No Place for No Hero
Chapter Three: Maybe You're Cold but You're So Warm Inside
Summary: The Courier makes new friends and with them comes the promise of new enemies.
Six understood the need for vengeance. She dreamt of it on occasion, her dreams full of violence; frantic and furious, the need to hurt someone a focal point, although she couldn't recall the specifics by the time she jerked awake, alone and tense. But she knew they all involved the man who had shot her and left her for dead.
The feeling that overtook her when she thought of him was a cold, almost numbing anger. And although Six wasn't entirely sure what she would do when they faced each other again, she knew she would catch up to him. The longer she was out in the Mojave with no other memories but the ones she was currently building, the colder she became.
And now, sitting in the darkness of the motel room with the curtains drawn, the only light in the room green and weak coming from the terminal she sat in front of… now, she finally had a name to the face that haunted her. Benny.
Six stared at the five letters spelled out on the screen, reading the name silently again and again, her lips forming those two syllables like a mantra. The name was burned into her retinas from her staring. Benny... Benny. Benny.
But the name itself meant nothing. He was no one, her mind not able to recall anything no matter how many times she read it. She had found a name and a new location on the terminal, but not much else.
She rubbed a hand over her face, letting out a frustrated sigh. Shutting off Manny Vargas' terminal, she stood up and peeked out through the drawn curtains. Manny would be back from dinner soon, she knew.
She had eventually talked to Manny, but her mind had still been on the other sniper. Even though she was supposed to be focusing on her targets, Six probed about Carla gently, worrying the subject like a hot tooth. Manny couldn't talk about Carla easily, agitation coming off of him in waves, something she was hoping to avoid.
In the end, she got nothing useful out of him except that he needed a favor before he told her anything about her man in the checkered suit. Six had rolled her eyes, promising she'd think about it as she walked away, thinking of other ways to get what she needed.
Not seeing him or anyone else approaching this side of the motel presently, she still looked both ways before she slipped out of the room. Her current method was not popular and she'd rather not get caught while she was snooping.
Annoyed with the lack of progress in her own situation, Six decided to instead focus on the other problem on her mind, her eyes traveling to the dinosaur's head of their own accord.
Tonight was as good a night as any for revenge.
When Six found the bill of sale in the motel safe, she wasn't surprised. Not really. Thoroughly disgusted was a more appropriate description, the horrifying truth of what had happened to Boone's wife and their unborn child held in a slip of paper in her hands.
She saw red after reading it, her fists clenching.
Six threw open the door of the woman's home, the doorknob crashing into the wall as she barrelled in, reaching out to rouse the older woman but Jeannie May Crawford was already awake, scared and wide-eyed, trembling slightly from the shock. Her own body shaking with tightly controlled rage, Six convinced her to quietly follow her out into the night. And god only knew why Jeannie May followed so obediently; maybe she saw the potential bodily harm that Six would unleash if she were denied. The Courier honestly didn't care enough to know.
She walked resolutely towards the dinosaur, Jeannie May shuffling along behind, keeping pace but complaining about the hour and her lack of manners under her breath. She never complained directly to the Courier, however; Jeannie May was not one for confrontation.
The despicable coward, Six thought darkly.
Despite her fury, Six slowed as she neared the vantage point, knowing Boone's glare was burning a hole into the back of her head from the mouth of the dinosaur as she hesitated, staring at the crescent moon where it hung low in the clear night sky.
She heard Jeannie May slowing behind her, a small sneeze escaping her as the cold breeze blew past them and caught at the bottom of her nightgown. She seemed so small and pathetic standing there in the shadow of the fake dinosaur, Six mused, studying the woman over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye. Her mind was small, she couldn't even think outside the confines of this small stop on the highway; she'd probably never left it for more than a day on the Strip, her fear of the city sizeable. She probably feared the prostitutes and the gambling more than the filthy slavers she had allied herself to, Six realized.
She also thought of the state of Carla's health when she was sold into slavery, how her pregnancy had been part of the bargain.
And Six felt a taste of the awful bitterness that probably choked Boone on a daily basis.
The night was clear and beautiful as Six turned to face Jeannie May and pulled the crimson beret over onto her dark braid, sealing their fates. She was proud of herself when she merely blinked as the woman's head was shot clean off, blood and other matter hitting her dead on; she was getting better at not flinching when a head exploded in her vicinity.
Having nothing to clean up with, she turned towards the gift shop and climbed up to the sniper's nest to complete this messy ordeal and hopefully wash up before she had to leave town. When Boone turned to her, the question in his eyes, Six handed over the evidence wordlessly.
Boone read the sheet of paper with a frown, hate etched into his features as Six watched. She studied him closely, noticing the light, almost blond fuzz that was growing on his head where he hadn't shaved it yet. She pulled off the beret, ready to hand it over but she was rooted, wondering at her motives once again.
Maybe she saw herself in him, chasing after someone for revenge. Maybe she wondered if she'd ever find a way to recover what they'd taken from her. But mostly, she realized with a little trepidation, she wondered if killing Jeannie May did anything to dampen the fury burning in him… or if he'd allow her the chance to be able find out. "What are you going to do?"
He didn't answer right away, instead bringing out his lighter and catching the sheet of paper in his hand with the flame, slowly watching as it turned to ash. He let it fall, stepping on the smoldering remains before he looked at her again, taking the beret she offered and placing it on his head again, as familiar as an old friend. "I'm not gonna stay here. Maybe I'll wander, like you."
"Why don't you come with me?"
"You don't want that."
Piqued, she couldn't help it. "Why? You got a bounty on your head? Somebody out for revenge?" She snorted a little, the irony in that almost funny. But her humor disappeared and her brow furrowed when she noticed the way his demeanor had changed; he looked...caught, almost cornered. The tension was back, thicker than before, his stance becoming defensive once again. She had broken through a layer, not even knowing it until it was taken from her. But there, in his features as well, was what looked like... resignation. She was surprised at the amount of emotion that bled out of him; she'd touched a nerve here with her attempt at a joke and she reached a hand out to his forearm, opening her mouth to apologize.
He frowned at her before she could utter a word, his stare, even with those sunglasses on, intense enough that she froze. "What are you doing?"
She blinked, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Where are you heading?"
"Oh!" She gathered her jumbled thoughts, "I have a debt to collect. Someone owes me, big time," she emphasized this with a nod. "I'm heading towards Boulder City." She then almost immediately began backpedaling, correcting herself, "Ah, but I gotta stop at Primm first. I left someone back there that I need to pick up. Oh, and I owe Primm a new sheriff so we might as well stop and help them out, while we're there... seems the one I left them with is a total moron at his job," she shook her head, embarrassed at what she'd heard while listening to Mr. New Vegas on the radio.
His gaze was still burning into her and Six wondered with a flutter in her chest if everything he did was with this much intensity... But he didn't let her wonder about that for very long. "And if you see Legion?"
Six grew tense, her entire body tightening as she remembered Nipton darkly; the cruelty, the suffering and slavery. The way men could punish others without remorse, the scourge that they were. Her hand still on him, she looked up with eyes gleaming coldly in the moonlight, her voice certain, "They die."
Seemingly satisfied, he nodded, his smile small but feral as he looked at her. "Fine."
With bits of blood still drying on her cheek, Six returned the smile brilliantly. "Fine."
Boone gave Six her own beret, something that made Six grin in pleasure, her face pink in appreciation as she realized how meaningful a gift it was.
She hung Sunny's hat on her bag with a sigh that night as they packed up their belongings and headed out of Novac before Manny woke up and found out she had gone through his terminal and that Boone had left him as the full time sniper.
But Six insisted on a quick bath before they left and after a grunt of acceptance from her new partner, she disappeared into the bathroom for a quick half hour, using all the rationed water she had left over, the drain swirling red and then pink as she washed herself clean, enjoying the feeling of the water immensely. Boone's fist on the door and a reminder that they needed to put some miles between themselves and Novac finally forced her out. She dried her hair with the threadbare towel, her body with the bed sheet and then braided her hair quickly, adding the beret as she walked out the door, her duster very welcome these cooling nights.
They reached Primm in a couple of days with no incidents and Six was quick to realize how much better it was travelling having someone there to watch her back, even if Boone was mostly distant and quiet. The reception from the NCR was definitely better, but Six ignored them, finding them completely incompetent here in Primm.
She wondered if she'd have to swallow her feelings for them after talking to Nash in the sheriff's office, however, her stance annoyed as he gave her the options. "You want the NCR to take over? They don't have the manpower."
"It's either them or that fella at the prison."
"I'm no good for this town, missy. I tried to tell you when you were here last, when I helped you get rid of the Powder Gangers."
Six didn't even bother looking at Beagle who, despite his comment just then, sat in the sheriff's chair with his boots on the desk, looking decidedly comfortable. Her hand closed over her braid and she gave it a small tug of frustration, wondering how many convicts the prison housed. "I'll go see what the NCR have to say. But I wanna take a look at the eyebot first."
Nash nodded, heading back to the casino while she made her way to his home across the quiet courtyard.
Boone spoke up next to her when she reached the doorway of the Mojave Express. "They're gonna send you up the chain of command to send a request for more troops. They might even approve it now that you cleaned up the trouble here." He sounded a little surprised, looking at her with a slightly raised eyebrow, asking the question he wouldn't voice.
But she only nodded, wondering if that was the best way to go.
Boone remained outside, smoking a cigarette as she reached the counter top and her old acquaintance, turning on her pip-boy light and bringing out the components one by one, beginning to pull the sensor modules apart for the parts she needed.
Sitting on that stool on that counter top in the Mojave Express office, her lower lip caught in her teeth in concentration, she didn't even hear Boone when he finally came in, her mind focused on the pieces fitting just so...
Letting out a laugh of triumph, Six watched the eyebot float to the air above her, a series of beeps reaching her ears pleasantly. She looked over at Boone when he let out a sound that sounded almost like a chuckle, surprise definitely on his face now, his eyes glued to the bot.
She knew the eyebot wasn't one-hundred percent, heck, he wasn't even seventy percent, if she were to guess, but he was up and running and as she continued finding the correct parts and magazines on the road, she was sure she could help him improve over time.
She grinned in excitement as she recognized what he told her, her blue eyes shining in understanding. "ED-E, Companion Protocol:: Begin."
Notes: Things might start moving faster from here on out.
