Six couldn't believe what she was hearing.
The man before her, who introduced himself as simply "Boone", had revealed that his wife, Carla, had been kidnapped in the middle of the night sometime ago, and needed to know who in Novac was responsible. When she tried to confirm that Boone was trying to track down his wife, he added that she was dead, refusing to divulge any other information beyond that.
"Look, I know that she's dead, alright? Legion slavers knew when to come and what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don't know who."
The courier's heart broke for this man and all he'd been through in such a short period of time. Her memory was still fuzzy in some parts after the shots to the head, and she couldn't remember if she'd had someone in her life that meant as much to her as Carla did to Boone. The pain from her internal struggles was still very real and very raw. Grieving the loss of a loved one, especially if left untreated, could have devastating impacts on the psyche.
Six couldn't think of any other way to offer her comfort and condolences, so she approached Boone and placed a hand on his arm, giving it a small squeeze.
He gently brushed her off and requested that she find the suspect and bring them to the front of the dinosaur. He removed his scarlet red beret and handed it to Six, revealing his buzzed head. She held the beret delicately in her hands, inspecting a patch that bore some sort of military insignia: the skull of a bear and two rifles fashioned into an "X" behind the skull, with the words "THE LAST THING YOU NEVER SEE" sewn into the patch. At the top of the patch read "NCR 1st RECON".
"It'll be our signal, so I know you're with him. I'll do the rest. " Boone said softly, bringing Six's attention back to him and their agreement. "I need to do this myself." He ushered Six to the door, asking that they didn't speak again until whoever was responsible for Carla's demise was brought to wasteland justice. He needed to ensure they maintained their cover. Before she closed the door, she heard him murmur "thank you".
Six retreated through the gift shop and exited Dinky's belly, promising Boone that she would begin her investigation as soon as she got some sleep. He nodded, a small grunt of understanding passing his lips. She felt incredibly uneasy at the thought of someone losing their spouse like this, and even more so at the sound of it being arranged.
Surely this Carla wasn't such a nuisance that someone would have arranged for her to be kidnapped in the middle of the night?
The Courier woke up later the next morning in the room she'd reserved the night before, disoriented from how hard she had slept. Feeling partially guilty for having slept most of the day away, she reminded herself that she never gave Boone a timeframe on when her investigation was going to conclude. She'd just promised that she would bring the suspect before him as soon as possible.
Catching up on that sleep felt pretty amazing, too.
After washing her face and strapping her armor back on, Six set out for the rest of Novac, to acquaint herself with its residents. She decided that she would interview each citizen one by one, and then plan her next step accordingly.
Her first stop was the gift shop, which in the daylight was now guarded by an older dark-skinned man. As soon as she was through the entryway, he warmly and enthusiastically introduced himself as Cliff Briscoe, the manager and owner of the gift shop.
"Were you here for a t-rex figurine?" Six smiled back and shook her head.
"Actually, no. I'm acting as an independent investigator and have some questions." Cliff's face sunk in disappointment, but nodded. "What can you tell me about Boone's wife?"
The older man's expression softened at the mention of Carla; it appeared the whole town really did know about her disappearance. "Can't say we spoke much. Boone did most of the buying for them. She was in the store once, but didn't stay long." He wrinkled his nose. "Had a look on her face like she'd smelled something sour. But as far as I can remember, the gift shop smelled fine. Well… fine as it always does, I suppose." As if to prove his point, Cliff sniffed loudly before exhaling and raising his shoulders in resignation.
Six nodded solemnly. As far as she was concerned, if Cliff had only interacted with Carla once, there was no reason to suspect him. He spoke no ill of her, either. "Thank you for the information, and for your time." She turned left and walked up the stairs towards the sniper's roost to meet with the daytime sniper that Jeannie May pointed her to the night before.
Cliff spoke again behind her, his voice faint. "I hope Boone gets closure in all of this. He didn't deserve any of it."
She said nothing as she continued up the stairs. Once she got to the top, she knocked on the door three times, opening it slowly.
A tan-skinned man stood in the room, his back to her. He wore a First Recon Beret identical to Boone's, but unlike his nighttime counterpart, he had tufts of thick dark hair peeking out from the beret's bottom band. His dark clothing and gear across his torso, made him look more like a mercenary than a guard. She cleared her throat loudly, and stood still as the man turned to face her with his rifle aimed between her eyes. He had an intense, suspicious look across his face.
"Are you Manny Vargas?"
He nodded slowly and lowered his weapon, squinting his dark eyes as if trying to identify her. Finally, he relaxed as he drank in her features, deciding that she was not a threat. "What's going on?"
Six quickly held out her hand and introduced herself to him. He accepted her hand, shaking it and letting go after a few seconds. He looked at her expectantly with a hand on his hip.
"I had some questions I needed to ask you." She studied Manny's stubbled face and then bit her lip when she realized she wasn't studying so much as she was staring. His handsome features reminded her of someone she'd met at an earlier point in her life… but who? "I'm, uh, also looking for a man in a checkered coat. Jeannie May said he and his thugs knew you?"
Manny's voice was low and hoarse as he grunted in affirmation. "Sure I know him. What do you want with him?" He glanced out towards the eastern horizon every so often, looking for movement past the crumbling overpass.
"I have a score to settle." A loud bang exploded in Six's ears as Manny fired at something moving towards the town boundaries. She stumbled next to him to see what he'd hit, and grinned at the sight of a single Legionnaire on the overpass, gripping his knee and rolling on the ground. To her surprise, no yells of pain escaped his lips.
Manny stepped back and faced the Courier to continue their dialogue. "Doesn't surprise me. Guy seemed like he'd do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Probably makes a lot of enemies." Six snorted in response. "The guy you're looking for, Benny, he was traveling with some members from my old gang."
The Courier's eyes flew open upon hearing "Benny". She now had a name for this man that had tried to terminate her earthly career. It was a small detail, but the weight was beyond measure. Things were definitely starting to get more personal going forward… not that she'd mind.
Manny spoke again, interrupting her thoughts. "They were headed for Boulder City. It's straight up Route 93 from here. Just keep following the road north." He turned to face the opening of the mouth again, scanning for any more activity. It was all quiet except for a few geckos chasing after something in the distance.
"Thank you," Six breathed.
He spun again to face the Courier, returning her smile with a more roguish one of his own. "I'm glad I could help." He hung his head and stared awkwardly at his feet, his body tense with anticipation. Raising his head, he gazed at Six again. He spoke slowly, trying to form his thoughts into words. "Look… Six, was it? I know you got no reason to help me now, but you seem really nice. Could I at least tell you about the problem we've got here?"
The Courier blushed at Manny's compliment, nodding. "What's the matter?"
"Novac, it's home for me now." Manny's voice lowered and a defeated look blanketed his face. "I… I want that to be for good. I like it here, and I've left too many homes behind. But the only resource we got here is junk. Without that, people wouldn't have anything to trade. They'd all have to leave."
Six looked out to the horizon, thinking on Manny's confession. Having a place to call home was something that not many people were able to do nowadays, doomed to wander from town to town forever before any roots could ever be put down. She had a deep understanding of how Manny felt about the town, even if there wasn't much to offer. Her own hometown far to the northwest had little sentimental value to her, but it was still the place where she lived out the first 15 years of her life. That would never change, and anything worth having was worth fighting for.
"Where do you get your resources from?" She glanced at him purposefully.
Manny lifted a finger to scratch his nose. "We get most of it up the road from the old rocket test site. But a bunch of ghouls showed up one day and took it over. We can't get in there now without them attacking."
"So they're feral ghouls, then?"
The sniper nodded. "One way or another, they gotta go. Or this'll be a ghost town before long. I'd deal with it, but I gotta watch the road. Caesar's Legion has been taking territory left and right, and all it would take is for them to sense weakness. Between Boone and I, we've killed at least 20 Legionnaires or so in just the last few weeks. There's only going to be more."
The Courier shuffled next to Manny, looking at him knowingly, but careful with how she chose her next words. "I'm investigating someone that's presumed dead, but once I have a moment I can look into that for you." He looked back at her as he held out his hand, which she grabbed and shook firmly. Manny smiled warmly in gratitude.
"Who are you investigating?" he asked, his voice inquisitive. Six felt her throat tighten, as if she'd tried eating a handful of dry, crumbly Fancy Lads snack cakes. Manny had given no reason for distrust, but disclosing too much sensitive information could be dangerous. On the other hand, she realized if Manny and Boone worked out of the same dinosaur mouth day in and day out, they would have interacted and engaged with one another frequently.
Finally, Six spoke in a low voice, deciding in the moment to disclose the biggest question of her current mission. "Boone's wife…h-he says she's dead but won't give me any details besides that."
Almost immediately, Manny's face soured in a manner not entirely different from Jeannie May's the day before, at the mention of "city folk". When Six voiced her confusion to his sudden change in demeanor, he didn't respond right away.
After taking a deep breath, he began to speak, holding nothing back as he gave sentimental insight on what was a solid friendship with Boone; years of service to the NCR military, joining the First Recon Battalion together, spotting for one another, and watching each other's backs in battle. They'd gone through hell and back together.
As Manny Vargas continued to share this part of himself, his voice grew increasingly agitated and strained as he gave in to what must have been deep-rooted anger.
What seemed like a strong and true friendship went south when Boone met a striking blonde named Carla in New Vegas while he was on leave. Not even three months later they were married, moving to Novac to settle down alongside Manny. He'd described Carla in the same way Jeannie May described Benny: someone who was raised in luxury, expected nothing less, and made sure the world knew of it. He revealed snippets of his and Carla's brittle relationship that was littered with nothing but hostility, but as Manny pressed on, Six listened less with concern and more with surprise.
Was that jealousy in his voice?
Six had never met Carla so she could make no judgment of character, but either Carla really was a snob, or Manny couldn't handle the idea of his best friend giving attention to someone that wasn't him.
"Here was this woman who was too good for it, trying to take him away. We didn't see eye-to-eye on some things, and had some pretty big arguments. One day, she turns up missing, and Boone hasn't said a word to me since."
Six glared at him, stunned by how quickly his attitude darkened while talking about Carla. "So you had nothing to do with her disappearance?"
Manny chortled as he held up his rifle to aim, peering down the barrel through the sights at something down the road. "Believe me, when I heard the news, my first thought was that I owed someone, big time. That girl didn't have one friend in this whole town and went out of her way to be miserable. I figured Boone would come around after awhile… but he hasn't. I'm starting to think that if he doesn't find her, that things will never go back to the way they were." He lowered the rifle, a look on his face that spoke volumes of anger, jealousy, and sadness.
Based on what Manny just revealed, while he made it very clear that he did not like Carla at all and wanted her gone, he was not a suspect. A person of interest, maybe. The Courier imagined that he would have been too wracked with guilt should he actually be responsible for the terrible fate with which she'd met. He seemed too respectable to even consider committing any kind of crime.
Six placed a hand on his shoulder, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile at the sight of him relaxing. She held her breath, thinking about the best way to console the man in front of her. Providing emotional support was something she'd become well-versed in not just from her time as a courier, but even before that, when she worked temporarily as a counselor for the Followers. It wasn't unusual for her to console children whose parents were killed, or young adults who were facing traumas from their past.
"I plan on leaving no stone unturned to get some answers for Boone… Anything that will give him closure. And while you had bad blood with his wife, I can tell that you're still hurting deep down. Please trust that I'll do whatever I can, but until I have more answers, stay strong. I'm sure you'll be able to reconcile with Boone in due time."
Manny glanced at her, his face pleading. He looked on the verge of tears, but nothing escaped his dark eyes. Suddenly, he set his rifle down between two of Dinky's teeth and pulled Six into a tight hug. He clung to her desperately, like he'd been deprived of physical contact his entire life, and it became clear that Manny didn't have any proper coping mechanisms as a result of emotional neglect. She wrapped her other arm around him awkwardly, but did not resist or try to pull away. Instead, she allowed him to work through these negative feelings that were eating away at his being.
Manny's voice cracked as he spoke close to her ear. "I just want my best friend back."