It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

- Frederick Douglass

Death by starvation is slow.

- Mary Austin


Chapter 1
Nye County courthouse
June 1999

Even though they knew to cover the windows to keep out the heat the cab of the truck was still an oven.

He opened the windows before he put the papers he carried in the file box behind the seat. Everything they needed was back there, the file box with the identities they had patiently built over the past two years, a lockbox tucked into the frame with what he hoped would be enough cash to carry them through, and two battered guitar cases. That and the old Ford truck under him were all they were taking with them into their new life.

That and each other. They were newlyweds now.

"He's going to catch us." She said.

He looked over at the woman sitting beside him. For the first time in years her face was bare, her hair hung undone, her body was allowed to relax into its natural contours. She was utterly beautiful to his eyes. But when she looked at him those eyes that ought to crackle with sharp intelligence and strong personality showed the cowed fear that had been forced into her over the past two and a half years. "No, he won't."

"You sound so sure."

"He's not omniscient. Not outside of the city anyway."

"I'd like to believe that."

"Once we're not part of his daily experience he'll forget about us. Right now his focus is on Sandra, he probably won't even notice we've gone."

"The others will tell."

"Doubtful. He disgusts them. They only stay because of the blackmail threat he holds."

"He'll come after us once Sandra dies."

He could understand where her fear was coming for him; she had borne the brunt of the threats over the years. "It'll take a while, her heart is strong. By then he'll have forgotten. And even if he tries we're going to a good place to hide, spending our days in an environment he can't work in and erased our paper trail. He's not going to find us."

"I hope not."

He gave her his best reassuring smile. "We can do this. Next stop LA?"

"Yeah."

He fired up the engine. "It's almost six hours to get there. Want to stop for anything?"

She made a disgusted sound. "God no."

"All right."


.


This one is set before the first episode of Season 1. Expect some changes to cannon along the way.