The city was safest at night. The time when the Wasteland was the most dangerous. Not that the wasteland is ever safe, but the low visibility of night makes it too easy to walk into something that was minding its own business until dinner decided to serve itself.

Conversely, Diamond City was too dangerous during the day because of its high visibility. There were too many people who could see her clearly. More people than she could see individually at a glance. It made it too easy for someone to sneak up on her.

She still couldn’t shake the feeling when the weird bald guard approached her one visit only to talk about Geiger counters and the Antebellum period. He also seemed to have known too much about her for her comfort. She was almost glad she hadn’t seen him since. Maybe he died in an attack, she wasn’t sure.

She walked into the city, trailing a friend from the Capital Wasteland behind her. Another desperate person who managed to avoid the latest draft but got separated from her family on the way to the Commonwealth. Marian was already tired of that story, but Madi did help her with a meal every time she got close to her farm.

It was past midnight, and most of the city was asleep. Marian knew Nick would still be awake. The two women stopped in front of the silent Publick Occurrences. Marian pointed Madi towards Valentine’s office, like she did for so many clients before. She couldn’t go with her friend now, she needed to wake Yefim so he could be sure to get a room ready. Marian sighed thinking of how many caps she was going to lose in the next few hours. Madi didn’t have money, and so Marian would need to pay for room and board herself. She had no doubt her old friend would pay her back, but that didn’t help her get out of debt at that moment.

The bodyguard enjoyed the quiet of the night as she walked through the streets to the Dugout Inn. She knew she was getting close to breaking her promise with Yefim. She was supposed to visit him at least once a month to show that she was not running away from her debts. She thought about the ten caps in her pocket. That would pay for maybe a room for Mandi, it wouldn’t be enough for even paying for a meal. It felt like every time she entered Diamond City; her debt grew. It was enough to make her want to avoid the city altogether.

The place was almost as quiet as the streets. The usual bustle was gone, she was glad of it. She slipped quietly to the office where the two brothers slept. Even though they were identical, it was easy to see the difference between them. The only thing they seemed to share was a face. Their dress was different, their mannerisms were different, even how they slept seemed to be completely different. Vadim was stretched out across his sleeping mat, looking like he was trying to take up as much of the mat as physically possible. Yefim, however, was laying on his side with his head tucked under his arm. Confident in his space, but not needing to take any more than necessary.

Marian was glad he felt the way about her caps, confident in her word, but not taking any more of her caps than she could afford. But her debt to him seemed to grow every time they talked. She knew he was going to charge her double for waking him, but Madi would need a place to sleep, and food. The bodyguard leaned down and gently touched the Russian on the shoulder.

“VADIM!” the more serious brother shouted as he sat up and looked around. Soon he woke up completely and looked straight at Marian before standing up himself. “Oh, it is you. Do you need a room tonight?”

Marian had taken a step back when he shouted at his twin. She was sure it was not unfounded. She smiled slightly at Yefim’s recognition. “I just need the usual setup,” she explained. “Old friend of mine from the Capital Wasteland, so she may use a name you don’t recognize.”

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“Which name does this one use when talking about you?” Yafim asked.

Marian thought for a moment. She had to remember which settlement Madi was from, and which name that settlement knew her from. “Pross,” she finally told Yafim. “And here’s some caps to help with my debt.” She handed him all of her caps. Maybe this visit she would come out even instead of finding herself more in debt, like every other visit to Diamond City.

“It’s been more than a month,” Yafim told her. “You broke our agreement. I should charge you interest for that.”

Marian suddenly felt her cage close in around her. The idea of having interest on top of the money she already owed. She would never get out of debt, never get her ring back. She would have to face the truth that she was little more than a failure. Maybe all she could do right was get herself killed, but she’d been failing at even that.

“I kid, I kid,” Yafim said, not sounding as jovial as his brother always managed. “Do not worry, I will not charge interest. I do want you to keep up your end of the deal. I don’t want you leaving town with a debt.”

“I know,” Marian agreed, looking away in shame. “I’ve just been…I’ve been kinda needing some quiet recently.”

“I read the article,” he confirmed.

Marian looked up suddenly.

“You weren’t mentioned,” Yafim continued as if he didn’t see that gesture. “But I know you, and I know you are friends with several people in that story. I figured you were in there somewhere. Maybe by a different name?”

“Sure,” Marian told him. “Carmilla.”

The inn keeper flinched, understanding the obscure reference and the threat behind it. “I will make sure your friend is comfortable,” Yafim promised. He then walked over to his brother and started poking him with a dispassionate foot. “Wake up, we have company who will need food.”

Marian didn’t have time to thank Yafim, she heard her friend calling from the lobby. She was surprised that the interview was over. Then the realization sunk in. What if Nick turned her down? Marian had seen it before, sometimes Nick thought the person was lying to him, or was being asked to help with a hopeless case. Marian knew Madi wasn’t lying, and if Nick thought it was a hopeless case, he’d have to explain that to Marian.

When Marian got to her friend, Madi was sitting on a couch, crying again. So, Nick must have told her that the case was hopeless. Fine, then Marian will take the case from his stuck-up hands.

“Don’t worry,” Marian said, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder, “If that man is too busy to help you, then I’m not.”

With that, Marian breezed down the tunnel and out the door from the Inn. She felt a twinge of fear telling her to turn around and get out as she entered the Diamond City Marketplace, but she stifled that instinct and hurried to the Valentine Detective Agency.

She slammed the door open, “Valentine! Why the fuck did you turn down my friend?”

Valentine wasn’t there. All she saw was a depressed looking Ellie Perkins holding what looked like photographs.

“He’s not here,” Ellie said quietly. The secretary looked up at her with tears in her eyes. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days and had probably been crying for a good number of them. “Marian, I think Nick’s luck ran out.”

“Where is he?” Marian asked.

“There was a case about a missing kid from a settlement. It was supposed to be a simple runaway case.”

“Where was the kid from?” She asked.

“Hangman’s Alley.”

“I’ll find him,” Marian promised. “Tell Yafim to take care of Madi until I bring him back.”

She shut the door and hurried out of Diamond City. She could picture Yefim making notes with a red pen. She knew her debt was going to grow too big for her to handle. It may take days or even weeks to find him. And every day her debt would grow by fifty to one-hundred caps for room and board for Madi.

That didn’t matter now. The Commonwealth needed Nick Valentine. He needed to find missing people for desperate people. She wasn’t sure if she could find him. She wasn’t a detective, just a bodyguard, but she had to try. Hangman’s Alley sounded like as good of a place as any to start looking for that infuriating man.