This is it. The final chapter. I'm just swollen with feels. I hope you all like it and I hope that you've enjoyed reading Frontier Dreaming as much as I've enjoyed writing it. So please: read and enjoy.

May 11, 2280

9:00

Nevada

Goodsprings

"You seem rather quiet. And pale. Jesus, you like a ghost… Uh, Ava?"

Knox caught Ava as she tipped backwards nearly crashing through a makeshift fence penning in several Brahmin. The owner of the animals gave Knox an odd look as he swore and slowly lowered Ava to the ground.

"I- I can't do this. There's no way. I cannot do this," Ava said her eyes frantic. Knox was right when he said she was pale. All the color had drained from her skin and she'd broken into a sweat that had nothing to do with the light heat of the morning.

Knox gently propped her up against a fence post and seated himself next to her in the dust. He handed her his canteen, but she just held it without drinking and kept staring off into space.

"You can. He's just one old guy. What's to be afraid of?" Knox asked, nudging Ava with his elbow.

She didn't respond, but Knox noticed her grip tighten on the canteen and shoulders quiver slightly. "I can't," she insisted quietly.

Knox sat thoughtfully in silence for a moment, allowing Ava to have her moment before he responded. "Ava, you traveled across the entire country for this moment. To meet your family. To meet Doc Mitchell. The shit you've been through, hell, the shit we've been through… you deserve this; to finally have a family again."

Knox looked over at her and smiled, but the smile quickly slid off his face. "Holy Christ, are you going into shock!?"

Ava sat there quivering, her eyes unfocused. Knox could hear the water splashing around in the canteen she clutched in a white knuckled grip. Knox scurried to his feet and grabbed one of Ava's wrists and pulled her up, supporting the majority of her body weight on his shoulder.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? He's one old man! God damn it…"

Knox started to walk towards Goodsprings saloon, forcing Ava along with him. Dragging her along might be the more accurate.

"You're meeting Mitchell! Whether I have to get you drunk or not remains to be seen. His house is right fucking there. If I were any less of a good guy, I'd drop your comatose body on his doorstep," Knox griped as he pulled Ava up the steps into the Prospector Saloon, her boots thudding up the step.

Knox shifted his grip under her arm pits and pulled the poor girl towards the front door. Knox gave a quick nod to the elderly man seated on the porch smoking a pipe.

"Hiya, Pete," Knox greeted with a grunt as he backed through the doorway into the bar, trying to keep Ava's feet from getting shut in the door.

"Howdy," was Easy Pete's only reply and a slight raising of the eyebrow as Knox gave one more mighty heave and Ava's legs disappeared into the Saloon. Pete nodded and went back to his pipe.

Inside the saloon, Knox ignored the patrons as he propped Ava up in a booth against the wall. She started to slide away, but Knox poked her in the shoulder until she was firmly against the wall. He turned and walked to the bar. He knocked on the counter to get Trudy, the owner's, attention.

"Glass of whiskey please." He glanced back to Ava who was still staring shell shocked into space. "Actually, a bottle please. Thanks." Knox took the bottle from Trudy and pulled some caps out.

"What brings you back into town, Knox? Thought we'd seen the last of you the last time you rolled out."

"Uhhhh, business," Knox replied absentmindedly, counting caps out on the countertop to pay for the bottle.

"Hmph, business, right," Trudy snorted. The barkeep returned to cleaning out glasses. As Knox moved to go back to the booth he'd left Ava in, Trudy called him back. "Isn't she a little young for you?"

"Hardy-har. I'm here on delivery, Trudy," he explained, hoping it would be enough to get the nosy owner of the saloon to leave him alone. "She'd here for Doc Mitchell."

"Isn't she even younger for him?" she asked wryly, rolling her eyes.

Knox narrowed his eyes. "I'm not liking what you're insinuating here."

"About the Doc?"

"About her," Knox said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Ava. "She's the Doc's granddaughter."

Trudy's jaw dropped open, but before she could ask for more juicy gossip, Knox turned his back on her and moved back over to Ava.

He plopped down onto the worn cushions with a sigh. He probably shouldn't have spilt the beans like that on who Ava was before taking her to see Doc Mitchell, but it was worth it just to get Trudy to stop talking. Apparently he was getting as touchy about people calling Ava a whore as Ava herself was.

If that's not friendship then Knox didn't know what was.

He snickered to himself. Well, maybe what he was about to do was also friendship.

Knox slapped the cap off the bottle of whisky on the scuffed wood of the table, nimbly catching and pocketing the cap as it spun into the air. He leaned across the table and pinched Ava's nose shut between his thumb and forefinger. As she opened her mouth to breathe Knox quickly shoved the bottle of whiskey to her lips and tilted it up.

As Ava unwittingly swallowed her eyes widened and teared up as the burning alcohol raced down her throat. She swatted the bottle away and started coughing and spluttering trying to catch her breath.

Knox gave her a small smile and glanced at the nearly empty bottle of whiskey. "Wow. Nearly the whole bottle. Impressive," he remarked casually.

"What… the… fuck!?" Ava gasped angrily as she glared at him through the burning tears.

Knox shrugged and tossed back the last of the whiskey in the bottle. "Sorry, but your pity party was getting a little too extreme for me."

Knox set the bottle on the table gently and met Ava's gaze. "Joking aside. Are you okay, Ava?"

The anger melted from Ava's face and her shoulders sagged. "I'm… I'm scared," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Knox chuckled. The chuckling started to build until he was full on laughing. Some of the other bar goers tossed him quick looks of irritation. Ava's look was slightly more than irritated. She kicked him under the table, but her foot painfully ricocheted off his body armor for the umpteenth time. She swore in pain and served only to make Knox laugh even louder.

"Stop laughing! KNOX!"

Knox managed to get his laughter under control, but the infuriating smile didn't leave his face. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "You're scared? You're the Lone fucking Wanderer! You've survived more shit than anybody. And that's coming from me, the guy who was executed!"

Ava leaned forward just the slightest bit wobbly. "Yes! I'm scared! I've lost all the family I've ever had and all the friends too! My mother… dead! My father… dead! My fucking dog… dead! I can't go through that again! I'm not going to doom someone else."

"Oh, quit being such a coward!" snapped Knox. Ava sat back in her seat stunned. "You're not scared of someone else dying because of you, you're scared of losing someone else."

Ava could feel tears starting to well up at the corners of her eyes. Her fingers dug into the wooden top of the table. She felt Knox's hand rest on her forearm.

"You don't need to be scared of losing someone, Ava. We're going to walk out of this bar and you're going to find someone instead."

The smile was back on Knox's face as he got to his feet and held a hand out for Ava. She tentatively took and it got unsteadily to her feet.

"But-"

"No buts," Knox interrupted. "No more loss."

Ava leaned into Knox's side heavily. She took a shuddering breath, trying to steady herself. "I'm going to lose you," she murmured quietly.

Knox rolled his eyes and groaned. "I work in Vegas. That's like a two day walk North of here. It's not exactly crossing into the great beyond."

"But- but- You're going to be leaving again!" Ava insisted, desperately trying to grasp hold of the last straws of her fear. But even as those words were leaving her mouth Knox was already shooting her down as they stepped back out into the morning sunlight.

"I work in the Mojave. Getting you was a special case and after the amount of trouble I had to go through, no more special cases. You need to get ahold of me, look no further."

Knox pointed to a drop box in front of the general store. "Just drop a message there. It'll find me."

Knox stopped and held Ava in front of him at arm's length. He tried to meet her eyes, but she kept looking away until he grabbed her chin. She ruefully met his gaze.

"You ready for this? That's his house." Knox tilted his head to the white house sitting up on the hill behind them.

Ava swallowed, her eyes locked on the house. "He lives there? I don't… I'm not sure I can do this!"

Knox pulled her forwards, one arm held tight on her shoulder. "Calm down. You're Ava Mitchell, Little Miss 101, the Lone Wanderer. You took out the goddamned Enclave. You can meet your grandfather."

"My… grandfather," she said quietly. Her eyes flicked from the house over to Knox. She gave one jerky nod, but her mouth was clamped shut. Ava was afraid she'd vomit if she opened it.

Knox gave her a returning nod and a reassuring smile before turning and leading the way up to Doc Mitchell's front door. Ava swallowed and braced herself to follow him. With one hand resting tightly on Clarity's hilt she followed along in his shadow up the hill to Doc Mitchell's home.

The sun reflected of the house's bleached white walls and a pale blue Nevada Commonwealth flag was fluttering in the light breeze. Ava could feel the sweat on her brow chill as the wind blew. Knox glanced over his shoulder at her to see if she was doing all right. Ava met his eyes and nodded in determination despite her stomach doing backflips.

Knox stepped up to the door and raised a hand to knock, but was held back by Ava.

"Knox, wait!"

Knox lowered his hand and turned around to the nervous wreck hiding behind him. Ava was standing in the entry way to the gate, a good five feet back from the porch.

"He was expecting my dad. He doesn't know me and… and my dad is dead because of me."

Knox could tell Ava was holding back a massive panic attack, but he marveled at how well she was handling herself. Her hands were clenched tight, but they weren't shaking and after a bottle of whiskey her eyes were focused on him.

"I can't tell you how this is gonna play out. No one can tell you that. But what I can tell you is this. Doc Mitchell is one of the most generous and honest hearted people I know. And you," Knox walked up to Ava and poked her in the chest, "are one of the strongest I've ever met. You've taken every beating the world could throw at you and you got back up, soul intact. You and your grandfather are two genuine good people."

Ava took a deep breath and wiped her eyes dry. "Okay. I… thank you, Knox. Thank you for everything."

Knox returned the smile. "Eh, you know it's just a job."

"I stopped buying that heartless mercenary act a long time ago."

With a chuckle, Knox said, "Heartless mercenary? I was going for a gruff exteriored courier with a heart of gold. Your Brahmin-shit meter might need some readjustments."

"Maybe you just need better Brahmin-shit," she retorted. "Now are you going to keep stalling or are we going to meet my grandfather?"

"That's the spirit."

Knox turned back around and pulled his hat off. He reached out a hand to knock on the door. He rapped on the wood three times. The knocks echoed back and behind him and resonated deep in Ava's bones. The drums of fate were pounding and here she stood; in the dust of a Nevada town thousands of miles from where she was born, about to meet her last surviving family.

"Hold on just a moment, I'll be out in a sec."

Ava jumped at the voice shouting from within the house. That was him! Doc Mitchell: her grandfather!

Wood creaked as footsteps fell within the old house. Ava stared wild-eyed over Knox's shoulder at the door. The breeze started to blow harder and a tumbleweed bounced off her calf, but it went unnoticed. The whole world had narrowed down to the door. She could hear the handle groan as the door was wrenched from the frame.

"How may I help you- Oh! It's you. You're back. Almost wondered if I'd ever see you again."

Ava's eyes dropped to the dirt focusing on the cracked and faded steps Knox was standing on. Directly in front of his boots was a pair of faded black cowboy boots. The owner was resting heavily on his left and was gently scuffing his other back and forth.

"I'd certainly been hoping you didn't get yourself killed after all the work I did putting you back together."

Knox snorted softly.

"What news do you have?"

That voice again. It clawed painfully at Ava's heart, so different yet so reminiscent of her father's.

"I wish I had better news for you, but your son was already dead when I reached DC," Knox said gently.

"DC? He made it all the way to DC…" The voice sighed deeply. A sigh Ava was so familiar with. It was the same sigh her father gave every time she misbehaved as a child. "And his wife? Catherine, is she…"

"I'm sorry, but she died years earlier. Childbirth."

Ava watched the cowboy boots straighten out. Their owner had stood up straight.

"Childbirth? They had a child? Is he alive? Did you find him? Where is he?" The voice was excited now.

"She."

Ava nearly jumped as Knox stepped aside. Ava could almost feel the penetrating gaze of the man standing in the doorway to the home. She slowly raised her eyes to see her grandfather for the first time. His mouth dropped below his pristine, white mustache. His head was bald and gleaming in the Mojave sunlight, but Ava could only see the unmistakable resemblance between him and her father and… her.

"Um… Hi. I'm Ava… I- I guess I'm your granddaughter," she said softly. She winced at how lame the words sounded.

Doc Mitchell took a step forward past Knox. "My god… Look at you. You look just like your dad."

"I-"

The words were cut off in Ava's throat as Mitchell embraced her in a massive bear hug, clutching the poor girl to his chest. Ava stood uncomfortably for a moment before slowly raising her arms and returning the hug.

This was her grandfather and everything was okay.

Before she could even think of fighting off the tears, they began to fall. Ava sobbed into his shoulder, all the pain and suffering bleeding out to be replaced by some sort of happiness she hadn't felt in a long, long time. Her heart throbbed in her chest and Ava felt physically unsteady as she held onto her grandfather.

"It's all right, darling. Everything's all right," he whispered to her as he just held her.

Knox stepped around them awkwardly. "Looks like you have some catching up to do. I'll be in the saloon. We can discuss payment when you're ready." He pulled his hat back onto his head and low over his eyes.

"Knox!? No! Wait!" Ava squeaked from within Mitchell's embrace. She broke away from him, but was stopped by Knox.

"You're gonna be fine. Talk to your grandfather." Knox gently pushed her back towards the house and started down the hill.

He didn't look back. He just put one foot in front of the other. He heard Doc Mitchell herd Ava inside and the door shut. Knox smiled. He was happy for Ava. She deserved happiness more than anyone he knew. Certainly more than him. Knox wandered down to the saloon again in contemplative silence.

Funny how the quiet could become so abnormal. After traveling alone for so long he never expected to be uncomfortable without Ava's constant, inane chattering.

He walked into the bar and flagged down Trudy before tossing a bag of caps on the counter and walking over to the jukebox. He set himself at a table next to it and listened to Dean Martin croon softly. Trudy set a bottle of whiskey and a glass down in front of him.

"Just keep em coming, Trudy," he said softly. As the bartender walked away he filled his glass.

"Here's to you, Ava."

May 11, 2280

22:00

Goodsprings, Nevada

The Prospector Saloon

Ava walked lightly into the bar. She was dressed in a faded Vault 21 jumpsuit she'd borrowed from Doc Mitchell (her stealth suit smelt like a combination of sweat and death). He'd told her the suit was her grandmother's. While it felt weird to be in a Vault suit again she couldn't help, but marvel at having something belonging to her grandmother.

The very idea of grandparents had never occurred to her until now. Now she had a grandfather.

She found Knox leaning back in a chair, lazily watching a game of pool progress. An empty bottle of whisky sat next to his cowboy hat. He'd tossed his gloves inside his hat and was nursing his final glass of alcohol. She sat down next to him.

He gave her a small smile and cast a critical eye up and down her.

Honestly?

She looked terrible. Her hair was sticking up all over the place, her eyes were red and puffy, and tears stains streaked across her face.

"Hey."

"Hey, yourself," he returned, tossing back the last of his drink.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both watching the game of pool. A woman with bright red hair was currently taking a young man for all he was worth. The poor fool kept going double or nothing.

"We… talked, Mitchell and me. I told him everything," Ava said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Everything?"

"More than I've told you," she clarified.

Knox set his empty glass on the table. "How'd he take it?"

Ava's eyes broke away from the game and she looked at Knox. "He hugged me again," she said with a small smile. "I don't know what I expected. I guess… I thought he would scream and shout and throw me out. I just… that's the only way I thought it could end. How fucked up is that?"

Knox gave no reply, but he did look away from the pool table and met Ava's eyes.

"We just talked and he held me."

"Good," Knox said gently. "I'm glad. Looks like you've got some family again."

"I-… I know, but friends are family right?" She nudged Knox with her elbow and gave him a grin.

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close in a one armed hug. "Sure they are." The two leaned back against the wall and went back to watching the game of pool quietly.

"You're good family, Knox."

"You too, Ava."

"Thanks."

Knox chuckled and scratched his chin, wincing as the woman sunk another ball at the pool table. "How many times do I have to insist that it's all just a job? No thank you's."

Ava shrugged under Knox's arm. "Heart of gold, Knox, heart of gold." She knocked her fingers against his chest plate over his heart.

Knox swatted her hand up and rose to his feet as the eight ball was sunk. "Yeah, yeah, throw my words back at me why don't you? I… am going to get another drink. And you… you should go back up to Doc Mitchell's. You've been with me for long enough. Go on now!"

Ava allowed herself to be pulled to her feet by the Courier. She walked over to door and gave him a wave.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Knox assured. "I still have to be paid you know."

Ava rolled her eyes and exited the saloon.

Knox watched her go before stumbling over to the bar.

"Trudy! More whiskey, if you would."

May 12, 2280

10:00

Nevada

Goodsprings

"I believe that's your price isn't it?"

Doc Mitchell deposited a hefty bag of caps in Knox's outstretched hand. They were standing on Doc Mitchell's porch. Ava sat off to the left on a chair, watching the proceedings keenly. Knox quickly dropped the caps into his satchel and stepped back off the porch into the dirt walk.

"Though, honestly," Mitchell continued, "I'd expect a cross country journey to have cost me more."

Knox grinned and tipped his hat in respect. "It's the "you saved my life" discount." Mitchell snorted dismissively.

Ava raised her eyebrows. "Do I get that discount?"

First you have to save me more than I've saved you," Knox teased.

Ava shook her head irritably and looked away. It wasn't Knox's usual banter that was getting to her. It was that he was leaving. Finding Mitchell and losing Knox. It was a shitty trade. Knox watched Ava for a few more seconds, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Well, with pay squared away I guess I'll be headed out." He turned to Mitchell. "Always a pleasure, Doc. Ava… I guess..." Knox sighed. Ava still wasn't looking at him. Knox gave Mitchell a sad smile and a slight wave and turned to walk away.

"Now, hold on a second," Mitchell called after him. "Aren't you forgetting something? Or someone rather."

Knox whirled around in time with Ava cranking her neck around to look at her grandfather.

"What!?" she practically yelled in confusion.

Mitchell smiled down at her in the chair. "Go on, sweetheart. I know you can't just stay here."

The familiar nickname that her father used to call her rebounded off Ava's ears as she sat stunned. Go?

"I- but- No! You just- We just found each other! You just found me! I just met you! I can't leave!"

Mitchell knelt down next to her slowly, easing himself down onto his aged knees. "Oh yes you can. I'm an old man, Ava. You've got your whole life ahead of you. Go live it."

"But-" Ava tried to protest, standing up next to Mitchell.

"But," he said, catching ahold of her shoulder, "you're going to come back and visit your granddad occasionally. And you're going to be safe out there. Anytime you feel the need, you come back here."

Ava looked at her grandfather dumbstruck. "Thank you," she said weakly. "Thank you so much."

Doc Mitchell held his arms open and Ava threw herself into them, burying her face in his chest.

"Hey now," Mitchell said, "No more tears from you. You've done enough crying."

Ava sniffled loudly before looking up at him and nodding her head. "No more tears," she agreed. She turned to Knox with a wide grin and dashed back into the house. Knox and Mitchell could hear her racing around inside gathering supplies and gear.

Mitchell turned to Knox. "You take care of her, you hear?"

"That one doesn't need any taking care of," he said quietly, so Ava wouldn't hear, "but I'll watch her back."

Mitchell nodded in acceptance as Ava sprang out the door, slinging Perforator and sliding Clarity into her belt as she did. She wrapped her arms around Mitchell one last time before jumping down the steps next to Knox.

"So… where are we going?"

"It's time to get back to work," Knox said. "We're going to New Vegas."

Mitchell groaned in mock horror. "You're taking my granddaughter to that place? Oh my poor heart."

"I'll be careful," Ava assured him. "I promise."

Mitchell chuckled. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"Me too," muttered Knox. "You're normally a walking hazard. Having you be careful could be very beneficial to my health."

Ava tried to slug Knox in the shoulder, but he spun out of the way, causing her to nearly overbalance and topple over.

"Come on, Ava! It's time to hit the road. New Vegas? Here we come!"

Doc Mitchell stood on his porch watching the Courier and his granddaughter walk out of Goodsprings and towards New Vegas. What a whirlwind that kid was. He smiled happily to himself. Waiting for Knox to return with news of his family had been hard and all the harder as he began to lose hope, but seeing his granddaughter and the strong young woman she was made his chest swell with pride and happiness.

And seeing her walk out of town with the Courier, the man who'd undoubtedly done more to put her back together than he'd ever likely know was enough to put any fears to rest.

Ava had made it and she finally had found a home. Doc Mitchell was smart enough to know that her home might not always be in Goodsprings, but she still had one.

A home at the side of a Courier named Knox.

End of Part 2. To be continued in Part 3: Dead Man's Hand

EPILOGUE: Chet stood on his porch sweeping the day's dust and dirt away. The sun was setting and it was almost time to close up. Business had been slow except when that courier had come in to stock up on supplies. Oh well, at least he'd bought a lot.

"Evenin' Partner!"

Chet groaned at the sound of the overly chipper mechanical voice. He looked up from his broom as a large robot trundled forward on a single wheel. Displayed on the screen mounted in its chest was the face of a cartoon cowboy.

"Victor… what a pleasant surprise."

The sarcastic tone was lost on the robot however; as the robot instead reached one of its pincers forward to pry open the Mojave Express mail box on the porch. With its other it reached in to deposit a parcel.

"You know you just missed a courier. The one you dug out of a grave actually."

The pincer froze and the machine seemed to be thinking. Chet mentally kicked himself. Processing, not thinking. The pincer snaked back to his side.

"Really, now partner? You don't say? And he didn't come to say hi to his old pal, Victor?"

"I guess not," replied Chet, "You still need that package delivered?"

The robot shifted and quickly dropped the package in a storage bin in its back. "Package?"

"I- what? Yes, the package you had."

The robot said nothing until… "Well, howdy, partner!"

"Goddamn it," muttered Chet and went back to his sweeping.

The cartoon cowboy just stared at him for a few moments before rolling away. Far across the Mojave a robot of the same build stood under flickering neon lights. Displayed on its face was a police officer. The robot shuddered and the cowboy appeared on it. It whirled around and rolled to the front door of a large shining building rising high into the sky. It rolled in and to an elevator before ascending the tower.

The elevator doors dinged open and it entered a large empty room dominated by a giant monitor.

"Mr. House, sir. It seems our favorite Courier has returned to the Mojave."

"Has he now?" a voice ghosted out through the speakers in the room. "Then I suppose it's time to start putting everything in motion. Thank you, Victor. It's due past time Mr. Knox returned. Work needs to be done. Vegas won't rebuild itself. Not if Caesar and that buffoon Oliver have anything to say about it. Mr. Knox has his work cut out for him. I do hope he finds himself up to the job."

"I surely think he will," Victor replied to the room. "He's a crafty sort that Mr. Knox."

Light white noise spilled from the speakers just like someone lightly laughing to himself.

"A crafty sort indeed, Victor. Why do you think I hired him?"

And thus we close on Frontier Dreaming. Fear not! We return in Dead Man's Hand, the first chapter of which is already uploaded. So go nuts and jump right over to it. I do however have one final request to make of you. A review giving your final impressions on Frontier Dreaming would be so greatly appreciated. Bits you liked, bits you loved, what have you. Now that you have the full story I'd love to hear your thoughts. So please, I implore you, leave a review for me.