[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

[capcious]

[Well, this oughta be good. Zetta glances at Deacon, expression dour.]

[ersatzeverything]

[Carrington and Dez whisper in the corner.

After a few seconds, Deacon starts humming the Jeopardy theme song.]

[capcious]

[Zetta lets herself shift closer to him, since Dez and Carrington are occupied. She murmurs to him,] This is fucking stupid. What is this, the princple's office?

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon stops humming.]

Mom and Dad are deciding how long to revoke our TV privileges.

[capcious]

Like that'd stop us. This one's easy. We sneak out at night and watch it at a friend's house.

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Dez and Carrington's conference ends and Dez returns to them.]

Deacon, I'm sorry to have to do this, but effective immediately, you're banned from HQ and all safehouses. When I'm sure I can trust you, you'll be let back in.

[capcious]

[Zetta doesn't even miss a beat; there's no stunned silence, only an instant flare-up.] Are you fucking serious?

[falloutpslnpcs]

Serious as a deathclaw. Operations are too delicate right now and there are too many irregularities. You can continue your work and provide information at dead drop, but must have no contact with other Railroad personnel.

[capcious]

[Zetta flings her hands in the air. Jesus fucking christ. After everything he does for them, the way he puts himself on the line -- She has the fucking balls to say she doesn't trust he has the Railroad's best interest at heart? What the fuck did Carrington say to her? Zetta's eyes dart to him, narrowed in a hot, focused glare, like a laser rifle.]

[ersatzeverything]

[Carrington raised his eyebrows slightly, completely unperturbed by her fury.

Deacon shifts so he's standing between Zetta and the others. He doesn't really think she'll lunge at them, but you never know.]

Hey, it's okay. I'm the one always advocating for paranoia, yeah? After I'm gone, change HQ, and I'll stay out of your hair as long as you need.

I told you he was clear. [Carrington said to Dez.]

[capcious]

[... hang the fuck on.] Wait, what? [She still has the urge to grab on to Deacon protectively, and now that she's confused, the urge is stronger.]

[ersatzeverything]

Yeah. What she said.

[Dez crosses her arms.]

Carrington suggested a test. Deacon just passed.

[capcious]

[Zetta pinches the bridge of her nose. That urge is getting even stronger now. Goddammit.] A test for what?

[falloutpslnpcs]

To see if Deacon was a replacement or not.

[capcious]

[Zetta's resolve breaks right in half and she ends up fisting her hand in the back of Deacon's shirt, over the small of his back.] Jesus fucking christ, I could have told you he isn't.

[falloutpslnpcs]

But how would you know? How could any of us know?

[capcious]

There's some shit you just can't pick up out of an interrogation. I'd know. [She hates that the idea puts her on edge. She likes to think she'd accept a synth Deacon. But the implication -- If Deacon was replaced, then it'd mean he'd died, and where they'd failed to protect him. ... hers, hers, hers, hers.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

But do they interrogate to get their information for a replacement? We know from the example of Nick Valentine that they can insert an entire lifetime of memories into a synth.

[Carrington snorts.]

Do you really think an exact replica of Deacon would be any more obedient to Institute orders than he is to ours?

[capcious]

They interrogate. That's what they did when they replaced Roger Warwick. I've read the logs discussing it myself. [It was one of the things she did to keep herself occupied while Ferran was away dealing with the mission. At Carrington's comment, Zetta snorts, too, because he's right. And an exact replica would still decide to sabotage everything. But she doesn't like ho quiet Deacon's being. It makes her want to curl around him protectively. Now Dez is the one getting treated to that narrow-focused glare Zetta originally gave Carrington.]

[ersatzeverything]

So...just to be clear...am I in exile or am I in your good graces?

[Deacon's tone is light, but his shoulders are tense. As if he hasn't had enough paranoia on his own wondering if he's maybe a synth replacement and doesn't know it. Having other people reinforce that paranoia isn't doing his mental state any favors.]

[capcious]

[Zetta can't do as obvious a gesture as rubbing her hand up between his shoulders, so instead, she rubs her thumb against his back in small circles. She fucking hates that every time they touch base in person with his people, he ends up getting fucked, one way or another. Her glare doesn't let up from Desdemona.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

You're not in exile, Deacon. But please send me more information on your activities in the future.

[capcious]

[Zetta flares up, her teeth showing as she snaps out,] Or what, you actually will throw him out? You talk about trusting him and you fucking treat him like this?

[falloutpslnpcs]

I said I'm not exiling him and I mean it. Asking for reports isn't about trust. It's my job to know what's going on and it's Deacon's job to tell me. I'm just asking for more communication, not proof of loyalty.

[capcious]

You obviously haven't been trusting him if Carrington thought you needed to fucking test him to see for yourself that he's fine. He's been telling you what you need to know. Literally nothing has bit you in the ass with the way we've been handling shit so far.