Addicted

The Great Escape

Lila sat with her elbows balanced firmly on her knees as she watched Arthur pace back and forth in front of her. She held her jaw in her hands as she grinded her teeth, seething in tiny bouts of anger that were balanced with flashes of fear. They were back in his quarters following the meeting with Lancer-Captain Kells and she could not stop repeating the rest of the conversation in her head.

"I'm sorry...excuse me? I'm not some breeding mare that you can purchase at a farm sale!" her voice rose in anger as she moved closer to Kells.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice. What else did you plan on doing? You should feel honoured to have the High Elders even suggest a thing." Kells responded with surety, standing his ground. Lila wanted to smack the snide little grin off his face.

"I believe Paladin Smith can make her own decision in the matter," Arthur began before Kells cut him off with a hand raised.

"Elder Maxson, you knew this was coming at some point. You have showed no initiative in finding a wife, so the High Elder's took it into their own hands."

Lila threw her arms down by her hips. "And what if I say no?"

"I wouldn't suggest saying no. There are two ways it could go. One being they force you to leave the Brotherhood. The other, they just force you to do it. And the latter is looking more and more appealing to them, as they have already convinced many people that this would be the case."

Arthur snapped her back into reality by grabbing her hand and making her look at him.

"Lila, you do not have to do this. We can find a way to get you out of this. I don't want you to do anything forcefully. If there is even a sliver of you that doesn't want to do this then you don't have to."

Her eyes borrowed into his, a deep conflict going on in her mind. She hated being controlled and having no control. She knew that would be her life if she gave into the High Elder's request. She would be with Arthur but not in the way she had wanted. She would sit idly by, being the doting wife, being the ever-loving mother. A repeat of her Pre-War life. She would hang off his arms, possibly happy, but beaten to be the ideal wife, again. She thought she had just said goodbye to that lifestyle when she left Sanctuary, yet here it was again.

At the same time, she had grown to love Arthur again. He had become attentive, caring. She hadn't the faintest clue where their relationship would go, but she was okay learning and growing and moving forward with him by her side. She just didn't want to give herself up to do it.

"Arthur...I know the last time I said this things didn't end well. But I have to say it to give myself a clear head." Arthur gave a slow nod in response. A smile, small but still a smile, broke on her lips as she felt her eyes sting. "I love you. I fear I never stopped. Things got in the way and I did horrible things to myself, but I don't think I stopped loving you. I would want nothing more than to have that fairy-tale, walk into the sunset, cliché happy ending with you. To grow with you and move forward with you, in any way possible." Her voice cracked at the end, knowing she had to serve up the other half of that statement. "But I can't go back to being someone's pet, to being the obedient wife while I watch my husband change and become someone I don't know. I won't lose myself again."

Arthur listened carefully as she spoke. His heart had swelled in the beginning and by the end was slowly breaking.

"Lila, I can't lie to you." He stopped himself for a second, debating whether the words should leave his lips. He couldn't remember the last time he said them, but he knew that he felt them. "I love you," his voice was sure and strong as he said them. Her smile came back and a soft, satisfying sigh left her lips as she heard him say those words. He continued on. "And I would want nothing more than to move forward with you by my side. But I could never ask you to live a repeat of your old life. I couldn't stand by you and know I am the cause for sadness in your life. And that's why I don't want you to say yes to this offer. I want to help you get away from this."

"You want me to leave?" she asked softly as she looked up into his eyes as he was crouched down in front of her. He cupped her cheek with his large hand, stroking at her cheekbone.

"I don't want you to leave, no. But I have a feeling if you do stay we will be bothered and chased mercilessly. You'll likely be forced into submission and I don't want that for you. That's why I want to get you away from here, so you have a chance to at least live a life of your own accord and not of someone else's wishes."

She nodded her head, letting herself come to terms with the fact that if she was going to say no to this proposal from the High Elders then there was no way she could stay in the Commonwealth area.

"I think I have an idea of where to go and who can help, you may not like it but they're my best bet of getting out of here safely."

While the sun was still up the two of them worked quietly together to make a plan of escape. They made contact with everyone necessary via radio transmissions through the surrounding settlements. With the plan started, all they could do was wait for night to fall so they could leave the Prydwen. Lila had offered to go alone, but Arthur demanded to come with her to ensure her safety as much as possible before they parted ways.

Midnight came and the crew onboard mostly laid in rest while those on duty stood idly around. The likelihood that the usual knights and initiates standing guard had heard the intended plan for Lila was small, allowing escape to be a bit easier. Sure enough, Arthur easily forced those guards to look the other way as he made his way to a VertiBird with Lila. He hadn't flown one in a while but he felt confident enough in his ability to get them to where they needed to go. Once they were gone, time would be of the essence. They would only have the time that the higher staff were sleeping, plus an hour or two, to ensure Lila was well on her way to escape.

The VertiBird touched down just north of Swan Pond. Arthur and Lila quickly left the scene, not wanting to wake Swan and wanting to get where they were going quickly. Being more familiar with the area Lila led the way east and slightly north. They dodged down quiet streets, avoiding any distractions in their path. Most of the Commonwealth still rested at night, excusing the few creatures who didn't obey a normal time schedule and those standing guard outside clusters of Raiders and other groups.

Soon enough the neon sign came into view and Lila heaved a sigh of happy relief. It had been a while since she had been to one of her favourite spots in the Commonwealth. The Goodneighbour sign flickered in the pitch-black early morning hours. Glancing at her Pip Boy Lila registered that it was just after 1am. She threw the light blue door open and made her way through the main square. Sure enough, outside the Old State House were two of her favourite people in the Commonwealth. Arthur, in turn, saw two things that weren't exactly human. A ghoulified man wearing a bright red coat, a tricorn hat, and the ole red, white, and blue tied around his waist. He didn't even need him to open his mouth to know his voice was rough and crackling. The other person, he still didn't consider a person. A broken, older model synth with glowing yellow, piercing eyes. A fedora perched perfectly on his head, giving an air of mystery to him while his voice lilted with a twang of a time gone past. As much as he may not consider them human, he knew that the two of them were Lila's only chance of escape.