Tambelina: Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying it. I was a little unsure about writing about the legion at first, but I'm glad I did. Here's another chapter for you!

Cennex: Thanks! Its going to be a hard job but I'm going to try my best. And I think that before it truly hits her just how far the rabbit hole she's gone its going to be impossible to climb back out. (BTW, I absolutely love your two stories. The dynamic between Vulpes and the Courier is excellent!)

Teufelszeug: I was still getting the hang of Scarlet in the first chapter. I'm hoping to slowly reveal more and more of her personality as the story continues. She's not quite made her decision about the Legion and its going to take her a long while to truly side with them. I've always believed a good story has to have a certain character development and that will be part of hers. Her reasoning for doing so will kind of creep up on her and most likely be something that not even she realizes about herself. In addition to being a legion story its also about Scarlet's struggle with herself and what she really wants out of life. I'm glad you liked the Nipton part. It was so fun to write, especially since most of it was from Vulpes' perspective.

Again, more thanks for faves and alerts and the like!

Chapter III

Golden Touch

Even the mightiest king required sleep, and Caesar was no different. After the excitement of the day he excused himself so that he may turn in. Scarlet bade him good night with no betrayal to the emotional maelstrom that spun cyclonic within her skull. Benny's body had been removed from the tent and she didn't want to know what they did with it. The thought of him being tossed on some garbage pile came to mind, which upset her further. But Benny was dead and she was still alive, so it was time to start thinking of herself again. As Caesar and a few of his guards began to disappear she felt a crashing sense of confusion at what she was supposed to do now. She had come so far and was exhausted. Did they expect her to leave?

Her thoughts ran through a few possibilities, but before she could make her own decision on what they intended for her to do she heard a low quiet voice behind her. "Caesar wishes to speak with you in the morning." It was Vulpes. She turned to regard him fully now. "I will take you to your sleeping quarters for tonight."

"Oh." So they wanted her to stay, and apparently Caesar wasn't finished with her. It shouldn't have been a surprise because he seemed so adamant to get her among his ranks, or at least to get her to serve him. "All right."

As they walked she became more and more aware that they were alone together. Until this moment he had been with his men, or in Caesar's presence. She had imagined what she would say to him if she ever got him alone like this, how she would compliment his work at Nipton some more and tell him of her further investigations of the place, or how impressed she was with his demeanor and elegance. All of that fluttered from her mind like a flock of startled birds. Walking beside him was like walking next to a dense bubble radiating power. His presence was so tangible it took up more space than his body did. That alone was frightening… but even more intriguing.

She hated herself for being so enamored with this stranger, especially with his loyalties. He was cruel and made it obvious his contempt for her, a profligate, a woman. She tried to tell herself he was really some kind of sorcerer who had bewitched her the second her eyes had fallen on him in Nipton. That thought made her feel better for a few moments until she reminded herself that she didn't believe in sorcery.

The pair reached a decently sized tent and he held the flap open for her to enter. She couldn't tell if he was actually trying to be chivalrous to her, or if he just didn't like the idea of her getting behind him. She immediately dismissed both ideas, knowing full well any of the legion would not have been nice to someone like her and the thought that he might have been nervous around her was ridiculous. He was too confident a man to be afraid. She didn't blame him, for she knew that even if she could get the jump on him he would probably still defeat her.

God, what am I doing here? She thought to herself as she ducked through into the surprising warmth of the shelter. Another part of her mind told her that it had nothing to do with God because God had been dead for a long time.

It was nothing like Caesar's tent, of course, but it seemed quaint, almost homey. There was an old camping lantern hanging in the left corner and Vulpes moved passed her to turn the knob onto a low setting, bathing the space in a warm yellow light. Beside him and directly in front of her was a makeshift desk covered in scattered papers and diagrams. Along the back was a line of unlit candles that had appeared to have already had many uses and in the right hand corner sat a stack of thick books. Underneath the desk was a small safe, closed.

In the right hand corner was a small bed, two pillows stacked neatly on top of each other and a folded blanket on top of them. At the end of the bed sat a dented, but polished and gleaming footlocker. Everything within the tent was so well organized, well kempt. Despite her growing unease she suddenly felt a little more comfortable, the order around her calming her racing mind.

Vulpes pointed to a bedroll that had already been laid out across the left side of the tent. "This is where you'll sleep. We do not have guest accommodations so you will be sharing for the night."

"Oh." Fuck, was that all she could say was oh? She was a little nervous about having to share her sleeping space with someone else, but in the back of her mind she hadn't really expected her own private suite. "Who will I be sharing with? Whose tent is this?"

That sneer was back on his face and he crossed his arms across his chest before answering, "Mine."

-X-

Scarlet didn't think she had ever been more uncomfortable in her life. Maybe it would have been easier to sleep if Vulpes had gone to bed, too, but he was at his desk, face illuminated in the flickering light of his candles as he worked on some kind of project. At first she lay awake, eyes half open as she watched him, studied the way the candlelight danced across his features and made each sharp angle seem that much more sharp and dangerous. If he noticed her watching him she could not tell, for his hand moved across the papers like a graceful ballet between his slender fingers and the pencil that hung there between them. He only paused a few times, and only briefly so that he might go back through and check a few things. He was meticulous.

Finally she begun to feel that darkening pressure of sleep overtaking her and she let her eyelids close, hoping that she would be dreaming soon, but that was too much to ask for apparently because every time she tried to get comfortable some part of her body would begin to argue. At first it was her side, because it didn't like the hard ground tonight, and then it was her neck, which couldn't find a comfortable position on the small pillow beneath her head. Lastly it was her back. When she finally did get into a position that didn't make her muscles ache it awakened the fire in the laser wounds that were still present. She had almost forgotten about them because of everything that happened afterward.

She must have been moving around too much, or making some kind of noise because she heard the pencil drop onto the desk's surface and the creak of the old chair Vulpes was sitting in as he turned towards her. "Is there something troubling you?" There was a touch of impatience and irritation wrapped in his voice.

"No." She said quickly, not even opening her eyes. "I'm all right. Sorry if I disturbed you."

For a few seconds she thought that would be it and then he was speaking again, even more annoyance written in his tone, "It would benefit both of us if you would tell the truth. I cannot work with you thrashing around over there, and the sooner I get this done the sooner I myself can go to sleep. Since both of us have a very long day tomorrow I would advise you come clean about any problems you may be having. So I will ask you again: Is. There. Something. Troubling. You?"

Her mouth twitched. She had been trying very hard to pretend like she was some wasteland badass with no real kind of weakness, but that was not going to work with this man. Maybe he is some kind of sorcerer. "To be honest," she found herself saying, "when I was in the bunker I encountered a small army of protectrons that insisted upon shooting me up. Bullet wounds I don't mind. They're more of a throbbing pain, but this stinging from the laser burns are driving me insane, and my entire body is too sore to get comfortable. If it is bothering you that much I will lie awake and keep myself from moving so you can finish."

His chest rose and then fell in a deep sigh. He muttered something about idiot profligates. "And the reason you did not inform anyone of your injuries?"

"It didn't seem that bad at the time."

More muttering. This time she believed it was something about her being a stupid woman. She would have argued with him but for that moment in time she was actually agreeing. Hiding the extent of her injuries probably had been idiotic. He got to his feet and walked over to his footlocker and proceeded to dig around until he stood up with a glass jar in his hand. "Sit." He motioned to the chair.

She didn't move, unsure of what he was doing.

"Get up!" He barked.

She scrambled to her feet and he told her to sit so that her back was not against the chair. She followed his orders, mostly because she didn't know what else to do. Until, that was, he told her to take her shirt off. "Hell no." She scowled.

He rubbed one of his temples. "Then raise the back of it. I do not have x-rays for eyes."

Scarlet huffed and did so, leaning forward just a bit. A hiss escaped her lips as her skin stretched, igniting the painful burns again.

He sighed again, this time with exasperation. "Many of these are severe. You should have said something about them. Any longer and they would have probably become infected." Her back was red and in some places the skin had almost been seared off from the heat of the blasts. How she could not feel it was beyond his comprehension. The only thing that made sense was that many of her nerves might have been destroyed or injured as well.

"I've had worse."

"Then it is truly a surprise that you have survived as long as you have if this is how you take care of yourself." He chided.

"Why do you care? I'm just another unwashed cretin." She snapped, tired of the way he was treating her like a foolish little child.

"Yes, but you're an unwashed cretin that Lord Caesar has taken an interest in, and you cannot serve him and the Legion if you are too injured to do anything of use."

Ah, so that was it. He wasn't doing this because he actually cared, but because she was Caesar's little pet project. Being that he was one of Caesar's top officials he had probably been ordered to keep an eye on her. She wondered how pissed he was that he had to baby-sit her. She would have smiled, but at that moment he chose to take the contents of the jar in his hand and begin smoothing it over her wounds. It felt like some sort of a paste and gave her a sensation of both warmth and cooling all at the same time. In some spots it hurt a little as his fingers grazed over some of the more open flesh, but for the most part the entire process was soothing. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the relief that was spreading through her.

When he was finished he replaced the cap and took it back to his footlocker. "Let it dry before letting anything touch it or you'll wipe it off and it won't do any good." He warned. "Now go back to bed."

She rose carefully from the chair and started back to the bedroll before he interrupted her. "No, there." He pointed at his own bed.

"I wouldn't feel comfortable taking your bed from you." She argued.

"I would rather be displaced one night than get no sleep because you're tossing around." He seemed more than a little miffed at this decision, but she guessed he was right. Neither one of them would get much sleep otherwise and it would be her fault.

She would have thanked him for fixing her up, except for the knowledge that it was only a necessary component of her ability to serve the Legion so she didn't bother. Instead she focused on sleep again and this time it came. She floated off into slumber with the scent of the mysterious Frumentarius filling her senses.

-X-

A rough hand on her shoulder jarred Scarlet from a dream she'd been having. As she slipped back into consciousness the dream receded into the mist and she couldn't remember what it was about. Her eyes fluttered a few times before she rolled over and looked up into the solemn face of Vulpes Inculta. "Get up." He said stiffly. "It is morning and we are expected in Caesar's presence."

Scarlet yawned and stretched, noting how the muscles in her back didn't hurt as bad and the stinging bite of those lasers burns were considerably lessened. Whatever that stuff Vulpes had used on them the night before was some good damn stuff. "How long do I have?" She inquired, hoping there would be time for breakfast.

"Ten minutes. I would advise you not keep him waiting."

Damn. Well there would always be time to eat later. "I'll hurry then."

It didn't take her long at all to get ready. She splashed her face with some water and smoothed her clothes out to make them more presentable, but it wasn't like she was going to one of the casinos or something. The two of them arrived minutes before they were expected and Caesar was just finishing his morning meeting with some very important looking soldiers. As they passed her by she noted how a few of them had disgusted scowls on their faces at her presence. She held back the urge to snarl at them, realizing she was still in foreign territory and what worked in the rest of the wasteland would not get by here.

"Good morning, Caesar." She said as she entered, "you wanted to talk to me?"

"I did, indeed. You've already done the Legion a great service, but I am wondering if you have made a decision about us yet to continue on aiding us."

"I will be completely honest that I do not know enough about you or your people yet. As I said last night it will take time before I am ready to throw everything in on your side. It is not necessarily against you, mind you, it is I am not one to take sides as a rule, so being asked to join something as powerful as the Legion is a little overwhelming." It wasn't really a lie. Yeah, she was more than a little put off by some of their beliefs, but the biggest problem was the same one she had when the NCR had come knocking at her door trying to get her to do missions for them as well. She just didn't like to be tied down. Allying herself with some kind of faction was like becoming a prisoner. That idea didn't sit well with her. "I am however willing to listen to whatever you might have planned as the next step."

True she hadn't made up mind up about the Legion yet, but thus far their goals had happened to coincide with what she needed. If that continued then she might consider a more long-term agreement with Caesar. It always helped to have some kind of back up. Yet if their plans began to fork in different directions she'd disappear and if that was one thing she was good at it was making herself scarce. That was how she'd gotten to the Mojave in the first place.

Caesar informed her of the next phase of his plan. Since she had access to the Lucky 38 he wanted her to enter and find Mr. House. After she found him she was to end his life, therefore permanently stopping his reign of control over the strip and any chance of him becoming a threat to the possession of the Mojave later.

She crossed her arms across her breasts as her brows scrunched up in thought. "Given that House hasn't revoked my access because of the stunt I pulled last night I believe I'd be up for that. He's been alive for way too long as it is, so I don't mind playing grim reaper."

"Good, good." Caesar almost purred.

"Is there anything else you would like me to do for you?"

"No, I require nothing more of you right now, however I do need to inform you that you will not be going into the 38 alone."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "I won't?"

Caesar's eyes drifted to the man at his side. "Vulpes will be accompanying you. Once House has been dispatched I would like anything that might be of use for the Legion to be brought to us. There is nobody better to ensure this is done most swiftly and efficiently. Will this be a problem?"

"No." Scarlet admitted. "But I do have a question. Its not necessarily about the mission though."

"What is your question?"

"I want you to tell me about Vulpes." She said. "I mean, if I'm to be working with him I should at least know a little bit about him." Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Vulpes' head turn to look her direction, but his face revealed nothing of how he felt about her question.

Caesar looked extremely amused at her request, and perhaps it was for that reason that he agreed and started to tell her about the man she'd been dying to learn more about. "Vulpes was brought into the Legion at a very young age. He rose swiftly through our ranks, showing a great deal of promise. He easily made the rank of Decanus."

Scarlet allowed her eyes to drift to Vulpes as Caesar talked. She didn't quite know what kind of equivalent rank a Decanus was, but it sounded important.

"During a battle he led his men through a hole that had opened up in the enemy ranks and secured victory. His superior wanted to have him crucified for disobedience, since the act that he had committed had been against what he was suppose to be doing. I, on the other hand, saw this as something promising and had him transferred to the Frumentarii, where he remains today."

Scarlet tried to keep the smirk from melting onto her face, but failed. The image of a slightly rebellious Vulpes Inculta rushing into battle and doing whatever it took to win despite any possible repercussions to his own welfare was something so curious. "What are the Frumentarii?"

"They are the Legion's brightest and most resourceful soldiers, in charge of military intelligence. They have the ability to blend into enemy society and infiltrate to the deepest depths."

"Explaining his presence at the Strip." She said.

Caesar nodded. "Is there anything else you wish to know about him?"

"No, that's all for now."

"Then you are dismissed. I look forward to hearing about Mr. House's unfortunate demise."

This chapter was a little more talk and a little less action. In a way I wish I had written that one scene in the tent from Vulpes point of view more to underline the full reasoning for him doing that he did. If it bothers me too much I might end up rewriting this chapter, but for now I will leave it as it now. R&R!

Next Chapter: Who Wants to Live Forever Vulpes and Scarlet arrive at the strip and face off against robotic enemies within the Lucky 38. Its time for Mr. House to cash out. (Haha, casino humor... god, I'm lame.)

Vale!