Chapter Text
Never.
Never in John Hancock’s life had he ever seen a girl like her. She was… well, she definitely wasn't from the ‘wealth. In fact, it looked like someone had drawn her up in a magazine, pulled her out of it, and dropped her at the doors of Goodneighbor.
She had black combat boots laced up tight, and worn green trousers, A leather belt hung at her hips, right below a zipped up black jacket, which she had rolled up the sleeves. There was a white shirt up underneath, and a shoulder pad on her left. Leather buckled around her back and across her chest. She had black gloves on her hands, and a pip-boy on her left wrist.
Once again, Hancock realized he had never wanted to unzip, unbuckle, or unbutton something so badly.
Her hair was long, longer than anyone he had even known, it was wavy and shone in the radiated sun. she was bent over scratching a dog between his ears, whispering to him. The dog was wearing a red bandana around his neck like a collar, and had a pair of goggles on his eyes. Which was odd, but not uncommon.
“Hold up there, first time in goodneighbor? Can't go walking around without insurance.”
Finn.
The bastard was constantly harassing newcomers of Goodeighbor and John never really appreciated that sorta behavior, especially from one of his own people.
“You better back off, or you're the one who's gonna need insurance.”
It was bitter, venomous, challenging, it was everything that Hancock hoped she would respond with.
“Whoa, hey, alright. We’ll just, uh, say your insurance is paid up for now, okay?”
It was nice watching Finn fidget, this girl, she got to him, shook him, that was good. For someone who looked like they belonged in a pre-war picket fence home with a family and a yoga class, this new girl and her mutt seemed to already be good at handling themselves.
“Whoa whoa whoa, timeout.”
Hancock finally got off the wall he had been leaning on to walk over towards the interaction. First impressions were important to him, and he wasn't just representing himself anymore, he had to represent Goodneighbor as well.
“Someone steps through the gate the first time, they are a guest. You lay off that extortion crap.”
Finn turned to face Hancock, he seemed to be standing taller as well. Intimidating .
“What d’you care? She aint one of us.”
“No love for your mayor Finn? I said let ‘em go”
“You're soft Hancock. You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day, there’ll be a new mayor.”
Hancock was having a hard time telling whether that was a threat or just an insult. He could just take it as both, but no matter which way he took it, Finn had still just spoken against him in front of the newcomer, and now Hancock had to make sure he showed who was really in charge.
It wasn't Finn.
“Come on, man. This is me we’re talking about. Let me tell you something.”
Hancock took a few steps towards Finn, before going in to half hug him, pull him closer like they were about to share secrets. He smelled like old booze and stale cigarettes, it was repulsive, but Hancock had no reaction to it anymore. It's what most scumbags smelled like nowadays anyway.
Instead of a hug however, his other hand reached his switchblade and in a matter of seconds he was gutting Finn in front of his guest. The wet squelching of his blade tearing through Finn’s organs could have made Hancock shiver, but he had done worse.
Finn's body crumpled as soon as Hancock let go, and a surge of pride rushed through him.
“Now why'd you have to go and say that huh? Breaking my heart over here”
Hancock turned, looking at the door where his girl stood looking starstruck. “You alright sister?”
“You killed him.”
It was a question, and it was laced with disbelief and fear. Her shoulders were shaky, and her posture had shifted. Hancock had to turn this around, draw her in, win her trust.
“Got a good pair of eyes on ya, I think you'll fit in here. Goodneigbor’s of the people, for the people, you feel me? Everyone's welcome.”
“Yeah, I feel you.”
“Good. you stay cool, and you'll be part of the neighborhood. So long as you remember who’s in charge”
He noticed her staring at him, her eyes raking up and down, sizing him up maybe. He felt hot underneath the way her eyes traveled. She was smirking as he turned and slunk off towards Fahrenheit.
He knew he would hear an earful from her later about what he had done to Finn. Did that change how he felt about it? No. Would he do it again? Yes. Did he do it more to make a first impression or more because he was feeling protective, and didn’t want Finn to bother her again? The former. The latter.
The door to his room groaned on its hinges behind him as he made his way to flop down on his bed. Coat still on, he didn't have the energy to take it off right now. It felt like locking eyes with her had turned his bones to jello. That smirk. Yeah… his knees were jello.
He almost felt as good as he did when he was on a jet high, and that shook him. He was calling it now, this girl was going to be trouble. For him, for others, for the commonwealth. She was going to bring some serious changes. That was, if she managed to stop looking so out of place. He could tell from the pip-boy on her wrist on the way she stood that this world was new to her. He just hoped she could kick its ass before it kicked hers.
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Getting out of the memory lounger made the room spin, and as she tipped forward, she was hardly aware of the way Dr. Amari’s hand gripped her shoulder, standing her up straight.
So that's how they did it huh? Teleportation? Well, Lenora had already managed to track down and kill the man who seemed to be the commonwealth's most dangerous mercenary, this shouldn't be too much of a jump. Right?
Most dangerous mercenary… he had only turned out that way because of his father, maybe even his mother giving him a gun so young. If you pair that with the fact that his wife and daughter were murdered like animals… Lenora knew what that could do to someone, when they had their family ripped from their hands.
Did that make her as bad as Kellogg? His rage turned him into a mercenary, a hunter, a predator. Hers had turned her into a cold killer who wouldn't stop until she found shaun. Who would she be once she did find him though? Would she even be fit to still call herself a mother? How much more blood would she shed in her mission to find her child?
“Slow movements okay? I don't know what kind of side effects the procedure might have had. No ones ever… done this before. How do you feel?”
“I'm okay Doctor. Thank you.”
“That's good, but I want you to keep monitoring yourself. We have to be sure there's no long-term damage.”
There was an awkward pause, Dr. Amari shifted her weight between her feet.
“Are you… ready to talk about what happened in there?”
She was, in fact she was ready to find the institute right now even. “There's more than one person who knows about the institute. Virgil, that scientist who escaped…”
“I didn't know Institute scientists could defect. This changes everything. He could answer all sorts of questions. Where did the memory say he was? The Glowing Sea? That can't be right. No one would risk going there. Not even to hide.”
“That's why he's there, to make the institute think twice about following him.” It made perfect sense, especially with how expansive the glowing sea was, there would be so many places to stay hidden.
“That must be it! He's using the radiation in the glowing sea as a shield or a… cloak… a way to throw them off and be at an advantage. If Virgil found a way to survive there, you'll have to do the same, if you're going to follow him.”
“I'll find a way to get through the rads, don't worry.”
“Good luck, and…. Be safe. By the way, I unplugged Mister Valentine first. Removed the implant while you were waking up. He's waiting for you upstairs.”
Lenora made her way back to the detective, she stumbled up the stairs, her boots feeling heavy on her ankles. Clearly, the commonwealth did not provide enough nutrition to be as healthy as she had been back before the bombs. With a hand tracing the wall, she made her way over to Nick, who sat, still as a stone statue in a rusty seat near the entrance to the den.
“Hey Valentine…”
“Hope you got what you were looking for inside my head. Heh. I was right. Should've killed you while you were on ice.”
The tone of his voice went like a cold wind down her spine, her muscles suddenly tense, ready to fight. “Kellog? Is That you?” The fear in her voice was pathetic, she had taken out that old man like nothing, she had no reason to not feel safe right now.
“What? What are you talking about?” Nick was back, it was him, it was just Nick.
“You sounded like Kellog just then.”
“Did I? Amari said there might be some ‘mnemonic impressions’ left over… anyway, I feel fine so let's get going.”
She stood still, rocking back and forth uneasily. “Actually Nick, I was thinking of spending some time here in Goodneighbor with dogmeat, picking up odd jobs, making some caps, restocking my supplies.”
He seemed to flinch, but got up anyway, pulling her into a hug against his robotic frame. “Then I'll just head back to the great green jewel. Say safe doll, and come back in one piece.”
She nodded and watched him leave, before sitting down on the chair he had occupied, resting her head in her hands. She'd get a room at Hotel Rexford, and look for some work tomorrow. Right now she just wanted to rest.
Getting up, she dragged her feet to the door. Outside the cold air hit her immediately, making her arms curl against her core to preserve warmth. Dogmeat jumped up from where he was laying under a bench and ran to her, licking her hands and sitting on her foot.
She reached down and gave him some scratches between his ears, just how he liked, and then forced herself to the hotel.
Her room was on the third floor, towards the back. The bed was musty, and had countless questionable stains, but in the wasteland, this was a blessing. She patted her hand on the bed, encouraging Dogmeat to jump up. She set her backpack down at the side of the bed, and pulled out a makeshift blanket she had made from old money and pillow cases.
She kicked off her shoes, took off her coat, and worked her way out of each belt and zipper she had around her. She shoved her hands into her backpack and fished out some potato chips, a teddy bear, her 10mm and what she had left of her purified water.
Sitting up she tore through the chips, realizing she had only had one other thing to eat today, and it was gum drops on her way out of Diamond city. She killed the water and layed on her back, resting her head on the teddy bear.
The ceiling was peeling, and looked like if it rained she would wake up soaked. Dogmeat wiggled closer to her, nosing his way under her blanket and setting his head on her stomach. She carded her fingers through his fur and closed her eyes. Shuan was out there somewhere, and she could feel herself getting closer