After letting Manny know the Ghouls were gone, dropping her stuff off in her room and taking a much needed nap, Alessa decided she needed to get a look at this Boone character. Her curiosity began to get the better of her as she tried the door to the Dino-Bite gift shop, surprised to find it unlocked. She entered quietly, taking a look around. Everything was laid out very neatly, and a miniature T-Rex figurine was still perched on the counter, as if saying "Buy me!" to any potential customer who wandered in. She figured Cliff Briscoe must have cared a lot for his shop to maintain it in such a way. She stepped forward, seeing the familiar set of stairs that lead into the Dinosaur's Mouth. She walked up them, opening the door slowly. Apprehension took over, her heart hammering in her chest even before she got the door open. Before she knew it, the barrel of a hunting rifle rested just inches from her face. It took all of her self-control not to scream and wet herself, afraid she might get shot again. She looked past the barrel, and saw a stern looking man who was maybe five years older than she was, clad in a simple, dirty tank top and cargo pants, and a red beret. His eyes, hidden by sunglasses, narrowed at the sight of her.

"Goddamnit! Don't sneak up on me like that. What the Hell do you want?" He lowered his gun, and Alessa gulped, slowly regaining her composure.

"Expecting visitors?" She asked, looking him over, her heart threatening to explode from her chest. She couldn't help thinking, "Who in the Hell wears sunglasses at night?"

"Yeah. But not like you. Maybe it was you I should've expected all along." He said cryptically. Alessa looked away.

"I...I heard from Jeannie May there was a sniper up here...You're Boone, right? She asked, trying to catch her breath and calm herself down. The man shrugged, lowering the gun.

"I think you better leave." He turned away from her, eyes locked on the road again. She frowned.

"Are you always this rude? I was just making friendly conversation." He frowned, crossing his arms as he turned to face her.

"I don't have friends here." He hissed.

"Well, I'm not from here, now am I?" She shook her head, turning to leave, when Boone reached out to grasp her arm, causing her to jump.

"No...No, you're not, are you? Maybe you shouldn't go. Not just yet." He thought aloud, and Alessa turned to face him again, pulling her arm from his grasp.

"Oh, so now you want something from me?" She tapped a foot irritably. "What is it? Are you going to kill me, or something?" Boone gave her an incredulous look, not that she could see it behind the shades.

"What? No. Just..." He let out an irritated sigh, rubbing his temples with a free hand. "Nobody in this town will look me straight in the eye anymore. I need someone in this town that I can trust." He explained, looking away. "You're a stranger, and that's a start." His words confused Alessa.

"So...You only trust strangers?" She asked, and Boone turned back to her, glaring.

"I said it was a start." He said flatly. Alessa merely sighed, shaking her head.

"Fine. What do you need?"

"I need you to find something for me. Dunno if anything's there to find, but...I need to know. My wife was taken by Legion slavers in the middle of the night, while I was on watch. They knew when to come, what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up, and I want their head."

"You want me to find your wife?" Alessa asked, slightly confused. Boone growled irritably.

"My wife is dead. I want the son of a bitch who sold her."

"But how do you know she's-"

"I just know, alright?" Boone snapped, cutting her off. Alessa went quiet, nervous. She could feel anger, pain, and sadness radiating off his muscular form. He sighed heavily, seeing her nervous look, and turned to face the main road again. "Just...Here." He ripped the red beret off his head and threw it to her. Alessa just barely caught it, noticing that his head was shaved bald under the beret. "Lead him out in front of the dinosaur, and put this on, so I know you're standing with him. I'll handle the rest...I...I need to do this myself." Alessa could sense the pain in Boone's voice, and she nodded slowly.

"You said "him." Do...You have a suspect in mind?" She asked, recalling what she and Manny had talked about. Boone was quiet, but soon shrugged.

"I don't know who to trust anymore. And I don't know who's to blame, either. That's your job to find out." Alessa wanted to ask if he believed the culprit to be Manny, but decided against it, figuring it would probably just anger the older male.

"I'll find whoever did this. Count on it." She turned, heading back downstairs.

* . * . * . * . * . *

After at least an hour of going around and questioning people, Alessa stepped out of a run-down shack owned by a crazy old man who was called "No-Bark," but this time, she had some answers. Though the man was indeed crazy, he did give her an interesting tip. The slavers had gone into the Dino Dee-Lite office before leaving. The proof would be there, she knew. She made her way to the office, making sure she wasn't seen before entering. She looked around the empty offices, nervous as to what she would find. She decided to check the more obvious places first. She opened the drawers of a file cabinet, but found ammunition instead of files. She shrugged, pocketing the ammo. She needed it, anyway. She checked the cash register, but only found bottle caps. Those she left. She wasn't that much of a thief. She'd even checked the Sunset Sarsaparilla machine, but only found three bottles of the fizzy drink. She had nearly given up when she noticed a safe behind the desk. She quickly set to work picking the lock.

The lock wasn't hard at all to pick, but the normally satisfying "click" only served to heighten her anxiety. Inside the safe, she found two stacks of Pre-War money, a large sum of bottle caps, and a strange document. This was it. She ripped the document from the safe, and read it. She shook as she read the details of the sale of Carla Boone. Alessa wanted to vomit at the thought of a pregnant woman being sold off to the Legion. She dropped the document after reading the name of the person who damned Boone's wife and unborn child: Jeannie May Crawford.

The room was spinning. How could that nice old lady possibly have done this, Alessa wondered. She remembered the words of No-Bark Noonan: "Someone who's nice to strangers, and keeps their home spic-and-span, more than likely they've done something their own momma wouldn't be proud of." Alessa shook, regaining her composure slowly. She knew what had to be done. She left the office, and stalked off towards Jeannie May's home.

* . * . * . * . * . *

"Jeannie May! Jeannie May, come quick!" Alessa shook the older woman awake, who glared at her with annoyance.

"What's all this racket? It's awful late to be droppin' in unexpected, young lady." Alessa had to bite her tongue to keep from retorting. Now that she knew the truth, she wanted to wring Jeannie May's neck, herself. But she knew this was Boone's job. She already had a plan formulated.

"You've got to come quick. There's something wrong with Cliff."

"Cliff? Cliff Briscoe?" Jeannie May's eyes widened, and she nearly shot out of bed. "What is it?"

"I don't know," Alessa lied. "He just collapsed out in front of the Dinosaur. I think he's real sick." Playing the innocent bystander card seemed to work as Jeannie May prepared to leave.

"Alright, lead the way." Jeannie May quickly slipped her glasses and shoes on, and the two left the house. When they arrived at the hill, Alessa paused, slipping on the beret Boone gave her. Jeannie May looked around, not seeing Cliff, and frowned.

"Alright, now, what's all this about?" She asked, looking to Alessa. "Wait a second, isn't that...?"

"This is Boone's beret. You know, when I came in here and you greeted me, I thought you must be the nicest lady here. Somebody people would want to be their mother or even grandmother. But not anymore." Alessa fished out the Bill of Sale, and Jeannie May looked as though she might be sick. "Why did you do it? How can you sleep at night? You sold a pregnant woman, the wife of one of the men protecting this town, to the Legion!" Alessa's rage was peaking, and Jeannie May could tell.

"Now hold on, you don't understand! They were going to take over the town if I didn't give someone over! I had no choice, no one liked her and I couldn't give up somebody like Miss Strauss or-" She didn't have a chance to finish. A .308-caliber bullet slammed into her skull, painting Alessa with blood and brains. The pale girl paled even further as she felt the remains of Jeannie May's head splash onto her body. She looked down to the headless corpse, shaking, then to the Dinosaur's Mouth, where Boone stood, and back to the older woman's corpse. She gulped, shaking, and practically ran for the Dinosaur.

* . * . * . * . * . *

"Did you have to do that while I was directly next to her?" The 21-year-old's panicked voice reached a crescendo. Boone turned nonchalantly, polishing his rifle.

"No better time. She wasn't going anywhere. Besides, why are you so green? Shit like this happens in the Wasteland all the damn time." He shook his head, looked back in Jeannie May's direction, knowing his final life goal had been finished. "That's it, then. How did you know?"

"I...I found this, in the hotel office safe. It's a Bill of Sale." Alessa spoke softly, fishing the document out of her pack, along with Boone's beret, handing them to the man. He read through the bill, and Alessa could see his hands shaking as he slipped his beret back on.

"Guess I shouldn't be surprised. It'd be like them to keep paperwork." He spat venomously, pocketing the bill, and handing over some caps. "Here. This is all I can give." Alessa looked to the large amount of caps, then back to Boone. She shook her head, pushing his hand back.

"I don't need payment. Not for something like this." The girl spoke softly, and her generosity seemed to catch Boone off guard. He didn't know what to say to her, and she didn't know what to say to him. She thought for a moment. "What are you going to do after this?" Boone thought about it, and shrugged.

"I dunno. I won't be staying, that's for sure. Not much point in anything right now, except for hunting Legionaries." He looked out to the road again, the horizon now opened up to him. "Maybe I'll wander, like you." Alessa shrugged, looking up at him almost admirably, but also with pity. She knew the man was depressed, and she didn't blame him. His old life as a Novac sniper was officially over. How could anyone expect him to protect a town that betrayed him? Though, Alessa reasoned, it really wasn't the town itself, just one person. But she didn't think Craig Boone could make himself see the situation that way.

"Come with me." She said abruptly, and he turned to her, surprised. "We can go after the Legion together." Boone shook his head.

"You don't want to do that." He said flatly. Alessa shrugged.

"Why not? Besides, I thought snipers worked in teams." Her intelligence once again caught Boone off guard.

"Hn. Yeah. Working on your own, you're a lot less effective. I've been there, and paid for it." He trailed off, memories surfacing, but he shook them away. "Fine. Let's get out of here." Alessa nodded.

"Just one more question...Does this mean we're both outlaws now?" Boone merely chuckled.

"No. People die in the Wastes so often, that no one ever knows who to blame. Too busy trying to forget it happens in the first place, I guess. Besides..." He smirked, looking back at Jeannie May's corpse. "I was on break when it happened."