There are 7 chapters to this. They are all very long. My apologies. I hope you enjoy, and please review!

The ever nagging sun made Silus feel like his skin was slowly turning to leather. The hard rubbery quality of his hands made him wish the processing part of his release would just be over. He had been waiting in this chain-link fence lined section of the prison for what felt like hours, but was probably only about thirty minutes. Soon he'd be a free man on the path to his new life as a farmer, and he couldn't start walking soon enough.

Yesterday the NCR had made a big show out of giving out diplomas' to the prisoners who graduated from their education program. Ironic, seeing how more than half of the graduates couldn't read them. Everyone from the training class was hurried into a big circle where a cheap fruit punch was served along with some sweet layered bread that Silus enjoyed. Still it felt like a farce.

Standing in-between the guards and Aubrey, Silus had to pointedly remind himself of why he left his old home. Caesar was a tyrant with a short sighted vision that would eventually leave his men in trouble. This tyrant was ill himself, everyone knew it, but no one spoke of it. The powerful presence of Caesar dimming just that little bit had already thrown some of his control into question. Even if Caesar hadn't lost the war, his men were going to find themselves in tatters as soon as he died.

Silus knew there was no future in the Legion. Sure he could fight and continue to father progeny until he died, but what was the point? He owned nothing, had nothing to look forward to, and his death would just be that of another commander. No matter how great the military conquest, he was little better than the women and me he helped subject. It was this fruitless labor that made Silus rethink his commitment to Legion.

It was during the height of that doubt a squad of NCR Rangers rushed his men and he instantly knew they were going to win. The group he was directing was mostly green and they were terribly outnumbered. Sadly his instincts proved correct and one by one he watched as boys were slaughtered in the name of their uncaring Demi-God. The bodies of four NCR privates were at his feet when he realized he was surrounded, and that the remains of his squad had committed suicide to avoid capture. It was as if his mind had been covered with clouds, keeping him from plunging his own knife into his chest.

He remembered a female Ranger with bright blue eyes had stepped forward and put her hand on his knife. He looked at her like she was some kind of phantom come to pester him. They had an understanding then, and he allowed her to take the knife and his gun. She stood back with her prizes, thrilled that she had so hypnotized a Centurion. It was like she knew how trapped and doomed he felt by the life he had chosen and was going to fix it somehow.

This was the first time he'd thought of that woman since he was handcuffed and taken to camp McCarran. Once imprisoned he was distracted by that infuriating Boyd woman and nothing was as important as staying alive. If the blue eyed woman was his angle of mercy than Boyd was a tormenter sent from the hereafter to make him pay for his sins. Then the courier came, a deal was struck, and he was sent to prison where he met Aubrey.

Aubrey was the best of the blue eyed woman and Boyd combined. Constantly a mystery to Silus, Aubrey proved more satisfying to spend time with than any slave Legion could have fetched him. After all a slave could never give a man of his stature purpose, at best they could sate desire, but that was nothing. His hand could sate his desire. Yet his hand couldn't provide companionship and it couldn't reach out and change his life without him understanding why.

Yellow lights which kept bugs away had been turned on in the paddock during the party, sending funky shadows across the buildings. Aubrey was brilliant in this moment, yet she moved and talked as if she had no idea how beautiful she was. He caught himself thinking about her and let it mellow around him for a moment. Tomorrow she may very well kick sand at him as she walked in the other direction, so right now why not savor? After all if she did follow him she might find out who he really was and that would probably ruin the kind place she had come to take in his heart.

Waves of rust colored hair parted as Aubrey turned in a circle for some reason he did not understand, having drowned out conversation some time ago. She pressed her lips together in and odd sort of smile and moved towards him. Shrinking with her every step Silus felt completely disarmed. She reached out, with her freckle covered fingers, causing Silus to lift his hand limply as if he wasn't sure how to use it. Soft fingers wrapped around his callused palm and drowned any distance between the two of them.

On her tip toes Aubrey placed her lips just a centimeter from his ear, "So what's the plan for tomorrow, Simon?"

For a brief moment he wanted to punch the lights out of Simon, and then he remembered.

"I don't know," was the best he could muster.

"You have to have a plan," she coaxed. Did she want something?

"I have a farm in Oregon," He blurted out despite himself, "I was going to follow a caravan to it."

"Oregon is beautiful." Why was she saying this? Did she know she was beautiful?

"I guess so," colder than he would have liked.

"I'll see you in the morning." She smiled as she walked away, looking over her shoulder. Leaving him searching for a time a woman had ever looked at him like that. It would be so much easier if she'd just tell him what she wanted so he could give it to her. Out of place, that was the feeling that Silus was left with as he stood in the yellow light. He was made in a hard world where your every breath could kill you, and now he lived amongst people who lived their lives accidently.

For the first time the idea of existing in a land of strangers occurred to Silus. This feeling followed him into the morning when a guard woke him, waited while he collected his things, and took him to the holding cell for processing. Everyone inside of the pen was nervous. They were given cheap clothes to wear and pushed through the gate, out into the open sky.

Names were called at this point and men shuffled off to meet with work details or caravans. Enough people were being let out that the noise caused you to pay daft attention to what was going on.

"Lamonte, Simon Lamonte," A tall woman called out from next to a caravan. Silus raised his hand and walked towards her.

"I'm Beth the head guard of this caravan," the woman said as she shoved a pack into his arms. "You're a big son of a bitch aren't you? Good, might help keep geckos off us. Don't ask. Don't know what's in the pack. Some Bitch named Boyd met up with me and told me to make sure you got it."

The woman's fast-nasally tone had a hypnotizing effect, so it took Silus a few seconds to process what she had said enough to be surprised. Still he asked for clarification, "Boyd?"

"I'm sure you know who she is," the woman responded, "She's unpleasant enough."

Unimpressed with Silus's state of dumbfoundedness the woman returned to business by gesturing at something behind him. "She with you?"

Wind kicked up around Aubrey as she looked up at Silus. The simple street clothes she was wearing almost made her look like a new person. Meek in demeanor she lifted the corners of her mouth and looked at him with eyes that spoke to the fact she wanted something but was afraid to ask.

Tired of the silence between them already, Beth waved her hand and said, "It costs fifteen caps to follow the caravan if the NCR ain't paid for you."

"What do you want?" Silus spat at Aubrey, the commanding officer inside of him coming to the front when the rest of him remained shaken.

Flinching at his harsh words Aubrey stepped back for a second and seemed to second guess her decision. "Say goodbye I guess. Suppose you're going to that farm of yours…"

"That was the plan," Silus said as he shot a look over his shoulder at the rest of the caravan. They seemed eager to leave.

"Alone?" she asked, her eyes blinking in the sun.

"I don't know anyone who'd want to go with me," He said with a more sarcastic tone than he would have liked.

"You know, you're an idiot Simon," Aubrey cursed as she turned and walked off.

Without thinking his hand went out and landed on Aubrey's shoulder. She started at the contact so he pulled his hand back slowly.

"Do you have fifteen caps," he blurted out, as it was the only thing he could think to ask that would put the situation right.

"Nah, I got three days ration and some water skins," she answered, looked at him with a glow of assurance returning to her. "You're the one who got the bonus pack."

Leather shifting in his arms Silus managed to open the small closure with his large fingers. The first thing he noticed was as scarlet cloth with something wrapped in it. He knew what the cloth was the cape from his Centurion uniform. Why Boyd had saved it for him was beyond his comprehension, and he prayed nothing more telling of his past was inside. Slipping his hand deeper inside of the pack, his fingers wrapped around something cold and hard.

Pulling the gun out Aubrey winced at Silus as if he might shoot her, but didn't move away. Surprised as well Silus shook his head and tucked the gun into his belt, he'd check if it was loaded later. Knowing Boyd it probably was. He pushed the red cloth aside and shook the bag the way he watched slaves shake out the insides of heavy satchels they would carry. A clunky jingle sounded from within, and he used the noise to locate a thick handful of caps.

"That looks like a lot more than fifteen," Aubrey squeaked, she was happy now and it pleased Silus.

Without thinking he pushed the money towards the caravan guard, who careened her neck curiously. "Toss in five more and we'll feed your girl for the trip. Two more and I'll toss in a buck knife so she's safer."

"Seven more," Silus repeated and Beth nodded in confirmation. The tall woman reached in the side satchel of a Brahmin as he counted out the extra money.

"I'll pay you back," Aubrey assured him, her hands pressed together like a girl who had just gotten a birthday present from daddy.

Dry mouthed Silus handed the money over, his attention never wavering from cheerful Aubrey. He wasn't sure why he was helping her, other than out of some loyalty for giving him a job to distract himself with. Working for her had probably kept him out of trouble and that was a favor worth repaying.

"Worry about paying backs someone who wants your money," Silus grumbled.

"That's really kind of you," Aubrey responded. "Thanks. It's hard to believe someone as nice as you ended up in the slammer."

Silus held Aubrey with a look that reached out from every ugly spot in his soul. Years of murder, rape, and abuse both given and received, rolled out of his body in a black wave. The tendrils of evil acts committed licked against Aubrey's face as she stood their dumb to its effects. Holding firm despite the rage in Silus's eyes Aubrey assured herself that whatever had upset him would pass and everything would be okay.

"This is your last chance Aubrey," Silus warned her, his voice and body grim. "I won't have a guard keeping me on my best behavior anymore. Trust me when I say, if you knew me, if you ever really knew me, your face would lose its color and you'd grow ill with hatred. I am a murder Aubrey, a slave driver, a monster. I could very easily forget what civilization has invested in me and bend you into a creature so deprived of love or kindness that she has no joy but that which is abominable."

Sanity made Aubrey afraid of him when he said these things, but desperation quelled that fear in the cool waters of want. She needed Silus to be a steady man, and not the monster he promised. So she saw Silus as the man she needed and not the promised villain. After all he'd fought for her when she couldn't hire anyone else in the yard to do such a thing. If he could stand by her side with almost nothing to gain except her friendship then the least she could do was have faith that his words were exaggerations.

"Stop being so dramatic," was Aubrey's response as she walked over to Beth to take the knife Silus had bought her.

A twinge in Silus's neck caused him to jerk his head to the side in order to release the pressure. The caravan started up and he walked forward with Aubrey struggling to keep up with his long gait. He wouldn't help her keep up, it wasn't his place to coddle the weak. Aubrey had made her decision, and now she would have to live with it.

It was nighttime before Silus was alone and rested enough to endure going through the pack Boyd had sent to him. A few swigs from the whiskey the caravan was passing around had helped to take the edge off, and now the giant teetered like a child as he walked. The camp fire on the other side of the rocks he hid behind provided just enough light to see the contents of the pack once he dumped them on the ground.

Caps shined up from the dirt with the dull glow of worn aluminum. He counted the metal disks, popping them back inside of the bag for safe keeping. Next he found several dried rations, ammo for his gun, an extra clip, a few toiletries, and a note. The piece of paper was brown and old, obviously not something from Boyd's personal desk.

Easing the paper open as if a snake might be waiting inside of the fold, Silus read the note:

Simon,

I hope you like your new name, it should be easy enough for a thug like you to remember. I gave more thought to that slave collar you offered, decided to pass. I sold your centurion armor to a collector who seemed eager to own something genuine from the Legion. I sold most of your weapons too, except for the one that's wrapped in your cape. I got a good deal on a replacement handgun that wasn't Legion issue. Figured the remainders of your past would cause you enough problems. Don't fuck up and get arrested again. Not that I expect a Leopard to change his spots. Keep this and never forget who you really are, I know I never will.

Boyd

Curiously Silus grabbed his old cape and unwrapped the blade it was covering. He held up the Machete Gladius that had served him so well over the years and examined it in the moonlight. Every scratch, chink, and discoloration on the blade was known to Silus by heart. Each flaw was a story of victorious battle. In a way he was glad it had come back to him, as the sword had always proved faithful to him.

Awestruck that Boyd had saved the one thing he would have regretted losing forever, Silus ran his finger along the edge to make sure it was sharp. It wasn't until he saw the bull on the hilt that he paused and felt his stomach grow sour. He dropped the sword in the dirt as if looking at it might conjure the spirit of Caesar himself. Suddenly he hated Boyd for returning such an item. The Gladius was a telling weapon, no one in the wastes of America made such blades except Legion, and that it carried the bull on it was even more damning.

If he was caught with such a thing by a ranger or a veteran of the NCR he would have a hard time explaining himself. What if Aubrey saw it and realized who he was? That thought forced Silus to look over the rocks at Aubrey as she sat by the fire swapping stories, oblivious to his upset. Fevered he rewrapped the Machete Gladius back in his old cape and gingerly placed it in his pack. His worried thoughts began to realize that he wouldn't be the only man walking this side of the NCR with a weapon like this these days. Surely they had been looted as trophies from the bodies of fallen Centurions in the battle for Hoover Dam. He could probably even carry it and claim it had been a prize of war returned to him by a friend after he got out of jail. Only a half lie if you looked at it the right way.

Distracted, Silus didn't notice as Aubrey stood up from the campfire and came over to the rock. She cleared her throat and squatted down next to him, causing him to jump slightly. He eyed Aubrey for some time before she spoke her peace. "A girlfriend send you something to make you miss her?"

"I never had a kind word for Boyd," Silus growled at the thought of the woman, "I'd let her be my companion in hell."

Something about what he just said struck Aubrey as funny, as she leaned back against the rocks. Next to him she felt more mellow and relaxed. "Free sky is better than a caged one I'll say."

Looking up at the naked stars under the sky of California Silus found himself bewitched by the heavens. Rubbing his shoulders he thought about stories he heard about telling your fortune by the stars and he wondered what news they had for him tonight. Brutality superstitious, if anyone had given him any clue that they could divine in such a manner he would have taken their every word as gospel. Sadly for Aubrey she was never educated on such cosmic curiosities and was left an illiterate ex-theif sitting next to a man whose dangers would have to be subdued in another fashion.

Thinking she knew what her companions thoughts were directed towards Aubrey pointed at the large orb of the moon. She had always been the sort who chose to regard things which were closer rather than that which was immeasurably far away. "I heard that people once lived on the moon in a base. They said they were trying to bring water to it so that they could grow crops and survive. Can you imagine men riding back and forth on fire crackers to the moon?"

An annoyed exhalation from Silus set Aubrey on edge. She looked at him, hoping to glean what it was she said that bothered him, but was unable break though his façade. Unable to understand Silus's moof Aubrey chose to wait patiently for him to break the quite. Instead of assisting her he continued to stare out into nothing as if it was somehow entertaining.

"Why haven't you fucked me yet?" was the blurted question that finally got Silus to pay attention to Aubrey.

"Why haven't I what?" was his stuttered response.

"Most men would have had me in a secretive corner in the yard," Aubrey recited, "or paid off a guard to look the other way while we went into a shower together. You never seemed interested and I wanted to know if it was something I did or said."

Heavy breath escaped Silus's nose, his voice low, "I never want to see you cry like that. I don't know why, but I just don't want to upset you and make you hate me."

"I doubt your dick is that big," Aubrey laughed and that angered Silus for a reason he couldn't explain.

Before the conversation had time to continue a loud popping sound echoed through the desert, alerting the couple to trouble. Reaching into his pack Silus produced the Machete Gladius , discarding the cape on the ground as he did so. He stood now, watching as four raiders picked over the bodies of the caravan members whom they had just killed. The pack Boyd had sent had proved to be salvation, otherwise Silus and Aburey wouldn't have hidden behind their rock to shuffle through the items and talk.

"If we're quite they might not know we are here and leave," Aubrey pleaded with Silus, pulling her own knife.

"No, we deserve what's on this caravan more than these vultures," he threatened and jumped forward over the rocks onto a raider who was armed with a gun.

Blood and sweat spun round as the fight ensued. Silus proved skillful with his sword, amazing Aubrey by how fast he could disarm and kill a foe. He had proved himself in hand to hand combat in the prison many a time, but now she was witnessing a man who had been raised to be a weapon. The distraction of how fast and well he could slaughter almost proved too distracting, but she did manage to sneak up behind a female raider who was going through the Brahmin packs and slit her throat. Probably this woman was going to take what she could grab and flee on her own from Silus, and Aubrey had deigned her the privilege.

Breathing heavy Silus looked at the dead bodies at his feet and then listened for any sounds of movement around him. A small noise came from over where the cattle were and started to move towards him. Shoving his sword forward and asking questions later Silus deflected his blow only at the last minute to avoid killing Aubrey. The small redheaded woman paused and looked up at him. For the first time Aubrey witnessed Silus, not as a large brooding man with a secret, but as a remorseless killer. It was disconcerting in the most basic and violent ways.

Lowering his blade slowly, Silus stepped back and bowed his head, "I'm sorry. I'd never hurt you on purpose, I hope you know that."

"Where did you learn to do that?" Aubrey asked, still stunned.

"You don't want to know the answer to that," Silus warned.

"I think I have a right to know who I'm traveling with," Aubrey protested. She held out her hands, beckoning for him to assure her that he was safe, that something in the wasteland was safe. He refused to console her.

"We need to take the Brahimin and move," Silus said, collecting guns off of the dead bodies "I'm going to bet those weren't the only Raiders in the area, and our gun shots might attract their friends. Grab the leads to the Brahmin and help me load up what weapons we can scavenge."

Before he enact his plan Silus winced as Aubrey asked, "What is that symbol on your sword?"

Struck silent Silus looked down at the dried blood on his machete, none of which obscured the bull. He turned the familiar weapon, watching at the light from the campfire revealed his shame. Digesting this set of circumstances he slid the weapon into a holster one of the raiders were carrying and clipped it to his belt. Next he collected the items he had looted and began tying them to the Brahmin, ignoring Aubrey as she watched him in shock.

"Simon, why do you have a Legion sword?" Aubrey questioned with a hint of threat to her voice.

Still ignoring her question he finished lashing down the excess weapons to the cow, save for one gun, which he checked the clip on. Turning with a satisfied nod Silus offered the butt of the gun to Aubrey, hoping this would reinstall her faith in him. He had thoughtfully tucked it into a belt holster lifted off of one of the bodies, and she took the weapon nervously into her hands. She was shaking as if she was afraid, her eyes unwilling to meet his, and he felt disgusted with himself.

"We need to leave," He asked more than stated.

"Simon, what should I do?" Aubrey inquired of Silus, her eyes tired and worn. Suddenly age and the tension of the wastes had crawled into Aubrey's normally lively features and torn away all signs of youth. He hadn't kidded himself that she was as young as her height and statue would lead one to think, she carried herself as a woman in her late twenties would. It made him sick to see her age like this right before his eyes, and that sick mixed with self loathing and caused him to lash out.

"My name isn't Simon Lamonte," he spat at her like he expected his venom to finally kill the specter in front of him. "It's Silus, it means snub nosed in Latin. I don't have a last name because none was ever given to me. If I really have to explain anything else to you at this point I'm going to be disappointed."

Silus didn't need to look at her anymore; he knew the look of horror filling her eyes. If he had turned out to be a great snake which tried to devour her it would have been more forgivable. So he gorged himself on the pain he was feeling now, knowing it would fuel his anger into something that could get both of them clear of this camp and all of the death in it. His emotions whipped up into a fervent tempest Silus finally steeled himself to look into Aubrey's face, and fought back the urge to strike out in a rage when he saw what he predicted.

"If you're Legion why do you have land in Oregon?" Aubrey said as she tried to invent any reason she could that what she knew of him was wrong.

Scoffing at how stupid she was proving to be, Silus shook his head just like he would have at a shell shocked soldier. "Didn't you hear about the Centurion captured at camp McCarran? Do I really need to sit you down as if you're a child and go over every simple detail of what happened? I made a deal, Aubrey. I made a deal with the NCR for my life in exchange for information that helped destroy the only world I've ever known. Now I've grown tired of the filthy maggots we left behind at the NCRCF and want to have a simple life as a famer."

Having spoken his fill Silus grabbed the reigns to the Brahmin and began to lead them in the direction he deemed safest. One of the items he'd taken off the caravaners was a pip-boy with the maps to his new home on it. In the morning he'd get his bearings and head off in the right direction, but right now he needed to get away from this place.

With his first step he promised himself that if she stayed or left him he needed to be unmoved by Aubrey's decision. She was just one woman in a million, and she wouldn't know where he was going anymore than he did without the maps. Probably her demands by the fire as to why they had not consummated their relationship was the only and last time a woman would ever seek Silus out as a partner, and he was unable to afford to fret over this right now.

To his amazement she followed him, holding on to one of the Brahmin in the dark. Aubrey walked along beside the beast like an automaton, or worse yet a soldier who dumbly followed orders without thinking. He hated her now with a cultivated and refined hatred he had once bent to use against Caesar. Once he found a rocky overlay to rest under, he propped his back against the wall, weapons close bye, and watched the night for more raiders. He was unaffected when Aubrey made her camp on the other side of the Brahmin from him. If she was still there in the morning Silus would say nothing to her and walk along until her commonsense got the better of her and she fled.