My cat is seeing snow for the first time and it is absolutely adorable. Also, thank you guys so much for the reviews! It all means so much to me! I'll try to respond more personally when I can. I'm just completely drained after moving into a new house and cleaning all the mouse droppings out of every cupboard.

Also, this is still going to be a Courier/Boone fanfic. I have this planned out how I'm going to do it. I'm aiming for a whole shit ton of bad things happening one after the other. So stay tuned.

Since we left at the same time, Vulpes and I had to ride the boat all the way back with Benny.

I found myself hoping that Benny wouldn't bring up the events from the last time we had seen each other, and thankfully, he didn't. At least not for a while

Benny kept casting nervous glances at Vulpes, who kept his icy glare leveled on him.

I sighed, letting my feet drag in the water, enjoying the cool water.

"So, baby," Benny began but I had spotted another mirelurk and was aiming my rifle.

He sighed while he waited and I fired, killing it in one clean shot.

"Wow, guess I'm glad our situations weren't reversed," Benny commented, his eyes fixing on my scoped hunting rifle.

I shrugged, a grin on my face. "Yeah. I would have made sure the job was done right and with one bullet, not two. By the way, thanks for that." I rolled my eyes, enjoying the way he squirmed nervously at my sarcasm.

"Fuck. I already said I was sorry. Don't know what else I can do for you, baby. I already gave you my body."

I rolled my eyes, my cheeks heating. I refused to look at Vulpes. I wanted to ask about the strip. If he was really going to attempt to take it over, but I stopped myself, realizing that there were still two legionaries within earshot who would love to hear about potential political plans they could take advantage of.

"So what are you gonna do now baby?" Benny asked, a grin on his face. "Your one goal is completed. You found me. Now what?"

I noticed Vulpes look up slightly at this. The movement was barely noticeable, but I was supposed to be a sniper for gods' sakes. "I don't really know. I've just been doing odd jobs for people every now and then."

"You could come back to Vegas with me. You and I could be a date."

I shrugged. "No. I need to figure shit out. Sorry."

"No, I get it. You've gotta get back to your friends on the coast."

I froze. "What?"

"When I met you, didn't you say that you had some friends on the coast who were waiting for you?"

I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell him that he was confused and delusional. But I knew that it was me who was delusional. I just opened and closed my mouth.

"You said they were closer than family. That they-"

"I honestly don't remember saying that," I snapped. "The only thing I remember about my life is getting shot in the head. Anything after that is completely gone." My tone had picked up a cold, biting edge.

Vulpes had glanced over at me again.

Benny froze, staring at me for a while. Then he ran a hand through his hair. "Shit." He ran a hand over his mouth. "Fuck." He finally clenched his hands in his lap. "I'm so sorry baby..."

I looked away. "It's whatever." My tone was cold. Then I sighed, letting it go. "Did I say where on the coast?"

"No, sorry." He was watching me carefully.

I nodded.

We rode the rest of the trip in silence.

When we landed, Benny cast an anxious glance around the crucified bodies and legionaries. "Thanks for not killing me. Again." He said, looking like he was going to lean in for a kiss or a hug.

I took a step back.

He smiled, understanding. "I'll see you around maybe, sweetheart."

I nodded. "Yeah, eventually I have to go back to the Lucky 38."

"Hope House doesn't get too pissed at you."

"He's... already pissed."

"Well shit. Good luck with that one."

I laughed. "Thanks."

And just like that, he was gone. He walked, no, bolted, out of the camp, avoiding legionaries and getting as far away as he could, as fast as he could.

And it was just Vulpes and I.

Lucullus was busying himself getting food after the long trip.

"I honestly don't understand what you see in him." He spoke in that bored drawl I had become so used to over the last week.

"Yeah. Me neither. But I guess that's what happens when you drink nearly an entire bottle of liquor and are as sexually frustrated as me." I chuckled. "You don't know how hard it is to find a guy who actually knows what he's doing and how to get a girl off."

Vulpes didn't say anything at first. Then he took a step closer and whispered, "I bet I could," With a dark look of determination in his eyes.

I stumbled backwards. "D-did you wanna eat before we head out!?" My voice was too loud. "I know we've just been sitting for a while, but..." I let my sentence hang in the air, a dark blush covering my entire face.

He nodded. "I haven't had anything since breakfast."

I followed him, my entire body tense and my hands clenched nervously at my sides.

I kicked a stone as we made our way back to Novac, the sky brilliantly blazing orange.

"So you really don't remember anything?" Vulpes had relaxed since we had left the camp and Benny was forgotten about.

"I remember a few things from the night I was shot." I shrugged and watched the stone skitter across the sand. "I remember..." I sucked in a breath. I didn't even know why I cared so much about what Vulpes thought of me. Well, maybe I did know... "I remember seeing Benny standing in front of me, giving me his 'I'm sorry" speech." I scoffed. "He was polite about shooting me."

"...so you fucked him." Vulpes said, indicating that that was what he imagined I should continue the sentence with.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh my god. I was drunk. Obviously sober me didn't go with him."

He fixed his eyes on me. "Indeed."

"Why the fuck do you care so much anyway?"

"I just want to know if you're into men who hurt you. For future reference for myself." He grinned and I couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"Yeah, whatever."

I had figured the topic was dropped as we walked in silence for a while, but then Vulpes blurted out, "He seemed to like you though. After all, he wanted you to go with him."

I shrugged. "Oh come on," I flashed him a wide, cocky grin. "You know I'm pretty hot." I laughed, trying to play at his game of always flirting with me.

He didn't respond, only offered me a faint smile.

"So why do you act one way around me and another way around everyone else in the Legion?"

He sighed, the smile gone from his face. "I must maintain a professional image. I need to be seen as intimidating and respected."

"Even by your fellow legionaries?"

"They need to know that I wouldn't hesitate to punish them if they step out of line. They can't get too comfortable with me. Kind of like you are." He placed a hand on the small of my back and gently rubbed his thumb against the sliver of skin showing in between my shirt and pants.

"That's because you get too cozy with me." I pushed his hand away, feeling my cheeks heat.

"Most women would actually be terrified if I got too cozy with them. Yet here we are."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"But shouldn't you be?"

I shrugged staring off into the distance.

"I think you actually enjoy the attention."

"Huh?" I started, turning my head quickly to look at him. "No, I don't."

"Liar," He hissed and suddenly grabbed me, one hand around my waist, pressing me close to him, and the other fisted in my hair. "You know very well what I'm capable of, yet you feel so relaxed when I sleep next to you and you honestly haven't put up much of a fight on that matter. I could easily kill you or rape you. Or both. For those reasons alone, you should be terrified of me. Yet you seem to enjoy my company far more than that of that coward Benny's as you chose to stay with me instead of leaving with him. And you seem to enjoy every casual remark I make and you get flustered instead of angry every time I touch you." As if to prove a point, he gripped my hip and slid his hand roughly under my shirt.

I gaped at him for a moment before I composed myself. "Fuck off. So, what? Maybe I'm just a little lonely. So what if I like a little attention." I could feel the heat in my face again and turned my head away from him, not meeting his eyes.

"That sniper mongrel isn't enough for you."

"There isn't anything between Boone and I," I stated flatly, my flustered emotions evaporating for a second and my eyes fixing on his intensely burning ones. For some reason I was bothered that he had brought him into this.

"Good."

"Good?"

"I don't like sharing." He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly to mine, kissing me for real for the first time ever.

My heart hitched and began pounding in my chest as his arm tugged me closer and held me tightly against him.

I knew I should fight. I knew I should make him stop. But he was right. I was enjoying this too much. I just wanted to relax in his arms and enjoy it. But I forced myself to push him away, gasping for air as he let me go, looking triumphant.

I didn't speak to him for the rest of the walk, my mind spinning and reeling. I kept thinking of how he had held me close and how fiercely he had kissed me. I couldn't even meet his eye until my heart stopped pounding.