Author's Note: Ohmyflippingosh! Please don't stone me yet! I'm so so so so so so sorry about being so late. I know that compared to other writers I guess I'm not that bad, but going from nearly a chapter a day to almost zilch for a few (minus the Raul one-shot) makes me feel bad. Granted I did get carried away with writing up some plans for a couple other stories, including an upcoming LW/Mr. Burke story. I always wanted to write one because I found him really fascinating for some reason. The other day I spotted someone else had wrote one and it totally reminded me of how much I used to want to write one, too. Long story short, got inspired and now have a decent plan shaping up for one. This chapter, like the last one, also gave me trouble. Something about the Boomers just mess with my head. I like them and all, but the closer I have to follow the given plot in the game (and not have leeway) the harder it is. Part of me is still a little unhappy with it, and I may at a later date, and after I give it a bit of time to stew and see if its just me or not, I may rewrite it. Not much, just the end after they meet Janet though. Anyways, enough of me. Review replies, quite brief, and then story:

Rowena: Thank you, I'm glad you think so. Sorry to have kept you waiting for this chapter, but here it is!

TheEnigmaticStranger: Yes, Vulpes smut. -cackle- Oh, and don't worry about the gun thing. Dangerous is sexy and he is the epitome of dangerous.

Chapter XII

Can't Buy Me Love

"All finished!" Scarlet chirruped, lifting herself from the awkward position she had been in while fixing the last solar array panel in place. She stepped away from it and wiped the dust off her hands before placing them on her hips. Her glinting eyes surveyed the work the two of them had done with pleasure. "Let's get this baby fired up!" The smile she shot Vulpes was electric. The energy that crackled off her today was enough to fuel these panels by herself. She had been that way since they'd left Helios One. Vulpes was trying to figure out if this was her way of forgetting that he had put a gun to her head, or if she was actually that damned happy for the way everything was progressing. Maybe she wasn't the type of person to hold a grudge against someone pointing a gun at her after all. He remembered the way she'd mercilessly shot down the Chairman, but then recalled how that whole situation had never felt quite right to him.

The Legionary didn't say a word, but gave a curt nod and started for the steps. Behind him he heard Scarlet's light footsteps, just a little more hurried and slightly more bouncy than his. She reminded him of a child that had been given too much sugar for breakfast; the only problem was that she hadn't crashed yet and it didn't look like it was likely to happen soon. He was halfway down the concrete stairs when her surprised cry broke from her lips. Before she bashed her head open he twisted his body in time to catch her and pull her back onto the step beside him. "Be careful."

Scarlet could feel the rumble of his words in his chest as much as she heard them. Her stomach did a spiral flip when she realized his hands were on her shoulders and he had her just millimeters from his chest. Swallowing she lifted her head to look at him. "Sorry, my boot caught the edge." She wasn't going to tell him the truth, which was the fact her leg had suddenly throbbed so painfully that it had buckled beneath her. She told herself she was keeping it to herself because she was fine now and not for a stupid reason like appearing weak. Recollections of the post-bunker fight chiding from him resurfaced. It made her feel even more frail and silly, especially with his hands on her. They felt so strong. Her insides curled again and she fought the twitch in her hand to flutter there.

The spell was released when his hands came off and he stepped passed her. He seemed unaware of the effect he was having on her that moment and she was thankful for that. It allowed her to move on and get her work done. The panels worked perfect they found out and they headed back off towards the hangar to talk with Loyal about the finished job. The older man was more than pleased. Before they left he stopped them and informed them of the last big job. "Pearl said it was about time we trusted you two." Loyal said, and Vulpes and Scarlet exchanged glances. He then went on to tell them about the bomber plane that had crashed into the lake and how for many years they've dreamed of bringing it up.

"Why haven't you?" Scarlet asked. She was excited. This was huge!

Loyal chuckled, "obviously you've forgotten that we don't exactly get out much."

Scarlet looked sheepish. "Yeah, that's right. Sorry."

"Since the two of you have been so helpful we thought we would tell you and see if you would want to help us with this."

"Of course we want to help you! This is really amazing, Loyal!" Scarlet cried.

Vulpes noticed that they were doing it again. Scarlet was talking and making all the decisions and he was remaining her quiet companion, her shadow. This was actually how he had intended things to go between them since he could learn nothing about the way her mind worked if he took control the whole time, but he was realizing now with some trepidation that they hadn't even discussed it and had fallen right into it. There was a part of him that was angered in a way that she would just assume she could lead the way as she always had before he had come along. The other part of him considered that perhaps he was underestimating her intelligence and had from the start known what he was here for. Maybe she wasn't being disrespectful at all, but silently following his wishes without either of them being aware of it.

As the two walked away from Loyal to go find Jack, his apprentice, so they could retrieve the rebreather he might have for them, he spoke up, silky voice laced with danger. "Any reason you did not ask my opinion on this new mission?"

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Scarlet's steps falter and the smile on her lips twitch into uncertainty. From that angle he could not tell if there was fear there or just confusion. "I—I'm sorry. I just figured since we're supposed to be making friends with them that I should take it, I mean, was that wrong? I didn't mean to—" The worried and apologetic tone tapered off as she stopped and tilted her head to him. "Why the hell am I apologizing to you? You haven't said hardly two goddamned words about what we're supposed to be doing other than gaining their trust. At least I'm making an effort here!" With that she stomped off away from him, zeroing in on Jack.

Not quite what Vulpes had expected, but he found himself intensely amused with her reaction. Her first instinct had been to say she was sorry and upon realizing that she was doing so she became angry, but not at him, oh no, he could see that self-disgust the second it hit her what she was doing. He had hoped that maybe underneath the self-sufficient tough girl act was really a moderately submissive persona. He found a lot of times the more rough a woman acted on the outside the more insecure she was on the inside, the easier it was to get her to do exactly what you wanted. Scarlet was a layer of steel laid over a layer of crème spread over some barbed wire.

He followed her, a smile flickering across his features, one of dark anticipation and deceit. Oh, this was going to be fun.

-X-

Mortification. Embarrassment. Stupidity. Those were just a few of the words Scarlet had drifting through her mind concerning the exchange between she and Vulpes. The bastard had done it again, seemed to weave himself into that frail little psyche of hers and chip away. It had taken her almost until she had finished speaking to realize that he was baiting her, testing what she thought of his demands. As angry as she was she couldn't really blame him. She knew who he was and what he was capable of and yet she still let her guard down around him. Like a moron. She growled inwardly at herself.

Instead of letting herself be bothered by it anymore she approached Jack with a bright smile. "Hey there, handsome, whatcha thinkin' about?" The man had been in deep thought, his brows furrowed and eyes downcast to the floor as he absently worked on the piece of machinery that was in his hand.

Her voice startled him back to reality and he almost dropped it. "Oh! Scarlet." He returned her smile with a little less happiness. Underneath it she could read touches of sadness and worry. Poor boy had been thinking real hard after all. He set the clump of metal down on the table and turned to her, his expression melting back into his pensive state. "Do you… do you really think I'm handsome?"

By this time Vulpes had caught up to her. She ignored his presence as much as possible, trying to pretend that she was very annoyed with him at the moment. It made it easier that she found herself wrapped in a blanket of confusion at Jack's question. "Um, well yeah. I think you're quite handsome. I bet you're a real heartbreaker!"

Color bled across Jack's cheeks and he shook his head. "I don't want to be a heart breaker."

"No, its…" Scarlet bit her lip as she considered him. He was too damned sweet. "It's a figure of speech, meaning I bet you could get any girl you wanted."

"Oh." He seemed a little more relieved. "I hope so."

"So you were thinking about a girl." Scarlet couldn't help but grin. She had never been a romantic truly. It never appealed to her. Love was a messy affair full of pain and in the wasteland it almost always ended in at least one of the parties being dead or wishing they were. Still, that didn't stop her from appreciating the sentiment, wishing that it wasn't so hard, that the struggle was really worth it in the end. "Who is she?"

Jack seemed appreciative that someone was interested in his troubles. He immediately gushed about his long distance love from the Crimson Caravan and how he hoped that maybe she felt something similar, too. "I just wish I knew."

"I can go talk to her for you."

"Really!"/"What?"

Jack grabbed Scarlet in a tight embrace. "Oh, you would really do that for me!"

"Of course I will." Scarlet replied, patting him on the back. Her eyes flickered over to the Legionary standing beside her and caught the displeasure written there. He had been pretending to be angry about her plans with Loyal, but he was really pissed at her about this. Serves him fucking right for messing with my head.

-X-

"You did that to spite me!"

Scarlet turned towards the fuming Legionary as they walked. She didn't stop, just continued her pace backwards. Vulpes thought continuing to move was a good idea, because if she stopped long enough for her to get in reach of him he might have grabbed her and throttled her right then and there. The nasty smile on her face was enough to tell him that he was right. "So what. It's not that big of a deal. I don't see why you're getting all bent out of shape."

"Because it's a waste of time." He growled through gritted teeth. They came here to ally Caesar's Legion with the Boomers, not play matchmaker with a pair of lovey-dovey imbeciles, one of which lived in a dream world supplied by the sheltered teachings of his air base haven, and the he hadn't met yet but was sure to prove equally irritating.

"It is not! We're going to have to head that way anyway. In fact it might save us some time. Instead of having to go all the way back to my apartment at the 38 we'll just have to stop off at Crimson and while we're getting that pressure cooker for Jack we can find his lovely little redhead. Hell, its close enough that we wouldn't even have to take Arcade all the rest of the way back to the Followers Fort. Its actually quite convenient."

"You agreed to it even before you found out about the pressure cooker for the rebreather." Vulpes pointed out. She was trying to twist the situation into something that it hadn't been. It was almost insulting how she thought that he would so easily forget the order of events that had happened.

"I still don't see the problem. We would have had to leave to go to the bay anyway, and we could have done it then, even before knowing about the damned pressure cooker." That self-important smirk had vanished from her face, replaced by something darker and irritated. Deep inside her she wanted nothing more to just dismiss him as foolish. This was the reason that she didn't like having traveling companions. Eventually they always found something to disagree with you on, and disagree so vehemently it was almost like they were at war. She was walking with her back to him now, unable to look at the anger on his face. It disturbed her on a level she couldn't quite understand. Perhaps it was because she was so used to seeing him controlled, or maybe there was a part of her that hated that he was looking at her that way.

Why the hell should that matter? He's just some sick Legion asshole who gets off on watching people suffer. In that moment she almost told him to go back to Caesar and inform him that the deal was off and that she couldn't care less. If they wanted to go to war with her as well as the NCR and any other 'profligates' they found then they were welcome. She'd be ready for them, by god.

Then he spoke. "It would have still been a waste of time because love is a waste of time. It's illusory. It's the lie that men and women tell themselves so that they can forget about just how worthless their lives are. It's the excuse they feed their precious, pointless morals so that they can have offspring without having to admit the ugly truth that the only thing they're doing is reproducing to propagate the species. It's hardwired into our nature. Humans are little more than animals. The sickest part is that they try so hard not to be by forcing on the world their fantasy of ideas such as love."

"For something you claim to hate and not believe in you sure have spent a hell of a long time thinking about it to form that kind of opinion." She had completely stopped walking now, halfway between the hangar and the medical barracks where they were supposed to meet Arcade.

The apathy had returned, a cold nothingness veiling his eyes. "If you are insinuating that perhaps I have some kind of personal vendetta against this certain emotion then I am sorry to disappoint you. I've never had the displeasure of running into the sentiment, which I am thankful for. The silly notion of love has no place in the life of a soldier. It cannot protect you from an enemy's blows or mend your wounds. It cannot feed you when you are hungry or warm you when you are cold. It is just a word, nothing more."

"You're saying that love isn't real."

"Love isn't real." That was final. She read the tone in his voice and the confidence with which he said it. "I don't believe in things I cannot see, and for as long as I've been alive love has remained as ever elusive as the concept of peace. Neither of them exists. They're just bedtime stories. And if you haven't noticed I grew up a long time ago."

Scarlet frowned. That could be debated she believed, with all of her heart. So far from what she could tell about the Legion it was nothing but an army of little boys that had been taken away from their mothers before they were ready and then raised by a strict over-lording Father who pushed them further than he had a right to. This she would not say aloud and would not dare. "That is what you truly believe then?" She felt sad for him, the anger she felt diffusing instantly.

"I do. But," he waved his hand with a sigh, "if it is what you insist upon we will go to this Crimson Caravan and we will talk to Jack's so-called love. Let's just be quick about it. We have real work to do."

-X-

Her name was Janet and she was actually quite pretty. She had short red hair that glimmered in the midday sun and wide friendly eyes that had turned on them as they approached her. She stood straight up and leaned on the broom she had in her hand. "Hi." Scarlet greeted with a smile. She had to be the one Jack was talking about. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I guess you can, but if you're looking for someone in charge I'm not it. McLafferty is in the office over there." She pointed at the building behind them.

"Oh, we're not here to talk with her. You ever watch a man over at Nellis Air Force Base through your binoculars?"

The woman looked nervous for a moment and a slight blush spread over her cheeks. "Yes, I have on occasion."

Scarlet grinned. "That's great! I'm here on his behalf. My name's Scarlet, and the handsome man you've been seeing, well, his name's Jack and he had the hugest crush on you."

"He does?" Janet asked, and she looked like she might have fallen over if it hadn't been for her broom.

"Convinced you're the love of his life!" Scarlet explained the entire situation to her, each moment Janet's face showing her growing intrigue. "He's really sweet. I think you should meet him."

"I would really like to. This is so exciting!" She hugged Scarlet tightly and it reminded her of Jack's hug. She bit back the urge to laugh because it was all just too perfect. Perfect until Janet spoke again. "The only bad thing is that I'm under contract and if I just leave I can't get my money that they owe me. I'd be forfeiting it."

"I'll tell you what, I'll go talk to McLafferty. I have a way with people sometimes and I can see if she'll let you go."

-X-

Vulpes did not come in with her, opting to lean against the building at the bottom of the stairs. He was making it perfectly clear he still thought this whole thing was a big waste of time. At least he was no longer arguing with her about it and for that she gave him some credit. Regardless of his attitude Scarlet was fairly happy with the progression of things. Janet seemed like a very lively and friendly woman. She could see her and Jack together with no problem and was hoping for the best as she stepped into the office. Unfortunately McLafferty had other plans.

"I can't just let people walk out on their contracts or they would mean nothing at all. I let one person do it and then everyone will start doing it. That is no way to run a business."

"You don't have to tell anyone that she just walked out." Scarlet suggested, "I mean, if things work out then she won't be coming back to tell anybody about it. You can't really want to stop two people from possibly finding love do you?"

Alice McLafferty didn't look like she had loved a day in her life – unless that love was for money and order. She regarded Scarlet rather incredulously. "I can let her go, but I cannot let her take her money."

"Could you at least give her part of it, maybe a compromise?"

-X-

Scarlet came out of the door, tension wracked her features and she was mumbling some unpleasant things under her breath. Vulpes lifted his head just as she called McLafferty an "insufferable old bat." He smirked. "I take it that she said no."

"It was like talking to you." She strode passed him and over to Janet, who was waiting for the answer. Seeing the approaching blond's face was enough to let her know how it went. Scarlet went through the entire conversation with her, looking extremely disappointed with herself. Behind her Vulpes watched closely, taking in every twitch in her face, tone in her voice. He wanted to know why something like this meant so much to her. He knew it was too much to figure it out now, but maybe in time. "And I even offered to do a few jobs for her to make up for it, and she was like, no, we're not hiring anyone!"

Janet sighed. "I should have figured. Thanks anyway, I really appreciate that you tried. I may have to wait until my contract runs out and that just… Its going to be hard now knowing that he feels the way I do and me not being able to meet him."

Walking away from Janet was a hard thing for Scarlet to do. She crossed her arms over her chest like she was cold and stared straight ahead as they neared the gates. "I told you," Vulpes said, "that this was a waste of time."

"Please," Scarlet began, her voice sounding very small, "I don't want to talk about it."

Vulpes knew that he should feel something about the situation, or at least pretend to. Yet he could not fathom it and didn't want to. If Scarlet wanted to get worked up over it then let her. It would just go to prove how silly women could get.

Suddenly they heard hurried footsteps coming up behind them and when they turned they saw Janet running up. "Wait! I talked to her and told her she could shove her caps! What's a bunch of money if I'm going to be alone for the rest of my life, huh?" She grinned widely at Scarlet, who smiled back.

"Welcome aboard!"

-X-

It took a little finagling with Pearl to let Janet in the rest of the way, but after what Scarlet and Vulpes had done for the Boomers thus far, and Pearl's want for her people to be happy she allowed her inside, informing Jack that she was his responsibility and needed to make sure she understood their ways. Jack never looked happier as he stood talking to Janet for the first time. They looked like a couple of teenagers on a first date. In a way it was just like that. Scarlet sat on an old metal crate and watched them from afar, her head in her hands.

"They look so happy." She sighed. "I feel like I've done a good deed today."

Vulpes wanted to tell her it was a pointless good deed, but kept his mouth shut. It was something about the quiet of the building and her lilting voice that wiped away the majority of his discontent. She seemed even brighter then than she had that morning, as if she had been fueled by the job she had done for Jack. Vulpes had never been the kind of man who saw use in philanthropy unless it aided his own cause. Why Scarlet cared so much for a bunch of strangers was foreign to him. He labeled it under one of the many mysteries about the woman and left it at that.

"We should head out in the morning for the bay." He switched topics. He had retrieved the detonator and all needed components from Loyal when they had returned. The only thing they had left was the rebreather, which Jack promised he would have for them by sunrise, even if it took him working a little late. At least Scarlet had agreed to let him instead of insisting he spend time with his new girlfriend. They might not have been able to avoid the extension of their stay here for this day, but if they had to just sit around another few days for Jack to get over the newness of his relationship Vulpes would have went crazy. The NCR wasn't exactly banging down the Legion's door, but the more they got done before the big battles began the better off the Legion would be.

"You're right. Let's go get some rest and then." She hopped off her crate. Misjudging the distance caused pain to shoot up her injured leg from the weight suddenly brought upon it. A hiss broke from her throat and she tripped. One hand grasped out for the crate to steady herself, but before it could hit she felt his hands pulling her up.

"If you keep falling like this I might have to tell Caesar we can't use you, and not because you're not a good soldier, but because your clumsiness might be the death of us."

Scarlet frowned up at him. She realized that there was a touch of humor in that comment and was glad to see he was relaxing from their earlier spat. As angry as she had been with him at the time it worried her now that she could have potentially blown it all over a silly disagreement. She didn't understand his hold over her. She was just about done fighting it though. "Hey, Vulpes," she said, softly. When his eyes flickered down to hers she said, "about earlier, maybe one day you'll see where I'm coming from."

"I doubt it, but I'll keep it in mind."

Haven't fully decided yet on if I'm going to make something out of Vulpes' reaction to the whole love thing or just leave it as he really does just think its a silly concept. However, if I do make it a bigger, more personal deal, its not going to be something like he was in love with some chick once and lost her or she did him wrong or something. My Vulpes, at least in this story, as far as I can see hasn't had any romantic relationships nor has wanted them, so he really has spent his life alone. Kind of sad, poor baby.

Reviews are awesome, especially for this chapter. The end feels off to me, but it might just be because its five in the morning and I've been up all night. Hmmm.

Next Chapter: Volare! - Da plane boss, Da plane! Err, okay, bad joke. Vulpes and Scarlet finally get to set off to bring up the old bomber. It will be the last chapter with the main Boomer quests.