p a t r i o t

                        ❝ Contrary to what others might think,                         science should never be dispassionate. ❞

      She nodded silently, leaning against Liam for support; it was something she’d learned was necessary, and in times like these… It helped. Having someone to comfort her and tackle the problems she faced, rather than just trying to ignore them and struggling further…         “I don’t know…” Laura shook her head, hair ruffling with the motion against his. “I don’t… I wanted to let him have another birthday.” The tears seemed to have dried up, spent for the time being as the topic changed slightly… “Give him a big gift, something to make up for the lies…” As though there was any present that could possibly change the fact that she had hidden his origins. Perhaps, with enough effort over the next few months, she could find some way…         “I never thought about it, really… 15. It’s what I was waiting for, but the closer we get, the more clueless I am, and I don’t know what I’m doing, Liam- I just… I wanted my son.” She had to squeeze her eyes tightly to prevent any more tears from falling, the back of one hand coming up to rub fiercely against one eye. 

                          ❝ He is your son, ❞ he insisted.  ❝ He always has been. ❞ Lying to him had been easy, and he couldn’t judge her choice for a second when he’d played a role in Shaun’s ignorance too. If he’d wanted to, he could have told him at any point in time that he was a synth. But he hadn’t. It seemed cruel on a variety of levels, especially when Laura had made it abundantly clear that she wanted him to be able to live like a normal child. He sighed, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. 

                              ❝ You -- or we -- have to tell him Laura. It’s going to be difficult, and he's probably not going to like it, but keeping up the lie isn’t an option anymore, ❞ he murmured. Her fears were perfectly understandable. In a way, she’d already lost Shaun twice -- a third time would kill her. But holding off any longer might only increase the resentment he’d feel upon learning the truth. It was better to get it done and over with, so they could all heal as a family.

     Oops. Laura didn’t mean to be so obvious about the fact that she intruded in others’ terminals, but it was a bit late to take it back. An embarassed smile curved across her lips and she shrugged, not verbally acknowledging the slip-up.        “Definitely better to be safe than sorry, but I think it really could be possible… And I’ve heard so many express problems with the SRB, that should be easy enough to take care of… Just stoke the flames a bit…” Normally, she wasn’t one for gossip, but if they managed to get rumors flying about what Justin Ayo was doing instead of his job? That would be ideal. Sowing seeds of dissent might cause problems later, but if done right… “And there are some who sympathize with the surface. Imagine what we could do…” 

                  ❝ The SRB’s way too heavy-handed when it comes to dealing with problems, lately. No one’s going to miss Justin, that’s for sure. ❞ He knew that most of the division wasn’t overly pleased with their leader’s attempts at strong-arming people  into doing what he wanted. But, as long as he was acting as the division head, there wasn’t much they could do to stop it. Getting him out of the Institute entirely was the only option.  ❝ If we can convince people he’s not who he says he is, that takes a huge obstacle out of our way. ❞ There was no doubt that Father would banish him, once the accusations and ‘evidence’ came out. He supposed he should have felt a bit guilty about it, but, after all the hell Ayo had put his father through, he couldn’t muster up any remorse. Better him than me.

“It’s not just for soda-” Explaining how much the Commonwealth actually got from other places might take too much time, Laura realized, so she cut herself off. “… I went to school with money from the government. Before I joined the military.” In a way, that was the truth- a few parts left out for simplicity’s sake. “For a career in law.” One that became military law, a career she pursued for years before becoming pregnant with Shaun…  “College?” She had to force her mind back where it belonged; in the present. “It was on the west coast… Some partying, but still, I had to be responsible.” A mentat addiction and a lot of summer fun with other women… More things that were better left out. “Sunny California, home of the country’s hopes and dreams…” Probably worse off than Boston, now, depending on the location. She wasn’t certain where the caravans went off to, but she doubted Los Angeles or San Francisco were either of their destinations. 

                        “Law? That . . . makes a lot of sense, actually.” As morally ambiguous as some of her choices could be, Laura had a penchant for enforcing rules and assuring that others stuck to them. Picturing her as a lawyer was strange, though. She’d lived before the war, but he’d never truly been able to view her as someone from that time, living a cozy life in a Boston suburb.  Yet, that had been her reality, before she’d woken up to this NIGHTMARE.

      “The only thing she should be working on is the chip, if what Father told me was correct. It’s apparently a ‘priority’ since I’m the new surface agent…” A hint of disdain dripped from her voice, but she quickly coughed to cover it.       “Alright… And… I think so. He’s the head of Robotics, right?” Laura caught him in the middle of a disagreement with some other scientist in the department, but it hadn’t stopped him from being kind to her… Considering Liam was his son, it would make him more likeable. His compassion had to come from somewhere, after all. “I’d be happy to meet both of them.” She finally managed a sincere smile at the thought of others within the Institute whom she might be able to agree with or, at the least, get along well with…     “Well, if we’re getting my bag, that’s upstairs- do you know where?” 

              “I think so,” he replied cheerfully. Her room had been set aside from everyone else’s quarters, oddly enough. Perhaps Father didn’t trust her as much as he let on. “And that’s him, yeah. His work is . . . really cool. I’d like to work in Robotics with him someday.” He sounded faintly embarrassed to admit it, knowing that it probably sounded somewhat childish. Besides, it was more of a pipe dream than anything; he’d be stuck in Advanced Systems forever, more than likely. Unless, somehow, the whole Institute’s perception of him changed. And, really, there was only one way for that to happen, but their view of him certainly wouldn’t change for the better.

      “The tree will hurt your knuckles a lot more- trust me, I can take it.” Laura had no plans to hit him back; that could come later. She doubted he’d ever actually be able to win in a fight against her, but for the moment, just working on creating some muscle memory might be a good idea. “I’m not going to hit you, Liam… But I don’t have any boxing gloves or other supplies, so this will have to do.” She almost said please, but considering the exercise was for him… 

                  “Yeahh, I’m not comfortable doing that,” he said plainly, crossing his arms over his chest. Liam knew he might have been being a bit unnecessarily stubborn about this, but it wasn’t as if he wasn’t genuinely appalled by the idea of hitting her. “There’s got to be something better than you to throw punches at, right?” He glanced around, only to be met with the same, dead view the Commonwealth always had to offer. It was either her or the tree.

    She chuckled as she caught sight of Liam scratching the cat, having turned to set the kettle against a hot plate so it could start boiling. Once it was turned on, Laura turned back to him and raised an eyebrow at the two cups. 

    “I feel like you already know the answer to that question…” As he took the third mug down, she moved closer and nodded an affirmation. “Maybe we should get a few more down and just set them aside?” Rather than let him do it, she stepped around him,leaned up, and snagged three more mugs by their handles. They weren’t too heavy, quickly brought down and slid onto the counter away from the others before Laura released them and closed the cabinet. “So… Tea? Got hubflower, bloodleaf, and a few others…” Focused on the various packages of dried plants, she flipped through the baggies, waiting for a response.

                “Hubflower,” he responded immediately. He’d never been fond of bloodleaf tea. Admittedly, part of that was because its name didn’t make it sound particularly appetizing, but Liam figured that was fair enough. “Need me to do anything else?” he prompted, absently spinning all the mugs so their handles faced outwards -- easy to grab. 

           “I’ll get them on it as soon as possible.” She nodded sympathetically before hesitating, unsure of how to answer without possibly upsetting him. After all, the chances were still fairly slim… “They found you.” A tense smile pulled briefly at Laura’s lips and she nodded once more, this time far more decisively.            Though she knew things were far from perfect between Eve and Liam, she could only hope for the best if there was a reunion… For the first time in as long as she could remember, she missed her mom. The mourning had been ongoing even when the bombs dropped, more than a year after her parents’ deaths… But he was talking again, so she forced herself to shake the memories off.          “I… I know.” Taking a deep breath, Laura took a moment to gather her thoughts, eyes closed for only a few seconds before she looked back to him. “You got along without me for long enough, though.” Whether or not he’d have continued to survive was questionable, but for such a time, he had. “You just reacted, and… It’s understandable, Liam.” 

               “Is it?” he pressed, guiltily lowering his gaze. “If my decision to cut her out of my life got her killed . . . that’s not really understandable at all.” Removing Laura from his life was one thing; they had never, in a literal sense, needed to stick together. There was no doubt that she could take care of herself, but Eve was every bit as clueless as him. Together, they had stood a better chance, but he’d chosen to leave her behind, instead. 

               Sure, the Minutemen HAD found him, but that was within months of the Institute’s destruction. Quite some time had passed since then. Eve was a capable woman, but she was also undeniably soft. A life spent caged in the Institute could produce nothing less. “Maybe she would have gone somewhere with other synths,” he suggested. “Chris could know something, or even Beth might have an idea of where synths tend to settle.” Both of them had been alone prior to coming to Sanctuary, but even the smallest detail or idea they could muster might be helpful.

“As tempting as that sounds I don’t really intend on taking the General’s time with menial tasks such as clothing upkeep. She’s got enough to worry about already. I’ll just have to look for some Abraxo Cleaner while I’m in the Boston Commons again.”

                                 i could love you, but that alone is the reason why i CAN’T.

                                                 synthsavior    &&     lastofthepast

       She couldn’t help blushing just a bit at the question; what was she supposed to say that might prepare him for the fact that his girlfriend was a bit of a hoarder? … Well, maybe the hoarding part was obvious, though most of it actually went to good use in the settlements. But dresses?        “You’ll have to wait and see…” The safe was well-hidden in the room on the bottom floor, covered by an old painting of a kitten. Odd enough to stand out but not to draw attention; something Laura could take care of and use without suspicion…           “But that’s a good plan. Make our way down the hill, maybe find a few things on the way.” She tried not to put too much emphasis on the finding bit, but some slipped in regardless; it was important, after all. 

                “As long as it’s not a cache of mutated animals you’ve been hiding from me, I think I’ll be able to live with whatever’s there.” He smiled fondly at her, giving her a gentle nudge with his elbow. His statement was rather far from the truth; she could fill their home with enough animals to put most hoarders to shame, and he’d still love her wholeheartedly. What was a few slobbery dogs, if he had Laura? He’d already put up with a couple for her sake, anyway.

         Her eyelids were already drooping, muscles aching from the effort she’d expended just to get to this point… Damnit. The only real reason she’d managed to stay awake was the pain.

        “… Might be better if you do it,” Laura confessed quietly. The last thing she needed was to stab the wrong place and end up with her entire leg numb and tingly. She hated chems, and the idea of needing a second injection just to correct a mistake, especially given the effect it might have… Using as little as possible would be best. “If you can…?” 

         “Er, I guess.” She was so out of it, trusting her to do it herself did seem unwise, but Liam -- fully sober -- might not be the best person to trust with a sharp object. He curled his fingers back around the syringe, his thumb hovering above the plunger. He’d never injected anyone with Med-X before; he’d never been in enough pain to warrant using the potentially-addictive substance.

                       “Mm…” She hummed in response initially, unsure that she was still content with a life at sea. Though it certainly had its benefits and she enjoyed feeling free, there were times the strictness managed to infuriate her and she longed for the mainland once more… “Well, I can’t say much for your teenage years, but in college, you were definitely a star student.” Laura chuckled at the memories of how he’d helped her through quite a few difficult lessons; looking back and knowing that, apparently, he’d liked her… Well, maybe a few things made more sense. “Better than me in the sciences, that’s for sure.” 

    “Maybe… But there’s plenty of cloth scraps we could use instead. Stuff that can’t be salvaged, fixed, or sewn back together…” She almost smirked at the additional comment, but instead, she gently smacked his arm with the back of her hand. “Hey, if you’d rather walk around wearing nothing, be my guest. But don’t blame me if you get cold… Those jumpers were much worse- remind me to show you a fashion magazine at some point. I doubt this is what the designers imagined, that long ago…” 

            I don’t think it’s any secret that shipping is not and never has been my top priority in this fandom. I’m also not blind to the fact that sometimes people follow canons -- specifically male ones -- with the intent to ship with them. That’s not by default a bad thing; some people like to develop romantic relationships between muses with lots of people, but I’m not one of them.

              So, from now on, Liam will be SINGLE-SHIP with @lastofthepast‘s Laura. Rin and I have put a lot of time, discussion, and development into their relationship / timeline, and I’m currently perfectly content with having Laura as Liam’s main and only love interest. This decision likely won’t be changed any time in the foreseeable future.