It's Nice to Go Trav'ling

"Nah, I'm not chasing after the girls anymore. I'm a changed man now. Good eye, by the way. Yeah, she's NCR. 1st recon. She was in Bitter Springs, but don't bring it up, dig?"

Spencer paused to fiddle with his cigarette.

"I'm really worried about her. I know she'll- I know she's gonna survive this, but if something happens and I lose her, I really don't know what I'll do, man. I can't deal with that again."

He took another look at Sierra. She seemed to be doing fine.

"Listen, how long can you stay here? Could you stay the night and just say that you picked up a whore in the Wrangler or something? Because we're gonna need you. You're my inside guy. Wait a minute," Spencer said as he walked towards the surgery room. He stuck his head inside the door and knocked on the open door.

"Sierra? I'm really sorry, but I gotta take our guest back to our place. I won't be long. You two have fun now," Spencer said with a friendly grin.

Sandy was vaguely disappointed when Sierra turned her down. Maybe if both Sandy and Spencer tried to persuade her, she might give in, and then they can all party together. Sandy stopped pouting when she noticed Sierra's eyes suddenly light up. She swivelled around to see Spencer's head poking through the doorway

"Sierra? I'm really sorry, but I gotta take our guest back to our place. I won't be long. You two have fun now,"

'Back to our place'. Sandy smiled. That meant that this new guy would be living in her place, and all she had to do was reach out and nab him. Happy in the fact she will almost definitely be having sex tonight, she slipped off of Sierra's bed, and collapsed into the chair next to her.

"So...if you won't sleep with me, why don't we have a nice, polite chat? No funny shit, I promise"

<MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENWHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILE>

"So do I."

When Lily leaned forwards and planted her lips against Growler's, his eyes widened in shock. This wasn't the first time a girl had kissed him, Sandy did it quite frequently to make him blush, but this was his first serious kiss. He was unsure what to do, he had seen Sandy and Hunter kiss people all the time, but now he was doing it, he had drawn a blank.

He hesitantly raised a shaking hand and placed it lightly against Lily's waist, praying that was the right thing to do. As he kissed her back, he realised that is wasn't that hard, and was actually very enjoyable. He closed his eyes, and simply enjoyed being close to Lily.

Sierra wanted to cling to Spencer forever, to have him hold her. Sierra felt quite weak with the wound, and everytime Spencer touched her, she felt vibrant and alive. A feeling that she never wanted to leave.

"So...if you won't sleep with me, why don't we have a nice, polite chat? No funny shit, I promise"

Sandy had been trying to get in Spencer and Sierra's pants, and Sierra didn't like her for it. She hoped that she wouldn't have to spend too much time near her. Sandy seemed to relax when Spencer said that the new guy would be staying with them. She would try to get in his pants too.

"Fine. You ever been shot, Sandy?"

Sierra thought that enough small talk would put Sandy off talking to her, and then she could sleep in peace. In fact, she felt like sleeping now, so she just quietly dozed off while Sandy was talking.

---

Lily stopped kissing Growler when Spencer walked in, and she saw the man next to her, and her heart melted. This new one was quite attractive, and no doubt rich. But she just matched herself with Growler. It was nice to stay loyal.

"Hey-hey! Look who's melted the Ice Queen's heart!"

Lily growled at Spencer, and laid her head on Growler's shoulder, tired. She did her best to stay awake, but it was no use, she slipped asleep on Growler's shoulder. Lily started to dream.

First she dreamed of Sierra, Spencer, herself, the new man, and Royal Duke gearing for war. Then it skipped to the group walking into the Tops, all dressed nicely. Lily's arm was held by Growler, and Sierra's by Spencer.

---

"Shit, what were you doing in the hospital? You need something from there? Because we can go back if you need it."

Michael shook his head, not really needing anything, he liked to pay a visit to the doctor every time though.

"Nah, not at the moment."

Once they entered the building, and walked upstairs, it was quite nice, for a crumbling building. He'd still rather his suite at the Tops, however. Warm beds, showering, women. But the red haired woman caught his eye.

"It's.. it's a bit of a downgrade from the Tops, I know that, but it's only temporary, right?"

"Seems fine for the moment. Who's the broad in the corner with the kid?"

He was of course referring to Lily and Growler. He was most attracted to her. Michael winked at her, and sat down next to Spencer. Hoping to discuss what he was doing.

"Spencer, what's going on, man?"

Michael had no idea what was happening, his friend goes missing, then he sees that friend again. He could see the Tops from where he was sitting, and he wanted to be there. There'd be a party on right about now.

"Can it kid, I'm just making a joke, all right? You gotta got the girl, just be grateful and get some thicker skin while you're at it." He saw him carry Sierra off, and pulled up a chair for Michael and one for himself.

"Her? Well I wouldn't bother with her. Something has gotta be wrong with her. Not sure what, but she's a weird one all right. As for the kid, let's just say those two seem like they are meant for each other."

He put out his cigarette on the floor. and rubbed his face.

"Listen, man. If I knew what was going on I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be hosting a cocktail party in my suite and bedding a redhead. But obviously that isn't happening, is it?"

He paused for a moment before standing up. "I gotta head back to meet Sierra, you wanna come with? You're free to stay if you want, but I'm not sure how much conversation you'll get out of those two," he said quietly.

He made his way back to the hospital, and met Sandy on his walk about halfway there.

"Is she all right back there? Did you have any trouble?" he asked.

"Is she all right back there? Did you have any trouble?"

"Huh? Oh, no, no. No trouble. She's sleeping."

Sandy walked on with Duke and Hunter. As they reached the building they were staying in, Hunter suddenly made a bee-line towards the Wrangler. "See you guys in the morning!" Duke grinned and yelled back. "Hunter! If you meet some girl you like, keep it to yourself. Ah will not have another Boneyard incident!". Both Hunter and Sandy had goofy smiles as they remembered that night.

When they entered the building, they found Albert snoring lightly in one of the Brahmin carts, a bottle of scotch clamped firmly in his hand. Duke walked over and kicked Albert's boot. The old drunk was up with a knife to Duke's beard before his eyes were even open. "Huh? Whut? Whut now? Oh, it's you." He lowered his knife, and Duke helped him out of the cart. "Come own you old fool, the doc said it was bad for yer back to sleep in the carts."

"Oh yeah? Well what do them doctors know?"

"A hell of a lot more'n'you. Come own, you got yer nice sleepin' bag to look forward to."

"A'm comin' a'm comin'"

Sandy, Duke and Albert trudged up the stairs, until they reached the third floor. Lily was already in bed, with Growler sitting next to her. What they had been getting up to, anybody could guess. Growler would probably talk to Albert or Duke in the morning, like he always did when he did something new and wanted advice.

Michael smiled broadly and Sandy, walked over and planted a kiss right on her cheek.

"Well well pussycat."

Sandy giggled. "Pussycat? You Strip folk sure talk funny." Sandy pressed up close to Michael, and whispered in his ear "Come on, I found a real sweet spot downstairs, nice and quiet. For now". She took Michael's hand in hers and led her towards the stairs. They were blocked by the wall of shadows walking up the stairs. Crow stopped a few steps down, so he could look Michael in the eye. "You mistreat her, I kill you" He walked straight past, and lay down on an old mattress, still completely armored.

Sandy rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him. He's a real sweetheart inside. He's completely serious though, better be nice" Sandy winked, and led them downstairs. There was an old bed on a rickety steel frame in one corner of a small room, upon which Sandy draped herself, posing dramatically. "Alright cowboy, let's see what you can do"

"Pussycat? You Strip folk sure talk funny."

The Chairmen used a lot of terms from the 50s, and Frank Sinatra, and Michael was no exception. Both him and Spencer talked like this.

"You'll get used to it."

Michael smirked as Sandy led him downstairs, but wiped it away as Crow came walking up the stairs, intent on talking to Michael. He wanted to avoid a dispute, and he'd ditch his broad is he had to.

"You mistreat her, I kill you"

Michael had no response, and just kept walking with Sandy, of course he had no intention on harming her, but he guessed Crow said it as a warning.

"Don't mind him. He's a real sweetheart inside. He's completely serious though, better be nice"

That put Michael's mind to rest, and was just eager to get started on the dame. She sat herself on the bed, and he took off his jacket and vest, and sat them on the ground next to the bed. He also undone his tie and strung it across the bedframe, and then eloped in the embrace of Sandy.

---

Sierra woke bright and early, and slowly looked at Spencer, only coming to terms at where she was, as she barely remembered the night before. Her hand glid over his head and face, she whispered to him to wake him up, eager to find out what happened to the others.

"Spencie? Wake up."

She sat on the edge of the bed, and saw the Doctor come out, eager to see her progress throughout the night. Firstly, he wrote some things on a clipboard, and then he stood next to Sierra, and indicted for Spencer to help her get up from the bed, as it was useless to keep her in bed.

"Spencer, please help her walk."

Sierra could walk fine, and after a few steps, the Doctor let go, and she could walk freely. She decided against heading to the base in Freeside, as it would strain her a lot. Instead, she decided to wait here, while Spencer fetched them.

"Spencer, get the others over here. We need to talk."

Spencer had drifted off to sleep, but was awoken by Sierra's small hand on his face. He groggily raised his head and rubbed his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked, squinting his eyes as he looked outside the window. He massaged rubbed his stubble and slowly sat up when the doctor entered the room. Following the doctor's orders, he put his arm around her waist and lifted her to the ground.

"All right. You feeling all right?" She seemed fine- she was walking on her own, after all. Later, she asked him to get the rest of the group to the hospital.

"Yeah, I can do that. I'll be back soon- don't worry."

He made his way outside and after some walking reached Freeside. He made a detour into Mick and Ralphs for cigarettes. He walked inside, picked up a pack of Lucky Strikes, and decided to browse the store for any supplies. He was whistling to the song on the radio, when he bumped into a King member holding a box of ammo and Fancy Lad snacks. The King dropped his contents onto the floor.

"Oh!" Spencer said. "Here, let me get that." He bent over to hand the things to the gang member when he noticed a gleam of recognition in the mans eyes.

"I know you from somewhere, don't I?" the man asked.

"Doubt it," Spencer said. "I'm not from around here, just passing through. Probably won't be here long enough to warrant a hotel room. Guess I just got one of those faces," Spencer said with a friendly chuckle. "Sorry about that."

He paid for his cigarettes and walked back to the building. He noticed Michael sleeping in a room across from the entrance, his clothes strewn about the room. He chuckled to himself and knocked on the open door.

"Come on, sleeping beauty, time to wake up. It's almost noon, and we have a long day ahead of us. I'll let you get dressed," he said, closing the door. He stood at the foot of the stairwell and shouted up at the rest.
"Hey, gang, get down here, Sierra wants to see us. And if we're gonna get me back in that Casino, we should get to work!"

"I'm sorry, what was that about a Casino?"

Spencer turned around to see the Kings member from Mick and Ralphs.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Jimmy Blanchett lived a pretty comfortable life. He was a member of the Kings, which generally was a pretty easy life. He didn't have any real position of power, per se, but had a simple one that allowed him plenty of time for his hobby. He wrote adventure pieces to pass around to the literate people of Freeside. He was well known for it in his gang, but then again, the Kings all know each other anyway. Today, he only had one thing on his schedule. He had to stop by Mick and Ralphs for some personal supplies, and then go check up on the caravan crew spending the night in the building rented out by the Kings. The rest could be devoted to what he loved best- writing.

He stopped through the Freeside gates to reach Mick and Ralph's. He stepped inside, and absentmindedly walked through the aisles, smoking a cigarette. He bumped into a ragged looking man, and thought nothing of it until he had taken a good look at his face. Jimmy thought he recognized the man, but he could not put his finger on it.

"I know you, don't I?" he asked. The man denied it, and Jimmy, despite being a bit suspicious, let it go. A few minutes later, he thought of something. A few years back, when the NCR had all those conflicts with the Kings, ther had been a few mediatiors from the Casinos to help ease the tension. The one from the Tops in particular. He pondered it for a moment, before dismissing the idea. That guy had died. He had heard it from Mr. New Vegas. He began walking towards the old building when he noticed the stranger walking towards it, too. He decided to keep his distance and waited until he had gone inside. The first thing he noticed was the stranger talking to another man who wasn't supposed to be there. He stood in the corner for a moment until he heard the thing he was looking for.

"I'm sorry, what was that about a casino?"