Chapter 19

Both Sides Now

"You can watch things happen, you can make things happen, or you can wonder what the f**k happened."

-Phil Harris

After I dealt with Larry, I returned to The King. He was already in a meeting when I showed up, and his doorstop Pacer told me he would be "just a minute".

An hour later, I asked him again to see The King, and this time he offered to help me "pass the time" with a wink, at which point Argutus had to keep me from knocking the pretty-boy smile off his face with a length of rebar.

I was just sort of sitting against the wall not far from Pacer, refusing eye contact with him. I eventually had to get up and I took Argutus to get treated at the Followers' Fort, but I had to promise the doctor ("Arcade" something) that the deathclaw would not attempt to eat him. After I got him to work on the wound, I returned to The Kings' building, sat where I was sitting earlier, and I waited some more.

I'd fallen asleep while I was waiting, and I would have continued to sleep if something didn't fall into my lap and jolt me awake. For a moment, I thought it was the man I was trying to earn a favor from waking me up, but that wasn't the case.

A file was sitting in my lap with the word "CONFIDENTIAL" stamped across it.

"Merry Christmas, miss 101."

"...what is this?" I asked.

"It's three and a half hours of digging and half a dozen favors taken form. That's three pages out of your burn notice."

I would've liked to seem really cool and collect, but once she finished her sentence, I had the file open.

I didn't read more than "MILLY OF VAULT 101 is no longer a reliable asset" before I squinted in natural suspicion and looked up at Veronica.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked. She sat down next to me with a smile.

"Just a peace offering. I'm still technically considered Brotherhood, and I didn't want you feeling uncomfortable here."

I blinked.

"Did I perhaps... say something that made you think we were at odds?"

Veronica tilted her head. "Huh? No... It's just my way of apologizing for what the Brotherhood did."

"I stopped caring about the burn about forty seconds after I received it."

"...Really?"

I nodded. "All that mattered then were the lives of two men, and those two men are a stone's throw from me as we speak. Once that's over and done with, well... I'd always wanted to be 'Milly, m.d'."

"...So you're not planning on..."

I held the file up again with a smile.

"Seriously, Veronica. You don't need to apologize for them."

Once the Brotherhood showed its true colors, it was no longer important to me. If I were to face anyone in Lyons' Pride in a gunfight right now, I would go down fighting. Sarah would want me to think she was my friend, and she was, to some extent... but the Brotherhood asks that you put its best interests before anything else. She'd kill me without a second thought if given the order, because as far as anybody in the Brotherhood is concerned, orders matter.

I was guilty, too. I believed in my orders. I did what was commanded of me while I acted for Steel passionately. There was a time where I might have even killed Sarah if the order was given.

I drew a line, though, as my father would have wanted me to. Had I ever been asked to kill my immediate family (Cord, Dogmeat, or Three Dog), I'd refuse. It is contradictory to say that I would follow all orders, but only some of the time. However, one is left wanting when considering how valid a statement "I would follow my orders most of the time" actually is.

"That's good," she said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Hey, you want to go eat together later? I'd like to get to know you a little more."

I blinked. The last time I had a nice, relaxing meal with friends... I think we were still in Oasis. I can't count the trip here. Though I ran into less resistance than I expected, I still felt like I was being watched all hours of the day.

So I found myself nodding like a bobblehead before I even said yes. It would be nice to wind down a little.

"Cool! I'll meet you here at around seven. Bring your dog and... deathclaw... if you'd like. Huh... this will be a weird dinner."

I smiled. "Okay, see you then."

Hey, as far as I was concerned, I needed time to wind down. I just travelled across the states and engaged in a completely idiotic quest against Caesar's Legion. I think I'm entitled to a little downtime.

Then again, I did get a lot of down time when I worked with the Brotherhood. Ah, well. I still want a break. I'll take my break... eventually...

I was finally allowed to see the King, so I could tell him that he wasn't in danger anymore. I, for one, would've cleared my schedule immediately for an update on who may or may not try to kill me. Maybe that's just the way things work in Vegas. All I know is, I can't wait to go home. I got to thinking about it while I was waiting, and it occurred to me: Vegas annoys the crap out of me. I've been in the walls of New Vegas for a day or two, and already I'm being bossed around. And I got shot at.

Some vacation hotspot.

"Hey, it's the girl of the hour. Do you have good news for me, 101?"

I sat down in the chair across from him. I've been doing a lot of that recently. Sitting, that is.

"Larry had a bit of a mid-life crisis. He's looking for a change of scenery."

The King stared blankly. "Huh?"
"Just a little joke. He said something about shuffling off to Buffalo, and that was it. You should know he has claymores in the... I think it was the Lucky 38 I found him in. If you're going to send some people in there, tell them to mind the mines."

"Thank you, 101."

I nodded with a smile and looked at Dogmeat. He was having a staring contest with "Rexie".

"No, I mean it. Thank. You."

"You're welcome."

"Thank you isn't enough. What do you need? Food? Money? Anything you need, you get. If you didn't stop Larry, and he got me, all of this..."

He gestured to the room, which I took to mean not just his building, but all of Freeside.

"...would be overrun. The only other guy I've got that could run this place is Pacer, and he's not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, if you know what Christmas is."

"Sure."

"Now then... what can I do for you?"

"Well, I do need a place to stay while I wait for my partner to show up. It wouldn't be more than a few weeks. Another person to help with the attack would be nice, too. Also, any ammunition you might have would help. .308 rounds, to be precise. Finally, I kind of... sort of... lost my handgun while your guys had me pinned down. I'd appreciate a replacement. Is that too much?"

He shook his head.

"Too much? I was going to ask if you were serious. I have people do me favors that are half as important as what you just did that will ask me for thrice what you just asked. Consider it done."

I smiled, but as I got up to leave, he stopped me again.

"Wait! There's one more thing I want to give you. I was hoping to do this after you killed Caesar, because let's face it: It's going to happen... but I can't. Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" I asked. He reached under the table for something. Dogmeat sniffed under the table and stared at the man not with anger, but confusion.

"I made you..."

A cake? I really could go for cake.

No, of course not. It's a jacket. A leather jacket.

"...A King."

I couldn't have been more unenthusiastic. I'd been craving something sweet for the past four days. Still, I took it in good nature, as my father would have wanted (I could feel Cord snickering at me).

I put on as sincere a smile as I could.

"Thank you. Seriously. I really appreciate it."

He put his hands out as I took the jacket (it wasn't going to get much use).

"It's the least I could do. Now, you missed my latest weapon shipment. I've got an arms dealer coming out in a week or so, and he'll be bringing new pistols and ammunition. He should have .308 rounds. He has everything."

On a hunch, I muttered "Is his name Sergei?" and the King was surprised.

"You know him?"

I blinked.

"Wait... really? Sergei?"

"Russian guy, has an overpacked brahmin, butchers names?"

I nodded. "He's the one that supplied most of what I have on me."

"He's great at what he does so long as you don't cross him. Rumor has it that he mooned the old NCR Ambassador, and the man let him get away with it."

I didn't really want to know that. The King looked like he'd forgotten something, because he continued.

"Right! By the way, Craig Boone will be back here for a resupply before he goes out to rape the Legion again. I'll ask him to stick around and help with the attack. He won't hesitate, don't worry. As for you, rest. Wait for your partner to show up. Wind down until he does. You deserve a break."

First order of R&R: Fetch Argutus.

Second order of R&R: Wait until 6 o' clock, and start getting ready for dinner.

End of Chapter

1,677 words.

I had this done a while ago, but if you go to my profile (thank you, that will get me through the day), you'll see the notice on there. My wireless router basically took a dump, and now I have no way to upload this from home, so I have to go to the library.

I don't have time to give this chapter a once-over, so I'll do that some other time from home and make any changes next time I come back here.

Next chapter covers something that I don't remember.