Author's Note: I can't believe it's taken me over a year to write this damn thing, hahaha. And I still don't feel even close to done with it. Anyway, I had a hard time with this chapter because I had no idea where to begin with it, but I eventually figured it out. Hope you enjoy it ^-^

Chapter 28: Hearts of Stone

It had been a few days now since Raven showed up at Nellis base, and her leg was pretty much healed. She could walk around, finally, but she had a slight limp in her step. Raven was hoping that would go away with time. The doctor assured her it would. The Boomers had been kind enough to let the King, Rex, Boone, and the King's men stay while Raven got better. But now that was better, it was time for the King and everyone else to leave. This saddened Raven but she didn't let it show. Now she could get going with the stuff that Mother Pearl wanted her to do. Between having to be a match maker between some guy named Jack and some girl from the Crimson Caravan, and fighting off giant ants to get the generators working again, Raven was actually enjoying herself. The courier felt as if she was actually contributing to something. The Boomers had taken her in and tended to her as if she was one of their own despite their policy against outsiders, and that was ok in Raven's book. The best mission of all, however, was getting the fighter plane out of Lake Mead. That would be one hell of a story to tell back in Freeside.

Once that was all done, she got to talk to Mother Pearl again. And somehow, in all the craziness, Raven managed to get the Boomer's loyalty in the "upcoming battle". Actually, it seemed more like they were pledging their allegiance to her, which she didn't mind at all. Nothing like a bunch of bombers to have your back. Raven said her goodbyes to everyone and set off back to Freeside, slightly limping in the process. The trek back to the city wasn't that long or hard to do, but with her complaining shin, Raven needed to have little breaks every now and then. The sun beat down on her face and the sweat dripped down to her neck as she sat, opening her small pack and grabbing a bottle of purified water. Raven drank some water, then splashed some on her neck and face. She leaned her back against a boulder and shut her eyes, just wanting to take a little rest. Luckily she was in the shade right now and it wasn't as hot. A few minutes went by when the girl suddenly heard a noise.

Her eyes opened up and she immediately grabbed her cowboy repeater. The sound came from behind the boulder. She stood up slowly and aimed her gun at the horizon. It was a radscorpion. A big radscorpion coming her way. Raven cocked her gun, looked down the sights, and pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed the radscorpion's shell. It locked onto her and she grumbled. Damn. Her aim was getting rusty. Raven holstered her rifle and pulled out her fireman ax. When in doubt...Raven appeared from behind the boulder, ready to chop this creature into tony pieces. The scorpion got close enough to try and sting he, but she dodged and smacked one of the creature's claws. It came off and a loud shriek was heard from the scorpion. Raven swung her ax again and this time, lodged it right into the beast's brain. The body immediately slumped and went limp. Raven pulled the ax out of the body and sighed, wiping her brow.

Raven continued along her journey to Freeside, watching the buildings get closer to her. Soon she was at the gates of Freeside and they opened. Raven walked through the familiarity of something resembling home. Her home. As they say, home is where the heart is. And it seemed her heart belonged to the King at this point. She pondered this for a while, trying to fight against the truth.

"Admit it," she thought. "You're falling in love with him."

Raven shook her head. She wasn't going to worry about that now. And she certainly wasn't going to tell him how she felt. Not yet, at least. Before she knew it, Raven had found herself outside the King's School of Impersonation. As much as she wanted to see her boyfriend, Raven knew she had to report back to Ambassador Crocker. Could she even call the King her boyfriend now? Well, they were officially together now, so...yes. She could refer to him as that now. As she debated on whether or not to see him, the King poked his head out the door and saw her. He smiled and walked up to her.

"Hey there. Glad to see you're doing better." He grasped her hand and kissed the top of it gently.

Raven blushed. "Yes, I'm doing better."

The King wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "I missed you."

Raven blushed even harder now. "I missed you too, but King...people are staring at us."

The King shrugged. "So what? You're my girl. Let them stare. No one's going to tell me that I can't have a girlfriend."

"Pacer might."

The King laughed and kissed her gently. "Well, Pacer is not the boss of me, babe. Don't tell me you're embarrassed by me?"

"Goodness, no! Nothing like that. I'm just not used to this, that's all." Raven kissed him. "But if you have no problems with public displays of affection, then I'll strive to get used to it."

This brought on another kiss from the King. "Good. Now, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

"Could it wait? I need to go report back to the Ambassador."

The King huffed. "All right, but I expect you back here when you're done."

"Ooh," chided Raven. "Is that an order, Mr King?"

"Yes," he replied. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "I'll have 'other' orders for you when you get back."

"Oh really?"

"Uh huh."

"Well," she said. "I better hurry, then."

A few more kisses were made before Raven slipped out of his arms and started walking away. The King watched her go with a big grin on his face. As he slipped back inside his building, Raven chuckled to herself. Oh yeah. She was definitely falling in love. Soon, she reached the gates for the New Vegas Strip. They opened and she walked through. Soon she walked down the Strip toward the NCR Embassy. She walked in and made way toward the Ambassador's office. Raven knocked on the door and Crocker perked his head up.

"Come in." Raven went and sat down on the other side of his desk. "It's good to see you again, Miss Wagner. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the Boomers."

"I hope you've returned with good news," he said. "Are they willing to help the NCR?"

Raven smiled a little. "The Boomers have agreed to help me."

"Excellent work. I can't tell you how useful that will be. In any event, I have another assignment and waiting for you."

Raven held up both hands. "I'm all ears."

"As you may have noticed," the Ambassador started, "our position here in New Vegas is tenuous. We've made great strides, sure, but the NCR is not welcomed here, merely tolerated. And even then, not by everyone. We've had reports of violence against NCR citizens in a neighborhood just to the northeast called Freeside. Ever been there?"

Raven sighed, nodding. "How the hell else do you think I got to the Strip? I had to go through Freeside to get here, didn't I?" she thought to herself. "I have. It's a slum." she said.

"I'm inclined to agree, but it's a slum with NCR citizens in it, and as such falls under my jurisdiction. Violence is something of a way of life there, but there's been a disturbing rise in the number of attacks on our people lately. More worrying is the fact that our sources suggest the violence is being perpetrated by the gang that runs the place, the Kings."

"Oh shit," thought Raven.

"I need someone to look into this that won't attract attention. Would you be interested?"

Raven sighed, feeling her heart sink into her stomach. "I'll need some details first before I decide."

"Okay. Our men have come up with two different plans for seeing an end to the violence. First, our sources have tracked most of the attacks back to a King named Pacer. The consensus is that the violence will stop if he's removed."

"Fuck. Option 2 needs to be better than option 1."

"The problem is that we can't simply kill him. In the current climate, the NCR would likely be blamed for his death. There is an alternative option, but my sources feel that getting rid of this Pacer fellow is our best shot."

Raven thought about this for a moment. As much as she'd enjoy having Pacer 'gone', there was no chance in hell she was going to kill him. Ever. Despite his flaws, Pacer was the King's best friend. Pacer was obnoxious, but very loyal to the King. She had to respect that. Besides, the King would never forgive her for doing such a thing.

"What is my other choice?" she asked.

The Ambassador nodded. "I'm not a violent man myself, so I had our guys come up with an alternative solution on the off chance that our agent-to-be shared my sentiments. In that case, we can take a different tack, but one that I at least have more experience with – diplomacy. If we can't go after the man responsible, we'll simply appeal to the man above him. The Kings, including our friend Pacer, report to the leader of their gang, a man who calls himself the King."

"What would I need to do?"

"Go and talk to the King, try to convince him to put an end to this violence. Pacer's a punk, but he won't likely disobey a direct order. The King might not be open to the idea at first, so you may have to ingratiate yourself with him. Do whatever it takes. When it's done, one way or the other, report back here and we'll take it from there."

Raven stood from the seat, trying her best to remain cool and collected. "I guess I better go talk to the King, then."

The Ambassador sighed with relief. "I wish you luck. If you run into some difficulty and think you'd rather just take the shot with Pacer, that's fine too."

The King sat down on his bed with Rex, waiting for Raven to get back. She'd been gone for some time now, and he was starting to get a little worried. It was at that moment when she walked through his door and he smiled at her.

"Hey there, sweetheart. I was beginning to...worry..." he noticed the look on her face, which was quite grim looking. "Are you all right?"

Raven sighed. "Not exactly. I've just heard some pretty disturbing news."

The King stood and walked to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Raven looked into his eyes, swallowing hard. "I went to report to the Ambassador...and...well..." she lowered her head a little. "...They actually wanted me to speak to you."

"Oh?"

Raven lifted her head. "Yeah. Long story short, I need you to stop the violence against the NCR citizens."

The King backed up. "Whoa...that's a doozy. Truth be told, I don't even know if I can pull something like that off."

"But the Kings will follow your leadership." she pointed out.

"Damn straight they will. It's some of the other locals that I'm worried about." The King paced a little, then sighed, looking at her. Raven looked...disappointed. And that look alone made his heart sink. "I'd like to help you out, especially considering all you've done and the fact that you're my girl, but that's just...I can't do it."

"I see," said Raven. With that, she began to turn and walk out but the King stopped her.

"Now just wait a cotton-pickin' minute, here," he said. "What exactly did the Ambassador say to you?"

Raven shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"The hell it doesn't, missy. Now tell me what's going on."

Raven looked up at him with sad green eyes. "I'm trying to find a peaceful resolution between your guys and the NCR. That's all. And since you won't oblige...I'm just going to have to find another way."

"What does that mean?"

Raven sighed, and the facade that she had the day they had met returned on her face. The King had hoped she was past that by now, but her eyes were cold as stone. "I'm not going to tell you. Now I need to go." and she pulled away from him.

The King didn't stop her from walking out.