"Well, well, well! If it isn't the dumbest bucket of bolts this side of Diamond City!"
"Can it, Hancock. I'm not in the mood."
"From what I hear you're not in the mood for much these days."
Nick narrowed his optics, but said nothing. Hancock's tone was ice cold and he knew his old friend was smouldering with hardly hidden anger. The metal man reached for the ashtray sitting on the bar, ground out his half finished cigarette and sighed, feeling as if he'd rather be turning toward a firing squad. "She's been through here recently, I take it?"
"Why? You lookin' for her?" He could feel Hancock's eyes boring into him, burning holes, The ghoul was doing nothing more than leaning against the counter, toying with his empty bottle of beer, but there was hostility crackling in the air around him. Nick knew he was in the eye of Hancock's storm.
Nick nodded. "I just want to... well...was she... Was she all right?"
Hancock snorted in disbelief. "And here I thought you were a detective."
"She wasn't all right?"
"No, Nick. She wasn't. She's not."
The synth fumbled in his coat pocket, pulled out a crumbled packet, pulled out a fresh smoke. He had no idea what to say to that.
"Do you know how many glasses of Nuka and rum she poured down her throat to try and shake you? It's higher than you'd think."
Nick had only seen Nora drink a handful of times, all of them for good reasons. She still usually ended up sniffling by round four, no matter what. She was always a weepy drunk, even if the tears were happy. He'd never known them to be sad. "Is she still in town?"
Hancock put down his bottle, picking at the edge of the label, now no longer bothering to even make eye contact. It took him a long time to answer. "I know she'd want me to tell you where she is, but I'm not going to do that."
"Hancock, please, if I could just see her-"
"Yeah, and do what? Make her cry more? You broke her heart!"
Nick was on his feet and speaking loud, struggling to defend the actions he knew hadn't been right in the first place. "I had to!"
"Bullshit, Nick!" Those black eyes blazed as they turned back. "You do this every damn time! Some pretty little thing gathers up the courage to tell you that she's falling for you and you just shut down! You show them the door, you give them your little "But I'm a robot" spiel-"
"It's not a spiel!"
"Sure, you tell yourself that. Tell yourself that you're all metal and no real feelings, but don't bothering trying to tell me." Hancock snorted again. He remembered the red rimmed eyes of Nora, remembered the way she'd sobbed into his shoulder, how she'd sobbed again when the booze betrayed her and she'd been sick over his jacket. How small and miserable she'd looked. Didn't bother him one bit, he wasn't about to turn her into the streets for any reason. He'd cleaned her up, reassured her, tucked her into his own bed and fought himself like hell to stay away.
He'd always been fighting himself when it came to Nora.
"You and me, we've never had any bad blood, Nick. We go way back and I've seen you ignore woman and I've seen you notice them. I know when you're interested and when it comes to Nora, you've been interested for a long damn time. I'm not stupid. I see the way you look at her and DON'T piss me off by denying that."
Nick lit his smoke with a shaking hand, Hancock's words buzzing through his processors. "Even if you did see me look at her," he began slowly, "even if I did look at her... Hancock... I'm not enough for her. I never could be."
"Well I'm so sure you gave it so much thought-" The ghoul's sarcasm cut deep, and Nick's circuits sparked red hot in response.
"You don't have a goddamn clue how much I've thought I've given her! Do you think I like this? Do you think I like being a rusty heap of metal and watching someone as incredible as Nora bat her eyelashes at me while I know I've got nothing to offer her? She single-handedly saved this city, my city, hell, she built her OWN city out of the ruins of her own home! She is everything and she deserves everything and everything is the exact opposite of what I can give!"
Hancock scoffed, pushing his empty across the bar, pulling his hat low over his eyes. "If you think someone capable of saving every single one of us isn't capable of knowing her own heart, then I don't know what to tell you Nick. Pull your head outta your ass and wake up. You've got a miracle waiting for you. You're being stupid, and I don't have time for stupid. You're better than this. She's better than this."
Without so much as a last glance to Nick, the Mayor of Goodneighbour swept out of his bar, his piece said. His own nerves were suddenly rough with jagged edges and he knew that nothing but Jet could smooth them out at this point.
As for Nick, he ordered himself a double scotch and stayed, silently drinking, processing until the sun came up, still no closer to knowing what to do.