Author's Note: I just wanted to say that I love you all for getting me past the 100-review milestone. Many happy dances were had. :) I spent a lot of time thinking about where I wanted the next few chapters to go, and it took some time, so for that I apologize. But I do have a plan! And as a bit of a warning, there might be some POV shifts that I don't normally make in the coming chapters as well. I mean, I normally stick to Riley's POV, and occasionally, like for parts of this chapter, Boone's. But for what I have planned, I might have to switch to Veronica, so I don't want anyone surprised when/if that actually happens. Also if I planned this story out better I'd have stuck to only one POV from the beginning but hahaha that would be logical. :I
Thank you for reading!
Edit: Oh! Also, I have never played the Uncharted games. So to the reviewer who asked, no, sorry. :( Though I am curious as to what I unintentionally referenced...
Riley stared up at Helios One. The old building was amazingly intact. Over two hundred years old and it survived the bombs, time, plus a 'conflict of interests' between the NCR and the Brotherhood. She'd never been inside, and besides passing by on her way to other places, she paid little to no attention to the aging power plant. Which was a common thing, she supposed. Legion left it alone, raiders ignored it. Aside from the NCR's squabble with the Brotherhood over it, it had been relatively ignored.
Which made sense, since it was technically—and tactically—worthless from what she'd heard. She wondered how that made Veronica feel, knowing that the NCR came in and eradicated part of her family only to let the plant remain completely nonfunctional and useless. It was probably a good thing she didn't come with them, Riley figured. In an effort to save time, they left the Scribe with Old Lady Gibson and a promise to pick her up once they were done getting intel.
They didn't go in. There was no point; Boone was talking to the woman in charge, a frustrated looking woman by the name of Haggerty. She hadn't given a first name, but from the look of her, Riley was guessing at Janice. Maybe Laura.
"Yeah, they were here," Maybe-Laura nodded. "Squad of four came in the day before last. We had a miscommunication about what was needed, so they stayed the night while we fixed the order. They left yesterday morning."
That was not what Riley wanted to hear, and Lieutenant Haggerty knew it. She gave a grim shake of her head at Riley's expression. Being the bearer of bad news was, unfortunately, a really shitty downside of her job.
"I'm sorry. If they didn't reach the Camp, I can only assume Legion got them. Activity's been up in this area since yesterday. We keep getting reports in from Ranger Station Charlie and the patrols are coming across a lot of enemy contact."
"We took back Nelson the night before last," Riley sighed. "Activity should go down-"
"No, it makes sense," Boone cut in and she blinked at him. "Nelson wasn't heavily defended. Meant there were raiding parties roaming around this region when we hit it. Without the camp to go back to, they're left without supplies and shelter. They'll start picking at the settlements in this area until they can get reinforcements or fall back to someplace like Cottonwood."
She exhaled sharply through her nose. "Shit." If it wasn't one thing, it was always another. Problems just seemed to pile up whichever way she turned, and this was no different. There was, however, nothing she could do about it except focus on their current objective.
"Okay. Just… okay. We'll try and track them—"
"Not necessary," Lieutenant Haggerty shook her head. "There's a tracking device on the supply crate. You can lock onto it with your Pip-Boy."
"Oh," Riley blinked. "Guess that makes it easier. Um. Thanks."
"Yep," the lieutenant shrugged. "Be careful out there."
They left, heading back up the road and south towards the scrap yard.
"You think they'd hit Novac?" she asked, as they walked. She flipped through menus on her Pip-Boy, staring at the map and little blinking blip that showed where they needed to go. Beside her, Boone worked his jaw irritably.
"Manny has it covered."
"Yeah," she agreed, because it was true. Asshole or not, you could trust an ex-First Recon to keep his watch. "But at night—"
"We can't be everywhere at once," he sighed wearily, and she grimaced. He was right, she knew that. But that didn't make it any less easier to deal with. "Focus on what we can do," he added. "Worry about the rest later."
"Yeah," she sighed. "Okay."
Old Lady Gibson greeted them with a smile when they arrived.
"Back so soon?" She said. "That was certainly a quick trip."
"Got what we needed," Riley nodded, smiling. "No difficulties. Is Veronica done? Or should we wait around a while?"
The old woman's smile suddenly looked very forced. "Well," she hedged. "She was done rather quickly, too, actually."
The way she said that had something uncomfortable pitting itself in Riley's stomach. "What do you mean?"
"Well, she left a while ago. In a hurry, too. Seemed rather frantic, now that I think about it."
"Wh-" Riley stopped, thinking maybe this was a joke. "Wait. You mean she's gone?" She didn't understand. Veronica left? Was she done with them? Had her fill and decided to move on? Surely she would have said something if that were the case.
"She said she'd be right back," Old Lady Gibson said. "Just had to check on something."
"Novac?" Boone suggested. "Did she go that way?" Veronica did have a soft spot for Cliff, Riley thought. Maybe she swung by to say 'hi'? Thinking that Riley and Boone would take longer? That was plausible, right?
Except Old Lady Gibson was shaking her head.
"She went west, so no, I don't think she went to Novac."
West? What the fuck was there to the west? Nothing but mountains. And, Riley realised, maybe Legion raiding parties.
Before she could erupt into full blown panic mode, however, Veronica chose that time to walk around the corner.
"What the hell?" Riley exclaimed, storming up to her. Veronica froze, hands lifted in a placating gesture with a wide-eyed expression.
"It's not what you think. Those bodies were there when I got there."
"This isn't funny, Ron." Riley growled, hitting Veronica irritably on the shoulder. "Why didn't you just wait for us?"
The other girl sighed, dropping her hands. "It's… complicated."
"Try me," Riley snarled. Veronica stared at her a moment, as if weighing something in her mind, before her face turned carefully blank.
"I can't. I'm sorry."
"Veronica—" Riley sighed and pressed her hands to her face. She took a deep breath, and then faced her again. "You can trust me."
"And you can trust me," Veronica replied pleadingly. "Look, it's not anything bad, I swear. It's just something personal I had to check on. I can't say any more than that."
Now Riley frowned. Personal?
"Does this have something to do with that transceiver?" She asked, incredulously. "You fixed it and then you ran off and—"
"Oh. Yeah, hey about that. It's not NCR." Veronica smiled. "So, you know, you don't have to worry about it." Which was a roundabout way of saying 'stop asking questions', Riley realised, eyes narrowing. Before she could say anything, Boone came up behind her.
"Riley," he said, his voice low. "Just leave it alone. We need to get going if we're going to find those supplies."
Right. The supplies. The mission.
"Fine," she said, backing off. The heat, momentarily forgotten, settled back onto her shoulders as she faced the road, and away from Veronica. "Let's get going."
Boone methodically sniped the last legion soldier standing over Riley, lowering his rifle only when the body hit the ground in a crumpled heap. The ambush had been typical legion tactics, Boone thought as he made his way over to his partner. Something they should have expected. Too late to worry about it now, but still. Sloppy.
He held out a hand and pulled Riley to her feet, then busied himself with checking her over while she dusted herself off.
"Is that all of them?" she coughed. Her beret had fallen off in the attack, he noticed. Her hair falling out of its pins in a harried disarray around her face. Dirt smudged her nose. Blood slid down her arm and her eyes were tearing up, though he suspected she'd just gotten sand in her eyes and not that she was suddenly overcome with emotion.
"Pretty much." He kicked the corpse at their feet for good measure and she gave him a wide smile. He gestured at the blood on her arm. "That yours?"
"Huh?" she glanced down, brow furrowed as she swiped a thumb through the crimson streak currently trickling it's way to her wrist. The action must have done something, because she winced instantly and Boone frowned.
"Spear must have got me. Didn't notice. Just stim and wrap it and let's go," she sighed. "Wasted enough time."
He nodded and dropped his duffel, rummaging through it to dig out the stims. She sat as he worked, wincing only slightly when he poured the whiskey over the wound followed by water. Veronica hovered quietly behind them, picking through the remains of the fallen crates strewn about on the ground.
"Anything?" Riley called back as he wrapped her arm. Her voice had an edge to it that Boone didn't like, and Veronica hesitated before answering.
"There's a little left. Ammo and chems, mostly. No food or water."
Figured. He tied off the bandage, probably a little rougher than was necessary, though Riley didn't complain. He helped her to her feet and then they moved over to where Veronica was squatting in the dirt. A single crate stood intact and open before her. Boone could see stims, med-x, and boxes of various ammo tossed in haphazardly.
Deciding it was probably best that the two girls have time apart, Boone flipped the lid shut and gestured for Veronica to grab one end. She did so quietly, and they started their walk back the same way. Nobody talked. The air was tense and even for Boone, who rarely felt the need to fill silence, the quiet was grating because it meant something was wrong.
Cass was waiting for them when they got back. She was chatting with the soldier at the gate, sitting close and smiling suggestively. Distracting him was more like it, Boone scowled, noticing the way the younger man eagerly lapped up Cass' attentions. Where were the MP's?
"You made it," Cass grinned as they approached. They set down the crate and a few soldiers appeared out of nowhere to collect it. Her smile fell as Riley stalked past them, ignoring her and them as she made a beeline for the supply tent. Cass wandered closer, voice low and eyebrows high. "What's stuck up her ass now?"
"Ask her," Boone jerked his head towards Veronica and he could hear her sigh. Cass looked between them, wide-eyed.
"What the— what happened?"
"Ask her," Boone repeated, and walked away, leaving Veronica with Cass. Truth was, while he could understand Veronica's refusal to talk, and he could see Riley's hurt at not being trusted, he wanted nothing to do with this new squabble. That didn't mean he wouldn't talk to Riley about it, though. He found her giving Mayes the last of her report and waited outside the tent for her to finish.
"You're not going to talk to her?" He asked when she walked out. She sighed and gestured for him to walk.
"I will," she said after a while. "I'm not mad at her. Not really. I was just worried and now she's pulling this shit where she won't even talk to me about it and…" she sighed again. "I dunno."
"Maybe you should tell her that."
"What?"
"That you were worried."
She kicked at a rock. If Boone had to guess, he'd almost say she was sulking. "I guess. She's really kind of the first friend I've had in a long time. I just don't know what I'd do… if… she—" she stopped walking and Boone stopped beside her, frowning.
"What is it?"
"Is that… what I think it is?" Riley asked. Boone turned to see what she was looking at and felt his confusion wash away. The cloud in the distance was massive, spanning the entire horizon and reaching far into the sky. The darkness of it threatened to blot out the sun and, Boone noticed, it was approaching quickly. There was only one thing it could be.
Riley turned back to look at Boone, eyes wide. "Is that—"
"Get everyone inside," he said. She didn't hesitate. She bolted for the command tent and Boone grabbed the nearest soldier, giving him the same warning. The usually languid camp burst into sudden motion as more and more soldiers saw the approaching sand storm. Boone rushed back to find the other girls, but they weren't at the entrance where they left them. He cursed, looking around. He didn't have time to waste though, and chose a direction and ran with it. He checked inside shacks, in tents, but in the end he found Cass at the south entrance, looking panicked.
"Hey," he jogged up to her. The wind was starting to really pick up now. Cass had to hold onto her hat to keep it from flying. "You need to get inside."
"But—"
"It's just a sandstorm, it'll pass. Just have to ride it out."
"I know what a sandstorm is," she snapped, frustrated. "The problem is Veronica."
They didn't have time for this. "What do you mean?"
"I mean she left!" Cass exclaimed, and Boone's jaw tightened. "She—"
"Hey!" Riley joined them. "Everyone's locking up. We should get inside too." She frowned, glancing between them. "Where's Ron?"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" Cass rolled her eyes. "She left. Said some nonsense about getting answers and then she just up and left! I tried arguing with her but she wouldn't fucking listen."
Boone checked the storm as sand whipped at his face. It was close now, it would be on them in minutes. They needed to get inside.
"Which way did she go?" Riley asked.
"South. She—"
Riley shoved past them but Boone reached out, gripping both of her arms, holding her back.
"Let go!" Riley struggled against his hold. "That's a god damn mine field. We have to—"
"Get inside!" Boone ordered. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the wind. "We won't be able to find her now."
"We can't leave her!" Panic was starting to creep into Riley's voice. Her struggles became frantic and Boone strained just to keep his grip on her. "She's out there. We just have to get her back. We can't just—"
"We can go look for her after," he grunted as she wrenched an arm free and tried punching him. It was weak, just a glancing blow, but he used the anger it brought to help haul her back towards the shacks. The last few soldiers were retreating indoors and Boone knew their time was almost up.
"She might not have an 'after'!" Riley snarled. "Let me go!"
"We won't have one either if we go after her."
"What do you care?" she spat. "It's what you want anyway."
He froze momentarily. It was a low blow, and not one he expected to come from her. His frown deepened, but he didn't say anything. She could say whatever she wanted about him, but if he let her go out there now it would just be more blood on his hands.
Boone jerked his head at Cass and the redhead disappeared into the mess hall. Riley was still struggling, and in a last ditch effort to get her under control, Boone pressed his hand over her wound and pressed hard. She cried out, falling to one knee and he wasted no time in using the advantage to flip her over his shoulder. She didn't seem pleased about it but at this point that was the least of his concerns.
"Put me down!" Riley screeched into his backside. Her legs kicked furiously and he knew he had to move quickly before she actually got a hit in. Her punches might be weak, but he'd seen the muscles in her legs when they had to strip off her armour after the car explosion. He banged on the door to the mess hall, stepping in quickly once it was opened.
He flipped Riley back onto her feet and she wasted no time in launching herself at the door. Boone lowered himself, ready to take a tackle if he had to. He didn't. Two soldiers moved to hold her back and she gave a frustrated cry as she was thwarted once again.
Behind him, he could hear Cass turn the latch on the door. It wouldn't hold anyone in, but the effect it had on Riley was instantaneous. She slumped against the holds on her arms, panting heavily. She'd given up. Boone gestured for them to release her and she stumbled forward. He caught her before she fell, steadied her, then waited for her to push him away. She didn't, just clung to him as the storm raged outside.