Miles glanced around New Vegas. And he'd thought the old one was bad. This place might not have the glitz of it's predecessor but it had the same shady feel. If anything, losing power just made it worse. He shoved his hands in his pockets and did his best not to attract attention. He wanted to be in and out of here as soon as possible.

The only reason he was skulking around this seedy carnival was to find Bass. Because no matter how many times he tried to write the other man off, Miles was still responsible for him. Which was stupid as hell but as soon as he saw those wanted posters it didn't matter. Miles packed up his shit, made sure Charlie and Rachel were safe behind the walls of Willoughby, and headed out to find Bass.

The latest whispers had him in here somewhere. So Miles was trying to look without looking. He was not proud of how well he had developed that skill. Eventually, he eased his way into the fight tent since that seemed to be where the most people were headed. He figured Bass would try to blend in the crowd. He never expected to find the other man in the ring.

Miles nudged the promoter beside him. "That fighter," he gestured. "What can you tell me about him?"

"Which one?"

"That one. With the beard."

"You mean Jimmy King? He stumbled in a couple of weeks ago; I don't know much about him. Why?"

"…it's nothing."

"You wanna place a bet on him?"

Miles considered it. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

Miles placed his bet and stayed long enough to get his diamonds then snuck out as Bass left with some blonde hooker. He had seen enough of Bass and his girlfriends in high school. He did not need to see it now.

Bass gambled away his diamonds and headed back to his trailer. Minus Ashley. He had taken her behind one of the tents and gotten off quick. After that there wasn't much need for her so he sent her away. He was so distracted he didn't even notice that the lanterns were already lit. "Hey," a voice called. "Did you think they bombed Philly so no one would have a copy of the constitution anymore? Because I feel like that's why they did it."

"Miles."

"Bass." Miles folded the paper. "By the way, thank you for the five diamonds you won me. Those will be useful."

"You're in my trailer."

"You still have your eyesight. Good."

"Is this another assassination attempt?"

"If it was you'd be dead. Your security is shit."

"It's a whore house. Most people don't come here looking for a disposed dictator."

"Whorehouse?" Miles repeated. "Good choice. Free sex for all."

"You did not come here to trade verbal barbs."

"You better hope not. I'm winning."

"Just like you supposedly won the war,' Bass replied. "Except the world is still shit and the power is still off. How is Rachel by the way? You to finally get it on?"

"Not yet," Miles shrugged. "She went a little crazy."

Bass moved around him to get his whiskey. "Never used to stop you."

"I'm told change is a good thing."

Bass snorted. "Men like us don't change."

"That might be the biggest lie you've ever said. And I've heard you tell some big ones."

"So where is your entourage? Been a long time since I've seen you without that puppy dog niece of yours trailing your footsteps. Not to mention Chubs, Nora and Rachel."

Miles spread his arms. "I'm here a lone. Left Charlie and the fat man with Rachel back in Texas."

"Texas? What the hell are you doing in Texas?"

"What the hell does anyone do in Texas?" Miles shrugged. "They're hiding out. Rachel's father is there and I figure no matter how much he hates me he'll take care of Charlie."

"What about Nora? Isn't she from there?"

Miles looked away. "She died. In the Tower. They shot her and…she died."

Bass swallowed, not looking at Miles. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Miles shook himself. "We can talk about that later. Right now, you're coming with me."

Bass snorted. "Excuse me?"

"It's a pretty simple sentence, Bass. You're coming with me. How hard is that to understand?"

"And why would I do that?"

Miles handed him the bounty fliers. "Because it's your only chance to survive and you know it."

"Where did you get these?"

"Funny story, your dead sister came to me in a dream…and you know damn well where I got them, Bass, cut the crap."

Bass scowled at him. "The US Government doesn't exist. Why should I go with you? You want my head on a spike just as much as anyone."

"Look I don't know who these guys are but I tangled with them on the way here. They mean business Bass. And I don't know why they want you alive but it can't be for anything good."

"So you want me to just blindly follow, is that it? Just like the old days all over again."

"Like hell. This is survival, nothing more. We may not be friends anymore but you're still my brother. And I'm not just going to hand you over to them like some piece of meat. Not even you deserve that."

"You're so full of shit, you know that Miles? I did what you asked. You shot first. You said we had to do something. You were the one that pulled that shit with Ben and Rachel and everyone else. And yet you're standing here like some sanctimonious prick saying you're going to save me." Bass shook his head. "Thanks but no thanks. At least this…government can admit they hate me. You could take a lesson or two."

Miles growled. "We've got shit to hash through, Bass, I get that. But we're not going to have that chance if we don't leave now. Alright? You come with me to Willoughby and we'll…we'll have a full scale brawl if that's what you want. But only after you are safe behind the walls."

"Go screw yourself."

Miles was on his feet and in Bass' face before he could blink. "Are you realy that fucking pissed?" he demanded. "You're going to screw your own self over because you're pissed at me?"

"I think I can handle it."

"You don't get it, Bass. They're going around telling people you nuked Georgia. And that Kelly nuked Philly to get to you. They are going to pin every shit thing that has happened on you and they are going to execute you for it. They've already started land grabbing, they aren't going to stop. They won't need to with you dead. People will come flocking to them. And I may not know what their real plan is but you can bet it is far worse than anything we could have dreamed up in the old days."

Bass glared at him. "You're a dick, you know that?"

"Very well. Now are you coming or do I have to drag you?"

Bass considered his options. It was true Miles could be lying. But it wasn't likely. After all these months, Miles would probably prefer to just let Bass be. So why come hunting Bass if he didn't mean what he said? "This doesn't mean I like you or even trust you," he warned as he gathered his things.

"You'd be stupid as hell if you did,' Miles retorted. "Let's go."

Bass scowled at him. "So you plan to just show up in Wiloughby with me in tow and expect everyone to fall in line?"

"Pretty much," Miles nodded. "They usually do after all."

Bass led the way out of his home. "Rachel's going to kill me."

"Apparently she's going to have to stand in line."

Bass glanced back at his friend. "Why am I doing this?"

"Because yo love me." Bass stared at him harder. "Because you want to kick Patriot ass for destroying our city."

"That sounds bout right. Let's go show the sons of bitches what happens when they mess with Matheson and Monroe."

A/N: The graphic that inspired this story can be found here: post / 64073825869 / you-mean-jimmy-king-he-stumble-in-a-couple-of

Please give the artist lots of love.