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The last time he saw her she had smiled. She waved goodbye and closed the door. She had to do some things without him. He knew that. He admired that in her. She was capable and smart but nothing could stop him from being worried.
He lit a cigarette and watched the smoke crawl upward. He nodded silently at the Diamond City Security guard who replied in kind before he turned back to listen to the radio.
“Well… I… I heard… I heard that there seems to be something going on downtown. Well there’s always something going on downtown… but I…” Travis stuttered from the other side of the transmission. Normally Valentine wouldn’t pay it much mind, but this news story had done nothing but gain popularity.
“Anyway! There’s a sniper downtown. A mystery sniper, but they’re doing... good. Apparently launched some sort of one man war against the raiders… I know! Sounds crazy.”
Crazy wasn’t the half of it, Valentine thought as he passed the radio and towards the exit of Diamond City. Was it her? He knew the way she fought better than anyone else. Keep everyone at a distance. Watch and wait. She fought just as she lived. He hoped with every fiber of his being that it wasn’t her, that instead she was getting up to mischief with Cait or Hancock in some corner of the Commonwealth. He hoped she was smiling and safe. Joking with company and aiding all of those she never resisted to help.
Maybe it was the pessimist in him. The realist. The detective. The ‘Nick’ part of him. But when he heard the story on the radio. Or when Ellie mentioned it to him as another weird rumour of The Commonwealth. He knew. No one else could get away with something so stupid. So ambitious. So selfless.
And here he was, a half broken, half jaded and half worried synth escaping The Great Green Jewel and about to run off to find her amongst the chaos.
The darkness shrouded Valentine as he walked farther away from the lights of Diamond City and into the ruins of old Boston. He drew up the collar on his coat as he saw the winds blow against him. Old habit. He couldn’t feel the cold, but the shift in weather always had him tightening his coat, adjusting his collar, stupid really, he didn’t have to, but the memory was there. Always there.
The rumours were that the sniper was somewhere downtown, near Goodneighbour. If it was her, she’d have hawled up somewhere high and difficult to find. She’d be driving the Raiders crazy just like she always did.
Valentine walked towards Boston Common where the streets were too quiet. No gun fire, no shouts or jeering from the rooftops. He should have seen some one by now.
Something was wrong.
He passed by in shadows, studying the normal haunts and hangouts that the raiders in the area normally occupied. Nothing. He passed by the door of Hubris Comics and couldn’t help a smile cross his lips.
“Hubris comics!” She had said weeks before, her bright red lips smiled up at the wrecked sign above the door. “We used to come here all the time!” He couldn’t help but join in her happiness. She was like that and her warmth was infectious. Her smiles were something you wanted to never end. “I wonder if they have any Silver Shroud merchandise?”
Nick had laughed, “you liked that show? You know detectives don’t actually work like that.”
She’d laughed back, “oh really? Maybe it’s just you. Obviously you’re not trying hard enough.”
She beamed when she saw relics of the past. Spoke of stories of her trips to Hubris Comics to get new Grognak editions or when she would go to Shucky’s Clams on dates. Her life. Her world before this.
Valentine gazed up to the night sky in attempt to escape his thoughts. He shook out his coat before loosely tying it around him again. Enough reflection. He had to keep moving.
Past Boston Common, he expected to get into trouble. As he drew closer and closer to the centre of the downtown ruins he began to hear the distant echo of shooting. Shouts as The Gunners hid behind barricades and beyond that the shouts of irritated Super Mutants. What a mess.
Valentine hid behind a ruined car and studied The Gunner’s movements. They seemed eager to get further down the street. Pulling up barricades and edging closer. Looking further down the wrecked road he saw Super Mutants gathered beneath an old building. Valentine looked from one group to another and realized that neither group were interested in each other. Whatever this sniper had been doing it was enough to make the Super Mutants uninterested in whatever The Gunners were up to. This was bad. How could she have gotten herself into this?
He reached for his .44 pistol and held it firmly in hand. There was no other way. He stared up to the old skyscraper at the very end of the long road. That was her tower, not that she was a Princess that needed saving, or that he was anything like a Prince Charming, but he’d play the role of hero for once. He smiled at himself, wasn’t that quite the role reversal.
Silently, one of The Gunners fell back from the barricade. Bullet wound straight through the throat. The man was dead on impact.
Valentine took to his feet and ran quietly along the side of the road and into an abandoned building. He watched as a red painted Super Mutant shouted a deathly call into the night. In hand the Super Mutant held a mini nuke that counted down. It launched itself up and started running down the long street towards the Sniper’s tower.
No.
He held up his pistol and aimed as best he could. He had it in his sights. The super mutant couldn’t get to the tower. He wouldn’t let it. If he had breath, he’d have held it.
He fired. The bullet flew into the Super Mutant’s shoulder. The force had the mutant’s body hunch over. It roared a deep loud shout up to the night. It drew itself up, ignoring the hole blown into its shoulder. The beeping mini nuke still ready to explode.
Valentine pulled the hammer back on his pistol, cocking it. He held it up, ready to shoot again. Before he squeezed the trigger, a silent, patient shot flew into the Super Mutant’s neck.
The massive body of the Super Mutant fell to the ground.
The Sniper was good.
Too good.
It could only be her.
The Explosion of the mini nuke erupted against the dark of night. For a few moments the street was illuminated and Valentine could see just how many groups of Gunners surrounded the Sniper’s tower. He watched as the gang took advantage of the Super Mutant’s miss and started their way through the buildings alongside the street. There were more than he’d expected. If they breached her tower, there was only one way that this could end. He wouldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t lose anyone else. He couldn’t lose her.
“You know, I still find it weird that Fenway Park is a city. I mean, I like it. It’s just… weird.”
Nick had smiled weeks before, she did always have a way of mentioning whatever was on her mind without a care.
“Yeah, I took some getting used to it.” He replied.
“It gives me hope.” She had drawn the chair over to the side of his desk and sat toying with a pen.“Isn’t Piper ready yet?” She sighed as she twiddled her hands.
He glanced up from where he reviewed the case files Ellie had left out. “She’s probably proof reading her work before it goes out to print. You bored of me already?”
She shook her head, “I didn’t mean it like that.” She stared up to him with her deep eyes. She certainly wasn’t like other women he’d known. Before the war most women were demure and after they were tough enough to survive. Yet this woman, slouched on the edge of his desk and attempting to balance a pen between her lip and nose was utterly charming. Surprisingly so.
“You have your cases to get back to and Piper wanted to head out with me. You know I’d rather have you beside me.” She grinned, dropping the pen to the desk. “My moustache!”
There was a click as the door to his office opened up. Piper poked her head through, “ready to go Blue?”
“I told you to stop calling me that.”
“I will when you stop being so blue.”
She chuckled as she walked over to Piper. She turned and smiled at Valentine, “See you soon.”
Then she was gone. With a smile, a wave and a quiet click as his door shut. A week later, Piper returned to Diamond City alone. All she’d said was “Blue didn’t want me with her anymore”. They hadn’t argued or fallen out while adventuring. Apparently, she’d just wanted to be alone. She was only human. Sometimes people need breathing space. He knew that as well as anyone. It would have been fine, if only the rumours of this mysterious sniper hadn’t started around the same time.
Valentine moved carefully, hiding in the shadows he moved unseen. He was lucky. No one noticed him shooting. Was it luck? Or were The Gunners and Super Mutants just that intent on hunting down the sniper. Valentine moved as fast as he could. circling through the ruined buildings, avoiding the Super Mutants. The Gunners had moved forwards towards her tower. The sniper picked off as many as they could but he watched as a few breached the base of the tower. He passed through shadows and over the bodies of fallen Gunners.
Super Mutants shouted as one after another were ripped into bullet after bullet. He ignored them as best he could and entered the sniper’s building.
Pushed to the wall, a gunner pressed his body into him. “Gotcha bastard!”
Valentine knew he should be winded, should be knocked back. But he wasn’t what they’d expected and he wouldn’t falter easily. The Gunner held a baseball bat in hand and rose it up to strike him. He drew up his .44 pistol and shot him straight in the shoulder. The man fell backwards clinging to his wound. Valentine stepped over and into the stairwell. He could hear The Gunners shout up ahead followed by gunfire. He drew up the winding stairs and crouched when he saw a group obviously meant to be watching the door.
“You stupid bitch!” He heard one of The Gunners shout. The sound of gunfire ceased, replaced by scuffling overhead. Thumps of fighting, followed by a crash.
He didn’t have much time.
Valentine shot at one of The Gunners left in the stairwell and ran at the other. He twisted his pistol in his hand and whipped the butt of his gun into the head of the next Gunner. Both fell to the ground and he rushed over them towards the next set of stairs.
He grappled with the next person who lunged at him. Shot at by another. Full force of his metallic body Valentine pushed the gunner clinging to him into a wall. He drew up his pistol and shot at the other. Miss. He pulled the hammer down once again. Hit.
Valentine worked his old joints, the old clack and click of tired mechanisms. “Come on, you have to keep moving.” He whispered to himself as he reloaded.
He reached the top of the stairwell. The metal door at the top had been smashed open.
“You bitch!” Shouted a Gunner, obviously the leader.
He ran into the room to see The Gunner Commander drawing down on the sniper. He slapped her face. “I’m going to enjoy this.” He spoke as he reached for his knife.
Valentine drew up close and dragged the Gunner Commander off of the sniper. He quickly drew up his .44 and shot the Commander square in the chest. The Gunner Commander fell to the floor in a bloody mess. Valentine didn’t linger on the fallen, instead he turned crouching down to the sniper.
There she was. Her face pale except for the large bruise across her cheek.
“Red?” He said her name softly. Her eyes flickered over his face.
“N… N…” Her words trembled. Her ruby red lips had faded, her carefully inked black eyes were nothing but a smudge. He stared around himself, an open window, canned food and plenty of spare ammo. She was well stocked.
“I got you. I’m here.” He placed a hand on her pale cheek and she pressed into his touch. “We need to get out of here.”
“N…” His name caught in her breath.
“I need to get you up.”
“N… Nate.” She breathed before her eyes closed, before her body went limp.
You stupid old machine, Valentine thought. Not his name. Not his Princess to save. He didn’t do this for love, or any sort of romantic gesture. He couldn’t think of her like that. Yet, as he looked down at her sunken eyes, and her fresh tears he couldn’t help the ache in his chest.
You old fool.