*Ok...so here's what happened. I started writing one story and for some reason wasn't feeling it. I then fiddled around with another idea and have been scribbling like a fiend ever since. This current story will center on the Sole Survivor and her adventures just after leaving the vault. I wanted to write a character that was as believable as possible. My main lady has some damage and emotional scarring of course; and we will see how she deals with this new reality she finds herself in. We will be introduced to the majority of the companions along the way as well. This is a major work in progress-my last story I had already completed by the time I uploaded the first chapter, so leave me some comments if you have any suggestions as to where I should go with this. Thanks in advance and I hope you enjoy!
Margot reclined against the plush red fabric of the Mayor's sofa. Crossing one leg over the other she took another drink of her whiskey and watched the two other occupants in the room argue quietly by the door. She smiled to herself and turned to take in her surroundings. The furniture was clean-albeit tattered-and had a distinctive "old world" feel to it. Margot laughed to herself; "old world" indeed. Pretty much everything was old world now. It was more like, Colonial; which made sense given that the Mayor's apartments were in the Old State Building. Looking around she found she couldn't argue with his taste. She had always been a bit of a history buff; but in all the time she had before the war she never had gotten around to visiting this particular building. She chuckled again wondering if she could be bold enough to request a tour.
The pair at the door heard her and glanced her way. The woman glared at her as if she wanted to rip her face off. Oopes...don't think I'm getting that tour, she thought ruefully. She was no pushover-but one look at the Mayor's head of security and Margot knew she was not a woman to be fucked with. Fahrenheit...the name suited her well with her flaming reddish-orange hair and blazing eyes. She could see how someone like that could earn that name.
Fahrenheit tore her gaze away from Margot reluctantly to continue talking with the Mayor. Now this man was different entirely. Not just in his looks, but the way he carried himself and his body language in general. He wasn't the first ghoul Margot had met; but he was making quite the impression on her. His long red coat fit snugly across his broad shoulders and his tattered hat framed his head nicely. Toss in the flag wrapped around his waist and his get-up was perfect. He had this air of superiority about him; and moved with a kind of fluid grace that suggested he saw himself as always on display. Margot squinted at him and rubbed the outside of her glass against her bottom lip before taking another long drink. Oh yeah...she liked him.
The pair finished their conversation and Fahrenheit turned to leave; but not before shooting daggers at her with her piercing expression. Margot smiled and raised her glass to her in a gesture of farewell. An almost imperceptible smirk flashed across Fahrenheit's face and then dissappeared quickly. The Mayor turned her way as the door clicked closed behind him and smiled at her. He crossed to a small cabinet by a window and held up a bottle of whiskey in her direction. Margot grinned and nodded; and he filled her glass along with his own before settling down on the couch across from her. Margot took another drink and casually set her glass down on the low coffee table between them.
"I don't think your girlfriend likes me very much Mr. Mayor." She mused. Hancock choked on his drink slightly as he laughed.
"Fahr's not my girlfriend. That woman would eat me for breakfast. With a side of resentment." He chuckled again and fished a canister of Jet from his pocket. "And please-don't concern yourself with her attitude. She's like that to everyone. Fahr can be a little over-protective of me and mine here. She just doesn't know you yet. By the way," he shook the chem in his hand and raised it to his lips, "call me Hancock. 'Mayor' sounds so formal." He sucked in a deep breath of the chems and rested back. Margot saw his obsidian eyes rove over her breifly before coming to rest on her face. She smiled to herself, appreciating the attention. Her collection of mis-matched armor did little to hide her figure in the skin-tight vault suit she wore. She wouldn't exactly have called herself attractive before all this happened. A new baby and a strenuous education on the ins and outs of the legal system had wreaked havoc on her body. Thankfully for her-the rigorous demands that this new world had to offer helped whip her into shape in no time. Her long and thin chestnut hair was pulled up in a bun and her green eyes were bright and alive.
"Well then...Hancock..." she began, "what can I do for you?" She repositioned herself more comfortably and tried to give off an air of innocence. "I should tell you-I had no idea what Bobbi was planning. She offered the caps and I needed the work. I didn't know it was your warehouse." Hancock just smiled and took another hit of Jet.
"Bobbi's been after my stash since I let her in here. If it wasn't you it would have been someone else. I suppose I should hold her accountable though...guess I'm just too nice a ghoul." Margot frowned slightly and looked him over.
"If I'm not here about the break-in...then what am I here for?" Her curiousity was definately piqued. Hancock smiled and fiddled with the edges of his coat.
"I have a proposition which may interest you sister. I've been watching you since you first came here. I like the way you operate. I particularly enjoyed your little foray as the Silver Shroud." Margot's eyes widened a little but she tried not to look too surprised. Of course-he was the Mayor. He would know everything that went on in this town.
"What can I say? Kent makes a compelling case. Plus I got a sweet costume out of the deal." Margot winked and Hancock laughed aloud.
"Yeah-those bastards did have it coming. Woulda done it myself but I wanted to see how things played out. And you offered some interesting entertainment." Hancock went to take another hit and realized his canister was empty. He tossed it onto the coffee table and settled for the remainder of his whiskey. Margot collected her glass and accepted another generous helping from her companion. She casually reached into her pocket and produced a full canister of UltraJet, taking a long hit before tossing it over to him. Margot smirked at the look of surprise on his face as she did so.
"What? A lady can't indulge every now and then?" She nodded to the chem still in Hancock's hand. "My treat." In all honesty she had been indulging a little too much and a little too frequently lately. She knew it wasn't the best thing for her; but it was pretty much the only thing that gave her peace and eased her troubled mind. She figured a little escape never hurt anyone.
"So this proposition," she started, bringing them back to the topic at hand, "what exactly did you have in mind?" Margot lounged comfortably as she breathed deeply; the combination of the liquor and chems working their magic in her system.
"Well for starters, I'm lookin to broaden my horizons. This gig of being the Mayor has been keeping me on the side-lines too long. Don't get me wrong, I love this place; but I feel like I've been gettin rusty sitting around this cush office all the time. No man in power should ever get too comfortable with his surroundings." Margot nodded slowly-not really sure where this was going. "To make a long story short: I want to get back out there and get my hands dirty and my boots bloody. Or vice versa. If you're heading back out soon, how would you feel about some company? I promise I won't cramp your style." Hancock leaned back and propped his elbow on the back of the couch. He was silent for a moment, letting her consider his offer. Margot pursed her lips and absently tapped her foot. She was generally a lone wanderer; but it couldn't hurt to have someone else watching her back. She'd been in enough close scrapes to recognise the benefit of a second gun on her side. Also there was something about John Hancock that held her interest. He had an easy smile and a quick wit. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Margot set her glass down and brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face. She gave the Mayor another once-over then flashed one of her brilliant smiles.
"Well Mr. Mayor...when would you like to get going?" She then laughed playfully at the look he gave her.
The departure from Goodneighbor had been bittersweet; with many of his citizens wanting him to stay. He had become a powerful influence to the town of rejects and criminals, but even Hancock knew it was dangerous to give that much power to one man alone. Past experiences had taught him that all too well. He left the town in the capable hands of Fahr and his neighborhood watch. Hancock smiled to himself as he recalled that conversation. Fahr had not been pleased about his decision to travel with Margot. But if there was one thing he loved doing more than getting a good buzz it was finding ways to piss off Fahr.
They had been traveling together for a few weeks now, but he had still not learned all that much about his new friend. He knew she came from a vault-that much was obvious. He knew she was the General of the Minutemen-that part surprised him. Last he heard, the Minutemen had all but been wiped out. She told him they were starting to rebuild, and had already grown drastically in numbers. She had been able to recruit several settlements to their cause and was becoming quite a compelling figure in their movement.
Hancock leaned against a rusted out car frame and kicked at some loose rocks by his feet. He watched her chat with some setlers not too far off. They had spent the last few weeks "making her rounds" as she put it; and were checking in on this little place newest to the Minutemen. He noticed one of the men talking to her cast a furtive glance his way and he tried his best to hide his scowl. He figured not a lot of people in these isolated communities had ever seen a ghoul; let alone one as charming as himself. He watched as Margot nodded and patted the man on the back. He smiled and returned to his farming as she trudged back along the rocky field towards him.
"Well Hancock-time to get our hands dirty. The people here have been having some trouble with ferals just down the way in an old shipping yard. Wanna go check it out?" She readjusted her rifle on her shoulder and fiddled with the buttons on her Pip-Boy as she spoke. Hancock smiled and pushed himself up off his resting place.
"It's about time we got some action. I was starting to think the Commonwealth had gone soft in my absence." Margot looked over her shoulder at him as she lead the way back out onto the main road.
"What are you talking about? We took down some wild dogs and bloatflies just the other day!"
"Hey-you mean you took them down. You're one hell of a sharpshooter. Where did you learn to do that?" Margot smiled and looked away coyly.
"Oh you know...here and there..." she trailed off then laughed when she looked back and saw his expression.
"Oh don't worry Mr Mayor! I'll leave some for you this time! I promise!"
Hancock never really liked being called that-but for some reason he found he could tolerate it coming from her. Besides-two could play at this game.
"If you say so-General Harris." Hancock artfully dodged away as she tried to slap at his arm.
"My husband was the military man-not me. I was just a lawyer." She suddenly got quiet and stared ahead for a moment deep in thought. This was the first time in at least a week she had spoken about her past life. He knew she had been frozen in a vault for over two-hundred years; then re-awakened only a year ago by persons unknown. But she never really talked about her life before this. All she would say was that her husband was dead and her son kidnapped by his killers. It was almost as if she wanted to pretend that part of history didn't exist. Hancock could understand that-he had more than a few bits of his past he would rather be forgotten. It didn't stop him from being curious though.
They walked along in silence a few more minutes. The hot afternoon sun beat down on them and caused a trickle of sweat to trail down the side of her face. She wiped it away with her gloved hand and seemed to be brought back to the present.
"After this we'll stop by Sanctuary. I'm sure Preston has a few things he wants me to do, and I could also use a breif rest before we hit the road again." She smiled her usual smile and her face was sunlight again; all traces of her dark thoughts gone.
"Whatever you say sister. I'm just along for the ride." And the pair continued on their trek along the barren wasteland.