A/N: Yeah, for safety's sake, this is not a flashback and we are continuing Colt's quest or mission or whatever you would call it.
Thankfully, the Vegas passports, given to them by the King, actually worked and guaranteed safe passage into the Strip for Colt, Boone, and Veronica. The bright lights of the city shined fiercely in the mid-afternoon sun. It was like nothing Colt had ever seen; the spectacular lights, full of color, danced in the sky and on the ground. The air was full of delightful talk from the patrons of the famed town and upbeat big band music resonated from the intercoms on every corner. Even though the light and cheery atmosphere put Colt in a good mood, he was here for a more serious reason and followed Boone and Veronica up the large steps to the Lucky 38.
Fortunately, the Securitron guarding the door recognized Veronica as being a friend of William's and it allowed the three companions inside. Compared to the rest of the Strip, the Lucky 38 was extremely dark and ominous. The only lights on in the Lucky 38's casino were the two in between the front door and elevator. The darkness gave the room a certain foreboding feeling; as if they shouldn't be here.
"Wow," Colt said, trying to look through the darkness. His voice echoed back and called out from the darkness, "It's dark in here."
"Be extremely careful," Veronica warned in a low voice.
"Why?"
"Because… we might run into House's ghost."
"Alright, enough fooling around," Boone's voice called out over the two's laughter, "Veronica, lead us to William."
"Fine, follow me," Veronica stepped into the dim light and walked towards a pair of large steel doors bearing the Lucky 38 seal.
Colt and Boone followed her, walking down a small set of steps and into the middle of the pool of light. Just as they stepped into the light, an electronic voice from the darkness addressed them, "Welcome to the Lucky 38. Trespassers will be shot."
"What the fuck?" Colt yelled, jumping at the voice
A Secruritron rolled out of the darkness, a police officer's face on its central screen, just as the other Securitrons, and greeted Colt once more, "Welcome to the Lucky 38."
"A little jumpy, Colt?" Veronica laughed.
"Yeah, it's real funny… just take us to William," Colt said bluntly, his cheeks turning red from embarrassment.
"Alright, come on."
The three walked up to the elevator's steel doors. Veronica, already knowing what to do, pressed the "up" button on the side panel next to the elevator. It took a few minutes, but, finally, a "ding" echoed out, signaling the arrival of the elevator. The steel doors slowly opened, revealing a small compartment brightly lit and covered in bright red carpeting.
Veronica stepped into the elevator and motioned for the others to enter too; Boone stepped into the elevator on Veronica's right and Colt, hesitantly, stepped into place on her left. With everyone piled into the small box, Veronica pressed another button on a panel to the door's left. The button lit up and two letters, "P" and "S", were visible. They spent the next few minutes in the cramped elevator, listening to horribly dull elevator music as the box slowly crawled up the Lucy 38 tower.
The elevator music finally got to Colt, "Fuck," he said, cupping his hands over his ears, trying to block the asinine music that played over and over again, "I don't get it; if casinos want their customers to come back, then why the hell do they play the most annoying music in their elevators?"
"That's a good question," Veronica agreed, nodding and placing her finger on her chin.
The elevator dinged once more, letting the occupants and those waiting in the suite know that the elevator has arrived at its destination. The steel doors slid open again and the three riders stepped out onto the floor owned by the Presidential Suite. The entrance hall was bare of any kind of décor or furniture and it was covered in the same red carpeting as the elevator. All there were was five other doors, not including the elevator; two on the elevator's flanks, a door directly in front of the elevator and two other doors flanking that one.
Veronica pointed to the door across from the elevator, "That's his room. He'll be in there," she said, leaving Colt and Boone and walking to the door on the left. They didn't even get to ask what she was doing before she opened the door and vanished in the room.
Boone just let out a heavy sigh and approached the door, "Let's get this over with." Boone knocked heavily upon the oak door as Colt joined him, leaning against the door's frame.
There was a groan and a ruffle of, what sounded like, sheet covers. Other than that, nothing. Boone knocked on the door, this time louder and harder.
"William!" Boone yelled, "Get your lazy ass up! You have visitors!"
Another loud groan came from the room and than a man with a heavy German accent called out and answered Boone, "Nobody's home! Please, leave a message after the beep…"
"William! I'm not here to play your stupid games! Now, open the door or I'm going to open it!"
There was another silence before William retorted, "Fuck… you!"
"Alright, we'll do this your way," Boone said, taking a step back, "You have three seconds before the door comes down! One… two…"
"Wait!" There was a thud and a silent word whispered in a foreign language. Soft footstep started towards the door and they became louder as they approached. Finally, the door opened and a young man stepped into the door way. His dirty blonde hair was disheveled, looking worse than the random tumbleweeds encountered out in the Wastes, and there were dark bags underneath his hazel eyes. He was wearing a dirty, stained white tank top and faded blue shorts that were torn on one of the legs.
"God, you look like shit," Colt said, taking in William's appearance with disgust.
"Well, guten tag to you too," William retorted with an arrogant tone. Then he noticed Boone and his eyes widened and filled with fury. He reared back his arm and landed a blow square to Boone's jaw; rocking the hardened soldier. Boone staggered backwards, holding his jaw while cursing the man that had just got in a cheap shot.
William just shook his fist, which was hurt from hitting Boone in his strong jaw, "You hurensohn! You think you can punch me and get away with it? Nein! No one does that to me!"
Boone looked back at William with equal, if not greater, hatred and he rushed to William, intending to cause him harm. Luckily, Colt caught Boone, stopping him from beating the sense out of their only source of information for finding Cass and the Stallions.
"Boone, stop!" Colt yelled, holding back the furious man, "We need him!"
William just laughed at the struggling Boone as he was being held back by Colt, "What's wrong, Boone? You want to fight me? Nein, you wouldn't stand a chance. You're lucky your boyfriend is in the way or I would kick your ass."
"You're mistaken; I'm going to kick your sausage eating ass!" Boone yelled, retaliating to William's comment.
"Oh, ho, ho, ho," William laughed sarcastically, "How very stereotypical of you. All Germans eat sausage, ja? The only one here that eats sausage is you, American schwein."
"Bratwurst bastard!"
"Enough of the stereotypical insults! Calm down, both of you!" Colt yelled over the two, trying to defuse the situation before it could explode.
Right in the middle of the confrontation, at one of the most outrageous times, Veronica leaped put of the room she took refuge in, arms spread like an eagle, and yelled "Ta-da!" at the top of her lungs.
The three men stopped what they were doing and took notice of her, for she interrupted their conversation; Veronica was wearing the pink dress Colt had bought for her back in Mick and Ralph's. Her hair was tied up in to a thick bun; it was the first time Colt had actually seen her without the green scraggy hood. Veronica, after basking in the silence for a little while, put her arms down, finally seeing the scene going on in the rest of the suite.
"Oh dear God," she said in an irritated tone, putting her face in her hand, "I can't leave you guys alone for five minutes."
William leaned out of the room and noticed Veronica, a wide smile plastered across his face. He stepped out of the room and leaned against the wall, trying to act as smooth and cool as possible.
"Well," William said, trying to be seductive and examining Veronica from head to toe, "Guten tag, fräulein. How would like to sample a full fledge German bratwurst?"
Veronica rolled her eyes and walked back into the room. She muttered "pig" under her breath as she disappeared.
William just shrugged, "What's her problem?"
"You!" Boone yelled as he stopped struggling with Colt and backed off.
"Me? What did I do?"
"You're a sexist, arrogant prick, Hans. That's what you are and that's what you always do," Boone answered bluntly.
"Sexist? Arrogant? I have no clue what you're talking about, Boone."
"You know damn well what I'm talking about. You try pick up every woman that gets near you and then you use them and demean them. To top it all off, you believe you're the smartest person in the world and you believe you're God's gift to the fucking world. Well, guess what, you're not."
"Oh, I get it," William said, chuckling softly, as if he figured it out, "This is about what I said about your wife, isn't it, Boone? You're just upset that I'm right; she probably is the camp slut by now-" William was cut short by a blow from Boone that landed right upon his cheek, rocking the victim of the punch. William fell to the ground, holding his jaw as blood seeped out of his mouth.
"Damn it, Boone! We need him!" Colt yelled, frustrated with his friend's short temper, as he bent down and examined the injury. His bottom jaw bone was at an odd angle, possibly dislocated. William placed his hands on either side of his jaw and fixed it with a loud crack. He then spit out a glob of blood mixed with saliva and a tooth as he slightly lifted himself up.
"Well, whatever you need from me," William laughed, blood trickling out of his mouth, "You can forget it."
"Come on, we need your help finding someone. Please, help us," Colt pleaded, trying to persuade the man.
William looked up at Colt, a small stream of blood cascading out of his mouth, and coldly said, "Fuck… you."
"You owe me, William," Veronica was leaning against the wall on her shoulder, back in her old green robes and looking down at the bleeding man, "And I say; you help us."
"How do I owe you anything, fräulein?" William laughed softly, looking up at the woman standing before him, "I don't owe you anything."
"Now, Hans, you remember that little job with the NCR when you had to investigate the Brotherhood of Steel? Do you remember who got you on good terms with the Brotherhood in the first place?"
William sat there, starring for a minute and then sighed, "Ja, I remember."
"You owe me, Hans. I pegged you to be a man of your word… are you?"
"Ja, I am a man of my word… but, I'm not going to help Boone or anyone he's associated with."
"He's not associated with me, he's associated with Colt. So, you won't be helping either of them because you'll be helping me and me only. Get it?"
William laughed once more as he, with the help of Colt, stood himself up on wobbly legs, "You were always a bright person, Veronica. Ja, I will help you," William looked lividly towards Boone.
"Fine.'
William motioned for them to follow, "Come, let's talk in the recreation room."
"No thanks, I'm staying out here," Boone said, leaning up against the wall, "I don't want to be anywhere near that pathetic bastard." Colt and Veronica nodded, acknowledging Boone's decision, and followed William into the recreation area on the right of the master bedroom.
The room was under lit and humid, just like the casino downstairs. In the middle of the room was an old billiards table with a full set of billiard balls on top. Back behind the billiards table was a corner occupied by two faded white couches and an end table in between them. Another two couches were in the corner to the door's right. William walked Colt and Veronica to a table a few feet away from the door, its surface covered with torn apart weapons and a radio, and motioned for them to sit.
"Please, have a seat while I go clean up," William said as he made sure his guests took their seats and left the room. He exchanged a few insults with Boone as he walked back to the master bedroom.
Colt cleared off room on the table; setting aside hulls to pistols and stocks to rifles. The table was old, but sturdy and it barely buckled under the weight of Colt as he leaned on it, waiting for William to return.
"Did you like my dress?" Veronica asked, trying to make small talk.
Colt turned from the door to her and smiled, "You looked very beautiful in it," Veronica cracked a smile as she blushed, "But," Colt continued, "Why do you always have to cover your hair with that hood?"
She smiled even wider and answered his question with another question, "Why do you cover your hair with that hat?"
Colt nodded, thinking about it for a minute, "Touché."
The door opened as William entered the room again, the blood cleaned from around his mouth and the bleeding, coming from the broken tooth inside, stopped. His hair was neatly cleaned and styled back with hair gel into a sort of "blasted back" hairdo. The old white tank top and blue shorts was replaced with a pressed black and white checkered suit. Around his right forearm was a brass Pip Boy 3000 that the Courier was trademarked with having. Williams, in his new tacky outfit, sat in the seat in between Colt and Veronica.
'So," he began, getting comfortable in the seat, "What is it that you need, fräulein?"
"I want you to help me find someone, or rather a group of people, Hans," Veronica answered, looking very serious, "I think you might know because your Securitrons are always watching the Strip and so are the hundreds of cameras around the Strip."
William smiled, "You are right; they watch everyone and everything that go in and out. So, tell me, who are you looking for? Someone who loves walks in the Wasteland or candle lit machine shops? They are interests of yours, ja?"
"We're looking for a gang and someone they kidnapped," Colt answered for Veronica as he pulled Cass' pendant from underneath his shirt and held it in his enclosed fist.
"That's very serious," William turned to Colt, "Who did they kidnap?"
Colt stayed quiet for a minute, forcing himself to hold back a tsunami of tears that was trying to build up in the corners of his eyes. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, he finally spoke up, "Rose of Sharon Cassidy."
William's eyes widened and he began to rub his jaw, "Cass? They kidnapped Cass?" he asked, sounding shocked and surprised, "Who did it and, better yet, how did they do it? I know Cass wouldn't let herself be kidnapped easily."
"The gang's name is the Stallions. They knocked her out with a drug and shot me. That's how they kidnapped her. Now, are you going to help?"
William sat back for a minute in, what looked like, a train of thought. Finally, he answered, "Well, Veronica is cashing in the debt I owe her and, I'm guessing, she would've asked me to help find this gang and Cass, so… ja, I will help you. So, with that, let's take a look at the Strip security footage and see if we can find any clues."
William looked down and pressed one of the many buttons on the Pip Boy. Within a few minutes, a Securitron rolled into the room and addressed his master, "Lucky 38 Securitron Guard 3 reporting, sir. Orders?"
William turned back to the two, "When do you think they got to Vegas?"
Colt shrugged, "I think, maybe, one or two days ahead of us."
"Securitron Guard 3," William turned to the robot in front of him, "Play security footage of Camera 20 from two days ago."
"Yes, sir," the Securitron said, confirming his orders.
The central screen on the Securitron faded and went into a white noise and static phase. Then the screen cut back on into focus, showing a black and white over watch view of the Strip gate Colt, Veronica, and Boone came in through. Almost as soon as the screen turned on, the gates opened and in stepped fourteen men being led by two ghouls. Two of the humans were each carrying a dark burlap sacks; one of them had to be Cass.
"That's them," Colt said almost immediately.
"Are you sure?" William asked, sounding a bit surprised at how fast they had found the gang.
"I'm positive," Colt answered, tightening his fist around the pendant.
The gang disappeared from view as they walked down the street and in front of the Lucky 38.
"Switch to camera feed 21, same day and time," William commanded.
The view of the screen switched, almost instantly, from the view of the gate to the front of the Lucky 38 and partial view of the Gomorrah. The feed hovered there long enough to catch the group of men travel through the open gates and into the middle section of the Vegas Strip.
"Switch the feed to Camera 36, same time and day."
The view, once again, changed. This time, they were looking out at the middle section of the Strip and towards the front of the Tops. The gang walked through the middle gates and the ghouls, who seemed to be the leaders, made a beeline for the door of the Tops, their companions following close behind.
"The Tops?" Veronica questioned as the last gang members filed in.
"I'm guessing Aleksander tried to shake the Chairmen down. That's our next stop," Colt said as he continued to watch the screen.
"Woah, what was that?" William asked, pointing to the corner of the screen. Colt examined it further; ten or twenty minutes after the Stallions entered, another group of men, distinguished by their khaki and sand armor, ran into the Tops, weapons at the ready."
"Looks like the NCR hasn't forgotten about the Stallions," Colt commented, watching the screen closely,
Soon, the gang members fled the Tops, occasionally turning back and shooting at the open doors. Their numbers dwindled to around thirteen… one of the men carrying a burlap sack was missing and so was the sack. Colt's heart beat quickened, for fear that something had happened to Cass. After the troopers chased the gang off the Strip, they didn't see anything else that was useful and the feed shut off.
"Well," William said, taken aback at what he had just seen, "That… that was something else. I'm guessing the NCR wants them too?"
"Yeah, they do… but I don't care what the NCR wants," Colt remarked, his voice cold and emotionless, "I've gone through Hell trying to track them down and I'll be damned if they kill that gang before me."
"You want them that badly?"
"They murdered my family and kidnapped Cass."
"I see," William turned to Colt, "Well, then your next, best option at finding them would be the Tops. Go talk to Swank and if he's not willing to cooperate, tell him I sent you. He'll tell you about their visit."
"Thanks, Hans. You've been real helpful," Veronica said as she stood and patted him on the back.
"What, all I get is a 'thank you' and a punch to the face? Shouldn't I get a little… reward, fräulein? William asked, raising an eyebrow and cracking a smile.
"William," Colt stood, "Thanks for your help and might I give you some advice? Keep it in your pants and you'll live longer."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha," William laughed sarcastically, "A fucking comedian."
"I try," Colt said, shrugging and leaving the room.
"That's all anyone can do," William turned and watched the two leave, "Farewell, Colt and good luck with the search. May our paths cross again in the future."
With that, Colt and Veronica left the room and, with Boone following, left the Lucky 38. They walked out of the muggy, old, closed down casino and into the cold of the Mojave night. The bright lights of the casinos lit up the streets and the faces of the night life that had come out of their holes. They wandered the streets, some with their pockets full caps who were ready to lighten the load and others with no caps who had just spent their life savings and were looking for some place to go.
They walked the streets of the city, a city devoted to gambling, gluttony, and satisfying one's sexual desires. A city devoted entirely to sin. Even though he was completely surrounded by it, Colt was not here to divulge in any of these sins… he was not here for piles of money, the prestigious food, or the fine women… he was here to help satisfy his thirst for revenge.
A/N: There were stereotypes in this chapter and they are not stereotypes I believe in. They are stereotypes that I believe anyone would throw around if they were in a fight. They are common and not really too insulting. If you are insulted, please let me know and changes will be made. Thank you for reading and I hope you conintue to read!