'Were you born into the Legion, Vulpes?'

He jumped slightly. They'd been walking in silence for a while, although he had never ceased to be acutely aware of Six's presence.

'Do you intend to ask invasive personal questions all the way to the Strip?'

'We can talk about me if you'd like, although you know as much as I do,' she smirked at him. 'I crawled into the Mojave fully formed. Every feeling and opinion I have is as much a mystery to me as it is to you.'

She laughed. 'Believe me, I would love to know what fucked up experiences contributed to my terrible taste in men.'

'Indeed.'

Vulpes gave her a long look, perceiving genuine anxiety underneath her humour. Even when she was dissembling, some piece of her was always present; it was what made her so compelling. She was unwilling or unable to be anyone but herself.

'No, I was not born into the Legion,' he said. Six glanced at him, apparently surprised that he was deigning to answer her question. 'I spent my early years in a tribe that was eventually subjugated.'

'Subjugated,' she repeated, watching his face. 'That doesn't sound like a peaceful experience.'

'It was not.'

'So the Legion murdered and enslaved the only people you'd ever known — and yet here you stand, its greatest advocate and Caesar's most devoted hangman.' She wasn't smiling at him anymore. 'Does the heart in your chest even beat?'

'If it pleases you to think me a monster, so be it,' he snapped at her, 'but it does not become your intelligence to be so reductive.'

She was watching him closely, drinking in his reactions and, he was sure, mentally cataloguing them for future reference. The suspicion in him told him to stop, to be silent and not give her any more to work with — but he needed her to understand.

'Don't romanticise tribal life, Courier. It was brutal and dangerous. The tribes that survived to be subjugated by the Legion were only those savage enough to survive the endless fighting.' He grimaced at the recollection. 'Better that their ruthlessness be directed toward a greater goal.'

She was giving him a very pointed look. 'And that's what you think the Legion is: a greater goal?'

'Isn't it?' he asked, observing her reaction now. 'It brings order to chaos. Look at the rubble of your profligate cities; the depravity of New Vegas; the shambling impotence of the NCR. You are lying to yourself if you think that's the best humanity can achieve.'

Six stumbled, watching him too intently to notice the uneven ground, and Vulpes caught her arm.

'I know you, Six,' he said, daring to stay close to her for a moment. 'I know you think we can do better. You think more of people than they deserve.'

She didn't have to say anything; the way she was looking at him was enough. Vulpes stepped back from her, the hard edge in his voice again. 'But people need the direction the Legion provides. Without it we'd all be doomed to petty tribalism, warring in the shadow of what we once were. I know you see the truth of that.'

She frowned, looking away from him, apparently unable to come up with a satisfying counterargument. Vulpes was grimly pleased. He knew he would never change her mind; she was much too stubborn — but she was also too smart not to see the shades of grey in the world, as much as she might dislike their implications. Watching her gaze out at the Mojave, a desert breeze stirring her hair, he felt his admiration like a physical force in his chest. She would make an excellent Frumentarius, if the Legion allowed such things. Perhaps he could get Caesar to make an exception for her.

'Vulpes, where's our forward scout?'

The change in her demeanour was immediate, putting Vulpes on high alert. Scanning the horizon, he confirmed what she'd already realised: the Frumentarius acting as their vanguard was nowhere to be seen. Dammit. He'd allowed himself to be distracted. Six had already drawn her pistol, and he went to draw his.

'No machete?' She raised an eyebrow at him.

'It's a bit of a giveaway.'

'I see,' she said, her eyes scouring their surroundings before coming back to land on him. 'It's a shame about the skirt, too. You have nice legs.'

'It's not a—' he cut himself off, deciding not to dignify her with an answer. By Mars, when they were finally alone together he was going to ravish that insolent mouth of hers. He could've sworn he'd had the upper hand not a minute ago.

She just laughed at him before crouching lower and pointing ahead of them. 'There.'

Sure enough, there was a corpse at the side of the road, hurriedly obscured under a thorny bush.

'I hope you weren't fond of him.'

Vulpes' mouth curled in distaste as he observed the state of the young Frumentarius. His neck had been hacked to pieces. 'Hardly. I've had few promising recruits lately.'

'So for all its grand designs, the Legion doesn't produce good women or good soldiers?' Six asked. 'How do you plan to—'

Her sentence came to an abrupt, winded halt as Vulpes barrelled into her, dragging them both behind a rock outcropping as a hail of bullets hit the broken asphalt where they'd been standing.

'Dammit, Six,' he hissed, disentangling himself from her and readying his pistol again. 'Is mocking me really worth your life? Save it for when we've survived this.'

She laughed breathlessly, grinning at him as she got into a crouch behind the rock, her own pistol at the ready. 'Don't be such a spoilsport, Vulpes. I haven't had this much fun in a long time.'

It was true. She was visibly excited by the prospect of imminent combat, and Vulpes was reminded of who she had been before she'd chosen to submit herself to Caesar — for reasons he still didn't understand.

'You're mad, woman,' he said, watching her peer above the edge of the rock to try and spot their assailants, dropping hastily down when another round of shots ricocheted off the stone in front of them.

'You knew that already.' She smiled at him over the barrel of her gun. It was a beautiful, wild expression, and Vulpes felt himself fall deeper. 'Don't know how many there are,' she went on, 'but they're taking cover on a ridge directly ahead of us. I think they'll come to us, if we make them wait.'

'Degenerates aren't known for their patience,' she said, 'and they're especially susceptible to women.' She put a hand on his knee and stared at him for a moment of stony, deadpan silence before she snickered.

'Do you take anything seriously?'

'Of course. There are plenty of things worth taking seriously.' She laughed, that defiant glimmer in her eye again. 'Self-important men, however, aren't one of them. Speaking of…'

She nodded in the direction they'd come from, where their rearguard was running up the road, gun drawn. He managed two steps off the asphalt before he was shot, juddering backwards with the impact of several bullets and falling heavily to the ground.

'There goes our escort.' Six sighed. 'Were you fond of that one?'

'No.'

'Are you fond of anyone?'

Vulpes glared at her. 'What is the point of asking questions you already know the answer to?'

'So you are fond of someone?' she replied, glancing sideways at him as she began to peek over the top of the rock again. 'There are four of them, coming towards us from eleven o'clock.'

Six carried on without missing a beat. 'Tell me, is it Lanius? Or maybe Caesar himself?'

'When this is over,' Vulpes growled, moving to the edge of the outcropping with his pistol ready, 'I am going to crucify you.'

'Caesar then.'

They emerged from either side of their cover at the same time, each taking a few expert shots and downing one raider each before retreating to avoid another hail of bullets.

'You aren't missing much, you know. He's a very selfish lo—'

Vulpes put a hand over her mouth and glared at her over the space of two inches.

'I told you to save it until we're safe, woman.' He took his hand away, and she grinned at him. 'What are you even trying to achieve?'

'I just enjoy pushing my luck.'

Six shoved him away and stood up, aiming down the barrel of her gun and taking precisely two shots, impossibly calm and collected as she made herself a perfect target. Vulpes reached up to pull her down and she fell tangled into his lap, smiling and breathless.

'Are you trying to get yourself killed?' he hissed.

She laughed, putting her hands on his shoulders and wriggling herself into something like an upright position. 'I think I got 'em.'

They both heard drawn-out noises of pain, and then the unmistakable sound of bodies slumping to the ground.

'See?' She grinned at him, pleased with herself.

They sat in silence for a moment, listening intently, but it was clear that the encounter was over. The raiders that had been trying to kill them were dead, and Vulpes' attention returned to the woman in front of him. The smiling one, who was making absolutely no attempt to remove herself from his lap.

'What is wrong with you?'

Six tapped the scar on her forehead. 'What's the point of asking questions you already know the answer to?'

She winked at him — actually winked at him — and Vulpes couldn't suppress a chuckle. Sitting there in his lap, mad and warm and so vibrantly alive, all he wanted in the world was to touch more of her. His eyes flickered over her shoulder to the crumpled bodies of their Legion escort. There was no one watching them now; they were alone.

Six saw the movement of his eyes, caught the drift of his thoughts, and smirked at him. Slowly, deliberately, she put her knees on either side of his hips, never breaking eye contact as she straddled him. He resisted for a moment, then Vulpes put his hands on her thighs and squeezed, allowing himself just a fraction of what he wanted so badly.

'If you're playing with me, woman, I swear I'll—'

'You'll what?' she cut him off. 'You'll hurt me? You'll invite Caesar's wrath upon me?'

She laughed, reaching out to touch his face. Vulpes caught her wrist and glared at her. 'You can't threaten me, Vulpes. There's nothing you can do to me that I haven't already done to myself.'

It was true, and they both knew it, although it didn't do much to quell his natural suspicion. He heard the echoes of her laughter, sitting on Caesar's lap, and felt hot jealousy in his veins.

'Why should I trust you?' he asked, letting go of her wrist.

'You probably shouldn't.' She planted her hands on his chest as she watched his face. 'But come on, Vulpes: you're smarter than this. What good does it do me to seduce you? I can't incriminate you without incriminating myself, and you know we'd both be killed if Caesar ever found out about this.'

Her fingers played with the buckles of his armour as she continued, tilting her head as she spoke. 'There's no point trying to manipulate you. There's no changing your mind — you're more of a zealot than Caesar is. And if I wanted to kill you, well,' she met his eyes, 'I've had plenty of chances.'

'So maybe I just want you,' she said, shifting deliciously in his lap to lean in closer, and Vulpes let her. 'Like you want me.'

And then her mouth was on his, kissing him like she'd been starving for him her whole life. Vulpes grabbed her ass to pull her closer, then he tangled a hand in her hair and tugged. Six broke their kiss with a quiet gasp that turned into a breathy moan as he began to suck and bite at her neck.

'You,' he said in between his ministrations, 'are impossible.'

He squeezed the flesh of her ass, glancing up at her face just in time to see her bite her lip. 'You are insolent, seditious, and incurably misguided.'

She smiled that beautiful, infuriating smile at him and put her hands on either side of his face. 'You wouldn't have me any other way.'

'And I will have you,' Vulpes growled, wrapping both arms around her waist to pull her flush against him.

She just nodded, sighing against his lips and kissing him again, hard and slow.

'You will,' she breathed, moving her mouth to the corner of his jaw and making him groan. He'd never wanted anyone so badly in his life.

'Six.' He groaned again as she nipped the skin of his neck, grinding her hips against him at the same time. 'Gods, woman.'

'Do you want me to stop?' He didn't need to see her mouth to know she was smiling against his skin. Of course he didn't want her to stop. He wanted that mouth of hers everywhere. He had to suppress another moan as his mind's eye presented him with an image of her on her knees in front of him, looking up with that smirk still on her face.

'We're in the middle of the Mojave.'

'And?' she finally drew back, eyes alight with amusement and desire.

'And I'm not going to fuck you in the middle of the Mojave.'

'But you are going to fuck me?'

He found himself smiling and didn't miss the way it attracted her eyes to his mouth. She really did want him; she wasn't faking that. 'Was that ever in doubt?'

Six hummed, pleased, sliding her arms around his neck. 'Careful, Vulpes. You sound terribly degenerate.'

'That's because you're a bad influence, profligate.'

She laughed quietly, kissing him again, but this time it was different. She wasn't just teasing him anymore. Vulpes felt himself responding in kind, something purely emotional and infinitely more dangerous than lust unfurling itself in his chest.