"Are you just going to stand there and watch, or are you going to help me?" Rose demanded around the screws in her mouth. She was kneeling on the walkway on top of the main gate into Goodneighbor and shoulder-deep into the gears of one of the new turrets that they had been setting up around the perimeter. After the gangster Sinjin had been able to slip in and catch Hancock off guard, it had been decided that increasing the town's security was a necessity.
Hancock was leaning against the wall beside her; he eyed her form with approval as she worked. "The first option. Someone should be watching your back while you're distracted."
"It's not my back you're watching," she muttered, and he winked.
"Just enjoying the view, Sunshine."
She rolled her eyes, clenching her teeth as she wrestled blindly with the inner workings of the machine. Something clanged into place; she withdrew her hand and started up the motor, smiling victoriously when it hummed into life.
"That should get Fahrenheit off your back, for a little while anyway," she said. She stood up and stuck out her tongue when she saw her hands. "Urgh. And now I'm covered in grease." She held up a hand as he opened his mouth. "Don't say what you're thinking."
"What?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into his side. "I was just gonna say it's a good look for you."
"Uh huh. Better not let Fahre see you fooling around or she'll put a bullet in us both."
He sighed. "I didn't think it was possible for her to be anymore up my ass."
Rose leaned against him. "It's because she cares about you. In her own terrifying, violent way." She began to step back the ladder back to the ground. "Come on. I want to get cleaned up before Nick and Piper get here, and there might be just enough time for you to help me."
"How about that? You read my mind."
Rose grinned and took his hand, pulling him along behind her. He hesitated, and she looked back at him with her brows creased.
"Is something wrong?"
"I'm thinkin' about making Fahre mayor," he said, almost blurting it out like an agonized confession.
Rose paused and stared at him. "Seriously?"
He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah."
"You're not just really high or anything, are you?"
He laughed. "Not at this particular moment. Nah, I've been thinking about this for a while, actually."
"Huh." Rose folded her arms and stepped back to face him fully. "Does this have anything to do with Sinjin?"
"Getting the shit beaten out of me and taking a slug to the gut might've cemented a few things, but no." He was fidgeting, twirling his knife around in his fingers. After a moment, he continued, "When I first set out with you, I thought I was just gonna get my head on straight… sharpen the ol' killer instinct, take a breather from running a city. But every time I come back there's just more and more weight getting' thrown on my shoulders, you know? More people lookin' to me to make decisions… and more enemies popping out of the woodwork to try and bring me down."
Rose arched an eyebrow. "That is generally how these things go, yeah. I thought you loved being mayor?"
He shrugged. "Ain't tryin' to give you the wrong idea; I love my people, and I love this town. Taking out Vic and making Goodneighbor a halfway decent place to live… that felt really good. But I'm not a leader. I talk a good game, can get the crowds riled up… but being tied down to one place has never been my style." His expression was uncertain, conflicted. "Running around with you, taking out the bad guys and waging our own personal war against the Institute? Nothing's felt more right. And each time I try to slip back into being mayor, I feel… stifled. Like someone's tryin' to smother me in my sleep."
"And Fahre's the better option?"
"I think so. She's always been the brains behind runnin' this place, and she's held things together pretty damn well since I've been gone." He chuckled. "She ain't got none of my charisma, but she scares the shit outta people enough. She'll be fine."
"Have you talked to her about it?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Half of me's worried she'll slit my throat for quitting. Fahre's been my right-hand man since the beginning."
"Somehow I don't think it's your throat she'd be aiming for," Rose said dryly. "I'm behind you no matter what you decide, but this isn't a decision you have to make right away. If you feel the same way in the morning, we'll have a chat with Fahrenheit and see where she stands. In the meantime…" She grinned suggestively, tilted her head towards the State House and tugged on his hand.
About an hour and several distracted attempts to leave later, they were finally able to extricate themselves from the bed and head down to the bar. Happiness ballooned in Rose's chest as she stepped down the stairs into the Third Rail and spotted a familiar worn-out overcoat standing next to red leather near the small stage. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her two friends… especially after the last couple of weeks.
She barely made it down to the bottom step before Magnolia's song was drowned out by frantic barking; two seconds later she was knocked back on her ass as a hurtling rocket of brown fur tackled her.
"Dogmeat!" she exclaimed delightedly, laughing as the shepherd urgently tried to lick every inch of her face. "I missed you too buddy!"
"And yet when I try that, I get punched and told I'm too high," Hancock observed wryly. He reached out to help pull her back to her feet.
"Better than what I would do to you," Piper said. She had followed Dogmeat from the bar, and yanked Rose into a tight hug. "Blue! I gotta say, with all the rumors that have been flying around I was getting worried!"
"There are more than usual?"
"Between taking a dip in the Glowing Sea and picking fights with notorious crime lords, no, not really," Nick replied good-humoredly. He wrapped an arm around Rose's shoulders and shook Hancock's hand affectionately. "Good to see the both of you… especially in one piece."
"In spite of our best efforts," Hancock affirmed, smirking.
The four of them sat down at a table in the corner of the bar, Hancock motioning for Whitechapel Charlie to bring over some drinks. Dogmeat settled himself resolutely next to Rose, resting his head on her thigh and staring adoringly up at her.
"So how much of what we've heard is true?" Nick asked, lighting up one of his ever-present cigarettes.
"Well, you already know about us going into the Glowing Sea," Rose said. "Turns out that scientist we were looking for… Virgil? He's a supermutant right now."
"What?" Piper's eyebrows nearly met her hairline. "Like, talks only in grunts, decorates strictly with dismembered body parts…?"
"He's actually quite articulate. He was working on a cure for the FEV virus before he had to escape the Institute." She narrowed her eyes at her friend. "And you are not allowed to publish that, Piper. Just because Kellogg is dead doesn't mean the Institute won't try to send someone else after him if they figure out where he is."
Piper held up her palms. "Hey, we're always off-the-record unless stated otherwise, right?" But her smile gained a slightly guilty cast that told Rose she was thinking exactly the opposite.
"Did he give you anything useful?" Nick asked interestedly, ever the detective.
"He says Rose needs to take down a courser if we want to get into the Institute," Hancock replied. "Because apparently killin' their most infamous hired gun wasn't enough."
"A courser?" Piper's brows drew together. "I don't think I've heard of those."
"They're some kind of synth elite, as far as combat goes," Rose explained. "Gen 3's who are trained to 'recover' lost Institute property, and kill anyone who gets in their way. Virgil assures me that no one has either escaped or survived a courser encounter yet."
"Well, no one survived Kellogg either, and you put a quick end to that," Nick said reassuringly. Rose smiled gratefully and squeezed his hand.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nick."
"Anytime."
"So what happens after you kill the courser?" Piper asked. She didn't have a pen in hand, but Rose could practically see her taking notes in her mind.
"We build something called a 'signal interceptor' that Virgil gave us the schematics for-"
"If you can call those schematics," Hancock scoffed. "Looks like someone gave Dogmeat a crayon and let him go nuts."
"… be that as it may, it's still better than nothing. If we can build that and link up the programming we get from the courser chip, then I should theoretically be able to zap myself straight to the Institute."
Nick frowned. "Zap?"
"She means teleport," Hancock said, as he knocked back a shot of whiskey. "Fuckin' insane if you ask me, but I guess if it's the only way to get to the Institute…"
Rose rubbed his arm. "It'll be fine. If they wanted me dead they would have done it a long time ago, I think."
"I'm a little more concerned about you gettin' fried by a crazy machine, Sunshine."
"Any way we can help?" Piper asked.
Rose shook her head. "Not right now. I'm not going to ask you two to put your lives at risk going after the courser with me, but I might need an extra hand in gathering supplies for the signal interceptor after that's all said and done."
At that moment a woman under the influence of something- alcohol, chems, or both- sidled by their table and stopped to flutter her fingers coyly at Hancock.
"Hey, Mr. Mayor," she cooed, smiling. "Who're your friends?"
"Cindy," he replied, giving her a quick smile and a wink but otherwise ignoring her.
Oblivious, she fluffed her blonde hair, smile broadening. "Haven't seen you around lately… was thinking maybe we could catch up. I've got a lotta Jet up in my room and no one to share it with." She faked pouting, though the effect was diminished by the exaggerated arch of her body as she attempted to pose seductively.
Piper stiffened, looking awkward and uncomfortable. Nick kept his glowing eyes on Rose, who had watched the display silently with her head cocked. Rose eyed the woman appraisingly- she was attractive in a wasteland trollop kind of way, but was either stupid enough or persistent enough to keep trying, even after her lukewarm reception. Rose had discovered that it wasn't unusual for old lovers to seek Hancock out… he'd been a womanizer even as a smooth-skinned human, and the combination of drugs, charm, and good sex made him far more popular than most ghouls, at least as far as one-night-stands were concerned. He hadn't been shy about flaunting his relationship with Rose in the streets- quite the opposite, actually- but that hadn't stopped the occasional hopeful from trying.
"Gonna have to pass on that one, sister," he replied neutrally. "Why don't you go ahead and enjoy a drink at the bar on me."
"Sure you don't wanna join me?" She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "I'll make it worth your while."
And with that, Rose had officially had enough. She shifted herself over onto Hancock's lap and pulled out her pistol, casually checking the magazine and the chamber as she did so. The message was clearly received by "Cindy," who went white.
"Wanna introduce me to your friend?" she asked lightly, as she flicked the safety off.
The woman didn't bother sticking around. She put her hands up towards Rose in surrender and hastily backed off, disappearing to the other side of the bar.
"And yet I'm the jealous one?" Hancock asked her, but he was grinning.
"I'm not jealous," Rose said innocently. "Jealousy requires competition. I was being friendly."
"So you two are…?" Piper asked, looking back and forth between the two of them with a slight blush.
"She's a hard woman to refuse," Hancock said in affirmation. His grin took on a wicked edge as he added, "Though there's always room for a third if you find yourself getting bored…"
Piper went scarlet, and Rose gave him a "look."
"Behave yourself!"
"You can threaten to shoot someone I was with one time but I'm misbehaving for suggesting-"
"Yes." She kicked his calf with her heel.
"Oh this is definitely going to be in my paper," Piper said. "I've got the headline now: 'Gangster Ghoul Mayor of Goodneighbor Seduces the Woman Out of Time.' That story oughta sell out in no time."
"I didn't realize the Publick was becoming a gossip rag now," Rose countered playfully.
Hancock shifted her to a more comfortable position on his lap, his hands drifting teasingly over her thighs. "Hey, if you need any photos to accompany that article of yours…"
"John!"
"Not that this subject isn't engrossing, but I've come across some information you might be interested in, Rose," Nick said, tactfully changing the subject as Piper flushed crimson yet again.
Rose perked up. "Oh? About the Institute?"
"Vault-Tec, actually."
Her expression became confused. "Vault-Tec? Why would I want to know anything about them?"
The synth shrugged. "After hearing your story about being frozen for two centuries, I got curious. I put the word out to a few friends who regularly travel outside of the Commonwealth, trading and such. One of them came back with word about a similar facility in Albany. Fully functioning vault, still manned and running cryo experiments on pre-war subjects. He trades with them from time to time, brings them supplies they can't build or grow themselves." His expression softened, his artificial eyes somehow managing to convey sympathy. "Don't know if you'd even want to check it out, but it didn't seem right not to tell you."
Rose stared at him as the blood drained from her cheeks. Her expression must have been horrified, because he immediately became concerned and tried to backtrack.
"Look, if I've upset you at all-"
"My family was in Albany," Rose replied faintly. "My mother and my sister. That's where I grew up. I moved to Sanctuary after I married Nick. What you're saying… if there's really a cryo vault in that city… then they might still be alive?"