Cait was ready for this. She probably wouldn’t have volunteered to help with this fight if she realized there was going to be so much damn waiting involved. She was glad no one expected her to do much more than wait, but she was ready to blow off some steam. Between waiting for the fight, and the anticipation of the sex Marian was going to give her, she had a lot of steam to blow off.
“Hang back,” Nick said while they were still walking towards the front door from the back, “I want to make sure we have a plan.”
“No way,” Cait told him. “The plan is my fist in their face.”
She didn’t want to hear Nick’s arguments, so she ran to the front door, and hurried inside. That robot can get the stick out of his ass if he wants to catch up.
The people inside didn’t look like they were expecting her. Some were clustered in small groups of two or three. Some were lounging about. One was on the floor looking stoned out of his mind. Cait felt some envy for that sensation, but disgust that she actually used to look like that.
It took a few seconds for the people in the room to realized that she didn’t belong there. She used that moment to grab the first person she could and punch them in the face. That was enough to wake up the whole room. She took out her shot gun, and killed the guy she just punched. She moved to a hiding spot deeper in the room and started returning fire to the raiders shooting at her. She saw the front door open again, and Nick entered the room. It took little time for him to realize the party had already started and provide her with fire support. At least with what good his little pea shooter could provide.
Cait chose not to call out to Nick until she saw that he was drawing his share of fire. One of the raiders charged at him, guess he didn’t want to find out how strong her hits were, but Nick was able to kill him before he got close.
Eventually, the room was empty with the exception of Cait, Nick, and the guy in the corner still drugged out of his mind. Cait wondered if he even realized what just happened to his buddies. She wouldn’t have.
Nick walked up to her, making sure she saw him. “Are you okay?” he asked.
She looked down and saw she was bleeding in several places. “Yeah, just a few hits. Nothing I wouldn’t deal with in the ring.”
“Here,” he said, handing her a stimpak.
“Thanks, darling,” she said taking the medicine from him and hitting herself with it. “Do we want to take out this guy?”
“It’s probably best if we do, we don’t want to risk having to deal with someone wanting to avenge his friends later down the line. I’ll let you handle him.”
“My pleasure,” Cait said before she started beating him.
It felt good to hit something again. Listening to the sound of her fists on someone’s face. The low thud that carried no echo no matter how loud it got, and she was trying to make the sound as loud as she could. He screamed, for a bit, that always took away some of the fun, but he didn’t scream long. Hitting someone helpless was never as much fun as a good fight, but it was a good substitution.
When she was sure he was dead, she stood up and looked at Nick. She was about to thank him, until she realized that Nick Valentine just stood there and watched her murder someone. In fact, he offered for her to do that.
“Where to now?” he asked.
She was about to show him, when she realized there was no point. “What the Hell?” She asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“All the doors are open. When Nate and I were here, they were stopped up, there was only one way through.”
“I guess the tenets have decided to clean house.”
Cait looked around, almost for the first time, and Nick was right. There were dead bodies everywhere, and blood everywhere, but that was it. The place looked clean. Wreckage was just not anywhere. There was no dirt anywhere in the room.
“Think we can take the shortcut and let Fahrenheit’s people take care of the extra people?” Nick suggested.
“I don’t know,” Cait said, “I was hoping to knock some heads in.” She looked around, thinking of how the place would have been set up if the doors weren’t clogged.
“We can’t get everybody, not with this many exits,” Nick told her. “If we move fast, we will have a better chance at saving everyone. If you don’t get to punch enough people, I’ll take you on my next case so you can.”
Cait turned and looked at Nick. She raised her eyes towards him and made them as big as possible. “You promise?” she flirted.
“Promise,” he returned.
Just then, a raider was walking down the stairs in one of the doors. Cait smiled happily and ran towards her. “You do know how to show a girl a good time,” she said before killing the woman.
She looked around, the stairs were familiar. She remembered the observation room was at the top of the building. She was sure that taking the stairs up would lead them to where they wanted to go.
“This way,” she told Nick before leading him up the stairs. “But be careful, this place was full of booby traps last time I was here.”
As they moved up the stairs, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Nick had let her do. She couldn’t shrug it off either.
“Hey, Nicky, got a moment?”
“Only if it’ll help us find the hostages faster,” Nick told her.
“You just stood by and watch me murder a chem user, are you feeling, okay?”
Nick was quiet for several steps. As they reached the next landing, they saw three more people through the doorway. Those three people were looking straight at them. Cait ran into them, she elbowed one in the throat, and tripped another. She heard Nick’s gun go off before the third fell in front of her. Nick was right, they didn’t have time for her to play like this. She pulled out her shot gun and shot the one she tripped in the head. The other one hit her before Nick was able to kill him as well.
He started reloading his revolver while he talked. “No, I’m not. I failed to protect my partner and she may be dead, and it would be my fault.”
“How’s it your fault?” Cait asked as she reloaded her shot gun. She took a moment to look down at the building’s entry from the platform they were standing on. Looks like they were attracting attention. “From where I was sitting, it was her idea.”
Nick was silent for a moment; Cait took that moment to continue up the stairs. The place really was a maze, she hoped they would find Marian before they run into Hancock and MacCready.
“I am the senior partner in this, I’m the one who should take the risks.”
Cait had to laugh. “Oh, that would be a sight. You trying to pretend to be a trader?” She walked into the next floor and shot at the first person she saw. “Do you think anyone would believe that you were anything but Nick Valentine?”
The next person came running into the room. She felt a bullet tear into her chest. She fell back into the wall and slid to the floor.
“Cait!” Nick shouted as he killed the man who hit her.
“I’m fine,” she said.
Nick hit her with a stimpak before taking out another raider.
“Whew…I needed that, thanks,” Cait said as she stood back up to rejoin the fight.
The fight was over too soon. Nick and Cait were standing over seven bodies and were reloading their guns.
“I’m worried myself,” she confessed.
“What’s that?”
“Hancock and Mac are trying to get me to snog her. I’m not against it, but with everything that’s happening, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea. After everything that Nate showed me, I understand that sometimes it helps to feel wanted. But if she’s being tortured right now, I don’t think she’s going to want what I can give her, and I don’t think I have it in me to help her deal.”
Nick stood by and listened to Cait ramble. “I see,” he finally said. “I’ll tell you what, after we find her, if she wants sex, I’ll let you two play. If not, I’ll take care of her, you won’t even have to apologize for it.”
Cait realized the deal was best for both of them. He needed to clear his overactive conscience, and a babysitting job was the best thing for him. Maybe this would put that stick right back up his asshole and help him be himself again. “Thanks, Nicky,” Cait said. “Think the big guy is going to be in the next room?”
“I’d be surprised if he wasn’t listening to us right now,” Nick growled.
They turned the corner and saw an old man standing alone in a room. Cait remembered this room, the one overlooking the rooms designed to murder people in the most complicated and unsatisfying ways possible. He was standing next to a red button, Cait really wished she could remember which room it was for, not that it mattered at that moment. He was leaning on a cane, but she was sure the bastard was packing a gun.
“Then I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you,” the old man said. “Why don’t you two come inside and we can talk like civilized people?”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Cait was sure he wasn’t really giving them a choice like he was making it sound. She did what he told her and walked into the room, followed by Nick.
“Very good,” the man said to them. “I’d welcome you to my home, but you’ll have to forgive me if I’m reluctant to be a gracious host.”
“That’s good, because I’m about to wipe the floor with your- “
“Cait,” Nick interrupted quietly, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. “This is hardly a social call. We’re here to rescue the people you kidnapped.”
“You mean my children’s toys?” the man asked. “I don’t know why I should humor you, after you killed my kids.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Cait asked.
“How rude of me. Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Maison, Anthony Maison. This place is my home. The people who live here are my children. We are a kind of family. Or we were, until you two decided to kill so many of my children. If you came here quietly, I may have been willing to entertain you as my guests. Instead, you decided to be hostile. I should kill you both to avenge my children, like a good father.”
“What does that have to do with the caravan members?” Nick asked.
Maison shook his head as if the bastard was sad. “I’m very sorry, my mind is wandering. You know how things get with old age. That’s why I try to keep records of things, to help my old mind remember. When that fails, I have children who are better at keeping things organized for me, or at least I did. It’s amazing how eager children can be to please you once you help them find their strengths, then they just want you to see how they shine and praise them for every accomplishment. It’s so sweet. And like a good father, I do my best to provide my children with what they need to keep themselves entertained. Their toys are very useful to help them with that. They like to play with their toys. And like good children, they were always good at keeping their toys in the playroom and putting them away when they were done. But I guess since my family is all gone, there is no point in keeping their toys around to make a mess of things. “
Maison turned toward the button he was standing next to when head exploded, he dropped his cane, feel to his knees, then laid face down if he had a head to have a face. Cait realized that she had heard a gunfire behind her. She turned around to see MacCready and Hancock standing in the doorway, MacCready still holding his smoking gun to his shoulder.
He lowered his gun and smiled at them. “Looks like we’re not too late for the party.”
“Boy, am I glad to see you,” Hancock said. “Did you two find the hostages?”
“The leader of the group was saying something about them being down there somewhere,” Nick explained.
“Where are they?” MacCready asked with too much energy.
“We were trying to find that out, when his head suddenly exploded,” Cait said harshly.
MacCready went silent.
“it’s ok, kid,” Nick said. “He was threatening to kill them while we were talking. Most likely that was how we were going to find out where they are from him, by watching him kill them with a push of the button. We’ll just have to figure out where they are some other way. Preferably with all of them still alive.”
Nick went over to the terminal by the wall and started typing on it. MacCready walked by the windows, Cait joined him and looked down for a moment. The area below was a series of square cells. Almost every cell had something in it, making the area look little more than a storage area. There was food in one cell, luggage in another, computer parts in a third, there was even barrels with the yellow coloring denoting radiation in one of them.
Hancock gave some rad-a-way and a stimpak to Cait before giving the same to MacCready who was now walking along the platform. “You said the guy was threatening to kill the hostages, was it with this button?” MacCready asked before drinking down the rad-a-way.
“That was what he was implying when we were talking to him,” Nick confirmed. “Looks like there are several living people right now. There’s at least five people who don’t have entries that end with signing a contract or being put down, as he worded it here. Including the last one which he named, ‘Twiggy’.”
“What about Knick Knack and Knock Knock?” He asked.
Nick looked up from the terminal. “I would have to read the entries more carefully. I wanted to see if there was a clue to where the hostages were. The closest I could find was a constant acknowledgement of ‘putting them away’ at the end of every entry. I was worried it was code for killing them, but it looks like earlier entries have mention if it, so it has to mean something else.” The detective took out a cigarette and lit it. “Damn,” he mumbled before putting it out in the ashtray near the terminal.
“Putting them away?” Cait laughed, trying to distract herself. “The guy first talks about us killing his kids, then he talks about the people he steals like they are a bunch of toys or something.”
Nick’s face went slack for a moment before he ran up to Cait and placed his hands on either of her shoulders. “Say that again!” He ordered putting his face too close to hers.
“Watch it!” Cait shot back, “I’m not someone for you to push around you know.”
“No, you said they were toys! Or they were being treated like toys. The notes said they were being put away. That's where the hostages are. They were putting away their toys.”
“I don’t know what you're getting at,” Cait admitted. “My parents never let me have any.”
“You put them on a shelf?” MacCready said.
“Only if it was for display,” Hancock said. “But I know when I’m not playing with my toys, I put them in my toybox so they will be ready next time I'm playing with my friends.” The mayor moved over to the windows. He looked down at the display areas, causing Cait to look down herself.
“Sure, sure," Nick said. "He has them locked in a bunch of boxes.”
Cait shuddered at the thought of being locked into a box. Her parents were bastards, and had done that to her a few times, but they found moving her around while still in a box too much work and let her walk whenever they moved. The thought of being kept in one day after day made her shudder. The fact the boxes were so close to the barrels of radiation made the thought even worse. Cait never thought she would meet anyone worse than her parents, and the guy even thought he was a loving parent. Maybe having bastards who admitted they were bastards wasn’t so bad.
Hancock handed out the rad-x to Cait and MacCready. “We’re going to have to go down there and find the hostages as quickly as we can. I want you two to focus on unlocking the trunks. Let us know if you find someone. Nick, help me with getting the trunks on the floor and spread out to make it easier for them to do their thing and for any survivors to get out. I’ll escort the first survivor out the door to let Fahrenheit and the Neighborhood Watch know that it’s safe to come in.”
“Nicky and I took a shortcut; we probably didn’t kill everyone,” Cait said.
“Okay, then you’ll have to show me how you got here, I’ll have Fahrenheit’s people clean out the place.”
Cait downed the pills as they entered the storage area. The smell was powerful, making Cait retch. There was what looked like dry vomit all over the floor, and the area around the luggage looked wet. The sound of unseen Geiger counters slowly ticking out of sync was enough to torture Cait. The thought of being in those boxes with nothing to see or hear but that sound would be enough to convince her to join this nutty group, just to get away from that.
They picked a trunk and random and moved it off the pile and gently to the floor. Cait then positioned herself in front of the locker and started picking the lock while the others got to work on another box. It wasn’t a hard lock, but it was still there. The lock came undone, and Cait was opening the lid to see what, or who, was inside.
The smell was even worse once the lid was opened, it smelled like the worst outhouse Cait ever got near. She had to stop to keep from vomiting before she looked inside. There she saw what looked like a person. Maybe a man since he looked like he had a huge brown beard. The guy looked shocked, and a little scared. His hands were tied in front of him, and he didn’t seem eager to get out of his box.
“Hey, I think I found someone,” Cait called. “He looks like someone who went three rounds with me in the Combat Zone.”
“Holy shit,” Hancock crooned as he moved in next to her. “It’s ok, brother. We’re from Goodneighbor. We’re here to help you.” The ghoul reached into the box and started helping they guy sit up. Cait took her cue and started helping as well.
“There are…caltrops beneath me,” the man started croaking.
Hancock and Cait stopped moving the man, unsure what to do to get him out without hurting him more.
“Let me help,” Nick said.
Cait moved out of the way as the synth reached into the box and carefully helped pull the man out of it. Hancock grabbed his arms, helping hold him up and stabilize him.
“Looks like we found the hostages,” Hancock said. “It’s okay, brother. We’re going to walk you out of this building. My people will take you to safety to help get you fed and cleaned up. I’ll be back soon.”
Hancock and Cait left with the first hostage, helping him stumble between them. She showed Hancock the stairs they took to get to the room. The man took a moment to spit on one of the bodies on the way out. He seemed happier as they passed them. And was calm by the time Hancock passed him off to Fahrenheit before giving her the new orders and taking Cait and a member of the Neighborhood Watch back into the building to help rescue more people.
“We’re going to open ever one of those boxes until I’m sure there’s no one left in them,” he told her.
When they got back to the room, there were two more open trunks, and MacCready was working on another. She and Hancock moved one to the floor for her to work on while the member of the Neighborhood Watch and Nick moved the opened ones out of the way.
“Knock Knock?” Cait overheard MacCready whispering.
She looked over to see him looking down into an open box. There was a woman in it, she may have been young, but it was hard to tell with the way everyone in these boxes looked haggard and starved. Cait never thought she would even have an excuse to use the word haggard until she saw these people.
“It’s me, Robert,” he said quietly. “From Little Lamplight.”
“Mayor MacCready?” the woman croaked.
Nick moved MacCready out of the way. “Sorry to break up the reunion,” he said gently. “But we need to get her out of danger.”
He reached in and pulled her out of the trunk and helped her to her feet.
“Looks like the rescue operation is going smoothly,” Hancock said. “Stevie, help get her to the front door so she can get escorted safely home.”
“What about Nick?” Knock Knock asked dazedly.
“We’ll find him,” MacCready told her. “I promise.”
She seemed to accept that as Stevie helped walk her out of the room. Cait got back to work and was able to get the box she was working on open. This box had what looked like another woman in it. It was hard to tell; her face, especially her lower jaw, was swollen. There was blood covering her wet clothes. Her head was shaved bald, but stubble was growing back in. She was so skinny; it was hard to tell how long she had gone without eating. Cait had to stare, hoping she was right in recognizing her. As Marian’s eyes adjusted, they moved to her, there was a look of recognition in them.
“I found her!” Cait shouted. She turned her attention to Marian to see her moving around. “Don’t get up, you’ll hurt yourself.” She reached in and tried moving Marian so she would stop rubbing on any caltrop that would be beneath her.
Nick ran up to her and moved next to Cait. “Fucking psychopaths,” he muttered. Her fingers were long and thin, now they looked wrong, with extra joints causing them to point in the wrong directions.
After taking out a knife, Nick cut away at her binding then he reached into the locker. He carefully pulled her out. It seemed like he was being more careful with her than he had with the other hostages. When he was standing up with her in his arms, he lowered his head, it was clear he was speaking only to her.
“You did good, Doll,” he whispered.
Cait decided that it was best that she didn’t sleep with Marian. She didn’t care what Hancock and MacCready said. The way Nick was looking at the woman in his arms was enough to let Cait know why he let her murder that guy.
Hancock walked up to them. “Give her to Stevie,” he ordered. He turned to the waiting ghoul. “Tell Fahrenheit to take Marian back into Bobbie’s house through the warehouse. She doesn’t need to be paraded through the streets of Goodneighbor like this.”
Nick looked up at Hancock and stared at him silently for a moment. “I can take her,” he said.
“She’ll be fine,” Hancock insisted. “You can check up on her after we are finished getting the rest free.”
Nick quietly nodded and handed Marian to the waiting ghoul. Cait couldn’t help but stare at the synth, wondering what was up with Nick. He never treated Nate like that. Then again, Nate never got that beat up either. Nate would have convinced them to be the bait and came in guns blazing himself. Not waiting patiently with a broken jaw and broken fingers for a rescue that she had to trust other people to do. That kind of sacrifice was the kind Nick did, not the kind he let other people do. Maybe she should have let him murder that druggy himself.
“Hey,” Hancock called Cait back to the present. “Let’s get back to work. We still have at least one more friend of Macs to rescue, and a lot more boxes to open.”
“Fine, just keep your shirt on,” Cait grumbled.
“We can talk about undressing each other later,” Hancock said. “If you’re ready to go ghoul.”
“You’ll be the first one I call,” Cait promised.
She started working on another box. She knew it was best to work fast for the people involved, but she already knew she was in for a long, cold, lonely night. Maybe she should take Hancock up on his offer and go ghoul tonight.