After finding a perfect spot to spy on the group (the second story of an abandoned building), Stranger finally got settled in. He watched as the group approach an NCR soldier and soon saw the look of disappointment and frustration on the courier's face. Stranger obviously couldn't hear anything the soldier was saying from this far back, so he sat still and waited for any moves.

Suddenly, he saw the courier's sister emerge from an abandoned building that was closer to the group. He shook his head in silence, trying to figure out what in the world the blonde was doing. He saw the look of shock on the courier's face as her sister snuck up behind the group and spoke.

"What an idiot," Stranger murmured, regarding the blonde. Well at least my cover isn't blown…

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Natalya harshly questioned her younger sibling. Arianna grinned sheepishly, "Ah, well…" the blonde paused for a moment, not sure of what to say. "I actually have no idea. I guess I was just hoping that you wouldn't mind me following you and that I could join along for the adventure?" Smoke practically shot out of Natalya's ears at her sister's words.

Realizing that this little ordeal could possibly turn into a family squabble, Boone pulled on both girls' sleeves, "I think we should move our business elsewhere. The NCR have bigger things to worry about," he remarked as he nodded towards the soldier and pulled the girls away. ED-E let out a few beeps as he followed the party away from the soldier.

After the group was a quite a ways from the destroyed city, both Natalya and Boone turned to glare at Arianna. The blonde giggled nervously, "Well?!" Her sister harshly questioned. When Arianna didn't respond to her sister, she continued, "There has to be some strange, twisted reason as to why you would want to leave your child with mom and dad to come follow me. So spit it out; what is it?"

Arianna bit her lip and let out a sigh, "Ok, well honestly? First of all, you're my sister and the fact that you were recently shot in the head and now you're up and running around? That scares me! So I decided to follow you to assist you medically." Natalya looked to Boone, who shrugged. She looked back at her sister as she continued, "And secondly, I guess I was kind of hoping that your little journey would land you in New Vegas, because, well, I have some unfinished business with someone there. And honestly, it takes a real slime to shoot a woman in the head, and New Vegas is full of slimes. It just logically seems like somehow this whole ordeal might enf up there."

Her sister's vagueness about 'unfinished business' was odd, but Natalya didn't let it distract her from the big picture here; that her sister left her son with her parents while she went out running the Wastes. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Natalya felt a headache coming on from all of the stress she was facing.

"I'm really sorry. I promise I'll help, though! I brought tons of stimpaks and have plenty of money to buy more along the way. I mean, if you let me come with. And if you're even really travelling somewhere. Who knows, maybe the person you're looking for is right behind those walls!" Arianna pointed to the pathetic rubble that was once a small town.

Right, the low-life that shot her. Natalya slowly came out of her clouded state of overwhelm and confusion of her sister's situation. "So is Jace with mom and dad?" She asked calmly. The blonde nodded, "Yes, they agreed to watch him until we returned. They encouraged me to follow you, you know. They just want to make sure you stay safe."

Her sister's words were sincere and she realized that her sister would be a great benefit to the group. Neither she nor Boone had much experience with medicines and healing. And even though Arianna wasn't the best at holding her own in a fight, she could still manage. And her charisma would certainly benefit them more than, say, Boone's…

"Ok, you can come. Is that fine with you two?" Natalya questioned Boone and ED-E, who gave a nod and beeped their approval. Arianna squealed in delight, "Yay, all of us together will be unstoppable! Now let's go get those hostages free," she ran in the direction of the NCR soldiers as the rest of the group followed.

"At least she's enthusiastic," Boone remarked. "Yep, we won't have many quiet moments with Ria around," Natalya noted.

Stranger watched the scene in front of him curiously. He couldn't hear a word anyone was saying, but it looked like the courier was actually allowing her sister to come with her group. Well, no matter, hopefully the blonde just won't mention anything about a weird man in a trench coat.

He continued to watch as the blonde approached the NCR soldier. They exchanged words and she nodded to her sister and walked through an old door that led into the rubble of a city.

After what seemed like a half an hour, the blonde emerged with some NCR soldiers and Great Khans. Amazingly, the two very different factions weren't threatening or bothering each other at all. Stranger rubbed his chin in slight confusion, wishing he could hear the conversation being held below.

"…and he gave me this," Arianna told her sister as she handed her a silver lighter, engraved with a 'B.' "Interesting," Natalya said, taking the lighter and inspecting it, "So it looks like we have a date with Mr. checkered-suit-Benny in New Vegas. That is, unless we catch him first."

"All right! See; I told you this sounded like the job of a New Vegas dog! Well, let's get a move on! I can take you guys straight to New Vegas!" Arianna led the way as the others followed, "We'll get back on the main road and take that right into New Vegas. There are a few stops along the way if you guys are hungry or need to stock up. Don't spend too many caps, though!"

Boone and Natalya exchanged looks at being bossed around by Arianna, but they both shrugged it off. They had gotten a huge lead and they had somebody who knew the exact way to New Vegas. What could possibly go wrong?

so, um, HI.

I totally wasn't able to write hardly anything on my maternity leave, but here is this!

Like I said before, I'm definitely not abandoning this story! I just have had a lot on my plate with a new baby. Really not as easy as it seemed, plus I like to spend time with her. I try to type when she's sleeping and I have extra energy. excuse, excuse... :p

so anyways, I am actually farther along in this story, just at different parts though (like when they arrive into New Vegas, for example.) the problem is that stories have to go in order...you getting this?

lawl, anyways, what I'm trying to say is I'm struggling with typing to the exciting parts! because all of this crap I'm typing now already happens in the game and everyone is aware of what happens , capiche?

bleh, late night ramblings. ANYWAYS, review, let me know of any errors, you know the drill!

3