With a gingerly stroke of the tender area under her right eye, Nicole begrudgingly acknowledged that the worse injury she'd sustained in the escape from Paradise Falls was a black eye. Susan Lancaster had managed to land the impressive shiner with a flick of her wrist and a swish of her hair before departing with Flak. Nicole was just relieved that the smaller, scrappier blonde had chosen to express her thanks in a form that wasn't a bullet. In truth, Nicole wouldn't have been so forgiving had she been in Susan's place.
After the altercation with the slavers, the three found themselves noticeably jumpier as they moved west. Every time a gust of wind met them over a hill in a haunting moan, the rattling of weapons soon followed as Nicole and Linden would assume a defensive stance, rifles in hand. Even Don would fiercley grip her new-found pistol.
Nicole was sure that the nurse-maid had some very weighty questions for her guide but was managing to keep them to herself, thankfully. Despite the fact that she'd been at the other end of a slave collar, Nicole had demonstrated that she was on friendly terms with the inhabitants of Paradise Falls to the point of knowing the slavers by name, and vice versa. It was likely, of course, that at this point Don just didn't care. She'd played the part of innocent ex-slave and wet nurse convincingly, but she'd made an almost impossible shot when she had killed Clover, and Don wasn't blind: she couldn't have missed the fact that Clover was indentured. A slave collar was a hard thing to miss. Perhaps Don's silence was motivated by the fact that once she started asking questions, Nicole would be given the opportunity to make her own inquiries.
They were headed to Arefu for the afternoon. After the stint at Paradise Falls, Nicole was shaken up. It had been the first time she'd seen a proper battle in two months, and Nicole had managed to get her and her charge captured by slavers. It still seemed impossible that no one had been killed, but maybe karma was finally smiling down on her. So to take advantage of their good luck, they were going to have a nice, quiet afternoon in Arefu for a late lunch, and Nicole was hoping a caravan was making their way through the area, as they had come in possession of a lot of equipment to sell. Linden had five rifles swinging on his back, and Nicole's pack was loaded down with enough drugs and spare medical supplies to keep all of Rivet City happy until the next apocalypse.
As a balm to their constantly jarred nerves, Arefu and its promise of a little relaxation finally came into view. The Potomac usually presented the problem of mirelurks, and today proved to be like any other. Linden had spotted the creature long before it had noticed their presence, and fired a few blasts from his laser rifle. There was no denying that energy weapons dealt with the 'lurks better than a bullet, and soon the thing was dead. Don stared at the hull of the creature which had tumbled back and now rocked back and forth in the water.
"You see a lot of them near the river, and these aren't even the worse kind," Nicole sniffed nonchalantly.
Don's curiosity heightened. "But how do they survive in the water?"
"Uh," Nicole thought for a moment. "Oh! The water here isn't nearly as radiated as in the Pitt. You can actually swim in the Potomac. I've done it quite a bit."
"Swim?" Don echoed. Nicole nodded, but her attention was elsewhere. She had spotted the wandering merchant Crow and his guard along side a brahmin laden with goods.
"C'mon, there's Crow. We can get rid of some of this crap."
Nicole and Linden happily greeted the merchant, glad to be rid of their own load, but Don hung back, looking down at the water longingly. Nicole priced out some items while Linden placed the rifles down at their feet, and turned.
"I'm going to go and make sure Don doesn't get into any trouble."
Nicole and Crow chatted for a bit. The merchant was very curious as to where the weapons cache had come from, and the blonde wasn't sure if she should say.
"C'mon," Crow purred from under the brim of his hat. "I saved all that .44 mag for you, and I had some very persuasive offers on the road, I should add."
"Yeah, I know," Nicole blushed, and shifted her weight from one leg to the other in apprehension. Finally she sighed. "Fine. Paradise Falls."
Crow's face went from shades of confusion to acknowledgement to disappointment in about three seconds. "Girl, I trade with them! They're about the only folks who can afford my fine apparel, and-"
"And they're slavers," Nicole pointed out, but she couldn't meet the merchant's eyes. She went back to inspecting some of the goods that had been laid out on the old Chinese mat that served as a part-time saddle.
"Kid, how many settlements have you wiped off the map now? Let's see," Crow began to count off locations with his fingers. "So we have Paradise Falls now. Evergreen Mills was a few months back-"
"Also slavers," Nicole huffed, and put her hand to Crow's mouth before he could continue his little list of her dark deeds. "And besides, I brought Arefu back from the brink, doesn't that count for something? These are good people, not slavers."
"Slavers are people, too," Crow said with a shrug. "They're just trying to get by."
"You can't believe that!" Nicole crossed her arms. Crow smiled wistfully.
"Well, the point I'm trying to make is that I'm just people trying to get by, and it's hard to do that when you keep taking out my clientele."
"Did I not just provide you with enough disposable goods to feed you and Cassie here for half a year?"
Crow didn't have a response to that.
"Exactly," Nicole grinned, and then waved her hand at the items spread out on the blanket. "I think I've got all I need."
Crow and his female companion went about packing their stuff up while Nicole counted out a few bottle caps to even up the trade. As the caps exchanged hands, Crow nodded down at the Potomac's edge where Don was washing off Marie and Linden, having shed his armor, was diving under the surface of the murky water. "So who are they?"
"Just some people," Nicole shrugged, then put up her hands. "Look, don't twist my arm. I'm heading to the Citadel. The baby needs a place to grow up."
"There are places less... extreme then the Citadel," Crow said. He knew that the Lone Wanderer was on very good terms with the Brotherhood of Steel, of course. How could she not be? Nicole had worked very closely with them to bring down the Enclave, and had seen fit to trust them with full control of the operations at Jefferson Memorial. Undoubtedly the baby would be privy to the best education available in the wasteland short of that from a Vault, and there was no safer place to grow up.
"Yep, there sure are," Nicole nodded. She picked up the suit of combat armor she was going to spend the afternoon taking apart and resetting into her own suit. "Until we meet again."
They exchanged farewells and Nicole walked down to where her companions were. Marie was sitting up in the water with Don's help, giggling as she slapped up some spray. Linden was treading water and watching the baby with a glow in his eyes, but upon noticing Nicole's approach, he climbed out of the water and took on a much more serious stance. Even if he was only in his underwear, the man was imposing, no doubt about it.
"So," Linden placed his hands on his hips as water cascaded down his limbs.
"Yep, so," Nicole nodded. "Got a good price on the rifles, and picked up some spare stims. Let's get to Arefu, I'm starving."
They walked up the bridge to where the settlement was, the altercation at Paradise Falls now forgotten. Nicole had always found it hard to believe that such a well situated community could have fallen on hard times due to raider and slaver attacks, which was the story. There was only one way to approach the houses of Arefu, and that was up the ramp. Hell, the first time Nicole had come to Arefu she'd almost been blown in two. All the town needed was a few well armed persons and they'd be safe and snug. As it was, a little more than two months back Nicole had provided them with one such a person.
"Here she comes!" Evan King sang out as he saw who was approaching his little town. The mayor stood up from his chair and put his hands out. "The heroine of Arefu!"
Nicole beamed. "Hey, Evan! Got anything to eat for a couple of wasteland-weary travelers?"
"For you? Anything!" King was always excessively exuberant when Nicole came to town. He offered them boxes of pre-war goodies, commenting that Doc Hoff, a merchant who specialized in food and medicine, had just been by a few days ago.
"Yeah, Crow is down there right now," Nicole jerked her thumb in the direction behind her as they sat in King's house around the table. She picked up another candied apple chunk and popped it into her mouth. The taste was very strong, almost stinging on her tastebuds, and she salivated just a little as she ate another. "How are things working out with Alan?"
"As good as ever!" King cheered, and he took a swig from his beer bottle. "Even got that boy eating like a real person. Though you should see him: pours those blood packets all over his Instamash like it's gravy, it's the damnedest thing."
Linden's eyes just about popped out of his head.
More small talk followed when they'd finished their meal, and as the sun moved lower in the sky Nicole mused on spending the night. She was comfortable and content and finding that she was enjoying the company of her companions quite a bit, now that they were talking freely and had forgotten any unsavory tastes that Paradise Falls had left. King had broken away from the group and the three were quietly admiring the scenery from their vantage point high above the river as they stood around outside. Far below a few mole rats moved across the hills and Don pointed them out to Marie who looked in the opposite direction.
It was then that Nicole noticed a low, constant humming that moved up from the wasteland to offend their ears. She wasn't sure where the sound was coming from, but it was mechanical, and nothing like she'd ever heard before. Not in DC anyways. Linden had noticed it too, and his gaze turned to steel as he looked out over the bridge.
"What is that?" Nicole wondered aloud, but her curiosity couldn't match the horror that appeared on Don's face.
"Wernher!" she cried. Nicole rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"Impossible," the blonde shook her head and started thinking. She'd seen Enclave vertibirds out this way before, but they were rather large crafts and hard to miss. Then Nicole remember that she'd once seen the functioning bretheren of the broken-down motorcycles that littered the Capital Wasteland. What she was hearing reminded her of those the smugglers in the swamps favored.
"It sounds like the motorcycles Wernher had!" Don's tone picked up confidence as Nicole's face showed how her opinion was swaying. "Believe me, I know what I'm talking about!"
"I thinks she's right," Linden said darkly; the final nail in the coffin. "I know what you're thinking, Nicole. And it's not Brotherhood. Or Enclave."
"Exactly how much experience with the Enclave do you have?" Nicole asked skeptically. Linden didn't move to answer. Nicole let out a sound of frustration at the fact that her quiet evening was about to be disrupted. "Fine then. But we should run."
"Run?" Linden s pride didn't seem to like that option. His peace-loving Treeminder was becoming lost in favor of his cocky, imperious Outcast instincts.
"The last time we fought, we had our asses handed to us," Nicole reminded him. "But more importantly I don't want to bring that fight to these people. So we run."
And they did. They crossed the Potomac, Linden taking Marie and holding the baby above his head best he could until they were over the river. Nicole knew a place Wernher wasn't likely to follow. There was always such a nice advantage that came with playing on home field.
"How do you think they found us?" Linden asked as they ran. Nicole was amazed at the man's ability to prioritize: he wasn't asking who Wernher was, or what he wanted. Linden just wanted to know how the man had been able to find them. He wanted to know what he was up against so he'd know how to deal with it. Whom wasn't really relivant.
"No idea," Nicole huffed as she looked behind her quickly. "I didn't exactly put much stock in his ability to track. On the other hand, I didn't think he'd follow us, either!"
They approached the small patch of buildings that were found outside the Northwest Seneca station in a skitter of dust and panting. Nicole was going to take the group down and under the metro, into the tunnels below which led into another metro station. It was better than moving in the open, and Nicole felt it was very unlikely anyone wound find them there. There was also the hope of help from Vincent and his odd-ball crew. As much as Nicole hated to admit it, it was because of Flak and Susan that they'd gotten out of Paradise Falls at all, and it looked like she was going to need more help again this time. Her confidence was ebbing.
Nicole should have been surprised to see a small group of well-armed men waiting outside the gate infront of the metro, but she wasn't. Her group's lack of grace alerted the attention of the Regulators standing around, and one approached them as Nicole and her charges halted.
"Oh, c'mon, guys..." Nicole groaned, doubling over as her chest pounded.
"Relax, Nick, we're not here for you," said the first one, raising his hand in a halting motion. They had in fact been introduced once, but his name escaped the blonde. The head Regulator looked at Linden who had put himself in front of Don and the baby, and then his eyes passed the man in the Outcast armor to the woman and child. "Who are they?"
"They need your help is who they are," Nicole blurted out and stood up straight. The Regulator was hardly taller than her. "We're being chased by a man who is trying to take this baby-"
"No!" Don cried.
"Don't worry, they can help!" Nicole turned back quickly. "M... M...-"
The Regulator tried to read the girl's face, and when he realized what it was she was scrutinizing over, he rolled his eyes. "Mark?"
"Yes, Mark!" Nicole cried breathlessly, still attempting to get some air into her lungs. "Mark, this kid has some sort of mutation that allows her to deflect radiation. We're being chased by a man who wants to take her from us. He's a dictator. He has an entire city under slavery. We're just trying to save the kid."
Nicole had learnt a long time ago that it was useless lying to a Regulator, and concidering her very tenuous (and fairly confusing) relationship with the organization, she didn't want to raise anything close to a suspiscion. So everything kind of just came falling out of her mouth in way of explination. Mark's face didn't change, but it was clear he was thinking this information over, and there was a lot of it to take in one sitting. "Where are they from?"
"The Pitt," Nicole answered solemnly. The Regulators weren't stupid, and considering their sworn oath was to protect the public from evil-doers, it was unlikely that they hadn't heard of the situation the Pitt found themselves in.
"Are you the mother?" the Regulator addressed Don who was all but crushing Marie into her chest.
"Yes," Don answered.
"Alright," Mark stepped aside. "Get to where you were going. Might I suggest, though, you head towards Regulator HQ. You tell them what your business is about, they'll be able to help you towards your goals." The head Regulator then looked to one of his companions. "Mal, you go with them."
"Yes, sir," answered one of the young companions. He looked hardly older than Nicole, and about as green as she'd been when she had stepped out of the vault. Maybe it was his smooth, child-like facial features: Nicole knew better than to think any Regulator was inexperienced.
With a stern, appreciative nod Nicole led her ever-expanding group down into the ground and, she hoped, safety.
Yep; the Regulator headquarters sounded like just what they needed.
Night had long ago fallen, but one wouldn't know it down in the depths of Meresti Station. Upon attempting to interrogate the citizens of Arefu, Wernher had spotted a solitary man running across the ground and away from the area. Wernher and his companions followed on foot so as to not alert the man to their presence so they could see where he was headed. Wes, the second in command, stayed behind with the motorcycles and was given the task of dealing with the witnesses at the settlement. The man fleeing unknowingly had led Wernher's group all the way to a metro station.
Wernher and Vincent were having a chat whilst tensions below were so thick one could cut it with a knife. The two men looked down to where their groups mingled, and they were each as straight-faced as the other. Had it not been for years of experience, it might have been difficult to read the other's expression, but it wasn't: Wernher's stone-cold facade was that of a man looking out only for his own, and Vincent's countenance matched perfectly.
"So, the headquarters of the Regulators, you say?" Wernher asked while absent-mindedly rubbing his chin.
"Yes. They said they were running from someone who wanted to hurt the child that was with them. I assume that's you." Vincent cast a cold look at the man beside him who returned it in kind. "I don't enjoy betraying those who have helped me, I'll have you know."
Wernher laughed. "And yet here we are. Why do it?"
"I think it's obvious," Vincent said stiffly. "I have my own people to think of, as do you."
"Actually," Wernher countered darkly. "I'm not thinking of my people. I'm thinking of that little girl you just sold out."
This caught Vincent off guard and he winced slightly. "Pardon me?"
"That kid is about ten times what you and your little clan are worth," Wernher had his pistol to Vincent's head before the man could in any way react. "And I could be the big, bad monster from under the bed and you'd have just sold her out."
"From what I heard, you are just that," Vincent said closing his eyes. This wasn't the first time he'd had a gun pressed to his temple and come out the victor. Vincent had always been a valiant fighter, and a man of honor as well. It was why he preferred to use a sword, like the knight in an old story his mother had told him as a child, and why he fiercely protected those whom he loved or those he found in his care. He always had been so caught up in stories. Vincent could easily keep these intruders at bay, if only Wernher's finger wasn't already squeezing the trigger...
As soon as Vincent's body hit the floor, all hell broke loose. At this moment Wes had finally caught up with the group, and with him taking up the rear, Vincent's family was caught in the middle. Those who didn't die from their injuries would eventually. Wernher stepped over the blood and viscera and turned to his companions with a self-righteous smile.
"Well, let's get this over with."
It would take no time at all to close the gap between them and the Regulator's Headquarters and thankfully, Wernher had travelled that path many times. Wernher decided the best plan of action would be to take a longer way around and descend upon the company within the Regulators' base of operations. Both companies in question seemed to be avoiding a fire-fight in the interest of Marie, and Wernher was just fine with that. He was very, very good at ambushes.