Some polyamorous negotiations ahead. I tried to represent both sides fairly without pulling out the love-triangle trope. There will always be slight competition, but I'm excited to make the romance a little more equitable from here on out.
Oh, and if you can't tell, I love chess. I promise that there's a point to all of this. (Sorry not sorry for the chess overload).
There's also a bit of DubCon/NonCon kissing ahead.
Feedback is always appreciated.
Chapter 2: A Game of Chess
Hancock and Nick made it back to Goodneighbor in the early hours of the morning. Magnolia's music from The Third Rail was in full swing; raucous voices echoed up from the derelict subway system, but instead of indulging in the festivities the two men trudged up to Hancock's office despondent and defeated.
Hancock flopped onto the chaise and took a long hit of Jet before fishing out a pack of Mentats from his pocket and popping two into his mouth. The berry metallic flavor sent small tingles along his tongue and his gums and he could feel the chems already speeding up his mental faculties. Suddenly answers to previously troubling questions flew through his brain as though they had ridden in on the high itself. He reveled in the intellectual feeling but knew the high wouldn't last long.
Meanwhile, Nick poured himself three fingers of Hancock's cheap whisky and drained it in a long, greedy gulp. He fished his cigarettes from his trench coat and was disappointed to find that he was almost out.
Three cigarettes. That was all that was left, but those three were enough for the men to piece together what happened back there
"God, Nora looks rough." Nick lamented to the ghoul as he puffed on the first cigarette as he lit it. The stick caught flame lazily and the synth took a long drag before exhaling the smoke from his nose and out of the torn flesh in his neck. "Did you get a good look at the cybernetics they gave her? They look newer than the kind we pulled outta Kellogg's head."
The ghoul nodded and his dark eyes stared out into the abyss. It was as though he could find the answers to his problems in his drug-induced haze. Actually, come to think of it, that's often where he got his best ideas.
"Yeah," he rasped, "I think they're affecting her body as well as her mind. Nora was abnormally fast back there. It was like she'd been training in hand-to-hand combat her entire life. Now, I've got good reflexes - even when fucking high - but she seemed to anticipate my moves even before I could do them. Shit, when I first met her, I thought she'd be picking her teeth outta the gutter by the end of the day, but now..."
Hancock didn't finish his thought, but Nick grinned ruefully at the ghoul as he eyed his swollen lip with a small twinge of satisfaction. "...But now she hates you again. So, I guess you've come full circle with her."
"Nah, I don't think that was her talking." He replied, ignoring Nick's jab. He was willing to put up with the ol' synth's sarcasm. He felt he owed it to Nicky in some way. After everything that happened since Nora's kidnapping, they never exactly buried the hatchet about Hancock kissing his girl. "I think she was purposely pushing us away to protect us, or the Institute could be controlling her mind in some way."
Nick frowned at the second hypothesis. "This ain't like some Grognack comic, Hancock." He admonished, "I don't think the Institute has progressed far enough to develop sci-fi mind control."
"So then you think she's just getting in touch with her closeted xenophobic side?" Hancock replied with slight irritation. Just like that, the Mentats's effects were gone. Instead he fished his Jet back out and took another hit off that.
Although he tried to let her comment about him being a 'filthy ghoul' roll off his back back at Libertalia, now that he had time to meditate on it, he realized that her comment really hurt him. She had never treated him differently because of what he was, so it was a little unnerving to see a good woman like Nora foul herself with petty racism.
"Well, she did say something that I've been puzzling over." Nick commented. He poured himself another three fingers of Hancock's whisky and sipped it thoughtfully. "She said 'Father doesn't give second chances.' Who do you suppose this Father might be?"
Hancock shook his head and took another hit of Jet. The scene dissolved in front of him and he watched the events unfold anew; it was like a dream was playing behind his eyelids. Nora's laser pistol was pointed at the synth called Gabriel and her cold voice repeated, "You've not only betrayed Father, but you've hurt innocent people as well." The ghoul's eyes snapped open and he sat up on the chaise.
"Shit. Fuck." He rasped. The drug-induced epiphany hit him like an anvil to the head.
The name 'Father' is a title." His eyes were wide and wild. The high from the Mentats had died quickly, but the residual effects of the drug still helped Hancock jump to a suitable conclusion.
"Come again?" The synth repeated, the raised skin where eyebrows would be was cocked in skepticism and confusion.
"Nora said that Gabriel betrayed Father, and she said that Father doesn't give second chances. She's not talking about a real parental-type of figure. It's a title. It's like Mayor or President. I bet this Father character is the leader of the Institute." The ghoul announced proudly.
Nick frowned at the revelation. The logic made sense, he'd give the ghoul that. "So when Nora said that Father doesn't give second chances, I don't think she was talking about us."
Hancock nodded. "I think she was talking about herself. I think her comment was a warning to us. That if we keep dogging her then she'll be the one in trouble with the Institute's leader."
Nick exhaled more smoke. He removed his hat, stretched out his back and ran his hand across the synthetic plating of his skull. This was beginning to become a delicate situation, he realized. He and Hancock couldn't use brute force to cow the Institute into giving up Nora. No, they needed to think of a plan that required some finesse.
But the logistics of that plan failed to come to him, and unlike Hancock who wasn't above a little chem-induced inspiration, Nick was relying only on his detective senses and what his gut was telling him to do.
"We're in the weeds here, John." Nick sighed. "I dunno what to do."
Hancock glanced over at the synth. Nicky had rarely called him by his first name. It was always 'Hancock, you stupid ghoul, or you asshole' when Nicky was talking about him.
"John, huh?" he chuckled and sauntered over to the synth. He dragged another chair to the small card table that Nick was perched at. "You haven't called me by my first name in nearly ten goddamned years, and that precluded a pretty serious heart-to-heart talk that I'll never fuckin' forget about."
Nick frowned at the ghoul. That 'heart-to-heart' talk was when Nick was having a pretty serious disassociate episode down in The Third Rail. Magnolia was trying out some new songs on her patrons and one of them happened to be an echo of Pre-War Nick's life. Well, more specifically, an echo of his late fiancé's life. Nick lost it right there in The Third Rail and Hancock managed to drag him upstairs into the Old State House before the synth could even unholster his weapon.
That night, Nick told John Hancock, current ghoul Mayor and former Diamond City vagabond, about Jenny.
"This ain't the same type of conversation." Nick replied tersely. He wasn't even sure how he wanted to say what was on his mind. To him, what he was about to say sounded like a surrender. He sounded weak, like he was giving Nora up, but he knew that this is what Nora would've wanted even if she could never look Nick in the eye and say it to his face.
The ghoul turned to him and poured himself a glass of the half empty whisky. "Shit Nicky. Just spit it out. You know me. I ain't the one to judge anyone."
Nick chuckled but it sounded raspy and harsh on account of starting on his second cigarette. "It's about Nora and I. It's about our relationship."
He sighed and then continued, "Look. I know I should clock you one for kissing her that night. Hell, maybe when this is all over I may just do that, but I also thought about Nora. The kind of woman she is and how I can best support her and what she wants outta this new life. Even when we save her from the Institute, I know that she'll need all the help she can get dealing with those demons of hers."
Hancock didn't understand where Nick was going with this, but he let the synth continue and sipped the burning alcohol.
"Look," the synth said and his electric eyes bore into Hancock's, "I know she has feelings for you. I see the way she looks at you, and I'll admit that I was a little - no, fuck it - a lot burned up by it. She's the first woman that I've ever loved. She isn't some echo of a past life that I can barely remember. She is my present, past, and future all wrapped up into one. I love her John, but I also worry that I may not be enough for her."
"Nah Nicky, that's bullshit." Hancock rumbled and put a consoling hand on Nick's arm. "You and her are too fuckin' perfect together, and I'm the asshole for tryin' to get in between that. When we kissed, she spoke about nothing except how much she knew we were hurting you."
"But what about how much I am hurting her?" Nick countered. "If she wants to be with you, then I'm keeping her from being truly happy, and now that she's gone, I would give a lot to do somethings differently."
The ghoul groaned and stole Nick's last cigarette from the table and lit it. "Nicky, stop being so god damned insecure. Nora loves you, anyone with eyes can see that."
Nick agreed, "Yes and that's why I want to negotiate something with you."
"Wait, what?"
"I am not giving her up, John. Not in the slightest. I'll be by her side as long as she'll have me. But what I propose is that you join me and be by her side as well."
The ghoul gaped dumbly at the man next to him. He tried to process what Nick had just proposed. Hancock had been around the block plenty of times, sexually speaking, but his serious romantic relationships had always been involved with people monogamously. Nicky wasn't proposing a threesome or letting Nora "step out" once in a while, he was proposing something far more intimate.
"What yer talking about is a polyamorous relationship?" Hancock clarified. "Shit Nicky, I didn't think you were the type."
Nick frowned, "I'll admit that the idea isn't my favorite, but it's more agreeable to me than either giving her up or making her settle for a synth nearly one hundred years out of his warranty."
"And you think I'm a catch?" Hancock countered with a raspy laugh, "I know you're a good judge of character and all, but I would shoot the next person like me who dared look at Nora sideways."
"She trusts you John. She sees something in you that she's attracted to, and I refuse to stand in the way of that." Nick replied simply, but then he looked at the ghoul with a harder, serious expression. "I am also trusting you. Hurting her will also hurt me. She isn't some side fling that you just fuck and then cast aside. She's vulnerable, and she'll be even moreso now that the Institute has their claws in her."
"I know." The ghoul rasped quietly, almost reverently.
Nick continued, "If we find her. If we get her back. I worry that she'll need someone a little less like me, a straight laced detective, to heal those wounds. If even half of the rumors about her are true, then she's already done some pretty questionable things and I'm sure the guilt is suffocating."
The ghoul looked at the synth and exhaled deeply. "Well shit, Nicky. I don't know what to say."
He chuckled and polished off the rest of Hancock's whisky without bothering to pour it into his tumbler, "You don't need to say anything yet. First we gotta get our girl outta that hellhole to see what she thinks of this."
"Agreed." the ghoul rasped and toasted Nick with his almost empty glass. He gave the ol'synth a lot of crap, but he really was a helluva good person beneath the plastic skin and metal skeleton.
The next week passed by in the Institute with agonizing slowness. When Nora wasn't on missions for the Institute, her days were often free and unstructured. She didn't have the scientific understanding to assist anyone with their experiments, her son was often too busy to even see Nora outside of his normally scheduled meal times, and the Gen-3 synths would get too distracted by her presence that she was finally asked to just keep to her room when not working with Ayo and the other coursers.
She could only sleep and lounge around so much before her mind began to wander back to the people she was missing back home in Diamond City. Ellie, Arturo, Travis, Yefim, Vadim, and hell, she even missed Piper's endless prattling. In fact, she felt kind of guilty about how they left things back in Diamond City. Sure, Piper's nosy questions about her and Nick's relationship were inappropriate, but Nora knew that she didn't mean anything by it.
Nora also wondered how Preston and his gang from Quincy were doing back at Sanctuary. Although she couldn't be the leader that he wanted, she sincerely hoped that he found someone to step up and help out the Minutemen. Their cause was nobel, and unlike The Railroad, their cause was as pure as they came - help others and they'll return the favor.
Just then, she heard a quiet knock on her door and rose up from her spot on the floor to grab it. At first, she braced herself for the worst. Ayo usually didn't drop by to torment Nora until he got done with his work, but the clock in Nora's room read that it was half past three in the afternoon. Nevertheless, Nora steeled herself and opened the door.
"Hey Nora." Liam greeted with a friendly smile. He had a white messenger bag around his shoulders that looked full to the brim with assorted things.
"Afternoon, Liam." Nora replied politely. When she recieved the note taped to the underside of her tray, Nora wondered if this was all a cruel joke. She assumed - and hoped - that Liam would eventually explain himself.
"I was wondering if you'd like to play chess with me." He replied and opened his messenger bag to show her a chess board tucked among some books, memo pads, and scientific instruments.
"I wont be getting you in trouble, will I?" Nora asked cautiously. "Are you still grounded?"
Liam looked sheepish. "Yeah I am, but most of that is that I'm not allowed to touch a terminal until I can use one appropriately. Normal scavenged chessboards, on the other hand, are not a condition of my parole."
Nora chuckled and replied, "Alright. I should warn you, though. I'm terrible at most board games."
"That's okay." He replied. "I'll teach you."
She wouldn't have cared even if he pulled out Blast Radius from his bag. Nora was just grateful to have something interesting to do.
Nora sat across Liam in the common area as he pulled a worn chessboard from his messenger bag and placed it on the table in front of them. He then spilled out small black and white plastic pieces and began setting up the board.
"See, chess is a super easy game to understand." He began explaining while Nora watched him assemble a row of oblong tear-drop like pieces which she later learned were called Pawns. "The objective of the game is to capture your opponent's King."
Liam held up two identical pieces, one in black and one in white, that were slightly taller tear-drop pieces adorned with stately crowns. The rest of the pieces, which we'll get into in a moment, are suppose to protect the King. See, he's the weakest piece because he can only move one space in any direction, but he's the most important."
The young man went on to explain the other pieces and how the game started. "Since you're new, I'll let you be white. That means you start first."
Nora followed Liam's guide and moved her first Pawn forward two spaces. Likewise Liam would counter with his own moves. He was a good teacher, Nora thought, and she appreciated that he didn't take advantage of her ignorance just to show off his skill. Several times he's give her a wry grin when she was about to move a piece and then she'd realize that in the next two or three moves, that would leave her King open.
"Liam, I thought you said this was an easy game." She lamented after his Knight took her last Bishop.
"Check." He replied and then chuckled at Nora's frustrated expression. "I said this was an easy game to understand, I didn't say it was easy to play. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices. See, if you move your Rook over to take your King out of check, and then if I made a blunder and thought taking the Rook would be an easy reward, then your Queen could swoop in here and take my Knight."
Nora's head swam from what he had just said. "How do you know what your opponent is going to do? I can't read your mind."
"No," Liam agreed and moved his own Bishop across the board. Her King was stuck in between her Queen and a Pawn that she never had the opportunity to use. "But you see, people are predictable. Most people work for short term gain without thinking about the long term consequences."
Nora looked at her trapped King and saw that she had no viable moves left.
"Check Mate." Liam smirked.
Nora smiled and bowed her head in a mock concession, "Alright, you win. You are too good at this game Liam."
He grinned and then swept the black pieces into a small bag. Nora made a move to help him gather up her white pieces but his hands gently brushed hers away.
"Don't worry, I got it." he replied. "But first, how 'bout a little pop quiz."
Liam put the six different pieces on their side in order of their importance from King to Pawn. On the bottoms of each piece, Nora saw that a letter was etched into each different piece. When laid out, the six letter message read: T-R-U-S-T-?
Nora gaped at the message and then looked at Liam warily. "I don't know" She whispered.
"Aw c'mon, it'll be easy." he responded with ease. "I just want to check your understanding of the game."
He was answering her question without tipping off Ayo's lackeys who were listening in to their game via her cybernetic implant.
Holy shit, that's clever. Nora thought.
"Okay, fine." She replied
"Great! So what's the point of the King?" Liam recapped.
"He's the weakest piece on the board, but he's the most important. If your opponent captures the King, the game is over." Nora replied quickly.
"Good, and the Queen?" He replied.
"The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board, but she's usually the first your opponent will go after because of her threat to the other pieces."
"Yeah that's mostly true. Remember, humans are predictable. We can assume that until we cant." Liam cautioned, "And the Bishops?"
"The Bishops are important because they need to work together to corner the King. That's why one Bishop remains on the white square and the other on the black; when separated, they have a very obvious weakness, but when they work together they can be a force to be reckoned with."
Nora thought of Hancock and Nick and how they had set aside their differences so they could devise a plan to save her. Nick's honor and insecurities balanced Hancock's bravery and impulsivity. They were two of the same kinds of men who would stop at nothing in protecting their Queen.
"And the Rook?" Liam continued, pleased that his student was putting together their real-life chess game in her head.
"Like the Bishops, they can work together but it's often suggested to use them as protection for the King instead of an offensive force." Nora recounted.
"And lastly, the meager Pawn."
Nora paused. The Pawn who was on the front lines. The Pawn who was often sacrificed in the name of progress. The Pawn who could be a great liability or a great hero depending on how it was wielded. "I'd argue that the Pawn is one of the more important pieces in the game."
"Oh, and why's that?"
"Because if you can manage to get your Pawn to the other side of the board, you can upgrade it to a Queen. Its a risky strategy, but it can have a substantial payoff too."
"Yes, that's true." Liam replied cheerfully. "So how was that? D'you think you'd want to play against me again sometime?"
"I think that would be fine." Nora replied neutrally. She didn't understand what he was playing at here. Secret messages taped to her dinner tray and engraved onto the bottom of chess pieces? What was this kid's deal? Did he get cheap thrills in playing the secret agent while living in the Institute?
"Great!" he replied. Here you can borrow my board. I have a spare one back in my room. This way you can practice so you'll be ready when we play each other next time."
"Thanks Liam, that's very nice of you."
The young man brushed off her compliment with an embarrassed shrug of his shoulders. "Don't mention it. Now I gotta get going. I'm on food serving duty again. Since I can't play around on Dad's computer, I have to do something to pass the time. See you later, Nora!"
Nora watched Liam walk through the opposite sliding doors and take the elevator down to the Atrium. Nobody seemed to notice him; synths and scientists alike a made little to no eye contact and even fewer people greeted him as he walked through the archway that led to the cafeterias.
She brought the chess board into her bedroom and sat it on the table. The pieces they played with sat on top in a plastic baggie. Nora inspected the chessboard carefully. She almost expected to find another secret message etched into the dark wood. What she found instead were two small silver hinges on one end of the board.
Nora carefully cracked the board open and she heard the small hinges screech in protest. Inside the chessboard was a single note written on a yellow legal pad. She took the note out, went into the bathroom, and shut the door to read it.
You have no reason to trust me, but please know that I don't want to hurt you. I haven't been blinded by the Institute's false promises for the future. I've spent the past eighteen months smuggling synths topside. Your friends, at least I think they're your friends, then take them and set them free into their new lives. Nobody knows my identity except you. If you ever wish to escape, I can make some arrangements to get you topside for good. No courser chip, no cybernetics, no Dr. Ayo. Just freedom. If you are interested, order the Product #13 from the cafeteria. The Gen-2 synth working there has been reprogramed to accept it as a codeword. He'll notify me immediately.
- L
PS. Destroy this note and the one I gave you earlier. We can't leave a paper trail.
Nora crumpled the note and then flushed it down the toilet. Her hands were shaking, partially from excitement, but also partially from fear. Could she really betray Father and take Liam up on his offer? She'd be free from Dr. Ayo, she'd be free out under the thumb of the Institute, but she'd have to abandon her son all over again.
Just before eight that evening, the doorbell chimed again. The sickening sense of dread once more pulled through Nora's guts.
"Good evening, Mother." Ayo replied when Nora opened the door. He had changed out of his blue laboratory jumpsuit and was wearing loose fitting doctor's scrubs and a plain grey t-shirt.
"Do you need something, Dr. Ayo?" Nora replied coldly. She tried to sound bored but her thundering heart gave her voice a nervous edge.
"Yes, I do." He replied and invited himself into the room. The door slid shut behind him and Nora felt like a caged beast. The tom cat had breached the bird's cage and he was hungry. "I am here to deliver your next assignment. You leave tomorrow morning with X6."
"Then can't the briefing wait until tomorrow? I'm about to eat dinner in the cafeteria." Nora tried to move past him but he stepped in her way. The minty smell of his toothpaste was even stronger than usual.
"I took the liberty of having our dinner brought up here. We have much to discuss about tomorrow's little adventure. I even smuggled you some wine." Ayo pulled a dark bottle out from behind his back, the label had long since peeled off.
"I'm not allowed to drink wine." She replied cooly. "Father's orders and all."
While chem use had been long outlawed in the Institute, recreational drinking was much more difficult to combat. The scientists would sometimes enjoy a beer or a stiff whisky after a long day of experimentation, but Nora was forced to abstain. Father claimed it was because her responsibility as a courser required her to have a clear head, but he was really more concerned that her bad habits that she picked up topside - most notably her smoking and drinking - would tarnish his sterling reputation.
"Surely what Father doesn't know wont hurt him." Ayo replied and brushed past Nora. He grabbed two coffee cups and uncorked the bottle with a small pocketknife. He poured the red liquid into the pristine ceramic mugs and handed Nora one.
She looked at the cup of wine pointedly and with obvious distaste, but she still took it. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk."
Ayo approached her like a cat slinking through the grass. He moved slowly but with purpose. When he was near enough to Nora, he clinked his mug with hers and smirked.
"As I said when I met you four months ago, you are not my type. But, we've had a pretty rocky beginning in our relationship, and I wanted to start smoothing out some of the kinks." His voice was even and smoky. Nora heard that same voice on drunk men at the bar when it was close to closing time and when good sense had long ago taken leave from their alcohol soaked brains.
Nora took a sip of the wine. It was overly sweet, and cloying on her tongue and it burned her throat when she swallowed it.
"How do you like it?" Ayo asked. His hungry eyes pierced hers as she took another cautious sip.
"It's alright." She replied nonchallantly, "I'm more of a fan of white wine, though."
"I'll keep that in mind." He replied and took a seat at the small table. Liam's chessboard sat on the edge and Ayo looked at it with mock admiration.
"A fan of chess I see? I'm so glad that Liam was able to teach you the basics. I'm quite the chess player myself." Nora had to bite her tongue to keep her eyes from rolling around at his self aggrandizing tone.
"Maybe you should challenge Liam to a little game." Nora suggested, "He's quite good."
"I think I'd rather challenge you." He replied and began pulling the pieces out of the bag. Nora panicked when she saw Ayo grab the white Queen. The inscribed letter "R" was just visible beneath the bright fluorescent lights. If he saw Liam's message inscribed message, they'd both be in serious trouble.
"Alright, but I get to be white!" Nora replied quickly and sat opposite of Ayo.
The man smirked at her eagerness. He chalked it up to a minor victory, and let Nora set up her white pieces on her own.
Nora started moved her Pawn forward and freshened Ayo's mug with more wine.
"Now who's trying to whom drunk?" He replied smirking but drank from his cup nonetheless.
"I'll need every advantage I can get. I only learned the game today." She replied with a fake smile.
Nora was treading dangerous waters. She needed the game to end quickly, partially so Ayo would leave her alone but also because the message inscribed beneath her pieces could be the ruin of everything. She felt like they were playing atop a ticking land mine.
"So, what is this mission that I need to go on tomorrow?" She asked banally and moved her Knight towards the middle and captured his Pawn.
Ayo moved his own Pawn forward and then sat back in the chair lazily. "It's a rather sensitive mission, but I promise that the reward for its completion will be to your liking."
Nora tried to feign disinterest but failed. "And what's the mission?"
"You are ordered to eliminate a target that the Institute deems is a security risk. The task should be easy since you've already met him." Ayo said smugly. "Of course, I am making a deduction here since my Watchers cannot survive in that infernal hell hole that you call The Glowing Sea."
Virgil. Nora thought. She would be sent to kill Brian Virgil.
"Ah, I can see from your face that you already know who your target is. That will make tomorrow's discussion with X6 a lot shorter." Ayo took her Knight with his Queen. He moved the token with a bit too much flourish and the white piece tumbled onto the ground. Nora's hand immediately grabbed it before he could see the other letter inscribed on the bottom, but then Ayo's hand touched her own.
He brought her hand, still clenching the piece tightly in her fist, up to the table and let his cold fingers trail around her wrists.
Nora clenched her jaw in protest but said nothing. She couldn't say anything. There were no words that would keep her from ruining her position as a courser while stopping Ayo's innapropriate advances.
She rose unsteadily from the table, pocketed the chess piece, and grabbed the bottle of wine. She freshened her glass, but when she went to freshen the other, Ayo's steel grey eyes and his parted lips were inches away from her face.
"Why do you let those abominations fuck you, Nora?" He whispered harshly. Their chess game forgotten. His hand grasped her wrist again, but his touch was rougher and more domineering. "Why debase your body when you could have someone so much better?"
Nora firmly pulled her hand from his grasp and took a step away from him.
"I've - I - I think I've had too much wine for now." She stammered out and put the bottle on the chess board. "You should probably go, too."
He sneered and raised his hand. Nora flinched expecting him to hit her, but his hand grabbed the base of her head harshly and pulled her into him. His kiss was wet and sloppy. It had too much tongue and her teeth clicked against his so hard that she felt tingling pain travel through her gums and down into her spine. For his slight build, Ayo was forceful but not physical, yet Nora felt trapped by the situation. She could've easily punched him or fought back, but she was paralyzed by his authority over her. She felt helpless and numb.
He groaned deeply, his thin mustache felt like sandpaper on Nora's skin. She broke the kiss and put one hand on his chest to stop him. She fought the nausea and the headache that were fighting for dominance and she finally mustered up the courage to speak.
"Stop. Please stop." Her voice sounded small. Hell, although no wilting flower herself, Nora felt inadequate and powerless.
Ayo smirked but he stepped away. The erection in his pants tented obscenely through the loose-fitting fabric leaving nothing to the imagination.
"I thought you said I wasn't your type." Nora whispered. She didn't trust her voice to be any louder.
"You don't have to be my type for me to fuck you." He sneered. "After all, you let those abominations do it. Why would I be any different?"
Ayo drank both mugs of wine greedily and then put the cork back into the large bottle that was on the chess board. He wiped his lips and mustache boorishly with the back of his hand and took a few calming breaths. It looked as though he was trying to meditate his hard-on away.
Nora would've laughed if she wasn't terrified. She was rooted to the spot, standing awkwardly with her arms across her chest, waiting for Ayo to take his leave.
Ayo sighed out and then turned to Nora. "Be downstairs in the SRB no later than nine in the morning, and say nothing about your mission to anyone. It is highly classified."
Nora nodded mutely and watched as Ayo frowned at their unfinished game.
"I will take a raincheck on our chess game, Mother. It was fun while it lasted." He replied.
Nora watched Ayo leave and saw that he had left her the half empty bottle of wine. She snatched the offending alcohol off the table and moved to pour it down the sink, but then a little voice changed her mind.
She took the bottle and stuck it behind the heavy computer desk in the living room. It could be seen from the bathroom doorway, but was hidden from anyone who would try to look in on her.
Just a few more pills and you can make this end. The dark voice said. This was the same voice that enticed her to end it outside of Vault 111 and the same one that plagued her thoughts and fed her insecurities and lies when Shaun was born. Nora hated to admit it, but she missed the voice like she missed an old friend.
Nora's hand trembled as she typed in the code on the wall's panel to call the cafeteria. The other part of her mind - the one that valued self-preservation - screamed at her to get ahold of Liam. He was her only hope in making it out of the Institute alive. Her resiliency was waning: with fighting Ayo, the guilt of her past deeds, the anxiety about her future missions, and her loneliness, Nora was feeling pulled and stretched in too many ways.
"Can I help you, Mother?" The robotic Gen-2 synth voice asked.
"C-can I get the Product #13?"
"I'm sorry, Mother. We are out of that product."
His cool reply dashed Nora's hopes. She hung up on the Gen-2 synth and trudged over to the bathroom.
The nausea from the cheap wine and from Ayo's advances churned into a tempest and Nora collapsed onto her knees and heaved into the toilet bowl. She couldn't stop. Blood vessels broke beneath her skin from the violent expulsion of her stomach's contents. She placed her inflamed cheek on the bathroom tile flooring and imagined she was back in Diamond City.
Hancock passed her a tumbler of whisky and lit her cigarette. Vadim was carrying on with a highly embellished story about how Travis and Nora had saved him from the Raiders while Piper listened with appropriate mirth and skepticism. Nick's cool, synthetic hand caressed her ruddy cheeks and brushed away the tears that leaked from her eyes.
There Nora fell asleep, entwined in a fantasy world in which she never wanted to leave.