"Veronica."
She refused to listen.
"Veronica."
She stared down her challenger—a rough grunt with slick hands—ignoring her friend's warnings. She curved her lips into a confident smile.
"I'll wager…"
"Vee…" The Courier tapped her shoulder.
"…myself!"
"Veronica!"
"Deal!" declared the thugs.
The Courier couldn't believe what he had just heard. He hurled Veronica around and glared daggers into her eyes. "Veronica! What the hell?"
"Relax! I can beat them. This is just as easy as punching a deathclaw in the face."
What? "You're risking your—"
"I know, I know. But I got this all down. I know what I'm gonna do. After all, you're the master and you taught me." That was his mistake. The Brotherhood scribe was curious as to what card game he was playing with some of the caravaneers around New Vegas. As always, she asked what it was about. The more he answered, the more she wanted to learn. In the end, she got the hang of it—the basics, at least.
All because I let myself lose just to teach her. Damn it! "In Hell, Vee! Break it off."
"What?"
"Break off the deal."
"No way! I'm gonna beat their asses so bad they'll be begging for their money back."
By calling their buddies for a big mugging. "Look, you—"
Veronica pressed her palm against his face. "Don't worry! I told you, I'm gonna win this. Easy as pie." And with that, he watched her waltz towards the leader of the gang with his own deck. It was amazing how scribes learned so fast. Fast fingers for the triggers. Fast hands for the pockets. Fast arrogance for the attitude.
The Courier sighed in defeat and readied his revolver. He observed her place a few hundred caps into a small pouch. And that's when a light bulb came on.
He looked around. Sure enough, this was a deserted alley. Three punks. Good enough. The Courier stood behind her. He wondered what the look on Cass' face would be if she heard about this. Fast hands. Fast work. It'll be quick.
"Veronica," he whispered into her ear.
"What?" She was clearly annoyed.
"Just do your best, okay?" You better.
Veronica smiled. "Aw, you worry too much, you know that?"
"Hey, you done with the charmy shit an' all that?"
"Let's begin!"
"A'ight. Let's lay them on the table."
The hands were drawn and the first six cards were already placed. So far, so good. Veronica took the initiative. Jiggs—as his buddies called him—was quick to act. Two turns later, and he was on top. Veronica countered with a Jack. That was when things got exciting to the point that the Courier began to sweat.
It took ten turns and the scribe had, surprisingly, gotten the best of her opponent. The Courier was about to smile until he saw the cards hidden in his right sleeve. He saw the switch—fast bastard—and the sudden turn of the tides. Veronica's eyes went wide.
The next three tries were in vain and Jiggs was one card away from winning himself a personal dame. At least, that was what he thought.
"Veronica…"
"Shh! I can do this."
No, you can't. "Veronica…"
"So, 'Veronica'—or should I call you, 'Vay-bee', instead?"
The Courier smirked. Wow, what a stupid name. The scribe went red. I'll smash your face for that! She drew her final card. The Joker was well-played and brought both sides to an even.
And again, Jiggs drew from his secret compartment and dominated the round. The game was over. And Veronica was officially the property of a bunch of dirty street junkies. "Hey, Vay-bee, I know where we can get started."
"I want a rematch!"
"Oh? Well, from the looks of it, I won."
"But—"
"No, buts, kid," another interjected, "You're ours now."
With that, he grabbed her by the hand. As a reflex, Veronica yanked back and activated her gauntlet. It turned out that Jiggs had an even wider radius of authority. Three became six and they outnumbered them both.
"Uh, a little help here!"
The Courier picked up the bag. Stepping in front of her, he offered him the payment. "Here, take this instead."
"What?" He laughed. "You believe this guy? What? Don't worry, I'll be gentle."
These guys probably haven't heard about oral hygiene yet. He opened the bag and dropped in a handful of bottle caps. "I have five hundred caps in there. That, plus the bunch I tossed in, should be enough to cover it."
The gang members edged closer. "Five hundred? After what she put me through, I say that would cost you double."
Greedy son of a bitch. "Look, I'll get you the rest later."
"Later? I want it now!"
"I have a stash just over—"
"A thousand caps or she's ours."
The Courier grunted agreement. "Fine. A thousand caps." He unbuttoned a pouch and, jingling with caps, handed both to Jiggs. "Come on, Vee. Let's go."
The gang circled around their rewards like a pack of cazadores as the two rounded the corner, Veronica being yanked in tow. "I'm sorry, alright! I guess I didn't know what I was getting into."
"That should be a lesson to you."
"Look, I'll make it up to you. I know you worked really hard for those caps. I can pay you back a thousand. Or double tha—"
BOOM!
The street shook. Veronica and the Courier were already on their way out of the avenue. The first thing she heard was Jiggs' girly screaming followed by manlier shouts and chaos enveloping the blast site.
"What the hell was that?" she demanded, looking back at the cloud of dust and smoke rising from the wrecked alleyway.
The Courier couldn't help but smile. By the time they were through the gate, he burst into laughter. Veronica was effectively irritated.
"What the hell? Were you playing a game or something?"
"That was fun."
"Would you wipe that smirk off your face? What just happened!"
"Vee, you don't have to give me a thousand caps."
Her eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Ever wonder what it would look like if you combined a bottle cap mine with another explosive?" Didn't think about that, did you?
"You sneaky bastard."