13. The End: Nora puts her past to rest.

Somehow they always ended up back in Sanctuary. Hancock didn't mind, it meant they could get a full nights sleep and didn't have to worry about things like food, shelter, and work. Nora had disappeared, again, early in the morning. She hadn't come back for a few hours, and just as Hancock was strapping up to go find her she returned.

Her eyes were red and puffy, if he didn't know her history, he would have assumed she'd taken some piss poor Buffout. Knowing her, though, Hancock was immediately on high alert.

"You alright, sister?"

"I need your help." Nora tried to keep her lips from quivering but Hancock caught it before she could bite her lip to stop it.

"Lead the way." He nodded.

Nora turned without another word and walked out of her house. Hancock followed her, holding a hand up to stop Dogmeat from following them. Nora walked by settlers going about their business. She seemed in a world of her own, which wasn't unusual, but combined with her tear streaked face Hancock couldn't help but worry. She lead him down a path between the houses and then up a steep hill. Hancock couldn't help but stare at the skeletons crowded around a bent and crooked iron fence. Almost like they'd all died suddenly trying to bomb rush the gate. Nora paid them no mind as she stepped over them.

A half buried box caught his attention and Hancock veered off the path to get a closer look.

"Property of Vault-Tec."

The logo was faded, but Hancock knew he'd recognize it anywhere. Vault-Tec was a notorious, pre-war horror story. He used to think the stories were just that, stories. But then Nora walked into his neck of the woods. Everything was old and new to her at the same time, and she had told him her story. How she had been frozen for two hundred years, her husband killed (although admittedly Hancock liked to ignore the fact that Nora was once married, and even after falling for her decided to ignore the other man's existence) and her son kidnapped (he'd cross that hurdle once it came his way).

He glanced at Nora who stood in a small shack. She stared at a platform in the middle of a clearing. There was a hole in the shape of a gear on the ground, darkness reaching into the abyss. Hancock peeked down the long shaft and shuddered. He couldn't imagine living underground for two hundred years. Cryosleep or no, it was asinine.

He sauntered over to the shack, hands in his pockets to hide how much he was shaking. "You alright, sister?" He asked, hoping some conversation would lighten the mood.

Nora didn't answer.

"Nora?" She turned to him, "you alright?" She nodded, but Hancock could see she was still chewing on the inside of her cheeks. He didn't press further. Silence it was, then.

With a sickening metal-on-metal grinding sound a circular platform raised itself in the middle of the hole. Nora squeezed out of the shake past Hancock, not saying a word as she waited for him on the platform. He joined her, hoping she hadn't noticed how uncomfortable he was. Whatever she needed help with he hoped it was hella important.

The ride down was silent between the traveling companions. Not that talking was an option. The elevator screeched loudly and it took all of Hancock's willpower to not cover his ears. Nora seemed unfazed by the sound. She was on autopilot as the elevator came to a shuddering stop at the bottom of the shaft. Hancock looked up, unable to see daylight anymore.

The vault was sticky and warm. He could hear water dripping, echoing around the cavernous halls. Nora stepped off the platform without a word and almost glided up the steps and into the vault itself. Hancock followed, looking at all the skeletons and pre-war architecture. Vault-tec stayed true to their slogan. "Prepared for the future" these damn vaults were built to last. Some parts of the vault were still frozen and Hancock could see his breath as they walked down a long hallway, but then a few steps further and he'd be roasting and feeling water drip onto his hat and shoulders.

Nora silently moved down a set of stairs and down the end of a short hall. There were tall pods lining the wall and Hancock realized with growing horror that these were the cryosleep pods Nora had told him about. She faced the open one on the right with an unreadable expression.

"Two hundred years." Nora finally spoke. Her voice sounded hoarse, it made Hancock's heart twist. "Two hundred years and everything was taken from me." She turned on her heel and opened the pod opposite of hers. The locked doors let out a hiss.

Inside was a frozen man, a gunshot wound to his heart. Even under the freezer burn covering his skin Hancock could tell he was a handsome man. "Nate." Nora said as Hancock thought the same.

"Damn. Hey, look, if you wanna get out of here…" Hancock trailed off as Nora shook her head. She stood on the step into the pod, stretching up on her tiptoes to hold Nate's frozen face. Hancock recalled how he felt when she'd held his face and his chest burned painfully. Nate had smooth caramel skin and neat black hair. He wore a vault-tec jumpsuit just like all the other popsicles and Hancock couldn't help but compare Nate's muscular body to his own skinny ass. He wasn't sure if he should feel petty or insecure.

"I want to bury him." Nora said, "bury the past."

"You sure?" Hancock asked.

Nora nodded, "I need to focus on the future and getting Shaun back." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She hadn't looked at him since she'd opened Nate's pod, but now she turned to look at him. "I tried lifting him earlier, but couldn't do it due to the ice." Hancock didn't buy that for one second. He'd seen Nora lug around power armor parts, and hell she'd dragged him out of danger dozens of times. He wondered if it was one of those metaphorical weights that she was talking about. Regardless, Hancock nodded and stepped closer to the pod. Nate's corpse was heavy, but nothing the two couldn't handle.

The walk back to the elevator was slow. Hancock tried not to think about what he was doing, and Nora didn't seem in the mood to talk, so they carried on in deafening silence.

They laid Nate down on the elevator, Nora sniffed and wiped her nose and cheeks. Hancock wanted to pull her into her arms, but she kept her back turned to him for the ride up. The screeching wasn't as unbearable going back up to the surface, but Hancock wasn't sure if that was due to the corpse between him and Nora, the thousand of thoughts racing through his mind, or because he was expecting the sound in the first place. If he'd taken a mentat earlier he might have been able to wrap his head around this whole situation. The elevator shuttered to a stop at the top of the hill overlooking the Commonwealth.

"So, we taking him to your backyard?" Hancock asked, cursing himself for being so insensitive.

"No. I don't need the reminder. Here is fine." She stepped off the platform. "He'll be watching over the Commonwealth." Nora left Hancock with Nate to run back to Sanctuary. When she returned she had a shovel with her.

"Just the one?" Hancock asked.

"I just needed help carrying him out." Nora said, "I don't expect you to bury him."

"I can go grab a shovel." Hancock started to step towards Sanctuary, but Nora stepped in his way.

"No. I need to do this. Just," her eyes were wide and sad as she looked up at him, "please stay here." Hancock agreed to let her work, even though it left him feeling useless. He understood her need to do this alone.

It took Nora most of the day, and she worked in silence. Hancock sat by Nate and watched.

Nora had finally made a deep enough grave and climbed out with Hancock's help. Together they laid Nate in the ground and Nora rushed to pile dirt on top of him.

Once the deed was done the two stood with their backs to the Commonwealth. Nora reached up around her neck. Hancock watched as she dug under her vest and pulled out Nate's ring. She looked torn.

"Look, sister," he finally spoke up, "You don't have to give up all of your past. You can hold on to some things." He took her hand and closed it around the ring. He didn't know why he did that. Seeing the ring around her neck always made Hancock feel sick, but seeing her give it up made him feel even worse.

For a moment Nora said nothing. She trembled in the cool summer breeze. She looked up at him. The sunset set her hair ablaze, red curls shimmering on her shoulders. Hancock tucked a curl behind her ear, she leaned into his touch and his heart skipped a beat. Her eyes were closed and Hancock wanted to do nothing more than sweep her into his arms and hide her from the horrors of the world. He never would, she could handle herself just fine, but she didn't deserve all this heartbreak. He felt her press the ring into his other hand and her eyes fluttered open.

"You decide. I-I can't do it." Her hand trembled in his, but she pulled away almost reluctantly. Hancock inspected the gold band in his hand. He pocketed it as Nora slipped past him to return to Sanctuary.

He glanced once more at Nate's grave, "I'll keep 'er safe for you, pal." He wasn't sure if he meant Nora or the ring, and he didn't want to overthink it.