Chapter 13, Ultimatum

We made our way out and I could feel the heat of the Mojave starting to get stronger. Even the sand reflected this from the light shining off the sand in the ground. With that in mind, we trekked across the Mojave to make our way back to Nellis. The suits only made us sweat more and made the suits even feel a bit more heavy and stiff to move around in.

"I would hate to have to walk around in this during the afternoon," I heard Elizabeth say.

"Yeah, I'm concerned I'm going to chafe all over. Even in areas I didn't think I wanted to," Veronica replies.

I nodded in agreement and despite how we felt, we pressed forward, until we reached the front gates of Nellis. We approached the gates and they opened, welcoming us back. Once we were past the gate, we made our way back to the Lady to give the suits back. As we arrived, I noticed Jack was talking with Janet. I couldn't hear specifically what they were talking about, but Jack was so expressive in his movement, it must have a story of some sort. Eventually, Janet starts to laugh and puts a hand on his shoulder, to hold herself up. Must have been a funny story, no doubt. Seeing Jack like that makes me really happy we were able to help him. He looks much more happy and confident then the shy, closed off person I saw before. Even in this world, we can still do some good that has lasting effects for people.

"Did you find what you were looking for," I heard Loyal ask.

I turned to face him, "Yes, thank you for lending us these suits. Though I would recommend you wash these."

"No problem and no doubt I will," Loyal responds.

Elizabeth and Veronica took theirs off with ease, but mine was definitely a pain. The sweat on my body stuck to the side of the suit and as I tried to take it off, I felt it ripping on my skin as my shirt also came off.

"Ow, shit," I shouted, finally taking it off.

Elizabeth and Veronica turned, reacting.

"Evan, your shoulder," Elizabeth says, pointing to my shoulder.

I looked at it and noticed a huge chafe mark on my shoulder that went to under my armpit. I touched it and yelped in response. I could feel it burning really badly, like a bad sunburn. Elizabeth walked towards me to take a look at my shoulder.

"Do you have any lotion with some aloe vera Loyal," Elizabeth said, observing my shoulder.

"I think I might have some in the back," Loyal replied.

"Ok, get it as well as a bandage," Elizabeth says.

Loyal nodded and I watched him walk away.

"Evan, sit down," I heard Elizabeth say, grabbing my arm to bring me down.

I followed her movement onto a chair as she sat on the one next to it. As I sat down, I noticed Veronica watching from afar, biting a bit on her finger. Elizabeth continued to touch my shoulder a bit, forcing me to winch.

"Yeah, it's chafed a bit well," She says.

I winched more from her touching it, "Ok, you don't have to keep messing with it."

Elizabeth pulled her hands to her chest, "Sorry, I was...just assessing the damage."

After a few minutes, Loyal came back with some lotion and a bandage.

"Here's the lotion and the bandage," Loyal said, handing it to Elizabeth, "I'm sure you know how to do this."

Elizabeth took it out of his hand and got right to work. She put the lotion on me first, and I could feel the burn of my skin reacting to the lotion. Then I felt the coolness of the lotion take over against my skin as it helped calm the burn. Then, Elizabeth wrapped the bandage around my shoulder and I felt her tighten it against my shoulder.

Elizabeth stands up, "There, that should be good. But tonight, before bed, we should change it."

"Ok, let me get my armor back on and let's get back to the Brotherhood," I replied, standing up.

I put my armor back on and grabbed my backpack. Once we had all of our things together, we made our way out of Nellis and on our way to Hidden Valley. The chafe on my shoulder didn't burn and honestly, I wonder how I didn't feel it as we got closer to Nellis. I'll chalk this up to adrenaline. I'm going to need all the adrenaline I can get to be able to convince McNamara if the task comes down to me. Just in case Veronica can't, I may have to come up with something. Maybe an Ultimatum of some sort. I don't know. But, I do know that if we don't come up with a solution, Mr. House wants them eliminated and I don't think either me or Elizabeth can do that.

At long last, we reached the bunker and were greeted by the same metal door as before. I opened it and continued down the dark, uninviting path that led us towards the Elder. As we walked down into the bunker, we were still greeted with the sight of turrets and Brotherhood members giving us the same dirty looks they gave us before. It only gave me more fear of how not only we could convince McNamara, but also the entire bunker. If people are not on his side, a majority of them could branch off and make a similar group like the Outcasts in D.C. Then we would have another problem on our hands.

After a few minutes of navigating the dimly lit corridors of the bunker, we finally reached McNamara's office. Veronica motioned me to give her the pulse gun. I took it out of my bag and handed it to her. She then took the charge in front of us to approach McNamara.

"Veronica. I hope -," McNamara started, leaning forward.

"I brought you a present," She says, placing the Pulse Gun on the table, " We found a gun that disables power armor. One of these could defeat the whole Brotherhood. We have to stop limiting our focus to military technology. It won't save us."

McNamara paused for a moment, "That could be the only one of its kind."

Veronica continues, "That's not the point. Technology won't win our wars. We need numbers. New recruits."

He leans back in his chair, "What does the Codex say?"

"A bunch of closed-minded bullshit," She replied

"We do not help them, or let them in," he answered, unphased by her response.

"But-," Veronica says, interrupting him.

He continues, "We keep knowledge they must never have."

Veronica lets out a loud groan, "Give it a chance. For me. I can't stay here and watch us waste away.

"I'm sorry," He replies, looking at her with sodom eyes.

"We'll die out," Veronica says softly.

McNamara sighs, " I know."

I could tell this was going nowhere. He is so closed minded it's impossible to speak to him logically. His age doesn't help either. The older someone gets, the more focused someone is on their own beliefs. The only way at this point is, like I said earlier, to force an Ultimatum on him. I just was hoping it wouldn't come to that.

"Ok, if you don't mind, I would like to interject," I said, walking forward.

"Did I ask you to speak to me," McNamara demanded.

"No, but you are going to want to hear this," I replied.

"And why is that?"

I took a deep breath, "Because if you don't, the next time I come here, I can't guarantee it will be civil."

McNamara stood up, "Are you threatening me?"

I crossed my arms as I approached his desk, "No, but another power is that Elizabeth and I are representing. And he doesn't want to be civil."

"And who may that be?"

"Mr. House."

McNamara staggered a bit back, then sat back down, "He wants you to eliminate us?"

"He did, but Elizabeth and I convinced him that we could make a truce to prevent unnecessary bloodshed."

McNamara folded his hands and placed them on the desk, "We could stop you easily. We outnumber you and Elizabeth."

"Yes, you do. But Mr. House has his army of Securitrons that were just upgraded as well. We could come back with them," I stated.

McNamara let out a big sigh and unfolded his hands, "So, what do you propose I do?"

"Open your doors like the D.C. branch and be open to working with other groups primarily the Followers of the Apocalypse. Share your technological knowledge to them and give them resources to help do that. And if you need help, reach out to Owyn Lyons at the D.C. branch. They will be more than willing to help."

McNamara paused for a bit, thinking of what to do next. After a minute, he replied, "I guess I don't have a choice. How am I going to convince everyone else? Everyone here has had the same mindset as I had for years. This won't be easy"

"I don't know. But as a leader and as someone who has been alive for so long, you know your people and can figure it out. Besides, I can guarantee overtime this will work out better. Do we have a deal," I asked, extending my hand.

McNamara gets up, "Very well, we have a deal."

He shakes my hand and before I could leave, I hear him stand up, "How do you know Owyn Lyons in D.C?"

I stopped in my tracks. I don't want to share that with McNamara. He could use that to my disadvantage or to anyone else I know.

I turned around, "Tell them a local courier came across them not too long ago and got a glimpse of what they were trying to do."

McNamara nodded and sat back down, calling for one of his guards to come to him. I could hear him whisper to them to call all forces to his office. Knowing this, I motioned for Veronica and Elizabeth to follow. As we walked away from the office and continued forward, I heard the intercom kick in.

"Attention all Brothers and Sisters. I request all forces meet with me in my office. I would like to make a few announcements and declarations I expect everyone to follow," McNamara stated, before the intercom turned off.

I smiled. McNamara will hopefully make this work and if there is a separation between the members, maybe Veronica could help one day.

We pressed forward until I heard Veronica clear her throat, "You didn't tell me you both were working with Mr. House."

"Yeah we didn't," I replied, turning to face her.

She folded her arms, "Why would you work with him? And why would you threaten McNamara like that?"

"For the record, before I met you or Elizabeth, I didn't know much about him. And I was contracted to deliver him the Platinum Chip that started this whole thing. I got shot in the head by a guy named Benny and went through a big deal to find the chip. Elizabeth then tagged along and we both were involved. Once we got the chip, I thought that was the end of it. Until Mr. House wanted us more involved and here we are."

"I see. So when I first met you, were you doing business for Mr. House?"

I took a breath, "Yes, we were. We had to go south to install an upgrade for him. That's why the Securitrons are much stronger now."

"But why would you still stick around with him? He's ruthless and has been closed off from the rest of the world for so long."

Elizabeth chimed in, " Someone has to. Evan and I might be the best chance at preventing him from being too ruthless. And…I have experience with people like this."

Veronica looked down for a moment, then met our eyes, "I guess with both of you near the driver, you could prevent it from getting out of hand. And I'm sure it was a matter of time before Mr. House would have taken control. But, I'm glad it's you two that are in his way from becoming a dictator."

I nodded in agreement. We are what's preventing him from taking full control and letting it get out of hand. However down the road, he may view us not the same as he does now. He may try to find a way to get rid of us and take control. Hopefully, we can convince him to go a different way before that happens.

"Let's get out of here then," Elizabeth says, going forward.

Before I could continue, I felt Veronica grab my hand.

"Hey can I talk to you privately for a bit," She asks.

"Sure, what's up," I replied.

"She likes you Evan," She says.

"What," I asked, turning to look at her.

"I can tell, easily, that Elizabeth has something for you," Veronica replied, giving me a smug look.

"How so?"

"Well, throughout the time when we had our girl talk, she talked really highly of you. She praised how you helped the people of Nellis by clearing out the fire ants in the power station and how you helped Jack meet the love of his life."

I blushed a bit and looked away so Veronica couldn't see me.

Veronica continued, "And I can tell by how she's always near you, she's playing with herself from her hair to even how she kept touching your chafe mark on your shoulder. That's a dead giveaway from the perspective of a woman."

I turned back to Veronica's direction, unable to reply.

"Do you feel the same? Your face seems to show it. Or is it hard to take a compliment?"

"I…maybe…I don't know," I replied, still keeping eye contact away from Veronica.

"Well, a piece of friendly advice, make the decision soon. Women don't like being kept waiting. Just like anyone, we're impatient and if nothing is acted on, she'll move on."

Veronica wasn't wrong at all. I think I do have a crush on Elizabeth. I felt it underneath me even when first meeting her, but I don't know if I'm ready for it. I thought between me and Amata something could happen. I had a crush on her when I was younger and wanted to one day see how things could turn out. But, I never had the courage or guts to ask. In the end, she chose to stay in the vault and I chose to leave D.C. For Elizabeth, I don't know. I mean, I am the only friend she has and nothing seems ill between us. Maybe an opportunity will present itself to allow me. But, I'm unsure if I even want to be that close with anyone. Last time I was well, with my Dad. And look how that turned out.

"Just follow what you want underneath. And the worst she can say is no," Veronica says, walking away, "But I don't think it will be."

"Where are you going?"

She turns around, "I'm going to stay here and help make sure things stay in order. You and Elizabeth make sure Mr. House doesn't become too powerful. You're what's standing between him and an independent New Vegas."

I nodded my head in agreement. I'm glad Elizabeth and I are in agreement on this whole thing.

"One more thing," I hear Veronica say, approaching me.

She grabs my Pipboy and puts in a radio frequency," I'll keep you updated on anything."

I nodded and walked away, back to the entrance. As I got out to the surface, I saw Elizabeth sitting on a rock, tossing a small rock in the air to pass the time.

"There you are," She says, throwing the rock aside and jumping down, " I was worried they got you and Veronica. Where is she?"

"She wanted to stay, to make sure things worked out," I replied.

"Oh, ok. I hope she can help keep things calm."

"If anyone can, she can. Anyway, let's get back to the strip. It's going to be a long walk and will probably start getting late by the time we get back."

Elizabeth nodded, and I took the lead. We trekked across the desert for hours, more than likely thinking the same as me on what Mr. House had for us next. But I do know that we are starting to get closer to the battle. And we are going to have to be ready for it. We stopped once to eat one of the MRE's and ate in relative silence. We ate one of the Chicken, Noodles and Vegetables in Sauce and once we were done, we picked up our trash and wrapped it up to throw away later. I'm not one for littering.

We kept going until we started to get closer to the strip. By that point the faint lights were starting to turn on and were against the coming night sky. We walked through the front gate doors and made our way back to the Lucky 38, back into the elevator to take us back up to the penthouse. We exited the doors and Mr. House's screen turned on.

"So, did you somehow achieve peace," He asks, his booming voice filling the room.

"Yes, we did," I replied.

He paused for a long moment, "Well this is quite the accomplishment. Though as I said before, they are your responsibility. And if the Brotherhood from D.C. gets involved and arrives, I want it to be clearly known that I am in charge and you both are my messengers."

I nodded to his statement. Elizabeth followed my action as well.

"Onto the more pressing news as this comes just in time, as events in the wider world are coming to a head. Aaron Kimball, the president of the New California Republic, is going to visit Hoover Dam to 'boost morale.' Apparently he hasn't considered the effect on the troops' morale of seeing their beloved leader get his brains blown out by a Legion sniper. I need you to make sure that no harm comes to President Kimball. It's fortunate that you've maintained good relations with the NCR."

"Why do you care whether Kimball lives or dies," I asked.

"I care because he is a known quantity - not the man so much as the political context he inhabits. Kimball rose to prominence as the 'Hero of the Mojave' when he led a campaign of reprisals against tribals who dared to attack NCR citizens. Ordering the occupation of Hoover Dam was his first act of office. As water and electricity flowed to NCR cities, his popularity soared. Conversely, his failure to annex the Mojave these seven years, and the immense costs of occupying a foreign land, have eroded his popular support."

Elizabeth interjected, "Ok, but that didn't really answer why you want him alive."

"Kimball's entire political career is inextricably bound up with the NCR's occupation of the Mojave. It's his war. If I compel the NCR to retreat, Kimball will be the sacrifice offered to the gods, so decent NCR citizens can get on with their lives. In retrospect, the Mojave and Hoover Dam will seem like one man's misadventure. Kimball will be blamed, not me. Not New Vegas," he replied.

"Out of curiosity, what if he died," I asked.

Mr. House let out a big sigh," Then the Hero of the Mojave would become the Martyr of Hoover Dam. And when, subsequently, I force the NCR to retreat. They lick their wounds, and dream of righteous vengeance against New Vegas. Hello, embargo, farewell, tourist economy. I've calculated and re-calculated these probabilities. Kimball must live."

Once again, Mr. House really is showing the uses people have for him. He is only caring about Kimball for the sake of furthering his agenda. Just like every damn person here that has power, he is wanting things done a certain way to further his agenda in ruling New Vegas. I'll do what he says. But I promise now, that after the Battle, I will make sure that both Elizabeth and I do everything we can to prevent him from furthering his agenda down the road of an autocrat or dictator.

"Alright, what do you propose we do," I asked.

"Simple, an NCR Ranger named Grant is in charge of security arrangements for the visit. Present yourself to him, let him know you want to help. Given your reputation, it's a near-certainty that he'll accept your offer. Don't dally. The precise time of Kimball's visit is a closely-guarded secret, but it will happen soon. I suspect by tomorrow or the next day."

He is right. I did help the NCR with the Powder Gangers at that prison facility and getting a sheriff for Primm. It was before I came to the Lucky 38, but the Powder Gangers at the prison would have destroyed Primm if I had not intervened and had already taken the Deputy hostage after killing the sheriff. That is how, in a nutshell, my reputation with the NCR was solidified mostly.

"Ok, we will head out tomorrow morning first thing," I replied.

"Don't delay it. Time is of the essence," He says before turning off.

We walked back to the elevator and I pushed the button to take us down to the Suite.

"He really is using people around him to get what he wants," Elizabeth states.

"I think we both knew that already, the question is how we prevent him from going too far with it," I replied.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes. I saw this before first hand with not only Atlas, but also Ryan. They used people for a purpose until everything was fulfilled for them. Then they tie up the loose ends. I just hope we don't become loose ends."

"I don't think we will just yet. We still have time to put a contingency in place to prevent him from killing us."

"Do you have any ideas," She asked.

I had some ideas I was thinking about. But I'll spend more on it after this battle is over.

"A few I'm running in my head. I'll let you know if I come up with something," I replied.

"Ok, just… keep me in the know. You can trust me," she says as the elevator dings to let us know we had arrived.

I trust Elizabeth mostly. More than really anyone I know alive. However, she still hasn't told me everything about her. She's keeping things under lock and key and I'm sure she has her reasons as to why. Hell, I even have my reasons to keep my secrets hidden. But, I wish I knew more. The way she pauses every time she talks about her past makes me feel she is hiding something dark underneath. Something that either is more complex that I don't know of or she may have done some even sinister things that she doesn't want to share. Regardless of the reason, she may be trying to make up for it and I am all for it.

We walked out of the elevator and she stopped for a moment, "I'm going to take a shower. I want to get this sweat off. You should take that bandage off and put more of that lotion on and let it sit for a bit before taking one too."

"Yeah, I'll do that. Thank you for reminding me," I answered.

Elizabeth dug into her bag, took out the lotion, and handed it to me. She then dropped the bag in her room and went into the bathroom. I went into my room and took off my shirt. Once I did, I could hear the shower running from the room. I then took my shirt off and then the bandage off. Looking at the chafe, it looked like it was getting better. I saw more regular skin than pink red. I screwed the cap off the lotion and put some in my hand. Then I applied it on and felt it burn slightly, but not as bad as before. I just felt the coolness of the lotion against it more.

Once I was done, I screwed the cap back on and held the bottle. I think an idea of handling Mr. House is through that bug I planted on the terminal for the Followers. Perhaps we could find some information to blackmail him with or maybe even appeal to his good nature. Like something personal he kept away for so long. It could even make him less machine and show more of his human side. The other option is hooking up a device to his real human body, if it exists, and again blackmailing him to not become a dictator. I don't know. I'm just throwing ideas to find one that is going to stick better. But I have time to think about it. It's not an immediate issue. Maybe Elizabeth could even come up with some ideas.

"Hey Evan," I heard Elizabeth shout, "Could you find me a towel? I forgot to put one in here."

"Yeah," I shouted back.

I put the lotion bottle on my nightstand. I looked around for a bit in one of my drawers and found a light blue towel instantly. I picked it up and headed to her room and opened her door. What I was not expecting was to see her standing there, her arms crossed, naked. I immediately closed the door, faster than I probably closed a door in my life. I only saw a glance of her, not her full body.

"I didn't see you fully, I swear!"

"You better not have yet, " she hissed back at me.

I stopped for a moment, realizing what she just said, "What do you mean by 'not have yet'?"

"What, I… I didn't say that," she replied, "Just…hand me the towel through the door."

I opened her door to stick my hand through with the towel to give her and she took it hastily out of my hand. I'm still taken a bit back by what she meant by that. And I am not even going to want to have what I saw in my head for a while.

After a few minutes, she walked out of her room, with her clothes on and her hair wrapped in a smaller towel. She gave me a bit of a dirty look, but it quickly went away.

"Ok, you can use the shower now," She says, going into the kitchen.

I went back into my room to get a towel, a new shirt, and new underwear. Then I went into the bathroom, and took a shower. Thankfully the water didn't make my shoulder burn, only providing further it was healing much faster. Once I was done, I turned the water off, dried my hair with the towel and my body, and put on the new shirt, underwear, and my armor pants back on. I went into the kitchen and saw Elizabeth was taking the food from our journey out.

"I'm surprised we didn't use all of them. Guess we weren't really hungry throughout the journey," Elizabeth said after noticing me enter.

"Yeah. It is always nice to be prepared though. You never know. Anyway, what do you fancy for tonight," I asked.

Elizabeth paused, "How does chili sound?"

"I'm good with that."

Elizabeth smiled and started opening the packages.

"Do you want any help? You don't have to be a housewife and cook all by yourself," I stated.

Elizabeth looked away for a moment, "I know. I just wanted to pitch in. You've been doing a ton and I figured I could do this for you."

I walked to the counter," Don't sell yourself short. You've been a great help as well and have been doing almost the same amount of work that I have done."

"Ok," she says, tucking some hair behind her ear, "Pass me a medium sized pot."

I handed her the pot and she put both of our chili packets in it. I didn't do much help for her after that except grabbing spices or setting up bowls and silverware. Once the chili was done, Elizabeth grabbed the pot and set it on the table. We took our seats and I dished up some chili. She then soon followed afterwards and we dug in into the chili. The combination of spices that Elizabeth uses and cheese really helps add flavor to these MRE Chili's. Makes it feel more homemade instead of being packed together in a factory somewhere. Once we were finished, she took her dish to the sink and once she was done rinsing it out, I did the same thing. She then took the pot to the sink and I chipped in cleaning the rest of the mess up. When the mess was cleaned up, I took a look at my Pipboy clock. It was around 8 p.m., but I could feel myself feeling extremely tired.

I yawned, " I think I'm going to get some sleep. We had a long day today."

"I agree," she replied, also with a yawn," I'm going to get some sleep as well. I'll see you tomorrow."

I walked into my room and took my pants off. I also took my shirt off as it wasn't too cold in here and got under the covers. Laying here and thinking, I still don't know of many other options we have to handle Mr. House if it comes to it. Tomorrow, I can run my ideas with Elizabeth and see what she thinks. If her past experience is anything, she might have more ideas on how to handle this situation. But for someone like me, I don't have many political or social experiences. All I really have is my time in D.C. with the Enclave, but even then it's nothing compared to this. This is a completely different, deep issue and it's going to take time to figure out and plan in order for this to work in both of our favor. I just hope we find a solution before things get worse. I flipped the switch to turn my lamp off and closed my eyes to fall asleep, awaiting for what tomorrow might bring.