Chapter 23, Nothin' But a Hound Dog

I opened my eyes to the same old ceiling and fan I always wake up to every morning. But this time, it was different. Looking down, I saw Elizabeth's head, resting on my chest. I could feel her arms and legs embracing me still after last night. Now it makes sense why she was acting so impatient. But what triggered it after the Deathclaw? Was it the excitement of the situation and the truth we now know about each other? Or was it something else I don't know?

I rubbed her hair and could hear a faint moan from her in response. She then rubbed her head further in my chest, embracing it further.

Maybe it was just something random and she didn't really know how to express it. After all, this is really the first time for both of us doing something like this. Knowing what she's gone through, it makes sense why she never really had romance in her life. I had some opportunities outside of Amata, but I never jumped on it. Just didn't feel like doing it or wanting to get people involved in my life. But being close with Elizabeth these past weeks, it's been better than I could ever imagine. I feel like I can be more open and myself around her. I wonder if it's the same for her.

I took notice of the mark on the middle of her back. It was somewhat faded, but still clearly able to see. That must be the mark from that siphon they shoved in her back back in Columbia. I rubbed my fingers against the bump of scar, getting a slight feeling of what it might have felt like with it shoved in her. Can't even imagine what that felt like getting shoved into your back. As a kid I never liked needles even if they were small and it was in my arm. But this, this was a giant one shoved into her back.

I heard Elizabeth moan again, eventually opening her eyes to meet mine.

"Good morning," she whispered, "Did you sleep well?"

I retreated my hand from her back, "Yes. Best I've slept in a long time," I replied.

She smiled, forcing me to smile back at her. Despite how dark it was, I could clearly see the warmth in her smile, like it was almost illuminating to me.

She stops smiling for a moment, "About yesterday. Was I a bit…pushy?"

"About coming home?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

I paused for a bit. Technically she was, but I'm not too upset about it. I mean this was quite the experience for me.

"You were a bit yeah," I stated.

Elizabeth looked down for a moment, "I figured. I'm sorry I was. I just…after fighting the Deathclaw yesterday, I felt something come over me. Then seeing your injury and patching it up, it just started overwhelming me and I just wanted to get home as soon as possible. I've never felt something like that before and I didn't know what else to do but follow what my body or heart was wanting."

"I understand. I'm not holding it against you. If it happens next time, just let me know and we can try to find somewhere private."

"Same for you, if it happens," she inquired.

I nodded, "Yeah."

We smiled at each other for a few minutes before I decided it was time to get up and going.

I stood up and got myself out of bed with Elizabeth doing the same thing. I walked over to my dresser to get a change of clothes while she went into her room. I put on a change of clothes and noticed that my clothes in my drawer were starting to shrink. With all the excitement in the last two weeks, I completely forgot to run the laundry. I think the Lucky 38 has a laundry floor we can take our clothes to.

"Hey Elizabeth," I shouted.

"Yeah," she shouted in reply.

"Do you need any of your clothes washed?"

"No, I washed them while you were out the other day. I didn't wash yours as I didn't want to without permission."

"Ok. I need to wash mine then."

"Let me do it if you want to make breakfast."

I can do that. She probably knows how to run the thing already more than me.

"Ok. I'll get my clothes together," I replied.

I picked up the pile of clothes I had and carried them to the main hallway, leaving them on the floor for her. I then turned to the kitchen and got breakfast made. Opening the fridge, I saw we had some eggs left, but we were running out of food. Guess Victor hasn't had time to get food. Add it to the list of things needing to be done.

I made simple radscorpion eggs with toast and jam and set it out. Elizabeth came back in, sporting a blue collared shirt and blue jeans. She sat down and we ate our breakfast, then put our dishes away.

"Ok. I'll go clean the laundry and fold it if you want to do some other things," Elizabeth stated.

"Are you sure you don't need help," I replied.

"I'll be fine. We can always rotate," she answered.

I nodded in agreement. Might as well let Victor know what we need and see what else can be done today around New Vegas. And during that, Elizabeth could finally catch up on things that she's missed out over these hundred years.

"While I go talk to Victor, do you want to spend today catching up on things you've missed the last few centuries?"

"That would be great. Are you sure you are not going to need my help," she inquires.

I walked over and grabbed her hand, "I'll be fine. Enjoy catching up and you can share what you learn with me when I get back."

She grabs my hand back, "Ok. Be careful Evan."

I nodded and went back into my room to grab the rest of my armor, weapons, and backpacks.

Once I walked into the elevator, I put my helmet back on and went down to the bottom floor.

I approached Victor as he greeted me.

"Well howdy Pardner. What can I do for you?"

"Hey, could you get some food for us? We need some Eggs and other breakfast items," I asked.

"Of course. I'll go get some and I'll reach out to Elizabeth to see if she wants anything else," he cheerfully replied as he drove back into the Lucky 38 while I headed off into the Strip for work.

For the next week, Elizabeth and I spent time away, but also with each other. She spent time reading and relaxing, finally being able to catch up on things while I spent some time doing small contracts for people to gain some caps. They ranged from taking out simple pests like a group of mole rats to one contract literally having me go under their house to clear out a nest of giant mantis. I even met the Kings a few days ago. Really strange bunch. Their voices and clothes remind me of Butch and his gang he was wanting to start up, the Tunnel Snakes I think they were called. Did some work for them, but nothing too concrete. Sometimes I would come home covered in slime, shit, or just plain dirt. I'd sit down with her and tell her how my day went and then she would do the same about her day. Everytime she shared her day, I could tell she was starting to catch up on history as well as more about New Vegas. She was even surpassing what I knew, proving reading and research was more her thing than mine. Once we were done telling our stories and night was starting to settle in, we'd get ready for bed and wake up together for the next day. However, November 4, I had a much different day than I was anticipating.

The elevator doors opened up and I was met with a strong aroma. I could smell some garlic and some sort of cheese within the aroma as it tickled my nose.

"Wow. Something smells good," I remarked.

"Oh hey. Didn't hear you come in. Just trying my hand at something that I haven't made before," her voice says from the kitchen.

I walked into my room, setting down my bag, helmet and taking off my shoes. Today I didn't get too dirty or do anything too crazy. Just delivered some things for people and helped bring muscle for Cachino to help solve a dispute. Overall, not a crazy day. I walked out of my room to meet Elizabeth. She was wearing an apron and was using the stove and most of the counter.

"So what are you cooking," I asked.

"Oh it's a surprise. I found a recipe in one of my books the other day and wanted to try it out. "

I shrugged as I took a seat," Alrighty. How was your day of research?"

"Same as always. I continued looking more into how other parts of the world are since the bombs dropped."

"What did you find?"

"Europe was hit pretty hard. Even before it was a nightmare, but I was hoping on some level things were better or starting to become better."

I never knew Europe was one of the ones hit the hardest. Figured it was the same as anywhere else.

"Was there a specific area that you were hoping for?"

Elizabeth paused for a moment, "Paris. I was hoping Paris wasn't hit the hardest. Turns out it was one of the ones that was."

I looked down at the table with that response. Throughout my time I've known Elizabeth she always seemed to be interested in Paris. Sucks that there might not be anything left there whatsoever.

"I'm sorry. I had a feeling it meant alot to you for a chance to go there since you've brought it up from time to time."

Elizabeth paused again this time stopping what she was doing for a minute. Then she continued after hearing a timer go off.

"Yeah it did. Guess it's going to be the same as it always is for me."

"Well what if you rebuilt it?"

Elizabeth set the cooking dish on the table and turned to face me," What do you mean?"

"Well maybe in the coming years, we could visit Paris and you could rebuild it using references in your books."

Elizabeth thought about it for a moment. Then a slight smile appeared on her face," Yeah maybe one day."

I smiled back at her. If anyone could have the passion to restore a city, Elizabeth would be one of them. Plus, it would be nice to see a form of Paris one day.

"Anyway, let's sit down and enjoy some dinner."

I sat down and saw Elizabeth bring out the food. It looked like some sort of casserole but I couldn't tell what it was. The top layer was thick enough to not be able to see anything penetrating the surface. She also brought out some rolls as well as some sort of pudding mixture.

"So what do we have here," I asked.

"We have a Green Bean Casserole with some sauteed onions, garlic, Parmesan, and some Bighorner bits sprinkled in. Then there are some biscuits I made to go with it and some banana pudding," She replied as she took off her apron and sat down.

I took a big whiff again. Elizabeth must have used some strong spices to make it pop because I have never felt something come off this strong.

"What spices did you use to get this thing to smell so good?"

"I added a sprinkle of nutmeg and some paprika. Wanted it to really come off strong," she replied.

"Well you definitely succeeded," I remarked, grabbing a spoonful of the casserole and a biscuit.

We ate for a moment and as always, she does a great job cooking. I could taste the creamy chicken broth kind of mixture that had baked the green beans as well as the baked onion that had coated the top of the casserole. Everything culminated together so well that made everything so savory.

"I have to say Elizabeth, you really know how to cook well," I commented.

I saw her blush slightly, "Thank you. Throughout my time reading, I've picked up on a few techniques and perfected them."

"Speaking of reading, anything else that crossed your mind today from reading?"

"Well, I was reading a book about exotic birds and it reminded me of Songbird. Then it made me in a way miss having a pet of some kind," she replied.

"What kind of pet were you thinking of getting?" I questioned.

"I've always wanted a puppy. Or even a Dog," she answered.

Only recent dog I know that isn't trying to kill me is The King's dog Rex. Saw him for the first time a few days ago and he's quite the dog. It's a dog with cybernetic parts in it to keep it alive with a brain tank on top of it. Begs the question to me if he knows where to get a puppy from. I'll swing by there tomorrow and ask him. Might be a great surprise for Elizabeth.

"Well if I come across something like that, I'll let you know. But dogs are hard to come by here. Least ones that aren't being bred to kill you."

"Yeah. Have you ever had a dog?"

"Yeah. His name was Dogmeat. Found him in a junkyard in D.C. His owners were killed by raiders as I was walking by. So he tagged along with me. He had two different colored eyes, strangely and was I think a German Shepard."

"What happened to him?"

"He's still in D.C. When I left I left him behind."

"Why? Wouldn't you want company?"

"At the time, I just wanted to be alone. Was like that for years until I met you."

"Ah I see. Well, whenever we get back to D.C. to find that constitution, maybe we can find him."

"Oh I almost forgot about that. With how everything has been the last few weeks, I almost forgot about that."

"Well we should make a plan to go there soon. We still have to find a way to keep Mr. House in line just in case."

I nodded in agreement as I continued to eat. Once we ate as much as we wanted of the casserole, we started to dig into the banana pudding. Much like the casserole, I could taste the richness of the banana and vanilla combined clearly which only made me want to grab more.

Once we finished, I helped Elizabeth clean up the kitchen and table.

"Well, I'm stuffed," I announced.

"Same here. I'm going to grab the laundry if you want to start getting ready for bed."

"No, let me. You've done enough today."

"Ok. Then I'll get ready for bed."

I nodded as I walked into the elevator to take me to Laundry floor and gather the laundry. As the doors opened and I was met with the laundry room, I saw that the basket was there, ready for the laundry. I opened one of the doors and saw the familiar look of my clothes. I gathered them up and took notice of another machine full of clothes. No doubt Elizabeths. I opened that door and pulled out her clothes on top of mine. Then I headed back to the elevator, with the basket in my hands and went back up. Once I was back in the lobby, I brought the basket into my room. While Elizabeth was in the shower, I separated her clothes from mine and started to put mine away. Elizabeth eventually walked in and took her clothes into her room to put away.

Once everything was put away, I put some nightwear on and got myself ready for bed. After I was done and ready, I climbed into bed under the covers and not long after would Elizabeth join me, wearing some nightwear as well aqua marine colored.

She leans over to me and kisses me passionately on the lips, "Good night Evan"

"Good night Elizabeth,"I replied, pulling the covers up.

Once the covers were up to my head, I felt Elizabeth wrap her arms around me, embracing me. I held her back and shut my eyes, eventually drifting off to sleep.

I opened my eyes to see Elizabeth still sound asleep. She always looks so cute and innocent while she's sleeping. I rubbed her face, enticing a subtle moan from her. I slowly climbed out of bed and got myself ready for the day. Today is swinging by the Kings to see if The King might know where to get a dog or even a puppy from. I got my clothes, armor, shoes, and backpack on, ready to go. Soon after, I heard Elizabeth wake up and take notice of me getting ready to leave.

"Good morning. Where are you off to in a hurry," she asked.

I froze upon hearing that. Don't want to spoil the surprise for her if it's possible to get her a dog.

"I'm just…getting out there early. Seeing if…Cachino might need more help."

"Ok," I heard Elizabeth reply.

I swear I could hear some doubt in her voice from my response. But I'm hoping I'm being superstitious to cover it up.

"See you when I get back later," I replied before heading out.

I went down the elevator and exited the lobby to the outside of the Strip. I was met with the same cool air of the Mojave morning even through my helmet as I wasted no time making my way to The Kings. They're located in the southern part of Freeside and their gang literally is the embodiment and inspiration of Butch and his crew, the Tunnel Snakes. Their hair is greased up and even their voices are impressions on some level of Butch's. Real thick kinds of accents that brought a level of authority to them and made it sound like they were going to go bust out singing. They also wore black leather jackets that sported The Kings logo on the back with blue jeans and black boots. Again, similar attire that Butch and his crew wore. If he was here, no doubt he would join these guys in a heartbeat.

I approached the front doors of The King's hideout and on the frontside of the building, I was greeted by the same old light up blue guitar with yellow stars. Only with it being morning, it was not lit up for all of Freeside to see.

I entered the hideout, with the smell of hair grease in the air, and was greeted with the same round, wooden receptionist desk in front of me. No one is ever really behind it as most of them are just roaming around. In the corner, I saw Pacer, the King's right hand man. When I first came here a few days ago, he came off as a guy with a stick up his ass and had little to no respect for me.. But after helping The King with a few things, he's calmed down a bit and doesn't give me a hard time anymore. He sports a leather jacket with the numbers 6240 on it and a black and white striped collared shirt underneath. He has a chiseled chin with his brown hair slicked back by the gel and his green eyes glaring at my arrival.

I approached him, "Here to see The King again."

"Alright. Go right ahead," he says as he opens the door for me.

I entered the room and was reunited with the same stage room, similar to The Tops theater with the red curtain backdrop and lit up sign sporting The Kings logo. I saw The King seated towards the front, comforting his dog Rex. From a distance, I thought he was just playing with him on the ground with his belly up on the side. But as I got close, I saw that Rex had seen better days.

"Hey, is Rex alright," I asked.

"He's been acting peculiar for some time now. I took him to the Followers and had him checked out, and they said his brain is bad or somethin," The King responded.

"Can they do anything?"

The King shook his head, "No, they said they don't have the tools to help him."

"Is he going to be okay," I questioned.

"For now, but they said eventually he's going to get worse. I don't know what to do."

He stood up from his chair to face me, "I don't know. Maybe. If you found a way to help my poor Rex here, I'd be much best bet would be to talk to Julie Farkas over at the Old Mormon Fort north of here. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did."

"Ok. I'll run by and ask her," I replied, making my way to the exit.

I left the Kings Hideout and made my way to the Old Mormon Fort. As I entered the fort, I was met with the sight of makeshift tents and people in lab coats walking around, trying to tend to people. It shocked me at first coming here, but now it doesn't as much. Hopefully Mr. House can give funding to these people so they can treat and handle more people. The Followers of the Apocalypse I feel is the only true morally good faction here I've come across.

I saw Julie in the back talking with another Follower and made my way towards her. Her attire was the same as everyone else, but her hair is a mohawk. It honestly reminds me of women in the Fiends or Raider women in general. As she finished talking with another person, her gray eyes took notice of me approaching her.

"Hello, can I help you," she asked.

"Hey, it's me, Evan," I responded.

"Oh. Emily wanted to thank you for placing the bug in the Lucky 38 for us."

Forgot about that. With all the excitement these last two weeks, it slipped my mind. I wonder if they were able to get that information.

"Yes. I placed the bug. Were you able to get the info?"

She sighed, "Unfortunately no. The communication with it was shortly gone as you placed it. We'll get in there eventually. It's just a matter of time."

"Hopefully. Anyway, The King said you could tell me more about his robotic dog."

Julie's eyes stared at the ground in distraught, "Rex? It breaks my heart every time I see him. He's such a good dog."

"The King brought him here for treatment then?"

She nodded, "Yes, a few months ago. We had to tell him there was nothing we could do."

I crossed my arms, "So,there's no chance he'll ever get better?"

She raised her hand, "I didn't say that. While no one here has that kind of expertise, I do know of one man who might fit the bill. There's an old scientist named Dr. Henry who reportedly specializes in this sort of procedure. He'd probably be your best bet. Last I heard, he was living up in Jacobstown, far to the northwest."

Jacobstown. Never heard of it. I'll check the Pimp Boy and head in that direction.I can swing by there and see Dr. Henry and find out what needs to be done. I'll let The King know before I head out.

"Ok. Thank you. I'll let The King know before I head out," I replied.

Julie nodded and went into the tent behind her while I headed back to The King's Hideout to report on what I found. I entered the hideout and went back into the stage room to approach The King who was still comforting Rex.

"Julie Farkas said a man in Jacobstown can treat Rex," I stated.

The King immediately stood up, "She said what? Why didn't she just say so when I was there?"

He paused for a moment, "Actually, come to think of it, I was pretty angry when I went down there. I vaguely recall something about upending a few tables, maybe knocking out one of her doctors."

Well that's one way of responding.

"Anyway, that's incredible news! Only thing is, there's too much going on around here for me to make a trip like that, and I need all of my guys just to keep things settled here. You seem to be awfully interested in my boy Rex here. And you've done some good work for me already. I'll tell you what. You promise to get Rexie here to that doctor, and I'll lend him to you. What do you say?"

I nodded my head, "Absolutely. I'll see that he gets better."

"I can't thank you enough. Now, there's a few things you should know about ol' Rex here if you're going to be traveling together. First, he hates rats. Can't stand the things. Giant rats, molerats, doesn't matter. He catches a whiff of one and he's off like a shot after them. He's normally pretty obedient, but you might have to chase him some if he goes after one of the little varmints."

Noted. Make sure I keep an eye out for rats. Otherwise, he's going to run off after them then I gotta chase.

He continues, "Second, he doesn't like hats, or the people wearing them. Don't ask. I have no idea why. Maybe because it rhymes with rats."

Wait what? He's got a problem with people wearing hats? Where did that come from?

"That should be it, though. Other than the occasional bad spot when his brain starts hurting him, that is, but I'm hoping you'll see to that. I wish you both luck. Take care of my Rex now, y'hear," he concludes with extending his hand.

As I shook it, Rex immediately stood up and stared at me while barking.

"Ok. Let's go buddy."

Rex and I left the hideout and made our way to Jacobstown. Being with Rex reminds me of my time with Dogmeat. Rex in a way acts like Dogmeat from his eagerness in walking ahead of me to even his bark a little bit. Really does make me miss him more than I realized. I hope he's ok or he found an owner who's taking care of him. I don't know if Fawkes would want to, but maybe they bonded with each other when I pushed them away years ago.

We continued our trek across the Mojave, with the cold air still lingering around me and the bright blue sky of the morning. As we continued our trek, I heard my Pimp Boy make a noise.

"Evan," I heard my Pimp Boy say.

I recognize that voice, it's Veronica.

I stopped moving to answer it, "Hey Veronica. How are things with your family and the Brotherhood?"

"It's been a tough two weeks. We had so many conflicts and complications. People got hurt. Sometimes just a scratch, other times it was like the first Battle of Hoover Dam but with no casualties. People were even threatening to leave. But we finally were able to come up with an agreement just this morning and make a ceasefire," she responded.

"That's great to hear. Thank you for the update. Let me know if you need help with solving disputes or anything. Elizabeth and I would love to help," I answered.

"Actually, you might be able to. Father McNamara finally decided to reach out to the Brotherhood of Steel chapter in D.C. and they are flying over here to help him. They should be here by tomorrow afternoon. Would love for you both to be here to help oversee this."

I felt the familiar feel of my heart sinking for a moment. The D.C. BOS is coming here. After four years, I'm going to see all of them again. Not sure if I'm ready to see them even after all this time. But the BOS here is my responsibility under Mr. House and I did tell McNamara to reach out to them if they needed assistance. So, it's on me for saying those things in the first place.

"Sure. We can swing by," I replied.

"Oh that would be great Evan. Thank you both for this. I feel my family can maybe start healing one day," Veronica stated before shutting off.

I'm glad Veronica has a chance for her family to come back together even if it may be dysfunctional on some level. But if there is hope for something better even if it takes time, then that's what should be the best focus right now. However, I don't know how things are going to go when I see Elder Lyons and anyone else from D.C. I feel most of them are going to be pissed off at me for disappearing all of a sudden, only for them to see me four years later. Maybe some will be happy, but I'm sure some will be pissed that I left when I could have helped more. Or just pissed in general with how I just upped and disappeared all of a sudden.

Before I did, I had some hope left in me that I could go back to Vault 101 and maybe continue living life there. I even helped clear things up with the Overseer and had him step down for Amata to take over. But then Amata told me that I had to leave because of the upset I had caused people with my father leaving and opening the fault to the little bit of carnage I had caused trying to leave. So, everything is up in the air, and I'm not fully sure how this will go. Here's hoping things go smoothly, regardless of what I caused when I left D.C.

Things are going to have to slow down for a bit as I got graduation to prepare for and a job to get ready for. So expect a bit of a delay with chapters and being posted.