Author's note: First and foremost, I'd like to thank my wonderful husband, beta and co-author, for putting up with incessant discussions about the characters' motivations, and for providing me with Harkness' point of view. I wouldn't have finished this without him.

Also, a preemptive thanks to all who read this. Comments and critiques are welcome; I'd love to hear what you all think of my style.

I'll be posting a playlist for this work, with each chapter's songs listed at the beginning. Some songs are what I happened to be listening to while I was writing, and some were chosen to evoke a specific mood. Enjoy!

Bethesda owns all characters; I only own a few of Elle's personality quirks.

The song for the first three chapters (Nacho Fruit, Sins of the Father, Shots of Confidence) is Gotye feat Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know. Yes, I listened to the same song over and over while writing three chapters. I'm weird like that.

Nacho Fruit

Trielle

I knew I shouldn't have stolen that succulent green fruit in Doctor Li's lab. My gut told me it was a bad idea, but frankly, I just couldn't resist another taste of forbidden paradise. I knew I was in trouble when Rivet City security dragged me into the security chief's office, followed by an irate Doctor Li, still fuming and blowing the whole thing way out of proportion for one fruit, I thought.

"Nasty little sneak thief…stealing my fruit…after all I've done for you…can't believe…James' daughter."

"What's going on here, Madison?" That was Harkness, the security chief, whom I'd met when I first got to Rivet City. Maybe 'met' is the wrong word. He'd challenged me at the entrance as soon as I got over the bridge. I'll admit, I drooled a little; the man positively radiated sex appeal, and he was gorgeous. Straight brown hair, not too long, not too short, a tightly muscled body in fitted armor, and piercing grey eyes that seemed to look into my very soul. Okay, so I'm exaggerating that last bit, but he definitely gave me the once over in a manner that gave me the good kind of shivers. I honestly don't know which made me squirm more, the man himself, or the wicked looking energy rifle he had slung over his back. I longed to touch the gun with an intensity that surprised me. I had become something of a gun nut since leaving Vault 101, and his was by far the nicest weapon I had come across.

While I was internally juggling my dilemma, man or gun, man or gun, he whipped out another rifle, this one a Chinese assault rifle like mine, from somewhere on his person, and pointed it at me, which gave me momentary pause. Why, I don't know; I'd certainly had enough guns pointed at me and used on me since I left the vault, what was one more? Maybe it was the idea that this big, muscular man thought little old me threatening enough to hold at gunpoint. I giggled a bit at the thought, which didn't endear me to him at all. He scowled and demanded to know why I had come to Rivet City. Once we established that he hadn't seen Dad, but that I could go talk to Doctor Li, I decided it was time to stop poking the yao guai, thanked him, and said my goodbyes. As I walked past him toward the door to the marketplace, I swear I could feel his eyes on my ass, but I wasn't about to turn around to find out. There's no way, I thought to myself. He's not interested in you. Nobody is, not with that damned purple hair Dad cursed you with. I really did love my hair, genetically engineered to be the bright bluish purple that was Mom's favorite color, but it got me a lot more attention than I ever wanted. The kids in the vault used to call me 'Purple Headed Freak.' For a girl that just wanted to fit in, this was crushing.

I had been tuning out the conversation Doctor Li was having with Harkness about my crimes, which I'm sure ranged from simple thievery to a plot to blow up the boat with stolen Talon Company tech. I hung in the security guard's grip, head hung low in a posture of abject shame. I wasn't really sorry that I'd stolen the fruit, but it was downright embarrassing to be dragged into Harkness' office like a recalcitrant child before the overseer. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

I heard rapid boot steps approach me, then Harkness put two fingers under my chin and jerked my head up so I was looking in his eyes. His gaze searched my face for a long moment, in which all I could do was stare at him, wide eyed and scared. I didn't doubt for one moment that he would pitch me off the observation deck and claim I fell, if it suited his purpose.

"We are going to have a long talk about that behavior I warned you about," he said in a hard voice. "And then I'll decide what to do with you. You can get back to the science lab now, Madison."

"You are going to punish her, aren't you, Harkness?" Doctor Li spoke up. "If she'll steal fruit, what will she steal next?"

"We'll see." That was all he said, before turning around and heading back to his desk.

"But…," Doctor Li protested.

"That will be all, Doctor Li," Harkness said. "Please return to the science lab."

After she left, still huffing over the way he spoke to her, Harkness turned to the security guard who had frog-marched me in here and was still holding my arms uncomfortably high behind my back. "Put her in the chair over here," he gestured to the metal chair in front of his desk, "then go back on patrol."

"But sir," the guard protested as he deposited my unrestrained self in the chair. "She could be dangerous."

I swear Harkness rolled his eyes at that, but I couldn't be sure. "I think I can handle myself against one unarmed girl half my size, don't you, officer? You have your orders."

When the officer had left and we were alone in the room, Harkness sat down heavily behind his desk and rubbed his hand over his face tiredly.

"I thought I warned you what misbehaving on my boat would get you?" he said in a deadly voice. He stood up so quickly I almost didn't see him move, and leaned over the desk towards me. "What the hell did you think you were doing, stealing from Doctor Li?!" he thundered, slamming his hands down on the edges of the desk.

"I'm sorry!" I blurted, truly frightened now. "I…I didn't mean to steal it. Well, I did mean to steal it, but I didn't mean to get caught." When, oh when would I learn not to say exactly what was on my mind? He glowered at me, and I backpedaled from my statement. "I…couldn't help myself." He started to come around the desk at me, and I shrieked and held up my hands in front of my face, expecting some kind of physical violence on his part. I could take a bullet without flinching, but this man simultaneously terrified and aroused me, my feelings about him getting all mixed up with each other.

My posture gave him pause, long enough for me to say, "Let me explain." He sat back down, and I continued. "You have to understand, I just got out of a vault. I spent my whole life, never seeing, much less tasting, any food that didn't come out of a box or a can. I know that doesn't excuse my stealing, but when I saw those…whatever they are…I just lost it. I nicked one yesterday," I confessed, though I hadn't meant to admit to the one they hadn't caught me with. "It was so pretty, and smelled so good, so fresh, that I just couldn't resist it, so I put it in my pocket and walked off with it." I sighed at the memory. "I ran straight up to the observation deck, cut it open with my boot knife, and scarfed it down so fast I almost choked on the seeds. I got a little sick after that, I think because my body's not used to fresh food, and because I ate it so fast." I gave him a pitiful look. "I really didn't mean to steal another one, but I was back in the science lab this morning to ask Doctor Li some more questions about where Dad went, and they were just sitting there, begging me to eat them.

"So I put another one in my pocket, and I was trying to decide if any of the other fruits on the table would taste as good when I felt the barrel of a gun against the back of my neck. I guess Doctor Li knew I stole the first fruit and set a trap for me. I'm still kicking myself for letting my attention lapse like that; I'd be deathclaw bait if I'd done that out in the wasteland. Security guard went through my pockets, found the fruit I'd already taken, so he dragged me out of the lab and passed me off to his friend who dragged me up here, and you know the rest of it." I let out a long breath. "So that's why I stole it. That, and …Doctor Li said something mean about my dad," I finished lamely.

"What did she say about your father?"

I frowned with remembered anger. "She said he was an overemotional coward for running away from Project Purity after Mom died giving birth to me. She thought he should have stayed, even though he had a motherless newborn to take care of. My dad's not a coward!" I burst out angrily. "Doctor Li's just being a bitch for no reason!"

"I see," Harkness said, noncommittally. "Did it ever occur to you to pay for the fruit?"

"I went to the marketplace after I tasted the first one, trying to find some more, but all they had was the same old canned crap I've been eating for nineteen years. I would have offered to pay Doctor Li for some, but then she said what she did about Dad, and I just snapped."

Through my whole recitation, I had felt Harkness' eyes on me, like cold fire burning into me. When I was done, I thought he was going to yell at me some more, but he blew me away by leaning back in his chair and laughing. I goggled at him, since that was all I seemed to be able to do around him, stare at him like I'd lost my mind.

When he finished laughing, Harkness leaned forward again and pinned me with his eyes. "Believe it or not, I understand where you're coming from. The first time I tasted some of the fruit from the hydroponics lab, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The newness has kind of worn off, but it is nice to have an apple now and again." He winked at me and pulled a red fruit, which I assumed was the apple he'd mentioned, out of his desk drawer, and handed it to me.

"Don't make this a habit." He glared at me. "I'll excuse you, just this once because we all do dumb things when we're young, but I meant what I said about you causing trouble on my boat." He shook his head. "I want you to pay Doctor Li whatever she thinks is fair for the fruit you took. I'd order you to do scut work for her, but somehow I think that would cause more problems than it would solve."

Harkness stood up and came around the desk again, offering me a hand up out of my hard chair. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet with an ease that shocked me. I knew the man was strong, but damn! The ship chose that moment to shift and I was thrown against his wide chest, struggling to stay on my feet. He caught me around the waist to steady me, one hand on my hip, and the other squarely on my left buttock. The feeling of his big, warm hand on my backside was causing some strange feelings in the pit of my stomach. Calm down, I ordered myself. He didn't do that on purpose, he just grabbed the nearest part of you to keep you from falling down. He doesn't mean anything by it.

He held me for a long moment, helping me find my balance, and then slowly took his hands off me. I swear he squeezed my butt a little before he let go, but that was probably just my heated imaginings.

"Get out of here," he said. "And don't cause any more trouble on my boat. I really don't want to have to pitch you off the observation deck."

I turned to leave his office, and felt a disturbance in the air, right before his hand connected with my backside in a hard smack, doing all sorts of fluttery things to my insides. What the fuck, I thought? I know that wasn't accidental. I blushed and turned to give him a hard look, but couldn't quite manage it when I saw the smirk on his face.

"Stay out of trouble," Harkness said, and slammed his office door in my surprised face.