Piper liked the mornings out in the wasteland, at least under normal circumstances. There was a weird kind of peacefulness to this time of day that she did not seem to experience anywhere else; it was only later, when the bigger creatures were awake, that the open air became dangerous and unpredictable. Now, however, she did not have the time or the opportunity to savour the peace of the morning because she was carting around both a heavy bag of clothes and an extremely talkative little sister, who seemed to have even less of a tactfulness filter than usual.
"I knew you liked him," Nat said as if on cue, a triumphant smugness in her voice.
Piper pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger at Nat's assertion. "You don't know anything, kiddo," she said wearily. "I just needed to get out of Diamond City so I could chase up a story, that's all."
"So why'd I have to come along?"
"Because I don't know how long I'll be out here, and I didn't want to leave you on your own," Piper replied. "And I don't know anyone who'd be willing to look after you for longer than a week, either."
"I'm not stupid, Piper," Nat retorted. "I know you only left because of Nate. You like him, and you're afraid he might not like you back, so you ran away."
"That is absolutely not true," Piper snapped, glaring at her sister. "Nate and I are just friends."
"I said I'm not stupid, Piper. Don't lie to me," Nat replied flatly. "I saw you come home this morning, and you looked like you'd been crying. So do you want to tell me what's really going on?"
Piper sighed. "I told you, I'm chasing a story. Someone tipped me off about a synth hideout up near the library, and I need to go see what I can find. I don't know how long that'll take, so we're staying away from Diamond City until I get everything I need. There, mystery solved. Happy now?"
Nat shrugged, her smirk fading from her face. "Are you happy?" she countered pointedly before she pushed bluntly past her sister's attempt to reply. "I know you like Nate. I know he likes you. Can we just go home so you can kiss him already?"
"No, because I don't like him like that!" Piper snapped. "How many times do I need to say that before you believe me?"
"Dad told us never to lie," Nat said, all traces of levity suddenly squeezed out of her words. "Stop lying to me."
"What do you want from me, Nat?" Piper exclaimed, throwing her hands out to either side in exasperation. "What am I supposed to say?"
"I just want you to tell me the truth," Nat said. "Why are we really out here?"
Piper touched the bridge of her nose again, closing her eyes briefly. "Okay, look," she began, "last night Nate and I did something really stupid, and I can't look at him right now."
"You mean when you ran the bases with no clothes on?" Nat said, a look of smug satisfaction crossing her face for a moment.
"No, I mean—" Piper began before she registered what Nat had said. "Wait, we did what?"
"You and Nate ran the bases with no clothes on," Nat repeated. "I saw you do it—there were so many people outside the house that they woke me up. I looked out the front door, and I saw you two falling over in the mud. Nate has a really big –"
"I know," Piper said, cutting her little sister off before she could finish. "I've seen it already." She closed her eyes, realising her mistake the instant the words left her lips.
"When was that?" Nat asked, giggling.
"That's none of your business, kiddo," Piper replied, cracking her knuckles before reaching into her coat pocket to retrieve her lighter and metal cigarette case. Opening the case, she picked out a cigarette, clicked her lighter to life and applied it to the cigarette's end, inhaling deeply and making it glow brightly for a moment. She held the smoke in her lungs for a moment or two before exhaling it in a long plume. "All you need to know is that we're not heading back to Diamond City for a while, so you'd better get used to eating grilled radroach."
Nat's disgusted groan was almost enough to distract Piper from the obvious question scratching at the base of her skull. Had she thrown away the best friendship she had formed in a long time over nothing more than a stupid misunderstanding?
She had to fix this. Going back to Diamond City was going to be difficult, but it was the only way to really find out what had happened—and maybe repair some fences at the same time.
Piper looked at the sky, cursing inwardly as she saw swirling green clouds coalescing in the inky darkness above her. She needed to find shelter if she wanted to avoid getting her sister saturated with radiation; she herself had spent enough time in the wasteland to have built up a decent tolerance to it, but Nat was still too young to really have any resistance other than Rad-X or RadAway just yet. Since Piper had left Diamond City too quickly to remember to pack either medication, it was doubly important to get somewhere safe as quickly as possible.
She glanced up at the rusted, crooked signpost at the corner of the rubble-strewn street, and cursed again. She had been walking aimlessly for so long she had completely lost track of where she was, and now there was only one place nearby which she knew for sure was sheltered enough to be safe from the storm. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed Nat by the hand - despite her sister's protests - and pulled her in the one direction she did not want to head down.
She was really not going to enjoy this.
It did not take long before she reached her final destination, the greasy rain beginning to soak into her coat as she arrived at its doors. Nat started to complain, but Piper quickly shushed her. She did not need another negative voice nagging at her; her own mind was already doing a fine job of that.
The Combat Zone was as noisy as ever, with rowdy, drunken groups of raiders milling around outside its front door and passing bags of caps around as they left its smoky, rundown interior. Nodding silently to Jimmy on the door, she slipped through into the main hall of the arena, making her way to the entrance to the backstage area as quickly as she could, Nat grumbling loudly all the while.
Piper walked up to Cait's door and hammered on it with her fist. "Cait?" she asked tentatively. "Cait, are you in there? I need your help."
It did not take long before the door clicked open, and Cait appeared in the doorway, thankfully fully clothed this time. "Well, well, well," the Irish brawler said with a crooked smile. "Look what the cat dragged in. What can I do for you, princess?"
"I... we need a place to stay for the night, and you were the closest person I could think of to ask for a hand," Piper said, each word feeling like a jagged chunk of brick as it emerged from her throat.
Cait blinked in surprise. "That's definitely not what I expected you to say," she said, sounding genuinely taken aback before her swagger kicked right back in. "I'm kinda touched you thought enough of me to ask for my help, though. I didn't think you liked me that much, especially after what happened last time with your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," Piper sighed, annoyed. "Look, Nat and I just need to crash here tonight because of the rad-storm; can you find us a bed? We'll be gone first thing in the morning, I swear."
Cait pursed her lips before she swung her door wide open. "Be my guest," she said. "You and your sister can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." She jabbed a finger at Piper. "But you owe me one, all right?"
"Deal," Piper said. "Thanks, Cait. I appreciate it."
"Don't thank me yet," Cait chuckled. "You might not like it when the bedbugs start biting. Nasty little feckers can take chunks out of you if they're really hungry."
"Thanks for the warning," Piper replied. "Come on, Nat, let's get you settled in..."
Piper awoke with a start as she felt something poking her in her chest, almost jumping out of her skin as she found herself looking right into Cait's green-eyed gaze and felt Cait's callused hand covering her mouth to muffle her yelp of fright. "Jesus, Cait, what the fuck are you doing?" she hissed as Cait retracted her hand, speaking as quietly as possible so as not to wake Nat. "Were you just watching me sleep?"
Cait raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "Relax, love—I was just making sure you didn't turn into a bedbug snack. You're safe, for now." She grinned. "And I was just waiting for your little sister to go to sleep before I asked you why you really came here."
"I told you, we just needed a place to stay for the night," Piper replied.
"I get that," Cait said, sitting back in her chair, "but why aren't you all tucked up in your little paradise over in Diamond City?"
"That's my business, Cait," Piper retorted, beginning to roll over before Cait reached out and grasped her shoulder, preventing her from doing so.
"No," Cait said flatly, "you don't get to go back to sleep before you tell me why you're really here. It's because of Nate, isn't it?" Piper started to angrily deny Cait's statement, but Cait quickly touched her finger to Piper's lips, shutting down her response before it could begin. "Don't lie to me, princess," she said flatly. "More importantly, don't lie to yourself. I might not know how love works, darlin', but I know what it looks like. You love that man, and you're scared to admit it, so you came here for a shoulder to cry on." She quirked one side of her mouth up into a ragged smile. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"No," Piper said as Cait drew her finger back. "I came here because this was the closest shelter, and I didn't want my sister to be caught in a rad-storm. That's all."
"That's it," Cait said, grabbing Piper's hand and yanking her to her feet. "Come with me." She dragged Piper out of her room and into the corridor where other fighters were milling around waiting for their own fights to begin, and then abruptly pushed Piper up against a wall, pressing her lips roughly to her neck and sucking hard, making Piper squeak in shock. Cait drew back after a few seconds but kept her muscular arms braced against the wall, preventing Piper from getting away. "Don't lie to me again, princess," she said in a low, soft purr. "Every time you lie, I'll give you another one of those. Something to explain to your boyfriend the next time you see him." She smiled a shark's smile, her crooked, chipped teeth glinting in the bright lights of the corridor. "So tell me the truth. Look me in the eye and tell me the truth. You love him, don't you?"
"I don't love him!" Piper insisted, only to find Cait clamping her lips onto her neck again, scraping her skin with those crooked teeth for a moment, and then tracing the raised mark delicately with her tongue.
"I said don't lie," she said, her breath hot against Piper's neck. "Tell me the truth."
"I don't—I'm not sure how I feel about him," Piper said after a few moments of silence. She flinched away as Cait pressed closer to her again, trying to avoid receiving another vigorous bite. "I know he means a lot to me, but that's all I know for sure."
"Now we're gettin' somewhere," Cait chuckled. "Seems to me like you need to go talk to him about this. Maybe he feels the same way you do—but if he doesn't, he's a fuckin' idiot." She leaned closer to Piper, making her flinch again, until she gently pressed her lips against Piper's cheek, making the smaller woman gasp a little in surprise. "You better go find that man," she murmured softly into Piper's ear, "and you better fuck the shit out of him, or I'll do it for you."
"You're all heart, Cait," Piper said as Cait finally released her.
"I try my best," Cait replied before she brushed her fingers across the marks she had left on Piper's neck. "Sorry about those. Didn't know any other way to get through to you."
Piper scowled. "There are plenty of ways to talk to people that don't involve biting them, Cait."
"Maybe so," Cait said, "but they're nowhere near as fun." She gestured towards her door. "Better get some rest, princess. It's a long walk between here and Diamond City, so we'll need all the beauty sleep we can get."
"'We'?" Piper repeated, raising an eyebrow. Who's 'we'?"
Cait chuckled. "I'm comin' with you, you daft cow," she said, grinning briefly. "Someone needs to get you two lovebirds to snog, and I'm willin' to make that sacrifice."
"Oh God," Piper said, burying her face in her hands. "Why didn't I just sleep in a dumpster?"
"Because you love me almost as much as you love that daft Vaultie bastard," Cait said, her amusement plastered across her face. "You know it, and I know it." She grabbed Piper by the hand, dragging her back into her room. "Now come on—time to turn back in. We'll need an early start tomorrow…"