A/N: I am still alive! So sorry I took so long to update but my friend/beta was having trouble with her computer. T-T Anyways, here is the third chapter, so enjoy! R&R not required but appreciated!

Andy watched as Burke passed him while walking out, before turning to Lylia.

"What the hell was that bastard doing here?" The young bar manager asked suspiciously.

"Nothing that concerns you," Ly replied coolly while pulling out the Jet inhaler from her pocket. She bounced it up and down in her hand, deciding whether or not to use it, before putting it on the table next to her Nuka-Cola. She then walked over to the locker near the door before pulling out a silenced 10 mm. Lylia weighed it in her hand as she decided to leave it. The creatures in the Capital Wasteland were by far stronger than a 10 mm.

"Ly, I know he's up to something."

"Really?" Andy's girlfriend answered in a sardonic voice. "Well then, you may want to go tell your 'secret someone'."

"Come off it Ly, you know I said I was sorry."

"I know, but I'm not ready to forgive you yet," the girl sighed, looking at the Jet longingly on the table. Andy followed her gaze and sighed too in exasperation.

"Ly, do not do this to me right now," the young bar manager murmured angrily.

"What?" Ly asked defensively.

"You can't just slip into your little Jet world right now when we need to talk like you do every single time!"

Angered by her boyfriend's words, Lylia threw the 10 mm. across the room while her boyfriend winced in fear of it going off.

"Well if I go, it's because of you!" The impassioned girl yelled, not caring if it went off or not.

"How is this whole thing of you running away because of me?"

"How? How! Let's see, how 'bout cause you were working with Burke to take out the entire town with the bomb!" She yelled back.

"At least I'm not working with him now or running away from the truth with chems!" Andy roared back. "What're you doing now? Taking out another Ghoul settlement?"

"I said it was none of your business and I am not running!" She screamed. "I can't believe you'd bring that up now!"

Andy tore his hand through his hair, groaning in frustration as he paced the small room. Dogmeat looked up and whimpered as Lylia turned back to the locker.

"I just can't believe you'd let him into your house to talk."

"You're just being ridiculous and paranoid," Ly muttered.

"I am not," The youngest Stahl brother shot back. "You know what he is and what he was going to do to Megaton."

"Yeah, well if I hadn't come along, you would've been an accomplice to at least a dozen murders. I know how to handle myself with his type; lying, traitorous and evil."

"You only think you do, but you don't," Andy replied in a tremulous voice. "Ly, I think he's going to do something to you."

"So you think," Lylia scoffed as she glanced at him.

"Yes I do think! And…I'm also worried about you," he mumbled quietly.

Lylia hesitated as she pulled out a duffel bag. "Why?"

"I dunno. I just am. I have a bad feeling about the job he's given you, whatever it is."

"Well, that's for me to worry about, isn't it?"

"Ly, I'm serious," the youngest Stahl replied. Lylia turned to him and saw he was sitting at the table where Burke was sitting before. She sighed before walking over to sit across from him.

"I know you are, but I need to deal with this on my own."

"I could come with you," he pleaded desperately. Andy covered her hands with his and Lylia's heart nearly broke. 'I need to do this now,' she thought.

"Andy…"

His face fell, knowing what she was going to say, yet not wanting to hear it.

"I need to do this alone without any strings attached to Megaton in case I don't…come back," she said quietly without looking at him. "I think it's time to end us."

"Forever?"

The word hurt the girl's heart more than Andy would ever know, however she knew she had to do this. "Maybe. I don't know, but just not now."

"Is this so I just don't worry about you?" he asked.

"No, but it would help," Ly answered.

"I don't see how."

"Just…please Andy?"

He did something she anticipated, but was still surprised by it; he reached over the table, taking her face in his hands to kiss her. She felt the desperation in his kiss as it made her pull away. Andy held his face close to Lylia's for a second longer before getting up and walking away. Before getting to the door, though, he took the Jet from the table to make sure she wouldn't use it. Ly closed her eyes as she heard the door close, making her bite her lip in an attempt to keep her tears from falling. She wouldn't cry for this; it was necessary. No matter how much she told herself that, the feeling of emptiness wouldn't fade until she pulled Jet inhalers from the false bottom in the refrigerator along with bottles of beer before walking up to her room and locking herself in there with Dogmeat at her side. Inside, she inhaled as much Jet as she could to become numb and the beer made her drowsy. Within minutes, the Lone Wanderer was so high and drunk she couldn't feel anything, exactly where she wanted to be.

Lylia must've fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes, it was midday. The hung-over girl looked down at Dogmeat, who was chewing a teddy bear to pieces on the floor, then rubbed her eyes with her fists. She sighed while looking up at the ceiling as she began to think of companions to bring along.

Fawkes? No, he was working with the Brotherhood of Steel to exterminate the last of the Super Mutants in the Capital Wasteland.

Star Paladin Cross? No, she was also working for the Brotherhood.

Butch was useless and Mr. Gutsy hadn't liked the way she looked.

Charon was the only feasible option in her mind along with Dogmeat. Hume was too volatile and big to take; he would be fine one moment, then be chasing after a Radscorpion the next. Charon and Dogmeat were the only companions she could think of taking in the end and began to think of routes to get to Underworld. Suddenly, while thinking of Underworld, Lylia thought of Gob.

'Gob?' She thought. 'Why Gob?'

As quickly as realizing a step on a landmine, Lylia remembered Carol was Gob's adoptive mother and how much she had wanted to see him the last time she had been there.

'You're crazy,'Lylia thought. 'Moriarty wouldn't just give him to you.'

Ly was about to throw the idea away when she thought about her caps. The young girl had saved up a small fortune from all the jobs she had done along with the small amounts the Megaton residence continued giving her. Lylia wasn't sure how much she had, yet was sure it was enough. Groaning as she got up, Ly stumbled to the door with Dogmeat following. She opened Hume's door and the animals walked down to the first floor. Ly tried blinking away her sleep and clenched her hands when they began to tremble while she walked over to her My First Laboratory and switched it to detoxify. A clear chem began dripping into a small glass beaker and in only about five minutes, the beaker was full. The still-groggy woman took it before carefully pouring it into an empty syringe and injecting it into her arm. The detoxifying agent spread through her body like a wave of warmth and Lylia could now think clearly. She took a deep breath while walking down to the first floor to begin collecting all the tin cans around her house and setting them on the floor.

When she had all the cans she could find, Ly went up to her room again and picked up the old globe in the corner. Lylia shook it experimentally, listened carefully to something rattling inside, then took it back down to the first floor. She sat down on the floor near the cans while carefully taking the globe off the stand. Ly carefully twisted it open before looking inside at a mess of caps that she took out to begin counting. When she hit 200, she dumped them in a can, which to her surprise, held them all. Lylia continued counting until running out of cans, only to find that there were still at least 70 caps in the globe.

Grumbling, Ly got up, told Dogmeat and Hume to come, then walked out the door. Apparently, the news of her break-up with Andy had spread through Megaton like fire in an old building because when Lylia just happened to glance at the Brass Lantern while walking by to find there were more women than usual. As she looked closer, Lylia recognized some of them. They were women who had tried to get Andy to cheat when they were together. One of the women noticed her when Lylia was telling Hume to stay near Confessor Cromwell, who gladly agreed to watch the Yao Guai due to the fact that he warded off would-be harassers. The women glowered at her as the girl patted Hume's head and walked past with her head held high with Dogmeat at her side.

She entered Moira's shop, though ended up coughing on the strange smell a little. When Lylia got used to it, she sighed in relief to be out of the women's sight. She nodded at the merc leaning on the wall while he nodded back curtly before narrowing his eyes at Dogmeat, who growled back softly in turn. They had never liked one another since Dogmeat had stolen a Mutfruit from the merc's pocket two years into Ly's residency. She silenced Dogmeat with a sharp snap of her fingers before looked up at the merc with a warning.

"Oh, hey!" Cried Moira as she descended the stairs, coughing. "Don't mind the smell. It's perfectly safe to breathe, honestly!"

"I hope so 'cause your merc here doesn't look to good," Lylia replied.

"Aww, that's just because he's been standing there too long," Moira said. How are you? I haven't seen you in forever."

"Yeah, kinda hit a little bit of a ditch."

"I heard about you and Andy, how are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess. It's just I don't want him worrying when I'm gone."

"Oh, where are ya going?"

"I don't exactly know, but can I ask you something?" Ly asked.

"Yeah? What do you need?" Replied Moira.

"I need all the empty tin cans you have. I'm doing something with them at home."

"Cans? Well alright. It'll take me a little bit to gather them up, Come back in half-an-hour, okay?"

"Do you think you could send them to my house?" Lylia asked suddenly. "I need to get some other things ready."

Moira looked confused a little, but then finally nodded. "I'll have John take them over."

Now it was Lylia's turn to look confused. "John?"

"He's the merc, silly! You didn't know that?" Moira laughed. The younger woman shook her head and smiled before saying goodbye and stepping out with Dogmeat still following, his tail wagging slightly. She then walked to Moriarty's Saloon and looked around as her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness. The interior hadn't changed much since her first visit, except for the new shine on the counter. A year ago, Lylia bought a can of wood stain from Crazy Wolfgang and gave it to Gob to use. Moriarty had been so impressed; he knocked off 100 caps from his debt, much to the Ghoul's delight. They never told him that the stain had come from Lylia and intended to keep it that way.

When Gob turned to see Ly, his face visibly lit up and he greeted her in his gravelly voice, "Hey, kid."

"Hey, where's Nova?" Ly asked while noticing the absence of the red-headed prostitute. The bartender nodded up towards a closed door and Ly nodded in understanding. Dogmeat's tail wagged harder and he walked over to the Ghoul, who scratched him behind the ears. "Can I ask a favor from you?"

"Anything for you friend."

"I need all the empty tin cans you have. Could you give them to me?"

Gob hesitated before asking, "Cans?"

"Yeah, they're for…something," the girl replied cryptically.

"I guess so. We have a bunch of crates full of them that I can give you. Mister Moriarty's been looking for a way to get rid of them."

Ly's face lit up and she smiled widely. "Great, could you bring them over to my house?"

Okay? Not okay? I know the end is kinda...meh...but oh well.