The Second Battle for Hoover Dam arrives faster than any of them thought it would. The Legion begins flooding in through nooks and crannies like so many vermin. The Courier destroys the ones in the drainage pipes, and a stony expression is locked onto her pale face. She is surrounded by her comrades, but Boone follows the closest behind her, killing any legionary that dares to come near her.
They both keep their eyes open, searching for the same man for different reasons.
Vulpes is at the Dam despite Caesar's orders to stay away. He has to see her one last time, no matter how this all ends. Some small, vain part of him hopes that Legion victory at the Dam will spare her, and she can live out her life at his side.
He spots her in the middle of a writhing mass of soldiers, giving orders and looking every bit like a queen. She wears the flag of the Bear proudly on her back, and that dashes any lingering hope he may have felt about their future.
She has made her choice, for better or worse. He just wishes her choice had been him.
He follows her as her group dwindles, some troops getting overrun with legionaries, and others branching off to fight their own battles. She and her friends make their way to the Legate, and everything in Vulpes' being screams at him to stop her.
He simply watches her, hoping her sniper will protect her where he cannot.
Vulpes loses sight of her when they enter the Legate's Camp, and begins to panic.
Boone loses sight of the Courier once they're inside the Legate's Camp. She runs ahead after he told her to stay close to him. She looks like she's running from something rather than to something.
He tells himself not to panic, and begins searching for her. An ocean of legionaries swarm, and he fights them off as well as he can manage. He sees her standing in front of a masked beast of a man, and fights his way toward her harder. He reaches them, covered in the blood of countless dead legionaries, and pulls her behind him. He holds his gun at the ready, and the Legate laughs. The Monster of the East turns his back on the duo, and his legionaries fall back behind him. Boone watches the group leave with a sense of awed rage. A gentle touch brings Boone back to the present. He looks down at the Courier, and she smiles.
"How in the hell did you do that?" he asks.
"Just lucky, I guess." She takes him by the arm, and leads him away. She strolls up to an amazed General Oliver, and he goes to follow her. A familiar blur catches his eyes, and he makes his way to the water where he finds Vulpes.
They stare at each other across the Mojave dirt, each waiting for the other to move.
Boone raises his rifle, and Vulpes tenses, like a caged animal. He briefly entertains the notion of calling out for the Courier, but stifles his voice. He is not a coward, and he will face his death, if not willingly, then with a sense of dignity.
It would be so easy to take the shot, Boone thinks. He cocks his rifle, and Vulpes takes a reluctant step back. He would just be considered another casualty. He sees genuine fear in the other man's eyes, and that stays his hand. He slowly lowers his rifle.
"Why?" spills out of Vulpes' mouth before he can stop it.
"I've killed enough defenseless people in my life," Boone answers.
"Had our positions been reversed, I would have shot you in a heartbeat," Vulpes says warily, looking for the sniper's hidden agenda.
"Guess that proves which one of us is the better man," Boone says, motioning past Vulpes. "Get out of here. " Vulpes' eyes stray unwillingly to the Courier in the distance. She's looking around for the sniper. "If you come back to take Courier, I will shoot you," Boone warns. Vulpes nods resignedly, his icy eyes locked on Boone's deep blue ones. He takes slow steps back, one after the other, before turning and leaving the two behind.
When Boone makes his way back to the Courier, he knows he isn't the first person she had hoped to see. But she greets him lovingly anyway, and that's good enough for him. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her close, and watches the fading speck of Vulpes until he is out of sight.