Arcade Gannon was a simple man. No, he wasn't, but sometimes he liked to pretend he was. He did have simple needs, however. For one, he liked to wake up and have some quiet time with a cup of coffee.
The Courier had certainly aided in that endeavor: the 'coffee' she'd learned to make in Utah was the best consumable he'd had in… ever. He was sitting at the kitchen table in the 38, drinking his morning cup and thumbing through a book. Boone sat across the table from him, gradually waking up with his own cup of coffee. Raul was next to him with his well-worn copy of Dean's Electronics balanced open on his knee as he took apart a walkie-talkie.
The others at the table weren't what was disturbing his morning. They were usually there most mornings anyway, sometimes joined by Layla, occasionally cooking, but most of the time sitting across the table with the same half-awake look as Boone.
"YEAAOCH! No fair, it's my turn!" Veronica cried from the hallway.
"You shot me twice last time! Now have at you!" came Layla's reply. There was a loud zap and a squeal.
Arcade was definitely starting to regret showing the Courier how to work the stun gun she'd found in Utah. Especially the part about lowering the power so it only delivered a mild zap. Now she and Veronica were constantly playing 'laser tag' with it.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" Cass bellowed from the bedroom. There was silence for a moment, then both Veronica and Layla stared laughing.
"Aren't you glad the Boss is back?" Raul said, getting a grin from Boone. Arcade groaned.
"I'm thrilled."
*.*.*
It was suspiciously quiet in the presidential suite tonight. Cass knew almost everyone was here. Lily was still in Jacobstown and Raul had gone back to his shack during the day and hadn't returned yet. But all the others were holed up in the suite. That meant there should be more noise and more people wandering around.
The Courier's door was closed, which meant she was probably napping. That ruled out anyone else in there, unless Boone was finally railing the girl. The caravaneer frowned; she'd been damn close to getting them hooked up in Utah. If it hadn't been for a meddling bitch at the bar or the fucking Burned Man, they'd be halfway to naming their first kid after her.
That hope was squashed as she walked into the kitchen to find Boone reading an issue of Grognak the Barbarian, and raised her eyebrows at the sniper.
"Aren't you a little old for comic books?"
"Aren't you a little young to sound like my mother?" he shot back.
"I liked you better when you didn't talk," Cass said, opening the fridge. Nothing looked appealing, so she closed the door with a disgruntled sigh.
"Wanna go hit the Strip?" she said to the sniper.
"Don't really feel like picking up dudes," he replied, not looking up from his book.
"You're really becoming-" She was cut off by a sudden burst of panicked screams coming from further in the suite. Cass' heart dropped in her gut as she rushed out of the kitchen, following the sound. It was coming from Layla's room. She burst through the door, gun drawn, Boone on her heels.
Layla and Veronica were sitting on the bed, clinging to each other. Both girls let out a shriek at Cass and Boone's sudden entrance. Arcade gave Cass a pitying look from his chair next to the bed.
"Oh great, you've managed to scare half the house to death," he said to the girls.
"What the hell happened?" Cass demanded.
"A guy just got his face melted off!" Layla said earnestly. "His bullets did nothing!"
The older woman noticed the television set and holo-vid player sitting on the coffee table in front of the bed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," she grumbled, glaring at the Courier.
"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to- HOLY SHIT, IT'S BACK!" the girl shouted and covered her eyes. "Oh God, did it get the doctor?"
"Not yet," Arcade said. "I think it's trying to eat the nurse first."
There was a burst of what sounded like gun fire from the television and Cass found Boone had left her side. He sat on the open edge of the bed next to Veronica, eyebrow raised at the screen. After another peel of gun shots, he frowned.
"Why would he keep shooting it if isn't doing anything?" he said.
"That's your biggest question?" Arcade shot back. "Not the goo monster? Besides, what else is he going to do?"
"Shoot the propane tank, set it on fire."
"You're all driving me crazy…" Cass grumbled as she left the room.
*.*.*
Later that night, Layla sat awake in her bed. The lights were still on, and she was not going to try to sleep. Why, why, why weren't the others being loud like most nights? Sometimes it would get so bad she'd storm out of the room and tell them (usually Cass and Veronica) to keep it down. Now, when she'd welcome the sound of someone else in the suite, it was silent.
She wanted to poke her head out an call ED-E into the room, or maybe even Victor, though the securitron had been absent from the suite more and more lately. The eyebot was an excellent idea though. If he didn't pick up anything wrong, then there would be no reason to worry. Nope, nothing to worry about. Except ED-E could only really pick up things from this dimension, best Layla could tell. No telling what a lurking horror from beyond the stars would do to his circuits.
Either way, she'd have to get out of bed and look into the dark hallway, which she really didn't want to do. She privately wished Boone was on the couch, but she got the feeling his night watch services didn't extend to pretend monsters, unlike the very real Ghost People.
Oh great, think about those at time like this.
Just as she had almost gotten the creatures out of her mind, she heard a noise outside the door. She watched with widening eyes as the knob started turning. The Courier would have screamed for help or reached for the .45 on her nightstand if she hadn't been frozen in terror as her door opened and a dark shape slinked into the room.
It was perhaps for the best that she hadn't gone for her gun as Veronica turned her way and jumped when she saw the Courier looking at her.
"Don't DO that!" the scribe cried.
"ME? You just sneak into my room without knocking in the middle of the night and I shouldn't scare you?"
"Well I…" She gave Layla an appraising look. "Wanna bunk together tonight?"
"Yes," the other girl answered automatically and scooted to one side of the bed.
Soon both girls were trying very hard not to freak out at the random creaking noises of the suite.
*.*.*
"Hey."
Raul looked up from his book to find Boone standing in the doorway of the Rec room.
"Can you fix something for me?"
"That depends on how broken it is," the mechanic answered. "What is it?"
The man held up an odd-looking power fist. Raul took it from his hands, looking over the damage. The power supply would need to be replaced, along with half the wiring. There was also a huge chunk taken out of the plating.
"Gonna needs some parts…" he started, to which the sniper handed him a bag of caps.
"Keep the change," he said. "The sooner the better."
"You drive a hard bargain," Raul laughed. "What do you need it for?"
"Just in-" He was cut off by the sound of an explosion, screams, and a wet splatter coming from the kitchen. Raul followed the sniper as he rushed to the source of the noise.
They found Layla and Veronica standing near the doorway, both wearing shocked looks. They were coated in something red and pulpy. Once they'd noticed the other two, they both started laughing.
Looking around, Raul saw two crunchy mutfruits on the end of the table. Next to them was a scorched spot and the source of the red splatter. Before he could question them, Layla stopped laughing and raised her new stun gun.
Going by the gleam in her eyes, Raul guessed what was about to happen. He took a step behind Boone as the girl aimed down the table.
"BLAMMO!" she cried, firing at the fruit.
The resulting splatter coated Boone and the girls in a new layer of pulped fruit.
The sniper did not look pleased.
*.*.*
"We should have done this outside…" Veronica said as she and Layla tried to scrub the red from the walls. The kitchen wall had started a salmon color, but was now sporting several darker red areas.
"Okay, Captain Hindsight," Layla muttered as she scrubbed. The pulpy layer had come off easily, but the juice from the fruit had left a vivid red stain wherever it touched, which was just about everywhere.
"Lily's gonna be pissed when she gets back," the scribe continued.
"We're just lucky Boone's beret was already red," the Courier said as she frowned at the still-red spot she was working over.
"Good evening ladies- whoa Nelly!" Layla turned as Victor rolled into the room. "Did you kids blow someone up?"
"Just a mutfruit," Layla said. "Have you got any homespun robot-cowboy remedies for stains?"
The securitron looked at the wall. Despite the girls' vigorous scrubbing, it was still mostly red.
"Rub more in to the rest of the wall so it all looks even?"
Layla and Veronica looked at each other, then back at the robot.
"Did I ever tell you you're my favorite cowboy?" Layla said as she went to the fridge to find another mutfruit.
"Were you looking for me?" she asked as she cut open the fruit and began smearing it on the wall.
"Boss is looking to meet with you when you get a chance," Victor answered.
"Ah, excellent," Layla said, grinning. "Hopefully we can get going on this Dam business."
"How are we going to reach the top?" Veronica said, interrupting her thoughts as she indicated the tall kitchen walls.
"Ummm." Layla squinted at the wall for a moment. "Oh! Come here, Victor." Veronica gave her a boost, and a moment later she was smearing the wallpaper up to the ceiling from on top of the robot.
"What would I do without you, Vic?" The Courier asked affectionately as she finished applying the juice.
"Oh, I think you'd be just fine," the robot answered. "You're a tough little thing."
"Ha," she said as she hopped off the robot. "Well, as for Mr. House, I actually have an appointment to keep in Freeside soon." She checked her Pip-Boy. "But once that's done, I'll go see him."
"I'll let him know, darlin'."
*.*.*
"There it is," April Martimer said as she pulled a small microphone from ED-E's internal circuitry.
"I knew it," Layla said. "Hand it here."
The Follower handed her the still-connected microphone, eyebrow raised. The Courier took the small piece of electronics from the woman. ED-E had been brought in to check for 'extra upgrades' she'd been suspicious of the Brotherhood installing. April had agreed to check the eyebot over and upgrade his weapons system in exchange for the Enclave files in his memory banks. The woman had not been happy to find out the Brotherhood had been given a copy of the files as well.
"Thanks again for the upgrades, Knight Lorenzo," she said into the microphone before she ripped it from its wiring. "Brotherhood-types, always with the sneaky," she murmured with a grin.
"If you didn't trust them, why did you let them poke around with your robot?" April asked as she watched the other woman crush the microphone under her boot.
"I trust them about halfway," Layla answered. "They're generally good people. Just a little…" She searched for a word. "… zealous in some regards."
The Follower laughed. "Yes, that's certainly the word for it." She reinitiated the robot once she had the housing back on. The machine sputtered, then its motors whirred to life, and it lifted off the table.
"There's my handsome boy," Layla said as she reached out to the robot. "Now you're all better."
April gave her a strange look as she continued fussing over the machine.
*.*.*
"ED-E, my love, be a dear and wait here for me," Layla said as they entered the Lucky 38. She smirked slightly as the robot chirped at her; Some people would call her crazy for her constant talking to the robot, but they could kiss off. She moved to one of the securitrons.
"Excuse me?" The robot turned. "Where's Victor?"
"Program 'Victor' is in unit number 039988-" The robot made a buzzing noise and the soldier on the screen fuzzed out. A moment later, it was replaced with a cowboy.
"Well hello, darlin.' Were you looking for me?" Victor asked, sounding his usual cheery self.
"Sure was," Layla smiled. "Could you let Mr. House know I'm ready when he is for our meeting."
"You've got it." The soldier reappeared on the screen for a moment, only to be replaced with a cowboy again a minute later.
"Boss says he can see you now."
"Oh, great, let's go."
*.*.*
"Laying low and leaving the Mojave for more than a month are two very different things," House admonished. "But I suppose no harm is done."
Layla hid her grin. She knew the Zion National Park snow globe she'd brought him would smooth over any trouble. Clearing his throat, House continued.
"At any rate, we are ready to begin the next phase. The Legion isn't ready to attack yet, but there are many loose ends that need to be addressed."
Layla let a smile split her face; she was eager to get this show going. The tension was starting to pick up in the Mojave. Everyone could feel it. With some of the advances they were able to make, both politically and personally, she was starting to feel like they'd be able to push the Legion back with little trouble.
"So what's next?"
"I was going to have you look into the Omertas; but you seemed to have already settled the matter."
"Yeah, it'd had been brought to my attention." It felt like years since Boone had thrown a stick of dynamite at Nero and Big Sal, effectively stopping their plan to attack the Strip, but it had only been a few months. Shaking the thought away, she looked back in House's direction as he continued speaking.
"Your next assignment is to locate and destroy the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel."
Layla's mouth dropped open.
"What?"
Hee hee...I'm sure you've all seen the Old World Blues trailer. I first worried how I'd fit the story in. Now I know exactly how. We won't be getting there for a bit, though. Thanks for reading!