Chapter 20

Killing Mr. House was the first murder she had committed in cold blood. Even if the Legion had not ordered it, Mr. House's death was still a necessary evil. She recognized the greed, the vindictive self-importance, the lack of empathy from her first encounter with him.

But still, coming across Mr. House's true form was a humbling experience, for him at least: a shriveled cadaver, barely animate through the use of life support tubes and wires. He was truly less man than machine. Though she couldn't bring herself to regret it, her actions caused Victor to attack her in Mr. House's defense, and she had been forced to put him down.

News spread of Mr. House's death before she even stepped foot outside the Lucky 38. Then she realized the lasting effects of removing Mr. House as the most prominent figure in New Vegas. It left the Strip open for control. And she knew the NCR and the Legion had their eyes set on New Vegas.

And then there was Yes Man who could control the patrolling securitrons. For her.

She shamelessly approached Mr. Fox at Gomorrah. She wore a dress borrowed from Sarah to fit in, to look the part of a gambling patron on the Strip. She strode toward him with her head held high, sliding next to him at the Black Jack table. Despite having Martina on his other side, Mr. Fox devoted his entire attention to her.

She passed the printed obituary of Mr. House to him, sliding it across the table. It was rather lengthy with prewar accomplishments. "Tell me I'm not more valuable than Martina Groesbeck."

His eyes traveled the length of the document. His companion, at first not noticing the competitive distraction, began to pull at his arm like a petulant child.

"Foxy…"

He ignored Martina, eyes only for her. He whispered in her ear. "Lord Caesar thanks you for your service."

"I think I deserve more than a thanks."

He blinked, a hint of a smirk touching his features. "What would you have as your reward?"

"I would have you take care of that profligate currently clawing for your attention."

His face didn't change. She heard Martina's voice whine from behind him.

"Foxy! Why are you ignoring me? Who is this?"

Vulpes turned to her slowly. "Miss Groesbeck, I'd like to introduce you to my wife."

Martina's face hardened. "Your wife?"

Vulpes moved until he could show his wife to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, much to Martina's apparent displeasure. "Yes, my wife. Mary Fox. As you can see, her beauty has a way of drawing every eye in the room."

Martina scoffed. "Foxy, you never told me you had a wife." She gave a devilish smirk, intent on hurting as much as she could with her barbed words. "Perhaps that's why you came to me so much."

"On the contrary, Miss Groesbeck. Mary and I have only recently married, and I can assure you, I would have not left her bedside if I could help it, especially if it was for you."

Martina's smirk faltered. "I don't understand—"

"You will apologize to my wife, Miss Groesbeck, for your misplaced and unworthy denigration."

Martina turned indignant. "I will not—"

His voice immediately took a dangerous edge. "You will apologize to her, Miss Groesbeck. You will not disrespect my wife again. I will not repeat myself a third time."

Martina, appearing quite afraid, quickly sputtered an apology.

Then they left the Strip, hand in hand, on their way back to Fortification Hill. Before leaving Gomorrah, Vulpes hinted to the doorman that Martina Groesbeck was selling Omerta secrets.

Back at the Fort, her weapons were once again confiscated, her armor replaced with her Legion tunic. But even with her status demoted back to Frumentarii wife, she could not miss the new guarded respect she saw in the eyes of the Legionnaires around her. Killing Mr. House had had its benefits.

Even Lord Caesar was impressed. He summoned her to his tent to personally congratulate her. It was a brief word of thanks from him before he went to excitedly speak of the Legate Lanius, Monster of the East. The Legate would be arriving soon to lead the battle against Hoover Dam.

"With Lanius in play—"

But Caesar stopped in mid-sentence. His face fell slack, his eyes became unfocused. She knew from reading medical journals at Doc Mitchell's that Caesar was experiencing an absence seizure.

Before she could diagnose any further, Vulpes quickly ushered her out of the tent.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"Lord Caesar is tired. He has much to deal with," was all Vulpes would say.

"So much for being Mars Reborn," she muttered.

Vulpes allowed himself a chuckle. "Watch your words," he warned lightly.

Her next assignment came shortly, and she was surprised how Caesar seemed so eager to trust her with these great tasks. After the death of Mr. House, no one seemed to question her loyalty any more.

The assignment was a list of tribes she should rally to the Legion cause. The Boomers, the White Glove society. The Great Khans were already secured. But the Brotherhood of Steel needed to be destroyed.

"The Brotherhood of Steel?" she asked skeptically, arching an eyebrow.

Caesar did not sound patient enough to answer questions. "You aren't familiar with the Brotherhood?"

"Oh, I'm familiar with them," she said, tucking the list in the front pocket of her leather armor. "I'm just wondering how you expect me to wipe them out."

Caesar gave a careless shrug. "You took care of that bunker. I'm sure you can find something creative."

To even more of her surprise, she was to go alone, without escort. It seemed even Vulpes would now trust her, even after her affair with Sarah. But then, Vulpes clarified for her in Caesar's presence. "My skills are needed elsewhere. With Martina Groesbeck gone, I will need to secure another line of informants."

She probably should have felt ashamed for causing Martina's death. Word had reached them shortly after they left the Strip. The Omertas were not fond of spies. But she was not ashamed. She was even a little satisfied.

"Which reminds me," Caesar said, shifting his weight on his throne, directing his attention to her. That extravagant throne of skulls and spires. "With Martina gone, you'll need to meet with Captain Curtis of the NCR."

She wrinkled her nose. "Why?"

Caesar, once again too impatient to answer questions, waved his hand for Vulpes to answer. Caesar continued to cradle the back of his neck, as if he suffered from some headache. Given the absence seizure from the previous day, it was probably some hell of a headache.

"Captain Curtis is one of my Frumentarius," Vulpes supplied in his lord's stead. "He's spying on the NCR for us. I don't visit him because it's too risky. Normally I would send Martina to retrieve information from him."

"So now you're sending me instead," she said in a sharp voice. She didn't intend it to sound so accusing, but she despised being reduced to a courier filling in for Martina's position.

Vulpes smiled, and it was quite condescending. "It's only temporary."

She was roughly dismissed from Caesar's tent then, but not before she heard Caesar inquiring Vulpes on the whereabouts of Silus.