13: Homecoming

Normally, the sound of Diamond City's gate opening was an act of punishment upon the very concept of audio-sensation, an affront to the idea that a living thing has ears. For Piper, watching that ancient, rusty gate open with Valentine beside her; it sounded like an exhausted choir of angels belting out a very fine "welcome home". Piper swiped at her eyes, trying to stand firm, overcome with elation. When the doors opened completely to reveal a very furious looking McDonough- flanked by two members of security- Piper's elation truly soared.

Piper and Valentine began to make their way inside as McDonough waddled to meet them, though he did not step a foot beyond the gate's resting line. "Hold it!" He shouted, his eyes boring holes through Piper's. He hates me Piper thought, and smiled. "Hold it right there; you aren't allowed in here!"

Piper knew that was nothing but hot air being fanned her way, though she did her best to smother her joy and put on a mean face. It was hard not to stick her fingers in her ears and blow raspberries at him; a real Herculean task. "Really? Really, McDonough? I-"

"Yes, really!" McDonough interrupted, sputtering. "I-I-I don't care who vouches for you Piper, you're a God damned muckraker and I won't have you in my city!" His eyes fell on Valentine, who- thus far- seemed to be hiding an amused grin. "You- Mr. Valentine, we are of course overjoyed to have you back in Diamond City once again. I've heard a few cases have made their way to your firm since you're departure, but-"

"He isn't just vouching for me!" Piper jabbed a finger at the top of McDonough's chest. It was barely a poke, but the security to McDonough's right stepped forward and used the end of his bat to give Piper a shove all the same. Seeing her stumble brought a smile to McDonough's face. Now, Piper no longer had to pretend she was furious. "I saved his life!"

McDonough's face twisted into an expression of processing. "You-... What? Saved him, from what?"

Valentine took a half step. "From being beaten into spare parts by the battiest dame this side of the Neponset."

Piper snickered. "Heh, cause she had a bat- Ow-" Her mutterings were silenced under a pinch from Valentine's sharp, degloved metallic hand.

McDonough narrowed his eyes at Valentine, that look of processing deepening in an attempt to understand. "Piper… Saved your life? How?"

"I got captured by a gangster, goes by Skinny Malone. Or… Used to go by. Heard of 'im?"

McDonough shook his head. "I… Trust our city's fine security-" He paused to gesture to the man to his left, whom Piper knew for certain had perfected falling asleep on his night shift. "-To keep tabs and deal with any criminal elements who might pose a threat to our Great Green Jewel."

Valentine could feel some servo deep within him pop and fry in the sheer voluminous attempt required to not roll his eyes at McDonough's puffing. "Well, let's just say I underestimated him. He had quite an operation- a small army, really- of thugs pretending to be suited up gentlemen. He'd hired a very large outfit calling themselves the Triggermen to run an operation for him out of one of the metro stations- in a Vault-Tec vault, if you can believe it."

McDonough's eyes widened with faux, polite surprise. "A vault? Why that's-"

"Anyway," Valentine continued. "Long story short; the missing person's case I was following turned out to be more of a runaway case, and that runaway has a homebase swing that'd put even your best man to shame, mayor. I got captured and figured that my goose was cooked once that psycho broad convinced Skinny to turn me into a post-modern art piece. But then…" Valentine smiled, and gestured to Piper, who rested her fists on her hips and beamed a shit-eating grin McDonough's way.

McDonough's expression was of both disbelief and raw disgust. "No."

"Oh yeah." Valentine nodded. "Diamond City's sole journalist sprung me. Fought her way through a prewar vault full of goons and brought me back here."

McDonough's face began to change color, adopting that tato-hue of red that Piper craved to see. "I- Well- That doesn't-" McDonough floundered before adjusting his tie. "That doesn't excuse her from-"

"Expressing her concerns as a citizen through the ancient and respected medium of a newspaper?" Valentine raised an eyebrow. Seeing that McDonough was about to flounder again, Nick pressed the advantage. "Mayor McDonough, did she report anything that was untrue? To my understanding, her paper was mostly just an interview with Ms. Hawthorne recalling a spot of unfortunate Diamond City history, with a few… Thought-provoking questions thrown in."

McDonough bleeted; "But she implied I was a-"

"A what?" Valentine lifted the brim of his cap a bit. "A synth?"

Silence. Piper could hear the faint, distant moans of ancient corporate towers swaying in a breeze blown in from the Glowing Sea. She could see that red hue changing to a ghostly yellow not terribly far off from the pulp Piper printed her papers on. The two security flanking McDonough exchanged a look, though it was impossible to read through their catcher helmets.

McDonough grimaced, taking off his cap as he wiped a growing layer of sweat from his forehead. "... I didn't mean to offend, Mr. Valentine. It's just that-"

"Mayor McDonough." Valentine's voice was soft, feigning empathy and understanding. "Do the right thing. It can't look good on reelection that you threw out the sole journalist in the city when she said something about you that, of course, may not even be true. I'm sure you're able to take that kind of heat, as our elected official, right?"

McDonough shot Valentine a slightly vengeful look. Backed into a corner, Piper thought. Look at you now, you patchwork-suited rad-rat!

The mayor of Diamond City, at last, relented. He tried to look to Piper, but the expression on her face proved too much for him. Piper was sure that if he'd met her gaze directly, he might actually grow enough of a pair to try swinging at her. She wanted that- God, she wanted very much to lay McDonough out in a swing or two before his two flanking goons were on her- but she wanted Nat more. She wanted to come home.

McDonough inhaled sharply. "... Fair points, all. Piper, you better keep your nose absolutely clean. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." Piper's grin ensured her nose would be anything but filthy from sniffing out McDonough's dirt.

McDonough knew this, of course. All the same, he turned his gaze to Valentine. He could not hide his distaste- his anger- in his tone or expression. "Welcome back, Mr. Valentine…"

Nat was on her soap box, screaming to all who could hear with a fervor that Piper had never seen in her sister before. "Discover the truth they're hiding from you! Could our mayor be a synth!?" She belted.

The words struck both pride and fear into Piper's heart as she and Nick Valentine began to descend the steps into Diamond City proper. Both he and Piper exchanged a common look of horror. "Wow," Valentine marveled. "She's uh, goin'... For the throat there, huh? Surprised McDonough didn't throw her out, too." A sharp look from Piper made Nick flinch slightly. "Er, sorry."

Piper picked up her pace a bit. "Ahhh- Shit, no, you're right. She must've been pissed after McDonough threw me out. I never told her to say somethin' like that, that's too… Provocative, too speculative." She glanced at Nick, who's expression had "oh really" painted on it in spades. "Oh, shut up, you know what I mean."

Nick kept a jog to try to keep pace with her. "Speculative, huh? Why do I have a feeling when I read that newest print of yours, it won't feel very 'speculative'..."

"Extra! Extra!" Nat screamed into the ear of a passing denizen who held a bundle of wrapped brahmin meat in her arms. She flinched, stumbling, giving Nat a reproachful look. "Mayor tries to shut down the press! Kicks sole journalist out of town for telling the truth!"

"Oh my god, we're gonna get kicked out again-" Piper whispered under her breath as she took off in a proper sprint toward Nat and her soapbox. Nick glanced behind himself and saw McDonough coming up behind them. He stared down with utter contempt at the scene Nat was making. With a stiff pull at his jacket, his own wobbling legs began to carry their fair mayor down to Nat.

"Oh boy…" Nick muttered, preparing himself for the scene to follow.

"Extra!" Nat screamed. "Extra! Come on people, get your heads outta the m-" Nat was cut off with a sharp yelp as a set of arms swept her around the waist, sweeping her off the soapbox. "Hey!" She threw a reactionary elbow down, catching Piper directly in the temple. Piper didn't care; she squeezed all the same. Seeing that it was in fact her sister, Nat dropped the paper she'd been wielding and threw her hands down around Piper's neck. "You're back! You-" She looked up to see Valentine making a light jog toward them. "You rescued Mr. Valentine!"

"I did!" Piper realized she sounded as astonished as Nat. "I did… I'm back…"

Their reunion had begun to draw a crowd. "Piper's back?" A voice called.

"She brought Nick!" Said another.

"Oh McDonough's in for it now!" Said yet one more.

McDonough, at last, came upon the reunion. The short jog- if one could even call what the mayor had performed a jog- had left him reddened all over again, lightly huffing, sweating at the brow. "God damn it- Piper, you're back for less than two minutes and your sister's already blasting out crude slander!"

Piper set Nat down, turning to face McDonough. Nat tried to muscle forward, but Piper ensured that both she and Nick were a barrier between her and Diamond City's mayor. "Wait-" Piper said, disappointed in how pleading she sounded. She didn't think there was a moment in which she wasn't ready to jump down McDonough's throat, crier every lie she'd caught him in only to watch him flop like a beached dolphish. Not now, though. All Piper cared about right now was Nat, a hot bowl of Takahashi's noodles, and a night in her own bed.

McDonough did not relent. "I let you back in on good faith because you rescued a member of this community that actually does something! The moment you're back in, I find your brat sister calling me a synth!? I ought to-"

Nick coughed. "You ought to lower your voice, mayor."

McDonough flashed obese tiger's eyes at Nick. He had begun to say "what do you mean", but the evidence choked the words in his throat. The crowd that had gathered to see Nat and Piper reunited was triple its numbers now. Security, residents, merchants, and travelers alike stopped and stared with bated interest at their mayor's tantrum. Then, and only then, did rage give way to blood-chilling revelation. McDonough shrunk an inch or five, swallowing hard enough for his throat to pop as he reached a pale, shaking hand up to adjust his tie.

"I-" McDonough coughed. He tried to smile, but the expression was painfully inhuman; wildly anxious. "I… Apologize, for my outburst everyone! We all have bad days, haha, yes- But! But this is a good day!" McDonough shot his hand out, grabbing Nick by the wrist. Before Valentine could protest, his hand was in the air. Piper saw that her own wrist was next and took a sharp step back as McDonough's free hand made an empty swipe to grab her arm. He flashed her the briefest of glares before smiling back to the crowd- if one could be so bold as to call the curl of his nervously lick-smeared lips a smile.

"N-Nick Valentine is back! He had run into some trouble out there beyond the absolute safety of our city's walls, but Pi-..." McDonough swallowed again. Piper could only imagine the herculean feat it must have been for McDonough to work up the nerve to praise her openly. "But Piper braved the wastes and brought him back!"

Nat barred her teeth. "Braved the wastes!? You fat bloodbug, you kicked her-"

Piper shot a hand over Nat's mouth, looking down at her with wild eyes. "Nat- Please, not here, not now- Please, I'm begging you-"

McDonough had recoiled as though shot from Nat's rebuttal. This was getting uglier by the second. "Just- Just another reminder to ensure your taxes are paid so that our walls remain sturdy, and a reminder to be helpful to your fellow neighbor!"

Nick grinned. "Be good to your neighbor, even."

"Yes!" McDonough beamed. "Yes, be-" He sneered, glancing back at Nick, having only just now caught the double-meaning in those words. "Be… Be kind! And…"

The crowd, by this point, had begun to lose interest and was starting to disperse. McDonough sighed so mightily that Piper almost felt bad for him. When he turned to face the trio, he looked positively aged. He opened his mouth to say something- say a thousand things, none of them Piper imagined could be pleasant- but settled instead to simply snap his jaw shut, squeeze his fists, and begin to stomp off toward the elevator up to his office above the Stands.

When he was thoroughly out of earshot, Piper sank. She hadn't realized her knees were buckling. The pain when she fell on them was refreshing, because they'd fallen on home soil. She could be weak here. She was safe to falter in this place, in this moment, with these people around her. Nat wordlessly hooked her arms around Piper's neck, hugging her more on Nat's level.

Nick smiled down at them, reaching up to adjust the way his hat settled. "Well… That was a show. You've got some fire in you, Nat."

Nat grinned up at Nick. "Thank you Mr. Valentine."

"Not entirely sure if I meant it as a compliment." Nick said with a wry chuckle. "Well… I best not keep Ellie waiting around any longer, I'm sure I have her worried sick. Piper?"

Piper looked up to meet Nick's gaze. She was crying.

Nick had trouble keeping himself jaded when a young woman was crying at him, which made a great deal of his cases rather uncomfortable during the interview phase. "Meet me at my office when you've settled in- maybe after dinner. Ok? I wanna talk about how I can pay you back for… Well, for saving my life. No reason to call it anything other than what it is."

Piper shook her head, holding Nat a little tighter. "No- You don't owe me anything Nicky. I was happy to help, I just… I needed to get back to Nat-"

"You did," Nick raised a hand to stop her. "But, respectfully, bullshit on me not owing you. What you did was a little bit beyond just good samaritan work Piper. I won't take no for an answer; you see me and we'll see how I can try and just begin to settle up. I want to, alright? Don't worry. Whatever you need from me? Consider it yours." Nick smiled.

The first- and only- thing that came to Piper's mind left her assured that Nick would eat those words. Her voice was steadier than she thought it'd be. It lacked venom, rage, or passion. It was stated as a thing that simply must be. "... I want you to help me take down McDonough."

To her surprise, Nick's face barely cringed at the request. He quietly looked up toward the sky. Piper imagined how entirely human thoughts- thoughts of doubt, risk to one's self, justice, and so on- could pass through such an alien mind as Nick's, yet still come out as agreeable as anyone's. Sometimes, even more so. Nick let his eyes fall down to her as he offered a weary smile. "Ok."

"Just like that?" Piper asked, looking down to an astonished-looking Nat, then back to Valentine.

Nick gave a slow nod as he turned his gaze to the lone, fat man ascending to his office kingdom. "Yup. Just like that."