Authors Note

Wertmon505: I'll be following relatively close to the plot, but I want to change things up a bit, make them meet some people early, make some people not appear at all. I'll probably be trying to get more people to join them, not just companions you find in game. We'll see.

Everyone: I'm glad I have readers, and this chapter kind of drags on and may seem uninteresting, but bear with me, I'm setting things up. Thank you for reading, have a nice day.

The town's people had clapped Beth on the back, cheering for her for her ability to round them all up to fight the Powder Gangers. Even Chet cheered, most likely that the Powder Gangers no longer threatened his business. Beth was worried though. Sam was nowhere to be found, his body not even amongst the dead of the Powder Gangers. She had asked around, no one had seen him. Just when she was about to start searching the area around Goodsprings, she saw him, in the distance walking back towards her. She raised a hand in a gesture of greeting, and he waved backed. When he got to her he removed his helmet. His black hair stuck up in the back. He handed her something.

"Here's a Stealth Boy, turns you invisible, but I heard too much use can cause you to go crazy." Sam said. He also handed her Joe Cobb's .357 magnum, and ammo for it.

"Thank you." She said, pausing. "Where did you go? Why didn't I see you?"

As if to answer, Sam turned invisible, and then appeared out of thin air. Beth put a hand over her mouth.

"It's my suit." Sam explained. "Got it from a bunker in the Capital Wasteland from helping some people. Few upgrades from my friend in the Brotherhood of Steel there too."

Beth merely nodded. She started to ask him something, but stopped. Questions about him could wait.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked. Her tone was uncertain, as if she was thinking that Sam didn't want to go anywhere with her.

"We?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Forget it" Beth said turning, face growing red. "I just thought-"

"Hey wait!" Sam said. He grabbed her hand and turned her around. "I didn't think you wanted me along."

"We don't have anyone but each other." She said. There was a moment of silence between the two. Then Sam realized he was still holding her hand and let go. They both blushed.

"So…friends?" he said sticking his hand out.

"More like…traveling companions." She said smiling and shaking his hand.

They spent the night in Victor's shack, where there was only one bed. Beth offered to sleep on the floor, but Sam insisted she slept on the bed. They argued, but eventually Sam had won, saying simply,

"The lady should have the bed."

Beth had grudgingly taken the bed. Sam kept awake until he heard the soft sound of Beth's breathing, a sign she was asleep. He smiled and closed his eyes.

They awoke the next morning hungry, realizing they hadn't eaten an entire meal that day. Sam dug out a box of Sugar Bombs from his pack and gave Beth the box of cereal and the spoon. He took out a can of beans for himself and they both enjoyed a cold, quiet breakfast. In the middle of their meal, someone knocked on their door. It was Ringo.

"I just wanted to thank you two for helping me. I can't pay you in full here, but if you ever drop by the Crimson Caravans, I'll pay you more. Here, I'll mark it on your Pip-Boys." He said. "They people of Goodsprings also wanted to give you guys this, on their behalf."

Ringo handed them a backpack, full of food, water, medical supplies, and ammo for Beth's guns. They both thanked him, and he left without another word. Sam counted out the caps. 100 in total. He tossed the bag of it to Beth. They split the food, water, and medical supplies amongst the two backpacks they had. Sam decided it would be easier if she kept a set of caps for herself and if they both kept their own ammo. He had also said they should each keep an equal supply of food and water, but she made him carry most of it, giggling while she said,

"The lady shouldn't have to carry the bulk of the load."

"Whatever." Sam said pulling on his pack. It was heavy, mostly from the water, but he had carried a set of Power Armor with many guns to the Outcasts in the Capital Wasteland at one time, so this was nothing. "Where are we headed, your highness?"

Beth raised an eyebrow and giggled again at Sam's tone when he said, "your highness".

"I'm thinking Primm. Said something in my Courier orders about it. We should check it out."

"Sure, as long as you know where we're going."

The two of them had made it to Primm quickly, following a road marked by Sunny Smiles on their Pip-Boys. On the way, Beth had asked Sam what the Pip-Boy's used was, besides a handy map.

"It has a Geiger counter on it." Sam said. Beth looked at him blankly. "It shows your Radiation level, you know so if it's too high you can do something about it. It can play holotapes too, and it's a pretty good journal if you feel like typing into it."

"Can I take it off?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, but I'm used to mine, had it since I was a kid. Don't take it off much." He said.

So if he had it since he was a kid, he must've lived in a Vault, Beth realized. Sam was proving to be an interesting companion to travel with.

"So you lived in a Vault?" Beth asked.

Sam hesitated. Talking about Vault 101 was painful. There were too many memories of that place he would rather not think or talk about.

"I don't want to talk about it." He said firmly. "You know, you asked me a question, so now I get to ask you one. Where you from?"

Beth was taken back by the sudden question. The truth was, she didn't remember. But gunshots in the distanced saved her from answering. The two of them rushed to the sound, guns drawn. He could see some men wearing ragged clothes shooting at obviously better armed men. The better armed, and more organized men backed off, as the ragged clothes ones retreated. Sam and Beth ran over to one of the better-armed men. AS they approached, the man yelled,

"The hell you guys doing here. This is a war zone." He said.

"Who are you guys?" Sam asked. He was puzzled by their armor; it didn't look heavy but looked like it provided decent protection.

"Who the fuck do you think we look like. We're NCR You been living under a rock or something?"

Sam looked to Beth for help. She explained for him.

"These guys are part of the New California Republic, large organization of 'good guys' I suppose."

"Well looky here, we got a blonde who ain't dumb." Said the NCR troop.

"What can we do to help here?" Sam asked. Beth looked offended by the man's comment, but didn't say anything.

"You could try and save those people in there. Damn convicts. We won't stop you. But we won't help either."

Sam nodded, but Beth stepped forward, arms crossed.

"They're holding hostages there and you're not going to even do anything about it?" Beth yelled.

"Keep your bitch in line." The NCR troop said to Sam. Beth was about to hit him, but Sam held her back.

"Come on, let's try and get those people out of there." He said. She wrestled out of his grip and they marched in the Primm. Sam had put away the Blachawk and drawn his katana. Beth had her Varmint Rifle out. Sam saw the convict before the convict saw him. He turned invisible immediately, snuck up on the man and plunged the katana up his spine, there was a cry of pain from the convict before Sam wrenched his blade from the corpse. The other convicts heard his scream and turned to the direction of the cries. All they saw was Beth, and a dead convict near her. They opened fired on her. A quick tackle brought Beth behind a building. Sam became visible again and helped her to her feet.

"Keep on your toes Beth. If we're traveling together you're going to have to keep on your toes." He said. She nodded and readied her gun. "On three, we'll pop the corner. Dash into the building to your right, there's a guy up on the roof. Don't look back."

"One."

"Two."

"Three, GO."

The two rounded the corner, weapons in hand. Beth fired a quick shot at a convict across the street and immediately went into the building to her right. Sam dashed forward, ignoring bullets shot at him wildly by another convict. Only one bullet hit, in his right shoulder, a strong defensive point of the Chinese Stealth Suit. The bullet hadn't penetrated the suit, but hit with enough force so that it would bruise. Sam silenced the gun but cutting off it's owner's head. Meanwhile, Beth had killed 2 convicts in the shop, one with her Varmint Rifle, and another with her Colt M1911. As the sound of guns died down, Beth left the building and met up with Sam, who was cleaning the blood off his sword with a convict's shirt.

"You al right?" Beth asked. Sam looked up from the corpse of the convict. He nodded. Beth shivered at the sight of him. The way he calmly killed people, and they way the she couldn't see his face behind the helmet, made her uneasy.

"There's a casino up ahead. And I bet that's probably where the residents of Primm are holed up." He said.

When they arrived in the casino, a man named Johnson Nash greeted them.

"We heard the gun shots from outside. Figured you were NCR or something." He said hesitantly. "Are you NCR?"

"The NCR are to worried about wasting supplies than rescuing you people." Beth said angrily. "We decided to help."

Many of the town residents came up to thank them, but Johnson silenced them.

"There's still a problem. The convicts killed our Sheriff. His Deputy is being held hostage in the Bison Hotel 'cross the street."

"I'll take care of it." Sam said. Beth started to walk with him, but he stopped her. "No, stay here."

He left without another word. Beth turned to Johnson.

"Do you know anything about this?" she said, digging in her pack and handing him the Courier orders she had. She was surprised when he nodded.

"I manage the Mojave Express here in Primm." He said. "Seems like whoever's this was they were supposed to deliver a package to New Vegas from here. You might want to ask Deputy Beagle if your friend manages to get him."

A few minutes later they watched as Sam walked backed, covered in blood with a scared Deputy Beagle in tow. Beth rushed to him.

"It's not mine." Sam assured her. He removed his helmet, and shook his head. Beth then addressed Deputy Beagle.

"Do you know anything about this?" she said handing him the orders. He quickly scanned it, and shook his head. "Do you know anyone who wears a checkered suit then?"

Beagle's eyes widened when she mention the checkered suit. "Saw a guy rolling with Great Khans the other day. I heard they were headed for Novac."

"Looks like that's where we're headed." Sam said, sheathing his katana.

"Wait!" Beagle said. "There's just one more problem. We don't have a Sheriff!"

"Couldn't you just be Sheriff?" Beth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh…" Beagle said shifting uncomfortably. "No."

Beth sighed. They could lose the trail of this Benny if they stopped and helped them now. Sam looked at her, and then spoke.

"Go." He said. "I'll get them a new Sheriff, and I'll catch up with you soon."

Beth nodded her head. They both knew it was probably a goodbye for a while. If Beth set out to find the man in the checkered suit, and Sam stayed to help the residents of Primm, it would be a while before they met up again. Deputy Beagle cleared his throat loudly. Sam and Beth glared at him.

"Uh…we got a protectron you could reprogram to be sheriff. It would only take an hour and then you both could be off."

Sam went to work right away. Turned out he was as good with robots as he was with sneaking around and using his sword. He stopped just short of an hour, with the protectron up and running.

"Thank you two so much." Said Ruby Nash, Johnson's wife. They accepted some water from Ruby, and set out to Novac. Little did they know, a town called Nipton on their way was being raided by the Legion.

Fuck, fuck, shit, thought Boxcars as him and his fellow Powder Gangers were quickly surrounded by Legion troops. They had come here because they thought there were NCR troops here ready for kidnapping. He knew there was something odd about it. Now they were about to pay.

"Alright," said one of the Legion. "You are all here because you are scum. Weak. Pathetic. But, I'm in a giving mood right now. We're going to play a game."

The man address the whole crowd, not just eh Powder Gangers. Someone decided to try and make a break for it. He was shot instantly. The man who spoke wore a coyote's head's pelt on his head. His voice was calm, and commanding.

"I'm going to give all of you pieces of paper with numbers on them. If you are called first, you'll live. For the rest of you…" he said gazing at them. "We'll see what happens to you all. Let the games…begin."

On there way to Nipton, where they decided they would stop for the rest of the day, Sam pulled a gun out of his pack and handed it to Beth.

"I found it on one of the convicts when I was saving Beagle. Figured you might've wanted it."

It was a .357 Magnum, with a white ivory handle, and a print of a club on it. The words Lucky were engraved on the barrel. It was in surprisingly good condition, so she replaced her old magnum for it.

"We're going to have sell some of the guns and supplies we have. It's getting too heavy and slowing us down." She said.

"We'll get rid of the stuff in Nipton. I'm sure-" Out in the distance he could make out fires, and…a Powder Ganger running towards them. He looked unarmed, but Sam didn't take the risk and pulled out the Blackhawk. Beth looked at Sam as the Powder Ganger began jumping up and down, skipping towards them.

"I WON! I WON THE DAMN LOTTERY!" he shouted gleefully.

"Lottery? What lottery?" Beth asked.

"The only lottery that matters baby! Wahoo!" the Powder Ganger skipped off into the distance, still whooping and yelling.

"That was…weird." Sam finally said after a moment of awkwardness. Beth nodded. They continued on their way to Nipton, only to find the down destroyed. Beth gasped as she saw headless corpses, and still alive Powder Gangers, being crucified on crosses. Sam drew his katana.

"Get out your gun. Whoever did this might still be around."

Beth pulled out Lucky as several men exited the main building to which Sam guessed was the town hall. 4 vicious looking dogs followed them. Beth aimed and prepared to fire, but one of them, wearing a coyote's head raised a hand saying,

"We're not going to harm you. Lower your weapons before you get hurt."

Beth did not lower her gun until Sam lowered it for her. He whispered to her softly,

"If they wanted to kill us they would've just shot us on sight."

The man wearing a coyote's head spoke to them. "I am Vulpes Inculta. We are part of the Legion."

"Why did you do this? Do you have no soul?" Beth asked angrily.

"You don't understand. These fools deserved it. They are swine and deserved their fate."

Sam carefully chose his words, as to not get them both killed. "I see, and what of us? We are but two weary travelers who came here in need of a place to stay the night? What will you do to us?"

Vulpes Inculta looked at him, as a coyote would look at their prey, eyeing their defenses.

"You are a strange one. And because I cannot know your pasts, I will let you live. We were leaving anyways. Caesar awaits."

He spoke Caesar as KAI-sar. Sam found it strange, but said nothing as the Legion soldiers left. Beth was shaking.

"What they did to those people…it's horrible…they are the ones that deserve to die." She said. Sam put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know. But we couldn't take them. Not head on like that. They outnumbered us and could easily out gun us too. At least we got away alive."

"What about them," Beth said pointing at the men being crucified. "What can we do for them?"

Sam went up to one of them. He saw there were nails nailed through his arms into the cross. Multiple nails. Removing them would be death. He heard a low moan from one of them as he said,

"Please…"

Sam understood. Beth turned away as Sam drew his katana. It was over in a couple of minutes. Everything was quiet, except the sounds of the crows.

They salvaged as much as they could from the town, mostly food and drink for the night. Sam had also found bedrolls, and packed them as well. He had to get rid of some food to make space for his in his pack. The next morning they were about to leave for Novac, but Beth had entered the general store, and called for Sam. When he came he saw what the problem was.

"Fuck man! First I get my legs hammered, and now Joe Cobb's killers come in. God damn it man, fuck!" said the man. He had dark skin, and wore Powder Ganger clothing.

"Who are you?" Sam asked cautiously.

"I'm a mother fucking Powder Ganger, what do you think? The name's Boxcars, don't ask about it."

"Did the Legion people do this to do?" asked Beth, staring at his bloodied legs.

"Who the hell you think did this? Naw, me and me buds just decided to smash my legs and leave me to die for the fun of it. Man the pain has been killing me, killing me man."

Sam reached into his backpack, and pulled out 2 syringes of Med-X. He administered both to both of Boxcars' legs. Boxcars sighed as the pain left his legs.

"Damn who are you two? Helping a Powder Ganger?"

"My name is Beth. He's Sam." Said Beth. "Your legs are dead forever probably. But you'll live."

"There's a town called Primm nearby. If you want we can-"

"No man. I'm done. But thanks for giving a dying man some peace." Said Boxcars. He laid his head on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Beth shrugged but tossed a few more Med-X on the floor. Then they left, leaving the dying Powder Ganger to himself.