Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Caesar’s head rolls out of his tent, still wearing that same bored expression. Sixxer swears he sees Boone crack a smile at the sight of it.

It took everything he had in him, and then some, to take down all the legionaries in the camp, but it’s finally done. He takes out a cigarette and lights it before turning to the man kneeling on the floor. He smirks at him.

Leaning down to his level, Sixxer blows smoke in the man’s face. “That ambush you pulled at the Tops was too predictable Benny, you’re a terrible actor by the way.”

Benny flinches away, turns his head so the smoke doesn’t get in his eyes. “You’re a real scrapper baby.” He forces a smile. “All that to save little ol me?” His voice has just a glimmer of hope in it, it makes Sixer laugh.

“I didn’t come here to save you Benny, just to get my chip and go.” He stands, and turns to walk away. Something in him makes him stay in place though, something has him reconsidering. Boone is standing by the entrance to the tend, waiting for him, but he turns back around to see Benny one last time.

Defeated, gaze cast downwards, he’s accepted his fate to rot here. “Say Benny…” Six starts, nudging him with his boot. “The other night, that was good wasn’t it?” He doesn’t need reassurance that he’s a good lay, he knows that much already. He wants to know if Benny felt the same.

“Oh baby it was platinum.” Benny is smiling up at him, he feels something tighten in his chest. “Best bit of hey-hey this cat’s had in awhile.” His smile is wide, the kind you can’t look away from. It’s a poisonous smile, and Benny is a poisonous man.

He motions for Boone to head on out of the tent, he’d catch up with him at the gates.

There’s a lot of blood, some of it is from legionaries, some of it is his own, he isn’t sure how much. It covers his hands, leaving red streaks on Benny’s coat as he puts his hands on his shoulders and brings himself down to his level again.

“Any other man in the Mojave did what you done to me, they’d be dead by now.” He mumbles, and Benny is there, smiling like a fool as Sixxer reaches behind him to untie the bonds holding him in place. “You’re some kind of lucky Benny Gecko.”

He’s caught off guard by the kiss, it’s hard and their noses bump into each other. Teeth clash but then it softens, it’s passionate. Benny’s tried to kill him twice now, but he’s passionate when they kiss, and that makes Six weak.

He has to pull away, force himself away from the kiss, there’s a lot to do and he’s gotta get going. He stands up, Benny does too, and they exchange glances, each wondering what the other will do.

“Get out of here Benny, leave the Mojave all together.” It’s not a suggestion, it’s an order. “And for the love of God, change that ugly coat will ya?”

They both laugh, but it’s bittersweet. “I’ll tell you what Baby.” Benny begins, shrugging the coat off his shoulders and shoving it into Sixxer’s arms. “A little something to remember the Ben Man by you dig?” He smiles at him, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. His eyes are sad. “In case you start to miss me.”

He hates this fucking jacket, but he takes it anyway. He needs something to remember Benny by. Something other than the scar on his forehead and the slight memory loss.

Another kiss, it’s quick and Benny pulls away first, putting a hand on his cheek. “You’re aces baby, don’t ever forget that.”

“You’re the tops Benny.”

Six watches him flee the tent, run right out of his life for the third time. His chest tightens again and he sighs.

He grabs the Displacer Glove from Caesar’s corpse's hand and grabs his favorite combat knife out Vulpes Inculta’s chest before exiting the tent, Boone is waiting for him.

“Why’d you let him go?” Boones voice is always monotone, now isn’t an exception.

Sixxer tosses his cigarette into the dirt and shrugs, “He’s too stupid to be dangerous.” He smirks at Boone, who just sighs at him.

As the two walk out of the Fort, two questions plague Sixxer’s mind, each one as terrifying as the other.

What if I see you again?

What if I dont?

Chapter Text

Sixxer gets the answers to both questions a little over a year later, in a much different New Vegas, in a much different mindset.

The Aces seemed to be the only place he hung around anymore. It wasn’t so bad, not now after he’d finally found some new talent for the place. He tried to tell himself he didn’t spend so much time around The Tops because it reminded him of Benny, but Sixxer was always a bad liar.

It was hard to believe it had been a year already, since he’d woken up in Goodsprings with a splitting headache, only to find out he’d been shot in the head. Vegas was his, House was dead, NCR had gone back to California, and the Legion had fallen apart within months of the loss at the Dam. Joshua had told him they wouldn’t survive without Caesar, and he was right.

Sixxer still took jobs here and there, some mercenary work every once in awhile, but for the most part he stayed around The Tops. The Lucky 38 was nicer, quieter for sure, but it had a weird feeling to it, and it didn’t have anything in it that he wanted to remember.

It had been a long time since The Fort, that day he’d let Benny go. He hadn’t seen or heard from him at all. A few times he’d asked some of the caravans if they’d heard anything, but they never had. He’d hoped Benny was still out there, alive, but the Mojave was a rough place, and it had been awhile since Benny was used to roughing it. He feared the worst.

The Lonesome Wanderer was finishing up his set, and Sixxer nodded to him with a smile. He finished up his drink and set the empty glass down on the table. Not much to his surprise, a full one took its place. People around The Tops and The Strip in general were always rushing to do things for him, even though he thought it was completely unnecessary. He guessed it was just in their nature, they needed to serve someone, and he was in charge.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, not bothering to look at whoever had placed the drink down. It had been a long day, and he was in a bad mood. He didn’t feel like talking to any of the Chairmen who were going to try to get with him tonight. They never seemed to learn that he just wasn’t interested in them, even if they all sort of reminded him of Benny.

He heard the chair next to him get pulled out and heard someone sit down beside him. He sighed, of course tonight when he didn’t want to be bothered someone would try so hard to bother him. He turned to look at his guest, prepared to tell them he wasn’t in the mood, but what he saw had him second guessing if he was even conscious right now, or if he’d dreamed the whole evening.

“You really gotta work on your people skills, Baby.” Benny said, smiling at him with that same poisonous smile he’d had that day at The Fort.

The blond couldn’t believe his eyes, in fact he had to blink a few times to even comprehend what was going on. Benny was in front of him. Benny who was long gone, Benny who he thought was dead, was sitting across from him, smiling.

“You son of a bitch.” It was the first thing that came out, the first words in over a year that came tumbling out of his mouth, spoken at Benny. “You fucking...Where have you been?” The question came second.

Benny, who looked about the same, if not a little tired, put his hands up in mock defense. “Whoa there baby, weren’t you the one who told me to get lost in the first place?” He asked, raising a brow at Sixxer, “I was just doin’ what I was told.”

Yeah, maybe that was true, but it didn’t help all the sleepless nights, and the constant worrying he’d been through in the past year. Him having been the person to send Benny out into the wastes had never been easy on his mind. After everything he’d seen, everywhere he’d been in the past year, Benny still occupied his thoughts more than anything else.

Sixxer leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. As much as he’d missed him and worried about him, Benny had some nerve to show back up at The Tops of all places. “Yeah, so maybe I did tell you to get out of here.” He said, looking the man next to him over, “What made you come back?”

Benny shrugged, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table. “You really expect me to hear about all the crazy shit you’ve done in the Mojave and never come back to see it for myself?” He laughed, “I mean look at this place, you did it Baby, you run vegas! It’s just like I thought it would be.”

He was smiling so wide, he looked so proud, Sixxer couldn’t help but feel a pull at his chest, like he was falling in love with this bastard all over again. Wouldn’t be surprising, wasn’t like he’d loved anyone else since he tracked Benny down to the tops. Best and worst day of his life.

“Yeah, well someone stupid once told me ‘Vegas gotta swing’ so that’s what I let it do.” Sixxer said, smirking, grabbing the drink Benny had set down and taking a sip. “Where did you go?” He asked after a moment, giving Benny a concerned look.

Benny laughed, and shook his head. “Where didn’t I go? I’ve been all over the place. Couldn’t stay in one place too long, kept getting paranoid.” That wasn’t surprising. If Sixxer were in Benny’s shoes, he’d be paranoid too.

There was nothing to worry about now though, which was probably why the guy had come back. A guy like Benny couldn’t stay away from The Strip for too long. It was where the bastard belonged. “I looked for you, y’know.” Sixxer sighed, “For the most part I just figured you’d died out there.”

“You gotta give me some more credit Baby, I know how to live off the land as good as any tribal.” When Sixxer set the glass down, Benny reached out and took it, taking a sip for himself. “So, where are you staying? The Lucky 38?” He asked, looking at Sixxer with that same old poisonous look in his eyes. The blond had a love-hate relationship with that look.

“I mostly stay...Here.” He admitted, “In the presidential suite. I like it here.” Sixxer said, shrugging like it was no big deal, like everyone liked to stay at their would be murderers former hotel and casino. As if everyone he knew didn’t think he was absolutely crazy for how he felt about Benny.

Benny looked surprised, like he hadn’t even considered Sixxer would want to stay around The Tops. Like he hadn’t even considered he’d miss him. “I’m offended you don’t stay in my room. It’s cozier than the presidential.” He teased, but Sixxer just smiled.

“I locked the door to your room and left it locked, I didn’t think you would ever be coming back, and I didn’t want anyone else going in there.” He said, shrugging. “I could give you the key, if you plan to stick around…?” He prayed he hoped to stay around, he didn’t know if he could handle Benny running out of his life for the third time. Especially when he’d just gotten him back out of the blue.

“Only if you’re gonna stay in there with me.” Benny offered, smiling at him, “Come on Baby, what do you say?”

Sixxer could only stare at him. Was he really gonna go down this road again? After everything that had happened?

He grabbed the glass on the table and downed the rest of the drink, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve before looking at Benny again. “Let’s go.”

“Alright, Baby! I knew you still had it bad for the Ben-Man.” Sixxer was already starting to regret his choice while he was walking to the door of the theatre, not even bothering to check if Benny was following him, he was sure he would be.

As he walked to the room, Benny rambling on about how nice The Tops looked, he couldn’t help the smile that was pulling on his lips. As much as he knew he should hate Benny’s guts, he couldn’t do it. For the first time in over a year he didn’t have to wonder anymore about those two nagging questions. He had his answers, and he was finally at peace.