Hey guys! Apologies about the lapse in posting. A combo of writer's block and a downer mood killed my desire to write anything at all. If you've followed me from previous fics, you guys are used to this by now, I'm sure. These gaps don't happen that often, but they do. My brain doesn't always work when I need it to, haha.

Thanks so much for all of your follows, favs, and reviews. You guys are awesome and I love you.

The Courser signal led Betty and Hancock to Greenetech Genetics after they departed from the Cambridge police station. A set of metal doors separated the pair from their newest sworn enemy, and after fighting through an onslaught of raiders along the way, they leaned against the walls of the building to catch their weary breaths. Betty pulled off the helmet of her power armor with a gasp as she took in several deep breaths of Commonwealth air. She wondered, as the smallest tingle of radiation warmed her skin, just how much exposure was needed to turn ghoul. A few days, maybe? She'd find out somehow, perhaps even ask Daisy or Ham how long the process took.

"Okay, so maybe screwing all those times on the way wasn't the greatest of ideas," said Hancock, who wiped his sweating brow with the sleeve of his drifter coat. "Worth it, though, 'specially after all the ghoul hate we've been gettin'. Made it extra filthy, and you know how much I love that."

"I'm walking better than I thought I'd be," Betty said as she squeezed his hand. "That's surprising."

Her ghoul chuckled and said, "I'll do better next time. Couldn't focus between gettin' shot at and watchin' those magnificent cans bounce around. Equally important in my eyes."

Betty's mouth wrinkled into a smile and she replied, "Don't worry; you never disappoint me."

Pleased with her answer, Hancock leaned forward and kissed her, his hand cupping her cheek. "Think it's about time the hunter becomes the hunted. What say you, love?"

After facing the Brotherhood and telling Elder Maxson how she and Hancock truly felt about the invasion of their homeland, Betty was ready to face the deadly Courser. To not feel an ounce of fear for even a moment after all this time was just about the most liberating thing she'd ever felt since leaving the vault. The fact that Hancock remained by her side despite her risky attempts at peace making made her love him more and more. She threw her arms around his neck as her heart thumped, both for the man she loved and the prey they sought.

"I am due for another 'souvenir'," Betty said with a wink before she rammed her shoulder against the front doors of Greenetech's lobby.

The body of a Gunner mercenary sprawled over the receptionist's desk, the back of his skull blown out and cauterized by the skillful shot of a plasma rifle. And it wasn't just the one Gunner; the bodies of an entire fleet of Gunner mercenaries lay dead, limbs and heads strewn about the cracked, dirty tile floor.

Hancock took a step in front of Betty with a scowl and surveyed the lobby for any sign of the Courser's location, but found nothing that would give his or her position away. Only death and carnage surrounded them and he realized this fight wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought. Fuck.

"It's too quiet," he said in a low voice. "I can hear myself think..and no one wants to hear the shit that goes on in my head, not even me."

Betty's sense of pride deflated at the sight of all the mangled bodies, but she stood tall behind her ghoul with a hard face and joked, "Jesus...I hope this was the work of one Courser...not sure if that's good or bad for us."

"Guess we missed the party," whispered Hancock as they examined the scuffle that had taken place. "Fuckin' Brotherhood and their long-winded bullshit."

Gunfire and shouting erupted on the floors above them and the pair glanced at each other for a moment. There was still some fun to be had, so it seemed.

Betty popped her helmet back on and whispered, "I think we just made it."

"Hope our luck doesn't crap out on the wrong day," said Hancock. He urged Betty forward with a wave of his gun and added, "Ladies first, of course...until we find the Courser and then I'm goin' in first."

"The hell you will," said Betty before she rushed up a broken staircase at the lobby's center. "That bastard's head is mine."

Hancock followed close behind her with a smile and replied, "We gotta add your name to the list of 'People Not to Fuck With.' Remind me, when we get back to Goodneighbor."

"The Courser's on the second floor. Kill on sight," announced a voice over an intercom. "Send reinforcements to the lobby in case there are more of them."

Betty paused at the top of the staircase and looked back at Hancock before she said, "I didn't think the Gunners would still try to fight after this massacre."

"Stubborn assholes, all of 'em," he replied. "They never know when to fold. Should've been a year ago."

She pulled out the laser rifle Danse gifted her, but it wasn't until then that she noticed the paladin carved a name into the rifle's barrel: Righteous Authority. Hell yes it was.

The broken stairs led the pair to an atrium protected by three wall-mounted machine gun turrets. As the turrets ripped apart the doorway and lone entrance to the rest of the Greenetech building, Betty leaned out and took aim before firing several well-placed shots, shattering two of the turrets above them. Hancock appeared over her right shoulder and aimed with his borrowed assault rifle before he took out the last turret. The room's few seconds of silence was wiped away by a storm of bullets when a team of Gunners swarmed the walkway before Betty or Hancock could cross.

"Another Courser!" shouted a Gunner, who shot at Betty before Hancock yanked her back around the ruined doorway.

"You fucking idiot, she's not a Courser!" shouted another Gunner. "It's that cunt Minuteman General!"

"Rude!" Betty shouted out loud. She glanced back at her love, whose face contorted into one of rage, and jerked her thumb out the doorway with a laugh. "They know who I am! Should I get used to that?"

"Get used to this; outta my way!" Hancock stormed out onto the walkway, Betty's fingers grasping for the end of his coat and failing to hold him back, before the ghoul unloaded a full clip at the Gunners who stood in their way. "Who fuckin' said that?"

..Perhaps it was best if Hancock blew off some steam.

Two Gunners remained in the aftermath of the ghoul's ruthless slaughter, both heavily injured. He unloaded two more shots, one for each Gunner's kneecap and repeated, "Lemme ask again: Who fuckin' said that?"

One Gunner pointed to his comrade without hesitation and Hancock returned the gesture with a point blank shot to the face. The mercenary who remained whimpered at the bloodied remains of his former friend.

"Nobody likes a snitch," said Hancock as Betty stepped into the gory hallway. "Am I right?"

"Always," she replied.

The surviving Gunner threw himself to the broken floor and pleaded, "Please, I'm sor-"

"-This is the one," said Betty with furrowed brows. "I recognize his voice."

With a nod, Hancock slammed the butt of his rifle into the Gunner's chest and sent him sprawling down onto the floor before he pinned the mercenary by his throat. Down the hall, a few Gunners leaned out of a pair of doorways to take a few pot shots at Betty, who returned fire.

"If there's one word I fuckin' hate..it's that word," the ghoul snarled. "Lemme teach ya some manners."

Hancock wedged the barrel of his .44 magnum between the Gunner's teeth, and Betty looked away when the blade of the ghoul's combat knife caught the flickering light above them. As the Gunner's piercing screams echoed throughout the hallway, Betty found herself wearing a smile.

"Man, this never gets old" said the ghoul with a laugh as he held up the jagged bit of flesh that was once a tongue.

The Gunner tried to crawl away, blood pouring out from between his teeth as he howled in anguish. A few months ago, Betty would've chosen to be the merciful one and put him out of his misery. That was then. And he was a Gunner. No mercy for them.

"You think he can still call me a cunt with all of those teeth?" Betty asked with disgust.

Hancock grinned like a mad man and stared at the Gunner, who sobbed by the doorway as he held his jaw. The ghoul delivered a swift and vicious kick to the Gunner's chin and knocked him onto his back, grabbing the merc's ankle as he tried to squirm away.

"Now, I ain't got pliers or nothin'-" Hancock pulled out his knife once more, this time holding the blade in his palm, and the Gunner screamed. "-So I'll just bash 'em out instead."

The ghoul brought down the hilt of his combat knife and smashed out several of the mercenary's teeth at once, throwing them over his shoulder as he counted to himself. When the Gunner's screams ceased and the choking began, Hancock asked Betty, "How many teeth we got again? Thirty?"

"Thirty-two," Betty answered and Hancock glanced back at the small pile of broken teeth behind him.

"..Should be at least ten there," he said, nodding towards the pile. The Gunner lay unresponsive, his brown eyes blank as they stared up at the ceiling. "He might've choked on the others I knocked out. Shame. Wasn't done with his ass yet."

Betty held out her armored hand and pulled Hancock back onto his feet. "Feel better?"

"Hell yeah, needed to let that out," Hancock replied. "I know you ain't fond of those methods-"

"-These men knew what they signed on for. If they felt bad about anything they've done, they would've left like MacCready did. Do your worst. I won't stop you," said Betty.

The pair cleared out the hallway and reached the next level of the atrium when they heard the same voice crackle over the loudspeakers.

"The Courser is now on the third floor!" the voice announced. "The second intruder is now in the atrium, possibly another Courser. Kill on sight, I repeat, kill on sight! Barricade stairwells and hallways if you haven't already!"

"Elevator's dead," said Hancock as he pressed the button on the panel several times. "Gotta go the long way up...can't believe that shithead didn't even mention me during his announcement."

"You poor thing," said Betty. "But I'm pretty sure the entire Commonwealth knows your name."

The Gunners continued in vain to block off the hallways and offices that led further up through the atrium, but a few half-assed barricades were no match for a pissed-off Betty in a full suit of power armor and she plowed right through them, Hancock following behind her as he popped a handful of Buffout before he brought his flask to his rough lips.

At the end of the hall on the fourth floor, several turrets switched on and pinned the twosome in to a small corner, the bullets bouncing off Betty's armored shoulders. She leaned over her ghoul, who offered Betty what remained of his flask before she shook her head and turned on a terminal.

Hancock peeked out from beneath Betty and reeled back against her as a missile slammed into the wall beside the doorway with a deafening blast. "Hurry it up, Birdie!"

"Rushing me won't help!" she said as she reset the amount of password attempts.

Another missile exploded outside the doorway and knocked her away before she could press the 'enter' key. She struggled to her feet, Hancock wedged to the tile floor beneath her. "I can't reach!" she shouted.

"God damn it, I'm tryin'," Hancock shouted over the gunfire. "Your arm's in the way!"

Betty turned and took aim at the Gunner who was reloading his missile launcher. The ghoul reached up and smashed his hand onto the terminal's keyboard before the turrets turned on the Gunners shooting from the walkway above them.

"They're gonna carry you outta here!" Hancock shouted as the turrets tore the Gunners apart and Betty pressed her face against his shoulder with a hearty laugh.

"In body bags, maybe," she said.

"Too fuckin' right, love."

When the walkway and atrium fell into an eerie silence, Betty deactivated the turrets and strolled out onto the walkway, her laser rifle resting against her shoulder.

"We've lost contact with sectors two and four!" the voice announced. "Courser is now on the fourth floor! The other intruders have been identified as Hancock and the new Minuteman General-"

"-General Parker you fuckin' moron!" Hancock shouted out.

She chuckled as her ghoul stood a little taller and marched past her into a laboratory across the way. "How's your head going to fit through the doorways now?"

"I'll manage," Hancock replied over his shoulder.

"Somebody kill those assholes already!"

Betty and Hancock swept through the laboratory floor, the few Gunners who remained behind not standing a chance against them. As Betty walked past a dying mercenary, who tried to stab her side in a half-hearted attempt, she grabbed his head and slammed it into the wall. At this point, why did the Gunners even bother to fight back?

"I'm taking back Quincy," Betty quipped. "And when I find out where the Gunners operate from, I'm blowing it to Hell."

"Oh, I'd love to see that shit," said Hancock. He picked up a dead Gunner by the front of his fatigues, a radio attached to his armored vest and the ghoul added, "Tell 'em."

Betty pressed the radio's call button and was surprised when the feedback rang out all around them. She and her ghoul grinned at each other before she pressed the button again and announced, "This is General Elizabeth Parker of the Minutemen. If you think your lives are Hell now, just wait until I annihilate your base and take back Quincy. I'm coming for you."

"How the fuck-Fuck you, Parker! You're fucking dead!" the Gunner Commander announced.

Her finger almost crushed the radio's button when she replied, "I'd like to see you try..miscreant!"

Hancock slapped his hand over his face and dropped the dead Gunner to his boots. "Baby, we gotta work on your smack talk."

"Yeah, yeah, but shooting them is way more fun," she said as she followed Hancock through another lab.

When they reached the final walkway across the atrium, the Gunners above the pair engaged in a fire fight so tempestuous they believed the floor might give way as it shook the walls. Betty took Hancock's hand and rushed them across the atrium as pieces of the ceiling rained down.

"Fall back to original positions! The Courser's nearing the elevator!"

Hancock urged Betty forward and followed in her destructive wake as she crashed through several more barricades, crushing a few Gunners beneath her boots. "Gotta catch that Courser before he leaves! Go, go!"

"The Courser's after the girl! Anyone alive needs to get up to the top floor immediately! That's an order!"

Betty met Hancock's dark eyes and said, "I didn't expect a hostage. Let's hurry. Hopefully, we can reach her in time."

After clearing a burnished, red room protected by laser tripwire and a swarm of Gunners, Hancock called for the elevator at the top of the stairwell as Betty ripped off her now shattered helmet and dropped it to the floor. The rest of her power armor hadn't faired well either, but the large, metal plates remained intact for the time being. With hope, they'd last until her fight with the Courser was over.

Betty's hair matted to her neck as beads of sweat formed along the thin lines on her forehead. God, she must look awful right then. The elevator door opened and she breathed out a sigh of relief before stepping inside and pressing the button. She glanced at her ghoul and gave him a weak smile, yet he seemed frozen as he leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"...You still with me, John?" she asked, wondering if maybe he'd actually taken too many chems this time around and was about to pass out.

Hancock nodded and said, "It's just..you've never looked more beautiful than you do right now."

Betty's cheeks flushed to a rosy pink and her ghoul chuckled to himself, pleased at the sight of her flush as he'd been since day one.

"Pretty handsome yourself," she replied.

The ghoul pulled her closer to him before he kissed her and he whispered, "Think we got time for a quickie?"

The doors of the elevator opened and he groaned as into Betty's neck as her hand wandered beneath his coat and over the bare, rough skin of his waist.

"Guess you should rip that chip from the Courser's head first before I rip into you," he said.

"That better be a guarantee," said Betty before she pulled her helmet over her head with a wink.

The elevator led to a control room level at the top of the building and Hancock wasted no time in shooting out the spotlights before Betty rushed ahead. The ghoul followed and a few more Gunners met their untimely end at the hands of a very amped up General Parker.

At the top of the stairs, Betty looked back at Hancock and said, "I never realized how much people liked building stairwells back in my time. I should invent a time machine and go back to beat the crap out of them."

"Make sure ya come back," Hancock answered with a grin.

The pair were just about to push open a set of doors when they heard several people talking, and Hancock grabbed Betty's wrist and held up a finger to his lips before he peaked around the corner. A tall man dressed in black loomed with his back to them and he stared down the terrified group of Gunners and their leader who remained in his destructive wake.

Betty tugged on Hancock's sleeve and mouthed, "How many?"

The ghoul held up five fingers and she nodded before loading her laser rifle with several more fusion cells. Hancock followed suit as she handed him three clips for her assault rifle he still used in lieu of a shotgun.

"I don't know the password, I swear! I'm telling the truth!" the Gunner leader cried out. "You killed the guy who had it!"

"I don't believe you.." said the man in black with a cold voice. When Hancock peeked around the corner again, the Courser pointed his own laser rifle at a Gunner's head.

"Oh, God..please no!" the mercenary cried out.

"No, please, -you don't have to do this!" the Gunner leader screamed.

Several laser shots rang out along with the sound of screaming, horrified men.

"All he had to do was tell me the password. Now, are you four going to cooperate?" asked he Courser.

"Listen, I-I'll t-try to help you get in," said the Gunner leader whose voice was heard over the intercom. "But we t-took the girl fair and square and all we want is a little compensation in return!"

The Courser sneered, "You're in no position to negotiate."

"Okay, okay, let me think!" shouted the Gunner leader as he threw his hands up.

The ghoul, as per usual, gave himself and Betty one final look-over before he asked her, "How do ya play this one, love?"

"Come in hot after my cue," Betty replied as she pushed the doors open.

Hancock shook his head and watched the Courser turn to face Betty with a dark, growing smile before the ghoul said under his breath, "Would help if ya let me know what the cue is but, eh, what the hell."

Betty strolled into the room, head held high and Righteous Authority sitting pretty in her arms as the Courser said, "You must be General Parker. Father admires your tenacity, you know. Does your companion not wish to join us?"

"He's dead," Betty lied, her voice flat. "One of those idiots downstairs got a lucky shot and he bled out on the elevator."

Even the Gunners stared at Betty with awe. There they sat, frozen in place with fear of what this Courser would do to them and she didn't even bat an eye. And one of them managed to kill Hancock? Now they were really fucked.

"Shame," said the Courser as he shook his head. "I imagine you must be quite livid with the Gunners. I understand you were close to that ghoul."

Betty glared at the remaining mercenaries, who flinched at the sight of her and she growled, "I'll deal with them later."

The Courser nodded and asked, "So why are you here?"

"You have something I want," she answered.

"Oh? And what may that be? The synth the Gunners managed to capture?" asked the Courser.

Behind him, a young blonde woman peeked out of the barred window of a small office and the Sole Survivor's rage grew tenfold.

Betty nodded and answered, "I also want that chip pulsing inside of your fucking head."

"That you cannot have," said the Courser with a venomous smile of his own.

"You say that but-"

-With a feral grin, Betty sucker punched the Courser and he staggered back with a laugh as he rubbed his jawline.

Hancock broke his cover, throwing his combat knife into the Courser's chest and missing his heart.

"God fucking damn it!" Hancock shouted as Betty took aim with her laser rifle and fired in the Courser's direction, forcing the group of Gunners to scramble out of the way as the Courser returned fire.

"Next time, handsome!" Betty shouted over her shoulder.

He wouldn't miss again, Hancock swore to himself, and the ghoul unloaded several clips into the Courser, and still, he remained upright.

The Courser stood his ground, knife protruding from his chest, and he reached down and snapped off its handle, the blade still embedded in his chest.

"Holy shit," Hancock said with wide eyes.

In seconds, the Courser activated his stealth field and ripped the fusion core from Betty's power armor, throwing it across the room before it exploded in a massive green glow. The power armor fell apart with Betty still inside, and the Courser tore off the helmet. His fist came down and shattered the tile beneath Betty's head as she jerked to the side, certain death missing her by less than an inch.

The Courser reared back to bring his fist down on Betty's head and when his stealth field flickered for the briefest of moments, she jammed her fingers into the wound on his chest, and he recoiled with a blood-curdling scream of pain.

Hancock rushed to free Betty from her metal cage and cracked his assault rifle against the Courser's head before wedging himself between them.

"I'll get ya outta this, hold on!" said Hancock as his hand searched for the steel hoop that would free Betty. The ghoul managed to turn it just enough to force the armor open with a hiss and a hand gripped at his shoulder before he was thrown against the group of Gunners. Without missing a beat, he crushed his fist into the leader's chin and shouted, "Next time, mention me right away, asshole!"

The Courser pulled Betty from her broken power armor by her arm and in true, Hancock fashion, she grabbed the front of the Courser's black leather coat and slammed her forehead into his nose. He dropped her to the blood smeared floor and she kicked out his legs from under him before she took aim and fired a few shots into his side.

"Bad move!" Hancock snarled as he made a grab for a shimmer beneath the fluorescent lights above and twisted the Courser's arm until it broke with a resounding snap, bone and faux flesh protruding from the black leather.

Betty stood up and grabbed the Courser by his throat, her chest heaving, and slammed his head into the wall several times as she bellowed, "GIVE..ME..THAT..FUCKING..CHIP!"

The Courser slumped against the metal wall with a steak of blood, the right side of his head caved in as he looked about the room, his eyes losing focus. It..it shouldn't be possible to out-maneuver a Courser...he was supposed to be infallible. He reached into his black leather coat and pulled out a plasma pistol, but Betty swatted it from his hand with a sneer. Father was wrong; this woman was someone to be feared.

"Why?" asked the Courser and Hancock couldn't help but laugh.

"Because the Institute's taken enough from both me and the Commonwealth. And now, I'm taking some back." Betty pulled the Courser closer and added, "Father's next on my shit list, whoever the hell he is."

Hancock handed Betty his magnum and she thanked him with a kiss upon his ragged cheek before she shot the Courser twice in the heart.

The remaining Gunners thanked Betty over and over, until she pointed Hancock's magnum at them and pulled the trigger four times, each Gunner falling over with a shot to the head.

"How's that for shit talking?" Betty asked her ghoul.

Hancock swallowed hard and said, "Jesus, Birdie. What the hell's gotten into ya?"

She handed him the pistol with a smile before she replied, "You."

He nodded. "You and me together? The world ain't got a fuckin' prayer."

In the midst of the blood and gore they created together, Betty threw her arms around Hancock's neck and kissed him with a fury that could put the sun to shame.

"I love you," Betty whispered. "Crazy in love with you, as you mentioned to me the first time."

Hancock brushed away the hair from her face and said, "If I died right now, it'd be all right, knowin' that you love me."

"I...uh, don't wanna interrupt but I could use a little help over here," said the young woman.

Betty pulled away from Hancock and walked over to the hostage with a goofy smile, a bit over the moon after hearing John's words.

"Sorry, hun. Hancock can be..distracting," said Betty as she dragged away the body of a Gunner blocking the door to the office. "And that Courser took a lot out of us both."

"He..he deserved to die. They all did. Thank you so much. I know you're not here for me but could you guys help me out?" asked the woman.

Hancock joined Betty in dragging the corpses out of the doorway and replied, "'Course. General Parker will have ya outta there in no time. Birdie?"

Betty hacked into the terminal beside the door and gave power back to the elevator before she freed the girl from her makeshift cell. The door opened and she stepped inside, holding her hand out to the young woman and pulling her to her feet.

"We promise we're not here to hurt you. I'm with the Minutemen..as you might've heard during my little exchange with the Gunners earlier. Always happy to help," said Betty.

The woman nodded with a hint of a smile and said, "Hearing your voice gave me hope. Thank you...I don't know what to say..."

"Well, you could start by telling us your name," Betty said with a kind smile that the young woman returned. "You know ours; Betty, Hancock."

The ghoul arched his lack of brow. Betty Hancock...heh. Not bad.

"My...Institute designation is K1-98, but I prefer Jenny. So yes, I'm a synth, if you haven't already guessed," explained the woman.

"A pleasure, Jenny," Betty replied as they shook hands. "How'd you get caught up in this mess?"

Jenny lowered her gaze and whispered, "I-I ran away from the Institute. I knew they'd send a Courser, I just didn't think he'd find me so fast. I think I would've lost him, too, but then I was captured by these...mercenaries and all this happened. I'm going to head out now, if you don't mind. This was too close for me."

"Of course," said Betty. "I powered up the elevator; you should be able to take it straight down to the ground floor."

Hancock wrapped an arm around Betty's shoulder and added, "If ya pass a town called Goodneighbor, drop by and tell anyone who asks that Mayor Hancock sent ya. You'll be safe from the Institute there."

"No," said Jenny, shaking her head. "The Commonwealth is unforgiving and if I don't learn how to make it out here on my own, I never will."

"A helping hand never hurt anyone," said Betty, "but we understand."

"And that offer of mine will always be there," said Hancock.

The synth smiled and said, "Maybe we'll meet again someday under better circumstances. I...hope we do."

After watching the elevator doors close as Jenny waved her goodbyes, Betty walked over to the Courser's body and dug her fingers into the wound in his chest, pulling the broken blade of Hancock's combat knife free.

"Now you need a new gun and a new knife. I'm a little jealous that you've been rubbing your hands all over my rifle for the past few days," said Betty.

Broken blade in hand, she cut through into the Courser's head where his skull had begun to cave in and winced at the sight of raw brain and splintered bone. She shook her head as she felt herself grow faint and continued cutting through the flesh and bone until her fingers located the glass chip.

"You know I'd rather rub these hands all over you instead," Hancock replied as he watched Betty perform the bit of amateur surgery on her own, impressed that she hadn't puked yet. Even he became ill the first time he carved into a dead body all those decades ago. "But a shotgun's a close second. Rifles were never my thing."

"Because you're a maniac who likes it up close?" she asked with a laugh. "Let's not forget about going in hard and loud."

"Haven't heard ya complain yet."

Betty held out the Courser chip to her ghoul with a bloodied hand and replied, "And you never will. Put this in our backpack?"

Hancock reached into their pack and tossed Betty a bottle of water before he took the chip and tucked it between some of their spare clothes, taking care so it wouldn't shatter. He hadn't even finished zipping the pack closed when Betty tackled him to the floor, her coat already at her waist. He wasted no time in taking his own coat off and pulled Betty's shirt over her head with a grin.