I should have seen this coming.

The day started off with visits from Arturo and, of all people, Danny, the guard. Arturo asked us to look into a caravan that had ended up missing someplace around a settlement named Covenant. Apparently it had been carrying a fairly large payday for him after arranging a deal with someone named "Old Man Stockton" out of Bunker Hill. We hadn't had a road trip in a while, so it sounded like a good reason to get out. The response from Heather was lukewarm at best. That sort of surprised me, her being caravan folk for so long.

Danny was there to give us a message from a ghoul that was, apparently, waiting for me just outside of DC's main gate. He said the guy's name was Edward Deegan and that he had a business proposal for me. Intrigued, I went out to meet with him.

Edward Deegan had a formidable appearance. The sight of a ghoul can be pretty unsettling if you aren't prepared, but Deegan did just look unsettling - he looked like a badass. Standing at about 6'2", built solid, and armored to the gills in heavy combat armor, Deegan reeked of top of the line merc. I appreciated that he got right down to the point. It was one of his jobs to look for new "talent" to be recruited into the employ of his boss, Jack Cabot. Some kind of shipment had come up missing and he had heard that I have a certain skillset that would come in useful for the work he had in mind.

I decided to take both jobs because they both had contacts in the same general area. Bunker hill was just a short walk from where the Cabot residence was and I figured what the hell. Heather and I would spent the rest of the day putting the finishing touches onto our new protection.

It took me going nuclear to get her to talk about what the problem is.

All day long she has been moping and just being a unsocial pain in the ass. Not that I am Mr. Social, mind you, so imagine how bad she must have been behaving.

"I want a bigger gun..." That is what this was all about... I had the RSh, Arturo had the Desert Eagle, and Heather wanted to have an enormous chunk of metal as well. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the chest I kept the good stuff in and came back with Kellog's .44 Magnum.

"Here." I knew I hit the nail on the head when I saw her face light up at the sight of it. "Will the personal sidearm of the Institute's most notorious merc suffice?"

"Oh yeah..." She was all smiles again. I just laughed. "All you need to do is say something."

"I thought I was being stupid and girly.."

"Wanting a bigger gun? Girly? Nah..." We both laughed at the shear absurdity of the situation and life returned to normal... or as normal as it could be...

We had just finished packing for the road after dinner when Arturo came calling with a couple new goodies. I always get a kick out of him when he brings stuff over - it is always a production of some type. This time it was a big square box with a carry handle on top. It looked like some kind of hat box. Apparently the guy he bought the coat off of had two more items that were of interest. I popped the latches and opened the box. Inside sat one of the most intimidating things I had ever seen in my life - so simple yet so ominous. A black ballistic helmet and a matching black face guard. The build looked solid - the design, ominous. Arturo reached around and touched something on the left cheek and the eyes lit red.

"Well that is spooky..." I was not exaggerating. If I saw this thing coming at me, it would give a moment of pause. I wasn't sure of the use beyond being scary though, and Arturo anticipated that.

"HUD. Heads up display show temp, time, wind speed, relative humidity, and compass points. It can be integrated into your pipboy seamlessly." He reached over and touched something on the right cheek. An integrated spot light turned on. He touched it a second time and it turned a deep blue. "Regular and UV spot for close quarters combat. "He added.

"Where did this come from and how much?"

"This, my friend, is the rest of the outfit from the NCR. As far as price...you do understand the rarity of something like this, right? I mean chances are the guy died, right?"

I looked over the helmet and mask, they had seen some wear, but nothing extreme. There were no insignia to remove, and no serial numbers.

"That or the guy needed cash after deserting and knew this would fetch a pretty penny..." Arturo frowned at my suggestion, but kept hammering me about uniqueness, rarity, etc. I jus kept looking at the menacing façade and was imagining kicking in a door to kill a bunch of shitheads and having them freak the fuck out when they got a load of me... Arturo was preaching to the wrong part of me.

"Remember, Arturo, you sold me the coat for $500 caps and a question..."

"Yeah, but that damn question almost got me killed! How about 1,000 caps?"

"How about 750? I know you sell the stuff I bring you at a 100% mark-up. My guess is you got this for 500, and that a 250 cap profit is more than ample to feed you and your daughter for the month.."

"Dammit, am I that obvious?" He almost looked embarrassed.

"Jeez, Arturo, I sell you a .45 pipe revolver for 5-10 caps depending on the condition and your pipe revolvers sell for between 10-20 caps... I can do math..."

"Ok, ok... 750 it is. After all, we are making each other rich!" There it was... the laugh. "You know, if that guy I can't talk about was wearing an outfit like that, he would definitely be bigger than the Silver Shroud." He noticed the look I gave him. "I mean think about it... 99% of the people in the Commonwealth have no idea where that all comes from and you are pretty much the only person who is going to be wearing it... At some point, you are just going to have to accept it..."

"Yeah, but it will be on my terms..."

That is where we left it.

After he left, the three of us were settling in for bed when Xao decided to let me know that he wanted a big gun and a "costume" as well because he wanted to start travelling with us. He was handy with a sniper rifle and quiet as hell when he moved, but still, this was getting to be a little much for one day. I told him that it was something that we could discuss in the morning, but to please not call my coat or Heather's armor costumes...

I have to admit though... Being the acknowledged Angel of Death in the Commonwealth is getting to be more and more appealing.