Sorry about the delay in updating. I participated in NaNo, and with Dragon Age being out, I haven't had time to do anything else. But, here's the next installment! Enjoy. As always R&R! :)

Chapter Fifty Five: I'm the Big Bad Wolf

Harley cracked her eyes open and looked around – The Followers. The sight was almost more commonplace than her bedroom nowadays.

"No, Boone, I'm telling you that the bottle was almost empty when I gave it to her," Harley could hear Julie telling Craig from outside the tent.

"Julie, please. Just tell me. I'm getting angrier that you're covering for her."

"I'm not covering for anyone!"

"Harley's been down and out for a while now. I…please. I just wanna know."

"I'm not lying to you. When she wakes up, you're both free to go."

"Julie!"

But her steps were already too faded away, and Harley was guessing that she was in trouble from the sound of Craig's voice. What did she even do wrong anyways? It sounded like he was accusing her of taking too many pills, but she was almost certain she didn't…

The tent flap opened, allowing a violent ray of sunlight to burst forth from the outside world. The smell of burnt meat and dust was carried on the wind, making Harley's mouth water and her head spin. Her stomach let out a loud growl, and Craig turned to see her trying to sit up.

"Harley!" He sounded more surprised than anything, but there was a hint of anger in her voice, too. Like she was a soon-to-be scolded child.

"I'm hungry."

"Why? Why would you…"

"What?"

"Take that many pills…"

"I took six over the course of the whole day. That's all that was in the pill bottle."

"It was empty."

"They were scavenged from somewhere. It wasn't a full bottle when she gave it to me."

"You just heard us talking, that's all."

"Fine. I don't care if you believe me. I won't beg you to. Let's just go home."

"Fine by me," he said as he grabbed her things from the chair in the corner and started piling them in the duffle bag, "Our guests are very worried about you. You've been out for three days, you know," he tried making small talk as they made their way through Freeside. Of course, now that she was awake and okay, he was starting to feel guilty for accusing her in the first place. He didn't know if she was actually trying to…commit suicide or not. There really was no reason to disbelieve her, in the first place. It wasn't like she had shown any suicidal tendencies before, and Julie probably wouldn't have covered for her, anyways. For now, he was just going to drop it unless he noticed anymore strange behavior.

"I've been asleep for three days?!" She looked at him with her mouth agape and her eyes wide, "Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"Julie wouldn't let me. She thought you had an allergic reaction to the pills she gave you, and told me to let you sleep it out. Turns out, two and a half days is 'sleeping it out.'"

Harley groaned loudly, "Are they even still there?"

"Free room and board."

"Shit. Shit! How has Isaiah been eating?"

"Oh. Uh, well…Veronica has been feeding him."

"Oh. Okay." She sounded upset, but she didn't say much of anything. After all, he had to eat, and there was only so much milk she had in the fridge as a backup. It made her feel selfish and irresponsible – she couldn't help getting sick, she couldn't help having an allergic reaction, but she could've put more milk in the fridge, right? She could've thought ahead. The thought of Veronica breastfeeding her baby made her…jealous. And that made her feel stupid.

As they walked in the door, everyone in the casino – even the securitrons – yelled "surprise!" at her, nearly knocking her off of her feet. The entire casino was decorated with flowers and streamers in pinks and whites. She noticed that even people from her tribe were there. Cliff, Papa Khan, Mother Pearl, everyone, was packed into the tiny casino, partying, and showering her with attention. She was struck speechless for a second.

"Thank you, guys," she said as Joshua brought her into a hug and Kennedy clung to her leg. Veronica stood in the background with Cass and Isaiah.

"I know it really isn't a surprise, per se, but you just wanted to have some people over for a dinner, and I figured we'd do a little more than that," Craig said from behind.

"Thank you. I appreciate it, I really do."

Veronica and Lily had spent the three days making Brahmin steaks, a stew, a "Mojave Casserole" – which consisted of carrots, corn, and radscorp meat baked into a breading – along with a pig from Mr. Pig's and many other dishes that Harley could do nothing but drool over as she stood over the table.

There was another table across from the food that was adorned in all sorts of gifts for all four of them. Harley's eyes watered and stung from the hard work everyone had put into the occasion. And for her. She didn't deserve it – or at least she didn't think so. Maybe she had done some good, but did that outweigh the bad she had done? Was the bad she had done really…bad, per se?

She shook the thoughts from her mind for the time being, and sliced off a chunk of Brahmin cheese. Her and Kennedy munched on the snack as they went around the table and greeted everyone. It was more stressful than she originally anticipated, and had to stop a few times to steel herself before moving on to another person.

"Hey, Ken, have you seen your dad?" Harley asked after lingering about for a few minutes. The chatter had drowned out the old, overplayed music, thankfully, but it was hard to even hear herself think.

Kennedy wiped her hands on her dress and nodded, "I think he's with Grampappy and Monster."

"Okay, and where are they?"

The little girl shrugged her shoulders and grabbed for another piece of cheese.

"Don't spoil your appetite before dinner," Harley scolded lightly, "There's more than just cheese here."

"I know, but it's sooooo good! I only had this one other time."

Harley softened, "Okay. But you have to eat something for dinner lately. With how sick you've been, you haven't been eating right lately."

"I know. I'll eat as much as I possibly can!" She twirled around the room, bumping face-first into Cass's backside. Harley stifled a laugh.

After scoping the room some more, she found Craig, sitting on a small couch with Isaiah on his shoulder, talking animatedly with other party-goers. Isaiah chewed on his own fingers, drooling down his back, but Craig didn't mind – if he even noticed at all.

As she approached him, she noticed the tone of his voice had changed. He was no longer talking loud enough for Cliff to hear him over the excitement going on. Instead, his voice was a calm quiet. It was so kind, so…unlike him and his rough exterior. It was so much different, the change in his voice so sudden that she was caught off guard – wondering if he was talking to her, or the baby.

"Hey, I was just talking to Cliff about Novac. He said Ranger Andy has actually picked up on night time sniping since I haven't been there."

"He's doing a damn fine job, too. A ranger who is good at both being a Ranger and sniping… What a strange guy. At least he won't be in combat enough to get hurt anymore," Cliff said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, poor guy was hurt one too many times," Craig said as Harley took the baby, holding him in her arms like he was a piece of glass. So fragile and small. She wondered how she could even make something so precious as he, so beautiful and tiny.

Craig pulled her aside, whispering low into her good ear, "Meredith has been slinking around here the last few days. Usually the securitrons chase her off. But Tyler is nowhere to been seen."

"I don't understand why she would be spying on us. She doesn't have a hold on the Dam."

"Maybe she's looking for one."

"Maybe. If she is then why not just ask?"

"Gotta be discreet."

"I suppose so," She sighed, shifting Isaiah to the other hip, "Did you give Isaiah his medicine today?"

"Yeah. And the day before, and the day before. I think I've got this whole parenting thing under wraps."

Harley smiled, "Yeah, you'll be saying that at four in the morning when you gotta give him his bottle, right?"

"Right," His smile was rare and looked strange, but it made her happy nonetheless.

After the party, Veronica, Cass, and Craig offered to clean while Harley and Kennedy went to lie down. They put on an old cartoon holotape and within minutes, Kennedy was out. But Harley felt…strange. Not sick, not upset or angry. The feeling one gets when they forget something at a friend's house, but aren't quite sure what it was that they forgot.

She lie in bed staring at the ceiling. There was no way that the meeting from Meredith and Tyler was completely random, they figured that much out at least. But…why now? Why wait so long to contact her. Why would Tyler pull a knife, and come back, but not to apologize?

And how were her and Kennedy the only ones getting sick? Of course Veronica was, but she was pregnant. Craig didn't complain of any illnesses, nor did Cass, or Lily if she could get sick. So the question was…why just her and Kennedy? If it was food poisoning, it wouldn't have lasted as long. If it were just the flu like Julie said, it wouldn't have lasted as long.

There was a whole lot of nothing going on the day after the party. Harley spent what time she could, sleeping with Kennedy in their horribly warm room. "Sweat out the fever," Lily said, and turned off the air conditioning to their room. She piled blankets what seemed like a foot high on top of them before leaving.

Harley kicked them off and peeled herself away from Kennedy, lying on her stomach and stretching across the bed. Her hair stuck to her forehead and behind her ears, making her feel like taking a bath. But she didn't. She was too worn out.

It was still light out when Craig knocked at the door, asking Harley to go downstairs. He said it seemed important, and disappeared. Harley put on a large t-shirt and a pair of sweats before riding the elevator down to whatever was "important."

An older, tall white man in a suit, surrounded by a bunch of bodyguards met them at the door. She shook his hand, leading them to a private room where they could talk un-interrupted. He introduced himself as a stock-holder – Mr. Taggart – and said he'd be interested in buying part of the 38.

"But we aren't selling…" She said nervously, raising her eyebrow.

"I'm not trying to become the owner, girl. I buy part of the casino, you give me part of the income, and I supply...well, supplies. Sound fair?"

"We have enough 'supplies,'" She said, making air quotes, "And, like I said, we aren't selling."

Mr. Taggart tapped his fingers impatiently against the table, "Listen, and I'm only going to say this once. You. Will. Sell. Me. Part. Of the. Casino. Okay?"

Harley dug her fingernails into Craig's leg under the table, and he smacked his hands against the wood, "Listen, sir, the 'lady' has made it quite clear that she isn't looking to sell. Now, I'm going to ask you very nicely to leave the casino before the robots have to escort you and your bodyguards out."

Taggart smiled coyly and pulled his came from between his legs. The end – a golden skull with two rubies for eyes – pulled off to reveal that it was the hilt of a sword.

"Now, lady, I was trying to be very nice," He said, his eyes darkening as he lowered his head, watching her chest rise and fall with each ragged, nervous breath she took. He placed the tip of the flimsy sword against her skin, lightly. "Your plans for the Dam. Now."

"Who are you?" She asked.

"I said now," He snapped, pushing lightly on the skull. The tip dug through the shirt, settling just below the surface of her skin. Not enough to hurt but enough to know that it was there, and it was indeed real.

Craig reached behind him to grab his gun from his belt loop, but the bodyguards met with intimidatingly fast response times, aiming their guns at him.

"Calm down, sir," Taggart said quietly, "Both of you, hands where I can see them."

The two of them splayed their hands across the table for them; Harley's shaking almost uncontrollably.

"I own a merc company by the name of the Iron Blood. You met Meredith yesterday, did you not? She works for me, and she has failed miserably in getting what we wanted. Later, she will be rightly punished, but for now we are here to obtain the plans for the Dam. How many tribes are going to follow you?"

"Mer?" Harley asked, gasping when the sword was pushed just a fraction of a centimeter deeper, "Uh..Th-there's going to b-be…Let's see…The Chairmen, The WolfPaws, The-The…White Glove Society…"

"Everyone on the Strip, in other words?"

Harley nodded, "Y-yes, sir. And…The Khans, The NCR –"

"The NCR? Aren't they fighting for their stake in Vegas?"

"We're going to s-split it."

Taggart's icy blue eyes slid over to a tall, Hispanic bodyguard and they nodded at each other, like some unspoken agreement. Harley could feel the blood pooling right under the tip of the sword, and she dared not breathe too hard, lest the tip be wrenched further into her skin.

"You're not planning on defying the NCR? Maybe shoot them whilst their backs are turned?" He asked.

"No."

"I wouldn't let that happen," Craig said.

"You think they are simply going to walk away from their stake in all of this once this is over? How long have they been fighting for Vegas and the Dam? No one could get to House before. But you did. And you replaced him. You're much easier to kill than a man inside a locked casino, fortified by hundreds of securitrons. After all," He flashed a wicked smile, "All I had to do was walk in here to find you."

"We made our arrangements," Harley said, "I will have the Dam direct the power where they need it – within reason, of course – and the NCR will have major discounts on the Strip, and –"

"You think that's all they want? They could be you. They could have the Strip for themselves, they could be kings in their own rights. Not just the Dam, but the Strip, too. They've vied too long for this."

"What is it that you want from me, sir?" Harley asked.

"Your life, my dear."

"What? I don't understand?"

He removed the sword and sheathed it back into his cane, laying it across the table. His hands folded protectively over it, and he tapped his two pointer fingers quietly off of the desk.

"You've been sick a lot lately, haven't you?" He asked.

"I-I…yes. I have been."

His smile chilled her bones and made her shudder. When he made eye contact, she felt as though she were in a beast's jaws – trapped and helpless.

"Do you remember the F.E.V that dear Mr. Gannon spent so much time researching?"

Harley's eye widened – she had never heard of this "mercenary band" before, and yet they came in here talking about the Dam and the F.E.V and Arcade as though they were all pals, as though most of this stuff was common knowledge.

She nodded slowly, wondering how he obtained the information on it.

"Do you know those lovely little take out boxes of fish and rice you get from China House?"

"No," She whispered before she realized that it clicked together in her head, "No. There's no way. No."

He took the cane and tapped it against her temple, "You've put it together, my dear girl. You see, I know you're the only one to order the fish and rice from there. At least you're the only one in this casino that eats it. And I just happened to find the password to an old Enclave bunker."

"No!" She shouted, "I share that shit with Kennedy!"

For just a split second, Taggart let his demeanor falter – he looked upset – but it didn't matter. What was done, was done. Maybe she had not ingested enough of it to matter…at least he hoped so, though he hadn't known whether or not she was sick, or how sick she had been.

Harley was shaking, her mind racing, tears splashing off of the wooden table, "I share that with my daughter."

Taggart smacked her against the side of the head with his cane, "Hold it together, girl."

"Hold it together?!" She shouted, "You've poisoned me, poisoned my daughter, and you expect me to just act like it's okay?!"

The bodyguard's guns trained on her, instead of Craig, and he took the split second he had, the only chance he would have to pull his gun out and shoot the two bodyguards. The first went down easily, and the second turned to aim at him instead of Harley, giving him just another second more to shoot and kill. Taggart stared at the two in disbelief, just as Craig turned to aim at him.

"No," Harley put her hand over his gun, "We need him alive."

"No. No we don't," He said through his teeth, "We don't need him alive for shit."

"The F.E.V has no cure," Taggart laughed, "What's done is done. Hopefully the little girl doesn't have enough in her system to be affected."

"Take your hand off of my gun, Harley," Craig growled at her, "Now."

"We don't know anything about these people. We can use him to find them. See who they are, where they are, what they're doing at the Dam…"

Craig grabbed her wrist with the hand not holding the gun and moved it as gently as he could while shaking, "Harley, do you even understand the weight of what has happened? Do you?"

"I would just kill me, honestly," Taggart said, "And the two girls. They'll either be super mutants or die horrible, painful, long, drawn out deaths. The decision is yours, son."

"No," Craig shook, the gun nearly slipping from his grasp, "I will not…I will not take that shot again. I will not."

"The Iron Blood will hunt you down and do it for you, if you don't take the time to kill me now. Hell, they might even do it anyways. I do believe they know I was here."

Craig's hand shook as he brought the gun up to Taggart's forehead and watched as he gave a final, wolfish smile. One single boom from the 10mm, and the "owner" of the Iron Blood was done.

"We should find out –"

"No. No, we shouldn't," Craig interrupted, "We shouldn't do anything except go back upstairs and try to find a way to fix this."

"Craig…there isn't. There's no way to fix this. I…I've read all of Arcade's notes on the matter. Like Taggart said…what's done is done. No use crying over spilled Nuka."

He pounded his fists off the table, "Don't you understand, Harley?! This has happened to me once already! I had to take the shot for Carla and the baby. And now…you and Kennedy?! What the fuck am I supposed to do without you?"

Harley put her head against Craig's chest, sobbing loudly, her words choked, "Isaiah needs you. Kennedy and I will need you…until…"

"We're finding a cure. I will empty that entire fucking vault if I have to, we're finding a fucking cure. Do you understand that?"

"I –"

"I don't care if we have to start up-charging at the casino or the bar or the hotel rooms, or whatever. I don't fucking care, okay? I will find a way to fix this. I will. I will, I promise," He said as he sobbed into her hair, "I promise."