Two weeks in complete isolation seemed to have destroyed Nick Valentine’s social skills. He was enjoying bantering with Marian, before he decided to take a nice bite out of one of his worn loafers. He watched Marian close her eyes in a way that he could tell she was trying to hide the pain that existed behind them, jolting his foot out of his mouth, but it was already too late.

He didn’t know why he felt the need to mention her gun. MacCready told him she had a bad history with The Rose Gang. Somehow, when he was waiting to find out if they were going to sell him or just kill him, that detail was lost on him. All he could think about was that moment when he thought he was looking down the barrel of her gun.

When the door finally opened, and he was able to get out, he expected to see members of the Rose Gang. He wondered if they would be accompanied by his enemies ready to start bidding on who would get to kill him. The only hope he had was that Nate had come back to the surface and was saving him again.

Instead, he saw her. She was there, looking relieved. She even turned around to give him privacy when she saw he was naked. She let him get dressed.

“She has my hat!” Nick said out loud, long after she had walked away.

He was tempted to pull out a cigarette to relieve two weeks of stress, but the thought of how she didn’t like him smoking kept him from doing so. Instead, he grabbed his revolver and made his way out of the building, leaving the corpses to the flies. He still had work to do.

Nick made his way up to the hill that overlooked the factory. A flock of birds were guarding his property. He rifled through the remains of his clothes, pocketing cigarettes, ammo, a screwdriver, and any other salvageable items he could find before it got dark.

He walked to the lighthouse; glad it was so close. The turrets that were set up for safety ignored him as he passed. One of the guards even greeted him from her post. It was obvious the place was full. There were more people than a settlement this size could handle. Nick was sure most of the people were slaves that Marian had just saved.

“Nick!” Valentine heard. He turned to see MacCready and another man run up to him. The other man was still wearing his sunglasses even though the sun had finished setting and night was taking over.

“Nick, you old dog! It’s good to see you,” the man wearing sunglasses said.

Nick was silent, trying to place where he’d seen that face before.

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember me? Your old friend, Windowlicker,” the man teased. “You think you know a guy, and then he goes and forgets you. Even after everything I’ve done for you. Anyway, it’s good to see you again, even after what Nate did.”

Of course, he would change his face again. Nick was more surprised to see him still in the Commonwealth. Then again, who else would there be to help synths get away from the Institute?

“I see you’re still doing some…official business,” Nick responded.

“Mr. Valentine, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Windowlicker responded.

“Where’s Marian?” MacCready interrupted.

“She decided she didn’t want to help me with the boring part, she told me to find her when I was finished here,” he explained.

“You pissed her off and she left you to finish up,” MacCready corrected lighting a cigarette.

“Don’t be too upset,” Windowlicker said. “She seems easy to anger. She beat me up earlier for saving her life.”

Nick tried to find the truth in Windowlicker’s statement. The man was so experienced at lying, it was hard to tell if he could point out the truth himself.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Nick said. “Did you happen to find Davey in all the people who you were held with?”

“That kid you were looking for?” Windowlicker asked before MacCready could respond. “Not only did we find him, we found another kid Marian had been looking for, and a third cousin I hadn’t seen in over five years.”

Nick took a moment to figure out the truth in Windowlicker’s words. “The second kid, was his mother’s name Madi?”

“Yes,” MacCready said. “I knew her mom back in the Capital Wasteland. I didn’t know that she knew Marian. Ava looks just like her.”

“Marian said the mom is waiting for me in Diamond City. I’ll take the girl back with me tomorrow while I take Davey home. What is the plan with the other people?” Nick asked.

“Don’t worry about that,” MacCready answered. “I was on the radio with Hancock earlier. He’s paying us to get everyone home. This can take several weeks.”

This sounded like a job Marian would take part in. Nick was hoping to have her walk back to Diamond City with him. Maybe even treat her to a meal to make up for his poorly chosen words. A job like this would keep her in caps for weeks, maybe even be enough for her to leave the Commonwealth. Then he would never have to see her again.

“I guess your sister will be helping you?” Nick brought himself to asking.

“Not really,” MacCready answered. “Hancock said it was just for the two of us. He said Marian was in the middle of a job for you, and that he wasn’t going to steal your partner from you mid-case.”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Nick could have kissed Hancock. He didn’t always agree with the choices that the mayor of Goodneighbor made, but he had no argument against this one. Now, to make sure she didn’t shoot him for being the messenger.

“Hey, Mac, if Marian wanted to be found, where would she go?”

MacCready stood there, looking thoughtful. He probably never considered the difference between Marian wanting to be found and not. He probably just thought of it as her disappearing.

“I’m not sure,” MacCready said. “When she didn’t want to be found, she got unpredictable. Doubling back on what we were doing, staying still in small spaces. I once waited for her for ten minutes standing right next to her before she started talking. I guess she would try to make finding her as easy as possible.”

“How does she handle being mad? Would she run to her friends north of here?”

“Not really. She tries to hide her bad feelings. Which is why she tends to lash out when she to hide the way she feels.”

“She’ll even hide them from friends?” Windowlicker asked.

“She tried hiding them from me more than anyone else. I guess she thinks that she’s less likable if she has a temper. Or cries.”

Nick didn’t even think about her crying until that moment. He still didn’t think she was running off to cry, but the way she closed her eyes. The pain in her face. She should have shot him.

“Thanks,” the synth said. “I’m going to go talk to her. I’ll be back in the morning to pick up the kids before returning to Diamond City. Make sure they know I’m coming back for them, and that they should stay tight until then.” He hoped that he could return to Diamond with Marian.

Nick grabbed some produce from the workshop storage. He didn’t want to put a strain on the settlement with the increase of mouths that will need to be fed for a while, but there was rotting food waiting for Nate to collect. And Marian looked like she could use a meal.

He wandered away, trying to think of where he would go to spend the night near the cannery. He decided since she wanted to be found, she would be somewhere where she could see the cannery, maybe even the door. She would also want to be able to clean Faenus. She seemed obsessed with weapons maintenance. Maybe even a place that had a sleeping mat.

He wandered toward the cannery again, when he saw a public restroom in the gloom. It wasn’t useful for bodily waste anymore, but Nick did know it was useful as a makeshift sleeping area. So it was more of a rest room now than it was before the war. MacCready slept in it during their stakeout, and Nick wondered if maybe Marian had decided it was useful for her needs.

He entered the women’s side, but she wasn’t there. There was the mat, but he didn’t see her. He decided to go to look for her somewhere else. He had barely exited the building when he thought he heard her voice.

“I didn’t think you’d actually try to find me,” her voice floated through the darkness. “It would have been easier just to let me disappear.” He looked around, trying to pinpoint the direction it came from.

He found her sitting with her back to a wall, Faenus across her lap. Her backpack was sitting next to her with the teddy bear still strapped to the outside and his hat laying on top of it. It was hard to see in the darkness, but it was light enough for him to confirm what he thought he saw looking at her. She did look like she was eating enough to survive, but barely a calorie more. How could a woman who had so many friends looking out for her starve? Unless, none of her friends saw her until recently.

MacCready just told him she tried to hide what she thought of as bad feelings from everyone. How much crying did she do the weeks after he let her disappear? How much did she really need someone to help her feel safe while she struggled with what happened to her when her plan went sideways?

That thought sobered Nick for a moment. He really did let her fend for herself after the last case instead of looking out for her like a partner.

Nick handed the mutant hound chops to the skinny woman. Which she accepted and began devouring readily. He wanted to make a comment about inhaling her food but was worried it would cause her to stop eating that much needed meal. Instead, he sat down next to her.

He wanted to say something witty. Instead, he thought about how she saved him when it was supposed to be the other way around. If he had been doing his job and made sure she was safe, none of this would have happened.

“I owe you an apology,” he finally admitted passing her a carrot.

“You owe me nothing,” she said as she took the carrot. She began eating it with as much vigor as she ate the chops. When was the last time she had a decent meal? How often does she have them?

Nick sighed while closing his eyes and collecting his thoughts. Saying the wrong thing at this moment wasn’t going to help anyone. Especially not her. “I do, and I’m sorry. I knew you weren’t doing well after the case we did together, but I let you disappear into the wasteland.”

“It’s what I do,” she said, her voice soft in the darkness. “I disappear. Not like anyone cares. You don’t need to apologize.”

Nick was speechless. He almost stuttered at her words. “It doesn’t matter, I was your senior partner. It was my job to take care of you, and I failed at my job. I failed you.”

“I’ve been nothing but a jerk to you,” she said. “Why would you want me around when I’m barely able to be around people who like me?”

Nick wanted to tell her that he did like her. Did he? She was intolerable at the best of times. But he felt guilty about her being gone, but that was guilt, not compassion. “It doesn’t matter, Sweetheart,” Nick finally told her. “It’s the job of a senior partner to look out for his junior partner. Not lick my own wounds over hurt feelings.”

Marian was quiet for a bit. Nick had to look over to see if she was still awake. She seemed folded up, her knees against her chest, and her chin on her knees. She was moving just enough to show that she was still awake. She scratched her scalp where her hair was growing wild. “I thought the case was closed,” she finally said.

“Closed or not, you got hurt during the case, I should have stayed with you until you got better.”

“What if there is no better?” she asked. “What if this is the best I ever am? Do you watch me in misery until I die?”

Nick scooted closer to Marian and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to his body. Her body gave off a gentle warmth. “Come on now, Doll, don’t talk like that. I'm sure you would shoot me before that happens.”

Marian looked up from her balled position to face Nick. He wished there was enough light to see those blue eyes of hers. “You’re not supposed to care about me, Nick. No one is. It’ll make things easier when I do die.”

“Come back to Diamond City with me,” he proposed. “I’ll treat you to some Takahashi Noodles. MacCready once told me that your going fee for saving someone’s life is that person owes you free food for the rest of your life. Let me start paying you back.”

“Okay,” she agreed. Marian looked back out into the night. Nick turned his gaze to stare with her, his arm still wrapped around her. He felt a weight pressed against his shoulder. He looked down to see that she was laying her head against it, her hair protecting her skin from any smoke in his clothes. “I don’t get you, Nick Valentine,” she mumbled.

Nick smiled at the top of her head and went back to looking out into the night. She looked so tired, he couldn't bring himself to do anything to stop her from falling asleep on him. He squeezed her once gently as he felt her breath becoming light and steady. He would sneak food into her backpack later. For now, he just wanted to enjoy her warmth.