Nuka Girl, Nuka'd World

Damsel in Distress

"How you holding up Blue, you think you can do that interview for me now?"

Vanessa was sitting on the couch in Publick Occurrences, her suit stained with the blood of a myriad of creatures, people, and her own. The last week or so proceeding her leaving the vault and setting up Sanctuary had been little more than a blur. Piper had taken her to see a doctor when she first arrived at Diamond City, and after hearing her story, he explained it was most likely down to the effects of shock on her body and her mind.

Piper was already her first friend out of the vault, besides Dogmeat of course, who was currently sitting on the floor with his head in her lap. Not only had Piper gotten her into the city, and taken her to the clinic (which at the time had actually annoyed Vanessa), but she also paid for her to have a room at the Dugout Inn so she'd have somewhere to sleep for more than an hour at a time. The only thing she had asked for in return was an interview for her paper, Vanessa had always believed in freedom of the press, and therefore; here she was.

"So, how was your time inside Vault... 111 wasn't it?"

"I actually didn't spend much time there, we, my family and I, were in these giant freezers. Cryopods I believe they're called."

The rest of the interview was lacklustre, Piper was surprised when the tone changed significantly, she'd asked Vanessa for her statement, to this cold new world. One of her eyebrows had quirked and she'd closed her eyes in thought before;
"Find who's responsible, and make them pay. It's as simple as that."
She'd gotten to her feet, tightening the raider armor pieces she'd scavenged, that were strapped to her thigh.
"You want me to come with ya, Blue? Help you find ol' Nicky?"

Vanessa had gently patted Dogmeat's head, before shrugging at Piper, folding her arms across her chest.
"I would be grateful for the company, but no thank you, Piper. I believe Dogmeat and I will make the journey just fine." She was silent for a moment, gently rubbing Dogmeat's head.
"Mr Valentine is he... a ghoul?"

Piper gasped and then laughed, tossing her head back. "Oh my God can you imagine? What would make you say something like that?" Ness was surprised at the other woman's laughter, and furrowed her brow. She'd heard there were people alive from before the war, and that they had become ghouls. That many of the 'ferals' she'd shot on her way to Diamond City, and whilst helping our settlers, had been people she could've known before the bombs. She'd known Nick from before. How could he still be alive if he wasn't a ghoul. He hadn't been in her Vault.

"Nicky is... he's different. You'll know when you see him. But he's a good soul, would rather talk to a fly than hurt it. Just, don't judge a book by it's cover, mkay?"

The two women walked side by side to the edge of the city, stopping only for Nessie to say goodbye to Nat, ruffling her hair with a smile. The two women hugged, and Piper wished her luck and told her to stay safe, and handed her some extra ammo for her 10mm. "You get Nicky and you get back here alright? Then we'll all go to the Dugout, first round on me. Dogmeat, you bring her back in one piece, you hear?" Dogmeat barked in response, they said their goodbyes and off they set, to find the great Nick Valentine.

Vanessa had found a 45. sniper rifle in the raider camp at Corvega, and she'd kept it slung across her back or within her reach ever since. Nathaniel had done a tour as part of a Recon Squad, and she'd remembered seeing a gun just like it around the house, until he was sent to Anchorage. After that, the only weapon in the house was a combat knife he kept in the top drawer of the bedside table, and a pistol he was rarely far from. Vanessa had awoken many times to Nate with the barrel of the gun pressed against either her or his head after a relapse. Those guns had used to make her feel safe. And she supposed some part of her still felt safe when she remembered the rifle, a memory of how things used to be.