7. Annoy: Nora really doesn't like the Brotherhood of Steel, Hancock delights in her fury.
Hancock paced behind Nora as she set up her scope. "What'dya see?" He asked. Not five minutes ago they had been walking down an old road, coming up on an old town half submerged in flood waters. Then Nora had grabbed Hancock by the back of his coat and yanked him into a building.
"Ghouls." Nora answered then added, "feral."
"Poor saps." Hancock leaned against the wall and laid one hand on the window frame opposite of where he stood. Nora glanced up at him, not rising from her kneeling position on the floor. Hancock kicked one leg out and then crossed it over the other, he held out a mentats to her with a smirk. Nora, predictably, rolled her eyes at him and turned back to stare down her scope.
"What the?" Nora's body tightened and Hancock reached for his pistol.
"What is it?" Hancock stood over her, ready to move her away from the window should shit go south.
"Don't worry." Nora's voice was barely above a whisper. Hancock had traveled with her enough to know she was in hunting mode. What did she see that he didn't? It turns out, Hancock didn't need a scope to see what was happening. A vertibird flew over the location of the ferals. It's motors screaming its presence to everyone in a mile radius. Those Brotherhood assholes really knew how to make an entrance.
Nora took a deep breath. Hancock would have licked his lips in anticipation if he'd had any lips to lick. Two shots rang out at once. One sure shot from Nora, and about a thousand from the Vertibird. The ferals did not react well to either assault. Unfortunately, ferals were smarter than most people gave them credit for, which meant they quickly figured out that the vertibird would be a harder target to take down, and they figured out where the other assault was coming from. Which was from them.
"Nora," Hancock gripped her arm, ready to yank Nora to her feet and hightail it. Her muscles tightened under his hand.
"Wait." She dug in her bag without looking and pulled out a frag grenade. "Toss it when I say." She held it up to him.
Hancock took it and pulled the pin. "Ready." He said.
"Wait." Nora ordered. The ferals were diving over each other, jumping from obstacle to obstacle to cross the flood waters. The vertibird had made a figure eight to turn around.
"They're getting close." Hancock eyed some of the quicker ferals. They were two blocks away. The vertibird was shooting behind the ferals. At this rate they'd get shot along with them.
"Wait."
One block away.
"Now." Hancock didn't need to be told twice, he tossed the grenade as hard as he could. He watched Nora follow it with her sight. A breath in, an explosion, and ten dead ferals.
The Brotherhood vertibird kept firing, not aware the ferals were dead. Hancock knocked Nora to the ground and covered her body with his. She squirmed under him and they moved across the floor under a desk. Nora sat up and they squeezed together side by side under the desk. They both flinched when the bullets came flying in. Once the gunfire ceased, Nora pushed herself out from under the desk. She was breathing heavily, and any other time Hancock would have made an inappropriate comment, but he saw the fire in her eyes as she walked away. Hancock followed her to the hole in the buildings side. The vertibird circled around and was slowly descending upon a rooftop. They were landing.
"The nerve of those assholes! What if there had been people down there?!" Hancock watched Nora right her pack on her shoulders and straighten her duster. "I'm giving those Brotherhood dipshits a piece of my mind. I mean honestly, firing off shots like there's no tomorrow. Ooh if this was a settlement and someone had gotten hurt." Hancock took a mentats, having a feeling he'd need the edge around the Brotherhood. Nora ran across the rooftops, only stopping to make sure he was following her, but she needn't worry, Hancock wanted to see some Brotherhood asshole get his ass chewed out. Her run wasn't as sure as he remembered it to be, and Hancock made a note to ask her if she was okay after sending the Brotherhood on their way.
As they approached the vertibird two agents in power armors jumped out, guns aimed at them. "Cut the intimidation bullshit." Nora snapped at them before they could say anything, "what kind of kick do you get firing off like that?"
"Ma'am, we extinguished their disgusting worthless lives." The one on the left lowered their gun slightly to answer her. "Just like we're about to do with this one." Nora stood between Hancock and the Brotherhood.
"Easy sister," Hancock laid a hand on Nora's shoulder. He stepped around her despite her protest, "fellows look," he stopped when they gestured at him aggressively with their guns. He held up his hands, "we just think it's idiotic for you to be firing when civilians could get caught in the crossfire."
"A necessary sacrifice." The one on the right answered.
"Ooh, someone's a bit of a hardass." Hancock deadpanned.
"Ma'am is this thing tame?"
Hancock laughed, "hardly."
"You best start behaving." The brotherhood agent on the left raised the barrel of his gun under Hancock's chin.
"I ain't about to start now." Hancock pushed the gun away. He really hoped Nora had some kind of plan, he was sure he could keep up this kind of toe-to-toe dance with the two, but he wasn't planning on wasting his whole day on these annoying, pompous assholes. "You're people say I'm a monster. You make a move, just watch." He growled.
"You," the right one raised his gun to stare down the barrel of his gun.
"You listen here," Nora stood beside Hancock, one hand on her hip, one finger pointing and poking the right one on the chest plate, "I am General of the Minutemen. Protector of the people of the Commonwealth. And YOU lot, firing your guns willy nilly is. Not. Protecting. People." She jabbed a little more forcefully with each word. She'd backed the right one back up against the vertibird. "You tell your boss, your leader, your whatever-you-call-them, that if I hear one whisper of a civilian casualty on your terms," Hancock glanced at her, a fire in her eyes. He tried to mask his shock when she grabbed his hand and pointed her gun between the eyes of the agent in front of Hancock, "we'll show you what monsters are."
Hancock would gladly deal with any Brotherhood soldiers if it meant watching Nora tear them down a peg.
I get the Brotherhood doesn't really come to the Commonwealth until Kellogg is killed, but since Nora is hesitant, let's assume they just showed up.
