Ch. 1 notes still apply.
IN WHICH Nat confronts Renee about constantly taking her sister on adventures out in the Commonwealth.
"Arm yourself with the truth! The Institute grabs yet another civilian! Synths could be walking among us!"
"Hey kiddo!"
Nat turned to see her sister and the Vault-Dweller walking down the steps into Diamond City. She grinned. "Hey Piper! Welcome back!" She jumped down from her crate and ran up to give her a quick hug. To her surprise, Piper pulled away with a grunt. "Hey, what gives?"
"I'm a bit sore, Nat. We ran into some Raiders on the way back here." Piper ruffled the teen's hair with a grin. She turned back to the Vault-Dweller. "I'll be right back. Just need to grab my other notebook."
As soon as the door to the Publick Occurrences office shut, Nat glared up at Renee. "This is all your fault, you know."
"What?" Renee tilted her head. "Natalie, what are you talking about? I haven't done anything." She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Typically, Nat was at least cordial, if not a bit pushy. Like someone else I know…
"Every time you guys come back here Piper's hurt. I mean, she's not like, dying or anything, but… It's worse than before she met you!" Nat narrowed her eyes. "Some day my sister's gonna get killed and it'll be because you keep dragging her everywhere!"
Renee's shoulders fell. It was true, they usually did come back to Diamond City when she felt they needed the rest; Piper would never say anything, always, "I'm fine! Let's keep going!" when Renee could always see the cuts and bruises she tried to keep hidden. But death? Piper had never been near death. The worst that happened so far was a sprained ankle from tripping in a mole rat hole. And honestly it had almost been comical.
"Natalie, your sister will be perfectly fine. I promise I won't let anything happen to her. And you can trust me." Renee smiled slightly. "Besides, she's pretty good with that little pistol of hers. She took out a whole herd of ghouls once." After I shot off their legs first of course, but…
"No, she didn't. You're lying."
"Would I lie to you?"
The door to the office opened again and Piper waltzed out, holding a new notebook. She scribbled something before flipping it shut and tucking it in her belt. "All right, good to go!"
"Piper, you didn't actually take down a whole herd of ghouls." Nat jumped back up on her crate so she stood taller than her sister.
"Well, sort of. Blue helped me but I did have the final shot." Piper whipped out her 10mm pistol and began aiming at invisible enemies. "They had us pinned in the back of this old café, see, and Blue took out their legs with her rifle while I aimed straight for their heads!" She mimicked the recoil with a soft "pew-pew-pew" sound. "It was pretty exciting stuff."
Renee rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "More like heart attack inducing."
Nat frowned and shot the Vault-Dweller a glare. "I've still got my eye on you. I swear, if something bad ever happens to my sister—"
"You worry too much, Nat." Piper wrapped an arm around the teen's waist and pulled her in for an impromptu hug. "You just keep selling those papers and I'll keep finding stories out there!"
Renee watched the exchange with a smile. For a moment, she thought about her sister-in-law and how her family fared in the bombs. She wasn't sure if they managed to get to a Vault; and if they did, what kind of experiments were done to them. Her smile faded and she blinked rapidly. Now wasn't the time to dwell on things she couldn't change.
"Ready to go, Blue?" Piper had her foot on the first step leading to the entrance of Diamond City.
"Yeah." Renee waved to Nat as she joined Piper. "I'll watch her back!" She called, patting Piper's shoulder.
"You better!" Nat waved a copy of Publick Occurrences at them as they left.
"So, where are we headed next?" Piper adjusted her hat.
"I dunno. Wherever the Commonwealth takes us, I suppose."
"Fine by me."
Renee grinned and grabbed the rifle that hung on her back. As they neared the entrance she heard shooting. "I guess adventure finds us, huh?" She loaded a round with a click.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Piper stuck another magazine in her pistol and charged forward.
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