Chapter 18

The Most Dangerous Game

"The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation."

-Bertrand Russell

It was six months since I killed my second Legionary Centurion, having taken advantage of his poor decision making. It took six months to finally get within the vicinity of Freeside, the town allegedly controlled by rebels to Caesar's will.

There was no radio to calm us other than an "S.O.S" signal on a loop, and though we were capable of handling ourselves for a long while upon our invasion of Caesar's doorstep, I eventually ran low on ammunition stores, as well as supplies.

After the second day without food (we found a small stream of fresh water that would likely lead to a Legionary encampment if I followed it, which I did not intend on doing for too long), Argutus insisted on going out to find something for us to eat. I told him not to, and I tried to convince him that it was simply too dangerous, and though he listened to me on the first night he tried, he went anyway the second night he offered once I fainted.

He promised me he would be careful and that he would return to me either with or without a kill, but he would not return to me with a Legionary tail.

Dogmeat and I spent time hiding in an old length of pipe, likely used to transport water or oil in the pre-war era. The shelter would become sweltering as the heat of the day wore on, and we would be forced out after only minutes at a time to get a drink from the stream.

I wasn't able to boil the water to kill off anything that could make us sick, as a fire could compromise our position. Even if the smoke blended with the sky, I didn't want to take the risk here of all places. Instead, I resorted to filling bottles of water and then letting them get warm in the pipe with us. It was far from a boil, but it served as some sense of security, even though such an action likely killed nothing.

Still, none of us got sick from the water in the long run, so we were lucky enough, I suppose. Argutus managed to come back with what appeared to be a giant bug... a praying mantis, to be precise.

I hate bugs.

I hate bugs.

I HATE BUGS!

They're so gross... at least the ones I became accustomed to in D.C... I've had my share of radroach infestations in my home, and I wished Wadsworth was there with me to take care of this bug, too... until I realized Argutus had already killed it, and was at that point attempting to pull a leg off with a look of absolute starvation on his face.

And then... once he pulled the leg off, he held it out to me, eyeing me expectantly.

I eyed the appendage, and then looked up at Argutus' face.

"...oh, ugh!"

He tilted his head, not seeming to understand my hesitation.

"What? Do you not like the color?"

"N...no... it's just... ew!"

Mole rat? That's okay. I can clean and cook mole rat meat, and once you get past the taste, it's filling. That's fine. Mirelurk meat? Delicious, and of course I can prepare one of them for a meal, too... but a slimy, nasty, crunchy, disgusting bug? No. I'll sooner starve.

Argutus still did not see my point. Dogmeat eyed me with irritation, as if to say "Just shut up and eat it"... but no!

"Now, now... look, the color blue gives me a headache. You can be honest. Do you not like the color green?" asked Argutus, overthinking my aversion to the icky bug again. I shook my head rapidly.

"No... it's just... a... bug," I finished lamely. He blinked.

"And?"

"They're so... so gross."

"You realize that you need to eat in order to survive, yes?"

I nodded. "I'll eat anything but bugs and humans."

Dogmeat eyed me in suspicion, as if to say "Anything? Even me?"

"If you do not eat this leg, you will grow weaker and weaker, and you will not be strong enough to battle Caesar."

"Just let me look. Maybe I can sneak into a camp and loot some food..."

He crossed his arms, one paw still clutching the leg, and eyed me half-heartedly.

"That's suicide, and you know it."

Dogmeat nudged me towards the leg. Bugs were to me what baths were to Dogmeat.

Once I still didn't take the leg, Argutus let out an impatient sigh.

"If you do not eat this, you will slowly starve, and if you die, do you know what will happen?"

"What?"

With the paw that clutched the bug's leg, Argutus gestured to the corpse.

"You would no longer have to eat the insects. The insects would eat you."

After he said that, and I freaked out as quietly as I could, I begrudgingly took the stupid bug leg and started munching on it as quickly as I could. As I did so, Argutus and Dogmeat ate the rest of the bug quietly, and then Argutus went out to go find another for himself (Deathclaws eat a lot of food).

I nibbled at the appendage for as long as I could. I had never fought Three Dog's "Good Fight" as hard as I did during those long minutes.

After we all ate (and I did everything I could to keep it down), we were off again. After that, it was another day and a half of travelling before we reached Freeside.

We didn't expect Legionary presence to become stronger as we closed in on the rebel territory, and it didn't. Likewise, we didn't expect a welcome invitation into the gates of Freeside, and we... didn't get one.

No, instead there was a deafening explosion, and Argutus let out a pained shout. He whirled around and did the best he could to set me down gently.

I had no ammunition for the SRS, my Steyr AUG was several states away, still very broken, and all I had left was my sidearm and my Beretta Tomcat. Still, Dogmeat, Argutus and I dove behind some boulders, and when I looked at Argutus, I started taking into account the sound of the explosion.

I was instantly back in D.C, watching Cord get shot to death by a Barrett M82. My eyes shot to Argutus, and I saw one of his paws clutching a wound on his other arm. He was gritting his teeth, and he looked to be in a great deal of pain... but if it was a .50 caliber round to a deathclaw's arm... there might be a chance for survival.

Freeside's gate was about one hundred and fifty feet ahead of us, and there was a sniper posted by it. If he was able to hit a sprinting deathclaw... I really didn't want to poke my head out of cover in the same place more than once.

I blindly fired my USP .45 around the boulder for the sake of some kind of suppressing fire, but the explosion that pelted the boulder we hid behind told me such a move did nothing.

"How... much ammunition do you have left?" Argutus asked through clenched teeth. He looked more angry than pained at this point.

"Half mag," I said, at which point I continued my blind fire. I fell behind cover again before there was another explosion.

"Quarter mag," I said. I fired around the side of the boulder as a counter to the sniper I was engaged with. The USP's slide shifted back, and I ejected the mag.

"Out," I said. I tossed the handgun into the dirt before me, and there was another explosion.

The rock we hid behind was either very dense (dense enough to resist .50 caliber rounds), or the rounds our attacker was using were not strong enough to penetrate our cover. We could've been slaughtered at any point otherwise.

Dogmeat, who had his head laying on my leg in defeat, suddenly perked up. He looked up, wide eyed, as if he heard something. Argutus reacted too, but I didn't hear anything.

"What is it?" I whispered. Argutus shushed me.

The onslaught of lead pinning us down ceased. I heard a voice over an intercom.

"Step out from behind the boulder with your hands raised, and slowly approach the gate. If you make any sudden moves, you will be shot..."

I looked over at Argutus' wound, which was thankfully no more than a graze.

"...in the head."

The voice fell silent, and I found my feet slowly, with my hands raised, as was asked of me. Argutus mimicked me, though the movement of his wounded arm caused some irritation. I'd have to dress it if these people weren't about to kill me.

As we approached the gate, it dawned on me that I left my USP .45 in the dirt behind the boulder. I wasn't about to turn around to get it, though.

The metallic door creaked open, and a First Recon sharpshooter greeted us. His dogtag read "Vargas, Manny". I assumed he was the one that was pinning us down.

"You'll have to forgive me. We'd received reports of Legionaries training deathclaws."

"What made you stop firing at us?" I asked. He looked up at a platform above his head, likely where he was firing from.

"You should thank my spotter for that. She has a sharp eye for pretty girls and people The King wants to speak with."

"Are you okay, Miss 101?" asked a voice coming from the platform. A black haired girl with a brown hooded robe poked her head over the edge and looked down at us. She was cute.

I nodded. "Yeah, thanks for talking him down. I didn't like my odds of fighting back with a Tomcat."

She grinned.

"If I could send Vargas sprawling with a punch to that glass jaw of his, you could get a surrender out of him with a pea shooter."

I laughed nervously, and then looked back at Mr. First Recon. He didn't seem amused.

"Okay, that was an isolated incident, Veronica."

"No need to get snippy!"

"I'm not getting snippy!" he shouted, sounding very snippy.

"Look, are you going to take them to see The King, or do I have to do that, too?"

The King... the intel I'd acquired over my long journey suggested he was the "extremely charismatic leader of Freeside's rebels". As the gate slammed shut behind me, I made a mental note to thank him for not giving the order to kill me on sight.

"By the way," said Mr. First Recon. "Name's Manny, but most people just call me Manny."

He held out a hand for me to shake, which I did.

"Hi, I'm... Milly. These are my friends, Dogmeat and Argutus."

Manny didn't seem to react too much to Dogmeat or Argutus, though the latter was glaring daggers at him.

"Hey, I'm sorry for shooting you. Just trying to keep this place safe... can he understand me?"

"Yes, I understand you."

That got Manny to pale.

"Now understand me: I accept why you shot at us... but if you try to bring harm to Milly again, you will answer to me, and the wall has not been built that will keep me from getting you."

I waved a hand down at Argutus to try and calm him. He was in every way as overprotective of me as Dogmeat was.

The surprised look only lasted for so long on Manny's face, and he ignored us all as he escorted us through the streets. All passersby put as much space between themselves and us as possible (such a reaction reminded me of how most people reacted to Cord initially). I wondered why the pretty girl that stopped Manny from killing us didn't react. Maybe she didn't see him from her vantage point, or maybe she'd seen a deathclaw like Argutus before.

I decided to try to remember to ask her if I ever saw her again, which... judging by the very recent call from Nikolai I got, would likely be a few weeks.

There wasn't much different in the streets of Freeside than I would've imagined in any town before the Legion's unprecedented expansion. There was a lot of farm land and crop growth in the walls. They even had a base in the ruins of an old building for the "Followers of the Apocalypse", which was a group dedicated to aiding the sick, teaching the dumb, and raising the orphaned, among other noble goals. They asked for nothing in return, and they did not judge. I saw ghouls, gays, different races and genders when I dropped off Argutus for medical attention later, once I figured out how desperate for supplies we were.

At that point, however, Manny was leading us through the streets still. The town was still totally run down, and reaching high up into the sky were various buildings, each looking surprisingly well-kept. There was no sign of life in those buildings (no lights), but Manny introduced it off-handedly as "New Vegas".

I'd heard of it before, of course, but seeing it personally... it was incredible. It was Sin City. People went there with months worth of caps or cash, and would most often leave with nothing. The Strip was a place that would swallow you up as long as you had money to lose. Seeing it so dead... it was both heart breaking and awe inspiring at the same time.

I was brought to a large building with a neon sign reading "The Kings" on it. I could see a few speakers on the walls that appeared to be in relatively good condition. They looked like they might even still work. Manny must've seen the look on my face, because he told me that The King was "usually blasting music out of those speakers". I asked him if there was something weird about the silence, then, and he told me that he'd rather hear deafening silence than "Love Me Tender" on a loop.

For all intents and purposes, I liked "Love Me Tender" when I was in the Vault. Maintaining electricity output by the Dam and failing to understand how to refuse energy to the Strip were among the only things the Legion got right.

When we got inside the building, I was nearly overwhelmed by the smell of mold and hair gel. Everybody in the building was wearing the same type of outfit: black leather jacket with "The Kings" written on a crown on the back, hair so full of gel that it threatened to stick to the very fabric of space time, and various small arms: pistols, submachine guns, and a few knives.

Anyone not wearing the leather jacket was wearing a plain white t-shirt. There were a few women in the crowd with hair so gelled up that I had a hard time telling them apart from the men. Anyone that saw me said "We are all Kings", and I nodded wordlessly.

Manny patted my arm, and he yanked my mind back from the brink of insanity.

"Hey, let's go. The King is just in that door there..."

He pulled me into a room with a stage in it and various tables and chairs, and I saw one man and one cyberdog in it. Manny went ahead and whispered something to the man, and he turned to look at me. He eyed my companions, my pregnant belly, and he chuckled.

"Wow... I had to see it to believe it. The bane of Caesar really is carrying a fetus."

I scowled as I walked forward. Dogmeat eyed the cyberdog, who eyed him back.

"Is that funny?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, not funny. Ironic. You're killing off all the MEN of the Legion, yet you needed a man to look the way you do now-"

"I stabbed that man to death."

The man gestured for me to sit in a seat across from him. He ignored my partners after the initial appraisal. He really was about as cool as anyone can get in this crazy world. No, not in the sense of awe-inspiring idol status, but... level-headed, composed, or calm.

I sat in the chair as he desired. I could see Dogmeat sniffing at the other cyberdog, and the cyberdog doing the same. The King glanced down at them.

"Aw, look, Rexie... our new friend brought you someone to play with."

Rexie barked in reply, and Dogmeat's ears perked up, and he stared wide eyed at the dog before him, as if he was told something surprising.

I sighed deeply.

"Allow me to introduce myself: I am... The King."

I already knew that, but I acted like I cared for the sake of a good first impression. I didn't want to get kicked out of this safe haven.

"Oh, wow. This is so surreal. My name is Milly, the dog is Dogmeat, and the deathclaw is Argutus. It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, trying desperately to sound surprised and happy to meet him.

I didn't hate him. Of course not. I just didn't care if he called himself The King, The Queen, or William Tell's Less Fortunate Son.

The King looked almost exactly like everybody else in his building save for the dogs, me, Argutus, and Manny: His hair was so greased up with gel that it looked like it was screaming in agony, and he wore the same white t-shirt, this time under a white blazer.

"Oh, please. Pleasure's all mine. I've heard that you've been causing quite a number on the Legion. Some people think you're taking on two camps at a time. Is that true?"

"Not entirely."

I didn't want to give out too much of what we've been doing. We still had to kill Caesar and his current Legate.

"Well, thank you for what you've done on your way here. You're welcome in these walls for as long as you need."

I nodded. "Thank you... but my deathclaw does not give you pause? My deathclaw friend, I mean."

I glanced up at Argutus. He was staring out the door at the other people, and didn't make a move to indicate that he heard me. I wanted to treat him like I treated Cord, and I never referred to Cord as "my deathclaw" if I could help it.

"No, we heard that your friend survived the attack at D.C. He's lucky to be alive."

I looked down at the table. "Yeah... he's a lucky one, alright..."

There was another moment of silence, during which I shivered. I did what I could to push death out of my head. I had to believe that there was something after death. If I thought there was nothing, I don't think I'd be able to kill anybody, be it in self defense or revenge. Additionally, I wanted to think that I would see my friends, my father, and my mother again. Even if I didn't believe like my mother and father did (too much logic during childhood will do that to faith), I wasn't ready to think of existence as something so fragile; so fleeting.

The thought of Cord simply ceasing to exist right there, practically in my arms... it could've consumed me.

"Anyway," said The King, jolting me from my conflict. "I apologize for the welcome you received. You can take your deathclaw to the Followers camp. You passed it on the way here. They'll fix him up, and resupply you. Just don't ask them for suggestions on taking down Caesar. They'll just tell you to hug a rainbow or something."

I nodded again. "Thank you for the advice," I said. I slowly went to stand up, and his hand went out to gently grab my arm.

"Now, hold on a second. I wanted to ask you a favor."

I stared. He paused for just a moment, stringing together words in his head before they left his mouth. That brief moment of pause, however... was all that was required for one of his lackeys to run into the room and whisper madly into his ear.

"What? Say that again!"

The lackey glanced at me for a moment, and he shout-whispered into The King's ear again.

"Larry was spotted in The Strip!"

Larry? He must've been a big deal... if the look on The King's face was any indication.

"Larry? Dead Larry?"

"Dead Larry! King... look, he must've been hiding in one of the supply caravans..."

"What the hell do I pay you people for? Where in The Strip? What building?"

"I- I sent Kenny in to go look for him..."

"And?"

The lackey trembled and looked away for a moment.

"Oh, my God... He... he killed Kenny!"

"The bastard," was all The King muttered under his breath. I made my presence known again.

"Uh... I'm sorry... but who is Larry?"

"You should know, Miss 101."

We all looked up at at the door. The same girl that stopped Manny from trying to kill me was standing there, eyeing me with a smile on her face. I could see in her eyes... she was troubled, but... she smiled all the same.

"Larry Sizemore was one of our own. He was one of the Brotherhood's best spies in his time."

Sizemore was also one of the Brotherhood's Most Wanted, for the attempted poisoning of the elder of New Vegas' chapter. Sizemore was pronounced dead in 2278, after seventeen people saw him walk into an old Oil Refinery two minutes before it exploded. In 2280, he popped up again, alive and well. He tried to kill whoever was the elder of this chapter, and he's been wanted by the Brotherhood ever since. Additionally, he's been hiring out his skills to anyone who will pay. He kills innocent people if the price is right.

"What makes you think he's here?" I asked. The girl held up a small vial.

"Larry loved his poisons. He left us a little calling card in one of our supply crates."

I suddenly had an idea.

"Hey... if I were to get Larry to either leave or eat a bullet, would there be any chance of backup during my final assault on Caesar?" I asked.

"If you were to get Larry to leave or die, you'd have backup, and I'd get you the one guy that's been leaving a bigger black eye on Caesar than you."

Nikolai?

"His name's Craig Boone. He's First Recon like Vargas, only he's better, and he goes out of his way to hurt the Legion, just like you. Get rid of Sizemore, and I'll reach out to him. He's in the area, anyway. You'll also get an additional favor from me in return, and I can get you almost anything."

I stood up.

"It sounds like we have a deal," I said. "Come on, Dogmeat. Let's go, Argutus."

"...Wait, you're going now?" asked the girl. I shrugged.

"No time like the present, right?"

She slowly smiled again.

"I like you, Milly. I like you. Name's Veronica, by the way... if you didn't hear Manny bitching earlier."

I didn't want to be rude, especially to the girl that saved me from being killed by a former NCR sniper. I held out my hand for her to shake, and that handshake was ultimately the start to a great friendship.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you again for stopping my untimely demise."

She nodded. "Happy to help. Here, let me show you to the Strip."

At first, while we walked we were silent. I simply followed her (I could've found the entrance myself, considering there was a huge sign that read "THE STRIP" with a big arrow pointing down at the gate) for what felt like the longest of times.

It wasn't until about five minutes into the trip that I attempted to make conversation.

"So... is it true that there are Legionary plants everywhere?" I asked. Veronica partially turned her head to acknowledge me.

"You've spent the last half year or so on a trip to New Vegas and you can't tell me?"

"I didn't spend much time in towns that I liberated, lest they pinpoint my location. I mixed up my travel path very often, and they still found ways to hunt me down on occasion."

Veronica let out a cough, and took a sip from a canteen she was carrying.

"Yeah, we had Legionary plants out here. Problem is, we also have The Kings, and just about every piss poor fool in Freeside. Well, problem for them, anyway. We killed off the plants as they revealed themselves in the wake of the NCR's defeat."

"Is it possible that some are still in hiding?" I asked. Veronica shook her head.

"That front gate you came in does not get much use. The only time people leave is when they have permission from The King, and there's always at least one guy on guard duty. To put it simply, we're like Hotel California: You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."

I stared at her, and she chuckled.

"Oh, don't worry... you've made such a big splash already that it's impossible to consider you a Legionary plant. Where we all have to ask for permission to leave, you can just tell The King when you're leaving."

I could swear she muttered "Lucky..." under her breath at that point.

Veronica's name suddenly came back to ring a bell. She was on the Legion's list of Most Wanted fugitives (which, in spite of what The King said about this "Craig Boone", had ME at the top).

She also wore a power fist and she carried an FN FAL on her back, with "Falafel" carved into the base. However, I saw only two magazines for it: one already loaded, and another duct taped upside down on the first for a fast reload.

"...Uh... does your FAL not get a lot of use here in Freeside, or something?" I asked, trying to revive a little conversation. At this point, we were a few more steps away from the gate.

"No, it just doesn't get a lot of use, period."

We stopped in front of the gates, and I stared at her.

"Let me explain: I'm good at punching things. Like, really good at punching things. I'm alright with guns, but I will sacrifice this Falafel sooner than I would sacrifice my Power Fist. Give me a decent set of Power Armor, and I will punch out your deathclaw before he can raise a paw."

I glanced at Argutus. He was staring intently at the large buildings looming over us now in fascination, and he was likely quite a few miles away from this particular back-and-forth.

Cord never believed that people survived in the wasteland unarmed, and it is a difficult idea to imagine, but a Power Fist can punch through concrete like it's tissue paper, and decent Power Armor can make you a walking tank.

Veronica glanced behind her at the Strip, and then she looked back at me.

"Well... I'm needed back at the front gate. Are you going to be okay on your own?"

I glanced behind me at Argutus, and then to my side at Dogmeat.

"I think I'm in good paws," I said, and then I inwardly died a little once I thought about what a crappy pun that was. Luckily, Veronica didn't call me on it, and I think Argutus took me serious, because he gave a nod of approval.

"Alright, well... good luck. Remember, this is Larry Sizemore we're talking about. They don't come crazier than that guy."

"I've had a lot of recent experience with crazies. I'll be okay."

I entered the gate, and it slammed shut behind me. The first building I decided to try was the Lucky 38- the home of former Strip overload Robert House.

The last recorded entrance to this building during House's life was by the Judge. I considered just how incorrect such a statement could be when I saw one of the doors ajar. I pointed silently to the door for Argutus and Dogmeat, and I instinctively reached for my USP...

..and then I remembered leaving it behind the boulder outside of town. I inwardly cursed, and drew my Beretta Tomcat, knowing I would have very little chance of success with my SRS in close quarters.

I proceeded into the building with my little gun raised, and I did my best to strain my eyes to see in the dark casino.

I felt my foot connect with some wire, and there was a small explosion, propelling a nearly invisible object into the air. I dropped my gun, dove to the ground, and covered my neck, praying the shrapnel wouldn't hurt me too bad.

The supposed method of dealing with an S-Mine, commonly known as a Bouncing Betty, is to simply crouch, or go prone. In reality, the mine is designed to eject about 350 small metal balls in every direction, so it doesn't matter if you duck or go prone. You'd still get hit.

And I probably would've been killed, Dogmeat could've died, and Argutus may have even succumbed if he was hit in the wrong place... if the mine actually detonated in midair. Instead, it clattered to the ground uselessly, and I got ready to scramble back from it.

"I wouldn't do that," said a voice from a balcony overlooking the scene I was causing. I glanced behind me and saw a laser pointer on Argutus' throat, and he was looking around for the voice. The dot vanished from his throat and shot over to Dogmeat's brain case... and then it found a place on my forehead.

The lights suddenly turned on and for the first time I saw Larry Sizemore... the weasel faced psycho wore a smile on his face, as if he was happy to see me.

Argutus prepared to run to try and meet him, and Dogmeat growled menacingly... until I waved them down.

"Guys, stop..."

"Yes, stop. I have a very clear shot at her head, and I'd hate to waste this opportunity to make a new friend."

My Beretta Tomcat was an annoying distance away from me.

"Larry, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're dead."

He frowned for the first time since I actually sighted him.

"Well, I certainly feel alive. How about you, Mil?"

He fired whatever weapon he had up there on either side of my head, earning a louder growl from Dogmeat and a few menacing steps forward by Argutus.

"Woo! Doesn't that make you feel ALIVE?!"

He let out a chuckle, and resumed pointing his weapon at me.

"Okay, you've made your point... now tell me what you want."

"What? Oh, right... see, I figured it out early, Mil. I understood. The Brotherhood is dying. It really is. So, was it still alright to send me out to fight losing battles? For awful pay? I thought to myself, "That's not fair". After a few years, I had it all together. I took retirement, I sold my skills, and now I make money whenever I make a heart stop beating. It's win-win!"

I stared.

"Win-win? How? You're ending lives... you're ending innocent lives!"

"Innocent? Who is innocent in this world?"

"You'll kill a bystander that looks at you wrong, and you're even threatening to kill me as I bear a child... you're a monster!" I shouted.

"Oh, come off it, Mil!" he shouted back. I still didn't know how he knew my name. "These people I kill are living miserable lives, having to fight day in, day out... starving, suffering from illness... you should be thanking me!"

I stared, and he kept staring at me. His hardened look softened, and that smile returned to his face.

"But hey, I like you, Mildred. You remind me of... well, me! If you think about it a little more... reflect on your burn, think about the way I see things, and we can work together. We'd be rich... rich!"

I stared at him, and he eyed me with the faintest hint of "I'll kill you if you say no" on his face, so I didn't say no.

"You want me to work with you, Larry?" I asked. He stared.

"Come on, kid, I thought I made that clear," he complained.

"Alright, Larry... but I have a favor to ask you, first."

He was quiet.

"Who is your target?" I asked.

"My next dead-ee is the man you know as the King."

I stared. "Dead-ee?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's the best I can come up with as of late. It's got a bit of a ring to it, doesn't it?"

"If you say so," I said. "Well, listen... spare the King. He's important to my current kill mission. To lose him would be... insulting," I said. He stared intently at me, and then his look hardened.

"Wait... you're really on this thing to kill Caesar, aren't you?"

"Come on, Larry, I thought I made that clear," I complained.

He fired to both of my sides again, and my companions practically ignored my pleas and rushed him.

"Caesar... happens to be my current employer. Why do you think I'm here in the first place?" he asked.

"Honestly, I thought you were here for the women and the casinos," I said.

All was silent for another small eternity, and then Larry laughed loudly.

He laughed. He laughed and laughed and laughed. He kept laughing so hard that I considered how wise it was to keep my companions from attacking him.

"Oh, that's rich. That's funny! I'm here to kill the King for Caesar, and you're here to kill Caesar! I'm a fan... I really am," he said, finally calming down. He resumed staring at me again, at first waiting to see if I had anything more to say, and then he started weighing what I already suggested.

At any moment he could've fired and killed me, but he didn't. He was silently scrutinizing everything about me, about my companions, and about how I operated. I could see that in his eyes. He was sadistic, but he wasn't insane like Judge was. He was cunning, and obviously very good at what he did.

He suddenly took his laser sight off of me.

"Alright, I'll do you a solid, Mil. I'll spare his life."

After that statement, my relief was overwhelming. The King's was influence we could not do without. To lose him could severely cripple the stability of the rebels here in Freeside.

"You'll leave?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, why not? I'll leave. I have a few promising contracts out in Buffalo, anyway, and Caesar pays like ass, so like I said: win-win!"

I slowly started to stand up again, and the laser pointer found itself on my torso.

"But one thing: I'm doing this as a favor to you, or not doing this as a favor. Try to divert me again, and you'll be my next dead-ee," he said through clenched teeth. With that, he turned away and disappeared from view.

"By the way, if you're planning on following me up the stairs, I don't recommend it. I rigged a few claymores on them. See you around, Mil."

That was the first and last time I saw Larry Sizemore.

End of Chapter

5,898 words.

Larry Sizemore is a reference to an antagonist of the same name in Burn Notice. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're dead" is a direct quote from Burn Notice, and in the show, Sizemore refers to his targets as "dead-ees".

Oh, and Milly firing her USP blindly in a desperate attempt to suppress her enemy is another reference to Burn Notice. I do a lot of those.

Milly's rant on bugs is not an attempt at reflecting on me. I don't fear bugs so much as I get angry if they're in my house, because then I actually have to do something about them...

"...would swallow you up..." is a reference to a line in the song "Sin City": "...it'll swallow you in if you've got some money to burn."

Additionally, "Hotel California" is a reference to the song of the same name by The Eagles. There is a line that goes "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave".

Next chapter is mostly filler, so it'll probably be short. It's covering what Milly does while she waits for Nikolai.