Fallout 4: AR

65. Contract Mercenary

"I mean, Hancock hired me to be your bodyguard escort home. 'Easy job,' I thought, even when he admitted he didn't know where you came from. Using that tidbit, I managed to squeeze him for one heck of a contract fee." The little satisfied smile briefly echoed the mischievous boy he must have been growing up.

"Wait," I finally interjected. "How far back do you remember?" I remember meeting you, of course. You made one hell of an impression. But I was just a job to you, wasn't I?

"I remember you from that first night." This time his slight smile was fondly reminiscent.

"The night in the Rexford?"

"No, that very first night you were crashed out on Hancock's couch. I don't think you even knew we were there. He had brought me up to his office to discuss hiring me to protect you. I thought you looked kinda cute lying there, but annoyed you were mixed up with that drug-addled Ghoul, probably playing me for a fool." At this, his lips twisted in a frown, thick brows furrowed at the memory.

"Once I realized you were real, and telling the truth, I didn't know what to think, honestly. You were kind, and sensitive, scared out of your mind... and I was the one who had to introduce you to the brutal reality of this place. I had to watch you fall apart and pull yourself back together to keep going. And when you insisted on wrapping my leg that first trip out... I think I fell in love with you just a little bit right then and there. You really cared. You wanted to help me... me, the bitter mercenary, the obnoxious punk making things harder for you. You actually worried about me. No one's ever really cared that much about me before. It scared me, a little. You listened to me, asked for my advice, and from the start treated me more like a partner than an expendable hired gun."

He squeezed his eyes closed, pressing his lips together. "Damn, I'm tired."

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" I asked, concerned. "This can wait until morning."

"No." he protested, fixing me with an intense look. "I... I need y- to tell you. Please?"

"All right, RJ."

He squeezed my hand gratefully. "I felt like I finally had someone I could depend on. It felt... good. Really good. Running together seemed so natural, so right, and it was the best feeling in the world watching you grow and adapt to life in the Commonwealth. With you at my side, I feel like I can take on the world! Together, we're practically unstoppable. Raiders, ferals, even Super Mutants? They don't stand a chance!

"You've made me a better man, you know. Just following your example helped me keep my promise to Duncan, in ways I would have never been able to do on my own. Hell, you've even managed to get me to stop smoking with that dumb allergy of yours, and since then I've been feeling better, breathing better. ...I bet that's probably one of the reasons I didn't die out there yesterday," he concluded suddenly. He shook his head, running his free hand through his hair.

"It wasn't until we were on the Prydwen, asking the Brotherhood for help powering up your Pip-Boy that it finally hit me. I had been taking things one day at a time, enjoying our partnership, but the realization of where that was leading...? It almost knocked the breath out of me. I was hired to help you go home, to go back to your own reality...to leave me, leave the Commonwealth forever. And for the first time in my life, I wanted to break my contract. "

"Is that so bad?" I asked, gently.

He jerked his head up, blue eyes wide with indignation. "It's professional suicide! Especially with someone as powerful and influential as Hancock. But watching you, helping you find a way to return to your own world? To leave forever? I felt like I was helping to cut off my own arm. It was tearing me up inside. I didn't know how to feel, and it hurt just thinking about it. It's the reason I was acting like... well, like such an ass to you. I'm sorry."