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Strapping the last of their supplies into her travel pack, Nora took one last glance at Sanctuary Hills. The sun peeked just over the horizon. Most of the settlement's residents still dozed away in the ancient homes. Cait sat by a dying fire, nursing a bottle of whiskey. Nora suspected she had yet to sleep. Piper waited at the bridge, arms crossed over her chest.
"Anytime, Blue."
"You two have fun." Cait winked as Nora passed, holding her bottle up in salute.
"Watch your back." Nora smirked. "I'd get my revenge right now if I didn't have somewhere to be."
"Can you two bicker another time?" Piper cast a sidelong glance at Nora. "Sunlight's wasting."
"Sorry." Nora rubbed the back of her neck, sheepish smile on her lips. She jogged up to the journalist, following beside her on their journey back to Diamond City.
The pair followed well worn paths between settlements, thanks to the Minutemen's supply lines. They knew an easy trip stretched out before them, at least for most of the morning. The only trouble they could expect lay closer to Diamond City's rough borders. Raiders and super mutants roamed the edges of the Combat Zone. Their biggest risks lied in the last hour or two before arrival. Nora must've trekked this path a hundred times by now. Piper spent much of her time in Nora's foot steps. What better way to report on the latest story than right from the front lines. Every few weeks, though, they needed a pit stop in the Commonwealth's big city. The paper wouldn't write itself, after all.
"...And after I wrote that piece on McDonough, you wouldn't believe the amount of heat I got. I left the city once - once - and they locked me out! Can you believe-"
Nora paused, her finger hovering over Piper's mouth. The pair froze, ears pricking at the sound of scuffling boots. Nora pointed to an overturned car, dropping to a crouch. Piper followed, the movement as fluid as muscle memory.
"Get ready," Nora whispered, sliding her rifle off her back. She propped the muzzle on the side of the car, delicately scanning their surroundings with her scope. One...two...five raiders, she counted. The groups' lookout sat atop a rickety tower fashioned from metal siding and moldy wood. He failed to notice them. But there was no way around the ambush point without double backing through the ruins and over a bridge. That journey alone would push their arrival past nightfall. Even Nora, a 'pre-war relic', knew better than to end up in Diamond City's perimeter after dark.
"Bastards work fast," she muttered. "We leave for six days and they've already built a choke point."
"Think we can take them?" Piper grabbed her pistol, flicking the safety off.
"Easily." Nora's lips curled into a roguish grin. She aimed her sights, the reticle falling over the raider's face. She exhaled, holding her breath steady as she squeezed the trigger.
A bird cawed overhead. The raider turned toward the jarring sound. A boom cut through the air, a thin trail of smoke lifting from Nora's rifle. The mark missed, tagging the raider square in the shoulder.
"Shit!" Nora grit her teeth. Her eyes narrowed in frustration at the sound of the raider howling. A panic triggered in the raider camp. Gruff taunts echoed across the alleyway. Bullets whizzed by the overturned car, ricocheting off rusted metal. "Shit shit shit." She slung the rifle back over her shoulder, opting for a handgun.
"Keep your cool, Blue." Piper leaned up, snapping off two shots before diving back into cover. "Got one."
Nora scrambled forward, darting low as she ran from the car to the side of a building. She motioned for Piper to follow, covering her movement with another round of shots. Her ears rung at the rain of fire directed back at her. Piper only made it halfway, a shot almost clipping her boot. The color drained from Piper's face as she rolled backwards, clawing at the ground. Nora reacted before she could think. She leapt out from cover and fired until her gun clicked limply against an empty magazine. A frustrated snarl bubbled up from her throat as she side-stepped another shot. The skin on her arm erupted in searing pain, the fabric of her jumpsuit ripping. Piper gasped, eyes locking onto Nora.
"I'm fine." Nora tumbled back into cover. "Just grazed me, that's all." Piper glared before popping up again, each bullet finding their mark. Wet, gurgling noises echoed from the raider's structure as the last of them fell to the ground.
The pair held their breath for several moments, waiting for any signs of movement. Only silence greeted them. Nora got to her feet first, examining the burn on her right arm. Despite the throbbing pain, the bullet only burned a superficial streak. A little cleaning and a bandage would fix it right up. Lucky this time, she thought.
"Dammit, Blue!" Piper slammed another cartridge into her pistol, yanking the handgun's action with a clack. She jumped to her feet. "You could've gotten yourself killed! That wasn't smart or heroic. It was stupid."
"I saw an opportu-"
"You saw a chance to get a bullet in your brains." Hazel eyes blazed with fury, the heat boiling off Piper's stare shrinking Nora in place. She awkwardly tugged on the sleeves of her jumpsuit, her throat drying up.
"I, uh..." Words failed her. She knew Piper was right. "I'm-"
"Don't! Just don't." Piper tucked her weapon away, pacing back and forth between the barricades of decaying cars. "Do you really think you're just...expendable? Like you don't matter to anyone?"
"No!" Nora took a step forward, hands outstretched in apology. Piper's glance cut deep, eliciting an retreat. "I...I thought I could distract them."
"You have got to learn to be more careful, Blue." Piper stalked forward, finger pointing accusingly at Nora's chest. "You don't just live in a vacuum. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of this world now. And this world needs you."
"I realize that-"
"I don't think you do." Piper shoved her finger hard under Nora's collarbone. She pushed the other woman back until Nora pressed flush against the side of an old building. Nora braced her hands beside her. She swallowed once, twice, as Piper leaned in even closer, noses nearly touching. Piper's breath fell hot across her face. "All those people you've helped, you think they could've managed without you? Because they weren't doing too good before you stepped in the picture."
"I-"
"You let me finish!" Nora was close enough to see every fleck of color in Piper's eyes, even if the flames threatened to burn her. She focused on Piper's brow, furrowed in concentration. "You think Preston would be alive right now if you hadn't stepped in? What about Cait, huh? Think she wouldn't be curled up in some ditch if you hadn't showed up? You have got to start taking your life more seriously. These people,they...they care about you!"
"I'm sorry, Piper." Nora gulped, chewing nervously on her bottom lip. Piper's hand lifted. Nora squeezed her eyes shut, her heart stopping as she waited for the inevitable slap.
Her stomach flipped as she felt warm fingers slide over her cheeks. Daring to look, tear-filled eyes met her gaze. Piper's bottom lip trembled, a tiny bloom of pink spreading beneath her freckles.
"I care about you, Blue. You're....you're more important to me than you realize." Nora's breath hitched in her throat. Her fingers clung to the wall behind her, the rest of her body paralyzed on the spot. "You can't go getting yourself killed. Not you. Not-"
Piper sniffled, dropping her hands and stepping to the side. Nora let out a slow, rattling breath. Worry coiled in her gut. She watched as Piper walked a few steps away, her hands on her face.
"Piper-"
"I'm sorry." Piper sniffed back her tears, wiping the last of the moisture from her face. "I didn't mean to jump at you like that. You just scared me, that's all." She kept her eyes firmly glued on the ground.
"But you're right," Nora said, moving closer to the journalist. She placed a shaky hand on the other woman's shoulder and squeezed just enough to gain her attention. "That was dumb."
"You know, Blue." Piper laughed, an unsure, uneasy laugh. "If you really wanna be a comic book hero, you need a better outfit." Nora knew well enough by now when Piper was veiling how she felt. She cringed at the strain in her voice, the way her eyes never settled on one thing, the downward twitch of her lips.
"Hey." Nora tugged Piper toward her, delicately wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Piper stiffened at the sudden touch. Her hands sat awkwardly across the middle of Nora's back. "Maybe I just needed to hear that." Letting her arms drop to her sides, Nora took a step back, a soft smile upon her lips. Piper shuffled for several seconds. Her mouth opened and closed as she searched for words.
"Yeah." Her voice shot up an octave. "Always happy to offer advice about not getting killed."
"Just do me a favor and leave this one out of Publick Occurrences' advice column. I've seen your personal responses." Nora winked before turning to walk away. She held back the urge to plant her face in her hands. Yeah, that sounded about as smooth as your first pick up line, Nora thought. Yet Piper stayed silent, moments passing before her footsteps caught up. Silence fell over them for the remainder of the trip. The air crackled like static, a tension so thick Nora felt her chest tighten.
Diamond City's gates greeted them by late afternoon. Nora steeled her shoulders as she followed Piper through the old stadium.
Nora wished for just one moment she found a religion that spoke to her. She wished she had a god to pray to as she passed by the guards and arrived at the door to Publick Occurrences. If anyone out there is listening, I could really use some help right about now.