Layla rolled away from the Ghost Person's swing, getting only a minor cut down her shoulder. She drew the pistol from her hip and fired at the creature, scoring a shot to the head. It clattered to the ground, and she started scanning for others. She could hear them, and it sounded like they were everywhere.
The Courier pulled herself awkwardly to her feet and hobbled toward the terminal at the front of the lobby. Hopefully it was still online, even after security had been closed down. Just as she reached it, she heard the sharp intake of air that usually meant a Ghost had spotted her.
She ducked her head down and started furiously tapping at the computer. After a few moments, she grinned and keyed a command, ducking completely under the counter. For a moment, she thought nothing had happened. Then there was a loud humming and the sound of energy shots as the security holograms started tearing into the ghosts. After a few very loud moments, the room quieted.
Reaching overhead carefully, Layla keyed off the holograms, and the humming softened. She peeked her head over the counter and let out a low whistle at the number of fried ghost bodies.
Now her shoulder throbbed along with her leg, and there was a tear in her new armor. She felt along the new cut. It was more of a scratch, but she didn't like how the opening in the armor's body suit made her feel exposed. She dug through her bag, hoping she could find something to fix the tear. All she had was an old pre-war hat that resembled the color of the body suit. As quickly as she could, she patched the tear. It actually looked halfway decent when she was done.
While she was at it, she checked her guns. The pistol she'd found at the police station had been her favored weapon, and it's condition reflected it. She looked at the 9mm she had found along the way and squinted. The components weren't exactly a fit, but she started taking the 9mm apart. After a little jury rigging Raul would be proud of, she had fixed the magnum.
Now all she had to do was find Dog/God and Christine. She started tapping on her Pip-Boy and found the marker for Dog/God's collar was closer. Carefully hobbling over the Ghost bodies, she headed their way.
*.*.*
The smell of propane filled the kitchen of the Cantina Madrid, nearly choking Layla as she entered. She immediately spotted a gas line which had been tampered with. Being extra careful, the girl closed the gas feed. As she finished, she heard the voices of Dog and God.
"Dog wants it to end." That couldn't be good. The Courier slowly peeked into the main area of the kitchen and found Dog/God standing in the middle of the room, his expression changing eerily each time one of them spoke.
"If you do this, we'll both-" God's voice faltered as Layla stepped into view slowly.
"God? Dog? What's going on?" She moved carefully, not making any sudden moves. She spotted another valve spewing gas into the air in the pipe work.
"Dog remembers you. You put Dog in the cage." The nightkin sounded despondent as Layla slowly made her way to the open gas line.
"I can't control him. He won't listen to me! He'll ignite the whole casino!" God's voice rang out as Layla quickly closed the pipe and turned back. Dog was clearly in control now as he stepped menacingly toward her. The look on his face was confused and enraged at the same time.
"Don't run, Dog break you so you can't run." He started for her, and the girl backed up, nearly tripping on her injured leg. She held her hands out to him.
"Dog, please, you don't have to do this!"
The nightkin stopped short, not quite close enough to reach her. The confusion resurfaced on his face, and Layla could see both personalities battle for control.
"I can't stop him! Tell him to pull the leash, end this!" God yelled to her, sounding panicked. She was certain she could talk Dog into to doing it, rip the chain around his neck hard enough to kill himself. That didn't mean she planned to. Dog was fumbling near one of the stoves, and Layla shouted to him.
"Wait, wait! Dog, can you hear me?" The nightkin looked at her. "You're talking to the voice; you two can hear each other, right?"
"Dog can hear the voice." He sounded more confused than angry now. Layla wasn't very well versed in psychology, well, beyond what her instincts told her about people, but the two voices had never spoken to each other directly before. That had to mean something. An idea was forming in her mind as she took a small step closer, hands still raised.
"Good. Look at the voice, Dog; it's water. Look into the water." At first, the nightkin gave her an incredulous look, then furrowed his brow.
"It… The voice looks like Dog." Yes. That's what Layla wanted.
"You-you were me the whole time," God said, sounding amazed.
"Good." They had somehow made it most of the way themselves. Layla knew it would only take another push. "Good. Now Dog, go into the water, join with the voice." She was surprised when the super mutant looked at her mournfully.
"Dog doesn't want to forget you." She could see God's mannerisms take hold as she gave him a confused look.
"If we do this, we will forget you, forget everything… and we will not be able to help you with Elijah. I… we don't want you to have to face him alone…"
The Courier gave him a smile. "That doesn't matter; what matters is that you heal."
Both sides of the nightkin contemplated her words, then God answered, "Thank you, you've been much better to us than we to you. When you get to Elijah, be sure to save yourself, like you saved us. Otherwise I'll be angry."
Layla smiled again, and Dog/God closed their eyes and became silent. After a moment, the nightkin's body crumpled to the ground, and Layla moved out of habit to try to catch him. Before she got close enough, confused eyes opened and looked at her.
"What…where am I?" The voice sounded like God, but with a hint of Dog's gentle inflection. Layla took a step back as the nightkin stood. "Who are you?"
"I'm a friend," Layla said. "Are you okay?"
"I…I don't know." He looked down at his arm, "This… bear trap is stuck to my arm, so much pain."
"Here." Layla pushed some stimpaks and Med-X into the mutant's hands. She wanted to stay with him and bring him up to speed, but she couldn't linger. "I have to move on. This place is dangerous. You need to escape."
"Forgive me, but I…" The nightkin gave Layla an appraising look. "I don't remember you, but I think I know you. You've helped me."
The Courier shrugged at him with a smile. There really wasn't time to go over all of this. She could run it down quickly, but it would be probably more confusing. "Please, you need to get to a safe place… Will you be okay?"
"I just need to rest a moment. I will be okay."
Layla nodded, moving to leave the kitchen. She stopped, looking back at the nightkin.
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye… friend."
*.*.*
"I'm not leaving."
"What?" Layla was lying on a medical table, trying very hard not to look at what the Auto-Doc was doing to her leg. Instead she focused on Christine and her apparently new voice, both of which she had found in the hotel suites. "What do you mean you're not leaving?"
"I… I'm staying here. This place is dangerous. Someone needs to tend to it. And Elijah needs to die for what he's done. He's responsible for much worse than what's happened here." She looked over at the Courier as the Auto-Doc cut into her leg.
"I… Ow! God DAMN that hurts! Listen, you can't just stay here. You've got to go back." She bit her lip and refused to look down at her leg. "Back to reprogramming power fists with Veronica."
She really hadn't meant to say that, and Christine's face indicated she really hadn't expected it either. Both women stared at each other for a moment, eyes wide. Layla opened her mouth to try to smooth it over, but instead let out a particularly filthy swear as the Auto-Doc made another break in her shinbone. Christine seemed to have thrown the shock off and chose to ignore the other's outburst.
"He… he's why Veronica and I were separated. When he went rogue, I was ordered by the Brotherhood to track him down once word had come back from some of the things he was doing. I followed him to a place called the Big Empty. It was full of old world medical tech. That's where I got these scars, why I can't read. They stuck electrodes in my head and lit it up like a flashlight."
"Electric shock treatments," Layla breathed as she felt the bones of her leg get manipulated further. "Pre-war stuff, not good."
"No kidding. Elijah trapped me there just so he could escape."
"How did you get out?"
"I was rescued, by another courier." There was amusement in her voice. "I guess you guys really are dependable."
"We aim to please." Layla relaxed on the bench. The thing seemed to be done moving her bones around.
"Well, he helped me out, helped me heal. Said he knew what it was like to track someone down who made an impact on their life."
There was a 'ding,' and the Auto-Doc went back to it's original position. Layla peeked down and found her leg bandaged. She stood and tested it. It still hurt enough to make her limp, but it didn't feel 'wrong' like it had before. She thought for a moment on her next step. Christine could get her into the vault now that she had Vera's voice. She looked up at the other woman, and a thought crossed her mind.
"If you're planning on staying… what am I going to tell Veronica?" Judging by the face Christine made, she had been preparing for this question.
"Don't tell her I was here."
"Wha- How could I keep that from her? She still loves-" Layla bit down on her lip hard enough to make it bleed. That treacherous Auto-Doc must have given her Med-X. It always loosened her tongue.
Christine looked sad, but not surprised. "I can't leave, not even for her, not even if she came to find me. If she knew about this, it would only upset her for nothing. "
"She thinks you didn't want to be with her. She thinks you left the Brotherhood."
"I know. It's better this way. Besides… I have left the Brotherhood." The woman gave Layla an almost pleading look. "You've got to promise me you won't tell her about any of this. At least anything concerning me."
The Courier sighed heavily and started pacing around the room. She stopped and faced the other woman. "All right, I promise."
Christine smiled humorlessly at her. "Thank you."
Layla turned away from her, taking a last look around the suite. She found herself staring into the bedroom, where "Let go" had been scrawled on the wall, and Med-X syringes littered the floor surrounding a skeleton in a red and black dress, the remains of Vera Keyes.
"She was trapped in here," Christine said as she walked up behind the Courier. "According to the Auto-Doc's files, she had a terminal disease. All the Med-X at her disposal was for the pain. I guess she decided to end it rather than be trapped when the bombs fell." The woman looked around the room. "I don't understand this place. It was a casino, but it had a vault? Why would the builder make the lock her voice?"
"He loved her…" Layla said, looking at the body. "It was all for her."
Both women were silent for a moment, then Layla found herself eyeing the dress on the skeleton. She usually refused to disturb the pre-war bodies one found all over the Mojave and beyond, but damn that was a nice dress…
"Well, we can access the vault now, right? I'll get it open."
Layla took a last look at Vera, feeling her heart ache for the woman, then turned away. Soon they were in the hallway that lead to the vault. While Christine fiddled with the door, Layla noticed a safe in the room and occupied herself by picking the lock. As Christine got the door open, she heard the Courier laugh. She looked and found the girl holding up an exact replica of the dress Vera had worn.
"Ah, fate has a funny sense of humor," Layla said as she rolled up the dress and stuffed it into her bag, which was getting pretty full at this point. And with the auto rifle and the new shotgun strapped to her back, she probably looked like crazed militant. She started walking for the door.
"I'm going to wait here. Be careful down there. Elijah won't want to let you leave." Layla stopped, mid-stride. Something about the way she said that…
"You're planning on waiting for him, aren't you? You want to kill him." Christine turned to Layla, a wary look on her face. She apparently hadn't expected the other woman to guess her plan.
"I… He can't be allowed to live. The things he's done to so many people…" The bald woman's hands clenched at her sides. Layla recognized the look on her face; rage. The kind that made you blind and sloppy in a fight.
"Christine, let me take care of him."
"No, I…" She looked at Layla, then sighed heavily. "I can't."
"Listen, if I don't make it, and he tries to escape, he'll have to come back this way to get out. You'll be the last one left to stop him. Do it if you have to. Otherwise, let it go, or it'll destroy you."
"You can't let him live."
Layla gave her a humorless grin. "He basically told me he's going to use the tech in this place to kill most of the Mojave. I hadn't really planned on letting him do that."
Christine frowned, then nodded. "Okay… I'll go up a level, otherwise he'll pick up my collar."
Layla nodded. "Okay… Don't tell me where you're going, just be careful."
Christine nodded and took the Courier's hand, giving it a squeeze. Neither woman spoke as they parted ways.
Both mine and my editor's thoughts and prayers go out to those effected by the recent tragedy.
