"You know this is a suicide mission right?" Boone looked over at Moxie as he finished pulling out his sniper rifle in preparation. They could see the distant outlines of fiends roaming the roofs of the buildings across the way.

"That why you keep following me?" She huffed; cleaning the scope of her anti material rifle, Boone still wished she hadn't bought it before he had gotten his say at the Gun Runner's kiosk. He ignored the uncalled for dig.

"He's already dead."

"And I told Private Morales I'd bring him back to her." Moxie loaded her gun with a little more force than necessary. "We survived that skirmish with the Legion at Bitter Springs and you think we can't handle a few fiends?"

"And traps."

"And nothing, start shootin." Moxie growled as she looked down her scope, relaxed her shoulders, and took the shot. Across the street one of the shadows roaming the roofs disappeared. Boone had to admit her sniper skills still surprised him. If she had the desire to enlist with the NCR she'd have made first recon in no time. He peered down his scope and let his mind go blank, just keep shooting until nothing is left moving. It didn't take long for them to clear the area of fiends, and a few minutes of letting Mox wander the area around Morales' body took care of any traps that were left.

The courier walked over to the body and threw it over her shoulder. Morales had been fairly tall; his carcass fell below Moxie's waist on both sides. Yet before Boone had time to offer help she started marching back to the NCR soldiers camped down the road. They showed the hero worship Boone had become used to hearing applied to his companion, she gave the standard "anyone would have done it" response and left the body with them to be taken back to the waiting widow.

"Not everyone would have done that…they didn't." Boone pointed out.

"They were ordered not to." So, it was back to this. Boone knew this was the reason Mox didn't enlist, she saw being a soldier under any army a hindrance, and in a way she was right. Being her own one woman army allowed her to help anyone and not have to worry about disobeying orders or breaking rules. Almost made him wish he had thought of that, maybe things would've turned out differently.

After letting a tearful and grateful Private Morales know her husband's body was on its way they made their way back to Freeside and through the worn door of the Wrangler. The Garret's greeted Moxie warmly, and quietly nodded at Boone, as the two made their way past the bar and up to their room. Moxie had wanted to pay for the room next door to hers for Boone, but the Garrets said they didn't have enough rooms to spare for permanent use. There were more rooms at their place at the Lucky 38, but Moxie said the Wrangler reminded her of home. They usually made due with Moxie in the bed and Boone and whoever else was with them at the time on the floor.

Moxie headed into the bathroom while Boone grabbed a book and sat in his chair. He never ran out of things to read, all of Moxie's places were filled with pre war books. She loved to read, Boone had discovered, anything she could get her hands on she poured through it as long as there was light. After a few minutes Boone heard the bathroom door open and glanced up to see his damp companion looking lost in thought. She snapped back as someone pounded on the door once then barged in.

"Hey guys!" Veronica smiled at both Moxie and Boone, though he never smiled back. "I got some food." The young scribe dumped a couple of wrapped Brahmin steaks and a few bottles of nuka cola on the table. "I took some over to the others at the 38, Cass was bitching again about being stuck there, told her she was welcome to leave."

"She knows she's welcome to use this place." Moxie pointed out distractedly, forgetting that the Van Graff's, who as Boone understood it wanted Cass dead, were right across the street. They gathered round the small table and quietly picked at their food.

"What's eatin' you?" Veronica finally asked Moxie.

"You ever been in love?" Their leader asked bluntly.

"You ever been nosey?" The scribe replied.

"Sorry…" Moxie's cheeks flushed.

"Why? You got your eye on someone?" teased the other woman after she recovered from the initial shock. Boone looked over Moxie and knew that wasn't her problem, she was just thinking, and nothing good if he were any judge.

"Nah, just curious." Moxie gave a half smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah, actually. At least I think it was love, we were both pretty young." Ventured the scribe after a moment.

"What happened?"

"She moved away…well, the brotherhood is dwindling, and since we don't let outsiders in….usually…" Veronica shrugged at Moxie. "They're pretty big on meeting someone and reproducing, obviously we weren't going to be able to pull off that miracle. That and her parents disapproved, they decided to move to California. I thought I could make her stay…I couldn't." She finished with a particularly strong stab at her steak.

"Sorry." Moxie sighed.

"It's all in the past. What about you?"

"Despite my obvious charm, no." Moxie quipped. "I'm beginning to think that lust is a safer bet."

"Is that what farm boy from Camp Golf was? Lust?" Veronica raised an eyebrow and smiled wickedly.

"Definitely." Moxie laughed. Boone raised his eyebrow at this; he had been left at the Lucky 38 to recover after a Legion mutt had gotten a hold of his leg while the two women before him had gone to Camp Golf to check out some odd reports coming from there. After they had returned Moxie had left again that night for a few hours in a dress, only to come back with her hair slightly out of place and the dress creased in the back. He figured she had gone out for some fun, that's what one did in Vegas, but a date?

"Not that he wasn't sweet, but a girl can only listen to how happy baby Jesus was over his units new togetherness for so long."

"Really?" Veronica giggled. "I'm sure he was thanking baby jesus for an entirely different reason later." Veronica broke into a full blown laughing fit as Moxie kicked her under the table.

"Watch it." Boone growled, at this point he had entirely lost his appetite and was starting to get a headache. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to stories about his companion's escapades.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Veronica held up her hands in mock surrender.

"We're going to go by the Lucky 38 and get Raul tomorrow." Moxie nodded her head towards Boone. "I need some things repaired and I heard there's some work that needs done by the Aerotech office park." The former solder nodded in reply.

They went back to eating in silence. Boone didn't really mind Veronica, in fact the young woman had helped improve Moxie's mood significantly. She laughed, for one, and she took more responsibility for herself and those following her. After Boone had joined up with Moxie in Novac she had been quiet and distant, acting more like an angry teenager than the leader she had become lately. She had asked a few general questions about him, taking the hint when she was journeying into dangerous territory and staying clear of the topic of his wife. After a few weeks of traveling together that had changed.