\111/

"Nicky! Who the fuck do you think you are, you fuckin' hump? Coming into my house, shooting up my guys, and trying to walk out of here?" Skinny Malone demanded. He was halfway finished smoking a cigar, with bits of ash on the ground. The air was thick with smoke, and smelled of cherry wood. In his left hand was an assault rifle, a gas operated rifle with a telescoping bump stock. This heavy 13 pound rifle carried a forty five round magazine, and rested the barrel against the ground. He wore a black business suit, white button up t-shirt, and a black tie, with matching fedora.

Darla wearing a grey-blue sequin dress and black and white styletto heels,

"Try telling Darla to write home more often, and you wouldn't be having this type of problem. At least tell people you're heading out Darla, you were causing quite the panic at the homefront."

"I'll just run back home to Daddy, is that it, Valentine? Ashamed you got beat to shit by a girl?" Darla said, Nick was immune to sarcasm and tried to respond, but Skinny cut him off.

"This ain't the old neighborrhood, Nicky. In this Vault, I'm the king of the castle, you hear me? I ain't letting no private dick and his crew shut us down now that we finally got a good thing going!"

Darla reached out and put a hand to Skinny's cheek. "I told you, you should've just killed him when you first saw him. But then you had to get all sentimental with that crap!" Her voice rose, almost screeching.

"I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for your two-timing dame, Skinny." Nick said.

"Darla, I'm handling this. I've always got things under control." Skinny said, dragging on his cigar and then hoisting up the rifle so he could hold it with both hands.

"Oh yeah? Then what's the suit doing here, huh? Someone came looking for Valentine and they got all the way in and out!" Darla yelled. "The station above is a mess, Skinny! You think just one guy and that bitch over there could take all your guys out?"

"You're going to be plenty unhappy with all the bodies you'll find behind us." Nate said.

"It's true. We got ourselves a crypt behind us, boys." Piper added, "Make a choice."

Darla's eyes slowly went from Nate, Nick, and Piper to her baseball bat, then swinging it at Skinny Malone, she slammed it against the side of his skull.

"Sorry Skinny, but it's the end of this little sharade you call a gang."

Blood poured out of Skinny's ears, "You ttttwo timing Mul-mul-mmoolll! Teach me to fall for a set a legs!"

Malone aimed for Darla's legs, firing off twenty rounds in an instant. Her heels and ankles were shattered as she cracked Sonny over the head again with her baseball bat, and the other two Triggermen fired on the group. Expecting the fight, Nate and Piper aimed at the gunmen.

Firing, the whole fight was over in less than ten seconds. Quick barrages of gunfire from both sides, and the only people left standing were Skinny leaning against a support beam, Nate, Piper, and Nick.

"You...You get the fuck out of here." He said, wiping his face down. He'd lost his cigar and tried reaching down for it on the ground. It was still burning.

"Sorry old friend, but this isn't the old days. Time to say good night." Nick said.

"Say goodnight to the bad guy." Skinny replied.

Firing the entire clip of ammo until the well ran dry, Nick Valentine shot down Skinny Malone in his own base of operations. Letting the machine gun fall to the ground, Nick was done with it.

"Well, I wonder if Malone is lighter or heavier with all the bullet holes in him." Nick said, walking past his body.

"...probably heavier with all the bullets in him. There should be a service ladder that will take us straight to the surface. Let's get out of here." Nick answered his own question and was urging them on. "I kinda wish it didn't have to come to this, but, Darla was asking for trouble when she went off on her little spree. Now I know it wouldn't of been a good thing to trust her either. She turned on him at the slightest mention of running away from the thought of death, now she's dead."

\111/

After climbing up and out, Nick was the first to comment on the eighth moon and the dark sky filled with bright burning stars.

"Ah, look at that Commonwealth sky. Never thought something so naturally ominous could look so inviting..." The synth turned his attention to Nate and Piper.

"Thanks for getting me out of there, how did you know where to find me, anyway? Not many people knew where I went..."

"Your secretary was worried about you. She told me." Nate replied.

"She was?" Nick asked.

"She did?" Piper asked.

"I should give her a raise," Nick nodded into his hand, rubbing his chin. "Anyway, you said you were tracking down a murderer and finding your son, I want you to come to my office in Diamond City. Give me all the details there. Besides, I think you've earned a chance to sit down and clear your head."

"I'll meet you there...I've got a drawing of the man who did it. I just need to go get it, and I'll see you in Diamond City."

"Great, even just a sketch will help with identifying the man who did this to you."

"Do you really have a picture of him?" Piper asked.

"Something close." Nate said, "Not an exact picture, but still really close."

\111/

Traveling back past the Massachusetts State house, Nate glanced at the ground where the Freedom trail marker was placed into the ground, and stopped only for a second to look at the marker by the Old Granary Burial Ground, and lastly Goodneighbor.

"So where's this photo picture of yours?" Piper asked.

"It's on the U.S.S. Constitution. I didn't want to lose it."

"Are we heading back to D.C. after this?"

"Yes. First I want to buy some food for the ship, after that, we'll head back to Fenway Park."

They entered through the gates of Goodneighbor, and were welcomed by the Goodneighbor watch. Even at three in the morning, Daisy's Discounts was still open, and the ghoul was reclined with an old magazine.

"Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" Daisy asked. Nate reached into his pocket, pulling out the bobblehead of Vault-boy at a podium, the white letters read 'Speech, Let Words be Your Weapon'.

"Just a souvenir from the past."

"I remember those, what are you here for? You ever get around to the library yet?"

"Not yet, Ms. Daisy. But I'll be sure to poke my head in there soon. I'm here for some food, and I'm surprised your open this late. Do you happen to have an old polaroid camera with film laying around here?" Daisy leaned forward, looking across her shop to a Instant-Flash camera, that developed photos just moments after you took one.

"I doubt that thing has moved once in the last two hundred years. Take it. I honestly haven't felt tired in a long time...you get a little sleepy, but it seems more like an inconvenience. I'll be looking forward to the day where I can just sleep."

Nate bought whatever vegetables he could find, along with some questionable smelling fish and before he left Daisy chimed, "Have a great day."

"Will do."

They were both out the door of Goodneighbor in no time at all, and standing at the foot of Weatherby Investment tower, underneath the shadow of the U.S.S. Constitution.

\111/

"So...any chance I'll get to go up and explore the ship?" Piper asked.

"Everywhere but the captain's cabin. I need to feed my dog, Meathead, and then I'll find a spot for you to sleep. There's robots patrolling constantly, so it's plenty safe. After that, I'm going to bed. I've got things I need to think about and sort out for after I'm done with Nick."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"There's a generator back in Vault 111. It was damaged a long time ago...I need to fix it if I ever want to get the vault up and running again."

"So you've got some ambition in you, can you tell me about Vault 111? Was it anything like Vault 114?"

"Yes and no. Vault 111 was all one story, more spread out. Vault 114 was probably build around and avoiding sewer tunnels and the metro tunnels. But, it's got a lot of work that needs to be done."

"Anything else?"

"Vault 111 is like the old saying...Science doesn't have a prejudice. It doesn't take sides...but...the people who conduct science do."

"Do you want to elaborate on that?"

"It'll be better if I just show you Vault 111, because there's more to that place than just a messed up science experiment."

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Next Chapter: Ch. 31 Marching on Diamond City (Part 1) October 29-30th Estimated time remaining: 26 Hours, 60 Minutes