"Dear god please let him make the right decision."

"O, ye have little faith."

Arcade looked away from the graying sky to Veronica, nervously biting at his fingernails. He sighed and wrapped his lab coat tightly around himself, the piecing gaze of the hundreds of Legionaries around them making him feel vulnerable.

"Ease up Arcy," Veronica murmured calmly "he'll do fine."

Arcade shook his head; peering at the tent flap Six had just disappeared into a few minutes ago. For months the courier had been traveling and fighting to get here, his thirst for revenge against the man who had taken away his memories growing daily into a bitter itch he couldn't scratch.

Now Arcade was terrified he was going to fuck it up.

"I'm just afraid he's going to make the wrong decision."

Veronica shook her head and shrugged. She looked down at her hand and flexed it, thinking. She looked like she had forgotten something vital.

"I hate to sound selfish here, but I miss my power-fist."

Arcade laughed softly. He nodded and shuffled his feet, kicking at the dry soil.

"Boone's taking care of it. I kind of regret leaving my ripper with him too, but you can't exactly conceal something that big and sharp."

Veronica nodded in agreement. She peered over her shoulder, noting how many Legionaries seemed to be staring at them around the camp.

"How far away do you think Boone made camp?"

"As far as he could stomach. Too bad he couldn't come, were just having so much-"

Arcade stopped and yelped as something bumped into the back of his legs. He turned sharply and looked down, expecting to see one of the Legions mongrels or maybe a small child. Instead he only saw the flash of something hazy in the air and heard the shuffling of feet in the loose soil. The sound lasted a few seconds before it faded down the hill.

"What was that?" Arcade asked, eyebrow raised "You saw that, right?"

The woman nodded as she peered past Arcade curiously. She grunted lightly.

"I saw it, but I don't know-"

"FUCKING RUN!"

Now, hearing those two words put together wasn't foreign to Arcade. In fact, they were practically Six's catch phrase.

And when you heard them, you better fucking run.

He already had a hand on Veronica and was pulling her for cover by the time Six came bursting out of the tent, an explosion of gunfire behind him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Arcade demanded as they sprinted. Luckily by the time the rest of the camp had figured out what was going on, they had already made it to the large iron gate. Veronica let out a series of small yelps as Arcade kept one arm around her, pulling her from place to place like a rag doll while dodging gunfire. This was the first real time she had been under heavy fire while traveling in what Boone had named "Six's misfit circus"

Veronica had thought it was funny, but Six didn't even know what a circus was.

"I SET BENNY FREE!" The courier screamed back as he vaulted over a rock for cover. Arcade followed, almost throwing Veronica over it as well, who was totally useless without her power-fist. Legionaries gathered around them, all focusing fire on the rock. Arcade pulled his plasma defender from the hidden pouch in his coat as Veronica did the same with a 9mm from under her robes.

"WHA-…. WHY? ARE YOU INSANE?" Arcade demanded, returning fire. Green blobs of plasma began flying in every direction, finding their marks and burning holes in the Legionaries armor. And, in some unlucky cases, their bare skin. Veronica tried her best to return fire as well, but she had very little training with guns. Most of her shots missed, bouncing off rocks or the ground.

She looked over at Six. The seventeen year old had his hand entirely down his pants, gunfire chipping away at the rock just above his head as he swore continuously under his breath. He noticed her questioning looks and blushed.

"I…. Ah… My gun is…. You know…"

"….. You put it in your pants?"

"WHERE THE FUCK ELSE COULD I PUT IT?"

"Children!" Arcade interrupted as he ducked down to reload "We need to get out of here! Now!"

Six popped his head up, letting out an annoyed "No shit!" before finally tearing the laser pistol out of the holster he had hidden in his pant leg. He let a whole energy cell loose, the thin red beams hitting their marks. One Legionary even took a shot to the eye, the laser only leaving a charred black hole where the dark brown orb had been.

"The river!" Arcade called. Both Six and Veronica turned anxiously and followed Arcade's gestures towards the cliff leading to the water below. The scribe shook her head frantically as Six nodded eagerly. The courier sprang up, weaving around rocks before jumping strait off into the river.

"C'mon!" Arcade coaxed, grabbing Veronica by the sleeve. He sprang up as well and tugged her along the same path Six had taken, bringing them to the edge.

Where Veronica stopped dead, digging her heels into the ground.

"MOVE WOMAN!"

Arcade shoved her with all his weight, sending her sprawling into the air. Arcade jumped in right after her, landing into the frigid waters only seconds after. Both popped up instantly, the current washing them away as they struggled to swim. Well, Arcade tried to swim; Veronica simply flailed her arms helplessly. She couldn't swim; something Arcade knew but never thought would be a problem.

Wrong again.

The blonde reached over and grabbed her by the back of the robes, pulling her into him. She latched onto him, causing them both to go under. After what seemed like an eternity Arcade finally pulled them back up, gasping.

"ARCADE!"

Arcade craned his neck. He spotted Six on the bank of the river not far ahead of them, his clothes pinned to him from the water. He gripped the side of a rock and leaned out, offering his hand over the water. The current slowing, Arcade managed to haul himself and Veronica over just close enough to grip Six's hand. Though he was small, the brunette was just barely able to drag his half-drown companions out of the water.

"I… think…. I swallowed a fish." Veronica gasped, hacking up water. Arcade finally let go of her and dragged himself weakly to his feet, his vision blurred without the glasses the waves had washed away. Six patted him on the back, trying to ease his coughing as he to hacked up water.

"You guys okay? I-"

Arcade grabbed him by the front of the jacket and began to shake him furiously.

"Asinus Stultissimus! Morologus es!"

"Speak English man! ENGLISH!"

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

Veronica pulled herself to her feet, leaning on a nearby rock for support. She pulled her hood off, causing her soaking back hair to tumble down in front of her face.

"Put him down Arcade, shaking him won't help."

The enraged doctor set Six down and sighed, causing small pains to shoot in his chest from swallowing so much water.

"You better have a damn good reason for doing that!"

Six shrugged, lost for words. He rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.

"I just couldn't kill him."

"Benny?" Veronica asked, joining them. Six nodded slowly and continued rambling, almost to himself.

"He was tied up and everything. But I just couldn't. I gave him one of my stealthboys and….."

Arcade nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. He ran a hand over his dripping blonde hair, pushing it back away from his forehead.

"That explains what bumped into me. But why? After all this, why just let him go?"

Six shrugged. He shivered miserably as a gust of wind blew by them.

"I don't know… It just felt wrong, like it wouldn't have made me any better than him."

"How poetic." Veronica mumbled sarcastically, still traumatized. She wasn't mad in any sense though, she very rarely got mad over anything. Noticing the confused and distressed look and Six's face, Arcade's own softened. He sighed again and put a hand on the couriers shoulder.

"Well, we can figure this out later. Let's just get moving and find Boone before more Legionaries come."

Six tried to compose a comply, but Arcade quickly hushed him and smiled. Veronica laughed and smacked Six playfully upside the head.

"Just save it and get moving before we leave you."

Sorry this isn't very good. I'm not good at writing any kind of action. I also couldn't remember if The Fort is right by the river or not since I haven't played New Vegas in a while. But, I really wanted to write this so I decided to give it a shot. Feel free to criticize.