The enclave soldier jerked under the fire, stumbled back...and slid down along the door, the holes in his armour still smoked from the plasma shots and smelled faintly of burnt flesh. Ducking John pushed the corpse over, giving him clear access to the door leading to the rotunda. Behind him he heard Sarah yell out orders, crying for people to put covering fire there, move for the mainframe, secure the pumping station. Whatever those army people felt was important.

Ignoring it John pushed himself through the door. The memories from the place assaulted his senses, but he welcomed them instead of pushing them aside, they were after all...if one looked at it in the right way...good memories. Closing the door behind himself he pushed a shoulder against the pillar at the corner of the entrance to the main control room and listened for any sound.

"I don't care about that!" Autumn's familiar voice came through, close. He could also hear the fair sound of feet hitting the metal stairs leading up to the control room...two pairs of steel, and a light one. "Now activate the routine and lock up the computer! Have you done it? Good, then try to escape, I will meet you at-"

John whirled about the pillar, aiming his rifle right at the colonel who with his two minigun armed soldiers were about to descend the stairs. A look of shock crossed Autumn's face before the self-control reasserted itself...he coldly looked down at John while the guards at his back shared what had to be a worried glance. John just chuckled. "Autumn...survived Raven rock did you?"

"As did you I see." Autumn replied, he didn't sound angry...but the fist holding his now drawn pistol was clenched tight around it. "Now step aside and I won't have to kill you."

John smiled. "You do not deserve a good death...and though I did promise to kill you one day...I'm willing to simply have you surrender, there has been enough killing." The colonel blinked. "Drop the weapons and I'll have the brotherhood take you captive." John shrugged, he honestly no longer cared for Autumn's part in his father's death, it was inconsequential.

"You really think I will surrender to the likes of you!?" Autumn growled, baring his teeth in rage as his mask dropped. "You are nothing! The enclave will always triumph in the end! You think this changes anything!? It doesn't! I will take all the precious water away from you! I will leave nothing but a desert before I let you have anything! Your victory will be nothing but ash! You hear me!? Even now your father's project is turned to a crater! All he worked for will be naught! Why!? Because of you!" He stopped, his teeth still bared as he glared at John with unbridled hatred.

"You still don't understand don't you?" John shook his head, sad. "Victory or loss is not important...it's the ideals you fight for that matters...and hope that you might make things better."

"You...you fool!" Autumn spat, his arm jerking forward as he begun to fire.

Leaping forward John didn't even feel the bullets striking his armour as he fired his rifle, melting Autumn's right arm off by the shoulder. The colonel cried out in pain and dropped unto his back, grunting when John landed next to him, a foot pushing up against his chest. Swinging the plasma rifle about John knocked the minigun to the right into the one on the left, making the fire from the two bodyguards hitting nothing but walls as John quickly ended their lives with quick shots to the head, the pair silently rolling past them unto the bottom of the stairs.

"Yo...you...bastard." Looking down John found Atumn still conscious, his eyes still afire with rage as he gripped the charred shoulder with his remaining hand. He was gasping for air, lips stained with blood as he coughed. "I...die for the...enclave...and you...you lose. You could never...have won...against me! Even now...you lose!" His laugh turned into a coughing fit, more blood staining his lips. "My...revenge...complete!"

John sighed. "I guess you do get a good death then...but meaningless. Now...rest." He fired, immolating Autumn's head. So unnecessary...so foolish.

"Wow, you got him." Turning he found Sarah standing at the foot of the stairs, her helmet off as she wiped her sweaty hair back. "And here I was worried when I didn't see you in the team...guess we were too slow for you?" John didn't answer, knowing she didn't want one as she raised her arm to her mouth, pressing a button on her wrist. "This is sentinel Lyons, we have the Rotunda, report."

The little communicator at her wrist crackled into life. "This is team B, we have the mainframe...the computer is locked though...dammit George just check it!" John dropped his rifle, letting the thing land on the last step on the stairs as he leant back against the railing. So this...was it? It had come so suddenly...and here he had actually thought- "Erm...we have a problem ma'am."

"What is it?" Ah...of course...the revenge...poor fool Autumn...the man had never understood the nature of things.

"The computer...it's locked from input! But it's set on pumping! We will have an overload! The machine can't handle the building pressure! Unless...unless..." John glanced back at the control room...ah...the enclave still hadn't fixed the radiation shielding...that was...sad...probably planned by Autumn.

"Unless activated!" Sarah exclaimed, face splitting into a grin. "Great! We'll start it up and drain the pressure while at the same time giving us clean water!" She took a step forward. "John! Give me the code and I'll handle the rest." She smiled. "You've done enough for us."

"No." John replied, smiling sadly. "The radiation shields are broken, you'll die."

The woman blinked. "No...but we...but we were so close!" She grit her teeth. "So...damn close!" She whirled over to put a fist into the railing, denting the metal. "Dammit!" She leant her head against her fists, shoulders slumping. "God...dammit."

John took a slow step upwards. "Bet you wished we had ghouls in the brotherhood now huh?"

"John...this is no time for taunting." Sarah sighed. "I...thank you...I'll order the evacuation, you...you'll be rewarded for your help later."

"Not taunting...merely an observation." John shrugged as he took another silent step up the stairs. Should not tell her...she would only protest. "Will you still protect Megaton after this?"

"What?" The woman frowned into her arm. "Y...yeah sure, John, the place is going to blow up...who cares about Megaton?"

"I do." John smiled as he reached the top of the stairs, a step to the side and he was inches from the control chamber, even from here he could feel the radiation, a prickly feeling on his skin...he was glad he didn't wear his pip-boy or the thing would crackle like crazy. "Thank you."

"Huh? What are you..." Sarah looked up from her despair, eyes widening as she realized where John stood. "...doing?"

John just smiled, took a step to the side and pushed the controller to close the radiation door to the control room, sealing him into it. A moment later Sarah stood at the other side, banging her fists into the powerful glass while screaming at him, almost looking...angry.

He ignored it, turning to face the controller a mere three steps away...this was his moment.

Taking a step forward he felt the radiation rise exponentially, his skin flushing with warmth as his armour begun to show signs of corrosion. Perhaps...he should have taken some rad-x...before entering... John shook his head, thoughts sluggish as he with detached calm saw his hair cascading off his head.

The room was so...bright...

The pain suddenly paralysed him, but only for a moment as it became a distant throbbing. Was his...nerves...dying?

His second step was sluggish, his feet drawing against the floor. A flap of skin suddenly dropped over his right eye...so thin he could almost see right through it...see the blood pouring down it from the growing wound in his scalp. He heard a distant clang and...became lighter...was his armour melting off?

Had the controller gotten further away?

John didn't feel worried though, he knew he would reach it...he smiled, the taste of blood in his mouth even as he felt his teeth falling out. He would reach...he couldn't be more happy.

A third dragging step...reaching out...

Something came off.

Falling forward John caught himself against the controller, both hands clenching it for all he was worth. He couldn't...feel his left leg...only the pumping of blood.

It didn't hurt though.

Pulling his right arm off its grip on the controller, leaving a smear of skin and blood, he began to type in the code.

Two...his index finger fell off.

John coughed, staining the controls with blood and a dozen teeth.

One...his skin seemed...to boil...like a liquid it had begun to pour off him...

Feeling himself getting even lighter as his right leg fell off John absently hoped Sarah wasn't watching, this was not good for one's sleep...poor woman.

Six...John blinked, the room was getting brighter...the hand clutching the controller and keeping him up was reduced to nothing but bones and muscles quickly turning to strings. How...could...he be...alive? He smiled, defiance...

A sloshing sound...was his guts falling out?

His hand fell off...but John smiled...the stump of his arm pushing forth...enter.

And then there was light.

The end.