(((Third rail)))
An armor clad woman sat next to the ghoul with the red coat and funny hat. Half of her auburn hair was swept to one side and the other half was shaved off. Her eyes were a soft blue but her gaze was fierce and protective of the ghoul she focused her eyes on. She shook her head at the bottles that were piled high in front of him. "I heard Nora came back." She said as she sat on the empty bar stool next to him.
He nodded his head as he slammed another shot of whisky. "She came to me asking for help, I screwed up Fahr, I let my anger get the best of me. I should have helped her." He lowered his head as while hand shook as he poured another shot spilling some whisky on the bar.
Fahrenheit nodded her head as she took the shot of whisky before his scarred hand could close around it. "Do you still care about her?" She asked before downing the shot in one drink, letting out a sigh of air that burned her nose and throat.
Hancock turned the whiskey bottle in his hand as he stared at it, his eyes blurring as he spoke softly. "I still love her."
Fahrenheit took the bottle from his hands and took a long drink from it then nodded at the ground. "Was she hurt before she got here or was that your doing?"
Hancock shook his head and looked at the heavily armored woman next to him with a confused look on his face. "I threatened to kill her, but I would never hurt her."
Fahrenheit put the bottle to her lips and took another long drink. She looked at Hancock and shook her head as she pointed at the ground with the bottle "Someone hurt her and she's bleeding out slowly, should have helped her when you had the chance John, you were probably the only person she felt she could trust, probably the first person she came to." Fahrenheit handed the bottle back to Hancock.
Hancock slowly took the bottle as he looked down and saw blood drops on the ground where Nora had stood. He followed the blood trail with his eyes and saw they lead to the stairs.
Fuck. He should have helped her.
Hancock slammed the bottle of whisky on to the counter and it shattered into pieces. "Fuck! put it on my tab Charlie." He stood up and wobbled a bit as he looked at Fahrenheit. "I'll be back. Take care of things will ya?"
Fahrenheit smiled as she nodded her head. "Don't I always John?"
Hancock started to turn away but the muscled bodyguard grabbed his arm. "Don't get killed out there. I don't like running this place when your gone and I don't want it to be permanent. I only do it because you pay me to do so, and your one hell of a boss."
Hancock grinned. "Your getting soft in your old age Fahr, think that's the first nice thing I've ever heard you say, Do you want a hug and kiss goodbye too?"
The woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Get the fuck out of here and make sure you wrap your damn hand, its getting blood everywhere dumbass."
Hancock laughed as he looked at his hand and saw it was bleeding. He saw a piece of glass buried in the side of it. He pulled the chunk of glass out and dropped it on the floor. He pulled a stimpack from his coat and pushed the needle into his hand, smiling when he heard it hiss. "That's the Fahrenheit I'm used to. See ya around." Hancock turned and followed the blood out of the third rail as he wrapped a cloth around his hand. He followed it all the way to the gates of GoodNeighbor and saw it stopped not far on the other side. Hancock looked around and squinted his eyes in the bright morning sun. He growled as he looked around trying to guess where Nora might go next.
He looked towards Diamond city and nodded. Nick was there and if Nora needed help she might of went there.
((Boone))
Boone followed the other men silently as Ed-e hovered close to Shaun. For the most part Shaun and Danse talked about guns and how to use them. Boone and Preston had stayed quiet as they walked on.
Boone almost bumped into Preston when he suddenly stopped. "This is where I go on my way boys. Been great traveling with you guys. Danse, I trust you can get them the rest of the way to Diamond city safely?"
Danse nodded his head. "You know I will, always have before."
Preston smiled as he nodded at Boone. "I hope you find your wife and that everything turns out ok for you Craig."
Boone nodded back "As do I General."
Boone turned and followed Danse and Shaun as they continued to walk towards Diamond city.
They had been walking for a bit before Danse glanced back at Boone and spoke as he kept walking. "How long were you apart of the NCR?"
Boone still was unsure about Danse. The man appeared to be friendly but he had seen him staring at him several times. Like he was trying to figure something out. "I was apart of the NCR most of my life. I spent most my service with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, we were the ones they called in for jobs that needed marksmen precision."
Danse stopped walking for a moment and turned to Boone. "Why did you quit then?"
Boone took a deep breath and lowered his head. "It was because of what happened on the last mission I ever did with my unit. Too many fucked up things that shouldn't of happened. Known as the massacre of bitter springs, I was discharged a few months after what had happened." Boone took a few steps but Danse stood facing Boone.
He crossed his arms as he glared at Boone. "What happened?"
Boone looked at Danse through the dusted glass of his NCR helmet. He wasn't sure if this was Danse showing hostility or if he just really wanted to know what happened. "We were told a hostile group of people were camped out there. That it was to be the most dangerous of them." Boone shook his head. "It was only young children, old people and women. The most dangerous ones there were the teenage boys trying to protect their mothers."
Boone continued to walk even if Danse wasn't going to move.
Danse turned and kept pace in front of Boone. Ed-e was hovering around Shaun making him laugh as he bobbed around the boys head.
Danse shook his head. "Sorry if I was out of line with my questions."
Boone shrugged his shoulders. "It was the past. I tried to have my spotter radio in what I saw and things got messed up. I just don't like to talk about it is all."
Danse took a deep breath. "Understandable, as soldiers we all have to follow orders even if we don't agree with them." Danse kept walking and kept quiet as they rounded the corner of a building.
Boone looked ahead and saw a huge yellow wall as they rounded a corner. There was a crudely painted sign pointing at the wall that said "Diamond city" Boone took a step and heard a bullet whiz by his head. He immediately grabbed his gun and turned to face the direction the bullet had come from. He heard a yell and another bullet whizzed by.
Boone looked up at a balcony above him and saw a super mutant standing on a balcony. He had a gun pointed at him and was firing without looking down the scope. Boone aimed his gun as more super mutants started yelling inside the building as they appeared in the doorways and on the roof. Boone barely looked through his scope as he pulled the trigger on his rifle. The Mutant that had been shooting at him jerked his head back as dark blood splattered the wall behind him when Boone pulled the trigger.
He heard Danse yell at Shaun to run to Diamond city as his gun fired a few rounds. Boone sighted another green mutant and heard Shaun yell out behind him. Boone turned and saw a mutant was standing in front of Shaun. Ed-e was flitting around beeping as his weapons fired up. Boone whistled and pointed at the boy when Ed-e turned to face him. "Keep the boy safe Ed-e!" He saw the little eye bot fly off and heard his lasers fire as Shaun backed away from the super mutant. Ed-e fired his lasers into the super mutants eyes and saw the super mutant try to swipe at Ed-e as he screamed with rage and covered his eyes with one hand.
Boone felt something slam into his back knocking him forward. Boone stumbled and turned to see a mutant was swinging a sledge hammer at him. Boone pulled out a small hand gun and fired it rapidly at the mutants head. With a howl of rage the mutant backed up and fell to the ground.
Boone pulled his rifle back out and aimed at the mutants on the roof. He fired his gun twice and two mutants fell to the ground. Everything went quiet as Boone looked at Danse and saw he was putting his gun away. Shaun was no where to be seen and he hoped Ed-e was with him.
Boone took a step towards Danse and heard a super mutant scream from somewhere within the abandoned building the other mutants had came out of. "I WILL KILL ALL HUMANS!"
He then heard a steady beep beep beep that got faster.
Boone glanced at Danse and saw his eyes were wide. He pointed at the yellow wall and shouted at Boone. "It's a suicider, I'm out of ammo! RUN!"
Boone watched him run towards the yellow wall like a thousand Deathclaws were at his heels. Boone turned to face the mutant with the beeping noises coming from it. He saw it was running towards him with something flashing in his hands. Boone lifted his rifle and aimed for the thing in the abominations hands. Boone pulled his trigger and yelled in surprise as he was knocked back by a massive blast. He felt his head bounce off something and was knocked out cold.
((John Hancock))
Hancock walked to Diamond city and thought about the last time he had held Nora. She was crying and distraught as he held her close. She had just told him about everything that had happened. About how she destroyed the brotherhood, what happened with the rail road. He held her as she explained about her son, how he had died of cancer as an old man. She then told Hancock she was the new director of the institute and had plans of making it a better place for all of the commonwealth. They were engaged and the wedding was just weeks away. Nora said it would only be a few weeks and then she would be back for the wedding and would live with him in GoodNeighbor. The two weeks went by and he waited for her, but she never appeared. The day of their weeding came and she never appeared. He waited as the weeks turned to months, then years.
Heartbroken and angry, he had long ago taken that ring off and vowed to shot her if she ever came back.
Hancock sighed as he looked up at the yellow Diamond city gates. He pressed the button and Pipers voice greeted him. "Welcome to diamond city, what business do you have?"
Hancock shook his head. "Why the fuck should I tell you Piper?"
Hancock heard the gate moan as it started to open. He stepped forward and was greeted by a dark haired woman wearing a business suit. Her hair was much longer then he remembered and saw the wear of age was etched on her face. She wrapped her arms around him and embraced him tightly. "God! Its good to see you John!"
Hancock gave her a quick squeeze and stepped back. "Good to see you too Pipes, did Nora come here?"
Piper shook her head and gave Hancock a puzzled look. "No, you're the first person here since the gate was closed for the night. Is Blue back?"
Hancock looked down as he pulled out a cigar and lit it with a gold lighter. "Yeah, she came to GoodNeighbor for help and I fucked up."
Piper shook her head as she took a deep breath. "Cant tell me your still upset over what happened years ago?"
Hancock shrugged his shoulders. "She caught me at a bad time and I might have acted like an ass."
Piper shook her head as she put her hand on her forehead. "Jez Hancock! Do you know where she might of gone?"
He shook his head, " This place was my first guess. Thought maybe she might of went to Nick for help. Speaking of the old toaster, Is Nick in? I figure he might know a way to find her."
Piper sighed and grabbed Hancock's hand. "Come on Jackass, lets find blue."
Gunshots made Piper and Hancock pause. They both looked back to see a young boy start to run towards them when a super mutant stepped out from a building and blocked his path. Hancock pulled out his shotgun and ran with it in his hand. He stopped suddenly when a small floating bot appeared and shot the Mutant in the head several times. The mutant stumbled back as he swung a massive hand at the little bot flying around his head. The bot fired one more shot and the mutant fell as his head exploded. Hancock saw the boy scramble to get up and run towards Hancock. He almost fell again when he finally looked ahead and saw Hancock.
Hancock motioned for the kid to come and the little bot pushed the boy from behind. He ran hard and fast and kept running as he passed Hancock. Hancock started to take a step towards the gunshots and saw Danse running full speed at him. "Suicide Mutant! Run!" Hancock smiled as he pulled out a small hand gun. He loved shooting suiciders. He ran forward as Danse ran past him. He laughed as he saw the Suicider emerge from the empty building. He aimed his gun and saw a tall dark figure had a large rifle aimed at the mutant. Hancock shook his head as he tried to yell at the dark figure. "Too fucking close…" The mutant suddenly exploded when the man in the trench coat fired his gun. Hancock covered his eyes with his arm as the fat man exploded with a bright light.
He lowered his arm and saw the figure that was wearing the trench coat was lying on the ground. "Fucking idiot!" He yelled as he ran to see if the dumbass was still alive.
He looked down and saw he was still breathing. He was wearing full armor and appeared to be unhurt but very much out of it. Hancock heard heavy footsteps run to him and heard Danse's voice. "He alive?"
Hancock nodded his head. "Yeah, he's breathing." Hancock turned to Danse "The fuck happened Danse?"
Danse shook his head as he stood at the feet of the trench coat man. "It was a mutant ambush."
Hancock turned back to the figure on the ground. He knelt down and shook the guy. "Hey, wake up dumbass!"
The man let out a moan and the eyes on his helmet flickered with red lights then went back out. One of the eyes had a crack running through it.
"You know him Danse?" Hancock asked as he shook the man again.
"Yeah, his name is Craig Boone and we were helping him to diamond city. Said he lost his wife and we were taking him to Nick." Danse knelt down and let out a sigh. "Will you help me get him to Nick's place? I promised Preston I would get him there."
Hancock laughed. "I was already headed to Nicks anyway." He put his hands under the man's shoulders and helped Danse drag him into Diamond city.
((Scarlet))
Scarlet had seen Nora was slowly bleeding before they got to far from GoodNeighbor. She had applied a compress to stop the bleeding as they quietly made there way through the streets and deserted buildings. Nora shook her head as Scarlet applied pressure on the wound. It was on Nora's back and looked serious. "I know of one more place close by that might help. I just didn't want to risk exposing them before it was time."
Scarlet looked at Nora. "Your hurt and we both need a place to hide. Where is this place?"
Nora took a deep breath and motioned for Scarlet to fallow her. Scarlet kept close to Nora as they snuck quietly around the abandoned cars and empty streets. Scarlet had seen buildings before but none as big and massive as the ghosts of the ones they were passing now. It was like man made canyons and cliffs. No where near as beautiful as Zion but just as mind-blowing.
Scarlet kept an eye on Nora as they traveled. Her wound was deep and it needed treatment. They had no stimpacks of any kind. Scarlet had to rip a piece of cloth and crush some broc flowers and Xander roots from her emergency pouch. It helped to stop the bleeding but there was still internal damage.
Nora suddenly held a hand up. Scarlet paused as Nora looked around. "This is it. I hope they are still here."
Nora flipped open a sewer grate and climbed down into the darkness. Scarlet fallowed her and saw they were in a tunnel. She saw several colored lights on the walls and heard the steady drips of water. Nora walked on fallowing the lights that were red. The lights ran on for quite a bit and winded them into narrow tunnels and large open crevasses. Nora stopped at a wall with a gold circle on it. Scarlet watched as Nora touched it with her hands.
She let out a sigh and shook her head. "They could of at least changed the password." Nora started turning the rings of the thing and would press a center button with each stop of the disks, a loud click echoing down the sewer each time. Scarlet heard a final loud click and a door swung open.
Scarlet stayed behind Nora as they walked into the darkness beyond the door.
A sudden bright light was turned on and it blinded Scarlet.
"Stop right there. State your name and why you are here." It was a woman's voice and it sounded like it held great authority.
Scarlet heard Nora talk in a quiet calm tone of Voice. "My name is Nora and I come to the rail road for help."
The bright light went off and Scarlet heard footsteps run towards them. She heard Nora gasp in pain as a woman with short silvery hair wrapped her arms around Nora and laughed. "Its been ages! How are you Nora!"
Nora smiled as she took a shaky pain filled breath and steadied her self when the woman let her go. "I'm a bit banged up, but ok for the most part Gloria. I came here for help. Do you think Desdemona will help me?"
The silver haired woman smiled as she nodded her head. "After everything you have done for us? You don't even need to ask for help Nora."
Nora smiled "Good, that's all I needed to hear…" Nora collapsed and the Silver haired woman caught her before she could hit the ground. She looked at Scarlet with wide eyes. "What happened?"
((Nick Valentine Detective agency))
Danse and Hancock laid the unconscious man on Nicks couch. Shaun and Ed-e were talking quietly with Ellie as piper and Nick stood staring at the stranger on the couch. Nick shook his head and looked at Danse. "Who the hell is he and why is he on my couch?"
Danse took a deep breath. "His name is Craig Boone. He's looking for his wife, she was kidnapped and taken to the institute by a synth calling his self Shaun. We think she was targeted because she had succsesful…"
Shaun ran over and looked at Nick with a smile. "She has robotic parts implanted according to what said."
Nick shook his head. He's heard of people trying to become robotic only to fail horribly. A robotic heart that could keep you alive a bit longer, robotic lungs that would let you smoke anything and not worry about it. Lost arms or legs replaced with robot parts to keep living a normal life. Then there is the flip side. Synths wanting to be more human. Nick lit a cigarette and shook his head. Everyone wants to be anything but themselves. Nick looked at Danse then at Hancock. "And you thought I might know a way into the institute?"
Danse and Shaun nodded there heads. Hancock laughed. "Nora's back, as soon as we find her she can take him there."
Everyone looked at Hancock with wide eyes. Danse took a few steps towards him. "She's back and your just now telling us?"
Hancock shrugged his shoulders. "I told Piper before I saw you running from a suicider like a scared little girl."
Danse gritted his teeth but kept his voice calm. "Where is she John?"
Hancock sighed as he looked down at the floor. "I don't know."
Piper and Danse both looked at Hancock as they both spoke at the same time. "What happened?"
Hancock took a step back knowing he was gonna get decked hard by two strong people. "She uh, came to me for help, an I might have been drunk when I might have pointed a gun at her and told her to leave. She had another woman with her…I think Nora called her Scarlet, Nora begged me to hide her at least since she was pregnant." Hancock nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand grabbed his arm from behind.
"WHAT?"
Hancock looked at the man that they had brought in. He was now sitting up and was gripping his arm in a death grip.
The man let go and stood up. He took a step closer as he reached up and unlatched his helmet letting it fall to the ground with a loud thud. "What did you say filthy fucking ghoul?!" He asked in a low threatening voice.
Hancock glared at the man as he took a deep breath. "I told them to get the fuck out, Nora and the pregnant red headed bitch..."
Hancock didn't get a chance to blink before he felt his face explode as Boone grabbed him by his shirt and slammed his other fist into Hancock's face. He pulled back and slammed his fist with full force into Hancock's face. Hancock tried to back away and fell back as he tripped on a stack of papers. He tried to put his hands up to defend his self but Boone kept punching him with quick hard blows.
Danse and Nick shouted at Boone to stop as they grabbed him and tried to pull him off Hancock. Piper was trying to pull Hancock out from under Boone and was screaming at Boone to stop when Hancock's hands fell to his sides, his face bloody and broken.
Ed-e let out a sudden loud high pitched screeching that made everyone cover there ears. Nick and Danse slammed Boone into a wall as Piper put her body over Hancock to protect him. Boone yelled out in anger as he balled his fist. "She was fucking pregnant you God damn ghoul!"
Hancock tried to sit up but piper pushed him back down. She looked at Shaun and pointed at the door. "Get security and the doctor here now!"
Ed-e was flying around giving off scared and confused beeps. Ellie pushed the bot into a bathroom and shut the door on it.
Boone tried to get up but Danse and Nick pushed him back to the ground. Boone struggled to get up but he was held down with strong arms. "Let me go! She's pregnant and alone!"
Nick shook his head. "I don't think so, not after the stunt you just pulled!"
Boone tried to punch at Nick but Danse punched him hard across his face. Boone blinked before Danse punched him again and knocked him out.
