20. Explain: Nora was never good at confrontations.
Nora wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at the base of what would become the platform for a teleportation device. teleportation was something humans had learned to do in the two hundred years Nora had been frozen. It was still a lot of information that Nora had yet to unpack. Virgil, the runaway Institute scientist, had been turned into a Super Mutant by exposure to something called FEV's. In return for giving Nora a way into the Institute, Virgil requested the cure from his old lab.
After recovering from the Deathclaw attack Nora, Sturges, and Preston got to work on clearing a space for the teleportation equipment.
Sturges grunted as he pushed himself off his knees, "lookin good so far, General." He offered her one of his gloves hands. She accepted it and stood beside him.
"I couldn't have done it without the help of the Commonwealth's greatest handyman." Nora smiled at him.
"No, no, don't mind me." Macready dropped the pack he was lugging over his shoulder as he approached them. Sturges laughed.
"Don't know about 'greatest'." He put his hands on his hips as he looked proudly at the platform, "my old man said anything could be fixed with duct tape, don't think he meant nothing like this."
Nora smiled at his charming southern accent. "Don't sell yourself short," she gave him a reassuring pat on the back.
"God, just kiss and get on with it." Macready joked with a grin. "I was able to find some of the things you asked for, boss." He nodded towards the pack.
Nora rolled her eyes at him, "Thanks, Joseph. This will really help things move along."
"Don't know why you didn't just ask Hancock," Nora's chest tightened. "Guy would do anything for you." Macready stretched his sore legs out.
"I've put Hancock through enough." Nora snipped coldly, she ignored Sturges and Macready's uneasy glance at each other. "Matter of fact, I asked him to return home once I was back on my feet."
"You did?" Macready asked, Sturges shot him a silencing glare. It didn't work. "What? I've been crawling across the wasteland looking for this shi—junk! How was I supposed to know!
Nora sighed, "It's fine. Besides," she looked out over the Commonwealth. Nora squinted in the sun, looking past the Red Rocket station on the other side of the river. It was a shame they didn't get to build a house here. they were at the top of the hill overlooking the river and the neighborhood. Nora couldn't remember who used to live here, but she tried not to think about the past, "I'm not sure I wanted him here for this next part." She finally said, breathless from the view.
"So ya just send my ugly mug away?" Nora's skin crawled at Hancock's voice. She didn't turn back, but she knew he was standing in the street. She could almost see him crossing his arms and shifting his weight to one foot.
"Hey, Sturges, I think Codsworth is stuck somewhere," Macready pushed the other man away from the scene.
Nora still didn't turn to face him, she felt a pain in her chest, and her stomach felt weak. She had to force herself to breathe to stay grounded. She heard Hancock's boots quietly fall on the concrete until he was beside her. That's what made him a great traveling companion. He was quiet.
"Well and the fact that there's never a dull moment with him," Nora's inner thoughts made her face flush.
Nora could see him out of the corner of her eyes. He wasn't looking at her, he was surveying the Commonwealth as she had been just moments ago.
She hated this. It reminded her too much of when she and Nate would fight. They'd give each other the silent treatment until one of them couldn't stand it and exploded at the other. Not the healthiest bit of their relationship, but something they had been working on together. She wondered who would break first. What was there to say? They were on two different chapters of the same book? Were they even in the same book? Nora thought back to him calling her 'Sunshine', all of the times they held each other, how he always seemed to want to hold on longer but would let go. Perhaps there was a reason he let go.
Nora's head was drowning in these thoughts as Hancock took a hit of jet. "Look," he started, he still hadn't turned to her, "I don't know what I did to deserve this kind of cold shoulder, but whatever it was it better be a damn good excuse cause I can't make heads or tails of this."
"Hancock, it's," Nora sucked in air between her clenched teeth, "It's not you."
Hancock, still not looking at her, raised a brow, "oh yeah? Then explain it to me, sister."
Nora felt like she'd been stabbed in the chest. "That's complicated."
"How complicated could it be?" Hancock finally turned to face her. His face was hard, but his onyx eyes were filled with anguish. "Cause from where I'm standing; seems like I did something to piss you off and you want to avoid me."
"No!" Nora answered quickly. She chewed on the inside of her cheeks. "No, Hancock, Jesus no." She let out a sad laugh. She squared her shoulders. It was now or never. She had to tell him. She wouldn't entertain the idea of being with someone if they wouldn't accept all of her and her son. "Okay." She took a shaky breath. "Just...promise me something?" Hancock didn't answer immediately. "Well?" Nora dared a glance at him.
He waved a hand at her. "I'm thinking." She could see him chewing on something—probably a mentat.
"Let me make an addendum. Promise me if you don't," She thought about her options, "agree with my statement that we will never speak of this again...perhaps even go our separate ways...permanently." She tried to ease the blow of what came next.
Hancock mulled over her words. After a few moments of silence he nodded, "Got my attention."
"Promise?" Nora pressed.
"Alright, fine," he held his hands up in defense, "promise."
Nora let out a deep breath she'd been holding and sat on the edge of the old foundation. Hancock didn't wait for an invitation to sit beside her. They watched the sky turn purple, the sun beginning its decent in the sky. Nora wished she had a mentat, or literally any drug or drink to give her a confidence boost.
"I like traveling with you." She finally admitted quietly, "Hell, I love traveling with you." She rolled her neck back, staring up at the sky. "I said once that I'd thought about ending it all, and that I wouldn't know what to do without you." Hancock, thankfully, stayed quiet. "A-and that's still true!" She quickly added, turning to look at him. His eyes bore into hers, searching her very soul for the truth. "I, Hancock, I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You'd probably be dead somewhere in the wasteland." He mumbled under his breath.
Nora laughed, letting out tears she didn't know she'd been holding back. "God, you're probably right." She dried her tears, though they kept coming. Nora laced her fingers together, laying her hands on her lap as she once again turned to the Commonwealth.
"But our lives are so different." She was finally getting to her point, her tears hadn't stopped, but the smile dropped off her face. All the energy she'd had was gone. "I'm," she swallowed the rock in her throat, "I'm so close to finding Shaun, and once I have him," she thought for a second. What would she do once she had him? Would she leave the Commonwealth? That was a tempting idea. Would she move to Diamond City? Probably not, she didn't want Shaun getting any older with the learned prejudice of Diamond City. Move to Goodneighbor? Highly unlikely. Would she stay with the Minutemen? Maybe. She realized she hadn't finished her thought, and had left an uncomfortable silence between them. She took a breath, "The adventuring stops. I'll be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead...but, I'll probably stay to help the Minutemen, and when Shaun is old enough—who knows? We may leave."
Hancock hummed in response.
Nora sighed, "I guess what I'm saying, or asking, is: Are we on the same chapter when it comes to the future? Are we even in the same book?"
Hancock thought for a moment. He finally turned away from her and Nora let out a shaky breath. "I told myself I'd cross that bridge when I got to it." He finally answered. "Guess the bridge came to me."
Nora scanned his features, trying to figure anything out from his furrowed brows, tight lips, and tense body. "I know about the 'partying'." She whispered. "And I know staying in a cushy place for too long upsets you. I don't want you doing something that makes you unhappy."
Hancock stood up, "Guess you're right." He laced his fingers together and threw his hands behind his head. He didn't look at her, "I should probably head home. Can't even remember why I came this way."