FIFTY-THREE

The NCR, a hotel

September 30th

06:49

Chris' eyes were caked with sand as he woke up much too early for comfort. He moved his tongue around in his mouth to get rid of the dryness and awful taste, but it didn't help any. From the faint light coming through between the curtains, he estimated it was about seven. Next to him, Lysanna lay sleeping on her back, the blankets only up to her waist. The T-shirt covering her small breasts rose and fell slowly, and her face was completely relaxed, one of the few times he'd actually seen it that way. Her hair wildly wreathed her face, the black locks with the minds of their own expanding in all possible directions.

The sex hadn't been good, but great. Not as wild or adventurous as some of the girls he'd been with before, but they sensed each other perfectly. And the fact that she was even hotter without clothes on than with didn't hurt either. She seemed to be a bit embarrassed about her breasts at first (Chris had no idea why, they were perfect), but she'd quickly gotten over that. Apparently still sleeping, Lysanna rolled to her side and lay her hand on his belly. He had half a mind to wake her up and go for another round, but he figured she could use her sleep. For him, sleep probably wouldn't be happening anymore tonight, so he quietly got out of bed and got dressed. Lysanna only briefly mm-ed and stirred while he carefully climbed out of bed.

Phyllis was next to come down, about an hour after he had gotten up. By that time, the hostess had started breakfast, cooking in the kitchen after a brief small talk with Chris.

"What's she making?" Phyllis asked curiously.

"No idea, but it smells nice."

"Bet you didn't get much sleep last night, huh?" Phyllis asked with a wink.

Chris looked away with an embarrassed grin. "Sleep wasn't the uh, first thing on our minds, no."

Phyllis smiled as she opened the bottle of milk the hostess had put on the table before leaving for the kitchen. "She's happy, you know."

"I hope so."

"She is. I can tell," she said mysteriously.

"I could have done with some sex too," Lara said with a weary sigh as she threw herself down on a chair. "Helps to get to sleep." She looked awfully tired. There were maybe four or five other people in the refectory all talking quietly to themselves.

"Slept badly?" Phyllis asked redundantly.

"Yeah. Feels like I've lain awake all night."

"How come?"

She shrugged. "Beats me. Not like I wasn't tired enough." She grunted and cleared her throat. "Your better half not up yet?" she asked Chris.

"No, I let her sleep. Got a feeling she can use it."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Lara said dryly, pouring milk into her glass. "What time is it?"

"About nine. Figure we'll eat breakfast and head over to that Matt guy."

"Hey guys," Lysanna called cheerfully as she came down. She kissed Chris lightly on the cheek. "Hey, you."

"Bacon and eggs," Phyllis said abruptly.

"What?"

"Bacon and eggs. I can smell it. It's bacon and eggs."

And indeed, the hostess came out with a large frying pan filled with bubbling eggs and sizzling bacon.

"You know," Chris said to Lysanna. "Spending a lot of cash on a good place to sleep was a pretty great idea after all."


"You're late", the 'Brotherhood guy' remarked grumpily.

"Only five minutes," Lysanna said.

She only got a frown in response as Matt entered a code on the keypad outside the bunker. When he turned around, Lysanna made an exaggerated 'oh no'-face toward the others, and quietly sing-songed, "Busted!"

"After you," Matt said curtly.

"Right, so here's what we've got for you so far," Matt announced, handing them a coke bottle each. "Against all expectations, NCR's reports seem to be quite accurate. You've got a bunch of squatters on the surface, bad guys in the Vault. Squatters are half hostages, half refugees. You could say that they're between a rock and a proverbial hard place. They won't give you any trouble, and some might even be helpful." He took a swill from his bottle. "Vault guys seem to be well-organized though. Well, as well-organized as you could expect from a bunch of peasants," he added smugly.

Lysanna wondered what he'd say if she told him she came from a tribal village. He'd probably wrinkle his nose and spout some kind of self-satisfied bullshit about tribals being the people who should fall to their knees and thank the Brotherhood for saving them. Not that the Brotherhood ever bothered to actually do anything, but that probably didn't matter.

"How many?" Chris asked flatly.

"About thirty. No way you can go in with guns blazing."

"What about the Rangers?" Lara attempted.

"No go. They've lost seven in the hit on the Guild, so they need to lick their wounds. Plus, those gangbangers in the Vault aren't Slavers, so that's not their territory."

Phyllis frowned. "But… taking hostages is sort of like slavery, right?"

"I'm inclined to agree with you, personally, but the Rangers won't see it that way. Besides, going in there and blasting anything that moves, is hardly the best way to deal with any situation."

Phyllis nodded vigorously. "I'm really glad you see it that way."

"So what then?" Lysanna asked.

"Here's what I suggest. Those gangbangers take on new members every now and then, and it just so happens that they're initiating a new kid today. They take 'em out on patrol with a small group, if they seem to have what it takes, they introduce them to the big boss. Guy called Darion, by the way. Also, 'having what it takes' in their case means being able to rough up squatters and find it funny in the process. So that's their recruitment method. Pretty amateuristic, if you ask me, but they didn't, so yeah."

"So what, this new guy doesn't see anyone apart from that patrol on the first day?"

Matt nodded. "Exactly. I see we're on the same wave-length," he added with a wink.

Lara smiled back like a smitten teenager.

"So what I'm thinking is, if we were to let that little patrol disappear, and one of you takes the place of the newbie, we've got someone inside that gang, and that'll make our job much easier."

Chris let out a mocking laugh. "Seriously, if you wipe out a whole patrol and only the new kid 'survives', you think they won't get suspicious?"

Matt smirked. "They would. If they didn't see it happen right in front of their eyes." When he saw the confused faces, he went on, "They've got a camera centered on the Vault entrance. We nail that patrol when they go out of the Vault, we can make sure they see it happen, but they won't be able to intervene because the Vault elevator is ridiculously slow."

"How will you swap the new kid with one of ours?" Lysanna asked. Because they might not buy our little act if they see us swapping dead bodies."

"Easy: we blast a few of the veterans, and the newbie will take off, run off-camera, and that's when we open fire."

"Sounds like a lot of assumptions," Chris muttered.

"Yeah, I know, but it's the easiest, most straight-forward plan we've got. Unless you've got a better suggestion?"

"Nope."

"Good. Then there's just one more thing we need to determine."

"What's that?" Lysanna asked.

"Which one of you goes."

"Wait a second," Chris protested, "Why does it have to be one of us? If you know so much about those guys, why don't you go?"

Matt cleared his throat irritably. "I would, but see, I'd need to grow a pair of tits, for starters."

"Yeah, that might make it a bit difficult," Chris agreed grudgingly.

"I'll go," Lara said, a bit too eagerly.

"No way," Lysanna contradicted, determined. "I'm not letting you guys get the chestnuts out of the fire for me. This whole thing is my job, and I'm not putting any of you in harm's way if I can help it."

"But – "

"No. I'm not sitting by while one of you risks their skin for me."

Lara couldn't be swayed. "Lysanna, I really think I'm the most suitable person to –"

"Lara, it's really nice of you, but there's no way I'm going to let you guys endanger yourselves on a job I can do myself."

When it was clear that Lara wasn't going to let it go, Phyllis said, "And besides, we'll need one of our own on the outside, working with Matt, right?"

That did it. "Yeah… yeah, I guess so."

"When's this new kid coming in?"

"They got her scheduled for about this time tomorrow. Kid called Katarina Jerzyk. Mean kid, bitchy and twisted. Perfect candidate for the Vault losers, it'd seem. She's told to be a looker too, so that's handy."

Lysanna ignored the compliment. "What about her hair and stuff?"

"Same colour as yours, little longer, but they won't notice the difference on camera. Remember, the camera guys won't see her except when she meets the patrol at the Vault entrance, and those cameras are pretty worthless. Either you or Ms. Bayley could pass for her at a glance. Not you though," he said to Phyllis. "They'll notice the difference in physical structure."

Phyllis merely replied with, "Mm."

"We've already determined who goes, anyway," Lysanna said, her voice final.

"Yeah, I noticed. Anyway, the rest come with me to ambush that patrol. We blast as much as we can, except the new kid, she needs to run. We zap her as soon as she's off-camera."

"Do we really have to shoot her?" Phyllis asked.

Matt sighed. "These people are a cancer, Ms. Brannigan. Sparing lives is good, but those are beyond redemption."

Phyllis was not satisfied. "Can't we at least just clobber her over the head if we get the chance?"

He shrugged. "If you want, fine. But only if we can do it without any danger to ourselves whatsoever."

"I'd be happy if we at least tried."


"Looks like we have a day off," Chris said to Lysanna as Matt led them out of the bunker. The sun on their faces was refreshing after the artificial light in the bunker.

Lysanna took his hand. "Yep, any suggestions?"

"We should probably spend it on something a bit useful, though," Phyllis advised. "Not just lying in the sun and getting a tan."

"Yeah, you're right," Lysanna said grudgingly. Lying in the sun and getting a tan actually sounded pretty good.

When they reached the fence around the bunker, Matt said, "So you can sleep here tonight. I'll see you back here at nine PM?"

Lysanna nodded.

"Okay, I'll wait for you here. See you then."

He turned to walk away, and Lara stared after him, biting her lower lip.

"Lara," Phyllis said.

"Mm?"

"Go for it."

She hesitated for another second, and then she called out, "Hey Matt."

Matt stopped and turned around, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand.

Lara briefly looked back at Phyllis and walked up to him. "I'd kinda really love to have dinner with you tonight."

Matt seemed genuinely surprised, and the look on his face made Lysanna think the guy was probably pretty okay under all the layers of arrogance.

Lara looked at him coyly and said, "I don't like leaving a cute guy like you alone on a lovely day such as this."

He needed a second to overcome the surprise, but then he said, "I uh… Sure, yeah, I'd love to."

"Great," Lara said with a bounce. "We meet here at seven?"

The surprise had apparently been a pleasant one for Matt. "Yeah, seven's fine."

"How 'bout we go pay the Rangers a visit?" Chris suggested after Lara had rejoined them, a bounce in her step and stars in her eyes.

"Sure," Lysanna said, nudging Lara with her elbow.

Lara grinned embarrassedly and said, "Thanks for kicking me in the ass, Phyllis. I'd never have asked if you hadn't told me to."

Phyllis smiled back, "Don't worry about that. I'm happy for you. Just make sure you don't give him any reason to say 'no' tonight."


Sergeant Tillman looked disheveled, and her arm was still in a sling, but she was a lot friendlier than she had been before the hit on the Slavers. A smile lit up her face as she opened the door for them.

"Hello sergeant," Lysanna said, smiling back.

"Good afternoon, friends. Always good to see you. Come in."

"We uh… actually came to give you back your gear," Lysanna told her as they entered.

There was a hint of disappointment on the sergeant's face. "Oh… right. I suppose you can hang onto it a while longer, if you want to?"

Lysanna looked at the others, "Well… I'm not sure if…"

"Don't worry about it. You fought on our side, and one of yours died with ours. You're Rangers now, and you're entitled to your own gear. Besides, those suits are undecorated, so there's no risk involved in you carrying them around."

"But – "

"Don't worry about it. I told you we had much more gear than men. All we're asking is that you continue to fight slavery whenever you come across it, and that you let us know where you are and what you're up to every once in a while."

"Um… what did you do with Yuna?" Lara asked hoarsely.

The sergeant nodded curtly. "You were close, weren't you? She's buried with the others who fell that day, close to the grave you made for your friend."

"Okay. Thanks."

The stay with the Rangers ate up most of the afternoon, and by the time they were back at the bunker, it was almost seven. Lara had taken off her combat armor and changed into something a little less pragmatic, and when Matt came out of the bunker, they saw he'd done the same. His metal armor was gone, replaced by a dark shirt that made him look less like a self-righteous cavalier.

"Nervous?" Phyllis asked quietly from the corner of her mouth.

"Kinda," Lara replied in the same way.

He held out his hand and Lara laid hers in it. "Shall we?"

Lara merely smiled in response.

"I've unlocked the doors to the bunker main and the sleeping quarters," Matt said, turning his head to the others. "Make yourselves at home, just don't try to open any locked doors. The alarm is a loud piece of junk."

"You got it," Chris replied.

As the twilight began to fall, they watched Lara and Matt walk off toward whichever place Matt had chosen to have dinner at, and Lysanna said, "I hope he doesn't break her heart."

"He better not," Chris said grimly.

"Yeah, I don't think she can use another downer at this point," Phyllis added.

They stood silently for a moment, before Chris said, "Come on, let's raid boytoy's fridges."

As they turned toward the bunker, Phyllis said, "Hey, if you guys would like to spend some time together tonight, I can always, you know, do something else."

"What are you talking about, Phyllis?" Lysanna asked with an eyebrow raised.

She shrugged uncomfortably. "Just saying… if you guys want to be alone…"

"Don't be silly," Chris laughed, amically throwing his arm over her shoulder. "Come on, there's free drinks waiting!"

"I just…" Phyllis said, still uncomfortable, "… don't want to be a fifth wheel, you know?"

"Phyllis, you're not a fifth wheel," Lysanna reassured. "We're glad you're with us. As long as you don't follow us into bed."

She smiled faintly, "No, I won't."


"So tell me," Matt asked as he clinked his wine glass against Lara's, "why is a pretty young woman like yourself traveling alone?"

Lara blinked, "I'm not alone."

"I mean, why is there only one couple in your group?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you simply ask why I don't have a boyfriend?"

He smiled and looked down for a moment. "Because that would seem too straightforward."

"Straightforward? I invited you to dinner, and you're worrying about being straightforward?"

"I just don't want to give you the wrong idea."

Lara pushed her breasts forward subtly. "Depends what you consider wrong, doesn't it?"

He grinned and shook his head. "You'll need to forgive me if I mess up a few times. I'm not so good at this."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not as good as I thought I was either."

He sipped his red wine. "You still haven't answered my question though."

Seeing him drink his wine reminded her of the glass in front of her. "I did, just not directly." She took a sip of wine too. It'd been ages since she'd had decent red wine, and the taste and feeling were priceless. "Like I said, I thought I was better at this, and I got proven wrong."

"Let me guess," Matt said with a grin. "You had feelings for someone, but the guy chose someone else?"

"Yeah."

He frowned at her. "It's not that Chris-guy is it?"

"I'm sorry," she said curtly, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. "Can we not talk about this?"

He spread his hands. "Sure. I'd just like to say that I think he's pretty stupid to go for your friend instead of you."

Her eyes fixed on his. "But that won't matter anymore if you show me I'd be better off with you, would it?"

He paused for a moment, looking at her, weighing her words. "No, I guess not," he said eventually. "I uh… shouldn't have brought this up, should I?"

Lara smiled. "It doesn't matter. I'll probably say some awkward things tonight too."

"I hope so," he laughed. "So we can at least both make fools out of ourselves."

Lara took another drink from her glass of wine. "Anyway, Chris and Lysanna go well together, so I'm happy for them."

He nodded. "That's good. And that way I get to spend time with the more interesting members of your group."

She looked at him questioningly. "You don't seem to like Lysanna and Chris, do you?"

He paused again, choosing his words carefully. "Your friend seems to be a poor choice for a leader. And her boyfriend knows it all too well, but he doesn't say a word."

Lara frowned. "Why would Lysanna be a poor choice for a leader?"

He refilled the wine glasses. "I'm sure she's a good person, but she doesn't seem too… experienced. And she strikes me as a bit selfish. Or at least self-centered."

"How so?"

"I don't know. She seems to live in her own world, like she doesn't really understand other people. She tries to care, but she simply lacks the emotional faculties to do so."

"Mm," Lara merely said, but she agreed more than she wanted to. It gave her already unstable faith in Lysanna another little nudge.

"And Chris… I'm pretty sure he feels the same way I do, but he keeps quiet because he's afraid she'll break up with him if he mentions it."

Lara looked at him, intrigued. "Do you always see through people so quickly?"

He shrugged. "I'm just good at it, I suppose. Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable or angry, but I'm just someone who always says what he thinks. Sometimes a bit too much. Anyway, you didn't ask me out to hear me sum up your friends' imperfections."

"I guess not. So how come you're sitting in a bunker all alone?"

He grinned at her, "Why don't you simply ask why I haven't got a girlfriend?"

Lara smiled when she realized she'd done the same thing she'd laughed at him for a minute before. "Okay, why don't you have a girlfriend?"

"It's a lonely life in the Brotherhood, I suppose. I'm pretty much tied to my post, so any girls I might get to know would have to come to me. And chances of that happening are pretty small."

Lara pointed at herself, "And yet, here's one now."

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad you asked me out, I could really use some company."

"So could I," Lara said with a nod. "It's weird though – you're acting completely differently than you did back there."

He shrugged, mildly embarrassed. "I guess there's a difference between dealing with a group of people professionally, and having dinner with a beautiful girl."

A faint rush of warmth went through Lara. "I suppose there is, yeah."

"I'm just used to showing an image of me to people who don't know me. I'm not really as ironclad and emotionless as I act around most people."

"That's… nice to know."

Dinner came, baked meat with vegetables and rice, all expertly prepared. As she chewed on the first mouthful, Lara closed her eyes and let the taste of the food overwhelm her. The others would probably kill her if they knew she was eating food this well-made. When she opened her eyes, she saw him looking at her face, studying it.

"It's a knife wound," Lara said curtly.

"Who did this to you?" he asked with a frown.

"Doesn't matter," she replied, looking into her plate. "He's dead now anyway. I've got another one on the side my left boob, in case you're wondering."

He blinked. "Whoa, I didn't mean to – "

"I know. It's okay. I can't pretend like it's not there, I mean, it's smack in the middle of my face. I'm not angry that you asked, it just… brings back painful memories."

"Fair enough. It's not that bad though. I hadn't noticed it until now."

"And did something change when you did?"

He smiled and took one of her hands, "Not at all."


When they came into the bunker, they saw a large envelope lying on the table, with large letters written on it in permanent marker, "For your perusal – M."

"Perusal?" Lysanna asked with a frown as she walked toward Matt's fridge.

"Means we can take a look at what's inside," Chris explained absently, picking up the envelope and sliding the contents out on the table.

"Whoa," Phyllis said in amazement. "That's like an evil version of you."

"Mm?" Lysanna asked, setting the coke bottles down and reaching for the photograph Phyllis was holding. And indeed, the resemblance was definitely there, although the girl on the photo had slightly longer hair, a broader nose, and an angry frown. "This the chick I'm replacing?"

"Apparently," Chris muttered. "Look at that, he's even got photos of the Vault entrance." He passed the sepia-toned photo to Lysanna. It showed a metal door set into a rock wall. An accompanying paper detailed the tactic Matt had worked out. It seemed to be in order, at least to Lysanna, but she knew she wasn't the expert on the subject of tactics.

"Say what you want about him," Chris said, stretching, "but he sure is thorough."


"Dessert?" Matt asked in a tempting voice.

"I shouldn't," Lara said grudgingly, rubbing her hands over her full belly, aware of the fact that doing so stretched her T-shirt against her breasts.

"I've made a special arrangement?" Matt said seductively.

When the waitress came in with the small dish with strawberries, Lara knew she'd find some more room in her stomach.

The strawberries tasted divine. She'd never had strawberries in her life, and the taste of the fruit made her close her eyes and savor every moment.

"There's coffee after this, so we still have all the time in the world, and I don't want to give the impression that I want the evening to be over, but would it be weird if I thanked you already for the company?" Matt asked carefully.

She leaned over to him, bringing her mouth close to his. "No. Go ahead, thank me."


"Aah! Aah! Aah! Uh! Ah! Ah! Uh! Ngh! Nggh!"

The walls of the bunker, while doubtless strong, were apparently anything but soundproof. The sounds Lara made left no doubt as to whether or not she fucked on the first date. Either the Brotherhood guy was the greatest sex god ever, or Lara hadn't gotten any for so long, she'd been about to explode. Whatever the case, she was moaning and grunting so hard the whole bunker could hear.

"Ah, geez," Chris groaned in an annoyed voice. "Some people are actually trying to sleep, Lara."

Lysanna gently ran her finger over his chest. She was lying against him, one of her legs on both of his, and her head resting on his shoulder. "I'm glad she's getting some."

"I'd be much gladder if she got some quietly."

"Doesn't bother me. I hope he gives her the time of her life. She can use it."

"From the noise she's making, I'd say he's doing a pretty good job of it."

"You know," Lysanna said sultrily. "this might be really weird, but…"

"What?"

She climbed on top of him, dressed only in her t-shirt and panties and whispered, "She's kinda turning me on."

"You kinky girl!" Chris said with a grin.

She brought her face closer to his and breathed, "I feel like getting some too."

The groans from the chamber two doors down were so loud even covering her ears didn't help, and a few minutes after, a creaking noise had come from the bed against the wall in the room next to her, leaving no doubt as to what was going on in there either. Under her bed lay two empty hypodermic needles, and hugging her blanket, feeling alone and cold, Phyllis quietly cried and wondered when if she'd ever find someone who could love her.