Maccready proved agreeable in more ways than one. Despite his occupation of the back room in the Third Rail, he wasted no time gathering his things and meeting her at the Hotel Rexford. According to him, bars were a professional hunting ground, not a personal one. Though she had doubted him at first, it was proving true enough. Behind a locked door, in the relative quiet, he seemed to let his guard down a bit and relax.
He sat in the room's only chair, a spindly, delicate thing, though you wouldn't know it from his treatment of it. Arms crossed behind his head, he leaned back against the wall, chair balanced on two legs. He'd found more ways of leaning, balancing and twisting it than she'd ever conceived of. He seemed more comfortable here, but he certainly wasn't less energetic.
From his precarious vantage point he watched Juliette pour over a worn and intricate map of Boston. She'd spent longer convincing Daisy to lend it to her than she had convincing Maccready to risk life and limb. According to the shrewd trader, accurate ones were worth more than their weight in gold, bullets, Jet or whatever else you could think to offer. It wasn't for sale. But… for 50 caps and exclusive trading rights in Goodneighbor Juliette had secured an hour with it. And she wasn't putting that time to waste. She wouldn't get another crack at it, and she suspected if anything were to happen to it she'd make more enemies than just Daisy.
"Aren't those Pip things supposed to come with maps?" Maccready asked, eyeing her with bemusement. She was scratching out notes and drawings as quickly as she was able. Lacking anything else to occupy his time, he was on standby to sharpen her pencils when she wore them down. She sighed and glanced up at him. His cap was tilted back, revealing thick, wavy brown hair. His green eyes sparkled in the flickering light.
"Yep. 'Supposed to' being the significant part of that statement. Most of them do. Mine sat on the cold, damp floor of a Vault for 200 years and got cranky. It has mapping capabilities, but all of it's location data was lost at some point. I'm having to update it manually. It's a pain in the ass."
"And you think her map'll help? You'd think it could just… scan it or something."
He'd been with her only a handful of hours and his commentary was already a distinct source of comedy, and a welcome distraction if she was being honest.
"You'd think, huh? Guess the nice 'Pip' people didn't consider the effects that nuclear devastation would have on the local topography," she replied, giving the Pip Boy a stern look and rapping it with two knuckles.
He snorted and rolled his eyes. She couldn't tell if he was amused or bored. It hardly mattered. This was a great opportunity, even if it wasn't particularly exhilarating.
"Ya, well, wake me up if it does anything interesting," he said, pulling his cap down over his eyes and tilting his head back, definitively quiting his job as head pencil sharpener.
In the absence of their voices there was only the soft hiss of wind blowing through the cracks in the old building and the scratch of her pencil. But the quiet didn't bother her. Instead, all the relevant geographical and political data floated around in her head, mixing with memories of things she'd seen on the trip here and things she'd heard while in town. It was all coming together. To the north was a Raider stronghold. Somewhat open to trade, but only for chems and weapons. Supermutants populated a building a few blocks to the east. Definitely not open to trade. Farther to the southwest was Diamond City. Eager for trade, but violent towards ghouls and synths. So many places, factions and prejudices to keep track of. For the first times since she'd stepped into this violent world, she was grateful to her training as a lawyer. Success here was all in the details, and she'd made her prewar career out of being good at keeping them straight.
A heavy pounding on the door startled her out of her thoughts, pencil falling from her hand to leave a dark mark on the paper below. Maccready's chair slammed down on all four legs and in a single, fluid motion he was standing between her and the door, gun in hand. Silence fell again. Staring at his back, she sat frozen. Who in the world?
"Boss?"
His question, sharp and urgent cut through her uncertainty. It didn't matter.
"I need a moment."
"Sure thing."
She gently rolled up the map, securing it in it's case. Another knock thudded against the door. Dust fell from the rafters. With a wide cutting motion she swept her supplies under the bed and stashed the map. She set her pack on the bed. Nothing valuable there. The map was the real treasure. Just as she was drawing her knife there was a third knock, louder than the last, accompanied by a shout.
"Open up!" It was a woman's voice, one unfamiliar to Juliette.
"I'm ready. Step back. I'll get it," she said, voice low. To his credit, he didn't question her. He moved back and to her right, where he'd have a clear shot.
She finally opened the door, stepping back and allowing it to swing slowly inward. She held the knife firmly at her side.
Waiting for them was Hancock's bodyguard, a woman she'd hoped not to cross paths with again. She wore cold, unreadable expression but did not appear openly hostile. Juliette lowered her knife, but didn't put it away entirely. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Maccready do the same. This wasn't the sort of woman who made social calls.
The red head stepped in without a word, not waiting for an invitation. She closed the door with her elbow and leaned against it, uncomfortably close and unconcerned by their weapons. She looked around the room, expression unreadable.
"Fahrenheit, was it?" Juliette asked, somewhat awkwardly. The woman interrupted her.
"I'm not here to chat. You came to Hancock for help and he delivered. In the interest of gratitude I think it's time you returned the favor," she said, voice flat and low.
Maccready snorted. "Isn't gratitude usually voluntary?"
Fahrenheit ignored him. "There's a building to the north, Pickman Gallery. Raiders took it over about a year ago. They trade with us regularly, so they've kept it peaceful so far. But now they've gone quiet. Either they're planning something, or they're dead. Either way, we need to know."
"And your coming to me? What exactly do you want me to accomplish? What if they are planning something?"
"Kill them. I don't give a fuck, just figure it out."
Juliette paused, considering. She knew the building in questions, thanks to her recent studies. It wasn't large. It supported a small group of semi-hostile Raiders, who were sometimes open to trade, particularly when drugs were involved. It was possible that she could resolve the situation quickly and peacefully. It wasn't a detour she really wanted to take, but the idea of cleaning the slate with Hancock was appealing. And it would be a good test run for her and Maccready.
"Fine, I'm in. But I won't do it for free.
"Hancock's offering 150 caps if you do the job right."
"Shoulda mentioned that up front. I'm feeling a lot more grateful now," said Maccready.
Juliette very nearly laughed, but, with some effort, she was able to keep a straight face. What an ass! He was going to get them killed!
"I'll report to Hancock when it's done."
"See that you do." Fahrenheit left without further comment, disappearing silently down the hall.
Juliette closed the door, locked it and leaned against it. She ran a hand through her hair, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That throws a wrench in things."
"At least it's a profitable wrench?"
She could see his feet as she approached, but she ignored it. She wanted to be traveling to Diamond City right now, not running this errand. But she tried to rally her spirits. She had agreed, and they would get paid. That was money that would help her later. "You're right. How bad could it be? It's only a few Raiders."
"Yeah, I guess," he said absently.
She finally lowered her hand, startled by the change of his tone, but he caught her arm right below the Pip Boy and lifted it back to his eye level.
"That looks like a…" He tapped a spot on the far side of the computer that she couldn't see. When nothing happened, he tapped again a little harder. There was a metallic click as a small compartment opened. A green light flickered forward in a thin line, dancing up and down his grinning face. "I think I found your scanner. Guess those Pip guys weren't so bad after all."
"That can't be…" She tried to get a good look at it, but the angle made it difficult. Giving up on seeing it directly for the moment, she hurriedly pulled out the map, rolling it open on the floor. Leaning down, she angled the light so that it landed near the top. After a moment of frantic flickering it seemed to settle on the paper, gradually sliding down the page. As it worked, new data populated the open grid on her screen. A prompt appeared.
Would like to amend data related to the location known as Boston?
She confirmed and an interactive map pulsed to life beneath her fingers. A blinking indicator showed that she was currently in Goodneighbor. Tapping on the town prompted a list of merchants. Juliette guessed that she could manually add other notable figures, such as Hancock, who wouldn't have been listed on Daisy's trading map.
"Well, I'll be…" Smiling, she glanced up, ready to show him how it worked, only to find him grinning smugly.
"I accept thanks in the form of caps or-"
"Shut up!"
Preparations for their unexpected detour didn't take long. Juliette secured her armor back in place and packed what few things she'd brought into her rucksack. They stopped by Daisy's to return the map and stock up on ammo. They had a quick breakfast at the Third Rail. The sky was just starting to lighten when the stepped through the front gate, the comforting sound of turret engines fading behind them.
As they walked, he was silent for several minutes, eyeing the blade in her hip. Finally, he shook his head, and spoke his mind. "No offense, boss, but you might want more than a knife."
"None taken. I wasn't planning on going in without a gun anyways."
He continued to stare at her expectantly, as though she'd produce a gun from under her shirt. She laughed. "I'm going to let you in on a secret of mine."
"Oh ho, now we're talking," he replied, chuckling.
It was impossible to see the sun, surrounded by buildings as they were, but the sky had gone from a dark, inky black to a softer grey. Using the light to their advantage, Juliette navigated deftly through alley ways, avoiding tin cans and other trash in an effort to stay silent and hidden. She'd traveled this way before and she knew that there was a sizable Supermutant population in the area. No need to attract their attention.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, she stopped and gestured to a decrepit building tucked in between various other decrepit buildings. Nothing about it was particularly eye-catching or impressive.
"Here we are!" She gestured to the building with an elaborate flourish of her hand and then climbed through a broken display window. Winding her way behind the counter, she took to the stairs. Maccready followed warily. Juliette had to turn on the light on her Pipboy to see as they moved farther inside. She pushed through the door to a restroom. At the back was what looked like a supply closet. As they approached, they could hear a strange noise coming from inside, a soft hush, hush. Almost like a broom moving across a dirty floor.
"What the fuck's that?" asked Maccready, drawing his rifle. Juliette giggled.
"Easy, tough guy. He's friendly." She kneeled down and fiddled with the lock for a second. There was an audible click and it popped open.
A dark shape leaped from the opening, pushing her to the ground. She laughed, reaching up to feel warm fur. Dogmeat licked her repeatedly on the face, barking in excitement.
"Fuck! You could have warned me! Scared the shi- scared the… Ugh! It scared me," he finished lamely.
Still giggling, she extracted herself from the dog pile and stood up, dusting off her backside. "Dogmeat, this is Maccready. Maccready, this is my friend, Dogmeat."
"Why'd you lock your dog in a closet?" he asked, still prickly.
"Actually, I locked a bunch of stuff in here. He just stayed behind to guard it all." She paused for a moment, rubbing the back of her neck. "It seems dumb now, but I guess I wanted to make a good impression. Goodneighbor was the first town I ever visited in the Commonwealth. I didn't want to waltz in packing an arsenal. I thought they might assume I was hostile."
"Are you kidding me? It's Goodneighbor."
She blushed, looking away. "Like I said, it seems dumb now. It's not a mistake I'll make again." Eager to move on, she pulled the door open, stepping inside and shining her light so that the shelves inside were illuminated.
Neatly layed out were two 10mm pistols, a hunting rifle, about 100 pieces of ammo, 5 frag grenades, 2 bottle cap mines, and her prize, a Mini-Nuke. She'd yet to find a Fat Man, but she was hedging her bets that one would turn up. There was also a first aid kit and a small pile of Rad-X and Rad-Away.
From the doorway, Maccready whistled. "Damn boss, you really were prepared. I can't believe you were hiding all this in here." He laughed. "Never doubt a woman on a mission."
Dogmeat danced around her feet excitedly, occasionally stopping to smell Maccready. When they had finished talking he sat down in front of her and whined curiously. She smiled and scratched behind one of his ears.
"Yes boy, you're invited this time." He barked excitedly and licked her hand. Finally, he trotted out into the hallway, alert for any signs of movement at their back.
"Before you ask, I didn't leave him locked in here with nothing." She pointed to the corner. Two big bowls held dog food and clean water. "Plus, the door was only locked from the outside. You can just push it open from here. I even practiced to make sure he could get out if he wanted to."
"Uh huh, lock the poor dog in here to protect your guns. Real benevolent. Dogmeat, you can tell me if she's starving you. I'll make sure you get fed." Dogmeat cocked his head and whined, looking back and forth between the two of them. Juliette smacked Maccready on the arm, stifling a laugh.
"You ass. Just help me get this packed so we can get out of here."