Hancock was still wondering what his next move should be when the door opened, and a surprised Fahrenheit began to enter the room. She froze in the doorway and re-directed her attention to the floor stammering out an apology.
"Sorry boss, I didn't know you were busy." She started to back out but was stopped by Amelia's steady voice.
"We were just discussing tactics," she said "but we're done now, right Hancock?" She had silently withdrawn the knife and hidden it away.
"Yeah, definitely done." he tried to sound casual, but his voice was a little raspy as he stood up straight and backed away. Damn it all.
Without another word Amelia left the room, leaving a virtual cloud of awkward in her wake.
Hancock straightened his coat and sat back down on the couch. Trying to look nonchalant, he picked the comic book back up and pretended to read, not realizing that he was holding in upside down.
"So, uh…did you need something?" he asked without looking up.
Fahrenheit decided to play along and not cause her boss any more embarrassment.
"I was going to give you a briefing on some neighborhood watch issues, but it really isn't important. Everything has already been handled as usual. Just figured I would keep you updated."
"I know you always have everything under control when I'm gone." He assured her.
"Yeah, but you've been gone, um… more… lately."
"Sorry about that, I just figured this vault kid could use a grizzled old ghoul watching her six." He realized how bad that sounded as soon as he said it, but just pushed through it. "I'm going to keep an eye out for her a little while longer, but I'm sure things here will get back to normal soon. I get the impression that she may already be getting a little tired of my company."
"Oh, really?" Fahrenheit couldn't help a slight tone of disbelief, as though she were saying 'that's not what it looked like to me,' but of course she hadn't seen the knife poking at his tender bits.
"Yeah, really. We're headed out for Salem in the morning, but I bet you see me sooner rather than later." He hated to do it because he had a strong affection for his bodyguard, but he stood and turned away from her in a dismissive manner. He was still embarrassed, an unusual feeling for him, and he didn't want her seeing it as a weakness.
Fahrenheit decided enough was enough and switched to 'tough love' mode.
"Boss, firstly you're not grizzled or old." She said, in an authoritative and motherly tone that made her shudder inwardly. "Second, I can't think of anyone I would trust more to watch my ass. And third, I don't think she's as tired of you as you think. So get over it, and get some sleep, because if I know you, and I sure as hell should by now, tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Hancock sighed heavily. "Thanks mom." He said and grinned at her.
"What the fuck was that?" Hancock hissed, trying to keep his voice at a whisper, but when dead bodies fall from the ceiling it's a little tough to play it cool. They had made it into the Museum of Witchcraft through a rusty basement door and were creeping their way through the rotten interior when weird shit started happening. Something was in here with them, grunting and snuffling at the floor above them. Something big. Something that had killed and partially eaten what looked like an entire squad of mercs.
Amelia poked the body with the toe of her boot and frowned but didn't say anything. She tightened her grip on her rifle and began easing up a rickety set of stairs. The smell was awful, and got worse the further they went. The rounded another corner and could see a light on the far side of the next room. Through a gaping hole in a wall they saw a massive clawed foot shift into view, followed by the rest of the green, scaly body of a 10 foot tall Deathclaw.
Amelia took a reflexive step back, but as she did so her boot broke straight through a rotten floor board. The reaction from the Deathclaw was instantaneous. It let out an earsplitting roar and charged directly towards Amelia. Hancock stepped between them trying to shield her but he was thrown aside by the sweep of a massive claw, crashing into the wall. Dazed for a moment, Hancock shook his head to clear it. When he focused again he saw Amelia lifted high in the air over the gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth.
Amelia knew this was the end. Her arms were pinned to her sides and her trusty rifle was pointed uselessly at the floor. She had been incredibly lucky to have survived in the commonwealth this long, but here she would meet her death by a monster with a very fitting name. She could see down into the beast's gullet, filled with steaming mucus and traces of gore, and she shut her eyes against the horror of it. At least maybe Hancock could escape while the Deathclaw was distracted with its meal. The claw tightened around her and she felt the sharp points puncturing her flesh. She couldn't help screaming in pain, but the sound of her screams were drowned out by a tremendous explosion. Amelia was suddenly falling, and then crashing into the rotten floor. She tried to get up, but pain darkened her vision and made her sink back to the ground. Before everything went completely dark she saw faint wisps of smoke trailing from the twin barrels of a shotgun in the place where the Deathclaw's head used to be.
Hancock pried the claws away from Amelia's limp body.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" he repeated over and over again as he tried to figure out if Amelia was alive or dead. She was pretty banged up, but it looked like she was breathing. He stuck her with a stimpak and attempted to find where all the blood was coming from. She had multiple puncture wounds in her torso which were all oozing. Hancock wrapped these with bandages as best he could and hoisted her onto his shoulder, carrying her out of the foul nest of the Deathclaw.
The closest friendly place Hancock knew of was The Slog, and he thought about how difficult a slog it would be to get there carrying another person, but he had no other option. 45 minutes and one aching back later he saw the outline of the old recreation center building come into view. He panted up to the concrete patio and gasped for help. Wiseman came running over and took Amelia from him, laying her in a reclined patio chair. He yelled over at one of the other ghouls.
"Deidre, get the tarberry paste you've been working on." He turned to a confused Hancock and explained, "We have found that strained tarberry pulp mixed with NukaCola Quantum and a dash of Med-X both disinfects and speeds the healing of animal bites. Might work with Deathclaw wounds too, we've just never had someone alive to try it on..."
"Whatever! You can make a paste from my trousers if you want." Hancock growled impatiently, "Just do it!"
He paced back and forth around the pool while several of the ghouls tended to Amelia. It seemed like hours later when he heard a soft groan and the creaking of the decrepit wooden chair as Amelia sat up clutching her head and side.
"Jeez, did you get the plate number from the bus that ran me over?" she coughed and spat up a little blood, but her color was much better and she didn't look like she was going to snuff it anymore.
Hancock said nothing, but clenched his fists tight to keep himself from embarrassing himself by grabbing her and rocking her like a baby.
"Thanks for getting me out of there John." She said, accepting a hand from Wiseman to help her up from the chair."
"Maybe you should stay down and rest." Hancock suggested as he watched her grimace in pain. "You're still pretty beat up short stack." She hobbled over and grabbed his arm, pointing towards the recreation building with her other hand.
"I need to get out of this disgusting jumpsuit," she grunted, shuffling along the patio with his help. "and you're going to help me. Then I'll rest some more."
"Wouldn't you rather have Deidre help…" he protested
"No, and if you can't be a gentleman for five minutes I'll just do it my damn self."
