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POV: Harkness

I stood outside Dr. Preston's clinic, leaning against the wall, waiting for him to call me in. Every so often, I checked the doors of the Weatherly to make sure there weren't anymore killers on the ship. I hoped Rivet City hadn't become a nest of assassins within the past week, but now that James' daughter was living here, it wouoldn't do too much to keep dreaming. I'd never expected the girl to have enemies, let alone people after her life. Whatever she'd done must've been major, because shortly after we got Michella to the clinic, someone else was attacked.

I hadn't seen it myself, but Danvers told me that Ted Strayers was stumbling around, as usual, and suddenly, a man came running from around the corner. She tried to stop him, but he grabbed a hold of Ted, and threatened to kill him if he couldn't leave. Danvers told him she'd let him go if he told her where he was going, but he just shouted 'bullshit!', and put a bullet through Ted's temple.

The people that were after her were well-equipped, but had idea what to do when it came to resistance. We checked their armor, and no one on the ship had ever seen it before.

"Harkness, you can come in now."

I closed the door to the empty hotel room, and walked down the corridor into the clinic. Dr. Preston was standing beside the gurney that Michella sat on, and both of them seemed to've been waiting for me.

I nodded to Michella, whom returned nothing but a blank stare. Even after I'd saved her life, her attitude toward me was still bitter.

"You're awful ungrateful for someone who almost got killed. I could've arrived a few seconds too late, and you just might've died last night. You don't have the decency to speak?"

Dr. Preston didn't intervene, but his eyebrows were raised to a considerable height.

She pursed her lips skeptically, and her features tensed as she looked to her left. "You only saved my life because you had to. It's not like you had a choice."

I laughed, drawing her attention.

"Believe me. I always have a choice. I'll be sure to shove a sock down your throat the next time I see someone strangling you."

She winced. Satisfying enough.

Dr. Preston perked up, and broke the minute-long silence. "Alright, now that that's over with..." He looked to me. "Harkness, Michella should be fine. If you were worried."

The doctor was right to doubt it.

"And Michella, Harkness wanted to speak to you about the man who attacked you last night."

I walked over, and pulled a stool next to her gurney. "I know you don't like me very much, but I'm only trying to help."

I sat down, and surprisingly enough, she looked me right in the eye. "Okay."

"Do you know who it was that attacked you?"

"If I knew that, I'd be in their headquarters right now, running down their leader with a shotgun."

Couldn't help but cock a brow.

"Right... Well, I guess we're going to have to place you under some sort of 'protective custody'. Not that we have anything set up for that kind of situation, anyway," I trailed off.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Protective custody? I think not. Wouldn't you feel a little weak if you had to sleep in a room full of guards?"

She left me with a piercing stare, and her dark hair, light-eyed appearance gave me the impression that she was trying to be intimidating. Humorous...

"I am a guard, so no. And it wouldn't be that serious. I'd be the only one to watch over you."

She shook her head. "Sorry. I don't like to look helpless."

"Is it really that bad for someone to try to make sure you're not killed while you're asleep?"

She gave no response. I sat there, staring at her, but she still didn't say a word, and it seemed as though I would be talking to a wall if I said anything more.

So, I got up. "You know what? Fine. Just make sure you don't die somewhere Christie'll have to clean up your insides."

And then I left. If she was going to be stubborn, she'd learn her lesson for it.

After I'd left the clinic to head to the Marketplace, one of the guards ran up to me in the halls.

"Chief, someone left a letter for you. We don't know who it's from, but we were told to give it to you ASAP."

He handed me an envelope, with my name written on the front in cursive.

"By who?" I asked, examining it.

"He didn't say who he was, and to be honest, he didn't look like he was up to anything suspicious."

"Alright. Carry on, then."

I folded the envelope in my pants pocket, and headed over to the Marketplace.

As I sat down at a table and Angela went to place my order, I finally decided to read the letter. On the way to Gary's Galley, I'd gotten a little anxious to read it.

I don't know who you are, and of course, you don't know who I am. But what you do need to know, is that in this organization, we have jobs to do, and you've become a major obstacle in our paths.

I looked up and around to check if anyone was nearby, because this was far from what I expected to be reading at lunch.

Because of you, whoever the fuck you are, I have to send out more of my men to get this contract completed. Now that you know there are people out for your little saint, you should be willing to give her to the wasteland. Don't worry, because when we find her, we'll take good care of her.

I will ask you once to do this, and afterwards, I won't ask again.

Get her off that boat. Evict her from the city, or tell her that Megaton is in flames, the choice is yours. Just do it somehow, or you'll be next on the hit-list. And you don't want that, because no one in this organization sits around while a contract for 2,000 caps per head is available.

I folded the note back up as Angela came over with my order, and shoved it back into my pocket. I was being dragged into this kid's mess now, and both of our lives were at stake. What exactly had she gotten into, and how?