EDITED: 17/06/13

Freeside wasn't as glamorous as Annie thought it would be. She was expecting flashing lights and crowds of people, but instead it was a shit hole, filled with squatters and chemheads. The girl scolded herself for expecting so much from a town she knew nothing about. The noise of The Strip was carrying over the gates, the laughing and the vomiting something that she wanted to be a part of.

That, and she knew she had to get to the Tops casino. That would be the first place to go. She'd march right up to Benny and gut him in front of his guests, and then walk back out – back to the wasteland and back to whatever she was doing before. Which was, in fact, nothing at all. Maybe that was to be her next quest… finding out who she was exactly.

They had pulled up a spare room in the 'nicer' side of Freeside; a couple of caps a night and even though you could hear the moans of prostitutes through the walls, the double bed with clean sheets won over the lot. The Atomic Wrangler wasn't the nicest place to stay, but it sure beat squatting in an abandoned building in the slum district.

Sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her, Annie was leaning against the wall trying to read the book she had gotten off of Ezekiel. Boone was polishing his gun beside her, his back turned so they didn't have to look at each other. Even with their caps combined they could not afford a single entry to The Strip. That made them tense.

"I can't get past the first chapter." The girl mumbled unhappily, folding the page in half and snapping the book shut. "You think you could read it and tell me what happens?" She asked, earning the turn of his head. Gaining access to his eye contact, Annie scooted closer to him.

"If you can't read it, I won't be able to." He sighed at her, placing his gun against the bedside table. The girl cocked her head gently before huffing.

"You said you could read."

"I can." He answered her flatly. "Old books are worded differently."

Pulling an impressed face at his apparent knowledge, the girl shrugged. "Okay." Tugging herself by the heels of her feet to the side of the bed, Annie pushed herself up to full height and tugged up her stockings. "Did your parents teach you how to read?"

He stayed silent, Annie catching the hint and clearing her throat. The man was a closed book and it was starting to get a little tiresome. Then again, there was something about the way the man sat in thought that dragged Annie in like a curious little girl harbouring around the darkness. "Is there anywhere to eat around here or are we having a little picnic on our bed?"

Boone took the opportunity to take over the bed, his back thanking him with a rush of ecstasy. Like he had mentioned to the weepy girl when they opened the door to their room, 'the bed has four legs and a couple of pillows – more than good enough.

He could see the creamy skin of her upper thighs creeping from below the short dress, the garters holding up a pair of holey stockings. Watching from over his glasses, he found it easier just to follow her with his eyes - she was tossing her now-loose hair between her hands, rolling it around her fingers and knotting it gently only to pull it straight a moment later. Her hair was thick and black, unlike Carla's thin, blonde hair. A woman with Carla's looks was hard to find in the wasteland – an pale, soft-skinned beauty that was always so polite and accommodating. Girls who looked like Annie (with their dark eyes and thick brows – defined arms that hid under tanned skin and toothy grin that told you of trouble), were a dime a dozen.

Not that he had met his decent share of girls. They never interested him until Carla came along. He found the whole prospect of wooing women a lot of ground work for little gain some days – the girls he grew up around more interested in the soldiers than anything… Besides, he wasn't one for small talk. All they wanted him to do was talk to them, tell them about his day and how he was feeling. That wasn't him – in fact, he'd rather toss himself off of Hoover Dam than tell anyone how anything made him feel. That was his cross to bear.

But still, even though Boone didn't let himself think of Annie that way, his brain still fought off his protests with quick doses of hysteria – his curiosity towards the taste of her tongue badly beaten down by the need to leave her on the roadside. The only thing from stopping him putting his subconscious plan into action was the fact that he had no right to enjoy himself.

"We'll stay here."

Huffing a laugh at his predictable answer, she crawled back on the bed. The weight shift of her hands near his thighs made his skin crawl with something weird. Boone only ever got goose bumps when he woke up from one of his dreams; and nine times out of ten they weren't good ones. He wished he could control himself better… he knew that he couldn't stop body from being 'natural', but boy, could he try.

Flopping down beside him, she turned her neck to meet his gaze. The angle on which she lay curled her bangs to the side, the dark scab on her forehead appearing again. She watched his eyes flicker over it, his mouth twitching in a form of interest.

Annie grinned. "I got shot in the head." His eyes widened only a fraction, but she still caught it. She smiled at him, straightening out so she could stare at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. Not that it's your business, but if I'm going to drag you into this I figure I should tell you."

"Shot in the head…"

"I know, I know! Congratulations to me for being alive… Some asshole in a chequered suit wanted the package I was carrying, so he roped me up and dug me a grave." She chewed her nails quietly. He watched her chest rise and fall in a moment of empathy. "Woke up in Goodsprings and have been looking for him ever since."

Annie was thankful for Boone's silence. He could have said anything, even if he had forced it, and it would have been the wrong thing to say. She didn't need his sympathy, much preferring his resigned coldness to anything else he had to offer.

"And now I can't remember anything…" She continued on, the only noise was of the broken nails snapping between her teeth. "Which is great, because life is now like a huge puzzle. I feel like I've been everywhere but in reality I'll never really know that. It's like a second chance."

Sensing that she had said too much, Annie sat up straight, looking hastily down at the man she had been so contented laying next to not even a second before.

He looked very lovely, all spread out for her. She knew he was not like that on purpose, but she still found her eyes running over the bare skin that had arrived from the un-tucking of his shirt. He was a very handsome man, even though he hid himself behind a pair of sunglasses and an old beret… Their eyes met again and she sighed.

"Anyway, Boone, I'm going to kill this man. And after that, I'll probably go find out who I am." Scratching the back of her head, she broke their eye contact. "I don't care if you want to leave after that. I know running around and tending to my needs isn't on the top of your 'list of things to do'."

Leaning up on his elbows and showing more than a little humanity, he let his eyebrows rise apprehensively.

"I don't see harm in taking a detour." His voice was still as rough as sandpaper, but she knew he was telling the truth. "And having your death on my conscience won't do me any good."

She turned back to face him, that same cheeky grin sliding back on to her face. Boone now felt her gap was more amiable than anything, and her eyes weren't always burning with a vicious fire… they were just alive.