A cold wind chased Ellie through the door of the Valentine Detective Agency as she stepped through, closing it behind her as quickly as she could. “Mornin’, Ellie.” Nick raised a coffee mug in greeting from behind his desk.
“Good morning, Nick,” she responded, shaking snow off the collar of her coat. “Oh, Billy, I wasn’t expecting you this morning.”
”Just hit town.” A tall, blonde woman sat in the chair across from Nick with her own cup of coffee. “Catching up on all the good gossip.” Billy was a caravaner who overwintered in Diamond City, preferring to live off the year’s profits than risk herself out in the cold if she didn’t have to. She mostly kept to herself, aside from the odd friendship she’d struck up with Nick Valentine, and by extension Ellie.
“Speaking of gossip,” Ellie said as she headed for the coffee pot. “Have either of you seen Pigeon lately? Arturo said she hasn’t been around this morning. She usually gets breakfast from someone in the market, but he didn’t catch her at it today.”
Pigeon was an orphaned girl who’d gained her nickname from how she flitted around town living off of other people’s scraps. She had several hidey-holes all over town, and no one was ever quite sure where she slept at night.
“I hadn’t noticed,” Nick said, already sounding vaguely guilty. “Maybe she just found someplace warm.”
”Hopefully.” Ellie sat at her desk with her coffee, flipping through the stack of papers already waiting for her.
There was a long moment of silence before Nick swore under his breath, standing to collect his coat and hat.
“Nick?” Ellie looked up in surprise. “Where are you going?”
”To play hide and seek,” he grumbled, and headed out the door.
A smile touched the edges of Billy’s mouth. “I’ll go with him,” she told Ellie, getting her own coat off the hook.
“Thanks,” Ellie said with a soft smile of her own. “Hopefully between the two of you she’ll turn up pretty quick.”
”Hopefully.” Billy shrugged into her coat and followed Nick out the door, letting another swirl of winter air in as she went.
“Tagging along?” he asked, looking over at her. She shrugged.
“Figured more eyes couldn’t hurt.”
”You’re right about that. That kid’s got more little dens around this city than an overactive mole rat.”
Billy gave a snort of a laugh. “Why hasn’t anyone taken her in?”
”No one’s got the space,” Nick said, guilt creeping into the edges of his voice again. “Or just isn’t a good fit for a parent.” Then, with no small amount of exasperation: “Or they think she’s a synth.”
”There are no child synths,” Billy responded. “Isn’t that like the one thing we know for sure about the Institute? No kid synths?”
”You tell me,” Nick said quietly, casting a glance her way. Billy hunched her shoulders in her jacket and pretended it was from the cold.
“Nothin’,” Nick said sourly. “Either they didn’t see her or they didn’t care enough to notice.”
“Didn’t see who?” Nat asked. They both looked over at her. The girl was swiftly inheriting her sister’s inquisitive streak (that was Nick’s word; Billy just thought she was nosy).
“That girl that runs around here, people call her Pigeon?” Nick knelt down to be at eye level with the girl. “Have you seen her? Or know where she might be?”
”Is she in trouble?”
“No, nothing like that, we just want to make sure she’s okay. She hasn’t been seen in a little bit.”
Nat glanced over Nick’s shoulder, out through the market. “She stays with Sheng sometimes.” She almost sounded guilty at the admission.
“It’s a start,” Nick said, smiling. “Thanks, kid.”
“…here.” Billy dug a couple of caps out of her pocket. “For your trouble.”
”I don’t take bribes.” Nat puffed her chest out, offended.
“Then give me a paper. Now it’s a transaction.” Nat squinted up at her for a moment, then handed over the paper, taking the caps in return.
“Thank you for your purchase,” she said with aplomb, and Billy gave her a small salute as they left.
”You actually gonna read that?” Nick asked dryly. Billy shrugged.
“I said I wanted good gossip.” She stuffed it inside her coat for now; an extra layer of insulation never hurt.
“I’m no stooge,” he insisted.
“And I’m not Diamond City Security,” Nick reminded him. “I really just want to know that she’s somewhere safe and not freezing to death somewhere.”
Sheng scowled for a second, then sighed. “She was here night before last,” he admitted. “But I haven’t seen her since.”
Billy swore under her breath. ”Any idea where she might be? We know she’s got little spots all over town.”
“Not anymore. Mayor had Security fill in all the spots they knew about. I don’t know if she had any more, or found any new ones.” Sheng shrugged expansively. “I just know she hasn’t been here. Now if we’re done, I gotta break the ice off out there or you’re not gonna have anything to drink. …well,” he amended, turning to Billy. “You won’t have anything to drink.”
“Thanks, kid.” Nick’s voice was wry as he headed for the door. ”Try not to fall in, would you?”
Sheng’s protest was cut off by the door swinging shut behind them.
“I’ve always thought it was weird a kid was in charge of the whole city’s water,” Billy admitted as they headed back into the main part of town.
“You try going in there and telling him to give it up,” Nick said. “Kid fights like a wildcat. Actually bit somebody once.”
“I think I’ll keep my criticisms to myself from now on.”
“Probably for the best.”
“All I can think is to just comb the city,” Nick said, frustrated. “Anywhere we think a kid would hide. Anywhere Security wouldn’t think to check.”
”Kids can come up with some wild hiding spots,” Billy pointed out. “And none of the actual kids seem very willing to help us.”
“That’s what happens when every adult around you is a raging jackass.” Nick lit a cigarette, just letting the smoke drift for a moment. “Trust becomes a limited commodity.”
There was a groaning noise from behind them, the sound of the main gate to the city opening. “There’s gotta be a quieter way to get in and out of here,” she muttered.
Nick suddenly sat up, wheeling around on his stool to stare at the steps leading out of the city. “There’s no way.”
”No way what?”
He spun back around to face Billy. “When’d you get in?”
”Just this morning? Nick - “
”Was anybody coming out at the same time?”
Billy frowned as she thought back, trying to remember. “I think there was like one guy and a brahmin that passed me as I was coming in.” Realization dawned and her heart dropped. “You don’t think - “
“It’s gotta be. Freezing cold, no one wants to take her in, all her safe places taken away - “ He grimaced. “Ripe for the picking.”
He spun back around, launching himself off the stool and towards the stairs, Billy on his heels.
“Which way was that brahmin headed?” he asked. Billy pointed east, past one of the security stations.
“Think it’s worth the trouble asking them if they’ve seen her?” she asked as they approached.
“Probably not,” Nick muttered. “Gonna anyway.”
”I figured.”
“Where you headed, Nick?” One of the guards asked as they passed.
“Lost girl,” Nick said. “Little thing, about yea high, technically blonde if she ever got a bath. You boys seen her?”
”I think so, actually.” The other guard spoke up. His helmet was off to let him smoke a cigarette, and he used it to gesture down the road in front of them. “This morning, heading that way. Don’t think I caught them turning anywhere.”
Nick narrowed his eyes at the guard for a second, who stood impassively under the scrutiny. Then Nick smiled, turning away from them. “Appreciate it,” he said, and Billy couldn’t read his tone of voice at all.
“Don’t mention it,” the guard said with a smile of his own as Nick and Billy took off down the street.
“What was that about?” Billy asked.
”Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nick said flatly.
“Nick - “
”Priorities, Bill.”
Billy dropped it, though not without grumbling about annoying old men under her breath as they ran.
“We gotta move, Billy.”
”Easy for you to say,” she wheezed. “You don’t have muscles.”
“Thought you caravaners were supposed to be tough.” Nick was still scanning the buildings around them, both for threats and any sign of Pigeon.
”Tough, not fast.” She straightened with a wince. “All I usually have to keep up with is a brahmin, not the - “ She gestured wordlessly at Nick. “Whatever you’ve got going on.”
“It does come in handy,” he said tightly. “You good?”
Billy took a couple of deep breaths. “Yeah. I’m good.”
”Good.” They took off again, though Billy noticed Nick was moving just a smidge slower. Whether that was to keep a better eye on their surroundings or in deference to Billy’s inferior stamina, she didn’t know and wasn’t asking.
In the back of her mind, she was glad she was out here with Nick. Anybody else from town and she’d have to stretch that recovery time out by at least another couple minutes, just to keep her cover. Synths still had muscles and lungs and all the foibles that came with those, but without the wear and tear of growing to adulthood in the Commonwealth. But somehow Nick had clocked her, years ago, which was when he started offering her space in his office when she needed it. They’d never spoken about it outright, and they might never. But he knew, and it made a few things a lot easier.
They stopped at a crossroad, each of them staring down one branch.
“Goddammit,” Nick spat, pacing a circle in the middle of the road. “I don’t want us to split up - “
”Might not have a choice.” Billy was leaning against a building, trying to catch her breath again. She was really going to have to start running sprints after this. “Unless they’re just too far gone to catch -“
”No!” Billy flinched as Nick’s shout echoed around the empty space. “No,” he repeated more quietly, checking around them to see if anything had stirred at the noise. “Everyone else has given up on this kid; I’m not gonna.”
“I’m not saying give up, I’m just - “ Billy was interrupted by a gunshot, followed by a scream, and the two of them started sprinting down the road without so much as looking at each other.
Billy edged along the outside of the group while Nick approached more directly. As they got closer they saw the source of the gunshot - a man standing under an awning, glaring up at it. Because on top of the awning was Pigeon, huddled back against the building.
”Get down here,” the man snarled, brandishing his pistol. “I won’t miss twice.”
”No!” Pigeon shouted back. “You said you’d take me to a house!”
”This is a house.”
”No! That’s cages, I saw them!”
”The cages are in the house,” the man reasoned, and Billy fought not to shoot him on principle.
“Drop the weapon,” Nick yelled. The man’s head snapped around and his hands went up, the pistol hanging from one thumb. “I said drop it.”
“Alright, alright, I’m dropping it.” He leaned over to put the pistol on the ground as Billy edged around the brahmin, who stayed blessedly silent. If it spooked now Billy would just be trampled.
“Step away from the girl,” Nick continued. “Out here into the open.” The man took a couple of cautious steps sideways. “That’s it. It’s just you and me.”
”Well, uh.” The man reached the edge of the alley. “That’s where you’d be wrong.”
Billy saw the light bounce off the muzzle half a second before the raider pointed it at Nick.
“Fuck,” she spat, and dove forward before she started firing.
The dive was good thinking on her part, because there were at least four raiders in the alley, and once the first man had gotten his hands on another gun it was a cacophony of gunfire, Pigeon screaming, and the raiders dying, and the brahmin decided it’d had enough. It ran bellowing down the street as Nick put one between the eyes of the last raider, immediately turning to look up at the awning Pigeon was perched on.
“Pidge?” he called up. “You okay up there?”
No answer but the sounds of sniffling, which at least meant she was alive.
“Can I see if you’re alright?”
Pigeon did shuffle to the edge of the awning then, making Billy suck a breath in through her teeth. It wasn’t the most stable place to be sitting, and creaked precariously every time Pigeon moved.
”There you are,” Nick said warmly, relief palpable in his voice. “You wanna come join us on solid ground?”
“Us?” Pigeon looked around, apparently she hadn’t spotted Billy yet.
“Hey.” Billy holstered her pistol and waved a little. “You might not remember me, I’m not in town much.”
”You’re Billy,” Pigeon said immediately. “You gave me candy from Bunker Hill.”
Billy blinked. “Ah…yeah, I guess I did.” She remembered it, how the girl had snatched it from her hand and scampered off grinning, but she hadn’t expected that one event to leave such an impression on Pigeon. “Nick’s right, you really should come down.”
Pigeon narrowed her eyes. “Is that man gone?”
Billy looked down at where the man who had been shouting at her lay, glassy eyes staring blankly up at the sky with a significant portion of his blood on the ground. “….yeah. He’s gone.”
”…okay.”
Pigeon scampered down the side of the building using hand- and foot-holds they couldn’t even see, but Billy stopped her before she actually hit the ground. “Let’s go over here first,” she said, offering her arms out. Pigeon frowned for a second, but let Billy pick her up off the wall.
Billy and Nick walked a little away from the mess, until their feet stopped leaving blood trails, and Billy set Pigeon down on the pavement.
“How’d you even get up there?” Nick asked. “And why?”
”The man said he was gonna take me someplace warm.” She sniffled. “Then he tried to put me in a cage with a big chain in it. Said he was gonna leave me there for somebody else to pick up. So I kicked him and I climbed up on the thing.” Another sniffle, but followed with a mischievous smile. “I’m a good climber.”
“You certainly are,” Billy said seriously. “But why didn’t you try to stay with anyone in town? Arturo or Piper - or hell, one of us?” Nick’s eyes widened a little at being volunteered, but he said nothing.
“Grown-ups get tired of me,” Pigeon said with a shrug. Billy’s heart sank at the words. “They don’t say that, but I can tell. Sheng lets me stay with him sometimes, but he says I’m bad for business.” Billy fought the urge to kick a child’s ass. A glance at Nick told her he had pretty much the same thought. “Even the Mayor got tired of me, and made them lock up all my hiding places.”
Billy made a decision before she had the chance to talk herself out of it. “Tell you what.” She shrugged out of her coat and laid it over Pigeon’s shoulders. It dragged the ground, but she wrapped it around herself like she’d never been warm before in her life. “You can stay with me.” Billy saw the doubt in the girl’s eyes and laid her hands on her shoulders. “I mean it. We’ll have to figure something out come spring, but at least for winter, you can stay with me in my room.” She held her hand out. “Deal?”
Pigeon stared at it for a long time, little fingers curled in the edges of Billy’s coat. Then she reached out, tentatively, and shook Billy’s hand.
“Deal,” she whispered.
Billy smiled. “Good.” She stood, offering her hand for Pigeon to hold. “Then let’s get going.”
“What are you gonna do come spring?” Nick asked. Billy shrugged her free shoulder.
“I’ll figure it out come spring.”
“Y’know, I didn’t take you for the parenting type.”
Billy snorted. “Me either.” She adjusted Pigeon’s weight on her shoulder. “But somebody had to do something. Kid gave herself up to slavers just to get somewhere warm.”
“We’ll ask around,” Nick said. “Bully Fallon’s into giving up a coat or something. If not, I’m pretty sure Ellie sews, maybe she can patch something together.”
”Or if Piper or Arturo have any hand-me-downs that haven’t fallen into dust,” Billy added, then paused. “Hang on - we?”
Nick rolled his shoulders. “I’ve got more connections in town than you do. Might as well use them.” He fished in his pocket for his cigarettes. “And it’s probably smart to start thinking about things before spring.”
“Probably.” They were approaching the guard post; the one that had helped them was nowhere to be seen. “Oh, I wanted to thank that guy.”
”Maybe you’ll see him around,” Nick said in a light tone that made Billy narrow her eyes at him. “Don’t look at me like that; you might really see him around.”
”Anybody ever tell you you’re infuriating?”
Nick just smiled around his cigarette.
The groaning of the gate woke Pigeon up, and she rubbed her eyes as they climbed the stairs.
“We’re there?”
”Yep.” Billy set Pigeon down as they reached the market, readjusting the coat over her little shoulders. “Welcome home.”