"Oh my god, what did they do to the place?" Lillian stood in awe over the former baseball diamond now populated with makeshift shacks.
"Looks a little different from when you were last here, huh?" MacCready joked.
"Oh, just a little bit," she said, "I'm impressed, but kind of annoyed. I've been to a lot of great games here."
"It's been a little while since I've been here, but nothing's changed," he led the way down the steps.
"How about these seats, huh?" Nate sat next to Lillian overlooking third base.
"You know, I've never been to a ball game before," she said.
"You're joking," Nate's eyes widened, "Didn't you say you lived here nearly your entire life?"
"Yep."
"And you've never been here."
"Not until now."
"Oh my god, you poor, depraved soul," Nate put his arm around her. "This, my dear, is a baseball diamond," he spoke like she was a toddler and pointed to the field, "Those are baseball players."
"Shut up, idiot, I've seen baseball games on tv," she elbowed him with a grin.
"Well, now you need the full experience. How many hot dogs do you think you could eat?"
"Uh, two?"
"So one jumbo dog with the works coming up. How many beers?"
"Whoa, what do you mean just one hot dog?"
"Lilli, these are ballpark dogs, they're the size of your arm. I refuse to be responsible for you exploding."
"If you say so. I'll just have what you're having."
"Aw yeah, babe, get ready for greatness."
"Hey, you coming?" MacCready's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Yeah, sorry," she continued down the steps, "Just thinking about things."
"About what this looked like before all the schlubs moved in?"
"Yeah."
"Let's pick up some more ammo then go to the Dugout Inn," he said, "You didn't pick up anything for your pistol or laser rifle in Goodneighbor."
"Oh yeah," Lillian shook her head in disbelief. So many things to remember now.
She followed MacCready to the bottom of the steps as a woman in a grey suit and short white hair approached.
"Hi!" Lillian greeted the woman cheerfully.
"Oh god, another one of the poor and stupid to come begging for table scraps?" the woman sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Excuse me?" Lillian was surprised at the rudeness.
"Oh, don't act like you don't know. There's two types of people in this town. The ones living in the stands and everyone else beneath us." the woman said with an air of superiority.
"And you are?"
"Ann Codman," she replied, "Now why don't you run along and make yourself scarce?"
"Bitch," Lillian said under her breath as the woman passed.
"What was that?" Ann turned and glared at her, "Oh, whatever. I'm done talking to you anyway." She climbed a different set of stairs to the shacks built into the stands.
"I guess she's not a fan," said MacCready.
"It's ironic, in a way," Lillian said, pointing up at the shacks, "Those were the cheap seats."
"Ha! Really?"
She nodded. "Field level seats were the most expensive."
"What about where the mayor lives?" MacCready pointed up.
"Broadcast booth," she said, "The guys calling the game sat up there for radio and tv."
"So not quite so glamourous and exclusive, huh?"
"Not entirely. There were private boxes too, mostly for corporations and big businesses. I don't think any of them actually watched games, just wanted to impress clients."
MacCready shook his head. "Stupid."
"Yeah," Lillian sighed. She never thought she'd actually miss loathing the privilege people had. Sure, Ann Codman seemed to be more privileged than others, but she was still living in a shack in an old baseball stadium.
She followed MacCready to the weapons dealer, who introduced himself as Arturo.
"And you must be the new girl," he greeted Lillian.
"Uh, the new girl?"
"Word travels fast around here."
"No kidding. I've been here for all of five minutes."
"So what can I get you? I've got a bit of everything."
"Just ammo. 10mm and fusion cells," said Lillian.
"Sure thing, how many do you need?"
"Uh, I... don't know," she glanced over at MacCready.
"At least 50 of each, more if you got it," MacCready said.
"Wait, I'm not sure if I have enough."
Arturo raised his eyebrows at both of them. "Not too knowledgeable about guns, huh?" Lillian shook her head apologetically. "No matter, I got what you need. Can I see what you've got?"
Lillian took out her pistol and laser rifle and placed them on the counter. Arturo picked up the laser rifle first.
"Hm, custom modifications, nice," he turned it over in his hands and looked through the sights, "Obviously you didn't do this yourself."
"A, uh, friend gave it to me," she said.
"With the Brotherhood of Steel, I see," Arturo smiled and pointed at Paladin Danse's name on the bottom of the grip, "This one will keep you alive for sure." He set the laser rifle down and picked up the pistol. "This one, on the other hand..."
"What's wrong with it?"
"There's nothing wrong with it, just could use some... personal touches." He looked it over carefully. "Expanded clip size, better grip, even a silencer."
"Okay, well remember when I said I don't know if I have enough?" Lillian said.
"Tell you what, you do a favour for me and I'll install a new mod for you plus give you some extra ammo."
"What kind of favour?" she asked.
"I've got a letter that needs to be dropped off. A very important one. Needs to be dropped in a specific mailbox. I'm sure you could do that."
"All these years and there's still mail delivery? The postal service needs to update their slogan. 'Through rain or shine or nuclear apocalypse'."
"So is it a deal?"
"Just one question."
"Yeah?"
"I know damn well there's no actual mail delivery any more, so who's the letter for?"
"I am not at liberty to say."
"I just want to know if I risk getting my face shot off."
"Nah, you won't. Probably."
Lillian paused a moment. "Okay, Arturo. I'll do it."
"Good! I'll get started on modding your pistol. It'll take a short bit, if you don't mind waiting?"
"Nope, not at all," Lillian was about to leave, but turned back to Arturo, "Do you know where I can find the detective?"
"Nick Valentine? Around the corner in the alley behind here. Can't miss the neon lights."
"Thanks." Lillian started for the alley, followed by MacCready.
"Hey, what did you mean you didn't have enough for ammo?" he asked, "You have more than enough, unless you're going on shopping sprees I'm not aware of?"
"I still need the caps for this Nick Valentine," she replied, "I still don't know how much it's going to cost."
"Oh, right."
They walked around the corner into the alley, passing by a pair of men working on an electrical panel.
"Sometimes you gotta wonder. Does anyone fight back?" one of them said. "The Institute has to have enemies, right?"
"What, you mean the Railroad?" the other scoffed. "That's a fairy tale, man. They don't exist."
"Nah, I heard from my cousin. He knows a guy that works for 'em. Got a code phrase and everything. 'Follow the Freedom Trail'."
"The hell is that supposed to mean? You're full of it, and that kind of talk is going to get you snatched by the synths."
Lillian smirked to herself as they continued to Nick Valentine's office. She knocked before opening the door. "Hello?"
"Oh! Hi!" a young woman greeted them, "Can I help you?"
"Uh, yeah, I'm looking to hire the detective," said Lillian.
"Ah, well he's out working a case right now, but if you'd like to leave your name, I can let him know you're looking to hire him."
"Lillian Parker. I'm... I'm looking for my missing baby."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," the woman said sympathetically, "When Nick returns, I'll have him get in touch with you as soon as possible. Do you have a place to stay here, or somewhere we can reach you?"
"Um, well when do you expect him back? I'll come back then."
"Not sure. Shouldn't be too long. A couple days at most."
"Okay, thanks, uh.. sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Ellie Perkins."
"Okay, thanks, Ellie." Lillian turned and left with MacCready following. She leaned against the wall outside in the alley.
"So. How much is the detective going to cost?" MacCready leaned on the wall next to her and crossed his arms.
Lillian looked at him then back towards the office. "Oh, crap. Well, I guess I have a couple of days to get more caps. May as well try to keep ourselves busy."
"We should be back from dealing with Winlock and Barnes by then."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that."
"Losing your mind already?" he grinned at her.
"I need a drink."
"Dugout Inn, it is." Lillian followed MacCready back to the marketplace where a large crowd had gathered. They sidled their way through and saw a man pointing a gun at another.
"Don't move, synth!" the gunman shouted, "What have you done with the real Riley?"
"I swear, I'm not a synth!" the other man pleaded, his hands in the air, "Don't shoot! For God's sake, we're family!"
A security guard stepped forward to intervene, raising his gun. "Put the gun down! Now!"
"He's a synth! He'll kill us all!" the gunman made a move and the guard shot him dead. The crowd gasped and jumped back.
"Kyle! No!" the other man fell to his knees and crawled to the body of his brother.
"Alright, show's over!" the guard turned to the crowd, "Everyone go home!" The crowd slowly dispersed. MacCready pulled at Lillian's arm to get her to follow, but she went over to Riley and crouched next to him.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm not a synth," he replied quietly, "I told him! I kept telling him! Why didn't he listen to me?"
"I'm sorry." She squeezed his shoulder before standing up and joining MacCready who just shook his head at her. "What?"
"You're too soft-hearted," he scoffed.
"The man just lost his brother!"
"A lot of people lose their families."
"It doesn't mean they can't grieve and I can't offer condolences," she glared at him, "What is with this damn place?" She followed him to the Dugout Inn, located in the visitors dugout of the stadium. She looked around once they were inside, impressed with how it looked. MacCready headed straight for the bar where the bartender was having a lively conversation with a patron.
"So then I am crossing river, right?" the bartender said in a Russian accent, "Wearing nothing but a smile, when out comes the most dangerous of sea monsters - a MIRELURK."
"'A Mirelurk'"? The patron imitated his accent and scoffed in his normal voice, "Come on, that's like two out of ten points of danger. Tops."
"Vadim!" another Russian interrupted.
"Oh, I forgot you were there, Yefim," sighed the bartender, "What do you want?"
"You know what? Never mind, I'll handle it myself," Yefim shook his head and walked away.
"Vadim," MacCready greeted him, "Still killing people with your moonshine?"
Vadim chuckled and turned to MacCready. "MacCready! Is good to see you, tovarisch! How is Lucy? She still as beautiful as I remember?"
Lillian looked at MacCready who suddenly went quiet. "Oh, uh, she... she didn't make it, Vadim."
"I'm sorry, mouth tends to be faster than brain," Vadim said, "Tell you what, I give you drink on the house. For old times."
"Thanks, Vadim. You were always a stand-up kind of guy. Let's drink."
"And you, lapochka?" Vadim turned to Lillian.
"Oh, uh, just beer, please," she said.
"Drink up!" he passed the beers to them. MacCready took his and found a table in the back. Lillian followed and sat across from him. They drank in silence for a few minutes before Lillian spoke up.
"Who's Lucy?" She knew immediately it was the wrong question to ask as he glared at her.
"Doesn't matter."
"Okay." She drank her beer, trying not to watch MacCready quietly pick at the label on his. She knew she had touched a nerve, but she was curious about this Lucy. The tension was growing rapidly.
"Um, so maybe..." she started.
"Maybe what?" he snapped back.
"Maybe we could stay here tonight, then we can practice shooting tomorrow?" she asked carefully.
"Yeah, fine," he said shortly.
She half-smiled and nodded, thankful that they wouldn't be out shooting today. "So, um, I guess I'll book a room here. Do you want to share or get separate rooms?"
"I don't care," he replied.
Separate rooms, it is, she thought. Lillian approached the other man, Yefim.
"Need a room?" he looked up from his newspaper.
"Yeah. Two rooms, actually."
Yefim raised his eyebrow and looked past her towards MacCready. "Sure thing. 20 caps." Lillian handed over the money. "Rooms 1 and 2 are yours."
"Thanks." She looked back to MacCready who hadn't looked up from his beer. "Tell him to pick whichever room he wants." Yefim nodded.
Lillian left the bar to get some air just as a security guard stormed up to her. "This your dog?" She looked down to see Canigou covered in mud and happy as could be.
"What have you been doing?" she asked the filthy German Shepherd.
"Oh, he was a having a grand old time rolling about in the brahmin pen and then trying to get down into Fallon's Basement. Becky would have us beheaded," the guard said angrily.
"Sorry, I lost track of him," she apologised, "Is there somewhere I could wash him off?"
"Go ask Sheng Kowalski if you can clean your mutt off there," he waved his hand in the general direction of some shacks to the right before leaving.
Lillian sighed and looked back down at Canigou. "Well, at least you're happy. But it's time for a bath." Canigou whimpered curiously. "I don't care if you don't like it, but you're certainly not sleeping indoors when you look like that. Come on." She headed towards where the guard had pointed. After asking another guard, she found Sheng Kowalski.
"Water! Fresh water here!" a young boy cried out.
"You Sheng?" Lillian asked.
"That's right, you in the market for some fresh water? Because you've come to the right place!" Sheng said.
"Um, actually, I need to give him a bath," she pointed down at Canigou who woofed happily.
"Listen, lady, this water doesn't come free, you know. I got a business to run!"
"Can I just wash him in there?" She pointed at the pool of water surrounding the platform they were standing on.
"And have him muck up my purifier?" he thumbed back at the large purifier behind his shack.
"Oh, come on, it's mostly mud which would be filtered out anyway. And I'll buy water after."
"How much water?" Sheng narrowed his eyes.
"How much you selling it for?"
"20 caps. But it's the best tasting water in the entire Commonwealth!"
"Alright. I'll take three. After my dog is bathed."
"You got a deal, lady."
Lillian led Canigou over to a ramp into the water. He stopped when he realised what she was trying to do.
"Oh, come on, you were more than happy to go leaping in on your own," Lillian pleaded.
Canigou looked up at her with those sad dog eyes, his ears drooping.
"Nope. Not going to work on me. Get in." She tried pushing him, but he dug his paws into the grated platform. "Come on, Cani, just a quick wash and it'll be over." Canigou whimpered. "Oh, for god's sake." She tried picking him up, grabbing him under his front legs and walked him over to the water. Canigou lifted his hind legs to prevent them from touching the water, throwing Lillian off balance, and making them both tumble into the water.
"FUCKING HELL!" Lillian yelled when she resurfaced. She grabbed Canigou before he could run out and started scrubbing the mud off him with her hands. The dog squirmed against her, but she held tight until she was satisfied he was clean of mud. He ran out as soon as she let go, shaking the excess water off.
"Canigou, STAY." Lillian said firmly as she crawled out of the water. Canigou looked back at her, as if wondering why she was soaking wet. She glared back and sighed. "Dammit. I can't stay mad at you." She scratched him behind the ears and went around to Sheng who burst out laughing.
"That desperate for water, are you?" he grinned.
"Here are your caps."
Sheng handed her three cartons of purified water. "Come back soon!" he grinned.
Lillian and Canigou left the platform, still soaking wet, and nearly bumped into MacCready who was carrying both of their packs. He looked both of them up and down, noting the puddles forming at their feet, before speaking.
"How?"
"You want a dog? One known owner, fair bit of mileage. No charge."
Canigou woofed happily.
Later that night, after Lillian and Canigou waited outside in the sunlight to dry off as much as possible, they had turned in to their respective rooms. Canigou curled up on a worn rug in Lillian's room while she sat at the desk, not wanting to go to sleep just yet. So much has happened already and there wouldn't be time to rest just yet. She couldn't rest. Not when Shaun was still out there, waiting for his mommy to find him.
She looked down at her Pipboy, which now had a map of the area. It wasn't too far to the Mass Pike Interchange. Afterward they could come back to Diamond City and see if Nick Valentine was back yet. Or they could go to Cambridge, check in on the police station. While she was fine with not seeing Rhys again, she did like talking to Haylen and Danse. And why stop there? They could continue back to Sanctuary, see if Clinton and his daughter, Charlie had made it. See if anyone else had moved in. See if Codsworth was still trying to trim the dead shrubbery.
Lillian checked her pack again, making sure her newly modified pistol was still there. She had stopped in at Arturo's just before he closed up for the night and he had a good laugh when he found out why she was damp. He gave her a deal on ammunition for her pistol and laser rifle, saying that he liked her. She wasn't sure what he meant by that.
MacCready seemed to be in a better mood when they returned to the Dugout for the night, but they still opted to sleep separately. Lillian stood and stretched before crawling into bed. She already missed having someone next to her. She looked over at Canigou and quietly called to him, but he didn't move. He's had an eventful day and they all needed as much rest as possible before tomorrow.