No Place for No Hero
Chapter One: As I Go Ridin' Merrily Along
Summary: Goodsprings was tempting… if the road and the need for answers didn't call to the Courier so strongly.
"You're pretty lucky, you know?"
The newly dubbed Six snorted at that and then immediately regretted it, her head feeling like it was broken open once again. The Courier clutched her head and let out a groan, leaning over and trying not to throw up.
Sunny winced and reached out, taking the varmint rifle and pulling the Courier's inky, loosely braided hair out of the way.
"Well… I still think you're pretty lucky. Never known anyone to survive what you did and still be able to talk, let alone shoot the way you do..." Sunny focused on the braid in her hand instead of the very loud, desperate way the Courier was breathing. Lifting her hand up, she ran the edge of the braid across her cheek lightly. "Or have hair this soft."
The Courier couldn't help the low laugh that escaped her. "Are you hitting on me, Smiles?"
Sunny grins, all innocence. "God no," and here her nose wrinkles, "there's no mystery in this relationship anymore."
Six manages another laugh before Cheyenne scurries out of the way of the puke that soon followed.
Six wondered if her mom was still living and breathing out there somewhere, and if she was, whether she was anything like Trudy; a steady voice, strong conviction, a kind heart…
"There's jalapenos in that," Sunny warns, smiling around a mouthful of food as Ringo begins gulping water down after biting directly into one of the peppers in Trudy's gecko kebabs.
She also wonders, taking a careful bite of her dinner, if her mom cooked anything as good as Trudy did.
The Courier hopes so, on all counts. And she hopes that if her mom is anything like Trudy, that she's gotten some of that strength and kindness passed down onto her; that an intuitive part of who she once was still remained buried deep within her. She couldn't be sure of anything really, but she hoped so.
All of them are covered in leather armor and blood from the shoot out with the Powder Gangers earlier as they sit at the bar, Trudy feeding them for getting rid of the convicts. Goodsprings had been good to her and she had returned the favor as well as she could, helping clean out the school, the geckos near the source, and finally the Powder Gangers that were threatening Ringo and the town. She couldn't remember who she'd once been, so she'd decided that she would allow her gut to lead… for the most part. Helping here had been an easy decision.
Discovering that she was more than passable at defending herself and others was just an added bonus.
Six carried her weapons with practiced ease, her muscle memory remaining when everything else about her seemed to be lost. Sunny had been right, she realized, when the young town guard had remarked on the accuracy and rapid reload speed she'd displayed that first day after regaining consciousness. She was lucky she wasn't dead and she was lucky she could defend herself. She would need those skills with all the talk of Fiends and Legion between here and New Vegas, where her delivery was due.
But as her stay in Goodsprings reached day three (day six actually, but she didn't count the days she was unconscious) and her memories didn't return as she was hoping that they would, she became restless. She had an itch building already, shooting and killing those dynamite-happy convicts today giving her the boost in confidence that she needed, believing she should head out on her own.
And Six knew the time had arrived to get on the road again; she was a Courier, she knew that's where she was destined for. She needed answers and her answers were with a man in a checkered jacket and a few Great Khans that were waiting to be caught up with.
A part of her realized that a good, healthy fear should have probably developed after her near death experience, but she didn't dwell on it much. Those were thoughts best left untouched. She would catch up to them eventually. She was determined and she would get her answers.
When Trudy disappeared into the kitchen with their empty dishes and Sunny headed towards the jukebox with Ringo, Six pulled her screwdriver out of her pocket and returned to the radio behind the bar. There was a pressure building in her head, a bad headache spreading from the entry point of the bullet and throbbing as the adrenaline and excitement from the battle completely left her system, but she wanted to take care of the radio before she headed to Doc Mitchell's for one more night.
She unscrewed the case methodically, taking out the tweezers and the duct tape she had found earlier and getting to work on the wiring that had been knocked loose inside. Six understood this, must've learned how to tinker with things at some point in her past, the task becoming engrossing enough that the headache she felt started fading into the background.
"You're pretty handy, huh?"
Six started, not having heard Trudy approaching and attempting not to reach for her temple again in pain.
"Oh honey, I'm sorry, I keep forgetting your brain's probably still scrambled in there," drying her hands on a towel and putting a cool hand on Six's forehead, she seemed to know it soothed the wound there. "It's just you don't seem like it, after what I've seen you do..." She hesitated for a bit, her dark eyes studying the young woman in front of her. "You know, we could always use another hand here at the saloon, and Goodsprings could use another gun with the way things are going around these parts. I've got a spare room we could put a bed in, here in the back. Full of stuff I need to get rid of anyway, so if you help me clean it out, you can take it until you can save enough maybe take up the house the Bennett's left."
Six felt herself soften at the invitation, touched by it and the motherly gesture Trudy bestowed on her. Reaching up for the hand on her temple, she thanked the woman sincerely for the offer but declined, letting her know she'd be leaving tomorrow. She understood what a risk it was for Trudy to invite a perfect stranger to live with her; they'd all been witness to the trouble Ringo had inadvertently brought just by hiding out in the town.
She finished screwing the case back on and turned the dial on the now working radio, promising herself fervently that she would come back and see them all again someday.
Maybe when she returned, she'd be able to tell them about a past that still eluded her.
"Here, you're gonna need this." Sunny places a straw cowboy hat, wide brimmed and with a ring of vents halfway up, on the Courier's head.
"Thanks, but I plan on traveling after the worst of the day is gone," Six assures her, nonetheless adjusting the hat on her head. It was mid-afternoon and Six counted on getting to Primm in plenty of time to rent a room and see if the locals had seen anyone fitting the descriptions she had.
"Take care of yourself out there, cowgirl. Protect yourself from the sun, it gets brutal when you're not near water the way we are here. 'Sides, you're going to begin freckling and that's just unattractive. It's going to start, I almost see it here," and Sunny brushed her calloused finger across Six's cheekbone, over the bridge of her nose before sliding down her other cheek and lingering there. She caught the Courier by surprise once again by turning her head slightly and leaning forward to meet her lips, dropping her hand to rest on Six's hip.
Six was too surprised to respond but Sunny didn't seem to hold it against her, her grin returning as she pulled back and saw the redness suffusing Six's decidedly unfreckled but very tan skin.
"You'll always find a friendly face here. I'll see ya around," and with one last squeeze on her hip, Sunny turned, calling Cheyenne after her as she practically strutted away, her rifle in her hands once again.
Watching her go, the Courier sighed, disappointed that Sunny's pretty face and her playful and honest disposition weren't enough to have her stay and forget her need to find herself.
Or the men who owed her.
Notes: Sunny's straightforward attitude gave me the idea that she wouldn't be shy about flirting.
Also, it might be a little confusing at parts. Let me know, I don't have a beta and I was tired when i posted.