Chapter Summary: Beth insists she's fine. Arcade disagrees. She has another meeting with Mr. House.

Chapter 11: Feeling Alright

If the clock on the wall was to be believed, Boone had slept for more than fifteen hours. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. Feeling sticky and sweaty, he gave his shirt a sniff and wrinkled his nose. He hadn't had a proper bath since Novac and he had been wearing these clothes for at least three days, maybe four. He had been too exhausted to change last night. Knowing that Beth was finally awake and was going to be okay, he had finally been able to relax enough to sleep. Looking down, he saw that he hadn't even taken off his boots. He retrieved his First Recon beret from the bedside table and put it back on his head, then tucked his aviators into his shirt collar.

While he was still worn down, he felt much more rested than before. With a stretch, he stood and walked to the door. As he reached it, he heard Beth's voice on the other side say, "The alternative is that you give me a sponge bath, which I don't think either of us is going to enjoy!"

"I'll get a nurse to come over. You just had major brain surgery. You shouldn't even be standing," Arcade's voice scolded.

"But I am! I'm fine—look! There's not even a scar!" Her voice was raised in exasperation.

"Stop shouting. You're going to wake Craig."

Boone backed away from the door. Despite the fact that the argument was coming from a caring and friendly place, it made his stomach turn in knots. Growing up, he had heard far too much fighting from behind closed doors-and opened doors.

He went and sat back down on the bed where he couldn't hear them and waited. After about fifteen minutes, he approached the door again. It was quiet, so he went out into the entryway. The bathroom door was closed and he could hear water running. As he passed the elevator, he noticed that Victor wasn't at his previous post. "Good," he thought.

In the kitchen, he found Arcade sitting at the dining table, drinking from a steaming coffee cup, a sour look on his face. "Hey," Boone greeted, not sure what to say.

"Hey. If you're looking for Beth, she's taking a bath," the doctor said, clearly annoyed.

"Okay."

The cup made a sharp thump as he set it down hard on the table. "I mean, who cares that she just had major brain surgery or that she was on her deathbed only twenty-four hours ago, right? No, she's 'Beth the Invincible.' I'm just a doctor. What do I know?" He threw his hands up in frustration.

The sniper didn't respond. Instead, he walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. Leaning against the counter, he sipped the hot, roasty liquid.

"Sorry, I shouldn't unload on you like that," Arcade said in a softer tone. "I'm just worried about her."

"I know." He was worried about her, too, but much less so than before. Looking at the doctor, he decided that he liked Arcade. Before, Boone had been so focused on Beth, he hadn't really given the other man much thought. Now he really saw how much the doctor cared about her in an almost brotherly way. After a minute, he asked, "How long have you known her?"

Glancing to the side, he paused in thought for a moment. "About three years, give or take." He sighed. "I get what you're saying. I should know better than to try to argue with her or slow her down."

That wasn't what Boone had been trying to say, but he supposed it was correct. "Yeah."

"I just...seeing her like that back at the clinic...I don't want to see her like that again." Arcade ran his hand over his face which adorned at least two days of beard growth.

"Me neither." It was unpleasant to remember. The next sip of coffee went down roughly in his clenched throat. Scratching at his cheek, he felt that he was also rather scruffy.

"I don't even know how she survived two gunshots to the head in the first place. Shear stubbornness, I suppose." Arcade closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his hand over his face again. "Does she know who did it?"

"Yeah. Chairman over at the Tops. Benny-something. Had some Khans with him."

The doctor opened his eyes and looked at the sniper. "So it wasn't just a regular robbery?"

"It was a robbery, but not a regular one, no. She was carrying an important package for Mr. House." Boone took another sip of coffee.

"Unbelievable," he said, shaking his head. "That explains why Mr. House took such an interest in her case. Victor was vague about why we were brought here. So I'm guessing Benny wasn't long for this world?"

"He got away, but we have a lead on where he went." He didn't offer up that Benny was headed to Legion territory. Hearing that a woman he obviously cared about intended to enter the den of a bunch of slavers, rapists, and killers probably wouldn't go over very well with Arcade. Boone wasn't sure how he felt about it, either. What he did know was that he couldn't stop her from going anymore than she could stop him.

"Are you going with her?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Maybe you can keep her out of trouble."

"Okay, boys. Enough talking about me," Beth said from the doorway as she walked in. Her short hair was damp and and she was dressed in a clean tank top and jeans. The previous gray pallor of her cheeks was completely gone, replaced with rosy pink. Of the three of them, she looked to be the most healthy and rested. With a furrowed brow, her clear blue eyes looked over at her friends. "No offense, but you two look like hell."

The doctor didn't look amused. "Okay, you've had your bath. Now you can go back to bed."

"You look like you need rest more than I do, Arcade. How about this, I'll try to take it easy while you go take a nap. Then when you wake up, I'll let you perform a full neurological exam."

"Deal," he said with a sigh. Boone wasn't sure if this was actually a satisfactory compromise or if the doctor was just too tired to argue anymore. With a groan, Arcade stood up and walked wearily to the guest room and shut the door.

Beth stared at the door for a moment then turned back to her companion. "Hey, Boone?" Beth started, stepping towards him. "Um...I wanted to say thank you for getting me to the clinic. That couldn't have been easy."

Never good at taking thanks or compliments, he shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Yeah, it was." She put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "So, sincerely, thank you."

"You're welcome. So...are you really okay?"

"Don't you start."

"Sorry. Just asking."

Almost out of habit, she rubbed her forehead. "Yes, I'm okay. Really. But...I guess I am a little foggy and tired." She pointed her finger at him. "Don't tell Arcade."

"Your secret is safe with me."

"And don't tell him about where we're going, either. That's an argument I do not want to have."

He nodded. "Yeah, that's what I figured."

Boone paced restlessly around the lounge area of the guest room, waiting for Beth to get back. Sitting down on the couch and picking up the copy of Milsurp Review on the coffee table, he leafed through it absentmindedly. He'd read it twice already. They'd been cooped up in the suite for three days and he was anxious to get back on the road. A moment later, he heard the elevator ding.

"Where's Arcade?" Beth asked as she walked into the room.

"Went back to the Fort."

"Thank god! He's been driving me crazy."

"I could tell." He liked the doctor well enough, but he was also glad he left. Despite the fact that she seemed fine and insisted that she was, he had pressured her to stay in bed most of the time. Even after passing the neurological exam, Arcade still wanted her to rest. The two of them arguing about her condition really got on Boone's nerves. Plus, the inactivity made her agitated and irritable.

The room's door shut behind her and she sat down on a chair across from him. "So, I talked to Mr. House. You want to tell me your side of the story?" she asked sternly, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

Setting down the magazine, he looked over at her with a deadpan expression on his face. He knew what she was talking about. "Well...I was letting Victor know that you weren't in any condition to retrieve the Chip."

"Uh huh. I see." Her eyebrow twitched. "Did you also tell him that if Mr. House wanted the Chip so badly, he could climb down from his quote, unquote 'ivory tower' and get it himself?"

"Something like that." He fidgeted uncomfortably, clearing his throat. "I was upset."

"Did you add that if Victor crossed paths with you again, you would dismantle him and spread his parts all over the Wasteland?"

"Basically? Yeah." He didn't regret what he said, but he also didn't want to cause any problems for Beth or make her pissed at him. Not usually one for using words to fight his battles, perhaps he had taken things too far.

She crossed her arms. "You know, he wants me to fire you. He thinks you're, let's see, how did he phrase it...'an impetuous brute.'"

Boone paused, not sure of what to make of this. She wouldn't choose Mr. House over him. Would she? Not after everything they had been through together. After nearly losing her only two days ago, she wouldn't just tell him to leave and that would be it.

"What did you say?" he asked.

A genuinely warm smile spread across her face and she gave a throaty laugh that made Boone's heart unexpectedly skip. "Well, first, I informed him that you are not my 'employee,' so I can't fire you," she said, uncrossing her arms and gesturing to emphasize her words. "Secondly, I told him that if he could find me another veteran First Recon sniper who would work for no extra pay and didn't ask too many questions, I would be happy to conduct an interview."

He felt reassured, but his face didn't show it. The worry that he would cause her pain, or worse, was still there. The ominous feeling that something was coming for him was still there. The guilt that he was getting too close to a woman who wasn't Carla was still there.

Seeing the look on his face, she laughed with a smirk and sat up. "Hey, you know I'm kidding, right? What's the matter with you?"

Not looking directly at her, he shook his head. "Nothin', I didn't want to cause you so much trouble."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You didn't say anything that wasn't true. If he doesn't like it, Mr. House can find himself a new delivery girl and I told him as much. He might be the Big Boss here on the Strip, but he's not my boss and he sure as hell isn't yours. I'm sure he'll forget all about it once he has the Chip."

He didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent.

"Besides, you were the one who got me to the clinic and your little confrontation with Victor let House know where I was. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead out in the Wastes somewhere. Or more likely, back at The Tops."

He hadn't thought about it that way. Despite her skills, no, she probably couldn't have taken all four of Benny's armed thugs by herself and even if she could have, she couldn't have carried herself to the New Vegas Clinic. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling of the crushing, cold fear at finding her gone, taken while he wasn't there. It was all too familiar. Had he been there, he would have done everything in his power to stop them from taking her, but that would have been the wrong decision, one that most likely would have killed her if he had succeeded.

With a shrug, he responded, "I've got your back."

She stood up, took a step toward him, and kissed him on the cheek. "My hero," she said not at all sarcastically. With a slight flush to her face, she left the room.

"What the hell was that?" he thought.

"What the hell was that?" she thought as she walked to the master bedroom. Not usually in the habit of randomly kissing men, she was unsure of what she had been thinking. Of course she felt gratitude toward Boone for all he had done for her and she had grown to feel quite close to him, even though they hadn't known each other for that long. Spending basically day in and day out together made it seem much longer.

She was starting to wonder how she previously got along without him, no longer having to worry about letting her guard down to sleep or if someone was coming up behind her in a fight. Had he been there that night in Goodsprings, she was sure things would have turned out very differently. She also couldn't help but notice how his muscular form filled out his t-shirt or how nice his ass looked when he crouched down to survey their surroundings.

Then she shook the thought away. There was no time for things like that. They had a job to do. She needed to focus on the mission.