EDITED: 17/06/13
"Are you two alright?"
Annie's gun snapped out of her holster shakily for the face of the woman whose eyes were hidden by the wide brim hat. The ranger was quicker, the younger girl staring down the barrel of a rifle. Boone touched Annie's shoulder, letting her know that she was in no danger. She lowered her pistol, eyes breaking from a scowl. It paid to be somewhat attentive in the wasteland, and Annie was hoping she could break the fouls she had already spent.
"We're fine." Boone was once again behind Annie, peering down at the Ranger through his tinted glasses. "Legion soldiers. Five of them – four dead, one crawling west." When he saw the flicker of questions in the ranger's eyes, Boone clarified. "He'll bleed out before he gets anywhere."
"Well then," She nodded, somewhat impressed. "You did a mighty fine job with that problem." The woman pushed the brim up with her palm, surveying the bodies littered around them. Even though Annie had put her gun away, the ranger was not naïve. Her rifle stayed aimed at the two, even though the woman registered Boone's beret. They seemed safe enough, but a girl who pulled a gun quicker than one could finish a sentence demanded a bit of precaution. "Ranger Lineholm."
"Annie and Boone." The courier turned and cocked her thumb at the stoic man. "Just got a bit off track. See, we're heading for the Strip."
"You are very off track." The Ranger nodded, eying the cut on the girl's arm. The rifle was slung onto her back, her hand finding her hip in an act of somewhat authority. "It may not be a major hospital, but we have tents and shade where you can patch yourself up. I suppose we owe you for ruining the Legion surprise."
Annie's eyes widened, turning up to look at Boone. He shrugged, making her giddy. The idea of a tent, also with a possible mattress, seemed really delicious, muscles rejoicing at the thought of a nice night's sleep. She cursed the fact she had spent so many days resting… all the running water and civilisation had softened her up.
Now that he had discovered close body proximity with the girl, Boone realised that Annie wasn't all that pretty. She had that thing with her teeth – a gap. It put off her whole face; made her look mangy and rough when partnered with her wild eyes and blood spatter. Yes, yes… she was the worst looking woman he had ever seen.
Well, he could try to tell himself that.
As Annie sewed her armour, Boone sewed her arm shut. Her stitches weren't as delicate as his, but it didn't faze her in the slightest. Annie had the feeling she'd never learnt how to sew. In fact, the concentration spent on pressing the needle through the rough leather blocked out the prick and sting of the sniper's quick fingers.
She was still mumbling curses, an unrelenting anger only hissing through the gaps of her teeth. The slit on her arm was nothing compared to the other scars on her torso. Hunched over like an old woman, Annie subconsciously gave him a view of the gashes and ugly lumps of skin that stained her tanned back. They inched out from under the ratty bra that barely held her in, shining a pink-silver in the patches of sun that beat down on them from the holes in the roof. His eyes snapped back to her arm.
Maybe he was just lonely - that would explain a lot.
"Hey buddy?" Annie asked quietly, knotting the string with shaky fingers. The fingers on her left hand had swelled a little, aching from being snapped back into their sockets by the sniper. "If they were watching us, why didn't they help us when we were fighting?"
"They weren't watching." Boone muttered back, eyes shifting to the doorway of the empty tent. "Not until the guns started anyway."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Why waste bullets on people you know nothing about?"
"But you've got that bright red hat…"
"Doesn't matter."
"Is that an NCR rule?" Annie questioned, turning her eyes to watch Boone's heavy hand dance with a needle.
"Common wasteland knowledge."
"Hm." The heat of the Mojave had caused her bangs to split and curl with sweat. He could finally see her whole face, dull and cracked from the hot winds of the desert. Her eyebrows were too big for her forehead; it gave her an almost… foreign look - like the charred women on the cover of old pre-war spy books. "Yeah, makes sense."
Finishing up the stitch, he snapped the thread with his bare hands, noting the flinch from the girl to his right. Giving him a happy, though pained, pat on the arm, Annie turned to face him – mouth wide with a grin.
"Thank you, doctor. It's a good thing I made you stick around." Pulling the arms of leather over her wrists, she shrugged it on. "Now, next stop is the Strip. Any idea how we get there?"
"North-west, through Freeside." His eyes rolled over the scabby hole in her head. The sight of it winded him; not a gasp but a weird, sickening ache in the lungs. Even though it appeared to be healing well, the wound was a dark red; a weird contrast against her lightly toasted skin.
She stood, zipping the front of her armour and stretching out.
"We'll walk down to the 188 trading post and sleep there. It'll provide a bit more cover, and is pretty guarded by NCR and citizens. Besides, it's that or staying here and sleeping in those rusty trailers." Picking up her pack, Annie tightened her ponytail, glancing out at a patrolling ranger that gave her the chills. "Not that it's a big deal, but… I don't know. Let's go."
He simply nodded.
The walk back down to the Trading Post got them there by sundown. Contradicting herself before, Annie was curled up on the floor of a grimy old trailer. Boone was beside her, on the mattress that she refused to take because she 'preferred the floor anyway'. The added comfort of a rotting mattress let him sleep easier than he originally wanted. He needed to be awake so he could keep an eye out for danger, but when he sat down on the make-shift bed he slowly sank on to his back… then his eyes closed… then there was Carla.
Boone woke up the next day and Annie was gone. He couldn't believe he had slept the night through, without so much as a peep. Pushing the ratty blanket off him in a fit of overdue security, he took his gun and peeked through the window. The post was close to bustling, the chatter of the merchants blending in with the mumbles of the strange boy in the head case.
Annie was still nowhere to be seen, causing him to inwardly sigh. There was an odd feeling in his stomach, like he knew something interesting had happened. There was a good chance that 'Alexander' (a trader from the GRA who Annie had taken a shine to the previous night) had run off with the courier. He seemed shady enough – actually a borderline asshole. His companion liked him, which said nothing and everything at the same time.
"Looking for your girl?" A dirty-faced wasteland settler caught his attention. Boone stopped, turning to face the sudden voice. "She's dealing with some merchants outside."
Annie returned back not even a second later, cradling food in her skinny arms. She brightened when her eyes set on his, skipping into a soft jog to reach him sooner.
"You're awake! I figured I'd let you sleep in… you looked so content wrapped up in that blanket, like a little baby." She winked at him, making him angry at the fact he even bothered to worry about her in the first place. "I have breakfast! I figured it would be nicer than stale mantis and age-old potato chips." Handing him all the food at once, she bent to dig around in their packs, returning with a couple of caps and a sarsaparilla bottle. "Thanks for watching him, friend."
The man winked at her, taking her wares and wandering off down the tunnel.
"I didn't need to be watched." Boone told her, allowing her to pick the squirrel on a stick from between his fingers. Her eyebrow quirked, a grin forming on her lips before she took a chunk of meat in her teeth.
"Of course not." Her words were jumbled from her chewing. "But if I had left you without that man you probably would have been mad."
"You didn't even know his name?"
"You were dead to the world! I accidentally kicked an old tin can on my way out and it made the loudest noise! And you just lay there, sleeping so quietly." She crawled back into the trailer, sitting cross-legged on the mattress. "It would have been beautiful if you didn't have that scowl on your face. Now, come on, eat! The sooner you eat, the sooner we can get to Freeside."
Boone dwelled on the fact that he hadn't had a proper night's sleep in years. Even with Carla beside him he still tossed and turned. Mr Sandman must have finally caught up with him after years of being in hiding – a visit that wasn't exactly welcomed at first but grew on the man as the minutes passed by. He felt strangely better, less irritated and more willing to listen to the girl blather on about something he couldn't really follow.
"-and I managed to get some better ammunition for you – for free! Of course he's really handsy but you know - you do what you have to do sometimes. But he's funny, and that's like, an upside to the whole thing. That asshole made me laugh when he-…" Annie's eyes creased up with some sort of disgust but managed to stay chipper enough to keep a smile smashed in there. "yeah."
"What?" Boone looked up from his canteen. Annie laughed at him when she realised he hadn't been following.
"Alexander… the gun runner." She grinned that same grin, Boone fully aware that Annie had the poor man under her thumb already. "And, and the best part of the night – which totally makes up for all the rocks in my back, is that I managed to get a really big book off Ezekiel. It's about Mongols, whatever the fuck they are." She nodded to herself, shrugging gently before setting her eyes into his. "Can you read?"
The man scanned her face for any residue of her teasing, but found her curiously staring back at him with that same small grin she'd been testing out that morning. It seemed to be more charming than anything, but that thought made his face turn sour.
"Yes." He answered, stewing in his own self-disgust.
"Is it hard to do?" Her voice rang with an authentic interest. When he didn't answer, she leant over and nudged his shoulder. Turning his neck slowly, he caught her eye and frowned.
"Sometimes."
"I'm sure I can learn." She said peacefully. Trailing down the bridge of her nose, his eyes set on the chipped tooth in her mouth as Annie beamed into her squirrel. She hoped she was unhappy in her old life because it wasn't often anyone got to start with a clean slate.
Working through whatever tangle he'd managed to create in his brain, Boone focused in on the situation and leant back – sipping his canteen as he concentrated on a rusted hole in the side of the trailer. The girl in front of him glowed with positivity; pink cheeked and recreated by a certain aura that seemed far too familiar.
His eyes snapped back to her, searching the soft skin of her neck in a subconscious checklist of his soon-to-be conclusion. Annie's eyes were simmering softly with a smouldering fire – soothed by soft stokes… Soothed? His eyes widened a fraction.
"Alexander." He grunted and the girl looked up at him, breaking into that smart grin that told him he had already said too much. Annie leant back onto her palms and sent him a coy look that ended up breaking into a teasing stare.
"There's enough of me to go around, soldier." She told him gently, letting her brows rise as he deadpanned instantly. Blowing him a kiss to prove her point, she pulled herself forward and busied herself in her squirrel – the pleased grin never leaving her face.