Chapter Summary: A visit to Boulder City gives Beth a lead on Benny.

Chapter 3: Life Turned Her That Way

The sand was rough against her cheek and she could feel a soft breeze blowing in her face. Her mouth was dry and sticky, with a faint bitter taste in the back of her throat. The thick smell of cigarette smoke, dust, and men's cologne filled her nostrils. As she opened her eyes, she could see the glowing lights of New Vegas in the distance, brighter than the moon hanging in the darkened sky. Several figures stood around her, their shadows long in the light of the lantern sitting on the ground and she heard a sharp rustling.

The last things she remembered was stopping for a meal in Goodsprings, but it was still light out then. Still groggy, her head swam as she tried to push herself up, but her hands were tied behind her back.

One of the figures spoke aggressively, "You got what you were after, so pay up!" For a second, she thought he was talking to her.

"Job's not over yet, pally," came another voice, dismissive and smarmy.

She struggled against the ropes tying her wrists, but the bindings were too tight to slip out of.

Then a third man spoke, "Guess who's finally wakin' up?" He nudged her leg with his boot.

"Time to cash out," said the second man casually, throwing down a cigarette and grinding it into the ground. He wore a black and white checkered suit jacket with gray pants, his hair dark and slicked back. She had never seen him before.

As he approached her, the first man piped up, "Will you get it over with?"

"Maybe Khans kill people without lookin' em in the face, but I ain't a fink, dig?"

"Kill?" she thought, still not fully comprehending the situation.

He pulled something out from his jacket she could barely see, since it was dark and her vision was still a bit blurry. A small coin? "You made your last delivery, girly. Sorry, you got mixed up in all this. It's nothing personal. Just business." Despite his words, his tone did not sound regretful.

She struggled to push herself upright, not easy with her hands tied, as she was still shaking off whatever they drugged her with. Managing to get up on her knees with much effort, she spat some dirt out of her mouth and flipped her head to get her loose hair out of her face. "No, wait...don't..." she begged weakly, trying to work one of her wrists out of the ropes. Then she saw that the rustling sound she heard was one of the men digging a grave. "This is a fucking graveyard." A sharp panic gripped her as the reality of her situation became even more apparent, but her instincts and training were failing her in her drugged state. "You don't...you don't have to do this..."

As he put the coin back in his jacket, he pulled out a gun. "From where you're kneeling it must seem like an 18 karat run of bad luck," he said glibly.

"Please...I—"

Pointing the gun directly at her face, he shook his head, not acknowledging her pleas. "Truth is...the game was rigged from the start."

"Charon would be so disappointed in me."

The gunshots didn't have a chance to register in her ears before she was lying back on the desert floor, dead to the world.

Beth and Boone set out the next morning from their camp at the gas station just as the sun's light started to appear over the hills. He had let her sleep a couple of hours past when they agreed to change shifts, much to her annoyance. She didn't appreciate special treatment. It felt too much like pity, which was why she didn't want to let on how much pain she was in. It was none of his business anyway. They probably wouldn't be traveling together for long, but maybe after Benny was dead, she'd still have some time left to help him with his revenge before she succumbed to her injury.

Right now, she just needed to keep going.

While it lasted, she was grateful for the company, even if he didn't talk much. After having given up guarding caravans for work as a lone courier, it had been a while since she had traveled with another person. Boone was quiet and stone-faced most of the time, which she understood, since he clearly had a lot on his mind. She had traveled with people even quieter than he was, so she felt no need to press him to talk.

His NCR training made the duo a formidable force in the Wasteland, a fact she took comfort in. Having a companion who couldn't defend themselves was worse than having no companion at all.

They reached Boulder City just after noon. There wasn't much reason for anyone to visit except to see the war memorial or to pass through to and from the Dam, so Beth hadn't been here before. After the Battle for Hoover Dam several years ago, it seemed the saloon was the only building still left in town that the NCR hadn't blown to bits in it's Legion trap. She looked around at the rubble and thought momentarily about Joshua: this had been the site of his failure. She, however, was determined not to fail.

Her head throbbed. Tempted to take another injection of med-x, she stopped herself, knowing she had too much already. There were a few doses of fixer in her bag, but she still didn't want to risk addiction any more than she had to. Besides, she didn't know what was going to happen next. If she was going to get her chance at Benny, she wanted to keep her senses sharp.

Next to a gate up ahead sat an NCR soldier at a table, speaking into a ham radio. At their approach, he stood and introduced himself as Lieutenant Monroe. He told her and Boone that they were having a problem: a group of Great Khans had attacked some NCR troops and there was now a hostage situation.

"The NCR seems to have a knack for getting themselves taken prisoner," Beth thought.

"Those Khans may have something of mine," she informed him. "I need to get in there."

"Once they've been killed or captured, you're welcome to retrieve your property," the Lieutenant responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Beth sighed. "I don't have time to wait. Maybe I could help you out with negotiations." Boone glanced at her incredulously, but she ignored him.

The Lieutenant seemed reluctant, but then he relented with a sigh. "Normally, I'd turn you down, since I have no idea who you are, but frankly, we're in kind of a desperate situation here. If we go in there, the hostages are as good as dead. Maybe you'll have a chance."

"Thanks. I'll do my best to get your people out safely."

"You'll want to talk to their leader, a guy named Jessup. So you know, if there's trouble, you'll probably be dead before we can get in there," he said, apologetically.

She nodded in thanks. "I understand."

"Good luck."

As she walked toward the gate, Boone stopped her. "You're really going in there?"

"Yeah. I don't have a lot of other options." She was aware she was being reckless, but if Benny was in there or if the Khans knew where he was, nothing was going to stop her from going in.

"The Khans are dangerous."

"So am I," she thought, but to him, she replied, "I get that, believe me. But if they want out of there as much as those hostages do, they'll listen."

Still appearing unconvinced, he gestured for her to lead the way and they proceeded through the gate. Inside, half a dozen NCR soldiers held their weapons ready as they crouched down behind cover, waiting for the Khans to make a move or for their superiors to give further orders. Cautiously, the companions walked up to an old storefront, which seemed to be the only building left somewhat intact in the gated-off area. That had to be where the Khans were hiding out.

Boone stopped her again, saying, "I think I better wait out here."

"Why?" It seemed to her that he would have wanted to help free some fellow NCR soldiers.

"Let's just say that things will go better if I'm not in there with you. If I hear shooting or shouting, I'll bust in there, alright?"

Figuring that whatever there was between Boone and the Khans was his business, she shrugged. "If you say so." She assumed it had something to do with what Manny Vargas said about Bitter Springs, although he hadn't given many details. "Wait here. I shouldn't be long." Leaving the sniper behind, she proceeded into the old store.

"What the fuck?" the man with a mohawk behind the counter exclaimed breathlessly. "You're that courier Benny wasted back in Goodsprings. You're supposed to be dead." She recognized his voice from that night in the graveyard. A gray haired man with a mustache stood behind him, also looking shocked. They both wore matching cut-off vests over t-shirts. Neither of them looked familiar, since she hadn't gotten a good look at any of them except Benny. He she remembered very clearly.

With a searing glare, she addressed the man, "I got better. You're Jessup, I presume?" He nodded and his associate watched silently. "I believe you have something of mine."

The Khans' demeanor seemed agitated, both of them fidgeting, but she wasn't sure if that was due to their situation with the NCR or to her having risen from the grave. Or maybe they were so full of jet and psycho, they couldn't be still. "I don't have it. Benny stole it."

"Where is he?" she demanded.

"I dunno. He's one of those fancy-ass Chairmen at the Tops. He's probably back at the Strip, laughing at me."

"Well, I'm certainly not laughing." She sneered at him. "I came here for answers. Why did Benny double-cross you?"

"Because he's a snake, that's why! He owed us the rest of the caps for the job and didn't want to pay up."

"Guess I'm not the only one who took the wrong job. Was killing me always part of the plan?"

Jessup paused and eyed her hand that was ghosting over her weapon. "Maybe. He didn't exactly fill us in on all the details."

Her eyes narrowed. "None of you objected, though. Were you the one who dug my grave or was it you who told Benny to hurry up and 'get it over with'?" He looked increasingly nervous and started to reach for his gun, so she relaxed and smiled. "But you were just doing a job, right? It was nothing personal."

"Right, nothing personal." The other Khan nodded along with him.

"Benny's the one I want and since you told me where to find him, I'm feeling generous." To appear casual, she leaned against the dingy counter, but kept her hand ready to draw her weapon, should she need to. "Let's talk about your situation with the NCR."

The older Khan spoke up, "What's to talk about? They back off and we get the hell out of here. Nobody gets hurt."

Taking a moment to consider his point, she offered, "How about this: release the hostages and I'll have the NCR escort you out of their territory."

"Yeah, right. Then the second we poke our heads out, the closest sniper blows our heads off."

Snipers work more from a distance, she knew, but that observation wouldn't to help the situation. "Listen, this whole thing has gone on long enough. You're tired. They're tired. Both parties just want to go home. There's no need for anyone else to die. You'll earn a lot of good will by making the first move toward resolving this peacefully"

Jessup turned and whispered something to the other man, who then whispered something back. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but clearly they were considering her proposal.

"Besides, the Lieutenant in charge owes me a favor," she lied.

They whispered a few more sentences to each other, then Jessup turned back to her and nodded reluctantly. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Fine. We'll free the hostages. Here." He tossed something to her and she caught it in the air. "It's Benny's lighter. Shove it up his ass when you see him."

"Gladly," she said with a bright smile.

The sniper felt guilty for letting the Courier walk into a dangerous situation without backup. However, he knew that having an NCR soldier along, especially one from First Recon, would have only made the situation worse. Maybe he owed her more of an explanation, but having only met this person a few days ago, he wasn't about to go into his history concerning the Great Khans. In fact, he had no intention of ever talking about it, with her or anyone else.

Much to his relief, after a few minutes, she came out unscathed. "Up for a trip to Vegas?" she asked him, flicking a lighter in her hand.

"Why Vegas?"

"That's where Benny is. Turns out he's some big-shot at one of the casinos." She rolled her eyes.

They watched as the two freed NCR hostages jogged back to the gate. "How did you manage to convince the Khans to let these guys go?" he asked as they followed them out.

"I can be very persuasive. Told them that if they let the hostages go, they could leave unharmed."

"Shouldn't you have run that by the lieutenant?" She'd been authorized to talk to the Khans, but that didn't mean she could make whatever deal she wanted. Who was she to speak for the NCR?

She didn't respond.

Outside, Beth addressed Lieutenant Monroe, "Is that everyone?"

With a nod, he confirmed, "Yeah, all present and accounted for. You have my thanks for getting my people freed, but it's not over. I just got orders to take out the Great Khans, hostages or not."

Beth shrugged with an indifferent expression on her face. "You have your orders. Do what you have to."

Boone fidgeted uncomfortably. "Is that really necessary?" he asked. Wasn't she going to mention the agreement she made?

With a furrowed brow, she looked up at him. "Not only did they hold those soldiers hostage, they also helped Benny try to kill me. One of them dug my fucking grave. Whatever happens to them, my conscience is clear. If yours isn't, feel free to step in." Turning away from him, she nodded to the Lieutenant and walked westward.

The sniper and Monroe stared at each other for a moment before Boone followed after her. His conscience was far from clear when it came to the Great Khans, but orders were orders.