Chapter Summary: Beth accompanies Boone to Bitter Springs where they encounter the Legion, but it doesn't end how the sniper expects. They both learn things about each other that may threaten their newfound closeness.

Chapter 14: Time Has Told Me

"Christ," Boone breathed as they walked through the canyon lined with dirt mounds and wooden crosses. "They put the graveyard here." This was more words than he had spoken at a stretch in the last two days. Beth hadn't pressed him, figuring he would talk when he was ready.

"You sure you're ready for this?" she asked.

"No, but we're here. I want to see this through."

They continued on. She had expected the place to be deserted, but Bitter Springs had been converted into an NCR refugee camp after the Khans were driven out. The area was filled with canvas tents and rickety corrugated metal shacks that barely provided shelter. There were refugees in ragged clothes and a couple of NCR troopers patrolling around, looking tired and demoralized. Up on the hill, the NCR had set up command and medical tents. The flag with the two-headed bear was flown upside down-a very old signal of distress, Beth recalled from some book she read a long while ago.

"This is the place," he spoke up again solemnly. "A large troop of us was sent out from Camp Golf after a group of Khans that had been attacking an NCR settlement. We tracked them here to what we thought was a raiding camp, but...this was their home. Over there." He nodded toward a spot to the south. "That's Coyote Tail Ridge where we set up."

Walking on together, she saw that several of the tents had painted images on the sides. One depicted a rider on a horse shooting a bow, below which read "GO HORDE." Another had a face with a helmet and horns that stated "DEATH BEFORE SURRENDER!" and another with "FLAIL OF GOD." It was all very unsettling and she wondered why the NCR hadn't painted over what were obviously Khan war symbols. Didn't they scare the children?

After following her companion up onto the ridge, she looked over the landscape to see the sparkling water of Lake Mead with the massive Hoover Dam at the far end. A collection of trailers and campers sat rusting near the shore. Before the Great War, this had been a recreation area, a desirable place to be. Now, it was for those with nowhere else to go.

"Back where we came in, that's where the main force attacked," Boone said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "The canyon down there was the Khan's only escape. Orders were to shoot on sight."

"What happened?"

He stared down into the canyon. "Not what we expected. The Khans spotted the main force early and started fleeing through here. But it wasn't just raiders. Women, kids, elderly. Wounded started coming through, too. Dhatri radioed to confirm our orders, but command didn't understand what we were seeing. Radio signal was too spotty. Standing orders were to shoot until we were out of ammo." He sighed. "So that's what we did."

Beth was stunned. If she hadn't heard it from his own lips, she wouldn't have believed it. Boone didn't seem at all like the type of person she would have expected to do such a thing. After everything he had done for her and all they had been through, she had grown to trust him almost implicitly, but now she wondered how much she really knew about him. "How could you kill innocent people like that?"

He grimaced at her words. "With the Khans, any of them can be dangerous. They teach their kids to shoot at NCR civilians almost as soon as they can hold a gun. And...we had our orders. Still, I don't know. I often ask myself the same thing."

She didn't know what to say. She knew the Khans were a violent tribe of chem-slinging raiders who liked to think that they were somehow more honorable than the Fiends they supplied. Regardless, that didn't justify such an act. And why hadn't she heard more about this, even after being in the Mojave for the last three years? Did the NCR cover it up or did no one care? From his words and the look on his face now, it was clear that Boone did care. He was haunted by it.

Then she thought back to Boulder City, how she had left Jessup and the other Khans to their fate at the hands of the NCR. If she had it to do over again now, she wasn't sure if she would make the same choice or not. They certainly had no regard for her life, but without the pain, her fury towards them seemed to have largely subsided. Despite how angry she had been, however, she knew that if there had been children and other innocents, there was no way she would have let the NCR hurt them.

"Anyway... I don't know why we're here," he said with a sigh. "I don't know if this is helping anything. I'd like to stay here for the night. Think some things over."

"Okay. We can stay."

"Oh...okay." He sounded surprised, as though he hadn't expected her to agree. "We won't stay for long."

Boone couldn't sleep. He just kept staring into the dark canyon, hoping for some feeling or revelation, something to help it all make sense. When he had told Beth he wanted to stay the night, he hadn't meant it as a request, but more as an opportunity for her to leave him here. Instead, she surprised him by readily agreeing to stay with him, despite what she had just learned about him, what he had done.

"I don't deserve a friend like her," he thought.

Then from the southwest, he heard dogs barking. Picking up his rifle and looking through the scope he saw a large group of men marching toward them with a pack of dogs. They appeared to be heading around to the main entrance to the camp. Even with only the predawn light, he could see their helmets and the color of their flags. "Shit!"

"Beth!" Boone whispered urgently to her as he shook her shoulder. "Wake up!"

Startled, she sat up quickly and whispered back, "What's wrong?!"

"Legion raiding party coming our way. It's big. Might be too big, even for us."

"Why would they come here?" she asked, blinking away the sleep.

"Easy target for grabbing slaves. Bunch of weak refugees, kids, just a few soldiers defending it. I doubt they tracked us here."

Buckling on her holster, she pulled out her .45 and double-checked the magazine as she stood. "What are we waiting for?"

"Tell the truth, I think this is exactly what I've been waiting for."

"We need to warn the NCR soldiers and get the refugees to safety." Beth ran on toward the main part of the camp with Boone running up behind her, rifle in his hand.

There was too much cover among the makeshift shelters and the hillside was too exposed for Boone to find a sniping spot. He watched as his companion led a small child to a hiding place behind a metal shack and then told him to stay down.

Seeing two NCR troopers approaching him, Boone ran up to them. "Legion raiding party coming. Alert the rest of the troops. Get the refugees to safety up a the command tents!"

The soldiers look alarmed at his words and they both nodded. "Yes, sir!" they replied in unison, seemingly eyeing his beret. With that, one ran up to the command tents. The other ran to a group of sleeping refugees to alert them.

Boone signaled to Beth that he was going around the other side and she nodded in understanding. She then weaved between the tents, creeping to where they could now hear the raiding party approaching. They would come at the enemy from both directions.

He suddenly heard a voice crying out for help with piercing, terrified screams. Peeking out from behind a makeshift shelter, he saw a legionary gripping a struggling woman, attempting to restrain her by tying ropes around her wrists. The sniper aimed carefully so as not to hit her and he put a clean shot through the side of the slaver's head, nearly taking it off his shoulders. The woman screamed again at the sound of the gunshot, but when the grip on her wrists loosened, her loud cries devolved into choked sobs. Turning to the source of the shot, her lips moved in an attempt to speak.

"Run!" Boone yelled to her, pointing toward the command tents. That seemed to snap her out of her shock and she ran quickly in the direction he instructed.

From behind the shelters to his left, he heard two gunshots and then a yelp of pain that sounded like a dog. He didn't like being separated and out of sight Beth in battle. Without being able to see her, he could only hope that she was okay.

One of the Legion mongrels spotted him and charged him from behind. It growled, then lunged as Boone turned, but before the mutt could clamp his jaws around his leg, there came the sound of several gunshots and the dog's side erupted in sprays of blood and fur, sending the creature limp to the ground. He expected to see Beth when he turned around, but instead, there stood a young NCR recruit. The kid had a strange panicked smile on his face. Behind him, a woman and a girl in tattered clothes were cowering under a rickety lean-to.

"Good shot. Now, get those refugees to safety! Up there!" the sniper ordered, pointing to the frightened people, then to the command tents. The recruit paused as though he wasn't sure if he should heed those orders. "NOW!"

At that, the kid nodded and reached out to usher the refugees to safety. After taking a quick look around to make sure there was a clear path, he lead them up the hill and out of sight.

Just when Boone thought the last of the legionaries had been taken out, he heard Beth's voice yelling from the distance behind him, "Boone! There's more! From the south canyon!"

He ran toward her voice as he reloaded his rifle. Seeing her ahead, he felt a pang of fear for her safety and he ran faster. He was able to catch her before she reached the second wave of legionaries. From their vantage point, they could clearly see several legionaries and more mongrels moving through the canyon. Grouped like this, Beth was able to fatally cripple half a dozen of them with a well tossed grenade. After that the companions prioritized the most heavily armed soldiers first: those with guns. Three of them fell to Beth and Boone's practiced shooting before they were aware of where the shots were coming from. The remaining legionaries were only armed with melee weapons and were unable to reach their attackers before they too succumbed to bullets. The final shots were for the mongrels, who were growling and scratching fruitlessly at the steep hillside, unable to climb up.

A moment later, they heard screaming, gunfire, and the sound of more dogs barking back towards the camp. Together, they sprinted toward the source of the sounds and found a third wave of legionaries attacking. They were tearing open tents and looking behind shacks, but most of the refugees were already hiding up at the command tents.

Beth skirted along the canyon wall on the left as Boone took cover behind some debris, waiting for more to come into view. He took aim through his scope from a distance and was able to shoot two of the legionaries unawares as they searched for potential captures. This alerted three more, as well as the small pack of dogs they had with them.

An NCR soldier came out from behind cover and shot at the group of legionaries, hitting one in the shoulder. This only seemed to make him angry and he shouted something in Latin. At his word, one of the dogs broke from the pack and charged at the soldier, who attempted to shoot the mongrel before it reached him. In his terror, however, he was only able to wing the creature's side, which did not slow it down. Boone attempted to take aim at the dog, but crates were blocking him from getting a clear view. A second later, he saw the dog lunge, knocking the soldier to the ground and out of sight. The soldier screamed as the dog growled. Then the screaming stopped and the dog ran back to its master, its muzzle dripping with blood. Before the dog reached him, the sniper put a bullet through the dog's head, dropping him instantly. He then took aim at his master, shooting him through the side of his head, as well. Blood and brain matter shot out the exit wound and the legionary collapsed to the ground.

The two remaining legionaries turned and started charging toward his position. Boone ducked down behind cover. The popping sound of rapid fire echoed off the walls of the camp and he could hear the bullets whizzing above his head. When the gunfire paused, he peeked out and readied his rifle. The legionary with the gun was reloading a new clip, but before he could finish, the sniper aimed and shot him in the chest. The man staggered and slowed, but didn't fall. Boone fired twice more, tearing through the legionary's armor, finally making him fall to the dirt. A red pool spread over the ground beneath him.

By this time, the other two legionaries wielding a machetes had almost reached him, but before Boone could aim again, three quick shots hit one of the slavers in the back. The weapon fell from his hand as he dropped to his knees, then slumped to the side. The other legionary turned to find the shooter, which gave the sniper ample opportunity to aim and fire at the back of his head. He dropped in an instant. Looking up, Boone saw Beth crouched down behind a tent. They nodded to each other before she continued toward the rest of the raiding party while he picked off stragglers from a distance.

When the fighting was finally over, she jogged back to him and holstered her gun. He was relieved that she seemed unharmed. "I think that's all of them," she said, leaning against a post with a long sigh of fatigue, wiping sweat and blood spatter from her face. "Are you hurt?"

Boone shook his head. "No. You?"

"Just a graze or two. Nothing major." There was a small bloody tear in her pant leg and another near her shoulder.

"Casualties?"

"At least two of the refugees, from what I saw. One of them had a small knife. I don't know if if he was trying to fight them or what. Poor bastard." She shook her head.

"Saw one soldier taken down by one of the mongrels."

"Shit. Um...I'm going to go check on that kid and the rest of the refugees. Make sure everyone else is okay. Why don't you go get our bags from the ridge?"

With a nod, he turned and walked up toward where they had camped. He was grateful she gave him a chance to be alone for a few minutes to think. Sitting down on a rock, he stared back down into the canyon where so much blood had been spilled, innocent and otherwise.

He couldn't believe that he had made it through not only alive, but basically unharmed. The second he saw the raiding party, he'd been sure that this was where the remainder of his debt would finally be paid. It would have made sense. But no. The current threat may have been over, but the rest of his punishment was still coming.

At this point, he almost didn't care what it did to him as long as it didn't hurt Beth.

"Mother-fucking cazadores!" Beth spat as the last one fell to the ground. Blood seeped out of a puncture wound in her shoulder and she grimaced against the pain. "Worse than the fucking Legion." Pulling a vial out of her bag, she cracked it open and drank it, making a disgusted face at the bitter liquid. "One useful thing about the Legion, they carry plenty of antivenom. Couple more raiding parties and I'll have enough to take on as many of those venomous bastards as the desert can throw at me." Holding her shoulder stiffly, she took out a stimpak and injected it next to the open wound with a wince. "Ahhh...son of a bitch." she breathed. The venom still stung, but the worst of the pain was beginning to subside. She picked at the hole in her shirt, figuring she could stitch it up later.

"You okay?" Boone asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. They get you?"

He shook his head.

The boathouse was now clear of the insects and they could breathe easier knowing the Bitter Springs refugees would be safe if they wandered down here. After fighting off the Legion raiders that morning, they saw how ineffective the NCR was in their ability to keep the area safe, so taking care of this problem fell on them.

Following her outside to the end of the dock, he stayed silent as they sat down. Beth took off her boots and socks, then rolled up the legs of her pants to her knees, letting her feet dangle in the cool water of the lake. Boone kept his boots on and folded his legs in front of him.

Gazing over at her companion, she saw that his face was still troubled. "You okay?"

He grunted.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked gently.

He sighed, taking off his aviators and running his hands down his face. "Made it through today with barely a scratch. Not sure what to make of that." Glancing back at the camp, he shook his head. "It would've made sense for things to end here, but they didn't."

"Maybe it's just not your time."

"So, what, being jerked around is part of my punishment?"

"Boone, that's not how it works. People don't always get what they deserve in this world, good or ill. You can't undo what you did, but you don't have to let it define your entire life. You can follow a better path."

"Even if I do, a murderer who does good deeds is still a murderer," he said flatly.

They sat on the edge of the dock, looking out over water as the sun began to set behind them. After thinking for a few minutes, she pulled her .45 out of its holster and studied it, tracing her finger over the inscription on the side. "Does the name Joshua Graham mean anything to you?"

"No, it doesn't" he responded absentmindedly.

"What about...the Malpais Legate?"

Boone's eyes widened as he turned to look at her. "What the hell does he have to do with anything?"

Examining the gun in her hands, she continued, "About a year ago, I was on a caravan guard job that took me out to Utah, headed for New Canaan. When we reached Zion, we were ambushed by some tribals trying to make a name for themselves with the Legion. Half of our group was dead before we even realized what was happening. I was the only survivor." She sighed, the memory stirring up old feelings of guilt. "Afterward, I met a member of a different tribe, the Dead Horses, and he brought me back to their camp. That's where I met him. Myth, legend, man, all of it."

"I thought Caesar had him executed."

"He did. For his failure at the Battle of Hoover Dam, Caesar had him covered in pitch, set on fire, and thrown into the Grand Canyon. Overkill, if you ask me, but it didn't take. He survived."

"How?" he asked skeptically.

"According to him, it was 'love' that saved him. The love of his people. The love of God." She scoffed with a shrug. "Personally, I think some people are just harder to kill than others."

"You'd know something about that."

Giving him a smirk, she continued. "Right. Anyway, I was different then. The Wasteland had turned me into a bitter and cynical person. I'd lost so much, seen so much death. Life outside the vault was just about surviving. Surviving as I watched those I cared about die. There seemed no point to any of it."

"Doesn't sound like you. What changed?"

"A lot of things. Going there, seeing that beautiful place, helping the tribes there defend their home, seeing that things I did mattered. But...I think a lot of it was talking with Joshua."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Boone looked disgusted at the idea. "How could he bring anything good to anyone?"

She set the gun down on the dock next to her. "I don't know how much you know about his history, but he wasn't always a legate. He was originally a missionary, a man of God, but he let himself turn into a monster, little by little, choice by choice."

"I don't see what this has to do with me," he said, his voice sounding increasingly irritated.

"Talking with him, then thinking about it over time, I realized I didn't have to let myself turn into someone I didn't want to be. It was my choice. I bring this up to you because if someone like him has been given a chance by God, or karma, or whatever, then you deserve a chance, too. You don't have to make what happened here, what you did, turn you into someone you don't want to be." Reaching out, she grasped his hand and gazed at him with earnestness. "I know you. You're a good and decent man who is haunted by a terrible mistake he made, but that doesn't mean you don't have any choices now. This doesn't have to be the end for you."

"I tried to leave it all behind me, but none of it made any difference in the end."

"You think the bad things that happen around you are some kind of punishment, but Carla isn't dead because of what you did here. She's dead because of true monsters like Jeannie May and the Legion. And if something happens to me, that won't be your fault either." She squeezed his hand in desperate sincerity as he looked back into her eyes. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. The good we've done together wouldn't have happened. All that we will do. You want to make up for what you've done, but you dying isn't going to do that. It's not going to be that easy."

His shoulders slumped and he nodded slightly. "Still feels like I'm living on borrowed time. But I guess I don't see any reason not to take a lot more of those Legion sons of bitches with me in the meantime."

She wasn't really satisfied with that answer, but figured it was the best one she was going to get from him right now.

"You still want to stick with me, even after knowing all this?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. I think you're worth it." She squeezed his hand again. After a few minutes, she let go and stood up. "Ugh, I'm exhausted. I think I'm going to find a spare bedroll and get some sleep." She slipped her bare feet into her boots and pushed the cuffs of her pants down her damp legs, then picked up her socks and stuffed them in her pocket.
"Okay."

"You coming?"

"Yeah, I've done enough thinking for today." He stood with a sigh and they hiked together back to the camp.