Aim to Please

9 | I Like Being Close

MacCready still couldn't believe that they had actually gotten the cure for Duncan. Now he just had to wait and hope—pray—that they had gotten the medicine in time. His son could live... His heart swelled every time he thought those words. By protecting him and giving him a chance at living, he accomplished his role as a parent. And it only became possible because of Aurora. He told the truth when he said he didn't know how to repay her. But he would; he'd find a way to make it up.

With them just entering Boston and the evening growing darker, they ascended a metal fire escape to check out the roof—if it provided an ideal vantage point over all the other buildings so they could take out rival snipers. At the top, they found Raiders to have claimed it; after taking them out, they admired the fortifications: it was a good story or two higher than the other buildings and it even had can chimes or traps to warn of intruders. Lying down at each corner and looking through their scopes, they surveyed their surroundings, killing other Raiders on roofs. Happy with their find and feeling safe, they settled down for the night.

The dead Raiders had cooked some Brahmin meat over a small fire to prepare for supper, so MacCready and Aurora were able to have a warm meal instead of Snack Cakes. Now full and content, they sat against the small roof access for the apartments. He offered her a cigarette from the last packet they had stolen from Ann Codman's house and she smoked with him as they enjoyed the night's stillness.

She had her face turned up, admiring the brilliance of the night sky. MacCready had heard that the atomic detonation 200 years ago cleared the ozone in the sky, making the sun much brighter and the stars much more vivid. The strikingly heavy group of stars cutting a line across in the sky was called the Milky Way and used to not be seen this well... at least that's what he heard some Vault dweller had said.

"So, now what are you going to do? Go home to Duncan?" Aurora asked.

He had to think about it. MacCready wanted nothing but to hold Duncan in his arms again, but he also wanted to stay with the woman beside him. He had grown attached to her and didn't want to tell her goodbye. Just the thought of not having Aurora beside him had him feeling lost. "I really don't know...

"Will you come with me?" The question came out of nowhere.

Aurora tore her eyes off the night sky to him, surprised. "Come with you to Little Lamplight?"

MacCready bit his tongue. Why did he ask that? The answer lay deep in his heart: he wouldn't be able to stand being apart from her.

Yes, but there was also the fear of her refusing him. If she did, he knew his heart would shatter. So again, why did he take that risk by asking her?

"Yeah, why not?" He hoped he sounded nonchalant, not like he longed for her answer to be yes.

She hesitated; many emotions and thoughts flickered in her eyes. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled to decide. "I... well, I'm—"

The tinkling of a can chime cut her off. Their heads snapped to the end of the roof, where the noise echoed up from the fire escape—someone or something was coming up.

MacCready and Aurora grabbed their rifles and crept over to that edge; keeping slow, they peered over the edge. At the sight of movement, they both aimed. Two of the shadows resembled humans—even though one was much shorter than the broader and taller one—and the third slunk low to the ground. They didn't move erratically, so they weren't Ferals.

"Stop where you are," MacCready warned; the forms froze. "We have guns aimed, so tell us who you are."

"Andrew Fischer, my daughter, Cate Fischer, and our dog," a man answered.