It's Nice to Go Trav'ling

"Oh God!" Spencer shouted, leaping from his chair and running down the stairs. He made his way to Sierra, pushing aside several onlookers. He fell to the ground in front of her and held her in his arms.

"Someone get help," he shouted, not noticing the crowd had dwindled considerably following Crow's attack. He held her closer and looked her in the eyes.

"It's gonna be all right," he said, fighting back tears. "I survived it, didn't I? You'll be fine," he said with a shaky voice.

He picked her up and began to carry her to the hospital he was just released from. He kicked the double doors in and hurried inside. The doctor turned around and stared quizzically at Spencer.

"Back already? Did I leave something in there?" Suddenly he noticed Sierra. "Oh no," he said, "here, bring lay her down here," he said, rolling out a table.

Duke led the rest of the group down the stairs, weapons ready. Duke had already seen Crow leave, so he doubted that there would be much resistant left.

They filed out of the building, to see the dead muggers, and Spencer and Lily kneeling down next to Sierra, Duke could hear Spencer crying, and talking quickly to Sierra.

"It's gonna be all right, I survived it, didn't I? You'll be fine,"

Duke snapped off a few quick orders to his crew. "Hunter! Go with them, make sure that no more surprises happen. Al! You stay here adn watch the brahmin. Sandy! You're with me". Duke strode off after Spencer and Sierra with Hunter and Sandy.



Growler blushed again as Lily snaked her hand into his, he swallowed, and squeezed Lily's hand.

"H-Hey"

"Will she be okay?"

"Um...of course she will, the doctors are really good at the hospital. She'll be fine".

Growler gently led Lily towars the door.

"Come on, lets go back inside, people are starting to stare at us".

Lily felt confused when Growler brought her inside, she intended to go with Sierra to the hospital, but if Duke thought it better for her to stay with them, she would stay, Spencer and Sierra would most likely need some time to themselves after this ordeal. Lily sat next to Growler, and thought through what could happen to Sierra.

---

Sierra muttered words from her past while unconscious, words like farm, knife, enlist, recon, rifle, khan, bitter springs and McCarran were common, even after the risky operation. The one she did say when finally waking up was "Spencer".

She looked up at the rotting roof of the derelict building and blinked a few times, reacting to outside stimuli. Her first physical movement was lifting her head to see the Doctor, Sandy, Duke and Spencer all in the waiting room.

It had probably been a few hours, the sun had set already. Sierra lifted her arm and waved at the group. When she lowered it over her belly, forgetting she had been shot, it hurt her a lot, and and cried out.

When Spencer got to her side, she smiled groggily, she was still woozy from all of the drugs that the doctor used to keep her out of consciousness. In an attempt to lighten the sorrow mood, which Sierra didn't want, and also to reassure Spencer, Duke and Sandy, she made a joke.

"I suppose Lily and Growler are back in Freeside in a bed together."

(Sorry for short post, my internet is acting up)

Spencer dozed off in the waiting room, his cigarette still burning in his hand before he woke up to the sound of Sierra screaming. He leaped up and made his way over to her bed and grabbed her hands.

"You gonna be alright? You feeling okay?"

Duke and Sandy had managed to regain their composure when Sierra returned her attention to them.

"How are the others? Did anyone else get hurt? It's a blur."

Duke folded his arms over his broad chest and gave Sierra a reassuring smile. "Naw, soon as Crow heard gunshots, he was off like a bloodhound. And don't worry, Crow ain't no soldier, but there won't be no-one that survived his attack." Duke grinned, proud of saving the big man from a life of slavery. He still had a scar on his left arm where Crow had rammed his machete. Equally, Crow maintained a scar on his right thigh where Duke had shot him.

There was a loud crash from behind them, and Sandy span around with her fists raised. It turned out to be Hunter, sword raised and stance ready. He looked around, face lighting up in embarrassed realization. He sheathed his sword and stepped back outside without a word. Duke chuckled, and Sandy turned back around, shaking her head.

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Hunter was leaning against a wall outside of the hospital, daydreaming up some more extravagant stories to make the kids of the Mojave hero-worship him as they did. Hunter was not a particularly arrogant man, he knew he had limits, but just seeing a child's eyes light up Hunter told his stories, made him want to do it again and again.

Despite his complete absence of awareness, something brought him out of his imaginations. It turned out to be a cry of pain. Hunter worked purely in automatic, spinning around, drawing his sword and kicking open the door. He rushed into the hospital, eyes darting around for any move of danger. When he found none, he stood up straight, sheathed his sword, and walked quietly out of the kicked-in door.

Sierra got a fright when Hunter kicked the door in, but quickly calmed down. He probably mistook her screams as an attack. She turned to Spencer, and smiled at what he said, it was kind of him, but they couldn't be doing dates just yet, what with her being in hospital, and Spencer being temporarily banished from the Strip.

"Soon, Spencer, we'll be having a romantic dinner for two."

Sierra lifted her head up to look at the doctor, eager to hear what would be stopping her from having her dinner. Sierra had copped worse in the NCR, and this didn't feel like too serious of a wound. But she'd just have to wait for the Doctor's verdict.

"Ms. Bull, you aren't severely injured, the shrapnel has been removed, and the wound was sealed. With rest, you'll be fine in a week or two. I'd advise against walking for a day or two. At least let the stitches do their magic."

Sierra grabbed the Doctor's hand and shook it, and said "Thank you" to him. Without his help, she'd probably had bled out. She was also thanking him for assisting Spencer when he was shot. Her thanking him was stopped when the door opened again.

---

"Um...so, so you asked me about me...b-but, I never asked you. About you I mean...um, so...where are you from?"

Lily felt reluctant to tell him, but she had to open up to someone one day, this may as well be it. Her life was quite dark, at least before she left Boneyard. Her life had been quite well since she arrived in the Mojave, though. Coming across Spencer, meeting Growler.

"My mom loved me dearly, maybe a bit too much, I lived a sheltered childhood. My dad was abusive. One day...h-he..shot my brother....a-and himself. I left B-boneyard and came here. I met Spencer on the road, along with Sierra. I joined them, and we eventually ended up here."

Lily was quite teary now, but did her best at hiding it from Growler. She didn't want to make him feel bad for bringing it up. Her mind turned to Sierra, hoping that she'd pull through. She was a tough woman, she'd be fine.

---

Michael Eldridge was on another trip to Westside, to improve trading relations. Westside was a rather untouched area, but they had fresh food that could benefit the Tops. That was his first destination, the general store. He opened both the doors, and that attracted the attention of the owner.

"Well hey there Charley. I'm Michael Eldridge, from the Tops. And I'm here to make your day gas. We can work out a deal that you will dig, my good man. A deal that'll make you a big-leaguer. It's simple, us Chairmen could do with some stunning food. We hear that's right up your alley."

The owner thought for a moment, and shook Michael's hand. This meant that it was another success for Michael Eldridge and the Chairmen! It was already late at night, so he'd have to bid the man a good night, and work the specifics out later.

"That's platinum. I'll pop around in a few days to work out the specifics of this fine operation with you cool people."

Michael now left the general store, and headed to the doctor's office, it was time to visit the croaker. The Doc's office was rather close, and it wasn't hard to find, with a man standing out the front. He nodded at the man, and pretended to tip his hat at him, and then opened both doors and walked in. Michael took a look at the group in the office, and was alarmed when someone he knew was there.

"Spencer Evans?!"

Michael walked over, and shook Spencer's hand, and looked at the others. He gave a look of sorrow at Sierra, and offered his condolences to her, and then back to the others. Michael shook Duke's hand. And then his attention turned to Sandy. He took her hand and kissed it.

"Hel-lo, you're ring-a-ding, if I may say so. We'll have to swing sometime."

His attention turned back to Spencer, who he thought was dead. It was a suprise to him to learn of his survival. He looked quite worse for wear. He was a quite handsome man when he was back at the Tops, but a womanizer. Not that Michael swung that way.

"Spencer buddy, you're looking sharp for a dead man. I heard through the grapevine that Lawrence had something to do with it, he always was a fink."

Spencer's eyes widened in fear when Michael entered the hospital.

"Hey, hey, hey, not so loud now." Spencer said, when Michael addressed him by name. "Now what is it- why are down here anyway? Never mind that for now, we need to go somewhere more private that we can talk."

Spencer turned to the rest of the group with a friendly grin.

"If you'd excuse us."

He led Michael over to the waiting room. Noticing that his cigarette was almost out, Spencer removed the pack from his breast pocket and before lighting one for himself, offered one to Michael.

"I need to head on over to Mick and Ralph's, I'm almost out. Now to the real business- what else do you know about Jake's plan? I could've- hell, I did- figure out that that rat bastard is behind all this, but do you know anything else? Did they approach you for the lowdown on me before they pulled any of the sneaky shit?"

Spencer took a deep inhale of his cigarette and looked around nervously.

"Jesus. None of this seems real, ya know? I feel like I'm just gonna wake up from a bad dream or something. But that hasn't happened yet. I mean I could see the Omertas doing something like this, but not the Chairmen. It's just- it's hard to believe."

He looked back to the group in the waiting room and turned back to Michael.

"Hey, you're gonna have to tell me how she is," Spencer said, shooting a subtle wink at Sandy. "Between you and me, I'm tied down again. First time since Natalie and... it's refreshing."

Spencer paused for a moment, thinking.

"Hey- what are they saying about me back at the Casino? How's Torini? Or how about Clarissa? Does she miss me yet," Spencer asked with a grin.