#for reference this is prior to nate and casey falling for each other

[avaleon]

A chill had crept into his bones somewhere in the Savage Divide the night before and was quickly sapping the strength from Nate’s limbs. The herbal tablets he took at the early onset of symptoms weren’t doing anything for his worsening condition and he didn’t have any other medications. Any attempt to think back to the onset of illness was futile as his memory failed. Whatever this was, it was neurological. His only saving grace was he had made it past the mountains and was now in the safer region of the forest.

Nate tried in vain to get a fire going but his hands were clumsy and uncooperative as his feet were. He shivered uncontrollably, huddled in the corner of the decrepit building that was once a coffee shop. If he was more alert he would have noted the open windows provided no shelter from inclement weather and the building was too close to the road, leaving him exposed to the threats of West Virginia. Against his will, Nate fell asleep.

***

He woke with a start with someone nudging his foot, going for his knife before the figure standing over him help up their hands.

“Easy, friend. You look to be in bad shape.”

Their voice was calm and confident. Nate’s blurred vision disallowed for the man to come into clarity.

“You have a very high fever,” the man continued, “What other symptoms are you experiencing? Pain? Nausea?”

Nate struggled to find his voice, “Can’t walk, numb.”

He tried to move only to find his body stiff and painful. He growled in agony.

“I’m a doctor, I can help. If it’s okay with you I am going to check your skin for lesions” he stated.

Nate barely had time to nod before the stranger was undressing him to expose his upper body. He shook his head and made a disapproving noise as he stripped Nate down to his pants and boots.

“Swollen, purple lesions. No weeping or oozing. Would you said you have sudden limb paralysis?”

Nate nodded again. The doctor poked a few of the purple spots on Nate’s chest and hummed to himself. He stood and went to his duffle bag that was laying on the ground. Keeping his mind focused on the stranger was more than Nate could handle and he struggled to remain conscious.

“Without bloodwork, I can’t be sure but I believe you have a severe case of asthenia from an acute bacterial infection. Some strong antibiotics and a day of rest and you should make a full recovery. Diseases these days are much more powerful,” he chuckled as if he’d made a joke.

Nate heard the sharp click of glass-on-stone and water splashing. The stranger was standing over him again. Sharp pain in Nate’s arm followed and Nate’s consciousness wavered once again.

***

His fever broke in the night and the pain left with it. By morning, Nate’s vision had returned to normal and he was able to properly get a sense of his surroundings. The doctor, a fairly tall man with blond hair and far too attractive to be a survivor, slept soundly beside the extinguished remains of a fire. A pip-boy was latched onto his left forearm.

Nate tried to stand only to slip and crash to the ground, accidentally kicking over a cup of water by his feet.

“Easy,” the doctor said sleepily, “flap limb takes a few hours to wear off after antibiotics.”

Nate looked at the man in more length, he was Nuka-boy pretty with bright eyes and a look of intelligence to him he didn’t like.

“Thank you.”

The man smiled warmly, unnerving Nate, “ My pleasure, you’re lucky I was in the area. You would have died.”

The thought had passed his mind though he would never admit it to a stranger. He was already uncomfortable with the idea of being indebted to someone he didn’t know.

“Are you really a doctor?”

The man let out a short laugh, “Yes. Fully licensed before the war. I am the head of Medicine in Vault 76.”

Nate kept it to himself that he knew that was no longer the case, Casey had made it clear their former titles meant little outside the Vault. This doctor was a reclaimer now, just like Casey and the other vault dwellers dying across Appalachia. He wondered what this ‘doctor’ was after.

“What do I owe you?”

“For now, nothing,” the doctor began, “I am looking for someone who knows the region, however. A guide.”

“What makes you think I do?”

“Come now, I wasn’t born yesterday. You were not in the Vault, you smell as if you have been living off the land for longer than I have been alive and look the part too,” he quirked an eyebrow at Nate, “I can pay you, of course. I happen to sell my services to the unfortunate few of Appalachia and chems to the needy. We all have our vices.”

Nate’s eyes shot to his pack and he got the feeling this doctor had gone through his belongings. The day tripper and calm-x in his bag were tucked into the side pocket and the buffout and bufftats were in the main compartment beside his water purifier and dried radstag.

“I’m not for sale.”

“Of course not. This will have to be a mutual agreement. Not constant, of course.”

His eyes moved over the doctor again. There was a dark stain on the bottom of his lab coat, possibly old blood given the colour. He was tall but slim in build, capable looking and Nate knew there was more information in that pip-boy than in any of Nate’s maps.

The doctor continued, “I know you probably haven’t met many vault dwellers but I promise you we are a resilient and hard-working people.”

In one sentence the man had insulted Nate more than any other vault dweller he had met so far. Nate huffed and shook his head, these vault dwellers were all the same, arrogant and overconfident. Casey was the only person he has met thus far that had any sense to him.

The doctor continued to bargain, “How about you just escort me to Helvetia and we can decide from there. I’ll give you two doses of antibiotics for the journey.”

Despite his gut, Nate agreed. If the man was a threat, he would just have to deal with him later.

The doctor smiled, “Excellent. What should I call you?”

“Call me Lobo,” Nate replied after a short pause, drawing on the nickname Casey had gifted him recently.

“Dr. Covington, please to meet you Lobo.” he held out one of his too-clean hands for Nate to take.

“Nice to meet you, Doc.”

Casey Loomis and Robert Covington belongs to @tonightinthewasteland