"...and so we burst out through the ventilation shaft, Nick first, then me. And where had we ended up? The mayor's office. Can you imagine his face?"

Piper was still talking about Nick. About the cases she had helped him with in her younger years, when she and Nat had first arrived in Diamond City. She hoped it was keeping Blue distracted. They were definitively downtown at this point, and she was still unable to get a clear read on how her friend was taking it.

At the very least, conversation was a way for them to pass the time, and maybe savor the peace while it still lasted.

Sam laughed back — a pleasant and telling response. "This Nick sounds like even more of a character than you, Piper! I look forward to meeting him."

"Blue, he's the best." Piper opened her mouth to say more, but stopped short. Something had shifted in Blue's attitude. Her attention suddenly seemed distant, and her head was turned a little. Piper furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, trying to trace Blue's gaze when — oh.

The old library had just come into view.

Piper had always admired the building, in its architecture and in its principle. All that information and writing all in one place, open to the entire public! But she realized it probably wasn't like that for her friend. Blue knew what it had been like in the world before. Blue could see how much was lost, where she could only guess.

"What's it like inside?"

She grimaced. "The truth, Blue? Pretty bad." Piper thought back to prior trips she'd made inside, scavenging for supplies to keep the paper going. She could only imagine what it must have looked like in its heyday, but she knew a wreck when she saw one.

"I shouldn't be surprised." Sam clenched her fists, and hung her head, muttering quietly. "Damn it."

Piper felt her heart twist into a knot on Blue's behalf. Sorrow began to mingle with anxiety. She looked around — no one was visible, but she still couldn't help but feel exposed. It was impossible to tell if they were being watched.

She placed a hand on Samantha's shoulder. "Look, I know this must all be hard for you. But... can we grieve someplace where there's a bit more cover?"

Sam rested her own hand on top of Piper's. "Yeah, sorry... sure."

They turned, and started to walk away — when the tell-tale screech of bullets suddenly surrounded them.

"F— Blue, get down!"

They dove behind a nearby car. Piper's mind raced to catch herself back up to speed. She peeked over the car's rim.

Super Mutants. Two of them, maybe a third trailing far behind. She couldn't tell for sure before they started firing at her, forcing her to duck back down again. She looked over at her friend.

"Hey." Piper forced herself to smile, feigning confidence. "We got this."

The redhead gulped nervously, swallowing her fear. Piper clicked back the safety on her pistol. Sam pulled out a molotov. They looked at each other, and nodded.

Sam got up and threw the cocktail first. Piper waited for the sound and heat of the explosion, then stood herself, firing over the car's roof. Judging by the plumes of flame, Blue had overshot slightly, landing the grenade more behind the mutants than between them. But it had still confused them, and maybe done a little harm.

Piper fired round after round. She'd had to tangle with super mutants before. They didn't really have any weaknesses like other Commonwealth denizens. Shooting for the head was about as effective as shooting for the chest — mutants were tough all over, like that.

The monsters got their bearings back, and started to return fire. This was the part that Piper hated most — the fear, the trust in dumb old luck. Fortunate for her, super mutants had even worse aim than her own. A few bullets hit, but only grazing. They did more harm to her trench coat than to her actual body. Damnit.

"Gonna be your last mistake!" She yelled tauntingly. Blue jumped up next to her in that moment, another bottle ready in her hands. She threw — not far enough, this time. It landed between the mutants and themselves. Even at a distance, the heat was enough to make the both of them hide back behind the car's body.

Blue raised both hands, as if to say 'Sorry about that.' Piper shook her head, implying a 'No, you're fine!' response.

She looked back up over the car. One of the mutants had collapsed, presumably from the mix of bullets and flames. She emptied the rest of her clip into the other, and it fell to the ground as well, gurgling and bleeding out.

Then a third figure came running up between the other two — not a super mutant, but a mutant's hound.

The thought of snarling, gnashing teeth made Piper freeze for a critical split second. The hound was too fast for her to react, and before she could even call to Blue for help, it had leapt right up and over the car, spun around, and bitten right into her leg.

Piper screamed. She tried her best to shake the creature off, but that only made things worse. She braced herself against the car, preparing to kick it with her free leg, but Blue came swinging into her field of vision before she could react. The beast howled, releasing its jaws and turning to face its attacker.

She slumped down in shock. Blue smashed her bat into the mutant hound until it lay lifeless in the road. Somewhere in the back of Piper's mind, buried beneath the fear and the pain, she was grateful to her friend for helping her.

Blue kicked the corpse once, then turned and ran right to Piper's side. She was clearly worried. They each managed a vague, strained smile for the other, despite her wounds.

"How did I ever travel without you, Blue?"