Crawled Out Through The Fallout

Chapter 17

I woke up with a start, and looked around. I was still in my room, and Deacon sat in a chair next to my bed. He greeted me with a smile, and a good morning.

"How long was I asleep?"

"About 14 hours. That raider really did a number on you, boss. How are you feeling?"

I sat up, the pain almost gone.

"Better."

He nodded, accepting my answer.

"I had something I wanted to tell you."

I blinked, and looked at him, trying not to panic.

"You do?"

He nodded, then reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small paper.

"I haven't been telling you everything. Seeing everything you do to help others when you are needing help made me think. I can help you more than I let on. I'm actually a synth, and this, this is my recall code. You read it to me, and all my memories of the Institute come back. But, everything I am gets deleted. Just.. promise me you will only use it if you have to."

Deacon handed me the paper, and I looked down at it.

"I, uh. I don't know what to say. I promise I'll only use it if I have to. But I won't let it come to that. I'll find another way to get the information I need."

He nodded.

"And one more thing, don't tell me if you decide to read it, okay? I don't want to know."

I folded the paper again and put it in my shirt pocket.

"Alright."

He stood up.

"I almost forgot, Piper came to talk to me."

"What?! I mean, what? What did she say?"

He grinned.

"She made me promise not to tell you."

I frowned at him.

"Come on, I can keep a secret. Tell me! Please? You're my partner!"

He chuckled and walked closer to the stairs.

I chucked a pillow at the back of his head. He picked it up, and grinned.

"I'm keeping this. You did kind of give it to me."

Dang, I liked that pillow. I got up quietly, and tackled him, grabbing the pillow.

He looked up at me with a surprised expression as I had him pinned on the floor.

"You don't get to keep this pillow. It's my favorite one."

He chuckled.

"You sure taught me a lesson."

I smacked him with the pillow.

As my luck would have it, Preston decided to walk in at that moment.

"General-"

"Preston! Don't you knock? And we have to work on your timing."

I quickly scrambled to my feet, pulling Deacon up too. 

"I just wanted to see how things went at the Finches."

Deacon grinned at me from behind Preston's back.

"They're all fine. I brought Jake back home safely. And they are on our side."

"Great news, General. As per usual, I have another thing for you to look into."

"Preston, how about I get back to you later?"

He nodded, and left.

I ran my hand through my hair. 

"That was awkward."

Deacon just chuckled.

"Maybe next time he'll knock. Then again, he didn't look traumatized enough. We'll have to up our game next time."

I covered my face with my hands.

"Oh my god."

"On a completely different topic, Dez wants us to go in to headquarters."

I nodded. 

"Yeah, let's go."

...

We walked down the stairs to the circular table where Desdemonda stood. Deacon got her attention, and filled her in on the stuff we'd been up to.

"We went against a huge group of raiders, must have been about a hundred, and she shot them in the head from really far away. Almost every shot was in the head. And she saved me a few times. We saved that kid."

I was listening to his story, wondering why he exaggerated everything.

"She did great. I also thought of what her nickname should be. Bullseye. Whatcha think?"

Dez nodded, then looked to me.

"What do you think, agent?"

I agreed with their choice of name.

"I think it works."

Deacon grinned proudly.

"She's the best partner I've ever had."

Desdemonda smiled.

"That's great. Bullseye, I have some information I think you'll want. I heard you were looking for Virgil. He was an Institute scientist, but he escaped. I heard he is hiding in the Glowing Sea."

I thanked her for the information, then walked to a side room to talk with Deacon.

"The Glowing Sea is far, and it's called glowing for good reason. It's filled with rads."

I nodded. 

"I'll get my hands on some hazmat suits."

"And deathclaws, radscorpions, and who knows what other terrifying creatures."

"We've been through worse. I had to kill a deathclaw on my first day out of the vault. remember?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, and look what happened. It got your face. We might not get so lucky next time."

"Now I know how to kill them. We can do it. We're the best duo ever."

"Whatever you say, boss."

"Great! I'll get us some suits, and we'll be on our way."