A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, I got lazy :P

Chapter 6: Departure

The vertibird was snarling.

As Mary exited the Lucky 38, the machine began revving its engines impatiently. There was a collective exclamation in the surrounding crowd, and a score of on-lookers took cautious steps away. Boone stood in front of the Lucky 38, unfazed by the guttural roars behind him.

"I take it we are leaving?" he asked sardonically, pointing at the vehicle behind him.

"Yeah."

She braced her body to begin plowing through people to reach the vertibird, but the preparation proved unnecessary. Four securitrons barreled up from behind her, forcing the mass to part before her. A neat gap appeared. Reluctantly, she stepped forward.

Silence and stillness befell the crowd as she walked through the open path to the vehicle. Their blank, doll-like stares followed her every step. Mary scowled, squeezing the handle of the silver case Mr. House had given her. All this time she'd managed to shape political events from behind the scenes. Not anymore.

With visible agitation, she jerkily whipped her body into the vertibird, Boone close behind. Before she could even seat herself in one of the leathery black chairs, the doors automatically slammed shut, and the plane ascended with a roar. For a moment all was dark, until the artificial lights hummed on.

"Well howwwwwwwwdeee!"

The amicable greeting came so suddenly both Mary and Boone whipped guns towards the cockpit. A familiar securitron rolled towards them.

"Fuck, Victor," Mary sighed. "I almost killed you." She lowered her gun. Slowly, Boone followed suit.

"Well I am mighty glad you didn't!" Victor chirped. "After all, I'm supposed to help you out for good ol' Mr. House." His arms flopped into what Mary guessed was supposed to be a shrug. "I'm still a bit on the glitchy side, but Mr. House reckons you'd prefer a familiar face for the ride."

Mary rolled her eyes. "So you are here to spy on me? Make sure I don't do anything naughty?"

"Well gosh Mary," Victor replied innocently, "I really just wanna help. Honest."

"You really wanna help?" she asked innocently. She then shoved Mr. House's metallic case into Victor's arms. "Okay. Help me open this thing."


The flight felt like trying to piggy back ride a centaur. The vertibird bucked and rolled through booming storm clouds, offering no solace to its passengers. Boone endured the flight by cursing at every jostle and sway the plane took, while Mary silently clutched her armrest with a visceral grip.

Mary tried to distract herself by watching Victor tinker with Mr. House's mysterious metal case. She'd expected Victor's programming to prevent him from betraying his master; instead he paused, hummed, then exclaimed 'Sure thang, partner!' and immediately got to work. She wondered with a small sting of sadness if his glitches were getting worse. He'd saved her life, once; maybe she'd soon be able to return the favor.

Mr. House's case was secured via a bizarre digital lock. Surprisingly, Victor seemed to know how to operate the lock, though he evidently did not know the correct code. He periodically tapped the interface only to be rewarded with an obnoxious beep. It was difficult to tell how long he'd been working on the lock; the turbulence made each minute feel like days.

She turned towards Boone. He was begin to turn a pallid green color. "You alright?" she asked.

"I feel like shit," he rumbled between curses.

She smiled softly. "You didn't have to come, you know."

He let out a groan in acknowledgement.

She leaned towards him. "Then why did you?"

Boone frowned. He was never one for discussing, well, much of anything. To Mary's surprise, he answered. "Guess I just wanted to join you, one last time."

"All finished, partner!"

Before Mary had a chance to react to Boone, Victor barreled up to them, opened case nestled gently in his arms like a metallic newborn baby. Mary cleared her throat. "What's inside?" she asked Victor.

The securitron leaned down to show her. Nestled in the velvety black lining of the case was a small, strange, microchip-like device.

"Not sure what it is, partner," Vector admitted. "I reckon it might be a storage device."

The device looked delicate, so Mary didn't dare touch it. An intricate maze of silvery nodes encompassed a small, square block. She'd never seen anything like it.

"I don't like this," Boone grumbled. "It could be a bomb."

Mary shook her head. "I don't think so. Mr. House seemed nostalgic about this C.I.T. place. I can't imagine why he'd want to blow it up."

"Maybe he wants to kill you," Boone pointed out.

She shrugged. "There are easier ways to do it."

A pinging noise sounded from the cockpit. Victor closed the case and handed it to Mary. "Best go check on that," he explained. He rolled into the cockpit, exclaiming with glee, "Good news, folks! Only three hours left before we land!"

Boone reacted by vomiting into one of the supply bags.