Feeling a little uncomfortable, but only a little since Leo’s hand was still toying with chest hair, Knight turned his head to listen.
“You see... we’re fighting for a free and independent New Vegas, my friends and me, together with the Followers, the Kings and the Families.”
“Independent Vegas?”
He could feel Leo nod. “It’s all rather complicated. It started as me trying to find the man who shot me over a package I was supposed to deliver to House... and it ended with me being in charge of the whole business now.”
It took Knight a while to put two and two together. “You mean that you... you were the one to... did you kill House?”
“I did.” Leo’s voice sounded a little dark. “I had no choice. But what troubles me...” He took a deep breath. “What really troubles me is the NCR. They’ll never accept our independence, and I don’t want a war, but...”
Knight felt Leo tense and ran his hand through his hair. Leo sighed and went on.
“I can’t lie to you. There’s gonna be another battle at Hoover Dam, and I am going to win it with the army of New Vegas, courtesy of Mr. House.”
Knight gave this some thought. It wasn’t a pleasant prospect. “Are you sure?”, he asked after a moment.
“I’ve tried, you know”, Leo said unhappily. “I really tried. I tried to talk with the brass at the Dam; I tried it with the ambassador here in Vegas. But they are adamant that they want the Dam, and they want Vegas and are not willing to share.”
“I see”, Knight said, and he really did. “It means war.”
“It means a battle, at least. I hope that if I win it, they’ll give up.”
“And what then?”

Leo was silent for a long while before he answered, in a voice that sounded as if he was close to tears. “Then the NCR will withdraw out of the Mojave and... and...”
“And I’ll be gone as well”, Knight finished for him, feeling a cold, hard spot in his stomach grow.
Leo tightened his arms around him and buried his face into Knight’s shoulder. “I don’t want this to happen, but once I started down that road...”
“I know”, Knight said softly and pulled Leo closer. “There’s lots of us simple soldiers that know, even if we don’t dare to speak it out loud, that it was not a good idea to come here. Lots of people say there’s nothing here for us but more fighting, that trying to hold the Mojave will drain the NCR bloodless at one point. It’s all about the bloody Dam.”
“I thought about destroying it, you know”, Leo said in a low voice. “So the NCR wouldn’t have any reason to stay anymore. But... I need the Dam, too. If Vegas is to survive, I need the Dam.”
“And the NCR has to go.” Knight felt Leo nod and turned his head to rest his face against Leo’s hair. “Do you know... when?”
“Soon”, Leo replied after a second. “Soon. Will you... will they send you into the fighting as well?”
Knight took a deep breath. “Depends on how things are going, but I’d dare say that most likely yes.”
“Oh god”, Leo gasped and held onto Knight so tightly that the latter could feel Leo’s fingertips dig themselves painfully into his flesh. “What if I kill you?”
Knight in turn closed his arms tighter around Leo and sighed. “It’s the fortune of war. There’s nothing we can do about it. I can try to stay at the edge of the fighting, but that’s about it.”
“You’re not a deserter”, Leo whispered then. “You’re too good and honourable a man for that.”
Knight forced himself to stop gritting his teeth. “I don’t know if honour has anything to do with it but... no... I don’t think I can desert my unit now. Apart from that... apart from that, I’d never be able to go home again, see my family.”

They remained like that in silence for another while, but their time was already running out. They shared a last kiss before leaving the hotel room, both of them aware of the fact that most likely, they would never kiss again. They parted without looking at each other again, for fear of giving anything away.


Three days later, the Legion attacked Hoover Dam.