Author's Note: I hope everyone is enjoying the story thus far. Enjoy the chapter, and please keep sending those reviews in.

The sun shining through the window blinds woke up Mark the next morning. It took his eyes a moment to adjust, and when they did, he saw Amata lying next to him, staring at him, and smiling. Mark smiled back at her. "Do you, uh, do you always stare at me when I sleep, 'cause honestly, it's kind of creepy." "Mm, sometimes," she said. "I was just thinking." "Care to share?" asked Mark. "I was just thinking how lucky I am to have a great guy like you." "You know," said Mark, "that's funny. I was actually thinking the same exact thing." She playfully shoved him. "You're hilarious. Anyway, I didn't hear you come in last night. Did you talk to that sniper guy, uh, Manny, was it?"

Mark's thoughts drifted back to last night. "Uh, yeah, no, he wasn't on duty. I think he works during the day." Mark looked at his pip-boy: 9:01 am. "All right, let's go get some breakfast, and then I can try again." They got dressed, went outside, and knocked on the door to Cass' room. "Hey Cass," Mark said, "we're getting some breakfast. Want to join us?" There was no response, so he knocked again. "Cass, you alive in there?" They heard movement, and the door opened. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was disheveled, and her hat, jacket and shotgun were nowhere to be found. She also reeked of whiskey. "Wha' ya wan?" "Well," said Mark, "I guess we know what you did last night. We're getting some breakfast, if you care to join." "Fuggov, I ne' sleep." She then proceeded to slam the door shut. "Okay," said Amata, "we'll see you later then."

They made their way to the makeshift restaurant to get some food. Mark had a couple of gecko eggs, while Amata had some fruit. "Okay," said Mark, "I'm gonna go try this again. ED-E, stay with her." ED-E beeped in the affirmative. Mark went back into the dinosaur, past the gift shop, and up the stairs. Just in case, he knocked on the door this time. "Come in," said a voice from behind the door. When Mark entered, he saw a Hispanic man, wearing a sleeveless leather vest over a red long sleeve shirt. He also had an ammo bandolier draped across his chest, and was wearing a red beret similar to Boone's. "What can I help you with, man?" he asked. "Are you Manny?" "Yup," he said. 'Wonderful,' thought Mark. "I was told you could help me find a man in a checkered coat. You know him?" Manny looked hesitant. "Yeah, I know him. What do you want with him?" "Well, for starters, he took something that I was supposed to deliver. Then he proceeded to shoot me and then left me for dead in a shallow grave. Where the hell is he?"

"Wait, are you talking about that chip? Man, I doubt he's gonna give that up." "Yeah, well, we'll see about that when I find him. Do you know where he was headed or not?" "Yeah," said Manny, "I know where he's going. What's in it for me if I tell you?" Mark grabbed him by the lapels and practically started yelling at him. "Listen, Manny, you see that woman sitting over near the tent in the leather armor?" Mark pointed at her and Manny looked. "Yeah, I see her." "You see, that's my girlfriend. I love her to death. You know what else? She's also pregnant with my child. That asshole shot, and very nearly killed me the same day that we found out. Those bullets put me in a coma for a week. She thought that I may never wake up. He almost deprived that child of having a father. You asked me what's in it for you? How about the good feeling you get from helping a young family get some god damn justice."

Mark let go of Manny and shoved him back slightly. Manny fixed his jacket and cleared his throat. "Okay, okay I'll tell you. Let's just say I can… sympathize with your situation. His name's Benny. He's head of the Chairmen, the group that runs the Tops Hotel in Vegas. He's travelling with a couple of guys from my old gang, the Great Khans. Their names are McMurphy and Jessup. They're headed to Boulder City. That's all I know, I swear." Mark smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "There now. Don't you feel all good inside? You have a nice day." "Yeah, you too," Manny said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Mark walked back to the tent and sat down next to Amata. "Hey, did you find out anything?" Amata asked. "Yeah. They were headed to Boulder City, so that's our next stop, once Cass sobers up." A few minutes later, Cass sat down next to them, looking a little better than she had before. "Feeling better?" Mark asked, as she downed a bottle of water. "Yeah, m'fine. Not tha firs' time I've had a hangover. So what's the plan for today, lover boy?" "They were headed towards Boulder City, so that's where we're headed." About an hour later, after Cass ate, everyone had their bags packed and they were ready to leave, when someone called out, "Franklin, wait." The three of them, plus ED-E, turned around and Mark saw that it was Boone. He had his rifle slung across his back, and he was carrying a camouflage duffel bag with NCR insignia on it.

"Uh, hey Boone, what's up?" "Can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Mark looked at Amata and Cass, who gave him confused looks. "Um, okay." They walked about twenty yards away. "Okay, Boone, what's up? I kinda got the feeling that we were done after last night." Boone stared at him for a second. "You're hunting someone, aren't you?" Mark nodded. "How did you know?" "The look in your eyes. I've had that same look myself." "Yeah," said Mark, "I'm hunting the asshole who shot and nearly killed me. What of it?" "Like I said last night, I don't see any point in staying here anymore. I feel like I owe you, so I'd like to come with you, at least until you find him."

Mark thought about it, and having an experienced sniper coming with him couldn't hurt. "Sure, what the hell, why not? Just let me make sure Cass and Amata are okay with it." They walked back over to Cass and Amata, who had been staring at them. "Amata, Cass, this is Boone. If nobody minds, he's gonna be joining us. Boone, this is my girlfriend Amata, our friend Cass, and the flying robot between them is ED-E." "Hello, nice to meet you," said Amata. "Hey soldier boy," said Cass. Boone simply nodded. "I, uh, helped him out with something last night, and he's a hell of a shot. Any objections to having him join us?" Neither of them said anything. "Ok," said Mark, "next stop, Boulder City."

Boulder City was a couple hours away from Novac. Boone and Mark went ahead, and Cass and Amata trailed about 30 yards behind. ED-E kind of stayed in the middle, peeling off occasionally to shoot at something. Mark could hear Amata and Cass laugh at something, but Boone hadn't said a word since they left. He kept his eyes on the horizon, scanning for targets. They were almost near Boulder City when Boone finally said something. "So that's your girl, huh?" "Amata? Yeah, we've known each other our whole lives. She was actually the reason I helped you out last night." Boone looked at him inquisitively. "You told me what happened with your wife. I started to think that if something like that happened to her, I would never forgive myself. Then I read that bill of sale, and it just made me angrier. You see, Amata's pregnant." "Stop." "Hey, you asked." "No, I said stop because we're here."

Mark looked up and saw what was once Boulder City. The entire city was in ruins. There were only a couple of structures left standing. It reminded Mark of a lot of the cities back in DC. Amata and Cass came up behind them. "Wow," said Amata, "did the bombs do this?" "No." said Boone. "During the Battle of Hoover Dam, NCR rangers and troopers made a strategic retreat into the city. Legion troops followed, but they didn't realize that the NCR lined the entire city with any explosives they could find. We were able to hold onto the dam, but just barely." "Ok Boone," said Mark, "thanks for the history lesson. We need to look around, see if Benny and those Khans are here." They started to search the ruins, and what they found looked like a graveyard. There were bodies of NCR troopers and Great Khans lying everywhere, almost assuredly dead. "Christ," said Cass, "what the hell happened here?" "I don't know," said Mark, "but keep on your toes."

They then heard a voice calling out weakly for help. It came from about ten yards to their left. The group, led by Mark, walked over to see who it was. It was a Khan, and he looked like he was covering a wound on his left arm with his right hand. He was sitting against a pile of rubble. Mark looked at his face, and flashed back to the night that he was shot. It was one of the Khans who were with Benny. When he saw Mark's face, he looked like he had seen a ghost. "No way. You're that courier Benny wasted in Goodsprings." "Correction," said Mark, "the one he nearly wasted." "Damn, and I thought us Khans were tough to kill." His eyes moved to Boone, and then back to Mark. "You know you're traveling with a fucking murderer, right?" Mark looked at Boone, whose face was expressionless, and then back to the Khan.

"Whatever. I don't know what he did, and I'm not really interested in that right now. Where the hell is Benny?" "Probably back at the Strip, laughing his ass off. We were supposed to meet some other Khans here, but the NCR trapped us here. Benny got the NCR to let him go. The prick didn't even pay us. We've been in a standoff for the past few days, and then someone's gun goes off and everyone starts shooting. I managed to stay hidden for most of it, but as you can see, I still got shot. I'm pretty sure everyone else is dead." "So are you McMurphy or Jessup?" "Jessup. McMurphy's dead." Mark put his bag down, unzipped it, and searched for something. Jessup was sure he was going to shoot him, but instead Mark pulled out a stimpak and a bottle of water.

"What're you doing?" Jessup asked. "Move your hand. That's gonna get infected if it's not treated. I can't do anything about the bullet, but you'll live." Jessup looked hesitant. "My dad was a doctor. I know what I'm doing. So either let me fix it, or you can sit here and slowly die. Your choice." Jessup weighed his options, and moved his hand. Mark injected the stimpak into his arm just below the wound, and the wound started to heal almost instantly. Mark then took off the bandana that Jessup was wearing and wrapped it around the wound.

"That should keep until the wound fully heals. Drink some damn water, or you're gonna get dehydrated." He tossed the bottle to Jessup, who looked confused. "You're helping me, even after what I did?" "Yeah, well, I guess technically Benny shot me, not you. Plus, it looks like he screwed you over too, so being the nice guy that I am, I decided to help you. But that's all I'm doing for you. You're on your own from here." "Thanks, man. I won't forget this. Khans always repay our debts. Here, take this, and when you see Benny, shove it up his ass for me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out something. He tossed it to Mark, who put it in his bag. "See you around, Jessup." He turned to the rest of his group. "Come on guys, let's get going."

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If anyone was disappointed that I didn't do the "Come Fly With Me" quest, I'm sorry. I was never that into it, and I literally flipped a coin to decide if I should include it or not. Until next time.