Chapter Text
There. The flurry from behind the empty building caught her attention. She knew it was him. For weeks, he’d been tailing her. She didn’t notice at first, the guard in Diamond City. She did notice his sunglasses, but didn’t think much about it. In Goodneighbor, she spared a brief glance towards the trader haggling with K-LE0, waiting for him to get out of her way. He nodded as he passed and her reflection flashed in his familiar looking frames. She thought it was strange when she saw him again, relaxing in a memory lounger.
Nora had her suspicions at Bunker Hill. The caravan guard who was taking a cigarette break, although appearing very casual, subtly tracked her every move. At least as far as she could tell without seeing his eyes.
On the way out of the trading hub she caught a flash in the peripheral of her vision. Nora broke out into a chase. In a second she turned the corner, and there he was.
She peered down at the man. He was squatting against the side of the building, eating from a can of dog food with a well-aged plastic spoon.
“I gotta ask.”
The man continued eating, but glanced up at Nora through his shades. “When you saw me come after you, did you open the can really really fast? Did you have it open already, waiting?” She glanced at the pair of legs lying on the ground, poking out from a dead brown bush. “Was it his? Did you ice a guy for his half eaten can of dog food?”
The man stood up. “Listen lady, what’s a guy got to do to enjoy his meal around here, huh?” He threw his empty can towards the already occupied bush. “I don’t know what your problem is. Stop following me.”
“Stop following you? Stop following me! I have seen you and your stupid fucking sunglasses everywhere I go! You were there when I went to Diamond City! You were there,” she waved her arms around at him, “right next to me in the bathroom of the Third Rail! I just saw you, five minutes ago, sulking around the Brahmin pen up at the Hill!”
Nora had moved close to him, brown eyes wild and wide as she laid into him. The man stood completely still.
He shuffled back. “Uh, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But, uh, I gotta go. That can is doing something to my insides.”
And he was gone.
Nora stood, looking at the spot he vacated as she caught her breath. What was going on? She was worried that he was tracking her, keeping a tab on her for the Institute. Now she wasn’t so sure, he didn’t seem like Institute material. But there was something definitely wrong with him.
Who was this guy?
—
The bar stool groaned as she threw herself across it. She paid for a bowl of Brahmin stew and a delightful bottle of lukewarm, irradiated, and extremely aged beer. What should have been a four hour journey tourned into a nine hour journey. The city streets from Bunker Hill back to Goodneighbor were crawling with raiders and supermutants alike, pulling Nora into a few scuffles. She had to hole up in a collapsed bus for at least two of those hours as the Stimpacks did their magic. Her thigh ached. It was going to scar. Thank you, big green mutant dog.
She finished her meal, and at least tried to swap pleasantries with the sour Whitechapel Charlie. She tried. Nora left the Third Rail with a full stomach and half the caps up front for her next job.
Nora threw her pack over her shoulder and made her way back to her room at the Rexford.
She drank in the sight of the dusty neon lights, the curling smoke rising high above the drifters hanging around on the town benches. She waved at the Neighborhood Watch as she went. Nora was finally starting to feel like she had a chance here in the Commonwealth. The beady-eyed folks of Diamond City didn’t do much to calm her nerves, but the anonymity of Goodneighbor, the no questions asked, she found herself taking a breath here-
Son of a bitch.
He started sprinting. Nora’s pack hit the ground, forgotten. She pounced on the man, taking him rolling with her across the road between the Rexford and the Statehouse. She pulled him to his feet by the collar of his shirt, and threw him against the wall. “Are you serious? Are you for real?” She pushed her forearm up against his neck. “You better start talking.”
She wasn’t a strong woman, but a few months in the Commonwealth breathed fire into her muscles, and the rage she was feeling bolstered her strength.
The man looked down at her. “Okay okay, I give up! You got me!” He struggled against her hold. “Jeez, lady. Just let me catch a breath over here and I’ll tell you everything.”
Nora thought about it for a moment, and relented. She loosened her grip on the man.
And then he was gone.
“God, I’m such an idiot.”
She went back for her pack, and went to bed. She was too tired for this.
-
Deacon stuck his tongue out in concentration as he penned his note. “Hey guys,” he read out as he scribbled. ‘Not gonna work out. Coming back. - D’ Perfect.”
He folded his note and posted it into the cache. His side mission was a major fail. Weeks of sneaking, of snooping, of costume changes, wasted. He was gonna keep his distance, scope out the new talent, leave a few holotapes and bounce. But this woman had the nose of a bloodhound. Every settlement, she squinted at him.
In every town, she frowned as she looked his way. No one ever noticed him before, let alone at every point. He was losing his touch.
He kicked a stone across the gravel. The summer sun beat down on his skin. He could feel the skin on his head burn.
“Hey!”
There she was again. The woman stood at the end of the street, pointing towards him. Her duster flowed around her in the gentle breeze, and her dark hair was cut short just under her ears. And she was furious.
Deacon skedaddled. Why was she here? He wasn’t even doing any recon! His feet had never moved so quick before, he was flying. He wasn’t even sure he was actually making contact with the ground. He glanced back. Her coat flapped behind her, a growl set into her face.
She was gaining on him. He ran and he ran, and suddenly, he was down. Her weight pinned him down, his face pressed down into the gravel. “Why. Are. You. Following. Me?” She pushed his head down harder.
Deacon groaned, unable to shift his weight from under her in this position, face down in the dirt with his arms held behind his back. “Okay, this time I swear I wasn’t following you. I was before, for sure, but not this time. I promise!” He spat a few stones out of his mouth.
The woman flipped him over. Her dark hair hang down over him. “Why?” She demanded, a soft hand gripping his chin.
“I was scouting you!” He gave in. “I was leaving you secret messages and holotapes! I wanted you to join my super cool super secret organisation! That’s it!”
Nora leaned back, loosening her grip. Confused passed over her features. “You wanted me to join your gang?”
“Not a gang! Listen, come with me out of the middle of this street and I’ll tell you everything. We don’t know who could be listening out here.” Nora squinted down at him.
“Not gonna happen. You tried this last time and ditched me. I’m getting answers.”
“Okay, okay, fine. I gotta whisper to you.” He pleaded, bright eyes disguised from her as he begged.
Nora leaned forward, inadvertently pressing the line of her body against his. She dropped her ear towards his mouth, and repressed a shiver as his shaky breath skated over her ear.