Stolen Moments

James groaned as the tranquility lounger opened, every muscle in his body aching as he tried to sit up. Slowly, he swung his legs over the side of the lounger and slid from it until his feet touched the floor. He still could not believe that his daughter, Anita, was here. He was grateful to her, knowing that he would have been a prisoner of Dr. Braun's for the rest of his life if his daughter had not activated the fail safe. He could hear another lounger opening several meters away from him. He listened as it's occupant hopped out with a vigor he wished he possessed after... How long had he spent in Dr. Braun's simulation? Weeks? Months? However long it had been, it was enough time for Anita to get out of Vault 101 and track him down.

But why had she left in the first place?

As soon as James felt that his legs could support him, he followed the shuffling he heard. His daughter was mostly concealed by the dim lighting as she stripped out of the Vault 112 jumpsuit and into a pair of pants and jacket that looked made from Brahman hide. Her boots looked well worn and the toe of one was covered in dried blood. James could only imagine the hardships she had to endure in her quest to find him. "Anita?" She stiffened and turned her head to look at him sidelong as she shouldered her jacket on. Most of her was still hidden in shadow, but he could make out her auburn hair that reminded him so much of her mother. It had grown by several inches since last he had seen her.

"What are you doing here?"

James suddenly found himself flat on the cold floor, pain blooming from his jaw. Had she just hit him? His mind reeled as he looked up at his daughter. Anita may have been only a young girl when he had left her in Vault 101, but now she was someone else entirely. The innocent look in her eyes was gone, replaced by a weariness and rage he never thought he would see on his daughter. She stood over him, gloved fists clenched. The Wasteland had definitely not been kind to her. "You bastard!" She was seething, speaking through clenched teeth. "That was for Jonas."

"Jonas?" James stood up, hand massaging his jaw. "What happened to Jonas?"

Anita scoffed and shook her head. "You were there for 19 years, and it never occurred to you that the Overseer was unstable?"

The question took James by surprise. Of course, the Overseer had his quirks, but... "After you left, he went crazy." Anita dug in a pack at her feet and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Had his enforcers 'interrogate' Jonas. When he wouldn't tell him where you went, they beat him to death." She put one of the cigarettes to her lips and lit it with a match. "Then, he went after me."

James felt his knees go out from under him. He had never meant for anyone to get hurt. He sat on the dias for one of the now dormant loungers.

"If Amata hadn't helped me escape, I'd be dead too." Anita was staring at her father. "So," Anita flicked the ashes from the tip of her cigarette before taking another long drag. "was it worth it?"

James rubbed the side of his face, scratching the full beard that had grown there. Had all this been worth it? He had spent so long inside Braun's simulation and he was still no where near to finding the answers he was looking for. He almost wished he had never hacked the Overseer's computers and read about the G.E.C.K. It had caused him nothing but heartache and so many other's their lives. "I don't know." It took everything he had to admit that much to himself.

Anita shook her head as she shouldered her pack and ground the cigarette out with her boot. "Thought so." She stood there, watching her father as he rubbed his face with his hands. "You gonna just sit there and feel sorry for yourself," James looked up as Anita planted a fist on her hip, fixing him with an annoyed glare. "or are you gonna find your balls and figure out your next move?" She shook her head at her father's indecision as she turned to leave. "Fuckin' pussy."

James sighed and followed her out of the Vault and up to the surface. Anita was securing her pack to the back of a motorcycle. The way she checked her weapons before loading them and sliding them into their various holsters reminded him of the routines of the Brotherhood as they packed up before leaving an area. James fiddled with his Pip-Boy until he found GNR. The silence was getting a bit much for him.

"People of the Capitol Wasteland!" James nearly jumped out of his skin at the volume of Three-Dog's voice. The last time he had heard the station, it's broadcast capabilities had been severely diminished. He turned down the volume and took a cursory glance around to make sure the sound of Three-Dog's whooping had not attracted anyone. James started when Anita threw him a package of Dandy Boy Apples and a bottle of purified water, both of which he dug into with gusto.

"This is the story of a little boy named Brian Wilkes." James emptied the box of apples into his mouth, finding himself famished and near dehydrated. "Most people would have looked the other way when Brian came running up to them screaming about giant fire breathing ants. But not our Lone Wanderer." James listened as Anita tied on a bandanna to cover the lower half of her face along with a pair of riding goggles, wondering who had impressed Three Dog enough to report about. "That kid from Vault 101 stormed the Marigold station and gave those ants what for." Anita just shook her head at Three Dog's embellishment. "But that isn't where our story ends, children. Little Brian Wilkes folks were killed by those ants and he had no where to go. So what does our Lone Wanderer do? She finds his aunt who runs the Whetherly Hotel in Rivet City. So if you happen to stop by Rivet City, pay Brian a visit and wish him good luck. And if you see that crazy kid from Vault 101, give her a pat on the back. Lord knows we need more people like her."

"You going to get on, or are you going to brood all damn day?" It took a moment before James realized that Anita was offering him a ride instead of leaving him out here in the middle of nowhere as he had almost expected. It took a little adjusting, but he found a comfortable position behind her on the motorcycle, his hands around her waist. With a push of her foot, the engine started and the two of them were speeding down what was left of the road. Though, instead of following the cracked asphalt, Anita went off-road, apparently wanting to take the most direct route back to Rivet City.

James watched the scenery fly by on the back of the motorcycle, thinking about the last hour. He had to admit that Anita was not his little girl anymore. She had ceased being that the moment he left her fighting for her life. How could he have been so naive? He understood that the Overseer had always had a paranoid streak in him and that his leaving would send him over the edge. But, James had not allowed himself to think about all that could go wrong and ignored that small voice in the back of his head that told him things would descend into chaos when he left. And now his daughter had paid for it with her innocence. Jonas had paid for it with his life. But as he listened to more of Three Dog's reports, James couldn't help but be hit by the realization that Anita had not just survived. She had thrived.

She belonged to the Wasteland.

James couldn't hold down the jealousy that thought gave him. But perhaps she belonged to the Wasteland like he and Catherine belonged to Project Purity. James and his late wife's purifier may give the people of the Wasteland the means to survive, but Anita had given them the will to thrive. James felt his pride in his daughter grow with each of the news reports that filtered in over his Pip-Boy. His own words at her birth came back to him. 'You've got a bright future ahead of you, sweety. I'm sure of it. It's a big world out there, sweety. Full of all kinds of people. What about you? What kind of person are you going to be?'

James smiled as he came out of his reverie in time to see the lights of Rivet City down the statue lines boulevard. He was tired and his rear was sore from the nearly day long ride across the Capital Wasteland and the beached Aircraft Carrier was as welcome sight. They might even get a room at the Whetherly Hotel and get a chance to see Brian Wilkes. As the two waited for the bridge to swing out to them, Anita gave two full bottles of purified water to a man sitting on the far side of the platform. 'What kind of person are you going to be?' That question echoed in his mind, and as he saw the man's eyes light up at her presence and the water she gave him, he felt he had his answer.

Her mother would be so proud.