Holy shit, this is a long chapter. A lot does happen, soooo... (Poor poor Dougie)

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Missed Opportunities

Jade's POV

My eyes slid open. Almost immediately pain demanded my attention. As I tried to open my eyes more, I soon realised that they rather difficult to open. A hand was placed on my arm, making me turn to see who it was. I was surprised just how slow I was moving…

"You're awake." The voice said. It was Boone. He had actually taken off his aviators, and was looking down at me, worry thick in his grey eyes.

"Seems like it, huh?" I asked cynically. I closed my eyes again. It hurt to breathe.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

I took a deep breath, remembering Brad's bloodthirsty face as he carved my demise into my neck.

"The Legion happened." I swallowed deeply. "Brad was there."

"Who's Brad?"

"My fiancé. He found me." I forced down my tears bitterly.

"And he… did this to you?" Boone asked carefully. I only nodded my head. An overwhelming lump in my throat developed, and I shut my eyes tightly. I tried to bring my hands my hand up to my face, but one didn't even respond. It simply laid limp to my side. Instead, I only covered my eyes with the one hand. Tears escaped my eyes then, and I felt them roll down towards my ears. Boone placed his hand on my shoulder as sobs broke out. If I wasn't so beat up I might have felt embarrassed. Instead, all I felt was the physical pain rush through me, as well as another pain.

An invisible pain. Brad was gone. The one man I would ever fall in love with was gone. Replaced with the sharp stinging of the deep cut in my neck. Every injury paled in comparison to the 'mark'. It was not only a sign of me being truly and well fucked by the Legion, but also being a memory of when everyone I ever loved was gone.

"I'm sorry." Boone said awkwardly.

"How…. how long have you been here?" I asked, trying to catch my breath, still unable to show my face.

"As long as you've been. I brought you in a few days ago." Boone explained.

"And…" I brought my hand down from my face to look at him. "You've been here that whole time?"

Boone looked confused.

"Where else would I go?"

"I dunno, move on or something?"

"You needed help. So I helped you. It's what partners do."

The doctor that was stationed with the Brotherhood tapped her foot loudly against the metal floor. Her back was turned to me as she continually stared at my X-rays she had taken that morning. I sat uncomfortably, my own foot shaking in impatience. Just before I was about to say something, the doctor spoke.

"It's incredible." She said. "Simply incredible."

"Um… what is?" I asked. She spun around on her heels to look at me, her eyes seeming to sparkle.

"You! I mean, look at this!" She said, motioning to the X-rays that were hung over an illuminated part of the wall.

"Um, yeah, you're gonna have to translate those…"

The doctor turned back to the polaroid's eagerly, pointing her pen over one shot of my skull.

"The bone has completely healed. There's no trace of damage." She marvelled.

"Of the bullet?"

"Of anything! I'd imagine after the beating you took from those Legions…" She pointed her pen at another X-ray of my ribs.

"You came in here with three broken ribs. But, according to these there's not even a crack. A bone can heal, but not completely back to normal." She moved onto a X-ray of my arm. "Your humerus and your radius were nearly shattered, but look at this! It's completely back to the way it was before."

"And… that's incredible, how?"

The doctor turned sharply to me now. She approached me with a wide smile, her arms out towards me.

"Because," She cupped my face in her hands. "According to all logic, you shouldn't be alive right now. You should've fallen into a comma for at least a month. But here you are!" She brushed her hand over the scar on my forehead. "You're absolutely stunning."

"That's… comforting. Glad you think so…" I muttered. The doctor smiled at me, patting my shoulder encouragingly. She turned to her terminal, the sound of it booting up filled the room.

"Just one last thing, and you're free to go." She chimed.

"Finally…" I said under my breath.

"Oh, don't be like that. Think of it this way, you'll be stronger when you get to the strip. A little more experience under your belt." The doctor said. I shrugged.

"I guess."

"Now, what's your full name?" She asked.

"Jade."

The doctor giggled. "Sweetie, I'm gonna need your full name. Last and middle included. If you have a middle name…"

"Fine…. Jade Diamond Almodovar."

The only sound now was of the doctor's fingers tapping away at her keyboard. Then there was complete silence.

"Almodovar, you said?" She asked.

"Yeah…"

"Jade… are you aware of your parents?"

"…Aware?"

"I mean, did you know them?"

"My… my real parents?"

"Yes."

My foot started to shake again, and I took a deep breath.

"No. They died when I was four. I never knew them personally. I actually barely remember them." I explained.

"Crystal and Amato? Is that right?" The doctor asked.

"How the hell do you know that?"

The doctor turned to me, her once sparkly eyes now narrowed in focus.

"They're in the Brotherhood records, known as hero's." She looked back at her terminal. "It's said here that they sacrificed themselves for something called 'Project Purity.' Do… do you know what any of that is about?" She asked, turning back to me. I shrugged.

"A bit. But not a whole lot. They died when I was little."

The doctor pursed her lips together, inhaling deeply through her nose. Then she forced a smile.

"Well, it's all in the past now. Right now you've got to worry about getting to that strip." She explained, coming towards me yet again. "What do you plan to do there, anyway?" She asked as she pried the bandage off of my mark.

"Find the man who shot me."

"Ha, yeah, then what?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe return the favour."

The doctor nodded.

"I see. Be careful. You may be able to heal fast, but…" She rubbed her thumb over the scar on my forehead. "You're not immortal."

"Got it. Thanks, doc."

"Oh please." She smiled. "Call me Barb."

It was a quiet trip to Vegas. The only sound was from Boone and I's feet as we walked down the dirt road. Neither of us were in the mood to talk, so we didn't. To my surprise, it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. Boone spotted prey long before I could, and by the time I thought I saw what he did, the creature was already dead. I decided to keep him around for a while… or at least while I was still travelling. After the run in with Brad, I knew that we shared similar opinions on the Legion.

"Boone, can we stop for a second?" I asked. Boone looked at me, and I could tell he was worried.

"What do you need?" He asked.

"Um… can you just wait for me here? I need to do something."

Boone just nodded without question. I walked far enough from Boone that was comfortable, and pulled Brad's flask from my pocket.

Gotten over me already?

My fingers ran through the engraved name, tears forming in my eyes.

Any last words, babe?

Then I threw it as far as I possibly could. In the distance I heard the clang of the metal hitting the hard dirt ground. I wiped away the tears that ran down my cheeks, and turned away, not looking back. When I got back to Boone, he was looking at me in worry again. * She's gonna shoot it in the air.

"Everything good?" He asked.

"Yeah. Let's just get going." I replied. Boone nodded.

"Alright."

It was late by the time we got to the outskirts of Vegas, entering through the south. Immediately we regretted it as we heard the sound of large wings flapping through the air. We both stopped dead in our tracks.

"Oh god…" Boone muttered under his breath.

"Is that what I think it is?" I asked, copying Boone and clutched my rifle in my hands.

"On the count of three, we make a break for it."

"Got it."

I relied on Boone again to spot the danger before me, but was soon left in vane as I saw a bright orange wing flash from the corner of a building.

"There." I said. Boone spotted it shortly after, and nodded his head.

"One."

The wing fluttered behind the building for two seconds before fluttering back into sight, showing half of the creatures grotesque body.

"Two."

Then gun shots ripped through the air. From behind the corner the creature with orange wings came into complete view. A giant Cazador. Boone aimed his rifle at the Cazador in a flash just as a man came behind the corner. He was aiming his shot gun at the creature, shooting blindly at the thing. With a stroke of luck he shot a decent sized hole through the wings of the creature. But Cazador's are more relentless than that. It continued to come after the man, stinger out, ready to inject a lethal dose of venom.

"Shoot it, Boone." I said suddenly.

Boone took a few seconds to aim, but when he shot he merely skimmed the Cazador's body. It flinched and turned toward us.

"What the hell was that?!" I shouted, turning to him.

"It moves too fast." He spat back, shooting again, hitting it in the wing this time. I cursed, aiming my rifle and shooting the first bit of body I saw. The Cazador went flying backwards, picking itself up with a spastic flapping of his wings. I shot him again, making him stagger a little more. Then it flew full speed towards us, it's stinger lunging forward. I aimed again, but before I could shoot, Boone shoved me aside. I nearly lost my footing just as Boone made one last shot. The Cazador fell to the ground, motionless. We all paused for what seemed like hours, staring at the carcass, bleeding yellow goo into the earth. It's hind legs twitched, making the man with the shot gun send another bullet flying into the Cazador. It's body nearly broke in two.

"… I think you got it." I said. The man with the shot gun looked up at us, panting heavily.

"I'm Doug… I think I owe you two a thank you." He said. Boone nodded his head simply, putting his rifle away. I stepped towards Doug, my hand reached out.

"I'm Jay, this is Boone." I said. Doug timidly shook my hand, shifting his eyes between Boone and I.

"Where are you two heading?" He asked nervously.

"Inside the strip."

Doug's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, you've gotta go through Freeside to get there." He explained. Boone and I only stared at him blankly.

"Freeside? The most ghetto, most dangerous part of all of New Vegas?"

I blinked a few times at him, still not getting it.

"I'm aware of Freeside." Boone said suddenly. I swung around towards him, my eyes wide.

"Do you? The most 'dangerous part of all of New Vegas?'" I mocked. Boone only chuckled. Him and I knew that was bull.

"Look, if you guys want to get to the strip, there's no way around Freeside, so…" Doug explained.

"Don't worry about us, Dougie. We can handle it." I said, putting my rifle on my back again. I motioned for Boone to come with me, who did in a second. I kicked the Cazador as we walked by. After a few seconds Boone spoke up.

"You don't have to follow us, you know."

"Freeside is dangerous. You'll need help." Doug said. I didn't even know he was following us…

"Seems to me that we did most of the helping back there." Boone said.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Doug.

"Do you need help through Freeside?" I asked.

"Me? Haha! Do I… Do I look like…" He paused, then sighed. "Yeah, yeah I do." He said in deflation. I chuckled loudly, turning back to the road.

"Well, feel free to come with us. Could always use another party member in the most 'dangerous part of all of New Vegas.'" I could almost feel Doug roll his eyes at me.

Freeside was dangerous. It wasn't a pit full of mutants and death claws, but it sure kept you on your toes. Constantly there were people coming at us with pistols, switchblades, and sometimes even machetes. Fortunately, you could hear them before you see them. It became a bit of a game as to who could kill the most. Of course, Boone won, but I was pretty close. Doug, with his shot gun, only killed about one and a half. He shot one thug in the shoulder, only managing to slow him down, then Boone took the rest of the kill. It was put down as an assisted kill. We finally made it to the entrance of the strip. It was pretty underwhelming… The gate was rather small, and was surrounded by some familiar looking robots. I stared at them for a few minutes, trying my best to remember where they were from… I thought of a picture of a cowboy, a cigar hanging out of his mouth. Then it clicked. Victor. The robot that dug me out of my grave. I swallowed deeply, narrowing my eyes at them.

"Slow down…" Doug muttered from behind me, breathing heavily. I ignored him, and continued onward. Benny was behind those doors. I could almost see him, with his stupid smirk, his flashy checkered suit staring at me with those piercing eyes.

Hello, baby doll…

I imagined sending a bullet through his head, anticipating the peace I would finally feel afterwards. We were so close to the gate that I could almost smell the cigarette from Benny's mouth when Boone grabbed my arm. I turned to him sharply.

"What the hell?" I spat.

Boone nodded in the direction of the gates, and I snapped my head back. A man sprinted past the Victor robots, eyes locked onto the gate.

"Halt!" One of the robots cried, but the man continued on. Just before he touched the gate he was showered with bullets. His body hit the ground just as fast as he had ran. Then silence.

"I remember this… we need a few things before we can get in." Boone said simply.

"You're fucking kidding me…"

"No, he's not." Doug chimed up from behind us. "We need either one thousand caps, or a passport."

We put all of our caps together, and still we didn't have enough. I let my hand fall limp to my side, sighing over dramatically.

"Great. How the fuck do we find a passport?" I asked harshly.

"The King." Doug looked up at us.

"What?"

"The King. He basically runs Freeside… he might be able to help." He said.

I smiled darkly at him.

"Well shit, Dougie is useful. May I call you Dougie?"

"I'd rather you not…"

"Point the way, Dougie!"

The King was stationed in a strange looking building, lights flashing different colours, illuminated illusions of dancing men all over the entrance. On the top of the door it said "The Kings." It looked like it could almost belong in Vegas itself. We walked in to immediately be greeted by men in stripped shirts, leather jackets, tight pants and slicked back hair. They looked terrible. But they walked around with their noses up in the air, arrogance seeming to make them float from the ground. Something about them reminded me of Benny… and I wondered if perhaps he was part of this stupid 'club' before. Dougie lead us to a door in the corner of a room, where one of the Kings men leaned near the door.

"What do we have here? Another petitioner for the King?" He asked, stopping us with his hand. He had a weird accent that I've never heard before… There was something about it that annoyed me.

"We'd like to see the King. If possible." I explained.

"Anything's possible, I suppose. How much is it worth to you to meet the big man?" He asked, his eyes narrowing deviously as a small wicked grin appeared on his face. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Just before I could respond Dougie spoke up.

"We're actually new in town, and wanted to pay respects to the King."

Huh. I guess the new kid knows what he's doing.

The guy stared at Dougie for a few seconds before answering.

"You know what? I like you. Half of the people around here, they forget who runs this place. Take your friends and head on through. The King's the bored-looking guy by the stage. Can't fuckin' miss him." He explained, opened the door and motioned us inside. Once we were in we immediately noticed a drunk looking guy sloppily swaying back and forth on the stage. He seemed to be singing, but luckily the mic hadn't been turned on. He swished a cup of gold liquid in his cup, and seemed to be enjoying himself. Just a few tables in front of him sat a man in a dirty white coat, a robotic dog sitting patiently next to him.

"That's him." Dougie said. "Follow my lead."

If he had asked me to do that five minutes ago I'd have told him to piss up a rope. But something in the way he opened up since we walked through the front doors gave me reason enough to trust him. The King turned his head to us, and flashed a sideways smile as he made eye contact with Dougie.

"Look, Rexie, someone new's come to see us. Poor boy. He hasn't been feeling well lately." He patted Rexie's head softly, making Rexie's tail wag happily. "I'm the King. What can I do for you?" He asked.

"I was hoping you may have some work for the three of us." Dougie explained.

Work? This fucker better know what he's doing. The King took a few seconds to think. Then responded slowly.

"Maybe so. Maybe so. You guys look like you might be able to handle yourself's out there. Tell you what. You do me a favour, and I'll have some more work for you when it's done. Sound good?"

"Got it. What do you need us to do?"

"I'll start you guys off with something easy. Did you notice the bodyguards for hire near the gates when you enter Freeside?"

"Sure did. We didn't think we needed them." I explained.

"Maybe not. It's good money if you can stay alive long enough. Fireside's not as safe as it used to be, so the money is well earned. Usually well earned, that is. Recently my men tell me that one of those bodyguards, fellow named Orris, is making a little too much money. He's making a killing in repeat business. Once someone hires him they never want anyone else. I want you three to find out why." The King explained.

"So what exactly do you want us to do?" Dougie asked.

"Specifically, I want one of you to hire him. Play the part of an innocent tourist and follow his lead. If nothing happens, so be it. But I'm guessing things won't go so smoothly. Since there's more than one of you, you can take turns until you see something. Or if you see something. Call it a hunch. So what do you say?"

"Sure." Dougie nodded his head before Boone or I could agree.

"Okay, then. Once you part ways with 'em, return here. I'll look forward to hearing your report. Oh, and take this to cover the hiring cost." The King reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a hand full of caps folded in brown paper. I snatched it before Dougie could get a hold of it.

Okay, I trusted the guy, but not that much.

Once we walked out of the building Boone spoke both of our minds.

"So what, we taken orders from that boss guy or whatever?" He asked.

"He's The King, and we're just doing this job for him to get him on our good side. We don't just go up asking for a favour." Dougie explained.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised he was right. As much as I hated to admit it.

"Fair enough. So who want's to go first?" I asked.

Boone sat back on his chair, arms tightly crossed around his chest. I sat next to him, relaxed yet ready. Finally, the door opened to reveal Dougie, who was scratching his head.

"Did you see anything?" Boone asked.

"Dunno. I don't think so…" He mumbled.

There was silence again as Dougie took a seat on the other side of the room. Somebody had to go next.

"Alright." I slapped my hands on my legs as I stood up. "I'll go."

"That Orris guy is wearing metal armour. Can't miss 'em." Dougie called after me, tossing me the roll of caps.

He wasn't hard to spot, and stuck out like a sore thumb within the small queue of body guards. His dark eyes lit up when he saw me walking towards him.

"Another customer? Smart choice. Freeside is a dangerous place. Not many make it on their own." He said, smirking cockily.

"I made it this far alright." I stated blatantly.

"Don't expect to make it any farther without somebody like me. If you want to stay alive, you'll come with me. It'll just be the small fee of pay me two hundred caps." Orris said, puffing out his chest. I resisted the urge to gag. He looked like an arrogant version of Brad… I handed him the caps the King gave us, then we walked down Freeside, towards the gates. He kept a sharp pace, and I found it a little hard to follow him. But he didn't seem to care. He was more focused on something off in the distance. I guess Boone was taking it easy on me lately… The worst part about all of this was that Orris kept rambling about stupid things in Freeside. But I didn't listen. All I could think about was Brad, and imagining him walking in this dangerous place to trade with people on the Strip. I could imagine his face as he saw a thug coming towards him with a knife, and him pulling the trigger with no hesitation. I imagined everything up to his smell, after a long treck from our little bungalows. Sweat stains would darken his shirt as he made it into the Strip, and the first thing he'd do is look for somebody to trade with, no matter what he looked like. He would probably be de-hydrated and exhausted, but wouldn't care. All he'd be focused on was making enough caps to support his family.

"Hold up." Orris said, stopping and pointing in the distance. "I don't like the look of those thugs over there."

"Why don't we just shoot them?" I asked. Orris shook his head.

"Let's try to avoid them. Follow me." He said, and rushed down an alley way. I frowned as I hurried to keep up. We ran down the alleyway behind some buildings, until suddenly Orris started to sprint off in front of me.

"Wait!" I called, struggling to keep up. I turned the corner just as Orris shot four thugs that had come towards him. He stood in the middle of the bodies, grinning arrogantly at me. "What the flying fuck was that?!" I shouted. Orris frowned slightly.

"I got them. It was a close call." He said simply, and began to walk away.

"I only heard three shots." I called after him. Orris turned to me, his grin completely gone.

"What?"

"There are four people dead." I said, pointing at the bodies. "But I only heard three shots."

Orris smiled at me. But this time it was strained.

"That's because I expertly aimed through some soft tissue through one man, and hit another with the same bullet." He explained. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"But that's not possible…" I mumbled. Orris lost his charm in a second, and began scowling at me.

"Hey, who's the professional here? Huh?" He asked angrily. He waited for an answer, but I didn't give him one. "I am! Alright? You're paying me! Now come on!" He turned away, this time moving quickly.

"Psst!" Somebody whispered behind me. I turned and saw Dougie crouching next to one of the bodies.

"We've got a problem." He said. I moved towards him, looking over my shoulder to keep check of Orris.

"What is it?" I asked quietly, crouching with him. Dougie stared sternly at me… he looked scared.

"These people aren't dead." He said. I looked down at the body in front of me, suddenly noticing the breathing. The thug's eyes flew open, his angry gaze finding mine right away.

"Shit!" I yelled, jumping up and backing away. All the thugs sprung to their feet, pulling pistols from their belts. Then in an instance, gun shots ripped through the air, and everyone around us fell back down again, this time there was no doubt they were dead. Dougie and I looked to see Boone holding his rifle up, looking towards us.

"You two okay?" he asked.

"You know, we could've handled that." Dougie said, pulling the pistol from one of the thug's belts.

"Five shots." I said, looking in the distance.

"What?" Dougie asked.

"I counted five shots. There were four thugs." I said.

"I counted five assholes." Boone said simply. I looked to where Orris had been, and saw the metal armoured body laying motionless on the ground. I smiled, turning back to Boone.

"Five assholes. I must've miss counted."

The King smirked at us as we walked towards him. I was beginning to think his face was permanently stuck like that.

"What do you have for me?" The King asked.

"Orris shouldn't be a problem anymore." Dougie replied. He was trying too hard to sound tough. It was kind of embarrassing.

"So it went down like that, huh? I guess it can't be helped now. You guys aren't subtle, but you get the job done. That's good enough for me. Here are the caps." He reached under his chair and handed us even more hand rolled caps. Just by looking at them, I knew it wasn't enough.

"You guys looking for more work, or will you be on your way…"

"Is there anything we could do for your dog?" I asked before he could finish. Out of his smug look the King almost looked taken aback.

"Well… now that you mention it, there is. Rex has been acting peculiar for some time now. I took him to the Followers and had him checked out, and they said his brain is bad or something." He replied.

"Can they do anything to help it?" I asked.

"No, they said they don't have the tools to help him. If he doesn't get help soon, they say he's just gonna get worse."

"What can we do to help?"

I felt Boone shuffle impatiently behind me. I tried my best to ignore him.

"I don't know. Maybe. If you found a way to help my poor Rexie here, I'd be much obliged. Your best bet would be to talk to Julie Jarkas over at the Old Mormon Fort north of here. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did."

"Thanks, King. We'll do the best we can to help Rexie."

Boone grabbed my arm once we were outside of the building.

"What the hell are you thinking?" He nearly growled.

"Doing another job will just give us the same amount of caps as before. Doing a personal job means he'll pay more, plus we'll probably get brownie points." I explained quickly.

"She's right, Boone. The King has connections. Hell, he could even get us forged passports." Dougie explained.

"Not to mention he practically runs Freeside. It'd be best to be on his good side." I added.

Boone sighed heavily at me.

"Fine. The Mormon Fort should be just down here."

Rex growled at Boone as we made our way down the ruined street.

"You gotta take that thing off, buddy." Dougie said.

Boone grumbled, slipping off the beret from his head. I quickly snatched it from him, putting it on my own head. Rex looked up at me, and wagged his tail.

"That's right, I look better in it, don't I?" I asked. Rex barked, making me smile.

"How much longer?" Boone muttered.

"Half an hour walk?"

"Good, cause this fucking dog head is starting to smell." Dougie said. We came across a fiend leader earlier, one that had her dog come charging at us. I shot it in the heart as Boone and Dougie shot the rest of the dogs, and fiends from the camp. It was almost like hunting game… but all we wanted was a brain.

"We'd better start walking faster." Boone explained.

And he was right. We needed a good, healthy brain for Rex, not a baked brain. The mountains were a little more chilly than I had imagined, and I began to shiver in my tank top and cut off pants. I looked over at Boone in his wife beater shirt, not even flinching at the cold.

"How the hell can you do that?" I asked angrily.

"Muscle is warm. Maybe you should get some." He said with a hint of a smile.

"Ah, screw you." I said, lightly hitting him in the shoulder.

As we approached Jacobstown, we saw in the distance a super mutant standing patiently in the entrance. For a second we thought that it was the super mutant from Black Mountain, but as we crept closer we began to see otherwise.

"Hello, wanderers. What brings you to Jacobstown?" He asked. His voice was calm and relaxed. He sounded more human than the mutant from Black Mountain had. It was kind of creepy.

"We've come to see the doctor that is stationed here." Dougie announced.

"And why would you need him?"

"Rex, our dog, has a bit of a problem with his brain. We were told this doctor could fix him up proper."

The super mutant seemed to think about this for a second, then nodded his head.

"Welcome. My names Marcus. I am Jacobstown's leader. Before you three head in, we have some rules that you must abide by." He explained.

"Shoot." I said.

"Don't steal, don't kill, and don't look at the Nightkin. They've developed schizophrenia due to the stealth boys they use. They don't like to be seen… especially by humans. If you follow these simple rules, you'll be fine out here." Marcus said.

"Got it. Don't steal, kill, or stare at Nightkin." I repeated.

"Correct. You'll find Doctor Henry in the lodge. Enjoy Jacobstown, wanderers."

Snow lightly covered the ground near the lodge in the middle of the mountain. I was definitely not used to weather like this… And neither were the boys. They both shivered as we came closer to the lodge.

"What's wrong, Boone, not enough muscle?" I asked. Boone only smirked, and opened the door for Dougie, Rex and I. The inside of the lodge was blissfully warm, and we all stood in the entrance for a few seconds, taking in the heat. Boone frowned, taking off his aviators, and wiping them on his shirt.

"Damn fog…" He said under his breath.

I chuckled softly to myself. To the right was a lab with full of medical machines. I guess that was it. The three of us, including Rex, walked into the lab to see an old man with glasses sitting at a terminal. In the corner, working on a chemistry set, was a woman ghoul. I had never actually seen a ghoul in the melted, radiated flesh before. I held my tongue as we walked closer to Doctor Henry.

"Hello?" I asked.

"What do you want?" He snapped.

"There's something wrong with our Cybor-dog. We were told to come to you." I explained.

Doctor Henry sighed, getting of his chair to inspect Rex. After a few seconds he looked back up at us.

"It's neural degradation. Bio med gel can only preserve a living brain for so long, so you'll need to find a replacement." He explained.

Dougie lifted the bag that contained the dog head in it.

"We've got one." He said simply.

"Very well. Show me what you've brought so I can analyse it's potential." Doctor Henry said.

Luckily the brain was in good enough condition after our journey. Dougie and I sat next to each other as we waited for Doctor Henry to complete his surgery on Rex. Boone had gone to get some drinks for us. He had been gone for a little while now, and it was getting tedious. I was about to go and find him, and Dougie finally started talking.

"So, what are you two?" He asked. I frowned.

"What do you mean?" I asked back.

"I mean, are you two like dating or something. Married? Friends with benefits?" He winked at me.

"Ew, no. Never." I said, folding my arms around my chest, and folded one leg over the other.

"Come on, you can't lie to me. I know better."

"Seriously, Dougie, get off my tits. We're just friends."

Dougie paused for a second, finally digesting the 'shocking' information that Boone and I weren't an object. Finally Boone rounded the corner with two Nuka Colas in one hand, and a Sunset Sasperella in the other. He handed me the Sasperella first, then sat down next to me. He reached over me to give Dougie the cola.

"Thanks." I said, attempting to open the bottle. Boone seemed to notice, and took it from me.

"One second." He said. He pulled a knife from his pocket, and expertly placed the handle underneath the cap of the Sasperella. In one fluid motion, he popped the cap off, and handed the bottle back to me.

"Thanks again…" I said.

"No problem." He said, doing the same thing to his cola, and taking a large swig out of it.

"Mind helping me out too, prince charming?" Dougie asked. Boone tensed, and I rolled my eyes.

"Dougie, shut the fuck up." I said, making him chuckle.

The woman ghoul ended up being nicer than I though. Before we left, she gave Boone and I old dusters to keep us warm for the walk back, Dougie refused it… I didn't want to ask why.

I also put on some tights that I had (they were pretty rare, and kind of torn up…) underneath my jeans to keep me warmer.

Rex looked healthier than ever as we walked back to Freeside. The brain we had gotten made him a little more aggressive, and it showed. When there was even a single movement that seemed out of place, he would bark ferociously. Yet, he still listened to me. Not so much Dougie or Boone. Our traveling was always rather quiet. The rambling Dougie would be spouting out normally was gone. Now he was dead silent, staring at the ground as we walked. I was a little confused, but knew better to ask what was wrong. Instead, we just continued onward. Until Dougie stepped in front of us, stopping us in our tracks.

"I can't take it anymore." He growled.

We just stared at him as he looked at us… his fists were clenched, his eyebrows pulled forward wickedly… he was almost shaking.

"You two are the most selfish people I have ever met in my life." He spat.

"Dougie, what the hell are you talking about?" I asked, slightly shocked at his sudden outburst.

"You have the greatest chance of love I have ever seen! And you two just sit around, pretending it's not there!" He yelled.

"Dougie, I'll only say this one last time. Get. Off. My. Tits." I spat.

"Make me!" He screamed now. Rex started growling. I reached down to stroke his back, making him calm him down. Dougie took a deep breath through his nose.

"I would kill a thousand men to have a chance at love like you two do. And it kills me to watch this happen."

"What are you saying?" Boone asked.

"I'm saying…" Dougie sighed loudly, looking at the sky. "Either you two realise how just how perfect you are for each other… Or I walk."

"Dougie, don't do this…" I said.

"Don't believe me? I was doing fine until you guys came along! I'm not afraid to leave!" He shouted.

I swallowed deep, looking down at Rex, who was sitting patiently next to me. I could tell Boone was uncomfortable, and I looked up at him. He was already looking at me. Even through his aviators, I could tell what he was thinking. I pursed my lips together.

"Goodbye, Dougie." I said simply.

Dougie stared at us in astonishment, then started shaking his head and backing away.

"You know," He began to laugh "You two must have had some fucking awesome sex with your ex's to not want each other." And with that, he turned and stormed away, around the corner, and disappearing completely out of sight, leaving Boone and I in silence once again.