A/N: This is my first Fallout fic. I don't own any of the Fallout New Vegas characters but Calli is mine. On with the show!
Vulpes Inculta
It was too bright for Vulpes liking. His body ached and he groaned as he opened his eyes. A surge of panic overcame him as he realized that he was in an unfamiliar place. The small room he was in had a single window that had been left open, allowing a warm breeze to blow through. It also had a small dresser, an armchair, and a twin size bed he was currently laying in. He tried to sit up and a sharp pain stopped him, he looked down and saw that he had been stripped of his clothing and had bandages wrapped around the majority of his torso and his arms.
He lay back on the crisp white sheets and he went through the last few things he could remember. Before he got to anything helpful however, he heard footsteps approaching the room and a female voice humming a song that he vaguely recognized. Before he could move, the door opened and a blonde, light skinned woman who would have come up to about his shoulder walked in carrying fresh bandages and a bowl of what appeared to be water.
"Oh! You're awake!" she said as she set everything down on the dresser and walked over. She had a pleasant smile on her face and she reached to pull the sheets away from his body. He let out a scratchy growl and grabbed her hands to stop her. She smiled at him and ignored how hard he was grabbing her.
"You need fresh bandages or you'll get an infection." She said in a soothing voice. She narrowed her eyes and released her hands. She pulled the sheets back and Vulpes felt a bit of relief that he was still wearing a pair of shorts.
"Where am I?" He asked. She grabbed the bowl of water and the clean bandages and brought them over to the side of his bed and placed them on a small stool that he hadn't previously noticed.
"You're in a small town about 10 miles south east of Novac. I'm Calliope but you can call me Calli. I've been taking care of you." She said with a smirk. She peeled off the old bandages and he almost groaned in pain. "Your wounds are healing nicely. No sign of infection so far so as long as we keep it washed and dry, you'll be up and walking around in about three days." She said as she dipped a cloth in the water and dabbed it at the dry blood that was around the wounds.
"How long have I been here?" He asked. She continued gently washing his stitches and cuts before answering.
"About three or four days. You were in pretty bad shape when Marnie and David brought you in. Said a courier dropped you off at their store without a word." She said as she put some gauze on his freshly cleaned wounds. "From the looks of it though, you were probably either attacked by some feral ghouls or a Yao guai. You're lucky to be alive." She said as she wrapped him up. He narrowed his eyes and tried to sit up.
"Did you say a courier?" He asked. She nodded and stood up straight, pulling the sheets around him and placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him laying down.
"Yes. I guess they've worked with him a couple times." She said. "Why?" She asked, placing the dirty bandages in the soiled water. He shook his head and gritted his teeth, none too pleased at having been rescued by the courier. Calliope straightened out her pre-war dress and smiled at him.
"I'll bring you some lunch in about half an hour. If you'd like, I have a few pre-war books that are in decent condition. I also have a radio I could bring in to make you a bit more comfortable." She said as she grabbed the bowl and stood by the door.
"Where are my clothes? I can't be laying here for a week." She said as he tried to sit up again. He grunted as he managed to get to his feet and take a few steps toward her.
"Oh jeez..." She said as she set the bowl back down and grabbed him, placing his arm over her shoulder and supporting his weight. "I'm taking you into the living room. Your clothes are hanging up to dry on my clothesline. Pretty fancy stuff you were wearing." She said as they exited the room and slowly walked down a narrow hallway and into a good sized sitting room. Vulpes was impressed and a bit suspicious at the lack of rot and decay in the old house. The windows were Intact, the furniture was in good shape, and he heard the buzzing from the icebox in the clean kitchen.
"Ok, have a seat here so I can make sure you didn't pop your stitches." She said as she helped him sit on the couch. She got on her knees in front of him and carefully unwrapped the work she had just done. Vulpes grunted as her cool hands slid across his skin and he closed his eyes tightly.
Every part of him wanted to push the girl away and get back to the legion. He didn't know where he was or where her loyalties lay as far as the struggle between the NCR and the Legion. She sighed and stood up after re-wrapping him.
"You're lucky." She said as she turned and started walking into the kitchen. "If you had ripped those stitches and gotten blood on my sofa, I would have made you get on your knees and scrub until it was clean!" She said with a laugh. She returned with a pitcher of water and two glasses.
"Woman you clearly don't understand." He said as he glared up at her. "I need to get out of here." He said as he tried to stand again. She didn't bother trying to help him, she just set down the glasses and poured some water while he grunted and fell back onto the cushions.
She set the glass in front of him on the coffee table and sat in an arm chair next to him and sipped on hers. "Are you done?" She asked with a smirk as he glared at her. She finished off the rest of her glass and stood. "It's safe to drink." She said as she walked to a small closet. She opened it and stood on her toes, grabbing a pillow and a tattered quilt from inside. She walked back over to him and set the pillow next to him and maneuvered him so he was laying down.
"Just try to relax ok? I can have a messenger come by this afternoon and have a message sent wherever you need. You'll only hurt yourself like this." She said as she covered him with the quilt. She went back into the kitchen and grabbed some sliced apples. She sat on the floor next to him and held one up to his mouth. "Eat." She said.
He hesitantly opened his mouth and let the girl feed him. The apples were almost as good as the food they had in the fort. After she had given him the apple slices she grabbed the water and helped him sit up a bit so he could drink. He looked at her after finishing off the glass and then looked around the small house.
"This place is… in good condition." He said as she stood up and brought the dishes into the kitchen. She looked around and smiled at her small house.
"My family has lived here for generations. My grandfather repaired this house from almost nothing using the houses in the area as scrap. It's not much, but its home." She said with a smile. She walked back into the living room and sat next to him in the chair. "You should try to get some rest, the more you sleep the faster you'll heal." She said as she picked up a book she had been reading and opened it. He was about to protest when she started humming something slow, signaling that their conversation was done. He would have to remember to teach her a lesson when he was feeling better.
He looked up at the ceiling and felt himself growing tired. Within a few minutes of listening to her humming, he was fast asleep.
Calliope
She smiled as she heard him snoring gently and she looked over at him. She stood and walked out into her yard to check on the laundry. She looked toward the town and smiled when she saw Dave walking up to her house with his brother Calvin and their dogs.
"Hello gentlemen!" She said as she waived to them. They smiled and nodded to her.
"Morning Callie. How's your new guest doing?" Calvin asked as they walked up to her. She folded the laundry and bent down to pet the dogs.
"He's healing well. He woke up an hour ago and now he's resting again." She said as she stood up. "He's kind of a handful." She said with a chuckle. She grabbed the basket and started heading inside.
"Well we were heading out toward Novac, do you need any supplies?" They asked. She shook her head and smiled at them.
"No, I have all I need for right now. But if you could send the town currier over later I would appreciate it. Be careful alright?" She said as she walked into her house. She set the clothes on the armchair she had been sitting in before pouring herself another glass of water. She grabbed the basket and walked into her bedroom and put away her laundry before walking into the room that the man was occupying to put away his.
She picked up his suit and shook her head at the rips that were scattered on the fabric. She carried the suit back into the living room to grab her needle and thread. She sat in the chair next to him and started sewing the worst of the rips. Whatever had gotten to him had nearly killed him and she was impressed that he was alive to talk about it.
After she repaired his jacket she looked over at him and smiled a bit. He would have to wake up soon if he was going to get a message out and she was going to have to wake him up. She leaned over him and felt his forehead, thankful that he hadn't gotten a fever in the last few hours. He had been back and forth as far as that went and she wasn't interested in fighting that battle again.
A knock on the door signaled the arrival of the courier and she quickly walked to the door, pulling it open and letting the teenage boy into her house. The man on her couch started to wake up and she signaled for the boy to take a seat at her small dining table while she got him up.
"The courier is here. If you need anyone notified about your location and condition, now is the time to send the message." She said cheerfully as she walked back over to the man. He opened his eyes and looked at her with a hint of irritation. Apparently he didn't like being woken up.
"I had hoped I was dreaming about being here. I was mistaken." He said as he sat up and motioned for the boy to get closer. He looked around and saw a pad of paper and a pencil that Calli kept to communicate with the followers outside of New Vegas.
"Well I can't say I've been called a dream before. What a sweet talker." She said with a small smirk on her face. He sighed and visibly rolled his eyes, giving Calli a sense of satisfaction. If he was going to be a rude pain in the ass, she would be snarky. Fair trade.
"May I?" He asked as he looked at the pad of paper and Calli nodded.
"I suppose so." She said as she handed it to him. He quickly wrote down a message and handed it to the teen. He whispered something to the boy and he ran out of the house with the letter, not saying a word.
"What in the world did you say to him?" She asked as he lay back down. He gave her an unamused look and closed his eyes.
"That isn't your concern." He said as he held out the pad of paper to her. She narrowed her eyes a bit and grabbed it from him.
"Alright… do you have a name?" She asked, growing more and more suspicious. He sighed and made eye contact with her.
"Vulpes." He said, looking her over for a reaction. She raised an eyebrow and set the paper back on the coffee table.
"Strange name. Latin?" She asked as she sat in the chair. He nodded once and almost looked impressed.
"Correct. I must admit that I'm impressed." He said as he looked up at the ceiling. The sun had started to set and Calli started to feel hungry. She stood and walked into the kitchen, grabbing some bread and a few pieces of dried Brahmin. She walked back into the living room and sat next to Vulpes, holding out the food to him.
"Here, you'll need to eat if you're going to get better soon." She said as she looked at him. He reached out and took it, slowly biting off a piece as he watched her eat. "After you finish eating, I'll help you back into your bed so you can retire for the evening. Maybe tomorrow we can try walking around the house a bit to see how well you've healed." She said as she finished off her meal. He nodded and took a few more bites before sitting up.
"I suppose now is as good a time as ever then." He said as he moved the quilt off himself and tried to stand. She watched him get to his feet triumphantly and then stumble before she caught him.
"Don't worry. You'll heal fast." She said as they started walking down the hall.
Vulpes Inculta
Vulpes let the woman help him walk without much conversation. He hated having to rely on some strange profligate and he would be sure to skin that damned courier for leaving him in such a foreign place, mark of Caesar or not. As they entered the dark room, Vulpes became more aware of the absence of his ripper.
"Woman, where is my weapon?" He asked as he looked around the room. She helped him sit on the bed before sighing.
"I put it in the top drawer of the dresser for safe keeping." She said as she walked over and opened the drawer, pulling his ripper out. She walked over to him and held it out to him. "I'm guessing you would be more comfortable with it closer to you, correct?" She asked with a knowing smirk. He grabbed it and stayed silent, not eager to encourage the woman. She brushed off her dress and looked over the room once before looking back at him.
"I'm heading to bed. If you need me, feel free to yell and I'll be by your side." She said as she went to the door. "Good night, Vulpes." She said as she closed the door.
He sat in the darkness for a few moments before placing his ripper under his pillow and laying down. In a situation like this he couldn't help but consider using a stimpack to help him heal faster. He heard Calli walking around in the room next door and tried to shut out the sounds of her humming calmly before it put him to sleep.
He tried to remember what had put him in this state to begin with but the last thing he remembered was leaving New Vegas after a regular surveillance mission. He growled in frustration and clenched his fist. This was going to haunt him until he found out. He wasn't the type of man who could be caught off guard by some pathetic Ghouls or a Yao Gaui.
He heard her shutting off the lights in her room and what he assumed was the creaking of bed springs as she got into her bed for the evening. After a few minutes of not hearing anything, he assumed she was asleep and for some reason that only irritated him further. If this wench was supposed to be taking care of him, shouldn't she make sure he's asleep and well before she tends to her own needs?
Back at the Legion camp, things would be going very differently. Instead of waiting for this strange girl to let him leave, he would be giving the orders to the assorted slave girls and having them wait on him hand and foot. He would be shown the respect he deserved, that he had earned, as the leader of the frumentarii.
He almost thanked Caesar himself when he felt sleep trying to pull him back into a restful slumber, signaling the approaching day he could leave this town and return to his duties among the Legion. And as he fell asleep, he smiled at the thought of ripping the courier a new one for leaving him here.
