Snowflake in the sand

Chapter 18

Howling winds that had torn the flesh of many clashed against the temple that he had built as a monument of the sins of those who came before, the red sand carrying whispers of death, pain and madness. But he cared not for the wind nor the sand for no matter what wound the world might inflict on him none would leave a scar as deep as the one HE left on his body. A reminder of the power of one man, of how quickly a nation could die, of how quickly even ideas fell.

As disillusioned as he was with the ideas of the Bull he could respect how quickly they had marked their prey, now HE could not leave Vegas without Legion trampling him with their horns, a good test. As for the Bear they were getting a stronger hold on the Mojave but that was not because they deserved it. Eyebots had become his eyes and ears on the Mojave, letting him see how the new path that was being walked and the irony of it was not lost on him. Just like he had followed Courier Six, now the courier followed the path he had taken, looking for answers.

Ulysses rested his hands on the railing as he stared at the tools that would cut the throat of the bear for good, he was close to finally putting the symbol on his back to rest. But not yet, Courier Six had yet to find the courage to come back to the Divide and put the final nail in the coffin of the place he had raised and loved; the place he had destroyed and abandoned. Everything like poetry unfolded, a grand display of the will of the strong but that did not mean that there were certain hiccups along the way, Ulysses was surprised when this unknown stayed close to him, far closer than he would have first thought. This ice mutant was different as she held an air of superiority that Ulysses was inclined to dislike her as it reminded him of the unchanging ways of those in Vegas, but she was not from the city of lights.

No, she was a mystery with no history but then again if what was said about Courier Six was true, he had always surrounded himself with odd characters and pretty faces, only fitting that he found a companion that fit into both those categories. Ulysses hummed as he finished making the gift he had prepared for the man he had followed. Patterns repeated themselves and Courier Six knew it or not was following his own patterns once again meaning that he would return back to where it all began.

To the place one wanders back to when there was nowhere else to run; his home.

"… sure the Boomers will fight for "us" don't you worry" Six lied easily to the face of poor ambassador Crocker who let out a large sigh of relief. Winter felt bad for the poor man, tasked with keeping peace in the region and securing allies but most of his troops where spread across the region and the ones stationed in New Vegas where no longer needed thanks to Mr. House's upgraded protection. So with no other option the troops stationed at the strip had no real purpose demoralizing them, so they got drunk and had fun to cope.

Crocker had to deal with that coupled with the demands from his superiors and coordinate some of the movements across the region, Winter would have pulled her hair out a long time ago.

Winter closed her eyes and avoided looking at his head, oh so that is what happened she thought.

"I don't have anything else for you right now, but I will let you know if anything comes up. For now I think there are some problems back in Camp McCarran I am sure they would appreciate the help" the ambassador said in a hopeful tone. Winter saluted him as she left while Six simply gave him a small wave, the secretary handed them an envelope with what she assumed was compensation for their work.

"We should not look into the Casinos just yet" Six said once they were far away from the embassy, Winter gave a curious glance to the Courier waiting for him to explain what he meant.

"There is no way they…" Six said as he looked back for a moment at the embassy "don't have people inside the casinos, they will know we really are not helping them out because we want, but it would be best if that revelation came when they reaaaally love us"

"And what do you suggest?" Winter asked her companion as he gave her a determined look "We help out the NCR get its shit together, Legion is slowly sinking its claws in the region and we cannot allow that to happen" Six said as he headed towards the lucky 38 ready to get his gear together. But before Six reached the door he was stopped by Winter's hand grabbing his own.

"But still, shouldn't we check out the Casinos? This doesn't sound like a quick trip to the Mojave, if we leave now we might not get a chance later" Winter questioned as Six rubbed his chin "Maybe, but if we do we need to do it quickly, I got this feeling that something big is comin" Six said as he gently squeezed Winter's hand and disappeared into the darkness of the lucky 38. Winter for her part could only sigh as she waited for her friend to come back outside, the stares on her back noticeable but easily ignored. Winter distracted herself with her PipBoy and the notes she had written for it, she had done a to do list for herself. One that she was quite proud of.

It was in no particular order but she had many that needed to be addressed with more urgency than orders, the main one being getting to this so-called Sierra Madre to finally pin down the technology. So much to do and so little time, time that Vegas did not have. She knew that it was not as if she could not find it after Vegas was saved and everything settled down, but who was to say that House would keep his end of the bargain. He reminded her too much of her father, not in personality but in ethics; meaning the lack of them. Mr. House had the excuse that there really was no one to stop worse monsters other than him... if one did not count the NCR, but sadly they had no one that could help her get back home.

It saddened a part of Winter seeing those soldiers look up to them with hope and in the end she would betray them, it made her sad. There was no other word for it; it made her sad to no end to keep this façade and a part of her desperately wanted to be found out so the NCR would no longer hold them in such a high regard and she could deal with the hate that followed with betrayal. She was so used to hate and respect that she felt like a child when they steal a cookie and no one notices, guilty.

Shaking her head she looked at other items from her list and felt her gaze soften somewhat when it laid eyes on such a silly thing. Get someone to paint her a picture of her family, a caricature to keep around if possible. She had not forgotten their faces and she refused to let it happen so she would keep it by her side and… just look at it. Winter let out a shaky breath as she felt her eyes blur for a millisecond.

Help Six remember, helped her forget her worries. It was not even a question for her, she wanted to help Six; but how could she do it? Where should they even start? Asking around Primm did not seem like answer and Mr. House had nothing on his network so all roads led back to that hell, Winter shuddered at the memory of the place. She was not fully prepared to go into that and she knew Six wasn't either.

Six exited the building dressed with the dessert Ranger outfit, his green visors landing on Winter deep in though, Six caught looking at her lips longer than he should have, then shook his head. Thank god for the helmet, he allowed himself the smile and the blush knowing that she could not see it, it was so stupid he thought to himself he needed to focus on Vegas and then getting out of Vegas so that he could shake off this weird that had been itching on the back of his head ever since he had returned to the NCR.

Call it paranoia but a big part of him wanted to run away from Vegas if the NCR or worse House found out about the little surprise he had planned, talk about chance luck he simply wanted to see if benny had some caps stored away.

"Winter, are you ready?"

Six snorted as he was patted down by the Gomorrah thugs, they tried to glare at him through his lenses but there really was not having any effect. The Omertas might be brutal looking, but Fiends they were not.

"All right you're clear just not try anything fucking stupid, or we will politely ask you to leave"

"Heh, I'm sure you would"

"Don't think you are hot shit just because you iced Benny, the way I see it you don't have your girlfriend covering your sorry ass" the Omerta bouncer growled as he moved away, Six simply shrugged and made his way towards the Casino exchanging NCR dollar and Legion coin just to prove a point to the Omertas. Then it was business as usual for the Courier just like he had done to the Tops he hit blackjack and doubled down on all his bets, soon he had amassed a huge winning streak and some free drinks. Six disliked Gomorrah it was far too red and hot for his tastes, the bright red signs and the smell of sweat didn't help. Atleast the girls where a nice distraction, both the dancers and the customers; Six with all his money invited a couple of those pretty gals to drinks and made it looked like he downed one too many himself, he then made his way to the receptionist and clumsily took off his helmet "This place is so fun! What else is there to do here?"

The receptionist gave him a practiced polite smile "Here at Gomorrah we have everything you could need, if you haven't checked it out there are some girls that can give and even more fun time"

"You sure seem to know a lot, any juicy gossip you want to share?"

The receptionist chuckled "I might do, but loose lips sink ships" the Courier gave her a look "Do you really think a guy like me is all that important to sink ships?"

"Hah you might be right, so darling here is something for your curious mind. There is rumor on the streets that someone got kidnapped on the Ultra Luxe and that the Tops is not doing so good, they might need to get some new blood on that little show of theirs"

Six raised an eyebrow "Nothing on Gomorrah"

"Harmless gossip is one thing but saying stuff about the family is another" the receptionist said with a glare, a glare that was met with a sad smile "Well, didn't want to this but"

A small piece of paper was slipped towards her and a small read made her pale "Shit, they said you were wearing Benny's suit"

"It doesn't feet the mood I'm in right now, I like to dress like this when I am feeling impatient and when I'm collecting favors"

"Look… I will help. Just please don't tell anybody ok, all I know is that Cachino is trying something and that's it please… believe me"

Six gave her a wide green and put his helmet back on like and gave her a nod "I don't even know who you are"

With that information on his mind the Courier walked towards the deepest part of the Casino, where the most debauchery could be seen and heard. Six was glad he as wearing boots. For his part his eyes landed on a gal that looked like she worked at the Casino and not offering drinks, she looked slightly off and the clients stayed clear.

Six on the other hand approached her and gave her a small wave "Howdy miss, how much for a good time"

"Oo- oh hello… I mean, s-sure a thousand caps… no wait I mean one hundred, oh god I'm sorry you can just leave if you want" she said with a sad sigh, but to her surprise Six laughed and took off his helmet "Is this thing right? Makes people nervous don't worry we can start again if you like"

"Oh! No is not that, I'm just… very new in this, I have never had a client before they find me weird" the girl said as she rubbed her arm, Six placed an arm around her and gave her a warm smile "No worries, so how about we take this slow and we start by talking consider it a date, what do you say"

The girl gave a small nod and a smile that didn't reach her eyes, Six stored that little detail in the back of his mind, it seemed like she didn't want to work here. As they sat down and six ordered a few drinks and returned to jittery girl. A small frown made its way to his face, why was she here if she was so nervous? Oh so many mysteries that needed to be solved like… today.

"So sweetheart what's your name?"

"… Sarah"

Jeez she was making him feel like a creep at a bar, hitting on someone who just wanted to be left alone… maybe he should leave her alone and be on his way, but he had a job to do and this little outcast would be his first stepping stone into figuring out what the Omertas where up to. He gave the girl a good look and saw how her blonde hair looked slightly dim and her skin while not as white as Winter's it definitely was getting there.

"Ah damn it I have type"

"Excuse me?"

"Nah nothing, just forget about it. Name's Six by the way, I was just wondering why a pretty looking thing like you is working here? You don't seem to enjoy it at all, there's still time to walk away" Six said dropping his façade his eyes staring deep into Sarah's soul, the poor gal looked down and bit her lip as if ashamed "We're not supposed to talk about ourselves"

"Oh? Sounds to me like a weird contract"

"More like slavery. I didn't even sign it"

Bingo, he had gotten in.

"What? How does that even work, I thought everyone here worked out of their own will?!"

Sarah bit her lip again and looked around, Six noticed how many of the Omertas where looking at them "Costumers don't give caps just by talking, they… they warned me if I didn't work there would be consequences"

"Ah that type of work, I can think of a few ideas. Let's go to your room so we can talk more privately" Six saw how she flinched and couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. Grasping her hand and giving it a soft squeeze, he gave her a genuine smile and a look of understanding "Don't worry, I won't try anything"

Sarah gave a nervous nod and took his hand and led him, the Omertas satisfied looked the other way as they left and Six felt his respect for them get lower, so if you didn't get anyone to spend money on you there was trouble. He really did not want to think about what happened if those guys and gals failed to meet a quota. Sarah got many surprised looks as she lead the Courier to one of the many work rooms, seems like she was not all that popular with either the patrons or the workers.

Once inside she nervously closed the door and remained standing by it, waiting to see if Six would try anything. Six gave her a nod and sat down on the sofa gesturing to the on far away from him so she would feel more comfortable. Once she sat down he threw her a Sunset Sarsaparilla "To ease your nerves Sarah, you look like a Brahmin caught between the knife and a Cazador"

"Maybe I am, I shouldn't have said anything to you… if they knew I spoke about the contract…"

"They would kill you I assume and now you're wondering that maybe I would take advantage of that" Six said bluntly making Sarah's eyes well up, tears threatening to spill but Six quickly changed her mood once he placed down a couple of caps on the table, three to be precise.

"I have no need for that, you see I'm not here because I'm looking for fun. My friend and I are looking into shady shit on the Casinos and you seem to know something that sound to me shady enough"

Six flipped a cap off the table "Winter will deal with the Ultra Luxe" with his other finger another cap flew off to the side "The tops is now harmless, I made sure of it" grabbing the last bottle cap he tossed it towards Sarah who caught confused "And I think you might be able to help, and if you can't" Six softened his gaze.

"I still want to help you, you don't belong here"

Sarah could not contain it any longer as tears spilled from her eyes "My mom and dad sold me, they… they didn't even look my way. I knew they didn't love me but… how could they do that to me… I gave everything to their research, locked away in that stupid bunker, I didn't see the outside world in my entire life… they were my world and now I have nothing, just a contract that I will never be able to pay"

"You got one thing" Six commented as he walked towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder "You have a friend now, so tell me; what can this friend do to help you?"

Sarah wrapped her arms around him as she openly cried burying her face on his chest not caring that the armor was not soft or welcoming, to her it was the only thing she had. It was hope.

As for Six he limited himself to pat her on the back and looking at the ceiling, once she had calmed down her face was a mess but there was more light in her eyes than before. "Thank you… but you would need to talk to Big Sal or Nero about this, they are the only ones who could… you know… set me free I guess"

"Then that's what we will do"

Sarah tilted her head "But what about what you said, about the conspiracy" she said as she showed her the bottle cap that she kept in her hand. "It can wait for later, for now save that in your pocket and lets get moving"

"Let me just fix my face and hair"

Six shook his head and grabbed her hand "Nope, I have a plan and you will roll with it for now, let's just hope things don't get ugly and if they do just get behind me ok"

Sarah barely gave a nod before Six flew the door open and asked where the bosses where, Sarah lowered her head trying to hide but she could see that many of the guards and the other girls stared. An indifferent stare, one of someone who knew they would get money at the end of the day, Six shuddered a little.

What the hell was even happening here, once he found himself back at the entrance he walked towards the office of the bosses and gave it a knock there was a slight moment of silence before a loud "Come in" was heard.

Once inside Six was met by a glare and a gun pointed at him "Who the fuck are you and what do you want"

"Easy easy, just a costumer with an inquire"

Nero lowered his gun and frowned "I know who you are, House's golden boy only reason I let my boys let you in, who the fuck do you thin you are just walking in whetever you like"

"No one, just some random guy with a little… complaint"

Nero turned to look at Sarah who seemed to tremble under his gaze "And why in the balls are you telling me all this, I mean I know she was shit but why tell me you were not satisfied, this type of shit you take to one of the boys"

Sarah audible gulped but Six seemed unfazed "On the contrary, I was so pleased that I wish to… let's say negotiate the contract and give it to a new employer"

"Oh? And who is that new employer" Nero asked with a big frown forming on his face, Six pointed to himself and smiled "Why me of course, I can make it worth your while"

Nero looked at the girl and noticed the tear streaks "You're a sick sack of shit, making a girl cry and then trying to keep her for yourself… I like that, so just this once I am whiling to negotiate a contract, ten thousand caps"

"Five"

"We're talking about a one of a kind performer here Mr. Mailman, seven"

"You said you thought she was bad at what she did, seems like you just one to make a quick buck out of this lucky situation, six"

Nero growled "You think you're hot shit don't you golden boy? Benny is nothing compared to me or Sal, I am being generous so you best not step on my toes again, six thousand and five hundred caps"

Six smirked "I take it; six is my lucky number after all"

To the surprise of both Sarah and Nero, Six payed with chips from the Gomorrah, Nero grabbed them and gave out a cruel laugh "I would watch my back boy; a night in New Vegas can make the tough guys humble"

Six simply stared his helmet leaving nothing to the imagination, Nero gave him one last glare before he turned around and searched on his folders for a piece of paper, one he found it he more or less tossed it towards Six "There, have fun with that useless bitch, now het the fuck out of my office"

Six nodded and grabbed Sarah by the hand leading her outside, they waited to be out of sight before he was wrapped around in hug "Thank you, thank you… I promise I will make it up for you" Sarah sobbed into his shoulder while Six gave the "contract" a read. Seems to him that Gomorrah was in the business of buying slaves and then "saving" them by hiring them and promising they could buy their freedom. But they were charged by living there, eating there and basically breathing there a poor girl like Sarah timid and shy would never be able to pay that.

"Don't worry" Six said as he ripped the paper in half and pocked it "You have nothing to worry about anymore, for now you should go to the lucky thirty eight and let the robot at the front know that…"

Six felt his hand being squeezed "No… I will not leave without you… I can't" her voice quivering. Six let out a sigh "Look I know that you think the worse has passed but I really don't think that…"

"Please… don't leave me" she managed to say begore

Ah, it seems he might have messed up. Poor kid he thought to himself, it seems like her life was rough if she believed that she was only safe with him… on the worse place to be with him now. He was not stupid enough to think that Nero would take this lying down, he probably already sent an assassin after him so now he would have to take care of Sarah while trying to untangle whatever the Omertas had going on.

Sarah had stopped crying enough so that Six could look at her in the eyes "Look, I get it I really do, so I am willing to give you a chance ok? Stay by my side, don't speak and if you now anything that might help you tell me ok"

"Ok" came the soft reply, Six satisfied gave a nod "Good as for now, I need to go back to my mission. So I don't suppose you have ever heard of Cachino?"

Sarah gave a quick nod "I do, he's a bald man that some of the girls are scared of him he mostly hangs out in Brimstone… he has this book with him at all times, if he writes down your name the girls say you are in big trouble"

"So he only targets the girls, good to know" Six said as he turned towards Brimstone with Sarah behind him, giving her a couple of caps he murmured in her ear to get them a few drinks but she needed to pass by Cachino. Sarah gave a nervous nod as she departed to her short mission.

Six spotted his target and smiled, the rat had not smelled the bait but taken a bite. The man he assumed was Cachino had not stopped staring at Sarah, since she walked. She looked like a worker but she was buying throwing him off, just enough time to Six to get close and spot his target.

He wanted a key or something like that at first but he could not contain the huge smile as he saw the little notebook. Cachino was really not that smart it seemed, he quickly pickpocketed it and stored it away walking towards Sarah and the cold glass of wine "Thanks!"

Sarah gave a nod but tilted her head to the side "He's coming over here"

"Don't worry I have an idea, he won't run towards us so I have plenty of time" six said as he started to flip through the pages of the book, Cachino took his sweet time getting there but to Six it was no issue.

"Hey who the fuck are you and why are you not working girl?" Cachino said as he tried to grab Sarah by the hand, but Six's hand interfered. Cachino gasped as pressure was put on his arm, hurting him a little "She works for me Cachino"

"Who the fuck are you, how do you know me?" he yelled angrily as he was let go, Six chuckled as he readjusted his mask and stood up towering over the man "I've heard a lot of things about you, things your boss might not like"

"I don't give half a dick about what you've heard! I will call security!" Cachino said but before he turned to leave Six showed him the journal in a joking manor "Sure get them, I'm sure they would really like to know all about this"

Cachino paled as he turned to look at Six then at Sarah, he had been set up. "Listen buddy, that book can get me killed okay… please give it over here I will pay you"

"I don't care about the money, you really think you know how to take down the bosses?"

Cachino gulped, Six looked at the book and then tossed it towards Cachino "Because if you do, I want in"

Cachino almost fainted as he managed to give a weak nod towards Six "Good, I took the liberty of taking pictures of your journal just in case you get any funny ideas"

Cachino gave another nod and took a seat overwhelmed about what had just happened "So, how do we start?"

Cachino gulped but he managed to compose himself "I don't know what beef you got with the boss, but if you're really doing this just because you hate them then you're a god-send. I can't move all that much but I know just how to cripple the bosses' plans and who to… take care to do so"

Six passed him some wine "And who are these people and where are they?" Cachino took a big chug out of the bottle as he laid out the plan.

"Clanden and Troike, both are here in Gomorrah, Clanden is this creepy fuck that lives in one of the suits no one knows what he does for the bosses only that he is a VIP, as for Troike he spends most of his days pumping himself ful of drugs and pumping the prostitutes full of…"

"Yeah I get the picture, but why does he matter?"

"That is the thing, he gets stuff. But no one knows what he gets for them"

Six nodded "So is all very secret, I get it. If you could get me a key and point me on the right direction we can get started"

Cachino gave him a look "You realize that if you start this we have to act quick, there's no way that the bosses won't notice that their top guys got fucked"

Six smiled under the helmet "I know I am counting on it"

Cachino gave a sigh "Well whatever, is just your neck and hers I guess, but is a good thing you have heard around it makes you less suspicious. Get Clanden first he's a slippery fucker, he's on the apartments upstairs I suggest you try to get him now before he slips to somewhere he can't be found, here have the master key"

Six gave a nod and left quickly not wanting to attract attention to himself, so he took the stairs so that he could think clearly on how to approach this Clanden. He hated dealing with the slimy type, lots of words had to be exchanged and maybe get nowhere so he had a funny little idea to get this show over a little bit more quickly.

Six stopped and heard the pants of poor Sarah behind him "You allright over there?"

"…just… catching my breath" the girl panted making Six laugh "You know I would say that you lose the heels, but I'm not that much of a monster God knows what's on this floor" Six said as he stared at the red carpet with distrust. Sarah wrinkled her nose at the thought. The walk to Clanden's room was quiet, there where almost no Omertas on that level and if they spotted them they quickly looked away.

The room itself was massive and it looked like something a prince of pleasure would live in, so Six was quite shocked when the most plain looking man approached him. Brown hair, normal built and dressed like a normal man the man looked inoffensive in every way, so for Six this man was hiding who he truly was.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" the tired voice said as he eyed the duo up and down a small frown on his face, Six looked around the room "Clanden right? I was sent by Cachino, said he wanted some information"

"Cachino? He has nothing to do with what I work, tell him if he really wants something to go to the bosses not me" Clanden said coldly as he crossed his arms.

"Ah so it's like that" Six said as he motioned Sarah to close the door, Clanden glared "Whar are you…" a fist shattered his jaw and before he could retaliate Six crashed down on him with his elbow making his skull rattle. Six then pulled out of his pocket a small knife and quickly stabbed him in the throat carrying the body towards what he assumed to be the bathroom. Sarah was mostly in a state of shock only managing to snap out of it to run after Six who was cursing "Fuck and here I thought I would feel bad about this later, what the fuck did this guy do in this room"

Sarah felt bile go all the way to her throat as she ran towards the nearest bin, the room was covered in dried blood and the foul smell of death, bloody handprints marked the walls and there was hair on the floor.

Six suddenly felt more inclined to kill this bastard quicker, so he stabbed the mall knife deeper and with his other hand he proceeded to brutally punch him over and over again, there was a loud crack as Six landed the las brutal blow. Six let go as the body gave its last twitches "Guess his skull shattered" Six said as he shook his fist in slight pain. Bastard was thick headed, snorting at his own joke he turned towards Sarah who had run out of the room but had not stayed too far away. "You all right there?"

"…no, what kind of monster was he?" Sarah asked as she refused to look at the room Six wiped some of the blood of his armor and gave a long sigh "You know, I think I don't want to know this time"

Six waited for Sarah to get her will back as he prepared to head for the last stop on his list Troike, that seemed that it was going to be trickier after all if what Cachino said was true he would be surrounded by prostitutes. So a more charismatic approach would be best, some movement behind him made him stop his thinking.

"I don't want to be here anymore" Sarah commented as Six turned to look at her once again, and a small pain hit his heart, what was this feeling? It didn't make sense, it was not empathy that was for sure more like a phantom pain, Six shook his head and let out an annoyed sigh "Sure, I'm also sick of this smell come on" he said as he extended his hand towards the young girl. Seeing a human that was denied of human interaction only to then be sold like cattle made him really angry, angry at her parents and angry at the Omertas, and maybe a little angry at himself for using her as a stepping stone for what he wanted.

The pale hand of he girl grabbed his and Six realized the feeling, it was not like when Winter held his hand but rather something more…

"Ouch my fucking head" Six mumbled angrily as he stumbled towards the elevator Sarah still holding his hand, the Omertas said nothing most likely thinking that the blood on his outfit belonged to the girl.

Six felt stopped himself and cooled off, no need to get angry he just needed to stop whatever the Omertas where up to and then leave Vegas "Six… you're shaking"

"I think I have a bit of a fever Sarah" Six replied as he reached for his coat and injected himself with med-X, he felt a stare burning him "What?"

"many of the girls do that from what I have seen, its bad"

"… I know, Winter tells me the same thing; but I kind of need them at this point I get the shakes if I don't drink or get Med-X" Six said his voice neutral, Sarah said nothing for a moment but then turned to look at him again "You should listen to Winter then"

Six smiled under his helmet "That's not a bad idea, but I have a rebellious attitude right now and besides, rule number one of trying to impress someone… don't to everything they want, you have to surprise them!"

Sarah tilted her head "So you want to impress Winter?"

"Yeah, she's tall very beautiful and… like really kind, I want to help her go home" Six said as Sarah gave him a wide smile "I'm sure you will"

Six stared as his headache worsened but he allowed himself to hold her hand a little more gently, the way a father or an older brother would.

Troike was easy enough to find and even easier to get talking, the poor bastard was so high and so paranoid a simple line about outing him to NCR was all it took.

"So I'm fucked either way huh? look I beg you to have a little bit of mercy on your black heart I don want to die to these monsters"

"Spill the beans and I might be inclined to help"

Troike gave a slow nod and leaned in towards Six's ear "The bosses amassed an insane amount of weapons to take over new Vegas, they mean war and I have helped them smuggle them, but they are a bunch of murderous assholes; so I was working on a little side project called thermite just in case. All you need to do is apply these bad boys to the crates on the room down this hall and flip a switch and then that shit will explode harder than me on a…"

"Yeah, I see. Thank you for your cooperation, hand over the thermite and then… well I suggest you get the hell out of Vegas"

"No need to tell me twice, good luck"

Six watched him go and then turned towards the room with a large smile under his helmet, the thermite was not the fun part oh no. The fun part was seeing all those guns and ammo, all there for the taking.

He motioned Sarah to get closer "So, seeing as you're my new employee I have a small little thing for you hide this gun and don't use it. I will teach how later but for now just keep it safe"

"I will" Sarah said as she watched the Courier hid a large shotgun under his jacket. Chuckling he placed a hand on the crates "Let's get out of here"

A flip of a switch was all it took for the very foundations of Gomorrah to shake, but by the time the Omertas arrived Six was long gone, he was now enjoying a nice beer on Brimstone waiting for the inebitable to happen.

Cachino approached him with a large smile "The Bosses are furious someone fucked up their whole operation and they tasked me with finding out who did it, its our chance to kill them, so here's the plan we go in saying that I captured you and then I slip you a gun to…"

"No need for that, for now just lead the way my friend" Six said as he placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder "Best if you don't walk in with me there, stay put buy some food and a drink and I will come back for you, all right?"

Sarah gave him a nervous nod and left towards one of the tables on the back, Six followed Cachino with a confident strut hoping they didn't shoot him on sight but that little doubt was squashed once he reached the office, Big Sal glared but Nero was livid, his face was red and he gripped his weapon so tight Six swore he heard it crack.

But all that anger led to cold fury "I knew I had not seen the last of you, House really has eyes and ears everywhere doesn't he? But that does not matter Cachino caught you and now you're going to pay, but no before we torture you and your two lady friends"

Six gave a nod and bowed slightly "Would you forgive me if I said I was really sorry?"

"The fuck you think?" Sal said as he aimed his weapon at Six's knees. But Sal's head was separated from its body before he could pull the trigger, Six watched the body fall to the floor as his newly acquired shotgun left a small trail of smoke.

"I think you need to clear your head" Six felt a couple of shots bounce off his armor as Nero desperately tried to kill him, but Six was not wearing a suit something Nero did not have the Luxury. A blast to the gut sent him flying backwards as he desperately tried to hold his organs inside his body, Six threw the shotgun to the side and took out Maria

"A night in New Vegas can make the tough guys humble, that's a good line I will take it if you don't mind" Maria painted the carpet red with the brains of Nero as Six nodded at his handywork and looked at Cachino who had a vulture like look on his face.

"Hey bud you're family now, I will run Gomorrah very good you can trust me" Cachino said as he reached for the door but his hand exploded into a bloody mess, Six glared at him with an eeire green glow "You're no saint either Cachino, that poor girl Joana, I read what you planned you sick fuck so…" Cachino tried to speak but Six was tired and quickly executed him, Six stared for a moment but took his journal after he was sure Cachino was dead.

"… Vegas wont change with the likes of you running around" Six muttered to himself as he opened the door and was greeted by very shocked Omertas "What the fuck did you do?"

"Me?" Six pointed at himself offended "Nothing, Cachino wanted to kill the bosses and I killed Cachino, not fast enough to save them. And if you don't believe here" Six said as he threw the journal towards the Omertas.

Hesitant at first the Omertas gave it a read and could only shake their heads "So Cachino plans on taking over Gomorrah and tries to pin everything on House's right hand man? Talk about realy wanting to get a promotion"

"What will Gomorrah do now?" Six asked as the Omertas looked at each other obviously very lost on what to do. "We… would have to talk to House I guess"

Six shook his head "And slow down business over something as simple as a promotion? Nah I have a better idea, who ranks the higher amongst you?" Six asked waiting for a second to see timid hand slowly being raised.

"Good, congratulations buddy you're now a manager and you work directly under me. I'll lead Gomorrah for now, if anything important happens just let me know but for all I care you can run things as you used to"

Six smiled as the Omertas nodded and another piece of the puzzle fell into place, he just hopped Winter was having as much fun as he was.

A/N: Courier Six is a bloody and direct guy, next chapter is all about Winter and her exploits on the Ultra Lux. Ulysses makes his presence know and House's large shadow looms even bigger thanks to Six. Who does Sarah remind Six of? Time will tell, see you soon!