Why...why did I survive?

The question had been running through Nathan's head for hours, maybe even days. He couldn't find a fair answer, no matter how long he thought about it.

Sure, he had saved Preston and his crew of refugees, but there was no guarantee that someone else could have saved them. Now, as he sat alone in his former home of Sanctuary, he couldn't stop the past from flowing back into his mind.

Nora...It should have been me.

The memories reeled through his mind on repeat; the bald, scared man raising his revolver and pointing it at his wife, who struggled with the hooded woman trying to steal their child. Trying to steal Shaun.

And then the gunshot. Blood. The cries of his child.

Shaun...I-I need to stay strong. For Shaun.

Nathan wiped his eyes, and hefted himself to his feet, vowing to himself, and to his fallen wife, that he'd find their child. That he'd bring Shaun home.

"General? Are you alright?"

Nathan couldn't help but jump slightly, before turning and facing Preston, a look of concern on the Minuteman's face. He was still adjusting to life in the Commonwealth, and now he was also responsible for rebuilding the Minutemen from the ground up. His plate was full, without question.

"Y-yeah, just...just trying to adjust." He explained, offering a weak chuckle. Preston nodded, and clapped the Vault Dweller on the shoulder.

"I understand. I'm sorry that you had to go through all this. It must be hard, seeing the world you used to know like...well, this."

Nathan allowed a tired scoff to leave his throat, before nodding and patting Shaun's shattered crib one last time.

"You have no damn idea."

—

Line Break

—

"Sir, are you sure that you want to do this?" Codsworth asked, hovering a few feet away from his master as the vault dweller modified his 10mm pistol, making sure that the gun was clean and safe to fire. "This "Diamond City" might not be what you're looking for."

"I know that, Codsworth." Nathan admitted, holstering his weapon and offering a smile to the Mr. Handy unit. "But sitting on my ass isn't helping anyone, is it? If there is even a chance that someone in Diamond City knows anything about Shaun, I have to try."

"We'll keep Sanctuary safe while you're away, General." Preston guaranteed, offering the man a handshake and a kind smile. "Best of luck finding you boy."

"Thank you, Preston." Nathan responded, shaking the man's hand and returning the grin. "I'll try to be quick."

With that, the vault dweller turned and started for the exit of Sanctuary, before pausing before a cracked mirror and giving himself a once over. His brown hair and clean shaven face were both stained by dirt from the Wastes, as was his Vault 111 jumpsuit, now shielded with leather armor looted from fallen raiders. In other words, he certainly looked the part of the Sole Survivor.

Suddenly, a brown shape appeared next to him. Nathan looked to his left and smiled as he identified the shape as Dogmeat, who whined at his master nervously.

"Hey, it's ok, bud." He comforted, patting the dog's head. "Preston and Codsworth are gonna be here, but I need you to make sure that this place stays in one piece. Think you can handle it?"

Dogmeat barked in confirmation, making Nathan laugh as he stood back up, and gave himself one last once over.

"Well...I've looked worse." He quipped, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of sunglasses he had snatched off a raider, and slipping them on. "Diamond City, here I come."

—

Line Break

—

"RAAAAAAHGH! DIE, PUNY HUMAN!" The Super Mutant roared, firing a volley of shots at Nathan, who crouched behind the crude wooden wall, hissing in pain. Originally, his trip to Diamond City had been fairly calm, the only notable occurrences being his encounter with some stray raiders and then trading with a woman named Carla, who seemed to work with some sort of caravan. Then he made it to the city…

And realized how unprepared he was.

He had barely crossed the bridge when a gaggle of Super Mutants spotted him, all of whom decided to charge him. Amazingly, he was able to pick off most of them thanks to the pipe rifle he had purchased from Carla, but now he was out of ammo, left only with his 10mm, which was not nearly as efficient at dispatching the beasts.

Nathan had managed to rush the four remaining mutants, killing two of them before the third nailed his right arm with a spiked plank of wood. Nathan promptly put a round through the aggressor's skull, and managed to make it another twenty feet before the remaining mutant started to fire at him, resulting in him taking cover behind a wooden barricade. He had used a Stimpack to patch up his wound, but now he was trapped. Perfect.

Suddenly, the crack of a rifle interrupted the Super Mutant's roars, followed by a heavy thump as the yellow-skinned monstrocity fell. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief as an armored figure waved to him from a barricade further down the round, making his way towards the second post. As he arrived, the sniper slipped down from his post, looking the vault dweller up and down in what seemed like judgment before speaking.

"So, this your first time out of your cosey little vault, or are you just dense enough to walk through these streets without proper protection?" He asked, crossing his arms as he glared at the blue-clad man. Nathan frowned, and mirrored the man's body language as he answered.

"I'm sorry, officer. I didn't exactly get a chance to collect the best weapons of the Commonwealth while I was cryogenically frozen for 200 years."

For a moment, Nathan regretted his words, registering how crazy they sounded. To his surprise, the guard's posture relaxed, and he dropped his arms.

"No shit? Damn, those Vault-Tec bastards were a sadistic lot, long term cryogenics sounds right up their alley." He grumbled, before shaking his head. "Anyway, you heading to Diamond City?"

"That I am." Nathan confirmed, before tilting his head a spotting the large, green structure. "Seems like I found it."

"Heh, no kidding." The guard snarked, before starting for his post. "Well, I won't keep you. Best of luck, dweller. Oh, and I'd recommend grabbing that freak's gun before you move on."

Nathan quirked an eyebrow at the guard's phrasing, but followed his advice and grabbed the fallen Super Mutant's weapon, a surprisingly finely tuned laser rifle. "Thanks, have a nice day, officer."

The guard grunted in reply, and Nathan continued on his way to the green arena. As he got closer, he noticed that the main entrance to the Diamond was closed, and a woman in a red trench coat and newsboy cap was standing outside of it, her flailing arms allowing him to make the astute observation that she was not happy.

"What do you mean, "you can't open the gate"?" She hissed, her brown eyes sharp with anger. "I'm standing out in the open, for crying out loud!"

"I got orders to not let you in, Miss Piper." A young male voice replied through an intercom. "I'm just doing my job."

"Oooooh, just doing you job?" The woman spat, her annoyance clearly reaching a boiling point. "Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out? "Oh look, it's the scary reporter!" BOO!"

"I'm sorry, but Mayor McDonough's really steamed, Piper!" The voice retorted. " He's really mad about that story you wrote–You sent the whole city into a tizzy!"

The woman growled in frustration, before she noticed the vault dweller watching her. Her eyes lit up, and she took a few steps towards him.

"Psst, hey! You want to get into Diamond City, right?" She asked. Nathan glanced around, making sure that he was the one she was addressing, before nodding.

"Yeah, that was the plan." He admitted, a small smile rising on his face. "Seems like someone pissed them off. You wouldn't happen to know who, would you?"

The woman rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked upwards slightly.

"Just play along." She ordered, before leaning towards the speaker and speaking in an exaggerated tone. "Oh? Trader from Quincy, huh? Man, that's a lot of good stuff you got, huh?"

She then gestured toward the speaker, and Nathan stepped forward, quirking an eyebrow at the reporter as he spoke. "Um, yeah. That's right. Got supplies that should last a month or two."

The woman gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, before resuming her end of the ruse. "Man, it'd be a real shame if you missed out on this shipment, huh Danny?" She asked smugly. "What are you gonna tell ol' crazy Myrna?"

"Ugh, ok! No need to get all personal, Piper!" The voice grumbled, before the large metal door started to raise itself. The woman, or Piper, turned back to Nathan and shot the man a wide grin.

"Thanks for the help, Blue." She thanked him, before gesturing to the city behind her. "You heading in?"

"Yeah, I am." Nathan confirmed. Piper nodded in acceptance, and started for the entrance. Once inside, Nathan was greeted by the sight of two more armored guards, as well as a portly man in a light brown suit. As soon as the man noticed Piper, his face became red and shook a fist at her.

"You devious, rabble-rousing slanderer!" He spat, glowering at the red-clad woman. "The level of dishonesty in that paper of yours! You're lucky I haven't scrapped your precious printing press yet!"

"Ohohoho, I'm sure that'd go over well!" Piper growled in return, once again gesturing wildly. "Oppressive Mayor squashes Freedom of Speech! Silences Press! That's sure to get people on your side!"

Abruptly, she turned to Nathan, who had been watching with mild concern, and addressed him.

"What do you think, Blue? Do you support the news, or are you willing to throw free speech in the dumpster?"

"Well, I've always supported free speech." Nathan admitted, before raising his hands. "That said, I'm not really sure that this is my place to get involved. I'm just looking for someone."

Just like that, the anger disappeared off the mayor's face, and he turned to the vault dweller hurriedly. "Oh, of course! No need to worry yourself, you seem like wonderful Diamond City material!" He assured, ignoring the eyeroll and groan from Piper. "If I may ask, who is it you are looking for?"

Nathan mentally debated his options, before deciding that the easiest option was the truth. "My son, Shaun. He was...kidnapped. He's only a baby, barely a year old."

"Wait, kidnapped?" Piper asked, her annoyed sneer falling away, and morphing into a shocked expression. "Shit, I'm...I'm sorry to hear that, Blue."

"As am I." McDonough asserted, a look of remorse on the man's face. "Please, if there's anything I can do to help, Diamond City is on your side."

"Thank you, sir." Nathan thanked the man, before rubbing his neck. "Perhaps I'll ask around tomorrow. Tonight, though...I just need some rest."

"Of course, I understand. Feel free to stop by the Dugout Inn, they should have rooms." With that, McDonough left the pair, heading up into Diamond City itself. Nathan moved after the man, but was stopped by Piper, who put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sorry for dragging you into that." She muttered, averting her gaze in embarrassment. "I'm just used to being the only one on my side, I assumed that you wouldn't be."

While he wouldn't say it to her face, Nathan couldn't help but think of how cute the woman standing in front of him looked when she was embarrassed. A tinge of guilt ran through his mind as he reminded himself that his wife had died what seemed like days ago.

She's not coming back, Nora would want me to move on. He argued with himself. Besides, I'm a grown fucking man, I can admire a beautiful woman whenever I wish.

Oh, so now she's beautiful? His mind hissed back, the guilt resurfacing briefly before Nathan stuffed it back down. He'd deal with that later. First…

"Hey, I get it." He replied, shrugging his shoulders loosely. "No hard feelings. Of course, you could always make it up to me by pointing me to the nearest place I can sleep."

Piper smirked, and tapped her chin in mock thought before speaking.

"Sounds fair to me. Follow me, Blue."