Friends in Low Places (closed)

[Interstellar Bun]

It was drizzling. Normally that would be something Darling found charming. She would have stopped and marveled at how the neon lights reflected off of the shiny surfaces of the walls and damp ground. But any sort of joy that could have bubbled up in her at the sight had fizzled away, soured by the fact that she felt so alone. It was amazing to her right then that she could be around so many people, and experience such profound solitude.


Crossing her arms in a manner that was less defensive and more to keep herself from falling apart, Darling quickly made her way through the center of Diamond City. It was a place that was foreign enough to her that she wouldn't have even known where to go if she hadn't seen the small lettering that spelled out hope in the form of Detective.


The petite woman checked behind her back twice as she headed down the corridor, the rain pattering down to land on her nose, to slick her short pale blonde hair to the curves of her face and make it cling to the high collar of her rain coat.


It was at the door she paused. Going inside would be admitting that something was wrong, that Bruce really wasn't coming back on his own.


Holding her breath, she pushed the door open just enough to peer inside, her wide grey eyes ensuring that there was no way she could hide just how worried she was. One hand held her coat shut in the front as the other clung to the knob on the door. She felt like something of an intruder.


"Is this," she swallowed, still blinking water out of her eyes, "is this the detective agency?"

 

[Syrrus]

A young woman by the name of Ellie looked up from the folder which she had been holding and over her shoulder at the stranger. She stood next to a man dressed in a trench coat and with a neat hat upon his head. Due to the dim lighting and the cigarette smoke that filled the air it was rather difficult to make out the features of the man's face.


"Yes, you have come to the right place." Stated Ellie, smiling towards the girl as she turned. "This is Valentine's detective service. I am Ellie, Mister Valentine's assistant and secretary. " The young woman stroke brown hair away from her face and stepped aside, putting Nick into full view of their guest.


"What can we do for you, miss?" Nick's voice was kind, yet it often wasn't enough to make people feel safe around him. His yellow and robotic eyes was glowing towards Darling, as he eyed her up and down. It was obvious, as the man stood up, that he was indeed not human. He had large holes in his neck, showing wires and metallic structure going up from his chest and into his head.


"Please have a seat." He gestured towards an empty chair, giving the guest a kind enough smile. "I shall do my best to help you."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

The smell of cigarettes lingered in the air and Darling hesitated a moment longer before fully stepping in. She shut the door behind her, keeping the rain out as she slicked her hair back out of her face and attempted to appear somewhat decent looking. The kindness of Ellie's voice was welcoming, helpful in making the young woman calm down.


And then she saw the detective.


Darling's words caught in her throat as doe eyes stared at him, wide and more than a little worried as she took in his broken features and truly strange appearance. A synth wasn't what she had been expecting, not with all the whispers that lingered in the Commonwealth. Besides that there was something uniquely unnerving about those eyes of his.


It was only when she realized she was being rude that she quickly turned her gaze down. Biting her lower lip, she lowered herself into the empty chair and drew her shoulders forward, arms still wrapped around herself.


"Sorry." She didn't know what she was apologizing for, but it felt like the right thing to say.


"And, ah, thank you too I suppose, for even hearing me out. I don't-" She shook her head, her voice colored in desperation. "I didn't know where else to go. My brother went missing and no one in this place even cares."

 

[Syrrus]

Valentine narrowed his eyes, which looked rather peculiar since only the soft plastic around the oval shapes was the only thing that could change. His eyes remained the same when a human's iris would have grown smaller in size. "I see." He said, stroking his chin with a robotic hand, which looked far more like a claw than anything else. It was clear that Valentine had gone through a lot, the way he looked - like a broken toy, with only one proper yet stained hand. His skin looked slightly stained too, though not in a way you'd expect from a man who's lived in the Commonwealth. I had green and yellow patches, as if he had experienced heavy sun damage.


"There has been a lot of that, recently." Nick commented, he nodded towards her. "I'm sorry to hear that you needed to experience such a loss too."


"Don't you worry!" Said Ellie, interrupting the good Detective, who threw her a long and slightly thoughtful stare. "Mister Valentine is very good at his job - he does a lot of fieldwork. I am certain he'll find your brother before you know it!"


"Not now Ellie. Don't fill the poor girl with empty hopes. We haven't heard all the details yet." Nick pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his metallic hand - by moving two sharp fingers together in one rapid flick. "Go on, miss, give me all the details you possibly can. When was the last time you saw him, what sort of person is he, did something change that day?"

 

[Interstellar Bun]

It was Ellie's positive interruption that made Darling's lips pull into something of a weak but hopeful smile. It was better than what she'd been greeted with when she tried to go to the actual authorities. They had all but laughed at her, had said there was nothing they could do. But Valentine and Ellie, well, they seemed like the good sort.


"Oh. Right, right, sorry." She made herself sit up a little straighter, a huff escaping her as she did so. There was a beat in which she closed her eyes, attempting to calm herself before she found her voice.


"I'm Darling Harlow and my older brother is Bruce. We live out north east of here but recently he had signed up with a caravan and has been coming and going for a few months now only...this time he didn't come back. Before he left he was talking about how this would be the deal that would finally get him ahead but I-I didn't know what he was talking about, this run was just the same as any other as far as I could tell and I didn't think anything of it then."


She shook her head, a slow motion.


"Bruce is a good kid, friendly, bold, and he's not stupid; he knows how to take care of himself, but I'm afraid he might have done something with the wrong sort of people and gotten himself hurt. He wouldn't just- just leave."

 

[Syrrus]

At least her story didn't sound like the plot of the usual; the Institute. Valentine nodded slowly, rolling the cigarette between his fingers as he was lost in thought, while Ellie wrote everything down on her clipboard. "There is a lot of gangs in the Commonwealth. I would do myself a disservice if I pretended that I knew them all." Nick commented, slowly. "I often deal with mob bosses, and even if I got experience when it comes to the criminal activity of Boston I believe it will be quicker - perhaps less painful for you - if we get started on this right away."


Valentine put out his smoke and walked up to his desk at the back of the room. He opened up the drawer and pulled out what looked to be a bottle of Buffout, a inhaler of Jet and a box of Mentats. They were all different flavors of chems, something that Nick didn't take himself - he was a prototype synth, even if he had fallen into such bad habits he wouldn't be able to sample it. He put the chems down his pockets and turned towards Ellie, who looked at him.


"The weather is horrible out there Valentine, perhaps it's best if you both stay here until it calms down?" She recommended, nervously. It was clear that she didn't like the idea of the detective walking outside in any kind of hardship, something that caused Nick to smile - that famous calm smile of his.


"I am certain I will be alright. Goodneighbor isn't far from here." He turned towards their guest again. "I will find your brother, miss; I have a... friend, who knows the gangs of Commonwealth like the palm of his hands. You may stay here, until I return with news if you like. Make yourself at home."


It was clear that Valentine was used to doing his job alone, without any thought that perhaps the girl wished to join him.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

As Valentine moved about the room, Darling watched him. Still occasionally shivering from the chill that had sunk under her coat, she ignored it, rather perplexed with what he was doing. Why he took the chems was beyond her. Surely he wasn't a junkie. He didn't seem the sort and, well, she wasn't sure synths could do drugs anyway.


Could they? She decided not to ask.


Still, Valentine had experience with this and, goodness, the fact that he had even taken the case at all was enough to have that uncomfortable feeling of loss start to ebb away. That small sliver of hope, the one that even made her seek the detective out, grew. He seemed so calm, like he was sure things would be alright.


And it made it easy for her to believe it too.


Maybe it was that confidence that made her pipe up, her voice taking on something of a more sure tone.


"I want to come with you. I'm more than sure you can handle yourself, detective, but this is my family and it would feel wrong to just sit around and do nothing while you're out there carrying all the weight. So, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to tag along."


For as kind and soft as she seemed, Darling was fairly confident in her ability to handle herself. She had gotten there all on her own and in one piece, after all.

 

[Syrrus]

Valentine didn't frown, he didn't even look annoyed with the fact that she wanted to come with him. Usually people came to him, asked for help and left it at that. He scratched his chin again, without as much as an expression upon his plastic face. "Well... I suppose that is alright. I hope you don't mind going into Goodneighbor then, you know about the place? Most people do." He made a face of distaste. "It is hardly a respectful community - I hope you don't mind being in the company of Ghouls either, or we'll have a problem."


He gave Ellie a thoughtful look before walking towards the door, hands in his pockets and hat on his head. He didn't much mind the rain. Cold never bothered him either. Goodneighbor was less than twenty minutes away, they could get there before nightfall - hopefully before the good Mayor got to high on chems to hold a serious conversation too.


"We are going there to meet a friend of mine, Mayor Hancock, perhaps you have heard of him? Many seems to have done so..." Valentine frowned slightly and shook his head. "If you have no problem with this, let's make haste - before he gets too... busy."

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Darling had heard of Goodneighbor, if only vaguely. It was mentioned in conversations she over heard and by one of the mercenaries who ran with her brother's caravan when they were first starting out. It sounded dangerous and yet, she couldn't help but be a little curious about it all. Even if Bruce hadn't vanished, that same curiosity would have likely drawn her to it anyway one day or another.


At the mention of the mayor, she shook her head just a little. "Can't say I've heard of him." But, well, if they were friends she didn't suppose she should have been worried at all. "But I don't have a problem with any of this at all. I'll be right behind you."


She flipped the collar of her rain coat up, pulling the tie that cinched it at the waist a little tighter with the hopes of keeping the rain from bothering her too much. That done, she motioned to the door, offering to let him lead the way.


"And thank you again. Both of you."

 

[Syrrus]

"I suppose that's for the best." Stated Valentine as he opened the door and stepped outside. "It is always better to meet John personally instead of listening to the... rumors." Nick used the term 'rumors' very lightly, mainly because most things that were being said about Hancock were actually more than just local gossip.


"Do not thank us yet." Added the detective as he walked out onto the street, looking both ways before doing so. The weather kept the people of Diamond City indoors, which was lucky for Valentine. He didn't feel like taking any of their bad behavior today. He didn't blame them of course, Synths were hated for a reason. "You can thank us once this is all over."


"Take care!" Shouted Ellie after the both of them. She seemed a tad bit worried, like she always did when the detective left the office.


The city of Diamond City looked a bit more miserable in the great downfall. The marketplace stood almost empty, with only the stall owners sitting or standing by their shops. Valentine walked passed with his eyes pointed forward. He gave a tip of his hat to one of the guards, and ignored the angry looks which some by passers gave him. At least they didn't punch him.


From time to time, Nick would look over his shoulder, not for any important reason, only to make sure no one followed them or that anyone had pulled a gun out of their pocket.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

Had it not been for her boots splashing rain puddles as they moved along, Darling very well might have been absolutely silent. She moved quietly, light on her feet, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her coat as she made herself a smaller target. The blonde trailed a step behind Valentine, keeping close.


It was odd catching the way some people looked at him. Darling knew about the Institute, well, knew as much as anyone else did. She understood why people were on edge with synths, but it wasn't as though he was hiding anything and, goodness, he was proving to be nicer than some humans she knew. He seemed professional, calm, and the fact that he hadn't laughed her off had already gotten him a nice place in her book.


The detective would look over his shoulder and Darling continued looking forward, blinking her eyes clear of water as she kept an eye out for anything that might have been considered dangerous.


The ruins outside of the city were a breeding ground of danger and violence but, with any luck, the rain might very well keep the raiders and other blood thirsty creatures inside. Fighting, or more accurately running, was never fun when it was dry out yet alone when the streets became slick and the ability to make sharp turns without slipping or running into a wall was reduced greatly.


"How do you know the mayor?" It was almost an idle question, something spoken with a surprising amount of ease compared to the rather tense situation at hand.

 

[Syrrus]

They walked over rubble and dirt, through the ruins of what Nick remembered to have been a glorious city, once. Boston. With high apartment buildings, great companies and a lot of crime. The memories he had were shallow, blurry and difficult to focus on - they were not his, either. Valentine remembered a life he had never had.


The detective took confident steps through the ruins, he knew all the safe routes and would keep out of trouble, as much as it was possible at any rate.


"We met a long time ago. I went to Goodneighbor to try and find a lost child. I'm surprised I never ran into him in Diamond City, since he used to live there - a while back." Valentine, glanced around the corner of one lonely building before continuing forward. "He is a intelligent man - easily distracted and always looking for trouble." Nick sighed heavily before he continued. "Trouble I rather keep myself out of, if I can be completely honest with you. But in a case like this I tend to require his assistants. He deals with the raiders here in Boston on a daily basis, and a lot of strange folk goes through his town."


Twenty minutes passed, they had sneaked by drunk Gunners and a couple of Super Mutants without having to deal with them in a violent fashion, and they reached the doors to a very dirty looking town.


Valentine opened the gates with his robotic hand and gave Darling a kind smile. "Stay close and don't let anything in here frighten you - we have Hancock on our side, nothing can harm us."


The door swung open, making way for the two guests. What they saw once inside Goodneighbor was what seemed to be a quiet town with two busy stores right by the front gate. Valentine watched the people of Hancock's city as they moved about - talking loudly about this and that.

 

[Interstellar Bun]

She had held her breath when they slipped past the gunners and the mutants, almost sure that if she were on her own she would have gotten caught or, if nothing else, painfully and dreadfully lost. By the time they reached the gate and Valentine had smiled at her, the rain was starting to let up slightly. The buildings buffered the wind, cutting it so the cold drizzle fell almost softly on them. Darling sicked her hair back out of her face, keeping close to the synth as she peered about the area.


The people seemed a little odd, but not too terrible right off the bat. It was odd, but with the way people lingered under the awnings of the stores or leisurely went about their way, the place seemed almost more casual than Diamond City was. She might have said it was easier to breathe there had the smell of smoke not been strong enough to linger in the air despite of the weather.


"Place doesn't seem so bad." And she was smiling again, just a little. Maybe it was because it felt like they were getting something done, or just because she had the painful need to find the brighter side in any situation. She took a step forward, looking back at Valentine. "So we just need to go talk to Hancock and he'll be able to point us in the right direction?"


And just as she posed the question, someone from behind them hurried forward supposedly in an attempt to get out of the rain. In their haste, they shoulder checked Valentine and hesitated, turning to look at the odd duo. The woman was taller than Darling was, but that wasn't exactly strange. What really caught Darling's attention was just how intimidating she seemed by her nature alone. There was something too confident about her, too dangerous in her eyes that could otherwise be considered friendly.


"Woah, shit, sorry there doll-face." The redhead stepped back, passively lifting a tough hand that sported endless small cuts and scars as she stuffed the other one into the pocket of her worn jeans. If she noticed how strange Valentine looked, it didn't show on her features. "Gotta love not having any traction in weather like this, yeah?" The question was topped off with a crooked, charismatic grin.

 

[Syrrus]

Valentine didn't mind Goodneighbor all that much, it was one of the only places where he could walk around as a Synth without worrying as much. Some of the population would throw insulting words his way but he would never get hurt, or threaten in the same was the people of Diamond city were capable of. "Hopefully, yes." He answered as he looked upon his new companion, still trying to keep a calming smile upon his face at all times - to ease her sorrows as much as one could. "Hancock is quite the character--"


Valentine was interrupted by the other female who passed through the street. The detective stepped to the side, attempting to get out of the way. "Horrible weather, this." He commented, slowly. "I'm going to assume that the good Mayor is indoors to avoid getting wet." Ghouls smelled horrible when they were wet...


"You don't happen to know where we can find him, miss?" He asked, in a hopeful attempt not have to look through the whole of Goodneighbor. Perhaps Hancock had a 'business' meeting somewhere in town. Perhaps he had gone down to the Third Rail, or even stayed in his office together with that intimidating bodyguard of his. There was many possibilities. He could even be in the Memory Den, if he felt nostalgic enough, which he usually didn't.


Nick would not tell a stranger about their little 'quest'. He pulled his hands deeper down his pockets and watched as rainwater poured over the brim of his hat. Smoke trailed out of his mouth into the chilly air and his eyes seemed to glow even stronger through the Town fumes.