23. Music: Hancock invites Nora out for drinks
It was two blocks away from Diamond City that their paths crossed again. The general and the mayor. Hancock had just gotten one of the younger members of his community out of some shitty trouble with some gunners, and had kicked him in the direction of his mother back in Goodneighbor when he spotted her. It had been half a year since that day in Sanctuary. But even through the irradiated snow he knew it was her. She was leading a gaggle of settlers towards Diamond City. Her shoulders were squared, head held high, gun at the ready. He looked in the direction of Goodneighbor, and then at her group.
"Ah fuck." He cursed as he decided to trail after them. He ran down the street and paused at the corner to peek around. There was no doubt now, she was definitely leading them to Diamond City. "The fuck is she doing with those assholes?" He wondered with his heart hammering in his throat. He muttered a few disgusting words under his breath. What was he thinking, following her like this? Why did he even care? She'd clearly been back from The Institute for some time, if she had wanted to see him she would have found him. Still, his feet moved on their own accord. He kept his distance behind the group, making sure the snow crunching underfoot was far enough away that no one noticed him. There were about twenty or so settlers of various ages following her, huddled together in one tight group to keep warm against the wind that blew between the buildings. They got to the outer edge of Diamond City's protections and turrets. Hancock ducked down an alley a block away from Diamond City as she turned to look back at the group of settlers.
"The Minutmen and I will work to restore Hangman's Alley. Come two weeks from now you will once again have a roof over your heads and walls around your settlement." Nora addressed the group. She sounded muffled, "in the meantime, my home in Diamond City, as well as Nick Valentine's office is open for all of you." Hancock's heart stopped for a second. Nora had a home in Diamond City? Nick was offering up his place for her people? Hancock's head swam with horrible thoughts. He pushed them aside as he heard the group shuffle past Nora, giving her their thanks, and her responding in kind. It wasn't until the crunching of snow underfoot died down that Hancock felt like a fool. He should have just went home. Now he was freezing out in the open, and was too close to Diamond City for comfort.
He cursed at himself and turned to duck out of the alleyway. He stopped short of running into the barrel of a familiar gun. Nora was glaring up at him, her hazel eyes were all that were exposed. Her hat was pulled low and her colonial scarf was tucked up under the bridge of her glasses to keep her nose and mouth protected. Hancock felt his heart drumming in his chest. His mouth had gone dry and his brain felt like it had short circuited. When Nora realized who he was and that he wasn't going to say anything she lowered her gun. Her eyes never softened, but she gave him a curt nod and turned on her heel to walk away.
"Did you find him?" Hancock blurted out without thinking. A high pitch tone ringed in his head and he resisted the urge to cover his ears. Or what was left of them. His hands felt increasingly numb but he kept them exposed just in case.
The winter night was silent.
Nora only turned her head to look over her shoulder, "no." She turned back and started to walk away.
"Nora," Hancock blurted out once more.
Nora stopped and sighed. She turned once again and lowered her scarf. She had a new scar, one that crossed over her nose, under her eye, and down her cheek. "What?" She huffed out, clearly irritated at being stopped once more. Her nose and cheeks were red and her teeth clattered while Hancock struggled to find an excuse to be in her company.
"Want to grab a drink?" He pathetically tried.
Nora let out a short, dark laugh, "a drink?" Hancock suddenly remembered something and fished around in his pockets, "with you? It is the dead of winter, I'm freezing my ass off making sure my people are safe, we haven't spoken in months, and—" Hancock's heart drummed faster as he finally found what he was looking for and pulled out out.
Nate's ring hung from a chain between his fingers.
Hancock tried not to focus on how heavy his was breathing, how his boots were soaked through, how his body felt hot and cold at the same time.
Nora's words were choked in her throat, her eyes glistened as she stared at the ring. A single tear escaped her left eye—Hancock resisted the urge to wipe it away. "Please, babes?" Her eyes hardened once more. She looked between his onyx eyes and the glistening wedding band. A war was happening behind her eyes and Hancock anxiously awaited the outcome.
"You're buying." She hissed through her teeth. She shouldered her gun and lifted her scarf back up over her mouth. Hancock repressed the urge to do a happy fist pump, instead he pocketed the ring and fell into step beside Nora. He tried not to think about how comfortable their matched strides felt. How familiar this scene was to him. "Does she feel the same comfort?" Hancock wondered, he glanced at Nora but she stared straight ahead.
The walk back to Goodneighbor was silent save for the crunching of snow under their feet. Nora kept her arms tight around her body. Hancock could see her shivering as she walked, but was afraid to offer her assistance incase she decided to return to Sanctuary. His own inside shook, but he wasn't sure if it was from the cold or his nerves.
"What was winter like back then?" Hancock blurted out.
Nora looked at him in shock before quickly turning her eyes to the sky. "Well, for starters, the snow wasn't this ashy grey color. Most of the time." She explained. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself. Hancock stuffed his hands into his pockets, his threadbare frock providing little comfort. "It was usually white, and only turned this color once it was turned up by cars and pollution." She continued, taking heavy breaths between sentences. "Most people stayed inside unless they absolutely needed to get out of the house." The more she talked the more she seemed lost in her memories. Hancock stayed quiet. "Winter, at least in my family, was a time to celebrate. Nate loved winter because that meant Christmas was coming." Hancock ignored the twist in his chest and kept walking. "I loved winter because it meant seeing our families again."
"They didn't live here?" Hancock asked.
Nora shook her head, "Both our families were from the south. I came up here for school and Nate with the military. After Shaun," her voice caught in her throat, but she swallowed and continued, "Our families would come up and visit us. It was my parents and sister, and his parents and sisters all in our tiny little home." She smiled at the ground and they marched on. Hancock's gut twisted even more. Sure he knew about Nate and his fate, but he couldn't help but wonder what happened to the rest of their family. He felt guilty about being happy they weren't there.
Silence filled the space between them.
Nora lagged behind the more they walked and Hancock noticed she was limping once more.
He couldn't help himself, "leg okay?"
Nora paused and raised her head, "hmm? Oh, yeah." She tried to be stiff. Nora lowered her head once more and her breathing got harder as she struggled to silently keep up. Hancock slowed his pace, it was more dangerous going this slow, but they made it to Goodnieghbor with little to oppose them.
"Ladies first." Hancock held the door open leading to his domain. Nora stepped inside, lowering her scarf and letting out a long breath as she did. Hancock was thankful for the high walls around Goodneighbor, kept most of the chill out during winter. Most of his people were huddled in tight groups around trash can fires, but he and Nora walked past them all. Ham was blowing into his hands when they entered The Third Rail, his own onyx eyes lit up upon seeing Nora.
"Kid!" He exclaimed, he put his gun down and met Nora halfway in the foyer. Hancock watched as the two hugged. Ham held Nora at arms length and looked her over, "Damn, kid! Ain't no one from Goodneighbor seen you since you disappeared into the belly of the beast. Good to see it didn't chew you up." Hancock could feel Ham's eyes on him, he pretended to be interested in wiping off his knife.
"It's nice to see you too, Ham." Nora smiled that smile Hancock loved. The kind that made him think the world wasn't completely shit.
"Alright, paws off." Hancock pocketed his knife and pressed one hand to the small of Nora's back, "I'm buying her drinks tonight, Ham. You'll have to wait your turn." Nora's body tightened.
"Keep acting like an ass and I won't have to wait long." Ham shot back. He stepped back into his place and looked the pair over again, "Don't let him bully you 'round, kid." He nodded to Nora.
"You know I won't." Nora nodded in kind. She descended the stairs first. Ham caught Hancock's arm.
"Be smart, boss." He warned. Hancock pulled his arm away and followed Nora without a word. Magnolia was stepping up to the small corner stage as he came into view. She started singing a more upbeat song than usual, and the crowds that were gathered to escape the cold tapped their feet and bobbed their heads to the beat.
Nora had already gone to the bar and was talking to Charlie. "Can't believe that daft bastard got you to come here." Charlie cackled as his arms spun under him, grabbing two glasses and a bottle.
"Well, one can hardly refuse a free drink." Nora glanced over her shoulder as Hancock came up behind her. "And the good mayor has deep enough pockets to splurge."
"That he does." Charlie set the items down on the counter as Hancock waved him off, a signal to put it on his tab.
Nora settled in a back corner away from the crowds. Hancock loyally followed her. Magnolia's voice drifted over the smoke and bodies to be a soft croon. "So," Hancock grunted as he sat down, Nora pulled her legs under her, "what happened?"
Nora opened her mouth to speak, but closed it after nothing came out. She turned and opened the bottle of wine they'd gotten. She poured a glass for herself and looked at Hancock expectantly. He nodded and she poured him a glass as well. Wine wasn't his style, but if he was paying then god damn it he was going to drink it. She handed his glass to him while she took a long sip of hers. "Where to start?" she mused, holding the glass to her lips.
"The beginning?" Hancock asked, not hiding the fact that he was staring at her lips.
"Right." Nora rested the glass on her thigh, holding onto the stem with her thumb and index finger. "Well. The teleportation device worked. Once. It blew as soon as I got to The Institute."
"Shit." Hancock mumbled. He absentmindedly took a sip of wine and tried not to gag at its sweet taste. He pulled a tin of mentats out of his frock and popped one in his mouth. If Nora noticed she didn't give it away.
"I followed a voice. It was so much like following Kellogg's voice in Fort Hagen." Nora's eyes got distant. Hancock remembered the day well. Nora shook her head and took another sip of wine. Magnolia started another song, this one slower and sadder. "I found Shaun. At least," she chewed on her lip for some time, her nose was red, but Hancock wasn't sure if it was from suppressing tears or from still being cold, "At least I thought I found him. This sweet little boy, trapped in a glass cage." Hancock once again fell silent, just taking in her voice and her presence. "But then, an older man walked in. And he introduced himself as Shaun." Nora stayed quiet for a while. "The Shaun in the cage was a synth. Created to lure me to The Institute."
"So the Shuan you saw when you were in Nick's head?" Hancock pondered.
"Was fake." Nora finished. "Turns out, what was five seconds for me was sixty years. Sixty years between Shaun being taken and Nate being killed, and me escaping that damn Vault."
"Damn, babes." Hancock had put his glass down and was just watching Nora as she told her tale.
Nora finished her glass and poured another, "So, Shaun gave me a mini teleportation device," she pointed to the add on on her pipboy. "It's how their synth couriers get around. I stayed for a week, letting him think I was considering staying with him."
"But?" Hancock sensed a 'but' was coming.
"But I had to get information back to Sturges. I wouldn't stay where synths were essentially slaves and kidnapping people in the name of science was tolerated. Normalized. Expected." Nora sounded more bitter as she went on. "I've thrown myself into my role as General since then. Met with some guy who runs with The Railroad." Hancock instantly thought of the suave guy with sunglasses who often tried recruiting people for the Railroad.
"How'd that go?" He asked.
"They think we aren't ready for war with The Institute. Think we're some grey middle ground. Where we will protect our people and not some outside synths." Nora sounded irritated.
"And?" Hancock asked.
"And they're wrong. My morals align with their mission. Preston and the other senior officers would listen and follow my example in helping the synths if The Railroad would just let us help." Nora realized she was getting louder and shrunk back into herself. "Anyways. I threw myself into all this work. What about you?"
Hancock shrugged. Most days he was high off his mind trying to keep his thoughts from lingering on her for too long. "Been keeping The Brotherhood out of Goodneighbor. Keeping kids from doing some stupid shit."
Nora nodded, "Noble." She smiled.
Hancock let out a short laugh. "Nothing like what we used to do." He said before thinking about it. Damn, had that mentat worn off that quick?
Nora's smile dropped. "Yeah." She quietly turned back to her drink. They sat in a tense silence for a few hours. Several bottles were emptied, Hancock turned to his stash of drugs and his personal booze. Nora looked lazily around the bar, at some point her shoes and gloves came off and she curled up even more into herself.
They made small talk. Hancock had to make small talk to keep himself from going crazy. He wanted to ask why she didn't come find him, but figured she'd shoot him back with the same question. Hancock thought hard. Why hadn't he gone to find her? In truth, he knew why. He expected her to return with her son and go on her merry way in domestic bliss with her child and some person who'd take care of them. He hadn't expected The Institute to harden her, take away everything she'd fought for, take away her hope of returning to her old life. Present day Boston was not kind to Nora.
Hancock stretched out, thankful that most of the crowd was on the other side of the bar by Magnolia's stage. No one had bothered him with petty bureaucratic nonsense. Magnolia started singing a more festive song. Nora smiled. Hancock turned and watch the crowd of people dancing, swaying, drinking, and just having fun to keep from blurting out anything else stupid. "This is a pre-war Christmas song." Nora's breath tickled his cheek. Hancock jumped and shivered. How did she scoot so close without him noticing? When did she scoot so close? He could smell the wine on her.
"Sounds funny." Hancock hated being reminded of Nora's old life.
"Want to get out of here?" If it had been anyone else, Hancock would have known just want to do. Instead, he looked at her. She looked up at him over her glasses, which has slipped down her nose. Her hazel eyes were wide and innocent.
"Let's get this freakshow on the road." Hancock grinned. He helped Nora put her shoes and gloves back on, handing her her gun before leading her back out into the cold, Magnolia's music ringing behind them.