A/N: First off, I sincerely apologize to anyone I disappointed by waiting this long. Between school and athletics, it's really easy to forget about this sort of thing. However, you must understand, I have very little free time to do much of anything besides homework, so it's amazing that I even got this chapter in. Anyway, you're probably sick of reading me ramble on, so I'll stop typing and let you get on to reading this chapter. Also, kudos to CorntheSaga for pointing out a mistake I made in this chapter.

Yuri Chekov was as tired as he'd been in a long time. Beads of sweat crested his furrowed brow as he oversaw the AntAgonizer and the Mechanist go through their daily taunting ritual. He would've shot them both at first glance, but Joe Porter had a policy against 'inciting bloodshed' in the community. 'Bullshit,' he thought, 'If he really wanted to stop whatever violence may arise he'd have let me lodge a bullet in their heads already.'

Glancing at his pre-war wristwatch, Yuri noticed that the Caravan was running later than usual. He checked his ammo belt and only two clips remained for his pair of .44 magnums. If the caravan didn't arrive soon, they'd have trouble fending off a raider assault of any significance. And if, God forbid, Super Mutants ever decided to attack, Canterbury would be in serious peril.

'At least we'd have these wackos on our side,' Yuri thought, chuckling to himself as the ants and robots began to attack each other. Yawning, he averted his gaze and was about to go back to cleaning the tables at Porter's Diner. Suddenly, a group of ants began to harass a visitor from Rivet City. The man obviously had no prior combat experience, for his only defense was to flail his arms in panic. In one fluid motion, Yuri drew his pistols and fired four shots, each killing their intended targets with deadly accuracy. As Yuri approached the almost-victim of the ants, he fled to the cover of a nearby building. Indignant, Yuri turned towards the AntAgonizer, now devoid of her precious ant followers. Holding his right-hand magnum out, Yuri strode toward the clumsy 'superhero,' who was obviously terrified of what the grizzled mercenary may do to her. Reaching arm's length, Yuri grabbed the AntAgonizer by the throat, pinning her against the wall, his other hand gripping the magnum against her temple.

"You see this gun? Her name's Rosaline. She and I have killed a fuckload of psychos in my day, idiots much worse than you. Do you honestly think your death is gonna weigh too heavy on my conscience?"

'No… Rosie… you killed her…and Mary, my fucking daughter, you killed them both, you raider son of a bitch, you murdered them in cold blood, you-'

The AntAgonizer was frozen in shock. She gulped, slowly shaking her head. Realizing it was just a mental flashback, Yuri snapped back to reality. "Good," Yuri muttered "Now get the fuck out of here. And if I see as much as a piece of ant shit within 50 yards of this town, I'll find you and kill you myself, got it?"

The rogue superhero nodded, sprinting back to her lair without looking back. Yuri turned his attention to the Mechanist, now staring awkwardly at the ground.

"And you," Yuri called out, "If you think you're some kind of hero you're dead wrong. You've stirred up just as much trouble as that ant bitch has. I'll leave you with the same warning I left her: Come within 50 yards of Canterbury and I've got no qualms about ending your life. Got it?" The Mechanist shuffled nervously before hurriedly fleeing, along with his robots. Yuri knew that the Mechanist could have commanded his sentry bot to tear him to shreds, but if there was one thing that Yuri had learned in his experience, it was that fear corrupts common sense. Besides, the Mechanist wasn't exactly the brightest superhero in the Wasteland.

Yuri turned towards the stranger from Rivet City. "Are you alright?"

The man shuffled nervously before replying. "Yes, thank you, I'm fine."

Yuri examined him for a moment, then, with a short nod, continued about his business in the Diner.

'Damn, how much longer do I have to play the role of the scared-shitless businessman?' wondered Adelaide. His grey business suit, along with his curly dark hair, was starting to bear the marks of sweat and dirt, much unbecoming of a man in his position. His suit was a bit large for a man standing at only 5'10," but he managed to make up for it with his bulk. He wore a matching fedora and bore a hidden 10mm pistol strapped to his leg. Adelaide had just arrived in town and was scoping out the area for any sign of a scavving caravan. Once he found any further information, he was to relay it to his employers, who remained anonymous.

Spotting a group of people on the horizon, Adelaide knew he was in luck. Walking towards the caravan, he spotted a scruffy-looking man who he assumed to be Crazy Wolfgang. Behind him were two men and a woman, each of whom looked like grizzled veterans. 'Best not to fuck with them,' he thought.

Violence was not in Adelaide's job description, though. He was a spy, a gatherer of information, not someone who killed indiscriminately. 'That's what the soldiers are for,' thought Adelaide as he neared the caravan. He called out to Wolfgang in his refined accent. "Greetings trader! Have you found anything worth bartering for in your travels?"

"Ah, but I'm always ready to barter, good sir. I would say that, but you must understand I'm terribly famished. Tell you what, after I'm done eating we can have a look at my stock. Sound good?" Wolfgang politely responded, eying his new, potential customer.

Adelaide nodded. "Of course, um," he glanced at the sign atop the brahmin's back, "Wolfgang! But might I ask, where have you come from? You and your crew seem exhausted."

"Fort Constantine, up north. We were actually on an assignment to recover something, and now we're spending the night here before heading down south to deliver it. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe there's a bowl of mole rat stew that's just crooning my name."

"Of course," Adelaide said, politely nodding. He had just learned everything he needed to know. Now he just needed to scope out a possible route. After all, 'south' could be just about anywhere from his current location to Point Lookout. Once Wolfgang was out of sight, he hurriedly made his way to the ham radio post in Uncle Roe's house. Opening the door, he shouldered past Uncle Roe, who looked to be in a hurry to welcome his most profitable caravaner back. Sitting down at the small stool, he turned the dial to the proper frequency, making sure it was unoccupied and secure. Adelaide began to relay his new findings to his employers in Morse code.

Yuri looked up from wiping down the bar to see his old friend Crazy Wolfgang saunter in to Canterbury. Wolfie had been gone on caravan missions for about a month now, and Yuri was glad to see him back. Throwing his rag aside, he went out to greet him.

"Well, if it isn't my old brother-in-profit? How've you been, Wolfie?"

"I've been better, I'll tell you that much," Wolfgang quipped, still smiling as always. "How about you, Yuri? I hear Joe Porter's got you workin' your ass off for a room and board. A bit of a step down from being a grizzled, half-Russian mercenary, no?

Yuri shrugged. Had anyone else talked openly about his past to Yuri he would've strangled them on the spot. But Wolfgang was the one who got Yuri into the Merc business in the first place, so he was a bit more courteous to him. "Beats most other jobs out there. At least I don't get shot at."

Wolfgang slapped him on the shoulder. "Well, it's good to see you again, my young apprentice. Get Porter to whip up some stew so we can celebrate a little, alright?"

Yuri nodded then ran in to tell Joe Porter.

After a couple hours, the stew was hot and ready to serve. Though it didn't look extremely appetizing on the surface, it filled the small diner with a strong, hearty scent that would make a strong man hungry.

Yuri and Wolfgang were sitting across from each other in a booth, ravenously devouring their respective bowls of stew. As they finished, Yuri decided to speak up.

"So, where's Max?"

Wolfgang stopped chewing for a moment, quietly responding. "Dead. Damn sentry bot got 'em. Lucky we had Sam over there, or we'd all be dead."

"Damn, Wolfie, I'm sorry. But who the hell is Sam?"

Wolfgang gestured to the tall, long-haired blonde man sitting by Tara at the bar.

"New recruit?" Yuri questioned

"Well, it's an interesting story, to say the least," Wolfgang retorted.

"Well I don't have anywhere to be, so let's hear it."

Wolfgang sighed. "Alright, so we were traveling along the old Route 45 up north, when out of nowhere this 'Clavie patrol stops us and tries to mug us. Well, I was just about to comply when, in all my infinite wisdom, I decided to roll a live fucking grenade right by their head honcho. So he was killed, then the other two got up and were about ready to kill us."

Wolfgang paused for effect, and simply to piss Yuri off.

"And…" Yuri said impatiently.

"And then Sam sniped both of the bastards in the span of about three seconds. Don't know if I've mentioned it, but he's a damn good sharpshooter. Hence, I decided to let him on for a cut of the pay. And that's why he's here, hitting on Tara right now."

Yuri nodded. "So I guess you're down a man, huh?"

"That I am. And that's part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. I can see you're a bit tired of your repetitive manual labor, so I wanted to offer you a spot on the escort team down to the Citadel. It's pretty far, but I'll get you a cut of the pay. So whaddya think, pretty good offer, am I right?"

Yuri was visibly eager. This would be the first time in three years he went back out on the road, and it had been three years too long, in his mind."Just give me some ammo and I'm your man, Wolfie."

Wolfgang smiled. "Good. We'll leave at five in the morning sharp. And one more thing, go say to hi to the rest of the crew, they look up to you, ya know."

Yuri nodded, getting up to do just that. Looking over at Sam, Yuri knew he looked like trouble. However, they'd have to get along if Yuri was ever to get a cut of the pay. And if they didn't it would be a long trip. Yuri was hoping for the former.

So… please please please review. Don't take me on my word, but I will try my very best to get a chapter in before the end of the month. I will also try to write another chapter to my other fic, The Stranger. Thank you readers, and good night (or day, whichever it is, I can't really tell with all the blinds down).