Author's Note: I hope everyone had a happy Easter. Enjoy the chapter, and reviews are always welcomed and appreciated.
As soon as they came upon Freeside's east gate, a member of the Kings saw a man that matched the description given to them by the King, and he attempted to stop him. "Hey, are you-" He didn't get to finish because Mark ran right past him and didn't stop. He didn't have time for any of this "Courier" crap right now. The rest of them ran past the Kings member and towards the Strip. The rest of them were having trouble keeping up with Mark, so much so that by the time that they got to the 38, Mark was already waiting in the elevator, holding it open for the rest of them.
Once they were all inside, the door closed and they started to rise towards the Presidential Suite. The doors had barely started to open when Mark ran out and yelled out, "AMATA!" He flung the door to their room open. He looked around the entire room, but the only thing that he found was her pip-boy. "Dammit," he said, as he grabbed the pip-boy. Mark came out of the room, where the others were waiting. "Is she all right?" Veronica asked. "She wasn't in there. We need to search the rest of the floor." They did a thorough search, but they came up empty. "She isn't here," Arcade said, as they met back in the hallway. "What do we do now?" asked Cass.
Mark put both of his hands on the top of his head and scowled in frustration. "I don't know, I don't know." Without thinking, he turned and punched the wall as hard as he could. The punch had left an indentation in the wall. It didn't hurt at the moment, but once the adrenaline wore off, he knew it was going to hurt, but at the moment he didn't really care. He was about to do it again when someone grabbed his arm in mid swing. He looked over his shoulder, and saw that it was Cass. "Hey," she said, releasing his arm, which he dropped, "we're gonna find her. Now breathe, an' think. Did she say anythin' about goin' somewhere before we left?"
Mark thought back to this morning. "No. I told her that if she wanted to go out, to stay on the Strip…" Mark's voice trailed off as something dawned on him. "Of course she would do that," Mark said to himself. "Do what?" Veronica asked. "She thinks that I've been babying her lately, and of course, since I told her to stay on the Strip, she's gonna do exactly the opposite. She went into Freeside, I just know it. Hang on; I need to go talk to House."
Once the elevator to the Penthouse opened, Mark ran past Jane and down the stairs. He arrived into House's office. "House?" Mark called out. Mr. House appeared on the monitor. "Very well done, Mr. Franklin. Your next task is to-" Mark interrupted. "Hang on, House. I have a couple of questions." "Oh, you do, do you?" "I assume that you have security cameras all around the Strip, am I correct?" Mark asked. "Yes, but that is none of your concern," House said. "Second question. Did any of them show Amata going into Freeside?" "Mr. Franklin," House said, sounding a bit annoyed, "do I need to remind you that you work for me, and not the other way around? You will do as I ask, or I will find someone else who will. As for you wife, I'm sure that your friends will be able to find her."
"House," Mark said, trying to control his anger, "I understand that you have things that need to be done, but my friends haven't known her since they were babies. My friends didn't grow up with her. None of my friends are married to her. I am married to her. If I don't know that she's safe and sound, then I'm not going to be able to focus on whatever task that you give me. I need to find her." House was silent for a few moments. "Very well. Here is the last footage that I have of her." House's face disappeared, and time-stamped security footage came up. It looked like it came from a securitron at the Strip's entrance. He could see Amata walking into Freeside. The timestamp said that it was 12:46 pm. House's face came back on the screen. "That is the last security footage that I have of her."
"Thanks, House," Mark said as he ran back towards the elevator. House called after him, and Mark stopped. "Just so we are clear, as soon as things are settled with her, I expect you right back here. Understood?" "Understood, House," Mark said as he made his way to the elevator. When the elevator opened to the Presidential Suite, Mark held out his arm to keep the door from closing. "Hey, hey, hey, everyone, let's go, let's go, let's go," Mark called out. Everyone came out of the kitchen. "What's going on?" Veronica asked. "Did she go into Freeside?" "Yes," said Mark, "House has security footage of her leaving the Strip this afternoon, but not coming back, so we have to assume she's still out there, and possibly hurt. Boone, I need you to provide over-watch from the balcony. It should give you a clear view of Freeside." Boone clutched his sniper rifle, and said, "Got it."
Mark took the small tin with the wireless earpieces out, and they all took one. They all got in the elevator, except for Boone, who was staying here, and ED-E, who would meet them on the ground. "Ok, so here's the plan. We'll start at the Old Mormon Fort. If she's hurt, she would have likely gone there first. If she's not there, then we search the rest of Freeside until we find her. Arcade, I may need you to expedite some things at the Fort if she's there, since you're one on the Followers." "Of course," Arcade said. They reached the casino floor, and headed towards the front door. As they exited the Strip, Mark called Boone over the earpiece. "Boone, we've just gone into Freeside. Copy?" "Roger that. I've got eyes on you."
When they got to the Fort, Mark looked around. There were old construction lights hooked up to generators, flooding the area with light. He didn't see Amata, but he did see Julie Farkas talking to someone. Mark went over and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around. "Mark, I-" "Julie," Mark said, "I'm looking for my wife. She's missing." "Well, you're in luck, because she is here. Follow me." Julie led the group past the first two rows of tents, and came to a tent being guarded by two men. When they saw Mark, they made a move to block the entrance, but Julie motioned for them to move aside. Mark went in the tent, and saw Amata lying on a cot, with a cloth covering her eyes.
Relief washed over his face as he walked over to her and dropped to his knees. He put her pip-boy on the ground. Cass and Veronica came in with him, while Arcade stayed outside and talked with Julie. He took her left hand in his left hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Mark? Is that you?" "Yeah, it's me, baby." She took the cloth off of her eyes, and the first thing that she saw was Mark smiling at her, with tears in his eyes. They both looked at each other, both clearly relieved to see each other, but neither knew what to say, when Amata broke the silence. "I, uh, I don't think I'll be able to make that dinner that I promised you." They all chuckled. "Are you hurt? I swear, whoever did this is gonna get my boot up their-" "Mark, calm down. Yes, I was hurt. Someone blindsided me, and knocked me out." "How'd you get here, then?" Mark asked. A voice spoke from behind them. "I had my boys get her here."
Mark grabbed his pistol out of its holster and aimed it in the direction of the voice. The man didn't flinch. "Mark, put your gun away," Amata said, "He's a friend." Mark reluctantly lowered his pistol and holstered it, and then stood up. "Mark, Cass, Veronica, this is the King, the leader of the Kings. He's the reason I'm here and not lying in the street." The King came in and extended his hand to shake Mark's. Mark stared at him for a moment, before extending his own hand and shaking the King's. "You must be the Courier that I've been hearing so much about. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." "Do you know what happened, King, as to why she was attacked in the first place?" Mark asked. "Well, she came to visit my place a little earlier today. She and one of my boys, Pacer, got into an argument. She manhandled him and another one of my guys pretty well." Mark smirked. 'That's my girl,' he thought.
"She only attacked them in self-defense," the King continued, "so I don't blame her for it. When she was heading back to the Strip, Pacer attacked her and knocked her out. I got her here, and I have Pacer tied up." "I wanna talk to this Pacer guy," Mark said. "I assumed that you would. Come on, I'll take you to him," the King said. Mark turned to Cass and Veronica. "Would you guys mind staying here, keep an eye on her?" "No problem," said Cass, "kick 'em in tha nuts for me." "Double that for me," Veronica said. Mark looked at Amata. "Baby, I'll be right back, okay?" "Okay. I love you." "I love you too," Mark said as he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
The King escorted Mark back to the Kings School of Impersonation. Once inside, they made their way up a couple of sets of stairs, to a door with a man standing in front of it. The King nodded to the man, and he stepped aside. The King turned to Mark. "He's in there," the King said, motioning to the door. "Since he attacked your wife, I'm gonna let you decide what to do with him." Mark simply nodded. The King opened the door, and let Mark go in first. Once they were both inside, the King closed the door. It looked like a bedroom, with a couple of mattresses on the floor. There was also a guy in a blue jacket sitting in a chair with his hands bound behind his back, with a couple of Kings flanking him.
"Pacer," the King said, the annoyance clear in his voice, "pay attention." Pacer looked at the King, and then at Mark, and back to the King. "This is the husband of the woman you attacked, but you may know him better as the Courier." Pacer's face suddenly showed a bit of fear. "As a gesture of goodwill, I've decided to put your fate in his hands, so I think it would be in your best interest to answer any questions he has. Got it?" Pacer nodded. The King turned to Mark. "He's all yours." Mark grabbed a chair from the corner of the room, and set it down backwards in front of Pacer, and then he sat down.
"Okay, Pacer," Mark said, "you wanna tell me why you attacked my wife?" Pacer was silent for a couple of moments, and then spoke. "That bitch insulted and attacked me." "First of all," Mark said, "you don't insult my wife. Secondly, my wife doesn't attack people unless it's self-defense. Thirdly, you think an appropriate response to what she did is to blindside assault a pregnant woman?" Pacer's face fell. "I-I didn't know-" "No you wouldn't. Truth be told, it isn't that obvious yet, but rest assured, she is. The thing is, Pacer, I've met people like you before. You have a short temper, and you perceive any little insult as a threat to your manhood. You think you're strong, but you're weak. Now you attacked the woman I love. I can't just let that slide. The King said I could decide your fate. I would be perfectly justified to shoot you and end your pathetic life."
Pacer gulped. "The thing is," Mark continued, "I live by a code. I don't attack defenseless people like you do. So here's my decision. You're gonna leave Freeside forever. Not tomorrow, not in an hour, you're gonna leave now. If even catch the slightest whiff that you're slinking around somewhere, believe me when I say that I will find you, and I will kill you. Is that clear?" Pacer looked to the King a pleading look clearly evident on his face. "King-" "Don't start with me, Pacer," the King said, clearly irritated with his friend, "I think you got off easy. Pacer, I'm trying to create order here. You of all people should know that. Doing this, attacking someone, a pregnant woman, no less, is only creating more chaos, undoing everything that I'm trying to do. You two," the King said, pointing to the two men behind Pacer, "escort Pacer to the east gate, and see to it that he leaves." The two Kings forced Pacer to stand up, and walked out of the room. Mark got up, and looked at the King. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances," the King said. "I had some business that I wanted to discuss with you, but it can wait. You need to take care of your woman. Both you and her are welcome to come back here anytime." "Thank you King," Mark said as they shook hands.
Mark made his way back to the Fort and found Arcade chatting with Julie. Julie walked away and Arcade saw Mark. "Ah, Mark, just who I was looking for." "Hey, Arcade. So, what's going on with Amata?" "Well, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that Amata does have a mild concussion, so she's gonna need to rest for a few days." "And the good news?" "Julie doesn't think that the baby was affected in any way." "Do you trust her?" Mark asked. "I've known her a long time," Arcade said. "She knows what she's doing. If you're worried, I can run some tests when we get back to the 38. Julie was actually kind of hesitant to let Amata leave, but since I'll be with you, and with the superior medical equipment we have, I convinced her that it would be better for everyone." Mark slapped Arcade on the back. "Thanks, Arcade." He waved it off.
"Think nothing of it. By the way, Cass and Veronica told me you went interrogate Amata's attacker. How'd that go?" "Honestly, Arcade," Mark said, "I wanted to kill the prick. You have no idea how much I wanted to kill him. In the end, he was kicked out of Freeside." "That seems awfully generous of you, considering what he did." "Yeah, well, killing him serves no purpose. Plus, I don't kill defenseless people." "You are truly a man of honor," Arcade said. "Not too many people like you left in the world." "Hey, don't sell yourself short. From what I can tell, you have plenty of honor." Arcade chuckled. "Careful now. Don't wanna over-inflate my ego." They both laughed. "All right," Mark said, "Let's go get the others and we can get going."
They walked back to the tent. Cass and Veronica had found a couple of chairs and were sitting down, while ED-E hovered outside the tent. Mark got back down on his knees near the cot. "How you feeling, baby?" She groaned. "I think I know how you felt when you got shot in the head." Mark chuckled and looked down. He realized that he left her pip-boy on the ground. He picked it up and said, "Give me your arm." She lifted her left arm up a bit, and Mark slipped the pip-boy and glove back onto her arm. "Hey, don't leave us in tha dark," Cass said from behind him, "what happened with that guy?" Mark turned around and looked at the rest of them. "The King let me decide what to do with him, so I decided to banish him from Freeside." "Oh come on," Cass said, "did ya at least rough 'em up a bit?" "Cass," said Amata, "he made his choice, and I support him." "Thanks, babe. Now, uh, let's get out of here."
Amata sat up, and when she tried to stand up, she started to wobble. Mark caught her. "You're not walking. I'm carrying you back." "Mark, I can-" "Amata, you can barely stand up. How are you gonna walk back to the Strip? I'm carrying you, end of discussion." Mark scooped her up bridal style and carried her out of the tent.
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Until next time.