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"So," Ash said, looking at the rifle in her kitchen, with Remus sitting against the wall again. "What's the story with that rifle?"

"Actually," Derek replied across the table. "My father said you would be able to tell me."

Ash stood in front of the refrigerator, silently. Why would the overseer think I could explain that? She thought while she picked up two nuka-colas and two Brahmin steaks for breakfast. And then it hit her. The photo album.

"Look in that desk, by the wall," Ash said, absently while she put out plates and what little silverware she had.

Standing up, Derek thought that Ash might be pulling a prank on him. After all, that was her specialty, but when he opened the top drawer on the desk, there was an old photo album in it. "Is this a picture of you on the cover?" he asked.

"No," Ash said smiling. "I think it's my mother, before the grey hair and wrinkles started setting in."

Flipping through the first few pages, he came across a picture of Ash's mother, Lillian, holding that very rifle against her shoulder. The picture below it showed something that looked like a human, way off in the distance, but without a head on its shoulders.

Taking the picture off the page and looking at the back, Derek was amazed at what was written there. "Lillian McMonte, top sniper, NCR military, 1st recon. Another head on the rack!" Derek read aloud.

"No..." Ash said staring at the picture of her mother holding the rifle.

It just couldn't be. Her mother? An NCR soldier? Ash didn't want to believe it, but it was right there in those old photos. "Maybe some of that shooting prowess got passed down into you." Derek said, just staring at the picture in his hand, which showed what was left of her mother's target.

"Well," Ash sighed, cracking open her soda. "eat up. It isn't exactly vault food, but it isn't half bad either."

Derek's face was fun to watch as he ate, washing down every couple of bites with some nuka-cola. It was like watching the sunrise, which Ash had missed by almost three hours when Derek came knocking at her front door.

"Now," Ash said, grabbing her pack, as Derek finished eating. "Let's head out. Oh, and Derek?"

"Yeah," he said nervously, knowing her tone meant trouble for someone, usually him.

"I'll be taking my mother's old rifle."

Ash opened the door with the large rifle slung across her back. Romulus stretching and trotting out with his tail wagging behind him was quickly followed by Ash's deathclaw, that she had named Remus. "I guess that means I get your hunting rifle for the time being." Derek sighed, looking over at it.

Remus stood behind his alpha, ready and willing to follow her into death if necessary. The sun made the air outside the structure his alpha clearly called home incredibly hot. The heat pierced his scales, despite the thickness of them.

When the other fleshy thing that smelled of male hormones joined them outside, the scent registered as a threat to Remus' claim, but he had seen how these creatures reacted to having those around them killed. It's what had eventually caused him to lose his pack, if he recalled correctly.

With his mind distracted by the memories of that day, he failed to notice that his alpha had begun to move, until the scent on the air changed. When he noticed, he began walking as well, staying a short distance back from her and her friend.

Standing in front of the vault door, Ash couldn't believe she was actually back. "Hey, guys!" Derek yelled into the microphone on the control console outside. "Open up, I'm back."

In the next three seconds, the door screeched, metal on metal as it opened. Security officer Davidson stood at the console inside with a smirk on his face, until he saw Ash. In a second, his hand was on his gun, waiting for her to make a move. Then he saw Romulus. The two had grown used to the company of one another in the two days the dog had spent there. "Officer Davidson," Ash said as the door finished rolling open. "can I ask you to please keep your hand off the gun? The four of us are all safe."

"Four?" the grey haired officer asked, before he noticed the scale covered mass of muscle that was Remus, standing behind Ash.

"Long story, Howard," Derek said behind Ash. "Can we come inside?"

"Uh, y-yeah," the man said before Ash stepped inside, leaving a light carpeting of dust on the ground. Then Derek did the same, followed by Romulus and the large mutant, whose claws looked deadly enough in their own right, even without considering the creature they were attached too.

The moment people started emerging from whatever rooms they were in, their eyes widened immensely, much to Ash's delight.

Remus could smell the terror radiating from the very walls of this place. He could smell the clean of it, the metal, and the stone it was made of. There was an atmosphere of joy throughout this place, despite the terror that his presence caused. It confused him, but did nothing to change his mood. A father...

Remus, lying in the corner, didn't seem to even notice that the overseer was pacing. Romulus watched with his ears perked up, waiting for what was about to happen. Derek leaned back in one of the chairs, knowing he'd already won the argument about to happen.

"How?" the overseer asked. "How could you do this to me?"

"Hmmm. Maybe the same way I hid that cherry bomb in your computer terminal, or the detonating micro fusion cell in your favorite chair," Derek listed off. "Maybe even like that time I-"

"Enough!" his father yelled. "I'll let you speak with your friends. I know it's no use arguing. I might as well accept that."

"Thanks," Derek said, smiling. "I just wish you'd consider trading with that little town down there."

After a searing glare from his father, Derek and Ash stood up, seeing Lillian before they could make another move.

Remus smelled a scent similar to the wasteland he had come to know as home. It was distorted, old, but still there. When he looked up, there was an elderly looking human, standing in the doorway. She briefly looked at him, without him smelling any fear from her. His curiosity piqued, Remus started to stand. Even stepping closer only earned him a thin gesture from the woman's face that gave him the impression that she was pleased.

She looked to his alpha and he watched their reactions to one another's presence, trying to understand this new level of compassion they both showed, wrapping their arms around one another. It was strange, but something about it filled his chest with warmth.

"I see you've made another friend out there." Lillian said to her daughter, memories taking her back almost twenty years.

"Yes, and believe me, he's been more than helpful in the last couple of days," Ash replied with a blush.

Lillian knew exactly what had happened. Her daughter, because of her blood, could never have resisted the wasteland, or its many freedoms. The sounds from what had happened with her daughter, she knew, would have echoed around the entire vault. "Yes, I can imagine. What with the raiders and other vicious creatures out there," Lillian said, brushing off her thoughts. "Do you think he'd mind if I took a good look at him?"

Ash looked over Lillian's shoulder for a moment, and seeing how calm Remus was, she shook her head. Lillian stepped up in front of the large creature, noting that his scales were different from normal, his muscles seemed more heavily toned, and that he had to be almost a hundred pounds heavier than your run of the mill deathclaw. "A mutation, for sure," she said, coming around behind him, knowing all the while that he was watching.

As she examined every little detail she could, Lillian was astounded by the lack of instinctive reflex to the little touches. The last group of deathclaws she met got jumpy if anything brushed against their scales, but this one seemed perfectly at home, no matter the circumstances.

Derek found his father watching in abject horror as Lillian looked over the beast that looked to weigh more than three-hundred fifty pounds. The overseer, though proud, was no fighter. No, that was his wife, and who Derek got it from. "You know mom would be scolding you, right?" Derek asked as he sat down again and put his feet on his father's desk.

"I..." the middle-aged man tried to speak.

"Oh!" Derek heard his mother's voice. "You're back! And who is your- Ash! Goodness, it's great to see you!" The woman swept over, lifting Ash an inch off the ground in a bear hug, eliciting a small growl from Remus. "Hush, you!" Tammy growled back, dropping Ash to the floor again. "I see you have another animal friend with you. Where'd you find this one?"

Ash could hardly get a word out under Tammy's barrage of questions and excited statements. "Tammy!" Ash finally yelled. "Stop, breathe, and let me talk for a moment."

"Alright," Tammy sighed, glancing at Remus and Lillian. "I suppose I can do that."

"Where to begin?" Ash asked first. "Well, let's start with where I met him. There's a dry lake bed, about two days from here. When I saw him, I was terrified. I'd heard the stories of deathclaws, and knew how dangerous they are, but for some reason he protected me."

Ash looked at everyone in the room. The overseer was wide-eyed and shaking, obviously terrified himself, Derek was as laid back as ever, even had his trademark disinterested expression, Lillian was smiling, standing beside Remus, even as he turned to lay down by the wall again, and Tammy was wide-eyed with interest.

"Maybe we should get out there and explore a little ourselves," Tammy suggested, looking directly back at her husband.

"Absolutely not!" he yelled back. "There is no way we could guarantee our own safety if we did that!"

"Really?" Lillian asked, playfully. "Have you tried speaking with me on this?"

"There are any number hazards out there Lillian!" the Overseer stormed, much to Ash's amusement.

Remus growled from his corner, making the overseer jump. "Listen for a moment," Lillian said gently, still smiling. "The wasteland can be a savage place, but pockets of civilization still survive. Find these pockets and trade with them."

"Trade what exactly?" the Overseer demanded.

"Well, remember how I told you to find and collect all of the bottle caps you could?" Lillian asked coolly. "That is the currency of the wasteland."

"Are you joking?" Tammy asked, knowing all about Lillian's daughter. She must have gotten it from somewhere.

"Not at all!" Lillian exclaimed. "Are you forgetting where I grew up? Honesty saved lives."

Tammy nodded apprehensively as she walked toward a filing cabinet at the back of the overseer's office. "At last count we had over twenty thousand," Tammy said, looking back at Lillian.

"Th-that's impressive!" Lillian stumbled out. "H-how...?"

"Why is that impressive?" Tammy asked, confused.

"You have a rather large fortune," Lillian said, grinning. "I advise putting it to use!"

After a rather long day, talking with friends, visiting with family, and discussing plans for the future, Derek found himself in a separate room from Ash, but nearby, and sharing it with Romulus and Remus. Most of that night, Remus was staring at him, with that glow that an animal's eyes have at night. Every time he looked over at the wall, he could see that yellowish glow aimed directly at him. Needless to say, it was a long night.

Sometime in the night, he must have drifted off, because the lights were on when he woke up. Night and day cycles were run by a computer in the basement, so it was pretty easy to tell which it was supposed to be. Immediately, he looked to where Remus had been, finding an empty space. Scanning the room, he found nothing out of the ordinary. Then he examined himself, still finding nothing out of place.

"I have got to find out who decided to put me in the same room with Ashley's pets," Derek groaned to himself, despite having a pretty good idea.

As he stepped into the dining room area, he stopped in his tracks, almost falling on his face. His kid sister, Luna, was sitting in Remus's huge, muscled arms. "What's that about?" Derek asked, making her jump. "You're afraid of people for at least a week after you meet them, but you curl up in the arms of a mutant, legendary for its feats of raw destruction, just a day after meeting it?"

Luna blushed deeply, afraid to reply. Derek stood there, dumbfounded, as Remus eyed him down again. "He's gentle." Luna said quietly.

"A sleeping giant," Derek snorted.

Ash walked in on Derek's tirade with a yawn. She'd heard him yell down the hall and wanted to save Luna her usual torment. Also, it was a good chance to mess with Derek. "Hey," Ash said weakly as she sat down on one of the red, leather benches. "I heard the last of your parent's argument last night. It sounds like you could even come with me if you wanted, or more precisely, us."

Derek was seventeen, Ash knew that, and she knew his sister was fourteen. Three years apart, the two hadn't gotten along so well, but in an emergency, Derek always put his sister first. He put everyone first, now that she thought about it. "Absolutely not!" Derek yelled at the top his lungs. "I am not going to put my sister in that kind of danger!"

"Y'know," Ash said, smirking, as she pulled her shirt up onto her shoulder, having just noticed that it was off. "You sound an awful lot like your dad, yelling like that." She watched Derek blush furiously. "I happen to think it's kind of cute."

Luna laughed as she watched her brother blush as bright red as one of the vault's emergency lights. Ash could see the bit of confidence she always inspired in the shy girl. "It is, isn't it?" Luna agreed quickly, before growing quiet again.

Derek was blushing more brightly than Luna had ever seen. Although Derek, just like both of his parents, had been born with black hair, Luna was born with absolutely white hair, hence her name, so when she blushed it was more noticeable, but that only tempted her more when the chance came around to see the older boy blush.

"Ash?" Luna said, looking up to her idol. "Do you really think my dad would let me go with you?"

Ash was quiet for a while, staring off into space. She knew how much this girl idolized her. She also knew how fragile the girl could be. What would the wasteland do to her? She hadn't thought of that before making a joke like that. "Honestly, I don't think so." Ash finally admitted. "And who's to say you'd even like it out there? It's hot, dry, not to mention violent."

"I still want to go," Luna admitted, grabbing onto one of Remus's arms and hugging it tightly. "I know your friend will protect me, and I'm not much use here. At least there might be something I can do out there."

Ash was watching Remus expression. He wasn't capable of much, but he was capable of showing compassion as he watched this shy little girl. Lillian yawned behind Derek, holding a mug, obviously filled with coffee. "Did I hear that all right, or is my hearing failing?" Lillian asked, staring at her coffee. "You plan on leaving again with the youngest girl in the vault on your heels?"

Derek felt his face reddening again. It was inevitable that Lillian would get involved now. "If she wants to go, I won't stop her," Derek and Ash said in unison. "Besides," Ash continued. "From where I stand, there really isn't that much danger for her is there?"

Lillian looked at Remus, gently holding the small girl against his abdomen, and realized one added difference between this deathclaw and the normal ones. This one was sentient, instead of running purely on instinct. "I suppose I should call in that favor, if that's the case. Someone I know will also be very interested in meeting you and Remus, Ashley."

It took the rest of the day for the near riot to calm down. The only reason it hadn't escalated into a full blown riot was because Remus and Ash had stood by Derek, who stood by his father. Ash could only wonder as she watched Luna. The girl was unusually quiet, much like the nights Ash had spent out in the wasteland, but at the same time her jaw clenched stubbornly as her father berated them all.

"What in god's name were you thinking!?" he demanded at the end of his tirade.

Much to everyone's surprise, Luna was the one who spoke up declaring, "I was thinking that I won't let you control me anymore!" The overseer stumbled back, seeing the intensity of his daughter's gaze.

"Damn it all," The overseer grunted as he saw what was coming. "Looks like everything is blowing up in my face these days."

"And more still is on the way," Ash's mother sighed. "I got in contact with someone who was just a trainee when I was in 1st recon. Turns out, he's made it to general. Lee Oliver. Last time I saw him, he was only a corporal."

"Get to the point, Lillian." The overseer growled impatiently.

"Right, sorry, he promised to keep your daughter under watch, and requested a meeting with my daughter, as soon as she can get to the Hoover dam."

"You're speaking in military terms," the overseer said, smiling. "I assume that means civilization is rekindling."

"Yes and no," Lillian admitted. "It's trying."