Chapter 58: Cooling Down and Heating Up

Chapter 58: Cooling Down and Heating Up

Hey, hey, it's Mr. New Vegas letting you know I've got a new Christmas compilation coming out soon; Nuclear Winter Wonderland. Look for it, on holotape. Got some more classics heading your way. First out of the queue is Louis Jordan and His Tympany Band telling us to "Let the Good Times Roll." Up next, only on Radio New Vegas.

I offered to give Hanlon a ride - as far as the Mojave Outpost, at least - but he declined. Said he had a bit more work to do, fixing the damage he'd already done, and ensuring the Rangers would still have leadership, and then he'd find his own way back to California. Apparently, he had a ranch up near Redding, and if he was going to start anywhere, it should be there. Even so, the trip back to the 38 was pretty quiet. Boone was being as sparkling a conversationalist as he always is. But then, about halfway through Henderson...

"So. What really happened to you in the Sierra Madre?"

"Say what?" I asked, the question catching me slightly off guard.

"You seem... a bit different."

"Different how?" I said, turning off one of the side roads to get onto 93 heading north.

"How you dealt with Chief Hanlon, for one," Boone said, scanning the horizon. "I expected you to make a different call. And there was the way you called yourself 'The Courier.' I didn't think you liked that title."

"Well... I..." I hadn't really thought about it. Not consciously, at least. But now that Boone had asked about it, I was... "There was a lot about what went down in the Sierra Madre that I just... I glossed over earlier. Part of it was because it was a lot of stupid, insignificant details I didn't think you guys would be too interested in. But... a lot of it was because Veronica was in the car with us. And I didn't want to pile anything more on her than I already had."

"Veronica?" Boone looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. "What has she got to do with anything?"

"I... met two people from her past while I was there. And one of them - the woman - said some things that... I guess must have taken root deeper than I thought. She said that people are like couriers - sometimes never understanding the messages they bring." I tried to focus on the road; it was pretty much a straight shot from here to the Vegas wall, so there wasn't really anything to focus on. "And then, later, when I... when..." Images flashed in my head, of my last conversation with Christine in the teleport chamber. That brief, shining glimmer in her eye - that was snuffed out by resigned, soul-crushing despair.

"Shea?" Boone grabbed my shoulder, and shook me out of it. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," I rubbed my eyes with a free hand, and shook my head. "Point is, it wasn't until later, right before I came back to the Mojave. I used The Courier to try and convince her of something. It... it didn't work, but... I saw something in her eyes."

"What did you see?" Boone asked.

"I saw hope. It was only for a brief moment, but... it made me realize, if only subconsciously, what The Courier could become. As Sheason Fisher, I'm just a man. A walk-the-wasteland fuck, with no purpose beyond simply survival. I'm flesh and blood, I can be beaten, broken, killed. But as The Courier - Courier Six - I can be more than just a man. I can become a symbol, an idea, a... a message. One that I can use and shape. Normal couriers bring messages to people in the wasteland every day. But The Courier can bring a different kind of message: one of hope. I know it sounds stupid and corny, but..." I sighed heavily. "I'm 39 years old. I've never really done anything with my life beyond simply surviving. Sheason Fisher is just a fuck-up. But maybe... maybe as a symbol... The Courier can do something better. The Courier can do better." Boone sat silent for a few minutes, soaking up everything I'd said in that monologue of mine.

"Do you really think The Courier can bring hope to the wasteland?" I shrugged.

"It gave me a third option with Chief Hanlon. I saw that same glimmer of hope in his eyes when I gave him a way out, only this time it didn't go away. And that's better than Sheason Fisher could've done, anyway."

"Hmph," Boone sat back in his seat, surveying the landscape again. "Maybe that's true. But it was Sheason Fisher who helped me put the ghosts of Bitter Springs to rest, not The Courier." He turned back to me. "No matter what you decide though, you can count on me to have your back."

When I finally got back to my room, I was dragging my feet. No two ways about it - I was positively spent. My bed was practically calling my name... but I'd been armed to the teeth and wearing armor for far too long. So, I went over to the desk in my suite, and began what would become the ridiculous process of disarming.

I pulled Roscoe out of the drop-leg holster on my thigh and placed it on the table with a thunk. I grabbed That Gun and pulled it from its holster on the back of my belt, and placed it on the desk next to Roscoe. I unbuttoned the underarm holster I'd swiped from the Madre, and pulled out the Ranger Sequoia, setting the massive pistol next to the other two. I shrugged my shoulder and leaned both the Holorifle and Gauss Rifle against the desk, and then I pulled the Anti-Materiel Rifle off my back and leaned it against the wall next to the desk. A minute or two later, nearly everything else was off my person and on the desk: ammo of various calibers, including two dozen microfusion cells, several grenades, three dozen stimpacks, some Med-X, a few Rad-X tablets, a switchblade, the combat knife I kept strapped to my right boot, one of the Sierra Madre's Cosmic Knives, and finally, in the center of the desk, I set down the gold bar. After that was done, I pulled off the Riot Armor, leaned the chestplate against the desk next to the Holorifle and Gauss Rifle, tossed the duster away, and just stepped back to... admire.

"That... how was I carrying all that?" I looked at the massive pile of weapons and ammunition covering the entire table... and just started laughing. It was ridiculous. Somehow, circumstances had turned me into walking armory. Hell, now that I wasn't carrying all that crap, I felt almost 100 pounds lighter!

And that wasn't the most ridiculous thing: there were yet more weapons scattered around my room in various corners. Rifles and pistols of various makes and models that I'd stolen from raiders, bandits, and Legionaries; bucketloads of ammunition and grenades; about 8 pounds of C4 that we hadn't used to blow up the Silver Rush... and speaking of that, there was still the mountain of energy weapons I had yet to sort through, with the Sprtel-Wood 9700 crowning the pile. One of these days, I'm going to make a legitimate armory for this eclectic collection of guns and ammo.

"Ha-ha-haa... ohh, I need to get some sleep." I got a grand total of two steps away from the desk and toward my bed.

Knock-knock-knock!

"Well," I sighed heavily, turning away from my bed. "That's just fucking typical, isn't it?" I barely turned the handle before the door was swung open; I got flashbacks to several days ago, when Cass and I went bar hopping and ended up... But it wasn't Cass nearly hitting me in the face with the door and dragging me out into the hall this time - it was Veronica.

"V? What-" I didn't really get a chance to finish.

"C'mon Shea! We're all heading out to go get some dinner!" Veronica grabbed me by my shirt, pulled me out of my room, through the hallway, and into the elevator. My eyes stopped spinning long enough for me to look up to see Cass and Boone already waiting for us. Boone, like me, was no longer wearing his armor, but he was still wearing his sunglasses and beret - even though the sun was close to setting.

"Hey guys..." I said. Cass gave me a smile and a tip of her hat; Boone just nodded subtly in my direction. "So, is it just us, or...?" Veronica shook her head and sidled up next to Cass.

"Oh no, Arcade and Raul are already downstairs, waiting for us." Veronica slipped an arm around Cass' shoulders.

"So... where are we're going? What's this place called?"

"Not sure of the name, but it's a seafood place somewhere in Freeside. Don't know exactly where, but Arcade said it's close enough we could probably just walk. So, we'll be following him." Something about that didn't really make sense...

"Wait, hang on," I asked, just as the elevator doors opened onto the 38's casino floor. "Seafood? We're in the middle of the desert." Veronica shrugged at my question.

"Arcade says they get the food from Lake Mead. It's mostly Lakelurk meat, stuff like that." Veronica and Cass walked right on past me, arm in arm. I sighed and shrugged. I was way too tired to put up any kind of decent fight.

Okay. I admit it. Food was a good call.

This place was actually pretty nice. The food was even good enough to almost make me forget that the meat came from a six-foot tall mutant crab-fish-creature. But the best part about this little outing was not the food or the ambiance, but how everyone was together, getting along, and just... having a good time. Cass, Boone, Veronica, Arcade, Raul - even ED-E was buzzing around the table as we ate, talked and laughed. I was actually surprised the owners of the place let him stay... though, maybe the fact that the front half of the restaurant was collapsed and the only ceiling was over the kitchen played a part in that decision...

As pleasant as all this was, eating good food among friends under a starlit cloudless night sky could only carry me so far. The food helped me catch a second (third? fourth? ninth?) wind, but I was still tired. So, after finishing off the second helping of lakelurk casserole I got up from the table.

"Shea?" Veronica looked up at me, confused. "What's up?"

"No. You're the unlucky one.. because if you don't take that gun out of my face, the three of you will be dead before you hit the ground. Leave now, and I'll let you walk away. Fair warning." It didn't look like he was expecting that. It seemed to stagger him a bit... but he still kept the gun pointed at me. I guess this is happening after all. I clenched my fists, shifting my stance slightly. The thug thumbed back the hammer on the revolver.

"I'm gonna count to three," He growled. "There won't be a four."

"Thanks for the heads up."

In one swift motion, I grabbed the hand that held the revolver, pushing it up and away from me, and positioned my other hand around his arm. I felt more than heard the pressure and the heat of the gun discharging just above my head. I twisted his arm in my grip, and it broke with a satisfying crunch; he didn't even get a chance to scream in pain because by them my elbow had smashed him in the jaw. A tiny splatter of blood from his jaw hit me in the face, and I'm sure I saw a tooth... or maybe that was just a trick of the light

I felt some movement off to my side, so I grabbed him by the back of his head, and wheeled the two of us around. The thug with the crowbar brought it down hard - right into the lead thugs back. As he fell, I grabbed the crowbar, wrenching it out of his hands. I twisted it around, and reached out with the hooked end, catching him around his neck and pulling him down. My knee was there to greet his chest, and then I brought the other end of the crowbar up to smash him in the face. There was a crack, followed by a burst of blood; I snagged the bottom of his leg with the hook of the crowbar, flipping him head over heels.

I spun in place, grabbing the crowbar with both hands. Behind me, I saw the thug with the switchblade advancing on me, but... I think the adrenaline was altering my perception of time. He was just moving so slowly. I didn't wait for him to speed up - I swung the crowbar, smashing his outstretched arm that held the switchblade, following it up right cross against his face. I pulled my hand back, grabbing him by the hair on the way - and smashed his face against the nearby wall as hard as I could. When I let go of his hair, the body slid against the brick wall, leaving a trail of crimson as he went.

Once he was down, I wheeled around again, searching for another target - but there wasn't one. It felt like time was speeding back up to normal, and I could hear a massive pounding in my ears... wait, no, that was just my heavy breathing. I dropped the crowbar at my feet with a dull metal clang. Eventually, Cass seemed to appear just within my field of view. She was looking at me with a mix of fear and wonder.

"Are you... you alright?" I asked. My breathing still hadn't calmed down. Cass just continued to stare at me, mouth wide open.

"How th'... What th' FUCK man? How'd you DO that?!" She looked astonished. I couldn't see why. It was just a few thugs, what was the big deal?

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, still breathing heavy. In fact, that wasn't the only thing of mine that felt heavy... All of my limbs, for instance.

"You just... how'd you move that fast? I mean, I was gettin' ready t'jump em while you distracted them - but one second, they're surroundin' us, an' th' next second they're all out fer th' count! I've never seen anyone move that fast!"

"Oh... well... uh..." That's peculiar. Why am I dizzy all of a sudden? I kept breathing heavily. "I'm just... glad you're... alright... Oh dear." Was I toppling forward? Yep. This is definitely me falling. Mixed with everything else, this was not a pleasant feeling, hurtling toward the ground. But then, I felt hands that reached out and stopped me from face-planting. "Yeah, I'm... I'm done. Check please?"

"C'mon, you..." Cass lifted me up, draping one of my arms around her shoulder. "Let's get y'back home..."

Next thing I knew, Cass was carrying me over the threshold into my room.

"Y'still with me?" Cass said, shoving the door open with her shoulder. I nodded, muttering an acknowledgement. "Good, cuz I'm gettin' tired've haulin' yer heavy carcass aroun-WAUGH!"

I'm not really sure what happened. It's entirely possible that one - or both - of us tripped. There was plenty of clutter littering the floor, like the duster I'd tossed aside earlier, and I knew that Cass hadn't turned on the light on the way in. But, looking back on it... well, no matter how it happened, the end result was the same: I tumbled forward, ending up on my bed and lying flat on my back; Cass must have tumbled (or been dragged) down along with me. Her hat was missing, and she was sprawled out on top of me. I couldn't tell if that was confusion or embarrassment on her face. Of course, that emotion soon gave way to something else...

"Uh... hi." I couldn't really think of anything else to say. I was still trying to make sense of how I wound up in this position with Cass straddling me, her arms on either side of my head and... wait, why was I holding onto her?

"Hey." Cass breathed, looking me up and down... I felt her shift her weight on top of me, getting closer and wrapping her arms behind my head. I ran my fingers through her hair with one hand and sat up, reaching out with my other hand to pull her close. I felt her press herself into me, and her lips touched mine; I tasted whiskey and almost felt drunk from the sensation as she nibbled on my lower lip...

This is wrong. I mean, it feels nice... it feels great, really, but think of the consequences man! I shouldn't - we shouldn't be doing this! No, wait - what are you doing? Don't take her shirt off, you fool! Wait, where did your shirt go?! Abort! Abort! This will just end in disaster!

"Cass, I- mmph!" I tried to pull myself away, but... wasn't very successful at first. "Cass, wait. Seriously, calm down for a minute..."

"What - what's wrong?" She breathed, keeping her face close to mine. I tried to push her away so I could have some modicum of focus, but she kept clutching at my back to try and pull me close again.

"Cass, we... we can't. We can't do this." I succeeded in pushing her away, so now she was at arms length - still sitting on top of me, though. And her lack of shirt made things quite... distracting. "Cass, you are... gorgeous... and wonderful... and I... this is really hard to-"

"Yeah, I can tell," Cass glanced down quickly and smiled, biting her lower lip. Damnit, focus man!

"Cass, I'm serious! I can't let you... we can't go through with this. Not again. I... I'm sorry," I shut my eyes, just so I could try and focus. "It's not right. The consequences are just... Veronica is too good of a friend, and I can't do that to her. And I'm sure that if you really think about it, you don't want to do that to her either."

Silence and darkness reigned between us as I kept my eyes shut. I felt her hand brush against my right shoulder, tracing the scar left by the Cosmic Knife from the other day. I slowly cracked open my eyes, and saw that she was slowly nodding her head.

"Yeah... yer... y'right." She sighed and shook her head. "Fuckin' hell... why can't I jus..." She finally let go of me, and ran her hand through her hair. "Can't I jus'... I dunno, have y'both?" That actually got a chuckle out of me.

"I don't think Veronica would go for that," I said, rubbing my eyes when I realized that I'd been staring at her chest. "Call it a hunch." I heard Cass sigh as she slid off me.

"Yeah... yer probably right." I opened my eyes in time to see her framed by the light spilling in from the open door... and, despite my best effort, I couldn't keep myself from staring as she bent over to pick up her shirt and hat that had been discarded on the floor. You may call me a hypocrite for looking, but trust me on this - you would look, too. Hell, I bet even Arcade would look!

She has got quite a nice backside... As soon as she picked up her hat, she put it back on her head and looked over her shoulder at me with a smirk.

"Fuckin' right I do!" As if to punctuate the thought, she smacked her ass. Wait, hang on. Does that mean...

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" I asked. Cass chuckled.

"Oh, yes, y'did, an' we all heard it," She tossed her shirt over her shoulder and walked out of my room... giving her hips a seductive sway as she left. I buried my face in my hands, refusing to look, as tempting as it might be. I'm sure that if I kept looking, then not even my self control and knowledge of inevitable consequences could keep my libido in check.

"Good night, Cass," I said, flopping backwards onto the bed. I saw the shadow she cast on the ceiling as she slowly closed the door.

"Night, Shea. I'll see y'in th' mornin'." Click.

I sighed heavily, staring at the ceiling. You know... despite everything, this had been a good day. Yes, it's true that right now I was feeling a bit... tense. But I'd killed Elijah, escaped the poisonous hell of the Sierra Madre, got my car fixed, helped out an old Ranger, and now I was about to fall asleep in a bed that felt like it was the softest thing in the entire universe.

Hell... maybe tomorrow would be even better? Yeah... today was good, but tomorrow is going to be even better. That was the thought on my mind as I slowly drifted into unconsciousness.