If Goodneighbor was a chessboard, Hancock would be king. The queen is the one who moves all over the board. The king is only supposed to move only for improved defense. That did not mean the King was unable to go offensive. He wasn’t supposed to.
In the game of life, Hancock was supposed to be Goodneighbor’s king, and she was its mobile queen. She was supposed to be the one on the offensive while he stayed safe and secure. Annoyingly, he was still eager to run everywhere like he was trying to take the whole board by himself. Making her job as his bodyguard harder.
Fahrenheit was glad that he asked her to do this errand for him while he stayed safely in his office where a king should stay when not under threat. She was sent to let Nick Valentine know that Hancock had a case for him. Ellie Perkins was invited to come with them to Goodneighbor to take notes. The bodyguard knew that meant she would be babysitting the secretary back to Diamond City later.
She left them at the base of the stairs before going up to see if Hancock had any last-minute orders before their meeting. The door to Hancock’s office was closed. She made sure to knock, she was never going to make the mistake of walking in on him touring the town ever again.
“Come in,” the mayor’s raspy voice called through the door.
Fahrenheit pulled the door open to see Hancock entertaining Marian. They were sitting on one couch sharing his chems, him the harder stuff, she the more mainstream.
“Is he here?” Hancock asked, preventing Fahrenheit from saying anything. It was obvious that he still hadn’t come clean with Marian on who she was going to be working with.
“Yes, boss,” she responded. “He brought his secretary with him.”
“That’ll be fine, show them both in,” the mayor ordered before grabbing a tin from the table and consuming the contents.
“Berry mentats?” Marian asked. “Worried someone will try to shoot you through the wall?”
“More like I will need them to keep up with both of you,” Hancock replied huskily.
Fahrenheit went back down the stairs where she left the other two guests waiting. Valentine seemed to be talking shop with Ellie, while she was getting ready to take notes. “The boss will see you now,” Fahrenheit said before escorting them back up the stairs.
She led them into the office where Hancock already seemed anxious. He tried to hide it the way he normally did, by acting as boisterous as he could as if the world couldn’t tell that he was hiding that he was scared shitless. Then again, she was the only one who noticed, so the world must not be able to tell.
“Here is your charge now,” Hancock announced.
Marian looked over at the door and smiled. “Ellie! I didn’t know I would be escorting you.” The freelancer got up, slinging her gun over her shoulder, and walked over to hug Ellie. She seemed to only see Valentine standing in front of the secretary enough to not run into him.
Hancock’s face went a little pale before he grabbed a syringe and shot himself with some daddy-o.
“Careful,” Valentine insisted, “that stuff is going to kill you.”
“Can’t live forever,” Hancock responded with a smile. “Come on inside, everyone. I’m starting to feel left out of the party.”
The whole group moved farther into the office, giving Fahrenheit space to close the door on any listening neighborhood watch. She then moved to the corner where she could observe the largest portion of the room.
“Nick, Marian, I believe you two have already met,” Hancock asked getting up from his couch.
“We have,” Valentine replied flatly.
“Much to my dissatisfaction,” Marian responded coldly, her arms crossed over her chest.
The pawns were already getting restless.
“Then I won’t need to worry about introductions,” Hancock said. He didn’t miss a beat, but Fahrenheit had worked with him long enough to tell that he was trying to seem more relaxed than he was. “I have a job for you Nick.”
“Perhaps you can dismiss your enabler and we can start talking about this case,” Valentine responded.
“I’ll be at the Third Rail,” Marian quietly told Ellie before she went towards the couch where her backpack rested.
“No,” Hancock said sternly. It was enough to make Marian stop moving. “I have a job for you, and she will be your bodyguard during this job.”
“Come again?” Marian swung around and asked as her sunburnt face seemed to take a redder pallor.
“You can’t be serious,” Valentine said over her. He seemed just as upset about the revelation as his feminine counterpart.
“I’m serious,” Hancock insisted. “This is an important job that I need both of you to work on. Valentine, I can’t risk having you shot down while collecting clues.”
“And what if I refuse to work with her?” Valentine asked.
“You can refuse the job,” Hancock reasoned. “You have done so before. But I know you will at least listen to the problem before walking all the way back to Diamond City with Ellie in tow.”
Valentine’s teeth set together.
“And what if I refuse to work with him?” Marian’s higher pitched voice echoed. The same move on opposite sides of the board, for two people who claim to not be good working together, they seemed to be doing a good job putting Hancock on the defensive.
“You can refuse,” Hancock spoke deliberately, “but you both have skills that are invaluable to this job. I want you both to at least hear what the job is.” An interesting move.
“No,” Marian said almost on top of Hancock’s sentence. “I refuse.” A predictable move, if played earlier than Fahrenheit expected. She also expected the move to come from Valentine first. “Why not hire someone else. Hire RJ, he’s a better shot than me anyway.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Do you honestly think MacCready would be able to help Nick sort through clues if he got stuck?” Hancock asked, he seemed to be trying to play the flattery strategy longer than Fahrenheit thought necessary, backing himself into a tighter corner with every move.
Marian was silent for a moment; she was seriously considering Hancock’s question. “No,” she quietly responded. “He sees everything as it is, and nothing more.” Her cheeks reddened again.
“What makes you think that I will need her help with any clues?” Valentine asked, picking up the offensive.
“Nick, I love you, man,” Hancock crooned, “but you aren’t perfect. She can think abstractly enough and has such severe attention to detail that I have no doubt that she can see a potential clue even you would miss. Trust me, she’s a perfect partner for you.”
“I have a partner,” Valentine growled.
“Has Nate recently made an appearance that I hadn’t heard about?” Hancock asked. A bold move that could cost Hancock in the long run.
Valentine went silent, Fahrenheit knew from Hancock that Nate had disappeared into the Institute to take on the role of its Director full time. He may have promised regular visits, but they had become more and more infrequent. Now no one had heard from him in months.
“Let’s just hear him out,” Marian moved her queen, “then we can turn him down with clear consciences.”
Finally, more moves than pawns across the board. Ellie got her clipboard ready to take notes. Hancock seemed to relax a bit, no longer on the defensive. Neither Marian nor Valentine looked very relaxed, but they both seemed ready to listen attentively.
“Thank you, Marian,” Hancock started. “The problem is simple. I have been receiving reports of caravans going missing. All of them coming from the South. The most recent one was carrying computer parts, circuit boards and such. Stuff that is both rare and important. I want you two to find this caravan.”
“How far South?” Marian asked.
“What?” Valentine responded.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Hancock said, “and yes, this one did pass through the Capital Wasteland.”
“Do you know if they made it out of there?” Marian asked.
“Are you suggesting an embargo?” Hancock asked cautiously.
Marian’s eyes took on the glassy middle-distance look she got whenever she had to think about what was going on in the Capital Wasteland. That suppressed survivor’s guilt which made her want to go back so desperately and made Hancock try to find ways to keep her from going back. “It’s possible, I don’t know which territories the caravan would have had to pass through, but computer equipment would be a boon for any of the factions. Especially if one of them is at a technological disadvantage.”
The idea of anyone from the Brotherhood of Steel being short on technology sounded almost unbelievable. It took Fahrenheit a moment to put it in perspective of one group being short compared to someone else from the Brotherhood of Steel. She still wasn’t sure what that could mean, or how that group would even have a chance in this war, but Marian seemed to have it visualized and played out in her own head.
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Valentine broke in.
Marian looked up; a wall of defense shaded her face. Hancock normally used a gentle hand when talking to her about the war to help keep her from being overwhelmed by emotions. Valentine didn’t mirror this behavior. Now Hancock wasn’t going to be able to get much more out of her.
“There is a war going on in the Capital Wasteland,” Marian said with fake sweetness. “Did you think I came all this way just for the benefit of your company?”
“So, you ran all the way here to get away from a territorial dispute?” Valentine condescended.
Marian’s face turned red with anger her body shook with more than its usual starvation shiver. Fahrenheit wasn’t sure if she should try to protect Valentine or let Marian tear him apart like a feral ghoul. The desire was written all over her face.
“Marian?” Ellie broke in gently. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
The blood drained away from her face. Marian was now the one on the defensive from everyone. She was moving her pieces randomly in desperate ways to survive one more move.
Instead of answering Ellie, she turned to Hancock. “Since Mr. Valentine obviously does not want to work with a coward like myself, may I insist that you hire my courageous little brother instead? I’m sure Valentine can sort any clues out for himself.”
“If you are that opposed to taking this job, pay me back for the resources you bought yesterday and we will call it good,” Hancock informed her.
Marian went silent. Hancock played his big gambit. He sacrificed a bishop to put her in check. Fahrenheit had seen the receipts that were brought to him, Marian had eaten two meals on Hancock’s caps. Even if she gave him back all the medical supplies she bought, she wouldn’t have been able to pay for the food. The game was over for her.
“The caravan in question was supposed to pass through Quincy on its way into the Commonwealth, you two should consider going there first.”
“Quincy?” Marian looked up. Her face was still dull, but the idea of visiting the friends she left there cheered her up some.
“We can check to see if they passed through,” Nick said as he prepared a cigarette. “No point in searching for them if they never made it to the Commonwealth in the first place.” He lit the cigarette in his mouth.
“Do you mind?” Marian asked, turning her wrath onto Valentine.
“Not at all,” he responded.
“I will have to insist that you not smoke during this job,” Hancock told Nick. “Marian will be in charge as well.” He was obviously trying to soften some of the damage he had just done.
Marian gave Valentine a smile like a cat who had a mouse cornered while her male counterpart put his cigarette out in an ashtray on Hancock’s desk. Hancock had a strict no smoking in front of Marian rule for his office, Fahrenheit was now itching for a cigarette herself, but this game was almost over.
“You two are expected to work together,” Hancock told them. “Meaning I expect both of you to come back in one piece.”
“Don’t worry,” Marian responded with a vindictive lilt to her voice, “either both of us will come back or neither of us will.”
“I’m not sure I like how you said that,” Valentine responded.
Marian physically turned on Valentine. She was obviously going to take her emotions out on the synth. “Are you worried that I will shoot you and run off to face the ‘territorial dispute’?”
“I’m more worried about the fact that you even had such an idea,” he said looking down on her.
“How about I give you my rules then, before we walk out?” she said to him. “As Hancock said, I’m in charge. My job is keeping you alive, and I take that job seriously. I expect you to help make my job easier, or at least not make it harder than it has to be. If I tell you not to go somewhere, you don’t go there. If I tell you to go somewhere, you got there. If I leave you somewhere, you wait patiently until I come back and get you. If you don’t do what I tell you, I’m leaving your ass in whatever situation you manage to get yourself into. I refuse to die for an idiot, no matter how much Mayor Hancock is paying me to do otherwise.”
“I hear those rules loud and clear.” Valentine told her. “I will do my best not to make your job harder than it has to be, but I expect the same consideration from you. I don’t want you stopping me from going to any possible clue just because you might get jumpy. I need to be able to do my job as well.”
“I’m done,” Ellie announced before giving Valentine a case file. “Some of the notes are rushed, but I’m sure you’ll be able to work with them.”
“Thank you, Ellie,” Valentine took the file. “Hancock?”
“I’ll make sure she gets home safe,” Hancock responded. “You two kids have fun.”
Marian grabbed her backpack while Valentine was talking to Ellie and had it secured on her back. She and Valentine walked out of the office, hopefully heading towards Quincy without killing each other on the way.
Hancock was able to turn all his attention to Ellie. “Go ahead and enjoy your time here,” he told her. “When you’re ready to head back to Diamond City, let me know. I’ll escort you back myself.”
“Thanks,” Ellie responded and walked out of the office herself.
With the office empty of visitors, Hancock made his way back to his couch and let himself collapse into it. “I’ll tell you Fahrenheit, fighting with either of those two is hard enough even with chems; fighting with both of them at the same time was about to kill me. What I had to do to Marian, I think I would have preferred if it did kill me.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea having them work together, boss?” Fahrenheit asked lighting her own cigarette.
Hancock gave her his best lovable scoundrel grin. “If those two manage not to kill each other, I expect them to make me their best man.”