A/N: TRACK LIST: "Heart-On" by Celldweller.
I've fought a monster a mile high,
Arm wrestled twenty octopi.
I had a sword fight with a samurai,
And sang the sirens a lullaby;
I've pinned my heart to my sleeve
So that the whole world can see...
I have a heart on for you!
Well I'm not sure now what's left to do
Or if my actions are loud and clear to you;
So I guess that I'm just trying to say...
How the hell had this happened?
Evelyn was currently on her way to Back Street Apparel… and a certain ghoul was walking along casually beside her. She couldn't quite remember exactly how he'd convinced her to let him tag along, but here he was.
Upon making his decision to come with her, Hancock had made a rousing and inspirational speech to the citizens of Goodneighbor, leaving them with hope rather than fear. Evelyn's biggest concern was his decision to leave after the town had been attacked by Super Mutants, but she had to give it to the people of Goodneighbor — they'd begun clean-up very quickly and by the time she and Hancock left the next day, bodies had all been sorted and disposed of, the rubble of the Old State House had been mostly cleared, and everything was back to normal. When she'd commented on it, Hancock only grinned smugly. "These folks may not look like much, but they're some of the strongest, most reliable people in the Commonwealth. And Fahrenheit knows how to run things."
"You don't seem too worried about leaving," she replied.
"Nah. Besides, I don't have to be 'in-office' to be the Mayor. I told you earlier; I need to get back out on the road again. I've gotten too comfortable, and it caused shit like this to happen."
Evelyn frowned. "You can't blame yourself for the attack on Goodneighbor. It was completely random."
Hancock pursed his lips, shaking his head slightly. "About that."
Evelyn threw her hands up. That damned phrase was already becoming associated with bad news. "What now?"
"You need to find your son, right? I'll gladly help. I've got caps, I've got supplies, and I've got your back. But… I have one thing that needs to be done." The ghoul peered down at her intently; she could tell by his expression that he wouldn't be taking 'no' for an answer. "Remember your old pal Bobbi?"
Evelyn's lips curled into a scowl as she caught on. "... she couldn't be."
"Oh, we think she is," Hancock said firmly, his eyes glinting dangerously, "and we're gonna hunt her down. Her head is comin' off if it's the last thing I do. She can't fuck with Goodneighbor and get away with it."
Evelyn nodded firmly. That was one thing she could certainly get behind him on; thieving from the rich was one thing, but involving innocent lives was too far. "That bitch is going to get what's coming to her."
"That's what I like to hear," Hancock responded proudly. "Now let's get this show on the road."
And here they were. An hour or two of travel (with surprisingly few snags except for the occasional mole rat or stray raider), the pair arrived near an ugly green building right in the thick of town; as Evelyn grabbed her combat shotgun from her hip and reached for the door, Hancock caught her arm firmly. Her brows furrowed and she shot him a look that demanded to know what the hell he was doing, but he only met that look with a grim smile. "You should know by now that our friend Bobbi isn't the type to get her hands dirty," he reminded her. "She's gonna have people guardin' this place. We're gonna have a fight on our hands."
"Thanks for the reminder," Evelyn growled, moving back for the door, but Hancock's grip held firm.
His gaze was reprimanding now. "Don't ya think it's smarter to go in with some sort of… I don't know, plan?"
Evelyn's bright gray eyes narrowed on him. "My plan is to kill every single bastard in this store, then give Bobbi every ounce of pain that she deserves."
Something about her fierce resolution fired up the ghoul, and his lips quirked into an animal grin. He let her go, pulling his own shotgun from his belt and loaded a shell into the chamber by pumping the fore-end. "Then I've got your back, Sister."
With a resolute nod, Evelyn turned the door knob, and they snuck inside.
Bobbi's betrayal (proven or not) had been in the forefront of Hancock's mind ever since his conversation with Fahrenheit about the whole thing; but another thing — or person, he should say — that kept swimming around in his head was her.
Evelyn.
He couldn't lie, not even to himself. He was infatuated. He was infatuated with the smooth-skinned vault dweller who was over quadruple his age; the woman with the piercing gray eyes and the affinity for Psycho chems; the woman who got herself a nasty injury trying to defend a town she had no obligation to.
The woman who was brave and kind yet took absolutely no shit.
The woman who seemed to be nervous around him, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Stumbling over her words certainly didn't seem to be a normal part of Evelyn's character. Hancock was no stranger to folks being either intimidated by him or infatuated with him (having boat loads of natural charm seemed to have that effect on people); but what he couldn't seem to grasp was why a woman like her was nervous.
He supposed he'd have to ponder on it more later; cause suddenly she was opening the door and they were sneaking inside the store. The area they stepped into had a long rectangular counter with registers on it, and every corner of the room had ruined shelves and display cases that, at some point long before, had clothing and accessories lining them. Hancock and Evelyn ducked behind a counter upon seeing two guards at a door on the other side of the long room; glancing over at him, she pursed her lips. "I'm not much of a sharp-shooter," she whispered.
"Neither am I," he replied, eyes narrowed. "Whaddaya say I distract 'em while you move in for the kill? Worked pretty well on the Super Mutants."
Her brows furrowed in confusion. Clearly using the Psycho left her memory of the event in tatters. It was kinda charming, the fact that she'd hulked out so much she couldn't even remember the fight. His lips quirked into a grin. "Just trust me."
She opened her mouth to respond but he was already clipping his weapon onto his belt and getting to his feet, lifting his hands in surrender. The two guards at the back door tensed up and lifted their weapons, but Hancock shook his head as he approached. "No need for that, fellas. Bobbi knows me."
"Yeah, she knows ya," one of them answered gruffly, "and she's paid us a lotta money to keep you out."
"You sure you wanna mess with the beloved mayor of Goodneighbor? I don't think any amount of caps is worth that kinda risk, do you?"
The men glanced at each other, but kept their weapons lifted. "We have our orders, Mayor Hancock."
Hancock's easy expression didn't flinch, but inwardly he was growing a little frustrated. He thought he might be able to just convince these hired guns to step aside, but that was looking to be unlikely. He only hoped his partner was making her way around for a sneak attack…
"Whaddaya say I distract 'em while you move in for the kill? Worked pretty well on the Super Mutants."
She squinted. What the hell was he going on about? She had the vague memory that Super Mutants had attacked Goodneighbor, and that she and Hancock and the citizens of the town had all helped defend it, but — ah. It must've happened after she'd injected herself with Psycho. Everything that had happened between the injection and her waking up was a giant blur. Before she could protest, however, the ghoul was confidently getting to his feet and swaggering his way over to the guards. Good Lord. Well, she was nothing if not adaptable, so she began crawling her way to the other side of the shelf and shuffling over to the register counters in the middle of the room. She'd go around the right side and flank them while Hancock kept them distracted. This was what she deserved for going in without a plan, she supposed.
Evelyn overheard the conversation going on as she quickly and quietly snuck around the side of the rectangular counters, being careful not to step on any noisy debris. Hancock's comments caused her to roll her eyes. He really could be full of absolute bullshit; but honestly, it was working in their favor for the moment so she really couldn't complain.
"We have our orders, Mayor Hancock," one of the guards finally replied, voice dripping with derision. It was clear they weren't budging, so now all her partner could do was stall for time.
And stall he did. "Guys, come on —" Peeking over the counter, Evelyn could see the ghoul raise his hands in a defensive shrug. " — do you really think Bobbi calls all the shots around here? How about this: you join my crew, work for me in Goodneighbor, and I'll double whatever that two-timin' sleeze is payin' you."
Evelyn had to admit, he really was convincing. That confidence was something else. Was it part of the reason she was so attracted to him? The reason she couldn't seem to get mind off of him, even with more important matters at hand? Ugh, here she went again. Shaking herself out of it, the ravenette focused on the task before her and made her way up to one of the back counters, inching closer and closer to the corner she'd had to turn in order to take the guards out. From here it would be a shit-show; they would lose the element of surprise and would have to just barrel their way through the building to get to Bobbi. Hopefully the two-faced bitch wasn't rich enough to hire too many guards.
Reaching into one of her deep pockets, she pulled out a syringe with a yellow nozzle and brown casing.
Psycho.
Psycho seemed to be Evelyn's go-to when she was surrounded or facing unfair odds; did she really need it for this situation? And what would her new partner think, seeing her shoot up for a second time in the span of only a few days? A quick glance over at the ghoul, who was still shit-talking to the guards, stole her breath away. She had to reel herself back in, break her gaze from him, and make her decision. Wasn't he high off his ass when she'd woken up in the hotel room? After a moment's thought, Evelyn decided Hancock didn't seem like the type to judge or care if she used chems.
Fuck it.
She jabbed the needle into her leg, and felt the white-hot rage take over.
Jesus H. Christ.
One minute Hancock was trying to stall for time to give his partner a chance to flank these bastards from the side, the next minute she was charging at them with fury in her eyes like Grognak the goddamn Barbarian. He recognized the look on her face — the red in her eyes, the almost animalistic expression; considering himself a chem connoisseur of sorts, Hancock knew the symptoms of Psycho like the back of his hand. So she'd shot up damage chems twice in a matter of a couple of days without even thinking twice?
Nice.
Hancock lithely dipped backwards to get the hell out of her way, pulling his shotgun from his belt just in case — but by the time he'd lifted it to pull the trigger, Evelyn had splattered both their brains across the wall and threw herself through the door they'd been guarding. "Hey —!" he protested, chasing after her. Psycho was a dangerous chem; it gave one damage resistance and a boost of extra strength, but all caution and logical decision-making skills were thrown out the window. And he knew that if he tried to hold her back, she'd end up knocking him the fuck out, too. All Hancock could really do at this point was hop on for the ride and hope she didn't lead them both straight to hell.
On the other side of the door, a short hallway dotted with other doors veered off to the left after about fifteen feet. Hancock couldn't be sure where Bobbi was, but he doubted she'd be anywhere other than the very rear of the store, where it was safest; he was about to suggest they go straight for the female ghoul rather than wasting their time with anyone else, but Evelyn was a death hound and chased the smell of blood and sweat, regardless of who it belonged to. She began going into every room and clearing them out; it was a bloodbath, and a small part of Hancock hated it… but these assholes had made their choice. If they were willing to work for a piece of shit like Bobbi, then they got what was coming to them. He followed along beside the ravenette, watching her back and taking down a few of the hired guns himself; and before they knew it, most of the place had been cleared out. After a seemingly endless set of stairs up to the third floor, the pair entered a room with their guns lifted to find Bobbi standing in the corner, a cigarette in one hand and a .45 in the other.
Evelyn stopped short, staring at the female ghoul rather than charging mindlessly. So there was some semblance of control there… Hancock had to admit he was extremely grateful for it. Although he wanted Bobbi dead in the most gruesome way possible, he did want to actually speak to her first… to let her know who was putting the bullet between her eyes.
"Well look what the cat dragged in," Bobbi rasped, her lip quirking into a humorless smile. "I was wondering when you'd grow a brain and come find me. Looks like I should have hired better security."
"You're a monster," Evelyn growled, her voice much rougher than normal, almost animalistic in tone.
Hancock stepped forward, still keeping his shotgun pointed at her. "You're going to die for what you've done, you greasy bitch."
Bobbi snorted. "You mean pointing the Super Mutants in the direction of your little stash? You've got enough chems in your pocket to hotbox a whole settlement. What harm is a tiny dent in your supply gonna do, Hancock?"
Hancock's eyes narrowed. He was a master at practiced nonchalance, at appearing casual and unbothered in even the most dire situations; but this time, there was not an ounce of that charming easiness on his scarred features. There was nothing but anger in his coal black hues. "Fuck the supply," he growled. "Those goddamn mutants attacked the whole town. You got quite a few good people killed. And now," he continued, his voice dropping to a quiet hiss, "I'm gonna kill you."
Bobbi's scornful smile turned into an outright scowl. "Fuck you, Mayor Hancock."
"The people of Goodneighbor say fuck you, too."
POW.
In a split-second, the ghoul's head was splattered onto the wall behind her and Hancock was taking deep breaths to calm the rage stirring inside of himself. Revenge was sweet, especially when the bitch deserved it. After taking a few moments to bask in the sight of the two-timer's bloody remains on the floor, he turned to his partner to find her wavering on her feet, eyes heavy. The Psycho was wearing off again. "Easy there, Sister," he said, reaching out to steady her with a hand on her shoulder. "You still with me?"
Evelyn's hazy gray eyes focused up on his face, her face almost dreamy. Hancock couldn't deny the white-hot bolt of heat that shot straight down into his stomach at the sight of that expression. "I'm glad she's dead," the woman muttered softly before her eyes fluttered and she collapsed on him. Hancock quickly caught her, wrapping his free arm around her middle and clipping his shotgun onto his belt with the other hand. Now slipping both arms around her, he lowered her to the ground and gently propped her back against a piece of wall that was still intact, surprised at his sudden reluctance to let her go. He found his mind wandering for just a moment, thinking about all the shit they'd gone through together in such a short amount of time; how she'd taken on super mutants and mercenaries like it was nothing, doing it for the sake of others with no reward for herself. Goddamn that was badass. She was badass. Hancock had already made peace with the fact that he was infatuated by this woman — but did he like her more than he'd initially thought?
He shook it off, lowering himself to sit on the wall beside her and stretching his legs out. Pulling a small red inhaler from his pocket, he took a long drag of Jet and let the high take him wherever it wanted him to go.
Which was a very weird place.
"Ahhh," he thought aloud to himself, turning his head slightly to look over at the unconscious woman beside him. "You got me feelin' some kinda way." Hancock closed his eyes for a brief moment, questions whirling around in his head. "What's that word for when I've got a major boner — but it's not in my dick? Well I mean it is in my dick — but it's also in my heart."
The word came to his mind unbidden and he let out a short bark of a laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of both the term and the idea itself.
"A heart-on. Heh… Heheheh. A heart-on. Yeah, that'll work. I've got a heart-on for you, Sister."