Layla's heart pounded in her throat as she walked back into Caesar's tent, once again stripped of her weapons. It took everything she had to keep her face neutral as she stood before the man on the throne. There was a stealth-boy shoved into her pocket with Benny's name on it, but for now she didn't so much as look in his direction.

"I heard the explosions from here," Caesar said. "I take it the bunker is destroyed?" Layla nodded, thankful that the commotion of the station powering up had been enough to fool anyone outside. The Courier worked to keep her face neutral. She had just come from uncovering an army of securitrons, something she hadn't been expecting. Beyond that, the man in front of her had expected her to destroy what she found. She had not.

"Good. Next order of business, then. Why don't you let Benny know what's in store for him?" Caesar smiled as he gestured over to the captive. Layla nodded again and left without a word, walking over to the side tent.

Benny gave her a curious look as she approached. "Well, what was in there?"

"Securitrons, lots of them."

Benny grinned. "House sure had some good plans, I'll give him that. So…" He looked at the girl, face carefully neutral. "Where does that leave us?"

Layla couldn't help but laugh. "Honeymoon's over, but I think I can give a nice parting gift." Benny's face had paled for a moment, thinking she meant to kill him. He then noticed the bulge in the girl's pocket when she casually motioned to it.

"Is Inculta looking this way?" Layla asked.

Benny raised an eyebrow at her. "Baby, he hasn't taken his eyes off you since the first time you came in here. You getting some action on the side?"

The Courier gave him a look. "Why is it all my admirers have unhealthy designs on me?"

"Consider it a compliment, Doll." He saw her face harden for a moment while she took a deep breath.

"Okay," Layla whispered carefully, "I'm just going to give it to you. Get the hell out of here."

"Baby, not that I'm not grateful, but they won't be happy with you for doing this."

Layla laughed again. "Suddenly worried about my well-being? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." She started to dig in her pocket when a Legionary burst into the tent.

"The Fort is under attack!"

Everyone shared the same shocked moment, then the Legionaries started scurrying around the tent. Caesar barked out orders as the Praetorians made a semi-circle around him. Vulpes Inculta had been waiting for his direct orders from Caesar when he glanced over at The Courier, wondering if she had anything to do with the disturbance. He immediately noticed the captive had disappeared.

"The profligate is gone!" he hissed out loud. Layla noticed every eye in the tent had suddenly turned to her, and she froze.

"I might have known," Caesar said angrily. "Seize her!"

Before anyone could move against her, the girl was already running for the tent opening.

*.*.*

Layla found herself surrounded by five Legionaries. The three Praetorian guards who had followed her out of the tent seemed particularly pleased. The other two, who had been standing guard outside, looked at their commanding officers in confusion. Meanwhile, the girl could hear gunfire from further down the hill. She didn't know who was attacking the fort, but if it was any of her friends, she'd kill them.

One of the Praetorians flexed his hand, which sported a gauntlet-mounted shotgun. Layla hadn't noticed that earlier. "Caesar rescinded his mark on this woman," he announced loudly. The other guards leered as they advanced on the apparently unarmed Courier.

Layla sneered at the group, then let her arms drop to her sides. No one had noticed the engraved magnum tucked into one of the pouches in her armor. Six shots before she had to reload. She had to make sure they didn't take her alive, which meant making them have to kill her.

She waited for them to make the first move, noting none had ranged weapons. One of the Praetorians lunged at her suddenly, and she fell back, drawing the gun.

The man's head exploded on her first shot. She dashed past him through the gap in the circle he had left, just missing the hands that reached out for her. The leering smiles of the Legionaries were replaced by outraged grimaces as they gave chase.

Layla turned and leapt from the level where she had been standing to a lower part of the path. A few of the Legionnaires fortifying the area from the attack in the outer ring noticed her as she landed. Before they were able to react, she quickly fired at the pair in front of her, downing them.

Taking off in a run down the path, Layla risked a look behind her, then wished she hadn't. It looked like there were six men after her now. She furiously dug in her leather armor for the grenade she had hidden. Pulling the pin with her teeth, she dropped it as she ran. A few seconds later, she heard the explosion and looked behind her again. There were three left.

She ducked around one of the large rocks on the path, then turned and fired her last three rounds. Two caught their targets, dropping them. The last wend wide, and The Courier took off running again as the last Praetorian closed the distance between them, having never broken stride.

Layla was out of grenades and only had six more rounds for her magnum, none of which were loaded. She rounded the bend of the hill and found herself face-to-face with three new Legionaries. The girl tried to break to the side when she felt a pair of hands close over her shoulders, violently shoving her to the ground. She landed hard, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

Gasping, The Courier looked up as four pairs of hands reached for her. The Praetorian had roughly grabbed her by the hair and started dragging her to her feet when the air was split by what sounded like a cannon going off. Layla had never been so happy to feel hot blood splash her face as the Praetorian's head exploded. The next closest of the group fell a moment later, grasping at the new hole in his neck.

The remaining two men looked to find the source of the attack. One of them only managed to start a shriek when his head suddenly left his neck, released by a high-caliber round.

The last of the Legionaries quickly turned, hoping to grab the girl as a hostage. Unfortunately for him, Layla had just finished loading her gun and shot a hole through his forehead.

The man fell, clearing her view as Boone and Raul ran toward her. Raul stooped down, helping the shaking girl to her feet. Boone was scanning the area, the bulky rifle still clutched in his hands.

All three looked at each other for a moment, and Layla couldn't decide whether to yell at them or cry from relief. She instead threw her arms around Raul, who hugged her back. Layla looked over to Boone and immediately started blushing. The ghoul shook his head at the two, but Boone didn't seem to notice.

"Are you hurt?" the sniper asked, his usual scowl unchanged.

"No, well, I think my heart's about to shoot out of my chest. Otherwise, I'm fine."

"We shouldn't linger, Boss," Raul said as he looked around the area, which was surprisingly deserted. They hadn't killed that many, he'd thought.

"I agree… but listen, Caesar's in that tent with only five guards…" Both men turn and stared at the girl, who smiled and shrugged. "Just saying."

"I'm not sure we should push our luck," Raul said, looking to Boone.

"We need to get you out of here," the sniper said. "We've pushed our luck far enough…"

Layla put her hands on her hips as she looked at the two men. "Look, how many opportunities are we going to get like this? Do we really want to give it up?"

"This isn't a good idea, Boss," Raul said, checking his guns none-the-less.

"Come on, it'll be easy as shooting a fish in a barrel."

*.*.*

Layla's hands were shaking as she clutched a hand to the bullet wound in her side. The other hand was wrapped around the handle of her magnum. She swallowed; judging by the intense pain, the bullet had hit a rib. She was fairly certain that had deflected it from any important organs.

When they had charged into Caesar's tent, the Praetorians had been ready for them. Layla dispatched the guard dogs while Boone and Raul took shots at the oncoming honor guards.

Layla knew if the legionaries got to them, the advantage would be theirs. She called to the others to back out of the tent, where they would have more room to move. What she hadn't expected was the group of soldiers that had come up from the weather station. She had discovered them when a bullet ripped into her side.

Then all hell broke loose. Boone tossed a grenade at the group while Raul pulled Layla toward the cover of a huge rock wall. Before they reached the wall, the ghoul was shot in the leg and went down. The Courier pulled him to the wall, the ghoul shooting any who approached them.

Layla didn't know what had happened to Boone. Judging by the distinctive crack of his rifle not far off, he was still moving. For now, the Legionaries seemed to be more interested in him than the two wounded companions.

"We have to help him," Layla said, taking her hand off her side to see how bad the damage was. She thought she saw rib bone and paled.

"I'm not going anywhere right now, Boss." Raul said. The girl looked at his leg and winced; it looked like the shot had hit his shin bone. She opened her mouth to ask him about the extent of the damage when she heard the scream of an engine.

"¡Mierda!" Raul hissed between his clenched teeth.

The question on Layla's lips died when the origin of the noise rounded the bend. The girl gaped as a man wielding a chainsaw spotted them. She leveled the gun in her shaking hands and fired. The shot struck the man in the side, but didn't slow him.

Spewing swears, the girl pumped every round she could into the charging man, who didn't seem to be slowing.

*.*.*

Boone swung his rifle into the closest Legionary. There were at least ten closing in on him. They were too close to shoot with his rifle, and his pistol was out of ammo. That didn't leave much to work with.

Some of the soldiers had rifles trained on him, but didn't fire. They were looking to take him alive. He wouldn't let that happen if he could help it. He also realized as he smashed the rifle into the face of another Decanus that he hadn't heard any gunfire in a few minutes. That meant that either Layla and Raul had escaped, or they were dead. Or, he thought grimly as he felt someone grab him from behind, they were taken alive.

The idea of his companions in the Legion's hands made him see red, and he flung the man off his back. He took one more swing with the rifle, then dropped it, throwing a punch at the closest of the group. The sniper saw one of the Praetorians surge forward and swung at him as he approached. The other man dodged his attack and answered with his own, catching Boone in the jaw.

The sniper saw stars for a brief moment before the red returned. He barely felt the hands gripping his arms as he lashed out with all his strength. His fist connected with the Praetorian, who stumbled back. Before Boone could throw another punch, another Legionary wrapped his arms around the sniper from behind. The man pinned Boone's arms to his sides and squeezed. Pain erupted from the sniper's side as his arm was pressed into his broken rib. He struggled to free himself when he suddenly heard an out-of-place noise.

Screams almost drowned out the sound of a motor whirring, and the Praetorian was suddenly missing his head. The other Legionaries didn't get a chance to recover as Layla tore into them with a chainsaw. Soon it was down to her and the Legionary who was grappling Boone.

Boone couldn't help but marvel at the girl, covered in gore and glaring at his captor. She revved the chainsaw threateningly, eyes bright.

"Let him go, and I won't bisect you from the bottom up," she said too calmly, and the Legionary seemed to break under the threat as he looked at the remains of his compatriots. Boone suddenly felt the hands on him shove him to the side and he had to fight to keep on his feet. He looked up in time to see Layla reach the Legionary, then heard the chainsaw whining over blood curdling screams.

Layla looked down at the man she had just killed and cracked a faint grin. "Well, shame on me for lying." She looked over to see if Boone was okay and nearly blacked out as the pain in her side suddenly resurfaced.

She felt arms wrap around her and struggled weakly. She had come too far to be caught now.

"Hey, it's me," Boone said, trying to keep her on her feet. She shook her head, clearing away the fog. She felt the bullet in her side shift and hissed out a breath.

"Where's Raul?"

"Over here," came the ghoul's voice from further up the path. "Tell me someone has some Med-X, or at least another bullet."

Boone released Layla, who gingerly made her way back up to where she had left the ghoul. He was holding the hunk of cloth the girl had pressed onto his leg and giving his other companions a wry look. Layla started toward the ghoul, digging for her medical equipment, when she heard him shout at her.

"Get down!"

Before she had a chance to move, she heard an angry shout from Boone as a fist connected between her shoulder blades. The Courier groaned and slumped to the ground. She watched, stunned, as Lucius, the head of the Praetorians, stepped over her to take a swing at Boone. Her vision blurred, and she blacked out.

Some time later, The Courier's eyes snapped open. She was still on the ground where she had fallen, but neither Boone nor Lucius were in sight. She levered herself to her feet, retrieving her chainsaw from where she had dropped it. As she straightened, she heard someone behind her.

"I underestimated your friends," Caesar said as he approached.

Layla turned to fully face him and laughed. "So did I."

"This wasn't planned, was it?" The older man shook his head in disbelief. "You really did come here, all alone and defenseless, thinking you could take me on in my own fortress. Look at you; you're barely standing, and your allies won't last much longer. You've failed, and you will pay for your failure. You'll hang from a cross alongside your friends, your NCR masters, and any in the Mojave who would dare oppose my Legion."

Layla didn't answer, instead pulling the ignition cord of her chainsaw. Caesar flexed his arm and swung at her, his Displacer glove crackling with energy. Layla just barely dodged the blow and swung the chainsaw in his wake, catching the arm with the glove just below the elbow. The arm came away in a fountain of blood.

Caesar fell to his knees, pressing the stump of his arm into his chest. He looked up at the girl, fury in his eyes.

"And now what?" Caesar spat. "Kill me and every Legionary in Arizona will come for you. Bring me to 'justice' at the hands of the NCR, and you'll just strengthen the Legion's resolve against them. Either way, you lose."

Layla hesitated, unsure of what to do. She wagered the Mojave would be better served with his death, but she didn't like making a martyr of him. She moved closer to the man, thinking to at least check how badly he was bleeding, when a shot rang out, catching Caesar between the eyes.

Layla spun around to see Boone lowering his rifle, a grim look on his face.

"Thumbs down, you son of a bitch."

The last chapter will go up on Saturday, after that, we get into Dead Money. Thanks for reading (write a review and let me know what you think!).