101 (Percico/Pernico)

---Chapter Six---

"This..." Percy and Nico looked in awe at the Citadel.

The Citadel, the Brotherhood of Steel's Headquarters, looked either like a colosseum or a prestigious government building, or at least once was. Nico no longer noticed the aching of his feet nor the dryness of his throat as he stood, staring at the impressive building. Even after the bombs and 210 years, it did a pretty good job of standing up. However, he would not say the same about the debris that surrounded it or the rubble that was the ruins of what used to be streets.

"C'mon, let's go, don't wanna keep everyone waiting for too long," Burke ordered.

"Yes, sir," Nico answered before catching up with him. Percy followed.

After making their way through piles of rubble, they entered the inside of the large building. It was vast; Nico felt like an ant when he looked at his surroundings. Stone debris and metal structures were everywhere and little practice dummies were scattered around the place. There was no roof to the building they had just entered, as Nico could look up and see the sky above him, which was murky and only had small hints of ever being blue in the first place. Nico missed that color of blue.

"This is our practice and training area," said the commander. "You will also be sleeping out here for the night."

"What?" Nico asked.

"You are an initiate, so you'll be sleeping out here. Pick a spot, any spot. Then, run 10 laps around."

Nico nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Yes, sir." Then, he walked off to find a place to sleep.

"As for you," Burke spoke to Percy, "you will be coming with us. For the time being, you are under our protection, so we will find you a place to sleep inside, and we will download directions to your vault in the morning on your...device."

"My Pip-Boy," Percy told him.

"I know," Burke said. "Now, follow us. We're going inside."

"Bye, Nico!" Percy shouted to him. "See you tomorrow."

Nico looked up and waved at him before he disappeared inside.

✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇

Nico trained for two hours to be able to wear his power armor, and it was not all that comfortable, but he supposed he needed something, as he was entering the "good fight" or whatever Burke called it. Theo laughed after he left, telling the recruit that he listened to too much radio.

Nico noted that radio still existed, not bothering to say it aloud because everyone already thought he was crazy. He did not want to make them think he was dangerously so.

He was led to the armory to be issued a laser rifle. He held the gun in his hands, feeling the heavy weight of it, but he told himself he'd get used to it.

"Have you any experience with this class of weapon?" asked the man who handed him the gun.

"What?"

"Can you shoot a gun?"

"Well, kinda," Nico replied. "I shot a rifle and a pistol a... a while ago."

"Like, a few years, while ago, or...?"

"I dunno," Nico said, his gaze drifting to the floor at the memory when his father first took one of his rifles and took Bianca and Nico out to shoot. His mother wasn't too fond of the idea, but his father insisted that they needed to learn how to protect themselves. Bianca was so scared of the guns she wouldn't even touch one, but Nico liked the feel of them in his hand. He was about ten at the time.

"Well, would you like to shoot at some of the targets to practice?" he asked, gesturing at the rifle in his hands.

"Well, I guess so," he shrugged, taking the rifle with him as he was led off to the courtyard to begin his training.

✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇

Percy was looking everywhere for Burke and Theo in the headquarters. He looked down the hallways, in the recreational areas, the mess hall, everywhere, but he had not caught any sight of them. He even asked other soldiers, but they just dismissed him, and he walked away, confused and offended.

Eventually, he heard a voice of a young man, probably about the same age as he was, speaking to a familiar voice. His curiosity got the best of him, so he hid behind the wall and listened into the conversation after he heard the mention of "Initiate di Angelo".

"You have recruited without my permission, Burke," the young man said. "If you weren't so much to my liking, I would have you demoted, exiled even."

"I apologize, sir," Burke responded.

"However, you must have had reason to. Does he show any particular promise?"

"Yes, sir. He seems to be kind of well off unarmed, and he has extraordinary stamina. He can run for miles straight without stopping, apparently. He said he just likes to run."

There was a contemplative pause before the young man spoke up.

"So be it," he said. "If you see promise within him, you can train him. Take Initiate di Angelo with you as you're taking the boy back to Vault 101."

"Yes, Elder Maxson. I apologize once again."

"Do not do any further recruiting without my permission, Paladin Commander."

"Yessir."

Once Percy realized their conversation had ended, he straightened his posture and waited for Burke to come out.

"What are you doing here?" was the greeting the Vault Dweller received.

"I was looking for you or Theo."

"He shall be referred to as Knight Provowsky," Burke retorted.

"Oh, alright," Percy replied. "But, where will I sleep? I kind of lost my way."

Burke sighed despondently. "Shall I escort you? You have a tendency of losing your way."

Percy nodded gratefully. "I would appreciate that."

✇ ✇ ✇ ✇ ✇

Nico wiped the sweat from his brow before aiming the laser rifle at the practice dummy. He exhaled, shivers coursing through his body. Out of the fifteen shots he had taken, only seven of them hit the dummy. He was determined to get better, as this place was so generous to him, and he wanted to prove he was of worth. If he was not of worth to them, then he might have been thrown out of there or even killed. He did not want to take his chances out in the Wasteland alone again.

"Initiate di Angelo," came a gruff voice from behind him.

He turned to see the man who had taken him in, his bearded face worn with stress and exhaustion.

"Commander Burke," Nico greeted.

"Be sure to eat in the morning," he told him. "We are going back into the Wasteland. Usually, you would be training here, but Elder Maxson ordered me to bring you along escorting Percy to his vault. Consider it as training, but at the same time, a mission. We must keep the Vault Dweller safe at all costs."

"Yes, sir."

"Resume training, Initiate."

"Yessir."