Mac -

I don't know where you found this stuff, or what you had to do to get your hands on it, but - holy shit. His fever broke the first night, and then the swelling started going down. Appetite's growing, energy's up. This morning he sat up on his own. I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't seeing it happen myself.

I'm keeping a close eye on him, just in case. Switching off shifts with Charon. He told me not to get too hopeful, pessimistic old grump. You know I'm not the miracles type either, but I'm telling you, Duncan is getting better every day. The worst of the lesions are almost healed over. I think a few of them might scar, but with someone like Charon around, maybe he won't grow to mind them. His laugh has even cleared up. Sounds like yours, these days.

I don't know what kind of "business" you have to take care of, and maybe I don't want to know. Obviously you didn't want to tell me. I can't imagine who might have helped you pull this off, or what you owe them in return, so just, please, get it done quickly and come home. And please. Please, RJ. Stay safe.

I miss you. Everyone misses you.

You shit.

Come home.

- Leah

Preston Garvey studied the intricate and meticulously detailed plans spread out across the general's desk. When he lifted wide eyes back to River, she recognized in his expression the same shock that she'd been trying to process for days.

"We're . . . actually going to do this, aren't we?"

She offered him an understanding smile in response. "Teleport to the Institute, yes. At least, that's the hope. Do you think we can build it?"

After a brief moment of thought, rubbing his hand across the nape of his neck, Preston slowly nodded. "Tapp tells me he and Sturges can get it done, and I know where we can find the parts we need, but . . . this is heavy-duty Institute tech we're looking at. And the risks are. . ." His lips pressed into a tense line, and his eyes were soft with worry as he met her gaze. "We can't afford to make any mistakes," he finished in a firm voice.

Dogmeat nuzzled his cold, wet nose into the palm of River's hand, as if reading her unease, and she stroked lovingly at the fur behind his ears. He hadn't left her side since their return to the Castle, since he'd picked up her scent and bounded down from the front gates to meet her, licking at the tears on her cheeks. "I know what you mean," she agreed quietly.

"I'll get word back to Sanctuary. We're gonna need Sturges regardless, and the sooner we get started, the sooner we can see how things will play out." He was already falling back into familiar territory, muttering about search-and-scavenge parties as he jotted notes onto the clipboard in his hands, and she silently thanked whatever god might still be around for Preston Garvey and his dedication. She quite literally wouldn't have made it without him.

"Thank you," she said aloud, and the abrupt sincerity to her voice made him pause, looking up from his work. "For believing in me. For all your help, and . . . for everything." She smiled even as the sting of tears threatened to well over, grateful for these moments alone, when they could just be Preston and River. If only for a little while, simply friends.

"Can't tell you how glad I was to see you walk through the front gate," he confessed in a gentler tone, quiet and familiar. "I was worried about you two out there."

"I missed you, too." River dipper her head, reaching up to wind a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's really . . . really nice, having people to come home to again."

They shared easy smiles for a few heartbeats longer before Preston cleared his throat and started gathering his things. "I should speak with Tapp and have him radio out to Sanctuary Hills. I'll be sure to keep you updated."

"Thank you, Preston."

He stepped out through the heavy wooden doors with one last nod of farewell, dragging them shut and leaving her to the stillness of her empty quarters. She dropped into the seat at her desk with a thin sigh. Her heavy eyelids slipped closed as she paced her breathing to the waves breaking over the rocks outside, each slow, lazy inhale held and released with the drag of water lapsing back from the shore. When Dogmeat padded over and propped his head in her lap, she peeked an eye open and rested her palm on the back of his neck, murmuring fondly.

"You're my best and favorite boy, you know that? I'm so sorry I left you." She dragged her fingers idly along his fur. "I'm sorry if I have to leave again."

He licked at her hand with a low, mournful whine.

"Sweet boy," she praised him, and his tail wagged at the words. "Always looking out for me. Lucky me, huh?"

Dogmeat's ears suddenly perked up, and he swung his head toward the doors just before MacCready shouldered one of them open. He met her gaze across the room and let the door close carelessly behind him, blue eyes intent, crossing the floor in a few long strides and taking her face in his hands as he kissed her.

River murmured in surprise before tilting closer, parting her lips at the first sweep of his tongue. His hands found her hips and dragged her into the circle of his arms as he sank to his knees between her legs. He kissed her until she was gasping and pink in the cheeks, ducking his head against hers when they parted for breath. She threaded her fingers into his hair, humming as the tension in his body slowly eased.

"Sorry," he breathed, pressing one last gentle kiss to the edge of her lips.

"Don't be. Not for kisses like that."

His mouth slanted into that smirk she loved. "I've been kinda out of my mind all day. I still can't believe it actually worked." The words were breathless and heavy and swift. "And I just kept thinking about how ready you were to help me, even though it was a long shot, even after everything you'd done for me already... and then I walked in and I saw your face, and I just..." He trailed off, glancing down at their hands as he laced their fingers together. His throat worked around a swallow. "I love you."

She lifted her hands to frame his face, cradling his jaw between her palms and guiding his gaze back to hers, where tears had gathered at her lashes and started to fall in warm trails down her cheeks. "I love you, too. I adore you. I never want to be apart from you."

"You never have to be," he promised, soothing tears away with the pad of his thumb, rough and calloused but his touch so very gentle. "We'll stay together."

She gripped him by the collar of his shirt and leaned in to enjoy a few more kisses, pleased when he eagerly returned them. "Always."

"I like the sound of that," he said against her lips, and his hands settled at her hips again, inching under the hem of her shirt.

Her head fell back, and then she felt his mouth wander searchingly down her neck, sinking in with teeth, and she hummed a regretful noise in the back of her throat. "Mmn, I really don't want to stop you. . ."

"Got work to do, I know." He tore himself away with a weak smile, though his eyes lingered longingly on the mark he'd bitten into her skin. "What did Garvey say?"

"We'll need some time and a lot of resources, but he seems to think we can build it. And I have to meet with Bennett and Rodriguez to plan out our courser hunt."

MacCready shook his head, that familiar teasing edge to his voice. "Can't just survive the glowing sea and call it a day, huh?"

"You know me, one perilous adventure to the next," she answered with a dry ring of laughter. Her nails charted soft paths along his scalp, and she could feel him shiver at the touch. "You should've cut and run while you had the chance."

"Probably." His smile spread into an easy grin, and the road had only gotten longer before them, but his confidence was catching when he smiled at her like that. "I guess something convinced me to stay."

River pecked the edge of his jaw and rose to her feet, drifting over to her vanity with Dogmeat trotting faithfully behind her heels. She studied her reflection in the fractured mirror, turning her face from one side to the other, lifting her chin to the woman staring back at her. Dim shadows still hung beneath her eyes, and she traced the shapes of wounds and scrapes not yet healed over, hoping they wouldn't scar. Her fingers were steady around the small silver tube as she lined her lips in violet, deft, familiar motions, easy as muscle memory. The way MacCready held a rifle in his hands. The way she'd learned to do the same.

She swung the dark blue coat over her shoulders, breathing in the smell of must and gun smoke and the melon blossoms that she'd tucked into the pockets. MacCready swiped her cap from the desk and wandered over to fix it into place at the crown of her head. His fingertips followed the silky white pleats of her braid, gentle as he freed her hair from beneath the collar of her coat.

He lifted his gaze to meet hers, fond and lidded. "Did I ever tell you how good you look in that?"

"Oh?" She smirked and peered back up at him from under long, dark lashes. "The lipstick, or a dead man's coat?"

"Both," was his immediate response, and it earned him a delicate laugh. "All of it. Or nothing at all."

"Hmn. It's dangerous when you flirt back."

His laughter seemed to warm a little of the ache from her sore muscles. "You started it."

"I usually do," she agreed, sliding her pistol into the holster at her hip. "And I promise you I'll finish it later, but right now, my love, I have a meeting about a courser. Are you coming?"

MacCready briefly gripped her hand, pressing a kiss to her fingers. "Right behind you."

The Castle had flourished in her absence, under the careful direction of Ronnie Shaw and Preston Garvey. As she emerged from her quarters and watched a group of soldiers march across the courtyard, River thought not for the first time that the two of them had done more good than she would ever be capable of achieving for the Minutemen anymore.

Maybe Preston would actually agree with her some day.

They cut across the courtyard, bustling with life around them, and River lingered to return salutes and nods that she received from passing Minutemen soldiers.

"General's back," MacCready teased under his breath, and she elbowed him in the side.

A head of sandy blonde hair lifted from above the radio transmitter, sunlight glinting off of two round lenses angled in their direction. "General!" Tapp leaned back in his seat and hailed her with a wave of his hand, grease streaked across the palm. "Glad to see you back in one piece." He sent a nod at MacCready, who returned it amicably.

"My survival continues to amaze, apparently."

"Just a wasteland thing," he informed her with a grin. "Laughing in the face of our own bleak mortality, you know how it goes. Anyone's lucky to get anywhere in one piece. Meant it, though. I am glad to see you. And those beautiful plans you brought back. I can't wait to get started."

She arched a thin brow at him, trying not to smile. "You're not getting antsy stuck here working the radio, are you?"

Tapp gave the transmitter a few loving pats with his hand. "Don't get me wrong, Radio Freedom is my baby, but a teleportation device to the Institute?" He sighed longingly. "It could be my magnum opus."

River couldn't help a laugh. Passion lit the vibrant browns of Tapp's eyes when he spoke. Rarely had she ever found such intensity in someone for their work, even in her old life. "All right, just keep the radio running for now, hotshot. You'll get your masterpiece."

"Aye, aye, General," he replied with a last flippant salute and turned back to the board of dials and buttons before him. "Seeya, MacCready."

MacCready waited until they'd stepped out of earshot to mutter, "I'm pretty sure that guy never sleeps."

"No, I don't think he does. Santos will scare him back to his bunk if he tries to stay up for too long."

Ronnie Shaw straightened as River approached, an infinitesimal shift to her spine and the set of her shoulders. "General," she greeted her briskly, making no small show of looking her up and down. "Damn if even the glowing sea couldn't take you down. Maybe I was wrong about you."

She swore she could almost hear the barest hint of grudging respect in the older woman's words. "I missed you too, Shaw."

With a weary sigh, Ronnie spun on her heel and led them through the chipped stone archways into the armory. She stepped aside to allow the general to enter first, and River would probably never grow accustomed to the change in atmosphere when she walked into the room.

Bennett had been hunched over the center table, pushing bottle caps across a map of the Commonwealth as Rodriguez hovered across from them, tracing the dark shape of his beard with an idle hand. Between them, Preston Garvey was just pausing in the middle of his sentence, stopping to smile at the sight of River in her general's hat and Minutemen blue.

The three of them immediately fell silent, and an almost uneasy edge drifted in with the quiet as they each gave a respectful nod and waited for her to speak.

River tilted her head high and addressed them with the steady smile she reserved for ventures outside her comfort zone, and stepping into her general shoes most certainly strayed past that limit. "I need to kill a courser," she declared simply, meeting each expectant gaze in turn. "Who's with me?"

A wide grin split Bennett's face as they surged forward to clap her on the shoulder. "Just got back from the glowing sea, and already huntin' coursers! Shit, General, I'm with you 'til the end."

"We've got your back," Rodriguez added. "The Colonel was just filling us in. Something about tracking with your Pip-Boy. . . ?"

"Apparently coursers all relay in through the old CIT campus. That's all we've got as far as a starting point, but I should be able to follow the inference with my Pip-Boy's radio and track one down from there."

"CIT is mutant territory," Bennett noted, tapping a roughened finger over its location on the map. "Nothin' we couldn't cut through with enough firepower, but we don't want to spook our target in the chaos."

"If we try to move too many people at once, we're asking for trouble," Preston cut in. "I think we should scout them out first, send a small, quiet team, find out where we're going and what kind of obstacles we're dealing with. Then we can regroup and strategize."

Rodriguez nodded eagerly, turning to River with an earnest look. "I'm your man, General. My team and I have been scouting this side of the Commonwealth for months. We'll get you in nice and quiet, no problem."

"And once you find the little worm, my squad brings the fun," Bennett finished, and gray eyes sparkled with the excitement of a coming battle as they cracked their knuckles with two swift twists of their hands.

"And the noise," Rodriguez teased, and Bennett flipped him a finger in response.

"Quiet is boring. You little sneaks like to snipe everything dead before the going's good."

River found herself smiling at the familiar sound of their laughter. She stepped forward to study the map spread out over the table, tracing her hand along the Charles until she found her place. "Bennett, I want your team to wait here across the river. There's an old boutique on the other side of the bridge, we can use that as a base of operations. Rodriguez, I'm trusting you to cover us while I track our target."

"They'll never see you coming," he promised resolutely as Bennett grinned their agreement.

Preston set his shoulders and met her gaze across the table. "What do you need me to do, General?"

"I need you here, unfortunately," River told him with a sad smile. "Gather every resource we need, and make sure Sturges gets here safely so he and Tapp can start building as soon as possible."

Her second in command nodded dutifully in response. "I'll get it done."

"I know you will. Ronnie Shaw, keep my soldiers in line and the Castle on her feet while we're gone."

"Story of my life, General."

River glanced over her shoulder at MacCready, leaning quietly against cool stone and blinking in surprise when her eyes found his. "And you're with me," she finished in a firm voice, just catching the quirk to his lips before she turned back to the others. "I don't want to wait too long on this. I think we should move soon."

"We're ready when you are, jefa."

She heaved a sigh and cast her gaze down at the tattered edges of the old map. Her body still ached with healing wounds and a heavy, deep exhaustion she was only just beginning to sleep off, but this wouldn't be the first time she'd tested her own limits in this new world. "Two days," she decided finally. "We leave the morning after next, and depending on how late we reach the river, we'll plan our steps from there."

"Understood," Preston answered with a dip of his head. "You can count on us, General."

"Then let's get to work. We've got a courser to kill."

Ronnie Shaw cleared her throat as the others returned to their preparations, the sound of Bennett's raucous laughter shattering the quiet. "You got a minute, General?"

"Of course." River followed the older woman's stiff pace over to a nearby crate, where she shoved the lid aside and started searching through the weapons within, muttering under her breath.

"Had it here somewhere . . . knew I shoulda set the dang thing aside when I had it - a-ha!" Ronnie gave a grunt of effort and hauled a long, dark rifle from the crate, presenting it to River in weathered hands. "Spent the last couple weeks digging through all these old supply crates, and I finally found McGann's old gauss rifle. Figured it'll find better use in your hands than it's had locked up here."

The rifle felt just as heavy as it looked, and River's eyes went wide as she tested its weight in her hands. "Shaw, you've handed me an anti-aircraft weapon."

The major let out a bark of laughter, one of the first River had ever won from her. "Hell, it might work on one of them Brotherhood vertibirds, who knows?" she joked with a shrug of her shoulder. "It's heavy, but it packs a wallop. I'd like to see any courser walk away from that thing in one piece."

"Thank you," River murmured, exchanging a stunned look with MacCready beside her before smiling up at Ronnie. "I'm honored to use it."

She grumbled noncommittally in response, quick to dispel the amity that warmed her tone, if only for the briefest moment. "Happy hunting, General."

The sun hung low and bright over the horizon when they reached the rooftop of the old high school. Spring heat stirred up the buzz and chirp of insect life, and lazy ocean winds rolled in from off the distant shore, lifting at the ends of River's hair.

For once in her life, it was quiet.

She wandered over to the edge and gazed out toward the Castle, resting her hands on the crumbling cement barrier. The breeze carried faint traces of sea salt and brine, and she found an immense sense of comfort in something so familiar, unaltered by the waste.

MacCready leaned his elbows on the barrier beside her, their shoulders brushing, close enough to share his warmth and the smell of cigarette smoke on his clothes. It's just him, she thought, admiring his face against the backlit sky. That makes everything feel more like home.

He caught her gaze, and a smirk shaped his lips. "Hell of a view," he observed, too fond to pull off his casual tone.

River raised her brows at him in mock affront, but she couldn't hide her smile. "RJ MacCready, are you flirting with me again? I was under the impression you brought me up here for a shooting lesson."

"I can multi-task." With one easy swing of his arm, he slipped the gauss rifle from where it hung over her shoulder, and she envied how naturally the weapon seemed to fit in his hands. After a quick scan of the horizon, he jerked his head toward the other side of the roof. "C'mon, let's take this over here. Away from the Castle and all your artillery cannons."

Crumpled city streets stretched out below them, and MacCready lowered his eye to the scope, the rifle still as stone in steady hands. She could've watched him line up the shot for a lifetime. There was a calm and certainty to every minute motion, hairbreadth movements she could hardly track in his arms.

Finally he muttered an amused-sounding perfect and lifted his head to grin at her. "Found you something. Take a look." His hands lingered on her arms when he passed the rifle over, correcting her grip to account for the weapon's weight - then, for a moment longer, to smooth a few stray wisps of hair behind her ear. He pointed off into the distance, toward the base of a raider den long cleared out. "See that metal gate down there? By the street sign?"

River peered through the scope, following his direction as he guided her, a little to the right, in the windows of that store, and she almost laughed when her crosshair found the eerie, disjointed limbs of a pre-war mannequin.

"Found 'em?" MacCready asked beside her, and she could hear the laughter in his voice.

"Yes, and I hate those things."

"I know." He stepped in close behind her, and she felt the warm touch of his breath across her skin when he voiced a low chuckle. He cradled her arms in his hands to hold her aim level while she eyed two more mannequins through her scope, their off-white silhouettes bent into broken poses. "Aim for the one in the middle, and try to hold the trigger down before you shoot, let it charge. And get ready for the kickback."

There were a few heartbeats of quiet - of his body heat at her back and sea salt on the air - and then he dropped his mouth to the nape of her neck, planting one soft kiss there before he pulled away. "Show me what you got, General."

River drew in a measured breath, holding the mannequin in her crosshair while she charged the shot, and the rifle thrummed to life in her hands, winding up with a high-pitched whine. Her aim wavered briefly at the unfamiliar sensation, but she managed to right herself at the last second, and the weapon fired with a deafening boom that nearly set her off-balance. A jet of white-blue energy released from the barrel and found its mark among the mannequins, and the resulting explosion scattered charred limbs off in every direction as dark plumes of smoke began to rise from the impact.

"Holy shit!" she gasped in shock, ears ringing, and MacCready laughed when she turned back to him with rounded eyes, flipping the safety with trembling fingers. The stock had left a dull, deep ache in her shoulder, and she suspected strongly that she'd just added yet another bruise to her healing body. "This thing is incredible, and absolutely terrifying."

MacCready took the rifle and set it aside without a second glance, bracing his hands against the railing behind her. He watched her hair catch in the breeze, his eyes roaming thoughtfully over her face, her throat, her collarbone, as if committing every inch to memory. "How's your shoulder?"

"A little sore," she admitted, and slowly, deliberately, holding her gaze, he dipped his head and pressed his lips to the curve of her shoulder. And when she gripped him by the shirt and drew him closer, he met her in an avid kiss, raising his palm to the soft skin of her cheek.

"Thank you," she sighed, breathless when they broke for air, and he planted kisses down the line of her jaw instead. "You're a better teacher than you give yourself credit for."

He laughed low and rough against her skin, and a shiver briefly gripped her spine. If only she could capture that sound somehow, and save it for her stormy days. I'll just have to keep him close instead. "What did you say? I had to find the right student?"

"Mmn, something like that." Her voice had frayed under his kisses, and a rosy warmth had risen from his touch.

MacCready studied her face, and a crease folded between his brows before he cleared his throat, a familiar blush spreading across his cheeks. "I'll teach Shaun, if you want," he offered, and her breath caught in her throat at the determination in his words. "Not the gauss rifle, obviously, but - I mean, they've gotta learn at some point, right? I'll have to teach Duncan once he's older anyways, and . . . I just . . . want to." His lips formed half a smile as the words began to run together. "Show our sons how to shoot, and how to clean a rifle. And I want you to show them how to be good like you, and raise them with your big, beautiful heart, and I want you to teach them Spanish, and -"

River dragged his mouth back down to hers, cutting him off with a soft moan. His arms curled tight around her, locking them close together, where she could feel his hands, his breath, his hold, and that unending promise, stronger with every beat of her heart.

Always.

They took their time winding back to the Castle, strolling lazily along the waterfront as the sun dipped past the jagged skyline. The sound of jazz filtered out from the speakers in the distance, interspersed with laughter and loud voices, and string lights set a dim glow along the perimeter of the Castle walls.

"Preston put you up to this, didn't he?" River accused with a glance of narrowed eyes.

MacCready shot her an all too innocent smile. "Multi-tasking," he reminded her simply.

A round of cheers broke out when she stepped through the front gates. Minutemen soldiers filled the wooden tables scattered across the courtyard, and she stared out at the hands all raising chipped glasses and amber bottles in her direction.

River could feel her cheeks burning bright pink at the sudden weight of countless waiting gazes, but she fixed a smile on her face and raised her voice to address the crowd. "You've all worked hard, and fought bravely, to make the Commonwealth a better place. It's a long road ahead, but the Minutemen are only just getting started." Another bout of cheerful shouts and whistles filled the courtyard, and her heart jumped at the sound. "Enjoy yourself tonight, folks. You've earned it."

She retreated to the relative calm and quiet of Preston's table, where he'd saved two plates of brahmin steak for her and MacCready. "I assume I have you to thank for that," she said primly, dropping into the seat at his side.

Preston answered with a triumphant grin, and she just couldn't bring herself to hold it against him. "You were missed," he explained, shrugging. "Wanted you to see how much you mean to everyone."

On her other side, MacCready twisted the cap off his beer, lifting the bottle for a long, deep swig as his free hand hunted under the table to find hers, squeezing lovingly at her fingers. River listened to the hum of comfortable chatter around her, the road still so very long and difficult before her, but she wouldn't walk alone.

Preston clinked his beer against hers, the smile lingering on his face. "Welcome back, General."

The Castle lights reflected back in tinted lenses, voices and laughter ringing out over the open water. Deacon leaned against the hard stone wall and listened to the celebration, cheeriest group of people he'd heard in . . . hell, too long. Been a while since happier days, and yup, that sting still stung, but - hunch confirmed.

He'd had a good feeling about her. Ever since he watched her stumble out of 111 on shaky legs, threatening to fall with every step, but still strong enough to stand. He might've followed her anyways, just to see where she'd end up.

She left strange footsteps, River Bautista, some small, some subtle, hard to track but he could always tell she'd been there, little kindnesses and smiles left behind; others dire and momentous, like her brutal death march through Fort Hagen, blood and bone across gray concrete just gone cold, all the way into the big green ugly, where he'd been almost certain he'd lost her, disappeared amongst the rust and haze.

And now the Castle, where her Minutemen were cheering her return. He supposed she of all people deserved herself a victory, even if it wouldn't last, even if they both knew the world didn't work that way anymore. Maybe it never had.

Though he wondered what she'd say if he asked her.

He had a feeling she'd surprise him.

Leah,

Things are okay here, so don't freak out. I don't want to worry you any more than I know you're going to worry already, so I'll just tell you that I wouldn't still be here if it wasn't important, and I promise you - and I promise my son - I'll be home as soon as I can. You know it kills me to be away this long. And I promise I'll be safe. There are some people looking out for me here, believe it or not.

I don't know how

I'm not good with

I'll never be able to thank you for taking care of him, but . . . thank you.

Tell the big guy I said hi. And all the others.

Miss you guys too.

- Mac