I'm sorry about the atrocious delay, but better atrociously late than never. There's some heavy references to the previous fic The Dark I Know So Well. Thank you for your continued support and patience. Reviews, feedback, kudos, ect. are always appreciated.

Chapter 9 — Reunions

Despite running into a group of five raiders and a machine gun turret that was cobbled together with duct tape, Nora made good time making it to Goodneighbor. She traveled under the cover of darkness figuring that most of the town's denizens would be in the Third Rail enjoying the music and libations to celebrate that it was New Year's Day. Nora wanted to avoid everyone and anyone, at least not until she could meet with Hancock.

After Bobbi No-Nose's plan failed, she knew the town would be on high alert for outsiders trying to cause more trouble. So she knew that showing up on Goodneighbor's welcome mat and asking one of the Neighborhood Watch to escort her to the Mayor's office would create more problems than it solved. No. She needed to meet with Hancock in secret.

Nora went back to the same loose paneling that they had used to slip out of the city She navigated through the small hole in the wall keeping her eye out for the odd passerby or the Neighborhood Watch, but when she turned around to place the large metal sheeting back into position, she felt the chill of a gun barrel on the back of her head.

"Stop right there." A terse voice ordered. "Turn around and put your hands up."

Nora did as she was told and saw that she was being held up by a man wearing a dirty flattop cap with a tattered overcoat that was missing sleeves. He looked small, almost runty, and malnourished, but despite all of that, he wielded an impressive rifle with the ease and precision that a knight would wield a broadsword.

"Who are you? Why the fuc—flip are you here?" The man growled.

The alleyway made it too dark for Nora to make out any distinguishing features on him but his voice sounded youthful, almost boyish.

"I'm here to see Mayor Hancock." She replied. "I — I need his help."

"Is he expecting you?" The sniper asked. Suspicion colored his tone.

"No." Nora replied. "He's not expecting me. But I'm — I'm a friend."

The sniper snorted and holstered his rifle. "Friend. Right."

Innuendo colored his voice as he patted Nora down over her clothes to check her for hidden weapons.

"Hey watch it there, buddy." She hissed as she felt his hand linger a bit too long on her ass.

"Relax, lady. I'm a married man." He shot back with a juvenile eye roll.

Once he finished the pat down, he grabbed her wrist firmly and pulled her through the alleyway and towards the Old State House.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Nora demanded in a hushed whisper.

"You wanted to see the Mayor. I'm escorting you there."

"Wait, wait!" Nora dug her heels in and pulled her hand out of his grasp. "Like I said, Mayor Hancock's not expecting me. I was hoping to see him after I touched base with some of the locals —"

"— Like heck you are." The young man snapped. "You think I'm gonna give you a chance to meet with your gang just so you can try and take out our Mayor?"

"Gang? Take him out?" Nora's voice was shrill. "No! I just don't want to freak him out. I don't even know if he remembers who I am, and I don't want to just barge in to his office when he's in a delicate condition."

"Delicate condition? What d'you mean? Who are you?"

The man scrutinized her. His face was screwed up in a peculiar expression that said he was trying to connect the dots but the picture just wasn't coming to him. But then like a lightbulb flipping on above his head, his blue eyes grew wide.

"Shit Nora. You're Nora!"

"Yes…" She answered warily.

"Shit—shoot — you and Hancock. You escaped the Institute and you came here. And — " His voice faltered again and he looked scared. The rifle slipped off his back and he aimed it right at her head in less than a second. "What d'you want with Mayor Hancock?"

"I just want to talk with him. That's all, I swear." Nora rose her hands up in surrender.

"Talk with him? Or kidnap him and replace him with a synth just like you did with his brother?" The man spat.

Nora shook her head. She didn't have time for this. "I'm not going to do anything to Hancock. You can see for yourself, okay? I just want to see if he's willing to talk with me in his office. You can be in the room while we talk if you want, but I swear that I'm not here to kidnap anybody."

The man said nothing but his eyes narrowed. Mistrust tainted every facial feature.

"Let's go then." He half-growled. "But if you reach for anything at your waist, I will put a bullet in your head faster than you can blink."

Nora kept her hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture. "Can I at least get your name before you tote me in front of Mayor Hancock at gunpoint?"

"The name's MacCready." The man grumbled. "Now let's go."

"Lead on then." Nora snipped.

She walked past the young man with her hands still raised but her head held high. She wouldn't give herself over to fear. She didn't do it when she first stepped into Goodneighbor and dealt with Finn's harassment, and she wouldn't do it now.

MacCready led her into the Old State House and up the long spiral staircase. Every footstep they made seemed to echo and reverberate through the ancient building. When Nora was here last time, ghouls, vagabonds, and other derelict people in need camped out and wandered through the hallways. Now, nobody was there except for them. The silence was erie and it reminded her too much of the vault.

The large double doors that led to Hancock's office were closed. The whitewashed doors smelled like they had just been cleaned with abraxo and bleach.

MacCready knocked but didn't wait for a response. "Boss, there's a girl out here who wants to talk to you. She says her name's Nora. She's here from the Institute."

There was a pregnant pause and Nora strained her ears but heard nothing except her steadily increasing heartbeat.

"Let her in." She heard a quiet voice rasp out from behind the door.

MacCready opened the door and gestured to the dark room. "You heard him."

Nora swallowed her anxiety, nodded politely at the kid, and walked into Hancock's office. MacCready followed her into the room and shut the door behind them both.

"John?" She whispered.

The entire room was shut up like a tomb. The large colonial white-washed windows that once allowed light to flood into the room now had pieces of thick fabric nailed over it. She smelled more abraxo cleaner and the spicy and sweet smell of tobacco. One lone kerosene lamp sat on a broken dresser and it's dim glow casted harsh shadows through the office. She spied a dark figure in the far corner of the room, but it looked hunched over and monstrous like a sleeping feral ghoul.

"John?" She called out a bit louder. The figure shifted and stood. His shadow climbed across the ceiling and loomed over her.

"It's Nora." She said. "Do you remember me?"

Another pregnant silence filled the room. The shadow moved across the ceiling and she heard the ancient floorboards shift and creek as he moved out from the corner and towards the light.

"John? Nobody 'cept my friends and lovers call me John." His rough voice rumbled out from the darkness. "The name is Mayor Hancock, ya feel me?"

Nora swallowed and she walked deeper into the room. Her own hands were trembling so she stuffed them into her pockets to gain some semblance of confidence and control over her quickly mounting guilt.

"I feel you." She replied softly. "Um, how are you doing?"

"You came here from the Institute to ask me how I'm doing?" He rasped. The disbelief, bitterness, and frustration in his voice was palpable. "Is that what the egg heads are doin' now? Checking to make sure their test subjects are in fighting form before they're abducted and brought back for cloning?"

"No. I — I" She faltered. She didn't know how much she should or could reveal without setting him off into some sort of spiral.

"Nick Valentine told me you were out of the coma. I just wanted to see how you were doing. That's all. We sort of knew each other before…"

"Before I got a bullet placed in my skull by a low-life whore who tried to rub me out on the suspicion that I was a synth clone?" Hancock's response dripped in sarcasm.

"Yes. Before all of that."

'"And did Nick tell you anything else?" He asked. His voice was rough and insistent.

"L—Like what?"

"Like what?" He echoed her question. "How 'bout like why the fuck I dream about you every night, or why I sometimes see you in this very room sleeping in my bed lookin' like you were beat to hell."

Hancock coughed and Nora saw his dark form shift unsteadily in the shadows. "Or that I —" he faltered again, "— or that I - I brought you up here when you overdosed on that Buffout. And that I had to taze you with a shock baton to get your heart started again."

Nora swallowed. Hot tears stung her eyes and she bit her lip to keep them from spilling over.

"See that door with the hole in it?"

Nora glanced over her left shoulder and saw the vague outline of the door in the darkness. "Yes."

"The good brain doc says I did that after Nick discovered that you had been raped at the Institute. I put a fuckin' machete through the door," he paused and took a shuddering breath, "and then I put that same machete through the guts of three raiders down at the Combat Zone."

"That's the story I've heard too." Nora murmured. Her throat burned as tears pricked her eyes.

"So why don't we start from the beginning." He growled. His own voice had dropped an octave and his words came out garbled and broken. "Help me fill in the god damned blanks here."

Now Hancock was standing slightly off to her left and was enshrouded in the darkness once more. She could smell the menthol from whatever salve or medication Dr. Amari used to treat his wounds and she could hear his raspy, labored breathing.

She spoke, her voice thick and low, as she recounted her life to the person who had brought her back from the brink of destruction.

"My name is Nora Pendleton. I'm the only survivor from Vault 111. A year and a half ago, I went searching for my infant son who was kidnapped from the Vault. Nick helped me track down the man who kidnapped him, and you ..." She faltered. "... You helped me track down a man hiding out in the Glowing Sea who had information on how to find my son."

"And..."

"And after I found him, I ... I was taken by the Institute. I was coerced into working for them but then I escaped…or … at least I did escape once." She finished. "I went back to them and now I'm here because I need your help. We need your help."

MacCready snorted and muttered something under his breath that Nora didn't catch.

"I have nothin' good to say about the Institute." Hancock growled, "Never have and never will. But I especially couldn't give a rat's ass about them after learning about what they did to my brother."

"I'm sorry." Nora murmured. "I truly am. But that's —"

"I don't need your fuckin' condolences!" Hancock snarled. In the shadows, his sunken face looked especially ghoulish and macabre. He looked like a corpse that had come alive again. "And I don't need your fuckin' excuses either."

Nora rose her hands up in surrender, "You're right. Mayor Hancock, you're right. What the Institute took from you is inexcusable. I can't erase what they've done. They've robbed me of family too. They took my son and one of their agents murdered my husband. My son grew up there without me and, so help me God I still hate them for it, but I also know there are people there who aren't bad. There are people looking for redemption. Hell, I'm looking for redemption. I fucked up."

Hancock's palm ran across his desk inching towards her. The movement was so slight, so minute that she could've chalked it up to a nervous tick or gesture.

"Sit down."

Nora obeyed and sat in the wooden chair across from his desk. She shuddered and pushed down the emotions that bubbled in her gut.

"C'mon boss, are you really gonna believe her? She's from the Institute. She said it herself. Let's not take any chances here and —"

"Leave me alone kid." Hancock snapped. "Send Dr. Amari in to see me. I need more Med-X."

MacCready huffed but obeyed. He bounced his rifle stock on the doorway like a careless child and swaggered out of the room.

Hancock sat in the plush red chair on the other side of his desk and leaned forward. Nora saw his movement in the darkness but she still couldn't see much of his face.

"Could I light a candle or something?" Nora asked. "I can't see you very well."

"You don't need to see me. Besides, I ain't much to look at." He spat.

"That's not true."

Hancock noted the sincerity in her voice and shook his head in amazement, "Nicky said you were one-of-a-kind. He told me a bit about you, ya know?"

Nora's nodded. "He mentioned something about that."

"He's told me a few details but I know he's keeping stuff to himself." Hancock leaned forward and propped his elbows on the heavy oak desk. "So why don't you help me fill in more of the blanks."

"What would you like to know?" Nora replied in a neutral, business-like tone.

"Have we had sex?"

"Excuse me?"

Although Nora couldn't see his facial expressions in the darkness, she would've bet all the caps she had that he was grinning at her.

"I — um — well…"

"Yes or No, sunshine." Hancock replied.

"Yes."

Nora watched Hancock's body language but he didn't move an inch at her answer but she heard him exhale as though he had held his breath waiting for an answer.

"Did Nick tell you about … about our arrangement?" She asked.

"No."

Nora found that hard to believe but she couldn't exactly prove it either. She sighed, "After what had happened at the Institute, I — I was in a lot of pain. I hated myself. I was angry at a lot of different people. I needed both of you to help guide me back from the edge and he knew that I didn't want to let either of you go, so Nick suggested that we have an open relationship of sorts."

"And that's when we had sex?" He asked. Now Nora knew he was grinning at her.

"Well not right away, but yes." She replied. "I was intimate with both of you."

"Nicky too?"

"Yes, Nick too."

Hancock nodded, laced his fingers together beneath his chin, and sat back in his chair. "But I see you're using the past tense there, sunshine. You were intimate with both of us."

More guilt rose to the surface and Nora flushed under the implied indictment. "We got into an argument before you got shot. The nature of what was said is unimportant, but you didn't want me to go back to the Institute. You thought I was being stupid."

"And what did Nicky think?"

"The same thing actually, so he wanted to come with me instead. But I couldn't put him or you into harm's way. So I ran away in the middle of the night while all of you were distracted."

Nora's heart pounded so loudly that she could feel it thumping in her ears. Shame burned in her stomach as she thought back to that night. Nora thought she was being clever. She thought she was doing what was best for both of her men, but if she hadn't left then Hancock would've never been outnumbered during the coup.

"I made a mistake." She whispered as tears leaked down her face. "I've made a lot of mistakes."

Hancock abruptly rose from his seat. Nora couldn't see him well but she heard the heavy thud of his boots against the wooden floorboards and she smelled the sharp sting of old tobacco.

"Get up."

"Why?"

Hancock chuckled, "Cuz I wanna get a better look at you and see if I can remember anything else."

Nora rose to her feet. She pushed the wooden chair back and winced as the legs scraped loudly against the floor.

Hancock slowly approached her. His silhouette cut an imposing shadow. As he got closer, Nora saw his face in the dim golden lamplight. His head wasn't sporting the white bandage anymore. Instead, black stitches etched across his mottled flesh. His right eye drooped slightly but his left eye bore into hers with unyielding concentration.

His hand rose and he ran it down her cheek where a shiny line of skin marked the remains of a burn from a laser pistol. She could almost feel the numb tingle from the medicine he used on her, and she did everything in her power to not lean into his touch.

"Your hair has grown out." He remarked.

"Yeah…uh." She nervously touched the length of hair that had once been shorn close to her scalp. "It grows quickly."

His fingers swept up from her cheek to the pink scar that started at her temple and crossed into her hairline. "I remember this…the fucking robot parts they tacked to your head."

Nora's breath hitched. "Do you remember when you chased after me outside of the Mass Fusion building?"

The ghoul smiled but it didn't meet his soulful, sad eyes, "You're a fast one, sunshine. I thought you had disappeared into thin air."

"I wish I could've." Nora replied throatily. "The next time we met, I had to threaten you to keep up appearances."

Hancock's hand rubbed his jaw as he remembered that night. "You didn't just threaten me, sunshine. You punched me."

"I head butted you." Nora corrected with a wry smile.

The ghoul shook his head and sighed. His features looked more relaxed than at the start of their conversation, and Nora hoped that the memories were returning to him. Hancock glanced down and then he took ahold of her hands in his.

"So why did ya do it?" He murmured.

"Do what?"

"Attempt to end it all?" His voice was small, almost fearful.

Nora's trembled. "I don't have a good answer for you." After all, what could she say? Depression is a helluva thing.

"I'm not lookin' for a good answer, just an answer."

Nora chewed on her lip as she deliberated. "After Ayo had … I was afraid that you wouldn't want me after what had happened."

"What? Really?" There was an angry edge to Hancock's voice.

"You don't understand John," Nora replied. "I grew up in a world where a woman was considered ruined if she had been raped. I thought — I just thought —"

Hancock shook his head. He lifted her with ease so she sat on the top of his desk and slid between her legs with practiced grace. "You just thought that a ghoul who has slept with half this damn city would think that you were ruined?"

Nora looked at him and the ghoul saw the indignant fire that burned in her eyes but she didn't speak.

Hancock paused and glanced absent-mindedly over her shoulder. Those nights that followed flowed back into his mind like water from a broken dam. He remembered the holotape that the traveling doctor had given him, and in another flash of memory he remembered how the blood gurgled out of his mouth when he drove his knife deep into his gut. He remembered the taphouse, and how her kisses tasted like beer and lust, and how her face flushed when she climaxed with his name on her lips.

"John?"

"Holy shit, I'm — I'm remembering." He whispered.

His eyes widened and he looked at Nora with sobering clarity. "Sunshine…I'm so fuckin' sorry."

Nora's breath hitched and she half-laughed and half-sobbed. "Why are you sorry?"

He ignored her question and captured her smooth lips with his. He didn't wait for her to respond. His tongue sought out hers; teeth clinked together and her hands pulled him in closer.

"God damn, I've missed you." He growled into her neck as he took a few deep breaths before diving in again.

When they broke the kiss, both of them were clutching each other as though neither wanted to be parted from the other. Nora's tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and Hancock had to wipe away his own with the back of his hand.

"I thought you had forgotten me." Nora croaked.

"Sunshine. I couldn't forget you if I tried." He murmured into her hair before tilting her head up to kiss her, gently this time.

They both languished in the kiss until the door opened and Dr. Amari walked in with a black medical bag with Dr. Virgil close behind her.

Dr. Li took in the entirety of James's body as he lay on the hospital gurney that had been brought to her quarters in the airplane hanger.

His skin had a sallow pallor; yellowing around his eyelids, lips, and ears indicated jaundice while the horrid green and blue veins that bulged along his neck indicated something much worse.

"Oh James," She sighed and ran her long fingers through his thinning, sweat-slicked hair. "What sort of mess have you gotten into now?"

Dr. Li rolled his large hand over in hers relishing in the heat that his feverish body gave off. The Brotherhood, in their benevolence, was nice enough to set Dr. Li up in a large room complete with medical equipment, but they overlooked the fact that Commonwealth winters were just as bitter cold as they were before the bombs, and she was without heat.

"Y-you're cold Maddi." James croaked.

She withdrew her hand like she had been shocked. "I'm sorry. It's nothing. I'm fine. Sorry to have woken you."

A weak chuckle met her ears, "Still as flighty as always I see."

"Still a fool as always?" She retorted and crossed her arms.

James's eyes opened and held her gaze. The whites of his eyes were glassy but his vibrant blue irises pierced her soul just the same.

"I've missed you Madison."

"James, I —"

The doctor wouldn't give herself over to sentimentality now. No. Ten years had passed since she last saw James. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Dr. Li swallowed and looked from her lap. "How in the hell did you survive? I — I watched you die in that reactor. I watched you collapse next to Autumn."

He sighed and swallowed audibly, wincing at the sensation. "I was spared death by divine and technological intervention."

"Are you kidding me? James, I've ran your blood through all of the tests at my disposal. Your blood is poisoned with twice as much radiation than the average wastelander can usually survive. You should be a ghoul, if not a dead."

"I guess I'll have to settle on neither."

"James." She huffed.

"Madison." He replied in an equally sardonic tone.

Dr. Li rose from the chair beside the gurney and walked over to the giant upright toolbox that was stashed in the corner. She rifled through the drawers looking for the various wrenches, screwdrivers, and other implements that she'd need to rebuild the Brotherhood's death machine. She could feel James's gaze on her back but at least he wouldn't be able to see her cry.

"Maddi…" He called out to her. He treated her name like he was whispering a prayer.

She turned to him.

His hand was held out to her, and his fingers trembled as though he was pleading. Dr. Li walked towards him and ran her thin fingers across his calloused and large palm and laced her fingers with him. Feeling his touch and feeling that he was a solid presence jolted her heart. She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed the back of his hand.

"I've missed you too." She murmured and then added, "You damn idiot."

James gave her a sheepish smile, "Illis quos amo deserviam," and then added, "For those I love I will sacrifice."

"Well, you've sacrificed far too much James." She snapped.

"And what about you?" His fingers unlaced from hers and he brushed the metal bomb collar that encircled her neck. "This is a helluva sacrifice. Tell me that you didn't come here just for me."

Dr. Li felt her neck and cheeks flush and she busied herself with organizing a box of nuts, bolts, washers, and clamps into piles.

"Maddi?"

"I didn't come here just for you." She snapped and stood up straight. The skin around her eyes crinkled into a steely glare.

"Well, I know you didn't come here just for the Brotherhood's wonderful cooking and pleasant company." James remarked dryly. "And I know they blackmailed you. I heard one of the scribes talking about Proctor Quinlan's message."

"They told me that refusing them would be considered an act of war." Dr. Li replied. "The Institute cannot withstand it if the Brotherhood marches on them now. We have no army aside for a few hundred synths. We have no allies. We have nothing except the determination and grit of one Vault Dweller."

"A Vault Dweller?" He wheezed.

"Her name is Nora." Dr. Li replied. She saw the forlorn and pained expression on James's face and added, "She's a remarkable woman."

James's jaw clenched so hard that the tendons bulged beneath his pale skin. "And you trust her?"

Dr. Li sighed and walked back to the gurney. Her hand brushed the plastic pad that he was laying on with the same tenderness as a lover's caress.

"Nora is not —"

"— Don't." He snarled and his hand shot out to grab her forearm. Although he was weak, his grip had its intended effect. "Don't say her name."

"I would trust Nora with my life James." Dr. Li replied.

His face darkened and he rolled away, "Don't make the same mistakes I did Maddi."

"Li!" Proctor Ingram yelled, "Grab your supplies and get out here. We have work to do."

Dr. Li pulled out of James's grip and grabbed the canvas bag full of electrical components and soldering equipment. "I'll be back soon, okay? Just get some rest."

James didn't respond but as the outside light shone in on him when Dr. Li opened the door, she noticed that his fingers were unfolding two pieces of paper. The top page was a note; the handwriting was messy, nearly unreadable, and the paper trembled in the man's hands as he read it.

Attached to the note was an equally faded picture of two people. The man on the left was clearly James but much younger. Newly formed crows feet barely marred the corners of his eyes and his hair was still more blond than white. The person next to him was a young woman. Her large brown eyes, dark features, and mocha colored skin was such a contrast to James's nordic heritage. Like yin and yang, the two made a perfectly bonded pair.

Dr. Li walked out into the cold morning light and shut the door on the past. The future is what she had to focus on now…or at least she had to focus on ensuring that Nora and the rest of the Commonwealth had a chance to have a future at all.