Author's Note: To user Readbylamp, thank you for the message. Those were very kind words, and I'm glad I can help you pass the time at work. To all of you, enjoy the chapter, and reviews are always welcome and appreciated.
By the time everyone had gotten up and eaten, it was close to 9:15, so Mark figured it was as good a time as any to go over the plan. Mark stood outside the game room and called out. "Could I get everyone into the game room, please? Everyone, into the game room." Boone and Arcade came out of their rooms, and the rest of them came out of the kitchen, ED-E included. They all walked past him (or floated, in ED-E's case), and into the game room. As Amata passed him, however, he grabbed her left arm and pulled her off to the side.
"What, Mark? Don't we need to be in there with the others?" "Well, yes, I do," Mark said quietly, "but you don't, because you're not coming with us." Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms. "What do you mean, I'm not coming?" she said, clearly annoyed with him. "I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Now, I gotta go consult with the others." He turned around and went to walk into the game room, when Amata grabbed him by the shoulder. "No, Mark, I want an explanation, and I want it now." She let him go and he turned around. 'Damn, she's got a hell of a grip,' he thought. "Now, look me in the eyes, and give one reason that I can't go with you, and it had better be a good one." He was silent for a couple of moments. "Look, you're just gonna have to trust me on this. It isn't a good idea for you to be coming with us." That clearly wasn't a good enough reason, because the next thing that he knew, Amata socked him in the gut.
He fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath. That punch had knocked the wind out of him. Amata looked down at him with a death glare. "When you're ready to give me a real explanation, I'll be in the gym, pretending that one of the punching bags is you." As the door to the elevator closed, Mark couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride. There weren't a lot of people who could bring him down with just one punch. A bit of a smile crossed his face, before he winced in pain and held the spot where she hit him.
After he caught his breath and was able to stand again, he walked into the game room, where everyone was waiting for him. "You okay, Mark?" Veronica asked, as she saw him still wincing in pain. "Yeah, I'm…mmph…fine," he said as he closed his eyes for a moment. "Really?" said Cass, "'cause ya don't look fine." "It's nothing," he said, waving it off, "just gather around the pool table." Everyone gathered around the pool table, and Mark took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. He unfolded it, and laid it flat on the table. "What's this?" Arcade asked, staring at the roughly 15" by 15" piece of paper. "This," Mark said, gesturing to it, "is the most recent satellite image that House has of Cottonwood Cove, taken a few days ago."
They all looked at it. It was extremely detailed. There were overhead images of buildings, the terrain, and people that were at Cottonwood Cove. It showed an overhead shot of the river that led to the Fort, along with the boats the Legion used to transport themselves and the slaves. Arcade chuckled. "Of course House still has a satellite in orbit. Is it possible to be surprised and not surprised at the same time?" "Anyway," Mark said, "I've looked this over a few times. This cliff," Mark said, pointing to the right side of the road that led into the Cove, "looks to be high enough for us to shoot from, and not be detected right away. I do have concerns about that, however. There looks to be a bit of an incline," he said, pointing to the very right edge of the map, "that leads right up to the cliff, and once they figure where we are, they would use that to their advantage. Another possible problem is that we're all shooting from the same side, and it would be advantageous if we had someone on the left side of the road, but I don't see any good spots to shoot from."
"There is," Boone said, "it's just not on this map. There's a sniper's nest a bit further back and higher up that we can shoot from as well. It'll keep their attention divided." "How do you know about that nest, Boone?" Veronica asked. "I've been here before," was all he said. After a bit of an awkward silence, Mark continued. "Ok. Since Boone is the expert sniper here and knows the area, he'll take that nest. Arcade, Cass, you two will be shooting from the cliff, and Veronica, since you seem to prefer hand-to-hand combat, I'm gonna need you to keep an eye on that incline. Anyone comes up, knock 'em back down. ED-E will be coming in from above, further dividing their attention."
"What about you, what're you gonna be doing?" asked Arcade. "I'm gonna be on the ground, clearing out anyone who comes up the road. Once the camp is clear, we'll rendezvous up at the sniper's nest. I'll have to leave my pip-boy with you guys, since that would be a dead giveaway that I'm not one of them. I'll grab some clothes off of them, grab a boat and do what I need to do." "What about Amata?" Cass asked. "Where is she anyway?" she said looking around. "Amata will not be joining us on this particular mission." "Why not?" Veronica asked. Mark's eyes briefly looked over at Boone, before coming back to Veronica. "It's not important. Arcade, do you have a weapon?" "Yeah, I have a plasma pistol, why?" "Hmm," Mark said, "that probably won't work at long range. Cass, that shotgun won't work at a long distance either. Hang on."
He left for a couple of minutes, and then came back in with a couple of guns. One was Amata's scoped hunting rifle, and the other was a sniper rifle. He handed the hunting rifle to Cass. "That looks more your speed." He turned to Arcade and handed him a sniper rifle. "Have you ever used one of these before?" "Uhh, I may have, once." He took it and examined it. "A DKS-501 model rifle with a muzzle flash dampener and rubberized eyepiece and stock. Very nice." He noticed everyone staring at him. "What?" "I thought you were just a researcher?" Veronica said. "Hey, I like to read about a variety of subjects." Mark wasn't buying it, but he let it go. "Ok," Mark said, "you all know what we're doing, so why don't we all take the rest of the day to get ready, and we'll leave around six tomorrow morning. Anyone have any questions?"
"I do, actually," Veronica said. "Well, go ahead." "What are you hiding from us?" "Uh, come again?" "You sound like a military strategist. There's no way you learned that from being a courier out here. What did you do back east?" Now everyone was staring at Mark. "It doesn't matter what I did back east. All that matters is what I'm doing now. Does anyone have any questions about this," Mark said, pointing to the map. There were none. "Ok then. We're adjourned." Mark walked out of the room, leaving the rest of them in silence.
Mark stepped off the elevator onto the third floor where the gym was, and looked around. It was enormous. There where rows upon rows of treadmills, weight benches, and other machines that Mark couldn't identify. To his immediate left was a check-in desk, and to the far right were large windows that you could look out while you were working out. Mark remembered the "gym" that they had in the vault. It had a treadmill and a couple of small free weights. Past the check-in desk were rooms off to the side that were designated for more specialized purposes. There was one with a sign outside one of them that said it was for yoga, whatever the hell that was.
He wondered where Amata was, when he started to hear a steady thwacking noise. He followed the noise until he came upon a large room that the sign said was for boxing. He looked in the room and saw multiple boxing rings, decorated in a red and black motif, numerous heavy bags and other assorted equipment. He saw Amata punching one of the heavy bags, her hands taped, and her back turned to him. She had stripped down to a tank top with the grey sweatpants she had been wearing, and her boots were off to the side. He didn't say anything as he just watched and admired her. He couldn't believe how much she had changed since she left the vault, although it was more physically than mentally.
In a way, she was still the girl he grew up with; very smart, strong-willed, and a leader. Her father was right. She was a natural-born leader, one of the very, very few things that he was right about. Keeping up the morale of everyone during the stand-off was indisputable evidence of that. She had changed a bit mentally as well. She had adapted quite well from leaving the safety and comfort of the vault to living in the wastes. The noticeable changes were more physical. She had developed a healthy tan, and her arms had developed some muscle. She had started to get some abs, although the baby would soon take care of those. She had a picture of her mother and father holding her as a baby in their room. She looked exactly like her mother. Sometimes Mark still couldn't believe that half of her DNA came from Alphonse.
He cleared his throat to get her attention. She took one last jab at the bag, and then grabbed it once it came swinging back. Once she steadied herself, she grabbed a bottle of water that was on a stool nearby, took a swig and turned around. Sweat was dripping off her forehead, and even though her hair was in a ponytail, there were still some loose hairs that clung to her face. "Have you come down to apologize?" "Apologize for what?" Mark asked. "Sorry, that's the wrong answer, try again." "Amata, I have nothing to apologize for." "Oh, you don't?" she said, her voice rising slightly. "How about treating me like a child? How about not trusting me enough to give me a reason why I can't come with you other than, 'you're just gonna have to trust me?'" the last part of that said in a mocking voice. "What, you don't trust me?" "Mark, trust is a two-way street. You can't expect me to trust you if you don't show that trust in me."
Mark sighed. "Alright, you have a point." He grabbed another stool and sat down on it, and motioned for her to sit on the other one. "Amata, there's a reason that Boone's traveling with us. You remember how I said I helped him out with something in Novac?" She nodded. "Well, once upon a time, Boone had a wife named Carla." "Had a wife?" Amata asked, her voice a bit more sympathetic. "Yeah. One night, I don't know how long ago, she was kidnapped by the Legion while he was on duty." "Oh my god. I didn't know. Is she-" "Boone said that she was dead. I didn't ask how he knew. That didn't seem like something you would make up. Jeannie May was the one who "sold" her to the Legion, and to top it all off, she was carrying his child." Amata's hands almost instinctively reached for her stomach.
"Babe, it's not that I don't think you can handle yourself, or that I don't trust you. I trained you, so I know you can handle yourself. Even with all of us there, no matter how miniscule the risk, how long the odds, I can't risk you getting caught. If something happened to you, I would never be able to forgive myself. You wanted a reason for why I don't want you to come; that's the reason." They both stared straight ahead for a couple of minutes, not saying anything. "Alright, I'll stay," she said. "You will?" He asked, looking at her. "Yeah, I'll stay. I don't like it, but I'll stay. I can see where you're coming from." "Thank you," he said as they kissed. "Babe, you need a shower. You're a hot mess." She punched him in the left arm playfully. "Hey, I said hot. You still look beautiful." They laughed.
There was silence for a few moments. "You don't have to do this, you know," she said, looking at the ground. "Don't have to do what?" "This whole thing with House, and the NCR, and the Legion. This whole trip was about finding the guy who shot you. He's dead, so what's stopping us from going back to Goodsprings?" "Amata, we both know that that's not an option anymore. Say we do go back to Goodsprings. What happens if the Legion takes the dam and forces the NCR out of the Mojave? The Legion would be left unchecked. Sure, Goodsprings isn't that big, but they'll find it eventually, and they'll either kill or enslave all of the residents. Our child, if it's a girl, they'll make her a slave, and if it's a boy, they'll just train him to be one of them. I'd rather be able to be in a position to do something about that from here, with all the resources that House has, than be in a position to not be able to do anything about it. Plus, do you just want to abandon all of our friends upstairs?"
"Dammit, I hate it when you're right," she said. "Well, let's just be glad that it doesn't happen too often then," Mark said, smiling. They kissed. "Alright, I'm going out for a bit," he said as he got up. "Where're you going?" "I'm going to check out a weapons vendor that Cass told me about. When you're done down here, make sure you ice your knuckles, or they're gonna hurt like hell."
The weapons vendor that Mark wanted to check out was a place called "Gun Runners," and it was a small kiosk with a larger building behind it about a half-mile outside of Freeside. Not only did they sell weapons, according to Cass, but they also sold weapon modifications and armor. Mark decided to buy a couple of silencers for his and Amata's 10 mm pistols. He also checked out some armor that was based on pre-war riot armor. He could afford it, but he decided that he didn't need it right now. The remainder of the day was spent getting ready. Mark got in a workout of his own in the gym, and Amata spent most of the day reading and taking a nap. As she promised, Veronica was able to further modify their pip-boys to be able to see where the other one was. Mark and Amata decided to go to bed around 9 pm, since Mark had to get up for 6 am, and Amata wanted to see them off. Mark was hoping to get in a good night's sleep, but that sleep was interrupted around 1:15 am when Amata woke up screaming.
Mark was startled and nearly fell out of the bed. He turned on the light on his nightstand, and saw that Amata was sitting up breathing heavily and crying. "Amata, what's wrong?" "I-I had a ni-night-mare." He pulled her close and started to rub her back. "It's okay. I'm right here. Tell me about it." Just then, the door to their room opened, Boone came in, aiming his pistol, looking for an intruder. He was dressed like he always was, ready to fight. Cass, Veronica and Arcade followed. Cass had her shotgun ready, wearing nothing but her pink shirt and underwear. Veronica had her power fist, and looked like she put on her robe backwards. Arcade was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. "Are you guys alright? We heard someone scream," Veronica said.
"Everything's fine, guys. Amata just had a nightmare. Go back to sleep." They left the room one by one, Cass mumbling something unintelligible. Once the door was closed, Mark asked "what was the nightmare about, babe?" "I- I was in Nipton, and I-I saw you, and my d-dad, and Cass and everyone, and you-you were all strung up on those crosses, and-and it was horrible." "Amata it's all right. I'm right here, and I'm fine. Your dad's back in the vault, and all of our friends are fine. Come on, lay down." They laid back down, Amata's right arm draped across him and her head on his chest, and she had calmed down a bit, although she was still sniffling. They just laid there with the light on. Mark didn't bother to shut it off. Neither of them were going to be getting much more sleep tonight.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. The rifle that Mark gives to Arcade is the Victory Rifle from Fallout 3. Until next time.