A/N- Thanks so much for the reviews! This story is experimental and may not have an end, but I feel like something had to happen after the credits rolled. Also. if I don't write this I'm going to bust. I realize Shi might not be saying some of the words I have coming out of her mouth for as innocent as she is, but just consider her well read.

Shilo woke up shortly after Graverobber left. She was never out for very long after the 'medication' wore off. She was up and around in a few minutes when it happened to her at the opera a few nights ago. She looked around for that grave robber, she found no one. That coward! She was angry. The only personal contact she'd had with another living soul and he dashed off. What the hell was he afraid of?? She calmed down lest her blood pressure get the better of her. She tried to think it through. Her father was the only person she'd really known. Rotti, and Mag came after, and of course that grave robber.

It had been he, not her father, was the one who had reached out for her and been there in her time of need, come to think of it. She wanted to slap him sometimes. He was always running. He knew she had questions. He had to answer for how her mother's body was left with him when he was strung up by Amber. That settled it. First, she was going to slap him, next she was going to interrogate him. If nothing else she'd learned in the past few days, she was going to have to stand up for herself. The only person she could rely on was herself. It was sad, but there it was. She had to live with it as there was nothing she could do about it. She was silently thankful for the anger, it was waking her up to herself. She did have a backbone after all. She got up and looked in the paper bag that had been left at the door. Her wig and a change of clothes lay just at the top. She was glad of both. Shilo changed; glad to have clean clothes on. Last but not least, over her outfit, she slipped on her father's gray sweater.

Shilo could never forgive him for what he'd done, but in the end he had been the only parent she'd known and the only other human being who had cared one iota about her. The walls on the apartment were bare. There wasn't much to look at except for the TV in front of the coffee table, and since Mag's death, Shilo had no reason to watch television now. She wished she had some of her bug collection to hang on the wall, and she desperately missed her piano. Aside, from the bed, it served as an alternate place to sit, but she composed a few melodies as well; Bug Melodies. She would sing them to her father sometimes when he came to check on her. Shilo regretted that she never wrote down her little ditties. Iridescent butterflies would look stunning against the pale yellow of the walls.

Just as she began to contemplate this, she heard the door handle. She prepared herself mentally for a fight and was startled to see a nondescript woman come bustling in with cleaning supplies.

"Ah chica!" The woman exclaimed. "He had said to look out for you, and here you are." She smiled.

"Who are you?" Shilo had put her hand to her throat in silent alarm at the sight of the woman.

"I am Lucina. I clean." She mimed a feather duster.

"Ah." Things suddenly clicked for Shilo. Upon first entering the apartment, the grave robber had said that the cleaning woman would come, and not to be alarmed. Well that clearly didn't work. Why didn't he take into account her state of shock? Since it was physically impossible for her to have a heart attack at this stage, she simply greeted Lucina back. Lonely as she had been, Shilo actually wanted to get some air, and possibly gather more of the things she so missed so much. She had never been outside before, not in the conventional sense. Now that she was the master of her own destiny, perhaps she could take in a few sights. She realized that danger existed, but she knew how to skirt it now. She was feeling restless. Maybe there would be a bug or two in the walking.

"Excuse." Shilo turned. "Hmm?"

"Your sweater, it has spots." Yes, Graverobber had said she cleaned and did the laundry. She didn't even notice the blood (probably her father's) on the sweater from where she had hugged it tight that first night. Obediently she took it off.

"Of course." Shilo handed Lucina the sweater. She donned her pack and went to the kitchen to make a sandwich. She was in the mood for peanut butter. Shilo still couldn't believe how well stocked the kitchen was and yet on the counter were more grocery bags. Lucina must have brought them in with her. She found what she needed, assembled the sandwich, and stuffed it in her bag. Lucina was nowhere in sight. Shilo let herself out, being sure to stay alert for any sort of danger.

Graverobber stood in the graveyard extracting the pure Z. Pure Z was different from the refined, less potent Z that came from GeneCo. Why again had he gotten involved with the little wretch? Why was he protecting her? He decided it was to get back at Amber, in the end. She would so totally hate what he was doing.

He was getting in her way by keeping the kid, and by keeping her alive. She was a tasty piece of flesh, he knew that if the opportunity ever came he'd leap at it, but she was sort of gaunt and thin. He needed to nurse her back to health before. . .he reminded himself not to go there, much as he wanted to. He had damn well better slow down his thoughts if he expected to get anywhere with her, not that it was priority one. Priority one was to keep her safe, and out of Amber's hands. If he didn't have that he had no way at all of getting back at Amber, and he intended to make her very sorry for what she'd done. She hadn't made life easy, but he hadn't gotten where he was by not being at least a little cunning.

She was a Z addict and always would be. She'd be back, and maybe then he'd hand over the whelp, but for now she was his. Graverobber was not one to deal in kidnapping, but in this particular instance, it served a purpose. Besides, she was free to go where she wanted to, he didn't have her under lock and key like her father did, but mentally she wasn't equipped with the self-preservation and survival instincts he had. More likely than not she was too afraid to open the door.

Graverobber had been so lost in thought he hadn't realized he was creeping up on a Repo Man. Back to back they bumped into each other. Shit! With a word of command, the hooded man raised the alarm. Graverobber was back to running.

Shilo was more than halfway to the house when Graverobber, coming from the opposite direction ran flat into her. "Kid?" He needed to stop calling her that, seriously. He was genuinely surprised. Shilo had changed into a clean skirt/shirt/boots combo and had affixed her wig. His blood was now pumping for more than one reason. "Hey!" she exclaimed. Graverobber needed a hiding place. He looked around. Unfortunately, the Wallace home was closer than the apartment. Without an apology or another word, he grabbed her hand and started running. The Repo Man was not too far distant. The alarm klaxons still blared.

Graverobber took Shilo and ducked into an alley with her and backed her against a wall. They'd be looking for one, not two. His hand came up around her neck and his knee went between her thighs in one smooth and practiced motion. He liked to take Amber this way. Shilo was shaking with fear and anger. On impulse he licked the side of her pale, lovely neck, then he went in for a passionate kiss.

Shilo's head spun and her eyes went wide. All thoughts fled. She hadn't ever really kissed anyone before. Her whole body sort of tingled and her abdomen flushed. She returned the kiss with enthusiasm. He was a good kisser. There was a reason a crowd formed when he walked into Addict's Alley. Her senses flooded with the smell of him, dirt, and leather all mixed. He was surprisingly warm, even though he'd been outside in the air for a time. She began to melt against him. Her outer senses told her that a Repo Man had just passed them by in their more than compromising position. She broke the kiss and slapped Graverobber for all she was worth.

"You are an asshole!" she yelled, senses returning to normal.

"Keep it down, Kid." He hissed, and released her, any hint of an amorous mood broken.

"Just what in the hell did you think you were doing?"

"Escaping. And is that any way to thank the man who saved your life? Twice now if you count that Repo Man back there." He pointed, a little more than genuinely affronted.

"You are a creep!" She hissed back, also not wanting to be heard.

"What're you doing out here?" he countered.

"Gathering things. Your lack of décor, while not surprising, leaves something to be desired. I was intending to grab my bug collection."

"Kid, you can't go back there," his face looked pained.

"Why not?" Her brows knitted together in confusion.

"Look I didn't want to say anything about it before, but they totally trashed the place."

"What?" The house had been fine just a few nights ago.

"They. Are. Looking. For. You." Each word was its own syllable. "We went over this." He felt somewhat exasperated at the need to repeat himself.

Shilo stopped to think about this. Graverobber went on. "On the upside it means they've been there already and will make an excellent hiding place for a bit. There's no time to return you to the apartment first. Let's go." He didn't stop to explain that she was a liability or that her cover would be blown if they followed him back to the apartment. He was going to keep his explainations simple.

Shilo nodded, following close behind. "But no more shenanigans," she warned. Graverobber just chuckled low in his throat and kept walking.

Thanks as always for reading!