Hancock had a lot of faults. For some reason, he seemed determined to highlight all of them at this moment for Nick. The ghoul mayor huffed another canister of jet, grating on Nick. Normally he was impartial to his friend’s drug use, but at this moment it felt like Hancock was rubbing it in his face. The fact he wasn’t allowed to smoke just made Hancock’s actions more annoying.

“She’s not coming back,” Nick insisted. “I should head to Bunker Hill before it gets late.”

Hancock smiled a knowing smile. “Don’t worry, she’ll be here as soon as MacCready finds her. You wouldn’t want to leave without your partner.”

“She’s not my partner,” Nick growled. Hancock’s self-assured attitude was another fault that grated on Nick.

Hancock’s smile became broader. “Of course not. She only found the first clue to this case.”

Nick normally ignored Hancock’s goading, but somehow it was touching a wire this time. Nick stood up and started pacing around the room. “She was able confirm that the caravan in question made it to the Commonwealth, that was all.”

“That was the most important part for her,” Hancock told him.

“Because of the war?” Nick asked.

“Because of the war,” Hancock confirmed.

“Jack in Quincy mentioned the war as well,” Nick remembered. “Something about ghouls and possible synths running away from it. What exactly is going on in the Capital Wasteland?”

“According to Marian we started a civil war among the Brotherhood,” Hancock explained.

“Wait, the Brotherhood of Steel are fighting a war among themselves?” Nick asked. He felt himself get excited. He hated the Brotherhood of Steel, the idea that they were tearing themselves apart, possibly even destroying the group entirely, excited him. Then he thought of the refugees already in the Commonwealth because of them. Coolant flowed through his system, calming his excitement down. He rejoined Hancock at the couch. “When titans fight, it’s the mortals who pay,” Nick said out loud as he sat down.

“That’s the general idea,” Hancock agreed. “Everyone is trying to become the next Elder, and it seems they don’t care what or who is sacrificed for it.”

“That explains her friends,” Nick muttered.

“What’s that?”

“I counted five ghouls in Quincy doting on her like a shared niece,” Nick explained. “I think there was one more who happened to be absent, I would not be surprised if she was a ghoul as well.”

Hancock laughed softly, “I knew I liked that woman for a reason. Beyond the fact she could piss you off so effectively, of course.”

“You can be a real ass, you know that,” Nick growled back with a friendly smile.

Before Hancock could reply, there was a knock at his door. Fahrenheit walked over to the door and opened it up to speak with the guard outside.

“Ms. Halcombe is here with some friends,” the guard said.

Fahrenheit opened the door enough to let them in. Marian entered, proving Hancock right. MacCready followed as well as Cait. Nick didn’t know that Marian was acquainted with Cait, he would have to work harder on his file on her. The visibly darkening bruise on her cheek hinted that perhaps she had just recently met the cage fighter.

“Speak of the devil, and she appears,” Hancock jibbed.

“I hardly deserve a title as illustrious as that,” Marian responded, tilting her head in a flirtatious manner.

“I see you brought Cait with you,” Nick interrupted their flirting.

“I heard there was a chance to crack in some heads,” Cait informed him.

Nick glanced over at Marian, she seemed to fold in on herself. “I didn’t tell her anything,” Marian insisted.

Nick sighed, “We are not sure if there will be any fighting. All we know is some caravans have gone missing. That could mean anything.”

“When you find where they have gone, I’ll help kick some arses to get them back.”

Nick started massaging the bridge of his nose again. He had to remember not to snap at Marian, he promised Hancock.

As his attention was turned away, he could hear Marian’s soft footfalls moving towards Hancock. “Can I speak with you?” she asked him quietly.

“Of course,” Hancock said before standing up and moving to the sink area in his office with Marian following.

“Hey, Valentine,” MacCready called his attention away from the two flirts in the room as he sat in the seat Hancock just vacated. “How long do you think this case will take? I really want to make sure Knick Knack and Knock Knock will be okay.”

“Your friends?” Nick asked.

“They grew up in Little Lamplight with me,” MacCready explained.

“I understand this is very personal for you, but truth is there isn’t much about this case to go on. It’s hard to say as things stand. I can tell you that I will do everything I can to find them,” Nick answered bluntly. He knew that MacCready would prefer that over beating around the bush.

As he was talking, he saw Hancock and Marian move out of his field of vision.

“If you need shi…if you need anything from me…”

He could hear their footsteps move to somewhere behind him.

“I will let you know,” Nick did his best to reassure MacCready.

Nick heard a filing cabinet open and papers rustling.

“Here you go,” Hancock said in his natural volume.

“Thank you,” Marian responded as quietly as she had spoken to Hancock earlier.

“What’s that?” Nick asked as he twisted himself so he could look at the two conspirators.

Marian turned to Nick; a file clutched in her hands. She held it close to her like it was a sort of crude shield. Hancock barely looked at Nick as he closed the cabinet.

“It’s something for me to do when I wait for you,” she said. Her voice sounded distant, even though her words matched the movements of her mouth, it sounded almost as if they came from somewhere else.

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Nick was about to accuse her of something. Maybe even remind her of her job again. Then he actually looked at her. “Rabbit” didn’t describe her well enough. She was trying to hide her fear from everyone in the room, maybe even from herself. The damage he did was obvious. She was afraid of being yelled at again, but still wanted to help her brother. She wasn’t a rabbit; she was a mouse in a maze and every dead end had a set trap waiting for her.

Nick would have to tiptoe until he fixed the damage he caused. She did find the clue he needed in order to know there was even a case to be had. Maybe she would be an asset to this case. If she was afraid of him, she would be nothing more than a bodyguard. Probably an ineffectual one at that.

“Does it have something to do with the case?” Nick asked quietly.

“I’m not sure yet,” Marian responded.

“When will you be sure?”

Marian went silent. Damn, she wanted to confirm something, and can’t say it without setting off the mousetrap.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Cait asked. “Just two minutes ago you were willing to throw down with me. Now you’re afraid of Nicky?”

MacCready quickly stood up and moved Cait out of the office, Nick could hear the door latch behind them. The door was quieter than Cait’s angry voice followed by the quieter tones from MacCready.

Nick stood up and moved over to Marian. “Look, Doll, we’re supposed to be partners in this. If we are going to find the caravan, we need to communicate. Please tell me what you were planning.”

Marian shifted the focus in her eyes, she started having the look in her face she had earlier when she talked about the war in the Capital Wasteland. “It’s a record of the missing caravans from the past month,” she told Nick’s tie. “I thought of doing some triangulation and see if there might be some pattern to the past missing caravans.”

Now it was Nick’s turn to go silent. She already had an idea to help find the caravan. Not just that, but it was a useful idea. She wasn’t running to him trying to point at every footprint as a possible clue. She was trying to help but was making sure whatever she brought him would be worth his wrath.

“Do you have a map?” Nick asked. The best he could do for her now was make sure she had everything she needed to do the job right.

Marian’s head tilted up, her blue eyes were meeting his again, “I stopped by Daisy’s on my way back.”

Cleaver woman. “What about tracing paper?” Nick asked, trying to give her a reassuring smile.

Rather than return his smile, she went back to staring at his tie. Damn. Was it his smile, or the feeling of failure that caused her to look away? Hancock was right, he really did mess things up.

“Hancock, Marian could use some tracing paper, do you have any you can spare?”

“Sure thing,” Hancock was always good at following an unstated idea. The mayor went to his desk and pulled out several sheets. Nick made a mental note to credit Hancock for those on the expense report as he accepted them from his old friend.

“No,” Marian said, coming out of herself. “I don’t need it.”

Don’t need it, or too proud to accept?

“Trust me, Doll,” Nick said gently taking the file out of Marian’s hands.

She gave him no resistance. She just let the file go. He was the detective, she was the bodyguard. She wasn’t going to cross the same line and risk him yelling at her for the same mistake. Nick chose not to think about it. He just opened the file and placed the papers in it.

“These things are more useful than you would imagine,” Nick continued. “They will make it where your map lasts longer. It will also make it easier to compare different ideas without worrying about cluttering up the map.”

Marian’s face went almost blank, there was a shadow of her usual defiance there still. Nick was never so glad to see someone hate him before. He may have damaged her, but that defiance showed that he didn’t break her.

“Go ahead and put the map in there,” Nick ordered her. He was going to give her something to be defiant against. “You want to keep all of your paperwork together. It will make it easier for future reference. I don’t know when you’re going to find the time to do what you’re planning, Sweetheart, if you’re going to be working on the case with me. You'd be surprised how little free time that will grant you.”

The defiance in Marian wasn’t strong enough to keep her from obeying him. She produced the fabled map and stored it in the folder that held all of her other papers. She didn’t seem to be listening to Nick until she heard him tell her about the coming interview. She looked up at Nick, her blue eyes finally locking with his.

“I thought you said that I was the bodyguard,” Marian jibed. Her voice was sounding firm again, like she wasn’t afraid of her words.

“Don’t get me wrong, Doll,” Nick said, emphasizing the word “doll”. “You will be doing that as well. I believe that was what Hancock hired you for. However, I see I can’t stop you from playing detective on the side. I figure if you’re going to act like this, I might as well teach you how to do it right. It’s been a while since I’ve had a trainee, it may be fun to have one again.”

Marian’s face went from defiant to enraged. “You…you want me to be your WHAT?” Good, she was getting offended. That will help things going smoother.

“You heard me,” Nick replied. Damn he wanted to smoke a cigarette in her face at that moment. “I’m sure with proper training I might even make you into a competent administrator. I can use some help keeping up with my paperwork.”

Marian seemed to go past her rage. She shifted her shoulders and plastered a fake smile on her face. “I swear, Mr. Valentine, I will shoot you,” Marian said with too much sweetness for the threat she just gave him.

She pushed past him and moved to her abandoned backpack. Good, she was back to herself. She may be mad at him, but Nick knew she wasn’t going to shoot him while she was still in Hancock’s employ. Hopefully, Hancock will keep her distracted long enough for Nick to get back to Diamond City when this was all over.

While Marian did seem mad at the prospect of being a trainee, she still slipped the file into a flat, back pocket of her overstuffed backpack.

Nick suddenly remembered how heavy that pack was and was worried about Marian’s safety. “Do you want me to…”

“I got it,” she growled. With all the pockets zipped up, she threw the bag onto her back. She seemed to have troubles getting it high enough on her back, but with a few less than graceful bounces, it was in place. “Let’s go.”

As Marian was moving to the office doors, and doing a good job of it, even if she was slightly hunched over, Hancock placed a hand on Nick’s arm.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this to you,” Hancock whispered, he emphasized the pronouns in his sentence, “but you did good. But, if you ever break her like that again, she won’t have a chance to shoot you.”

Nick watched Marian open the office doors and was greeted by the two friends who arrived with her. She stopped to speak with them. Nick felt himself wondering what they could be talking about.

“If I ever break her like that again, I deserve to be shot,” Nick replied before he strolled to join Marian.

Her movements and the tone of her voice told him she was flirting with Cait. Nick was sure he was less comfortable viewing this flirting than he was with her flirting with Hancock.

“I just wish we had had that fight,” Nick could hear Cait say. “I’m sure being a bodyguard means you have experience with all sorts of fighting styles. I wouldn’t mind seeing how you wrestle.”

“I think I would like that,” Marian responded. “I wouldn’t mind learning some new moves some time.”

“Maybe after your job is finished,” Cait purred. “We can have a little fun together.”

“I think I would like that,” Marian responded.

“Perhaps a little preview? Just for me to know what I’m getting myself into.”

“Won’t your boss get mad if he thought you were giving anything away for free?”

“Then I’ll be a rebel.”

Marian seemed to like that invitation and the two women leaned into each other for a passionate kiss. MacCready turned his head politely, but he seemed comfortable seeing his sister with a wild woman like Cait. Nick didn’t feel the same way. He worried what kind of influence Cait would have on Marian. This kiss was taking too long, and Nick didn’t want to see what the women were doing to keep it going so long. Nor did he want to wait until they started giving the Neighborhood Watch a free show.

He politely made a coughing sound into his metal hand. The two women broke from one another, holding each other’s arms.

Marian raised a hand to play with Cait’s hair. “You make me regret agreeing to finish this job,” she purred.

“I’m leaving,” Nick announced before walking down the spiral staircase.

“Go, I’m normally more fun after a good fight,” Cait responded.

“Bye, sis.”

“See ya,” Marian responded.

Nick could hear her feet patter down the stairs after him. She caught up to him at the base of the stairs. She looked up at him like a cat who caught the canary. Her face practically glowed.

Nick knew that expression. He normally saw it on Hancock’s face when Nick was afraid that if he asked Hancock how he was doing, the ghoul would tell him all the obscene details. Nick was almost shocked at how much she looked like young Johnny when he was her age. If she had long blond hair, she would be a female version of the mayor before he became a ghoul.

Nick was afraid to do the math. Hancock could have some children running around that Nick didn't know about, and she was young enough. Was this the reason Hancock was being so protective of her?

“You look happy,” Nick observed.

“I made her feel good about herself,” Marian admitted. It was as if she suddenly remembered who she was talking to. Her face went hard, and she moved her rifle to her shoulder. “Come on, we should make it to Bunker Hill before dark.”

Marian walked out of the Old State House. Nick trailed behind her. He promised to be nice to her for this case, but there was information he needed to investigate about her. He was going to have to update at least one personal file when this case was over.