Note: minor edit. I'm tired.
Boone was quiet. He didn't talk to her. He didn't know what to make of the woman, just yet.
If he felt anything other than anger, it was probably pity. She couldn't see more than ten feet, from what he'd noticed. Might be why she used that grenade launcher, to make sure she hit her target. He hadn't seen her use it yet, but it was obvious her skill with the machete was just as terrible as his was.
He doubted she was much better with the rifle.
They were walking away from Gibson scrap yard and she'd damn near fallen over herself pulling that battered rifle from her back, aiming it into the distance with a funny squint to her eyes. Jumping at shadows, again. Something she did a lot of, being nervous.
"You need glasses," he said. Clamped his mouth shut after, wondered why he'd said anything. He didn't care if she couldn't see; she wasn't watching his back. He was looking out for himself, now. Watching her back, maybe. Hadn't decided if he wanted to stay with her.
Charlie's head spun on him, her wide brown eyes open as far as they would go. Her mouth opened briefly, as if to speak, before she jammed it shut and turned back to the wastes.
"There's nothing there," he added, after a long silence. He would have seen, before she did, if something was trying to sneak up on them. Charlie was skittish and trembling, and had been biting her fingernails when she thought he wasn't watching. Scared. He knew the feeling. Hated it.
Charlie breathed out, softly, and lowered her rifle to her side, wiping her face. Looked up at the sky for a second, and turned. Boone followed behind her as she carefully walked through the brush on the wasteland floor.
"I know I need glasses," she told him, before they reached RepCONN. Her voice was soft. Fearful.
Whatever the hell she was scared of, it wasn't gonna be found in Novac. He knew that; everything that had been a threat was gone now. That bitch―
Boone looked away from the woman and swallowed the lump in his throat. Stay angry. Better that way.
Charlie opened the hatch into the basement of the facility and they climbed down. She did all the talking. Spoke with the strange ghoul. Gave up the toy rockets and the other thing, spoke with the man who thought he was a ghoul.
As long as the rockets didn't land on Novac, Boone didn't give a shit what the ghouls did. Better they be gone from the place and not bothering town, anymore. Manny and him, they'd talked about it before―
Before―
Didn't want to think about that. Focused himself on the woman. The woman who was clearly scared half to death of something or someone and kept looking over her shoulder. Who acted like she was about to piss herself when he spoke to her.
He wondered who she could be scared of, but it was a stupid thing to wonder. Probably, the Legion. Charlie hadn't spoken about the Legion, hadn't asked him who took―
He'd told her, though. And she'd accepted his knowledge without question. Agreed to help him with more conviction than he'd guessed she had. She had to be familiar. The wasteland was crawling with those fuckers.
Boone's hands tightened into fists at his side. Not for very much longer, if he had a say in it.
"Thank you," Charlie whispered, talking to the glowing ghoul.
"You will find your way," he replied. "Stay on the ladder."
Whatever that meant, Boone didn't know. He followed Charlie up to the observation area and watched with her as the doors opened and rockets shot off into the sky. It was... impressive. If Carla had been able to see it―
Pain. Boone bit down on his tongue to keep himself from losing his head to the emotion welling in his chest. Carla would have been impressed, but―probably just grateful the ghouls were gone. He could give a rat's ass about them, but Carla was picky. Took her a while to learn to like people.
Except for him. His throat tightened up. He should have taken her home when he still had the chance.
"Boone?"
Charlie was watching him. He turned his head to her. "You coming to Vegas with me?" she asked, carefully. "I... could use the help."
Boone stared at her through his sunglasses. He didn't have anything else to do. Nothing to hold him to Novac. Told her he was going to wander.
He'd expected he'd wander to the Cove. Not go back to Vegas, where he'd met―Boone tasted blood. Let up the pressure on his tongue. Didn't know if he was strong enough to handle going back to Vegas. He ought to, he supposed. One last hurrah on the Strip before...
Before he got himself killed.
He was going to get himself killed. One man against an army―he'd been there, before, and he'd run away like the fucking coward he was. Promised himself he wouldn't do that again. He kept his promises.
That made him think about those assholes coming out the east, Legionaries he'd shot on sight. Walking through the mountains, like they owned the place. That ranger that was stationed on the road, the NCR soldiers watching Nelson.
It was a start, he figured. A test, at least. He didn't want to travel with some woman, he couldn't gauge.
"...Boone?" she asked again, her face screwed up in concern. One hand nervously plucked at the edge of her metal armor, the other shaking nervously at her side. He snapped to attention and stared at her with a glare that wasn't meant for her.
That was bad. Only made her more scared. She was gonna get herself killed, too, acting like that. ...Maybe they'd go down swinging, together. Might be nice to have someone fighting beside him, again. Like Manny had.
Fucking Manny.
He fought against the hate brewing in his chest. "If you want," he managed, but the anger bled through anyway. Save it for the Legion, man.
Charlie paled, deeply tanned skin turning ashen gray in the darkness of the observation room. "O-okay," she said, nervously.
That same fright she'd had. Didn't know if he was going to be any better for her than on her own. "Could go down to Nelson, first," he threw out. Had to start somewhere.
Charlie's fingers worked around the edge of her breastplate. "What's in Nelson?" she asked.
"Legion," he said, spitefully.
Something was going on. Something maybe suspicious, maybe alarming. Boone wasn't sure which, or if it was both.
Charlie'd agreed to go with him to Nelson, figure out the lay. But she was acting like a different person. Less anxious. More... confident, more business-like. None of that nail-biting or trembling.
Made him wonder why. But his curiosity was nothing compared to his anger for the Legion. Charlie talked with the NCR ranger while he stared down into the camp at Nelson. The bastards down there knew they were being watched. They didn't care.
Wanted to be seen. Soldiers on crosses, put there to make the NCR remember why they were fighting the Legion. Wanted the NCR to see what they did to their enemies, so they would be afraid. Maybe even so they'd run away.
But the NCR didn't run away. He felt sick in his stomach again. He shouldn't have run, back then. He should have killed them all, when he'd found―
Boone closed his eyes and put his knuckles onto the edge of the rock, grinding the skin against the rough sandstone. Hurt like hell. Good.
"There's no way we're getting into Nelson without being seen," Charlie said, moving up and crouching along the edge of the rock beside him. "I've got thirteen grenades. I can aim away from the soldiers, but..." she sighed and blew a strand of black hair out of her face. "I don't know if I can avoid hitting them."
He knew what she was trying to say. Didn't want to think out loud that you might kill someone who didn't deserve it, because it was the best way to keep someone out of those bastards' clutches. NCR called it mercy. But it wasn't mercy to murder someone who could still be saved.
He leaned more weight onto his knuckles and gave them a sharp twist, focusing on the pain. Knew what he wanted to do. But didn't know if she would listen to him. Shouldn't have to. He wasn't exactly friendly with her, yet.
"I don't want to kill them," she muttered.
Yeah. He didn't want to, either. Watched her stand up, pull her rifle from her back, and glance down at him. He pushed himself up, and pulled out his own rifle. Stared at her, waiting for her to say something. To do something.
"To hell with mercy killing. We're getting those guys out of there," she said, firmly. Popped open the rifle and checked it, then snapped it shut. "Let's go kick some ass."
That was more like it. The test was a good idea.
Charlie was coughing and spitting out blood by the end of the fight, holding her cheek where a machete had sliced into the flesh. She looked up at the crosses and made a short motion at Boone.
"Get them down? I'm going to make sure none of these bastards are still alive."
Boone only nodded, in reply. She moved silently around the camp, disappearing over the edge of a path. After a moment he heard the explosion of a grenade and he stopped working at the ropes to look in that direction.
All was quiet. Boone sliced through the last bit of rope and waited.
Charlie came walking back up the hill with the rifle on her shoulder, looking determined. Fresh blood seeped down her face as she came back to the crosses. "You done?" she asked, staring at him.
He nodded. The soldiers were limping back to the NCR camp by the road. None had died. It was more than he'd expected, really.
Watched her checking her rifle again, muttering to herself. She started walking back up to the road and the ranger, then motioned to Boone to follow.
He debated on saying something to her. Wasn't the same person, he was pretty sure of that. Something up with her. But the less scared version of Charlie was better than the other. The scared one might not have had the gumption to spare the soldiers.
Mightn't have bothered because she was scared, or because she didn't have to save them. She wasn't NCR. Even the ranger admitted that it wasn't likely the solders would make it out alive. Seeing loyalty like that... he felt better about sticking around.
"Mercy killing is a last resort. Glad you recognized we had options," he told her, quietly.
Charlie poked her cheek with her thumb, and shook her head. "I've caused enough death." She sighed, pushed her hair back behind her ears, and stared up at the sky. "But thank you, Boone. For staying with me."
He raised an eyebrow, slightly. "Didn't say I was," he started.
Charlie chuckled. "You're gonna, though," she said, before she started toward Novac.
The scared one was back, by the time they got over the bridge and came up next to the dinosaur. It was... really fucking weird, actually. That was the wastes for you, he figured. Made you crazy.
Made him crazy, too.
Charlie stopped, planting her feet on the ground, and stared up at the dinosaur and at the town with a confused look on her face. She blinked rapidly for a moment or two, then started crying. Started wobbling, stepping to the side and grabbing the chain link fence to steady herself.
He didn't understand it. Had seen a lot of trauma, before. Soldiers missing arms, legs, heads. Skulls blown apart by bullets. Machete wounds that left the bone exposed to the air, skin hanging in ribbons. Bad shit that he wouldn't forget.
Watching a woman cry after destroying a Legion outpost, so moved by her own emotion that she was incapacitated, shouldn't have been so confusing. Shit caught up with you out there, he knew that. NCR beat that into him, to numb himself from the horror. He could kill those bastards all day long and nothing would faze him.
Charlie cried for what felt like too long, sniffling and wiping her face. Blood smeared across her face from the open wound, tears mixing with and dripping down through the streaks. He watched, passively.
"Shit," she said, after a time. "D-did it again."
She knew about it, then. It wasn't his business to ask. He made a noncommittal noise and watched her straighten herself out, moving toward the motel. "Let's... let's take a break for now," she mumbled. "Get some sleep. Then we'll go."
"Yeah," he agreed.
She was right, though. He was going to stick around.
Didn't have anything better to do.
