Fallout 4: AR

81. Coffee Talk

MacCready regarded me for a moment, his eyes glittering in the late morning light. "And if you don't?"

"Huh?" His question caught me by surprise and snapped me out of my incipient mental fugue. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think would happen if you didn't get the leaders of the three factions to work together?" He tapped the table thoughtfully. "You're the only one who can do it, you know. Lead the discussion. No one else in the Commonwealth has the trust of Maxson, Garvey, and Desdemona."

"You do."

He snorted again. "Only because of you, angel. MacCready-the-mercenary would never have even met these people, much less earned their goodwill." He shook his head. "That's besides the point. What do you think will happen if you don't have this meeting?"

I shrugged. "Nothing, I guess."

He frowned. "Honestly, that would be the best case scenario. The Institute remains a shadow, doing who-knows-what. Everyone else lives their lives worrying about being the next victim in their experiments. Nobody trusts anyone. Status quo."

I sighed a little bitterly. "And that's the way you prefer it."

He grimaced. "I know I give you a hard time about your misplaced desire to help the Commonwealth..." Breaking off, he sat back and looked around the room for a moment. "We're partners though, and we keep each other grounded. You know I'm a hired gun, a mercenary. The status quo is good for business. People want and need a sniper, and are willing to pay for our services. It works for us, even it it's not your ideal vision of what life can be.

But things are going to change, whether or not we do anything about it. You and I both know that Maxson is hell-bent on destroying the Institute, especially after last night. Whether or not you get everyone to agree to meet and make a plan, he is going to take every soldier in the Brotherhood of Steel and launch an all-out assault on where he thinks they are."

I gasped at the thought. "He'll get them all killed! Mass Fusion was the perfect example of how bad an idea a frontal attack is! Poor Haylen... she never should have been in the line of fire."

MacCready nodded again. "And he'll likely manage to drag a number of the Minutemen into this fight as well."

"We can't let that happen!" I groaned. "But I just know I'm going to get people killed. It's... it's unavoidable. I can't stomach the thought of sending anyone to die!" I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands. "I don't know what to do, RJ."

A long moment passed where the only sound was that of my ragged breathing. My stomach was tied in knots, twisting at the thought that anything that happened due to the upcoming meeting would be on my head. I don't think I can do this, I whispered to myself. I can't let the Institute continue to threaten the lives of everyone in the Commonwealth, but I also can't stand the thought of being responsible for getting people killed!

I heard the scrape of MacCready's chair as he stood up and came over to stand beside me. I felt him lean over me, and shivered at the brush of his hand as he reached under the hem of my shirt to trace his fingers up my ribs, stopping at the ridged scar left behind from our first battle with the Gunners. "Remember this?" he breathed gently in my ear. "You were shot and the bullet lodged between your ribs, close to your lungs by the way."

I nodded, leaning slightly into his warmth.

"Think of that bullet as the Institute- it caused pain and destruction. It was sapping your life away and needed to be removed. It was too dangerous to stay where it was."

"Okay..." I said, wondering where he was going with this.

"And I had to act quickly, cutting it away with my knife. You remember that part?"

Again, I nodded. "You saved my life."

I felt his smile against the side of my head. "I did. But I had to cut away healthy flesh to get to the bullet." He pressed his palm against my ribs, the warmth of his touch soothing to my skin. "There wasn't any other way for me to help you... not in the little time I had."

One last time I nodded, this time a little sadly. "I understand." Sighing, I pulled his other arm around me in a comforting hug. "With the Institute powered up, we may have to take losses in order to save the rest of the Commonwealth. There's no time to work out a perfect plan, if it even exists."

"And I understand that leaving the Institute alone will eventually destroy the Commonwealth. It's like that bullet in your ribs; we have to act." I felt the tickle of his goatee as he nuzzled my neck. "We both learn from each other, angel. I can't just sit back and watch, and you have to accept the risk of casualties."

"I don't like it, RJ..."

"If you liked it, I don't think anyone would trust you as much as they do." This time I looked up to see his full-on sardonic grin. "There are times when you're just too tenderhearted for this world. I'm still amazed you chose to stay."

"I chose to stay with you, love. I'll deal with everything else as long as I have you." He looked thoroughly astonished: dumbfounded and so completely lovestruck that I had to lighten the rush of emotions before they overwhelmed us. "...and coffee."

At his wry chuckle, I bulled ahead, clinging to the light of his smile. "Now, we need to get our butts in gear if we're going to get ready in time for our, ah... battle plan?... in two days."

He grinned, all cocky confidence and enthusiasm. "Hey, whatever you need angel, I'm all over it."