Mira seemed to have a habit of showing up unexpectedly. Perhaps it was her stealth suit, perhaps it was her skills, or perhaps because Adam simply was not as aware of his surroundings as he would like to believe. In either case, for once, this was the least unexpected she had ever been. He figured she might show up sooner or later.
Adam turned fully to look at her and offered her a smile.
"Hey Mira." He said to her warmly.
"Hey." She said back softly before she took off her helmet and let her hair down, literally. "I uh… came to say goodbye… again…" She said, hesitantly.
"You leaving?" Adam asked as he took a step closer to her now, still well outside her personal space but close enough that their conversation didn't have to be as loud.
"Yes… I… was going to leave originally. This isn't my home… it never was… it was only by chance that I…" She petered off, seeming of two minds about things at the moment. Adam let the silence sit for a moment as she sorted her thoughts before he sighed quietly and then looked her in the eyes.
"You once asked me if my Vault had room, remember?" He started. "We are rebuilding it, me and my friends. If you would still like…" He paused, letting the offer sink in. She went wide eyed for a moment and then looked away again.
"I… don't know…" She hesitated. "You don't even know anything about me." She turned to him again. "What if I bring nothing but danger, what if I'm a bad fit, what if I end up needing to leave." She said, clearly spiraling a bit.
"You are overthinking it." Adam said, taking one more step closer. "You are a friend too, Mira." He smiled. "And you once asked if you can live in the safety of a vault. Well I'm giving you the option."
"I haven't even told you anything about myself, how can you trust me so blindly?" She asked.
"What I can trust… is your actions." He insisted."You came back when you didn't have to, you threw yourself into danger when you didn't have to." Adam paused. "Chicago is my home, whether it be now or in the past. We all have a few secrets we want to keep hidden. What matters is if your heart is in the right place. You, Mira, came to the aid of people you barely knew. You are a good person, for me that is enough."
"I…" She paused again. "I'm afraid… Adam…" She whispered quietly. "I have too many fears now, I… I'm not the woman I used to be…" She said even quieter. Adam gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't have to be strong all the time Mira. That's what friends are for, we watch each other's backs, we help each other when we are down. You need a friend right now. Don't be afraid to take my hand." He smiled warmly. "Dont let your fear of the unknown stop you from seeking peace. You told me before you were done running. Well, here is your opportunity. Come to the Vault with us, see if you like it, I will not hold you to it if you don't want to stay." As Adam slowly retracted his hand Mira remained quiet for a good long while before she sighed deeply and then looked at Adam with a more steeled expression.
"I am done running." She repeated to him. "I don't want to run anymore." She said again. "Alright, I will come back with you. Just don't blame me when I'm too annoying." She grinned playfully though a still slightly nervous exterior. Adam chuckled and patted her shoulder twice before hopping up onto the APC.
"We need to grab the turrets and Buddy who are still at the battlefield, then we will head to the Vault. You good to walk?"
"Yes. I can walk." She chuckled very quietly.
"Hey! You two lovebird done fucking chatting over there?" Salvatore said, with a teasing and annoyed tone at the same time. "Come on, we ain't got all day."
"I do~" Eve said with a flirty tone. "And all night too if you want, Adam." She teased.
"Rae is also working with acceptable parameters!" Rae added in, for no real reason.
"You coming back with us Eve?" Adam said as he turned to her before he jumped into the cockpit.
"Oh yes, I want to see what sort of home you are trying to invite me into~ After all I don't sleep in just any bed. I like to know who I am sleeping with~" Adam chuckled and shook his head at her comment. He then shot Mira one more look and then hopped into the cockpit and began to find another path that wasn't blocked by rubble back to the camp.
The trip to the camp was uneventful, as was the grabbing of the turrets and Buddy. He also noticed the camp was mostly picked through. The gun turrets that the Hunters brought were gone, minus the 2 that were destroyed, and most of the guns, ammo, and armor was looted by the other groups before they left. Adam actually saw them doing this before he left for his APC but he was not too bothered by it. Everyone suffered a ton of losses. It was fine to let them take it.
Adam was pretty sad to lose his power armor though. He had only just gotten it too. However the explosion from the fusion core absolutely destroyed it beyond repair. He would have to get a new one, that was the only way. He did still have to look into the power armor he found in the sewer that one time, but it truly was not high on his list of things to do so it kept getting put off. Though the fact he now had a car would help a lot with the motivation to look for the right sewer entrance. Again though, he was doubtful it would even work.
However as Adam was packing up the turrets and the computer they were linked to from the camp he did notice one thing that was left behind that caught his eye. It was the broken Mr. Gusty that was badly damaged by the ferals when they rushed in from the West. It was sprawled out on the ground, arms stretched out far and it had a huge hole in its head chassis, but… it was otherwise intact.
If he could get it working again, a Mr. Gutsy would go a long way to bolstering his fighting forces. It was pretty badly damaged though so it might not work, but even so he could then strip it for parts and use it to repair Remington.
So, with his mind made up, he threw the Mr. Gusty, still emblazoned with the Talon Company symbol, into the back of his APC and drove off, back to the vault, to hopefully get some real comfortable sleep tonight.