Authors Note: K, now that the teaser is out of the way, the real story can begin. Just to reiterate, this story follows how I played the game. The first couple chapters follow a bit closely to the game, but it will deviate. Just trust me the good stuff is coming.

My goal is to write a novel someday, so constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated. Fanfiction is one of the ways I practice and improve my writing skills. :)


As she started to come to, she felt the cold, hard ground beneath her. The smell of cigarettes, and alcohol filled the air. She opened her eyes and saw that she was in some sort of hole in the ground. She stared up at a velvet sky, twinkling with hundreds of stars, looking down, watching her. She tried to move, only to discover that her hands and ankles were bound by rope. Her ears tuned into the sounds of men's voices. She went still, listening to what they were saying.

"You got what you were after, so pay up!" Came an annoyed voice.

"You're cryin' in the rain pally" She could tell that voice came from the man in the checkered suit. Just hearing that voice made her blood begin to boil.

"Guess who's wakin' up over here." Came another voice.

Gekko sat up to face her assailants. The man in the checkered suit, was looking at her, puffing on a cigarette. Five other men stood around him, a couple of them were holding shovels. A sixth man was off to the side, nursing the bullet wound in his leg. He gave her a sinister glare. Gekko ignored him, not breaking her stare at the man in the suit. He threw his cigarette on the ground, and ground it into the dirt with his foot. "Time to cash out."

"Will you get it over with?" Said the annoyed man, as the man in the checkered suit took a few steps towards her.

He held up his finger to silence his annoyed lackey. "Maybe Khan's kill people without lookin' em in the face. But I ain't a fink, dig?" He turned his attention back towards Gekko as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the platinum poker chip she was supposed to deliver to the Vegas Strip.

That is what this is all about? That bloody poker chip? Gekko thought to herself.

"You've made your last delivery, kid." The man in the checkered suit gave her an almost sympathetic look. It made her even more pissed off at him. He put the chip back in his suit jacket and pulled out a shimmering silver pistol. "Sorry you got twisted up in this scene."

Suddenly it all made sense to her that this was not just a typical mugging, and things were not in her favor. Fear took over, as her breathing was quick and uneven, her body began to tremble.

"From where you're kneeling, it must feel like an 18 karat run of bad luck" He said as he glanced at the pistol in his hand. "Truth is…" he aimed his gun at her "The game was rigged from the start."

Gekko ducked her head as his finger squeezed the trigger. The crack of the gunshot echoed in in the hills around them as everything went dark.


Gekko started to wake up, she could tell that she was laying on a bed. A spinning ceiling fan came into focus above her. Everything was blurry and disorienting to her.

Was it all just a bad dream?

"You're awake! How 'bout that?" A surprised mans voice chimed in beside her, causing her to jump.

She blinked as she turned her head to the side the voice came from. She could not yet focus on the person in the chair by her bed, but could tell that it was a man dressed mostly in dark clothes.

"Whoa! Easy there, easy." He sat up in his chair. "You've been out cold a couple of days now." He leaned back in his chair. "Why don't you just relax a second, get your bearings."

She laid still for a few moments, her vision clearing. The man beside her looked to be in his 60's. He was kind faced, balding, and had a wiry grey moustache. He was dressed in a black leather jacket and wore brown pants, and brown gloves. A red bandanna was around his neck.

"Let's see what the damage is… How 'bout your name? Can you tell me your name?"

"Gekko" she replied in a hoarse voice. She then realized how incredibly thirsty she was.

"Heh, can't say it's what I would have picked for ya, but if that's your name, that's your name. I'm Doc. Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings." The doctor re adjusted himself in his chair. "Now, I hope you don't mind, but I had to go rootin' around there in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out. I take pride in my needle work, but you'd better tell me if I left anything outta place." He reached to a nearby table and picked up a hand-held mirror, and handed it to her.

Gekko slowly lifted herself up, and leaned against the headboard of the bed. Nervously, she held the mirror up to her face and looked at her reflection. To her relief, the bullet did not disfigure her face at all. A small, stitched up wound was on the side of her left temple, slightly behind the hairline. She let out a sigh of relief as she examined the rest of her face. She frowned as she noticed her hot pink Mohawk, which she had just recently had done, was completely mashed up and caked with dirt. She glanced at her ears, all of her piercing were still there. Three in each earlobe, and one in her left cartilage. She turned her attention back to her face to make sure everything looked right. Everything still symmetrical and proportionate as it had always been. Seductive, cat-like icy blue eyes, high set cheek bones, small, pert nose, the slightest dimple on her chin, and well shaped lips with just the perfect amount of natural poutiness to them. She always considered herself lucky to be born with a cute face.

"How'd I do?" Doc. Mitchell asked as she handed the mirror back to him.

Gekko answered with a simple nod. "So, how did I end up here?"

"Well I got most of it right anyway… stuff that mattered." The doctor chuckled. "Big metal feller who lives in a shack at the edge of town. He found ya and brought you here." He stood up from his chair. "Ok, no sense keeping you in bed anymore. Let's see if we can get you on your feet." He took Gekko's hands in his and helped her to stand. She was wobbly at first, but leaning her weight against his support, she was quickly able to catch her bearings.

"Good!" he happily exclaimed. "Why don't you take a quick walk around the room?" Gekko nodded as she took a few steps, working to find her balance.

"Take it slow now!" He reprimanded her. "It ain't a race."

Doc. Mitchell watched her, as she paced around his room. "Lookin' good!" He smiled at her. "Seems like you got most of your vigor back. Now why don't you have a seat on my couch over there and we'll run a few more tests."

After some simple word association and ink blot tests, the doctor deemed her fit to be on her way.

He left the room, and returned after a few minutes holding some clothing and what she noticed as her belongings. He set her backpack down on the table in front of her. She opened it to find that her delivery order, some bottled water, ammo, and a few stimpacks were still there, unfortunately most of her caps, food, and passport into New Vegas were gone. In the bottom of the bag was her old weathered 10mm pistol she took from home. She picked it up and looked it over. "If this damn thing wasn't broken, maybe I could have fought my way out of that mess" She grumbled out loud. She then picked up her old varmint riffle, which was also in deteriorating condition, and looked it over. She slid the riffle back into it's backpack holster and looked over her 9mm. The poor thing was completely clogged with dirt. "Bastards…" She mumbled to herself. Her switchblade which she normally kept in her back pocket was also on the table. She picked up her hiking boots, which were caked with dirt, and made sure her combat knife was still in it's sheath.

Doc. Mitchell sat on the chair across from her and watched her go through her things. He cleared his throat. "I hope you don't mind, but I gave that note a look. I thought it might help me find a next of kin. But it was just something about a Platinum Chip."

He picked up a small, odd looking machine that looked like some sort of cross between a computer and an armband, and handed it to her. "Well, if you're headin' back out there, you oughta have this. They call it a 'pip-boy'. I grew up in one of them vaults they made before the war. We all got one." He handed her a faded Vault 21 jumpsuit. "Your clothes you came in wearing were caked with dirt and blood, so I didn't think you would mind not having them anymore. I already emptied all the pockets out for ya. This used to belong to my wife, she was about your size. My wife is long gone, so I really don't need it anymore."

Gekko blushed as she suddenly realized that she had been parading around in front of a strange old man in her underwear this whole time. Not that she was the overly modest type to begin with, it was still rather embarrassing to her. The doc left her in privacy so she could shower and get changed into her new outfit. The jumpsiut actually fit quite well and was really light weight and easy to move in. She gathered up all of her belongings. She slid the pip-boy onto her left wrist, and buckled her pistol holster around her hips. Not that the 9mm would do her much good at the moment, caked with dirt.

"Thanks for patching me up doc." She said as she tucked a brahmin steak, and a pack of crispy squirrel bits that he gave her into her backpack.

"Ah don't mention it, that is what I am here for." He replied with a kind smile.