A/N: Hey everyone. Apologies again for disappearing. Our internet got shut off for a while, and we only got it back on recently, and my boyfriend and I have super busy. Things are quiet for now, so I'm hoping I can get back on my planned schedule.

The sunlight was bright as it hit Dragon's eyes. She closed them, and held her hand up. She blinked as her eyes adjusted, and lowered her hand. She walked down from the large white house, making it to the rusted mailbox before having to stop. She leaned against it, head pounding.

She reached into the bag and sifted through the meds Mitchell gave her. She grabbed a shot of Med X and read the instructions.

"Inject in area affected by pain. Don't exceed four doses in twenty four hours. Makes sense."

She carefully applied the dose near her new scar, and waited a few minutes for it to kick in. She started towards the dirt path, and noticed a robot.

It had a screen on a large upper body that displayed a cowboy face. The body thinned out as it went down, ending with a wheel to move. Two arms with three fingers protruding from the ends extended from the sides of the tops. It noticed her, and rolled over.

"Well howdy little lady!" It said in a friendly male voice, making a motion with his arms like he was tipping a hat that wasn't on his head. "It's good to see you up and about, and looking well."

"As well as I can after being shot anyway." Dragon said. "You the robot that saved me?"

"Yes I am, ma'am. Name's Victor, and it's a pleasure to officially meet you."

"Likewise, I guess. You can call me Dragon."

"Dragon, eh? Well, it's a good a name as any."

"Uh, thanks. Um, anything you can tell me about town?"

Victor placed his arm under his screen in a thoughtful manner. "Well, there's a general store, a saloon, the bone orchard I dug you out of, some residential housin', and a few abandoned places, like the schoolhouse. People wise, everyone is pretty friendly. I'd recommend you talk to Sunny Smiles. She hangs around the saloon with her dog. She can help you get your bearings."

Dragon nodded. "Thanks. I'll see you around, Vic."

"Later."

Dragon made her way to the saloon, and noticed and old man in farmer overalls and a straw hat sitting in a chair on the porch. She offered a friendly wave.

"Hey."

"Howdy, ma'am. Wait... you're that girl Victor dug out of the cemetery."

"Yes! Do you know anything about who attacked me?" Dragon asked.

The man shook his head. "Nope. I never got a look at him or the men with him."

"Oh..."

"Sorry."

Dragon sighed. "No, it.. it's okay. I'm Dragon."

"Name's Pete. I help tend to the Big Horners mostly. Used to be a prospector back in the day."

"Like a scavenger?"

"Yes, but I never liked that term. Name like that tends to be associated with 'if it has a tiny shred of value, I'll take it'. I poked through for the real money stuff: Guns, chems, things like that. Had a good claim that raiders ran me off of once, and eventually I got too old for it. This was a nice place to settle down. Now though, I worry a bit."

"Why?"

"Two big groups, mainly. NCR and Caesars' Legion."

A cold chill ran down Dragon's spine at the mention of the Legion, and she felt herself starting to shake.

"We can't fight them all!"

"You okay, kid?"

"We have to try!"

"Kid?"

"We fight or die!"

The Legion...the Legion

"Kid!"

Pete's voice snapped Dragon back to reality, making her stumble a little. She put put her hand on her chest and looked around, remembering where she was.

'I'm okay... I'm in Goodsprings, and I'm okay. "I'm alive, and I'm safe...'

"Didn't mean to startle you." Pete apologized. "You looked like you were seeing ghosts. You alright?"

Dragon nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

Pete stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, kid. Talk of the situation between the NCR and Legion makes most people uneasy. The NCR wants to do good, But, well... they make you a part of them whether you like it or not. And the Legion. Silly looking all dressed up in Roman gear, but they're just violent savages, no matter how superior they act. If they win the Dam, Hoover Dam that is, things won't be looking good for the Mohave."

"I'm sure of that." Dragon said, shuddering a little. The Legion... she didn't know anything about them or at least she didn't remember. Why was she so scared?

"Need anything else, kid?"

"No, thank you. I need to speak to Sunny."

"She's inside."

"Talk to you later, Pete."

"Later."

Dragon went inside, being met with a dimly lit backroom, and some song playing on a jukebox. She had just shut the door behind her when a grey dog barked at her, making her step back.

"Cheyenne, stay!" A female voice called, making the dog sit.

The woman was around Dragon's height, with brown eyes and dirty blonde hair put up in a messy bun. She was dressed in leather armour, and had a rifle strapped across her back. She offered Dragon a friendly smile.

"Don't worry about her. She won't bite unless I tell her to. I'm Sunny, Sunny Smiles."

"I'm Dragon. Victor dug me out of the graveyard."

"I know. Everyone's been talking about you. Not many people are lucky enough to survive getting shot in the head."

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky..." Dragon muttered, scratching her neck lightly. "Victor said you can help me get my bearings."

Sunny smiled. "Of course. You can probably use all the help you can get. Follow me."

Sunny and Cheyenne led Dragon through the sitting and bar area of the saloon and outside. They led her to a small right that looked at a fence behind the saloon. Empty glass bottles lined the fence. Sunny handed Dragon a rifle that looked like the one on her back.

"Shooting bottles is a good way to get your shooting back proper."

"Thanks."

Dragon checked the rifle out. It was a simple rifle, the kind used to shoot off coyotes or geckos. She aim the gun at the bottles, and fired. The recoil made her stumble and miss.

"Fuck." She muttered in frustration, placing a hand on her forehead.

Sunny placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. It'll take a minute to get your aim right. Just take a breath, and look down the sight. Crouch down a bit too. It'll help you focus."

Sunny's advice felt very familiar, and it eased her frustration. She crouched down, and aimed at the bottles again, looked down the sight-line. Her vision began to blur, so she closed her eyes, and look a deep breath. She opened them, and carefully took shots, hitting four of the bottles with the remaining ammo.

"Nice shooting, Dragon." Sunny complimented.

Hearing someone say her name, the only name she could remember, anyway, was familiar and strange. Dragon wondered how long it had been since anyone had said either this name or her real name to her.

"Thanks. Although, I don't think empty glass bottles will be the biggest threat out here." Dragon joked.

Sunny laughed. "No, probably not. I have to check our water sources for geckos. We make money off their meat, eggs, and hides as well. Wanna tag along? Shooting against more lively targets would be good for you."

Dragon nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Dragon followed Sunny and Cheyenne a ways past town. As they neared some large rocks, Dragon heard distinct hissing sounds. "That our little scaly friends?" she asked.

Sunny nodded. "Yep. If we're quiet, I think we can get the drop on them."

Sunny motioned for Cheyenne to stay back. She and Dragon crept around the edges of the rock, the hissing and growling becoming louder. Dragon got a good look at them. Grey-blue scaled hides, orange tinted eyes, sharp teeth and claws.

"Three, all adults." She said quietly.

Sunny nodded. "Yep. It's nothing we can handle."

"Aim for the fins first." Dragon told her. "They're right buy the ear slits. The impact of the bullet will disorient them a bit, and knock them off balance. Then, aim for the throat. They should move their heads in a way that makes it more exposed."

Sunny looked at her in an impressed way. "Well, seem like that bullet didn't totally cripple your knowledge of these varmints. Who taught you that?"

Dragon frowned. Someone had taught her. Who? She tried to remember, but it just hurt her head. The answer felt like it was just creeping at the edges of her brain. It was frustrating.

"I.. I can't recall." She shook her head. "Let's just take care of these guys."

Dragon shot the fin of one of the geckos, making it screech and jerk its head back. It exposed its neck just enough for her to take another shot into its throat, that shot being fatal. Sunny followed suit, and the other two geckos went down in similar fashion.

Dragon let out a sigh, and reloaded her rifle as Sunny approached.

"Real good shooting, Dragon. Thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome, Sunny. I'm happy to help."

"In that case, would you be up for helping check the other sources?"

"Sure."

Something about helping Sunny deal with the geckos made Dragon feel better. It made her feel like she was getting control back. It was almost therapeutic.

She followed Sunny a short ways to another water source, with three more geckos. Just as she began shooting, she heard a voice screaming for help. The voice echoed in her head, and with out a second thought she ran off in the direction of it.

She came to a ledge that looked down at another source. A woman wearing a dress and sun hat was down there, trying to keep geckos away from her with a cleaver. Dragon took aim and shot one gecko in the side of the head. She jumped down, and fell onto the rock below, dropping her rifle as she hit the ground.

A second gecko took that opportunity to rush at her. She just manage to grab the rifle and shoot it in the mouth as it leapt to bite her, killing it. She tried to fire again at the first one she shot, but the gun made a clicking sound to indicate the chamber was empty.

She stood up, stumbling a bit, and grabbed her shotgun from her back, cocking it. The shotgun was like the ones caravaneers often carried, nice a sturdy.

The gecko jumped, scratching at the gun before Dragon could react, making the bullet hit the nearby dirt. It jumped at her, and she barely had enough time to turn the shotgun sideways and shove it into the geckos mouth so it didn't bite her.

The gecko bit down on the shotgun, shaking its head violently to try and pull the gun away. It scratched at her with its claws, grazing one of her sides. Dragon cried out at the sting of the claws. She took a chance to bring her knee into the gecko's stomach , making it flinch. She shoved the shot gun forward hard, making the gecko let go, and she pulled her legs up and kicked it in the face, making it stumble back.

She scooted back to create a bit of distance, and fired the other bullet in the shotgun into its face, killing it and leaving a bloody hole in its head.

Dragon leaned against the rocks, breathing hard. She turned her head to the woman, who yanked her cleaver from the third gecko's head. She came over to Dragon.

"Are you okay? You look hurt."

"Just a scratch on my side. I'll be okay. Are you okay?"

The woman nodded. "I am, thanks to you. They would have gotten me for sure if you hadn't shown up. Thank you."

"No problem. You should get back to town."

The woman headed back towards town. Dragon used the shotgun to stand up, and went over to the source, wincing as she walked. She tore the left sleeve off her shirt, and dipped in in the water. She wrung it out a bit, and carefully cleaned the blood coming from her side. Then, she pulled a stimpak from her bag and used it at the wound, watching her skin stitch itself back together.

"Dragon!" Sunny ran up. "Oh god... Are you alright, Dragon?"

Dragon's pants and shirt now hand gecko blood and blood of her own drying on them, making it look like she survived a murder attempt.

"I'm okay. It's mostly gecko blood. I know I shouldn't have run off like that, but that lady needed help. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. My armour got a little chewed, but me and Cheyenne took care of it. You look like a mess, but I'm glad you're okay. You weren't hurt to bad?"

"A nasty scratch on my side, but a stimpak took care of it."

"Those things are a godsend. Hmm. You know, I do have something else I'd like to show you. Ever heard of Healing Powder?"

Dragon shook her head.

"It's something that's helpful for treating smaller injuries. I can show you how to make it. Just need the stuff to make it."

"Point the way and I'll get them."

"We need Broc Flowers, which grows out near the cemetery, and Xander Root, which I've seen near the schoolhouse."

Dragon went and gathered what was needed, dealing with Mantis', Bloatflies, and some asshole who tried to shoot her after tricking her into killing geckos for him. He didn't get to fire a single shot. She then went back to Sunny, who showed her how to make the Healing Powder.

"Simple, but effective." Sunny said.

"Thanks for all the help, Sunny."

"No problem, Dragon. Gonna had out?"

"I think I want to stick around town for a day or two, just to get back on my feet."

"Understandable, after what they put you through. Stop by the saloon when you get a chance. The owner, Trudy, she kind of the town mom. She'd like to meet you."

"Okay, I'll do that."

Dragon sat at the campfire, watching Sunny and Cheyenne walk off. She sighed, wincing as she felt her head pounding. She took another dose, and closed her eyes. She felt exhausted, physically and mentally. Getting tricked by someone who generally seemed to need help stung.

Being helpful was part of who she was, at least it seemed that way. But, it was the wasteland, and animals weren't the only dangers.

"I'll need to keep my wits sharper." She said. "I won't be fucking fooled again."

She stood up, and made her way back to town.