Ruby stood in a tall circular room, it was mostly empty safe for the elevated circular platform in the middle where a circular desk stood, and behind it an elderly man (okay maybe not elderly but definitely past his 50s) sat, tapping away at the keyboard of the terminal that sat on the desk. Those giant soldiers in bulky armor and weird rifles guarded each entry to the room, each one of them looking more deadly than the last. The soldier she…'met' at the entrance, Ramos he called himself, had escorted her throughout the bunker to meet with the 'elder' or something and seeing and he wasn't moving anymore and just menacingly staying at the door with his weapon drawn, Ruby imaged the guy at the desk was the elder.

"Sooooo what do I–"

"If you have something to say, say it to Elder McNamara."

Mean. She awkwardly walked up to the desk and examined the man more carefully. Most of his hair was gone save for the occasional sprouts of white and gray hair. The most peculiar thing about him was his outfit, some weird-looking robes.

"Hello." He spoke in a calm voice. "How did you find us, stranger? And do tell the truth."

"M-me and my…friend got ambushed on the road to Vegas. She told me to run and…one of them followed me. I found your bunker's entrance so I thought I could hide here for a bit and wait them out." Ruby shifted in her place. She shouldn't have left Six behind, that's not what a huntress does. They fight and protect people! No matter the odds.

The Elder's gaze hardened. "You took an extreme risk in coming here. My policy towards trespassers has not been…lenient. The security of this bunker is my foremost concern, and I take the pains to minimize our exposure topside. Still… I can understand that under desperation one must make split second decisions. Furthermore, you are just a child, but a child that can open locked doors and is geared up for battle."

Ruby felt herself shrink as the man examined her. Things weren't looking good. She looked around frantically, trying to not draw too much attention to herself while searching for possible exits, but they were all guarded with those soldiers, and with her aura already so low she wouldn't be able to do anything. "For this reason, I might be interested in contracting with an outsider, who can accomplish certain tasks. An NCR ranger has begun to set up a post in one of the other bunkers up top, for example. I want him driven off. Understood?"

Ruby hurriedly nodded her head. "B-B-But why haven't you taken care of him already?."

The Elder leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk and crossing his hands. "Sure, we could take care of him, kill him even." Ruby winced at that. "But sometimes you can learn a great deal by observing people, both enemies and friends. Which is why it will be very interesting to observe how you will handle this situation. What will you decide to be? Enemy, or friend? Do we understand each other?"

Ruby nodded her head once more. "Y-Yes. I don't kill people though…" Her tone was more hushed, but it looked like the Elder was still able to hear it.

"I never said the ranger had to be killed. Nor was I giving you that option. I merely asked if you understood." He leaned back in his chair. "Paladin Ramos will escort you back to the bunker's entrance and set you loose. Note that I said 'loose', not 'free'." Ruby felt her heart sink. "You are not free to carry the secret of this bunker's location beyond Hidden Valley. Only will you be able when I'm convinced you will not divulge it. To underscore this point, you will be fitted with an explosive collar. Wander off, and your head will explode. Focus on the mission, and you'll be fine."

"WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!" Ruby frantically shook her arms, taking a few steps back. "I don't want any explosive things going near my neck!"

"I'm afraid that isn't an option. Right now, you are a person that could be a major security problem for my bunker, and as I expressed earlier, I deal with possible security problems. Do not underestimate your luck. Normally I'd have you shot and thrown outside the bunker, regardless of age. I am not doing that because I have problems that need solving, and I get a sense you're different from the average wastelander."

That's certainly a way to put it.

"You can be shot right now, or work under my restrictions. Your choice."

Ruby stood immobile and did not utter a word. She rubbed her arm, carefully thinking about the situation before her. Maybe she could stall long enough for Six to get her…No. She couldn't rely on six forever, and she had no idea if the Courier had survived–NO! Six survived! She had to. But Ruby had to figure this out on her own. "Okay. I-I'll do it."

The Elder rubbed his chin. "Interesting. Ramos, if you will." He gestured to the Paladin who walked up to Ruby, staring at the teen. Ruby could swear she noticed a split-second of doubt before the Paladin hit with the butt of his rifle, instantly shattering what remained of her aura like glass. And in an instant, all went black.

Ruby woke in a panic, frantically turning her head and checking her surroundings. She was at the bunker's entrance. How long had she been out? Hopefully long enough for the assassin guy to leave. She got up and dusted herself off, making sure to account for all her equipment. Crescent Rose was there, and so was her knife. She still had her food and random junk she thought looked cool. Woody was destroyed by that guy with the weird lance… Speaking of, who were those guys? It had all happened so fast. One of those people said–what did he say? Something about a Ceaser? Wait…was that the Legion?! The evil slaver people Six talked about? Oh crap, oh crap, ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap–Breathe Ruby. Breathe.

"Okay, you had your first encounter with the Legion and almost died…and they said they'd make you a slave…I hate this place." Ruby muttered.

Speaking of slave, the added weight she was feeling around her neck reminded her of something kind of really super important. "I HAVE A FRICKING BOMB COLLAR." Okay, breathe, deep breaths. Right. Those people said they wanted you to get rid of the NCR ranger that was in one of the bunkers. You just have to do that. Easy right? Taking another deep breath for good measure, Ruby walked towards the exit of the bunker. She faltered for a couple moments as she went to open the door, fearing the other Legion wolf-guy-peson was still there. Mustering her courage, she opened the bunker door and stepped outside.

Well, she wasn't immediately shot, so that was a plus. She waited around a little longer and…nothing came. A huge sigh of relief escaped Ruby's lips as she was no longer fearing a dog headed sniper was going to blow her head off. she still of course feared for her life, who wouldn't when having a literally explosive collar around one's neck? Still, improvements were improvements.

For the next hour she pried open the doors of the other bunkers around Hidden Valley, being reduced to the very last when she actually found something. Entering the large underground room, she was met with a little empty camp with all the necessities someone would need. A mat, a campfire and a radio. Ruby ransacked the camp for anything useful, Six had told her she should scavenge at any given opportunity since she wouldn't know when she'd next get a chance. But of course she wasn't going to take everything, the ranger still had to survive his journey home.

The little book on top of one of the boxes caught her attention. Curious by what was written in it she opened it, only to realize she still couldn't read this world's words. I really should learn to read this alphabet. She put the book back down and looked at the camp, unsure of what to do. She could wait around for the ranger to come back and convince him to leave, but she didn't know if a highly trained soldier would listen to a kid…Her eyes scanned across the camp once more, finally falling on the radio and a light bulb went on in Ruby's head. She took out Crescent Rose, unsheathing its scythe form and then slashed at the radio, completely destroying it. AHA! Now since he can't contact his other soldier people he'll have to go back! That's how it works right? Please be how it works.

Ruby made her way back to the other bunker, once again going down the stairs and back at the locked door. However, there was someone on the wall she didn't notice last time, an intercom-looking device. She pressed the button and spoke up. "I uhh…I'm done. I did the thing Elder McNamara asked…Can you take this off now?" No response came through.

However, after a minute of waiting, the door swung open. Guess that worked. She walked through the corridor and once again entered the inhabited bunker, being met by no other than Elder McNamara at the entrance. "How did you resolve the situation with the ranger?"

"I broke his radio."

"You…broke his radio?"

"I mean, I assumed he needed it to contact his headquarters. So if I completely destroyed it he would have no choice but go back."

"I see. And he's not particularly likely to come back since he's now learned these bunkers aren't safe enough to serve as safehouses. It's not a foolproof solution, but indirect ones rarely are. What matters is that you drove him off without alerting him to our presence. Since you've completed your task, I'll go ahead and remove your collar." The Elder stepped towards the small teen, and in a swift motion the collar came off.

Ruby sighed of relief as she massaged her neck, those things were really uncomfortable and heavy. "Thank you."

"Now, if you would please come with me, miss…" He trailed off into silence. "Huh. With all of this I hadn't even asked your name. My apologies."

"I-It's okay. My name is Ruby, Ruby Rose."

"Well Miss Rose, while I will allow you to freely come and go from our bunker, I request that you come with me to the infirmary."

"Why?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"You were in a fight were you not? While you don't appear to have any visible wounds, I would still want Senior Scribe Linda to have you checked up. It's the least we could do." The Elder gave her a warm smile.

"I guess a little check-up wouldn't hurt…"

"Splendid, follow me." He motioned for Ruby to follow as he walked deeper into the bunker.

The duo walked side by side as Ruby finally the time to properly take a good look at the bunker and its weird inhabitants. Dozens of footsteps echoed on the steel floor as different people walked around in a rush to their respective functions. These people, all of them wore some sort of armor Ruby noted. Some were more sleek and tight than others, but no one looked to just be a normal person going about their day. The vast amount of big automated turrets on the halls and big symbols painted on the walls also did not inspire confidence in Ruby.

"Soooooooo, who are you people?" Ruby asked, trying to break the ice between her and the person who almost ordered her death. "You're obviously not regular people soooooo."

The Elder raised an eyebrow at the teen, if he was curious or confused Ruby could not tell. "It is rare to find wastelanders who don't know of the Brotherhood of Steel, but I suppose that gives you a unique opportunity to see us without the vast sea of lies spewed by your wastelander ilk. The Brotherhood of Steel is a century old organization dedicated to the protection of humanity via the procurement and acquisition of dangerous technologies. We make sure humanity can endure by preventing it from destroying itself once more by the same technology that once did." The Elder spoke proudly, looking in front of him with a smile on his face. However, the smile faded as his head lowered. "We alone must carry the burden of safeguarding these technologies, whatever the cost may be."

Ruby scratched her head. "I guess I can understand it. But, what if that technology can help other people?"

The Elder sighed. "If I had a cap for every time I heard something like that. The problem with that Miss Rose, is that giving technology away is a slippery slope. One day is medical equipment, the other is weapons of mass destruction."

"Then it's just a matter of regulation."

"Your perception of a person changes the longer you interact with them. You become biased, laxed and then the same mistakes are repeated. The path we travel is a lonesome one, one that few can wrap their minds around, but it is one we must walk nonetheless."

Ruby opened her mouth to speak but didn't end up responding. She could understand why the Elder might think that, but just giving up on people? That, that wasn't right. Ske kept this to herself, not wanting to start an argument with the leader of an apparent well-known organization that hoarded dangerous tech.

The Elder eventually stopped in front of a door and motioned for Ruby to enter. "I already notified Senior Scribe Linda of your appointment."

"Thank you Elder McNamara." She extended her hand for a handshake. To which she was answered with a curt nod before he walked off, leaving Ruby awkwardly hanging.

Rude!

Ruby knocked on the metal door, waiting little time before it slided open and was met with a blonde woman in some robes. "You must be the outsider everyone's talking about." She remarked stoically. "I'm Senior Scribe Linda. I'm in charge of keeping Brotherhood personnel healthy and in fighting shape. Elder McNamara informed me that you required medical attention. Take a seat." She gestured towards an empty bed.

She sat down on the bed and stayed mostly quiet as the Senior Scribe went around examining her and apparently healing her. Not that there was most to heal thanks to her now mostly regenerated aura. She did try to make conversation here and there but the Scribe either gave one-word answers or simply chose to ignore the teen. A couple minutes flew by until the scribe appeared to be done.

"Is that it?" Ruby asked, a bit sore from having to stay still for so long.

"Just one final thing." The Scribe said, grabbing a syringe with a translucent liquid and flicking its tip. "Just need to inject you with this and that's it."

Ruby physically recoiled at the sight of her feared enemy. "D-D-Do you r-really have to use t-those?"

"You're a big girl aren't you Ruby?" Ruby nodded her head. "Then pull up your sleeve."

Ruby frowned but begrudgingly did as told. She hated needles! They were pointy and really long and it felt weird to have something else enter you body and–"Okay I'm done."

"Huh? But–...I didn't feel anything."

"See? There's nothing to be afraid of. But I would advise to stay sitting down on the bed for a little longer. " The Senior Scribe said while disposing of her gloves and other non-reusable utensils.

"Sorry doc, but I gotta go find my friend. I've been here too long and I don't know what the Legion did to her. I…I have to find her!" Ruby looked at the scribe with determination, her heart lit ablaze by the drive to make sure her friend was okay.

"Regardless, I would still advise–"

"I'm sorry doc." Ruby interrupted her, jumping out of the bed. "I have to go."

Ruby walked towards the door. These Brotherhood people didn't seem all that bad, minus their…peculiar world views on technology. She'd make a point to come back here with Six and help out! The next step Ruby took felt…weird, like if her foot was heavier. Why did her legs feel so weak right now? Why was she…so…tired…She collapsed on the hard, cold steel floor. She couldn't move, she could barely keep her eyes open.

The door swung open followed by the entry of the Elder and two others Ruby didn't know. "Why?" It was almost a whisper, but apparently loud enough for the Elder to hear.

"I'm sorry Ms. Rose, truly. But you're obviously different from the regular wastelander. You have something in you and it is our duty to find out what it is and if it poses a threat to humanity. But don't fret, it won't hurt."

Ruby wanted to get up, she needed to get up. Six was out there alone and injured and it was all her fault. If she hadn't been so weak, such a burden, she wouldn't be here. She…needed…to…

…

…

Ruby

Ruby

"RUBY! WAKE UP! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Yang yanked the blankets off Ruby, exposing her to the cold air of the morning.

Ruby grumbled and mumbled before finally getting up from bed, still in her pajamas, still half-asleep. She waddled to the kitchen where a hot steamy plate of toast with strawberry jam (her favorite) awaited her. "Mormin' dad." She mumbled, stuffing a toast in her mouth.

"Well someone is definitely not an early bird." A raspy, very familiar voice spoke from the opposite end of where Ruby sat, immediately eliciting a big smile from the teen.

"UNCLE QROW!" Poor Qrow didn't even have time to react as the red blur that was Ruby jump hugged him, luckily for both, Qrow was amazing at keeping his balance, so neither fell off the chair. "What are you doing?! Where's dad?" She gasped. "ARE YOU TAKING ME ON A GRIMM SLAYING ADVENTURE?!"

Qrow chuckled, reciprocating the hug from his niece. "Calm your horses there, pipsqueak. Tai had to run some errands early in the morning so I'm taking you to school."

"Awwwww." She pouted. "Why can't we go on an adventure?"

"Because I have work teaching at the school you attend. Speaking of which, we're gonna be late if you don't hurry up."

Ruby grumbled as she sat back down on her chair and sped-ate her breakfast. "Fffffffine, I'll go get changed."

She walked up the stairs to the bathroom to quickly brush her teeth, spitting the paste to the sink, she smiled her sparkling white teeth in the mirror. Deciding she still looked like a zombie after a quick glance, she splashed some water in her face. She reckoned she'd at least look more awake. Glancing back at the mirror, she wasn't met with her reflection, but instead with the severed head of a man, the color of his skin had long been drained. She stumbled back with a yelp at the horrid sight in front of her.

The door to the bathroom swung open as Yang, still half dressed with her uniform, rushed to her half-sister's side. "Hey Rubes, are you okay?"

"T-The mirror. I-I saw person. Like the head of a person!"

Yang frowned. "Ruby, were you up late watching horror movies again?"

"I-...It has nothing to do with that!"

Yang sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Rubes, I've told you a million times to not do that. You need to have enough sleep or your brain will start confusing things. Let's just get ready okay?"

"But I–Okay" Was she seeing things now? Surely staying up late watching horror movies wouldn't make her see things right? Ruby pushed those doubts down. They were getting late and she needed to get dressed and go to class.

Ruby always found most of her classes boring. How she not? She had to sit still for hours upon hours while her teachers just talked and talked and talked. She really hated it. But now? Boy, now she was going to have her favorite class, combat class! Sure they couldn't practice with their actual weapons since some of her classmates still hadn't unlocked their aura and/or semblances so they had to use special training equipment. But it was still so awesome to spar against other people and it helped clear her mind too. Just what she needed. Maybe she would even get lucky and Uncle Qrow would fill in for today!

She sat down on her usual spot in the big auditorium where they had the class. Usually, the teacher would select a few pairs of students to spar in front of the others in the arena like podium in front of the seats and then he'd give feedback by the end of the fight. The teacher waddled inside the class, looking as tired as ever and quickly picked the pairs to go to the front and spar. "Miss Rose, can you step in the arena please?"

YES YES YES!

Ruby stepped on the podium, all excited over a chance to spar with someone. She hadn't been picked for some time now so she was very excited to show all her new moves.

"You will spar with Viper."

Viper? But she didn't remember anyone in her class being Viper. Maybe he was an older student? No that didn't make sense right?

"Hello little one." Ruby turned to look at her opponent and froze. No…Nononononono. "What's up lil' mutie? Seen a ghost?" Ruby took several steps back. Her opponent wore wraps for clothes, bones decorated his ripped trousers. But his most discerning feature, was a big, bloody circular scar that ran around his neck. He looked at her with a wide toothy grin. "C'mon aren't we supposed to fight? What's the hold up?"

"Y-Y-You–"

"I-I-I what?" He mocked. "Too scared to finish the job eh?"

"Ruby, what is he talking about?" Yang spoke from the edge of the area. Yang? Why was she here? This wasn't her class.

"Oh Miss Xiao-Long, you see, your sister is a murderer! Or well, at least she tried to. But even at that she failed!" He declared with a wicked smile and pointing at his scar.

"What?!" Yang took a couple steps back with a horrified look on her face.

"Yang I-I-I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" Ruby tried getting closer to her sister but she…she moved back.

"No…"

"Pipsqueak is that what you're using my training for? Killing people?" Qrow's voice rang from the other corner of the area. Looking at he was disappointed, no, disgusted.

"Uncle Qrow I–"

"Don't even bother kid. They know exactly what you are." He laughed. "But well, let's get this done amirite?" Viper lunged at Ruby, his machete landing on Crescent Rose with the strength of an ursa. He continued attacking relentlessly, without break. Long, hard, brutal swings. Though all blocked by Ruby. But that's all she did, block. "What kid? Am I not good enough of an opponent?" He snarled. "Fine. Let's get you something newer."

He snapped his fingers and the ground shook as it seemed to morph from the podium to the Mojave's sands. Ruby looked around, Viper was gone.

"What do you want?!" She shouted, gripping Crescent Rose close to her. Without warning, she heard footsteps and turned around narrowly avoiding being struck by–the Legion assassin…

"We didn't properly finish our fight, Witch." The assassin swung his lance faster and more relentlessly than He had previously done. Ruby could barely keep up. Each attack felt like it was stronger than the rest, driving her back more and more until Ruby stumbled and fell backwards. Still, the assassin did not relent, striking away at Crescent Rose with the fury of a Grimm. Ruby couldn't handle it anymore it was too–

SNAP

Crescent Rose broke. Her baby, her beloved hand made weapon broke. The assassin struck again, ready to hit her chest with his lance but stopping an inch away from her.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA." Viper cackled. "I must say, this is also pretty good." He crouched down next to her. "You really are a failure ain't ya Ruby Rose? Used your skills to kill people, you accepted a life in a new place without even thinking of coming back home. But I must say, the most humiliating part of all is losing against someone that doesn't even have aura. You even abandoned your protector to die." He cackled once again as he looked at something else.

Ruby turned her head to what Viper was staring at and froze. Her eyes widened and tears formed in the corners of her eyes as Six's corpse laid lifelessly on the ground. "No! SIX!" Ruby screamed out to no avail. "YOU MONSTER!" She stared at Viper.

"Me? A monster? Sure I am one, but dear Ruby, Courier Six's death is entirely on you my dear. You left her to fight against a larger force knowing she was tired. You left her to die because you were too weak and couldn't muster the courage to fight. You. It was all. Your. Fault"

All her fault. It was all her fault. Six was dead because of her…"It's all my fault…"

"See?! Now you get it!" He cackled

All my fault. It's all my fault.

Those words looped and echoed endlessly on Ruby's head. She could feel the darkness of the void grow around her, swallowing the rocks, the sands, Six's body and then her own. Darkness, that's all she saw.

That's all I deserve.

Ruby couldn't move. Why couldn't she move? Her head hurt, her body hurt…everything hurt. She slowly opened her eyes, her vision was very blurry and her muscles still felt weak and without a single ounce of strength. She was–where was she? This room didn't look like the clinic. Voices, she could hear voices. Mostly a choir of incoherent mumbles. Geez it was so bright.

Focus Ruby. Focus.

Ruby closed her eyes and steadied her breathing before reopening them. Her vision had mostly cleared and she saw she was tied to a table and was in a larger room than the clinic, there were a couple scribes around her and…a scary looking almost bald guy was staring right at her.

"Senior Scribe Linda, the mutant's awake." He spoke in a gruff tone.

"Hmm, interesting." The Senior Scribe scribbled something on a clipboard. "The dosage I gave her should have had a longer effect. Fascinating."

"What are you doing to me? Let me go!" She unsuccessfully struggled against the binds.

"Doctor, control your test subject or I will." The mean angry bald guy stared at the Senior Scribe.

"Hardin, she's a kid for crying out loud. Have some decency!" The scribe protested.

"She's a mutant, Linda. You saw the scans as much as I did. That thing is not like us." he stared at her with contempt in his eyes.

"What do you mean, thing?!" Ruby protested. "I'm a person just like you!"

The man walked up to the tied up teen, the flames of hate burning behind his eyes he got to mere inches of her. "I am nothing like you." He spat. "Humans don't regenerate like that without the aid of cybernetics, and even so those have issues in of it themselves. You were either genetically modified to be born this way or were splashed with some sort of mutagenic agent. Both options make you a mutant and a threat. I kill threats. So you will keep your tone down or so I swear to–"

"Head Paladin, we have a situation outside." A voice spoke over Hardin's intercom.

The Head Paladin took a step back, bringing up his communicator as he spoke in an annoyed tone. "Can it wait I'm busy?"

"Hum…S-Sir I-I-W-We…" The voice over the intercom stuttered, they sounded, scared. "OKAY OKAY just–I'll open the door okay?! Geez…"

Confusion crossed the face of the Head Paladin as much as Ruby's. There wasn't much time to ponder as to what was occurring outside, as not a second after the door at the corner of the room swung open.

"Who is it? Identify yourself!" The Head Paladin commanded.

"You listen well, Hardin." Ruby recognized that voice. "If you touch a single hair of that kid." Ruby's face contorted into an ecstatic smile. "I will rip your heart out through that piece of metal you call armor." Courier 6 slowly walked up to Ruby and Hardin. Her armor was covered in dirt and blood; her helmet had a visible inward dent as well as one of its red lenses was broken. The closer she got, the more uncomfortable and angry Hardin seemed, the rest of the scribes though, they appeared shocked, especially Linda who had dropped had already taken a few steps back.

The Courier stopped as she found herself between Hardin and Ruby, giving the former a stare that could kill before turning to the teen and unsheathing her bowie knife and cutting the straps. "You okay?" Ruby nodded. "Can you walk?" She nodded again. Six helped Ruby not stumble to the ground as she got out of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Hardin growled.

"Getting her out of here."

"She's not human Six. We need to learn what's different about her so we ca–" Before Hardin could go on his rant, the barrel of That Gun met his eyes.

"One. More. Word." Hardin burrowed his brow, tethering with anger.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Six." Ruby looked to see that Elder McNamara was now in the room too, and accompanied by an entourage of paladins. "The moment you press that trigger, everyone in this bunker will become your enemy and you can't fight us all. Especially in your barely alive position. You have my gratitude for what you did to us Six. So please, lower your pistol." The Elder gestured a calming signal with his hands.

"She's coming with me." The Courier responded sternly.

"Six, we need to understand what she is. Ruby could be a danger to us all." The teen in question recoiled slightly. Was that really all they thought of her? A danger? "Besides, if you took her, what would happen then? You know how prideful some of my men are. If they learned you strong-armed your way into this, they'll come for you while I try to do damage control. Please, see reason." The Elder beckoned.

The Courier stared quietly at the Elder, pistol still raised and pointing at Hardin's forehead. Her only visible eye seemed to glow from the shadows casted by her helmet. "A trade then."

"I'm sorry?"

"I'll trade something for her freedom."

"What could you have that would be of use to us?"

The Courier lowered her pistol, hostering it before grabbing a rifle swung across her back. That weapon puzzled Ruby. She'd seen it before of course, but it just didn't really make sense to her. It looked like a pump-action shotgun, but it had a scope? And it was really blocky unlike the other shotguns she'd seen. The cherry on top of the cake was the ammunition that the rifle appeared to use, the–what were they called again? Microcells? Nono not that. Microfusion Cells! Yeah that. Given the ammunition, the only logical solution was it being an energy weapon, the ones Six had told her about.

"What use do I have of a rifle?"

"Believe me, you want it. This is only of the only ones of its kind, a Holorifle. Made from technology of the old world by the one and only Richard Elijah."

The room went quiet in an instant, with the Elder, Head Paladin and Senior Scribe now wide-eyed, while soldiers and other scribes mumbled among themselves. Whoever this Richard Elijah person was, he seemed to be famous among the Brotherhood.

"How do you know this?"

"Because he gave it to me. Because I heard him rant about his genius, like the egomaniacal narcissist he was." The disgust from Six's words was palpable as she spoke of this man. Whoever he was, she really did not like him. "And because I killed him."

The room drew quiet once more. The three highest ranked present exchanged glances, clearly this was something big, something big enough to elicit careful deliberation from the Elder. "I want to know everything about the origins of that rifle and your encounter with Elijah. And we keep what we already have on Ruby."

"Fine. I'll tell you what you want to know at the door." Six's words left room for no debate.

"That is…agreeable."

Six turned away from the Elder, looking at Ruby. Ruby was never able to know what was going on inside Six's head at any given point in time, be it with or without helmet. But, weird as it sounded, the only thing she could see of Six's face right now, her right eye, seemed…relieved?

"Let's go." Six said in a calm, almost soothing tone.

"Right behind you."

Six and Ruby made camp by the foot of the mountains to the north. It had gotten dark by the time they left Hidden Valley and Sloan was still a couple miles away. Besides, Six reckoned Ruby didn't want to be near other people right now judging by her uncanny silence. For what it was worth, Six was glad she could finally sit down. Hiding her limp was getting exceedingly difficult and the shit ton of med-x, buffout and rebound she'd taken was wearing down and the pain started to seep in. She frowned as she took her helmet in her hands. It was a wreck, especially with that huge dent, it was going to take a lot of elbow grease and begging Raul for help, but it was fixable.

Six rummaged through her chems sack, pulling out yet another stimpack. She was running dangerously low on them. Need to drop by Usanagi's for a restock. She stabbed the needle in the abdomen, since that was the most damaged area. She quickly felt her throat dry up, a side effect of stimpacks. She looked at the fire and the two cans of Pork 'n Beans that were cooking above it. They're probably done by now. She grabbed the cans, with her gloves so as to not burn herself. She looked around trying to spot Ruby. "Where'd she run off to?" She mumbled. Six finally spotted her on a ledge of a protruding rock higher up on the mountain. "Food's ready."

Ruby descended from her spot without much noise, sitting next to Six, basking in the warmth of the fire. The Courier opened both cans, handing over to the teen as the aroma of the 200 year old can of cooked Pork 'n Beans entered her nostrils. "Be careful, it's still very hot."

Ruby simply hummed in response.

Six started digging in on her beans, it wasn't the best food, especially since it was over 200 years old, plus the radiation didn't give it the best seasoning. But food was food, and god she needed some food. This is truly, one of the foods of all time. Ruby though, had barely touched her food and still hadn't said a thing.

"Alright." She put her can down. "What's wrong?"

"What?" Ruby eyed her with a surprised look.

"You're way too quiet and you're looking all depressed. So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." She averted her gaze from Six.

"Ruby, you made the exact same face when you lost your first game of caravan against Easy Pete." She deadpanned. "So I ask again, what's wrong?"

Ruby bit her lower lip, still not making eye contact with Six. "I'm sorry." She muttered quietly.

Six raised an eyebrow. "Sorry for?"

"It's my fault you got hurt. It's my fault I lowered my guard with the Brotherhood and almost got dissected. It's my fault you had to give up your things. If I'd just been stronger I wouldn't be such a burden to you. If I were stronger I could've fought with you, I-I-I wouldn't need to run and leave you alone." Tears started trickling down Ruby's face.

"Ruby I–"

"You almost died Six!" She shouted, interrupting Six. "Look at yourself, at your gear. You're hanging on by a thread because of me! Because I was too weak, because I'm just a kid that can't do anything right." She pulled her knees close to her chest and sank her sank between them.

Six sighed, staring up at the star filled sky. "You're right. You're not strong enough to fight many of the dangers the wasteland throws at you. You're also right about being just a kid. You are just a child. Children should be playing outside and not have to worry about the problems of the wider world. You're annoying, extremely naive, and easily trust others in a world where you should never truly trust anyone." Ruby sank her head deeper. "But, you're not a regular kid. You're hardworking, you have a drive to do good despite what other people might say. You look for the good in people where others would most see bad. Not to mention you're pretty badass with that scythe." Ruby raised her head and looked at Six. Her eyes, swollen red from the crying. "You're not worthless. You're learning and adapting to a completely different environment to the one you're used to. That in itself is amazing."

"..."

"When I was your age I fumbled a lot. Scratch that, I sucked a lot more than you. I couldn't aim a twenty-two to save my life. But I trained and got better. I learned how to survive in the desert, to fight, to read…But I didn't do it alone. Like anyone else I had help. Don't beat yourself up and degrade yourself because you can't fight veteran Legion assassins, or because you don't have skills that took me decades to develop. You're already better than half the schmucks that live in the region." Six smiled at the teen, picking up her food and handing it over to Ruby. "You just need to train and adapt. The rest will come naturally."

"But you still almost died…" She said, grabbing the can.

"True. But, you'll find out that sooner or later you'll dance with death a lot of times." She shrugged. It was true. Six had almost died many times. Not counting the time she literally died and got resuscitated after Benny shot her in the head. Death was a concept everyone in the wasteland knew and accepted. It came sooner rather than later to some, but everyone died.

"Isn't it scary though? Knowing you can die at any moment? Simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

Six leaned back. It wasn't that scary when Six really thought about it. She had just kind of accepted that possibility a long time ago. But then again, she was far from a normal, stable person. It obviously didn't seem like the best thing to simply tell Ruby 'that's life, get over it.' She once again looked at the stars, shining brightly alongside the full moon. So similar to that night so long ago. It's ironic really, how I'm basically playing you now. A bittersweet smile crept on the corners of her lips, remembering what had been said so long ago. "'I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live life the way I want to.'"

"What?"

"That's something a friend told me a long time ago. You will die eventually. That's the circle of life. But live life the way you want to live it. If you want to live it being a corny hero that goes around saving people, then do it. Within reason of course." She chuckled.

Six felt a huge jolt of pain run down her body coming from her abdomen as she felt herself be hug-tackled by Ruby. Six would not lie, that hurt, a lot. The med-x had definitely worn off and her wounds were not actually fully closed. But she didn't push Ruby away. Instead, she brought a hand up and rubbed the back of the teen's head.

"Thank you Six." Ruby said quietly with her voice muffled by Six's attire.

"You should sleep. You're tired."

"C-Can I…Can we stay like this? For a little bit longer?"

Six sighed. "Okay."

"Can you tell me a story?"

"Say what now?"

"Yang–...My sister, she usually told me stories before bed."

"Ruby I don't–HUMPF!" Ruby tightened her hug, causing Six to once again be shocked by pain. "Fine. Okay let me think…Uhhhh…Once upon a time there was…a little girl. She lived in a huge castle under the rule of an evil king where she was forced to weave the finest clothes of the entire kingdom. She didn't know who her father was, and her mother had died of sickness a few years after her birth, so she was alone. She worked day and night for the evil king, always trying to please him, but her finest clothes were never enough. Because of that, when she wasn't weaving, she cried. But one day, a group of traveling…knights came to the castle of the evil king. And after seeing how he treated his subjects, they fought the evil king's soldiers and killed him, freeing all of his subjects. The captain of the knights, a pure man with an incorruptible heart, found the little girl. She was scared of leaving the only place she ever knew and without the evil king, she didn't know what to do. The knight smiled kindly at the scared child and took her into his arms. He spoke to her the kindest words she'd hear after her mother's passing and went with the knights. To a better life than she ever could've imagined. And she lived happily ever after. The End."

"Okay Ruby, it's time for you to–" Looking down Six noticed Ruby was already asleep, her hold around the Courier had lightened but she still wouldn't budge. Six chuckled at the sight she never thought she'd ever see. A kid sleeping in her lap. If Cass or Veronica found out about this she'd never hear the end of it. Even Boone would probably make fun of her and he's the no-nonsense 'I'm always brooding' guy. It probably didn't help her injuries.

She should probably just move the kid.

She looked like she was comfortable though.

But it wasn't that uncomfortable. Six had had worse.

Six upholstered Maria and laid it on the floor next to her as she kept watch over the camp. Tomorrow this would be all over. No more Ruby, no more detours. Just back to work and forget about all this.

Yeah.

Six suppressed her urge to laugh at the way Ruby stared in awe at the Freeside's east gate. They were finally in Vegas, and just in time for a late lunch! "Sooooo, are you gonna enter oooooor?"

"O-Oh! R-Right! It's just, I've never seen anything like this. I-I-I mean this doesn't compare to Vale's walls but which are like much bigger and defended butthatdoesn'tmeanthesearentgoodtoo–"

"Ruby?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Shut up." Six deadpanned.

"Sorry." She rubbed the back of her head with a smirk.

Six rolled her eyes and walked through the gates and into the ghetto of New Vegas, Freeside. The two paroused the streets of Freeside, at every corner they looked there were homeless people, junkies or a combination of the two. Luckily for Six, the Old Mormon Fort was in this part of town. Still, it was important to keep vigilant, especially in the final stretch of the journey. "Ruby, what did I tell you about Freeside."

"You said that it was a ghetto were a lot of drug addicts and homeless people live and that they'll rob anyone they think can't defend themselves."

"Good. If you look tough most won't bother you. But you always need to keep yourself alert because some guy high on psycho or jet might still try their luck."

"Got it!" She saluted Six.

The two finally arrived at the Old Mormon Fort, the home base of the Followers of the Apocalypse in the Mojave. "This is it." Six said. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Ruby said determined.

—-

The fort was as Six remembered it, a mess. Tents filled with addicts and sick people strung up all over the place, Follower doctors running around being overworked and undersupplied, the usual. Six looked around for Jullie, she was probably the best person to talk this to anyway since she was their leader. Scanning through the crowd of doctors and patients, Six eventually found Jullie tending to some random Freeside citizen. Perfect. Six maneuvered the crowd until she was finally within talking distance of Jullie Farkas."

"Hey Jullie. Long time no see."

"Oh Six it's you. Arcade came by to–Jesus Christ Six what happened to you?! You look like you died!" The Follower doctor said horrified as she rushed to the Courier.

"Really Jullie, I'm fine. It's actually because of her that I'm here for." He put her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "This is Ruby, she's an orphan I found and I came here to drop her off with you guys. She's hardworking so can help around your camp."

Jullie looked Six up and down with an inquisitive look before turning to Ruby with a warm smile. "Ruby right?" She nodded. "Well Ruby, why don't you go to that tent and talk to Marcus? He will help you get settled in."

Ruby nodded and without saying a word she walked towards the tent Jullie had pointed to her. She stopped momentarily to look at Six but quickly continued on.

"So, why'd you bring her here?" Jullie asked, crossing her arms.

"What can I say, I was feeling charitable."She waved her off.

"Cut the bullcrap Six. Where did you find her?"

"A few miles outside the Mojave Outpost, why?"

"That means between here and there you had Primm, Goodsprings and Novac. All prosperous towns that could've taken in Ruby. Yet you decide to walk across the region and bring her to Vegas, exposing a child to not just the dangers of the road, but of Vegas itself. My question is why would you do such a thing?"

"You're a charity aren't you? I thought since I was already coming this way I'd bring her along. Is it that hard to believe I'd do that?" Six was starting to get annoyed. Why on earth was Jullie drilling about?

"That brings me to my next question. Where the hell have you been Six?" She asked with her tone slightly elevated. "Arcade came to the fort several times over the last three weeks asking if we'd seen you. Your friends are worried about you, they've been practically scouring the Mojave for you!"

"I was just away okay? Jesus H Christ Farkas, I don't have to tell anyone what I do with my life."

"You know what? You're right. You don't have to tell me where you've been, because you don't need to justify anything to me. You need to do that with your friends." Six's reply consisted of a scoff and the rolling of her eyes, much to the visible displeasure of the Followers' leader. "But I am interested in something."

"What now?" She asked, now very much annoyed.

"Why did you leave?"

"That's none of your concern." She responded immediately.

"I just find it funny the moment the head of the Tops casino dies after you enter it, you just disappear. Six when I saw you enter through those gates months ago you were a woman with nothing but drive behind your eyes. But now? All I see is an empty husk with nothing behind her eyes, just like back then. And Six…I'm worried." Jullie gave Six a genuine concerned look. Six hated when she gave her that look.

"Stop that. Just, stop." Six turned around and started to walk away.

Jullie followed after Six. "Six I'm just saying maybe it'd be better for you to go see–"

"Don't. Do not finish that sentence Jullie." Six growled.

Jullie sighed, bringing a hand to rub her sleep deprived eyes. "Fine. You do you Six. But don't leave without saying goodbye to the girl. I talked with her for a whole three seconds and it's blatantly obvious she likes you, for some reason." Jullie walked off, presumably on her way to treat one of the way too many patients waiting to receive care in the camp.

Six scoffed and headed to the exit. Who did Jullie think she was? She had no right to just pry into Six's life like nothing! It's not like she knew Six. Now Ruby was here, she was safe and Six could go back to her work. Yet, for some reason, Six couldn't leave. She was right in front of the exit but couldn't leave. Maybe, maybe she should just say goodbye to Ruby.

The Courier turned around and approached the tent Jullie had pointed Ruby to, and much to her luck, the teenager in question was just leaving the tent. The two locked eyes, approaching one another with a slow pace until they were finally face to face.

"Sooo hum…I guess this is goodbye?" Smiled weakly at Six.

"Y-Yeah…I guess so…"

"Just make sure to visit every now and then okay?"

"I will." Why was Six cringing so much right now? She was finally rid of this annoying kid, what was wrong with her? "Remember to learn as many survival techniques as you can."

"I will."

"Good, good…" Why? Why why why why? WHY?! That's the only word screaming inside her head. Why. Why was she feeling bad? Why did she have a knot in her stomach? Why was she abandoning Ruby? Wait. She was not abandoning anyone! This was always the goal. Ruby didn't belong with a person like Six. She deserved someone better. Not a drunk that was not equipped to take care of a child!

"I guess I'll…see you Six. I'm happy to have met you." Ruby flashed a big smile at Six as she moved for a final hug and Six, Six froze. Sure she gave the teen a small awkward pat in the head, but her head froze. Everything just stopped for her. Then, the bundle of her annoyance for the last two weeks broke off the hug and walked off.

No…This is wrong.

She doesn't belong with you. It's safer this way.

But she needs someone to teach her things.

Yeah, the Followers will do that.

But I

No

I can't

Don't. You'll just do worse

Six took a step forward.

You'll regret it later. You can still stop.

She took another step forward.

Don't do this. Six!

"Ruby!" She called out, not even realizing she'd shouted. Ruby turned to her, confusion adorning her face.

"Yeah?"

"I hum…I-I was thinking." Six was shaking. "Y-You said you wanted to explore Vegas r-right? W-Well I'm headed to the Strip right now so I thought maybe I don't know…D-Do you want me to show you around?"

Ruby's eyes widened as a look of realization formed on her face. A big toothy smile formed in her lips and she nodded her head. "I'd love to Six! Let me just get my things!" She sprinted back into the tent, and came back out with her sack and weapons. "Are you sure the Followers won't mind?"

Six, feeling like she was being watched, instinctively glanced to where a person was watching them, where Jullie was watching them…and she had that stupid smirk on her face. "No Ruby, I think they won't mind." She responded with a sigh.

"Awesome! OH! Does this mean I get to go on missions with you now?" Ruby's eyes filled with stars.

"Well-I-Y'see…We'll discuss that after."

"You didn't say no~"

"Whatever." Six rolled her eyes as she walked to the exit. She quickly noticed Ruby was not besides her and looked over her shoulder. "You comin' or what?"

Ruby once again smiled at Six and laughed. What was so funny? "Yeah, I'm right behind you."

Somewhere in the Nevada Desert…

The moon and stars shone in a cloudless night, illuminating the desert and mountains of Nevada like the sun had done not too many hours ago. Comic finished the last of her cigarette with a final drag as she overlooked the Viper camp below. She and her team had been following these fuckers for a week, hoping and praying to whatever God was out there that they'd lead them to their main base. Comic smiled a toothy grin as she observed the camp with her binoculars, yup, this was it. The Nest as the raiders called it.

This place was a fortress. Partitioned into two parts from what Comic could tell, there was the surface part, at the edge of a tall cliff and surrounded by scrap walls with only one gate to enter. Then, there was the underground part, accessed through a cave at the wall of the cliff. From the infrastructure that lined the camp and the cave's mouth, this looked to be a pre-war mining operation, silver or gold probably.

"Wonder if there's any minerals still inside that mine. I would look awesome with a silver necklace." Comic glanced down at the person next to her. Silver was the youngest and most recent addition to their team. She was good –what was she saying, of course she was good. All of them are supposed to be the best– but was still a bit headstrong and impulsive. A bit too idealistic at times but eh, thinking everyone can be good never hurt anyone.

Comic smirked ruffling Silver's silver hair (hence the nickname). "If there's any precious shinies there I call dibs on them."

Silver looked at Comic, agape and distraught. "You asshole!"

"Hey, it isn't my fault you didn't call dibs." Comic shrugged.

"Would you two shut up?" A quiet monotone voice asked.

Comic and Silver turned to their left, lying motionless on the ground, peering through the scope of her rifle, Loudmouth. "C'mon Loudmouth, we're just goofin' around." Comic threw her an innocent smile.

"Exactly my point ma'am." Loudmouth rebutted without taking her eyes off the scope.

"Buzzkill" Comic pouted, pulling out her walkie-talkie. "Angel Six, Angel Eight what's your status, over?"

The radio crackled for a couple seconds before a response came through. "We are on location. Waiting for your signal Two. Over."

Comic grinned. Finally! The Viper leader was rumored to be on base that day. They could cut off the head of the snake (pun intended) and get rid of the Vipers for good. "Seems like everything's in order. Imma just–"

"You forgot the scouts." Loudmouth interjected.

Comic frowned. "I didn't forget them. I was purposefully ignoring them. We're more than enough to deal with these."

"There's five of us." Loudmouth deadpanned.

"Like I said, more than enough." The communicator crackled once again as Comic pressed its button. "Third Recon this is Angel One, what's your status, over."

"Third Recon is primed and ready to go. We'll see if y'all stand up to the stories about your lot." Comic rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Just see if you can keep up with us." Comic turned off her radio before the leader of Third Recon could respond. "Okay. If that's all…" She looked at Loudmouth, coming for an interjection that never came. "I think we can start th–" Her other communicator crackled, her private one.

"Oh for fucks sake!" She yanked the communicator out. "WHAT?!" She all but shouted, eliciting a shush from her teammates and earning a frown from her.

"You didn't need to shout y'know?" Wait…she knew this voice.

"Toreen? Is that you? Where the hell are you? You need to be close by to be able to send a signal to me."

"Yeah. I rode through half the desert and almost broke my bike too. But guess what, I found her."

"Huh? Wut?"

"I found her." Comic's eyes widened. She tightened her grip on her helmet, getting up and excusing herself from her teammates. Silver shot her a concerned look, one she ignored.

Her mouth opened and closed several times, unable to say anything, the crackling of static being the only source of noise. "Where?" Was all she managed to blurt out.

"Mojave."

"What the hell is she doing in the Mojave? A-And how the hell did you get this intel?"

"Well you see I was at a bar and snooping around for some juicy info and wouldn't you know my luck when this caravan guard starts talking about some rumors in the Mojave of a person dressed like a ranger and a bad attitude making a name for herself. Like I always tell you, serve God for long enough and he'll help you every now and then." Comic could hear him chuckle from the other end.

"That sounds like her alright." Comic rubbed her temples. "Okay…I'm sure I can get the Big Man to let us go there and…bring her in." Comic's grip on her helmet tightened even more, reaching a point where her knuckles began to grow white.

"Well whatever it is you do, my job is done."

Comic took a deep breath, releasing her tight grip on the helmet. "Y'know, since you're so close by you could maybe lend us a hand?" She remarked with a smirk.

"Yeeaahhhh, no. Besides, even if I wanted, which I don't, I couldn't. Brass is sending me to Utah. They say something's sketchy is going on over there and they want me to smooth things over with the Canaanites."

"At least you'll feel right at home with all those religious wackjobs."

"Fuck. You. Go find your girlfriend or whatever the fuck she is." Before Comic could even retort back, the revving of a motorbike cut her off, followed by Toreen turning off his communicator.

Comic sighed, Toreen was a dickhead, but a reliable dickhead. She walked back to Loudmouth and Silver with newfound determination. After months of silence and doubt, she finally knew where she was. But first, Faust and her Vipers needed to be destroyed. She slid in her helmet, it's red lenses glowed red as she pressed the night vision button on the helmet's side. "Alright rangers, lets kill this fuckin' snake."

MERRY CHRISTMAS MY DEAR READERS. With this we end the first arc of this fic. You might be thinking in your little heads right now, "Tom this is a really big chapter!" And to that I say, yes. It is. I thought about splitting it in half but decided against it. Consider it my Christmas gift for you. What was best to have your Christmas Eve/Day than with some mystery third pov amirite? Anyhow, I hope y'all have a merry Christmas and happy new year. (Also this is festivity time so don't count on another chapter before the new year)

TOM, OUT!