Chapter Text
September 16th, 2285
The hydraulics of the cryo-pod hissed loudly as they released, sending a wave of cold steam billowing out from the sides of the chamber.
Kate fell onto the concrete floor with her knees making contact first, the sound just as jarring as the pain. She swallowed down an exhausted breath, using her weakened arm muscles to push herself up to see the chamber where Nate and Shaun were being held.
She could still hear the ringing in her ears from the bullet that rang out into her husband's head. Maybe he was okay...maybe the frozen pod kept him clinging to life. Maybe this was all just a cruel joke and Shaun was still in there, untouched and safe.
When her eyes shifted down and noticed the dried pool of blood leaking from the bottom her eyes screwed shut.
"Nate. Oh, God." Her hand trembled as it reached toward his pod, praying that she could still save him.
Before she could reach the switch something stopped her. A large shadow standing above her, outfitted in shiny power armor. Was it the military? Had they come to rescue her family? Behind them stood another figure, this one clad in a burgundy robe.
"Help." She tried to speak but her vocal cords felt fried.
"Subject is awake but disoriented." The robed figure spoke, a woman judging from the voice.
"Well, yeah. How would you feel if you just woke up after 200 years? She's probably half-crazed."
"Wh-?..." Kate backed away. "Who...Shaun? Where's Shaun?" She croaked. "Where is he? Please!"
The woman scoffed. "Nice going, Hayes, now we gotta sedate her."
"Help, please! My-my husband, he's dying-"
"Wait, I think she's gonna pass out."
"Good, it'll save us the Med-X."
"Nate...Shaun?" She collapsed forward onto the ground, too exhausted to form proper sentences.
Everything went silent.
* * *
Things began to fade in slowly and Kate could recognize the sound of idle chatter happening around her.
Was it all just a dream?
Her eyes tried to open but felt glued shut. "Where...?"
"Save your breath and remain calm." A disembodied voice spoke. "You've been out for a few hours."
She couldn't recognize the voice, it seemed so far away. Her eyes fluttered open and shut as she tried to make sense of her situation.
"Shaun?" She couldn't hear him crying...instead she listened as a loud hum vibrated her skull. Her eyes opened to investigate.
Skies.
She was on a vertibird...
Adrenaline forced her upright, flooding her senses with panic as she saw four strangers in the cargo with her, one of them seemed to be the robed woman from the vault.
"Shaun? Where's Shaun?!" She lunged forward.
"She's going to jump, restrain her!" Someone yelled.
Two of the power armored figures pinned her to the floor, binding her wrists together with chains while she fought back. Nothing made sense...where was Shaun? Was Nate dead? Where was she being taken?
"What's our ETA?" Someone spoke to the pilot up front.
"0600."
"Radio ahead and let them know that our subject is awake and ready for isolation."
"Isolation?" Kate repeated softly. "I don't understand."
The woman from before crouched down to her level, patting her arm somewhat sympathetically. "It'll be okay. Just take a deep breath for me."
Kate did as she asked, inhaling deep while feeling something prick her arm. A rush of cold went through her veins as her head grew fuzzy, the voices around her slowly blurred until her body went limp. Over the next few hours she faded in and out, picking up parts of their conversations before feeling the vertibird lurch forward upon landing. As she slowly lost consciousness again she heard one last sentence that rang in her head.
"Don't let anybody see her, she's not fit for presentation."
September 18th, 2285
Kate paced around the small room they had locked her in, unaware of where she was or how long it had been since the bombs dropped.
Nate was dead...she could feel it in her bones. The memory of the bald man shooting him replayed itself in her brain until she physically became sick.
Why didn't she hold onto Shaun? Why did it have to be him? He didn't deserve to die like that...he didn't deserve to die at all.
While deep in her thoughts the door to her room slid open, revealing a young woman dressed in a similar burgundy robe as the first.
"Hello! It's nice to meet you, I'm Scribe Gomez." She shook Kate's hand. "I'm going to be helping you get ready."
Get ready for what?
"Where am I?" She finally asked.
"The Citadel, in the Capital Wasteland." She took a moment to let the information sink in. "Don't worry, this is the safest place you could possibly be. Head Scribe Rothchild told me about your past...you must be so confused. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, ma'am."
"Capital?... You mean like...Washington?"
"Yes, I suppose that's what they called it in your time. I don't understand why though," she chuckled "...naming an entire district over a man seems quite silly."
Nothing she said made sense...Capital Wasteland, past and time...it felt like Kate was missing a big piece of their conversation. "I don't understand what's happening...where's my baby?"
"Baby?" The young woman raised a brow. "Um...what baby?"
"MY baby. The one that you stole before taking me! Where is he? Where is Shaun?!"
The poor girl backed away slowly until she hit the wall, nervously stammering that she didn't know anything about a baby or Nate being killed. Kate was almost to the point of tears when she finally agreed to get someone who has more information.
Minutes later, a bald-headed man walked in with a permanent frown plastered on his face. "Hello there, Katelyn. I am Paladin Greene, head of capture and return. I've been assigned to your case for several weeks now. I have to say I'm glad to see you've recovered all of your faculties."
"Where is my son?"
"He isn't here." The man spoke carelessly. "We've tried looking for him but it appears that the chamber he was in was already opened. The man with him was dead and we assume somebody already came at some point and took him."
"My husband."
"Excuse me?"
"My husband was the one in that chamber...he was holding our son, Shaun, when a man came and took him. Please, you have to find him! He's only four months old..."
Greene sighed and took a seat on the old sofa in the corner, patting the open space beside him for her to sit. "I know this is hard for you to come to terms with but your son is most likely dead...we have no idea when or why he was kidnapped. It could've been a year ago or one-hundred years ago. I'm sorry."
Kate felt her stomach drop to the floor. "No...he's a baby. He's my baby. Please, he's still out there, I can feel it."
"It's tragic, I know. Waking up in this world confused and alone is enough to drive a person mad. But you, you're special...it's why we have taken such an interest in you."
She looked at him as if he were insane, which perhaps he was. "What are you talking about?"
"You are one of a kind, Katelyn, your genetics were frozen when the bombs dropped 208 years ago. All this time you've been trapped underground just waiting to be saved from that cryo chamber...and now you're here."
"208 years ago? Oh god..."
"It's remarkable, isn't it? You've been perfectly preserved in the prime of your life. And now you're going to go down in history as the woman who continued the Maxson legacy."
"I just want my baby back, please! There has to be a way for you to find him..." She broke down in tears.
Paladin Greene patted her back carefully. "I admire your dedication as a mother. It's going to make Elder Maxson very proud."
"What are you talking about?" She wiped her eyes. "What legacy?"
"The legacy of Elder Arthur Maxson...as of today, he is your new husband."
"Are you insane?" She scoffed in his face before standing up to try and open the locked door. "I'm already married!"
"You were...and then he died. Now, you are Elder Maxson's bride."
"No. I am not getting married! I don't care who it is, I refuse! Who the hell do you think you are?"
"It's already done." Greene chuckled. "As of twenty-three minutes ago, you are now Katelyn Maxson."
"What? I didn't agree to anything!"
"That's irrelevant...as part of our codex, we don't need your consent. You aren't Brotherhood, therefore, you have no rights here."
"What Brotherhood? What are you talking about?!" Kate shouted. "This entire thing is illegal."
"You'll come to learn that laws do not exist in the Wasteland. Not anymore." He smiled. "Now, why don't you let my scribe help you get ready, hmm? You're due to meet your husband in one hour."
"I'm not meeting anyone! I demand that you take me back to the Vault!"
Greene laughed as if she were a child demanding a new color crayon. "You are no longer in control, Katelyn. You're property of the Brotherhood of Steel...it's best you remember that from now on."
The door slid open as he approached it, showing the young scribe waiting outside with a folded gown in her arms. The realization of what was going to happen suddenly flooded Kate's mind.
"Scribe Gomez, you may proceed with helping Lady Maxson get ready." He walked out of the room before turning on his heel. "Oh, and Katelyn? Be on your best behavior...I would hate to have thawed you out for nothing."