Chapter Thirty-Two
The Battle of Bunker Hill
Hancock and the forces from Goodneighbor arrived first. I was very surprised to see them, but MacCready explained his part in Hancock's sudden change of heart — he had told the mayor about our situation and had somehow, in some way I couldn't comprehend, managed to convince them to lend a hand.
His own part to play indeed.
The backup from the Railroad — Glory, Drummer Boy, and three other agents — arrived just in time before the Institute's forces fully attacked. The Minutemen were a bit too late and they had to engage in combat with the synths from the other side, but from the sniping place on the roof I had taken with MacCready and Fahrenheit, I could see that we were benefitting from this fight on two fronts.
We... actually had a chance here.
I found myself frowning as I heard the rumble of thunder somewhere nearby. Great. The last thing we needed was a storm in the middle of this all. The Insitute's synths wouldn't have trouble with their field of vision, but the rest of us would be at a disadvantage.
My worries were proven true when not more than a few minutes later, the sky burst with rain.
So this was what this battle was going to look like. We would have to fight in the rain and thunder, holding a not-sufficiently fortified position against an enemy who would outnumber us by hundreds.
I didn't like it.
"Come on." Hancock patted me on the shoulder. "They need you downstairs."
"What?" I looked up from my sniper rifle, confused. Downstairs? "But I'm helping here. I'm helping."
I wasn't helping. MacCready and Fahrenheit were doing most of the work. I had barely shot one synth, and even that one had been finished off by one of MacCready's perfectly-aimed headshots. I was a terrible shot, and an even worse sniper. But we needed more people up here, and if nobody else was up for it, then yes, I would help.
"The Brotherhood of Steel?" Hancock looked at me like it should be obvious what he was talking about. I was sure that if he had eyebrows, they would have been raised at my ignorance. "They're not gonna listen to me, and the chain of command is falling apart a bit down there."
"Dammit," I muttered. I should have expected as much. "What about the Minutemen?"
Hancock just shook his head.
"Still outside. Can't get in touch, can't reach us. For now we're playing this at two fronts."
"Dammit," I repeated, because it was the only thing I could say, really. "We need to get them in here or else we're just blindly trading punches out there in the rain." The visibility was bad. I was starting to worry some of those stray bullets might be hitting allies instead of enemies now.
"Yeah. No shit." Hancock rubbed his forehead. "This is bad. Come on."
I grabbed my gun and we ran down the stairs to the police station. I noticed Piper and a few others (maybe the synths from Bunker Hill? I hadn't even taken care to remember what they looked like. I only recalled they'd been scared.) had started cleaning out some space on the first floor, but I didn't have time to check in with them right now. Maybe later. Right now I just followed Hancock down the stairs until we made it all the way to the ground floor.
Haylen was now trying to take care of four wounded soldiers in addition to the one I'd left her with. I felt a heaviness in my heart. I had a feeling we would see a lot more blood get spilled before the night was over, and I already knew that I would inevitably find myself feeling responsible for all of it.
But... the Railroad had trusted me. They'd trusted me with those people's lives, and Deacon had trusted me with making the right choices, and Piper had trusted me to put my faith in the right people, and I couldn't let them all down. I just couldn't. All I could do at this point was just carry on. We'd already made our way into this mess — the only way out was through.
"Hey." I stopped the first Brotherhood soldier I could find who didn't seem to be doing anything crucial. "What's the situation here, Knight? Report."
"Oh—" She quickly saluted. "I, um... It's bad, ma'am! The Institute outnumber us and we've been pushed back from the square to defending the police station."
"Dammit." This time, Hancock and I said this in perfect unison.
"I heard the Minutemen are here to help?" The young Knight looked at me, her eyes shining with hope. "Is that true?"
I opened my mouth, surprised. I hadn't really assumed... It made sense, of course, but... I'd never stopped to think and realise that many people in the Brotherhood probably wanted this alliance as much as I did. They'd been standing alone for so long... This was the first time someone had ever offered to help. God, I loved the Minutemen right now. I wanted to grab Preston Garvey and give him a big kiss.
"Nora." Hancock tapped me on the shoulder. I realized I'd been very close to zoning out completely. Not a good thing to do when we were practically under siege. "You still with us?"
"Yeah." I nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm here."
I managed to force myself to smile at the soldier.
"What's your name, Knight?"
"It's... Laura, ma'am."
"Don't worry, Laura." I put a hand on her shoulder. "We're not alone in this. We've got people coming in to help."
Right. It was just a matter of getting those people in here. Which was what Hancock wanted me to do, apparently. I wasn't entirely clear on how I was supposed to do that, but I was hoping he had some sort of plan.
"Hey, Blue!" Glory spotted me from across the room and grinned immediately. She was completely covered in blood. I was hoping it wasn't hers, but those old synths didn't bleed, so... Well. I was hoping it wasn't hers.
"Glory." I nodded at her, joining her by the window, where she was shooting outside through a thin space in between two boards. "How are things going here?"
"Things are going like shit." She reloaded her gun. "Visibility's gone to hell since this storm's started. Hard to tell what you're aiming at with the wind and the rain blowing right in your face."
Yet another handicap for our side that the Institute wouldn't have to worry about. I found myself muttering swearwords under my breath.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Can you control the weather and make it stop raining?" Glory muttered. "Dammit. Bet Tinker Tom was right and the Institute can. They probably did this on purpose."
I really couldn't tell if she was joking.
"I seriously doubt the Institute brought down this storm on us," Hancock deadpanned. I was grateful he'd said the words I'd already had on the tip of my tongue. "Wouldn't be the most far-out thing I've heard today, though."
"God damn it," I muttered. If we didn't figure something out, fast, the Minutemen would get slaughtered out there. "Hancock, you stay here. Keep an eye on things. Glory, you go join up with MacCready and Fahrenheit on the roof." Maybe she was no sniper, but Glory sure could deal a lot of damage from an elevated position. We would need that.
I stopped on the first floor. Piper seemed to be organising... whatever this group of people was. I noticed one of Hancock's Neighborhood Watch and Knight Rhys in the mix, so it wasn't just the synths from Bunker Hill.
"What are you guys doing?" I asked as I approached them.
Piper took off her newsboy hat and wiped some sweat off her forehead.
"We're... scavenging." She put the hat back on. "Kind of, at least. Not a lot of valuables or supplies left here after the Brotherhood of Steel moved in, but we can use the furniture to build some barricades and fortifications." She frowned. "It's not much, but it's at least something. A way to be useful."
"Piper, you already are useful. You don't need to prove yourself. To me or to anyone."
She looked down.
"I'm sorry about what I said. Back in Diamond City."
I froze. I didn't want to be having this conversation, and I especially didn't want to be having it now of all times.
"I know you're sorry, Pipes." I clenched my fists. Her words still hurt. Especially since they'd echoed my own so well. "But I can't—" I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I just can't deal with this right now. I'm not ready for that yet."
"Oh." She looked down. "Can I... at least come with you?"
"Yeah. Of course." I smiled weakly.
"So we're... good?'
"Piper, I'm... You hurt me, and I hate you." I looked down. "But you're my friend, and I love you. You know?" I rubbed my arm nervously. "Of course I want you with me on this. You're my best friend." There were few people I would rather have by my side through this if we were to win.
Win? No, honestly, I didn't see us winning this. And I had a feeling this was just the beginning. We were already losing. Piper and I ran out onto the rooftop. I desperately needed to find a better vantage point if I was supposed to figure out some kind of way to salvage the situation. I silently wished Danse was here. He'd always been the tactician, not me. I wished I could get in contact with Preston Garvey. Why was everyone who could tell me what to do not here? The situation was bad. We were all exhausted, many of us having been up for more than twenty-four hours by now. We desperately needed sleep — the Institute's synths didn't.
Which was all the more surprising when they started dispersing, turning back and seemingly running away. I even rubbed my eyes, convinced I was seeing things. I wiped the raindrops off my glasses, but nothing changed what I was seeing. The synths were definitely turning back.
"Are they... giving up?" MacCready narrowed his brows.
"No. No way the Institute would do that." Glory crossed her arms. "They'll be back. They're probably... regrouping, or something like that."
I felt something heavy in my throat.
"Nora?" Piper reached out to me, clearly concerned.
I barely had the time to move away from her before I doubled over and threw up over the side of the roof.
"Is she okay?" Fahrenheit tilted her head at me. "If she's gonna get everyone sick, then—"
"I'm not sick," I groaned. My voice was hoarse and my mouth tasted like vomit. This was fine. I was fine. I just had to... gather myself. "I'm fine."
In the time since the synths had retreated, the Minutemen must have had the time to join up with the others inside the police station, because Preston Garvey, Scribe Haylen, and a few others ran out onto the roof to join up with the rest of us.
I wiped my mouth. The bitter taste of irradiated water on my sleeve almost made me nauseous again, but I swallowed it down this time.
"Hey!" I forced a smile onto my face. "Oh my god, you really came!"
Preston smiled widely.
"We really came!" He ran up to us and hugged me even though I was quite damp from the rain already. I couldn't help but smile back. "Sorry it took so long."
"Never mind that now." I grabbed his shoulders. "What matters is you're here now, we're all here, and we're gonna fucking do this."
Hancock offered me an encouraging nod. MacCready found Piper and stood by her side, while Preston Garvey, Scribe Haylen, and Glory exchanged some awkward introductions. I felt like I was about to float away in my joy. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had so many friends gathered in one place.
A new, even and mechanical, sound broke through the pattering of the rain on the rooftop. I initially tensed up, expecting some new danger to appear, but I relaxed as soon as I recognized the sound.
Oh, thank god. I'd almost forgotten about the veribird Proctor Ingram had sent.
Fahrenheit frowned.
"Damn Brotherhood of Steel think they're gonna be part of this now too?" She mumbled a swearword, already raising the scope of her sniper rifle to her eye. "Can't it ever be one enemy at a time?"
"Wait." I put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't shoot. They're with us."
She looked at me like I was crazy.
"The Brotherhood of Steel. With us," she repeated. "With ghouls. And synths."
"Yes," I said firmly, hoping my certainty would deescalate the conflict I was afraid might be brewing here. "This is a Brotherhood outpost. They want to help."
Fahrenheit exchanged glances with Hancock. She didn't seem entirely convinced, but she did lower her gun.
Danse was the first person to jump out of the veribird, even before it had landed. Desdemona, Ingram, and a few more Brotherhood soldiers followed once it had made contact with the ground, but I didn't really care about them. I only had eyes for Danse.
He crossed the distance between us with an almost desperate speed.
"Nora—!" He froze dead in his tracks as he looked around the room and realized that not only there were no enemies, but also there were many, many allies.
"What a day to be late," I said with a warm smile, which I dropped almost immediately. "What the hell took you so long?!" I hit him — just playfully, it wasn't serious, but I could still see nearly everyone else in the room freeze with fear.
Oh. Right. They had no idea who this was. Most of those people didn't know each other. Come to think of it, they all probably still thought Maxson was in charge of the Brotherhood. And that I'd just confidently punched him in front of everyone.
"It's fine." I cleared my throat. "This, um... It's fine."
Piper narrowed her eyes and I took a deep breath. Damn it. She was perceptive. By now she must have figured out that Maxson was out of the picture, and was probably now putting everything together and realizing Danse had taken his place.
I really should have told her all of this earlier.
"We came as soon as we heard," Desdemona said quickly. "What about the synths?"
"They're fine," I assured her quickly. "They're inside, safe. For now. But we're down a man already and the Institute's forces are regrouping."
"Down a man?" Danse repeated, immediately concerned.
"Grimes."
"Damn it." He clenched his fists. "Will he pull through?"
"I... don't know. Haylen's doing her best." I looked down. I hated myself for continuously forgetting that Danse knew the people he trusted to protect me. I kept getting his friends killed. First Cait, then Maxson, and Evelyn, and...
"Nora." MacCready put a hand on my shoulder. It was almost as if he'd instinctively known that I was having a problem. I looked at him, surprised.
"I'm okay," I whispered. I didn't feel okay. In fact, I still kind of tasted vomit a little bit. I quickly unwrapped the pack of bubblegum Piper had given me earlier. The taste of fruit thankfully pushed back some of the bile back down my throat.
MacCready hesitantly moved away. I had a feeling he wasn't completely convinced I was fine. But at least he seemed to be the only one who'd noticed I was really struggling. That was good. We needed a united, strong front right now. We needed everyone to feel confident in each other. We needed everyone to feel confident in me, too. I couldn't afford to... I couldn't fall apart right now. I mentally shoved a bunch of new names into the locked safe in my head, behind the locked terminal, hidden away where it wouldn't bother me. I couldn't... I wouldn't deal with this right now. Later. Sometime later.
"Um, here. Come on. Talk me through the situation." Danse gently led me away from the others. I was immensely grateful — I wasn't up for being the center of attention right now, and this excuse sounded completely believable. Once we were safely out of everyone's earshot, at the other end of the roof, he let his previous mask slip. "How are you feeling?" He frowned. "If something's wrong, I want to know."
I smiled weakly.
"I'm better now you're here," I mumbled. It sounded so stupid as I said it, but it was the truth. "I'm, um..." I hesitantly brushed his hair off his forehead, out of his eyes. The rain had already messed up his usual hairstyle completely, but at least I still wanted to look him in the eyes. "I really am glad you're here, Danse. Not just because I'm a terrible leader. I missed you."
"I know what you mean." He took a deep breath. "It almost feels as though the better things go, the less I get to see you."
He kind of had a point. I didn't like that.
"Well, things are going to shit here, so maybe we'll get to spend some time together now." It was a piss-poor attempt at a joke, but at least it made him smile. Maybe it was a pity smile, but it was something. I cleared my throat. "Alright. Seriously though. Things are bad here. The Institute have pulled back for now, but Glory says we should expect them to strike back any moment now."
Danse visibly perked up at that.
"Glory's here?"
"Yeah. Actually, come on, you should probably go talk to her anyway." I smiled. "You really like her, huh?"
"Yes. I... don't know how to describe it. I'm sorry, this all still feels so new to me." Danse furrowed his brows, clearly thinking. "I mean, I have always been part of a unit, part of a team, I have always had my comrades beside me, but I never had what you would call a... sister." He nervously rubbed his forearm. "And Glory has been..."
"Hey." I squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I get it. I'm glad you have someone like that."
I was glad he had someone outside the Brotherhood of Steel, too, but I didn't say that part out loud. He wouldn't understand the way I felt, anyway. He would just take it personally and be hurt by it, and that was the last thing I wanted. The truth was, my trust in the Brotherhood of Steel had been shaken after how easily they'd been ready to turn on Danse back when... God damn it. I didn't like thinking about it. And I knew that it had all worked out for the better and that there were good people in the Brotherhood, that Danse was in charge now and he would never treat one of his own like he had been treated, but... Some resentment still remained. Some part of me still didn't want to fully trust the Brotherhood in the way I had trusted them before. Maybe I never would. Maybe that trust had been broken forever.
While everyone now explained the situation to each other and exchanged supplies and information, I still felt just as uncertain as I had before. I didn't think we would be able to win this. Even with the fire support all of those new allies provided... The Institute had an army they could create more of whenever they wanted. There was no way to really win against that. Not really. We could try, but we...
I looked around as Danse and I slowly, quietly, made our way to the lobby. The place where we had first met, a lifetime ago, was completely crowded now. I wasn't sure how I felt as I watched everyone prepare for the fight ahead. People were checking their ammo, helping each other into armor, reloading their guns, or just talking in unnaturally hushed voices. It was like no one wanted to break over the somber quietness that had fallen over the room.
"...That's Knight Lucia," Danse noticed, nodding his head at a girl in an orange Brotherhood uniform. I followed his gaze — the girl was indeed Knight Lucia. She was sitting right next to a ghoul woman I didn't know, one of the guards from the Neighborhood Watch. They were talking very excitedly about something, and I was pretty sure Lucia was blushing.
A Brotherhood of Steel soldier and a ghoul...?
"...Huh," was all I managed to say. "Well, what do you know."
Danse glanced at me and I could tell he was probably much less enthusiastic about this development. Still, he didn't say a word. He just silently walked away, leaving me alone in the middle of the room, left with watching two people from two separate worlds, impossibly, make a connection.
"Do you think those two could ever... be together?" I whispered. I wasn't sure who I was even asking; the question was purely rhetorical. The stupid Brotherhood of Steel would never allow it. Not as things were now. It had been bad enough getting them to tolerate, if not accept, synths. Ghouls...? "I hope they can. I think they'd make a good couple."
"Speaking of making a good couple." Piper cleared her throat. I hadn't even realized when exactly she had appeared right beside me. Not that it surprised me; if there was one certain thing in the Commonwealth, it was that Piper Wright would be there whenever something important happened. "You haven't introduced me to your synth boyfriend yet."
I took a deep breath.
"Please don't call him that," I said in a low voice. There were many things I was ready to forgive my best friend for, but she was walking a fine line now. This wasn't some kind of silly joking matter. It was something Danse was still struggling with accepting about himself, something that could mean very real danger to him every single day, and she was just— acting like it was just a throwaway line? A punchline? It wasn't. This was serious.
Piper frowned.
"I'm—" She winced. "...sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm being like this."
It was my turn to squint at her, confused and a bit concerned. I still hadn't entirely forgiven her for what she'd said back in Diamond City, but... She was my best friend. I couldn't just— I didn't want to stay mad at her.
"...Piper, are you okay?"
"Are you?" She grabbed my hands. "I'm just— I don't know what to do with this. Look, I want you to feel like you can talk to me. I... I guess I didn't want you to feel like this is a big deal. I really messed up back there. I reacted... badly." She looked down. "I'm sorry. I understand why you wouldn't want me to meet him."
"Piper..." I put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me. "It's— It's not like that. I love you. You know I wouldn't... Next time something big happens in my life, you're the first to know. Alright? I promise."
She smiled weakly.
"Deal," she said in a hoarse voice. Silence. Piper smirked. "So is he, like, from the Railroad or—"
Probably for the first time in my life, I felt relieved when Knight Rhys interrupted my conversation.
"They need you up on the command deck, ma'am," he said quickly. For a moment, I considered pointing out that this wasn't a warship, but in the end I decided to ignore his odd phrasing. As long as it took me away from Piper and her many questions I wasn't ready to answer yet, I didn't care.
"Thank you," I mumbled and immediately headed up the stairs.
"Nora." Hancock caught me even before I'd made it to the first floor. "I don't know what's going on here, exactly, but there's a synth in charge of the Brotherhood of Steel now?" Wow, news travelled fast. Faster than I was comfortable with. "I got the feeling you had something to do with that."
"Yeah... Sorry for roping you into this." I wasn't. Come to think of it... "What did MacCready even offer you to get you to help out?"
"Why, I'm offended you assume I wanted something in return." Hancock laughed softly. I didn't smile. "Fine. We... made a deal," he said eventually.
I narrowed my brows. I didn't like the sound of that purposefully vague statement, but out of everyone in the Commonwealth to make a shady deal with, John Hancock wasn't so bad. Probably. I just hoped MacCready knew what he was getting himself into.
Had he done it... for me?
I knew that I was probably making this into much bigger of a deal than it needed to be, but I also knew that MacCready was weird about debts and making things up to people. I was worried he might have done something stupid just because he felt it had been the right thing to do.
No. I needed to get my priorities straight. Survive the battle against the Institute first. Worry about my friends later.
"How are things?" I asked once Hancock and I made it up to the roof. I wasn't very sure who was in charge here, really. Danse had immediately taken over giving out orders to the Brotherhood soldiers stationed at this outpost and Dez seemed to be handling things between both the Railroad and the Neighborhood Watch, but the bulk of our forces belonged to the Minutemen — I doubted they would go under either of their command just like that. Never mind that I didn't even know who I reported to here, if anyone.
Desdemona motioned for Glory to take over and walked up to me.
"The Institute is gathering a larger force to use against us here, and we're pinned down at the police station." She crossed her arms, clearly upset. She seemed to be the only person up here completely unfazed by the rain and wind. "I don't like our odds, but..." Something in her expression softened. "We never would have done this on our own. The Railroad isn't what it used to be. After the Switchboard..."
"Hey." I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll rebuild. Stronger than ever."
She offered me a weak smile.
"I hope you're right."
Drummer Boy ran up onto the rooftop.
"They're preparing to attack," he reported, slightly out of breath. "This is it."
I instictively looked to Danse.
"Alright," he said slowly. "Well, everyone has their orders. We know what to do. So let's make this happen."
"Yeah." Glory smiled widely. "High time the Institute got their asses kicked for a change."
Desdemona nodded and the group began to unenthusiastically disperse, everyone walking away towards their assigned task. I frowned; partly because I didn't really have one. Partly because this had suddenly become so much more real. This was... real. I'd never really been in a battle before. Not like this.
Danse gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. He must have felt I was feeling uncertain... Or, I thought as I turned to look at him, maybe he was uncertain himself.
"Hey. We can do this." I found myself lacing my fingers through his hair, smiling despite myself. All around us, everyone was preparing for the biggest fight against the Institute yet, but in this moment, I didn't care. This was my way of getting ready. I needed this. I needed him close, to touch him and feel him, tangible and real and here. Slowly, I stood on my toes and left a short kiss on his nose. "I'll see you on the other side," I said softly.
Danse closed his eyes, forehead resting on mine.
"Be careful," he whispered. "If I lost you... I don't know what I'd do."
"I will," I whispered back at him. He kissed me, hands tangling in my hair.
I held back tears. Once he moved back, I pulled him back in for a second kiss, this one shorter and slightly more desperate.
I slowly opened my eyes to see Danse looking back at me, still pressed against me, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, holding on tightly as if he was about to lose me. I swallowed. Hesitantly, I brushed his hair back. My hand lingered on his cheek.
"You be careful too." I forced myself to smile. I was certain my eyes were shining with the tears I was still trying to hold back. "Remember? No heroics."
Danse laughed sadly as I referenced his words to me from back when we first met. It was hard to believe that had only been a year ago.
"No heroics," he promised. He kissed me one last time, on the forehead.
"You guys are adorable." Glory had her arms crossed as she leaned on the wall nearby. It just now slowly dawned on me that Deacon hadn't told anyone in the Railroad about... Well, anything. I doubted he ever did. That wasn't really the way he did things. "Don't worry. I'll protect her for you."
I cleared my throat.
"No," I said softly. "You stay with Dez. They're gonna need firepower up here."
We'd managed to set up something of a command center up on the roof of the police station. Desdemona, Danse, and Hancock had already kind of discussed tactics and so far I'd had MacCready and Fahrenheit stationed there as fire support, but they needed more. Glory would be able to protect them all on her own, I was sure of it. That way, we could take Fahrenheit and MacCready and move them to the ground floor. I internally despaired that we only had two snipers against the entire horde of Institute synths, but we had to work with what we had.
Glory looked to Danse for approval (which kind of hurt) but he just gave her a small nod. He knew I was right about this. I might not have been the best tactician and I was fully intending to leave the planning to others here, but this move was clear even to me.
"Okay then." She nodded. "Let's do this."
I sent her a small, weak smile, and set off for the stairs.
Danse grabbed my wrist, causing me to look back. He looked like he wanted to tell me so much right now and didn't have the time for any of it.
"Take care of yourself," he said quietly.
I simply nodded without a word. Hesitantly, he let go. I ran back down the stairs into the police station, leaving them to it. They would be fine. They were capable, smart people. I was leaving them in good hands — their own.
Once downstairs, I only took a few seconds to look around the room. The fighting was clearly taking place outside, probably mostly confined to the square in front of the police station — the only people in here seemed to be the wounded. I ran outside, grasping my rifle probably a bit more tightly than necessary.
I didn't like this. The storm had only gotten stronger instead of mellowing down, and now rain pounded harshly against everyone and everything outside. The dirt outside had turned to slippery, thick mud that covered almost everyone who had to fight in it. I didn't like this at all. I slipped and fell face-first into a mud puddle.
Oh god. I was sure I was about to throw up again. I wiped the mud off my face with the sleeve of my Brotherhood uniform. An energy beam flew right over my head. I felt a heaviness in my gut as I realized once more my luck had been the only thing keeping me alive.
One of the Minutemen noticed me lying there in the mud and quickly ran over to help me up. I didn't even get the chance to thank him before I had to shoot the synth I saw coming dangerously close with a shock baton in its hand. God damn it. If everything else wasn't enough, electricity and rain didn't mix. This was bad.
I noticed Drummer Boy and Knight Rhys fighting side by side, holding off a troop of Gen-2 synths, somewhere to my right, but it seemed like they were handling things, so I set off running in the opposite direction instead.
The fighting here was even more hectic than it had appeared from up on the rooftop. I managed to shoot two more synths before I had to reload my gun and duck behind the nearest cover I could find, an overturned metal table someone must have knocked over in an attempt to create more buffer between them and the enemy. I reloaded quickly, but the wet bullets slipped out of my hands as I tried to push them into the rifle. I swore and quickly reached into my bandolier for more. Once I'd managed to successfully reload my weapon, I leaned out of my makeshift cover and immediately took aim at the Gen-1 synth I saw getting dangerously close to me. I fired twice — the first of my shots missed, by an embarrassing margin, but the second hit the synth in the chest, making it stagger and take a step back. I pulled the trigger again and the synth fell down.
I nearly shot the next person who lumbered onto the square, and I barely recognized him when he half-ran, half-stumbled in my direction as soon as he noticed me.
"MacCready!" I exclaimed, holding him up. He was pale, his hands pressed against a bleeding wound in his stomach. The thin duster coat he always wore had offered little protection in the end, practically torn to shreds now and completely soaked through with both rainwater and blood.
"They... Crap. There's a Courser..."
I felt all blood leave my face. God fucking damn it. Worst-case scenario. I helped him stumble into the police station. "Haylen! Take him. And..." I swallowed. "Don't let this one die. Please."
Haylen nodded as she took him among the wounded. Mostly Minutemen, but I could spot a Brotherhood Paladin and two ghouls from the Neighborhood Watch. It was almost a wonder those people were all sitting in the same room.
I ran up to the rooftop, which had by now fully and officially become the command center.
"Guys," I said sternly, "there's a new problem. They've brought a Courser."
The others exchanged worried glances.
"Alright then." Danse narrowed his brows. "I'll take care of it, you all just continue on. We can't allow them to break through our defenses. It's all of the Commonwealth on the line this time."
He took off his jacket and handed it to me. "You'll look after this for me, won't you?"
I stared. The rain and my wet hair got into my eyes and I blinked. I couldn't have heard that right.
"You idiot, what are you doing?!" I grasped the jacket so tightly my knuckles turned completely white. "You can't just go fight him, that's a whole Courser!" Didn't he remember the last two times we'd gone against a Courser? Didn't he remember Cait at all?
Danse hesitated, turning back to look at me as if he wanted to say something more. Eventually, he just ran down the stairs. He didn't even look back.
"Well, he's dead," Desdemona commented after a moment of silence had passed.
"I'll help him," Glory decided quickly. She sent me a reassuring smile and followed him down the stairs. I stood, soaking wet, right there in the wind and rain, clutching Danse's jacket tightly in my hands as I tried to convince myself this wasn't a disaster.
"What now?" I asked. I hated how pathetic my voice sounded.
"We gotta carry on as before." Hancock didn't look any better than me; his clothes were completely soaked through, and water had gathered inside of his hat. He looked a bit like a wet dog, though I doubted he would have appreciated the comparison. "Got to trust them."
I bit down on my lips. I had trusted both Danse and Glory with my life on countless occasions, but their lives mattered a whole lot more than mine. It would be difficult to trust anyone with something that important.
"Nora." Hancock grasped my shoulders so tightly that I felt a bit of pain. All of a sudden, I was fully and completely aware of everything — of the rain hitting my body, of the wind pulling at my hair, of his hands digging into my shoulders, of the smell of wet dirt and energy weapon fire. "You need to trust them. Okay?"
"I..." I hesitated. This wasn't... The stakes were higher now. Danse, Glory— they weren't something I was willing or ready to gamble with.
"No!" Hancock narrowed his eyes. "None of that! You. Need. To trust them. If you don't trust them, this whole thing falls apart!" He let me go, but only to motion around us. "You started this, okay? You need to follow through! Trust them to do their part."
"I..." I swallowed. "I will. I mean, I do. I do trust them." I clenched my fists. I desperately wanted to help out, to make sure I did everything in my power to protect the people I loved, all of them, but... I couldn't. Hancock was right, and I hated that he was right. The only way we would ever accomplish anything was if we learned to all trust each other. I took a deep breath. "What do you need me to do?"
"Well, step in for the Brotherhood's leader, I guess." Desdemona motioned for me to join her at the edge of the roof. I felt my stomach tighten in protest, and momentarily wondered if maybe there was something to do with rooftops that had been causing me to feel so sick recently.
I hesitated for a moment before putting on the jacked Danse had left me. That left me both warmer and slightly more confident. Hancock beside me, I joined up with Dez and Preston at the makeshift war table closer to the edge but still outside sniping range from ground level. Hancock winced and had to hold his hat down as a particularly strong gust of wind swept over us. I decided to zip up my—Danse's—jacket.
"Both our snipers are down," Hancock reported grimly. I immediately snapped my head in his direction. I knew that MacCready was wounded, but Fahrenheit too? This situation was bad and getting worse by the second. "We need to pull back, at least a bit. We need more defenses."
I had to keep myself from running to the edge of the roof to see what's happening when a particularly loud sound of an explosion filled the air around us, followed by a rapid-fire crash of bullets. I clnched my fists. That sounded like Glory's minigun. God, I hoped they were alright down there.
"Okay, okay. We need to..." I brushed my hair back, wiping some water off my forehead. "Let's pull the Minutemen to the square, move everyone back to a more defensive position. The Brotherhood can provide suppressing fire in the meantime."
"Smart." Desdemona nodded. "As for the Institute—"
"That's not going to be a problem," Piper said quietly.
"What?" I looked right at her, shocked and confused. I had a feeling everyone else had a similar expression.
"...They're leaving," she whispered. Her voice was small, barely audible among the thunderstorm raging around us, but her words still rang loudly in my head. "They're retreating. Look."
We ran to the edge of the roof to look down over the battlefield Cambridge had become. The synths were leaving. Not like before; now they were all running or teleporting away, every single last one of them. Hancock and I looked at each other (I realized, somewhat shocked, that I had unwittingly taken Danse's place. That felt... wrong.) with some shared disbelief. I couldn't speak for the others, but I had assumed the Institute, who saw their synths as so disposable, would want to fight to the last man. Or last... robot, I supposed.
"They must be cutting their losses," Hancock said slowly. "They don't want to run out of soldiers."
"...They're planning something bigger," I whispered. If they had decided to turn back now, to just... give us this victory, it could only mean something bad.
This wasn't good. We'd won, but I was more scared now than I had been before.
I'd thought this would feel... Different. I'd thought a victory would feel better, that maybe I would feel at least somewhat happy. I had not expected to be completely filled with dread.
I looked at Dez, then at Piper, and then finally at Hancock. He gently squuezed my hand, as if to give out support, but other than that, none of us seemed ready to celebrate in any way. The danger hung directly above us now. If the Institute had attacked directly, they were bound to again. This wasn't the end.
This wasn't a victory.
Not really.
I silently, morosely, walked down the stairs to the police station's lobby, and looked around. Danse and Glory were both badly wounded, but both alive and conscious enough to laugh and smile. I didn't talk to them. I didn't want to sour their mood with mine.
"We lost fourteen men today," Preston said quietly.
"Many more wounded," Haylen added.
I nodded silently. I didn't know what to say. I'd... called those people here, hadn't I? I'd started this. This was... on me.
I felt numb, just going through the motions as I checked in with everyone I found along the way.
Drummer Boy had been one of those fourteen casualties. I found Deacon standing in silence over his body. I stood in silence with him for a minute, too. Grieving. Hoping those deaths hadn't been for nothing.
Hoping, against hope, that this could be the start of something good. That maybe we could move on and heal. That we could unite against the Institute. That the losses we'd sustained today will have been worth it in the end.
"All of this... For four synths?" Hancock clenched his fists. I didn't like this. I didn't like that he had thought it, because it meant that others had, too.
"It wasn't just about that," I said quietly. I doubted anyone would listen to me, but I had to say this. "It wasn't just about them."
I went back inside. The police station was crowded now, mostly with wounded and our too few medics attending to them. So many had gotten hurt because of me today. I managed to spot MacCready, Danse, and Preston among the wounded. I'd almost lost them, too. I didn't approach them for now. I wasn't sure what I would say, anyway.
"The new Elder is... different, isn't he?" Knight Rhys leaned back against a wall. I immedaitely wrinkled my nose; I wasn't sure if I liked the way he was looking at Danse.
"Different how?" I asked. Different from what?
"Lyons didn't fight. Well, Sarah Lyons did, but that went to shit. And Maxson always stayed at the helm. But Danse? It's... odd to see a superior on the front line. He's gambling with his life a lot." Rhys shrugged. "Not that anyone can order him not to, mind you."
I pursed my lips. I looked at Danse now too. Haylen was removing a bullet from a wound in his shoulder while he talked to Preston and Glory, clearly more preoccupied with making a plan of attack than with the fact that he was injured. Maybe that wasn't the best place for him to be right now. Maybe he was gambling with his life more than those who had come before him.
But he was a good leader, and he cared. And that meant a lot in the Wasteland. Not everyone cared, not everyone was willing to put their life on the line or to make difficult choices with the well-being of others on their mind. Danse was a good leader. The world needed good leaders.
"It's good that he's different," I said finally. "We need different."
Rhys didn't answer.
oooOOO*OOOooo
If someone had told me at any time before this last month that I would ever find myself standing in the same room with the leaders of almost all the most important factions in the Commonwealth and that no one would be threatening each other with murder or war, I never would have believed it.
And yet.
And yet, here I was. I had taken a somewhat modest place a step behind Preston Garvey and within good distance of all the others. I hesitantly looked around. The atmosphere in the room wasn't nearly as tense as I had imagined it. In fact, everyone was laughing good-heartedly and patting each other on the back. Celebrating our first real victory against the Institute. Glory and Danse seemed to be explaining something to Piper, who listened attentively. Hancock and Desdemona exchanged some banter while the former wrung out some remaining rainwater water from his hat, and Fahrenheit stayed silent with a hand near her holster. Even she was smiling, though.
"Alright." Piper was the first person to speak up, because of course she was. I couldn't imagine it any other way. "Well, if no one else is going to address this huge elephant in the room, I might as well... Hi. You all know me... Or... not, actually. Um. Anyway. That's not important. What matters is, we need to talk about the Institute. About what we do next." She bit on her lip, clearly uncertain. "Anyone?"
"We're going to war," Desdemona said unceremoniously. "We're already at war, as a matter of fact. We have been for a long time, long before any of this. It's just that now, with this alliance, we finally have a fighting chance. Elder?"
"Yes." Danse cleared his throat. "We've been talking about this. Our best shot right now is to strike as soon as possible. The Institute are likely to recover from today's battle sooner than our predictions would suggest. Right now is our only chance to catch them somewhat off-guard. We will need to mount a full-on attack on their underground facility."
"I assume that robot the Brotherhood's been building outside our windows has something to do with that?" Preston tipped his hat back. He seemed much more confident than I'd expected he would be. Maybe he was finally dealing with the kind of army he had always dreamed the Commonwealth could be. Maybe seeing everyone come together was all he had ever needed.
"It is a weapon we're planning to use against the Institute, yes." Danse seemed caught off-guard by this question.
I cleared my throat.
"And?"
Danse sent me a look. For a moment, I was worried he might not agree to my conditions. He'd never agreed with me on this subject, but he had also made it clear he respected my opinion. I just hoped that now that he outranked me, he hadn't decided to go against my wishes. He had every right to, of course. I just hoped he wouldn't.
A few seconds passed in silence while we just looked at each other from across the room. Eventually, Danse slowly breathed out and rested his hands on the table, leaning forward.
"And after the Institute is dealt with, the weapon will be disposed of," he said quietly. "Just like you asked."
"Thank you." The smile I sent him was fully genuine now. I wished I could hug him. Kiss him. But we were in front of all those people, and we were in the middle of a war meeting, and there were so much more important things to discuss, and... This wasn't the right time. Right now, we had to focus on securing the alliance.
I turned towards the one person who hadn't made their intention to join us clear yet.
"Hancock?" I asked gently.
"Well, I can't say I'm a big fan of everyone present," he winced, staring very hard at my boyfriend in particular. "But I'm not gonna just let the Institute take over. Not without a fight!" Hancock closed his eyes with a smile. "It's about time Goodneighbor lived up to its name. I think we all gotta stop being so damn selfish and stand up for the whole Commonwealth. Together."
I elbowed Danse meaningfully. He sucked in a breath, but extended a hand to the ghoul.
"It's good to have you as an ally, mayor," he stated coldly.
Hancock shook his hand eagerly. He at least seemed to be enjoying himself quite well. I almost smiled. "Pleasure's all mine, Elder."
I smiled. Everything was as it should be. Better, even.
"I suppose we'll pick this up tomorrow, then." Preston Garvey patted me on the back. "Let's take a break for now."
"Wait. Don't you want to finish the war meeting?" I cleared my throat. "Summit? Conference?" I wasn't sure what to call it. I just knew it was important, and that we shouldn't put it on hold for no reason.
"People need to rest, Nora." Preston chuckled softly. "It's all good. Most of us haven't slept in almost two days, some longer than that. The adrenaline's wearing off now and everyone's gonna be tired and hungry. We should take a day or at least a few hours to rest." He smiled at me. "You too. Get some sleep. Talk to your friends. Enjoy this victory while it lasts. Can you do that for me? You never enjoy things, you always look for the next fight. Take these few hours of peace. We all need it."
"I'll... try." I had to fight with myself not to yawn. That would only strengthen his argument. Besides, he had a point. I had kind of checked in with everyone already, but a nap didn't sound so bad... A nap sounded... good. A nap in a real bed for once. Preferably with Danse in that bed too. That sounded... really good, actually. "I'll try to do that."
I actually managed to grab Danse and drag him away into the nearest empty room fairly easily, all things considered. You would think more people would have noticed that he'd disappeared, but it seemed Preston was on to something — everyone was too preoccupied with celebrating our victory or getting some rest that they'd barely noticed us sneaking away to do the same thing.
Danse took a deep breath as soon as we were alone. It seemed like he was almost scared of what conversation might follow.
"Nora, about what I—"
"Sleep now. Talk later." I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the bed with me. It was not king-sized and we barely fit on it together, but I was too tired to care. I wrapped myself around him, eyes closing as I sank into the warmth of having another person with me.
Wait. Did he... think I was going to be mad at him for going to fight that Courser? Had he expected me to be mad at him for that?
I opened my eyes and slowly scooted back a few inches until we were lying side by side as opposed to haphazardly thrown on top of one another like before. A longer moment passed in complete silence broken only by both of our steady breathing.
"So how do you feel after your first big victory?" I asked carefully. I didn't want to touch the subject he had clearly been so scared of discussing with me.
Danse stared at the ceiling.
"It's... not nearly as glamorous as it's made out to be." He sighed. "I suppose I should have expected as much. I'm glad you were here, though. I—" He rolled over to his side so we were lying facing each other. I smiled. "Things are... easier when you're there. I feel stronger with you." He paused. "I love you, Nora."
I rested my forehead against his, nestling closer into his embrace. He was warm. I'd almost forgotten how warm everyone else was. How comforting it could be when I let it. When I didn't try to keep myself away from that warmth.
"I love you too," I whispered.
I fell asleep.
oooOOO*OOOooo
I woke up alone for the first time in a while, but for the first time in a while filled with hope. For the first time in a while, I woke up convinced that the coming day would be a good one.
We'd won. It had been a small and probably insignificant victory in the grand scheme of things, and it had been a victory the Institute had given us willingly, but it had been a victory nonetheless.
I even found myself smiling as I passed by every one of the many people populating the police station. In any other situation, this would be overcrowded and suffocating, but the circumstances made this crowd feel like the best thing in the world. I saw Railroad agents talking to the Minutemen, Brotherhood soldiers and Goodneighbor security eating breakfast together, people who never would have met otherwise awkwardly but eagerly starting to get along... This overcrowded police station lobby was the most beautiful sight I'd seen in the Wasteland.
"Hey, Nora." MacCready shyly joined me at my spot near the stairs.
"Don't tell me. Diamond City's sent some troops as well?" I didn't spare on the sarcasm, but I was happy. So many had come to fight! I had expected to gather twenty allies at tops, but there were at least five times that many people in the police station. And they weren't even the core forces of our rising army — the Brotherhood was mostly stationed on the Prydwen and the Minutemen at the Castle. Once they joined up... This alliance would actually be a force to be reckoned with.
"Um... No, actually." He scratched his head. I noticed he didn't have his hat on. Dressed in just the green sweater he usually wore underneath his coat, he was quickly losing a large part of the signature look I'd always associated him with. I wondered how many of us would manage to get through this war unchanged. So far only Hancock had managed not to alter his appearance drastically, and even that was mostly because I'd never seen him wear anything but that John Hancock costume of his. Maybe he needed it for the persona he had crafted for himself. Maybe it was just a part of who he was now. "The whole place is a mess right now. They don't even know how to control the riots inside, so... I doubt Diamond City will be joining the fight before a new mayor is elected. And there's no telling what their policy will be."
"Heh..." I shook my head. "That's fine. Can you believe that they all agreed to work together?"
"The Minutemen and the Brotherhood, maybe. The Railroad and Goodneighbor, probably. But all of them? Never crossed my mind."
"Yeah..." I looked out the window, at the rising sun. "I guess... Maybe I did make a change after all."
"You're kidding, right?" MacCready put a hand on my shoulder. "Nora, you... You're the one who got us here. You make me want to be a better person. And... If you made me change, you can get through to others. I mean— You already did. Look at this! This alliance, this... This is all you. Those people never would have come together if you didn't meddle in everyone's business."
I laughed softly.
"You're right, as always." Finding the right people. That was my role here.
It felt good to finally hear someone else acknowledge it. Like I had been right about something very important.
"Anyway, I'm—" MacCready cleared his throat. "They wanted you up on the second floor. They turned that conference room into some kind of command centre, and they're... I don't know, I guess Hancock wanted to make this thing official." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "He always had a flair for the dramatic. You know how he is."
"Yeah." I smiled widely. "I do know. Thanks, RJ."
I took a deep breath. Make this thing official. So we had ourselves an alliance. We were at war, and now we had an army. That was good.
When I opened the door to the conference room, I felt all eyes on me. I tried not to let it show how much that unnerved me. I forced my smile to return even though it had already fallen.
"So..." I cleared my throat. "Apparently, we're making this official." I was purposefully repeating MacCready's words — I had a feeling they had been Hancock's originally. "We're doing this? You're all going to join this alliance?"
"Yeah, I'm in." Hancock shook his head, a small smirk lining his words. "You're crazy to go against the Insitute, but I wanna see how that goes."
Desdemona smiled at me, the first genuinely happy person I could see in all of this.
"You can count us in as well, of course." She glanced at Glory and Deacon, as if searching for confirmation. They nodded hesitantly.
"And...?" I turned to Preston.
"The Minutemen will join your alliance. It's high time we all stood together."
I nodded my head. I had united the Commonwealth against the common enemy. I had brought those separate factions all together. Well... almost all of them.
"Elder?" I tilted my head slightly, looking at Danse who was leaning on the wall in the corner. I noticed that he was the only person who hadn't said a word yet, just staring at the ground.
He slowly raised his eyes. I took a step back at the spark within them, especially when he looked straight at me.
"Is that still a question? You know I would follow you to hell, Nora."
"Good." I clenched my fists. "Because that's where we're going."
Maximum level.
A/N: In case anyone's interested, Nora's base SPECIAL is ST 3 PE 4 EN 2 CH 8 INT 4 AG 3 LCK 6. Tag skills speech and lockpick.
A/N 2: Since I've had more than four years of a break, I've realized that I did not know English nearly as well as I thought back then, so I'll be rewriting/reworking the earlier chapters too. This might affect posting speed in the future. (If you're curious, I'm currently done with everything up to Jewel of the Commonwealth.)