Naomi approached the front door of the Listening Station, hand hovering over her revolver as she did so. It started off as a regular snub nose .44 but she eventually built her own based on Kellog's, the gun that was used to kill her husband. It was more for practical reasons than sentimental. She was crazy, even she could admit that at this point but not that crazy.

Her fingers lightly tapped the black grip of the firearm and eventually settled down as she reached the door and realising that there was no one on watch...

She slowly drew her gun, realising that just because nobody was on watch, that didn't mean that nobody was inside, waiting for them. Realising this, Naomi drew her weapon and held it up, backing against a wall.

"You ready for this Nick?" She asked as she watched him step against the opposite side of the front door, his bare metallic fingers were wrapped around the trigger of his pipe revolver.

"On your mark..." He uttered, trying to peer inside, without giving his position away or getting shot. Naomi nodded and quickly ducked under him and stepped inside, raising her handgun at the ransacked steel cage, which quickly scanned the room...

Nothing...

"S'okay Nick... Nobody's here..." She said this quite loudly, in case anyone was there and they could be lulled into a false sense of security.

Nick sighed heavily and stepped inside, he was glad that they weren't shot on sight as that seemed to have been the Brotherhood's policy for the last eight months or so...

The Synth's eyes remained fixed on Naomi as she wandered over to the elevator's terminal, finding it difficult to get over how savage she looked. Her head had been shaved and formed into a Mohawk, her face was incredibly dirty and painted to make herself look like a raider.

What had happened over the past month... What had changed? She was so confident in the Institute and how it could move humanity forward into a better age. Hell, she almost had him believing her, given where her heart was. But now, she seemed to be so cold and distant in comparison... It was... Strange, to say the least...

Nick heard a heavy clunk coming from behind it, his back straightened as he spun around and took aim, expecting to come face to face with a power armoured guard. To his surprise, he found himself coming face to faceplate with a skull, mounted onto the head of an armless protectron, that just seemed to stare at him through its glowing red eye, that was forced through the eye socket.

It was incredibly unsettling, considering that the machine just stood there, staring at him...

"Erm... Hello?" Valentine asked, looking incredibly uneasy around it, the fact that it was just staring at him made him want to shoot its head off to make it stop.

The Robot simply beeped in response, taking a step forward but otherwise not doing anything threatening. It was then that Naomi picked up on it and looked back over her shoulder.

"Oh, Terry's here..." She said, giving the two machines a smile but not getting on back as she wandered over to greet her mechanical pack Brahmin.

"Terry?"

"Yeah... I build him to carry my stuff..." Naomi murmured, gesturing to the many bags strapped to his back and to his waist.

And to keep me company...

"Heh... I thought that's what I was for." Nick murmured, giving her a smirk, though it wasn't returned as the elevator's bell struck and the door clattered open.

With a sigh, Naomi turned around and noticed that someone stumbled out of the elevator, hands tied behind their back, falling to their knees with a pained groan. Her eyes widened as she saw the hostage's face.

Naomi then glanced up and saw a man in a full suit of T-60 Power Armour, painted in Brotherhood Colours. Though she expected to see someone in this armour, she didn't expect it to be... him.

"Danse..."

"Good, you recognise me. That will save us some time." Danse said, rather harshly as he glanced to Naomi.

"I take it that you know why I'm doing this... Though, what I don't understand is what you are up to. The Envoy, you two, coming alone... Whatever your intentions are, I suggest that you get them out in the open now."

Naomi nodded and stepped forward, glancing down to Hancock, who doubled over and stared at the floor, wincing in pain.

"First of all, I would like to ask if my... friend is hurt."

Danse glanced down to the Ghoul, a mix of disgust and reluctance in his eye as he did so before he turned his gaze back to Naomi.

"I am afraid so, our interrogation got a little vocal and one of the greener recruits gut punched him."

"Little bastard cheap shot me!" Hancock growled, glancing back over to the Paladin.

"I'll be fine though, I can walk it off..."

Naomi rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to smile, she didn't exactly like to see Hancock in pain but the experience of being interrogated didn't seem to change him any, which was good. However, the urge was soon lost as she looked back up to Paladin Danse, who effortlessly reminded her of why all this was happening.

"Paladin Danse... I beseech you to cease all hostilities towards me and my people. I know that the Brotherhood and I haven't seen eye to eye in the past... In fact, I'd say that's putting it lightly. But enough people have died in this war and with all due respect, you are in no position to be at our throats.

I want to help you evacuate, if that's what you wish or even give you a place here. But to do that, I need your cooperation. I need you to promise that you or any of your brothers and sisters will not fire on me and my allies." Naomi insisted, she could feel her stomach grow hollow, her hands start to tremor...

Not now... She thought, pinning her hand to her hip.

Danse paused, narrowing his eyes at her before before sighing and nodding in agreement.

"I can agree to those terms, assuming that you and yours will do the same. The Brotherhood do not have the means to start another war at this point but know that if you betray this trust, I will personally see to it that I take as much as I can of yours away from you. That much you can be certain on as I have little left to lose."

The Sole Survivor nodded, reluctantly as Valentine joined her by her side, glancing over to her.

"Well, now that we're all friends again, we should probably think about what we want to do next in terms of the Brotherhood." The Synth began, looking over to Danse.

"What did you have in mind?"

Danse wouldn't normally address a Synth like one would a human but these were... strange times and he'd be blind and ignorant if he honestly believed that all Synths were the same...

"We have been in contact with our Comrades in the Capital Wasteland, they've dispatched a Hummer and are currently driving it along the Coast, hoping to reach us sometime soon. We were thinking of making an attempt to cross the boarders and leave the commonwealth. Although, under your protection, it might just be possible."

"I can get Preston to arrange a convoy of Minutemen to escort you out of the territory, I'd even be willing to join them." Naomi replied, hoping that she could definitely earn Danse's trust. In truth, she had nothing against Danse, the Brotherhood and its ideology did not agree with her, neither did their morality but she didn't have anything against the individuals who fought within it. They had good intentions, even if they didn't truly come into fruition...

"They can provide you some good cover as you make your way through the more... populated cities."

"So long as there is no more bloodshed, I am willing to comply." Danse sighed, veering off to the right.

"I... Was honestly expecting you to come down here and try to exterminate what was left of us. It would seem that me and my comrades were wrong about you."

"I'm not so sure about that." Naomi admitted, folding her arms and furrowing her brow.

"I think that it's just time that I learn from my mistakes..."

Danse nodded, leaving a silence in the air before speaking again for the last time...

"I think that's a lesson that we've both learned." He admitted as he turned back to the elevator and stepped inside, he turned his attention back to the woman who was formally his enemy... still was officially but she also happened to be his best chance of leaving this place.

"I'll get my people prepared, whilst you tend to your..." Danse paused, to swallow back the first word that came to mind.

"Man...

I'll report within the hour."

Naomi nodded, with a smile as Valentine began to work on Hancock's bindings...

"Take as much time as you need..."

Danse pushed the button and shut the elevator's door, allowing it to begin its descent and for Naomi's group to recuperate. By now, Naomi's mouth was incredibly dry and she could feel herself going hollow and shivery, though she did her best to suppress it.

"Urgh..." Hancock groaned as he rolled his shoulders and furiously shook his head.

"You okay?" His lover asked, whilst Valentine wandered off, over to the nearby door, keeping lookout and giving Romero and Juliet some private time.

Hancock seemed to shake it off quite quickly as promised, he just grinned and shrugged, rolling his shoulders back, like he was dusting himself off.

"Aye, nothin' that a bit of jet won't fix..." The Ghoul said dismissively, glancing back to the elevator.

"One of them had it in for me..."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from those big, bad brotherhood boys." Naomi teased, poking his chest and getting a faint chuckle out of him.

"Hey, I would've had him, had you not told me to keep my hands to myself. Hell, the way that kid punched, I'm surprised that he didn't break his wrist."

Hancock's gaze quickly fell to the floor before he looked back up to his girl, his smile slowly faded as he saw her shaved head. He wasn't about to judge her for it, it looked good in it's own way but it just wasn't... her...

"Why the haircut?" He asked, brushing some dust off of his coat as if he was trying to be casual about the whole thing... he failed miserably.

"Oh? Ol' Hancock's getting judgemental in his old age..."

"Nah, ain't like that... Besides, how many women complain that their squeeze don't notice when they get their hair done? You should consider yourself lucky..."

"Yeah, I'm lucky that my boyfriend notices when I shave my head..." Naomi smirked, rolling her eyes.

"Oh c'mon... Can you blame me, there are so many other places that get my immediate attention, it's hard to notice the little things..."

"Oh, my hair's a 'little thing?'"

"Compared to what I usually look at, yeah..." Hancock smirked, getting her shake her head in shame.

She paused for a minute, wondering if she should answer the question seriously... it wasn't often that she talked about her feelings with Hancock... He was more of a fun guy to be around, rather than a confident. But he was still empathic and understanding...

"I... Didn't want anyone to recognise me, so I went for a look that wasn't me. Kind of like that spy for the Railroad..."

The one that I murdered...

"I figured that if I changed my hair and clothes, then people would stay away or not recognise me. Unfortunately it worked..."

"Why unfortunately?" Hancock asked, narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brow.

"Because I ran away, didn't I? I fucked up and chose to run away instead of facing my problems head on and now I'm being dragged back into the fold and in truth? I wouldn't have if you two hadn't found me..."

"Naomi..." Hancock sighed, cutting her off. He'd heard enough of her feeling sorry for herself, it really didn't suit her.

"I've done exactly what you've done dozens of times and every time I come back a better man. Sometimes we need to step back and look at the bigger picture, you might've fucked up but somewhere on the big map of the commonwealth, there's a farmer who's elbow deep in brahmin shit, who was a shivering wreck on the streets of diamond city, this time last year.

You gave people the one thing that they need, a chance and the means to build a better life for themselves. Forget savin' lives and shit, you gave people the tools to build their own lives on their own terms. Far as I'm concerned, nothin' else matters..."

The Soul Survivor sighed, she appreciated it, she really did but... he didn't understand. He didn't know what she knew and it tore her apart that she couldn't share it with anyone but Terry and that was only because he couldn't speak... It was like talking to herself.

She didn't have any shame in admitting that she was crazy...

"Thanks Hancock..." She uttered, stepping forward and embracing him, closing her eyes and resting her forehead against his scabby chest. The stench of decay was difficult to ignore but it was worth it... Just to be held like that again...

At least now I'll be able to put something right...