This is the first entry into my series of one-shots. And it's my first Fallout fanfic. So go easy on me. I hope you enjoy my writing. I am very excited. I started writing this in Biology class last week instead of taking notes(lol). It took me a while to actually finish and post it cause I kept going over the scene(s) in my mind. I had to make sure they sounded good and were't too dumb. Hope this it turned out ok. Reviews and constructive criticism is welcome. ^_^

Anyways, I got the idea for this story from a picture that came across my tumblr dashboard. Although, the story is different from the picture. The story, or any of the one-shots, for that matter have anything to do with Arcade. He does show up in some of them though. But if after seeing this picture, you're thinking you're about to read a Boone/Arcade fic, then you're wrong. I don't write slash. Sorry. I just don't think I would be any good at it.

Edit:/ I tried posting the picture I got the idea from but couldn't get it to work.

Also, I do not own Fallout or any of it's characters.

Anyways, enough with my rambling and on with the story.

Looking down the scope, the Courier picked out her target. A lone patch of cactus. Her companion stood by watching out of a pair of binoculars to see if she would actually hit her target this time. She pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the ground a few yards in front of her target, throwing up dirt.

"Dammit!" She always missed. She wasn't good with snipping at all. She was more proficient with close range weapons. But her sniper companion insisted on giving her snipping lessons. He thought it would be good of her to be proficient in more than just melee and close range weapons.

She had just shot at the cactus for the tenth time during her lessons and still hadn't gotten anywhere near hitting the stupid plant. She was getting very frustrated. And she would admit, just a little embarrassed. She did want to impress Boone during her lessons, not show him how untalented she was.

Boone.

When she had asked him to join her on her journey back in Novac three months ago, she never expected to feel how she did today. Being with someone pretty much twenty-four seven for three months straight, having him watch her back and hers his, it was only natural for her to fall in love with him. Knowing the story of his wife didn't help either. She was drawn to him and felt the need to comfort him. She was always trying to get him to laugh or even just smile. She knew when to be serious thought. She wasn't always pushing the matter. But it would be nice to see a smile every once in a while instead of that emotionless frown and furrowed brow that seemed to be glued to his face. At first she got nothing from him. Just grunts of annoyance and silence. But after a while, he eased up and started smiling more and even let out a chuckle every once in a while. But then he would go back to sulking. There was also the guilt. How could she let her self fall in love with a guy who just lost the only woman he would ever love? How could she really expect him to love her back? She couldn't. And that's why she wouldn't be telling him how she felt. Ever. Their relationship would be left strictly as a companionship and nothing more.

She was now standing here in a snipers nest where he was helping her. He sighed and brought down his binoculars. "That's the tenth time in a row," he said, stating the obvious. Could she really miss that many times? Really? And not even get just a foot away. This was ridiculous. There was something she was doing wrong.

"I know, thanks. No need to remind me," she snapped. She didn't need him criticizing her like he had been doing most of their time together. Bitter jerk.

"I think you're waiting to long to pull the trigger. once you have your sight set, shoot. Have more confidence in yourself that you will hit the target right then. If you wait too long, the weight of the rifle will start to dip. If you position your arms differently, that may help. Here, let me show you."

With that, he set the binoculars down and stepped behind her. He put his arms around her, putting his hands on her hands and his head close to hers so he could see down the scope as well. The Courier immediately tensed up. What is he doing? Not that she didn't mind. In fact, she was loving the closeness. She just didn't understand how come he wasn't uncomfortable with this. Usually he hated being touched. She remembered giving him a hug when he had saved her from the Legion when they had captured her for those few long hours. He had immediately tensed up and became extremely uncomfortable. But now look what he was doing. Oh well.

He changed the positions of her arms just a little. "If you put your arms like this, then it will be easier to hold the gun up." He moved her so that she was aiming at the same batch of cactus. "Now pull the trigger."

She did and the cactus exploded into hundreds of pieces.

"Now try it again yourself," he said stepping away. She aimed and fired and another batch. It too exploded into a billion pieces. She squealed and jumped up and down. He just chuckled and stepped back some. As she was loading the rifle, Boone asked her a question. "So did you get that chip from Benny? I never asked you when you got home late last night."

"Sure did."

"Heh. Well that sure was a clever way and safe way to go about getting it."

She didn't like his tone. She turned around and looked at him, slightly glaring. "Whats that supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means."

"No I don't. Inform me, Boone. What exactly is it you think I did to get the chip?"

He didn't answer. He just crossed his arms, and turned his head, not looking at her.

Her stare on him hardened. "What? You actually think I slept with him? For a stupid chip?"

"Well from the looks of it, you looked like thats what you were wanting. Then you led him upstairs and didn't get back the suite till pretty late."

She took a step closer. "For your information, Boone, I did what needed to do to get the chip. And that didn't involve sleeping with him. You think I would actually do that? Sleep with the scum bag that shot me in the head? Do you really think that low of me? And why does it matter to you anyways? Why do you care who I sleep with?" She was getting angry now. And slightly hurt. Did he really think of her like that? It wasn't like her at all. She had way better morals than that. He should know that by now.

She continued staring at him, waiting for him to say something. He wouldn't look at her. But after a few minutes, he turned his head so that he was. They just stared at each other for a few minutes. When he didn't say anything, she rolled her eyes and turned around, lifting the gun to her face for more shooting.

He stared at her back for a moment. Why did he care? Why did it matter to him if she did sleep with Benny? He knew she didn't and wouldn't stoop that low to do something like that. He had jumped to conclusions out of what? Jealousy? No. It couldn't be that. Why would he be jealous. He didn't care for her like that. Did he? He couldn't. Not after what happened with Carla. He had swore that he would never love again. He didn't deserve love anyways. All he deserved was to die. His name being said interrupted his thoughts.

"Boone..."

He looked up at the Courier. She was staring out into the desert, her eyes opened as big as they could go. Something was wrong.

"You might want to take a look at this," She said. He could hear the nervousness in her tone. He stepped forward with the binoculars and looked out to where she had the rifle pointed. Thats when he saw them. His jaw tightened. He hated even the sight of them. Three Legionaries just standing there. After a few minutes, they walked around a ridge and disappeared.

"There must be a camp on the other side of that hill. They probably heard our shots. Let's go."

The Courier handed him his rifle and they took off. They quickly got to the hill and quietly climbed up it. When they got to the top, they saw a Legion camp of around one hundred. There were a few slaves locked up in a cage towards the back.

"Ok. You stay here and snipe off as many as you can. I'll go in and fight my way through and set the slaves free. I'll meet you down there soon." With that, the Courier unholstered her hand gun and started to quietly sneak down. She wanted to say something else. The tension of their earlier argument still hung between them. She didn't want that to be their last words to each other if something were to happen to one of them. But she just kept walking. And boy would she regret it.

Boone stood there in the middle of quiet camp. They had cleared it out and set the slaves free. Dead Legionaries were scattered all over the bloody sand. But where was the Courier. He had found the beret he had given her lying on the ground but there was no sign of her. He was getting worried and was about to start calling for her when he thought he heard a faint cry of his name.

"Boone.."

It was quiet. He wasn't sure if he was just hearing things or not. But then he heard it again.

"Boone." He immediately recognized that as the Couriers voice and rushed towards it. He came around a tent to find her laying, propped up against it. She had her hands over a spot on her lower left abdomen. Her legs looked all twisted and messed up as well. She had blood coming out of her mouth and she looked like she was going to pass out any minute now.

"Shit." He took the few steps towards her and dropped to his knees. "What happened? What did they do to you?" She tried to answer but ended up just coughing, more blood coming up as she did. He gently lifted her hands to see a nice bullet wound and lots of blood. He shut his eyes not wanting to believe it.

She finally spoke up, but was barely audible, "They also...broke my legs...Said they didn't...want me...running for help."

He looked down at her legs again. Yep. They were most definitely broken. He immediately started digging through the pockets of her cargo pants and jacket. She must have known what he was looking for. "Boone...I don't have any stimpacks."

Well crap. He didn't either. He knew what he had to do. He had to get her back to the Lucky 38 where Arcade was. They were pretty close. Maybe she could make it. He quickly pulled his shirt off and pressed it against her bullet wound. He then gently took her jacket off and tied it around her abdomen to help hold his shirt onto her. He wanted to stop the bleeding as much as possible until they could get back. He then went to pick her up. Thats when she cried out in pain. "AHH MY LEGS STOP!"

She had given up being tough. Up till now, she was doing a good job. Not now. He didn't blame her. She was in bad shape. But he had to get her back. He wasn't going to let his happen again. He wasn't going to lose someone close to him. Not her. "We have to get you back to Arcade. Just hold on. The pain will only last a few seconds while I pick you up." He lifted her arms to where they were around his shoulders. He then picked her up bridal style. She cried out again but once he stood up and started walking, she calmed down some. He then set off for the Strip.

She just hung there in his arms thinking. She knew this would happen. She knew that one of them would die before she got the chance to tell them. She just knew that their last exchange of words was going to be something hurtful. No. She wasn't going to let that happen. She still had time. "Boone?"

He looked down at her face. "Hm?"

"I love you."

Everything then went black.

Don't worry. There will be more. I will be writing different one-shots from different times during their journey together.

Night!