had proved to be useful allies and they continued to work with them in keeping the wastelands safer for the citizens of the Commonwealth. Colonel Garvey kept in touch regularly via terminal messages and short relays or holotapes passed between soldiers. Garvey had mostly taken over the role of General. Surprisingly, no one actually knew where the General had gone. Shortly after orchestrating the demise of the Institute the General's visits and communications became less and less frequent, less and less detailed, less and less like the General. At some point Garvey had taken over and communications had resumed to normal between the two factions. Arthur didn't think much of it, the General was likely taking a break to recuperate from taking down the Commonwealth's biggest enemy, as was deserved.

Arthur made his way to the flight deck, looking out over the horizon and down at the Airport. He could make out bodies bustling around as another day of protecting the people began. Off in the distance he could see the outline of a Vertibird returning to the Prydwen, the sound of its blades joining in shortly after it came into sight. Likely Recon Squad Upsilon, he thought to himself. He turned from the window and returned to his quarters, knowing that before too long the Paladin in charge of Upsilon would be coming to him with news of their quest. Regularly, Recon Squads were sent out to check, or in some cases re-secure, areas that the Brotherhood and Minutemen frequented. Trade routes between settlements were kept clear as they were of importance in keeping good alliances. All the updates usually consisted of current statuses of settlers and resources, any unwanted inhabitants encountered and how they were dealt with, and if any synths had been extracted.

Like clockwork, Arthur heard the banging and hissing of Power Armour against the walkway to his office. Just as he was readying himself to notify the Paladin to enter, she barged in, out of breath and slightly pale. Quickly she saluted the Elder.

"Sorry to interrupt Elder, I wouldn't do so unless the situation was urgent."
"So, I assume there is an urgent situation." Arthur responded blatantly in his gravelly voice. The Paladin nodded her head quickly.
"I need you in the medical bay, immediately." she spoke quickly before turning on her heel and out the door just assuming Arthur was close behind.

Arthur threw himself out of his seat and followed behind the Paladin. He assumed one of his soldiers must be horribly injured for a Paladin to seek his help so readily.

Upon entering the medical bay he saw Knight-Captain Cade and the remainder of Upsilon crowded around one of the beds. Accounting for all the members of Upsilon in front of him, Arthur became very confused about the urgency of this situation. If one of his soldiers was not hurt in battle, why was he called upon in such earnest?

Just then, Cade turned and made eye contact with Arthur, rushing over to him.

"Elder, I'm sorry to call upon you so suddenly, but I wanted to notify you immediately of the situation at hand." The doctor said quickly and partially out of breath, voice shaking slightly.

Arthur raised his hands and looked Cade in the eyes "Please Cade, calm down. Now, update me on what's going on." Arthur spoke in a cool, even tone, hoping to calm the man down.

After a couple deep breaths Cade turned back towards the bed while speaking to Arthur.

"It appears that she may be in some sort of coma, though we aren't quite sure. It could be due to the injuries she has sustained or something else entirely. Upsilon notes that she was unconscious when they found her, but she continues breathing and her heart is still beating, thought not at optimal levels. We hope to keep her under until we find out what has happened and how to treat her."

Still confused Arthur raised an eyebrow at Cade.

"I'm sorry, maybe I missed this, but who is "she"?" Arthur pointed to the bed where Upsilon was still gathered, looking on. He had yet to see who was on the bed and why this was any of his concern. Cade nodded his head slowly and waved Arthur over toward the bed.

As they got closer to the bed, the team moved away slowly, making way for the Elder and Cade. Once Arthur could see the body on the bed he stopped fully in his tracks.

On the bed laid the form of a woman, so small, so thin. Her skin appeared almost translucent in the overhead lighting. This woman was simply a shell of what she used to be, but he recognized the auburn hair anywhere. Her faced was splashed with light freckles that had dimmed in colour, hinting that she may have been out of sunlight for quite some time.

Arthur was almost surprised that the Recon Squad had been able to identify her, but then he realized the one distinguishing feature of the woman. Anyone who had met this woman would know her from this one feature. Without it, he was sure Upsilon would have walked by her, thinking she was just another dying settler in the wastes.

That one identifying feature, the thing that gave away to the woman's identity, was the bright blue Vault suit that she adorned no matter where she went, with the gold stitched number of '111' on the back. The Sole Survivor. The General of the Minutemen.

A/N: I have had this fic written in my notes on my phone for over a year. Last night I decided to give it a read over and I was honestly shocked at how much I liked it? So, here it is for your viewing pleasure!