After having avoided her the last few days there was no avoiding Julie that morning when Arcade left his quarters in the tower where she had used to live before her marriage. She strode purposefully into his direction, and with as bright a smile as he could muster, Arcade walked up to meet her.
“Coffee?”, Julie asked, but despite her light, conversational tone, Arcade noticed the worry in her eyes. He simply nodded and once the two had equipped themselves with a brew, they retreated into Julie’s office.
Julie stared into her cup for a while. “What’s this I heard about Tara having Coccidioidomycosis? Arcade looked up. “Do you doubt my medical diagnosis?” It sounded a little too sharp, even for his own ears, and Julie narrowed her eyes. “Arcade, I…” Julie clutched her cup and after a long moment of silence, she put her cup down and sought Arcade’s eyes. “There’s something you’re not telling me.” Arcade stared into his cup for a long while. Finally, and with a sigh, he said: Julie… I need your help. Please, could you accompany me to the Lucky38?” Julie frowned. “Arcade, what’s the matter? I’ve never seen you so worried…” “Please?” “Of course I’ll double check your diagnosis, but… I mean, valley fever is hardly a lethal disease.” “No. No it isn’t… and that’s not the point.” “But…” “Please.” And in a whisper, he added: “Not here.” Julie’s increasing confusion and worry were clearly visible on her face, but she finished her coffee nonetheless and reached for her doctor’s bag. “I’m ready.”
Neither she nor Arcade spoke a single word on their way across the Strip towards the Lucky 38, and Arcade refused to meet her eyes as they stood side by side in the elevator.
The elevator doors opened with a cheerful ding, and the moment the two doctors stepped into the suite, Vincent addressed Arcade in a low voice. “How far are we?” Arcade shook his head. “Not very far, I’m afraid. Dylan is on his way to Primm.” Vincent gave Julie a nod, who in turn looked utterly confused back and forth between the two men. Then she shook her head. “What is going on here? And where is Tara?” Vincent extended an arm towards the kitchen. “Let us sit down.”
After settling down in the kitchen with some more coffee Arcade had brewed, Julie looked at Arcade again. “Where is Tara?” her voice had an edge to it, and meeting her gaze, Arcade shifted in his seat. “I guess I won’t have to tell you to keep this to yourself”, he finally said. “When Vincent had a look at Cobra’s body he… he said the man had been killed by a Legion throwing spear.”
Julie paled and in a seemingly unconscious gesture, laid one hand on the small bulge of her belly as if meaning to protect the unborn child from such bad and dangerous news. “But… the Legion? Here? Didn’t Tara say there were no survivors?” “No survivors of Caesar’s army”, Vincent said. “Back in the Legion’s capital city Caesar’s son is still alive.”
Julie flinched as if someone had slapped her. “Caesar had a son?” “Not many people here know”, Vincent said slowly. “Maybe no one, maybe a few of the former slaves. In any case, after the defeat of Hoover Dam, no one believed the remnants of the Legion to be a threat anymore.” “Which obviously was wrong”, Julie gave back in a toneless voice. “Sadly, yes.” “But…” Julie looked at Arcade and then at Vincent. “Where is…” And then she broke off, her face white as a sheet. “Oh god no… please tell me…” Arcade put a hand on hers. “We all must keep our nerves now, Julie. I’m sorry I had to burden you with this, but I need your help in covering up her disappearance. Otherwise I would have spared you this.”
Julie swallowed, closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “So Tara has been kidnapped by the Legion?” “We can only assume it. Vincent is sure of it, and he has plans for going after her, We’re… that is, Vincent, Dylan and me, we are working on getting everything together that he’ll need.”
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timeasmymeasure
Turn Wounds into Wisdom 6a/?
Date: 2014-09-08 09:32 pm (UTC)>>>Freeside, October 22, 2282<<<
After having avoided her the last few days there was no avoiding Julie that morning when Arcade left his quarters in the tower where she had used to live before her marriage. She strode purposefully into his direction, and with as bright a smile as he could muster, Arcade walked up to meet her.
“Coffee?”, Julie asked, but despite her light, conversational tone, Arcade noticed the worry in her eyes. He simply nodded and once the two had equipped themselves with a brew, they retreated into Julie’s office.
Julie stared into her cup for a while. “What’s this I heard about Tara having Coccidioidomycosis?
Arcade looked up. “Do you doubt my medical diagnosis?” It sounded a little too sharp, even for his own ears, and Julie narrowed her eyes.
“Arcade, I…” Julie clutched her cup and after a long moment of silence, she put her cup down and sought Arcade’s eyes. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
Arcade stared into his cup for a long while. Finally, and with a sigh, he said: Julie… I need your help. Please, could you accompany me to the Lucky38?”
Julie frowned. “Arcade, what’s the matter? I’ve never seen you so worried…”
“Please?”
“Of course I’ll double check your diagnosis, but… I mean, valley fever is hardly a lethal disease.”
“No. No it isn’t… and that’s not the point.”
“But…”
“Please.” And in a whisper, he added: “Not here.”
Julie’s increasing confusion and worry were clearly visible on her face, but she finished her coffee nonetheless and reached for her doctor’s bag. “I’m ready.”
Neither she nor Arcade spoke a single word on their way across the Strip towards the Lucky 38, and Arcade refused to meet her eyes as they stood side by side in the elevator.
The elevator doors opened with a cheerful ding, and the moment the two doctors stepped into the suite, Vincent addressed Arcade in a low voice. “How far are we?”
Arcade shook his head. “Not very far, I’m afraid. Dylan is on his way to Primm.”
Vincent gave Julie a nod, who in turn looked utterly confused back and forth between the two men. Then she shook her head. “What is going on here? And where is Tara?”
Vincent extended an arm towards the kitchen. “Let us sit down.”
After settling down in the kitchen with some more coffee Arcade had brewed, Julie looked at Arcade again. “Where is Tara?” her voice had an edge to it, and meeting her gaze, Arcade shifted in his seat.
“I guess I won’t have to tell you to keep this to yourself”, he finally said. “When Vincent had a look at Cobra’s body he… he said the man had been killed by a Legion throwing spear.”
Julie paled and in a seemingly unconscious gesture, laid one hand on the small bulge of her belly as if meaning to protect the unborn child from such bad and dangerous news. “But… the Legion? Here? Didn’t Tara say there were no survivors?”
“No survivors of Caesar’s army”, Vincent said. “Back in the Legion’s capital city Caesar’s son is still alive.”
Julie flinched as if someone had slapped her. “Caesar had a son?”
“Not many people here know”, Vincent said slowly. “Maybe no one, maybe a few of the former slaves. In any case, after the defeat of Hoover Dam, no one believed the remnants of the Legion to be a threat anymore.”
“Which obviously was wrong”, Julie gave back in a toneless voice.
“Sadly, yes.”
“But…” Julie looked at Arcade and then at Vincent. “Where is…” And then she broke off, her face white as a sheet. “Oh god no… please tell me…”
Arcade put a hand on hers. “We all must keep our nerves now, Julie. I’m sorry I had to burden you with this, but I need your help in covering up her disappearance. Otherwise I would have spared you this.”
Julie swallowed, closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “So Tara has been kidnapped by the Legion?”
“We can only assume it. Vincent is sure of it, and he has plans for going after her, We’re… that is, Vincent, Dylan and me, we are working on getting everything together that he’ll need.”