Work Text:
Sole didn’t have time for distractions, not with everything else she had to do. It was bad enough having to walk everywhere. She knew even in the old days how spoiled she was by cars; now that nearly everything with wheels had been destroyed, she missed the freedom they provided. And the comfort. But mostly the speed.
She had never been a busy person in her old life. Nothing pleased her more than taking it easy, stopping to smell the roses, and going for a peaceful walk. Sauntering even, if she felt daring. Now her little boy needed her, and she deeply felt the passing of each second. Now waiting for anything made her anxious. Now she barely gave herself the time to sleep. And it didn’t help that every sound made her jump.
God, was she tired.
She tried to ignore her aching feet as she and Nick made their way through the ruins of Boston. At least he didn’t need to sleep or eat or anything. That was one less thing to slow them down. She felt guilty enough having to do so, herself.
“Through here,” he said, leading her into the remains of an office building. "Should be a shortcut."
Sole wondered if she had ever been in there before. It was hard to say. The place seemed familiar, but time had worn away any recognizable features. The sleek furniture was termite-eaten and stained. The tile floor was crushed in enough places to make it look like a mosaic. Even without the centuries of damage, Sole's mind was too addled to make anything of it.
"I don't know how you manage to find your way," she said. "It looks all the same to me."
"Stick around long enough, you'll get the hang of it."
"Not sure I want to stick around that long."
He glanced at her with an unreadable look.
"Planning on going somewhere else?" He said.
By his measured tone, she could tell that he inferred something much worse than what she meant. She shrugged it off.
"I don't know. Away from the city maybe," she said. "I hate to be too far away from people for safety's sake, but then again, some of those people are raiders, so... it's hard to say what I'll do. I just want to find Shaun and take him somewhere safe."
"Diamond City is pretty safe," he offered. "Inside the walls, at any rate. And there'd be other kids for him to run around with."
The thought of running made her feet ache all the more. She stopped. As much as she hated to, she realized that she might fall over if she didn’t rest.
"Hang on," she said, "I need a minute. All this walking is killing me."
She lowered herself to the floor and leaned her back against the wall. Nick joined her.
"Sorry if I’m running you ragged,” he said. “I don't really feel the miles like you do."
“You never get tired at all?”
He tapped his chest.
“Fusion core,” he said.
“Ah.”
“It should keep for—well, I don’t want to think for how long. Anyway.” He lit a cigarette. “Gonna light out for the hill country, huh?”
She let out a frustrated sigh.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Hell, it might be worse out there than it is here. No people, no green, growing things , nothing but bare earth and rocks... maybe I am better off in Boston.”
“Actually, it’s surprisingly nice the further away you get from the blast zone.”
“Is it really?”
“Sure. Forests have sprung up everywhere. There’s deer all over, and the rivers are choc-full of fish. And I mean the regular kinds, not mutants the size of a car.”
“You must visit out there a lot.”
“No, not really. Sometimes work takes me far from the city, but I usually stay close. Might move one day, though. If I had a mind to retire.”
“If it’s so nice, why on earth do you stay in this dump?”
He chuckled.
“I guess I’m used to it,” he said. “And it never lacks for excitement. There’s always some farmer or merchant or whatever who needs help. Sometimes even a wide-eyed, half-frozen vault-dweller.”
He threw her a smirk. She elbowed him playfully.
“Hey, who said I was talking about you?” He laughed.
She laughed with him. It felt good to do so; it had been a while. She could feel the tension ebbing from her shoulders and jaw. She hadn’t even realized that she was grinding her teeth. But there was something strangely soothing about Nick’s presence, the feeling that if he was so at ease, she could be too. Maybe she could afford to let her guard down. She yawned and stretched a little.
Then a sound came from deeper in the building.
All her tension returned at once. She sprang to her feet, pistol in hand, and immediately regretted it. Sharp pain lanced up from her heels, the type that comes from resting an ache, but not resting it long enough to actually mend. She stumbled back against the wall.
Nick supported her arm.
“You alright?” He whispered.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said. “What was that noise?”
“I don’t know.”
Sole struggled to stop leaning and balance on her own, but the pain renewed with every try.
“Uh-uh. You stay here,” Nick said, easing her back against the wall. “I’ll go have a look. It’s probably just a roach.”
“Be careful.”
He nodded and drew his own gun from its holster, then disappeared into the hall to the other room. For a minute, nothing happened. Sole couldn’t decide whether to expect the best or the worst.
“Now where did you come from?” She heard him mutter, then added in a louder voice, “Hey fellas, don’t mind me, I’m just passing through—whoa!”
Gunshots split the air. Sole sucked in a breath. As quickly as they began, it was over.
She held that breath long past its use. Part of her wanted to jump up and run to his aid, but the other part held her back. After all, this wasn’t like clearing out those Triggermen in Vault 114; they weren’t expecting an attack. Whatever was in the other room knew there were enemies nearby. The indecision rooted her to the spot.
Footsteps sounded in the hall. She saw a pair of yellow eyes set in a gray face, and could breathe again. But something was off about the detective; his hat was missing, along with the rest of his clothes. Sole had no time to be shocked before she noticed the gun pointed straight at her.
”Nick?” She said, her voice uneven. “What are you doing?”
He kept walking closer.
“Hey—it’s me,” she added, fumbling for her own weapon. “You can put that down now.”
He said nothing.
“Drop it!” She yelled.
He took aim.
There was no time to think. No time to be sickened by what she had to do. No time to find another way out. Her back was to the wall.
She put a bullet between his yellow eyes.
He collapsed.
She watched him fall. Ice filled her veins. She slid to the floor. Slowly, she put down her gun. His voice met her ears, distant and dream-like.
“What happened? Sole—?”
He dashed through the door. And it was him, coat and all. He paused long enough to take in the scene, then rushed to her side.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He said quickly.
“I’m okay,” she whimpered. “I’m okay.”
Tears spilled over her lashes. She tried to stop the flood of emotion, but she was too tired. It overwhelmed her until she gasped for air.
Nick got down beside her.
“What is it? Are you sure you’re not hurt? Talk to me,” he said.
“I thought—”
She couldn’t finish. The other synth looked so much like him. Now that she had a better view, she could see the minute differences, but the fact of the matter was that she had shot what she thought to be her friend. She did it without thinking. What if she got startled the next time he entered the room, and she acted on instinct? It was unthinkable. At least, it should have been. She clasped a hand to her face.
Nick followed her gaze to the synth on the floor.
“Oh,” he said. “Oh, you didn’t think that was me, did you?”
Sole nodded.
“I forget that I’m the first synth you’ve met. But I’m alright.”
“I know,” she managed to say.
A struggle crossed his features, like he didn’t know what to do. She doubled her effort to calm down. Her hands still trembled.
“There were a few of ’em in there,” he said, taking up his old spot next to her. “This one must have slipped past me. I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I don’t know—” she steadied herself, “I don’t know why I’m losing it like this.”
“Well. You’ve had a hell of a few weeks.”
She gave a nervous laugh. Even in her ears, she could hear how it bordered on manic.
“God, I’m a mess,” she said.
“A little sleep would probably do you a lot of good. I didn’t want to say anything, but you look exhausted.”
“I am.”
“Do you want to rest here a little while?”
She didn’t have time to rest. Shaun needed her. But between her weariness and the shock of what just happened, it would be some time before she could get her legs to work.
“... Maybe not with your doppelgänger over there,” she said.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I could see how that wouldn’t be too comforting. One second.”
He lifted the inert synth under the arms and dragged him into the next room, out of sight. When he returned, he took off his coat and rolled it up.
“Here. You can use this for a pillow,” he said.
“Thank you.”
She stretched out on her back and folded her hands across her middle. Yet the shock still raced through her veins. She felt exposed, laying there like that. Part of her wanted to move closer to Nick. She curled up on her side instead.
“Hey,” he said softly. “You gonna be alright?”
She sighed.
“Yeah. Eventually.”
He sat in silence for a moment.
“I should have known better than to stumble into that mess,” he said. “It’s just that sometimes the Gen2s don’t mind me passing them by. Think I’m just one of them, you know?”
“Makes sense,” she mumbled.
“I guess I should let you get some sleep.”
The thought of more silence sent a pang of fear through her.
“Actually, a distraction would be helpful,” she said.
He pulled a book from his pocket.
“I think I could conjure one up.”
He began to read. Sole focused on his words, on their gentle, gravelly tone. The remnants of her panic faded. She tried to ignore how much she loved hearing his voice. When they first met, she found it odd and even mildly grating, but now it had the power to comfort her like nothing else could. She put those thoughts from her mind.
She didn’t have time for a distraction.