[closed] the only constant is change

[capcious]

Who: the Fallout AU crew
Setting: the Commonwealth
Summary: BoS things, institute things
Warnings: Fallout warnings, smut
Other: [original notes] [first post] [second post] [third post] [fourth post] [fifth post] [sixth post] [seventh post] [eighth post]

- minor timeskip to when the BoS has its feet under it again, shaun asks riley to go up and keep an eye on them and deacon goes with
- they get assigned to a BoS squad composed of AU versions of chancellery guards (paladin archimedes o'hallan, knight-captain anthony norris, lancer-sargeant alex reyes, knight riley reynolds, knight everett wynter, knight henry "hal" saller, aspirant 'jack' "deacon" 'priest')
- maybe some minor quests involving getting to know them, gotta get some solid Bonding going
- sarrith (sarah, secret enclave remnant) and sal's romeo and juliet romance
- that one quest where you get the nukes from the glowing sea for the BoS
- wynter's mistake and gradual ghoulification and the position it puts the squad in
- blind betrayal

- shaun announces ferran officially as his successor
- ferran dealing with the short institute quests that result from that
- shaun discovering ferran's a slut and trying to talk to him about it
- zetta freaking out bc they're spending all this time waiting for her to recover and dealing with the BoS, and not having the time to try to figure out a way to save shaun
- zetta, in general, driving shaun slowly up the wall because she's cooped up and needs to be kept occupied or else Bad Things Start Happening, why is this shaun's life, this was not what he was expecting at all
- ferran going on missions with x6-88 / house divided, warwick
- nathan and zay's one night stand with ferran becoming not a one night stand any more
- at some point we need to have nathan call deacon a mongrel to his face so zetta can go positively nuclear
- zay finding out nathan is taking buffout

- build towards the railroad and institute being on better terms (not *stable*, but they need to be in a position where they're willing to make an alliance at the battle for bunker hill and afterwards to take the BoS down)
- probably need to do a meeting with dez and carrington, bc jfc (and ferran being the next director makes it easier to make negotiations on the institute's behalf though shaun probably doesnt fully trust him with that wrt the railroad yet, shaun needs to see ferran make decisions that benefit the institute OVER the railroad for that)

- mass fusion happens before battle for bunker hill, lighting a fire under the brotherhood's ass (still use it as the faction cut-off point?)
- at the battle, brotherhood wins -- keeping them a legitimate threat and serving as the push for the institute and railroad to work together against them

[image] [lyrics]

well, oh, it seems you're a lot like me
you dug yourself into places you never thought you would be
but don't you fret, and don't you mind
the only constant is change,
and you never know what you'll find

yeah, tomorrow i might wake up nice and clean
and i might believe the things i said i didn't mean
and this might turn and wind up just the way we'd dreamed
and i might become the things i swore i'd always be

Comments

the institute

[inhonorof]

[They aren't going home. Irene and Barbara are still in Sanctuary, awaiting the mutant puppies Codsworth is carrying with him. But... Zetta and Ferran are in the Institute, and right now, that's close enough. It's good enough. All Riley wants to do is curl up on top of Zetta and stay there. They're both in Zetta's infirmary room. Riley breathes out a deep sigh of relief when he sees them. Zetta sits up straighter, her eyes darting over them as she takes them in.] About damn time. You have no idea, [Riley agrees, more weakly than he wants, coming up to her bedside to kiss her forehead. She immediately reaches up to his chin, redirect him into a proper kiss. He follows her guide willingly.]

[ersatzeverything]

You wouldn't believe the errands the Brotherhood had us doing. Milk and sugar from the store, then an oil change for all the vertibirds--and let me tell you there's a lot of vertibirds. Sweep and mop the entire deck of the Prydwen...oh, and then we had to go clear out, like, the entire area around Fort Hagen because Maxson thought it'd be cool digs for his pals.

[Deacon perches on the edge of Zetta's bed.]

[capcious]

[Zetta reaches for him with her other hand, her artificial one.] Hagen? Seriously? [Riley also sits on the edge of the bed with Deacon, so he can bury his face in her hair. Zetta's eyes flick towards him, then back to Deacon, concern mingling with surprise. She lifts her real hand to thread her fingers in the back of Riley's hair.] What happened?

[ersatzeverything]

[It's so hard when people ask him questions. The urge to lie rises exponentially. The more direct the question, the more he feels compelled to spout bullshit.]

We started with Fairfield Estates. There was, like, a hundred muties living there, with a trained deathclaw, so that was fun. And by fun I mean the opposite. But we got some puppies, so, hey! Puppies! And then we moved on to Fort Hagen where we had to kill two coursers who were guarding Kellogg's body. And after we did that then it was off to the satellite array to play exterminator and fight off a raider army. Also, one of the Brotherhood soldiers is Shaun, and one of them has a name that's totally made for jokes.

So, yeah. That happened.

[capcious]

[Riley starts giggling into Zetta's hair when Deacon mentions the puppies. Zetta rolls her eyes, the corners of her lips twitching.] Okay, fine, that one's on me. Should've known better. The puppies are real, [Riley says, lifting his face out of her hair.] I found them when clearing out Fiddler's Green. We called Codsworth and had him take them to Barbara and Irene. What? [Zetta's eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.]

[ersatzeverything]

We killed their momma and they needed someplace to go, someone to take care of them.

...

They're mutant puppies.

[capcious]

Mutant -- You're keeping mutant hounds? Jesus, Riley. They're puppies, [Riley says weakly.] They're... defenseless. I couldn't just... [Zetta sighs and resists the urge to smear her hand down her face. This is going to be a disaster if they grow up to be monsters and have to be put down. Riley won't be able to handle it. But Deacon went along with it, so she really hopes he knows what he's doing.] How many? Four. Well. We'd best hope they don't decide to chew on the mole rats. We'll have to make sure their doghouses are nowhere near the mole rat pen. [Tension fades from Riley's body and his shoulders sag in relief.]

[ersatzeverything]

They're named Larry, Moe, Curly, and Bob. Moe and Bob are girls.

[Deacon hopes it's not a mistake, too. But they were puppies and it's right for them to at least try to save them. They're innocent. If they turn into monsters in the end, he'll deal with the consequences himself. A quick, painless, .308 to the head and try not to feel guilt for another failure.]

[capcious]

[Zetta snorts.] Why am I not surprised?

[ersatzeverything]

The part about Fort Hagen and the satellite array is also true, minus the coursers. The Brotherhood took some implant tech out of Kellogg so, you know, head's up on that.

[capcious]

Wait, Kellogg? His fucking body was still there? Why the fuck?

[ersatzeverything]

Something to ask your son, maybe. All the synth bits were gone so somebody went to a lot of trouble to clean the place up, but also decided to leave Kellogg there on the floor not-really-decomposing. Serious, was that guy pickled in alcohol?

[capcious]

Christ. [Zetta rubs her fingers over her mouth. What the fuck, Shaun?] Yeah, I'm bringing this up with him. I don't know why he'd fucking let the Brotherhood have the tech in him? It doesn't make any damn sense.

[ersatzeverything]

Maybe it's rigged to explode. Orrrr has a computer virus embedded in the software. Orrrr maybe it's all dummy tech and Shaun just gets a laugh at the idea of the Brotherhood spending hours and hours trying to analyze it when it's really just a disassembled coffee maker with a lot of diodes glued to it.

[He and Carrington and Tom have discussed two out of three as possible traps to set for the Brotherhood.]

[capcious]

I could understand Shaun leaving Kellogg to rot. Or... not. Whatever. But the tech? Seriously?

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran leans back in his chair by the door.]

It wasn't an oversight. Shaun doesn't forget details like that.

[inhonorof]

We'll just have to see what he says. There's something else we need to ask him, too. Kellogg mentioned a renegade on a terminal, and the Brotherhood wants me to look into it. He was referring to Virgil, but I already talked the Brotherhood into leaving him alone. I don't want to put them back after him. We'll have to figure something else out to tell them. Could be useful, [Zetta muses.] We could use this to point them in a direction that's advantageous. Set up a trap, or some other fake information for them to run around chasing, keep them distracted.

[ersatzeverything]

Beautiful and devious. How'd a guy like me get so lucky?

[Deacon grins at Zetta and brushes his thumb over her cheek. God, it's good to see her.]

Question is, where do we want to point them to?

[Ferran smooths a wrinkle out of the sleeve of his shirt.]

We could have a courser play "renegade" and run around the Commonwealth to give them an authentic trail to follow.

[capcious]

[Zetta tilts her head into his touch, contentment in her eyes.] That would be perfect. Give them something concrete to chase, guarantee they buy into it. [Riley turns towards Ferran when he speaks up again, and holds his hand out to him, wanting him closer.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran unfolds himself from the chair and pads over to Riley to take his hand. And then takes a step closer and sits behind Riley to drape himself over Riley's back, arms around his waist and chin resting on his shoulder.]

Deacon, since you know where every safe house is, every place we'd want to keep the Brotherhood far away from, I'll let you choose the route of our renegade.

[inhonorof]

[Riley leans back into Ferran, his eyes lulling closed and the last of his tension finally bleeding out of him. He settles an arm on top of Ferran's and leans his head against his. Zetta is nodding.] Then we can present the plan to Shaun complete, so hopefully he's less likely to change it.

[ersatzeverything]

So our end game's just distraction, right? Not ambush.

[Deacon pauses. He knows Riley would hate the idea of killing. And keeping prisoners of war isn't an option. There's no place secure enough that would hold Brotherhood soldiers except the Institute. And the Institute doesn't keep the people it seizes as prisoners.]

[capcious]

Right. It'd be more useful to bleed them of resources than to give them more fuel for the fire. [Which setting up an ambush inevitably would do.] So the more tempting we can make this, the better.

[ersatzeverything]

You got it. I'll drag them to all kinds of places that seem like they could be totally tech-y. Like the renegade's got a super special secret plan that he's carrying out that Maxson would just die to know about.

[capcious]

Perfect. And we can have the courser sprinkle clues behind it as it goes. [Her eyes flick to Riley, whose eyes are still closed, and his hand keeps rubbing circles against Ferran's arm. She looks back to Deacon questioningly, brow furrowed. Is he okay?]