James stood idly by the glowing red sign that read: "Valentine's Detective Agency." Katherine stood in front of him seemingly content with waiting. James fought the urge to tap his foot.

"How long are we supposed to wait?" James asked, through gritted teeth.

"Until the agency opens." Katherine responded. She exhibited no signs of impatience or being irritated.

"Why?"

"That's how stores work right? That's what we did before the war." Katherine responded without looking back at James. James looked forward to try to occupy his idle mind. Morales played tag with a few of the kids in the city. It was surreal, he said he was nineteen but barely looked older than fifteen. Old enough for the kids here to think he too was a kid.

"We don't really wait outside the place."

"Why not?"

"… Because that's how it works?"

"It's that a bit rude and inconsiderate?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know that the shopkeep is ready for you?"

"How do you know they're not available?"

"I don't. So I wait for them to tell me they are." James thought about it. Now all the skeletons that lay in neat columns outside buildings made sense. "So you just wait?"

"Yup."

"Hmm." James half-growled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I know you make that sound when you're irrated."

"I am."

"At what?"

"Nothing."

"…" James continued to look around for other things to occupy his idle mind. He could hear the calls of the various vendors in the Diamond City Market. "Man, you sound just like a girl."

"Whatever." James muttered. A man passed by, staring at both Katherine and James and gave a small chuckle. "They're judging us." James muttered in a sing-songy tone.

"I don't care." Katherine responded in a similar tone. "Besides, don't you think it's nice to just spend some alone time together?"

"Uh…"

"Hmm?" James thought back to the kiss on the hill. "I thought…"

"Oh look, the sign's been lit, that means it's open. Come on!" Katherine commented before striding into the office. James sighed and tried to follow her while clad in power armor. He ducked under the door and came face to face with a woman.

"Oh my!" The woman yelped.

"Oh." James realized the armor's frightening appearance and took off his helmet. "Sorry, ma'am." Katherine was already seated in a red plush chair in front of James.

"It's okay. My name's Ellie."

"Good morning, Ellie!" Katherine beamed. Both James and Ellie gave Katherine a strange look. Katherine looked at both of them confused.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. James shrugged.

"No, no. Nothing." Ellie commented. She dropped a small cloth sack by the desk and walked briskly to a file cabinet behind her. "It's interesting. You two actually followed Agency Etiquette."

"Agency what?" James asked.

"Y'know. Actually waiting for the store to open instead of barging in whenever it's convenient for you."

"Oh…" James said. "That… thing." Katherine smiled smugly at James. James rolled his eyes.

"So what can I do you for?" Ellie asked. James frowned. The woman was hiding something, despite her friendly demeanor, something was off.

"Well, I-" Katherine began.

"The question isn't what you can do for us, but what we can do for you?" James butt in. He gave a quick glance at Katherine, who still had her mouth open from getting ready to talk.

"What? How did you know?"

"The question is, how didn't we?" James reassured her. Bluffing was his main strategy in getting information. According to a SPECIAL test he took a long time ago his charisma was a 10 so, he liked to test whether or not the test was actually accurate.

"Wow. I never met anyone as well informed as you. Well.. except for…." Ellie started.

"A certain someone?" James's voice trailed off.

"Exactly! It's Nick! Nick's missing! How did you know?" Ellie asked in astonishment. James flashed what he called his signature grin as Katherine rolled her eyes.

"I just do." James said in a low voice. The door opened and a woman in a red trench coat barged in.

"Whoa, Ellie. Nicky's gone missing? What happened?" the woman asked. Her eyes flitted between both James and Katherine multiple times before settling on Ellie.

"Um… Who are you?" James asked.

"People call me Piper." She said as she took off her hat and gave a short curtsy. She was ill balanced so she almost tripped on nothing. She fixed her hair before pressing her hat back on her crown. "And you can call me… Piper?"

"Piper with a question mark." James asked. "You're not sure what you'd like me to call you?"

"And what if I'm not?" she responded.

"Then I'd wonder what are you doing here and how soon can you leave?"

"Whoa, whoa. Okay." Katherine stood up. "Sorry Piper, he's a little sarcastic sometimes."

"Sometimes?" James asked, an eyebrow raised and a smile forming on his lips. Katherine shot James a dirty look. James shrugged. "I think we started off on the wrong foot." She held out her hand to Piper. "My name's Katherine. Nice to meet you Piper." Piper reluctantly took Katherine's hand, making a funny face as she did. Is it me or is she blushing? James thought.

"Whoo. Is it me or is it getting hot in here?" Piper laughed awkwardly. James made a funny face. Piper saw it, and froze slightly.

"Oh yeah. I'll get the fan." Ellie said and rushed to turn on a few desk fans found throughout the office. Ellie returned with a fan as Piper took James's seat next to Katherine. James leaned against the wall, his power armor humming as it took on a new shape.

"So your friend Nick is missing?" Katherine asked.

"He's not just a friend." Ellie responded wiping her eyes.

"Wow, Ellie I had no idea you'd finally done it." Piper said.

"Done what?" Ellie asked as she brought out a manila folder and plopped it on the desk.

"Y'know. You and Nick?" Piper grumbled.

"Yeah. We're partners." Ellie said.

"Congratulations, I mean, Ellie!"

"Oh no not like that. Business partners and really good friends."

"Oh.." Piper said. "So anways, Nick's missing?"

"Wow, you're like the worst." James chuckled.

"Oh yeah? Well just for that I'm gonna go look for him!" Piper jumped out of her seat and stormed out the door. James stood and held up five fingers to Katherine. He slowly curled a finger into a fist. One by one. Four. Three. Two. One.

Piper stormed back into the room with a huff. "Where'd you say he was again Ellie?"

"I haven't…." Ellie said. Holding back a smile. James snickered and Katherine shot him another dirty look. Piper sat back down, slightly embarrassed. She tugged at her cap and hid her face behind it the best she could.

"So what did happen to Nick?"

"Like you and James figured out, he went missing. I told him to go snooping around there but like always he didn't listen to me. He just walked out like he always did. A tug at his coat, small smile and nod with his hat before finally leaving. He does that every single time." Ellie sighed.

"Okay. How long as he been gone?" James asked.

"About two weeks now." Ellie said.

"All right. Where did he go?"

"Vault 114."

"Can you mark it on my map?" James asked holding out his Pip-Boy. Ellie was slightly startled and clearly not used to seeing one. She marked it with a tap of her finger. James looked at the location. "Hmm. Close enough. We'll have him back in a day or two. Now let's discuss payment." Katherine looked back at him. "Fine. I'll do you a solid. This will be free-of-charge." Katherine beamed at him and James rolled his eyes.

"Would you like to join us, Piper?" Katherine asked. Piper looked up at her. She smiled and nodded. Katherine gestured for Piper to follow and the two walked out the door. James frowned and turned back to Ellie.

"We'll discuss payment when we get back. Separate from those two." James said. Ellie nodded before James turned and walked back out into the green metal city.