Chapter 52: Unfriendly Persuasion

Boone took the first watch while Six slept in the old but still better than the ground bed. She tossed and turned all night and got little, if any, sleep. Six took the second watch. Boone woke at dawn and the two prepared to head out. Upon leaving the cabin, they saw a group of super mutants gathered near the entrance.

"I knew it." Boone said as he drew his rifle.

"Don't be so hasty!" Six saw the mutant from the night before and waved. He beckoned her over.

"Got a problem, could use your help. Been having trouble with NCR mercs harassing the town, and they just showed up again."

"You're sure these mercenaries work for the NCR?" Six asked.

"Guess I can't say for sure if they're NCR. Whoever they are, they want us dead or gone."

"How have they been harassing the town?"

"Killing our Bighorners, shooting at the lodge, that sort of thing. It's getting hard to keep people from retaliating."

"Alright, we'll see what we can do." Six said as she sent a glare at Boone. He sighed and followed when she headed toward the group of mercs.

"Our business is with the muties, not you." The lead merc said as Six approached.

"What do you want with Jacobstown?" Six demanded.

"Just doing what I'm paid to do - harass the muties until they leave or attack us. If they leave, we let 'em go. If they attack, we wipe them out. Either way, the job's not done until they've cleared out of the town."

"Who are you working for?"

"Won't name names, but some important folks in the NCR are sick of muties attacking their Brahmin herds. They want them gone from NCR territory. Maybe this group had something to do with attacking Brahmin, maybe not. Doesn't matter. We're getting paid to make them go away."

"Arg!" Six groaned loudly and stomped her feet. Then she stopped suddenly. She looked at the mercenaries. "You're working for the NCR?" Six asked coldly. The mercenaries looked at each other. "I usually do too."

"Wait, that means you're-" One mercenary began.

"But these super mutants are trying to live here in peace. If defending them means going against the NCR…" Six looked over at Boone. "So be it." Six's hand moved to hover beside Lucky.

"Six…" Boone whispered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy now! Thought you looked familiar. I'm just doing a job, nothing more. Politics aren't my thing, so if you say go, we'll go. No hard feelings."

Six let her hand drop. "Good." She said. The mercenaries took that as their queue and left in a hurry.

Six walked back to the mutants. "You won't have any more trouble with those mercenaries."

"Good. Glad you didn't kill them. Letting them walk away proves we're not bloodthirsty mutants. If NCR or anybody else is looking for an excuse to attack Jacobstown, they're not going to get it from us."

Six smiled sadly at the mutants. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"You're quite welcome." The sentry replied.

Six gave a sad wave and headed down the mountain. Boone walked beside her and Rex ran around them sniffing all the wonderful smells.

"Six." Boone said after a while.

"I'm sorry for putting you in that position, Boone." Six said without looking over at him.

Boone gently placed a hand on Six's shoulder to stop her and turned her to face him. "What is it?"

"The NCR does its best, but only for its own people." Six sighed. "Jacobstown, the Kings, the Boomers. It's always the same. Join or die." Six said sadly as she looked down at the dirt. "Only the strong resist the NCR; like the Legion. I could give the Strip the power to resist the Legion and the NCR." She held up the Platinum Chip on the palm of her left hand between them.

"All of the NCR's focus now is on the Legion. Without the threat they pose, the NCR will have more patience to deal with new people they meet." Boone said as he placed a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Will they?" Six asked looking up at him.

"You can make sure of it." Boone said with a smile.

"But I'm not an NCR citizen! If it came right down to it, the NCR would turn on me! " Six protested. "What happens when I'm no longer useful? What if…" Six knocked Boone's hands off her shoulders and stepped back in panic. "What if the NCR learns about the Platinum Chip? What if the NCR knows about the platinum chip?! House says it activates something that will let him rule the Mojave. The NCR would definitely kill me for it!"

"Six, calm down." Boone said sternly.

"They'd kill the Boomers for their ordinance! They'd kill the Kings for control of Freeside!"

"Six-"

"If they know, what would they do?" Six was mainly talking to herself now. "They'd let me do the work and steal the prize out from under me." Six looked Boone square in the eyes. "They'd send someone to get close to me." Six said coldly and backed another step away from Boone.

"Six! You're being paranoid!" Boone shouted.

Six stared at Boone in horror. "Hsu asked you to reenlist. Called you sergeant. Was glad you caught up to me. The soldiers weren't saluting me, they were saluting you!" Six grabbed her head with both hands. "I'm so stupid! Outside the Lucky 38, you said exactly what I wanted to hear! But you're a stubborn bastard; you wouldn't change like that in only a few days!"

"Six! Get a hold of yourself!" Boone yelled as he took a step toward Six.

"Stay back!" Six jumped back and grasped Lucky's grip.

"Six. Just take a breath and think about this." Boone said calmly with his hands held submissively in front of him.

"Oh god and when I found the letter… You thought I knew then. That's why you thought I would abandon you!" Six's hand tightened on the pearl grip.

"Six, none of that is true." Boone said carefully. "I didn't reenlist and I'm not under orders. I'm here because I want to be."

Six shook her head. "I won't fall for it again." Six threw the Platinum Chip in her hand at Boone who caught it reflexively. "Take it and go. Be the hero of the republic. I'm tired of the Mojave." Six turned and started walking away.

Boone moved quickly to get ahead of her. "I won't let you leave like this!"

"Fine, Boone. Kill me and be done with it. I should've died in Goodsprings anyways. This?" Six motioned to their surroundings. "All this has just been borrowed time."

"Where the hell is this coming from?!"

"Such a keen eye, but so oblivious to the world around you." Six shook her head as she looked at the dirt.

"What?"

"Manny didn't like Carla because he was jealous. Jealous she took you away from him."

"What." Boone was caught off guard and took an involuntary step back.

"The army you fought for is full of corrupt, genocidal warmongers. A colonel is promoted to general because he knows the president, not because he knows what he's doing. An officer orders the men, women and children of the Great Khans slaughtered and all she gets is a demotion. A town is massacred by convicts the NCR brought to the area and all the NCR does is watch." Six looked at Boone, who was speechless.

"Do you want to know why I do these impossible things, Boone?" Six asked harshly. "It's because my life is worthless. I have nothing left to lose. A person is shaped by their past experiences, even their regrets. I have no memories of anything before Goodsprings; good or bad. I have nothing. I. Am. Nothing!"

Six looked down at Rex who had started to whine. "Stay with Boone, Rex. He'll get you back to The King." Then she looked up to a still quiet Boone. "Don't follow me Boone or I will shoot you."

Boone looked down at the chip in his hand. At any other time, in any other place, he wouldn't have hesitated to follow the Courier. But here and now, he wasn't sure what to do. The revelation about Manny was shocking. He'd never suspected it. But that he could deal with. He knew the NCR had problems but the more he considered, the more he realized she was right. They would send someone to kill her for the chip. That would take some time to come to terms with. But it was what she'd said at the end that had him reeling. Had she thought that, all the while they were together? Was she just looking for a valiant death beside him? Did she really think she was worthless?

There was a whine beside him. Boone looked down at Rex, then back up. To his surprise, the Courier had vanished.

"Goddammit, Six!" He hesitated for only a second before heading off in the direction she had gone. She wouldn't shoot him. He trusted her with his life. But in her current state of mind? He had to find her before she did something stupid.

He'd been so caught up in his own problems. He hadn't even considered what she was going through. Shot in the head and left to die in a shallow grave. Thrust into a world she didn't remember. Fighting a war for people she didn't know. And on top of it all, she was given the power to decide the fate of the entire region.

And she hasn't been sleeping lately. Since Lake Mead he'd barely seen her sleep. Whenever he was on watch, she tossed and turned most of the night. When they stayed at the Lucky 38, he guessed it was the same.

He crested the hill but saw no sign of the Courier. Goddammit! I shouldn't have let her out of my sight! He started looking for a trail but the worn out road made it impossible to find any tracks. She could have gone in any direction. She could have even doubled back to Jacobstown. Boone sighed and looked down at the dog beside him.

"Can you find her?" He asked in earnest. Rex made a confused noise and cocked his head to the side. "She needs our help." Rex barked twice and started sniffing the area. Rex soon bounded off to the north and Boone followed close behind.

Boone was completely reliant on Rex. Six was doing a damn good job of covering her tracks. She stuck to hard surfaces like the road and the occasional boulder. Ten minutes into the hunt, Rex threw his head back and yowled in pain. Then he lay down and started whimpering.

Boone looked for a trail to no avail. "Come on, boy! I need you!" Rex whined again but eventually got up and started leading Boone again, albeit at a much slower pace. After almost half an hour Rex turned off the road. He followed the edge of the canyon until he stopped and started nosing the dirt. Boone saw the trail then. Six had to leave the hard rocks to get to wherever she was going. Boone looked in the direction the trail went. Off in the distance, past a herd of bighorners, he saw a door set into the rock wall.

"Good boy." Boone said and scratched the dog behind the ears. Boone carefully made his way by the bighorners with Rex at his side. He reached the door, unnoticed. Putting one hand on the door knob, Boone took a deep breath. If she is out of her mind, this is the perfect chance to make good on her threat. He thought. He exhaled and opened the door.

Boone found himself in the crew quarters of an old mine. The door led to a small common area with a couch and kitchen. There was a heavy door to his left and a doorway to his right. He headed to the right. He heard her first; soft crying in the distance. He stepped through the doorway and found the mining crew's bunks. He didn't notice her right away. She was tucked into the corner to his left. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them. Her forehead was rested on her knees and she was crying quietly to herself. She didn't seem to have noticed him.

Boone opened his mouth to get her attention then he stopped. What should he call her? Even her name, Courier Six, was a reminder of everything that had happened to her. "Partner." The quiet sobs let up then.

Without lifting her head from her knees, she responded. "Go away, Boone." She tried to put a hard edge in her voice but Boone heard the quavering underneath.

"No." He replied simply and took a step in her direction. Six twitched at the sound of the footstep, then shrugged her shoulders and started crying again. Boone took another careful step. One more had him close enough to slowly lower himself to the ground beside the Courier. She tried to shift away when their shoulders touched but she was already pressed as close to the wall as she could get.

"I think you're right about Manny." Boone said carefully. "It would explain a few things." The quiet sobbing continued from beside him. "And maybe the NCR needs to try harder. And maybe they would send someone to kill you for the power to control the Mojave. But there is one thing you are absolutely wrong about. You are not worthless. You are not nothing." Boone smiled when the thought came to him. "If fact, if I recall correctly, you're the Liberator of Nelson, the Avenger of Nipton, the Guardian of Goodsprings, the Bane of Centurions, the Saviour of the Monorail and the Defender of Bitter Springs. And I think you've earned a few more titles since then. Including the Desert Avenger." The quiet sobbing let up and was replaced with sniffling. "I don't know who you were before Goodsprings but I know who you are now. You're the person the whole Mojave looks up to. The person who does what's right no matter the obstacles. And the person who saved my life. You're my partner and you're my friend." Boone paused. "And I have no idea why you think I'd just come back to betray you!"

They sat in silence for a while. The sniffles slowly ebbed. "You should have said something sooner." Boone said quietly.

"Didn't. Care." Six said between shaky breaths.

"You've felt this way since Goodsprings?" He asked carefully.

"At first… it was just revenge driving me on. Then you needed my help. But after Bitter Springs…"

"That's why we went to Cottonwood Cove."

"I didn't expect that you would save me." Six finally lifted her head up and rested her chin on her knees. "You were so worried. I thought… I thought that meant something. That I was something."

"And then I left." Boone said angrily.

"I was something alright. A burden." Six shook her head. "Decided you were better off without me." Boone couldn't help but smile. "What?" Six asked.

"If only you knew how many times I told myself the same thing."

"Hmm…" Six thought to herself. "Maybe, we're better off together. I mean, we're both still alive. That has to count for something.

"Think it does."

"The NCR still might come after me." Six said hesitantly. "They may even ask you."

"To turn on the one person I care about in this wasteland? I won't make the mistake of following bad orders a second time."

"And if I choose to make Vegas independent?" Six looked over at Boone.

Boone looked over at Six and sighed heavily. "The NCR won't like it, but I'll have your back."

"If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you." Six smiled just a bit.

"Sounds good to me."

Six leaned her head over on Boone's shoulder. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you, Boone."

"Your arguments were surprisingly valid. I'm still kind of reeling from the Manny revelation though." Boone chuckled.

"Sorry to drop that on you like that." Six said.

"As for the NCR? Maybe it's time for a little reform, once the Legion is dealt with." Boone reached into his pocket. "Here. This is yours." He presented the Platinum Chip.

Six took the chip between two fingers and looked at Boone. "Back to it, I suppose."

"Do you still want to be called Courier Six?" Boone asked. Six looked at him in confusion. "It just reminds you of what you've lost."

Six thought for a second. "True, but now it also reminds me of what I've gained. Shall we head out?"

"No." Replied Boone. "I think you could use a good night's rest and this place is better than most."

"Alright."

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