Author's Note: No, you're not dreaming. I'm back! Sorry, I know it's been a year, but it has been a crazy one. Short version, I refinance one house, bought another and moved. Then, during the move, I lost my fanfic notes! Took me three months to find them. Anyway, now that I found them and we're settled, I can finally commit more time to this. Hope you enjoy it.

One for my Baby

"Send it!" Manny Vargas shouted while staring through his spotter's scope. A moment later, he observed the telltale pink mist of a head shot. "Good hit!"

Craig Boone chambered another round of his .308 sniper rifle and took aim at another legion soldier. After making a quick adjustment for the wind, he fired a bullet into a legionary's center mass.

The two dozen strong legion raiding party had attacked right at dawn when Manny was about to relieve Boone from his watch on top of Dinky the Dinosaur. They probably figured attacking during a shift change would cause them to catch the defenders of Novac by surprise. Instead, both snipers were in position allowing them to work together to keep the raiding party at bay.

In addition to the two snipers, several of the town's residents had joined the fight. This included Andy, a retired Ranger and the unofficial "lawman" of Novac. Despite the injury to his back, the aging former Ranger punched several small holes into the wall of his hotel room, and was shooting at the attackers with his .44 magnum. Another resident was Daisy Whitman, an aging prospector who was still a crack shot with a hunting rifle.

"They're regrouping." Manny said. "Looks like they're gonna try to hit us on the right."

Boone's face showed no emotion as he put a fresh clip of rounds into his rifle. "Let them come!" he growled as he slammed the bolt forward.

Half a mile south of Novac…

Follows-Chalk kneeled down on the road; his eyes scanning in all directions. "It looks like another group joined up with them. Looks like twelve…maybe more."

Cass cursed under her breath. "Bastards plan on burning Novac just as they did Nipton."

Just then, they could hear the sound of gunfire crackling off in the distance.

"Sounds like we better hurry." Marcus said as the group took off in a dead run.

Novac…

Once they had regrouped, the Legion raiding party began pressing their attack. Several of their sharpshooters concentrated their fire on Boone and Manny's position, keeping them pinned down. The remaining legionaries circled around to the left flank, where Ranger Andy was unable to get a clear shot.

As their position was being peppered by bullets, Boone gritted his teeth and popped up from cover - determined to take a shot. Shrapnel from a .44 round struck his left cheek, forcing him to duck back down.

"Are you hit?!" Manny yelled.

Boone wiped the blood away. "It's just a scratch."

Manny used his spotter's telescope to see over their cover. "Those bastards are nearly at the gate. We may have to move to the ground level…hold on! More contacts coming in!"

Boone cursed under his breath. 'More of them!' He had all but accepted that this was it, when he suddenly heard the distinctive sound of an energy weapon's fire. 'Legions don't use energy weapons.' he thought.

"I'll be damned." Manny said with a grin. "This new group's attacking the Legion!"

Boone soon realized that their position was no longer being peppered by bullets, and the sniper popped up with his rifle at the ready. He was not prepared for what he saw through his scope. The five legion sharpshooters were dead - two of them now a pile of ashes. He watched as a beat up eyebot charged forward, firing away with a laser cannon. A red headed woman in combat armor let loose with a gauss rifle, blowing out a legionary's chest. Next to her was a cowboy with a PIPBOY and a repeating rifle, and his shooting abilities impressed the veteran sniper.

A large, blue mass seemed to leap out of nowhere and nearly cut a legionary in half with a massive sword. Another legion soldier was dispatched by a dark skinned, tattoo faced man wielding a tomahawk…and next to him was a redheaded cowgirl, firing away with a double-barrel coach gun. As he stared into her eyes, his non-aiming eye unconsciously opened…as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The sound of Manny yelling in his ear snapped Boone back to reality, and his training kicked in. He fired a shot, blowing apart the head of a legionary. The body hadn't even hit the ground before he chambered another round, took aim, and squeezed the trigger. Another hit. Boone repeated the action again and again, until the remaining legion troops were either dead or running for the hills.

"Better keep an eye on this new group." Manny said. "They could be another group of raiders."

Boone ejected a brass casing from his now empty rifle. "They're not raiders."

Manny looked to his fellow sniper. "How do you know?"

Boone stood up and slung his rifle on his shoulder; his eyes never leaving the cowgirl in the group. "Trust me. I know."

With the last of the Legion troops withdrawing, Marcus and his companions breathed a sigh of relief. "At least we saved this town." he said.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah. Even though a certain eyebot blew our sneak attack!"

The certain eyebot was hovering near them, and let out what seemed like a sad, pathetic beep.

Moira appeared on Marcus' PIPBOY. "He says he's sorry."

Marcus couldn't help but chuckle. "It's alright ED-E. Just remember the next time we're trying to ambush somebody, it's best not to blare heroic music beforehand. Okay?"

ED-E beeped an affirmative. After looting the bodies of everything from healing powder, gold coins, ammo and guns, Marcus and his companions cautiously made their way towards the gates of Novac. Many of the town's people had gathered near the entrance to greet them. Ranger Andy was the first to speak. "Appreciate the help, stranger. A few more minutes and we may have been fitted for crosses."

Marcus shook his hand. "Glad we could help. My name is Six, and this is…"

"Hold on!" Andy interrupted. "Did you say Six? Are you that courier who saved the town of Goodsprings?"

The town's people began to murmur among themselves. The scene reminded Marcus of his days roaming the Capital Wasteland. "Well….the town's people did most of the work."

Another of Novac's residents, an older woman wearing a dress and glasses, practically knocked Andy out of the way to introduce herself. "Thank you all so much for saving our town! My name is Jeannie May Crawford, but you can call me Jeannie! I manage the Dino Dee-lite Motel, and I'd be honored to have all of you stay with us for the night."

Marcus was a little taken aback by her hospitality, but he was grateful nonetheless. "I appreciate that ma'am, thank you."

Boone slipped out the door of the T-Rex statue and briskly walked towards his room.

"I thought I recognized that shoot'n."

The familiar voice stopped him dead in his tracks. After taking a deep breath, the sniper turned around. Her eyes were the same brilliant blue as he'd remembered. The wind suddenly picked up, and her familiar scent hit Boone's nostrils, causing him to flinch for a moment. "Hello, Cass. It's been a long time."

Cass' left eyebrow went up. "That's all you have to say to me after all this time?"

He didn't answer. Cass started walking towards him. "How about 'hey Cass, nice see'n ya. Look'n good! How's your caravan business doing?" She was standing face to face with him. "Why thanks, Craig. Good to see you, too. Caravan business went tits up, but hey, can't win them all, right?"

Even though he was wearing sunglasses, Boone found it difficult to look her in the eye. "Look Cass I…"

They were interrupted by Ranger Andy and Marcus. "Andy tells me you were the sniper up there." He presented his hand. "That was damn fine work."

Boone shook his hand. "Don't mention it."

There was an awkward moment of silence. Marcus looked at both Boone and Cass' faces; not sure what to make of their expressions. "So…you have a name?"

"Craig Boone." the sniper deadpanned.

Marcus' eyes shot open. "Boone?" The memory of his vision flashed into his mind. "Are you related to Captain Boone?"

Before Craig could answer, Cass chimed in. "Bet your sweet ass he is." She looked over at Boone. "Six here's a bit of a history buff."

Marcus couldn't believe it. "So that means that both of your fathers were…"

"That's right." Cass said. "Me and this schlub grew up together." She placed her hand to the side of her mouth and lowered her voice. "We used to play, I'll show you mine, if you show me yours."

There was no mistaking the blush on Boone's cheeks as he lowered his head. "Jesus Cass, come on."

Cass responded with a smirk. "Believe it or not, he used to be way more fun. I heard you ran off to Vegas and got married a while back. Would've been nice to get an invite. So, where is the lucky gal?"

Boone didn't say anything. He simply turned around and headed for his room. Cass was dumbfounded. "Was it something I said?"

Andy cleared his throat. "Boone's wife, Carla, disappeared a while back. Some people think she ran off but…Craig's convinced she's dead."

Cass felt like there was a pit in the bottom of her stomach. "Well…shit. Think I'll go remove this foot from my mouth…and replace it with a beer." She walked off - looking for anything that resembled a bar.

Sarah made her way over to Marcus. "What was that all about?"

The Wanderer sighed. "I'll tell you later. That woman Jeannie May offered us a couple of rooms. We should probably check them out and rest for a while."

They began walking towards the motel entrance when something caught Marcus' eye. Standing between the dinosaur and the "Welcome to Novac" sign was a lone securitron - a securitron with a very familiar cowboy on its screen. "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit! If it ain't my old friend from Goodsprings!"

Both Sarah and Marcus were stunned. "Victor? What are you doing in Novac?"

"Don't rightly know. I just got the notion to make my way to New Vegas. Reckon I'll find out when I get there."

Sarah crossed her arms. She wasn't buying it. "Are you following us?"

Victor seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Now don't go get'n paranoid. We're all

friends here. Since I saved your friend's life here, twice if I recall, I feel kinda responsible for him."

Marcus wasn't buying it either, but he decided to play along. "Well…I appreciate that Victor but, I can handle myself."

"If you say so, partner. I'd watch yourself though while you're here in Novac. When I rolled up, my skin started to itch, know what I mean? Besides, word is the Legion found out about what ya did to their boys in Nipton. They got a bounty on your head."

Marcus and Sarah shared a wary glance. "We'll remember that."

"Good. Be seein ya."

And with that, the securitron headed north on the road out of Novac. Sarah watched until all she could see of Victor was a trail of dust. "I don't think we should hang around here for too long."

Marcus nodded. "Agreed. We'll stay one night and move on at first light."

Later that evening…

Marcus, Sarah and Dogmeat had settled into their room for the night. After the gunfight with the Legion, and the strange encounter with Victor, both of them were on edge. Threats to their life were nothing new, but they could not shake the feeling that they didn't know who in Novac they could trust.

Dogmeat's ears went up, causing Marcus to grab his desert eagle. A moment later there was a knock on the door, and both he and Sarah braced themselves.

"Open up, it's Cass."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Marcus holstered his pistol and opened the door. He was surprised to see Cass and Boone standing in the doorway. "We need to talk." The cowgirl said as she pushed past him. "Craig, tell them what you told me."

Boone waited until the door was shut before speaking. "I need someone I can trust. This town…no one looks me straight in the eye anymore. But you and your companions just got here…and Cass tells me you're on the up and up."

Marcus glanced over at Cass before answering. "Alright, what do you need from us?"

"I want you to find something out for me. I don't know if there's anything to find, but I need someone to try. My wife was taken from our home by legion slavers one night while I was on watch. They knew when to come and what route to take, and they only took Carla. Someone set it up. I don't know who."

"If your wife was taken by slavers," Sarah began, "have you tried tracking her down?"

"My wife's dead!" Boone snapped. "I want the sonofabitch who sold her."

"How do you know she's dead?" Marcus asked.

Though he was wearing sunglasses, Marcus could feel the sniper's gaze burn into him. "I know alright…and that's all you need to know."

Cass turned to them. "I know this doesn't concern you, but Boone and I go way back, and I intend to help him. Besides, you saw what the Legion did to Nipton. If there's a spy here we need to weed the fucker out before he hands the whole town over on a silver plater."

Marcus rubbed his chin as he considered his options. The story Boone and Cass told, and the events of this morning, all indicated that Novac was next on the Legion's list. And like Cass, Boone was connected to his grandfather's past, and Marcus felt as though he had to help him. "Alright. Give me sometime to come up with a plan on how to draw this person out."

Boone nodded. "Good. We probably shouldn't speak again until you're ready to spring your trap." He looked to Cass. "You know where to find me."

Once Craig had left, Cass turned to Marcus and Sarah. "Thank you…both of you."

"Don't mention it." Marcus said. "So…you've been around the locals here. Any ideas how we can get any of them to talk?"

Cass laughed. "To an outsider? You'd have better luck trying to saddle a deathclaw than getting one of these guys to open up."

Marcus sighed in frustration. "Well then I guess we'll have to set a trap."

Sarah did not like where this was going. "And how will you do that?"

"Well…I learned in the Capital that all a trap needs is a nice piece of bait," his face suddenly flashed a devilish grin, "and what better bait for a legion spy than Courier Six?"

The next day instead of the entire group leaving Novac, Marcus stayed behind. They spent most of the day boldly walking through Novac - mingling with the locals and making sure that everyone knew that Courier Six was in town. Later that night, after sharing war stories and a few drinks with Ranger Andy, Marcus retired to his room.

At about 4:15am the door to Marcus' room slowly opened. The two cloaked assassins carefully drew their daggers and approached the Courier's bed. The shape under the covers didn't move, and the assassins raised their daggers. "For Caesar!" One of them shouted as they plunged their daggers down into the mass.

The lights to the room turned on, and the assassins froze at the sight of the Courier, standing just outside the bathroom with his desert eagle in his hand. Hovering next to him was ED-E, and the eyebot had his laser trained on the killers.

"Drop the knives!" Marcus commanded.

The assassin closest to him lunged forward, but was turned to ash by ED-E before he could take two steps. The other assassin turned to run - only to be met by the butt of Cass' rifle to his face. Behind her was Lily, and she quickly picked the assassin up and held him with her massive hands. "No one hurts my grandson!" she growled.

"Easy, Lily," Marcus said, "we need him to answer a few questions."

Lily let out a low growl, but she carefully put him down.

Cass stepped up to the assassin. "Who's your contact here in town?"

The assassin spit at her feet. "I don't answer to a woman!"

Cass responded with a right hook, then she pointed her shotgun at the man's crotch. "How would you like to be a woman, asshole!"

While Cass was threatening the assassin's manhood, Boone was silent as he went through the pockets of the dead one. There was the usual denarius, healing powder, knives…and then something caused him to stop. He slowly stood up and walked over to the other assassin. "Stand down, Cass." He gently pulled her to the side and stood in front of the legionary. Without saying a word, Boone drew his knife and slashed his throat in one swift motion. Lily was so surprised she let the man go, and he died soon after hitting the floor.

Even Cass was shocked. "Holy shit!"

"Why did you do that?" asked a confused Follows-Chalk.

"Because we didn't need him. I found this." He held the object up for all to see.

"A key?" Marcus asked.

Boone nodded. "A copy of the key to this room. There's only one person in this entire town that controls the keys to this motel."

Jeannie May Crawford had just closed the door to her safe when she heard someone open the main entrance of the lobby.

"I'm sorry but all of our rooms are currently…" she turned around and froze.

The Courier was standing in her doorway and strolled in. "Why Miss Crawford…you look like you've seen a ghost."

Jeannie struggled to find her words. "Why…Courier Six…you startled me, that's all. Um…what can I do for you? Everything is okay with your room, I hope."

"Well now that you mention it…I don't remember ordering a room with two legion assassins."

Now Jeannie turned white as a sheet. "Legion assassins! Here? In Novac? Oh my word…I'm glad to see you're alright. We should - we should tell Ranger Andy…"

"I already know, Jeannie."

Ranger Andy made his way inside, followed by Cass and Boone. The sight of Craig made Jeannie's mouth go dry, but before she could speak, the sniper held up a very familiar key. "Lose something?"

Jeannie began to sweat. "Now wait…you don't think that…"

"We need the combination to your safe, Jeannie." Andy calmly said.

Before she could object, Marcus walked past her and began examining the safe.

"Now just a minute!" Jeannie snapped. "You have no right to come in here and go through my property…"

"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Jeannie." Andy said. "These people have evidence that you're involved with the Legion."

"That's absurd!"

"Jeannie!" Andy was trying to calm her down. "If you just cooperate we can settle this whole thing."

"You have no right to barge in here…"

"Never mind, I've got it!" Marcus said as he triumphantly opened the safe. "How was that, Moira?"

The avatar appeared on his PIPBOY screen with a huge smile. "You shaved about eighteen seconds off your best time."

Jeannie became frantic and rushed towards him. "That's my property…"

Cass grabbed the woman by her hair and placed a knife to her throat. "Shut the fuck up!"

As Jeannie began crying, Marcus began sifting through the documents in the safe. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. "Andy."

He handed them over to the Ranger. Once he'd read it, Andy let out a sigh and handed it to Boone. Silence filled the lobby as the sniper read the document. His face showed no emotion as he finished, and he slowly walked toward Jeannie - who was trembling with fear.

Boone was now face to face with her, and when he spoke, his voice was low and menacing. "You sold my family…for one-thousand caps?"

Jeannie May didn't answer. She knew it was over.

Andy cleared his throat. "Craig, since you're the injured party here, you get to decide what we should do with her."

It took Boone less than a second to decide. "Let her go, Cass."

Cass' eyes shot wide open, but she knew better than to argue and reluctantly let Jeannie May go.

The elderly woman let out the breath she was holding and began sobbing. "Boone…Craig…I'm sorry I…"

"Run." Boone said.

Jeannie May was dumbfounded. "What do you…"

Boone stepped back and unslung his rifle. "I said - run!"

Jeannie struggled to breath, and her eyes looked to the other people in the room. When she realized none of them would help her, she turned and ran out of the hotel as fast as she could. Boone calmly stood in the doorway and took aim. Jeannie May could barely see the main gate through her tears.

It was the last thing she saw before the .308 round from Boone's rifle penetrated her skull.

The next morning Marcus and his companions were preparing to move out. He wasn't very happy about how the Jeannie May situation had been settled, but he understood how "the law of the wasteland" was sometimes the only law there was. Besides, he understood the desire for revenge.

As he finished loading his bighorn, Craig Boone approached him. "Six. I ah, just wanted to thank you again for helping me."

"Well, at least you got justice." a knot formed in Marcus' throat. "I…know what that's like, so…what will you do now?"

Boone shrugged. "I don't know. I won't be staying here, I know that. Don't see much point in anything right now except hunting legionaries. Maybe I'll wander…like you."

Marcus didn't have to think about his next question for long. "Why don't you join us? We could always use an extra gun."

If Boone was surprised by the offer, he didn't show it. "You don't want to do that."

Before Marcus could answer, Cass strolled up behind Boone. "Come on, ya big lug! It'll be fun. Besides…we can kill more of those Legion fuckers together."

Boone took a few moments to contemplate what she'd said. "Hmph. Yeah. Working on your own…you're a lot less effective. I've been there and paid for it. Alright, I'm in."

Cass slapped the sniper on the back. "That's the spirit! Come on, let's saddle up."

As Cass headed over to her mount, Boone spoke to Marcus in a low voice. "I gotta warn ya though…this will not end well."

Before Marcus could ask what he meant, Boone turned and walked away.

It was a day and a half before the group finally reached the abandoned Brotherhood bunker near the Colorado river. Had it not been for Dogmeat, they may never have found the manhole covered by the tall brush.

"Good boy!" Marcus said as he pet the canine.

Cass was less than excited. "I still don't understand what the hell we're doing out here."

Boone echoed the same sentiment. "There's no point in doing any scavenging. The NCR picked this bunker clean after the Brotherhood was pushed out."

Marcus and Sarah dreaded this moment. Though they hated keeping their true identities and mission from their new companions, they were still not sure how Cass and Boone would react. Better to play it safe and keep them in the dark for now.

"It's like I told you," Marcus began, "it's another job we were hired to do. That's all we're allowed to say." He could tell neither of them were happy with that answer. "I'm asking you to trust us, okay?"

Cass and Boone shared a wary look. "Well," the sniper began, "you came through for me so - I've got your back."

After a few awkward moments, Cass gave a reluctant shrug. "Fine. It's your business."

After thanking them, Marcus and Sarah made their way down into the manhole. At the bottom of the ladder was a steel door, and it was immediately clear that there was no power to it.

"We'll have to pry it open manually." Sarah observed.

It took all of their strength, but the rusted door finally screeched open. The bunker was as dark as a tomb, and Marcus immediately turned on his PIPBOY light. Sarah turned on her flashlight, and they slowly made their way inside. The first room on their right side had been completely caved in, and they continued moving forward. It wasn't long before they found the bunker's main corridor. Overturned tables, smashed computer terminals and open filing cabinets were all around. The only living thing that greeted them was a glowing radroach, and Marcus quickly smashed it with the butt of his repeater. "Looks like Boone was right. This place has been picked clean."

Sarah took in the heart breaking scene in silence. They went further into the bunker searching through containers, footlockers, bunks - anything that could hold some clue or trace of what became of the Mojave Brotherhood.

Nothing.

Sarah did her best to maintain her composure. In what they assumed had been the operations center, signs of battle were all over the bulkheads. Sarah's despair began to turn to anger, and she hoped that her brothers had taken as many of those NCR bastards with them as they could. She spotted something lying in the corner and dashed over to it. She kneeled down and picked it up - and froze where she stood. The cloth was torn, faded and covered in dust. As she unfurled it the emblem in the center, though riddled with holes, could clearly be seen.

It was the flag of the Brotherhood of Steel.

For the first time since entering the bunker, Sarah's eyes began to well up with tears…and hate. "Bastards!" she whispered through gritted teeth.

"Sarah."

She turned towards Marcus, and the look on her face sent a chill up his spine. "Are you alright?"

As calmly as she could, Sarah walked up to him and roughly shoved the flag against his chest. "You tell me."

Before he could respond she walked away, and Marcus examined the cloth…and cursed under his breath. "Damn it!"

After carefully folding the tattered flag and placing it in his backpack, Marcus made his way over to Sarah. "There's a couple of rooms down this way we haven't checked. Maybe we'll find something."

Sarah had to bite her lower lip. Part of her wanted to yell out what's the point, but the soldier in her knew they had a job to do. Without saying a word she continued on, with Marcus following. After turning down another corridor, Sarah stopped dead in her tracks.

Marcus' grip tightened on his rifle. "What is it?"

"There's a light at the end of the hallway."

Marcus turned off his PIPBOY light, and there indeed was a soft light down the corridor. They cautiously made their way towards it, guns at the ready. It was soon clear that the light was from the closed door, indicating that it still had power.

"It could be a booby-trap." Marcus said. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and activated his PIPBOY. "Moira, I need you to scan this door."

"Okidoki!" The avatar scanned the door in less than a second. "Hmmm. I'm not picking up anything funny like a trap. I think it's just locked. If you plug me into it, I'm sure I can open it for you."

It didn't take long for Moira to unlock the door, and Marcus quickly unplugged the PIPBOY and stood back. The door slid open - and Marcus was knocked fifteen feet down the corridor. It felt as though a Super Mutant had punched him square in the chest, and sure enough there was a dent in his Ranger armor.

"MARCUS!" Sarah screamed. She raised her gauss rifle towards the cloaked figure, but it was knocked away before she could fire. The Sentinel barely had time to duck and avoid the massive fist coming at her head. It made contact with the bulkhead, and the loud bang echoed through the entire bunker.

Sarah recovered from her surprise and threw a right hook. It connected with her attacker's head, forcing him to stagger back. Sarah followed up with a left, then a right, and finally a spinning kick to the chest. The cloaked figure fell to the ground as if he'd been shot.

Sarah recovered her gauss rifle and covered her attacker. "Marcus are you alright?"

The Wanderer managed to get his wind back, and he slowly picked himself up. "Yeah…but my armor's seen better days."

Sarah now stood over the cloaked figure, who was still conscious. "You've got three seconds to tell me who the hell you are and what you're doing here!"

After hesitating for just a moment, the attacker took a deep breath and spoke. "My name is Veronica Santangelo…and this is my home."

Note: I hope you all liked how I did this quest, I admit is isn't my favorite, but I know it's important to Boone's back story. Also, I always felt just happening to run into Veronica at the 188 stop was just lazy writing. Before you guys mention Dead Money, I haven't quite figured out how to incorporrate that DLC into my story, but I will come up with something. Till next time.