This will be an important chapter in the series. Also, just a note to all you readers, this fic will be much shorter than Wandering Path. I would like to have it as a setup for things to come. Does that mean Fallout 4? Is he just kidding? Maybe...
Chapter 11: Reunions
Luther comes too and is worried when he does not immediately recognize his surroundings. Currently, he is sitting in a comfortable armchair with a cold rag wrapped around his head. The room is well furnished and has a feel that causes one to think it was untouched by the bombs. A nearby vase is turned over, the flowers spread all over the floor, and water is soaking into the carpet. Standing carefully, Luther makes his way over and rights the vase. As he does a man walks into the room.
Luther's hand automatically drops down to his waist for a weapon, but he finds none. The man notices the movement and holds out his hands. "Easy, I don't know who you are or why the Courier brought you here, but you are in no danger from me. Unless you are a Legionary." The man actually sounds as if he is considering that Luther is inline with the Legion.
The man enters further into the room and takes a long rifle off his back. He hangs the weapon on a rack Luther hadn't noticed before. His own gear is also neatly hung on the rack. The man reaches out and lightly brushes his hand over Luther's rifle. "This is an impressive gun. Where did you get it?"
Cautiously, Luther returns to the armchair he woke up in and sits back down. The man turns and looks at him expectantly. "Had it for a long while. It is old, have to keep fixing it nearly ever time I use it. One of these days it is going to blow up in my face. Just can't seem to part with it for some reason though." The man nods and brings a chair over to sit across from Luther. "What about you?" He nods towards the man's rifle. "Where did you get your gun?"
The man crosses his arms and removes the beret he was wearing. "It was issued to me when I joined the First Recon." So this guy is a professional sniper. Good to know. "They tried to take it from me when I quite, but after breaking a man's nose they decided it wasn't worth it."
Luther chuckles. He likes this man. He has a sort of dry nature to him. He sits forward, intending to introduce himself, but a second person enters the room. He looks over his shoulder to see a woman. Right away he remembers. Jane. She brought him into Vegas and questioned him about who she was. She is living in the Lucky 38, a place closed to all others, and works for Mr. House.
House is a threat. Use her to kill him.
"Luther, good to see you feeling better." She crosses to the weapon rack and starts strapping on a set of duel revolvers. "No time to catch up on what happened to you. You had a seizure if you don't remember." A seizure? Damn, this problem with his head continues to become worse and worse. "Mr. House wants me to look into some trouble with the Fiends near camp McCarran. I want you to come with me. You too Boone." The sniper stands up and puts his beret back on his head. "We need to get moving. So grab your gear old man."
"Old man?" Luther stands and moves to the weapon rack. He pulls on his gear with the ease of repetition and turns to face Jane. "I may be old, but I have been killing since before you were even an idea." He turns to Boone, "And as for you, well, I have decided that I like you. That does not mean I think you are any good with that rifle. We will just have to see." Making sure that all his weapons are properly secured he follows Boone and Jane to an elevator. The three of them board and Jane presses the ground floor key. "What exactly is going on outside?"
Jane shrugs her shoulders. "Not sure, that is why we are investigating." She pulls out a sheet of crumpled paper and skims it. "Seems there have been reports of explosions, widespread gunfire, and some civilians being caught in the middle of an all out battle between the NCR and the Fiends." She turns the paper over and her brow goes up. "Somehow the Van Graff's have all been slaughtered. Not sure how they fit in to this report. Seems one smaller group of four went into Fiend territory and hasn't come back out yet. A ghoul, a teen, a veteran Ranger, and a man. Hey!"
Luther snatches the letter out of her hand and reads the description of the ghoul and the girl. "Damn, its Tyler and Kc."
"Who?" Boone asks.
"Tyler and Kc. Tyler is my partner and Kc is a junkie tribal we picked up and can't get rid of. I ran out on them. I need to get a fix to make the... To help with an addiction. I assumed they would be smart and just stay put. Figures they get themselves into trouble."
Jane points at the description of the other two people. "What about them?" Luther reads the descriptions. There isn't much about the ranger and the man. Just that they are heavily armed and well trained. Luther shrugs and shakes his head as he hands Jane back the paper. "Right," she says as the elevator door opens and they exit, "lets assume that they are dead..."
"No," Luther interrupts, "Takes more than some raiders to kill Tyler."
Nick regards the ranger with a careful gaze. For no reason at all the man has decided to link up with him and the others. He pulled Nick into the fight at the overpass, accompanied them to the Silver Rush, and then followed him into the vault to kill the Fiends. He has shown extreme skill and ability, which makes up for the way he never seems to shut up. Still, something about him is off. Hell, Nick doesn't even know his name yet. As of right now the Ranger has been a major help in convincing Hsu to hand over the reward money for the Fiend leaders. Nick had heard about the bounty on them before the attack. He hadn't thought about it again until returning to the camp and realizing that his rampage could pay off. As the Ranger negotiated the prices with Tyler and Kc, Nick headed off to the infirmary to look for Veronica.
He feels bad for having essentially abandoned her earlier when the Fiends attacked. Not like he had much of a choice. She was injured and there was a more pressing issue to deal with. unwillingly he grimaces. He wasn't always such a heartless bastard. Once there was a time where he would have stayed by Veronica's side no matter how many Fiends attacked the base. Her well being would have been his top priority despite not having known her that long. He still cares, just not as much. It does not take much to change a person in the wasteland. Wander around on your own long enough and things will happen that just leave you shaken and different.
Pushing open the flap to the medical tent, he is greeted by the sounds of pain and the smell of death. Wounded people occupy every available surface in the tent. Those that can still stand are lined up around the walls, those that can't have been laid down on anything that is flat and sturdy, including the ground. Doctors and nurses rush about in an attempt to see to everyone's needs. This is the triage area, through another flap is surgery. Through there he can hear the surgeons calling for clamps, suction, plasma, blood bags, scalpels, and everything else they need. It seems that everyone who does not already have an assignment elsewhere in the camp is here helping out. Even some of those with minor wounds are doing their best to speed the process along.
Nick makes his way into surgery. "Hey," A doctor shouts at him as he enters, "get a mask on or get out!" Nick grabs a surgical mask from a passing nurse and ties it around his face. Approaching the operating table of the one who shouted at him he can immediately tell that the patient is not going to make it. Despite that the surgeon is doing her best to keep him alive. "Damn it, stay with me!" Nick reaches out and grabs her arm. He locks eyes with her and shakes her head. An unspoken message passes between them. This soldier can not be saved, wasting time on him will cost others their lives.
The surgeon steps back and calls for them to bring her a new patient. "Make sure he is comfortable." she tells the men who pick up her current patient. "He won't last much longer. The soldier is lifted onto a gurney and carried outside. Nick steps up to an empty table and counts how many actual surgeons there are. Only five. He pulls on some nearby scrubs and shouts for a nurse, Veronica can wait a little longer. No one questions who he is and a patient is brought to his table. The man has taken a belly wound and there is more blood than there should be.
"Get me some suction," he orders the nurse standing opposite the table of him. She does and starts to drain some of the blood. "Check his blood type and get him a kit as soon as you can." She nods and does what he says, disappearing as he takes a scalpel and expertly begins to work. He finds three separate bullets and tosses them into a nearby pan. Still something seems wrong. He carefully pushes a hand down under one of the man's intestines and, sure enough he finds a fourth bullet. As he removes the lead the nurse returns with the blood and hooks the soldier up. "Clamp." she hands him a clamp and he closes off the artery that is still bleeding. Taking a needle he begins to stitch the wound. When he is done he steps back. "Close for me." The nurse nods and does as he says.
Nick steps over to another table and continues to work. Hours tick by and the number of patients never seems to end. He finishes amputating the leg of a female soldier and steps away as a nurse closes for him. He turns to the table behind him, expecting to see another wounded, but the table is empty. For the first time in hours he looks up at the rest of the room. Most of the operating tables now lie empty save for one. The other surgeons are removing their scrubs and moving to post-op to check on their patients. The female surgeon he spoke to earlier walks up to him as she removes her gloves. "I don't know who you are or where you learned what you know, but you showed up right when we needed you." She offers a hand and Nick shakes it. "My name is Gabby, what's yours?"
"I have a lot of names and titles, but people I respect can call me Nick." She smiles at him indicates for him to follow.
"Well Nick, your help is much appreciated." They step into post-op and the flurry of activity beyond is stunning. There are bunks packed down with three people each. There are even mats laid out on the floor. Those with simple wounds such as broken arms and the like are standing or sitting along the wall. "We more understaffed than usual. Two of our surgeons were killed during the initial attack. They were trying to get some of the wounded here and ended up getting killed themselves." They pass one of the soldiers Nick operated on and out of instinct he check the patient clipboard at the foot of the man's bunk. Gabby steps up beside him. "You are good, probably one of the best I have seen. But you are not NCR. Your gear looks more like a mercenaries."
Nick returns the clipboard, satisfied that the man will pull through. "I am a mercenary, but my Father was a doctor. He taught me a lot when I was younger. We grew up in a vault so I learned a lot about treating colds and the occasional broken arm. When I got out into the wasteland I realized that my skill would easily qualify me as a doctor anywhere, but I wanted to learn more. I read every medical journal I cam across, which wasn't many, but they helped."
Gabby nods. "I was taught back in the Bone Yard. They sent me out here when they realized that the Legion wasn't just going to lay down and give up. Been here ever since the war started." She looks around with a sad expression. "I am the top surgeon now that those two I mentioned are dead." She looks back at him and smiles weakly. "If you need a job, we sure could use you around here."
It would be a lie if he said he did not consider it for a moment. Staying and helping people sure sounds better than wandering around in search of odd jobs. Then again, he still has hopes of finding the woman he has been searching for. The woman whose trail has led him here. He is spared from answering Gabby's request by the appearance of Veronica. "There you are!" Nick and Gabby turn see the short scribe push her way through the crowd to them. Before Nick can say anything she slams a fist into his shoulder. "Don't you dare ever run off on me like that again! I thought you were among the dead out back for sure!"
Nick rubs his shoulder and glare angrily at the short woman. "Where I choose to go is none of your concern. Accompanying me was your choice and I warned you of the possibility of my dying. You were wounded. Did you honestly think I would drag you into a fire fight with a bum leg?"
Veronica puts her hands on her hips. "Don't even get me started on that! You shot me! With a laser rifle! Where I had already been shot!"
He refuses to raise his voice, despite the growing ire in him. "I did that to stop the flow of blood from your wound so I could apply a stimpack properly. If I hadn't you would have bleed out before we even got close to McCarran. No matter what you think, what you went through, or how much pain you experienced, you are alive because of me."
All the fight evaporates from her. She leans forward until her head is resting against his chest. Nick is taken off guard by the act. He isn't a touchy person and isn't sure exactly what to do. Awkwardly he pats her shoulder as a few tears gather in the corners of her eyes. She sniffs once and straightens up, not allowing the tears to fall. "I'm sorry Traveler, I was just worried about you."
Nick hesitates before reaching out and squeezing her shoulder again. "You can call me Nick."
Jane enters Camp McCarren with Luther and Boone in tow. The trio make their way through the battlefield towards the former airport now control center of NCR operations in New Vegas. She plans on searching out Colonel Hsu to get some answers, but actually doesn't have to do any searching at all. The man is standing outside the airport and is engaged in a heated argument with two others. As they approach the catch the last of the fight. "Fine," Hsu shouts, "fine, the damn traitor can have his caps! He has caused enough trouble already!"
"Trouble," the one speaking now is wearing full Ranger veteran armor, "that man saved this camp, stopped the Fiends suppliers, and brought you the heads of the Fiend leadership. Because of him Vegas stands to see a huge decrease in Fiend related incidents for a long time!" Well, Jane thinks, that answers most of her questions. Hsu notices her approaching and sighs heavily.
She beams at his long expression. "Aww, don't be so down Shoe man, I just came to see if you needed any help."
The Colonel sighs again. "I do not need the kind of help that you offer, Courier Six." The Ranger and the other man who Jane now realizes is a ghoul turn to look at their group. The ghoul narrows his eyes and reaches for a sawed off shotgun at his waist. Jane instinctively pulls one of her revolvers out of its holster.
"Make a move rot-face and I will end you." Before she or the ghoul can say anything else, Luther has stepped forward and pushed her arm down.
"What the hell is your problem woman," he growls, "you looking to get yourself killed? No one pulls a gun on my partner Tyler and lives." So this is Luther's ghoul companion? She looks the man up and down and isn't very impressed. Aside from the sawed off he still has a hand on he is only carrying a different caliber shotgun. "Tyler," Luther says, "this is Jane, she is the last person we saw Nick with back in D.C. remember?"
The ghoul takes his hand off his gun and crosses his arms. He nods his head and looks her up and down. "You look different."
Jane sneers, "You look like a corpse." The ghoul throws back his head and barks a short laugh.
"Keep it up smoothskin bitch, and I will use to repaint the walls around here."
"Enough," Hsu shouts, "I don't want any more violence around here, God knows we have seen enough of it already. Why don't you lot just go do your reunion elsewhere so I can put my camp back together." Hsu marches off, leaving them all standing around not sure of what to do.
"So," Tyler says to Luther, "what happened to you? Kc and I thought you had run off for good this time."
Luther heaves a sigh, "Simple, I am going insane and there is nothing..." He trails off and seems to be listening to someone speaking. "No, I don't have to tell them about that, so shut the hell up." Jane is a little taken aback. Sure, Arcade said he may have something wrong with his head, but this is the fist actual sign of it being true, aside from the seizure. Tyler, however, does not seem surprised at all.
"Tell the voice in your head to fuck off while I am talking to you." The ghoul turns to Jane. "So, girl, what exactly are you doing here?" Jane takes a breath and quickly gives the default story about how she was shot in the head and got revenge. As she finishes Tyler cracks a small smile. "And I thought I was a tough bastard to kill. You got a bullet through your skull and all it did was piss you off? Heh, I find that I am liking you more and more girl."
"Ma'am," Boone cuts in, "we do have an assignment to get to."
"Right," Jane nods, "do any of you have relevant information about the attack here?" The ranger speaks then.
"Yep, I was on the front lines with one of theirs. The two of us held off the bulk of the Fiend forces while the soldiers her retook the camp. After that we discovered that Tyler here knew about how the Fiends got a hold of their energy weapons. We tracked down the source and put them out of business, permanently."
Jane rubs her head, "The suppliers wouldn't happen to be the Van Graff siblings would they?" The ranger nods, as does Tyler, "Great."
"After that we hunted down the Fiend leadership one by one. We even took out Motor Runner! I wasn't there to see it, but I assume it was gory. Nick said it was personal because they killed his dog. I know that If someone killed my dog, If I had a do, which I don't and probably never will, I would want their heads on spikes as well. More so, i would probably scalp them and wear them around so people knew I mean business. You think scalps are scary right?" Jane heard all he said, but her focus is on one name. Nick. It couldn't be the same Nick that Luther told her about, could it?
"Hey," Tyler shouts suddenly, surprising everyone, "There he is, Nick over here." They all turn to see a man in a long coat walking towards them. On his back is a new rifle and a sword with a feather tied to the hilt. There is a leather band around his head, keeping his long dirty blonde hair out of his pale blue eyes as well as a trimmed goatee around his mouth. At his waist are twin revolvers, just like Jane's. Walking behind him is a short woman wearing simple brown robes and carrying only a power fist. As he approaches, he locks eyes with Jane. He stops dead in his tracks and stares at her with a mixed expression of shock and disbelief. "What," Tyler asks in confusion, "you look like you have seen a ghost."
Without a word Nick walks up to Jane. She steps back, totally taken off guard by the man's piercing gaze. He stops barely a foot from her. She can't help but notice the smell that comes off of him. He smells of antiseptic and blood, like he just came out of a hospital, but beneath that, she can smell smoke. Old leather. And something that makes her think of her time spent in Zion. His hand comes up and gently brushes her jaw. For a moment she feels something, a fleeting flutter, but then it is gone. She knocks away his hand. "Watch it buddy."
A spark appears in his eye and a smile slowly spreads across his hand. "You haven't changed." That defeats any defiance she had tried to build with the slapping away of his hand. "Three years," he continues, "three years of searching, and you haven't changed one bit."
"Who are you?"
His smile fades. "You don't remember?"
She reaches up and pulls back her hair to reveal the long scar along her skull, "I was shot in the head and woke up a year ago with no memory of who I am or where I came from. I hunted down the men who shot me in the hopes of finding answers, but got none."
He lowers his head. "You and I worked together for two years. Then, three years ago, you vanished during a routine delivery. I have been crisscrossing the nation looking for you ever since. And now I find you, and you don't even remember?" She shakes his head. "I am the Wanderer, I am the crazy man who saved your life. I am Nick."