A/N: My husband claims this is one of his favorite stories that I've written. I think he's crazy, but what the hell, I'm posting it anyway.
/
They reached Camp Guardian the next day.
"Where are they?" Zero muttered when the finally reached the mountain's peak. There was nobody in sight... the entire place seemed deserted. The radio equipment, supplies, and beds looked like they hadn't been touched in days.
Boone had a sinking feeling in his chest. Even though he'd left the military, he still believed in the NCR's cause, securing the land so the people could live free of fear. Maybe if the NCR had been more successful in fulfilling it, Carla would still be safe...
"There," she whispered, nodding towards the cliff side. Boone peered over the edge... and there they were. Legionnaires, creeping up the hill. Boone nodded back to show that he understood. He readied his rifle.
There were only four of them. Zero whipped out her pistol, aiming it down the hill.
Bang!
Boone's first shot hit right on target, the bullet going right through the man's head. The dead Legionnaire tumbled down the hill into his companions.
Bang Bang!
Another two shots from Zero's pistol sent two more falling from the cliff side, breaking limbs as they landed on the rocks. Boone fired a shot at the fourth, but the man moved at the last second, and his shot hit the man in the stomach instead of the heart.
"I don't think so," Zero spat, and she leaped down the cliff as sure footed as a mountain goat, flying from rock to rock. Boone, who was strong but not quite as spry, scrambled down after her. Moments later, he heard her screaming.
"Where are they, you monster?!" she screamed. "Tell me!"
Boone finally reached the ledge where Zero was perched, her machete in her hand, advancing on the wounded Legionnaire. The man was clutching his stomach, blood seeping from between his fingers.
"Crazy bitch," he growled, glaring at her. "Caesar will crucify you and leave your body for the crows! The Legion will..."
Zero raised her machete, and with a single, fierce strike, she removed the man's head. His head rolled down the hill, bouncing off rocks until it hit the ground. Blood from his severed neck dribbled down the gray stones. The young woman took a deep breath and wiped her blade on the man's tunic.
"What was that?" Boone asked, reloading his rifle. Zero turned toward him, smiling mechanically.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said cheerfully. "I lost my temper. You're not mad, are you?"
"Not exactly, but..." he began, but Zero was staring blankly over his shoulder.
"Hold that thought," she said in a strangled voice.
And then she took off at a sprint, leaving Boone in the dust.
"Hey!" he protested, taking off after her. "Where are you going?"
He turned and saw what she was running for... three bodies wearing NCR armor. Those must be the missing soldiers that should have been manning this camp, Boone thought to himself.
She ran right up the bodies, falling to her knees next to the nearest one. Carefully, she flipped the body over. Boone saw her hands shaking. She brushed the soldier's hair back and Boone heard her let out a strangled sigh. She folded the dead man's hands over his chest. She did the same to soldier number two.
"They're dead," Boone said gruffly. "Come on."
"Not yet," she whispered. She trailed her fingers down soldier number two's face before moving onto soldier number three.
Boone sighed. No one else seemed to be around... might as well let her do whatever she was going to do. He frowned as he saw her wipe at her face, like she was brushing away tears... Something stirred inside the ex-soldier as he watched her caring for the dead men.
If you had found me dead in the desert... would you touch me so gently? Would you lay me to rest?
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "You didn't deserve this..."
"What are you talking about?" Boone said sharply. "Do you know them?"
She let out a breath and folded the third soldier's arms over his chest. She stood up, twisting her fingers together anxiously.
"No... no, I don't know them, sorry," she said. Her gold eye flashed under her hood.
"Then what the hell was that about?" Boone demanded. Zero just shrugged.
"Seemed like the right thing to do," she said softly, hanging her head. "Well... now I have something to tell the Colonel," she added sadly. She started back down the mountain, Boone falling in line beside her.
After a moment, the pieces clunked into place in the soldier's head.
"You're not really looking for a thing, are you?" he said bluntly. "You're looking for a person."
Boone caught a glimpse of the girl's blue eye as she looked sideways at him.
"I guess there's no point hiding it, huh?" she said softly. "Yes. I'm looking for someone. A soldier."
Boone didn't respond. Some other feeling was welling up inside him now. The feeling was so unexpected that it took the soldier a moment to realize what it was that he was feeling... jealousy. He was jealous of this unknown soldier who had Zero looking for him so determinedly.
"What's his name?" Boone said abruptly. "I might know him."
Zero looked at him cautiously.
"I didn't want to ask," she whispered to the air in front of them. "Didn't want to get my hopes up... but... I know he's most likely dead."
"His name?" Boone prompted.
Still, Zero hesitated.
"William Logan," she whispered. "He goes by Will."
Boone racked his brain for anyone he might know by that name.
"No, sorry, I don't know him."
Zero sighed.
"I didn't think you would... Like I said, he's probably dead, I just... I need to know for sure," she mumbled, tugging her hood further down her white forehead. Boone understood that she needed to protect her pale skin from the sun, but he was beginning to suspect that she also used that hood as a shield to hide behind.
"Is that why you hate the Legion so much?" Boone questioned, his hands clenching themselves into fists. "You think they killed Will."
"They killed the others," she spat, her white fingers twitching. "I know they did!"
She paused, tilting her white face towards the sun. A single tear was sliding down her cheek.
"But Will... I never found Will," she whispered. "He was just... gone."
Boone was silent as Zero wiped away the single tear. The feeling of jealously was intensifying rather painfully. If he was the one the Legion had taken, would Carla had come after him? Would she have hunted for him so passionately? But that wasn't a fair comparison. Zero was a seasoned killer. Carla had been a civilian, and a pregnant civilian at that.
"How did you know him?" Boone asked stiffly.
Zero fingered her machete absentmindedly.
"I knew him," she said shortly. She must have realized she sounded a little bitter, because she smiled at him, "Maybe I'll tell you sometime."
The ex-soldier's stomach did a flip. He couldn't explain why, but he wanted to know how this mysterious soldier had so obviously captured Zero's heart.
"Hang on, I forgot something," Zero said suddenly, turning back to the bodies. She knelt down next to them once more, plunging her hand inside the soldier's clothes. She pulled out his NCR issue dog tags and snapped the chain that held them together, taking only the bits of engraved metal.
And then she reached into her own pocket, pulling out her own long chain... and on that chain were more dog tags, dozens of them. She carefully added the three new dog tags she'd just retrieved to the rest of her collection.
When she stood back up, Boone simply quirked an eyebrow at her. Zero smiled apologetically.
"Let's just say I've been looking for a long time."
/
The trip back to civilization wasn't nearly as easy as Boone thought it would be. As night fell on the Mojave, he spotted something on the horizon.
"Wait," Boone said, throwing out a hand. "What's that?"
"Smoke," Zero said softly, squinting between the hills. "That's weird... I didn't think there was a camp there... It's not on my map."
Boone's heart sank as Zero tapped her Pip Boy like she thought it was malfunctioning. It couldn't be...
"It's a Legion camp," he said furiously. "You can hear the drums..."
"How is there a Legion camp this far west?!" Zero exclaimed, but quietly.
Boone glanced at her. Though Zero looked surprised, some other emotion was creeping over her pale face... Something that looked an awful lot like fury.
"Come on, let's scout it out," Boone said, heading for the nearest hill.
When they reached the top and peeked into the camp, Boone's heart sank even further. There had to be at least fifteen men in the camp, plus Legion mutts in cages... The soldiers had tents set up and a fire was burning in the middle of the yard. They'd even begun construction on the crosses for their twisted crucifixions...
"We can take them!" Zero whispered in his ear. For one moment, her warm breath on his skin was the only real thing in the world. Then what she'd said sank in.
"You have a death wish?" Boone whispered back. "We're out numbered eight to one. If they see us, we're dead."
"That's why," the pale girl whispered back, "They won't see us."
Boone glanced at her, one eyebrow raised.
"Are you always this insane?" he muttered, digging his hands into the sand. "Or am I just lucky?"
Zero laughed, gracing him with a blindingly white smile.
"You're just lucky, Mister Boone," she said happily. "So here's how we're going to do this... I'll go in, and..."
"You?" Boone interrupted sharply. "You have a pistol and a machete, you'll get ripped to shreds."
"Oh, is that all?" she said lightly. "You'd better get ready to cover me then, huh?"
And before he could protest further, Zero had slipped away from him and begun inching down the hill, her dark brown leather armor helping her to blend in with the shadows. She disappeared between two tents.
Soldiers were marching in two lines down below, led by what looked like the commander. What was Zero planning to do?
It happened so fast he barely saw it. Something silent flashed from between the two tents and a soldier at the back of the line crumpled to the ground, wheezing. What the hell was that? It had been so fast and quiet, nobody had really noticed yet... And then another fell next to the first.
Two soldiers had finally noticed... They were looking around, on alert now, trying to get the attention of the commander..
Boone raised his rifle. He had to help before they found her...
Thump! Another soldier fell, but this time the silent killer had struck from another spot... Zero was moving around, making sure they didn't know where to look. A fourth soldier fell, sputtering, as something embedded itself in his face.
It was a knife. Boone grinned. Zero was an expert knife thrower. It was perfect... a knife was silent, unlike bullets which would draw attention.
Boone raised his rifle. Now that the soldiers were confused, it was time to take out the commander. The leader was pointing left and right, ordering his troops to spread out and find this unknown assassin. Boone lined up the shot.
Too bad for you, buddy...
Bang!
The commander collapsed, and the remaining troops looked around in alarm, knowing now that they were surrounded...
Without leadership, they ran in all directions, looking for Zero, desperate to save themselves. Boone sniped faster than he ever had in his life. More soldiers fell to the ground, dead, but a few others ran between the tents.
Shit! Boone thought, shouldering his rifle.
Boone scrambled down the hill, drawing his own machete. A rifle wasn't as easy to use at close range. He stormed between the tents, bringing his machete down on the nearest enemy. Blood soaked into the sand... He could hear dogs barking and Zero's pistol firing.
He looked around for Zero, but before he could locate her, a gunshot interrupted. Boone stumbled, his hand going to his side... the bullet had grazed his abdomen, slicing though skin and muscle. How deep, he wasn't sure, but maybe he shouldn't have charged in here so recklessly...
A machine gun began to fire. Panic flared to life in the sniper's chest. He ran around the side of the tent, hoping to see Zero... but she was nowhere in sight. Only three soldiers were left.
Thump!
Another one fell, the one holding the machine gun. This time, Boone saw the flash of steel as it came... and it came from above him.
The soldiers were targeting him now. Boone dove sideways, one hand still at his stomach, and scooped up a fallen Legionnaire's weapon. Bullets whizzed over his head. Ignoring the pain in his abdomen, he raised the pistol, gunning down a second soldier who was obviously in more of a panic than he was...
One left standing. The man glared at him, and Boone could instantly tell this one was determined to kill before he was killed...
Boone raised the borrowed pistol and fired, but it was empty.
Shit!
He'd imagined any number of ways he might die... but this wasn't one of them. He glared at the Legionnaire, intending to go down in defiance...
A tiny figure popped up from behind a tent.
"Hi!" exclaimed a chipper female voice.
Whack!
The Legion soldier's eyes bulged. He took a step forward, a low gurgling sound coming from his mouth... The man coughed once, blood oozing from his lips, before falling flat on his face.
Zero was standing there, a wickedly sharp blade in her hand. There wasn't a scratch on her.
"What... the... hell!" Boone wheezed, glaring at her from his position on the ground. "You could have at least told me what you were going to do!"
Zero knelt down by his side, slipping the blade into her boot. Reflected flames were dancing in her wide eyes.
"What fun would that be?" she said playfully. "You caught on fast enough."
"Great," Boone hissed. "Remind me why I'm traveling with you again?"
"Hm... You just never saw a demonstration!" she exclaimed happily. "How was it?"
"Awesome," the sniper grunted. And he meant it, but his wound was really starting to hurt now that his adrenaline was dying down. "Hey, you got a bandage or something?"
"Oh," Zero said, her happy smile turning into a look of concern as she took in the amount of blood soaking into his shirt.
She looked around swiftly.
"Here," Zero said, gesturing to a bed that was closer to the fire in the middle of camp. "I can fix that."
"Yeah?" Boone said, sitting down where she was indicating. It was close enough to the fire that they were warm in the cold desert and she had enough light to see by.
Humming to herself, Zero took off her pack and sorted through it until she found a needle and thread and some bandages.
Boone watched, baffled, as she did so. What the hell was wrong with this girl? She'd just slaughtered an entire Legion raiding camp and now she was humming happily to herself as she prepared to stitch him up.
His own problems weren't exactly a secret... He'd killed innocent civilians at Bitter Springs, and it had haunted him ever since. And just when he thought he'd found an escape from those painful memories... He'd gotten his darling Carla killed, too. It was enough to drive a man to insanity.
Boone wondered if something like that had happened to Zero... Maybe not knowing what had happened to this mysterious soldier Will had driven her insane.
He jumped as Zero's hands went to his shirt, pushing it up his chest. Her hands were freezing.
"Jesus, give me some warning..."
"Sorry," she said apologetically. "I usually travel by myself. It's... different being with someone else."
Boone said nothing. He almost wanted to pity her, but something told him her solitude was more of a personal choice than something that had been inflicted on her.
"Okay, hold still," she said easily as she disinfected his wound, her needle and thread ready in her hand.
Boone studied her hands as she worked... they were thin and long fingered... and still very cold. But still... Boone couldn't help but think that this was the first time a woman had touched him in months. Her hands worked quickly and surely, and within minutes she'd closed up the wound and pulled his shirt back down for him.
"There," she said cheerfully, her gold eye flashing in the light of the fire.
"Thanks," Boone muttered, stretching his legs out. "You're pretty good at that."
"No problem," Zero said with a grin. "I've had a lot of practice."
Boone went to stand, and Zero forced him back down on the bed.
"Just sit for a minute, wound you?" she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to get my knives."
Boone consented to stay still for a few minutes, keeping watch while Zero retrieved her knives from the bodies. A few moments later, Zero plopped herself down next to him and dumped a pile of knives her feet. She ripped a tunic off of a dead Legion soldier and began meticulously cleaning the blades. When she was done cleaning them, she slipped them inside her armor.
Oh, I see now... Boone thought as he watched her hide the knives on her person. Underneath the reinforced leather plates on her armor, there were secret compartments for knives. Her hands were thin enough that she could easily reach inside and pull them out at a moment's notice.
"Handy," Boone commented appreciatively. Not many people specialized in blades. But Boone had to admit, knives had one pretty big advantage out here... they didn't run out of ammo. Assuming Zero never ran into the entire Legion army, she could use her knives over and over and never have to spend money for bullets.
"Thanks," she said, slipping the final blade up her sleeve. "Took a long time to get really good at it, but it was worth it."
Zero looked around at the supply tent.
"Hungry?" she asked, pointing at it. "Looks like dinner in there."
"You bet."
Minutes later, both people were seated by the fire, fresh fruit, meat, and water in their hands. They ate in comfortable silence, watching the stars and moon go by.
Boone glanced sideways at Zero as she sat curled up by the fire, her chin resting on her knees as she stared up at the sky. She'd pushed back her hood a little... a long, black braid hung halfway down her back. Boone had to resist the urge to reach out and touch it.
He frowned at the sky then too... What had just come over him? When had he developed the urge to touch women again? Carla had only been dead for four months...
Boone's gaze landed back on Zero, who hadn't noticed his odd behavior. She was almost the complete opposite of his late wife... Carla had been tall and busty, with bouncy blonde hair and light blue eyes. Zero was almost a head shorter than he was, pale and thin, with long black hair and of course those strange eyes... and yet... she was still lovely in her own unique way.
And Zero was deadly... she wasn't a civilian or a pregnant mother who would be content staying at home, that was for sure.
"Hey," Zero said suddenly, her odd eyes locked onto him. "Can I ask you something?"
"I guess," Boone grunted.
"Manny told me you were at the Bitter Springs incident..."
Boone clenched his jaw, but didn't deny it. It wasn't something he purposely hid, but it was also something he didn't want to talk about. Ever.
"He seemed to think it bothers you," she said quietly. "I think he's worried."
Boone snorted. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Manny wasn't worried about him.
"I guess you could say that," he responded sarcastically. "But I honestly don't give a damn about what he has to say anymore."
"Oh," Zero said softly. "I just thought..."
"Look," Boone snapped. "If you're trying to make me feel better, skip it. I'm not interested."
"Alright," she said shortly, turning her face away from him so that all he could see of her was her hood and long black hair.
Boone instantly regretted his temporary loss of temper. He wanted to say something to open up another line of conversation, but he couldn't think of how to do it... It didn't help that he hadn't known her for very long, so he didn't know what she would want to talk about.
A breeze blew through camp, making the ends of her hair flutter.
Who are you? He wondered, watching her hair dancing in the wind. Why did you want me here with you? It can't have been to just try and give me a pep talk, you could have done that back in Novac...
"Hey, listen..." he began, talking to the back of her head. But Zero cut him off. Which was okay with him, because he hadn't thought of anything to say beyond that point.
"Sorry," she said shortly. "I suppose I shouldn't pry. I read in an old psychology book that people connect through their weaknesses, so I thought maybe..."
You thought I'd want to make a connection with you? Boone finished in his head. Well... it's true that people work better together when they know each other. Maybe I can open up just a little.
"What's yours?" he asked.
"My what?"
"Your weakness?" he prompted.
Zero raised her pale eyebrows.
"Well..." she said, tugging at her hood. "When I was younger I spent six years alone, so I grew up kind of... different. And since I'm still alone so much, I... well..."
"Well, what?" Boone asked, watching as she pulled her hood so tight all he could see was a sliver of her white face.
"I'm not so great with most people. They make me nervous. When I was a teenager, just the idea of going into a town would make me sick. That's why no one ever saw me when I was a courier... I was too afraid to talk to them."
Zero was afraid to talk to people? To talk to anyone? Then why on earth did she want him here with her? Now it really made no sense.
"I've gotten more used to people over the years, but... I could be better," she finished.
"You do alright," Boone said honestly. "Why did you spend six years alone?"
Zero's face became closed off.
"That's another story..." she said, hanging her head for a moment. "So what about you? What's your weakness?"
Boone considered for a moment, watching the fire as it started to die down. To give himself more time to think, he got up and added more wood to the fire. What did he feel comfortable enough to share?
When he sat back down, he'd decided.
"I've got bad things coming to me," he said in a low voice, speaking to the fire. "Because of what I did at Bitter Springs."
He saw Zero frowning like that made no sense to her.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because fair is fair," he said roughly. "I'm a murderer, and I've got to pay for it. I just don't know when it's coming..."
Zero still didn't seem to understand. For some reason, that irritated him. Why was this so hard to understand?
"My wife is dead because of me," Boone growled. "If I'd never gotten close to her... she'd still be alive. You should keep your distance, too."
Another cold breeze blew through the camp, picking up Zero's braid and tossing it around.
"Then why are you here?" she asked him bluntly. "If you're worried about me getting hurt because of these bad things you've got coming to you... then why are you here?"
The sniper threw another log at the fire so that it spit sparks angrily. It was like she was throwing his question back in his face.
"I'm here to kill Legionnaires," Boone spat. "That's all I care about right now. I'm a murderer, and that's all I'm good for. Got it?"
Instead of looking angry at him for snapping at her, Zero simply looked a little sad.
"I think you've got it all wrong," she whispered.
Boone said nothing. He just wanted out of this conversation now... He was done talking. Still... part of him couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that, but he didn't ask.
"I'll take first watch," he said shortly. "You can sleep for a while."
The girl looked like she wanted to protest more, but she decided against it.
"Goodnight," she said softly, wandering over to a bed and curling up on her side, pulling her hood up over her face.
The twisted knot in his stomach seemed to loosen as he watched her sleep. Her posture relaxed in her sleep, her face became less tense. Or what he could see of it, anyway. Although her fingers were still twitching like she wasn't really asleep...
"Goodnight," he said to her, turning himself away from her so he could keep watch.
/