Quick Note: Hi there! I'm quite new to the world of writing and I greatly appreciate any feedback! I'm a huge fan of the Harkness and Lone Wanderer pairing and I wanted to try to write my own story for them. Thank you for reading and have a gorgeous day!

Chapter 1: Don't be a hero

She began to drag her feet along the rubble as the wasteland had slowly torn away at her health.

She couldn't give up now. She survived so much with the single combat shotgun she carried with her. Her armor was wearing out and she couldn't wait to run into a raider that she could loot. What a weird thought, wanting to find a raider.

She left the Vault a couple of weeks ago and the memories she made in that short time would haunt her for the rest of her life. She kept thinking that it might get better, but it never did. Despite all the near death experiences, she knew she couldn't give up on her father. He wouldn't have given up on her.

She stared at her Pip-boy, looking at the coordinates she was given that would lead her to a town called Rivet City. She silently begged that she would find her father there, sitting at a desk and staring a computer screen, greeting her with a smile like he always had back in the clinic.

The smell of a fire burning abruptly pulled her out of this reverie. She quickly ran over to a wall to peek over and inspect. She first saw an awful fence made out of sharpened logs and severed limbs that appeared to be human. Not your average white picket fence but it probably served its purpose well. She definitely did not want to discover what was on the other side. Suddenly, she heard an awful cry that was quickly silenced by a loud crack. That's when she noticed the heads of four large super mutants behind the fence, laughing and grunting.

She gripped her shotgun tightly and desperately tried to swallow the huge lump in her throat. It was times like this that she wished she could have just been heartless and not investigate, leaving whatever captives she was sure they had to their fate. This wouldn't be the super-mutants' first victim. It's just the way of the wasteland. She could have easily sneak by unnoticed and carried on to Rivet City, but she couldn't ignore this. She was even starting to get some sort of reputation, mostly perpetuated by Three Dog's broadcasts. She didn't realize being a decent human being would earn her such an honorable title and golden reputation. The wasteland wasn't used to her good deeds. Everyone always suspected that she had some hidden, ulterior motive.

She quickly got over her fear when she heard a man scream for help. She just had to save him, death by super mutants was no way to go. That and she hate super-mutants. She was also sure she'd be rewarded for her heroism and she was in desperate need of it.

She maneuvered the camp unnoticed with ease. The super-mutants were only ever proficient at brute force. They would perish if wasteland survival required any level of intelligence. The V.A.T.S. system guided her shots and her agility took care of the rest. She had to admit, all those year of practicing with the BB gun, hitting at fake targets had really sharpened her reflexes and aim. She remembered hating that Butch discovered the range and insisted on practicing with her. Now she kind of wished he was by her side again. Wow, the wasteland was making her delusional.

She held her breath as she walked past the bags full of raw human limbs. The smell was awful. In all her years at the clinic, she has never encountered such an awful, repulsive smell. She finally reached the captive at the top of the hill. His hands were tied with what looked to be a grin across his face hidden behind a dirty cloth wrapping his mouth. She knelt down and undid the knot to his restraints and lowered the cloth from his mouth, awaiting her praise, and, possibly, a hug. She wasn't going to be greedy, but a hug would be great right about now. What happened instead, she did not expect.

The captive quickly reached for a knife that had been sitting by a bag of gore and held it up to her neck.

"Thanks for taking care of those nasty muties for me, baby, now's about time you gave me your gun and whatever else you got on ya." He held her arm tightly with his grin quickly turning smug on a face that she would just love to slap right about now.

She was furious. This can't be happening, I saved the fucking bastard's life, she thought to herself.

"How about you show me a little bit of gratitude for saving your life and maybe stick that knife up your ass, or would you like me to do that for you?" She felt so proud that she could come up with such a badass comeback. After all, she was only nice to those deserving. She had to be quick and unexpected. She took a deep breath and went to grab the man's balls as tightly as she could. As the man yelled out in pain, she took the chance to slap the knife out of his hand. Just as the knife hit the ground, she turned around to grab her shotgun laying behind her. Her heart dropped when she realized she hadn't reloaded her gun. What a rookie mistake, she thought. She quickly scrambled to find her shells when she suddenly heard a deep, ugly laugh coming from behind. As she turned to the source of the laughter, she felt a horrible, sharp pain. Looking down to her stomach, she saw a deep red stain growing, dirtying the exposed cloth of her leather armor.

"Ass play's not really my thing, baby, and you've got to work on your ball handling. Now, you're gonna give me all your shit like a good little bit-…"

She was down before she could hear the rest. Her world quickly turned dark.