Primm's Final Guardian

Later into the night, she woke to the flickering light of the campfire he crafted and to the illumination of the white colors of his balanced and strong figure. She opens her eyes slowly feeling them crusted; she wipes them clear of their residue and sits up to the fire. Feeling soft bandages hug her wrists she smiles at them and then slowly looks up, not expecting him to see she shyly hide it by turning her chin into her shoulder. Despite this he keeps his eyes locked onto hers, vigilant and watchful of her emotion.

"What does your gun have etched in it?" she asks curiously, noticing him cleaning it in his scarred hands. She ached to know more of him, down to the smallest detail, as she then reached to her left side still feeling the journal to the side of her jacket. She was relieved, showing it with a gentle smile.

"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not," he says, pulling back the slide it made the gun shimmer before her. Now looking to the fire, he then stands shifting the small ripped fabric rag and his gun away to his belt. He then gets a bottle of water and her favorite can of food just above her left shoulder. Him being near her has her stomach flutter but a sudden memory of a verse comes to her as he finished his sentence.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. Book of John one through five. My father's most endured and emotional read." She says low with a smile and a deep chuckle as she remembered her father teaching his religion to her. To him that was the strongest start in the Book of John it was what made him tear up the nights he read to her. Looking up to Joshua he smiles through his bandages as he sits near her to her right and offers the food and water. She grabs it slowly pulling the can from the small box and peeling back the can top, she then eats and drinks.

"Thank you." her words stretched beyond just the food and water, it was directed at everything. He nods slightly in response.

"You never cease to amaze me," he says tenderly smiling under his wrappings, having his left leg tucked under the arch of his right leg. Resting against her bike as well he rests his arms to each of his legs.

Taking a moment to listen to the quiet of night she looks over her left shoulder to see her gauss rifle leaning in the cart and its barrel poking just above the seat to greet her after Joshua used it to keep scout as she slept.

"Nah, just part of my knowledge that I retain. Thank you for taking care of my things. For what you said earlier, I am sure you meant it. I-" she sighs lowering the can in both of her hands, she grasps her feelings for a moment thinking of the signs and of her dreams. The vision of her holding the amber, it was his heart. Her face burned red now feeling his left bandaged hand take right-left one into his. Holding tight it felt as he knew what was in her head. She opened up at the end and their eyes intertwined, caught between the starlit sky and the flame of the fire. "I dreamed of you. I didn't know it yet but now I know it was you. I felt the hope come back. You were covered in flame. I somehow put you out as I took your hand. I stood up to take hold of your flame, your heart, so to speak and it came to be part of mine. My very being." she was never good at explaining things but if she had seen it she could only say her feelings as the image. "Then a night or a few nights after, I had a pang of burning guilt and you saved me again from it. Spoke to me that I was only doing what I felt was right for me and I was to be forgiven. My faith wanes from time to time."

"Our faiths always do, but the point is that we come back to it. It gives us hope in our trying times, always," he says caringly and grips harder to her hand and lifts it to his covered lips and kisses through it.

"I am not afraid anymore…" she says low and she slowly pulls her hand away and places her foot down and puts her hands to the sides of his face. Pushing her forehead to his, she softly breaths closing her hands into soft fists to accept the peace he brings her. Pulling away from her hands with his soft grip around her wrists, she opens her golden brightening eyes to his blue eyes.

"Now, discover the truth, Susan. I will be here," he says low and slowly leans away and pushes a hand into where her mother's journal was hidden. "Close this chapter to your life and begin anew." he understood the pain of the past and knew it was better to close it and learn from the continuing reminder.

She grabs it hard with her right hand slipping it out suddenly and leans back. Opening the journal she witnesses her mother's journey from the north and to here. Her elegant handwriting was what she had remembered most of her mother and before her eyes, she saw where her parents had met. It was in Goodspring where her mother was trading and met her kind gentleman father offering to help her mother along her trade route. Susan kept a smile as she read and scanned over; she then flipped to the last log mentioning Bitter Springs.

"That was the turning point," she said before reading her mother's words. "'I had found Hudson out doing his own recon work against the Legion. I had told him about what the NCR had become and what mistake they had made. He didn't agree with it but kept to his own job. Not long till a raiding party captured me when he was out scavenging. He panicked and offered his life and talent to the Legion to earn me as his 'slave'. Had to get rid of our rings so I hid them here. This would crush Susan, I know she would not respect her father but he means the best and we both know the Legion are outnumbering the NCR and will soon take over the entire west. There is no stopping them. It would take a miracle. As smart as I know my daughter is, she will try to come and save us once she fixes that treasure of hers. She had always wanted it ready for when her father came home. Something for him to be proud of. Something for us to be proud of. If you in fact find my journal or I give it to you, this is for you; whatever the world throws at you, know that we love you. Everyone you live for matters, you matter and by damn it, you are beautiful so find yourself a fine man and find your happiness and build around it. You won't regret it Su-Su. I know I don't, I would go far and beyond for him and you, my child.'" Susan stops reading for a moment and feels overwhelmed with happy tears. Pulling the taped in rings she slides them to her coat where the book had been. To her thoughts, she speaks to her mother 'I have found him, mom. I will keep to his side as he has said to me. Dad, I never knew...forgive me' she closes the journal and throws it to the fire.

"Are you sure that is what you wanted?" he asks, suddenly sitting up abruptly and eyeing the quick flame engulfing journal.

"Yes, I am closing that chapter...I need no reminders of it. For California, we need to leave. The Legion is growing and if in fact, the NCR wins it would be by some miracle but I will have nothing left here that I care about. So I chose to go with you, Joshua. Simple as that." she says and takes a deep breath to clear herself but to keep fond memories of what once was.

"They would be proud of you. For the next morning, we head back to Primm and stock your cart with the gas canisters and head on north, to Utah. The Legion is many and I am glad you are not risking to stay." he looks to her for confirmation.

"Yeah, sounds nice. Joshua…" she says kindly looking back to him.

��Yes, Susan?" he glances back at her as he takes off his vest to the cool desert night.

"Nothing, just not sure how to tell you something." she nervously chuckles and sighs.

"I understand you clearly. Now get some sleep if need be," he says softly now unbuttoning his shirt and grabbing his duffle bag to grip on fresh bandages. His bag was filled with them along with empty clips at the bottom, needing to be restocked. Knowing what exactly he was doing she furrowed her eyebrows in concern.

"I can help you." she offers to remember back to the effects of the stimpak.

"No need, I learned long ago I am immune to chems and their effects," he says after his grunting pain, as if reading her mind, starting with his hands he starts to unroll the white cotton from his skin she sees the damage. It was red and carefully peeled clear of dead skin from the doctors of Ogden, it was worse on his arrival home.

"I can help you. I seem to have an idea to repair your skin. I hate to see the pain affect you. Don't live in it. God didn't put us here to suffer permanently; that is hell is for Joshua. My dream showed I can put out the fire, it is a sign. I know it still hurts. It is the way you breathe when you touch me." she says low watching an eye wince as his forearms skin is revealed to the night air. He quickly looks at her having a small light of hope waver in them.

"If it will ease your worry, I will do as you ask. For my breath are you sure it isn't just love? Your love?" he slyly smiles as she gets to his chest and to his other arm.

She keeps her eyes to his, suddenly turning red at her cheeks. It matches the light but when she turns her face away from his eyes the flickers of light show her embarrassment. After a moment he grabs her chin and turns her toward him, his face was shockingly hardly affected. The burn marks reached his neck and along his jaw to his forehead down the middle between his brows and to his left cheek. His hair was short but enough for her to see his dark brown hair spotted and affected. He drew her to his lips despite the unbearable pain she made him forget. Even for a split second she felt found and guided by him. She pulls away and chuckles.

"Stop suffering for now...just let us get back to Primm. I have a lab in the basement. It was used for a medical bay, too." she says low.

"So you are a medic too?" he asks low sitting straighter now and grips his new bandages. Now wrapping himself back up he listens to her silvery soothing voice.

"No, well I know the basics and science side of it." Now seeing him freshly wrapped up she sees his lightly toned muscles through the wrappings she glances back to the fire as he finishes the rest of his upper body. Now unbuttoning his pants and rattling his buckle he stands to unwrap his upper thighs and down to across the arch of his feet. She keeps her hands together twiddling her thumbs in patience.

"Keep talking, this would make this more bearable," he says low and shifts his plain white boxers a bit. She knew how great he looked in his jeans and how they had his form contrasted to her gaze, but this was better.

"I am trying...really just, I know you are in pain and I just know t-this can work. Back at Cottonwood, I saw it had healed near the burned skin with such a small dose. The stimpak I mean." she says slowly and he finishes with a heavy pain-filled sigh.

"I will be in debt to you, we will head out then if that is the case. Just a few minutes before midnight," he says low filled with hope and held onto the patience to return to his once healthy skin. To experience something new with something he never thought to have, love, was a great gift and he would gladly live with the pain to keep it near.

After he redresses they silently gather their things. Heading to Primm they run into an issue. Serious issue. Word of Meyers is something Susan did not want to hear from Mr. Nash.

"Welcome home again, Susan. We may have a problem…" he had come by her home after hearing her bike.

"Tell me Mr. Nash…" she says low as she talks to him out on the sidewalk from her bike.

"Meyers had killed some people who seemed guilty but he had no proof. Said they had stolen things but we didn't believe Meyers. He is a bit too extreme. It was only some food but I'd rather deal with a thief than a hardass law-abiding man. I would be comfortable with the NCR taking over." he begs but not directly.

"Don't worry. Trust me. Now just stay inside." she warns and looks to Joshua who stopped at the front door after she walked from the garage and closed the garage door. Joshua comes to her right and slips back her key to her pocket. Waiting for Nash to return home or move from her sight she whispers to Joshua.

"I am going to the Camp to tell them of Cottonwood, first. As for here, I am not leaving them to deal with a man who does not believe in a fair trial and taking the law into his own hands. So with that in mind, there are about four men always on sight and always awake at night. We are getting rid of the ex-prisoners tonight and I. Will. Get the help of the soldier boys. So we will have to wait a bit for your treatment." she says roughly and sighs knowing this was to come.

"I will wait here. The NCR needs to not know I am still alive," he says in agreement.

Quickly stepping her way across the bridge to the NCR troops she waves to them and asks, "Where is Hayes? There is a problem and the NCR is needing to intervene. There are unnecessary deaths and I will not stand by. For this favor, I have cleared Cottonwood Cove. I doubt they will have the same numbers there."

"Really?" Hayes bursts from the tent. "No way you did that by yourself. I-I will mention this to Mojave Outpost on the radio. If what you say is true Major Knight surely wouldn't mind and should be on board with more men but what is the cause of change in leadership here?" the Lieutenant asks, suddenly eyeing the bridge through the half brick wall and black fence.

"Unlawful killing. No fair trial, taking the law to his own hands. As for your army, you can prosper more by making a trading post here and perhaps have the casino here up and running, bringing in more finance. It could work." she says truthfully thinking over those variants and nodding to them.

"You're right. Well, clear out the town for us and I promise to move on with your option. I am sure your loyalty will not be neglected." he says in agreement urgently. To her surprise, she never had been so persuasive. For Hayes, that was having to do with her speaking so confidently to which he had never had the rare occurrence happen to him. She had clearly changed and it showed.

Walking back now she spots Joshua peeking from around the Mojave Express. She lifts her revolver from her hip and nods to him. Clicking back the hammer she takes aim at a redeeming Powder Ganger and rests his soul. Shooting him, before he could lift his SMG, through his head she glances back and spots Meyers urgently emerging from the former Sheriff McBain's house. He fires first toward the other gunshots from nearby where Joshua came around to.

"You again. I knew you'd be trouble you fucking bitch." he snaps and he starts to come closer to her. He had a shotgun and she knew it by the way he started to run to her. Only this time to make sure she was gotten rid of, for good.

"Now...now you are the unjust one of us," she smirks and lifts her revolver taking a shot to his arm he drops his gun but keeps coming to her now with a bowie knife slipped from his hip's holder. She spots it late and he dives forward. Clicking back fast on the hammer she shoots him point-blank to the chest. Having the inexperience of dealing with close combat she kills him but not before taking the full blade through her right side just past her kidney, the tip of the blade just poking out to the backside of her. She feels it and she gags with the pain then throws up. Joshua sprints around the corner of the broken down small gas station reaching an arm back to return fire laying the last one out on the pavement. He slides to his knees near her after quickly holstering his gun.

"He is dead...just get me home. I left my bag there…" she says through a grunt as he hurries to weakly lift the dead Meyers from her chest. He rolls him out of the way and carefully pulls out the blade and holds her free left hand to her side pushing back the blood. He notices it bleeding at her back now and scoops her up urgently. Her blood began to stain right through his white bandaged hand and her white shirt

"You will live just breath, shallowly. We are almost there, Susan." he forces himself to keep calm, not for himself but for her. In those seconds, he turns corners through the town. His boots keep steady as he slides along some rocks about corners. Now looking to the front door there was no time to get her key so he grunted and readied with his speed to send his foot kicking down her door. He now begins to panic, having never felt another loss, for some time, and he was not wanting to, not this one. It takes another kick to the door to bust it down he leads her to the lower floor's bathroom near the kitchen and lays her in the tub. Her forehead sweaty and growing cold along with her pale complexion. He lifts her gun from her left hand quickly stripping clothes off her and down to her grey bra. He looks to the medkit on the wall and finds a stimpak. He turns quickly to find her knocked out in the tub. Now ripping the cap off he jabs it to the side of her open wound.

"You will be okay. It didn't go through a major organ. You just passed out to blood loss." he says out loud mostly for his sanity than for her to hear. Seeing her skin rapidly close up he focused his clouded eyes to her chest. She was not breathing. Lifting her up and out now he lays her flat to the cold tiled floor. He lays a hand over the other one and shoves down just above her navel of her chest between her breasts. Pumping between intervals he rips the bandages away from his lips and pushes his lips to hers. Blowing hard she reacted suddenly and burst her eyes open. Gasping for life as he pulls away she clenches the pain at her chest. Feeling dizzy to the loss of blood he holds her head steady. She kept her eyes shut as she sat up to keep from feeling raw nausea.

"Damn it...I-" she stays from leaning against the tub then falling silent seeing him open the water valves of the tub and rinsing out the blood. Plugging the water, he lifts her up to sit at the edge of the tub. He carefully unbuttons her pants and takes her boots off. Not wanting to completely undress her she is kept to her underwear and bra as he slowly lowers her into the warm water.

"Hold your breath, please, just...eat something and drink." she noticed the small tears just at the bottom of his eyes only to be soaked up by his bandages. Weakly lifting a hand out to him he does not notice as he turns away rushing out the doors and down the stairs to grab her the food she needs. Mostly something containing sugar and some beans. Bringing her some snacks, a can of beans, and a soda he kneels to her side.

She notices her blood on his hand's bandages as she slowly sits up. "I hope you didn't worry."

"I was concerned, lost, scared. I thought I was to lose you, just as I had just found you," he says low and scoffs for a calmer breath to follow. She smiles her face a bit pale but quickly flushing red to the heat of the water. He softly grips her shoulders after laying her food and drink to the floor. He sits her up more knowing she felt tender at her side. Rubbing the water against her cheek just under the scabbing cut she looks back to him with a clever smile.

"Joshua, you are saving me once again. It must be true, I can't live without you." they both weakly laughed, his voice was more emotional and tender as he shed a few tears in the moment of happiness and relief. She lifts her left hand to caress the left side of his face and gazes at the loose and ripped bandages at the corners of his mouth.

"I would have it no other way," he says, leaning to kiss her forehead.

"I will promise you tomorrow morning we will be giving you your skin back," she says low now relaxing and drinking back her soda. He stays silent keeping to her left hand caressed with his fingertips after removing the bandages from her wrists. After a while, Joshua carries her upstairs to rest on a warm bed. That night he embraces her with just his bandaged body and boxers. Both falling asleep feeling safer than they ever had.