A/N: I know I said it'd be posted "soon", but I had to edit this chapter before it was even readable because I kinda typed it all in one fast go while sleep-deprived. I thought I'd just need to fix a few spelling errors, but then I ended up rewriting some segments because those segments were just awful.
They were basically the result of 3 am thinking…. Where your brain at that hour seems to think it's a great idea for whatever reason. But then you get some actual sleep, and when you wake up and look at it only to go "WTF? I was about to post this without even checking it over?"
Yeah. it was just like that. So I had to edit a whole lot more than I thought I had to. heh.
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--A few days later--
'So much for pretending that Hancock and I weren't at the scene of the crime at all,' Taylor mentally muttered to herself.
The bullet holes in the merchants' corpses were one thing, but there had been the glowing pile of ashes from her Nuka-themed ray gun… which was a dead giveaway that something strange and most likely parahuman-related went down. Damn, why hadn't she thought to clean that part up to get rid of the evidence? It's true what they say, Hindsight was 20/20… it was easy to think of what she should've done after the fact. But in her defense, she had panicked slightly when she realized that she had forgotten that she wasn't supposed to be playing by Earth Gimel rules instead of by Earth Bet rules.
Now she and Hancock were standing in front of Thomas Calvert's desk, as the skinny black man was commenting on the latest strange case that the police had turned over to the PRT.
"Initially, I thought they had been hit by some rival gang. But, imagine my surprise when the PRT looked into it and found witnesses describing two people dressed from head to toe in black moving from building to building as if one of them could teleport? And that they had been moving towards the direction of the warehouse where those dead merchants were housed. Yet, they didn't fit the description of Oni lee or any other publicly known teleporter, which meant that they weren't hit by a rival gang as we originally thought. Their builds do happen to fit the physical descriptions of a few classified parahumans we have on file, however…"
In the last part, he gave both Hancock and Taylor a meaningful stare, as to point out that they were the "classified parahumans" they had on file.
Taylor was practically sweating bullets at this because she honestly didn't know what kind of trouble she'd get in here. A part of her wondered what would happen if she tried to claim that there were probably plenty of teleporting capes out there that the PRT didn't know about.
She didn't want to go to jail!
To her surprise, Hancock stepped toward the man with an easy-going smile on his face. "Seems that you caught me. It was all my bad, and I fully own up to it. Taylor here told me about this tradition that most parahumans had on this earth, about going out to hit a few gangs and loot what they had before they became more serious about being a hero or a villain. Taylor advised me against it but I wanted to do it as it sounded fun. But, she had nothing to do with the murders inside the warehouse, that was all me. I fully own up to it as I had forgotten that Earth Bet tends to frown on excessive violence against normies until Taylor reminded me afterward."
Thomas raised one eyebrow. "She had nothing to do with the murders at all?"
Hancock nodded. "She was my ride around the city, nothing more. I had her waiting outside as my backup in case something happened. So she wasn't able to stop me and remind me about Earth Bet laws until it was too late. I apologize for involving an innocent teenage girl in something like this, but it is what it is."
Taylor stared at him a little bit, surprised that the ghoul was so willing to take on any and all punishments himself just to spare her.
She had known that Hancock was great to have on your side, especially when you needed backup in a fight against many enemies. For he was very vicious against those who he saw as his enemy. but she hadn't any idea that he'd also be the type to do something like this. No wonder why Nora and the others seemed to see him as a dependable friend, despite his tendency to want to "party" most of the time, which made him seem flaky at times. He was really loyal to his friends in his own way.
He was, as Sparky from Winslow would say, "A real bro".
Thomas looked as if he didn't quite believe Hancock, as he was looking between the two of them to gauge their truthfulness with a mildly suspicious expression on his face.
Hancock cleared his throat, before glancing back at Thomas with a slightly suggestive expression on his face. "Amen. I realize this could cause something of a diplomatic incident between our worlds… But, I'm sure this could be easily glossed over, mmm? What do you say we get down to brokering a deal between the two of us, strictly off the books? Taylor doesn't have to stay here for this part. She was, after all, just an innocent bystander."
Thomas's eyebrows practically shot all the way off his forehead at this, but then his expression grew more speculative as he seemed curious as to what Hancock could possibly offer him in order for him to forget that this incident with the merchants ever happened.
There was a long moment as he thought it over, and then he cleared his throat. "Taylor, you're dismissed."
Taylor nodded as she slowly stepped back towards the door. "Um, right. I'll just work on my power armor or something."
She quietly closed the door behind her, noting that Hancock had taken the seat in front of Thomas' desk as they started conversing with each other in quiet tones.
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The next morning after her daily run with Gracie, she met up with Hancock again because he had sent her a message asking her to meet him.
To be more specific, he wanted to meet at this one overpriced cafe by the name "Grind Bay Deluxe" that she and her dad didn't go to all that often, because it was, well, you know, overpriced. It was the kind of place where hipsters and rich snobs liked to go to.
It didn't even have any seating inside the cafe, and instead, they had patio furniture outside of it in the public square next to where a nearby plaza mall was.
Hancock was sitting at one of the tables, chewing thoughtfully as he ate what looked like a sandwich along with a plate of fried breaded hashbrowns that had been shaped into fries. There was a small box with the cafe label on it next to his breakfast as well. There also were two cups of mystery drinks.
He perked up when he saw Taylor and Gracie approach him, and he waved her over. "I ordered something for you too. It's in the box."
She had gone out for an early run, so she hadn't eaten yet. So she was rather appreciative as she asked, "Cool. what'd you get me?"
Hancock shrugged. "Dunno, it's the same one I got. According to the menu, it's Berryberry-Avacodo Oat smoothies for the drinks, and for the breakfast sandwiches, it's an 'avocado, spun arugula, and poached egg on rye bread,' sandwich. I don't know what most of those things are, but so far it tastes good? Thomas Calvert recommended this place to me."
Taylor snorted at this as she sat down, and Gracie went to rest next to her chair.
"I've never understood why the upper echelons are so obsessed with avocado, they seem to put it in everything." She commented as she opened up the box to check out the breakfast sandwich that he had ordered for her. Afterward, she picked it up to bite into it.
She then said after she was done chewing, "I mean, don't get me wrong… avocados are delicious but I feel that it's a tad overhyped, you know?"
Hancock nodded. He then leaned over, and whispered, "So, which part is the avocado, again? As I said before, I don't even know what half of this is."
Taylor chuckled softly and pointed out the parts that were in her own sandwich. "It's this mushy green stuff which is actually a fruit, which is weird because avocados don't taste fruity like all the other fruits out there."
Hancock's face cleared up at this. "Ah, so the leafy bits are… Arugula? This yellowish-white bit is obviously the eggs."
Taylor nodded. "You've got it."
The two lapsed into silence as they ate, and it was during this time that Taylor noted that the three of them were getting a lot of attention. There were people murmuring to each other as they walked by the table, staring at them.
And, she could see a few people taking out actual cameras rather than cellphones to start snapping pictures of them like they were paparazzi.
Jeez, she wasn't ever going to get used to that at all. And hopefully, she wouldn't have to… once her 15 minutes of fame were up.
Awkwardly ignoring the paparazzi, she then changed the subject. She quietly said so nobody else could overhear her, "So, what did you and Mr. Calvert talk about the other day?"
John Hancock smirked. "Nothing much. Just came to an agreement where I would allow a hidden teleport point to be built in Goodneighor and a secret location on Earth Bet of his choosing, in case his enemies here came after him and he needed to escape to Earth Gimel quickly as possible. I'll have to work out something with the railroad there, but in return, I get to bring over all my contraband. It's also a good way for us to secretly exchange goods if he wants extra stimpacks and the like for himself. Which he also agreed to, in return for keeping the thing with the merchants quiet. Officially, it was Coil's men who hit the merchants for whatever reason."
Taylor frowned heavily at that. That definitely sounded like a very shady type of deal, which was weird because Thomas Calvert kept on banging on and on in public about how he promised that he wouldn't allow people in the PRT to turn a blind eye to corruption and the like anymore. This felt… hypocritical?
As if he read her mind, he then said, "Come on, Taylor. I don't think he's a hypocrite… just simply a politician who knows how to play the game. Sometimes you've got to get your hands dirty if you want to protect people, ya know? He promised to put a stop to the people who were using their positions to abuse others, and he did do that. Otherwise, what did he do wrong, really?"
Taylor sighed softly. "I guess. That's just… I thought he'd be more upright than that? Why does everyone in authority have to be some degree of corrupt? I don't even care that he's considered less bad than Piggot, I want him to be more moral than this."
She then thought of something. "Great. Now he's treating me the same way Piggot did Shadow Stalker! God."
John took one of her hands and then replied in a smooth tone of voice that he used to calm down distressed people. "Taylor. Take deep breaths, okay? You've got to keep one thing in mind. It's impossible for people to be purely good or evil. Everyone's a shade of grey, hmm? So it's naive to demand that Thomas Calvert be a morally upstanding guy all the time. Wouldn't you rather him be the type who DOES stand up for the little guy most of the time but is willing to take backroom deals? Besides, those guys were lowlife raiders, did it really harm anybody else to kill them? You did nothing wrong. It's not the same thing as tormenting and bullying an innocent kid for two years."
Taylor took a few deep breaths as she listened to John Hancock's point of view.
Well, in a way that made sense. If it was impossible for anybody to be purely good, then yeah, she'd rather people be the type who stood up for the abused underdogs while having small flaws like smoking weed and making illegal backroom deals that wouldn't harm others.
Still, a part of her couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. It was probably because she had this idealized view of how things should be, as opposed to how things actually were. but it was a good reminder not to put her trust in Thomas Calvert too much.
John then said in a slightly louder voice, since he had noticed people trying to come closer so that they could attempt to eavesdrop without getting caught, "I got word from my people on Gimel that my main problem is dealt with, so I'm going to leave Bet tomorrow."
Taylor blinked, as she finally finished off her sandwich. It was a small sandwich, definitely not worth the price it had been, and yes she looked at the receipt that had been in the box along with the sandwich.
And she couldn't tell if she genuinely liked this sandwich, or if she felt like she HAD to like it because it was so pricey.
She took a sip of the smoothie, which she honestly liked far more than she did the sandwich, before replying, "I'll miss you, John."
John smiled genuinely at this, and he said, "you can always come over any time you want. Heck, maybe bring your dad with next time so we can give him a tour of Goodneighbor."
Taylor smiled back. "Sure, why not."
John Hancock took a sip of his own smoothie and then frowned thoughtfully. He commented, "Is it weird if I like the drink more than I do the sandwich? The sandwich was good, but the drink's more delicious and somehow feels more filling?"
"I know, right? That's probably the only thing I could see myself buying from this cafe on a regular basis." Taylor agreed.
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Unfortunately, Taylor couldn't see John Hancock off at the military base where they had built that teleport station, as they wouldn't let her in anymore.
But, she was suitably distracted as her new costume was coming in, and they were going to suggest a few names for her new cape persona!
So while John Hancock was being transported, Taylor was now in the PR offices once again as Amanda showed her the product, ie, her costume which was still in the prototype stage.
And Taylor loved it! Sure, it lacked most of the charming '50s space explorer theme that had grown on her… but now she would look like a more rugged, futuristic explorer of strange places in this costume. It was still red and white, with black boots and black highlights elsewhere such as her black mask under her visor helmet, which would take the place of her pip-boy in monitoring her vitals and everything else. No doubt Armsmaster's doing.
"Voyager or Wayfarer? We also have a list of names here if you don't like either one of those." Amanda pondered which name would suit Taylor.
Taylor answered, "Wayfarer. When you say Voyager, I keep on thinking of the space program and that probe they sent out into space. Wayfarer seems more unique?"
The woman from the PR department nodded. "Wayfarer it is then. Great, we'll be able to put out a public release soon announcing that there's now a new teleporter similar to Strider who's offering her services to the protectorate and other public companies. Just so I know, how much were you going to accept for your services?"
Taylor honestly hadn't thought that much about it… all she had wanted to do was be an independent hero-slash-rogue who occasionally sold her services to heroic groups like the Protectorate. You know, like Strider did.
This way she could do some good out there but still get occasionally paid for it, and be able to support both herself and her dad.
"How much does Strider typically get paid?" Taylor asked.
"500 dollars per person. As he's known for being a mass teleporter who can teleport up to 20 people each, that's quite a lot. Of course, he waives that fee during Endbringer battles." Amanda answered.
Taylor was completely stunned, as she mentally added up the money for 20 people total. "Holy shit. And that's per service each?"
She then cleared her throat. "Well, so far I've been only able to get up to five people at most, although I've gotten stronger over time. So I might be able to get to 20 people total one day eventually too? I hope so anyway. Then there's my limitation that I can't be where I've never been before, I need to memorize locations in order to make a 'checkpoint' there where I can teleport there again if I want to."
She pondered that for a moment, and then said, "So, maybe 250 dollars per person because of my own limitations? I'd say 50 dollars, but that would mean all of his clients would end up swarming me instead maybe? And I don't want to have to spend all of my free time being nothing but a teleportation service. I certainly wouldn't want to listen to them bitch about how Strider does things better because unlike me he doesn't need to have visited a location first before he can teleport there."
Amanda nodded as she jotted this down. "Makes sense. Alright, I'll get the details down on an official report which we'll release to the public. Your costume should be done in a few days now that you've approved it."
Taylor smiled at this. "Great!"
She couldn't wait to finally meet with Strider and have him mentor her for a while. It might be fun to sightsee everywhere without having to worry about feral ghouls, radiation, and all the other dangers like on Earth Gimel.
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A/N: cutting it a little short here, mainly because the content I had to rewrite didn't quite fit in thematically with this chapter. Instead, they'll be seen next chapter. Don't worry, I hope to make it up to you guys by having a very epically enjoyable chapter next time.
Preview of next chapter: Exploring what could've been with the content that the official devs cut out of Fallout 4.... such as an underwater vault!
