Chapter 5: Veritas Vos Liberabit (The Truth Will Set You Free)

Felix looked over the fire at Boone. It had been two weeks since they had cleared the Legion out of Nelson. In that time they had fallen into an easy comradery. They rarely spoke expect for combat related call outs. Felix was worried that if he said much beyond this, his secret would get out and Boone didn't seem to feel like talking. Even though they didn't speak Felix quickly learned how best to support his new partner. Often, he wasn't even needed as Boone could kill a four man Legion scouting party in less than six seconds. It was when things went sideways that Felix was up. He kept larger parties from getting too close to Boone and flushed enemies out of cover after Boone's initial shots. As the days went by, they got good at working together and Felix slowly started to trust Boone. Boone had had dozens of opportunities to kill Felix and had instead saved him, twice.

Felix was able to support them in other ways though. He easily found food along their route to augment their limited supply and he was good at predicting where the legionaries would be.

After the first week the Legion caught on someone was hunting them and they sent a large party to scour the west bank. When the pair spotted the first legionary they were already surrounded by legionaries on all sides. Boone had been able to kill most of them before they got too close but the last few had gotten through and Felix ended up defending both of them. Without even realizing it, Felix saved Boone's life. It was only after the fight was over that he realized it.

Now they sat in a usual silence, watching the fire and cooking dinner. They were near the river still, but by paying careful attention to where they set up camp, they were relatively safe.

Felix had been toying with the idea of coming clean for a while now. He knew it would probably get him killed. He had been a legionary after all. He had done many horrible things, even though at the time he didn't know any better. The longer this 'partnership' went on the worse Felix started to feel about lying to Boone. Well, not lying so much as withholding the truth. Still, the man had suffered enough. To let him think he had a trustworthy partner when he didn't would only make things worse. Felix decided if anyone was going to be his executioner, it might as well be someone he'd come to trust.

"Boone." He said, suddenly noticing his dry throat. He overtly set his varmint rifle aside then did the same with the machete on his belt. He even went so far as to remove the throwing knives from his belt.

"What are you doing?" Boone asked in his usually gravelly voice.

"Disarming." Felix said, knowing he was pointing out the obvious.

"Why?" The impatience in Boone's voice was threatening.

"We need to talk." Felix said shaking his head. "Actually, I need to talk. There's something I need to tell you Boone."

"Spit it out then." Boone said roughly.

Direct and to the point as always, Felix thought with almost a smile. "I've been hiding something from you that you deserve to know." This was it. Boone would probably kill him for this. Probably would have killed him when they met in Novac if he'd know. Felix smiled sadly to himself. This was a better death though. Far better than many he had already come close to. To die at the hands of a friend, and a trained killer besides. At least he wouldn't suffer. Boone was looking over the fire impatiently at him. Might as well get to the point.

"I'm Legion." Felix said sadly, not able to bring his eyes up to meet Boone.

"What?" The voice was more confused than angry but it didn't last. A second later Boone was on his feet, rifle drawn and pointed at Felix. Felix waited, staring into the fire for the shot that didn't come.

Felix let out a momentary sigh of relief. "I kinda figured I'd be dead by now. Why aren't I?" He looked up at his once partner over the fire.

"Talk." Boone demanded. The tone inferred the or else.

"What is there to tell?" Felix laughed harshly. "I was born in one of the eighty-six tribes the Legion has conquered. Raised as a legionary, reached the rank of Veteran Decanus if you'd believe it. And now I'm sitting across from an NCR sniper whose family was destroyed by the Legion and I'm still wondering why I'm not dead."

"You're a decanus?" The voice was cold and rough.

Felix nodded. "Yup, commanded eight men. Did horrible things. What happened to your wife was commonplace." Felix goaded slightly. He heard Boone shift and adjust his rifle. He also thought he heard him growl. "Come on, Boone!" Felix goaded again. "How often do you have an unarmed decanus in front of you? Do it already!"

"You want it quick." Boone said coldly, quietly.

"Ideally." Felix agreed.

"What if I want to drag this out?" Boone said maliciously.

Felix shrugged. "Your call. But I can't guarantee you'll get what you're looking for out of it. Pain and I are like old friends."

"Why'd you help me in Novac?" Boone growled.

"I can't answer that cause I honestly don't know."

"And saving my life last week? This all a ploy to gain my trust?"

"Nah, that legionary had you dead to rights. I could have left him to it. Rejoined my brothers with the offering of a First Recon sniper. It might have actually worked, come to think of it." Felix hadn't considered that. Bringing an elite NCR solider back with him might have settled things. Well, it might have if he hadn't been on a two week long Legion killing binge.

"Why aren't you with them anymore?" Felix heard genuine curiosity there.

"My contubernia was raiding in contested territory when we came under fire. Rangers I think. They thought they killed us to the man. A scavenger came by later. Gave him one hell of a scare when he saw I was still alive. Figured he'd finally put me out of my misery. He dragged me back to his settlement. Lived with them… for a while. Until the Legion raised the village to the ground. Then I was on my own. Became a courier since Caesar's decree was 'courier shall not kill courier'. Figured if anyone recognized me they'd be bound by that."

"And now?" Boone asked harshly.

"Now." Felix said with a sigh. "I don't know. Figured you'd be making that call."

"Now you're hunting legionaries."

"Am I?" Felix questioned. "I was defending myself and my partner." Felix hesitated then slowly pulled himself to his feet. He didn't have to look to know the rifle followed his every move. "Look Boone, I told you because I was sick of lying to you. I'm a legionary, one of the same fucks who took your wife. I can't be trusted. If you let me live you have no guarantee I won't kill you in your sleep. All I ask is you do a better job than the other bastards who've tried."

Silence enveloped the small campsite. Only the crackle of the fire and the chirping of crickets could be heard in the quiet night. Felix stared at Boone. Boone glared at Felix. Felix was ready to die. He'd made peace with the fact that he was a monster and nothing he could do would ever change that. Despite that, his survival instincts were still alive and well. And he still had a partner to protect. That's why he didn't hesitate. He charged forward toward Boone, barely dodging to avoid the bullet he knew would come. His boots caught the burning logs and sent them skittering across the sand as the rifle shot rang out. But Boone was a rank amateur when it came to close quarters and he didn't know the distance between them wasn't enough to protect him. Felix just managed to get around the bullet and reach Boone. He shoved him out of the way hard and sent him staggering several steps to his left. Felix managed to hold his footing enough to dodge the lethality of the coming machete but not the strike entirely and he felt the steel bite into his left shoulder and back. Felix was unarmed, but that didn't matter and he brought an uppercut up under the Legion recruit's chin, breaking teeth with the impact. He brought the recruit's face down on his knee and caved in his skull as he heard a rifle sound off in the night. Felix took the recruit's machete before he let the body fall and charged for the next legionary he knew would be there.

Felix managed to slit the legionary's throat quickly, but not before he heard two more shots ring out. Boone was down to one shot; Felix would have to make sure he was safe to reload if there were many more coming. He glanced around quickly trying to find his next target. He heard a gunshot and felt the wind get knocked out of him. Absently, he looked down at the blood slowly spreading across his shirt. Boone had made his decision then. Felix barely kept his feet as the world started to fade. A much better death than the others, he thought as he collapsed to his knees. He passed out before he hit the ground.

Boone glanced at the dead legionaries around him. Then he looked down at the dying legionary at his feet. One of the attackers had had a 10mm pistol. Boone's shot had been too slow and Felix went down. So now he stood, rifle in hand, staring down at the legionary he had called partner. The seconds ticked by as Boone considered. The man at his feet's breathing was laboured, the blood stain on his shirt slowly growing as Boone watched. The bullet was still in his chest. If Boone continued to stand by and do nothing, the legionary would die.

Boone gritted his teeth. This was exactly what he wanted. To slaughter every legionary he could find to get revenge. But this one, the one he'd called partner for two weeks, this one hadn't just brought him Jeannie May, he'd also saved Boone's life, twice now. Boone growled to himself. He owed this legionary. He stowed his rifle over his shoulder and pulled out his knife. He knelt over the legionary, over his partner. Part of him wanted to plunge the knife into his chest and end it. Another part of him just wanted to sit back and watch him die. The last part was wondering if he could even remove the bullet without killing him.

Felix's eyes shot open the moment he regained consciousness. He ended up regretting that as the bright morning light stung his eyes. He tried to bring a hand up to cover his eyes but his shoulder wouldn't cooperate. He closed his eyes again. Had he survived the night? He tried to take stock of his injuries. He was in a lot of pain. He knew one shoulder was out of commission and breathing was hard. He opened his eyes again and stared at the bright blue Mojave sky. He tried to roll onto his side to attempt to get up.

"Stop."

Felix recognized that angry, gravelly voice. He lay back and looked up at the sky. Forcing his lungs open enough to breath, he tried to speak. "They… get you?"

"No." He thought Boone sounded smug.

"Didn't… expect you'd… shoot to… wound." Felix wheezed.

"I didn't."

"But you… don't miss."

"I didn't shoot you."

Felix finally looked over to see Boone sitting across the burned out fire from where he laid. Boone's white shirt was red with blood and he was cleaning blood off his hands.

"Who's… blood?"

"Yours." Boone said sternly. "Had to fish that slug out of your chest."

Felix lifted his head to look down at his bandaged chest and shoulder. He then let his head fall back into the dirt. Against Boone's advice, he used his good hand to push himself up. White hot pain spiked through his chest and breathing got very hard for a moment when he tried to sit up. He nearly blacked out, but he made it to a sitting position. He looked around. The Legion bodies still littered the ground around them. Beside him was a pile of spent medical supplies; bloody gauze, empty stimpaks and damaged tools. No small amount either; it was probably most, if not all that Felix had brought from Novac.

"I take it this means you aren't going to kill me?" Felix finally said after catching his breath. Boone wasn't stupid enough to waste supplies on saving his life only to kill him when he woke up.

"No."

"Why not?"

Boone was quiet for several seconds. He finished wiping his hands clean and then grabbed his canteen and slacked his thirst. Felix just eyed him suspiciously. Eventually, Boone tossed the canteen over to him. Felix managed to catch it one handed.

"Because you're no legionary." Boone finally answered. "You might have been, once, but you aren't anymore."

"Still doesn't undo everything I've done." Felix lamented as he opened the canteen using his lap and one hand.

"No. It doesn't."

Felix nodded. "Thanks for saving my life, Boone. It was fun while it lasted."

Boone shook his head slowly. "Can't let a former legionary roam the Mojave freely."

"Gonna turn me in then?" Felix asked before taking a much needed drink.

"Think a First Recon escort should be sufficient."

Felix nearly spat out the water he was drinking at Boone's words. "I don't think you've thought this through, Boone." He said when he finished drinking.

"You follow NCR laws and we'll get along fine."

"Slight problem there; I don't know NCR laws."

"Guess you need the escort then, eh?"

Felix couldn't help the chuckle. "Alright Boone, guess it's up to you to keep me on the straight and narrow."