Note: I apologize for any misinformation or inaccuracies. The vault wiki helped out alot but i might have missed some stuff. Hope you enjoy what i got.

Chapter 2

The woman

Killing Legion. I'd jump at any chance to watch those fuckers die. It was personal to both Anna and I. Although I was unclear on her reason; It was obviously more than just being their slave. If it was just that she would have ran like the others, ran out of the mojave. Into some other wastes. Anything was better than the Legion. Those dogs. Mongrels. Maybe they'd taken away someone from her too. Most likely. That's how they operate. Slash and burn. Salvage what's left.

I had gone outside to wait for the doc. Anna was inside, waiting. It was already around eleven when the doctor finally came. She was accompanied by a pack Brahmin and two unpaid bodygaurds. I met her by the entrance to Novac. Pointed features. Black hair tied back neatly. Bloodied doctors fatiuges.

"I have an injured girl in my room."

"Oh, rough night I take it?," chuckle, "Alright take me to her." I led her into the lobby nearby. Told her which room. She climbed up by herself leaving three men and a Brahmin. The other men paced nervously as we waited. They chatted, same things they always said. Haven't been paid yet. Man I hope I get some money soon. I aint doin' this shit for free. Half an hour later the doc came back out. "She's all fixed. Wasn't too bad. Sprained ankle, a few fractured bones and some minor lacerations. Deathclaw from what she tells me. Just managed to graze her. Aren't you into some kinky shit?"

"Thanks doc." Handed out her payment.

"She already paid but if you'd like to make a donation..?" There's no way Manny had that many caps on him. He usally spends it all on booze.

"Sure. The next ones on me." She gave a nod of her head and was off. I climbed up the steps. "Found more caps I see." She was on the bed. Pant leg rolled up, super stimpack wrapped around the knee piercing the thigh. Waiting for it to take effect.

"Yes. On my Brahmin."

"Before we leave you need to tell me everything. Tell my why you're so desperate to go back." She was hesitant.

"I... left something there. Something important."

"What?"

"Why don't you tell me why you're so eager to come along?"

"To kill Legion why else?"

"For Carla?" My heart skipped.

"How do you..."

"I did some snooping last night. I found a letter adressed to her, written by you, but there's no one here by that name. She was pregnant. Your wife?" I stood there blank faced. What could I say? I saw her pull out the piece of paper. She pocketed it?

"I... how'd you... give me that!" I lunged at her. On the bed she could only lean the other way, her arm extended to keep the note out of reach. Why would she want to keep that? I was on top of her now while she was waving her arm furiously to keep me from grabbing it. She kneed me in the groin and managed to squirm away a bit as I fell back on the bed. I took the pain and pulled her back just as she had managed to sit up. As I held her arms down something fell out from the collar of her shirt. A long chain with three glass beads. Red orange purple. We were both out of breath.

"Take your damn letter." I let her go. She promptly sat up, left the note on the bed. I took it and placed it where it had been.

"Why would you take it?"

"I wanted something I could blackmail you with. In case you said no. It looked imprtant." Nothing was said for a long time. She broke the silence first. "I'm sorry. I was an ass not to put it back after you agreed, and I guess for taking it in the first place. I'm defencive when it comes to my past with the Legion. For my reason of going back. Will you still come?"

"Yes." I was more embarrassed that she had read it than angry that she had taken it. Damn those eyes. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks. I wont ask again if you don't." Reasonable.

"How are you doing?"

"Better."

"Good. We leave tomorrow so start packing what you need. You can find supplies at Briscoe's shop inside Dino. If you need anything repaired Old Lady Gibson's junkyard is down the road. When you're done rest up. We leave at dawn." She removed the empty stimpack and rolled down her pant leg. Tucked the necklace back inside her shirt. We made our way through Novac buying what we needed.

Before dinner I head up into Dino's mouth to talk to manny.

"So you're dumping it all on me huh? So you can run off with Alice?"

"Anna. I'll come back in a few days. In the meantime you should call the Mojave Outpost, have them send in a few recruits."

"Oh so what, you think I can't handle this shit on my own? You think I need you to babysit me? Just watch, I have this bitch down."

"Okay then. I'll come back in a few days." After a day I know he'll call. Can't stay up for more than a few hours.

In the kitchen Anna and I ate in silence. Chatter around us and we didn't jump in. Too busy forming plans in our heads. When we finished we headed up to my room for a long rest. We slept on my bed. Head to toe. Fully clothed.

When I woke up, it was still dark out. No light shone through the cracks of the boarded up windows. The bed felt empty.

"You're up. Get ready." Anna. She was sitting on the couch eating a Fancy Lad cake. It looked like she had bathed. Good idea. It would be a while.

Outside she was standing near the Brahmin. Packed and ready to go. I was too. I met her near the entrance. A blue purple horizon behind her.

"Ready?"

"Let's go." We walked, the Brahmin between us, down Highway 95.

In a few minutes we would pass by the Vipers encampment. Trouble. A pack of ruthless raiders that killed anyone unlucky enough to wander by. They're difficult to take down because of the metal armor the leaders wear. Regular bullets jump off but Anna had crafted some armor piercing ones. Only had a few though. But lucky for us something had already finished them. Dead bodies littered the ground, we scavanged what we could. Healing powders, various ammunition, broken down weapons, food stuffs. As we looted the place I heard grunting noises coming from deeper in the camp. Told Anna to keep low and headed to investigate. Four Golden Geckos were feasting on a dead Viper. Their claws tearing open the armor to get at the flesh underneath. We could easily take them down; they had already been weakend considerably, but we had to avoid unnecessary combat to conserve supplies. Legion armor is thick and they're well armed. I motioned over to Anna to sneak past. She knelt down and used a large hill as cover, slowly maneuvering the Brahmin. The geckos were too busy to notice.

We continued down the 95. Past the wrecked Highway Man down into Snyder Prospector camp where a single prospector sat in a chair drinking a Sarsaparilla. As we passed I looked back, he had disappeared. To the west we passed the Coyote Mines where the prospectors rest and the Gold Caves nearby. We were headed to Camp Searchlight where there was a strong Ranger Outpost. On our way down we encountered Feral Ghouls clad in NCR armor. Something was wrong. As we neared an eerie green fog rolled in. The town came into view. Some Rangers where on its outskirts. One of them came towards us.

"Stop right there. Camp Searchlight has become heavily irradiated and infested with feral ghouls. I suggest you turn around."

Anna stepped up, "What happened?"

"Some Legion scum snuck into the camp and set off some sort of radioactive bomb. Most of the soldiers died in the explosion but the ones who survived have turned feral. Luckily for my men and I we were on patrol while it happened."

"Why are you still here?" I asked.

"To warn people of the dangers and keep them away. Lot's of caravans still come by. Some people still go in. Never see 'em come out. If you wanna go too be my guest. Just don't expect us to fish your corpses out."

"Alright thanks for the warning."

"Sir." The soldier left. Anna turned to me.

"So now where do we go?" It didn't take us long to get there, considering the distance, but it was already dark. Don't know the time.

"I know a place not far from here. About an hour due east."

"Alright, let's go." We got off the road and headed up the hills.

Sniper's nest is a small outpost overlooking Cottonwood Cove. This is where I last saw my wife. There was a fire pit in the center and a small shack near it. Anna went to go tie up the Brahmin. I started a fire. When I had it going I sat on one of the planks on the floor. Anna came over with a duffle bag full of food. Opened the bag and pulled out two pieces of Brahmin meat, some boxes of Instamash, cans of pork and beans, some bottles of water. As she was rummaging for some pots and plates something fell out. The Deathclaw hand.

"I've been meaning to ask you Anna,"

"Yea?"

"How did you ger injured when there aren't any Deathclaws near Novac?"

"Oh, that's a long story."

"I'll listen."

"Well if you really wanna hear it: I was passing through Ranger Station Echo to find some supplies. While I was there I heard two Rangers talking about this place called 'Deathclaw Promontory' east of Cliffside Prospector camp. They said a bunch of prospectors had recently crossed the river to reach it because there was a rumor that rare loot was to be had but haven't been heard from since. It made me unnaturally curious so I decided to check it out. When I reached the camp I tied up my Brahmin (I had two then) and swam to the other side. As soon as I stepped onto the sand this huge grupe of Deathclaws came out of nowhere and came at me. Not that I can't handle myself with up close combat but if you saw what I saw you'd turn tail and run too. I threw my ass back in the water and swam like hell."

Couln't help but chuckle.

"Normally Deathclaws give up when it comes to swimming but when I reached the shore I didn't notice that a large one had followed me. When I turned around I barely had enough time to get out of the way. It grazed my shoulder but still knocked me down. I scrambled back up though as soon as I hit the ground and tried to make a run. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I got back up it took another swing at my legs with the back of its claw. It flung me back pretty far and heard some things break as I fell. It started running for me and all I could do was fire my shotgun at it. Not that it did much."

"So how are you still here?"

"Well it just so happened that a group of Brotherhood was nearby. They had been watching the whole thing and decided to help me out in the knick of time."

"That was lucky. They usually don't care for civilians."

"Yea well not so much. Turned out they were lost and where in in desperate need of supplies. They asked if I could 'help them out'. As soon as I agreed they shot one of my Brahmin, took the meat and most of my stuff. But they were kind enough to leave a single stimpack for my injuries. I couldn't tell them off because there were three of them and just an injured me. I had to let them go."

"And how did that take you to Novac?"

"After I used the stimpack I toughed it out back to the Ranger Station. They didn't have a medic so all I could do was rest. One of the Rangers informed me that there was a small settlement west of the mountains, that I might find help there."

"I see. So that hand belongs to that big guy. What are you planning to do with it?"

"I've heard rumors that you can make a weapon out of it but so far haven't found anyone with the know how."

By now we had finished eating. We were just sitting there. Anna was playing with the Deathclaw hand. Turning it in her hands. Bending the fingers. Making it flick me off. We should of been resting but I didn't feel like going to bed. Her story made me want to open up. Tell her everything. I realized she was more than just a semi Carla look a like. She was a real person with a history. I wanted to know. It had been silent a long time.

"I met my wife on the New Vegas strip. She was beautiful. Talkative. Happy. When Manny talked me into coming to Novac I brought her with me. She didn't like it there. Didn't get along with anyone. A good while ago she had been kidnapped by Legion slavers. I followed the trail to Cottonwood Cove. I saw them from here, where we are now. She was being auctioned off along with other slaves. The entire place was crawling with Legion. I had only my rifle with me. I did the only thing I could think of to save her. I aimed for her head," I felt a sting in my eyes. Blinked tears away. Luckily for me I never take off my sunglasses, even in the dark, "After I came back I realized that someone at Novac must have sold her. Still don't know who... I had always regreted it. Not doing what I should have, rush down there and at least try to save her. But I know I would have been killed and she would have been sold."

"But you did save her. It was the right thing to do. It would have been hell for her and your child. I've seen what they do to pregnant women."

"Was that your situation?" She looked away. It was silent again. "Was it a boy or girl?" She was looking at the ground. Kicking at dirt. The claw limp in her hands. She took in a deep breath. Let out a long sigh and began.