"I'm sorry, Piper. Mayor McDonough isn't seeing any visitors right now." The blonde-haired secretary explained in that perfectly-apologetic, perfectly-calm voice of hers.

"Well I want to know why the Mayor's been hiding in his office for two months!" Piper snapped back, arms folded, jaw stubbornly set. Geneva barely flinched under the reporter's withering emerald gaze.

"The Mayor will come out when he feels like it, Piper." Geneva's pale, razor-thin lips were pressed together into a perfect approximation of a smile. But her light-blue eyes glittered with defiance

Piper suppressed a shudder. Maybe there was some truth to the rumors going around town, that Geneva and McDonough were both synths. There was something cold, almost artificial behind those eyes.

Pulling out her trusty notepad, she scribbled out a quick note.

Need an interview. Get your story out. Dugout inn.

She offered the note to the secretary, who reluctantly plucked it out of her hands. Her nose scrunched up just a little, enough to convince Piper that her message would never reach the Mayor.

"I'll be sure to pass this on to him." Geneva assured, nodding towards the exit.

Piper's eyes landed instead on the single, wooden door that separated Mayor McDonough from the rest of the city. Blue wouldn't have wasted time asking questions and passing notes. She'd push her way past this blonde bimbo, kick open the door, grab McDonough by the collar and…

"Piper?"

The reporter snapped back to reality. Geneva was watching her nervously, one hand beneath her desk, ready to call security. Piper looked down to see her fists clenched and shaking.

This isn't you, Piper. A small, sane voice whispered. You're a reporter, not a thug.

But the answers she needed were right there, cowering behind a flimsy door! It would be a crime to walk away now.

Slowly, carefully, Piper unclenched her fists and unleashed a deep, calming breath. Geneva's hand withdrew from beneath the desk and gestured silently towards the door.

"If you're looking for another loan, keep walking Piper." Yefim's gruff voice cornered her the moment she stepped into the Dugout. Despite her trademark stubbornness, she shrank a little under his angry gaze and took two submissive steps back.

"Yefim! I'm working on getting you those caps. It's just, the printing press is broken and…"

"Oh right! If only your glorious press was still working, you'd be selling newspapers by the dozen!" The massive innkeeper towered over her, glowering menacingly. "Give me a fucking break, Piper."

"People are interested in Commonwealth news, Yefim." Piper mumbled. "And my paper is the best way to get the truth."

"Is that so?" Yefim grunted, unimpressed. "Then why is your sister always on that corner, handing papers away for free?"

Busted.

"How much do I owe you?" Piper muttered, acutely aware of the wall behind her. She was cornered like a Molerat, only she couldn't dig her way out of trouble.

"One. Thousand. Caps." Vadim glanced at the two of them from his usual spot at the bar. For just a moment he met her pleading eyes and Piper thought he might intervene. Vadim had always been the friendlier twin, and a good-natured fellow to boot.

But just as quickly, he turned away, and he was back to smiling with his patrons and pretending she didn't exist.

"Next week. I promise, Yefim. I've got a big scoop coming up. I promise it'll sell papers."

The burly man slammed his hand into the wall, inches away from her head.

"No, Piper. Give me what you have, now."

"Yefim, I have to go take care of Nat. Please." The moment the words left her mouth, Piper wanted to take them back. Using your sister for sympathy. Nice going, Piper.

But it worked. Yefim slowly withdrew his hand, his eyes softening a little. As aggressive as he was being, he wasn't a bad man. Times were tough in Diamond City, and the Dugout Inn had suffered the most. Guilt gnawed at Piper's conscience as Yefim heaved a heavy sigh, slumped his shoulders and shook his head. He was caving.

"Alright, Piper. One week." He reluctantly stepped back, and Piper practically flew out of the door.

Two strikes. Piper took a deep breath to calm her nerves. The cool night air felt good on her flushed face, and she took a moment to stare at the clear night sky. Her problems felt a little smaller now that she was outside.

It wasn't like the inn was particularly crowded, anyways. Without alcohol to keep their senses dulled, most people seemed to realize that they actually didn't like each other's company. Only a few loyal patrons still visited the bar to chat with Vadim, and none of them would give her the time of day, much less an interview.

Yeah, obviously the Dugout inn sucks nowadays. That's the whole problem.

Yefim had always been a silent figure around Diamond City; Nat used to call him the 'gentle giant', and Piper had even run a story on him a year ago. Yefim, the Gentle Giant of Dugout Inn.

Despite her still-racing heart, she managed to smile a little at the memory. Those were the good times, back when they could still afford to print nice, heartwarming tidbits, along with the biggest stories. Back when Blue was still living with them…

No crying. She promised herself, as she angrily swiped at her eyes. Not again. It had been a year since that day, when Piper stormed off and swore she never wanted to see Blue again. Heck it had been two months since she'd even seen the raven-haired General.

Leaving her had been the hardest thing she'd ever done. Back then she'd hoped against all hopes that Blue would return, that she'd come back and promise to be a better person. She knew she had it in her; she'd seen her compassion firsthand, too many times to count. But the General had trudged on forward, leaving her behind to eke out a miserable life in Diamond City, running from creditor to creditor.

Every tear she'd shed over the last year had gone to waste, because Blue sure as hell wasn't crying over her.

Deep breath. Third time's the charm.

"Nani shimashou ka?"

"One bowl, please." Piper replied, guiltily dropping a few caps on the bar. They weren't stolen caps; no matter how bad things were, she was never going to go that far. But every cap she splurged on herself could have gone towards clearing her debt, or getting Nat some better clothes, or fixing the motor or…

Damn. The whole point of this evening soiree had been to clear her mind a little. She wanted to get back to the basics, to the pencil-and-paper journalism that had made her infamous throughout the Commonwealth. But the worries in her head refused to be dislodged by a bowl of lukewarm noodles. ]

The noodle stand had been her last hope. Kicked out of McDonough's office, chased out of the Dugout, all that was left was the heart of Diamond City, the marketplace. The Sun had only been down for a couple of hours, but the city center was already abandoned. Sure, business was rough right now, but seriously? She would have taken any news at this point. Sheffield drinks a bottle of water? Polly actually manages to crack a smile?

Anything?

There was no one to answer questions, no one to interview. The only sounds that disturbed the peaceful night were Takahashi's robotic movements and the fluttering of the Minuteman flag, high above her head..

The flag wasn't going to answer any questions, so that just left…

"Hey Takahashi. You got any scoops for me?" She asked half-heartedly as she packed up her noodles.

"Nani shimashou ka?"

"Piper!"

Nat greeted her at the door with a hug before dragging her towards the coffee table. "Look what I found!"

I don't want to look. I want to sleep.

Dog-tired and heavy-hearted though she was, Piper stumbled over to table and dropped the noodles on the couch.

Nat cleared the table in a hurry, swiping away well-chewed pencils and empty soup bowls.

She must have been here all day.

"Nat, did you go to school today?"

"You know how McDonough hasn't come out of his office for two months?" Nat asked, completely ignoring the question. If Piper wasn't so exhausted, she might have pressed her for an answer. Instead, she just nodded, looking at carefully arranged timeline Nat had drawn out in pencil.

"Well, Jennifer made the SAFE test mandatory for all citizens in June, the last time she came here." Nat slapped the tabletop in excitement. "That means he never had to take the SAFE test!"

"And? Is that it?"

Nat's smile dimmed somewhat, and she turned to her timeline again.

"And that means he could be a synth! He never took the test!"

"Nat, Blu—I mean, Jennifer's SAFE test isn't perfect, no matter what they tell you in school."

"But he must have gone into hiding because he was afraid of the test! That's got to be enough, right?"

"Enough for what?" Piper asked sharply. "Enough to throw him in jail?"

"We learned about it in school! All we have to do is prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McDonough is a synth. Then we can throw him in jail!"

"Oh really? Who're you going to prove it to? Who's going to arrest him?"

Nat bit her lip, her confidence shrinking under Piper's verbal barrage.

"People will read about it in our paper, right? They'll want to know the truth, they'll ask him themselves!" Nat looked at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "That's what you always say right? That the truth matters more than anything else?"

Piper was long past the point of believing that stupid line, and she was actually surprised that Nat still did.

If the truth mattered, the Mayor would have been arrested years ago.

"Nat. I've been calling McDonough a synth for two years. I've gathered a lot more evidence than this, and I published a hundred articles. Nobody listened then, and I guarantee nobody is listening now." She snapped.

She hated the expression on Nat's face. The sudden shock, followed by a hint of fear.

And then the disappointment. Piper felt like she'd been punched in the gut. By a Supermutant.

"Hey, uh, I have some noodles here for you." Piper croaked lamely, gesturing to the couch.

"Wow, thanks." Nat muttered, staring numbly at her timeline. She'd obviously put a lot of effort into it.

Piper wanted to say something, make it up to Nat with more than some half-eaten noodles.

But she could tell that the damage was already done, and quickly decided the best thing to do now was make herself scarce.

"Hey General! I don't know how to work this thing!"

In Piper's opinion, Preston's voice was one of the Wasteland's Wonders. It wasn't a deep baritone like Pastor Clements', nor was it prim and proper like Geneva's. It wasn't smooth and suave like Nelson Latimer's, or bright and cheery like Nat's.

No, what made Preston Garvey's voice so special was how compelling it was. When he asked a question, you wanted to answer. If he told you to do something, you felt obligated to do it.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Preston's voice. She just wanted to know what it was doing inside her home.

The reporter desperately rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, blinking away the last of her dreamless night to spot the familiar, duster-clad Minuteman scratching his head in front of her terminal.

Now she was wide awake.

"Preston!" she cried, tossing her blanket on the floor and leaping out of bed.

The poor Minuteman stumbled backwards, almost falling off the edge of the loft before he caught himself.

"Piper! I was just…the General asked me to…" Preston's excuses died in his throat as Piper continued to glare at him.

"What are you doing in my house?"

"We just got back from an expedition, Piper."

"That's great, but what are you doing in my house?" Piper demanded, hands on her hips. She felt a small twinge of regret over her harsh tone. Preston was a hero to the people of the Commonwealth and the Minutemen. He didn't deserve this.

Well then he shouldn't have barged into my home.

"General! She's awake!" Preston called, beating a hasty retreat. Before Piper could press him further, he had already made it halfway down the ladder. It was only then that Piper realized she could hear voices. A lot of voices.

The Publick Occurrences was filled to the brim with people, more than she'd ever let inside at once. Atleast five or six people stood huddled in the kitchen, their voices never rising above hushed whispers.

In the far corner of the room, Nat sat in the lap of a woman in a Militia overcoat, waving her hands animatedly as she spoke. Two other Minutemen listened attentively with their hands on their chins, small, tired smiles stretching across their worn faces.

"Hey!" Piper cried out, as a man pushed roughly past her. He ignored her entirely, and when Piper turned around to see where he'd come from, he became the least of her worries.

Nat's room was also filled with people, many of them wearing navy-blue dusters. Interspersed among them were settlers in farming attire, traders and even a Gunner wearing light-green combat armor.

Who were all these people, and why the fuck were they drinking her coffee?

Piper made her way, unnoticed, into the kitchen.

"General, I'm fairly certain this is on Vargas. He planned the whole training."

"Hold on, Dyson. Intelligence is your specialty. If you'd mentioned in your report that there were three packs of ghouls in the area…"

"With all due respect, General, ferals are almost impossible to track. The other packs could have come from anywhere depending on how much noise you were making."

"That's wonderful, Dyson. You're going to blame the General for this?"

"Enough. There'll be a full debrief back at the Castle. Remember we're guests here."

That voice was unmistakable.

Piper stormed her way past the ring of huddled whisperers and wrenched the coffee tin out of Blue's hands.

There was a flurry of movement around her as Minutemen began reaching for their weapons, but Piper's eyes were laser-focused on Blue, her glare intensity turned up to eleven.

Blue sheepishly pulled the spoon out of her mouth, swallowing the bitter coffee with a slight grimace.

"Piper, maybe we could discuss this somewhere else—"

"Quiet, Preston." Even his buttery-smooth voice wasn't going to get in between her and Blue.

"Piper…" Blue started, glancing helplessly at the men surrounding her.

"Alright guys, let's give the General some privacy." A chorus of groans and complaints filled the room as Preston began ferrying people out of the Publick Occurrences. "Listen, if you want to talk to the General, you're going to be patient." He glanced at Blue.

"Dugout?"

She nodded in confirmation as the last of the visitors emptied out. Nat was gone too, probably still reciting her stories and theories to anyone who'd listen.

For the first time in a long while, the two of them were alone. All the questions Piper had saved up, all the threats and insults she'd planned to hurl were shriveling up in her throat.

"I'm sorry for all this, Piper." Blue refused to meet her eyes, choosing to stare blankly at the spoon instead. "We just got back from an expedi—"

"Yeah, I heard. Preston told me when I caught him poking around my terminal. Following your orders." Piper snapped.

"I knew it was wrong." She admitted, looking ashamed. "But w-we found a Railroad h-holotape."

A wave of guilt washed over Piper as Blue's expression changed completely. In just a few minutes, she'd gone from the calm, confident General of the Minutemen to a terrified, stuttering woman.

Why do you trust me so, Blue? Why me of all people?

"Hey, it's alright, Blue." Piper cracked a small, reassuring smile. "There's nothing interesting on there, really. Unless you're particularly interested in Pastor Clement's dining habits and Mirelurk cooking recipes."

Blue laughed, a clear, sweet sound that made Piper's heart leap. Her brown eyes rose to meet Piper's gaze.

"I think we're getting close, Piper. I can feel it." There was genuine hope in her words, and her voice carried it in a way that only she could.

"Somedays it feels like Shaun is inches away…" she stared helplessly at her hands. "But then I look at the Commonwealth, look at all the death and brutality and think; there's no way he's still alive."

The last of the anger slowly drained out of Piper's face as she took Blue's hands in her own.

"You told me a long time ago that you were going to find whoever did this to you, and you were going to make them pay." Piper whispered, pulling her closer. "I believed you then, and I believe you now."

What was she doing? This wasn't the woman who'd given her that interview, the woman who'd pledged over and over again to do nothing but good for the people of the Commonwealth.

This was a Dictator, someone who used violence and fear to solve all her problems. That was why she'd walked away in the first place.

"Thank you, Piper. You have no idea what that means to me." Blue whispered, bending to pick up the coffee tin. Sometime during their conversation it had slipped out of Piper's hands. Blue stared at the red lid, once again refusing to meet Piper's eyes.

"I know you don't agree with the way I do things. I know you think I'm too violent, too confrontational." She offered Piper the tin. "But if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."

Piper accepted the coffee, too stunned to do anything more than nod.

She'd take her back? After all she'd said, all she'd accused her of being?

It sounded too good to be true, and yet her heart leapt at the thought. Just the two of them, on the road again? Trying to fix the Commonwealth, one piece at a time?

"Piper, before I go…" Blue hesitated for a moment. The most powerful woman in the Commonwealth shuffled nervously in front of Piper. "Could I use your terminal? I really need to know what this holotape says."

"Sure, go ahead." Piper shrugged. "Just don't look through any of my files."

Can't have you finding out about the three dozen hitpieces I wrote, can we?

Blue was back in five minutes. Piper's heart skipped a beat when she saw the grim look on her face. Had she actually read those nasty, vicious articles she'd written? They came from a real low point in Piper's life, back when she was willing to do anything to sell papers. People were just starting to turn on the General in Diamond City, and she just hopped on the bandwagon. Of course, she had plenty of things to gripe about herself, and the newspaper sold like hotcakes for weeks.

To Piper's relief, Blue offered her a small, tight smile.

"Good news?"

"Hardly." was all she got in response. Blue shuffled towards the door, taking a moment to look at the messy, disorganized room.

"I promise, I'll send someone by to clean this up, Piper."

"Don't worry about it Blue." She said quickly, waving her hand dismissively. "It actually looks like your Minutemen tidied up a little."

Blue chuckled softly as she headed for the door.

"Thanks for everything, Piper."

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit her. The perfect way to make things up with Nat.

"Hey Blue? I have a favor to ask."

"Anything, Piper."

She probably did mean anything. If Piper asked her to clear her debt with Yefim, she'd do it for her in a heartbeat. All her problems could disappear today, if she wanted.

But how would Blue do it? Would she offer him a thousand caps, or put a bullet in his head?

It scared her to think that she really didn't know.

"Nat came up with a theory about the Mayor yesterday. I don't know if she's told you already but if she hasn't, maybe you could take a look?" Piper asked hopefully. "The Mayor hasn't come out of his office in two months."

A dry smile was slowly spreading across Blue's face. It wasn't a particularly nasty smile, and Piper would be hard pressed to ever call Blue ugly.

But it also didn't have a lick of her usual warmth. It was a cold, calculated smile that made her skin crawl. Piper suppressed a shudder as Blue tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Let's say you had evidence that McDonough was a synth. Not only that, but you also found out he was working for the Railroad!" The General's smile grew wider, exposing gleaming white teeth. "What would you do to him? What would you consider justice?"

"Justice?" Piper repeated stupidly, thrown off by the question. "I guess I'd call the guards and put him in jail?"

"No no no!" Blue shook her head angrily. "All the guards quit a long time ago because he locked himself in his office and refused to pay their salaries."

"I don't know, Blue." Piper shrugged honestly, still a little taken aback by her questioning. All she'd wanted was to try and make up to Nat. "Maybe I'd kick him out of the city?"

"Let's say he also kidnapped people, at random. Tortured them to death for information before sending their families a lifeless, soulless robotic version of their loved one. What then?"

"Blue, I-I don't understand. What do you want me to say?"

"Let's say he told the Railroad to kidnap your son. Or your little sister. What would you consider justice?"

"Blue…"

"Take a walk with me?" She asked suddenly, nodding towards the door. Dumbfounded and utterly confused, Piper nodded slowly and followed her out the door.

A crowd had gathered in the Diamond City market. Piper hadn't seen this many people in one place for a long time, and she had to fight off the urge to whip out her notepad and start interviewing at will.

Not that any of them were likely to give her straight answers. Most of them were staring up into the sky, completely ignoring the reporter in the red trenchcoat and the freaking General herself. Piper followed their gaze with profound curiosity.

The color drained out of her face when she saw it.

She swallowed hard, painfully aware of the General's eyes on her, watching her reaction.

"He should have suffered." She mused. "It was too quick in the end."

"A-and Geneva?"

"Well someone had to carry out his orders while he was in hiding. Dyson found all the evidence we needed to try and convict her."

"But you only got here this morning."

"Justice, Piper. Was this justice?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Nat staring up at the two bodies, a mixture of horror and morbid curiosity on her face. Nobody else seemed even the least bit concerned that their Mayor was hanging from a flagpole.

If this wasn't Justice, why wasn't anyone saying anything?

Why wasn't she saying anything?