Linden

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen emerged, dazed and blinking, into the light of Oasis. The dank, damp air of the caves still clung to her skin, and the smell of the mirelurk meat in her pack overwhelmed any other odors that might have been on the wind. The way back hadn't been nearly as bad as she'd feared it might be, but she needed to sit, rather badly. As she looked around, she caught sight of a figure approaching. She put up a hand and hoped it wasn't Birch.

Thankfully, it wasn't. Instead, Linden came forward to meet her. "Outsider. Are you all right? Leaf Mother Laurel said you'd gone below."

"I'm fine," Ellen said a little distantly. "You've got crabs down there, did you know that?"

"Oh yes. Hence the lock on the gates." Linden moved to take her arm. "Come, this way. You look as if you took them all on."

"Not all, just a lot..." Ellen shook her head, but offered a grateful smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Linden. The spot he led her to was mostly sheltered from the rest of Oasis; it might have been outdoor sleeping quarters. Ellen couldn't really say. "Are you sure you don't require some kind of medical assistance?"

Ellen thought of the Sap and the stuff in the jars she'd carried down, and shuddered as she sat. "No, I'll be fine," she said. "I had a few Stimpaks with me. They just need to work."

"I remember those." Linden's expression wasn't quite a smile, but it came very close. "We don't have much use for them here, but there's been times when I've missed them."

"You-" Ellen looked up at that. "You're not from Oasis?"

"Not exactly," said Linden. "I think I can tell you, but I'd like to hear what happened down there first. Everyone felt something change. We just don't know what."

"Ah. All right." Ellen leaned forward, her forearms on her knees and her eyes fixed on the grass. "Well... Harold asked me to kill him, to start with."

"Yes, Tree Father mentioned that," Linden murmured. "As a test."

Ellen looked at Linden, but his expression was unreadable. "If it was a test I think I failed it," she said.

"Because you didn't kill him?"

"Because I used this." She undid the thong that she'd used to tie Birch's and Laurel's containers to her belt, picked up Laurel's container, and held the empty bottle out to him.

Linden took the growth-liniment bottle from her and turned it over and over thoughtfully. Eventually he looked over at Ellen, the bottle still in his hands. "Can you tell me why?" he said softly.

Ellen looked away from him, out towards the rest of Oasis. "I wanted to kill him, at first," she said. "To be in his situation... I don't think I could take it. I'd've gone crazy a long time ago."

Silently, Linden nodded.

"Which meant I couldn't use Birch's stuff on him," Ellen said. "That would just keep him alive and trapped forever, and it wouldn't ever get any better." She glanced at the bottle. "I found his heart, though, and I got out my Disintegrator... and I remembered Yew, and how she'd been born here. And... I don't know, maybe this stuff that's already growing here would still grow if Harold died, but.. maybe it wouldn't, you know? I don't know what's keeping these trees alive, or all of these other plants. Maybe it is something about Harold. I know humans depend on micro-organisms in their guts and bodies to stay alive and well. Maybe Harold gives off some kind of, of, I don't know what, but in his roots there might be something that makes the rest of the soil livable enough for all of these different kinds of plants to live. It's not like it's wetter here than it is down by the river..." She shook her head. "Anyway, I didn't know if killing Harold would kill the rest of the green or not, but if there was even the slightest chance... I couldn't do it. It would be like the War all over again, turning somewhere alive into a wasteland."

"I see," said Linden. "But what prompted you to use Mother Laurel's liniment instead of just walking away?"

Ellen's mouth twitched. "I don't think Harold's a god," she said, "but I think Mother Laurel was right about one thing. This place is a miracle. And more people should be part of it. If the Wasteland could be green again.... well, I've never seen it green before, but... it would be a better place. And you would all still be able to keep your homes, because if the plants spread far enough, people who went looking for the source wouldn't know where to look. So you'd still be safe and hidden away, and the world would be a better place anyway."

Linden looked at Ellen for a while. Eventually, he put down the liniment bottle. "You're sure?"

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven," Ellen quoted. "I'm not about to go and expose your whole city, but the good works, at least, should be out there to get seen."

Linden finally smiled for real at that. "Thank you," he said. "Now I'm sure that you're not Enclave."

"... er?" said Ellen, blinking at the change of subject.

Linden stood up, moving over to a crudely woven wicker basket. "Do you know anything about the Brotherhood of Steel, Outsider?" he asked.

"Um, I've met someof them and fought mutants with them, and I've met some of the Outcasts, too... why?"

"I was a Brotherhood Outcast," Linden said soberly. "Thirty years ago, Owyn Lyons was sent from the Brotherhood's headquarters in California- did any of them mention that to you? Didn't think so... They were sent here, to the East Coast, to recover any and all advanced technology in the DC area. They were sent because of the Enclave."

"They're... they're not just old recordings?" Ellen said. "I thought-"

"I wish. No, unfortunately, they're very, very much alive," said Linden. "They were all but destroyed when I was just a boy. They claimed they were the remains of the old American government, but if they were, they were the remains of the worst part. They'd created a plan to destroy all mutants, everywhere, using a virus." He fixed her with a look. "All mutants. Human, animal, and plant. Wherever the wind could reach."

( "You seem to have picked up a teeny, tiny, um...mutation." )

Linden nodded grimly at the look on her face. "The plan didn't work, obviously. And their command structure was destroyed. But we knew they were still out there, and so the Brotherhood sent us here. I split from Lyons because I thought it was more important to protect the future, but when I was attacked by a Deathclaw on a technology hunt up here, the people of Oasis saved me. The same people who live among the same plant and animal life the Enclave would've obliterated without a thought. I met Harold then, and I've been here ever since... and honestly, I can't say I regret it."

Ellen exhaled heavily, and wondered how many people had picked up 'teeny, tiny mutations' from all the radiation in the water, all the toxins in the soil. How many people had the Enclave planned to destroy? How much of the world would have died?

... she was wearing their clothing. Oh ew.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly. "I didn't mean to- I'm not trying to be offensive or- I got this uniform off a dead woman, I didn't have any other choice-"

"It's all right." Linden waved a hand at her. "If you were Enclave you'd never have done what you did for Harold. Or us, or the rest of the Wasteland. I'd get rid of that getup as soon as possible, if I were you; I have a favor to ask you, and you... won't get far dressed like that."

Ellen's back tensed, but Linden merely reached into the wicker basket and withdrew a black-and-red helmet of familiar design. The Outcasts at Bailey's Crossing had worn that helmet, those colors.

"When you go into the Wasteland again," said Linden, "I'd like to ask you to take this to Fort Independence. I can mark it for you on your Pip-Boy's map. Take it to Protector Casdin there and tell him you found it in the northern wastes, so he can mark me down as dead. I've left that life behind forever, so it's not far from the truth."

"I'll try," Ellen says. "I've got other things I have to do first, but ... I'll try."

Linden nodded. "I can't ask more of you than that," he said.

"In the meantime," Ellen said, "I have one more thing I have to do here... Can you take me to Harold? He deserves an explanation."