"Morning, bitch! It's five in the afternoon, so I figured it was time to get you up. Can't sleep the remainder of our shortened lives away."

Six glared at Cass, who had tossed a set of clothing at her face. "You're awfully chipper." Her expression softened. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I'll never be okay again," Cass said. "It hurts, constantly. Especially knowing that if I'd never met him, he'd still be alive. But every time I think about him, I start crying and dissolve into a useless puddle, and I'm not any good to anyone in that condition. So I'm taking the pain and turning it into a ball of rage, which I will then fire onto my enemies."

"That's not a healthy coping mechanism, Cass."

"And yours is?"

"Pretty much the same. Which is why I know it's not healthy."

"Like any of us is going to live long enough to die of a heart attack." Her voice was flat. "Arcade said to take a shower, get dressed, and he'll be up in fifteen minutes with some food. Then we're having a meeting downstairs, first just us four, then everyone, to figure out what we want to do."

After Cass left, Six tore off her filthy armor, making a note to burn it later. She took a long, hot shower, then looked at herself in the mirror. She frowned at the bruises on her neck and her long, tangled hair. Might be time for a change. Finding a pair of scissors in a storage trunk, she set to work on her hair, turning it into a serviceable pixie cut. I should have done this a long time ago. It feels like my head can breathe again. Pretty cute, too!

"What are you doing to your hair?" Arcade asked from the doorway. She hadn't even noticed him walking in. "Is this like in one of those old novels, where the heroine goes crazy and starts shearing off her hair while crying and giggling? Are you going to punch a mirror and scream that you're not pretty anymore next?"

"I'm just sick of long hair. It's a pain in the ass to put it in a bun, it's always getting dirty, and people keep using it to drag me across the ground." Another thought came to her. "Oh, and no one realizes I've cut my hair! So they might not recognize me on sight."

"That's not a bad idea, Six," Arcade conceded. "And it does look good. I'm glad you did it. And equally glad that you didn't come to me. Despite all the stereotypes, I am not adept at styling women's hair. I brought you food and some medicine to heal that gunshot wound. How about you tell me what happened in the woods?"

"Are you sure? It contains scenes of graphic violence, profanity and adult content."

She told him a brief and slightly edited version of the story, leaving out the idea of surrendering, which she couldn't bring herself to even mention to Arcade. She ended up breaking down in tears anyway. "And so he said he was going to torture the trooper for information, and after what I'd heard on the holotape, I just said 'Do what you want with him, I don't care'! And then he burned the camp down and fucked me beside it, while the trooper was still dying on the cross! Am I really that corrupt, am I that messed up in the in the head, that I couldn't even try to stop it?"

He held onto her until she stopped crying. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"No," she admitted. "But I'm not any less okay than I've been for the past year. My life has been constantly not-okay since the Securitrons deactivated. I just … what are we going to do, Arcade? We're completely fucked. Any way you look at it, we're completely fucked. We can't even stay here and hide anymore, not after the war is over, since they know where we are."

"Well, we'll talk it out with Vero and Cass downstairs. I'm sure someone will come up with an idea." He sighed. "Do you ever wish we'd just sided with the NCR at the Dam? I know you did before, but do you still think that?"

"Yes. Constantly. We'd have thrown in our lot with a bunch of two-faced bastards, but at least we wouldn't have a price on our heads. At this point, I'd have sided with the fucking Legion, Arcade, so you know exactly how bad things have gotten. My moral standards are pretty much in shreds at this point. I'd sell my soul to the Devil himself if it would get us out of this mess."

That reminded her. "Arcade, what happened in Vegas before I got there? What did you do for Caesar? Let's put all our cards on the table now. I think I deserve to know the truth."

"Okay, but it doesn't make me look very good," he said, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "Caesar was dying, Six. He had a brain tumor. Benign, but enough to cause complications. So they grabbed me, said I had to do the surgery or they'd kill all of you in front of me. And I was dumb enough to believe that you guys would be safe if I did it. This could have been over, if I'd just made one wrong cut, and I couldn't. Thousands of people have died, because I was a coward."

"You did what you had to do to try and save us," she said. "It's not your fault that they're evil. And killing Caesar wouldn't have done anything, not really. It wouldn't have stopped the war. They've got a whole line of succession. Whoever replaced him would have probably been worse."

"Forgive me?"

"There's nothing that needs to be forgiven, Arcade. God, you heard what I did before. I'm not in any position to judge anyone for their fucked-up behavior in fucked-up situations. Ready to go downstairs and admit that we don't have a clue what to do next?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Want some whiskey in that Nuka-Cola? It might make this meeting easier."

"Yes, please. If we survive this I'm going to become an alcoholic, just for fun. Maybe a jet addict, too."

As Six had expected, none of them had a workable plan. Cass suggested just going out into the battle and killing whoever they got their hands on first, which was quickly vetoed as pointless. Veronica had a vague idea about seeking refuge with the Brotherhood of Steel, but with the nearest bunker hundreds of miles away, they couldn't figure out a way to get there. Arroyo was out, since they were wanted by the NCR. Staying in the Vault was out, since the Legion knew where it was.

"Okay, let's go back to basics," Arcade sighed. "Who's going to win? Who do we want to win? What do we want out of all this? Do we want safety or revenge?"

"I think the Legion's going to win," Veronica said. "Especially if they're able to attack from the north. Shady Sands is a city of relatively pampered civilians. Once they get through the NCR's best, it'll be like a knife through butter."

"Anyone disagree?" No one did. "Okay. Who do we want to win?"

"Us?" Cass volunteered. "Really, I don't want either of them to win. Drop a nuke on the whole mess and let God sort it out."

"We're damned either way," Six said. "If the NCR wins, regardless if we help them or not, they'll execute us. If the Legion wins, they'll execute us if we're lucky, and I'm not feeling very lucky lately. But I don't think we should be fighting for the NCR just because they'll kill us less painfully. That's a terrible reason to die."

"I don't even know if the NCR winning would be better for the world," Veronica said. "The Legion is overexpanding. If they get beaten here, they'll just go back and lick their wounds, then try again in a few years. If they win, they'll keep going north, stretch themselves too thin and go down in flames. Empires tend to do that."

"Is it our job to make that call?" Arcade asked.

"Does anyone really, really think that we're going to make a damn bit of difference once the shooting starts?" Cass snarled. "We've got thirty people, maybe ten of whom would do well in combat. Other than that, we're good at infiltration and quick attacks. If we go up against anyone in a fair fight, we're going to get beaten down."

"So … last question. Do we care about safety, or vengeance?"

"Vengeance," all four of them said simultaneously. Arcade laughed. "At least we agree on that."

"No one here at this table is getting out alive," Cass said. "So we might as well get our revenge."

Something was forming in Six's head, a plan, half-baked, cobbled together from bits and pieces of their conversation. She couldn't tell any of them the full extent, might not ever be able to tell them, until it was too late. But she could lay the groundwork.

"Whatever we do, I think we need to send everyone else away once the fighting starts," Six said. "Like Cass mentioned, half the people in here can't fight, and they'll be sitting ducks for whoever wins. Once the battle breaks out, Swank and a few of the other combat-ready guys can escort everyone up to Vault 13 using the northwest route. No one will notice a group of refugees in all that mess."

"They're not going to like that," Veronica said.

"Tough luck. We bought our ticket to this ride when we busted out of Vegas. But I'm not letting anyone innocent die because of us."