A/N: I own nothing of the Fallout universe. Just the plot bunny that wouldn't leave me alone:

Part 1: It Takes All Kinds: Boone contemplates the post-holiday season in the form of his newly established possessiveness over the Courier and the meaning behind her belated birthday gift to him. The outcome and solution aren't at all things he's thrilled about, but he figures they're both messed up enough that it won't hurt.

Craig Boone hated his birthday- well, the entire "holiday" season, really.

He liked quiet things- people, situations, endless deserts- they were all predictable and calming and not out of hand. A.K.A everything that his life was not after the Courier had dragged him into her life. He had successfully gotten out of it for a grand total of three months after they won Hoover Dam, then on e afternoon he had run into her on a mission with some other mercenaries when she was being chased by a Deathclaw Alpha. He had reluctantly mentally signed himself back into her company as he lined up what he knew was going to be the first of many headshots to kill the damn thing.

Not that he didn't exactly hate the Courier- Corey, she had insisted on him calling her ages ago- it ;sounded like a real name', which 'she needed, since she didn't have anything else.' She was occasionally quiet, she got whatever job she needed to do done quickly and efficiently, and… well, she was at least careful in handling whatever fight or dangerous situation she threw herself, him and their companions into. She wasn't exactly hopeless, and she gave him a purpose, which was something he had been lacking up until she had stumbled up the stairs in the dinosaur.

Maybe that was why he had stuck with her for three years, even after defeating the Legion and anyone else who stood in their way after he came back. These days it was taking odd jobs around the Mojave, taking on stray raiders and other pests.

But her excitement around the holidays turned her into the exact opposite than what she was normally. She was jittery, loud, happy, clingy- she was infuriating. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years- they hadn't really been celebrated in the world after everything went to Hell, but there were people scattered who celebrated them. And since she felt guilty for dragging her friends into trouble, Corey was determined to be one of them, even if it was just to crowd people into one place and make a giant decent meal for all of them from non-contaminated food she had been hoarding or had Victor order from a bunch of sources.

And then came his and Sunny Smiles' birthdays within a week of each other in mid-January, so that mood continued into that current year.

But this year, something had changed. Corey's excitement was more welcome as far as he was concerned, and he wasn't sure why. But where the excitement was welcome, other things weren't and he couldn't figure out why. Like when Corey had talked The King into hosting a Christmas party for her crew. Arcade had playfully whined that he was Jewish and wasn't fond of the King so he had no issue politely declining. That was, until they got some booze in him and within an hour he had been belting out Good King Wenceslas with one of the King's older, classier looking friends. Boone himself had settled in the corner with a beer, just watching everyone. And then it happened when he saw the King ask Corey for a dance. He knew jealousy when he felt it, but it was so out of left field that he didn't know how to react. And it was there tenfold when the King got a laugh out of Corey that even he had never heard in passing; not even from the jokes that Victor cracked. He hated the King more than usual there.

Part of it was his own damn fault. He wasn't stupid. He knew Corey had taken a shine to him. It was a stupid, misguided shine, but a shine all the same. He had caught the extra looks, the quick, forced out responses that she tried to save her with if she had done something that upset him and he called her out on it. He had seen her come to his aid quicker than the others in a fight- not by much, she wasn't that selective, but enough. He was grateful that she kept whatever crush it was under wraps, apparently for his benefit.

But the latest development complicated things. Unless he went with her approach, but then things were bound to get awkward- maybe even just as awkward if something did come of it and something went wrong.

He figured both of them would be better off with the "if nothing happened" route though, so he kept on keeping on for a while.

And it worked, even if his time frame for that decision had only been a matter of days.

But of course, this was the Corey-proclaimed "Team Courier", so things were bound to go downhill.

They chose to go downhill on his birthday, naturally, in the form of another Deathclaw Alpha (just how many of those damned things were in a few miles radius of each other?). Arcade had gotten smacked aside like a ragdoll, Raul had gotten a scratch to the torso that almost torn him up more than he actually was, Corey's front had gotten shredded from shoulder to hip, and Boone had almost lost an arm to one of its young that had snuck up on before he had gotten a shot off right between its eyes and ended the damn thing and buried a knife in the younger one's eye.

They had stumbled over and guided each other to the nearest town and collapsed by the nearest clinic, where they were whisked off and patched up.

Boone was surprised that his friends had survived in general. Even more so when they were walking around, albeit slowly and evidently very sore the next day. They set up camp just outside the town, then were off the next day.

A few days later they had met up with Ringo to trade a few things and check in on his business. A while back she had insisted checking in on him was' the least she could do after saving his life and all.' The pair had sat extra close at meals after that, muttering and laughing quietly together. Boone was back to hating everything around then. He admittedly liked Ringo and if it was anybody he would be willing to lose her to (she wasn't his to lose, damn it, he reminded himself) it was him. But it didn't mean he had to like being audience to their flirting.

It got to the point where he and Arcade figured she was going to disappear with Ringo for the night, but alas, she still retired with them in the late evening. They had all gathered around a fire for a while, and after a couple of hours, Boone couldn't ignore the fact that Corey had kept looking at him every so often, then went back to staring at the fire.

The others went to bed one by one, until it was just him and Corey left. And she still kept looking at him. He didn't want to go the route he was about to, but all of his complicated faults were getting dwarfed by his old mindset. "I can see you staring,," he pointed out.

She gawked at him and he felt a bit bad when she went red. "It's just… you know, we- I forgot about your birthday because I was too busy almost getting killed…" she pointed out and forced a laugh at her equally forced joke.

"There'll be others…" he dismissed. The next one was a milestone one for that matter. But then again, in their line of work, no one was really sure if they were going to live for that one.

She seemed to think the same, judging by her uneasy look. She fidgeted and he raised an eyebrow at her. "No, it's not about the fact that we missed- well, it is, but not exactly that."

He actually laughed a bit at that, and he was a bit relieved when that seemed to undo some of her uneasiness. "Then what is it?" he asked.

She paused again, then sighed and reached for her bag beside her. She pulled out a small, brown paper-wrapped rectangle. "Birthday present. We're finally getting around to doing these, you're the one who's travelled with me longest, so I figured I might as well start this with you…"she began. "I uh… I found it when I was scouting by Bitter Springs again- the time I told you to stay put in camp because I didn't want to put you through any of that again?" she reminded him. He remembered that conversation six months ago. She continued with a heavy sigh, "and I found it and I wasn't sure if I was overstepping if I... just couldn't… the… context I figured out is kind of morbid, but at the same time it's not and- I wanted to give it to you sooner but I wasn't sure how you'd take it so it's just been laying around my bag for a while and then recently I decided I couldn't just... hold it back any more, and I'm just gonna stop talking now…"

Boone arched an eyebrow, but ripped open the paper and his heart skipped a beat. She had gotten him a framed picture of Carla, alive and well and pregnant. The photo was heavily faded, but the frame was in good shape. He finally found his breath and voice after a few seconds of choking back both. "How…?"

"It was laying around on the ground under dirt in a tent. I thought- I found it and remembered the pictures and thought it could've been yours from when you first got there or something, if you dropped it or something after the fact, or God forbid it was some photo they used in…" she trailed off. "And Doc Mitchell gave me the frame when we were in town for Sunny…"

"Thank you…" Boone forced out after a minute. "I… I have no idea what else to say," he admitted, and something in her returning smile made him realize she got it- she got that he was a man of few words and there was way more to be said than just a few.

She stood there for a few extra moments just in case, then nodded awkwardly and smiled. "Good. I'm glad you like it. I was… really, really worried about it- whether you would just associate it with the fact that the Legion might've taken it, or if you hadn't thought about her in a while and this brought back the bad mem-"

"It's fine, Corey. You didn't have to be worried. This- it means a lot. And... I'm not viewing it as a bad thing. Promise," he cut her off.

She grinned again, then started walking backwards. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised Raul I would play a few hands of cards to play before we head out. Happy Birthday, Boone."

Boone hummed his acknowledgement, then watched as she turned and left. And then the guilt set in about both. Not only because he had an outlet where Carla was practically watching him get attached to another woman, but also the fact that Corey- the one he knew had misguided feelings for him, had given him a picture of his dead wife he had been very in love with once upon a time despite his neighbors' doubts, as one of the most sentimental gifts he had received. It might have even been the most sentimental, all things considered. How hard had that been on her? He wasn't leading her on, he knew that she respected his space and feelings- and Carla, most importantly. She wouldn't do it to mess with him. She did cunning, she didn't do cruel. Except that whole thing with Benny might have been a touch of both, but that was beside the point. It must've taken a lot for her to do that. And he had barely said ten words about it. He was an asshole. And she did things that played the field way too much, so she was just as much of an asshole. A selfless-for-the-most-part, too considerate, too kind asshole. He was in trouble.

And then some other darker side of him weighing in on everything. He was holding a picture of his dead wife and child. A dead wife and child who had been gone four years, taken way too soon. And they deserved to be remembered and honored. But it had been a long time, and Carla wouldn't want him to stay stuck in the past.

Fuck. This was at least twenty different kinds of fucked up. Maybe she knew it too and that's why she was trying to escape like a bat out of Hell. He looked at her retreating back and made a decision. A decision that solidified the fucked up-ness of it all, but a decision all the same. "Core!". The nickname was usually used when people needed her attention in a serious moment, oddly enough, but it did the trick and she stopped and turned back around. He set the picture frame down carefully. He didn't want to condemn every action he did quite yet. He was in front of her in a few strides and all but grabbed her face and had the presence of mind to keep repeating how screwed up what he was going to do and how it may complicate things in his head before he risked it and kissed her.

She was aptly stunned for a few seconds and only returned it for the last moment before he pulled back. "That is… not at all how I expected that to go," she admitted, and despite having part of him screaming at himself that it was dumb, Boone had a giant boost of pride that she looked dazed. He had given back the value of her gift that way, anyway. "And not at all what I was going for so if-"

"I figured. On both counts."

"I, uh, thought you didn't like complications."

"I don't."

"Bu-"

"It's us. We'll… deal. Whether it's deciding that this bit didn't happen or… figuring out how to prevent Arcade from finding out and blabbing to everyone."

"I uh… I'd…" she exhaled sharply. "I… think I'd like that."

He was fairly surprised she leaned up quickly to give him a kiss of her own that he could feel had no force behind it. He realized she was giving him an out, even when he was the one who started up the first one, and he realized with a twist of his stomach that he might actually love the girl- not in a romantic sense just yet, but close to it. She pulled back and smiled weakly before she turned and left, leaving whatever the Hell they were now up in the air and to be discussed later, as planned.

Now they were both some sort of messed up, having taken that particular step that felt like a leap in their relationship when the cause had been something that should've rejected the Hell out of that idea.=

They were pieces of work. And probably going to Hell. But that last part was a given at this rate, considering their track record.

At least they'd have company on the other side.