There was a lot was a lot wrong about this case. Individuals disappear, couples disappear, sometimes even whole families can disappear. Nick Valentine has worked on multiple cases finding all these different types of disappearances. Caravans, however, don’t just disappear.
If a caravan doesn’t make it to its destination, there is normally evidence as to what happened to it. Usually it’s a raider attack. When raiders take out a caravan, they will strip the caravan of everything of value. When finished, they will leave the carcasses of the brahmin who carried the goods, and any people who happened to be near enough to be convenient for a raider to shoot at while attacking the brahmin, out for the scavvers and ghouls.
Hancock was not short on resources himself. If there were bodies, why did his people not find them? Did Hancock’s people find them? Did they even look? Nick was so focused on taking Hancock’s advice on going to Quincy, that he forgot to ask basic questions.
“Remind me to ask Hancock about what his people found when they looked for the caravan next time we see him,” Nick said out loud.
Marian stopped walking to turn and look deadpan at him.
Nick felt uncomfortable under her gaze. He had to remind himself that he wasn’t working with Ellie. “I’ll be sure to make a note,” Nick apologized.
Marian turned and continued walking towards Quincy.
She was another thing that was wrong with this case. Nick had been hired by Hancock before, but he was never forced to have a bodyguard. It was like Hancock to force them to work together as a joke, one that Nick didn’t find funny.
Marian didn’t seem to find it funny either. Nick had to give her some credit, she was at least professional about it instead of fighting with him every step of the way to their destination. But she seemed off. Something about their meeting with Hancock seemed to send her into herself. It felt more like he was being escorted by another generation two synth than a flesh and blood woman. If this was anyone other than Marian Halcombe, he would have tried to break her out of her silence. But this woman can stay silent and run all the way back to the Capital Wasteland for all he cared.
Marian stopped again and held up the flat of her hand. “Wait,” she said quietly.
Nick stopped and listened himself.
“Get in there and wait for me to come get you,” she ordered pointing at an open trailer.
He moved obediently; it wasn’t a fight worth picking. He did agree to help make her job easier. Or at least not to actively make it harder.
He stayed crouched near the entrance to the trailer, trying to remain hidden from an unknown threat. Soon he heard some gunfire, there was too much for it to be only from her. He wondered if it was raiders, a common enough threat. The deep voices screaming declarations of their superiority told Nick how wrong he was.
Nick considered joining Marian in her fight with the super mutants. But she was unpredictable. If she took offense, she may choose to abandon him for not following her orders. Would she stay in the Commonwealth after leaving him, or did Hancock piss her off enough to send her back home?
KABOOM!
“Damn,” Nick cursed. There was a suicider. The fight took long enough that it may have snuck up on Marian. Nick rushed to the firefight. Maybe he could help make sure she won, if she was still alive.
He got within sight of the fight to see a dead mutant hound, super mutant bits, two living super mutants, and Marian shooting at the one running at her with a sledgehammer. The last crackles of a Geiger counter from her direction were fading away.
It wasn’t false humility when she claimed she wasn’t as good at shooting as MacCready, nor was it bravado when he would say the same thing. She was, however, more strategic in her shooting than MacCready. While MacCready always went for a head shot, Marian was shooting at the legs of the approaching super mutant. When it went from charging at her to limping towards her, she changed her focus to the other one. She shot at the one carrying a pipe pistol while moving around to remain out of reach of the injured one.
“Why won’t you stay still!” The sledgehammer wielding super mutant shouted.
Her feet moving in front and behind one another looked more like a dance than a fight strategy. Nick found himself memorized by her fighting style, even as the super mutant’s head exploded like an over ripe melon.
“You’ll have to be more cleaver than that!” she taunted.
The remaining super mutant recovered enough to start running again, his shouts of frustration punctuated his location. Marian turned, slinging her rifle on her back and pulled out a combat knife in one fluid motion. She switched stance, lowering her body and moved her weight to the balls of her feet. Nick had the impression she was not a novice to a knife fight.
The super mutant swung at her, but she jumped back just enough leaving him to hit only air. Before it was finished with its swing, Marian moved in, stabbing between its ribs, and swiping at its shoulder blades. She started bouncing back, but was too slow, another swing threw her several feet away from him, leaving her laying on the ground.
Nick wasn’t going to wait to find out if she survived, he pulled out his revolver and started shooting at the super mutant.
“This is what they call ‘super’ mutants, huh. Makes me feel sorry for the mediocre ones,” Nick taunted as he fired.
The monstrosity was standing over Marian, raising its sledgehammer over its head to finish her off when Nick’s bullets distracted it. Thank god these things are so easy to distract.
It turned towards Nick, lumbering at him, taking the fight to him. One last bullet, and it succumbed to its injuries, falling forward to the ground.
Nick pocketed his gun and ran to Marian. She was moving, but not much. She had managed to sit up, but even that looked like a challenge.
“Marian, are you alright?” Nick asked as he placed a hand on her arm.
“Don’t…don’t touch me,” Marian ordered, her voice was strained with obvious pain. “Fucker broke…at least one rib.”
“Shit,” Nick said. Broken ribs looked like the worst of what she got, but it wasn’t all she got. Her face was covered with soot most likely from the suicider; and Nick could see a trickle of blood wetting her right sleeve, her aim was probably wrecked from that injury.
“Do me a favor,” she said. “Med supplies…in my right cargo pocket.”
Nick ignored her request as he pulled out a stimpak from his own pocket and used it on her. The effect was immediate as he watched her sit up straighter. Her breathing became more natural and less controlled.
“Thank you,” she said as he helped her stand up.
He put his hand under her elbow, and lifted her underweight body until she got her feet steady beneath her. She was so light, and he could feel her bones through her jacket. She was putting on weight the last time he saw her. What could have happened to cause her to loose all of that?
“You didn’t have to do that, I have supplies Hancock provided.”
“You paid too much for those,” Nick said. “I’ll put this one on his expense report.”
Marian smiled a sly smile, matching the one Nick gave her. “Be sure to include the expense of assisting me in my duties.”
The little minx.
“Normally I would get angry at a client for not waiting where I told them to,” Marian continued. “But I think in this case, you just saved my life.”
“Glad to be of service,” Nick replied, sounding a little more like Codsworth than he intended.
“Don’t do it again,” she ordered. She was all business again. Ready to fight anything that may be a threat.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The two continued on their way to Quincy. It was mostly uneventful. After they were close enough to see the settlement, Marian started getting restless. Her stride was getting longer. She seemed to have troubles keeping herself focused on her job.
When they were close enough to make out figures standing on the freeway, looking out for danger, Nick saw what looked like a ghoul running towards them. He stopped walking and pulled out his pistol, ready to fire incase it was a feral. Marian had stopped walking as well, but she did not look as nervous as he felt.
“Put that away or I will kill you,” she ordered with a finality that made Nick feel that was more than just a threat. She slung her rifle over her shoulder as she spoke, showing she did not see a threat from this rushing ghoul.
Nick quietly complied, still worried. If it was a feral, it would attack her first. It looked huskier than Marian, like it had lived a life of good food and hard work. She wouldn’t have a chance in a one on one fight against it.
“Tink!” The ghoul called out raising his hands above his head, proving that he wasn’t a feral.
“Alex!” Marian responded in kind with her hands raised just like his.
Alex ran up to the bodyguard he called “Tink” and threw his arms around her in a strong embrace.
“You’re home!” Alex announced as if Marian was unaware of where she was.
“Alex,” Marian cooed patting his back, “you know I like to think of the wastelands as my home.”
Alex finally broke from the hug. Nick hoped he left her newly knitted ribs intact. “You walk us all the way here, and stay in an area where you know no one else, and you don’t think we are special enough to consider home?”
“Of course, you’re special,” she affirmed. “You were willing to follow me and my hunch. I must appreciate that. And I am working to get you guys set up so you can thrive again.”
“Then come on, the others are waiting,” Alex ordered as he walked into Quincy with his arm around Marian.
“Alex! I’m working!”
“We’re here, he’s safe, everyone misses you,” Alex said and took Marian away from Nick.
“I’ll come find you when I’m ready to go,” Nick called out to the retreating figures.
Everyone misses her? Nick tried to think about what kind of person could miss Marian so much that they couldn’t wait for her to finish a job. Then he thought about how excited Ellie seemed to get when Marian was in town. Marian did seem to have an open charm that drew unwary people in. He even found himself pulled in by it more than once. Like you wanted to tell her all your secrets without her needing to ask, and those knowing blue eyes will look straight at you and file them away for safe keeping. He’s sure Piper would be jealous of that ability when she learns about it.
Nick lit a cigarette, there was no point in watching for her majesty’s delicacies if she had just been whisked away by a ghoul. Smoking helped him think anyway. Before he entered Quincy, another person came out. This one was a human man.
“Nick Valentine,” the man announced as he walked up to the synth, “My people told me you were here. My name’s Jack, I’m the man standing in for leadership when Nate isn’t around. I’m sorry I wasn’t the first to come out and greet you.”
Nick chuckled slightly. “It’s hard to expect a welcome as warm as what my colleague received. I will settle for a hearty handshake and a private interview.”
“Of course,” Jack replied, “where is your colleague now?”
“A ghoul she called Alex took her away.”
Jack’s face went white and his eyes went slightly larger. “You mean Tink? The human who came with the Capital Wasteland Ghouls?”
“The what?” Nick asked. He had been receiving information about her in trickles ever since she arrived in the Commonwealth, mostly from Ellie, but he had heard rumors from other sources. No one looked scared of her before, and he never heard of a group called “The Capital Wasteland Ghouls”.
“It’s the group she brought to us. Six ghouls and herself. They came here from The Capital Wasteland. The ghouls call her Tink.”
“How often does she come here?” Nick asked, suspicious of a woman who would travel with multiple aliases.
“This is the first time she’s been back. Her friends all stayed here, with my permission,” Jack added as if he was trying to protect someone. “But they talk about her a lot. They have a strange relationship with her if she’s just a guide like they claim she is.”
“And how do they act towards your citizens?”
“They are all model citizens themselves,” Jack explained. “They found jobs that needed to be filled and are working hard at each of them. They stay mostly to themselves, but it seems as if they aren’t sure if they want to stay or move on.”
Nick took in this information for a moment. He was going to have to work on the case file he keeps on her. A woman showing up with a posse of ghouls may be an unusual way of starting something less than legitimate, but it was still a possibility. He’d seen kingpins and godfathers arrive in the Commonwealth with the start of their own gangs before. And she did have the charm of one.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Nick lied. “I actually came to ask you a few questions about your convoy traffic. Do you mind?”
“No,” Jack insisted. “I have a desk and some chairs in what I like to think of as my office. Please, come.”
Jack lead Nick to an office that was little more than a hole in the wall. It was a hole in the wall in the sense that there was a huge hole in the wall leading outside from the office. A black bird sat in the hole, observing the two of them. Nick recognized it from when he helped Nate clear out the Gunners over a year ago, this particular room was directly under where Mama Murphy used to live. Nate had to drop down into the room to take down the bar. Nick looked to see the yellow and black striped beam still hanging from its support. Jack shut the door and took a seat at the desk and Nick sat in front of it. The heavy dust over the entire office showed that Jack probably never used this room, but he most likely kept it for visitors like Nick.
Jack sat up at his desk waiting for Nick to get his case file ready before they began their interview. He had a restless air about him. He looked like he would rather be helping harvest crops than sitting at that desk. After Nick had a pen ready to take notes, he looked up at the make shift mayor and nodded his head slightly, letting the man know he was ready to begin. Jack opened the conversation asking, “What questions do you have about convoys?”
“I’ve heard some convoys have been going missing,” Nick explained. “I’m not saying that you or anyone from your city is responsible for this, but some of the missing convoys have passed through here. It will help me out a great deal if you could give me an idea on how often you get convoys.”
“We have convoys which pass through about one or two a day. This settlement is the farthest to the South and far from the Glowing Sea, that normally helps encourage traffic to pass through when they are coming to or leaving the Commonwealth.”
“What about convoys from the Capital Wasteland?” Nick asked, he put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the desk before pulling out another one.
“Those are not as common,” Jack explained. “The distance makes it high risk for most convoys. We used to get them about once every week or two, but they have been slowing down. There are rumors of a war going on there.”
“I have heard about that war,” Nick said. If the war was big enough to slow down trade, it must be more than a small territorial dispute.
“It’s an awful thing,” Jack continued. “We wouldn’t have been able to prepare for the influx of refugees if it weren’t for the help from the Capital Wasteland Ghouls.”
“There have been a lot of refugees then?” Nick asked, letting himself get taken off track. Marian’s legitimate or illegitimate practices were more interesting than a late convoy anyway.
“Not so many yet. Right now, we are getting mostly ghouls and some people who think they may be synths, but even then, the numbers aren’t that bad. We get about one a day, we feed them, and send them on their way. We wouldn’t have been able to do that much if we hadn’t been given the warning we needed from the first group. We do need more beds, but Nate hasn’t been responding to the calls we’ve put out on our radio.”
“He’s busy right now, all I can suggest is to keep calling him,” Nick was glad he wasn’t the only one who Nate was ignoring. His own radio call had been on repeat for five months and counting. “Back to the convoys, when was the last time one from the Capital Wasteland came through?”
Jack sat back and thought about it. “Two weeks ago? No, wait, that one came from Appalachia. I want to say three days ago, but I am not sure. I’m sorry, we don’t normally keep records of convoys passing through. We sometimes trade with them, but usually we just give them a place to rest for a night before they continue into the Commonwealth.”
“It’s ok,” Nick comforted. “If you think of anything, please feel free to call me on the radio. Thank you for your help.” Nick stood up from his armchair before putting out his latest cigarette.
“It was a pleasure, Mr. Valentine,” Jack said standing up with the detective. He reached out to shake Nick’s hand. “I just wish I could be more help.”
Nick wandered out of the office and went looking for Marian, or Tink, or whatever name she went by in Quincy. He found her in the Chapel that was the centerpiece of the city. She was working on her assault rifle, while talking to a female ghoul who still had a head full of black hair in a sophisticate style. Alex was nearby, inventorying some produce while including himself in the conversation occasionally. Other ghouls were running around finding things to put into Marian’s precious backpack.
“Hold up a moment,” Nick heard her say. “Erica, enough with the refreshing beverages!”
“They work better than rad-a-way, and they can heal you in a pinch,” a small ghoul responded.
“I don’t care, I have to carry them until I need them,” Marian told her. “That’s a lot of weight I have to hump around.”
“You can do it,” Erica responded, “you’re a tough girl.”
“Everything has its limit,” Marian countered. “Just give me seven.”
“Fifteen! I worked hard making these and you don’t have any rad-a-way.”
Marian looked aghast. “I don’t have rad-a-way because you stole all of it to make those things. Fine, ten, but no more! The gourds are going to be enough weight on my shoulders and my charge is here.”
Nick walked into the building. “I’m ready to head back to Good Neighbor if you are,” Nick told her.
“Here,” a male ghoul with a natural haircut said helping Marian into her backpack. “I even put a book in there for you to read.”
“I hope it’s not the Aeneid,” Marian responded.
“God no!” the ghoul said looking offended.
Marian gently hugged the ghoul she was talking to when Nick arrived. “It was good to see all of you. I do want you guys to consider my proposal. And when Lisi gets back, please yell at her for me.”
“We will,” Alex assured her as he took his turn to gently hugged her. “But come back sooner next time, Tink.”
“I will do my best,” Marian promised before she grabbed her weapon and turned to Nick. “Let’s go.”
The two of them walked out of Quincy together. They were barely out of town before Nick saw Marian shifting her shoulders.
“Ugh,” she lamented. “I think she gave me all fifteen!”
“Here,” Nick said, gently tugging on the backpack’s handle.
Marian didn’t bother arguing with him, she did a dance with her arms, trying to disentangle herself from the backpack without losing control of her rifle.
It was heavy. It was probably the first time he ever saw the bag full, and now the seams were being stretched. Still, he could carry it easily as he slung it on his own back before they walked to Goodneighbor together.