The Return Home & The Painful Past

With the night coming, the aching long forty minutes of the travel and detouring was silent. When arriving at Primm she spots some men wearing Powder Ganger uniforms; she pauses at the NCR camp just outside of it.

"What the...hell. Hey, you why are there Powder Gangers?" she asks sternly, pausing before crossing the bridge.

"Oh, no they aren't that but in fact inmates, no one cruel. They are the new law here protecting the people. Seems they are hard on the law part. One of them is an ex-sheriff." the woman NCR soldier says and shrugs.

"Ugh fuck, drama, just what I need. I am probably going to have to deal with an attitude from hell. Wait...you said law? Where are McBain and Beagle?" she groans and eyes the woman back.

"McBain and his wife were killed and it had been run overrun by prisoners. More than we could handle. Everyone flocked to Vikki and Vance casino for shelter. Some returning Courier came to figure it out to find some information on some man and had the new law come in." she says and points to the town.

"Alright, thanks." Susan sighs and looks back at Boone who grunts. She then heads into the town to be stopped by the new Sheriff.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa who are you, and what you want with Primm if I may ask," Meyers asks suddenly with no weapon in hand.

She stops with a stern heavy foot to the ground. Boone hops off to look around and stay close to Susan. "Goldeneye, I live here and just returned home. I am sure you are here for the good of the people?" she asks seriously as if she would kill him in an instant if he answered wrong.

"Ah, Goldeneye, the one mercenary that killed some Powder Gangers? Good, nothing to worry from me I do not associate with them if that is what you are worried about. I will keep these people safe as long as they go by the law." he says low and with a serious gaze.

She does not trust him and she asks him the last question. "And just what exactly are those laws?" she glances past him to Beagle just walking about. She notices his badge is gone and she is suddenly glad the coward is gone from his useless position.

"You live here so you will find out. Welcome home," he says and leans back against the wall of a garage with a hollowed smile.

"Okay then, but do treat them fairly and make sure you have proof if someone is in the wrong before doing anything. These people are good. They are just an easy target from time to time." she says kindly knowing to not put too much authority to her tone.

"I will keep that to mind then lady. Now go on," he says and she kicks up her feet to go slow on her bike with Boone walking beside her.

"I know he is going to be trouble down the road, Susan." Boone whispers to her right ear. She hums in agreement with a nod and then she sighs in irritable agreement.

"Well if my mom is alive this place will just have to do. If in fact, I am alone, I am leaving this place, and perhaps putting Primm Slim in charge with some programs in case he does get out of hand would do better. I am sure the robot will deal with him and any invaders." she says low and comes to her home.

The brick walls are still standing to its two story height and just high enough for a great roof view of the night stars and the towering roller coaster tracks. Cutting the engine off she stands the bike up and comes to the garage door. Shifting through her bag she brings out her keys and turns it to a lock to trigger the battery powered motor. The door opens up to a large work bench, stocked plastic scrap crates and stocked shelving. Boone eyes the place and notes it as a craft shop, one of invention, repairing and creation.

"Fascinating, better than the one at Novac." he mentions eyeing around the place as he enters first and Susan pushes the bike in right behind him.

She snickers and looks at the other jerry cans. At the sleeves, she had a whole two shelves filled with ten jerry cans including her three added empty ones. She grips one full one and fills her tank up then puts back the now empty one and returns two filled ones to the right saddlebag. As Boone looks around she looks up to him as she checks the oil to the bike.

"Hey there. Use the restroom, eat, or rest. Take your time too. I will be going to get the cart and working on that." she says as she tosses her key to him as he comes to the side door leading into her home.

"Huh, thanks." he says low and waits for a moment as she finishes and stands with a deep breath.

"On second thought I may need your strength." she snickers lifting her arms and showing off her fit yet smaller arms compared to his. They both laugh a bit and they walk to the Bison Steve Hotel.

Halfway there they keep an eye along the tracks and she spots one broken off one sitting to a dumpster. Shouting to Boone they come to it and she starts up a conversation.

"So, you often think about your wife?" she softly asks and he seems surprised but clearly is comfortable with her.

"Yeah, always, even when I sleep." he says in a somber tone. They both grip the ends of the cart and pull upward hard. Both grunt and Susan breaks a sweat as they set it down to the concrete ground.

"You know how she died? Legion doesn't just kill off women if they are sold as a slave." She was too smart for him and his face changed to sadness and then to guilt. She lowered her eyes. "Oh, I am so sorry I shouldn't have…"

"No, I was going to tell you nights ago but you fell asleep. You deserve a story, the truth. They deserve judgement. Not by you not by the wastes but by me killing every last living Legion troop. Until then the debt I took, it is catching up with me. All of it." he says, his words jumbled in silent emotions but she understood.

"Boone, I think I understand. By the looks of it, you saw her at Cottonwood. What I am doing now is because I know I am outnumbered here. That is what you felt too, helpless?" she says low.

"Yeah...but I killed her...I took a shot. I knew I had to do it for her, a mercy killing. What the Legion does to women is worse than death. No doubt about that. It was the only way and only chance to save her." he crosses his arms trying his damned to keep hidden behind his glasses. She felt the guilt he had and knew the only comfort he got was from killing off Legion. "She was the only one to help me forget things. Forget the things I did at Bitter Springs."

Susan's gaze turned to sorrow for him. She knew the story, her mother had told her of the news one day and that her father would have been disgraced with the NCR for killing innocent people, mostly children, and women. "I know Boone. I know of the history. Just…" she sighs deep and leans back down to the cart. "Just help me get this back home and you can take time to yourself and Boone…"

He leans down with her feeling unphased but bothered to bring up the past yet it felt good to let it off and share it to a kind heart. "Hum?" he asks low and lifts it up with her.

"Thanks for opening up. Means a lot and I know you trust me now. I have your back too." she smiles and grunts a bit from the weight and keeps to his dark green eyes.

"Yeah," he says low filled with sorrow and a small hope of comfort and he leads on.

Slightly smiling under the shadow of the night she felt better, having known his trueness she felt closer to him in understanding each other's backgrounds. She had never classified someone based on their background and had always known, to each their own, everyone in the wastes is just trying to survive, to do their best.

Making it back after some time of sweating it was close to midnight when she started to work. Boone had kept to himself eating some made mac and cheese and reading her book, Grand Endure, as she worked on cutting down the cart's weight, to balance it between the weight of the bike, with the work of her torch. As she welds a few metal pipes and metal clamps to act as a detachable attachment to the bike he stops her with a question causing her to lift up her welding mask for her full attention.

"How can you read this? A damn false representation of war," he says low hating the writing but is still curious about the literature.

"You haven't gotten to the good part...it is based on older times Boone so forgive me for not finding one more suitable. The Art of War is something interesting but God is it too long. I would find myself sleeping and losing my spot so I gave up on that." she snickers and keeps at her work. Finishing the metal pipes she grabs four larger screws and finds spots on the right side of the bike along its metal frames to find a safe spot to insert them for the clamps. Popping a hammer to open a place she takes a screwdriver and it peels away the new holes and she lifts the metal attachment bars and finishes up the work sliding the frame in place.

"Sounds long…" he says from the doorway leading inside and they both chuckle. For some more minutes, she is stuck in concentration as she looks over the wheels and begins delicate repairs.

"There, damn that was somewhat challenging. So it should be balanced and okay to work. The wheels on this thing just needed a tight coating of rubber from some old tires I had to melt down along its metal rims to prevent blowouts I don't need. Should be easy if I keep to smoother roads. I may need to keep this torch and tire strips just in case of repairs." she winces an eye and gathers those and stuffs them to the right saddlebag. "Now time to paint it. Go get some rest Boone, use my couch." she smiles toward him as he kept to reading as he leaned against the door frame. He lifts his head as she grips a paint gun she had on a shelf. Tilting a black paint can to it she raises a commanding brow to him.

"Yeah, I am going," he mumbles and heads in knowing she means well.

Given herself some silence and a caring smile she spots herself a bandana and wraps it around her face a bit above her nose. Now slowly and evenly spraying along the revealing paint-chipped metal cart it covers over in multiple liquid spots of black paint. Fifteen minutes pass when she finishes with a satisfied gasping breath for fresh air towards the opened garage metal door. Giving it time to dry till morning she puts everything away and closes up the garage. After a moment looking over her work with the large long garage light overhead, she walks through the door and toward her living room to see Boone still reading. Keeping silent steps she eyes her kitchen just past the couch where he lays and around a countertop. Feeling restless she walks up to the room and heads into her room to gather some fresh clothes of the same kind and takes off her own to clean later. Keeping her knife, revolver and rifle laid out on her bed she heads to her own bathroom rather than the one downstairs. She decides to rest into a bathtub of hot water, keeping silent and making sure the door is locked; she relaxes into the water and dozes off.