James

The space beyond the Milliways door was a sea of blazing light. Ellen closed her eyes and cautiously stepped into it. When her booted foot came down, it was on metal instead of wood. She opened her eyes to the dimmed overhead light of Vault 112's main floor, and the spotlights trained on each of the Tranquility Lounger pods, and the flickering red bulbs of the monitor tower. Off to one side she could just make out Dogmeat making enthusiastic slobbering noises over a bowl full of something presented to him by a Robobrain. So they'd taken care of him after all. That was good. She leaned back against the pod she'd occupied and rubbed at her face with both hands.

"Ellen!" came a voice she hadn't heard in far, far too long. She froze, not quite willing to look up. "You've saved me! I was afraid I'd be trapped in there forever!"

Trembling, she dropped her hands. A moment later she had her arms around her father for the first time in longer than she could remember. Dad, she wanted to say, and so many other things besides, but the words weren't coming; she just gulped and held onto him for all she was worth.

He laughed, at least as far as he was able. Ellen had to loosen her grip and step back for him to do more than that. "It' s so good to see you," he said with a smile, "but... what are you doing here?"

"I- I came looking for you," Ellen managed, her throat still tight. "You could've been killed here-"

Her father grimaced. "Well, I didn't expect Dr. Braun to be alive and insane this far after the fact," he admitted. " I thought I'd just find notes, or holotapes. I needed information about Braun and his work on the Garden of Eden Creation Kit."

Science- Ellen could handle that. It was easier to think about just now. "Did you get what you needed?" she asked.

"I did indeed." James nodded. "Braun's original work, before he started messing about with computer simulations, was designed to re-adapt environments for living after a nuclear war. It's not entirely stable, but I'm sure that components of that technology are just what my project's been missing all this time." He fixed her with a sudden Look and said sternly, "But what are you doing here?"

Ellen blinked. She'd just told him, hadn't she? "Looking for you-"

"Why, in fact, are you outside the Vault at all?" James went on. "I don't even want to know how you got out. As much as I appreciate your help, you were supposed to stay there, to make a life for yourself there, not out here!"

"You left without warning," Ellen said, her voice seeming very faint and faraway. "What was I supposed to do?"

James crossed his arms over his chest. "You were supposed to stay put. You could've had a good life in the Vault-"

It was funny, Ellen thought, how very easy it would surely be to bring her right hand back and then up in a silk-smooth arc, cracking her palm against the side of his face. It would be even easier to open her mouth and just start talking- no, start shouting, shouting everything she'd been keeping silent and packed away ever since that stupid door slid open: Way to go, Dad. Way to completely underestimate the consequences of absolutely everything you did. Way to not even consider for an instant that your little plan to keep me ignorant might not possibly backfire, that the Overseer might not flip out because you'd finally slipped his grasp, that I might not be forced into doing exactly what you were trying to prevent because that lunatic let his security team come hunting me and Jonas with guns, that I might not have been the adult you called me in your damn diaries and therefore capable of making my own decisions. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA-

It wasn't until she gasped, half-choking on the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat, that she realized she'd done and said exactly that. Every last bit of it. Horrified, she slumped back against the pod again, fiercely willing herself not to break down any further, and closed her eyes. Of course, then her father just had to murmur, "Ellen, I'm so sorry," and put his arm around her shoulder. So much for not breaking down.

Some time later Ellen raised her head and sniffled, a futile gesture at best. "'m sorry, Dad."

"It's all right, sweetie. I suppose I had it coming."

Ellen gulped; she knew better than to say yeah, you did, but there was something she did need to say. "Dad?"

"Yes?"

"I really need to blow my nose."

James snorted, a brief, truncated laugh, and fished a bit of suitable cloth out of his Vault suit's pocket. As he offered it to Ellen he said, "I suppose it's entirely too late to go back to the Vault now, eh?"

Ellen nodded. "Amata's in charge now, and she said it'd be best if I never came back," she managed, and blew her nose. "You'd only make it worse."

"Good Lord," said James, blinking. "Amata? Really? Is her father dead?"

"Not last time I checked."

James shook his head in wonder. "I never thought I'd see the day... well. I've got to get back to Rivet City; I believe I've gathered enough information here from Braun to convince Madison that we can pick up where we left off."

Wiping at her eyes, Ellen asked, "You mean with Project Purity?"

"Yes. How did you- oh, you mentioned my... wait." James' brow furrowed. "How did you get my diaries? I only barely evaded those mutants by the skin of my teeth!"

Ellen pushed herself away from pod and father both, silently making her way over to where the Robobrains had stacked the pieces of her power armor neatly alongside her backpack. She didn't have the Chinese suit any more, but if there was a Stealth Boy anywhere-

James let out a long, low whistle, crouching down beside her to examine the armor. "I see. . . this isn't Brotherhood by any chance, is it? I was going to ask you to come back to Rivet City with me, but if they've taken you in-"

Ellen shook her head. "I found it in Olney," she said. "It's not Brotherhood issue. I can come with you."

The smile that spread over James' face was the most gratifying thing Ellen had seen yet in this whole stupid Vault. "Thank you, Ellen," he said. "God, it'll be good to work with you..."

"But I want to find Braun first."

James blinked. "Hm?"

There was no Stealth Boy to be found. There was, however, the package of Nuka-Grenade components. "I owe him some explosives," she said grimly.

"Ellen..."

"Dad, you told me when I was little that you had to stand up to bullies," Ellen said. "He can't get away with what he did for all those years."

"Ellen," James said, his brows drawing together for a moment, "Hebrews 10:30."

Ellen stared for a moment, but he appeared to be perfectly serious. With a frown of her own she dug into memory and recited, "'For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay". And again, "The Lord will judge His people".'.... oh."

"You've given him a fate worse than death to someone like him, who's got to control others to have any joy at all in his life; you don't need to add a vengeance murder on top of it," James said firmly. "That sort of thing's not healthy. Now, go get into that armor of yours and let's get going. It's a long way to Rivet City."