Chapter 10: Earth Angel

After letting Colonel Hsu in on what Silus had told her, she decided to look around for a man named Dhaitri who apparently had bounties going for Fiends. He wanted three of them dead. One was Violet, another was Cook-Cook, and the other was Driver Nephi. Raven remembered where Violet was based on the information. She'd been Violetta's master, the dog that had given Rex his new brain. She felt saddened thinking about the poor girl, but she headed on out into the Wastes to search for her quarries.

Taking down the three Fiends had been a cinch, and after trekking it back to Camp McCarran with three separate heads in bags, along with Motor-runner's helmet, Raven was a bit tired from all the walking. However, she was going to go home right after this. Home? No, she was going straight to her boyfriend for some lovin'. Raven chuckled at the thought. She found Major Dhatri and held up all three heads.

"Special delivery," she said with a smile.

Dhatri opened the bags one by one, pulling out the heads. "God dammit, that's Violet, all right. You've made me one happy son of a bitch, you know that? Who else you got? Let me have a look..."

Raven laughed. "I didn't realize how happy you'd be."

"Oh, I'm happy as hell," the major said as he pulled out Driver Nelphi's head. "Well, well, well. Driver Nelphi. Nothing to say, you son of a bitch? No tips on my golf swing? Lost a lot of good men to this psychopath. Morale's gonna be a lot better, now that he's gone. Who else did you bring. Was it Cook-Cook?"

Raven shrugged. "Take a look."

The major opened the last bag and smiled brightly before backing off a bit with a sour face. "Yeah, that's Cook-Cook. Did he always smell like this? Even before he was dead? And the Fiends let this guy touch their food? Well...at least that's payback for one of my troopers. She'll be glad to know he's dead. Here's all your caps."

Raven grabbed the bag of caps and smiled. She'd really gotten rich today. There was still one more thing she had to do before she left, though. The Courier went inside to look for Colonel Hsu. She found him and he smiled at her.

"Anders showed up here not too long ago. I'm told you're the one who got him out of the vault. I can't tell you how relieved I am. Sending him on that mission was a mistake."

Raven frowned as she shook his hand. "You didn't have a choice. The Fiends were a growing threat."

"That's probably true, but I wonder if I should've taken a different strategy entirely. Although my options were certainly limited with most if our forces tied up garrisoning this place. Regardless, what you did for Anders isn't something he or any of us take lightly. We're all glad to have him back. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, I do have a present for you." Raven reached into one of her other bags and handed Hsu Motor-runner's helmet. "Motor-runner is dead. I brought his helmet as proof."

"Unbelievable," the Colonel said as he stared down at the helmet in his hands. "That man has given us so much grief since we set up here. This may be a major turning point for us. I...I can't tell you how many times we thought we'd taken him out, only for him to show up again later, taking more heads off of fallen troopers. This is for the bounty. And this is from a pool me and a lot of the soldiers around the base had going. You may not be NCR, but hey, it's only fair."

Raven was given three hundred caps and she smiled. "Well, damn. I am definitely taking the King out tonight. Now, about those intelligence leaks...need any help with that?"


It was very late at night by the time Raven came crawling into bed with the King at his place. Raven had put in a lot of leg work today, so much so that her feet were aching. She kicked off her boots and started rubbing the archs of her feet with a groan when she felt the bed shift and a hand on her back.

"You okay there?" the King asked sleepily.

"Yeah, just did a lot of shit today," she replied with a yawn. "My dogs are barkin'."

The King laughed quietly and sat up behind her. "Sounds like you need some rest and a foot massage."

"I am gettin' a foot massage. I'm just doin' it myself."

"Here, let me do it."

"No no," she said, waving him off. "You don't wanna touch my feet, they're yucky."

The King laughed and kissed the back of her neck. "Oh c'mon, they can't be that...oh boy, you smell like you've been walkin' around in the heat all day long."

Raven started undressing out of her leather armor. "I'm gonna take a shower, obviously."

"You want company?"

"No, I'm too tired to have another fuck in the shower."

The King wheezed out a laugh and kissed her neck again. "I promise not to try that...I just wanna give you a massage everywhere."

Raven turned her head towards him with a smirk and an arched brow. "Everywhere, huh?"

"Yeah. Everywhere," he emphasized with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Raven snickered at him then gave him a curt nod. "Alright, alright, but no funny business, mister."

"Cross my heart, hope to die," he said, making the sign of the cross over his heart.

Raven leaned back and gave him a tender kiss on the mouth. "Liar. You're a devil and you know it."

The King, already naked, pulled off the covers to expose his lean but toned and muscular body, making Raven's breath catch in her throat. "Yes, I am a devil."

"You son of a..."

Raven's eyes wandered across his body and she unconsciously licked her lips. He really was a handsome devil. Just looking at him set her netheregions aflame. Still, she was just so tired. Raven stood up and slipped off the rest of her armor before walking towards the bathroom, walking backwards and making a "come hither" motion with her finger towards the king. He immediately obeyed and almost tackled her against the door, kissing her with a passion that moistened Raven's womanhood severely so. The King soon stopped and stared down at her with a cool look in his eyes.

"You were sayin'?"

"Son of a bitch," Raven said calmly. "I need a shower, King...and some sleep," she whined.

"Yes, well...I'm goin' to massage you first, then we're makin' love in the bed."

"Can you even wait that long?"

"Of course I can." Raven kissed him before making an upwards lick against his mouth, making the King tremble a little. "Now who's a devil?"

"...I forgot to mention, I got your present back, but I haven't opened it yet."

Raven felt his body tense for a moment before relaxing. "Good. Don't open it until I say you can open it."

"I can't open it before?"

"No. I had no plans to have you open it before. I just wanted to give it to you."

"Oooh, color me intrigued. Do I get a hint?"

The King opened the door and pulled her into the bathroom. "No."


After their shower and a run in the sack, Raven had fallen asleep in the King's arms and he merely held her, looking at her angelic face. Her black hair, now damp, cascaded down her back and cheeks. The sheets covered her modestly but he could still make out the silhouette of her curvy form. Her bruises and swollen eye were almost healed completely now, as well as her lip, but she still looked beautiful. All the more reason to realize how much of a sucker he was for this gorgeous desert flower, even though she was definitely not a delicate one. Suddenly his mind drifted to his previous lover, the one with luscious blonde hair and full lips. She was no longer the same type of ghost she had been before he fell in love with Raven, but he still thought of her often.

The King thought of what could have been sometimes, but as he gazed at the beauty in his arms, he realized that didn't really matter anymore. He had this woman in his arms to think about a future with. Slowly and steadily, he scooted out from underneath her and got out of bed. He watched his girlfriend groan and toss over in her sleep, then there was silence. He went to her side of the bed and rummaged around through her armor, finding a small bag and opening it. It was the present he gave her. He quietly undid the ribbon and gently took off the paper, revealing a blue velvet box. He opened it to expose a silver band with the Vault-Tec logo on it. He knew it was way too early to propose marriage, but as the King had told the queen of his heart, he was thinking about the future.

"...King? What are you doing?" he heard Raven ask him, sounding groggy.

He quickly shut the box and started wrapping it back up. "Nothin', baby girl. Was just checkin' somethin'."

"Oh. Okay..." she said softly.

He retied the bow and he looked over at his woman. She went right back to sleep. He quickly walked over, put the ring box back in her bag, then walked around the bed and got back in. He snuggled up against Raven's back and kissed her shoulder. "I love you, Raven," he whispered in her ear.

"Mmph, love you too..."