Well, here we are. Writing this whole thing has been a ridiculous amount of fun, and I'd like to say thank you to EVERYONE EVER.

In particular though: Scarletstar20 for some really decent constructive criticism - I'm seriously re-examining so many things and ideas; and also TONY (the busy mind) who is indirectly responsible for me writing anything at all and was super encouraging. And sylphstarwind, who wrote me a billion lovely reviews. There's probably more but I kind of already feel like I'm giving an acceptance speech so lets stop it right here.

The Courier hadn't been a courier for a long time, but every now and then someone would drop a reference to it,either holding her up as an example of a rags-to-riches, 'local girl done good' kind of story, or, alternately, as a reason she didn't know what she was talking about: "you're just a courier and I've been doing this my whole life, why are you telling me what to do?" But she accepted it. It was a part of who she was, she might as well own it.

McCarran was sweltering in the summer heat, the air shimmering. The Courier stood in the shade by the doors to the terminal building, watching the soldiers as they entered the compound. There. There he was, duffle bag half unslung from his back, and looking around. He'd looked past her twice already. She smiled wryly. Hardly surprising.

She smoothed her skirt and stepped forwards, her two muscular shadows falling into step behind her. Boone watched her coming towards him, but didn't seem to recognise her until she took off her sunglasses. Her heart was pounding and the smile she gave him was a little shaky.

"Hi," she said. "Have a good trip back?"

He took his sunglasses off. "You look... amazing."

She laughed self-consciously, looking down at herself. Red pencil skirt, matching jacket nipped in at the waist. Her hair was brushed into soft waves.

"Different, you mean," she said. "It's amazing how many people won't take you seriously at all if you show up to business meetings wearing leather armour."

"You look beautiful," he said, quietly, and took her into his arms. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, bare heels slipping out of her high-heeled shoes.

She stepped back reluctantly. She gestured to the men standing behind her, a discreet distance away. "And these gentlemen are Frankie and Deano."

Boone stepped forwards to shake their hands. "Bodyguards?" he asked.

"Yeah." She rolled her eyes. "I got shot a few times in Freeside and once in the North Square and Benny said I should get some people to watch out for me. I think they're a Kings splinter group, but the King won't talk to me about it. The people who keep shooting at me, that is, not these two."

"Were you hurt?" His voice was concerned, maybe a little protective.

"No! Well, not really. I mean, how many times did I get shot when we were working together?" She grinned. "I guess it's kind of endearing that they still try."

"That's... not the word I'd use for it," said Boone. Her smile faltered.

"Come on," she said. "Let's take the monorail back."

They walked up the stairs to the concourse. The building was quiet. Understaffed before the battle, there were now even fewer personnel here.

One of the door guards stepped in front of the doors as the group approached.

"Excuse me, miss, can I see some ID?"

The Courier raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked, flatly.

"Leave it, Wade," the other guard said.

"Thanks," muttered the Courier, and they walked through the doors.

"What was that about?" asked Boone as they sat down. The Courier leant her head back against the window and closed her eyes.

"They've been shipping out soldiers who were here at the time of the battle and rotating in new ones, who, uh, somehow don't seem to like me as much. I suspect you'll know what they're saying about me back west better than I will."

Boone looked away.

Even in the daytime, she loved the lights of the Strip. Bright and cheerful and lighting her way home.

She smiled softly and took Boone's hand. "Wait till you see what everything looks like now." She nearly dragged him through the gate.

The 'Gomorrah' sign and the girl silhouettes had gone, but not the flames. The columns out the front had been replaced with classical Greek columns, and two stone lions stood guarding the entrance. The sign above the entrance proudly proclaimed "Flaming Star".

"The Kings wanted 'Heartbreak Hotel', but Benny vetoed it." She grinned. "Said it'd be bad for business. Pity. You should see the inside, too, I can't decide if it's awesome or tacky as shit. Themed rooms and stained glass peacocks and red everywhere."

The Lucky 38 didn't look much different on the outside, but inside the place was humming. Gamblers dotted the floor, sitting at slot machines and card tables, and the casino had been painted and dusted and polished so much that it was almost unrecognisable.

"This is just the afternoon crowd," said the Courier, grinning. "You should see it when it really gets busy."

She turned to her bodyguards. "Hey, I'm good here for a bit. You guys stay down here, order anything, do what you like. You know how it goes. I'll come find you later."

Benny stepped out of the elevator as Boone and the Courier approached it.

"Baby," he greeted her expansively. "You should smile more often, it lights up your whole face. Sorry I can't stay to chat with you kids right now, I gotta go talk to some NCR cat about these goddamn brownouts we've been having. Strange how it never seems to affect the embassy, right? They tell me it's their backup generators, but you know what? Bull. Shit." He shook Boone's hand with both of his own. "Good to see you again. Enjoy New Vegas." And with that, he was gone.

"Fucker's a natural-born politician," said the Courier, watching him fondly as he crossed the floor. "Five'll get you ten that If we ever get these mythical 'elections' that Arcade's always talking about set up, these people are gonna vote him right back in."

She stepped into the elevator and turned a key that lit the penthouse button up. She pressed it.

"Oh," she said, turning to Boone. "I kind of assumed you're staying with me. I mean, Benny's got the old presidential suite and I took House's old room because of the view, but, uh, the other hotel floors are open now, so you don't have to-"

He pushed her up against the wall of the elevator and kissed her. She melted against him, but then started struggling.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I've got a deactivator key for the elevator," she said breathlessly, cheeks pink.

He smiled.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the top floor, slightly dishevelled.

"We can probably blame elevator delays on the NCR power supply," said the Courier, trying to fix her hair. "Anyway, you've been up here before, right? I had the computer area partitioned off so Benny can get to it without me if he has to, but the rest is mine."

Boone dropped his bag on one of the sofas near the bed. "Yeah, you took us all up here not long before the battle."

He looked out the windows at the mountain range.

"There aren't any curtains so you do get woken up pretty early. But I think it's worth it for the sunrises," said the Courier.

Boone laughed quietly. "I can see that goddamn dinosaur from here."

She smiled. "So how's active duty been treating you? How's Betsy? Has Ten of Spades made it to Jack yet?"

"It's been... good," he said, still looking out the window. "Really good. I feel like – I don't know. Like I'm doing the right thing." He turned to face her. "Betsy's doing well. She asks about you a lot. Mostly questions I'm not going to repeat."

The Courier laughed. "Shit. I love that girl."

"And Ten of Spades is still Ten of Spades, but he took out a cell of Jackals almost on his own, so he's in line for a name change any day now."

"That's great," said the Courier, smiling. "I'm really glad."

He looked at her, a long, measuring gaze that made her feel nervous somehow.

"Are you happy here?" he asked.

"Yes," she said brightly. "Of course." She started rearranging the cushions on the sofa. "Why don't I show you around Freeside? It looks a lot – well, a little bit different. And Arcade's there. No one else is in town though. Cass is out in New Reno at the moment renewing contracts, and Ronnie – uh, Veronica – is up at Nellis on kind of a tech research thing." She shrugged. "And Lily's gone back to her bighorners. Do you know, the last time I talked to her she asked me why I was calling her grandma?" she smiled without much humour and with some confusion. "I just – I don't know, it's probably a good thing really."

Boone was watching her still. She tried to match his gaze, but couldn't. She looked away.

"Maybe tomorrow," he said.

" Okay," she said, cautiously. "Well, how about we go down to the cocktail lounge? I had the windows fixed and a dancing floor put in."

"How about," he said, "you sit down on this couch with me and tell me what's really going on."

Her shoulders slumped. "Fuck."

She sank down into the sofa, leaning her elbows on her knees. Boone sat down next to her. She shuffled over slightly so their legs touched. Now that he was here, it was almost painful to not be physically touching him.

"Everything's so fucking hard," she said. "I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't everyone fighting me for goddamn everything I try to do. Like... I got a couple of Auto-Docs for the Followers, right – getting the electricity hooked up was such a fucking nightmare. Everyone in Freeside complained. Everyone! They said it was taking power away from existing residents and merchants."

Boone put a hand on her back, and she leaned back against him gratefully. His warmth was reassuring and comforting and everything she'd missed.

"And meetings, all the time. Everything involves so much talking before anything can happen. Even when it's really obvious what the best choice is." She sighed. "Getting the fiends and the deathclaws off the I-15 was the simplest thing I've actually managed to do and it took like two months to organise. And I didn't get to go along."

She laughed. "I thought things were going to be easy. Well, not easy, exactly, but not this hard. And I miss having everyone around all the time. I guess I'm... lonely. Maybe. Lonely and bored. In New Vegas, ha. I can't believe I'm actually complaining about this," she scoffed. "Oh no, I have too much money and influence, and I never have to worry about where my next meal is coming from. How hard my life is." She curled her lip in disgust.

He wrapped strong arms around her. She ran her fingertips over his muscles lightly.

"I've missed you so much," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. He pressed a kiss to her temple in response.

"I think what you need is a break. Change of scenery," he said, at last.

She sat up and turned to face him. "Holy shit, is this the bit where you hold me to that promise I made about the Legion-hunting safari?"

He laughed. "I'd forgotten about that. But no, this is... something else." He looked down at the rug that covered the hard wooden floor, and then back up at her. "Back west, we've been hearing rumours about treasure at... some sort of deserted resort town. The Sierra Madre." He stood, and turned on the radio, retuned it. A woman's voice came from the speaker. Begin again.

The Courier frowned. "You think I should just drop everything for a while and go adventuring? I mean, it's tempting as fuck, but-"

"I didn't mean for you to go on your own," he said.

Her eyes widened. "Wait, what? No, come on, this is your leave. I can't ask you to use all of that up just because I'm bored."

He paused. "I don't like not having something to do," he said. "If I wasn't here I'd probably out in the wastelands hunting something. Legion. Slavers. Deathclaws." He shrugged. "I don't know how long it'll take to find this place. I've got a month off right now. That should be long enough."

"Okay," said the Courier. "Okay. Fuck." She stood up. "I'll have to get some things set up before we go – Benny can probably handle most things here for a while. Do you think we could bring the others that are here? Arcade's pretty swamped with governance stuff at the moment. And Cass doesn't get back for another month at least. Ronnie? I could send a runner up to get her." Her heart was pounding. "I just – I... thank you," she said, covering her mouth with both hands. "This is... amazing. You're amazing. I can't even believe it."

Boone shifted uncomfortably. "It's... not really a big deal," he said.

She bit her lip, tried to calm down, but a grin escaped.

"Okay," she said. "Well. Let me take you down to the cocktail lounge. I won't even make you dance."

"Now that's a promise I'm going to hold you to," he said. His smile made her heart flutter. She took his arm, and led him back to the elevator. This was going to be awesome.

Oh YES I DID. See you soon.

edit: Sequel to this is now complete! Titled When You Come to the End of the Day. And the sequel to that(?) has just begun, and that one is currently called Viva New Vegas. I'd simply love it if you read them as well. Thanks again :) this has been so much fun.