Rehabilitation [Fallout 4, Another Way Series Pt 1]

Chapter 7

Nora couldn't bring herself to visit the Institute again. Despite the Pip-Boy's worth and usefulness, she had trashed it after finding the Railroad, knowing she could be tracked after the additions Dr. Li had made to it. She hadn't been there since the first visit, during which she had stayed for weeks. She tossed and moaned many nights, fighting something in her dreams, calling for Shaun. Danse, whose bed was across from Nora's, only once woke to it, but he didn't rouse her. She was strong enough to tackle the horrors of the Wastelands. Whatever she was battling internally, she could defeat it.

Night-owl Deacon heard it every time. He wanted to take her up and shake her gently back into the real world where he could protect her from the Commonwealth's beasts and beyond. He would risk waking Danse, however hard the soldier slept. He only once moved to help, placing his blanket atop her on a particularly cold night. She immediately calmed, and he wore two jackets to sleep instead. The next morning, she hadn't noticed the second blanket, and whipped it back across the bed with hers as she stretched.

Desdemona had been discussing ways to gain entrance to the Institute but patience was their best option. They needed Nora's information but Danse hadn't yet made up his mind about where he wished to settle. The Railroad agents spent their days running missions to halt anti-synth activity and to supply other safehouses with provisions.

With Deacon as Nora's partner on most missions, the friends had become even closer, sharing more tales (some taller than others). Nora came to feel comfortable revealing what had happened to her son and husband in Vault 111 but said nothing about what became of Shaun afterwards. She learned Deacon loved dogs and wished she could face Piper to visit her office and see Dogmeat but the relationship had been severed, much like that of Nora and Nick, after her advanced involvement with the Brotherhood of Steel.

Along with the travesty of Vault 111, Nora shared more uplifting anecdotes, like her affinity for chocolate, an extremely rare commodity Deacon had tried few times. None remained from the Old World but a bastardization of cacao survived and he imagined it tasted similar. She liked carnations— whatever those were, Deacon thought— and riding her bicycle around Sanctuary Hills. Deacon admitted he never learned to ride one but was proficient in riding a unicycle as a result of the traveling circus from New Vegas. She still devoured his stories and some days he couldn't tell if she accepted them out of gullibility or the desire to hear something hopeful in a broken world. He would supply them non-stop if it meant seeing her eyes light up like they did with each telling.

When Danse left the safehouse, which was on rare occasion, it was usually for supply runs to Diamond City or Bunker Hill. His trigger finger itched and he relished every gunfight he would get into on his journeys. Glory was his usual partner. He appreciated her skills as a fighter and even learned some fighting techniques from her. She was a synth but still had a lot to offer the Commonwealth, he thought. She tried to preach at him about the superiority of synths but he would shrug her off, wanting to get back to conversations about battle tactics, or silence. Deacon was sometimes asked to take Danse on missions. Nora worried about this greatly. He could use the opportunity to persuade Danse to accept a memory wipe or to move away from the Commonwealth. At the safehouse, she was always wary of the suggestions given to her companion but when Danse was away with Deacon, she had no control of the propaganda being fed to him. Deacon, however, never violated her trust— never suggested anything of the sort to Danse. He regretted having done it at the Old North Church.

Evening fell as Danse and Deacon descended the cellar stairs into the basement of Hardware Town. They had made a visit to Diamond City for consumables and medical supplies. Nora was eagerly awaiting their return. She was seated in the recreation area's single comfortable chair, the recovered red lounger. When she saw them come in, she called them over. They set down their shopping and approached.