CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE ALL-AMERICAN BOY

She found Boone leaning on the rail of the overpass, looking over the waste to the lights of New Vegas, cigarette in his hand. She thought about leaving him be, but decided that he had to know about the recent addition sooner rather than later. Her feet brought her closer, slowly. He didn't notice, or didn't show a sign of noticing, until Ash was a few feet away. He nodded to her.

"I thought you only smoked cigars."

"Yeah. Usually." He took a long draw.

She lit one of her own. "I had stopped smoking a year or so back. Thought I'd do it for my health."

"What happened?"

She breathed the smoke out through her nostrils. "Got shot in the head and figured life out here is too short to worry much about long-term health."

"Mm."

"What about you?"

"Just a comfort. Cigars are better, but they're rare."

"Yeah, they are." She rested herself forward, arms on the railing, a copy of his pose. "Sorry about before. Veronica is… outgoing."

"Yeah."

Ash looked to her side, to watch him smoke. She hadn't exactly had any intimate thoughts about her companion. He wasn't the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen, but he was better than plain. Would help a lot if he smiled more. Or smiled at all. But he was more in shape than most, and was a damn good shot, and strength and guns and sweat and blood were sort of her thing. Not that it'd ever work out. He was too damaged, too broken up over his wife and who knows what else. Veronica had planted a seed, though.

She flicked the ash off the end of her cigarette. It drifted down to the ruined road below. "She wants to come with us. Veronica. Says she'd be helpful."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. What do you think?"

"Your call."

"Can I at least get your opinion?"

"She's outgoing." He might have smiled for a split second. It was tough to tell.

"You're hilarious." She brought her cigarette up to her lips and let it linger there until she finished her next sentence. "I want to bring her along."

"Fine by me."

"But if she gets on your nerves, tell me. If I had to pick, I'd rather travel with you." She wasn't sure why she had to add in that last part. Maybe she was subconsciously trying to flirt with him. Dammit, Veronica.

He glanced at her, eyebrows raised behind his sunglasses. His mouth opened briefly like he was about to say something, but he only nodded. They smoked in silence for a while after that. When the chill of the night fully set in, she stamped her cigarette out on the rail and turned to go.

"Hey, wait."

She looked back to him. "Hm?"

"Your hat's not in the best shape." He was reaching into his pocket for something.

"Thanks?" She reached up to touch it. It had seen better days.

"Here, you can have this." He handed her a folded piece of red cloth.

She neatened it out in her hands and stared up at him. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Been carrying the spare around, haven't had any use for it. It's yours."

"Wow, Boone. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"It's no—"

She hugged him. She instantly regretted it because he didn't return it, not at all – had she really expected him to? – and he tensed and it was awkward. In an attempt to flee the situation, she stepped back, mumbled out another 'thank you', and walked quickly back to the tents. But it wasn't all bad. After all, she was now the proud owner of a 1st Recon beret. She might've not liked the NCR, but they did have nice hats.

"So, how's it look?"

Boone swallowed his mouthful of food and looked up from the table. Ash was standing proudly, hands on her hips, her dark hair tied back behind her head, red beret perched on top. She looked happy. "Not bad."

"Hm. When did you get up?"

"About an hour ago."

"What's on the menu today?" She eyed his plate.

"More steak. Here, you can have it." He slid it in her direction.

She sat next to him. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Full." He had already eaten two. Undereating had never been an issue in Novac, but last night he had realized that effort was necessary to avoid it out here.

"You ate more than just that bite, right?"

"Yeah. Like I said, got up an hour ago."

"Okay, good." She cut off a sizeable chunk of brahmin and chewed. "Mmm. Glad to know you're eating more now. You were losing weight."

"Yeah?" So it had been noticeable. Boone thought that only he and his belt knew.

"Yeah. Saw you weren't eating enough on our first day together. When we went to the Mojave Outpost, you barely ate as much as I did, and you've got more than a half a foot on me, not to mention a lot of weight."

He took a sip from his glass of water. "Didn't have to eat as much when I moved to Novac. Lately got used to barely eating at all."

"That's healthy." She bit into another slab, swallowing before she continued. "But I understand. When I left New Adytum for the first time I almost starved myself. Got real skinny before I figured that out."

"You're from New Adytum?"

"Yeah, born and raised. Well, spent most of my time in the outskirts, the Boneyard. But it all kind of blends together."

He ran a hand over his jaw. Stubble. He wasn't used to that yet either. He glanced over his shoulder for anyone else who was up, but nobody was awake in the dawn light but the trading post's owner, who wasn't anywhere nearby. Satisfied, Boone looked back to Ash.

"You asked me how I knew Carla was dead."

She paused in the middle of licking steak juice off of her finger and looked up.

He dropped his voice. Didn't want to risk anyone else hearing what he was about to say. "When I realized what had happened, that she was gone, I followed after them. They were easy to track. Thought I'd catch up with them fast, take them out from a distance, save her. But it took longer to find them. When I did, they were at a huge camp. Legionaries and slaves everywhere. They were selling them." He felt his jaw tensing and looked away from Ash and her worried eyes, towards the wasteland. "All I had was my rifle. Would've been suicide to run in and try to find her, and she still would've had to live like that." He swallowed. "When I saw her through my scope, I took the shot."

"Shit, Boone." He felt the warmth of her hand close over his own, which were balled into fists on the table. He looked to her. Her eyes were wide and concerned. Legitimately concerned, not pitying. Her voice was soft. "Nobody should have to go through that."

He pulled his hands back from hers. His mind scrambled for something to say, anything to pull him away from those dark thoughts. "So now you know. Never told anyone else."

"Thank you. Really. Thank you for telling me."

He shifted away from her, standing up from the bench. "Gonna go pack."

"Sure. And, Boone?" She waited until he turned around again. "You don't need to go through everything alone. Remember that."

He nodded and walked away.