Never for all the jet in the world would Hancock have thought that doe-eyed scavenger who came running through Goodneighbor's door for the first time and fended off Finn with a well-aimed stab to the gut would have had the balls to cross him by accepting Bobbi No Nose's proposition to burrow beneath Goodneighbor and rob him of his stash.

Deep down, he realized he should have known that she was more trouble than she looked.

After all, she had gutted Finn the instant second he'd turned his back, grabbing him by the front of his neck and driving her knife into him until he collapsed a few moments later, dead at her feet. Bobbi No-Nose ended up suffering a similar fate, though with much more fanfare.

There was something about that ginger hair that made her so much more chaotic in nature than the average psycho and like a blaring alarm, her actions had been a wake-up call for Hancock that he was getting a little soft.

That was how the mayor of Goodneighbor found himself trailing after the girl who had teamed up with Bobbi No Nose to rob him and killed her employer right where she stood when she realized she'd been lied to. According to the incident report, Fahrenheit told him that Bobbi had gone up in flames when a stray bullet from Claire's gun nicked the nozzle of a nearby explosive gas tank and set it ablaze.

"Bobbi's plan literally went down in flames and took her down with it, all thanks to that girl who killed Finn," Fahrenheit had commented, a mixture of amusement and admiration evident in her voice.

It seemed that one of Claire's skills was lighting up anything that moved if it got in her way or wanted her dead.

However, she drew the line at innocents and never spilled blood if it could be helped, which resonated with Hancock and made him feel a lot better about accompanying an almost-complete stranger on her travels through the wasteland. She was a woman after his own, ghoulish heart and he liked her more than he was willing to admit, which was why, when she walked into his office and asked him if he wanted to accompany her on a supply run, he said yes without hesitating.

She had lit up Hancock, too, and didn't even know it. Hell, even he was still in denial, insisting that he was traveling with her to get a new perspective on life and not because he actually felt something for the girl.

The place they were looting was some run-down building south of the Combat Zone that had definitely seen better days, much like the rest of the world, but she had found some loot in it while exploring the other day and had wanted to take whatever she could carry for herself. Some items, like scrap metal and junk, would be collected and sold to Daisy, any guns she wasn't interested in using went to K-LEO and Arturo in Diamond City, and all of the good stuff, like comics, ammunition, and food & drinks, were hers for the taking.

"It's so hard finding Nuka-Cola," Claire huffed as she pushed aside another empty bottle in search of her precious soda, only to find none because the machine was empty. "There's more bottles than actual soda. Hell, I don't even like Sunset Sarsaparilla and I would be so grateful for some of that right now!"

"Sunset, huh? That's really hard to find this far east. You'd have better luck heading out west for that."

"How far out west would I have to go?"

"Out of the Commonwealth and towards the Mojave Wasteland, from what I hear."

"That far?" Claire gawked.

"How far would you be willing to travel to satisfy one of your vices?" Hancock challenged.

"Speak for yourself," Claire scoffed. "How far would you walk for some Jet or Mentats?"

"As far as I need to, sister."

"Well, then, you're more dedicated than me, that's for sure."

Hancock chuckled at her words and decided to take it as a compliment and then, deciding that he wanted to know a little more about her, he asked,

"So what's one thing you haven't tried but want to try?"

"Nuka-Cola Quantum. My mom wouldn't let me, said the glow would rot my teeth and so… I never tried it. Thing is, we couldn't afford it when I was growing up."

"The Nuka-Cola Queen never tried Nuka Quantum?"

"Yeah, she really scared me out of drinking that stuff but couldn't stop me from having the regular kind," Claire explained while doing her best to ignore the title Hancock had suddenly given her. Nuka-Cola Queen? Was that what she was?

"So you were a goodie-two-shoes as a kid?"

"You… could say that," Claire conceded with a half-shrug. "And I like my teeth, thank you very much."

"I can respect that." Hancock's voice was amused.

"C'mon, let's keep scavenging." Claire rose to her feet and started for the stairs that led up to the second floor.

"Lead the way."

A few hours later, they found their way back to Goodneighbor with their arms laden with goods, everything from Nuka-Colas to extra guns and armor that they had taken off the hands of raiders who didn't need them anymore, ammunition, scrap for Daisy, and even a medicine box full of caps that they had managed to fill up during their journey throughout the complex.

After selling everything they didn't need to Daisy and KLE-O, the duo went into the State House to relax and enjoy their spoils.

"We had a good run today," Hancock complimented as he strode over to where Claire stood, leaning her weight against the kitchen counter located at the very back of the room and munching on a box of Sugar Bombs - Hancock's box of Sugar Bombs - but the ghoul didn't feel irritated by her blatant act of stealing, not this time, at least.

As long as it didn't become an everyday thing, he figured he could forgive her for the occasional infraction.

That, and he would be one happy ghoul if she continued to supply him with Jet and Mentats scavenged from their travels.

"We really did! It actually went better than expected!"

To Hancock's surprise, Claire reached into the pocket of her bomber jacket and handed him some caps as she chirped "here, this is your share from today's haul!" and he pocketed his payment without protest.

"Thanks, dollface. I've got something for you, too," Hancock said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass bottle filled with bubbly liquid that glowed a bright, fluorescent blue and could light up a room better than any pre-war lightbulb ever could.

"Wait, what's this?" Claire stared at the bottle in confusion like it was a foreign object she was seeing for the first time.

"It's for you."

"For me? Really?" Her eyes lit up like stars as she took the bottle of Nuka-Cola Quantum from Hancock's outstretched grip and clutched it to her chest like it was the most valuable thing Hancock could have given her.

"Who else would it be for?"

"Aw, thank you so much!"

Kindness and generosity were both definitely lacking in the wasteland, so when he saw Claire's face light up like stars, Hancock knew that she was genuinely grateful. Her attitude was refreshing and he could tell that they were going to get along just fine.