The super-mutant roared behind her as she passed the destitute building, a loud beeping coming from the creature as she ran, terror and the innate desire for self preservation pushing her steadily onward.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
If she had just followed Nick and Piper to Diamond City she wouldn't be in this fucking position, but of course she had to go isolate herself as soon as she felt a single emotion.
Nora knew she was a runner, as a rule, it was what she always did. Occasionally she was a fighter, a defender at times, but more than anything she preferred to avoid emotionally-charge conversation. But, because she had been so eager to avoid the awkward conversation Detective Valentine, she had waltzed herself damn-near directly into a super-mutant hive. Piper's words echoed in her mind.
'Big and dumb mutated idiots with a penchant for snacking on people.'
Panic began setting in as Nora was becoming more and more certain running was futile and she turned the corner, spilling out of the alleyway. She almost cried with happiness at the stupid, giant neon sign on the wall across from her.
Goodneighbor.
She sped toward the entrance, ducking behind a wall as a loud shot rang out behind her, followed suddenly by a loud boom. Glancing toward the top of the wall, she quietly breathed a sigh of gratitude to whatever blessed sharp-shooter had saved her from becoming pink mist mere moments before.
Nora turned back toward the maze of jutting walls in front of her, recognizing with relief that they were just narrow enough to stop any super mutants from squeezing through, not that the invisible sentries on the roof were likely to give them the chance. Following the path, she noticed yet another red door at the end.
"I'm seeing a theme here." She mumbled to herself, before nearly jumping out of her skin as a voice answered her.
"Red doors are easier for our drifters to spot... no matter how high they are." Nora looked around curiously, not finding the source of the raspy, male-voice.
"Oh, uh." She paused uncomfortably, glancing apprehensively at the door. "That makes sense, I guess."
A few moments passed as she waited for the mysterious voice to answer.
"You have to turn the handle, you know, to open a door..." The voice stated as she rolled her eyes at him. The voice added, in an almost whisper. "Ham, get a load of this fucking idiot... Yeah, at the gates."
She looked incredulously around her at the statement before trying the handle, which mercifully and as indicated, opened with ease. Entranced by the absolute rudeness of the mysterious voice, she pushed forward, stepping over the threshold to the settlement.
She almost didn't hear the man who had quite stubbornly placed himself directly in her path. She had to fight against every ounce of impulse from just shoving the son of a bitch out of the way as he spoke.
"Hold up there, sweetheart." The male voice purred, and Nora had half a mind to shoot him on the spot, just for the misogynistic nickname alone. "First time in Goodneighbor? Can't go walking around without insurance."
Despite his artificially-sweet tone, the unspoken statement was obvious. She debated briefly what her safest option out of this would be, before deciding on acting coy. "Oh? Darn... I don't have any caps. I'm so sorry."
She could feel a sense of dread eat at her stomach as the man's smile turned wicked and he walked closer toward her, invading her personal space in a near-intimate way.
Definitely not the right answer here, genius. Of course it wasn't...
"Oh don't worry, you sweet thing. I'm sure I can find other ways to keep you safe... maybe for a different price. If you get my drift." He purred in her ear. Nora had to repress the urge to flinch away from him, not wanting to show weakness, but she felt like she was about to vomit at the man's implication.
Hardening her jaw she looked back up at the despicable man, quickly putting her hand up to create space between them, as anger overtook her previously innocent facade. "Let me clarify, asshole. You better back off, or you're the one who's going to need insurance."
The man reeled back slightly at her harden response and she smirked at how easy it was to shake him.
Good. Throw the bastard off his rhythm.
"What was that? I couldn't hear over the sound of all that... pathetic." The voice answered her, his previous shock at her resistance now composed into fury at her disrespect. She idly realized her finger was twitching, stroking the trigger guard along the pistol at her thigh.
After the shitty-fucking day she had, she had half a mind to blow the rape-y motherfucker to smithereens, but her rage seemed imperceptible to the man as he continued. "You hand over everything you got in them pockets, or accidents start happenin' to ya. Ya know. Big... bloody... accidents."
Nora felt her arm tense, almost moving to bring her pistol up, but before she could react she saw a man saunter out of the shadows where he had, apparently, been watching the show.
""Whoa, whoa. Time out." The man ordered, the gravel-esque tone in his voice commanding silence, inspiring a suddenly stillness from the other citizens who had been previously meandering about as he walked into the light. She suddenly realized, that the man was a ghoul, but hell, if he was there to shut the rapist asshole up, she was more than happy to pledge her alliance to him. "Someone steps through the gate the first time, they're a guest. You lay off that extortion crap, Finn."
"What d'you care? She ain't one of us." The man, Finn, smarted back as the ghoul moved to wrap his arm around the would-be extortionist's shoulders.
"No love for your mayor, Finn?" The ghoul said sarcastically and despite his friendly demeanor, Nora knew instantly that he was a man who should not be triffled with, danger oozing from his very presence "I said let her go."
Despite the mayor's order, the man pressed his luck, and she had the sinking sensation that it was not going to end well for him. "You're soft, Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there'll be a new mayor."
Hancock looked momentarily swayed by the comment, but given the rigidity in his stance, Nora knew what was about to happen before he even moved a muscle, the tension palpable as she watched on silently.
"Come on, man. This is me we're talking about. Let me tell you something..." Hancock purred, almost flirtatiously, before reaching behind him and bringing the silver glint of a long knife forward, burying it into the man's stomach multiple times, before dropping the man to the worn cobblestone beneath him. He glanced to her, wiping the metal blade against the flag tied around his waist.
The irony of the movement was not lost on her and she could feel a sarcastic smirk tugging at the edge of her lips.
Oh, it's that sort of town.
She thought briefly to what the pre-War Nick Valentine had told her about gangs.
'Silence is compliance, kid.'
Forcing a polite smile to her face she regarded the alleged 'mayor' with feigned gratitude.
The ghoul turned back to the crumbled body before sarcastically stating aloud to the man's corpse. "Now why'd you have to go and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here."
The ghoul turned toward her, replacing the blade in it's holster at his waist, eyes scanning her with a much more relaxed demeanor than he previously had. "Now I know you had ole' Finn handled back there, but a mayor's gotta make a point sometimes. You all right?"
"I'm fine. Thanks for taking care of him." She forced, eyes anxiously darting toward the pool of blood forming underneath Finn's crumbled body.
Despite her conviction that the man was undoubtedly a bastard and likely a predator in more ways than one, her protective instinct kicked in as she warred against the urge to run and help the man.
"Good. Now don't let this incident taint your view of our little community. Goodneighbor's of the people, for the people, you feel me? Everyone's welcome." The ghoul offered cool-y, scanning her guarded expression. "That is... So long as you remember who's in charge, ya dig?"
"Yeah, I feel you." She agreed, offering a polite smiled. "Thank you again, Mayor Hancock."
Hancock seemed quite pleased at her response, turning back toward the building behind him with a mere nod in her direction. She felt relief fill her body at the man's apparent approval and departure. The onlookers who had been watching the exchange resumed their activities, no one so much as moving to help their departed resident.
After trading in a couple of the machine guns and boxes of ammunition she had snagged off of the Triggerman at Vault 114 and sharing a surprisingly honest conversation with Daisy about Boston before the war, not of course before the charming woman had convinced her to run a few 'errands' for her, Nora found herself seated in a grimy room at the Hotel Rexford.
As she undressed, preparing to wash up as best she could given the accommodations and change into one of the clean suits, she ran over her game-plan in her head. But the more she tried to figure out how to get the courage to face Nick again after so many years, much less ask him to help her find Shaun, the more muddled her thoughts became.
There was no bad blood between them, quite the opposite in fact. She remembered how she had rolled her eyes the first time she met Nick, his smart quips about her very pregnant stomach raising a friendly ire between them immediately, much to poor Nate's annoyance. The thought bred a growing sense of anxiety in her gut, which she was steadfastly trying to ignore. As she pulled her new suit over her now semi-cleaned skin, she thought how she could really use a good glass of wine, or if she was being truthful with herself, maybe more than one.
She thought that surely there had to be a bar around a place like Goodneighbor, and found herself missing her canine companion even more with every passing hour. She faintly recalled seeing a sign over a pair of the blue subway entrance doors.
"Seems like a seedy bar if I've ever seen one." She stated aloud to herself, clipping Righteous Authority to the strap and pulling it to her back. Even though she knew the hotel door had a lock, she seriously doubted it was formidable against even the most inexperienced of burglars, and other than her sack of caps and PipBoy, Righteous was the only truly valuable thing she owned at that point.
Granted, the fact that Danse had gifted it to her may have had more sway over her opinion of it's value than she was willing to admit. A smile toyed at her lips as she thought of what the serious man would say about a place like Goodneighbor. She could feel her thumb toy with the gold band at her finger and she stood rock-still, thinking about her dear Nate. She wonder how the hell she could still see his death as clear as day, but was more than able to she kept him from her mind most of the time.
Denial.
She knew it as soon as the question crossed her mind. It wasn't uncommon, of course. Even though she knew it was a coping mechanism, it was one of the only things helping her through the god-forsaken wasteland half the time, and she refused to ruminate on it longer than the briefest of moments.
Despite the fact that denial and repression had killed her departed friend just as easily as a bullet, or that she knew how it would inevitably explode out of her at some point, likely with catastrophic results, she still welcomed it like an old friend.
The warm embrace of emotional repression was familiar and far be it for her to deny herself whatever comfort it provided in the cold, unforgiving wasteland. Hell, she knew it was why she ran from Nick in the first place. The man probably already realized who she was, if not from his own recollection, certainly from Piper's retelling of her traumatic emergence from the vault.
She ignored the thought, pushing out of her hotel room as she made her way to the bar. Her footsteps were the only sensation she'd allow herself to feel as she walked toward the entrance to the Third Rail. Within minutes of entering she had settled into a corner couch, a mug of horribly out expired wine in her hands as she watch the woman on stage sway to the music.
'God, she's phenomenal.' She thought to herself, the alcohol making her feel suddenly abuzz.
"I gotta say, I agree with you there, sister." The voice behind her purred as he moved to take a seat. Her eyes caught a glimpse of red, white and blue as the ghoul moved to sit next to her, throwing his arm across the back of the couch. Apparently her thought had not been strictly kept to herself.
"Mayor Hancock." She stated, her nerves suddenly on edge. The sudden tension was not lost on the man who chuckled at her side.
"Relax, Vaultie." He answered, shooting her an eyebrow at her surprise. "You see, I was thinking about that unfortunate meeting earlier. You looked uncomfortable, and not in the way I typically like. At first I thought you had a thing against ghouls. Granted, this face gives me a sexy king of the zombies appeal, but you smooth-skins are typically less than receptive to such charms."
She shot him a glance, narrowing her eyes as she tried to read his body language, open but still ready to pounce should he need to. Again, the same word that she had previously associated with him popped into her head.
Dangerous.
The ghoul continued, appearing unfazed under her cold gaze. "Then, I watched how polite you were with Daisy and KLEO at the shops. Certainly not from 81, though I gotta admit I've never heard of 114. So I asked around a bit. Were you really an icicle for 200 years or where you giving Daisy the run around?"
"She told you." Despite the attempt to appear calm and collected, the edge in her voice was apparent, a fact which she noticed made Hancock smile.
"Nah, doll. She kept your secret, but plenty of ears here in Goodneighbor." He answered, watching as Magnolia flirted with Charlie at the counter.
"How charming." Nora answered sarcastically, her eyes suddenly drawn to two men pushing through the crowd toward the backroom.
"You were going to shoot Finn, weren't you?" The voice tore her watchful eyes from the pair, back to the wide black ones scanning her face.
"I... considered it." She admitted, the alcohol doing more for her honesty than a sense of morality ever could.
Hancock nodded, looking back toward the doorway she had been focused on. "You feel conflicted about it."
It wasn't a question, but a statement, she realized. "Yes."
"Don't be."
"No?"
The ghoul sighed, shooting her a contemplative glance before answering. "I'll spare you some of the finer details, but let's just say our little meeting with Finn was long overdue."
She nodded, thinking about the proposition Finn had made in exchange for her safety, her eyes shooting toward the confrontation in the room the two man had entered before answering. "Then I defer to your judgment, Mayor."
As soon as the words crossed her lips, she stood, striding confidently over to the room. She could recognize a shake-down a mile away and by god, if she could do anything in the ruins of her garbage world, she could fucking help people.
She watched the exchange quietly, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed in a sign of solidarity for the young man being threatened, Hancock stood next to her as he lit a cigarette calmly. Unless things got outright violent, she decided there was no harm in standing back for the time being. At the very least it would give her ample opportunity to gather as much information as possible before acting.
Nora noticed how the two men, who she deduced were probably some version of better dressed Raiders, given their polished metal armor, had turned to where she and Hancock were standing behind them, scanning the room. She recognized the look for what it was. They were determining if they could risk the conflict.
The men shot her a glare, then turned to leave after offering a few thinly-veiled threats toward their intended victim.
At their departure she walked toward the irate-looking younger gentleman, seated rigidly in the worn red armchair. "Your friends need to learn some fucking manners."
MacCready shot her a guarded look. "Look, pal. If you're preaching about the Atom, or looking for a friend, you've got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun... then maybe we can talk."
She raised an eyebrow, but before she could respond Hancock pipped up from the doorway. "I'm pretty sure this gal is the only reason you're still breathing, Mac. Had she not showed up when she had, I'd be willing to bet your old Gunner buddies would be painting the walls with ya right about now."
The man scoffed, moving to take a sip of brown liquid from the glass next to him.
"MacCready, right?" She asked, crossing her arms as she tried to read his expression.
"What's it to ya?" He smarted back.
"Well, kid," Nora answered emphasizing the 'kid' and smirking in amusement at his indignation at the nickname. "I heard you were in need of some work, right?"
"Maybe. But I won't have less than 250 caps for two weeks at your back." MacCready shot back, his posture suddenly alert and discerning at the offer of work.
"I only got 150 caps at the moment." She replied, watching his expression. "I can get you more later, though."
"No deal." He rolled his eyes before turning to pour more liquor into his glass, bourbon she noted, based on the shape of the bottle.
"Come on Mac." Hancock reasoned, moving closer to the exchange. "Y'ain't had work in weeks and from what those assholes indicated, you probably won't be getting many new customers, save the occasional job from Daisy."
MacCready shot the man a look of irritation before deflating as he took another sip. "Fine, but I won't start until noon tomorrow."
Nora watched him a beat longer than necessarily, before nodding. "Hotel Rexford. Noon-ish."
As she exited the room and returned to her still vacant spot on the couch, she looked up to Hancock as he settled next to her once more.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, listening to the smooth sounds of Magnolia's songs filling the now crowded bar.
"Why'd you do that?" He finally asked.
She hadn't expected the question and she tilted her chin before responding. "I have my reasons."
"Clearly."
"He needs work." She offered, pausing as she considered elaborating. "He needs to work, I think."
Hancock offered a small smirk before moving to stand, catching her secondary meaning. "I don't disagree, sister. Thank you."
"What?" She demanded harsher than she'd intended, but the ghoul just turned, disappearing up the set of stairs. Her stubborn nature kept her from following the man to demand additional information regarding the young mercenary, and instead focused her attention back on the beautiful singer. Nora closed her eyes, listening to the silky voice until her worries melted away.
She was vaguely aware that she had imbibed more than she should have, and nearly didn't notice when the mercenary's arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her with ease.
"C'mon." The voice offered finally, guiding her out of the bar as she became aware of the sound of heavy steps on stairs, barely cognizant of her own feet trekking upward. Straining to look at the figure helping her, she realized it was the mercenary, MacCready. She wanted to make a smart comment about how he wasn't on duty yet, but her brain couldn't form the words.
She tried to focus her eyes on the environment, a spike of panic growing in her stomach as her brain tried to catch up to her surroundings, when she suddenly felt a softness underneath her, MacCready's hands releasing her to what she could only reason was a bed.
"You're lucky I was there, boss." MacCready stated, moving toward the door. Nora recognized that he had brought her back to the hotel room.
"W'ya'mean?" She mumbled, trying to move to a seated position.
"Goodneighbor is not the sort of place you want to pass out drunk in public, that's all I'm saying." He offered quietly. When she didn't answer after a few moments, he continued. "Let's just say there were some fu-freakin' guys talking about takin' advantage before I stepped in. Said they wanted to have a lil fun with you."
"What?" She suddenly felt painfully sober and beyond terrified, despite the near-dangerous level of alcohol she knew was probably coursing through her bloodstream at the moment.
Stupid, get drunk in a strange town. What would Nate say? Idiot.
"Don't worry. They didn't - They wont. Get some rest, boss." The voice stated, confidant and final. She could hear his steps echo and growing fainter, accompanied by the gentle click of a door latch as she laid back on the bed, drifting to sleep before she could ruminate on the severity of the situation.
Despite the grenade she was pretty sure had gone off inside her head, Nora pulled herself out of bed much earlier than necessary, determined to get the hell out of town as soon as possible. As much as she was dreading the meeting with Nick, she knew he was likely her only hope to find Shaun.
"Is it true?" She paused when she heard the gravelly voice on the other side of her door.
"S'What true?" Even through the door, she knew the voices immediately.
"I've heard that you practically dragged the Vaultsicle up the stairs and into bed. The rumors are getting quite salacious here, Mac." Hancock joked, a harshness undercutting his playful tone.
The mercenary let out a gruff laugh. "You should check your sources, Hancock. I'm sure they also told you I left the room about two minutes after I dropped her drunk ass into her bed."
"I heard. Besides, I know you're not that type." The ghoul confirmed. Nora moved closer to the door, never one to refuse free information, especially on someone she'd be expecting to have her back in a fire fight. "I also heard the real story from Charlie this morning. Who was it?"
"You know exactly which two motherfu- idiots it was." She could feel herself smirk at MacCready's aversion to cursing, a direct contrast with his abrasive personality.
"They're lucky it was you who caught wind of it and not me." Hancock answered, any hint of amusement replaced by a sudden calmness that she knew, much like the weather, preceded a particularly violent storm. "Unless...?"
"Nah, they're all yours. Figured you'd want to handle it anyways. Mayoral business or whatever."
"You'd be right about that. Gettin' real sick of every fucking asshole running through here, tainting the name of Goodneighbor. Sure, we're no Diamond City, thank fuck for that, but I won't stand for that shit on my watch." At the attestation, Nora wondered if she misjudged the town. She decided that she had, at the very least, misjudged their Mayor. "Hey, you take care of her out there, alright brother?"
"That's what she'd paying me for. Why? You got your eye on her or something?"
"Heh. We'll I wouldn't refuse if she offered," Hancock quipped as Nora rolled her eyes at the response. She didn't know why she was surprised that 200 years had come and gone, but men were still just the same. "But it's not like that, man. Gal damn near shot Finn before I could step in."
"That wouldn't have ended well." MacCready retorted flatly.
"Definitely not. She's got gumption though. And that, my friend, is a rare quality, especially in a Vault dweller." The men were quiet for a few moments longer, and Nora wondered what they were thinking about her, now that her life was so easily dissected and passed around town by the gossip mill already. "Anyways brother, gotta jet. Fahr has some pressing matter or some mayoral political shit I gotta go over."
After a few minutes, she could hear some faint shuffling outside the door, before moving to open it.
"Oh!" She gasped, suddenly surprised to see the back of a capped head seated in a chair blocking the door. MacCready jumped up, swinging around to look back at her before relaxing. "Mac... Did you sleep outside my door all night?"
"Seemed... less weird than sleeping inside the room." He answered with a shrug.
"Yeah, like, a little." She blurted out with a small laugh before composing herself. "But in all honesty... Thank you, for last night and for keeping watch over me."
The man grunted, moving to pick up his bag from the floor, swinging it over his back with his rifle. "Can't get my caps if you're dead, boss."
"My hero." She stated sarcastically, wincing at the lights above her. "What helps a raging hangover in the apocalypse?"
"Mentats and a Nuka Quantum usually does the trick for me." The mercenary answered, moving toward the stairs. "Where to?"
With a groan she followed, movement making the roaring headache exponentially worse. "Daisy's I guess. Then Diamond City."
"Wonderful." He answered dryly, the disdain for their intended destination apparent as he clenched his hand around the strap across his chest before making toward the hotel's entrance.
The trip to Diamond City had been abnormally quiet while she walked off her hangover, which surprisingly had been almost completely mitigated after an hour, cured by the Mentats and cola combination like MacCready had suggested, even if it left her brain feeling a bit fuzzy.
Whereas Piper had at least attempt to make small talk, the young mercenary was noticeably silent, even if he did occasionally bob his head at some of the songs when she'd eventually decided to turn on Diamond City Radio. The guards let them in without argument, even if they were glaring at MacCready with rampant distrust.
It wasn't until they entered the city that one particularly irritated guard dared to voice his disdain. "Chumming around with a merc, huh? I don't want no trouble on my beat."
Before the guard could finish his sentence, Nora spun around toward him, cocking her head. "That's funny. I didn't think I asked your opinion."
"Boss." The voice behind her warned as she took a step closer toward the guard.
"In fact, I don't think the company I chose to keep is anyone's business, especially not yours. You're lazy and negligent by all accounts, considering what I know about your policy on missing persons." She snapped, glaring at the man, who faltered under her gaze.
"Listen, my bad." He acquiesced, a fact which had not escaped MacCready who stared at the pair in shock. "I heard you rescued Valentine. Good work. Nick's good people, er, well... you know what I mean.
Seconds later, Nora was smiling politely at the guard. "Glad we got that sorted then. Mac?"
"Boss." He answered quickly, the surprised look on his face quickly dispelled.
"Let's find Valentine." She stated, turning on her heel to march deeper into the city, the mercenary right behind her.
"Blue!" The voice echoed across the former-field as a pair of arms suddenly came around her shoulders. She almost laughed at MacCready's guarded expression at the woman who had charged toward them. "I was so worried when you left!"
"Piper." Nora offered, gently reciprocating the hug before pulling away. "No, I just needed a minute to think. Then I ran into some mutants and got bogged down in Goodneighbor."
Piper wrinkled her nose at the mention of the town, but was wise enough not to voice her opinion in front of MacCready. "Did you take care of that business you were talking about? Was it something with the Minutemen or-"
"No." She answered quickly, shooting MacCready and a glance, unsure of the man's opinions or previous experience with the civilian militia, given the infamous massacre in Quincy. But if he had anything to say on the matter, he didn't voice it.
"Okay, well I still want to go over a few things about the article. I can let you proof read it before I publish it!" The reporter continued excitedly.
"Pipes, I'm sure it's great." Nora reassured, shifting her weight between her sore feet. "I can stop by after I see Nick, but you don't need my approval to print it."
"Oh! Of course. I'll let you go see Nicky, but I've been telling Nat all about you and your story." Piper rushed, hands gesticulating wildly as her excitement grew. "She is so excited to meet you!"
"I'll be by later, promise." She answered and Piper smiled before turning and heading away with a small wave.
"See ya!"
Nora turned back to MacCready with a nod to follow her as they ambled down the crowded alleyways toward the bright pink sign.