The Sole Search

Preston's Take

Preston knew she was a busy girl. She went from settlement to settlement to deal with a myriad of needs of the people. The Commonwealth was a tough land to reap from, hardened from war and despair. But hope bloomed where ever she'd gone to. He'd admired that. She fought for them, gave more than what was expected. Maybe they'll even get to celebrate Christmas with far more meaning to it this year with the way things were going.

He knew her as the girl with the short brown hair hair, well trimmed fringe, emerald green eyes, palest and the most pure skin he'd ever seen. Oh and that clean smile of hers. Never seen anything like it.

Somehow she managed near perfection while maintaining all the work she did for them and work hard she did. She had her own personal struggles to deal with, but seriously, the way she held herself was the main reason he made her general in the first place. Majority of the time, she'd gone it without question. A woman, two hundred years on, puts in the hard yards without breaking a sweat.

Life improved immensely. A beacon of hope and establishment, a will as strong as steel and the wisdom of ages. But then...

One day she vanished. By vanished in the terms that it'd been some time she'd contacted any of the Minutemen. He'd gotten Radio Freedom to try to reach out to her. But none of that even worked. He understood she had serious work on her own to do and it was normal for her to leave for days at it time. But...it had Preston greatly worried. Days turned into weeks...weeks turned into months...

Finally, five months had gone by. While no groups had located her, Preston had decided to head to Diamond City with Dogmeat. He was anxious and concerned, considering that she would take Dogmeat everywhere with her. Five months ago, she left Dogmeat with Preston as she had ''matters to take care of." Whether these matters had been dealt with already or not, he just needed to know she was okay. It wasn't like her to disappear like this. Even Dogmeat became depressed from it. With his weapon in hand and her armoured pooch walking alongside him, he took it upon himself and let the others know he'd gone to Diamond City to find out more.

She'd discussed this 'Nick', this detective she'd spoken with in the hopes of finding her son and claimed he took the matter seriously and honourably. But she never told him the outcome of it all. She'd rather assist the settlements than otherwise talk about it anymore. What if she realised what had happened to him and was too distraught to talk about it? Was he dead? Did she struggle to accept that fact? Preston only wiped the sweat off his brow as he looked over the horizon, in the glimpse of the old city before him.

He'd have to find out from Nick himself.

Preston arrived in Diamond City in the twilight of the evening. It was such a bright place, filled with people and chatter. He'd imagined it as such, with all the hype from the other settlers and their descriptions of the great green jewel. Whether or not any settlements could reach a status of significance wasn't something he'd thought often. He just wanted everyone to be happy, safe and healthy. Including his General.

Though of his past discussions with her, she mentioned that he'd been helpful and was recommended to her. A Detective, like the old prewar stories. Those of the inquisitive minds and sharp intellects. Sounded like someone she highly respected. He'd heard of him before, just never met him personally.

He'd gone down the alleyways and found the neon light sign directing him to his office. The feeling of anxiety rolled up his throat. He looked at Dogmeat, who tilted his head as he stared right back at Preston, who then took a heavy sigh.

"Well, it's better than nothing."

He wandered inside, seeing the desk in front of him, with a young woman sitting behind it. He scanned the room briefly, seeing the steel drawers and the paperwork everywhere. Dusty and old, he'd imagined the detective work would draw in the piles all the time.

"Hi." He stated awkwardly. He wouldn't have come here if it wasn't necessary. At this point, Preston considered all the options. He felt most comfortable with getting aid from an expert.

The young woman looked up from the desk and smiled at him.

"Oh hi! Nick's just out for a bit, come sit down, meanwhile tell me what you need. I'm Ellie, Nick's assistant."

Preston shook her hand and gave a quick nod as he sat down. Dogmeat sat down next him.

"I'm looking for someone." Preston stated. He'd expected they'd get that a lot. He was prepared to give as much detail as possible to help find her.

Ellie grabbed a pencil and paper, going into work mode to jot down details.

"Description?" She asked him.

He nodded and placed his hands in his lap.

"Young woman, short brown hair, pale skin, average height...ain't too tall, ain't too small. Can't miss her white teeth. Not a lot of people in the Commonwealth with those, especially with that nice smile of hers. Green eyes too."

His eyes were tied to the floor as his mind conjured up the numerous amount of times she smiled as they spoke. Despite the darkness they'd gone through, the woman's demeanour stood tall in the harshest breeze.

"Hm...okay...name?" Ellie asked. Preston looked at her face as the tone of her voice changed to that of realisation. Her brows had furrowed as she went to her drawer and pulled out several pieces of paper.

"Delta." Preston answered.

Ellie froze, then put the papers and her pen down. Her eyes drew up to Preston's as if she was studying him.

"Delta...the Delta?" She inquired. Preston wouldn't have doubted the fact she would have heard that name, let alone know the woman herself.

"Yeah. She's told him about this place before. I was hoping you'd seen her around lately." Preston told her.

Ellie shook her head.

"No...we haven't..."

Preston knew something was up just by her tone and body language alone. He wanted to peek at the other sheets as well, but she put them into a manilla folder and placed it on the tray next to her.

"But we'll help you find her. Can I ask for your name though?"

Preston nodded.

"Preston Garvey. I'm one of the Minutemen. Uhhh...Delta is our General. It's very disconcerting that she's been gone for about five months without reporting in and we're all just worried about her."

Ellie tapped the desk as she pulled her tongue and twisted it, as she became deep in thought.

"I see. Well, I uhhh would recommend you wait until Nick comes back. I'll get him to speak to you. He'll ask you more questions. Is that okay Mr. Garvey?"

Of course. Anything to find Delta and to make heads or tails out of this situation would prove beneficial in the search itself.

Ellie turned her attention to the column of drawers as they awaited Nick's return. Part of him knew better than to ask more but...he patted Dogmeat next to him to pass the time, thinking the poor animal was missing his partner dearly.

Not too long after Nick had returned from where ever he'd gone to. Preston turned to see the hat and the detective get up and almost jumped as he looked into the synths yellow, robotic eyes and machinations underneath the broken skin. He tried to not jump to conclusions to his surprise, but calmed down as he patted Dogmeat, surprised to see the dog even there. Nick's eyes met with Preston's for a brief moment, then paid attention to Ellie as she gave Nick the folder.

"One moment Preston..." She told him, taking Nick to the other side of the room. Preston could hear them whispering and the occasionally glance back as Nick took the folder and looking through the papers himself. He saw him nod before walking back over to sit in the chair to look at him.

"So you're one of the Minutemen hm?" Nick stated. Preston wasn't ensured by his face whether he was happy, sad or angry. His tone sounded neutral but...

"Yes. Helping out the people of the Commonwealth at a minute's notice." He responded with pride.

"Yeah so I've heard. From what I can see here you're searching for Delta?"

For a synth, he seemed pretty human to him. He wondered what Delta thought when she'd first met him too.

"Yes. She's been gone, for about five months now. It's not unusual for her to be gone for, maybe one or two weeks tops. I understand she's going through a lot. I heard her mention your name a few times. Which is why I've come to you."

There were times Preston wished he could read minds. That way he could tell what peoples intentions were. Nick was one of those he couldn't really read him at all. He's fought Synths before and from their shots and their phrases he knew they were the enemy, alongside all the horror stories he's heard about the Institute.

Nick's...entire self-image greatly contrasted what he'd normally expect from them. If they'd kept up conversation like this, Preston would forget that Nick was a synth at all. Preston wouldn't have even bothered with Nick if it wasn't for Delta's good word. And he trusted Delta's judgement. He wouldn't have made Delta General otherwise.

"I see. Heh...nice to see she put in a good word for me. She failed to mention she was with the Minutemen, although it wouldn't have been something we would have brought up in conversation unless we'd spoken about it directly or it was relevant. No matter, it's interesting to see and not all that surprising that she's part of it. Dame's a good role model after all." Nick analysed. He then looked at Dogmeat then back to Preston and pondered for the moment.

"Anything else you need from me?" Preston asked him. What's he said didn't feel like it would have been enough to go on.

"Seeing Dogmeat with you tells me I can trust you. Dog's have a keen instinct and can smell deception. This mutt was her trusty companion...our trusty companion into..."

Nick stopped before he said too much. He then clasped his hands together, as Preston examined one robotic skeletal hand and the somewhat normal hand as they clung.

"Has she told you anything else about herself?"

Some days, Delta and Preston could afford to relax for a while or too, especially when days it either rained or a radiation storm would force them to take point in shelter for some time. They exchanged many stories, especially her main priorities at this time.

"Well, I know she's 200 years old plus at least...from what she could tell me. Frozen from Pre-war. But no ghoul. Crazy right? I could hardly believe it myself. I questioned if it was true myself, but Delta had been nothing but honest...and when she told me about her son, her tears were evidence enough to prove it."

Nick nodded at that, and frankly, from Preston's observation, could see his shoulder's relax as he sat back and made a look at Ellie.

"I think we can trust the cowboy." He commented to her.

That puzzled Preston a bit as he furrowed his brow.

"Trust me? What makes you think I can't be?" He asked Nick.

Nick sighed as Ellie handed him the folder.

"Preston was it? Look, we've had several others come to me to look for her. All of them concerned about her well-being." Nick announced.

That puzzled him even more. There were others looking for her too? Odd. What had she been doing? Certainly Miss Popular these days from the sounds of it. Not that he bothered into what ever she did, she just told him naturally, like they were good friends after all.

"Delta had a lot of contacts. I mean, a lot. For her to just drop of the grid like that is extremely unusual. When there's a consistency in place and it disappears, you gotta find out why. All of you seemed to have that seem kind of consistency like...she had a schedule in place in what she planned and what she did. All on top of trying to find her son."

It made Preston think a lot about it. She had it planned extraordinary well, and juggled dozens of settlements daily. Made the route, made sure they had enough resources and if there were any issues she'd sought them as much as she could. That was in Delta's very nature.

"You think she found him and not told anyone?" Preston wondered.

Nick rubbed his chin and made a disagreed noise.

"Who knows. There's dozens of possibilities."

He grabbed another piece of a paper and the pencil and shuffled them to Preston.

"You Minutemen deal with settlements and so forth all the time. I need you to write me a list of settlements you currently help out with and their locations. I then will have to check out each one thoroughly."

Preston's eyebrows raised with surprise.

"You're seriously not thinking going into each settlement are you? A lot of the people don't take kindly to Synths." Preston warned him.

Nick chuckled.

"No...of course not. I just need time to quickly pour over the details. You know, research the history of these places and what not. The gals been everywhere which, in a way makes it easy and hard to find her. If she's been to nearly every corner of the Commonwealth and knows it's nooks and crannies, she could easily hide anywhere and in case of being discovered, move elsewhere."

That annoyed Preston somewhat. She wouldn't be the one to hide. Delta was a definite fighter. Which left two options...she was kidnapped...or she was murdered. He shuddered at the thought of the latter.

"I highly doubt that she's just decided to pack up and leave. Unless she's found her son. Even then, the Commonwealth was her home. There's not a lot that make's sense in this. Maybe I didn't know her well enough to know what she was trying to do." Preston surmised, feeling weak and confused. In all their talk, Delta would be the encouraging one. Even in the darker days, he could feel her confidence being more radiant..than...radiation? Silly comparison.

Or was it all a facade?

"I'm getting the idea Delta had more to hide than any of us. Out of everyone they've talked to so far they saw her as a helping hand and, going from what you've described as, wearing a clean smile. They may have mentioned her son but everything else about her is a complete mystery." Nick stated, looking through the papers.

That was true. Son. Vault Dweller. Dead Husband. If it wasn't helping people out, it was finding out more about her son.

"You...may have a point there. Alright, I'll start jotting down all the locations. You don't think she would have gotten kidnapped..do you?" Preston questioned as he grabbed the pencil.

Nick crossed his arms.

"That is a factor that I've previously considered. She's a tough gam. And a lucky one. If she's not dead that is."

Preston knew somewhere deep inside, that Delta wouldn't have been killed. The Commonwealth was a place where it could be easy to just die if you really wanted to. Even himself, but it commanded the will to do so. While society died out, the will to survive grew stronger and more alive with time that passed. That was the meaning of all of the settlements. Delta was that, personified.

Preston liked to think that, like was mentioned, a good role model. The ideal of the strength of the Commonwealth itself. Was everyone like that in Prewar times? He'd like the idea of a strong force protecting the weak. After all, wasn't that the idea of the Minutemen in the first place?

Sanctuary was their home. It had been Delta's home. It nearly broke her when she'd seen it in it's two century worn state. Alongside Codsworth. Her Mr. Handy.

Preston didn't mind his presence there. It seemed to perk her up occasionally. To give the illusion of normalcy. That of what she considered family that didn't die off or go away. Of course he wasn't human. He was that of which simply being there and having the voice of knowing where one stood. Especially when it came to Delta.

Before he'd come to Nick he'd asked Codsworth what she did normally and what she was like Prewar. He couldn't tell her much. He wasn't that old when the bombs fell. But from what little time they had together, he could already see the loving family before him and was blessed to be with them and was saddened when they had to run to the Vault without him. Mum...Nate...and little Shaun. Her world...gone in an instant. Codsworth's had disappeared for two centuries but never gave up hope.

Yet, there was something different he did note afterwards. She was perky, yes. Tenacious and brave.

She wasn't the same however. After she'd told him what had happened, Codsworth could only describe it as heartbreaking.

"Here you go. All the settlements." Preston explained, sliding the sheet over to Nick.

Nick picked up the sheet himself and quickly scanned it.

"Ah good thank you. Should definitely help. Ellie and I will try our best. But now you're here and from what you've told me, I already have a plan..the beginning of one that is." Nick replied.

Great, some action. No wonder Delta liked him.

"I don't know if this is a great or terrible idea. But I'll run with it as we go along. It's not perfect but if it works, I can almost guarantee we'll be able to find her."

Better than nothing. If it had a chance at succeeding, Preston would take it.

"Hit me." Said Preston as he mentally prepared himself.

"I want you to head to Vault 111. I'll meet you there with there in a day or two."

Shouldn't be too hard. It was disappointing to not know what the rest of the plan was.

Still, he shouldn't be doubting someone Delta trusted. He had to know what he was doing, but Preston didn't like to be in the dark about it. Too many secrets end up killing people. He'd follow Delta into the depths of hell if she needed to. He could trust her to bring them both out alive. She's killed Deathclaws and Super Mutants...the scum of the Commonwealth and still came out on top. With the cautious blood running through his veins, he took his rifle in hand and patted Dogmeat and endured his way up north.

He passed by Sanctuary on the way back, seeing the rest of the crew as he came through. Sturges was working on a generator. Delta had hoped to construct a decent lighting network throughout Sanctuary. Got a little dark at times. But Sturges ended up having to do the work in her absence. Not that he minded. Man always needed something to tinker with.

"Hey, any luck with Ol' Nick?" The mechanic asked.

Preston adjusted his hat.

"Yeah. Told me to wait it up at the Vault above. He says he has a plan to help find the General." He told him.

Sturges nodded. The mechanic usually went with what ever flow Preston had at the time.

"A plan's better than nothing...by the way, we've spotted several people walking up this way too. Not settlers just...I dunno...you know that feeling you get in your gut that tells you that something isn't right?"

All the time. Preston could barely trust anyone these days. But if you gave your word, trust became necessary. It just took its time to find that out the hard way.

"You thinking we're gonna get ambushed up here?" Preston wondered. He certainly hoped not.

Sturges shrugged.

"I don't like the look of it. I'm staying on guard. Told the others to do so as well. Mama Murphy said that it's nothing to worry about so...it's weird to hear her say that. I'm not, not taking her word...just taking precautions..."

He prayed that no one had slipped her any chems in the mean time. He highly doubted it, but as Sturges explained it to him, now his gut was getting unwanted feelings. Nick didn't seem to be the type who played games. Hell, he'd be the one to play the game to solve it, if all else.

In all honesty, Preston still was cagey about it. It began with the third week when he'd expected her to return and run checks on all the settlements, though at the start of the first week was when she'd left Dogmeat behind. By the end of the fourth week it was when he was really worried.

By the end of the fourth week he had Radio Freedom relay that message to the General. No response.

The settlements themselves, at least some of them, had been attacked by Raiders. Minutemen responded in kind to do what they could but none of them ever saw Delta involved in any of the fights.

Hundreds of thoughts went through Preston's mind. He looked at Dogmeat, knowing that she wouldn't have left him there without a good reason, it took time, caps and organising to ensure that routines were kept throughout the networks they carried. The provisioners, the resources and making sure the trade routes were kept clear.

Now that it had been five months, the reality just got stranger. What prompted Preston to take the jump was the pressure of maintaining the settlements. Increased Synth attacks, word of Synths kidnapping settlers and so on. Delta wouldn't have let that happen on her watch and Preston felt incredibly useless. He knew he was no leader, he had to do something about it before it became much worse.

So where the hell was Delta?

He'd readied himself with what he needed. Enough stimpacks, food, ammo and Dogmeat.

He told Sturges to keep an eye on the place and to get Radio Freedom to contact him if they needed anything. Sturges was happy to oblige but assured Preston he wasn't even going that far.

Preston adjusted himself and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous about it all. He just couldn't take it on board like everything else. This was someone he cared about. Someone who could open themselves to him and let him be himself without worrying about the rest of the world around them. Dogmeat was great company no doubt, Sturges was alright but Delta spoke his language.

He wandered up the beaten track towards the Vault. Each step he took, he did it with nerve. He wasn't sure what to expect. He'd never been up here before... he never needed to. And Delta never took him there on their previous travels. Didn't stop him from being curious about it, nor scared.

Preston was a grown man though. But most of his decisions ended up with people dying. He couldn't handle the pressure. He had thought himself that the day he admitted it all to Delta, the fact that he didn't care if he died let a lot of pressure off his chest. He'd never told anyone else before. The fact that he held this much trust in Delta about himself made him realise that she never told him that much about herself. So while Preston trusted Delta...did Delta trust him?

He wished she was there to alleviate his broken thoughts. She could make sense of it, more than he could. He wanted to hear her voice again, to say it's all okay, even if it wasn't. Just having here there would make it just right.

He came to the top, where he could see a big gear shaped platform. He looked at Dogmeat who whimpered, clearly stating at how uncomfortable this made him. This was where she came from. This was her fate for over 200 years. Preston walked forward as they both stood on the platform.

Preston nearly jumped as he heard a grinding noise as the platform started to descend. He wet his dry lips with his tongue and paid attention to the rhythm of his own breathing, then gripped his rifle all the tighter.

This place made him slightly nauseous in it's design. He'd heard about the vaults. Where most of the Commonwealth seemed relatively normal in its damaged state, these places seemed to greatly go against the general aesthetic of what he was used to. A lot of blue, grey and the occasional yellow. As he wandered around, he felt a slight chill in the air. Stale and very still.

Dogmeat growled and took a stance. He could smell something else.

"Let's go Dogmeat, you obviously know something's not right here. Show me."

He followed the canine around the vault, which he treaded carefully. He could hear voices nearby, so he navigated around with his eyes peeled for any danger. He did come across an open room where the voices were coming from. He put an index finger to his lips for Dogmeat to be silent as Preston pressed his ear against the wall, trying to listen in to the conversation.

"Is he even coming?" Said one voice. Male.

"I'm not sure. He said to meet us here...now that we've come to that conclusion. You're both lucky I didn't shoot you down. Especially you Synth." Said another male, who's voice had more boom in it.

"If I was ordered to kill, I would have done it sooner." Said yet another, which had a monotonous tone to it.

"Well ain't you both peachy? If it got any cosier I would have brought some beers." the first voice spoke.

Wait? There were more down here. Preston had to be sure.

"Wait, I'm getting readings...someone else is here." The third voice announced.

Preston gulped. He hadn't even shown himself! What the hell.

"It's probably him on his way." The second voice suggested.

"It's not Synth...be on your guard." The third voice stated.

Preston could hear the sounds of guns being pulled out and safety's being clicked off. So much for being stealthy. If Delta were here she would handle this situation easily.

"Come out so we can see you!"

He sighed. He'd rather not provoke anything more than them to start shooting at him. He slung his rifle around his back and raised his hands as he got up and entered.

"Don't shoot." Preston pleaded.

The three men were very distinctive. First was clad in a white shirt, jeans, sunglasses and a black slicked up hair. The one in the middle wore power armour and from the emblem on the armour's torso, it was easily identifiable as the Brotherhood of Steel.

The one on the left was clad in black leather that Preston recognised as a Courser.

Three...obviously dangerous men in a strange place. Now a fourth had entered the deal.

"Who are you?" Asked the one in Power Armour.

The one in the white shirt smirked.

"Relax big guy, It's one of the Minutemen...Preston Garvey wasn't it?"

Preston had never seen this man before. He had the air of cocksureness about him though. It wasn't clear why. Dogmeat didn't seem to mind their presence. In fact he even smiled. In a dog-smiley way.

More footsteps made them cautious and pull out their weapons once more. All they could see was a shadow in the distance. Preston could smell the scent of a cigarette alongside it.

"So a Minuteman, a Railroad Agent, a Paladin and a Courser walk into a vault..." Spoke a familiar voice.

"The Synth Detective behind the bar says, sorry we got no Survivors here."

Preston pulled down his weapon slowly, as he saw the glowing, yellow eyes approach.

"Nick." Preston muttered with surprise.

The synth detective walked inside underneath the light, his form; glaring as his eyes trailed between all four of them. It made Preston's anxiety a fraction worse. He was willing, but uncertain where this would lead.

"Good afternoon gentleman, I've gathered you all here under...riveting circumstances. And I'm not talking about the desire to beat the shit out of each other."

No doubt. The fact that all four known large groups in the Commonwealth were standing in this very room made the tension quite thick. Preston wondered why he hadn't seen corpses already because of this.

"Before we get started I wanted to introduce everyone to each other and why we're here. Properly...and not with the damnable snarkness and the bullshit...I'm talking about you Deacon."

The synth continued, glaring at the white shirted man who appeared offended.

"Hey I haven't done anything...well, not yet anyway." The man responded in kind. Preston got the idea this one liked to cause trouble.

Nick smirked, then turned to everyone else as he fiddled with his cigarette.

"As I was saying, I wanted everyone to know everyone else first. I'll start...I'm Nick Valentine..."

"Hiii Niiick!" Deacon said with a drone, as if addressing a teacher. Nick just rolled his eyes.

"You all know me...and this happy, little fellow is Deacon from the Railroad, this tin can is Paladin Danse from the Brotherhood of Steel...and uhh..."

He looked at the Courser with a mixture of anger and confusion. Bad vibes were coming from everywhere.

"That's X6-88. A Courser from the Insitute...and that...well, Preston Garvey from the Minutemen. Got that? Good."

Deacon chuckled.

"I'm calling him Sicks." He stated.

The Courser had no particular reaction to that. Preston was still reasonably nervous about the whole thing. He wanted to ensure that in the case blood was meant to be spilled, that he was prepared to get out. Alive or not.

"So now, I'm actually quite surprised you haven't killed each other already...that being said, we are all here for a specific reason. To find Delta."