It had hurt him to write the last letter.

Right when he was about to finish one letter, he would picture her beautiful face with tears and instantly crumple it up and start writing a new sweet one telling her of his endless love for her. When he was about to finish that one, he pictured her standing in his abandoned dwelling in Megaton, wrinkled skin and hunched back waiting for him knowing he was never going to come and he would crumple it and start again. This went on for hours, heart battling mind and although he would never admit to it, when he sealed the final letter a tear found it's way to his cheek.

The work he did was taking it's toll on him. It was taking over every fiber of his being and he knew he could never bring her into his world. Although his heart yearned for her smile, his mind could think solely of his job and how long it would take him to finish.

There were many times when he would take his belongings and take the elevator down, ready to find her and hide away with her for the rest of his life, but he could never bring himself to actually step foot outside. His job kept him on a leash, tied to Tenpenny who would tug and pull him back up and into his room shutting the door swiftly behind him so no one could see him fall to his knees and force back tears.

How could it be that this silly little girl from a Vault could have such an effect on him? He would think that over and over again until his mind wondered to the first kiss they shared and he would chastise himself for not going with his heart. She wasn't just some girl, it was her he longed for to be in his arms and on hips lips once again.

At night he would switch on his radio and listen to what Three Dog had to say about her. She dawned the name The Lone Wanderer and he found solace in hearing that. Knowing she wasn't with another man if she was 'Lone' brought happiness but also pain in his heart. If she was hurt, no one would be there to help her and the radio would speak nothing more of her tragic death when it came.

He had hired some men to go find her and follow her but only one came back with wild stories of how he barely managed to escape the Death Claw that killed everyone else. Burke was annoyed that he didn't continue his search for his woman but he couldn't blame the guy. He didn't escape unscathed and the short little stump of his arm proved it. He decided he couldn't waste anymore men and painfully put trust in the fact she could handle herself in the wastes if she'd done it this far.

A week passed after sending the letter off with a Merchant heading to Megaton and he knew she should have gotten it. His heart tugged but he grabbed his gear and follow the men out the door into the wastes for another one of his 'assignments'.

Traveling to the Minefield went without a hitch. Barely a Bloatfly, Molerat, or Raider in sight as she slowly walked up the road, eyes searching the ground before spotting the 'hot potato' as Moira put it, next to a broken down bus stop. She crawled her way to the mine and upon hearing the beeps and seeing the flashing red light she quickly set her hands around it searching for the little switch on the back, pulling it securely to the left and disarming the thing. She let out the breath she was holding and looked up towards the setting sun, eyes squinting through its bright rays.

"Shit." She said before standing up and looking around the town.

Directly to her left was a house that looked in tact for the most part despite the slanted roof and caved in walls. She walked over to it, careful not to step onto any hidden mines and swiftly pulled a bobby pin out of her back pocket to unlock the door. Once she was inside she cupped her hand to her nose as the stench of rotting flesh filled her sinuses. She looked down to what looked like a dead raider hunched over and leaning on the back of the couch. His leg was blown clean off and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened to him. He probably crawled in here so he wouldn't be fed on by any passing animals or worse yet, another raider.

She searched his pockets only to find a broken combat knife and a used condom which she tossed in the corner gagging at the thought of touching the slimy thing. Wiping her hands on the top of the dusty old couch she made her way up the stairs to find an empty child's room and another room with three skeletons laid flat on the bed. One a lot smaller than the others.

She couldn't bring herself to move the skeletons even knowing they were long gone from this world. She pulled the blanket out from under them and placed it gently over their bodies. She pulled out her knife and carved 'In Loving Memory' on the bed post and closed the door as she left.

She let her bag slither off her back and fall to the floor. She unclipped her weapon holster from her hip and gently laid it on top of her bag as she made her way out of her armor. She was now just in her tank top and panties as she slid into the small bed and quickly drifted off to sleep thinking of the one man she wanted to be close to.

The journey to the Republican of Dave was long and hard on Burke but upon seeing it he perked up and got ready for the job him and his men had to do. Burke used to love his job. Ridding the waste of all its filth to make room for the bigger and better buildings Tenpenny had planned to start building but lately he felt differently about everything. It wasn't just because he wanted to drop everything to be with the one he loved albeit that was a very big factor but it was because Tenpenny stopped caring about the living.

When he was first hired by Tenpenny as his right hand man the jobs consisted of forcing the people out of their homes before destroying everything. At least that way they had a chance to start a new life but now Tenpenny wanted to destroy everything including the people. He worded it as 'Corrupt people live in corrupt places. It all needs to go' which brought Burke to Megaton with the job of blowing it up including the lives. It left him with the reputation of a murderer and an evil man he hoped never made it's way to his loves ears. The thought of her thinking he wanted to kill innocent lives made him shudder in disgust.

His newest job was to destroy the Republican of Dave along with its inhabitants and if Burke wanted to continue his work he had to comply. He was met by a young kid at the gate who brought them to speak with Dave. The thought of having an entire town dedicated to one man enough to have a museum didn't sit right with Burke even if the people could vote for anyone as long as they were a resident.

"How do you want to do this, Mr. Burke?" One of the men asked as they made their way into the heart of the town.

Burke's eyes couldn't help but follow the kids running around and his heart felt heavy at the thought of killing innocent children.

"Mr. Burke." Another man started. "There are kids here." He ended with a slight sadness in his voice.

"That doesn't matter idiot! We have orders." Another piped in.

"It doesn't sit right with me killing a child!" The second spit back. "They didn't do anything wrong."

"Tenpenny said.."

"Who gives a fuck what Tenpenny said? This place is so far East Tenpenny wouldn't even know if it was destroyed or not."

Their bickering was giving Burke a headache before he turned to them and spoke.

"Tenpenny has men everywhere in the wastes. If we don't do this he would know. He knew the place was here didn't he?" He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Mr. Burke. They are just kids." The other two had backed off as the one continued to speak.

"I'm very aware of that." Burke said sighing and turning back around. "But order are orders."

With a motion of his fingers the men began to burn the place down with their flamers.

She had just about gathered every mine she could find and her bag sank deep into her shoulders. There were some mines she wasn't able to stop and they blew up sending her flying back with crippled bones and deep gashes which she quickly healed with stimpacks and bloodpacks. The sniper at the top of the building to her left had her pinned behind some rubble as he shot screaming gibberish at her.

The screaming had stopped for a moment and she braved a look to find him running down the stairs. With quick movements she ran to the entrance ripping a mine from her bag and activating it setting it at the door and quickly running back to where her hiding spot was.

She waited patiently before hearing the beeps and screams of the man followed by the loud explosion. Bingo.

She ran over to him and pulled her laser pistol from her holster and pointed it at his shaking body beneath her. She would've felt bad if he wasn't just trying to kill her a second ago. He didn't say anything and neither did she, they just looked at each other for a moment before he slowly rested his head back onto the ground and let his last breath go.

She brought the gun back to her hip and closed her eyes letting her own head fall back as her heart felt heavy for the man who was probably just protecting his town.

She looted what she could and made her way back to Megaton to deliver the news to Moira for the Wasteland Survival guide they were writing together. She liked the idea of helping the wastes even if it was just slightly. She thought of what Burke had said in his letters. 'It is very important work I am doing for mankind' he had said. She felt the corners of her lips lift slightly.

"Me too, my love." She said quietly as she continued walking.

On the way back to Tenpenny Tower the air around them felt heavy. The three men walked ahead of Burke who followed closely behind thinking back to the lives lost back at the probably now, pile of dust that used to be the Republican of Dave.

Burke was broken out of his thinking when one of the men slowed down and spoke to him.

"The kids will be alright." He whispered smiling a little at Burke. "We did the right thing, you know."

"Yes. I'm quite sure they will make it to Little Lamplight." Burke paused. "But I do hope a word of this is not spoken to the other two." He looked at the soldiers in front of them. "If Tenpenny hears a word of what we did, he will not be so forgiving to you as he would me."

"Don't worry Mr. Burke. I have no desire to speak with the two of them." The soldier then walked ahead and joined his team.

Yes, in a spur of the moment as people ran about screaming, Burke grabbed the one soldiers arm and began picking up screaming kids and dragging them over to the Brahmin pin hiding from the other two soldiers as they spewed fire over every nook and cranny of the Museum. He told them to hide here until the fire had died down, then to make their way west, he pointed in the direction, and find Little Lamplight because they would be safe there. Tousling a boys hair he continued to keep the flames away from them as much as he could. They were ordered to burn the town and kill it's residents, not the animals so hiding them there was the best chance they had.

He couldn't save the rest of the town though as they burned along with their home. Lives were lost and it weighed down on him every step he took but knowing the kids had a real chance at survival lifted his spirit just a little.

The men stopped and he nearly ran into one of them.

"Why the hell are we stopping?" Burke asked annoyed.

One of the men pulled out a set of binoculars and placed them to his face looking at whatever made them stop.

"I think I see someone over there." He said handing the binoculars to another man who agreed he saw it too.

"What does that matter? If it's a Raider we can shoot them down easily why have we stopped moving, we have a time frame." Burke's frustration was rising and he gripped the bridge of his nose again pulling his silenced pistol from his jacket pocket.

"Mr. Burke..I...don't think that's a Raider."

"My God. Give me the Binoculars." He forcefully took the binoculars and looked across the horizon stopping at the little dot they were talking about. He put the binoculars to his face but still couldn't get a good look at them.

He sighed before giving the binoculars back to the first man. "I can't make out what it is. Lets just go around them." He said finally changing course to head around whoever it was.

"What if it's the Lone Wanderer." One of the men said said emphasizing the nickname as if she was someone to be feared.

Burke froze.

The man continued. "I hear she's incredibly strong for a woman."

Another piped in. "I heard she would shoot down anyone who confronted her. Absolutely brutal woman. I wouldn't mind getting her into my bed." He said elbowing one of the other men laughing.

Burke growled at the man and they all stopped their chatter looking at him confused.

Burke's mind wasn't thinking straight. What if it was her? Why is she out here?

"Give me your binoculars." Burke said thrusting his hand out to the soldier who gave them up.

Burke walked forward a little bit and leaned into the binoculars. He couldn't see anything anymore as he quickly scanned the wastes. Where were they? He though for a moment before sighing and giving back the binoculars again. Even if it was her, she was too far away to catch up to and they did have a time frame. Besides it would only hurt him worse to be able to hold her then have to push her away just like he did the first time. He couldn't bear with the thought of having to let her go.

"Let's go." He finally said not realizing he was walking away from his love who had ducked behind a rock at the sight of four men in the distance watching her.