"...Shit." Whitley cursed as he surveyed the area in front of him with his binoculars. The distant roar of gunfire ever present in the distance. And now, soon enough, it was to be heard in this specific sector.

Digging into his Duster's pockets, He pulled out a piece of scrap paper, a pen and started writing on it.

"...Send more men….there will be a hole soon in their defences." Whitley muttered to himself as the cigarette in his mouth burned.

Taking one last drag, he handed the piece of paper to Coco, patting her on the head as he told her what to do.

"Coco honey, i'm going to need you to run this message to Hq, it's rather important, so please run fast."

"...Don't die." Coco muttered, looking away in embarrassment. Seemingly unused to saying such things.

"...I won't." Whitley replied with an amused smile.

"...Hmph!" Coco harrumphed as she made her way towards Headquarters, the ghost of a grin barely seeable on her face.

Turning back to the enemy in front of him, Whitley's smile quickly turned into a serious face as he gave his orders.

"Richy, Bob, I want your two squads to give me some covering fire."

"Got it."

"Roger."

"Mercury, you're with me."

"Yup."

"Ash, Jade, you go after we blow up the first section of barbed wire….Oh, and be sure to keep your heads down will you?"

"Willco." Ash replied.

"I'm already ready for action~" Jade cheerfully said in a sing-songy voice.

"Sigh, I hate doing this shit." Whitley said as he glared at the open feet of dessert they had to cross.

"Me too, We always get showered with bullets." Mercury complained with irritation as he remembered the last time he had to pull off a stunt like this.

"Not only that, but we got a Legion squad with a machine gun a couple feet behind the barbed wire as well~" Whitley said with a dejected grin.

"Yep, God sure as hell hates us all right." Mercury replied with a frown.

Grabbing a Bangalore, Whitley tossed Mercury the second part of the explosive.

"Allright, let's not waste any more time shall we?... Richy, Bob. Fire now!" Whitley commanded as he and Mercury jumped over the sand dune they were using as cover.

Immediately, the area around them lit up as they received fire from the enemy...before being promptly silenced by Ncr fire.

"Shit...Every single fucking time.." Whitley cursed under his breath as a stray bullet hit him in the right leg.

Mercury said nothing as they continued charging head on, tightly gripping the bangalore as he spotted some more enemies rushing to the enemy's defensive position.

BANG BANG

Stray pot shots from the enemy riflemen. Small little dirt clouds popped up around them as they made the usual charge expected from the assault engineers. Head on and reckless, yes...There was something a little poetic about it, eh?

PING.

Whitley's helmet rattled as a bullet bounced off it's side. A familiar sound to him as he shook it off and kept running. They were almost there now. They weren't going to be stopped, even if they lost a limb while doing so.

RATATATATATAT.

Shit. A submachine gunner. When did the Legion start using more guns?

They were close now….Coincidently, also close to death as well. With all of the bullets flying around them and what not.

Without saying a single word, both of them jumped for the barbed wire, knowing that the enemy wouldn't be able to get a beat on them underneath the wire.

THUMP.

Both engineers land flat on their stomachs, and both engineers waste no time at all setting up the bangalore.

Fast and experienced hands set up the explosive in all haste as the Ncr continued to fire, their shots precise yet slower than before, an effort to conserve ammunition. God knows when they're next resupply would be.

PAT PAT.

Yet again more dirt clouds form around them as they rigged the explosives.

"You're mother wouldn't be happy if she saw you doing this Whitley." Mercury teased as he finished inserting the second part of the tube in the first part, completing the Bangalore.

"I thought you were my mother." Whitley replied sarcastically as he pulled the string for Bangalore to explode.

….SSSSSS….BOOM!.

Soon a miniature explosion happened a couple feet ahead of the two engineers as debris flew all over the place.

Enemy gunfire stopped momentarily as the shock wave from the blast briefly stunned them.

Taking this opportunity, Ash and Jade made a quick beeline for it. The Ncr now covering the two as they ran across the desert sands.

The two met much more success then Whitley and Mercury as they managed to make it to their section of barbed wire completely unharmed and not shot at.

"Huh…Maybe God only hates us guys." Whitlely Muttered out as he fired his revolver at the enemy in front of him, Alreadying killing one as the foe screamed in agony before dying.

"Nah, he only hates you." Mercury remarked as he unslung his service rifle and fired at the enemy.

"Don't sass me black." Whitley quipped back with an amused smile.

FWEE

A whistle. Ncr troops have finally arrived.

BOOM.

Ash and Jade finally set off their Bangalore, they're newbies though, that kind of timing is to be expected.

The New Ncr squads are fixing bayonets. The grim looks on their faces showing their displeasure at what they're about to do next.

"Poor bastards are gonna have to charge over such a big ass distance...Hey Whitley, wouldn't it be a shame if the enemy position in front of us were to be….Blown up?" Mercury asked with a sympathetic yet sadistic smile.

Sigh.

"...Fine, but only a stick. We still got other positions to breach." Whitley said as he took another shot at the enemy.

"What? You're so stingy." Mercury complained, yet he still only took out a stick of dynamite from his canvas bag.

"Welp, here goes nothing." Mercury said as he tossed the stick of dynamite over the broken wire and into the enemy position.

Boom!

The Enemy's makeshift position was blown to bits as many were wounded in the blast, some died and the enemy no longer had cover.

Many of them just stood there in shock and they were quickly dealt with by Ncr fire. Whitley and Mercury with huge grins as they made their way to Ash and Jade, The Ncr troopers now running past them as they secured the area.

Pow Pow!

Shots still ringed in the air as the Ncr mopped up the remaining resistance, but for the most part The engineers were already done here.

Making their way back to the earlier defensive positions that they started at, Whitley noticed Coco, who nervously twiddled her thumbs as she stood there awaiting them. Her eyes squinting due to the sun.

Whitley couldn't help but chuckle at this. Walking up to her, he Patted her head and handed her his pair of Sunglasses.

"Hey kiddo, you did good. Here, these should protect your eyes from the sun." Whitley cheerfully said as he took a drag from his cigarette.

"..." Coco said nothing as she looked away, unsure on how to act.

"Now….Let's hit up a different sector now shall we?" Whitley said with a melancholic grin.

"...GASP!" Willow awoke with a sharp gasp as beads of cold sweat dropped down her face.

"..."

"..."

A couple seconds passed before she managed to get a hold of her bearings once again.

"...Why?" Willow asked herself as her fists clenched together.

"...Why?" She asked once again in a whisper.

The letters were enough as is, and now she has to dream of her missing son getting shot at and killing men?

"Oh brothers….what did i ever do to deserve this?" She whispered once more as she rose up on the bed.

"...Hah, what am i kidding?...I do deserve this...nightmare after all…"

She remembered it so vividly….

Her missing son in a worn out duster and a brodie hat, giving commands to a squad of engineers.

The way he looked when he killed those men in her dream….It was so….so..heartbreaking. How...how could he? How could he kill those men with a smile?

She never raised him to be like that at all.

"..."

A pause before the realization kicks in.

"Hah….forget raising him...I never raised him at all….." Willow muttered as she smiled sadly in defeat.

She was a terrible woman.

She was so disgusted, shocked at what her son had become.

And yet somehow, despite all that, She was happy.

She got to see him again, be it a mere passing glimpse.

She saw her boy.

Dirty, grimy….With long hair along with a mustache, He looked like he had seen better days. And yet….When she saw him, it looked like he was living in those better days….He showed so much...emotion. He looked so...so alive.

And Willow hated that.

He never behaved that way at home.

Hell, he did everything he could to ignore her and her shitbag of a husband.

"..." Willow grit her teeth.

There wasn't much she could do.

Hell, it wasn't even worth it.

But he was her son.

He was one of her biggest regrets.

She acted so distant, to try and to ease the pain.

She didn't want to be hurt anymore.

When he went missing, she didn't feel that much of a loss actually.

Strangely enough however, the Alcohol that she chugged down as usual tasted heavier than usual.

How Ironic, the one that never failed her….got her in the end.

In the first few weeks of his disappearance, she would see his face whenever she got intoxicated. She could hear his voice, sense his presence. It was all for nought though, she knew it wasn't real, he wasn't there.

She felt guilt.

She drank more alcohol.

She drank more and more to escape him.

And yet, every time. She would see him. She would regret the things that she had done to him.

The letters and the brooch were the final nail in the coffin.

She was a terrible, horrible negligent mother. And yet, her son...who she essentially left to fend for himself still loved her….She had given up on him...But he never gave up on her…..She wanted to drink that night, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She pulled the drawer of the night cabinet next to her bed.

With shaky hands, she took out a notebook and a pen.

She took a deep breath.

She recalled everything in her dream.

She knew that nothing would happen even if she wrote down what she had seen.

But there had to be a clue in there somewhere damnit!

With a heavy heart and sigh, she started writing.