Safe Haven
Synopsis: (Continuation of Mercury's Messenger) Joshua asks Sage to help find a home for his family. (T)
New Vegas Strip, August 2283.
Five weeks after Orpheus left for Flagstaff, Joshua Graham appeared at the gates of the New Vegas Strip.
Freeside's midmorning crowd was sparse, a few bums mixed in with locals going about their business. Since Sage had arrived on the scene, the streets had been pretty well cleaned up... metaphorically speaking. She couldn't spot her visitor, though there was no question whose voice Yes-Man had just transmitted to her; she would recognize the menace concealed in that placid baritone anywhere. Water-hardened pieces of paper skated past her feet as she scanned the loiterers.
She jumped, sensing a presence over her left shoulder. The intruder wore a masked biking helmet, a hallmark of Freeside hoodlums, but he stilled her hand before she could grab for her weapon.
"There you are," came that unmistakable voice. The bandages around his eyes were visible, but only to a person who knew to look. A nondescript overcoat concealed his flak vest. The look was incongruous, but not enough to attract attention — Joshua was here on a low profile.
"Morning, Josh. Nice disguise," Sage smirked through her own riot helmet. She nodded up to the looming 38. "Follow me."
He trailed behind her on the way, trying to look inconspicuous. He wasn't one for stealth — in fact, he was about as straightforward a man as Sage had ever met. To her knowledge, the frumentarii had been giving the city a wider berth since the Dam, so it was of little concern.
Sage retracted her steps when Joshua paused to glance at the dancers outside Gomorrah. One of the women, misinterpreting his attention, twirled her hips and beckoned at him. He shook his head deliberately. There was more mercy than wrath in his eyes, though plenty of both. They moved on.
"You can't separate the vice from Vegas, I'm afraid," Sage mused by way of apology. "It's all I can do to root out the cannibalism and sex trafficking."
"It isn't up to you to change the people's hearts," Joshua concluded, and Sage tried not to sigh with relief. "We sent two missionaries down this way a number of years ago, but we couldn't spare any more, and they never returned." They entered the tower. Joshua glanced curiously around its darkened, stale entrance.
"Here it is. La Torre de Courier," Sage announced.
Safe from unfriendly eyes, Joshua began stripping off his gloves, helmet, and outer layer of clothing, revealing his signature flak vest. "Excuse me. My skin doesn't regulate heat very well," he explained politely. Sage saw now how his chest rose and fell with contained exertion.
She led them into the elevator, which Yes Man had kindly readied. "Don't mind my team for getting a little weird. If they recognize you, I mean. Since you're so, uh..." She searched for the word. "Notorious." Feeling awkward, she pressed the floor button a second time.
"No trouble. If you trust them, so do I."
"Yeah," Sage agreed. "Hopefully."
The elevator opened into her dim entryway, and they stepped out onto the once-luxurious rug. Not two seconds had passed before a cannonball of fur and steel rocketed towards them, barking.
Joshua intercepted the ecstatic cyberdog, who jumped up to lick him, wiggling like a puppy. His voice came as a soft murmur. "Rex?"
"Uh. He's usually better behaved," Sage explained lamely.
"I know." Joshua'a fingers ran through the thick scruff on Rex's neck. "He was my dog. Caesar's. I thought of him as mine."
She gaped at the scene — of course Rex had been Legion, but apparently he'd been a pet as well as a war hound. Somehow he'd made it from Flagstaff to the King, but that was a mystery for another moment. Boone's harsh voice emerged from the vicinity of the rec room. "Sage."
She spun around to face him. "Heya, Boone. We've got a visitor," she stated pleasantly, as if that weren't obvious.
"You've got no idea what you're doing," he responded flatly. If he was surprised to see the Burned Man in his foyer, it didn't show. He glared daggers at Joshua, who met his shades with almost equal dislike. Rex whined insistently to recapture his former master's attention. ED-E twittered nervously over Boone's shoulder.
"Sniper," Joshua greeted him coldly. "Did you ever shoot me?" He took care not to neglect Rex again.
Boone grunted. "My spotter did. We bought his drinks for a month. Thought you were dead."
"Many of Caesar's frumentarii failed too — and paid with their lives." His voice was civil, but the implicit threat was clear.
A beat of silence followed, napalm in the air. ED-E turned anxiously from person to person. "So, what brings you to the Mojave?" Sage asked cheerfully. Boone wasn't fooled by the subject change and disappeared back into the rec room, probably to tell the others that Sage was working with a terrorist and trying to kill them all.
"Yes." Joshua finally stood up. Rex pawed at him with his mechanical foreleg, then gave up and draped himself over his snakeskin boots. "Since the White Legs sacked New Canaan, my people have been nomadic. Scattered. My family has lived with the Dead Horses, but since the tribe moved to Zion, the 80's have grown in influence, and tension has risen in the valley. Daniel and I feel it would be better if they moved somewhere safer."
"Meaning Vegas?"
"For now. With the NCR and Legion abandoning of the area, my people won't have to fear any laws impacting their independence and freedom to worship. What's more, with your securitron patrols, the area is safer now."
"Relatively," Sage muttered. "You seem to have thought this through. What do you need from me?"
"A place. Any place."
"How many people?"
"Three, once Daniel and I return to Utah."
"Oh, three? I expected a lot more. I can find a place for three people, no problem." Sage grinned, eager to help. "I've got a room in Novac, and the presidential suite at the Tops." Her mind skipped like a record to realize why Joshua extended family was only three people, but it didn't play on her face.
Joshua looked perplexed. "I wasn't expecting anything like that. I'm afraid I can't pay you, except in repair services."
"Nah," she said. "Raul keeps all our stuff good as new. Those rooms are just gathering dust anyway."
"Then all I can give you is my thanks."
"Whenever you need a favor, I'm your man," she bragged gratuitously. "It pays to have powerful friends."
While they waited on the Securitron sent to fetch the other New Canaanites, Sage tried to introduce Joshua to her team without anyone getting killed. It didn't take much to convince Boone not to walk out on them; apparently he was a believer in keeping his enemies closer. The others were similarly wary, but on the whole, far more polite.
The elevator dinged to announce the family's arrival. Rex followed Sage and Joshua to meet them, smelling new friends. Daniel stood in the entryway with a thin man in his mid-sixties and a younger woman. She could tell they were related; they both shared Daniel's kind eyes. Trailing behind was a young girl in a torn and faded blue dress, taking in the suite's unfamiliar sights with a gape.
"Sage, good to see you again!" Daniel intercepted her in a hug straightaway. She was surprised, but returned it; not many people in the Mojave were huggers. Out here, you were likely as not to get a knife in your gut for coming at someone without warning like that. All the same, she was glad there was no bad blood between them, and eager to be the answer to the Canaanites' prayers.
"Right back atcha! Gonna introduce me?"
"Of course! This is my father Abraham, my sister Hannah, and Hope, my niece."
"I know you!" Hope blurted when it was her turn to be introduced. "You're the Courier."
"And you're adorable!" Sage exclaimed in delight.
"Hope, don't be rude. Call her by her name," Hannah half-whispered.
"Nah, don't worry. Pretty much everyone calls me that. It may as well be my name," Sage waved her off, grinning. "So you guys are looking for someplace to stay."
"I hear you have a few in mind?" Abraham asked. His voice was low, sounding somehow like it came from far away.
"Well, Novac's small, but the people are nice. You guys don't really seem like 'City of Sin' material."
"On the contrary," said Abraham. "Our people are chosen to go into the darkest of places, to find the ones who most need the light."
Sage thought she heard Cass scoff from the other room. Personally, she found the New Canaanites' single-mindedness appealing. They were refugees who had lost everything, but their main concern was how many people they could help. And, sure, their idea of helping was a little different from Sage's, but she appreciated it all the same. Maybe it would make her job easier.
"If it's that important to you, I also have a room at the Atomic Wrangler," she joked. "But I think The Tops is a happy medium, plus I'd be able to keep an eye on you if anything goes wrong."
"Why do you have a room at a brothel?" Daniel remarked.
"Hey, man, people just give me things. They want me nearby. Don't jump to any conclusions."
"I wasn't!" he said, sounding alarmed at his own rudeness. Sage laughed. She had failed to mention that she'd killed a man for it.
Hope was bored of this conversation. Even though it involved her and she was trying to be on her best behavior, this place was pretty cool. She'd never been in such a tall building before, and never seen a cyberdog. She snuck out of the room, beckoning for the dog to follow her. The Courier seemed to notice, but didn't protest, and no one else was facing her direction.
The first room Hope found was a bathroom bigger than some people's houses. Hope tested the faucet in the bathtub and saw that it worked. The dog propped his front legs up on the tub's rim to sniff at the water stream.
The water was as clear and cool as the river back in Zion. "I bet it's not even radioactive, is it?" Hope wondered, splashing a little at him. He squirmed away, metal toes clicking on the tile floor.
"As much as I appreciate you teaching the dog about interior plumbing, water doesn't grow on trees," a voice said. Hope spun around, embarrassed. There was a ghoul leaning against the wall, eyebrows raised under the shade of his sombrero.
"It... does, actually." Hope corrected him sheepishly. "It goes in through the roots and they breathe it out through their leaves."
"It's an expression, muchacha," the ghoul countered. "From back when there were enough trees for it to mean something."
"Are you a pre-war ghoul?" she asked curiously. She had known a few in New Canaan, but... well, not anymore.
"No such thing as pre-war, kid. Somebody's always been throwing rocks at somebody else. That never changes. But if you mean was I around before this hemisphere got turned into a big, ugly crater... yeah."
Hope had no idea what to say to that. "Uh, okay, muchacha."
The ghoul blinked. "Well, this sure has been fun, but I actually came in here on business..."
"Oh." Hope, blushing in embarrassment, left and ran into the next room.
This room contained a man in a white coat hunched over a desk terminal, and another in a far corner, sitting on a footlocker and angrily counting out ammunition. He had a flying robot bobbing in the air near him, which turned toward her when she entered.
"Wooo," said the robot. The man in the red beret looked up at it, then followed its line of sight to see Hope. She hadn't really wanted to attract his attention; he looked like he hadn't slept in a week and was currently making a plan for each bullet that passed under his fingertips.
"Gannon," the guy muttered, seeming as uncomfortable as Hope felt.
"Wha— oh." Gannon spotted Hope, who was standing awkwardly and wanting to go back to her family. "Do you... need something?"
Hope shifted one foot to kick against the other. "Nnnno..." She walked over to the couch and sat down to feel less like she didn't belong here.
It wasn't so hard to pretend. She'd been away from home for over two years now. She didn't belong anywhere.
The cyberdog returned from saying hi to Gannon, sensed Hope's discomfort, and hopped up on the couch to lay his head in her lap. She scratched behind his ears, drawing comfort from the thick fur between her fingers, and the weight and warmth of his head. She regretted coming in here, though the two strangers were dutifully ignoring her.
Hannah promised they'd find somewhere safe in the city. Hope pretty much doubted it. She hadn't felt safe in a long time.
Her father had dragged her out of bed in the middle of the night. She hadn't had time to grab her things. There'd been screaming outside. It was too horrible to think about. But... too horrible not to dream about.
After they'd fled New Canaan, the survivors had hidden in an old gas station off the side of a highway. Joshua had found them there. He'd been looking for over a week. He'd brought them back to Dead Horse Point, where Hannah lived.
Hope had never felt less safe than in the months after the White Legs attacked. From there, they'd moved to Zion with the rest of the Dead Horses, until her uncles had decided it was time to move again. Hope had friends in the valley, and she was unhappy to leave them.
And now the adults promised her this new place would be better. Safer. Those promises didn't mean anything to Hope. It would never be a home. It wouldn't have Mother or Father, would it? And not Hope's baby brother Joey. Or Grandpa Samuel or Grandma Dina or Grandma Esther. Or her friends from school, or her uncle Isaiah, or Daniel's fiancée Lily. After the raid, some of the men had gone back to bury the survivors. They wouldn't tell Hope what they saw.
Such a cruel thing, that a person's entire life can change between the time they go to bed at night and sunrise the next morning.
The robot floated slowly over to her. It didn't have a face, but she imagined it felt curious by the way it tilted toward her. The cyberdog's eyes rolled toward it and he grumbled but didn't raise his head. The robot drifted closer, and Hope reached a finger out to touch it. The dog interrupted her by sitting up suddenly and barking at it, savage with mistrust. Hope leaned back, startled, but the dog interposed himself between her and the robot, facing it. He didn't want it to touch her.
"Hey!" The guy who'd been counting ammo charged toward them. "You leave him alone."
Hope startled. "I— I didn't..."
"Not you." The guy shook his head brusquely. "Meant the dog."
"He's a dog, Boone," Gannon reminded him. "He barks at things. And doesn't... speak English."
The dog had plopped his head back on Hope's lap and was resolutely ignoring them. Boone huffed and left with his robot. "Sorry," he muttered to Hope as he left.
Arcade rolled his eyes and got up from the desk. "I'm sorry about him. He lacks social... awareness. And he and Joshua Graham don't really see eye-to-eye."
"Oh."
Gannon rubbed his forehead, pushing his glasses down the brim of his nose. "So, uh, where are your parents..?" He asked it more like he wanted to get rid of her than learn more about her.
Hope ground the toes of her flats into the carpet. They were too scuffed for her to care about keeping them nice. She hadn't had new clothes for awhile. "They're not... here."
He blinked, looking confused. "Oh. Then who are you here with?"
"My aunt, uncles, and grandpa." She looked down at her scuffed-up flats, unhappy with the direction of the conversation.
"Oh. So they're... really not here."
"Isn't that what I said?" muttered Hope. Rex repositioned his head on her lap as if to remind her he was there. She patted him absentmindedly.
"Sorry. It's just—" He half-smiled, half-winced. "I was raised by my aunt and uncles too. We spent a lot of time moving from place to place..." he waved the thought away. "Anyway. Just drawing parallels."
"I'm done moving around," Hope said harshly. She wasn't angry, really. Sometimes she just felt so badly that she couldn't control the way she said things.
Gannon released his fake smile, though he didn't seem very fazed by her lack of decorum. "I hope so. You're in the right place. Sage has the resources to do pretty much whatever strikes her fancy."
Hope blinked. She couldn't tell if he was lying to comfort her. The silence grew stale and uncomfortable for the both of them. They were rescued by the arrival of Sage herself, along with Joshua.
Arcade turned and walked out without another glance at Hope. "Thank you for saving me. I'm completely inept with children."
"I thought you studied pediatrics."
"You'd be surprised how little that helps," he drawled. He scurried away, scoffing at himself. Hope decided not to take offense at his abrupt exit from the conversation. They were both glad to escape it.
Joshua pulled her to her feet by her hands. She thought he might be smiling, though sometimes his smiles were fake. She was getting better at telling, now that she wasn't a little kid anymore.
"Our friend has found us a place to live," he explained, beginning to walk back into the hallway. Joshua had bad habits like that, like leaving a room and expecting the other person to follow. Daniel said he was just too used to being in charge. Rex trotted between them.
"Are there other kids?" Hope asked. She didn't mind sleeping on the ground or having to eat mostly beans or things like that, but she didn't like having to leave her friends in the Utah.
Joshua hummed thoughtfully. She knew he'd always take her feelings seriously, even though she was only ten. "The Chairmen were formed from the bones of a Mojave tribe. It's possible that families live in the casino, though they may stay elsewhere for safety."
Hope wrinkled her nose. "We're living in a casino?"
"You are. Daniel and I will remain in Freeside on mission, until we return north. There isn't enough room for the five of us in the suite."
Hope hmphed. "And you'll come to visit until then?"
"Of course. It's only a few miles' walk."
Hope seemed satisfied, or at least pacified. Despite her reservations, Joshua hoped she'd be happy in New Vegas. It wasn't right for a child to be moved around so often, especially without the stability of her parents. It was an open secret among the New Canaanites that Hope was what they would call 'troubled.' She tried her best to be the bright, happy child she'd been before New Canaan fell, but she was subject to drastic mood swings, nightmares, and overly impulsive behavior. They tried to baby her, to avoid mentioning the ones lost, but Joshua knew from experience that Hope's childhood was effectively over. He did his best to treat her like an adult, and in return she confided in him. He was loath to leave her here. But it was encouraging to know that Sage was living only a short way away. She was right that it paid to have powerful friends, but it was all the more comforting to have trustworthy ones.
Joshua noticed an unfamiliar teenager had arrived in the entryway. She was receiving a massive bear hug from Sage's supermutant companion. The nightkin pressed a lipless kiss to the girl's cheek, then noticed the two onlookers.
"I THINK YOUR FRIENDS HAVE COME TO VISIT, DEAR," she roared pleasantly. "RUN ALONG, NOW! DON'T KEEP THEM WAITING!"
The teen's eyes widened when she saw Joshua. She opened her mouth to say something, then suddenly looked away and self-consciously adjusted her pink knit shirt over her baggy khakis. "You, uh. Hi. Sorry, that was my grandma, she's... a little..." She looked back at Lily, who was having an intensely polite political discussion with a wall. "...eccentric."
"You must be Molly."
"Oh!" Molly's tan cheeks darkened further. "Oh, Miss Sage told you about me! Yes, I was a slave in the Legion. I've heard much about you."
"All exaggerated, I'm sure. I only pray the stories make life easier for the slaves."
"Oh, they do!" Molly was still emphatic, but thankfully a lot less chirpy. "The women would sit around the fire and tell the same stories so many times, none of us knew which versions were real. Of course, everyone claimed to get them from a reliable source. It was great fun."
"I'm glad." Joshua glanced down at Hope, who was disinterested in the conversation and instead choosing to inspect a garden gnome that stood next to a small pile of coffee cups. The entire suite was equally chaotic, right down to the dozens of sawed-off deathclaw arms piled in the corner of the bedroom. He didn't blame Hope for getting distracted. Turning back to Molly, he continued, "I'm glad Sage managed to free you."
"Sage and Boone," Molly corrected.
"Yes." He had to remember to tell Hope to stay away from Boone later, in case his massacreing instincts flared up.
Sage materialized from wherever she had disappeared off to for the past five minutes. (Sending the New Canaanites to check out the Tops, maybe.) "You know, Hegelian Dialectics seems like a stupid thing to base a society off of," she remarked.
Joshua, who had thought he was forever free from hearing about Hegelian Dialectics, veered immediately away from the subject. "We were discussing Molly's liberation from the Legion. I'm impressed by your confidence." He noticed Hope taking an interest in an unsecured pile of grenades and corralled her with an arm on her shoulder.
"Nice little piece of work, wasn't it?" Sage said proudly. "My knuckles really enjoyed the feel of Vulpes's cheekbone."
An idea struck Joshua suddenly. Another of his wrongs that could be righted. Maybe. "Have you ever considered going back?"
"I am a being of pure whim, my friend. I rarely 'consider.'"
"In that case," Joshua began. Then he hesitated. "I don't want to take advantage of your kindness."
"Well, you have to ask now. You've piqued my interest."
"If you insist." He paused again, knowing it was a big ask, and worried she would agree to it just to satisfy him. "I only ask because I know you've been given great capabilities, but even you have limits. If you say no, then it isn't the Lord's will."
Sage's face split into a slow, almost predatory smile at the chance to prove herself. There was a darkness in her, to be sure. The same overconfidence that had lost Joshua the first battle for the Dam had won her the second. Her luck had to run out eventually. But there would be another time to warn her about pride. Hopefully.
"When I was in the Legion, I owned a slave." He saw her smile harden and her sharp brown eyes break contact for a moment. She had thought better of him. "She was Caesar's, really, but he convinced me to help pay for her. She and I became good friends. I always wondered what happened to her."
Reluctance was spreading on Sage's face. She scratched the back of her dark, unkempt hair and grimaced. "If you'd asked me two weeks earlier, Joshua, I would have said yes. I really would. But I just called for a cease-fire and I don't think kidnapping Caesar's slave would help. I... want to, but there's so much at stake..."
"I understand."
"Maybe if they don't get back to me about the cease-fire. Just... give me some more details." She clasped her hands and rocked a bit, like a child ashamed. Her mannerisms could be weirdly erratic at times; Joshua assumed it had something to do with the bullet scars disappearing into her hairline.
"Her name is Juno. Before that, it was Mikayla. I believe she's thirty-seven now. She was an NCR citizen before the Legion. If nothing's changed, she belongs to Lucius now."
"She does," Molly piped up. "But... that's all I know about it." She blushed and retreated before anyone could respond, feigning sudden interest in investigating the rec room.
Sage watched her, then called out to a woman thumbing lazily through a Caravan deck across from her hooded opponent. "Hey, Cass! Is Crocker in town?"
"Sure is," the woman in the hat muttered. "Keeps sending pageboys to ask for an audience with you."
"Great! I need him in the peace talks. Specifically—"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard. The New Canaanites need more fertile women to indoctrinate," she drawled.
"Cass!" Sage yelped, alarmed.
Cass smiled in a way that suggested she was imparting a life lesson to a wayward younger sibling. "Look at who you're talking to, Six. Pretty girls are a commodity to the Legion. That tradition didn't come from the Followers."
Joshua intervened. "The Legion's social structure is an exaggerated imitation of Ancient Rome. The New Canaanites find it as appalling as you do."
"And yet you still found it in your heart to buy a person," Cass smirked.
"I wasn't excusing myself."
"I think we're all on the same page about slavery being bad, Cass," Sage snapped.
"Why do you think they're so focused on you, Sage? They've got a quota to fill. Everybody wants that third wife before he turns sixty." Sage's jaw dropped, scandalized.
Joshua felt a sudden blood rush, old rage beating against the shores of his renewed soul. Hope's painful vice grip on his arm didn't help.
"Cass, come on," the hooded woman across from her muttered.
"You know how it is, Ronnie," Cass said to her. "When a cult loses most of its members, it starts to get desperate."
That did it. Joshua extricated himself from the claws digging into his forearm and marched to meet Cass. He heard his sister's voice in the back of his mind, telling him to stop, but the Malpais Legate didn't listen. Close to her face, he hissed, "Enough! You may say whatever you like about me — but you will not slander our dead." His voice had power and he knew it.
Cass stilled, and so did everyone else. "Wasn't trying to," she said softly. "M'sorry. I might be a little bit hammered." She was genuine, and Joshua tried to regain his patience. Ironically, if she were a man, he would have hit her. She glanced guiltily at Hope over his shoulder.
After another beat, Joshua said, "It's true that we've lost most of our women. We trust that God won't let us perish, but we're not immune to fear. And we would rejoice to have Juno join us, or Sage. But my focus is on rescuing my friend from the Legion. That is all."
"And that's what we're gonna do," Sage finished.
The silence was tense again after that. There wasn't really a way to continue a conversation after a derailing like that. The suite was mostly empty now; almost everyone had escaped in some way or another before the commotion started.
"Hi there!"
All of them startled, in their own ways, as the goofy-faced Securitron wheeled up to Sage.
"Yes, Heart Attack, what is it?" she answered, flustered.
"Sorry to be a bother — you've got a message! Isn't that exciting?"
"Yes. Yes, I love messages. Give me the message."
The robot's screen cut to black, bisected by a horizontal green line that wavered with the cold, familiar voice that poured out of the speakers.
"Courier Six. The Legion has received your summons. You are granted an audience."
2266-
January - Distance, No More
2267-2276 -
2277 -
January - Sage destroys the Divide
February - First Battle of Hoover Dam
July - The Mummy Returns
August 17 - Aniss leaves Vault 101
The Prodigal Son
September - To Set the Record Straight
November - The Burned Man Walks
2278 -
April - James dies (Purity War begins)
June - Guide Her Through the Night
Bitter Springs
September - Project Purity activates
2279 -
Adams Air Force Base (Purity War ends)
2280 -
May - Dogmeat's Vacation
August - Boones are married
2281 -
New Canaan is destroyed
October 11 - Sage is shot in the head
October 19 - Sage wakes up
2282 -
ED-E, My Bud
2283 -
January - Second Battle of Hoover Dam
February - To Have and To Hold
April - Awake, O Sleeper
May - Worst-Case Scenario
July - Mercury's Messenger
August - Safe Haven
