Imagines - Nick Valentine x Sole Survivor/Fem!Reader

- Be My Valentine -

Have a lovely Valentine's Day!

P.O.V: 3rd person

The sound of the file cabinet slamming shut made Nick jump, his cigarette falling out of his mouth. Ellie stepped beside him, balancing some folders between her forearms and her chest. Without looking away from the papers, she simply reached down and brushed the burning cigarette from Nick's coat, stepping on it.

"Anything new?" He said, looking up at her from his seat. She, without hesitation, plopped the folders down on the desk in front of him.

"What, you thought you'd get Valentine's Day off? Lost dog, stolen jewelry, synth replacement, and this one is interesting." She shuffled through the folders and leaned down, opening one of them up and pulling some papers from the file. Nick leaned in to see the contents as she hastily flipped through. "Basically, some kids showed up yesterday and I thought they were just trying to play a prank on the 'old metal detective', but that was until one of them mentioned their parents are missing. Both of them."

"Both parents? Just poof?"

"That's what I thought. I tried asking the questions, ya know. 'When did you last see them?', 'What did they say to you?' But they're just too young. Couldn't get anything solid from any of them. Maybe it's just that I'm not good with kids, and I can't say they'll feel so fondly about being interrogated by a scary-looking man in a trench coat."

Nick instinctively placed his hand on his chin and scratched, a small quirk that had stuck around from the old Nick Valentine.

"But we cant wait any longer. These kids have been by themselves for days now." She crossed her arms, clearly eager at the thought. "I can try to cover these other cases for now, but you make sure to figure out arrangements for these kids if their parents, uh, you know."

Nick stood up with a slight creak from one of his knees, and placed his hat on in one movement before he heads to the door.

"I know someone who can help with this one." He assured Ellie.

"I assume this someone is the same someone who helped us close several other cases?" She smirked, taking a seat at Nick's desk.

"What can I say? Sole's getting to be a better detective than me." And with that, he closed the door behind him and headed off to find Sole. They're usually pretty easy to find, anyway. Sanctuary Hills is typically where she's at. Though, sometimes she stays at Home Plate there in Diamond City, so it never really hurt checking there first.

Nick stopped to chat with some people on the way to Sole's. He even wanted to check around Dugout, but most people were either too strung out to even notice other people trying to step into the bar. That night was going to be understandably busy, so he didn't mind.

Rounding the corner, he finally flicked his cigarette onto the the ground, causing the glowing orange to crumble into a gray dust under his foot. He quickly knocked three times. No answer. Taking a moment, he placed his hand in his pocket before knocking with the other once more. Still nothing. Sanctuary it was, then.

~

"She hasn't been here for a few days. I think she's on some mission with the Brotherhood. Last person I saw her go off with was Danse." Deacon explained, wiping down the countertop with a rag. He occasionally pitches up in Sanctuary as a caravan owner, just to keep things interesting in the settlement. He also liked to get together with the gang that's usually all there, but not then. Hancock was off in Goodneighbor. Preston was at the Castle. Pretty sure Strong was out eating some raiders that were giving some neighboring settlements trouble.

"Oh. Alright. I'll head back home then." Nick turned around to leave, but quickly added on to his statement. "When she comes back, can you let her know I need to see her?"