A/N: This is going to be a series of one shots. I've never written a one shot before so I hope it's not terrible. This story is still a work in progress, but it will be done soon. I'll probably post a chapter every week, depending on how confident I feel about it. Also, I took some of the dialouge straight from the game (and tweaked some of it slightly) so that's why it might sound a little familiar. Well anyway, enjoy my story!

It had only been a month and a half since Nicole had gotten her Pipboy, and she still wasn't sure how the thing worked. Doc Mitchell had given it to her after she had recovered from her head wound but didn't leave much instruction on how to use it. Unconsciously, she brushed her fingertips over the scar on her temple and slid the device around on her wrist, letting the cool metal rub against her skin. It was one of her newest nervous habits.

She looked at the small glowing screen and sighed in exasperation, leaning her head against the rotting wood of the old shack they had stopped to rest at. Bringing her gaze forward, she noticed Boone was glaring at her. She was still getting used to the fact that her companion seemed to only have one expression.

"We should get going," he said flatly. Even through his dark sunglasses she could see he was irritated with her hesitance to leave.

Nicole sighed and looked down at her worn boots. She knew he was right. If they were ever going to get Cable Springs to rescue the hostages, they needed to start walking now. Without another word, Nicole stood and walked out of the protection of the shack into the harsh Mojave sun. Out of habit, she checked the map on her Pipboy to make sure they were going in the right direction.

Her feet carried her north, the direction her device told her Cable Springs was. Boone followed a few paces behind, hunting rifle on his back, ready to pull it out if needed.

A huge lump formed itself in the pit of her stomach. Nicole had never been on a rescue mission before; let alone lead one. She figured she only had one shot at it, because if she screwed up – or didn't show up – the hostages would surely be done for.

Weakness was not a trait Nicole liked to display, so she tried her best to hold her composure around her companion who was normally very good at not showing fear – or any emotion at all, for that matter. She looked back at him, thinking she was making eye contact – she could never tell, his dark glasses were always shrouding his eyes.

She slowed her pace until Boone was walking at her side. He eyed her suspiciously, but didn't say anything until she did.

"So…" she painfully dragged out the word. "Tell me about yourself," she said awkwardly, trying to ease the tension. Although Nicole had been traveling with Boone for at least a month now, she still didn't know him as well as she'd hoped. She was aware that his wife was dead, but any other information he kept disclosed from her.

Boone glared at her through his glasses, not sure why she would ask such a thing from him. He wasn't even sure why she would care. "If you want. It's not really my thing," he paused and softened his scowl slightly, "What did you want to know?"

"Tell me about your wife." The request was one that Nicole was aware would most likely get shot down. She knew that Boone liked to keep to himself – especially about his wife – but she was curious about the subject.

He snapped at her, suddenly angry she would bring it up. "I don't see what this helps. She's dead." He practically spit venom when he said so.

"The more we know about each other the more efficient we'll be," she tried to reason.

"Look, we've done some traveling together but we're not exactly 'brothers-in-arms.' I'm not ready to start swapping personal stories. Carla is dead and that's all you need to know." he said bitterly.

Nicole took that as an invitation to shut her mouth. Feeling awkward, she didn't say anything else until they got to Cable Springs.

As they approached, however, she looked at him, almost as if for guidance. She wasn't sure how they were going to rescue the hostages. She didn't have to say anything for Boone to know she was clueless. He could tell by the look on her face she had no idea what the hell she was doing.

Frustrated, he sighed and motioned for her to get low. They crouched behind an old building and he relayed the plan.

He kept his voice low and whispered, "If the Legion did this, then the hostages are going to be in plain sight. Usually when NCR soldiers are being held as hostages, their captors like to torture them in the open. And they do it close to NCR territory so we're forced to watch. I've had to Mercy Kill a few prisoners myself when I was on duty but we're not doing that today."

"So what's the plan then?"

"We're going to be strategic and efficient about this. We're not going to run in, guns blazing like maniacs."

As he further discussed the plan, Nicole curiously poked her head around the corner to view the rest of the abandoned town. She could see the hostages in the center of the town on some sort of platform, bags over their heads and their hands and feet bound together.

A few men were walking around with their guns in hand, patrolling the borders of the town. One of them happened to have swiveled his head in their direction just as Nicole poked her head out. He spotted her and shouted to the others and they started firing furiously at them.

Boone grabbed Nicole by her collar and pulled her back behind the building again. "What happened to being strategic and efficient about this?" he snarled.

"At least we don't have to go looking for them now," she said trying to make light of the situation as he pulled his gun out and started backtracking away from the building, an angry scowl on his face.

Nicole's hand flew to her holster and pulled out her pistol, her heartbeat gaining speed. This was really happening. She was really on a rescue mission, and it just got ten times more dangerous.

The gun shots in their direction continued and she whirled around to see where Boone had gone, but he had disappeared. The bastard…

She heard bullets whiz by her head and spun around, her gun already firing at the bandits. She ran around the back corner of the house as they chased after her in hot pursuit.

"Shit, shit, shit," she wheezed as she ran, turning around every now and then to fire a bullet or two back at the thugs. Her heart leaped partly in excitement and partly in terror as one of her bullets hit one of the men in his leg, crippling him. He screamed in agony and crumpled to the ground, cradling his thigh to his chest. The other two men continued firing and left their comrade to fend for himself.

Nicole dove behind a boulder as her pursuers took cover behind an old, broken down car. She reloaded her gun and held it close to her chest as she checked her surroundings. She looked for the thug whom she had shot and was shocked to find that his head had been blown off.

Her eyes darted back the gangsters' cover and cocked her gun. She could just see the shoulder of one of the criminals through a broken window in the car. Gulping, she steadied herself and took the shot.

The bullet just barely grazed the man's vest and he quickly ducked behind cover.

"Damn!" she hissed to herself, angry that she was such a terrible shot.

The bandits were tired of playing cat and mouse though, and they ran out from behind the car and charged Nicole. She panicked and backed up as quickly as she could, holding her pistol out and fired it blindly. She tripped over a rock and the gun flew out of her hands. A sharp gasp sucked itself into her lungs and she couldn't hear anything over the roaring heartbeat in her ears.

The criminals smiled twistedly and watched as she helplessly scrambled over the rocks. In the instant they aimed their guns at her head, and just as she was about to fight for her life, one of the bandit's heads simply popped, putting a thin coating of blood on Nicole and the other bandit. The other bandit was in about as much shock and confusion as Nicole was as the other's lifeless – and now headless – body fell to the ground in a heap. It wasn't long before the one left standing in front of Nicole lost his head as well.

Nicole stared in shock and wiped the blood off her face. Crouching low to the ground, she quickly retrieved her pistol and swung it in every direction, making sure all the bandits were gone.

Boone came walking down from one of the ridges located near the house he had fled from. Nicole stood and glared at him furiously.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell you were doing?" she spat.

"I was saving your life." Nicole thought she saw his lips twitch into a small irked smile, but it disappeared too quickly for her to be sure.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sighed in frustration, "I thought you had left me. Don't disappear on me like that again, please."

They both knew he wouldn't really leave; he cared about seeing to it that the hostages were free more than anything else. Nicole wasn't really angry with him – he had saved her life after all – but she was just shaken up about the whole thing. Boone just worked better when he was farther away from his target.

"Look, we're wasting time. We need to go untie the hostages." Boone nodded his head and they ran towards the center of Cable Springs, their guards higher than ever.

Boone watched Nicole's back as she hastily untied the prisoners' bonds. Once they had all been set free and the town clear of danger – thanks to Boone who had killed a few more bandits who wandered out of some of the houses – Nicole started questioning the hostages, who turned out to not even be NCR soldiers.

"Each of us has a relative in the NCR," an older woman explained shakily, rubbing the rope burns on her wrists. "We weren't sure why we would be the target for kidnappings from some random group of thugs, other than ransom of course."

"Wait, it was just a group of some random bandits? Your captors weren't with the Legion?" Nicole was puzzled.

"No, at least, they didn't say they were." She continued, "When they were talking to one another, one of them mentioned a rescue party coming for us, but they didn't sound worried. It was like it was part of a plan or something. Another asked about a payment they would be receiving… but it wasn't a ransom for us. It sounded more like a deal was made for something else."

Nicole pressed for more information, but that was all the woman could remember. The little information she had received troubled Nicole as they walked the hostages back to Camp McCarran. Once they got there, the individuals were reunited with their families and one of the lieutenants gave Nicole all the money he could give. She refused politely – the NCR's money not really being of value to her anyway – but he insisted that she take it. He generously offered for them to stay the night as well and she humbly accepted, knowing that they had showers available. She desperately needed and craved one.

After being escorted to a small cabin with a few bunk beds in it, Nicole took advantage of the camp's facilities and showered for the first time in a long time.

It felt good to have hot water run down her neck and through her hair, and she breathed the warm steam into her dust-filled lungs. She stayed in the shower for a while, thinking about what had happened that day. Her mind was troubled about the bandits and what their reason would be to capture the hostages in the first place. Who did they work for? Was it a set-up? Nicole didn't know, and that frustrated her.

Her mind wandered to the incident with Boone. She thought about what he did, and how ungrateful she sounded. He saved her life and she didn't even thank him.

She slipped out of the shower and dressed herself, combing her hair back into her usual bun. She walked into the main room of the cabin, looking for Boone so she could properly thank him for saving her earlier that day. She found him lying on a bunk and was already fast asleep, his normal scowl still on his face. He was even angry when he slept. Nicole sighed in defeat and called it a night.