A good leader watches everything. There were dozens of spies who work for Goodneighbor scattered across the Commonwealth. No one knew who may or may not be a spy. Hell, even Hancock didn’t know all of his spies. The main job of his spies was to gather information. Collect rumors and facts. Each spy reported to a supervisor who gathered the information, sometimes even went out to verify it. Each supervisor reported to someone else and so on until all the information got to Fahrenheit. She then reported to her own supervisor, Hancock.
When Hancock was young, he thought it would be fun to have a spy network. Knowledge of the whole Commonwealth at his fingertips. Now that he had it, he understood it was mostly numbers and useless rumors. Most of the stories he got were mundane stories about brahmins being stolen, or crops withering in a field. He had to pay attention to those mundane rumors. If there was a rash of brahmin rustling, that could lead to an up-and-coming mob lord who may forget who was in charge around Goodneighbor and needed to be dealt with before they became a problem. A fungal plague could lead to a tato famine, which could become a disaster if he didn’t use his leadership to prepare for it.
Now he was preparing for the effects of a foreign war. Marian may have arrived in Goodneighbor with a rumor, but enough people were carrying that rumor to give it validity. He had to start stocking up on food and supplies to help support refugees. He also had to increase the city’s defenses; in case the war bled all the way up to the Commonwealth. A good leader had to consider all possibilities.
“We need more components for the turrets, boss,” Fahrenheit stated the obvious.
She was sitting at Hancock’s couch with a cigarette in her hand, going over details about the city’s current defenses and the projected needs for the planned changes Hancock had. Hancock sat at his own desk, also smoking, as he stared at the same information on his terminal.
The most boring part of leadership was making sure that a job had everything needed before starting. If Hancock wanted to increase defenses, he had to make sure that his city would not feel the stress of resources being diverted to increase.
“I know that,” he sighed. “We need a lot of things. The problem is, we aren’t going to get them if there is a new raider gang in town that we don’t know about.”
“Your team should be able to fix that, if they don’t kill each other before they do. I still think we should get those turrets ready as soon as possible, boss. It’ll help the construction team feel safer outside and provide more surveillance. I could talk to Bunker Hill, see if they have anything.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Fahrenheit stood up from where she was seated on the couch to open it just enough to talk with the guard outside.
“Valentine’s here, says he wants to talk with the boss,” the guard said to Fahrenheit.
“Send him in,” Hancock called out.
The door opened enough to admit Nick into the room before fully shutting again. Fahrenheit discreetly moved to the corner of the room, still puffing on her cigarette.
The straps to Marian’s backpack were gracing the synth’s shoulders, but its owner was absent. The look on Nick’s face was grim. Hancock hated that look, it normally meant that Nick was ready to put a case on ice.
“Nick, kill your partner already?” Hancock faked joviality as he stood up, putting out his current cigarette in one practiced motion.
“Ms. Halcombe decided to go to the Third Rail,” Valentine explained. “She didn’t seem eager to be part of this interview.”
“I guess that is to be expected,” Hancock admitted. He couldn’t fake how he felt about what he did. He wondered if shiving her would have been kinder. “Why are you carrying all of her worldly possessions?”
“Her friends in Quincy gave her more supplies than she could carry,” Nick explained. “I offered to take it so she could focus on her job.”
“How has she been with her job?” Hancock was glad to hear that there were other people in the Commonwealth who were looking out for her.
“She has been professional,” Valentine told him. “She did her best to protect me, and even took some injuries.” He sounded like that much of a compliment was a strain on him. The synth was refusing to give her the benefit of a doubt. He was looking for problems with Marian, and Hancock knew he was going to find them.
“So, what can I do for you?” Hancock asked.
“I need information about your caravan,” Nick said.
“Take a seat,” Hancock offered gesturing to one of his couches. “I’ll do what I can to help.”
Nick took the backpack off. He didn’t have the grace Marian did from removing and replacing the sack several times a day, but he got it off and placed it next to the couch which may once had been cream colored before sitting down on the same couch. Hancock sat down on the red one, facing his old friend.
Nick took out the thin case file and a pencil. “I need to know specifics about the caravan,” he explained. “How big was it, when did you expect its arrival, when did you notice it went missing, the usual questions.”
Hancock thought for a moment, he was going to give Nick everything the detective needed to find that caravan. “I don’t know the exact size of the caravan,” he answered honestly. “I can give you an itinerary of what I was expecting to be delivered in it.”
Nick made notes in the file as the Mayor talked. Hancock wished it was more helpful than he knew it was. Fahrenheit moved on cue to get a copy of the order Hancock made and delivered it to Nick.
“Notes about the order should be in there as well,” Hancock explained. “But you know how those long-range caravans work. They don’t provide delivery runs for every out of state order they receive. They probably had supplies to deliver for at least half the settlements in the Commonwealth.”
Nick glanced at it casually, Hancock knew he would go over it more thoroughly later.
“I expected it to arrive about a week ago,” Hancock continued. “We normally don’t panic when a caravan is a little late. Problem is that more caravans than usual have not been making it here. Not just the long-range caravans either. Two corn orders from Outpost Zimonja, and a purified water delivery from Somerville Place have also gone missing this past month.”
Nick muttered to himself as he wrote. “I don’t know if the other settlements have been having similar problems, Mayor McDonough doesn’t exactly let me in on trade issues.”
Hancock chuckled, “He doesn’t say much to me about Diamond City trade either. I have heard that most other settlements are fine. Bunker Hill is complaining about caravans missing, though. At first, I thought it was just Kessler being Kessler, but now I’m wondering if she has a point.”
“I’ll have to look in on that,” Nick muttered making a mental note as much as a written one. “Why haven’t you mentioned these other missing orders before? Earlier you said they were all from the South.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“I was worried if I started off with a list of missing caravans you and your partner would be overwhelmed and run around looking for all of them. I decided to focus on the one with the materials that I need the most while my people run after the locals to see if they can turn anything up first.”
“And have they?”
“Nothing. Right now, I have guys looking for those three caravans. The one looking into Somerville has reported back, the other one is still investigating possible alternative routes his guys could have taken. But last I heard he hasn't found as much as the contents of a used canister of jet.”
As Hancock was talking, there was a commotion outside the office door. All three people turned their attention to the noise. Hancock knew what it sounded like when someone wanted to get in without waiting. Fahrenheit moved to the door to inspect the issue. She barely started opening the door when MacCready pushed through followed by his sister.
“Valentine!” MacCready announced. “You have to find them!”
“What?” Nick asked.
“RJ, he doesn’t know,” Marian said.
“Knick Knack and Knock Knock, they are in that convoy! Please, you fu…you have to find them,” MacCready continued.
Nick massaged the bridge of his nose with his metal hand. “What are a knick knack and knock knock?”
“They are friends of mine from Little Lamplight,” MacCready explained. “Marian just told me they were in the convoy.”
“That’s funny,” Nick said condescendingly. “Marian didn’t give me that information. It would have been very useful.”
“I wasn’t sure,” Marian told him. “My friends told me those names, they sounded like Little Lamplight names to me. I wanted to check before I told you anything.”
Nick closed the file he had been writing in and tossed it on the coffee table between him and Hancock. Papers poked out from the file before they stopped moving, he punctuated this motion by tossing his pencil on top of the pile. Nick stood up with the finality of someone who had made up their mind to their purpose. He walked over to Marian until he towered over her. MacCready moved out of his way as he approached Marian, but it was clear he regretted moving as soon as he did. Hancock tensed himself to fight Nick, and he could feel the others in the room doing the same. To Marian’s credit, she wasn’t backing down. She didn’t even look afraid as she looked straight up to the synth’s face.
“I am the detective,” Nick barked. “You are the bodyguard. It is my job to chase clues and make sure of things, not yours. If you think you may have a clue, tell me. Now, get out.”
Marian turned and glided out of the room, taking Nick’s anger with her. The whole room was silent until one of the guards was discreet enough to quietly close the door.
“You’re a bas…you’re an as…you’re a jerk,” MacCready told Nick.
Nick ignored the young companion long enough to take out a cigarette and light it up. He took a long drag and then turned around to the rest of the room. Hancock felt just like MacCready.
“You’ll never get help from her now,” Fahrenheit said, breaking her usual silence.
Even with the talking, the room felt silent. Maybe Marian took the noise and life with her too. This kind of quiet made Hancock uncomfortable, he could really use a psycho, but it would probably cause him to go feral on Nick.
Nick moved back to his couch and sat down right where he was before he snapped at Marian. He kept his cigarette in his mouth as he quietly collected his file before sitting back and looking straight at Hancock.
“Did you get that out of your system?” Hancock asked.
“Yes,” Nick confirmed. “Let’s get back to work.”
“Then put that damn thing out,” Hancock ordered.
Nick looked up at the rebellious mayor with shock. In all their years together, Hancock never even pretended to take the high road.
“What?” Nick asked.
“I made it very clear that you were not supposed to smoke while on this case,” he growled. “You are still on the case.”
“I don’t see why…”
“SHUT UP!” Hancock yelled.
The silence that was leaving the room reentered.
Hancock turned his attention to MacCready who was standing in the same spot he was when he got out of Nick’s way, looking unsure what to do at that moment. The ghoul felt a little sorry for the young man who was watching problems arise among all his friends. He may be tougher than most people, but he still cared about the people around him.
“MacCready, please go find your sister,” Hancock said gently. “Let her know that if she wants out of this job, I’ll still pay her full payment. I do want to speak with her by the end of the day no matter what she decides.”
“What about her stuff?” MacCready asked gesturing to the backpack.
“Leave it here,” Hancock said, “I’ll watch it for her.”
MacCready turned around and left the room. Some of the silence seemed to leave as the door opened.
After the door closed behind the mercenary, Hancock turned back on Nick. The synth looked unsure rather to put out his cigarette or not. This managed to upset Hancock even more. His black eyes flashed with anger. He wanted to talk to him, he wanted to yell at him, he wanted to punch Nick in the face. There was so much he wanted to say and do he was paralyzed from doing anything.
He reached down on his table and grabbed a canister of buffjet. He inhaled it, letting time slow down and calm his mood. Damn, even when Nick was at his worst, he never pissed off Hancock like this. At least he was keeping his mouth shut while the ghoul enjoyed his chems. Valentine scowled at Hancock’s drug use, but that made Hancock feel better, let him put that in his bong and smoke it.
Time began moving quickly again. Maybe too soon, but Hancock couldn’t run from the world all the time. Sometimes he had to remember what he was running from by facing it.
“What were you thinking?” was all Hancock could think to say before he was sure that time was moving properly again.
“I don’t see why you think I need a bodyguard, or a partner,” Nick blocked.
“You fucking stubborn synth,” Hancock growled. He wasn’t going to pull punches even on Nick. “What you did was beyond your job. You needed help, and she provided. I paired her with you because she knows more about the Capital Wasteland than you do. I was hoping you would use her specialized knowledge to your advantage instead you punished her for doing that on her own.”
“I am tired of armchair detectives wanting to be my partner.”
“I understand, everyone thinks your job is more glamourous than it is,” Hancock empathized. “They want to have a piece of that action and they want you to give it to them. That’s not what I saw. If she was playing armchair detective, she would have come running to you with everything that may be a clue. Instead, she took her time and double checked to see if it really was something you could use.”
Nick was quiet for a moment, “She should have said something to me.”
“If she did that, you would have ignored her, or told her she was wasting your time.” Hancock said. “If she never said anything, you would have made it into a cold case in two days with no leads. No matter what she did, you would have found fault in it, and she would tear herself up with guilt if those two friends of MacCready’s died.”
“She wouldn’t know what to look for,” Nick said.
“You honestly want to say that?” Hancock retorted. “It seemed to me she had a better idea than you.”
“She knows nothing about the Commonwealth!”
“What do you know about the Capital Wasteland? I thought you were smarter than that. I thought you knew how to use knowledge other people had to help you find the answers you need.”
Nick was silent, his yellow eyes shifted.
“The problem isn’t that she was doing your job for you,” Hancock accused. “The problem is that she’s the first person you have ever met who is as smart as you that you can’t find a reason to shoot, and that scares you.”
“I never found a reason to shoot you,” Nick countered.
“I was fourteen when we met. It took you ten seconds to figure out I was a punk kid and predicted everything I was going to do six months before I figured it out. You had me in line before I became someone you would need to shoot. Marian is an adult, that makes her less predictable, and that’s why you’re afraid of her.”
“I’m not afraid of her,” Nick protested.
“Then why are you treating her like she’s a problem? I know you keep files on everyone you know. What does her file say? Is it a list of possible things she may be that you consider less than respectable? Let me guess, you’re trying to find evidence that she’s planning to take over Goodneighbor.”
Nick’s eyes shifted again. “Diamond City,” he muttered.
“Damnit Nick!” Hancock barked. “Why can’t you just believe she is what she says she is? Give her a chance to prove she really does want to help people. That’s what you needed, wasn’t it?”
Nick sat quietly. Finally, the synth breathed in and let out a heavy sigh. He then leaned forward and snuffed out his cigarette in an ashtray.
“You win,” Nick said, “for the rest of this case, I will be nice to her. Assuming she chooses to stay on it.”
Nick sat back in the couch, opened his case folder and resumed making notes. Hancock smiled, he was certain that Marian was going to see this case to the end, he would have to find some way to tip her for that.
“I will need to follow up with MacCready on those two friends of his,” Nick muttered. “Off the record, why are you always looking out for her? I’ve never seen you do that for anyone before, especially for someone you haven’t tried to sleep with.”
Now it was Hancock’s turn to go quiet. Thank god that Nick couldn’t see his eye shift. He was just as afraid of Marian as Nick, but Hancock was willing to know why.
“I don’t want her to become like me.”