A/N: No, John and Courier will not be getting romantic, lol, I don't *think*. I write whatever comes and a kiss before possibly dying seemed to be in order. We'll see what happens as the story progresses. Anyone who read Time For Miracles is going to see a reference to the President Eden/DC incident in this chapter.
35: Commander
It hadn't been easy tracking River here. He had been making his way towards Cottonwood Cove, along the same route River and Cena had no less, when his radio had picked up on a very low signal, it kept fading in and out. Unlike her Pipboy, he had no way to trace where the frequency was coming, not anymore since he no longer possessed his Enclave gear, and had had to rely on himself. Which was the way he liked it.
When he had heard 'Sierra Madre' on one broadcast and then River and John speaking faintly on another, he had known where to look, though no idea how to get in. He had known of the legend, and figured it the place had once been in this area or nearby, getting in had been the problem. He had stumbled onto the bunker through fortunate accident.
He was sitting on the fountain rail, one leg stretched out before him, the other bent at the knee with his boot firmly planted on the ground, smoking a cigarette. His eyes narrowed when he seen River and John cautiously approaching, noting their condition and snorted. He had figured they were running ragged, especially when he had found their gear stashed in a footlocker near one of the cots in the bunker, near the entrance to the Casino grounds.
Taking a long pull off the cigarette, he stood up, kicking at the bag with their stuff to draw their attention to it. "Missing something?"
Courier walked right up to him, standing toe to toe with him, her eyes unreadable.
He wasn't surprised when she tried throwing a fist at his head, catching it and twisting sharply until she was turned so her back was to his chest, his eyes meeting Cena's. "I'm guessing you got your memories back."
"Fuck you."
"All of them apparently." Smirking, he pressed his lips to her cheek, trailing kisses down her jawline. "Now is this any way to treat an old friend? Especially one who brought you your things and plans to help you out of a bad situation?" He had spotted the collars around both her and Cena's neck, gathering what they were instantly. This was a hostage type situation, and he approved of the collars, from a professional point of view. As this wasn't his deal, he didn't overly care much for one of them being around River's neck, he was the one who got to kill her, no one else.
"The last time I saw you, and wasn't out of my mind, I swore up and down I would paint the desert with your blood. The time before that, I pushed you over the Hoover Dam." Courier said evenly, refusing to rise to his baiting, though she did turn her head when he tried pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth. "You have a death wish, don't you?"
"What can I say? Your murderous ass turns me on."
John was now rifling through their gear, moving it out of Taker's reach before leveling his sniper rifle at 'Taker's head. "Let her go."
Smirking, Taker let her go.
Keeping his aim trained on the other man, John gestured for Courier to join him. "Come on, let's finish this and get the fuck out of here."
They took turns keeping an eye, and a gun, on Taker while getting dressed; neither bothering with false feelings of shyness or modesty, there was no time for it. Once back in their respective gear, with their equipment and weapons, both Courier and John felt more in control of the situation.
Shouldering her own assault rifle, Courier walked right up to Taker, rolling her eyes when he looked her up and down, obviously thinking some lewd things about her leathers, even though he had just seen her stripped down. "Do I have to worry about you and your motives or should I just shoot you now?"
He shrugged, grinning his evil smile, acid green eyes sparkling with amusement. "Take your pick. If I go with you, well… you know I can handle myself."
"You're not seriously considering taking him, are you River?"
"We have a pretty good idea what's in there, Cena." She said, using her 'chief' tone, which effectively shut John up and made him snap too. "We're going to need all the help we can get. However, if you so much as look at me funny, Taker, I'll kill you and leave you to rot, we clear?"
"Crystal, Chief."
~!~
Getting into the Sierra Madre Casino wasn't all that hard, even though they now had to deal with Elijah more often in terms of communication. He wouldn't shut up and stop telling them what to do, even though at this point, they had his instructions memorized. The first thing Courier made priority was turning on the damn power.
The casino itself was a glorious testament to the creator's genius. Everything was in perfect condition, minus the copious amounts of dust everywhere. It was also a giant maze that they had to navigate, with the added dangers of damn security holograms patrolling.
"Do you have any idea how much those things would be worth?" Taker breathed as the trio crouched behind a series of pillars, watching the transparent hologram patrol a corridor, knowing what they could and that they were invulnerable. Their only weakness was their security box and the fact that they were limited to a specific radius.
"Commander, my databank has extensive knowledge of the holograms. If you can download their information from a terminal, I should be able to recreate them for New Vegas if you wish."
"What the fuck?" Taker demanded, staring at Courier.
John and Courier were both staring at her Pipboy.
"Yes Man?" She asked tentatively.
"Yes, Commander."
"Why are you calling me Commander?"
"Because I have researched all you military files and your previous title of 'chief' is not accurate. You were in command of active military units, therefore you are a Commander."
John rolled his eyes, wondering if they were really discussing rank when there were other pressing matters on hand.
"How did you tap into this frequency?"
"I installed my programs onto your Pipboy, Commander. However, outside signals were blocking me from activating the program until now. Your current location suggests that you are inside a building and have turned on a generator, allowing whatever was blocking me to falter long enough for my program to activate. I am now with you wherever you are."
"That is fucking handy, Yes Man." Courier was feeling much more pleased by the increasing chances of survival. "What all can you do from here?"
"As your Pipboy is not equipped for large scale operations, not much, Commander. I am able to read layouts that your Pipboy maps and offer you best routes and alternatives as well as any information I may possess regarding your surroundings. You are currently in the Sierra Madre Casino, lower levels, near the kitchens. Readings indicate a gas leak that must be dealt with immediately."
"So no firing weapons."
"No, Commander. Anything that causes a single spark will cause a massive explosive."
"Thank you, Yes Man."
"You're welcome, Commander."
"River," John began slowly, meeting her gaze. "is that… what is that?"
"My A.I."
"From… that day?"
She knew instantly what he meant, the day she and he had overthrown Mr. House and simply nodded.
Taker had no idea what they were talking about and was curious to the point of annoyance but knew asking wasn't going to get him any information. Neither trusted him, obviously. Not that he would trust himself either if he was in their shoes, they were all enemies. He had caught the A.I. part and wondered how she had managed to get her hands on THAT kind of technology. The last A.I. that he knew of was President Eden, who had been destroyed in some kind of terrorist attack back in D.C. . "How'd you get an A.I.?"
"None of your business, suffice to say I have one."
"You are aware that they're dangerous, right?"
"I am only dangerous so far as my initial programming allows." Yes Man interrupted in his annoyingly cheerful manner. "The Commander has restricted or reprogrammed any part of my programming that would allow me to do anything against her or her orders. In her own terms, I am a "one woman A.I.", is that not correct, Commander?"
"Damn straight."
~!~
"God's up there." John announced, scurrying back down the narrow hallway to where Courier and Taker waited, pulling the bandana the other man had loaned him off of his face and took a breath of air that wasn't completely gas. "Or Dog, it sounds like both of them, he's not stable."
"Who is God?"
"A Nightkin, with a split personality disorder."
"Unsurprising." Taker waved a hand dismissively. "We'll have to eliminate him."
"He's not THAT kind of Nightkin." Courier said, her feathers ruffled, figuratively speaking. "He's helped us, sort of. We resolve this peacefully."
"Be my guest."
"River, no!" John hissed when she got up and headed down the hallway, shooting Taker a dark look. "You're going to get her killed, is that what you want?"
"Eventually, yes."
~!~
She had no idea what she had done besides talk, but somehow, Courier had… merged… the personalities of God and Dog together, making someone entirely new. Someone who wasn't unreasonable or criminally insane. She actually liked this new personality better, though he had no idea who she was other than some 'vague memories' and he 'knew she was a friend', she'd take it. Leaving G/Dog to his own devices –healing and moving on- she fixed the gas leak issue and went back to Taker and John, half-expecting to find them in the process of killing each other.
She had no idea what she had done besides talk, but somehow, Courier had… merged… the personalities of God and Dog together, making someone entirely new. Someone who wasn't unreasonable or criminally insane. She actually liked this new personality better, though he had no idea who she was other than some 'vague memories' and he 'knew she was a friend', she'd take it. Leaving G/Dog to his own devices –healing and moving on- she fixed the gas leak issue and went back to Taker and John, half-expecting to find them in the process of killing each other.
They were murdering each other with their eyes.
"Alright, enough, we have to get to the Tampico and deal with Dean."
John groaned, standing upright and glancing down towards the kitchen, no longer hearing the speaking of Dog. "Everything handled?"
"Peachy, everything is fine and I finished up down here. Now we have to-"
"Deal with that fuckin' ghoul."