There was something going on.
No one spoke to her directly, but she noticed the hushed tones when the walls of the Prydwen usually echoed with voices.
Soldiers were lingering in the corridors to exchange drawn out conversations instead of quick greetings. No one was rushing to their usual duties today.
Jo was curious, but she dismissed the idea of finding Proctor Ingram to ask for an update in gossip. For the first time since she had boarded the Prydwen, Jo found the workshop empty of the woman's presence.
Maybe that was why it was unusually busy in the workshop today. Many of the soldiers couldn't appreciate Ingram's heartfelt sarcasm and cynical humor and avoided the place entirely. But today, every bay was in use and there were even some who were obviously loitering while others barely attempted to look busy. Johanna had arrived about an hour ago with the intention of stripping down her ruined hunting rifle for parts. Usually she would have came back later, when there were less people, but she was desperate for something to occupy her mind. She wanted to distract herself from the overwhelming feeling of shame.
Even now, days later, her cheeks warmed at the memory of spending the night in the medical bay, staring at the room in wonder. She shuddered at the things she had confessed to Cade while she was under the influence. The only thing that saved her from complete humiliation was Cade's professionalism. He never said a word about the embarrassing things she had said, so Johanna was attempting to convince herself that it never happened. So far, she was having little success and the anxiety was suffocating when she looked back on her behavior.
Almost as bad, was her uncomfortable exchange with Knight Murdoch in the medical bay. To her complete shock, he had found her the next morning and returned the rifle she had left behind in the aftermath of her "accident". His cold eyes still made Jo suppress a shudder, but he was almost polite when he brought her the gun. Maybe it was only because of the lingering presence of Proctor Cade, but he kept his gaze on the ground and Jo found his perpetual glare to be a little less menacing. She was thankful he hadn't found her alone.
"You said that you wanted this piece of shit back." He held out the rifle impatiently, eyes on the ground near Cade's feet. Even as she tried to thank him, Murdoch was stomping away with his fists clenched.
Cade looked completely indifferent to the odd exchange, and turned his attention to the gun in Johanna's hands. He proclaimed it as scrap without even touching it and took a few minutes to give a lecture on negligence. Jo tried to hide her shame and promised to have any future salvaged weapons checked out before she fired them.
It really was worthless now, but she was glad to have it anyways. Screws were in short supply in the Commonwealth and Johanna had a few great ideas on how to modify her pistol, all of which would require a lot of raw materials.
It had been well over an hour now, and Jo was keeping herself busy trying to tear apart the rusty gun as gently as she could, but it was slow progress. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and her attention strayed to two Initiates gossiping at Bay 4.
"-Cambridge? I heard there were more than fifty ferals! And all the bitch had was a nail gun."
"Bullshit!"
"I swear, Rhys said so himself. Said she's the real deal."
At the mention of Rhys' name, Johanna twisted her screwdriver a little too hard and cursed loudly in the very next moment. Her jerky actions had stripped the ancient screw she had been trying to work loose.
The Initiates fell silent at her outburst and Johanna groaned inwardly. She was going to have to ask for details herself now that her eavesdropping had become obvious.
"Excuse me, " she smiled gently, trying not to appear too overbearing. "Have you heard any news on Knight Rhys? Or any of Paladin Danse's outfit?"
Though they were obviously surprised at her boldness and didn't bother to hide the way they first focused their gaze on Jo's blue vault suit, the soldiers didn't appear hostile.
"They just returned, maybe an hour ago," the girl said. She returned a small smile, decidedly fake.
It took Jo a moment to gather her thoughts before she realized that her heart was racing with excitement, though it felt terribly similar to anxiety.
"Where can I find Danse, do you know?"
Jo pretended not to notice the obvious looks of shock on both Initiate's faces. From the recruits to the Paladins, Brotherhood soldiers were always offended when their titles were ignored. She didn't care much at the moment, but waited impatiently for the girl to collect herself and give her an answer.
"Paladin... Danse is probably reporting for his debriefing with Elder Maxson right now. We saw him heading towards the command deck only a few minutes ago."
"Oh! Well, thanks." She began shoving dismantled pieces of her rifle into her bag at top speed. "And ad victorium, to you," Jo added, feeling a rush of something in her chest that felt like satisfaction at their scandalized expressions.
She had probably just effectively burned those bridges, but Jo couldn't summon the negative energy to care. She had to force herself to walk at a normal pace as she headed to the foredeck, where both Danse's quarters and Elder Maxson's command deck were located. It was a sure bet that she would find the Paladin in one of these two places. As she paced herself, Jo wondered just how long Danse had been gone. Weeks, at least, if not two months or more. She felt the lines of her forehead tense at the thought. He and Haylen had left her alone on this forsaken ship for weeks. In hindsight, it was probably lucky that she had only broken three of her bones in that time.
Nearly at the top of the ladder that would bring her up to the foredeck, Johanna heard a voice that almost made her lose her footing.
That booming "Ad Victorium!" was unmistakable.
Even as she scrambled to her feet, the floor shook slightly with the heavy steps of Danse's power armor.
Looking no different than when she had last seen him, other than the miserable state of his armor and hygiene, Danse paused in the doorway of Maxson's command room when he saw her. The smile that spread over his face was worth the wait.
"Polowski." He shook his head, still giving her that boyish grin. "Impatient, as always."
She took a step forward towards Danse, maybe to embrace him, but stopped abruptly when a strange woman stepped out from behind the bulk of his power armor.
They stared at each other for a few long moments, both of their expressions warped in confusion.
She's wearing a vault suit, Jo realized in awe. The only difference being the golden "111" in place of Johanna's "75" and mismatched pieces of armor over her suit. She carried a strange weapon in a holster on her hip, a nail gun, the very same model Vault 75 had stored in their tool room. In addition, the beautiful woman had wrapped several layers of her "ammunition" around her hips and down one of her legs.
"You going to introduce us, Danse?"
It was the woman who spoke first, bringing Jo back to her senses. As she focused her gaze, she realized that even if she hadn't been wearing a vault suit, it was obvious that this woman was not from the Commonwealth. She was older than Johanna, but it was hard to judge exactly how much. She could have been a youthful thirty, maybe, considering her radiance. She was obviously never malnourished, easily being the tallest woman Johanna had ever seen, and she had a beautiful, healthy body with obvious feminine curves. Her skin was even paler than Johanna's and it was smooth and flawless. Her hair, that was another clue. Most women in the Commonwealth kept theirs short for hygiene or convenience and could do very little about the dull colors they were born with. Though it was messy, this woman had startlingly vivid brown hair that fell below her shoulders in loose curls. When she offered a little smile, Jo fought the urge to blink at the brightness of her perfect, white teeth. She even had access to cosmetics, which had been applied generously to her eyes and lips.
Only a vault would have been able to offer the circumstances for this woman's perfect health and appearance.
"Scribe Polowski," Danse cleared his voice of emotion, all business once more. "This is our newest Initiate-"
"Nora Barber," The woman interrupted Danse, holding her hand out in a practice of greeting that would have been lost on most people of the Commonwealth. Johanna liked her immediately and didn't have to force her smile at all as she shook Nora's hand. Danse's irritation at being interrupted was as plain to see as it was amusing and it made her lips curl.
Was that nail polish?! If there had been any doubt that Nora was from another world, her perfectly manicured red fingernails put the idea to rest. Her hands were tinted with dirt, but much softer than Jo had anticipated and seemingly free of the tell tale callouses from handling weapons. She must have been even newer to the Commonwealth that Johanna had initially thought.
"Everyone knows I'm no Scribe, " Johanna bravely corrected Danse, perhaps drawing from Nora's seemingly infinite confidence. "Johanna Polowski."
"You're so young," Nora held on tightly to Jo's hand for a second longer, and her eyes became dark with emotion.
Johanna wished she understood, but found herself unable to discern the reason behind Nora's sudden anguish. What pain had Vault 111 caused her? Was she wondering the same about Jo? Did she even know about the experiments of Vault Tec or was it unrelated to the situation?
She sure wasn't going to ask in the first five minutes of meeting this poor woman and found herself at a loss for something to say as her thoughts dead ended into what she understood as socially unacceptable territory.
Danse interrupted the moment with a loud cough as he cleared his throat unnecessarily.
"We can reconvene in the mess hall. I must introduce Initiate Barber to our division leaders."
"Of course," Nora agreed and her smile returned all at once. "It was great to meet you... Scribe."
Jo grinned back in response to the charming wink Nora gave her.
"Elder Maxson requested your presence Polowski." Danse nodded his head slightly to the side, indicating the room behind, where Johanna knew Arthur Maxson to be. Her heart was suddenly loud in her ears and she became tense again.
"Why?" It only took a second to register Danse's shocked expression and she was flinched when she realized she had spoken out loud. He shook his head, indicating both that he didn't know and that it didn't matter.
"I told him to expect you promptly," was Danse's only verbal reply.
Johanna took a moment to steady herself before she had to face Arthur Maxson, but tried not to make her deep breaths obvious to the others.
She nodded soberly, excusing herself.