To say Piper's first issue of the Publick Occurrences was a success is an understatement. The girl in the press cap and her paper had taken Diamond City by storm, and she'd even gotten word of people reading it across the commonwealth. After all, it had been a while since Boston had it's last newspaper.
Piper nearly skipped down the steps of Diamond City to tell Nat the good news. In her rush she accidentally ran into Danny Sullivan, on guard outside Piper's office.
"Hey, Piper! That paper of yours is a sensation here in Diamond City" he called.
"Yeah, it sure is nice to not get dirty looks from the entire Commonwealth for a change. What d'ya say, want to join Nick and I for a drink in the Dugout Inn later?" Piper asked. Danny paused. "I don't see why not" He smiled.
Piper burst through the door of Publick Occurrences.
"Nat!" She called.
Her sister appeared from behind the staircase with a concerned look on her face, but it soon faded when she caught sight of Piper's grin.
"We did it!" The sisters squealed almost simultaneously, as Piper scooped Nat up into a hug.
"I can't believe it was such a hit!" Nat said.
"Well, it wouldn't have been without the help of my trusty assistant" Piper replied, patting Nat on the head, "And for that I believe you deserve a reward"
Nat was practically quivering in excitement.
"What did you get me, Piper, what is it?!" She chirped.
Piper pulled a Nuka-Cola Quantum from her pocket and handed it to her sister with a smile.
Nat made a wordless noise of gratitude and buried herself in Piper's coat. The reporter had found the Nuka-Cola out in the commonwealth whilst out in search of her latest story, and just about managed to refrain herself from drinking the beverage before giving it to her sister as a small thank-you gift.
No sooner than Piper had given her the gift, Nat rushed out the door of Publick Occurrences, but not without a "I love you!" to her sister, no doubt off to show her friends in the City her gift from Piper.
Piper sighed, and began sorting through some junk she'd picked up during her travels out in the Commonwealth, to sell to Diamond City Surplus. Nothing wrong with some extra caps of course. When she had picked out some things that looked remotely valuable, she left her home and headed past the noodle bar to Diamond City Surplus, where due to the time of night she was greeted by the Mr Handy that ran the shop during the later hours.
Having sold her junk for a (fairly) reasonable price, she went to wait outside the Dugout Inn for her friends.
"Hey, Nick!"
"Evening, Piper. Shall we go in, or are we waiting for anyone else?" Nick asked.
"Actually, I managed to convince Danny to join us tonight. Though he's probably just coming for the moonshine" Piper laughed.
"Well, you did a good job of convincing him. He's not usually so agreeable" Nick said. Piper smirked as Danny walked up behind Nick and leaned on his shoulder.
"What's all this now? Not bitching' about me now are ya Nick?" He teased.
Nick rolled his eyes.
"Of course not, Sullivan"
The trio walked into the Inn, the air hazy with smoke, some from Piper's own cigarette. It was a surprisingly quiet night for the bar, but Piper soon spotted why. The usual bartender Vadim was not there, instead replaced with a slightly grimy man that most people probably wouldn't want handling their food. Not Piper, anyway. She was certain that most people only came to the Dugout Inn to chat with the usual amicable bartender. The three of them sat somewhat awkwardly, they'd expected to be entertained by the ever exciting stories told by Vadim. Instead, Piper had to politely yet irritably clear her throat several times to get the bartender's attention.
"Just some of the good stuff, thanks" Piper requested, and the bartender appeared to do a double take when he took her order. Piper however didn't think much of it- there were plenty of crazy people out in the commonwealth.
"So, Piper, those caravan traders had driven the price up on their goods, just because they were being sold to Diamond City?" Danny tried to make conversation.
"Yes!" Piper slammed her fist on the bar, "Can you believe it? I knew I couldn't just let it continue. You'd think they'd want to help the Commonwealth become a better place, right?" Piper huffed. "Clearly not"
"I've heard, from some sources, that the Mayor might actually consider filling in that hole you found in the Wall, since your paper caused such a stir" Nick said.
"Wait, really?" The bartender slid Piper her drink, and immediately she chugged half of it to ease her mood. She'd been so busy recently, she thought she deserved a night off being Diamond City's one and only reporter.
"I can't believe my paper is actually a success, Nick. Who would've thought? Just imagine the potential for future issues!"
"That's great Piper, you and Nat deserve it after all the hard work you've put into it. You'd th- Piper? You still with us?"
Piper had lost the last of whatever Nick had just said, the room began to spin and Piper felt like her head was about to launch off her shoulders and fall to the floor.
I'm pretty sure this didn't happen the last time I drank Vadim's moonshine... did it?
And then it all clicked into place. Piper pieced together even in her dazed state what had happened- the different bartender, the way he looked at her before she ordered the drink, the bitter taste in her mouth she hadn't noticed until now-
By this point Nick was gripping Piper by the shoulders.
"Come on, Piper, talk to us!"
And then all hell broke loose.
Piper practically launched herself out of Nick's grip, time slowing as if she was on Jet as she dived over the bar. She only knew one thing- she had to get it out- or no more Piper Wright. The quiet hum of the Dugout Inn had faded to silence and an audience watched the scene unfold before them. Bar fights were common here, and they assumed this was no different.
Danny Sullivan watched in utter bewilderment as Piper grabbed the nearest five bottles of moonshine and began downing them as if her life depended on it. He didn't move until he saw the bartender lunge towards Piper, the glint of a switchblade in his hand. Without a second thought, he grabbed his baseball bat and swung it forward at his head, the criminal falling slumped and groaning at Danny's feet.
"You- are, uh," Danny glanced at Piper, who by now was sprawled out across the floor, retching as Nick tried to prevent her from choking to death, and a crowd of onlookers murmured curiously at the scene before them.
"You're, ah, under arrest for the murder of Miss Piper Wright- wait, no, attempted murder"
Meanwhile, Nick was doing his best to keep Piper alive, which was no easy task. The fast thinking reporter had managed to get most of the poison out before she fell unconscious, luckily for her. Nick wasn't sure if she'd still be around if she hadn't.
"Somebody go get the doctor!" Nick shouted, and when nobody moved he yelled, "Don't just stand there, she's dying!"
Thankfully, a couple of sensible people rushed out of the bar to find Diamond City's doctor. Piper had mostly stilled by now, but Nick could still see the delicate rise and fall of her chest in the hazy bar light.
Just a moment later, the doctor arrived, with some supplies and stimpaks hastily shoved in his pockets.
"You've done a good job, but there's not much I can do for her until I get her back to the surgery" The doctor said in a hurry, and added, "I also can't save her until I know what poisoned her"
Danny kicked the bar tender, who'd awoken a few seconds prior.
"You hear that? You better get talking" he said with a snarl. Piper wasn't dying on his watch.
The doctor gently examined Piper's vitals with a grim expression, and administered a stimpak.
"This should prevent any paralysis or brain damage from the substance" he said solemnly, "if she wakes up, all things considered"
"Don't worry, I'll have the all details of the poison in an hour or so" said Nick.
Nick helped carry Piper to the surgery. He let out a sigh of frustration as he heard a high pitched scream from the door of Publick Occurrences. He really didn't need to deal with this right now.
"PIPER! Oh my god... is she.." Nat broke down into sobs immediately, not even daring to look at Piper clutched in Nick's arms.
"Nat, your sister was poisoned in the Dugout Inn" he explained. However this seemed to have the opposite of the intended effect as Nat's sobs turned to wails. Nick quickly backtracked. "She's still alive"
Nat calmed somewhat at this, and said in an almost growl,
"Who did this"
When Nick was silent, as he didn't want an enraged Nat running off to avenge her sister, Nat spoke up again.
"WHO DID IT!" Nat screamed between sobs. By this point they had reached the surgery and Nick carefully passed Piper to the doctor.
"Nat, I need you to calm down. We're trying to find out the identity of the man who did this, and what he might have used to poison Piper"
Nat was still for a second, and then quickly turned towards Diamond City jail. Nick grabbed her before she could run off and beat the criminal to death with a newspaper. He had no doubt that she would, given the chance.
After much persuasion, the doctor had convinced her to go and search for information and medical supplies that might help her sister.
Meanwhile, Nick had gone to collect notes from Danny, who was interrogating their prisoner. He flipped through the pages, a few things catching his eye. The man who had tried to kill Piper was sent by a Caravan who sold supplies to the city. Nick immediately connected the dots. Piper's recent article had exposed some traders who had attempted to drive up the price of Diamond City's supplies, and evidently they were not overjoyed by the reporter's success. Luckily, the Caravan was known to the City and would not be hard to track down. Nick came across another piece of intel- one that might just save his friend's life. Danny had uncovered that the bartender/budget assassin had used rat poison in his plot to murder Piper. No wonder she had known immediately she had been poisoned. Nick thanked the heavens that the man hadn't the brains to use something more conventional. Cyanide, perhaps. Now that the doctor knew what the substance was, he assured Nick, Danny and Nat that he could save the reporter. Whether she would want to live after all, however, was another matter. The doctor explained that the road to recovery would be long and hard, but with the right treatment she would be back to her usual sassy, snooping and witty self in a few months at the most.
The next couple of weeks were uneventful. Piper had woken up after a week, disorientated and confused. To the others' delight however, she showed no lasting symptoms of the poisoning. Nat had been most delighted and equally concerned. Nick had caught her skipping classes to go and chat to her sister in recovery or check up on her condition, where she would be scolded by the doctor every time for missing school.
As the days went by, Piper was back to her usual chirpy self. Initially, she had wanted to write an article in the Publick about her latest escapade, but Nick had warned her not to, in case her assailants returned with vengeance.
Piper wanted nothing more to be out travelling and writing again, but she had been nauseous and disorientated for much of the month. It was gradually clearing, but it was enough to make Piper question whether surviving an attempted assassination was worth the hassle it brought with it.
"And.." Piper added proudly, "I got to see the bastard get a dose of proper Diamond City justice, Piper style" she said. Nora chuckled.
"Piper style?" She asked, "what did you do, offer him a bottle of Nuka-Cola and shoot him in the head?"
Piper shoved Nora playfully.
"I bet you made enough money from the paper to buy Nat a hundred crates of Sugar Bombs" Nora joked.
Piper was less amused. "Actually, most of the money went to the doctor. He had to take care of me for two months, Blue. Maybe if I'd have just... died... Nat could have had the money and..."
Piper was cut off as Nora pressed a kiss to her lips.
"I'm glad you're alive. And I wouldn't have it any other way."