It was about 10 in the morning when Nick finally came downstairs to get ready for work. Ellie without even looking up handed him an empty coffee cup. It was something he liked her to do, something that reminded him of the life before his own back when coffee was the working man's drink of gin. He sat down and lit up a cigarette while she clicked away on her typewriter. "There hasn't been a new case in days now, Nick, do you think maybe that cute friend of yours has something to do with that?" Nick smiled and kicked his feet up onto a filing cabinet. It was just then that a muffled bark broke through the regular city bustle and the door swung open. "Speak of the devil," Ellie giggled and flashed a sweet smile.
"Roger! And you brought the pooch! Great!" Dogmeat bounded over to Nick, nipping playfully at his metallic appendage as Roger gave Ellie a kiss on the cheek. "Always good to see you, Ell. Nick, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in." Nick was hardly paying attention, he really did love Dogmeat, maybe he had a dog when he had a heartbeat. "Oh sure, sure, Ellie was just saying that you've been taking all our cases before they can hit the desk." Roger laughed and sat down, picking up one of those empty coffee cups that lined the desk. "Say, how's that boy of yours? I mean I know he's not really yours but-"
"He's fine, really interested in building things lately. Recently he's been talking about wanting to be a detective- like you." Nick smiled as much as his faceplate would allow without tearing his skin. "Shawn's a good kid, you've done alright, Roger." Suddenly the door flew open again this time a young girl rushed in. "Nick- uh, Mr. Valentine, I didn't know where else to go!" Roger stood up to allow her to sit down, but she didn't, she was too flustered. Nick focused on the girl, "wait a minute, you're Piper's sister right?" "Nat, yeah, I need help, it's Piper she's… missing"
"Piper? Missing? Are you sure she's not on some undercover reporter operation?" Nat crossed her arms and shot Roger a dirty look. "Yeah I'm sure, she's never been gone this long and without telling me. Shit, what if it's the institute?" "Hey watch your mouth young lady" Ellie snapped, Nat rolled her eyes. "I mean I'm not worried, I mean I am, but I just want her to get back so I can yell at her for leaving me."
Nick leaned forward in his seat and motioned her to sit down at the desk to face him. When she finally took her seat Ellie picked up a clipboard and pen and readied herself for notes. "Tell me about the last time you saw your sister, everything you tell me can help." Nat took a slow breath, never unfolding her arms. "She took off for some caravan settlement or something, uh, Bunker Hill or something like that; said she'd be back before tomorrow, and that was days ago. Two days ago." Nick tapped his chin for a moment. "Two days eh? Why did you wait so long before reporting it?" Nat huffed, "well I wasn't sure if she was really missing or if she got lost or what."
Roger watched Nick closely, trying to figure out what must be going on in that mind of his. Surely he wanted to help, but why did he seem so apprehensive? "Come on, Nick, let's see if we can't find our favorite reporter." Nick nodded, "well normally I would also blame the institute, but we both know that they're not kidnapping anyone these days. Could be raiders, maybe super mutants, you're right, we'd better get going." Roger agreed and called over Dogmeat, "alright boy, Ellie is going to take care of you for a little bit, is that okay, Miss Perkins?" Ellie beamed "of course, Roger! You just find Piper, oh and Nat, you're welcome to stay too..." It was too late though, Nat had already managed to sneak out of the building. "Lead the way, Nick." Roger held open the door and they both left into the cool morning.
"Now I know you're no stranger to this detective business, bud, but I guess the first thing we oughtta do is check out Publick Affairs. Could be she left us a clue or maybe she's already back from her uh, mission." Roger nodded, tuning his radio to Radio Freedom, "maybe the minutemen have heard something." "Good thinking, after you then." Nick held the door open for Roger and the familiar scent of fresh ink and old paper circled them. "Look for anything about Bunk Hill, you've been there, right? Bunch of Railroad enthusiasts and caravans, I wonder what she was getting herself into out there?" Roger was never good at looking for clues; he was a Railroad heavy himself and was more of a shoot and loot kind of guy- but he didn't want Nick to think he was bored, after all Nick was his best friend. Roger looked aimlessly for a few minutes, digging in the trash, opening the Nuka Cola machines, fiddling with old editions of the paper. "I think I've got something over here" Nick was crouching near Piper's bed reading a crumpled piece of paper. "Looks like she was going to check on a few conspiracy theories involving the freedom trail. Shit, if she ended up in Boston Commons she could be in big trouble." Nick groaned, standing up and tucking the note into his pocket. "What on Earth was she thinking going out there by herself? I hate to rush you, partner, but we gotta get to Bunker Hill quick." "Of course."
/
A radiation storm rolled in the moment they crossed the gate into Bunker Hill. Even though it would have no effect on Nick he pulled the collar or his coat up around his neck. "We better get inside if you don't want to lose that nose of yours." Roger smirked as he knocked back a dose of radaway. Just as they were about to search for more clues they halted in their steps. "Now wait just a minute, Piper? Is that you?"
"Blue? How did you know where to- oh, Nick, right." Piper was sitting in front of a well-dressed man whom Roger recognized as a Railroad ally. "Nick, would you mind telling me what you're doing out here tailing me? Am I under investigation or something?" Piper laughed and put her notepad away in her coat. "Well as a matter of fact, Piper, you've got Nat worried sick over you. She's got it in her head that the Institute has swiped away." Piper cackled and shook her head. "I swear she only listens to me when it's about something exciting to her. I told her I'd be out of town for a while. How worried was she? Did she cry?"
Roger scowled at her, "Come on now, Piper, she's your family." Piper waved her hand at him, "she's fine, a complete drama queen, but she's okay. Anyway, I was just about to get the scoop on the Freedom Trail we're always hearing about. What is it, where does it go, who came up with it?" Nick glanced at Roger and cleared his throat. "Piper, you know that old trail has been around since before the war, hell even before my time. We would read about it in history class, there's nothing to it." Piper tilted her head at Roger, not quite believing all that was true, but also knowing that if anyone would know about before the war it would be him, or some drunken ghoul in Goodneighbor. "Maybe you're right, Blue, but I've just got a feeling that there's more to it than that." She tapped restlessly on the counter, thunder crashed and the sky outside was a deep green. "Alright, I'll head home, but you owe me a story." Piper slid off of the barstool and shuffled out into the glow. Roger faced the vendor, chewing on the inside of his lip. "What would you have told her, Stockton?" The old vendor just shook his head and began cleaning a bent aluminum can.
"Well that could have ended very badly, I'm glad we got off easy on that one," Nick said, leaning against a wall. "Before we take off, could you do me a favor? I don't usually ask other people to do these things but I see the way you are with your weapons so I figure maybe you're the one to ask." Roger raised an eyebrow, "ask away, Nick." "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather talk in private?" Roger nodded and they headed for a separate room that was for rent, but they wouldn't be staying.
"I've noticed I'm running at a slower capacity than I used to, I guess maybe I'm just getting old, this body, it's catching up on me. I've been around for years now and well, I guess what I'm asking is for your help. Do you think maybe you can find me some new parts? I know the Institute being out of the picture makes synths harder to find, which makes this request all the more trying." Roger sat down in a chair by the door. "Are you saying that you're dying?" Nick scratched the back of his head and sat down on the bed. "Well technically I was never alive to begin with but, I suppose that is what I'm saying, yeah. I'm dying. It sounds so strange to say out loud. I doubt it would happen anytime soon, Roger, just overtime you'd notice it like I do."
Roger leaned back, his heart felt heavy. Even if he could fix Nick, and he could, just knowing that his friend was dying was a hard pill to swallow. "Just tell me what you need, Nick, I'll get it done."