AN: I had to resubmit this story 'cause there were a few errors. I initially had the character's name as something else and didn't catch that I had left her old name during one of the conversations (thanks to "Anonymous" for pointing that out! :D). On a side note, I tried editing the story after I submitted and, although it said my changes were saved, the story still published as I had originally posted (hence the deleting and resubmitting). *sigh* Oh well.

So, here it is again. I'm enjoying all the Courier/Boone fics out there and am excited that I'm not the only one who loves this pairing.

Disclaimer: Bethesda owns all.

"…life's like an hourglass, glued to the table/No one can find the rewind button now/So cradle your head in your hands/And breathe, just breathe…" *

Alex awoke with a start, her breath heavy and uneven. They came at the weirdest moments, these distant memories. When she was asleep…or even just by looking at something that seemed vaguely familiar, an image or words…but mostly it was that beautiful voice. Her voice. Though, she was still at a loss to who this "her" was.

She fumbled in the darkness for her pack, before remembering the Pip Boy that adorned her wrist. She turned on the light, finding the worn bag and pulling out a notebook and a pencil. Doc Mitchell had encouraged her to write down these flashes of memories in hopes of helping her remember who she was before she got shot in the head.

Alex quickly wrote down the lyrics, the music still floating around her as if the woman singing it was sitting right next to her. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to summon her lost memories. Alex sighed, shaking the dream from her head. It was no use trying to sit there and remember. Doc said it was a miracle she had survived a shot to the head at close range. A little memory loss was nothing compared to that. It would all come back sooner or later, she knew, though she much preferred it happened sooner.

All she had was her name, that she worked as a courier for the Mojave Express, and that she had been shot for the package she was supposed to deliver. Oddly enough, she remembered those few seconds right before she got shot. She didn't think she would ever forget the face of the man in the checkered suit.

And, so there she was, traveling across the Mojave desert, scouring each place she visited for the man who had shot her. It didn't help that every place she came across needed her help in some way or another. Novac was no different. So far, she had killed that "invisible monster" that was killing the McBride's brahmin, checked up on that ranger station for Ranger Andy and had just returned from a trip to Repconn where she had sent some ghouls to space. Although she highly doubted the poor things had made it that far.

She got up to stretch, stifling a yawn with the back of her hand. Manny had promised her some information in exchange for dealing with the ghouls. She quickly got dressed, grabbing an apple from her pack and taking a look around the motel room in case she had forgotten something. Alex had to admit, it was worth paying 100 caps for the room, even if she still thought it was 100 caps too many. The private room had offered her a bath and a safe bed for the night.

She headed out, swinging her bag over her shoulder and making her way to the huge dinosaur. She knew that Manny didn't start his shift for another thirty minutes, but she was up and she felt it best to just wait for him in the dino's mouth. It would give her a chance to think, figure out her next move.

She moved quietly, not knowing if it would be considered trespassing if she went into the dinosaur when no one was around. The last thing she wanted was to cause trouble, especially when she still hadn't gotten the information she desperately needed. Alex was surprised to find the door to the gift shop unlocked, and she shrugged, taking it as a sign that it was okay to go inside. It wasn't like she was there to steal anything. Those plastic dinosaurs held little to no value and the Geiger counter on her Pip Box always came on if she was even close to that storage room.

She headed to the top of the stairs, opened the door and suddenly found herself being slammed on the floor of the dino's mouth. A man in a red beret pinned her down, one muscled arm cutting across her throat making it difficult for her to breathe. She held up her arms in defense, and he released her.

"Goddamn it! Don't sneak up on me like that!" He stood up, his hand reached down to help her, but she waved him off.

"Jesus, do you treat all the visitors to Novac this way?" Alex coughed a few times, gulping in mouthfuls of air before finally standing up. She vaguely remembered Manny mentioning the nighttime sniper. Now, she wished she had paid him better attention.

"What do you want?" the man asked, his voice lined with impatience.

"I was looking for Manny," she replied, massaging her throat.

"His shift starts in half an hour."

"I know. I, uh…I was just looking around." To emphasize, she looked around him. The sun was just starting to come up, and she realized just how valuable that dinosaur really was. She could look out for miles.

"There's nothing up here."

"There's you," she replied blandly. Though Alex couldn't see his eyes (she couldn't really understand why the night sniper was wearing sunglasses), she could see the muscle in his jaw twitching.

"I think you'd better leave," he stated, picking up her bag and handing it to her.

"Geez, just trying to make friendly conversation," she said irritably.

"I don't have friends here."

"I can't imagine why," she called over her shoulder as she made her way down the stairs. She was about to reach the door to go outside when his voice stopped her.

"Wait," he called out, taking the steps two at a time to catch up to her. "Don't go…not just yet."

Alex turned around, crossing her arms over her chest and eyeing him suspiciously. "Why not?"

"I need someone I can trust. You're a stranger. That's a start," he replied. His body was tense, and Alex felt that there was more to this than he was letting on.

"You only trust strangers?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I said it was a start," he answered curtly. "This town…nobody looks me straight in the eye anymore."

"Yeah, well, it helps if you don't body slam them the moment you see them," she said, reaching for the door handle behind her.

"It was a reaction. You snuck up behind me."

"I wasn't sneaking! I was just deliberately being quiet. And, no, that's not the same thing!" she added, when he opened his mouth to retort.

The man let out a long drawn out breath. "Never mind," he said, turning back around and heading up the stairs.

Alex stood there for a few seconds, hand still on the door handle. Admittedly, she was curious as to what he was going to ask her. It must have taken a lot for him to actually seek her out. And it must be something very important to him, considering he didn't ask just anybody.

She debated whether she should involve herself in yet someone else's life. What was it about her that had people asking her for help everywhere she went? Maybe people keep asking because you can't refuse them? She had been ready to just talk to Manny, get the information she needed, then head off on her way. Curse her bleeding heart.

She let out an aggravated sigh and then stomped her way back up the stairs. Maybe this time, he would hear her coming.

"Son of a bitch," Alex whispered, breaking yet another bobby pin. What the hell was she doing wrong? She was doing exactly everything that stupid magazine Sunny Smiles had given her had said to do.

She moved to stand up, leaning heavily on the door handle, only to have the door slide open easily. She resisted the urge to kick the door closed behind her. Almost an hour trying to pick the damn lock and it had been open all along. What was it with the residents of Novac leaving their doors open? She pushed her frustration aside and set about exploring the lobby. Out of all the people in Novac she talked to, No Bark had, ironically, made the most sense. Everyone seemed happy to be rid of the sniper's wife. And, from what little she knew about Carla, she couldn't blame them.

She checked the file cabinets behind the counter, but there was really nothing of importance. Alex looked around, trying to think of why exactly one of the slavers would go into the lobby when a green light caught her eye. It was a safe…right underneath her.

And it was locked.

"Damn it," she whispered. She only had a few bobby pins left. It wasn't until she bent down to properly examine the lock on the safe that she noticed Jeannie May's keys on a shelf right underneath the cash register. "Ha! No way!"

She opened the safe and placed the keys on top of the counter. There were a couple of forks, a pack of cigarettes, some pre-war money…and right underneath all that crap lay a sheet of paper. Alex quickly scanned the contents, and she felt her heart drop to her stomach. Shit. The bill of sale for Carla…and her unborn child.

"I'll be right there, Ada. I just forgot my keys in the lobby. "

Alex's heart stopped. She quickly closed the safe, pocketing some caps. The door squeaked open, and Alex pressed herself against the counter, holding her breath. She could hear Jeannie May humming as she walked into the lobby, and it took all she had not to just jump up and beat the innkeeper senseless for what she had done.

"Oh my, how careless of me," Jeannie May said, and Alex heard her take the keys. "I can't believe I just left these here on top of the counter. Anybody could've come in and taken them."

It wasn't until Alex heard the door click shut that she finally let out her breath. The bill of sale was crumpled in her fist. She took a deep breath, carefully folding the letter and placing it in her pocket. She waited a few more seconds and then ran outside, turning a corner until she saw Jeannie May Crawford walking towards her house.

"Ms. Crawford!" Alex called out, waving a hand in the air for the woman to stop.

"Yes? Is there something you needed?" Jeannie May asked.

"Uh, yeah, I need you to, uh, to see something." Alex hadn't really thought this far ahead. Everything had happened so quickly, but there was no time to waste. She knew the sniper was sitting up there right now waiting for her to make an appearance.

"Can it wait until tomorrow? I'm meeting Dr. Straus for dinner."

"This will only take a minute. It's just out here in front of the dinosaur," Alex said, fingering the red beret in her pocket.

Jeannie May looked annoyed, but followed her, nevertheless. Alex felt a little guilty, knowing full well that the woman was walking to her death. It was much easier killing someone when it was in self defense. But, at the same time, she thought of Carla and her unborn child. No one deserved to be sold to slavers. It was just an inhumane thing to do.

"Well?" The older woman turned to her expectantly. "What is it?"

"It's, uh…it's just over here." Alex walked over to the huge boulder in front of the dinosaur, putting on the beret. She closed her eyes as she heard the unmistakable sound of the bullet slicing through Jeannie May's head. She walked back to meet with the sniper, not even bothering to look back at the innkeeper's body.

"That's it, then. How did you know?" he asked her when she entered the sniper's next. He had his back to her, still looking down at Jeannie May's body.

Alex didn't say anything. She pulled out the bill of sale from her pocket and placed it in his hand, along with his beret. She walked back down the stairs, giving him some space. She was halfway to her room when he caught up with her.

"Here," he said, handing her a pouch full of caps. "This is all I have."

Alex shook her head, pushing the pouch back into his hand. "No, it's okay. You keep it."

An awkward silence fell between them, neither of them really knowing what to say. Alex felt like she had invaded his privacy even though he had pretty much given her permission. She looked down at her hands at a loss for words.

"I-I'm sorry," she finally whispered. "About your wife a-and…" She couldn't finish. She didn't know if he had even been aware his wife had been pregnant or if he had just found out when he read the bill of sale.

He just nodded, placing the pouch of caps back in his pocket.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I won't be staying, I know that much. Maybe I'll wander, like you."

Alex frowned. "I'm not wandering. I…I guess you could say I have my own deal to settle."

He raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing.

"Why don't you come with me?" Alex asked, the words spilling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

She hated the fact that she couldn't see his eyes. His body stiffened, and there was a sense of uncertainty coming from him.

"This won't end well," he said.

"So…that's a yes?"

He hesitated. "Why me?"

"I need someone I can trust," she answered, a slight smile curving into the corner of her mouth. "You're a stranger. That's a start." For a brief moment, she thought she saw him smirk, but it was too dark to tell. "Tell you what. I'll be leaving to Boulder City early tomorrow morning. Join me or not. It's up to you."

She walked up the stairs to her room, leaving him contemplating her offer.

Alex curled up in the chair, balancing her book on her lap. Doc Mitchell had been kind enough to give her a couple of his books "for the road". She was engrossed, at the moment, in a medical book, when there was a knock at her door.

She only had on oversized t-shirt, but she didn't dare move. Her light was on, and she knew her shadow could be tracked through the boarded up window. She grabbed her pistol, hiding it under the table and pointing it at the door.

"Come in," she called out.

To her surprise, the sniper walked in. She could feel him staring at her, perhaps wondering why she was sitting at the table half naked. Alex closed her book, sitting upright and crossing her legs. She kept the pistol under the table but removed her finger from the trigger.

"I thought about what you said," he began, standing at the doorway. "I just wanted to let you know that I accept."

Alex smiled. "Okay. We leave at 7."

He nodded, still standing there uncomfortably. He turned to leave, but Alex called him back.

"Hey, wait," she said, realizing that they hadn't been properly introduced. "I'm Alex."

He nodded again. "Boone."

*Breathe (2 am) by Anna Nalick