Chapter 27 – North Again
For the next five days the team spent much of their time relaxing and enjoying their well-earned break. Nate hadn't planned on taking the week off, but no sooner had the girls taken their punishment spankings, Nate had realised the team desperately needed some time to depressurise. Nearly losing one of the team had a much more profound effect on each of them than they had realised, and whilst the girls had each taken one hell of a hiding as a result, there was still a lot of talking that needed to happen.
On the same evening the girls had been thrashed, Nate opened the bar and all four of them had piled into the Kitchen to cook a roast dinner. The adrenaline and endorphins, heightened emotions and a fair bit of alcohol led to the team having something of an impromptu party as they all cooked. At more than one occasion throughout the night, one or other of the four commented on the rush of relief they were all feeling. After the dinner the team headed up to sit by the log stove and talk. Nate smiling to himself as each of his companions chose to lay on their stomachs, either on the sofa or on the rug as they spoke.
As the week progressed, and their marks faded, the girls got back into their routines, but one thing Nate couldn't help but notice was the constant closeness of Cait. 'No' he thought, it wasn't really closeness as much as it was a constant checking in on him, making sure he was still there, still around. One night he had gone out to the Dugout with Arturo and some of the boys from Diamond City Security. Whilst his teammates had decided to have a girl's night in, when Piper and Curie had gone to bed Cait had stayed awake, sitting by the fire, waiting for Nate to return, only taking herself to bed when he was asleep in his.
Towards the end of the week Nate laid out his plans for the coming few days. As the team still had the serum to return to Jack Cabot as well as a significant hoard of weapons and ammo up near Taffington and Finch's farm, Nate announced his intention to take the Red Wave.
"As long as you don't go changing your mind, Blue." Piper said, "A little trip down river in the boat is way better than walking."
"God, yes!" Agreed Cait.
"I think a little exercise would be good for the team, can't have you all lounging around here getting fat on army time…" Nate joked.
"Hey!" Piper sat up from her recumbent position on the sofa, where she was reading a book, and threw a small cushion at Nate who was sat at his desk. "Fat indeed, the cheek!" Piper feigned outrage.
"Can synths even get fat?" Cait laughed as she moved up to stand behind Nate, grabbing the cushion from the floor and throwing it back at Piper. Cait turned to look at Curie, who was sat at the kitchen table also engrossed in a book. "Hey, ground control to Mr Tom!" Cait shouted over to her.
Curie looked up, "Eh, what?" she answered, clearly showing she hadn't been paying any attention.
"I said, can synths even get fat?" Cait repeated the question.
Curie closed the book and looked back towards the rest of the team. "Well," she shrugged, "due to the manufacturing process used for this body it is absolutely impossible for me to gain any more weight than has already been given to me."
"Lucky cow!" Exclaimed Piper.
"This is," continued Curie, "unless I was to undergo some sort of Institute led surgery."
"I quite like the idea of keeping you out of the Institutes grasp right now." Stated Nate as he stood and stretched.
"Ok then," Nate walked to the middle of the room, still looking at his pipboy on his wrist. "I calculate that it will take us a full day to travel to the Cabot Residence, a further one up to the boathouse and another to travel all the way round to Finch's farm. So, in total, we will need provisions for a week of travel, if we are to include the trip back."
"How much cooking time will we have on the boat?" asked Curie.
"Imagine none, but I would hope we will have some time up at the Finch's" Nate responded.
"In that case," Curie stood and looked at the clock, "I will make another tray of pies, just to be safe."
"Can you do the radstag and cranberry ones?" Cait pleaded, pressing her palms together.
"Gets my vote," Nate added.
"Then I shall see what we have downstairs." Curie smiled and headed to the stairs.
"It's three now," said Nate as he too looked at the clock, "so, let's get the ammo packed and weapons checked and Piper, can you have a look through the medical supplies."
All the girls froze at that instruction and looked at Nate.
Nate smiled, he guessed there still would be some residual emotion over him getting shot, even though they had all spoken about it over the past week. "I am fine," he held up his hands, "I have no intention of getting shot again, I promise."
Cait, who was still stood by Nates desk and closest to him said quietly, "You had better not, Mister."
Piper stood and rubbing her bottom for emphasis stated, "And I am catching the bullet next time, rather than catching your wrath at letting it happen." She smiled at Nate.
Nate paused as he could see the girls were all looking at him. "Come here," Nate signalled to all three girls. Seeing that Nate had his arms open they all closed in for a group hug. Albeit a little clumsy and a little crowded, Nate managed to envelop his arms around the shoulders of all three. "I'll keep you safe," he smiled, "and keep you on your toes when it comes to your drills." All three of the girls laughed and returned Nate's hug.
"And we will keep you safe," Cait grinned, "it won't do to allow you to get grumpy like that again", and she too began to rub her bottom.
The rest of the day was spent in preparation for the trip north. Nate paying a few caps to Percy, the night manager of Diamond City Surplus, to run the extra provisions to the mooring site of the Red Wave, just the other side of Hangman's Alley. Curie finished baking her fantastic pies, having to swat away both Piper and Cait who were hovering around the cooling parcels of pastry.
"She has got impeccable aim with that wooden spoon," Cait remarked as she climbed the stairs after another failed mission to try and taste the fantastic creations.
"Ha! She got you too," Piper laughed from her position back on the couch.
Nate, who was in the kitchen making coffee, chuckled. "How many attempts do you think you will make before you give up?" he asked handing Cait her mug.
"I swear I have two large round marks where she attacked me!" Cait exclaimed, placing her free hand on her bottom.
"You won't get any sympathy from me," Nate responded. "Although, they do smell fantastic."
"We should be able to grab one each as repayment for her torturing us like this." Piper sat up, craning to look at the clock. "Isn't it dinner time soon?"
As if reading their minds and hearing their grumbling, Curie called from downstairs. "Dinner!"
The next morning the Red Wave cast off and began its journey down river to the Cabot residence. Nate had located a military barge, moored just north of Pickman's Gallery and just the other side of the North Washington State Bridge to the Cabot's house.
The journey was for the most part quiet. Cait and Nate spent a little time sniping into Kendall Square when the boat came under fire from a raider encampment there. Several raiders had set up home on the top of one of the apartment buildings and had begun to shoot down at the boat. Whilst Curie navigated the craft carefully along the river, Nate and Cait began taking down targets from their position on the bow of the boat. Whilst Nate was sure they had hit at least one raider, there was no way to tell how many others they had hit and none of the team were keen to hang around to find out.
The team arrived at their mooring just as dusk was falling and after tying up, Piper and Curie headed out on a small clearance patrol to the south as Cait and Nate headed west. An hour later and the team were back in the boat enjoying one of Curies fabulous pies.
Apart from the wheelhouse, the other part of the lower deck of the boat was where the team prepared their meals and slept. There was a single bed alongside the opposite side of the boat to the stove, which Nate used with the girls all sleeping on their roll mats on the floor. As night fell the team dimmed the lights and set up a sentry roster.
The next morning Nate was up early, as he had asked Curie to wake them all just before first light. As he watched for potential trouble along the riverbank, he smiled as he heard the familiar grumblings of Cait and Piper as the two were woken up by Curie. His human companions were definitely not morning people, although Nate didn't mind that as many mornings on the road, he had used the early dawn to sit and chat with Curie, the two of them often enjoying the sunrise together.
After the obligatory coffee and a bit more grumbling, the team set off on the short walk to the Cabot residence. The team entered the house and were immediately greeted by heated words between Jack and his mother Wilhelmina. After handing the serum to Deegan, the ghoul explained to the team that Jack's sister Emogene had wandered off. Whilst Wilhelmina continued to demand that Jack arrange the immediate return of Emogene, Deegan explained to the team that Jack's sister often got bored and had a habit of wandering off. Usually this was to find a love interest that could keep her entertained and away from the boredom of staying at home.
"Sounds like my kinda girl!" Stated Cait.
'Sounds like she needs a good hiding for running off', thought Nate but he kept that view to himself.
After Deegan reassured Jacks mother that he would send someone to get Emogene, he turned to the team and began setting out instructions.
"The trouble usually isn't finding her. It's persuading her to come home." Deegan explained. "I don't know where she's gone, but I can give you a place to start." He continued. "She's been spending a lot of time in Goodneighbour, at the jazz club there – the Third Rail. Somebody there must know something. She's not known for keeping her mouth shut."
"Ok," Nate shrugged his shoulders, his highly skilled and highly trained team were now playing babysitters, "we'll start in Goodneighbour."
"At least there are some caps in it," Piper whispered under her breath.
As the settlement of Goodneighbour wasn't that far away from the Cabot house, the team were there in less than an hour. The settlement had been originally formed by a group of ghouls, criminals and other outcasts from Diamond City and was currently under the control of a Ghoul mayor called Hancock. Whilst the place was run by an organised criminal gang, under Hancock's leadership, there were plenty of places to rest, resupply, get a drink or get high. The team headed straight for the old underground station which had been converted into the town's night club, called the Third Rail. The team waved their greeting to Ham, the ghoul bouncer who watched the entrance to the club and headed downstairs.
Drifting up from the club was a soulful version of one of Pipers favourite songs, 'Man Enough'. Whilst the girls split up to start speaking to some of the locals, Nate headed over to speak to the Mr Handy robot, Charlie, who was the manager of the bar. He didn't have an idea of where the girl was, but he called over Magnolia, the lounge singer, as he thought she might know as Magnolia and Emogene were good friends. Magnolia, after flirting with Nate a little, told the team that she had seen Emogene head off with a preacher who called himself Brother Thomas. Ham, the doorman had kept one of the preacher's flyers which advertised his 'church', the Pillars of the Community, being at the Charles View Amphitheatre.
"She likes you," Piper chuckled as they headed upstairs and out of the club.
"Who liked who?" Cait jumped in, sounding a little too defensive.
"Oh nothing," Nate smiled, "Magnolia was just flirting," he shrugged. Cait looked anything but amused by that. Nate, who spotted her dark looks tried to reassure her. "It's probably just her programming, and I am sure she does it to everyone."
Cait looked puzzled for a second before realising what Nate had said, "Oh, she's a synth?" she asked.
"So, you can put your claws away," joked Piper who grinned at Cait. The look Cait returned showed she found the remark less than funny.
The walk to the amphitheatre was easy, with the team avoiding a fight between a brotherhood Vertibird and some raiders at the south end of Longfellow Bridge. They were soon at the cults headquarters. It didn't take long for the team to find Brother Thomas.
"Welcome, neighbour! We're always glad to see a new face around here." He drooled in an obsequious and condescending tone. "Tell me something. You ever feel like this whole world is broken? Do you ever wonder why things can't be the way they were in the good old days?"
Nate was already losing patience. "I don't have time for this right now, I'm looking for Emogene Cabot."
"Oh, I'm sorry, but Emogene is indisposed right now. She's not seeing visitors." Responded the cultist.
"Her family's worried about her," Cait said as she stepped up to stand next to Nate.
Thomas gave Cait a look of contempt, "You can tell them that she's fine." He turned back to Nate, "not that it's any of your business, but she and I are having a little … relationship trouble. You know how it is." He tried to lighten the tone, "She's not seeing anybody until she cools off."
Cait laid her hand on Nates arm, in reaction to seeing his thumb move closer to the safety catch. "I am a friend of the family. Maybe I can talk some sense into her."
Whatever Cait was doing seemed to work, as the slimy priest seemed to relax a little. "Look … truth is, we had a little, uh, disagreement about her joining the movement. She got kind of violent." He shrugged, "so I locked her in the back until I could figure out what to do with her. If you're willing to take her off my hands … let me unlock the door for you and she's all yours." He began to walk around the side of the stage, heading to some offices that were situated at the rear. "I've got to warn you. She's way stronger than she looks. Took all of us combined to even lock her up in there."
Nate and the team follow Thomas to the office door. Piper slowly drawing her sidearm, out of sight of Thomas, just in case.
"She is all yours, neighbour," Thomas said unlocking the door. "We don't have anything to talk about." He then turned and headed back the way he came, towards the front of the Amphitheatre. Nate opened the door as he saw a young woman get up from lying on the double bed in the middle of what was obviously Thomas' private bedroom.
"Don't tell me, Jack sent you." She stated in a belligerent tone.
"That's right, I'm here to rescue you." Nate answered her tone with a flat and unenthusiastic one of his own.
Missing his intonation, Emogene asked, "What makes you think I need to be rescued?"
Piper stepped forward, irritated by the seeming lack of gratitude coming from the young woman who had been locked in her captive's bedroom. "These cultists seemed to be holding you prisoner," she stated the obvious.
Having now picked up on the team's irritation, Emogene dropped the attitude. "Well. Thomas certainly thinks so. But really, I was just waiting to see if he would come to his senses. He seemed so interesting at first, but since we came here, he turned out to be just another brute. He actually thought he could force me to join his absurd cult."
Getting to the end of his patience with this girl and realising that this detour was preventing him and the team from journeying north to claim their salvaged loot, Nate issued an instruction. "Let's get out of here."
"Oh, and I'm not going with you. You can tell mother I'll be along home before too long. I just need a drink first." She responded and with that she walked out of the building.
"Right, I have had enough of this spoilt little brat, let her find her own way home, we are off." Nate fumed as he also headed back down the road towards the Cabot House. The girls looked at each other as they were not sure how Deegan or his boss Jack would take the fact that they were returning empty handed.
The team formed up and patrolled back towards the Cabot house, Curie taking point this time. They arrived at the house to be greeted with Jack trying to speak to Deegan on the radio. The ghoul obviously in some trouble by the frantic sound of Jacks voice. After fiddling with the radio for a bit and shouting to Deegan for him to switch channels, the voice of a stressed Edward Deegan could be clearly heard.
"We are under attack. They're inside the building." He reported.
Jack looked panicked. "Inside? can you keep them out of the basement?"
"I'm trying, Jack, I've never seen raiders that …" Deegan's voice is interrupted by sounds of machine gun fire, "For god's sake, Sammy, the doorway! Right there! …" Deegan came back to the radio, "sorry, things are a little busy around here right now."
"Listen," Jack instructed, "they're inside the building, you've got to go to the office and shut down the elevator. You can't risk them getting to Lorenzo."
Deegan replied, "Got it. Office. Elevator. You'd better round up whoever you can and get over …" At that the radio went dead.
"Hello? Edward? Come in? Edward!" Jack shouted into the radio. "Bah! There's no signal at all. I've lost him."
Jack's mother Wilhelmina rushes over to her son. "What's happening, Jack? If these people are inside Parsons, if they free him…"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Responds her son, sounding anything but convinced.
"I always knew it would end this way! I should have never allowed you to lock up Lorenzo in that place," Wilhelmenia continued.
"That isn't helping, mother! And as I recall, using the serum was your idea, not mine." Jack snapped back.
"So, what are you going to do." She demanded.
"I said, I'll handle it. I'm thinking." He softened.
Suddenly the two of them noticed Nate and his team standing the other side of the room.
"Oh, what do you want?" Wilhelmenia asked turning to face the team.
"What's going on," Nate asked, surprised at his own level of concern for the gangster sounding ghoul that had hired him for this job. Deegan was obviously rubbing off on him.
Jack explained, "that was Edward. He flew to Parson's - The old asylum a little earlier. They're under attack by raiders. It's strange. The guards have held off raiders before without any trouble. I don't know what's gone wrong this time."
At this point, happy just to grab his pay and go Nate announced, "We found Emogene, She's fine."
"Oh, yes good." Jack responded unenthusiastically.
"Thank god. At least one small comfort on this terrible day." Jacks mother at least sounded relieved.
"You'll be wanting to be paid, of course … Edward usually handles these things … "caps" is what you use for currency, isn't that right! Here. I hope that's the right amount." Jack went over to a bureau that was stood against the wall behind him. Opening the bottom cupboard section Jack retrieved a canvas bag of some sort and handed it to Nate. In Nate's estimation it contained around a thousand caps or so. He handed it straight to Curie who put it away in her own bag.
"Now, we really need to focus on the current emergency." Jack continued.
"How can you be so callous about your sister's safety," Jacks concerned mother responded.
"I wonder if these could be the same raiders that stole the last shipment … if some of them had used the undiluted serum … it could explain their unusual success against Edwards men. I need to travel there directly, with reinforcements, to help Edward." Jack was rambling.
"What do you need us to do." Nate offered the teams help on the mission.
"I am taking a Vertibird up to the asylum now, I'll take a squad from our southern warehouse, that should hold these attackers off for a while. Can you come up to help as soon as you can?" Jack asked.
Not wanting to deviate from his current plan, Nate decided not to divulge the fact that he too could call a Vertibird, using one of the smoke grenades Danse had given him. He decided instead to lie a little. "I'll be travelling by boat, so you will have to hold them in place for a few days." Nate sounded apologetic.
"That'll be fine, we will either be there or we would have driven them off, but either way, come as quickly as you can." And with that Jack ran back upstairs to ready himself for his trip up north.
