The Capitol Building

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

When the door from Milliways opens, it opens into a dim and dusty space that smells like still air and old smoke. Things burned here, once; things died here. The scorch marks on some of the walls bear that out, as do the fractures and chip-marks in the tiles of the floor. It takes some blinking and adjusting to the dimness to see the place more clearly than that. Once this was a lobby, wide and high-ceilinged, with a curved reception desk and brass lighting fixtures. There were computer terminals and framed art and all the other little signs of civilization. But that was two hundred years ago, and it shows. Only the places where marble and polished granite decorated the walls still look anywhere close to healthy. The ceiling sags, where it isn't cracked or broken. The lamp-works fell long ago, rusting or being stolen. The terminals are still there, but the metal's covered in corrosion, the screens shattered, and it's best not to think about the state of the keyboards.

"This was the National Archives entry area," Ellen says quietly. "I've been here before. It was the safest place I could find this close to the Capitol. Star Paladin Cross is outside just in case any of the mutants decide to crawl out of the Mall trenches and come investigate."

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"An honor to meet you both," says Cross, saluting.

Brick returns the gesture. "It's not often we get to cross paths with the Brotherhood in person," she says. "We have a few things I think we might need to talk about. First things first, though. The bunch of you look like you've been dragged the long way 'round over a mile of broken road. I'm no Butcher, but I can do some basic first aid if I have to. Come on over here and sit down and I'll see about getting you patched up, all right? Donovan, anyone who's left, you get them fed."

[themysciran_diana]

"I'm all right," Diana says, "though I thank you for the offer. It's mostly bruises, though, and they'll heal on their own."

Which is to say that she is not discussing her relative invulnerability today.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"No problem," says Brick easily, and waves Finn over instead. She saw that self-administered bandage on the kid's arm, she's not going to let a bullet wound go untreated- even a minor one. "Listen, Ellen," she says as she gets to work, "about what happened at the purifier..."

Ellen looks up from inspecting Dogmeat for injuries, blinking.

"We held the line long as we could, but the Enclave's not like the muties. That armor of theirs-"

"It's all right," says Ellen. "You held things long enough for Dr. Li and three others and me to get out alive, and the four of you got out with Dogmeat. That's pretty incredible. I never expected you to be able to push a force like the Enclave out."

"Not to say that we wouldn't try," Brick says. "But we're gonna need to upgrade our equipment some first, and Butcher and Reilly-"

"We can talk about it another time," Ellen says firmly. "But... thank you. For what you did do."

[takiena_called]

Finn walks over, obediently, and stands patiently as he listens to them.

It is still incredibly weird that he managed to get hurt.

(That's what he gets for dying; he lost his smoke-body privileges.)

He turns his head slightly to listen to the conversation, but not enough to more then slightly move his arm--and then he stops.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You're welcome," says Brick. Then she turns her attention to Finn. "Okay, kid, hold still," she instructs. "The only iodine I've got's all earmarked for Rad-X, so you're just gonna have to settle for the alternative cleanser."

That would be the bottle of prewar vodka she produced from a rusty old locker on the wall. As she starts soaking a piece of cloth in it and moves to clean up Finn's arm she adds, "Stimpak'll heal that right up but you don't want it healing over dirt or anything."

[takiena_called]

"Stimpak?" Finn asks, politely, tilting his head to watch her work on his arm as best he can without getting in her way. He's not really worried; medicine can hurt, but it's important--and it won't hurt more than getting the graze in the first place.

(He'll still bite his lip when she gets to cleaning off that part, but moving would be a dumb idea.)

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Stimpak," Brick confirms, holding up a syringe with a gauge on top. "Speeds up your own healing something fierce. I'm guessing they didn't have any kind of real medicine where you grew up, huh?"

Hey, in the Capital Wasteland it's not a bad assumption to make. Lots of people never see anyone who's so much as looked at a doctor in their lives, out here. 'Course, Finn's pretty well fed for someone in that kind of situation, but hey, you never know.

"Okay, now. I'm gonna have to stick you with this right near the wound, and then you're gonna have to hold still until it seals itself up. Shouldn't take too long, though."

[takiena_called]

"Okay," Finn says, curiousity satisfied.

He follows her instructions, though the moment of injection garners a wince.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It doesn't last long. Brick's not the team medic, but she's the one who patches the team medic up when things go badly, so she knows what she's doing. When it's done she wipes up the injection site and has Finn hold everything still and in place. "How about you two ladies?" she says, looking to Ellen and Cross.

Ellen shakes her head, murmuring that she's all right. Cross pries off her helmet and shakes out her short grey hair. "Already been attended to," she says. "But you have my thanks. I wouldn't say no to a little rest and a place to eat, however. I think we all would."

There's not much left to do beyond that, really. It'll be time to head for the Metro tunnels soon - or in Diana's and Finn's cases, once safely out of sight, the doors to Milliways- but for now there's at least a little time to rest, gather one's resources, and think.

It's more than the Wasteland usually gets.