Old World Blues: The Big Fucking Dig (Chapter 2)
got trough with this MONSTER of a chapter. ill probably post chapter three on tumblr, and then after that I’ll be exclusively posting to ao3
“Heather-centric. Heather is trying to find a way to make caps while she and her mother rest in Goodneighbor. Our favorite ghoul No-Nose comes to her with a proposition. Heather dissociates a couple times during the duration of the big dig.”
AO3 Link
Melinda and Heather decided to stay in Goodneighbor for a while. They decided stocking up and resting was top priority- or, well, Heather and Codsworth did. Melinda wanted to go ahead and go to Diamond City, but couldn’t hide her aching joints and back from her daughter. Heather knew the extended running and walking was taking its’ toll on her mother- she was active before the war, but not to this extent.
Their only problem at the moment? Caps. They had a minimal amount- mayor Hancock was nice enough to pay for their room for a couple more days, but after that, they were on their own. Heather never had to worry about money this much, before. Nate was the money-maker in the house- she just got what she could for selling her paintings at flea markets.
Heather had to take a walk- clear her head. She called for Dogmeat, telling Melinda that she’ll be back later. The tired woman told her to be careful, before laying back down. Codsworth swore he’d watch Melinda like a hawk, in Heather’s absence.
Heather decided to stick to the back alleys of Goodneighbor, clutching her bat as she strolled. Dogmeat trotted along beside her, panting happily, when the sound of sliding metal caught their attention. Heather looked up, spotting a ghoul looking through a slit on a metal door. The ghoul squinted, before tilting her chin at the human. A silent “come here”.
Heather hesitated, before sucking up her apprehension and marching towards the door. The woman on the other side of the door looked her over, not… incredibly impressed with what she saw. A small, soft human with barely any protection, aside from her vault suit, a bat, and a couple pistols. She’d have to do, the ghoul thought.
“You lookin for work,” Bobbi asked, putting on a more pleasant tone than she’d like. Heather thought this was too good to be true.
“What kind of work?” Bobbi cringed slightly- this woman even sounded too naive to do anything. She smiled slightly at the thought. Perfect. She needed naivety.
“It’s good work- under the supervision of the best boss you’ll ever have. As long as you don’t mind a little manual labor, and don’t ask too many questions, of course. I’ll give you fifty caps to start- you in?” Heather blinked slightly- only fucking FIFTY?- before frowning.
“Come on, lady, you can do better than that,” Heather huffed, making Bobbi scowl. “Fine, fine- take a hundred up front”. Heather crossed her arms, her bat swinging against her side.
“This is just a rip-off!” Growling, Bobbi rubbed her forehead.
“One-fifty. Take it, or leave it”. Heather’s demeanor immediately went from annoyed to delighted. A quick nod confirmed that the price was set. Bobbi opened the door, allowing her and Dogmeat inside. She motioned for Heather to follow, and the two set off into the ghoul’s home.
After walking into Bobbi’s basement, she sat down on a chair. She looked Heather over once more, before pulling out a cigarette.
“You ready to get to work, kid,” she asked, taking a drag of the tobacco. Heather coughed as the smoke blew in her face.
“No,” she drawled, waving the smoke away. “I followed you down here for some good ol’ exercise”. Bobbi rolled her eyes, crossing her legs and leaning back against the chair.
“Funny,” she said dryly. “Well, you’ll get plenty of exercise here. You-” she emphasized the word by jabbing her hand, holding the cigarette, in Heather’s direction “- are going to be doing some digging”. “What are we digging for? Buried treasure?”
“Your sass is gonna get you killed, kid. You could call it buried treasure, if you want, but seriously. Lay off the questions. The other two are down there digging already,” she growled, pointing to a small tunnel leading out of the basement. “Go give ‘em a hand, will ya?”
Heather grumbled, heading down the tunnel. She heard a couple men talking, and one waved her over. She followed them down, but heard a strange clicking noise in the next chamber.
“What the hell’s that noise,” Heather said, readying her bat. The men looked around, one yelling in shock when he saw something move down the stairs.
“It’s crawling with mirelurks!” Mire-what. The men started running.
“Bobbi can shove it!” “Good luck, new girl!” WHAT.
“H-hey- where the fuck are ya’ll-!” She heard clicking and screeching. Looking down, she saw… giant, mutated crabs? Three of them, to be exact. Scuttling right towards her and Dogmeat.
“Oh what the FUCK,” she screamed, foregoing the bat in favor of one of her firearms. Dogmeat snarled, barking and springing into action. He was smacked at by a mirelurk, and Heather shot at one that got a bit too close to her liking.
Her hands began to shake. She couldn’t keep shooting like this. She looked around- there had to be something she could use.
A broken pipe, the end jagged enough to rip through the soft underside of the creatures. That’ll work. She slid across the ground, grabbing the short pipe. A mirelurk followed her, whacking her across the back and tearing at her with its claws.
She roared, shoving the end of the pipe through the beast’s head. It didn’t immediately kill it, but the beast stopped moving. One more jab quickly ended it. She ran at the one attacking her dog, screaming as she did the same action to the mirelurk.
The third one gripped her leg, tearing into the material of her jumpsuit. She hissed in pain, beating the monster on the head with the pipe to try and get it to let go. When she hit it on the eye, it finally released her. With shaking hands, she brought the pipe up and jammed it into the beast’s eye socket. She dropped onto her backside as it fell, nearly hyperventilating. Dogmeat whined, nudging her and licking her face.
She brought her hands up, the skin and cloth covered in blood. She went to the dirty water, washing it off as best she could. She stared into the water, wide-eyed, thinking back to how the mirelurk’s exoskeleton cracked under the pipe.
It reminded her of the raider’s from Concord.
Before she could dwell on the memory, Bobbi, and a man with an eyebot trailing behind him, came into the tunnel. She scowled at the woman kneeling by the water.
“What is going on in my tunnel,” she growled, the man looking Heather over with a curious expression. Heather stared at her for a moment, before her look went from confused to furious.
“What’s going on? What the HELL were these THINGS in your tunnel, lady,” she yelled, kicking a dead mirelurk’s shell. She examined the corpses, scoffing.
“Gonna take more than a couple mirelurks to stop me… You stuck around, at least. Guess you get a promotion, missy. You get to be my new muscle”. Heather wanted to say no- get out of this monster-infested tunnel- but… she had to stick with it. For the caps. Reluctantly, she nodded. She went over, grabbing her discarded bat the feet of the new man.
“This is an old friend of mine- Mel. He, and his little contraption, are going to be helping us dig into the Diamond City strongroom”. Ironic. The very place she was trying to get to was their theft destination.
“This better not take out of my pay,” Heather mumbled. Bobbi smiled- a grin full of false promises. “Don’t worry- there’ll be plenty in the strongroom”. “Strongroom?” “Mayor’s strongroom full of meds, food, caps- things to keep the entire city running. Now, if you’re ready, let’s get going”. They didn’t give Heather a chance to respond before they just… went on ahead. Heather’s brows furrowed, feeling her eyes water with frustration. She scrubbed her eyes, her and Dogmeat following the ghoul and her partner.
Heather couldn’t help but scream when Sonya blew up a whole fucking wall. “PLEASE fucking warn me before something like that happens,” Heather pleaded. Mel and Bobbi rolled their eyes in response.
Mirelurks. The damn tunnel was FULL of fucking mirelurks. Heather wanted to die. She almost DID die a couple times. She hated this. It was too cramped to fight these fuckin things.
Imagine her relief when they exited into a more open subway tunnel.
“Bobbi if I have to fight one more mirelurk I’m taking this BAT and SHOVING IT-”. A guttural noise made Heather pause. She looked over, spotting a… very thin person shambling towards them. Do people live down here?
It ran at them. It gurgled and hissed, burnt flesh finally showing in the light. Heather felt herself start to dissociate. That was not a person.
More of them stood upon hearing gunshots. Heather’s consciousness was no longer in the fight. She’s fully dissociated into the next realm.
After the fight, as they looted the corpses, Heather snapped back to reality.
“What the absolute SHIT were these things,” she asked, making Bobbi sigh. Does this kid not know a damn thing?
“Feral ghouls. There’s probably a lot more down here, so be ready”. “HELL no, I’m getting the fuck out of- holy shit is that a shotgun,” Heather gaped, attitude doing a complete turn. She picked up the weapon, finding some shells on the ground near it. She loaded the weapon, grinning ear to ear.
“OH I am SO turned on right now”. “Excuse me,” Mel said, doing a double take. “I said I’m fine now let’s go”. Heather, embarrassed she actually said that out loud, hurried off down the tunnel. Mel and Bobbi shared a look.
“Man, you sure know how to pick ‘em, Bobbi”. “Didn’t seem this crazy when I hired her,” was all the ghoul said, before they followed the shorter woman down the tracks.
The entire damn place was filled with ghouls. Heather wasn’t as deterred as she was with the mirelurks, though, with her new weapon. The first time she blew a ghoul’s head clean open, she let out a victorious cackle that made Bobbi consider leaving her behind.
Making their way through the subway tunnels, they came into a big room full of broken down Mr. Handys, and… more ghouls. Wanting to save ammunition on her new shotgun, she pulled out her bat and busted some skulls in when they got too close. Bobbi and Mel took care of actual gunfire.
“As crazy as you are, missy, you sure can beat down a ghoul,” Mel said, as Heather caught her breath. “Where’d a vault dweller learn to fight like that?”
“The usual response is “I had a brother”. My actual response is I was just an asshole kid that loved getting in fights. Although, smacking people in the face ain’t my favorite way of fighting,” she said, starting to follow the two again. Mel grunted slightly, wanting her to elaborate.
“I would be fighting dirty, but I don’t think kicking a ghoul in the burnt nuts would do much, at this point”. Mel couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
The three reached a room that had two separate paths- one leading into a basement, the other into more of the sewers from before. A clicking noise deep in the sewers made Heather shake her head furiously.
“No, no, no, no- This way”. She immediately went into the basement area. The door was locked by a terminal, which Mel easily used to let them out.
“There’s a brewery near our strongroom- this must be the basement to that brewery,” Bobbi said, readying her weapon when she heard hissing. Mel smirked.
“Brewery, you say?” “Mel. No”.” “Jeez, Bobbi, just kidding”.
Heather looked down through the broken floor, seeing something… glowing. And moving. She moved closer to Bobbi, talking in barely a whisper.
“What the hell is that?” Bobbi glanced at it, doing a double take before pulling out her weapon.
“Glowing ghoul. Tough son of a bitch. Get ready, kid”. It hissed when it saw them, rushing forward. Heather screamed, alerting the other ghouls nearby. Bobbi’s gonna kill this woman, herself.
Once the ghouls were dealt with, the group made their way through the broken basement, stopping a big wall that Sonya could blast down. Mel looked around, arms crossed.
“If Bobbi’s directions are correct- and I sure have my doubts- the strongroom should be right through there”. He glanced over making sure Bobbi wasn’t listening in on their conversation. She was too preoccupied looting a couple corpses nearby. Heather asked what he meant by doubts.
“It just doesn’t seem like we’re under Diamond City. Bobbi’s probably hiding something about this job-”. He shut up as Bobbi strolled over to them. Without a word, he made Sonya blast down the final wall. They walked into a large chamber, a cement ceiling hanging above them. Great… now Heather’s socks were even more soaked than before. Bobbi shared the same sentiment.
“Well, we’re right under the Diamond City strongroom”. Mel, having his doubts still, asked if she was sure this was the correct place. He said he’s been mapping it out in his head, and thinks Diamond City should be more to the north. Bobbi gave him a smile.
“I don’t have a doubt in my mind, Mel. How about a little trust for your boss?” Heather wanted to argue, but didn’t want to risk losing the caps. As much as she doubted they were under Diamond City, she kept her mouth shut. Bobbi seemed to be pleased with that.
“We still need a way up there, though. Mel,” she started, turning towards her companion. “Think your robot can work here?” Mel gave her a look, as if she just asked him to punch through the concrete above him, himself.
“You kidding? Look at this place! The foundation’s already crumbling! One blast from Sonya and the place is gonna come crumbling down”. “Well,” Bobbi huffed. “Make it so”. Mel sighed, motioning for them to get out of the room. The group followed.
“We won’t wanna be in the room for this- collapsing foundation and all. Sonya, prepare for a blast at max power”. The eyebot beeped in reply, waiting until the group were outside. A loud boom confirmed that Sonya had done the deed.
“That didn’t sound good,” Mel said, running into the room. “I hope Sonya’s okay- Oh, no, no, no! Sonya!” Heather caught up with him, peeking over his shoulder. The robot was offline, partially destroyed.
“Rest in pieces, Sonya”. “Man, will you shut up for once, lady,” Mel grumbled as Bobbi and Dogmeat finally reached the two. Bobbi rolled her eyes, dismissing Mel’s distress.
“You can make another robot with the haul we get from the strongroom. Now come on”. Mel sighed heavily, rubbing his face, before following Bobbi up the makeshift ramp. Heather nearly lost her footing and almost slammed her face into the broken concrete. Thankfully, she didn’t.
Finally, they entered the goddamn strongroom. Only to be faced with the woman Hancock is always with, and a bunch of goons. Oh, for fuck’s sake, what NOW?
“Bobbi,” the woman sighed. “What are you doin here?” “Shit,” was Bobbi’s only response. Fahrenheit crossed her arms, a cigarette hanging from her lips.
“You seriously think Hancock wouldn’t catch wind of your scheme?” WHAT? “He took you in, Bobbi… and now you’re stealing from him?” Bobbi waved her off, angrily saying not to listen to the woman with the big gun. Heather felt her eyes roll into the back of her head for just a second, before a deep groan came from her.
“What does this have to do with Hancock,” she whined. “Yeah… about that. This isn’t the Diamond City strongroom, as Mel guessed”. “Oh fuck you, Bobbi,” Mel growled.
“I see the rest of you are in the dark about this,” Fahrenheit said, raising a brow in Bobbi’s direction. “Nice, No-Nose”. She turned her attention to Heather, in particular, eyeing up the shotgun in her hands, and the bat hanging off of her hip.
“You all just broke into Hancock’s storeroom- you know? The mayor of Goodneighbor?” Heather wanted to die immediately.
“Now, I know this isn’t what you guys expected,” Bobbi started. “There are still a ton of caps on the line here. Help me take her out, and all of it is ours”. “This is HANCOCK we’re ripping off here,” Mel hissed. “The guy tends to hold grudges!”
“Counter offer,” Fahrenheit boomed, catching the small group’s attention. “Just go back into your tunnel, and we can forget this ever happened. What do you say?” Heather REALLY didn’t want to go back into the ghoul hole. But like hell she was going to rip off Hancock, after what he’s done to help her and her mother. She turned to Bobbi.
“Come on, Bobbi- if we leave now, at least we leave with our lives. Are some caps and other bullshit worth dying over?” Bobbi hesitated, before letting out a small growl.
“Well, shit,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “You’re right, I guess. I’m not one to give up, but… I know when I’m outmatched. Let’s… just go”. She and Mel started heading back for the tunnel. Fahrenheit called out to Heather, hurrying down the stairs.
“You made the right move, missy- Hancock might’ve kicked you and your mother out, if you had gone through with this”. “Yeah… I’d rather not test his patience”. Fahrenheit smirked slightly, a small huff of a laugh leaving her nose. She snapped her fingers, motioning for one of her triggermen to come over. Heather was handed a large gun case.
“Take this, kid. A token for doing the right thing”. Heather grunted at the weight of the case. “Don’t tell your mother where you got it, either. Don’t want an old woman nagging me about giving a gun to her kid”.
“Hancock will be happy to hear about your loyalty- you should pay your respects in person. It’s best to stay on his good side. Trust me,” she said, whispering the last part in a way that made Heather feel things she really shouldn’t towards a woman who was ready to kill her. A little flustered, she simply nodded, watching Fahrenheit walk away. She opened the case, seeing a fucking minigun, modded with incendiary ammunition. Heather let out the worst wheezy cackle anyone could hear, making a couple of the triggermen uncomfortable as she headed back to Goodneighbor.
Oh, she is so turned on right now.
She didn’t see Bobbi when she finally exited into the city. Guess she ran, knowing Hancock was probably gonna be after her ass. She was tempted to go back to the hotel, but… knew she had to go see Hancock.
“Well, if it ain’t Bobbi’s little patsy,” he laughed as Heather entered the room. Heather looked down, not particularly proud of what happened, which made the ghoul sigh. He pulled out a bag of caps, handing them over.
“Here- for protecting my stash. Probably more than what Bobbi No-Brain was gonna give you, anyway”. She was surprised he was giving her anything, but thanked him nonetheless. Caps made her do this, and she still got what she needed in the end. She tucked them away, looking up when Hancock sighed. He pulled his hat off his head, staring at it for a second.
“Lemme tell ya, kid, this classy little hat of mine is getting damn heavy. Am I turning into the man? Some kinda tyrant? I spend all my time putting down the people I would’ve been happy to scheme with just a few years ago…” He put his hat back on, crossing his arms.
“I need to take a walk again- get a grip on what really matters: Living free”. “Aren’t you the mayor? Can you really just leave?” Hancock laughed.
“Mayor’s still a mayor, whether he’s “in-residence” or not. Walked out plenty of times. Keeps me honest. Stay here too long, and the power’ll go to my head. That’s not what Goodneighbor’s about”. Heather hesitated. She knew her mother wouldn’t like this, but…
“Say you came with me and my mom… what’d that look like?” Hancock grinned, explaining he’s a man of the people- helping the underdog and stabbing anyone that’d try to keep them down.
“I know we already see eye-to-eye on the “getting your hands dirty” aspect of life. Can’t follow ya into Diamond City, but… anywhere else? I’m your ghoul. What d’ya say?” He stuck his hand out, casual grin still hanging on his face. Heather couldn’t help but grin back. She shook his head.
“Alright, Hancock, you’re in. We’ll swing back after we get through in Diamond City and pick you up. Sound good?” “Sounds great- although, if things get too bad, I’m not above sneaking in with a mask on. It’ll be a shame, covering up this handsome face, but I’ll be there if you need me”. They let go of each other.
“Now,” she said, picking up her new gun case. “Wish me luck and hope I don’t die. Gotta tell mom what the hell just happened today”. Hancock let out a loud laugh, waving her off and wishing her luck.
She’s gonna get smacked so hard when she gets to the hotel.