"There I was, just a spit's reach from Primm. There were two hombres after my head and I had just run out of ammo. I was aiming to reunite Old Mrs. Johansson with her children, and I reckoned it would get mighty ugly if the younguns were there for the firefight. So I turned to the elder Johansson boy, his name was Jimmy, and I said, "Jimmy, you take your younger brother and hide behind those rocks. Ol' Victor will take care of this."

The Courier sat at the kitchen table, listening to Victor's story while stitching a tear in Cass's jacket. Next to her was Veronica, tinkering with a disassembled power fist. At the end of the table, Arcade was just finishing screwing the last replacement screw into his glasses.

The securitron continued, its face screen changing expressions as it spoke, "So, now that the boys are hidden, I figured I was in a sore bit of trouble without anything for my guns to shoot. That's when I see the old landmine on the ground. And as I'm picking the thing up, here comes the McLauderly brothers, smiling like devils…"

Just outside of the kitchen, Cass stood in the hallway, arms crossed over her chest. Nearby, Raul was examined the newspaper articles hanging on the wall.

"I don't like that robot, and I don't trust House," Cass said sourly.

The ghoul chuckled. "I don't think anybody in their right mind would trust House." He stood by Cass's side, looking into the room at the group gathered around Victor. "But good luck getting rid of that one." The Courier and Veronica laughed at something the robot had said.

"Sometimes she acts like a damn ten-year-old," Cass said, glowering in the direction of The Courier. The ghoul just laughed again, then walked off to take a look at the leaking faucet in the bathroom. Cass listened as Victor continued his story.

"…'Just hand over them brats' the ugly one says. Of course I'm not going to let them know the boys were a scant few feet away, so they draw. But as they do, I throw the mine. I guess old lady luck was still right with me, 'cause the mine catches one of the bullets and blows them to smithereens!"

The Courier grinned, starting on another hole in the jacket. As she did, Boone walked into the room, gave the robot a look, and headed for the fridge. The Courier notice him taking a barrel cactus fruit and grabbed one of the tiny wrenches Veronica was using, throwing it at the sniper.

It hit him in the arm and he turned, glaring. The girl was nonplused. "Keep out of those! They're for dinner!"

"Fine," he sighed, putting the fruit back and stalking away.

The Courier sighed. "Oh, if you're going to mope, go ahead and take one…" She thought she detected a smirk from the man as he went back and retrieved the fruit from the refrigerator. He picked up the wrench and dropped it on the pile of Veronica's tools as he left the room.

He passed Cass on the way out, who was still glowering at both the robot and The Courier. He nodded to her as he passed, heading toward the bedroom, when the woman spoke up.

"You think this place is bugged?"

The sniper shrugged, swallowing a mouthful of cactus fruit. "Probably."

Cass nodded, looking angrier. "We shouldn't be staying here…"

"I don't know about that." Raul came in from the bathroom. "It's safe, and as long as House wants what we want, he's got no reason to get rid of us."

Cass still looked angry. "I still don't like it. And what are we going to do now that Benny bailed?"

"He'll surface sooner or later," Boone said around a mouthful of fruit. "He's still got the chip, and it's supposed to work here at the 38."

*.*.*

"Did you get the boys home?" Veronica asked, examining her now slightly bent wrench.

"Well, little lady," Victor answered, "That's the darnedest thing. When we got back, the Johansson house was on fire. Old Lady Johansson was outside with a wild look on her face. When I asked her what happened, and she tells me she set the place on fire, as she couldn't bare to be there without her boys. Well I had her boys right with me, so she got even crazier."

"Hey, you got an alligator wrench?" Raul strolled in, looking for Veronica. The girl sorted through her pile of tools, producing one. The ghoul took it. "Thanks." He strolled off again without another word. The Courier held up the jacket she had been patching, admiring her handiwork.

"Hey, hold on just a sec, Victor. I'll be right back." The girl got up and left the kitchen, taking the jacket with her. She came to an abrupt stop when she found half the group staring at her from the hallway.

"Not another intervention. I only tried Mentats once. I'm not going to use them again…" Gauging the look they were all giving her, she figured this was another serious gathering.

"What's our next move, Boss?" Raul asked.

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well… Why don't we check out The Strip? The Chairmen are looking into where Benny got to… So we might as well hang around and see what they turn up."

"So, basically, we're doing nothing," Cass said, glowering. The Courier held up her fixed coat, and the glare faded from the older woman.

"Not 'nothing.' I'm sure there's plenty of trouble we can get into here."

"That you excel at, Boss," Raul said dryly.

"Funny." She looked over at Boone. "What happened to those pants with the hole? I'll stitch them up." The sniper started towards the bedroom, Courier in tow. Raul and Cass watched them go. Cass nudged Raul, nodding at the two as they walked off. The ghoul nodded in response as the pair disappeared into the bedroom.

*.*.*

A couple minutes later, The Courier return with a pair of pants in her arms. Veronica looked at them as the other girl sat down next to her.

"What's with those?"

The brunette laughed, holding up the pants to the other girl. "A coyote got Boone in the butt a couple weeks ago." Sure enough, there was a rip in the seat of the pants. Veronica laughed as the Courier started to thread her needle.

"Go on, Victor. What happened next?" the girl prompted.

The robot continued. "It wasn't long before the townspeople in Primm sent her packing. Couldn't deal with her particular kind of crazy, I guess. I reckon that was wise, as she said she was fixing to start torching the rest of the town as she was leaving. But I had done my piece, and they sent me on my way with my payment."

"That's some story, Victor." The Courier grinned at the robot. "Did you do that kind of thing a lot?"

"You bet your boots, little lady, but I don't want to bore you with all this cowpoke's old stories. Now you go on about your day. Ol' Victor's gonna mosey back to the elevator." With that, the robot rolled out of the room and back to the hallway.