Vulpes had always been curious about his soulmate. From a young age, he'd wondered about their relevance and why everyone seemed so keen on finding them. The Legion had provided an answer for him that had seemed acceptable at the time. Your soulmate is meant to serve you, Caesar had told him. Apparently the female counterpart was meant to serve the male, and that made sense. Up until he'd witnessed one of his men find his soulmate in another man, and had questioned his master in the same manner as before. He is lucky, Caesar had said then, He has a partner rather than a slave, and that is invaluable. That made sense too, when it was presented like that. A partner rather than a slave. Vulpes had decided at the ripe age of fifteen that was what he wanted, and had set out to find his soulmate among the different men they captured. It was a challenge, since their thoughts would be printed onto his skin, rather than their words; that made it exceedingly difficult to prove who it would be.
The first time he noticed words on his skin, he'd preened in pride. Christ, he's strong. Of course, the context was lost because it was just words, and once he was reminded of that dread formed in his stomach. Was it someone he'd killed? Was it someone that had fought him and been captured? He hoped it was the latter. At least if they were captured he would be able to find them more easily, and if they were dead, well, he'd have to live with that. It didn't occur to him that it could be someone outside of the Legions influence until his trip to New Vegas when he'd given that woman Caesars Mark.
Oh no, he's hot. Was scrawled into his skin later that evening when he'd crawled into bed and he'd almost laughed at the outrageousness of that statement. Were they truly disturbed by that concept? Shouldn't they be pleased by his appearance? Vulpes had traced the new words on his forearm somewhat affectionately, trying to remember who it was he'd met twice. There was the courier, who he'd dismissed in Nipton when she'd attacked him and his people, because it wouldn't have mattered if they were soulmates, he was determined to kill her when Caesar was done using her – that, and he had caught sight of a phrase hidden just under her armor during their fight, across her collarbone, meaning she already had a soulmate. Next was the receptionist at the Gomorrah, but her skin appeared empty of even a hint of a tattoo. He fell asleep contemplating, and dreamed of the courier.
Fuck! Vulpes stared at the newly forming word on his wrist as he listened to the shouts in the distance. The Couriers sniper friend had managed to get in a lucky shot the next morning before he had even awoken, but he'd know her shrill voice anywhere. He moved quickly to the hide himself behind some nearby boulders and assessed his wound as their incessant shouting match continued. What were they even arguing about? He wondered as he pressed on his shoulder, debating how likely it was that she had decided to turn against the Legion already. Doubtful, since she had remained in Legion territory for two days, perfectly content, after her agreement to help them conquer New Vegas. The shouting stopped and he heard footsteps heading his direction rapidly, the person obviously sprinting.
"Vulpes, it's just me, okay? It's Vixen! I sent Boone away." Wisely, she announced herself before turning the corner and looking at him worriedly. Vulpes had almost rolled his eyes when he realized her name was a play on his – which she had apparently admitted to picking after meeting him since she had no memory of her life before, if Lanius's taunting was to be believed – but as they'd been in the presence of Caesar, it would have been inappropriate. He could see the gears turning in her head as she looked at him, and after a moment, realization dawned on him.
"That's why you picked the name." The words were murmured, and, as if proving his point, her eyes widened just enough to be noticeable and a new phrase formed on the exposed skin of his hand. Well, that's embarrassing. He smirked despite his pain, almost laughing outright at how ridiculous the situation was. Foolish girl. The thought scrawled up her exposed forearm and she rolled her eyes when she read if before dropping across from him.
"It wasn't hard to figure out who you were," Vixen said simply, her voice betraying none of her nerves as she hesitantly reached out to move his clothes from his wound. "I'm surprised it took you this long to realize it, as much as we see one another."
"Explain." The word was an order, not a question. How had she known before him? There hadn't been any obvious signs, as far as he knew. The words were the only tell he'd ever been informed of. She smirked at him then, cocking an eyebrow but not commenting on his attitude as she finally just ripped his shirt away from his skin and poured some water on the wound.
"Look at me." Vulpes was preparing to snarl out his next irritable sentence when she rolled her eyes and frowned at him. "Just look. See me." She interrupted him mysteriously and he grit his teeth as he glared at her. But sure enough, after a moment of watching her, he felt a foreign affection unfurling in his chest that he hadn't had for the small redhead before.
His body responded to her presence against his will, and the urge to reach out to her was alarming. When he didn't say anything, she gave him a small, rueful smile of acknowledgement and went back to examining his injury while he thought about this new information. It had been as simple as him not paying attention to his surroundings. Vulpes found himself looking at his soulmate with new eyes, impressed by how perceptive she must have been to catch it before him.
"When did you know?" He finally asked as she took some tweezers out and began fishing the bullet out of his shoulder. The pain was excruciating, but he'd experienced it so many times he was able to contain the need to express it.
"Nipton." She said shortly, and for some reason that hurt. Blue eyes landed on his with a furrowed brow and she seemed to pick up on something in his expression because she looked sufficiently distressed at her admittance. "Well, I mean, technically it wasn't until that night when I got away from you and noticed the phrase 'profligate whore' was scribbled into my collarbone – thanks, by the way, that's real flattering – so I knew it was one of your little group. I didn't know when I started shooting." Her clarification soothed his nerves a bit, and he even felt a bit guilty that such a degrading phrase was stuck on her skin.
"It was confirmed for me in New Vegas when you brought me the Mark," Vixens voice held a strange note as she stitched him up and he wondered what thought about her had been put on her that time. "I figured since you were apparently intent on killing me, you either didn't know who I was, or didn't care. I tend to be optimistic, so I was hoping you just hadn't realized yet." Stones seemed to settle in his stomach at even the idea of hurting her, now, and that annoyed him deeply.
"So you felt… this, in New Vegas?" Vulpes was amused at the concept of the fiery courier feeling this level of adoration for him. She was notoriously good, the complete opposite of him in just about every way; it made no sense that they would end up paired together.
"Oh, no, I felt this in Nipton. I thought I was having some kind of weird reaction because you were part my past. After Benny shot me in the head, I couldn't remember anything from before, but I would get these weird… sensations every once in a while; ghosts of memories, almost. They've pretty much stopped now." That amused him even more, somehow. Her blue eyes narrowed on his for a moment and he saw her lips curl in mild amusement.
"Yes, I was miserable for days trying to figure it out; when I finally did, I was mortified. Your reputation was daunting." Her use of past tense was almost offensive, but instead he found himself sharing a grin with her. It was easy to forget his previous grievances with her.
"Vulpes!" Another voice drew her attention from wrapping up her handiwork and she put some distance between them, giving off the impression of disinterest as Alerio and Vadik came into view. Alerio came into view first, giving his newfound soulmate a disgusted glare as she folded her arms over her chest, and raised an eyebrow at him. When Vadik made his way to them, however, Vixen and he both tensed, rooted to their places. Naturally, Alerio and Vulpes picked up on the slight shift immediately.
"Vanna?" Vadik's voice was careful and Vixen furrowed her brow in that familiar distressed way. He saw her eyes dart to him, careful not to look him in the eye but seeking him out in her moment of confusion; it occurred to him that he'd seen her do this numerous times and thought she was simply not keen on making eye contact with the Legion men addressing her.
"Vixen – the courier who is assisting us." Vulpes supplied the other man when his soulmate seemed deep in thought. To his surprise, Vadik sniffed as if that was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.
"Her name is Vanna; we're twins." Vixen tentatively touched her temple and he realized she wasn't confused so much as she appeared to be in pain. The scar on her head was visible behind the two fingers she was using to rub at it, and something clicked in Vulpes as well. He remembered Vadik having a little redhead following him around when they were children.
"You mean the one your father had tied to the post for three days when we were children? I thought she'd died ages ago." Alerio commented, sounding mildly curious, and Vixen's eyes suddenly hardened as she righted herself, cocking her head to one side. Vulpes watched the change with intrigue as cold blue eyes landed on his subordinate.
"Well, my memories a bit foggy after taking a bullet to the head." Her voice was smooth as silk and stiff as steel, but she sounded confident even when Vadik glared accusingly at her. She turned and pointed to the scar, and the man's face softened significantly, though she looked decidedly irritable with this turn of events.
"I sent you to get the platinum chip for Lord Caesar," Vadik said softly, and Vulpes looked at him sharply. This was the first he'd heard of whatever plan this was. "I assumed you'd died in the Mojave when you never returned." Vulpes wanted to throttle him. The Legion didn't send women to do their dirty work – especially not Legion-born women. They were of the few that were considered acceptable to make wives of; it made his new desire to keep Vixen close to him achievable.
"Benny ambushed me with some Great Kahn thugs," Vixens voice was quiet. "He had them tie me up and put me in front of a shallow grave they'd dug out in Goodsprings cemetery and shot me in the head." Her fingers traced the scar, looking contemplative for a moment before a dark smirk tugged onto her face; he realized that for all the praises being sung in her name around the Mojave, she had to have a significant dark streak to have come as far as she had.
"I crawled out after they buried me and one of Mr. Houses robots helped get me to Doc Mitchell. Then I hunted down the men who helped him kill me one by one, so he'd know I was coming. I put a bullet in his head in his own casino right in front of his bodyguards and dared them to do something about it." Her sigh was almost fond of the memory, and it did things to him that it probably shouldn't have.
"Then I wanted to take down Mr. House, because he just assumed I'd come crawling back with the chip for him, and–" She stopped herself, the smirk wavering into a small smile as she shrugged. Vulpes knew immediately she'd done something she didn't want them to know about, but the other two seemed to accept it was a 'the rest you know about' rather than the obvious tell it was. He made a mental note to visit New Vegas after he finished with this encounter.
"Anyway, I saw Vulpes here get shot and thought I'd render my services," Vixens smile was a bit more genuine now. "I have to hurry back to New Vegas, though, otherwise House is going to get suspicious." With that, she turned and started her trek away from him; Vulpes watched her go with narrowed eyes, suspicious of her intentions now that he knew her past. How much of what she said was true? What had she done in New Vegas that she didn't want them to know about?