I'm really sorry this is late, but this chapter was a bitch to write at times! I ended up having to scrap it and rewrite the whole thing this morning. I hope it was worth the wait.

Vermin-lord: I'm glad you're liking it! I'm also surprised at the lack of detailed Legion stories on here. I hope more people begin to write about them soon.

Chapter X

You Should Get Out More

The generator building was located in what Scarlet liked to call "ass nowhere." Nellis Air Base wasn't that big when you compared it to the sprawl of New Vegas or the towering maze of Fortification Hill. She was sure that it only seemed a great distance because of the pain in her leg. She was glad that it had not gotten any worse since yesterday, much to the thanks of Vulpes and his talented handiwork. The Legion no doubt saw lots of wounds which had made him adept at patching up such things as sore legs as well as being good at subterfuge and making her uncomfortable. Of course the later might be in her head, but she could never tell how much he did on purpose and how much it was her own mind that was messing with her. Her only complaint had been stiffness when she had first awakened, which had worked itself out after a short walk around the main living areas after breakfast.

The walk had been Vulpes' suggestion, stating that it was pointless to go ahead with the ant extermination if all she could do was hobble. Determined to get the show on the road Scarlet had limbered up and was confident that even with her limp she would be able to squash a few nuisance arthropods. She was most excited about seeing what Raquel had warned them about – the exploding part. Never had she witnessed an exploding ant and she wanted to see it. She knew it was potentially dangerous, but if she was careful and didn't press her luck then she would get a once in a lifetime show.

She leaned against the doorframe as she unlocked the generator room door and gave a nod at Vulpes. The silence that greeted them as they entered was an unpleasant one, accompanied by the acrid smell of insects and the remnants of burnt smoke most likely left behind from an explosion. The building was pitch black save for a few emergency lights here and there and they were probably running on some kind of back-up power. "God forbid people put windows in places like this." Scarlet muttered to herself as she turned on her pip boy light. Its dim glow illuminated the body of one of the Boomers, slumped in the doorway just ahead of them. No one had mentioned that people had died, only that a few had been injured and sent to the Doctor on the base. "Death by ant, I guess there's worse ways to go."

Vulpes knelt to examine the body, looking for anything that might be useful. There were signs of mastication, but they had been post mortem. "It seems he was killed in an explosion." He told her, lifting his eyes from the mangled corpse.

"Well, that makes me feel a little better about him." She said, although the tone in her voice indicated it was still upsetting to her. "I would hate to be some ant's chew toy while alive."

"Indeed." Vulpes didn't know whether to agree or not. To his surprise Scarlet was turning out to be more of a morbid individual than he had expected. Her morbidity was quirky and outlandish, but it was still there. Mostly she would make negative and dark comments surrounding her own death, or potential ways of death since, obviously, she still remained among the living. He wondered if her obsession with her mortality stemmed from being shot in the head and surviving. Then again maybe the woman standing before him wasn't really the woman who had been shot. Perhaps she was more of a remnant than a person and that was why she always seemed two steps from death but never quite made it, because you couldn't kill something that was already dead. Now you're starting to sound like her – or worse: Gaius.

A skittering across the metal flooring grabbed their attention, thankfully pulling Vulpes' mind away from the superstitious thoughts floating around in his brain. Both he and the Courier lifted their gaze to an ant that was crawling their way. Scarlet's eyes glittered mischievously and he saw her hand reach for a laser pistol that was tucked into the holster at her side. No, she's always two steps away from death because apparently she has a death wish! From the angle that he was crouched on the floor only he could see the missiles lined up nearby the ant, missiles that would surely explode if the ant did, and would if she fired at it with that weapon. He quickly stood, blocking her shot, and allowing him to take his own all at the same time.

When the ant crumpled over, antennae giving one last twitch before they stilled forever, Vulpes turned on her and reached for the laser pistol. "Did you not hear what she told us about laser weapons?" He growled, frustrated that she ducked away from him and shielded the gun at her side.

"Yeah, I did. That's why I brought it." For a moment she almost had the look of a pouty child and he strongly considered turning her over and giving her a spanking for insubordination. In certain circles that might have sounded like something pleasant but he would make sure it wasn't so she would understand that she was being punished and not to act half her age again.

"Here I was hoping that you had been temporarily deaf, not dumb." The only thing missing from his sarcastic statement was the hand palming his face. Vulpes didn't need to make a lot of unnecessary body movement though to get his point across when the tone of his voice did it perfectly well for him.

Scarlet frowned. "How many chances am I going to get to see one of these little bastards explode? Not many! I just want one!"

Was she for real? "Fine." He relented. He was not going to have an argument over something as asinine and trivial as gunpowder fueled exploding ants. "Just don't do it up here. If you didn't notice there are missiles everywhere." There were times when he could clearly see the potential that Caesar had told him about as well as the bold woman that had waltzed straight up to him in Nipton and made him laugh. Then there were times like these where he had to keep reminding himself that this was all for the Legion and that he had to not throttle her in her moments of stupidity in the meantime.

-X-

It was the last one; Scarlet was sure of it. Vulpes had already put Loyal's sonic emitter on top of the mound and activated it, thus killing all the ants inside it in the process. Even though she didn't care for robots at all she did like gadgets, especially if they were really neat and were useful enough to make her job easier. Scarlet had been so excited to see it in action that she had forgotten about her desire to see one of the ants explode. On their way back to turn the two lower generators back on she spotted it, a lone survivor they had missed when coming in and it reminded her of that desire once more. A grin broke out on her face as she motioned for Vulpes to put his weapon down. "This one is definitely mine." She told him, and then added with a sneer, "And there are no missiles around to ruin this."

The ant appeared to be lost as it roamed back and forth with no seeming destination. Scarlet lifted her laser pistol and followed its movements with the sights, intent on savoring each moment this kill would offer. She wanted to stamp the memory of the exploding ant into her brain. She would also wait as long as she had to for the moment to be right and conditions were optimal for exploding ant viewing capabilities.

"This is ridiculous." Vulpes said dryly, arms crossed over his chest in impatience. "Just kill it already."

Scarlet glared at him. "Hey, I don't give you shit when you go off crucifying people! Let me have my fun!"

Vulpes still appeared displeased, but did not say another word. He was too busy thinking about her flippancy concerning the act of crucifixion.

Finally she took the shot. It all happened very quickly, pieces of giant ant flying up into the air and then raining back down like a macabre insectoid fountain. Scarlet gave a whooping cry of joy and threw her arm up in the air. "Did you see the way its leg just—" She made a motion with her lifted hand to indicate the trajectory of its path. "Where did it go anyway? Oh! There it is, way up there!" Her laughter was more of a wicked cackle and Vulpes found it hard not to at least smile.

They were just ants, but something about her joy at their complete destruction stirred something inside him. Curiosity yes, but something else, something he couldn't quite put his finger on at the moment. He knew if she could get over her silly misconceptions about society and what she'd been told was right and wrong then she would happily find her place within the Legion. He could already tell she enjoyed some of the darker things, but held herself back because of her upbringing. Her love for combat as well as the more eccentric forms of death could be put to good use. If… If she could just let go.

"Are you satisfied now?" Vulpes inquired. All traces of annoyance had left him and the familiar low and sensual cadence was back in his voice.

"Yes I am. It almost makes me want to go find some ants and feed them gunpowder!" Much to his appreciation she decided to turn the generators on instead. On their way back up they flicked the main power switch and the lights began to hum to life. Almost immediately the combat-happy smile was gone, replaced by a warmer version, the smile of someone who had done a job and done it well. Once more Vulpes wondered what went on inside that head of hers. Perhaps one day he'd see the full picture but for now Scarlet was a woman of many faces, each face with a different personality that switched constantly. At least she kept him on his toes so he could never complain about being bored.

-X-

The Master-at-Arms did not even try to hide her shock when the two of them came marching back over to tell her that their ant problem was gone. They had lost a few good men to those ants and might be losing more. The idea that these two strangers just waltzed in and killed them all with hardly a scratch on them was an amazing one. "Perhaps I was wrong about you." She admitted. Underneath that seeming appreciation however lurked hints of something else. Raquel seemed not as happy about it all as Scarlet had originally thought she would be and when she thought about it she realized what the problem was. The three Boomers had been critically injured and were now in the medical building and the fact that she and Vulpes fixed the problem so easily and their own people had so much trouble was likely a sore topic.

"We really couldn't have done it without Loyal though." Scarlet told her, hoping to diffuse any potential of a future problem. Their intention had not been to swoop in and steal the glory from others. That would undermine their real goal, which was to get the Boomers to like them. "He gave us this device that really did the work for us."

"I'm glad that thing worked then." Raquel said. Her face softened just a little, as if considering the outsider's words.

"I feel really bad about your wounded people," Scarlet continued, tentatively. "Do you think that your doctor would mind if I popped in and had a look? I have a little bit of medicinal knowledge and could maybe give a hand."

Raquel nodded and directed them towards the medical building with an unsure look on her face. They might have done them a favor, but the thought of any savage treating their wounded left a sour taste in her mouth. Hopefully they would continue to prove their use, prove her wrong. If they didn't then three men's lives were at stake. "I'm sure Argyll will appreciate the help."

As they walked over she caught Vulpes studying her with great consideration. Upon being noticed he spoke up. "I didn't know that you knew anything about medicine." It would indeed be hard to peg with the amount of unchecked wounds Scarlet received on an almost daily basis. Still she continued to surprise him and prove that he had good taste when it came to personal interests.

Scarlet looked uncomfortable for a moment, her eyes drifting away from him and towards their destination. "Well, I know a little. I'm by no means an expert, but I know just enough to possibly help out depending upon where their doctor stands in his training."

"Where did you learn it?" It was a decent question to ask. She had been a mere courier when the head of the chairmen had struck her down. The answer as to why she would be working such a basic job when she had some kind of useful talent had to have been an interesting one.

She began to wring her hands before taking a deep breath and answering, albeit reluctantly. "My mother. She was a nurse – well, more like a medic. Before… " He'll come back soon, you'll see, and then everything will be fine again. Scarlet shook her head to dislodge the voice in her head. Why did he have to ask about this? "When I was younger she taught me a lot about taking care of wounds and trained me about medicinal components. Other than that I'm fairly useless, but where I can't treat I can sometimes tell what's wrong with someone where others can't. It must be a gift she passed on because she could look at you and tell you whether you had a cold or cancer."

"That is most surprising. You would think someone trained in that kind of field would take better care of themselves."

Scarlet tried to ignored his underhanded shot at how she took care of herself. In a way it wasn't any of his business whether she did or not. She had managed to survive so far and was convinced she could continue to do so without a problem. Still, that mocking tone drove deep into her brain and she had to say something. "Well, sorry I prefer to wait and have a real doctor take a look at me instead of poking around myself."

"If you find yourself with that lack of confidence then why are you going to help these men?"

"Listen," she said, suddenly stopping and turning to look at him, "I understand that you're probably trying to learn everything you can about me, and maybe you're even trying to make conversation, but this is not the topic to do it on. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Perhaps that's why you should." Obviously there was something very upsetting connected to either her history with medicine or her mother.

"Excuse me?" She snapped, "Who died and made you Doctor Fox Psychiatrist all of a sudden?"

"It just seems to me that you have a few issues that you need to work out. You could have a usable talent that you are wasting because of some kind of emotional trauma."

"I—I don't have to listen to this." She stammered. "Yes, I have issues, oh I have plenty of issues, but nowhere does it say you have any right to subscribe to them, do you understand me?" The venom in her tone was as sharp and dangerous as a cazedor sting. "Its called privacy. I didn't want to have to spell this out for you, but it's not any of your business. So I would appreciate it if you left me alone, i.e. shut up!" Without waiting for his reaction, not that she cared, she turned back around and continued to the medical barracks.

Vulpes watched her go, unsure if he should be angry at her speaking to him that way or intrigued by it.

-X-

If Scarlet was still upset there was no sign of it as she began to examine Doc Argyll's patients. The Frumentarius let her work in peace, choosing to observe her from afar from a table that was set up near the front. He had never seen her so focused before, not even in combat. She worked as if the rest of the world had disappeared around her, leaving only her and the man she was working on. Her temporary vulnerability allowed him to study her more closely than allowed to before due to her constant shield she put up. He was noticing little things now, like how she had a habit of biting her bottom lip when she was worried or something didn't make sense with her. She would tilt her head as she thought, one finger tapping against her lips until she had made a decision, and then she would pull out a small pocket notebook and jot a few things down. The most interesting thing of all was how he could tell she liked taking care of people. Even more he wondered why she had been driven away from some kind of medical career.

After nearly an hour of time spent between all three patients she returned to the doctor. "I was able to help one of them out a little more. He was not as severe as the other two. Unless there are any complications he should recover quite well. The other two, I'm sorry but their injuries are well above my abilities." She watched as the man's face fell and added, "However! I do know someone who is an amazing doctor and I think that I will be able to get her to come and take a look at them. If they can be saved I know she'll be able to do it."

Argyll looked relieved and thankful. "If Pearl will let your doctor come she is more than welcome here. I just want these men back on their feet again."

Scarlet was almost bouncing with energy. "All right! That's a plan then. I'll head over and check with Pearl and then be on my way. Freeside isn't that far from here, but it will take until tonight to get there. That means we won't be able to get back until tomorrow at noon or so, but I promise we'll be back."

The two shook hands and Vulpes stood in preparation to leave. When she turned and caught him in her sights the smile on her face faltered. She was still angry after all, wasn't she? Then the smile returned, but without as much power as before. Once they were alone and headed to Pearl's Barracks she gave a small sigh, "I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier. I'm not ready to talk about that part of my life, okay? I don't know you well enough for that."

"It is understandable. I should not have pried into your personal business." He told her.

"Are you apologizing to me?" Her light laugh would have been mocking if it weren't for the soft expression on her face, that look of surprise. "Sorry, its just I would have never thought I'd hear the words 'I'm sorry' come out of a Legion soldier's mouth."

"Even a Legion soldier should know when it is strategically sound to keep one's mouth shut."

-X-

Although Vulpes had been to the Strip countless times before he had never dallied in the outer portion called "Freeside." The conditions were deplorable and the people were always in varying states of poverty or addiction, both diseases with difficult cures. Scarlet, however, seemed very familiar with the areas and walked happily through. They passed a group of children chasing a giant rat through the street, all laughing and shouting. "You'll get him one day!" Scarlet called to them, her own laugh joining with theirs. Her eyes sparkled with a light-heartedness he had rarely seen. One of the kids raised a hand to wave at her before running to catch up with his friends.

"You seem well-known." Vulpes observed.

"I did a lot of work in the Freeside areas before I made it through into the Strip. When I first arrived I didn't have a lot of caps to my name so I did odd jobs for just about everyone. And whoever I did work for usually had me talking to or interacting with everyone else so I guess I do know just about everyone in Freeside – except the Van Graffs. They're dealers in laser weapons, but I hear they're fucking psychopaths. I didn't really want to deal with that sort of thing so I steered clear."

"What kind of jobs did you do?" He asked.

"Ask me again later, when I'm finished with this sneak attack." Mischief danced merrily in her eyes as she took off towards someone. He watched her weave her way through a few people before grabbing a young doctor with a mohawk into a squeezing hug.

It was then he noticed where she had taken him. They looked to be inside an old fort. At the front of the closed in area was a sandbag partition complete with a few guards. There were other guards and people in lab coats milled around the surrounding area, which was full of tents and supplies. On many of their coats he caught a familiar marking: the Followers of the Apocalypse.

"Julie!" Scarlet cried.

"Scarlet, you're back. I wondered where you had gone. I haven't seen or heard anything about you since you left with Rex." The black haired doctor said.

Vulpes followed Scarlet's path through the crowd and walked up beside her, but stayed silent so she could conduct her business.

"I know. I'm sorry. I have some things for you, but they're back at the Lucky 38. If I had known I'd be stopping by I would have brought them."

The Doctor named Julie gave her a questioning look, brows furrowed. "If you're not here to drop off supplies then why are you here? I mean, I'm not saying you can't just drop by I'm just confused."

Scarlet waved a hand. "Don't worry. It's fine. I'm actually here for more of a personal favor." She looked around to make sure no one else was listening and then leaned forward to speak softly, "I made my way all the way to Nellis and met the Boomers."

Julie's eyes widened. "I can't believe that, that's amazing!"

"I know, right!" Scarlet was grinning, happy to have someone to praise her for her achievement. "The only problem is that they have some terribly wounded men and their doctor is at a loss and I tried to help, but I can only do so much. I was wondering if maybe you could spare a day to come take a look at them. I sort of promised you would come."

Julie looked sincerely apologetic as she gave her answer. "I'm sorry, Scar, but I can't leave right now. We've got a horrible influx of patients right now."

"Its really important, Julie, I'm trying to negotiate an alliance with the Boomers for the NCR and without making a good impression I can't do that. I'm going to look like an ass if I go back without help."

Vulpes watched the other doctors as they moved around. "Perhaps someone else?" He suggested, breaking his silence. Julie jumped, almost startled. She had not noticed him standing there.

"I suppose that could be a choice, we do have Arcade. You know he's more of a researcher, but he absolutely has the medical know-how to do what you're asking. And he's always complaining about never getting to go anywhere."

Scarlet's mouth twitched. "Arcade? Julie he's probably still made at me for—"

"That's ridiculous. He got over that. It was an accident anyway. He's back in his tent working on something. Go on and ask. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to go with you." Julie Farkas shoved the petite blond back towards one of the tents. When they arrived she let her go and patted Scarlet on the back. "Don't forget to say goodbye when you leave this time, okay?"

Scarlet nodded dumbly and frowned at the entrance to the tent. It took her a moment to work up the courage to poke her head in, but when she did her smile was back and a light lilt was in her voice. "Oh, Arcade!" She'd pulled a book from her bag and held it up for the man inside to see. "I brought you something."

"Scarlet." The man that was most likely Arcade Gannon greeted placidly, glancing up from his work. He wore a tattered and stained lab coat and a pair of darkly framed glasses perched on his nose.

"I need a favor though, first." She said, stepping fully into the tent, Vulpes closely behind her.

"Ah, I see." Arcade put down his work and turned completely to the pair, laying his hands in his lap. "It seems that this is not an consolation gift for what happened last time then."

Scarlet laughed nervously. "No, its not. But I am still sorry about that chemistry set! It was dark and I couldn't see the chair."

"Perhaps you'll learn not to sneak about in the middle of the night, yes?"

"I just wanted to surprise you." Scarlet murmured. She had been bringing Arcade a few books and had wanted to leave them on his desk so he could find them in the morning, but instead had tripped over a chair in the dark, thus destroying one of his chemistry sets and almost breaking another piece of equipment.

Arcade raised his eyes to study Vulpes for a few moments before addressing him. "I just want to warn you that you're traveling with one of the clumsiest people on the face of this planet. Scarlet is a walking disaster."

Scarlet glared at the blond man, but Vulpes could tell she wasn't actually angry with him. "Har har."

"I know," Vulpes replied, "She is to be pitied a little I think."

Arcade cracked a smile. "Come on in and sit down, the both of you. I know that look, Scarlet, you've got something on your mind."

The woman smiled and almost bounced over to hug the scientist, apparently happy that he was no longer mad about her little accident. She dropped the book on his desk, making it obvious that she was just kidding about using it as a bargaining chip for him helping them.

Seeing her limp Arcade eyed her suspiciously. "You're injured. What happened? I told you to stop running around getting into trouble. Damn what the NCR or whoever it is wants you to do!" He looked genuinely concerned for her safety, but Scarlet only sighed and took a seat opposite of him.

"It's a funny story."

"I'm sure it is." Arcade did not seem convinced.

I mentioned the Van Graffs. True Story: The first time I ever made it to Freeside I decided to go into Van Graffs to just see what was up, and you know, its supposed to be a store. I don't know whether it was a glitch or an intentional part of the game but they opened fire on me for no reason as soon as I was inside and killed me (since I had no weapons). Needless to say I reloaded and never went back in, even on all my other games. I'm not a big fan of laser weapons so its not a big loss to me. This happen to anyone else, or do you know what happened?

Oh and I started a bloggy archive thing for my writing and stories (not just my fanfictions but my original stuff, too). I'm still getting the thing up, but I have a news feed thingy that I plan on updating as I write if anyone's interested. The link is in my profile as the Homepage link.

Next Chapter: You Light Up My Life - They return to Nellis with Arcade and get a job from Loyal that involves fixing up his solar panels. So Vulpes and Scarlet have to travel to Helios One. And what choice will Scarlet make concerning the supposed weapon Archimedes?