Antillicus's eyes shot open, and he felt a cold sweat on his skin. He felt Cass pressed against him, her light snoring giving him comfort. He'd had a dream, or rather a nightmare. He'd envisioned a terrifying scene.

Antillicus was in a large tent, tied up and surrounded by Legion. When he tried to move, he recieved a quick blow to the head from the butt of a machete. Suddenly, he saw Cass being dragged through the tent flaps by a few soldiers. A white-haired man wearing some sort of glove stepped in front of him. By his attire, he looked important.

"She's quite the handful, that bitch of yours," the Legionary leader casually remarked, leaning back against a tent pole, the light of a tallow candle flickering across his wrinkled face. Antillicus growled and recieved another blow for his trouble.

"Should we begin?" one of the soldiers who'd dragged Cass in asked. The white-haired man nodded, keeping his eyes on Antillicus. The soldiers suddenly started tearing her clothes off, eliciting a scream from her.

"Fuck you! Let me go!" she yelled, her voice piercing the black night. Antillicus struggled against his bindings, the ropes chafing against his skin. His eyes burned with a deep hatred, and he could feel the ropes straining to hold him. His captor chuckled, watching him intently.

"You don't like that, do you?" he asked in a condescending tone as Legionaries ravaged Cass behind him, her screams going unnoticed. Antillicus growled deeply and struggled, only to recieve another blow to the head. The last thing he heard before his vision went black was Cass's terrified cries.

Antillicus shivered as he remembered this dream. He felt queasy and in need of a strong drink. He quietly slipped out of the bed, taking care not to disturb Cass, and glanced at his Pip-Boy. The time read 6:37. He normally never woke up so early, but he couldn't go back to sleep. Not without a drink to calm his nerves. He headed towards the liquor cabinet and chose a bottle of whiskey. Carrying it back to bed, he propped himself up against the backboard and took a long swig from it. Cass stirred slightly, but her breathing soon returned to normal and she cuddled closer to him.

He was relieved to feel her warm body close to his. Even with all of his flaws, all of his problems, she still stayed with him. He thanked whatever deity presided over the hellish wastes for this small comfort. Without her, he'd be lost.

Cass groaned and rolled onto her side. Even with the best healing drugs the wastes had to offer, a gunshot wound to the neck tended to get irritated, even if it was mostly a graze. She slid out of bed and stretched, yawning quietly. As she walked out of the bedroom, she patted her hair back into place. Antillicus was sitting at the bar quietly, apparently working on ED-E.

"You think you can put him back together?" she asked hesitantly, not wanting to interrupt him. He nodded without turning away from his work, carefully soldering wires back into place. An occasional beep sounded from the defunct robot, each signaling the boot-up of a program. Cass sidled over to the bar and sat next to him, watching him work. "You want something to drink?" she queried. He shook his head and pointed towards the half-empty bottle of whiskey on the counter.

"I helped myself," he remarked, his concentration unwavering.

"I see. So how early did you wake up?" she asked cheerily, watching him work.

"About 6:30," he answered tersely. He didn't mean to sound so dismissive and rude, but he couldn't take his mind off his dream. "Sorry I'm not talkative. I had a bit of a nightmare, I suppose..." Cass nodded understandingly and continued watching him quietly.

At around 11, Antillicus led Cass and a repaired ED-E through the casino floor towards the main doors of the Tops. After a brief stop at the front desk to retrieve their weapons, they headed out the door into the noonday sun. Antillicus was about to look at his map and plot a route, when suddenly a man in a dapper suit approached them.

"The eyes of the mighty Caesar are upon you. He praises your achievements, and would be most interested in meeting you in person. Caesar is willing to forgive all past transgressions, including the death of the great Vulpes Inculta, if you were inclined to cooperate," the stranger said with little hesitation.

"And who might I be speaking to?" Antillicus asked, attempting to contain the hatred in his voice.

"I am Alerio, one of the Frumentaarii. We are Caesar's eyes and ears." Antillicus glanced back at Cass. "He has given me instructions to deliver this to you." Alerio produced a medallion on a leather necklace from his coat pocket and offered it to Antillicus.

'What's this?" he asked, accepting it somewhat suspiciously.

"That is the Mark of Caesar. With it, you are guaranteed safe passage through Legion lands. Caesar awaits, courier. Travel across the river via Cottonwood Cove and meet him, if you should so choose." Antillicus considered this.

"I believe I might do just that."

Cass trudged along behind Antillicus, her skin baking in the sun. "Why are we all the way out here again?" she asked, exasperated.

"Look, we're halfway to the 188. We should be there by dusk, no problem," he replied, walking along unperturbed. He took a quick swig from his canteen. After wiping his lips and replacing its cap, he noticed a group of people on the horizon. He recognized their spiked hair and dirty clothes. "Get down, there's raiders over there," he hissed, diving behind a boulder. ED-E and Cass followed suit, taking cover as well.

"I don't think they noticed us," Antillicus said, catching his breath. A few seconds later, a sharp crack and a whizzing noise passing their heads told them otherwise. Antillicus lay prone and poked the barrel of his rifle around the base of the rock, spotting targets through his scope. One of the drug-addled fools was charging with a knife. He quickly took aim, held his breath, and gently squeezed the trigger, sending a .308 round into the raider's eye socket, blasting shards of brain-coated bone onto the dusty ground.

Cass peeked over the top of the boulder and fired a salvo from her shotgun, peppering a rifle-wielding enemy with buckshot. A spray of blood erupted from the man's thigh, signaling a vital hit to his femoral artery. He screamed out in pain and dropped to the ground, clutching his ruined leg.

ED-E's laser was firing nonstop, burning cauterized holes into the final raider's limbs. She must have been very well-dosed though, for the only shot that stopped her was one straight into her heart, instantly halting her blood flow. She fell to the ground twitching for a moment, then lay still.

Antillicus stood, pleased by the results of the battle. He noticed a couple of dents in his armor, but nothing had scratched him or Cass. He began whistling a tune as he walked out to search the raiders' bodies, recalling the words to an old tune.

"How lucky can one guy be?
I kissed her and she kissed me.
Like a fella once said,
Ain't that a kick in the head."