Denouement
(A Fallout/Borderlands Crossover)

- Chapter 7 : Storm Weathering 101 -


A/N: Merry Christmas, folks! Stay safe!


The relay station was nothing but a brisk run up the hill and through a few trees. For Sasha, this was nothing, but for Rhys - somebody who, only a mere two days ago, had overcome death and a handful of traumatic injuries - the venture was far more painstaking. His body was quick to remind him of the punctured lung and several broken bones he once suffered from, providing sharp pleural pains that ripped back and forth through his torso. Sasha turned to see him partially doubled-over, still making his way up the incline but with his feet dragging, chest heaving, and gulping for air.

"Whoops." Spurred on by a wave of guilt, Sasha backtracked. Rhys managed a pitiful, apologetic smile but she would have none of it and kept her pace slow and steady so he had a chance to catch his breath. "Forgot you're still kinda ... "

"I'm - " wheeze " - completely - " cough " - fine." Rhys straightened to the effect of proving he was a macho man. Then he stumbled over a hidden rock and immediately held his left side with metallic fingers, mewling. "Didn't hurt. Just startled. I'm totally good."

"You're a terrible liar." Sasha hooked her hand through the crook of his robotic elbow and pulled him along. Even with her head facing the other way, she could almost feel the warmth from his face. He was so damned shy about his affections - it was freaking adorable. And it definitely added some spring to his step.

Getting to the relay tower was easy but ... well ... honestly Sasha was expecting a bit much. Definitely more than what they were getting, at least. The array wasn't impressive - just a red-and-white painted steel tower. Three satellites were attached to it, all facing in different directions and each with about twenty feet difference from one another. The tower itself was maybe ... ah, 80 feet tall? It was surrounded on three sides by a rusted chain-link fence, with the fourth side mangled and twisted on the ground by some unknown force. It had probably been that way for a very long time. A corroded metal sign reading '1DL-109' hung lopsided on what miniscule part of it was still standing.

There was a Protectron, too. Keyword: was. Numerous bullet holes riddled its metal corpse and it lay as nothing more than a pile of scrap in a puddle of water. Parts of it had been pried apart, its more valued bits scavenged for some 'greater good' by a Commonwealth raider or settler.

"God, this old-world tech is so lunky," criticized Rhys, attempting to kick it over and failing miserably. It was way too heavy. "If they were able to harness nuclear energy, you'd think they would've streamlined the bots."

"It looks like the one I squashed." Poor Takahashi, taken from his prime before his noodles were cooked.

She couldn't identify why he looked so cheeky all of a sudden and assumed a joke was on the way. "Right, when you fell - did it hurt?"

Sasha blinked. "Yes, Rhys," she deadpanned. "Yes. It hurt."

"N-No I mean - " It was like he faceplanted pavement without actually falling. Rhys touched his two index fingers together and concentrated hard on them. "Y-you were supposed to say, 'Did what hurt?' and I was going to say, 'When you fell from h - ' n-nevermind that was stupid and - and - oh look here's a terminal!" He slipped past her a little too quickly. "Annnnnnd that's been shot, too."

Was he really going to use that line? Internally she was giggling, externally she was rubbing the bridge of her nose and groaning.

Like he said, the one computer terminal the relay station had was in the same condition as its Protectron. Rhys either didn't notice or was too lost in thought to notice the Ham Radio perched above the busted computer. She grabbed the microphone and pulled it down.

"Testing, testing, one two ... this thing isn't working either." Rhys tapped her shoulder, pointed to radio, and flipped on its power. "Oh." Smooth. "Uh ... testing, testing - "

Deacon's voice filtered over to them. "Vault 81 coming in loud and proud." The Railroad Heavy presented himself with an air of overcompensating ego when they met him at the Sunshine Diner. Even over the radio, he was over-confident. "That suave, sunshine voice would have to be, let me guess ... Sasha? What's up, gorgeous?"

She could see the corner of Rhys' mouth twitch ever-so-slightly and laughed. "We're at the relay tower. The terminal's been shot."

"Yeah, I figured it was gonna happen sooner or later. So Rhys, how's your mountaineering skills?"

The Atlas CEO's somewhat pleasant demeanor completely flatlined. "I was afraid he was going to say that. I mean not that in particular but - "

"He says it'll be a cake-walk," Sasha translated with a wink. Rhys was somewhere between 'flattered' and 'deer-in-the-headlights'.

"Coolio! He's gonna have to check each of the satellite connections. Just one of 'em is down. Hit us up when you think you have it. And Rhys? Don't look down."

"Noted," grumbled the man with the cybernetic eye.

Sasha replaced the microphone and joined him in staring upwards. "Is there anything I can, uh, help with?" She didn't know why she asked. Her electronics skill was subpar.

"I've got this," Rhys answered, clapping his hands together with a very nervous smile. "There's no ladder. Totally not going to plummet to my death or anything like that. Pshhh, it's only like seventy feet - "

"Eighty."

"Eighty feet and - "

"Breath, Rhys." Sasha was surprised when he 'came back to earth' long enough to do just that. She gently ushered him forward with a firm pat on the back, thinking back to their time in the Atlas biodome when the catwalk gave out beneath them. "I won't let you fall, remember?"

Rhys focused on something nonexistent and the perturbation circumscribing his facial features diminished into an expression that was much more reassured. She'd hit the confidence-driving nail on the head with that one. He rubbed his hands together and exhaled slowly. "I"ve got this," he repeated, sounding a lot more like he actually believed in what he was saying. "I've got this." Rhys grabbed the steel bars directly in front of his head and ascended.

The first satellite was only about twelve feet off the ground and once he'd gotten his bearings, Rhys went to work. Sasha had to admit that watching him perform any kind of technological endeavor was something to marvel at. Those cybernetic implants definitely came in handy more than once throughout the past. She recalled the computer room at the Death Race - rather, how he had smacked the machine at first and quickly reassured that he only did it to entertain her, then cracked his knuckles and went on to doing the real work. And she remembered how impressed she'd been ... how impressed she still was ... and idly wondered if that was when she first started to admire him.

Rhys removed something from one of his silver fingers and jammed it into the satellite's back. His eyes narrowed in concentration, again leering at what could not be seen by the average human. What was it? A hologram perceived by the Synth eye alone? A data reel? A series of numbers and letters than none of them but him and Vaughn could hope to discern? God, the intensity on his face when he did that sort of stuff scared the shit out of her sometimes, but it was also pretty sexy.

He cursed under his breath, shook his head, removed his hand and climbed further up. And ... ah ... What the hell? Sasha dared to stare at his rear and smiled her approval. It was like he had some sort of sixth sense about that crap. He just happened to look over his shoulder - probably to see how high up he was an proceed to mentally freak himself out. Sasha averted her eyes quickly, feeling her own blush streak across her nose. Clack, clack, clack rang his shoes against the steel beams. Rhys must not have noticed her curious stare because he was on the move again. So she returned to what was becoming her favorite past time, cocking her head and rubbing her chin, smirking.

The second satellite must have yielded the same result as the first. Rhys looked up at the final one with pained, wistful reproach. 'You're kidding me,' he mouthed, then said aloud, "I'm starting to regret my choice of profession."

Sasha cupped her hands around her mouth. "It's only eighty feet up!"

"That's not helping!"

Sacrificing speed for safety, Rhys slowed to almost a crawl during the final ascent. He hooked his legs around metal as he came to a stop and proceeded on with what he'd done for the last two satellites. "Bingo!" A hologram appeared from his robotic palm and, with a few deft swipes from his human hand, Rhys began breaking into the system to exact some repairs. The whole process didn't take exceptionally long. Before she knew it, the CEO was calling down for her to contact Deacon.

"Systems are go! At least that's what it looks like. Hold on, I'm gonna test communications."

"The hell was that?" Rhys exclaimed. He was facing west. Sasha looked but saw nothing.

"Vault 81 to Sanctuary Hills. Come in, Sanctuary Hills."

As Sasha turned her head back to the radio, Rhys hollered again. This time she managed to catch a glimpse of whatever he'd seen. It was bright, it was red, and it was vanishing beyond the clouds on wings made of fire. "What are there, firebirds now?" tittered Rhys, anxious all over again. "Because Deathclaws are one thing. But firebirds - nope. Nope. Nope."

"Maybe we're seeing things," Sasha attempted to placate the situation. "The same thing ... at the exact same time ... in the same place ... " Yeah. It didn't sound convincing to her either.

"Vault 81 to Sanctuary Hills. Do you copy?"

"Sanctuary Hills responding. Preston here. How are things, Deacon?" Whoever replied sounded bulkier than Deacon. His voice was much deeper and commanded a lot more respect. "We lost communication with you for a while there."

"Satellite was down. Sent a rookie out to fix it. How're the Minutemen holding up?"

"Still protecting the Commonwealth as best we can. There's no end to these feral ghoul and raider attacks ... "

Deacon and Preston went back and forth for a bit there, but Sasha stopped listening in on them and began honing in on her surroundings. That bright crimson bird thing made her fairly uneasy and she wasn't sure if it was going to try and spring down upon them from above. "Might be a good time to get down, Rhys!" she hollered. He didn't need her to tell him that. Rhys was already working his way to the bottom, pausing once to look southwards. Whatever he saw, she heard. It was distant but it was unmistakable. Thunder.

"Got some green clouds and lightning." Clack, clack, clack. "RadStorm?"

"Shit." Sasha pressed down on the microphone, interrupting the 'catching up' that was going on. "Hey, we've got a RadStorm rolling in."

"Ohhh, that's not good," Deacon confirmed her fears. "You guys're gonna have to take cover. Those storms are fast as hell. You won't make it back to the Vault in time. If you, hmm ... " Crumpling paper sounded in the background as Deacon unfurled a map. "Yep, head northeast. Used to be an old settlement called Oberland Station. They merged with Abernathy last month so the place is empty. Still got some decent buildings there though, just clear through 'em, make sure nothing else took up residence, ya get me? Look for the train tracks. And make sure you pop some Rad-X."

Sasha nodded numbly, more concentrated on Rhys, concerned because he stopped descending at about forty-five feet up to lean against the tower and curse. The way he favored his left arm made it plaintively clear it was cramping up on him. "What about Fiona and MacCready?"

"Mac knows the Commonwealth better than any of us. He'll make sure they get to shelter, don't you worry Bright-Eyes."

"Roger that, Mr. Man." She intended to sound pleasant but instant came off as distant. Hitching the microphone to where it belonged, Sasha hedged around the tower's base. "You okay?"

"Arm's stiff," he responded with a grimace. Rhys forced his recently-healed arm to work by grabbing at a beam. "I'm fi - "

Clearly not fine. As he stretched his robotic arm downward to grab another piece of steel, the digits on his left hand just kind of ... released involuntarily. Rhys made to snatch at whatever he could but was too far away. Bleating a shrill scream, the concrete ground was coming up way too fast and he was flailing -

- and true to her promise, Sasha caught him. "You really are the Black Cat," she teased.

He squeaked a microscopic, "My hero," with extremely wide eyes and exceptionally pale skin.

"Hey Rhys?"

"W-what?"

"Did it hurt?"

"Did w-wha-at hurt?" He was shaking hard, too spooked to realize what he was walking himself into - up until he saw her smug smile and half-lidded eyes.

"When you fell from heaven?"

If he kept melting in her arms like this, she was going to have to start carrying a bucket around.


If ever there was a testament of man's ability to adapt to even the most ragged of situations, Oberland Station would have definitely been in at least the top ten. Once upon a time it was but one of many stops along these busy train tracks. It probably used to be bustling with people needing to get to the next town or waystation or wherever. Now it was a dead husk of its former self. Years of weathering, radiation and firefights had withered the main building into a corroded version of itself: white paint all but run off; windows missing; stairs with half of the steps gone. But yet, here it stood. A single unlit lantern sat in the doorway as a reminder that there had been life there not so long ago.

The main station was definitely not the only building left standing. Several were splayed across either side of the tracks - little shanties constructed of wood and steel alike. None of them looked too appealing to the eye save for one wooden home tucked away in the center, hidden inconspicuously behind several Nuka Cola and milk machines. All about the once prosperous civilization were odds and ends that made everything a little more homely: a jukebox, some trader stands, a workbench for weapons and another for armor, a communal spit and cooking pot within the settlement's center, water pumps, and some large, heavy metal scaffolding looking like it was designed to hold something very, very heavy. There were several lookout points on either end of Oberland Station, each overlaid by dozens of sandbags. It was a huge surprise that this place hadn't yet been reclaimed by the odd settler - it was still fairly well fortified and almost screamed, 'Move in today!'

Rhys had almost strolled on in with no caution whatsoever. Sasha was quick to grab his shoulder and shake her head firmly. "We should comb through first." Thunder rumbled deep and loud. The sky was still blue, but it wouldn't be for much longer.

The Atlas CEO fumbled in his coat for the shock baton, extending it to full length and flipping the odd melee weapon on. Arcs of blue electricity zipped across the tip. Sasha would have dismissed the weapon as pathetic if she hadn't already seen it in action. But holy crap did that thing have a bite. One little tap would send some idiot flying.

Sasha shouldered her SMG. "You go left, I go right?"

He looked a little more confident with the baton at his disposal, but a heavy undertone of fear lingered. Rhys was no fighter - he didn't need to get himself into a brawl just to prove that. So it was with stark seriousness when he asked her, "If I start screaming you'll come running, right?"

Silence.

"Right?"

He turned.

" ... Sash?"

Damn, she was quick. Sasha must have already started ducking and weaving through the buildings. Rhys rubbed the back of his neck at his own inadequacy. Well crap, if she could do it, why was he wasting time just standing around? He thought of Savage and wondered how bad anything else could be in comparison to that beast. But then he remembered the same radiation had probably gone and mutated everything else into massive, ornery monsters with a taste for human flesh and Rhys found himself hesitating to even look through the first door he came across.

So he threw a rock in first.

When nothing came leaping to eat his face off, the former Hyperion shimmied quietly through. A heavy layer of dust coated just about everything, but aside from several hundreds of dust bunnies and a spider here and there, there was nothing to be terrified about. He paused at a lantern and checked to see if it still had oil. There was no telling how long the storm was going to last, and it was prone to get dark out before they could make their way back to the Vault. Rhys strolled out the door with a little more courage in his step.

He finally bumped into Sasha about halfway across the settlement. "Didja get scared?" she asked with a toothy grin and it became apparent that she'd already gone through her side of the tracks and was working her way down Rhys'.

"I was being tactfully cautious."

"Sounds like you got scared."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

There was only one building left and that was the well-built one. From the outside it was obvious that its construction came from before the bombs unless there was a functioning saw mill somewhere around that nobody knew about. Who could make log cabins anymore anyway? Most of the trees were either burned or rotten.

Rhys ran his fingers along a long claw mark on the cabin's outer wall and shuddered. "They warned us about raiders. You think it's kind of weird we haven't seen any yet?"

"Don't jinx us, Black Cat," warned Sasha.

"Meow." He was rewarded with a stifled chuckle. "But really. No raiders. Don't you think it's ... ," Rhys waved the shock baton and grinned wide, " ... shocking?"

He was clearly saving that lame joke for her. Sasha laughed, poking him in the ribs as she passed into the cabin. "Oh my god you're such a dork."

"I try." His ears were burning again.

"Really? I thought it came naturally."

"Naturally genius." Rhys waited for a snarky comeback, but when Sasha couldn't disagree, he strutted with credence after her. Then, "Whoah, it's actually nice."

Neither of them were expecting the Taj Mahal after drifting through the 'glorious mansions' of Oberland Station, but this ... this was a five-star hotel among cockroach-ridden motels. Sure there was soot and an accumulation of strange bits that didn't belong - in a nuclear wasteland, that was to be expected. But marble countertops? A rug that, though dirty, was still really plush? Fine redwood cabinets and a really soft-looking couch that had to be satin or something equally pleasant to the touch?

Of course the windows were no longer intact, but somebody jury-rigged wooden shutters so that they could be opened or closed from the inside and latched in place.

They walked side-by-side, scoping through each room in search of hidden dangers. There was a pantry laden with several cans of food and an array of spices. Why was all of that left behind? Were they leaving it for whoever might come through? He almost dismissed the passing thought, thinking nobody could be that generous and then recalling that if people hadn't been, he wouldn't be alive right now.

Sasha uttered a moan. "I could kill for a bath in that." Rhys looked over her shoulder and whistled. She'd found the bathroom and holy hell that tub was massive.

"Is there even any running water?" he thought out-loud. Sasha spun the sink's handle and her nose wrinkled in disgust. What came out was thick, brown, and smelled of sulfur.

"Oh that's gnarly." They both drew back coughing and covering their noses. Rhys closed the door behind her as Sasha scrambled blindly out.

Hurk.

Then there was the bedroom and a really, really big mattress. Rhys flipped off the shock baton and belly-flopped onto it. FWUMP! A cloud of dust exploded all over him. "Oh gawd - bad idea, bad idea!" He rolled off, hacking. Sasha, in stitches, helped him to his feet and started patting the gunk off his back. They were soon choking in unison, laughing when they could get a breath in.

Once the air cleared - and it took some time - Sasha found a walk-in closet and flung it open. She donned the train conductor's hat found on the top shelf and spun around for Rhys. "How do I look?"

It slipped out before he could check himself. "Ridiculously cute."

"Looks like I'll have to keep it then," she winked, pretending to pull down an air horn's handle. "Chugga chugga choo choo."

He looked at her with an expression that said, 'Stop being adorable or I'm gonna have to squish you with the biggest of hugs.'

"Maybe we should hold out here," she recommended after collecting herself. "I didn't see any cracks in the walls and we can just close those shutters." They made their way back to the kitchen. Rhys put the lantern down on the kitchen island - yes, there was an island. Sasha plopped the rucksack next to it.

"There should be a generator somewhere," Rhys told her. "I saw wires all over the place and a lot of what's here needs power." His glowing Synth eye focused on yet another Ham Radio sitting where a television probably once stood in the living room. If they could get it working, they could contact the Vault.

Sasha's mouth opened and closed rapidly. She pointed at him. "I actually saw it on the other side of the tracks, let me check it out." She disappeared beyond the door before Rhys could say anything.

Not even a heartbeat's breadth later she was shrieking.

"Sasha!"

He didn't remember flipping on the shock baton or even sprinting towards the door - looking back, he wouldn't have thought he could move that fast. He was virtually gliding to a Sasha pinned under some massive, black, writhing thing and thought for just a millisecond that scorpions weren't supposed to be that big -

- he wasn't thinking, only doing, only skidding to a halt next to Sasha and the mutant monster that shouldn't exist with the shock baton out to his side and the scorpion's tail poised to strike -

"FORE!"

Rhys envisioned the thing getting slammed so hard it would go flying off into the RadStorm clouds edging in on their location. Electricity sparked, blue bolts whipping across the monster's black exoskeleton. But it didn't budge. It didn't even look stunned.

It did, however, notice him. And it realized it had been attacked. Changing the stinger's target only required the scorpion to angle itself ever so slightly and Rhys arched backwards in time for the venom-tipped barb to skim past the edge of his nose and stop a mere two inches from his gut. He reeled backwards, damn near losing his footing as the Giant Radscorpion scuttled impossibly fast off of Sasha and was now charging towards him.

"Crapcrapcrap - " Rhys wheeled around and bolted, hearing the clicking of the arachnid's dangerous claws and feeling the wind swish as the stinger launched into the ground where his foot had been a second ago.

Sasha sat up and aimed the SMG. The bullets ricocheted off the scorpion's thick armor one by one. It wasn't even phased, dead-set intent on snatching Rhys because he was so much closer to it than she was. There was a Nuka Cola machine in front of him. Somewhere in Rhys' head a lightbulb ping-ed to life and he clambered first on top of the vending machine and then onto the cabin's roof while the Radscorpion's massive pedipalps ripped through the machine's plastic front.

Rhys had to lay on his belly for what he was planning, reaching below the roof and grabbing the back edge of the Nuka Cola machine. His robot arm was stronger than his normal one. It didn't fail him now, slowly tipping over the beverage dispenser while the huge stingy thing snapped and stabbed and hissed. Connective wires strained, eventually giving way with several loud SNAPs. Then there was a disgusting albeit satisfying crunch and the Giant Radscorpion was reduced to a twitching, crumbled mass beneath the machine, its stinger spasmodically striking at metal due to muscle twitches and nothing more.

He remained gawking at the scene for a while, not fully registering what had just happened until Sasha offered him both a hand down and his shock baton back (had he dropped it? He didn't recall dropping it ... ) When realization finally settled in, Rhys was hovering over Sasha's every cut and scratch with panicked, "Are you hurt? Did it sting you?"

"Rhys," she said. "Rhys, I'm fine, really, seriously." But she was saying it more to herself than anybody else. Sasha was trembling, pupils constricted into a state of shock.

He'd never seen her that scared before. Without hesitating, Rhys pulled her into a tight hug, hating that this whole event had reduced her to a quivering mass and struck with the strangest bitter desire to chop what was left of the Radscorpion - or anything that got close to her right now, really - into very tiny pieces. Christ, he could actually feel her bounding heart against his chest - not like his was any better at the given moment, but she had always been the strong one ...

"You are fine," he told her firmly, as though reaffirming her previous statement was going to make her feel any more secure.

Really, it might have done the trick because her shaking was becoming less and less violent. Rhys didn't break his embrace, quietly running his free hand through her hair and kissing her forehead until her breathing slowed and her muscles relaxed. Only then did he wrap an arm around Sasha's waist and lead her into the cabin. He sat her down on the sofa, then went rooting through the rucksack to find her a bottle of purified water.

Rhys kneeled in front of her and held her hand, gently planting his lips on one of her knuckles. "I'm gonna go find the generator," he told her despite really not wanting to leave her side - much more because of his want to comfort her than his fear of the dangers that lurked outside. Seeing her even the slightest bit rattled was actually making his chest ache. "Just ... relax, okay? I'll be back in no time." Sasha nodded numbly.

As he stood to go, Sasha's voice crackled to life. "Rhys?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful ... " He couldn't place that look in her eyes - it was so alien for her - but it made his heart leap into his throat and his knees wobble.

Rhys winked. Gah, he hadn't meant to, didn't even know he was going to, but there it was. He held out a metal arm, digit extended. "Pinky promise."

She smiled - truly; boldly; genuinely - and Rhys realized he would do anything to see that smile.


"There's no gas," Rhys told her when he came back. He was out of breath, like he'd just gotten through with running ... and for good reason. The RadStorm loomed above Oberland Station. It cast an eerie green glow upon Rhys as he closed the door behind himself. Deacon wasn't lying, Sasha thought to herself. They really do move fast as hell ...

In the next minute, he was a flurry of activity - slipping from one window to the next and closing the shutters. With no light to go by it was easy for Rhys to crash into every single wall while hunting for the lantern. A sizzle of flame later, the room was partially lit with a flickering orange hue. Then it was a frantic search through the rucksack for the Rad-X tablets, keeping one for himself and then tossing the bottle to Sasha. She shucked it back with a gulp of water.

"How often are we supposed to take those?"

"Mac said one daily depending on the exposure." Rhys' face twisted to the door, brow raised. "And RadStorms only last for like an hour unless it - "

The sky opened up. Heavy droplets struck hard on the cabin's roof.

" - rains ... "

"I think we might be grounded for the night," Sasha said with a helpful little smile. She was feeling much better now - mostly because Rhys made it back safely. The Atlas CEO made his way to the sofa, resigning to a cushion and sinking in with a sigh. Sasha crawled her way over to him and snuggled into his chest. He'd become quickly comfortable with those cuddling positions, readily wrapping his arms around her and resting his head atop of her's. "I don't suppose you've got more of the Storyteller, d'you?"

"Actually ... " He opened his robotic palm and a familiar holographic screen emerged. "Where'd we leave off?"

"FEV and Super Mutants."

Sasha took it upon herself to swipe through the screen, refusing to let go of Rhys' other arm because really it was just too comfortable where it was. The cybernetic-imbued man found it endearing.

A familiar voice reverberating through Power Armor chimed to life. "When the apocalypse was on the horizon, people became desperate to preserve civilization. For people who survived Armageddon inside a Vault, life became an exercise in maintaining the status quo as much as possible for as long as possible ... "

Seconds became minutes, which became hours. Rhys and her flipped through one episode after another, occasionally getting up to roam curiously around the cabin. There were several hidden stashes of various objects all over the place. Sasha accidentally ripped a board off the floor and found several bottles of liquor, leaving them in place for, "the next denizens to find." Rhys was far less fortunate. He'd walked back into the bedroom and was promptly bombed with a gray fuzzball of a cat that came crashing through the cockloft nobody knew was there. When he started squealing, Sasha came running. The ferocious feline was running laps around his head, then fell to the floor in a pile of hisses and fur that zipped out of sight somewhere in the cabin.

Sasha took it upon herself to nurse the freshly-scratched and 'what-the-hell-just-happened'-scared Rhys' wounds and was shocked to see several of them were already in the process of healing. Right. The Monocyte Breeder. How could she forget? Later on when Rhys would stalk off, he would occasionally crouch down at the sight of streaking gray and call, "Here, kitty kitty ... "

Suffice to say, the cat never did come out of hiding. That was probably for the best.

Neither of them grubbed out until their stomachs were practically holding conversations with each other. MacCready had made sure they'd packed enough to last them at least two days. Sasha was staring at a package labeled 'Dandy Boy Apples' and found herself looking at the packaging date.

"Best by June 13, 2077," she recited.

Rhys stuck out his tongue and held up another box. "Want some 200 year-old salisbury steak?"

Eventually they wound up splitting some dehydrated meat things. Sasha remembered MacCready telling her that they were called Mole Rat Chunks and decided to withhold that information so Rhys didn't spew all over the place.

The rain never let up once. It took about an hour for the thunder and lightning to catch up.

"It almost sounds metallic, doesn't it?" Rhys asked when they lay back and listened to it's crude rumbling. It really did rattle similarly to when somebody took a big piece of sheet metal and flapped it.

"Felix taught us this thing when Fi and I were kids." She felt Rhys' eyes lock onto her. He had to be surprised, and why shouldn't he? Felix was still a sore subject for her. There mere mention of his name usually led to cramping in her heart and a kindling fuse of anger in her brain. When Fiona told her what happened after she got ahold of him before confronting the Traveler, though, that rage was slowly being quelled. It felt nice to finally be reaching some closure. "Whenever you hear thunder, you're supposed to count 'one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand' and keep going until you hear the next bit of thunder. Supposed to measure how far away the heart of the storm is or something. Pretty sure it's bullshit."

The ground quaked with the next monstrous quake and Rhys counted out loud. "One-one thousand, two - " Cccrrraaack! Sasha feigned a frightened squeak so Rhys would hold her tighter. "Totally still over us." He was grinning. "My nana used to tell me the same thing."

Nana? She'd never heard him mention his family before. And ... She looked upwards, kissing his jaw to get his attention. "Now that I think about it, I don't know anything about you from before Hyperion."

Through the dimming glow of lantern-light, Sasha could no longer tell if he was blushing or not. He had the gentlest smile and the lantern was bringing out some of the most youthful, handsome features he had. Judging by the quivering iris behind the fire dancing in his human eye, she had to wonder if he was thinking something similar about her.

He was also oggling for a little too long. Sasha's mouth quirked upwards. "You're doing the creepy thing again," she told him playfully.

"What creepy thing?"

"The staring thing."

Rhys blinked and looked away. "Totally not. Not staring."

"You totally were."

He seemed to give it some afterthought and his lips tugged into a small smile, head bobbing to the side but still looking away. " ... Maybe a little."

Shit. Sasha knew her cheeks were bursting rosily. She nudged him with her shoulder in an attempt to distract herself. "So, c'mon, details! I wanna know about pre-Hyperion-slash-Atlas Rhys."

Rhys laughed. "It's nowhere near as interesting as present Rhys. I'd bore you to tears."

"Hmmm, so, nerd straight outta the womb, eh?"

"There's no other way to be."

They sat in comfortable silence, accompanied only by the rain and the thunder.

"Rhys?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks for saving me."

"You're always saving me." But something had flashed across his human iris and Sasha thought it appeared sorrowful. Rhys swallowed hard. "I - uh - I don't want anything to ... to happen to you." He wanted to say more - she could see the way he was hesitating, maybe trying to figure out how to word it properly. Sasha remained silent until he was able to coax himself into spilling it. "Back when I was ... ah .. back when I was dying I guess ... "

She saw his lifeless form on the infirmary cot and buried her head in his chest, thankful for the heartbeat she was hearing now.

"I kept going right back to after the Traveler, when you ... you know. Except it was - well it was different. It didn't play out the way I knew it did and you - you ... " Rhys tried to very subtly rub the corner of his regular eye and rid himself of what Sasha suspected was a tear. "I knew initially that I was having a nightmare over and over again. But it just kept replaying and I couldn't do anything to change it. Eventually I ... I started thinking that maybe it really did happen that way. That I was dead and being forced through my own personal hell or something ... I started hoping I was dead so I didn't have to wake up and face that reality."

He wasn't looking at her. Sasha wondered if he felt ashamed and squeezed him gently. There were several times throughout his medical lab stay where Sasha had woken up to witness him sobbing in his comatose state. It made much more sense now.

She cupped his cheek with her hand. He responded to her warmth by leaning into it and closing his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she uttered wearily.

Rhys blinked his orbs open and their stares met. "What for?" he asked, confused.

"After Helios exploded ... for the six months between landing on Pandora and finally reuniting. We should have looked harder. I mean, we scoured the biodome a couple of times, but we must have gotten there before you did. And when we found the Helios crash site, we saw your arm and some wires and blood stains and thought ... we thought you didn't make it ... that the wildlife dragged you off."

"You couldn't have known - "

"Did you know," Sasha pressed on, determined to say what she felt was needed, "that I cried myself to sleep for a really long time after that - don't you tell anybody I told you. It took me almost three months to start getting a grip on myself. Or I thought I did. I started doing stupid little things to remind me of you. Started putting a flower behind my ear and - "

"The pants." Rhys cracked a smile.

"Yeah, the pants." She laughed, elated to see some of the sadness evaporate from the Atlas president's face. "You noticed?"

"How couldn't I?" Bashfully, he grinned. "You uh ... look really - really gorgeous, by the way ... "

She pecked his cheek. "You work it better."

"N-Nuh-uh ... "

"Yeah-huh." She chuckled. "I thought somehow by doing that ... I dunno, you'd notice, or keep watch, or be proud wherever you were. I really didn't want to let go, and I really didn't wanna forget. I was still this ball of depression though. Fiona was the total opposite."

She was pleased when Rhys cut loose a hearty laugh. Sasha lifted herself off of him and the former Hyperion sat up. "Oh yeah, she was pissed at me when Loader Bot kidnapped us."

"She and I switch around emotionally like that. Whenever Felix happened, holy shit, I was a fucking bomb just waiting to go off and Fi was all melancholy. Then you dropped off the face of the planet and I was the biggest sad sack you've ever seen. Sis became the apocalypse." The gun fanatic rubbed her arm, unaware she was copying Rhys' nervous tick. "I - well - you confused the hell out of me, you know? I started feeling all of these things I never really felt before and - and I don't wanna lose you either and ... and ... "

Just fucking say it already, will you? And she tried, she really did. But Rhys' fingers traced up either side of her jaw and his lips met her's with a passion that far surpassed every other kiss they shared up until that point. His hands moved down to her waist and held her close to him. A radiant heat was emitting from his body that Sasha couldn't quite describe, but she willing to bet steam would erupt from his shirt collar if she tugged on it. They remained lip-locked like that until neither could stand the act of not breathing. Even then, he pulled away slowly - never once breaking his gaze from her's. There's that intense stare again.

She felt her limbs grow weak and her heart beat strong. Their faces were mere inches apart. "Sasha," he began, mustering up more courage than she (and probably he) realized he had, "I - "

A rough gust of wind slammed open a shutter that had been improperly latched, whipping out the lantern's fire in the process. Rhys practically flung himself across the room like a housewife who'd seen a mouse. Whenever he climbed back to his feet he was stumbling through the dark. Night had fallen outside and not even the glow of RadStorm clouds could pierce that darkness. Sasha found herself bursting into a fit of giggles as he walked into one thing after the other until finally coming upon the open window. She removed herself from the couch and walked over to join him.

"There we go," he mumbled, sounding irate that radiation-fuelled Mother Nature had ruined his confession. Sasha placed a hand on his back and he turned. She couldn't see him in the dark, but she imagined he was grinning awkwardly and blushing like mad. "I - uh - what I was gonna s - "

Instead of letting him finish, Sasha intended to get revenge on him for cutting her off earlier, returning the favor by pressing him softly against the wall and attacking his starving lips with her hungry ones.


It caught Rhys by surprise, but Sasha pressing firmly against him pressing firmly against the wall was just - everything and then some. His hands were at her waist and he was certain his fingers were twitching - no - spasming because now Sasha was prying apart his lips with her tongue and - and -

He was pretty sure his heart became a volcano, dripping molten lava into his belly each time it pulsed. Static was blotting out rational thought. Robotic fingers traced to the back of her head, holding her head close to his as he responded in kind. It was taking an incredible amount of control to keep himself from doing more, but Sasha was forcing him to break any and all limits he was setting for himself by surpassing them without regard. barely pausing long enough to see if he would follow her lead - and he really didn't need a whole lot of time to catch up.

Rhys wasn't fully aware that she had removed his vest and was in the process of removing his dress shirt until the last button was undone. He almost gasped when her delicate fingers ran up the spinal indentation of his naked back.

Maybe it was pride, or maybe it was the itch to prove he was just as bold as she was, but Rhys twirled with her so that it was he holding her up against the cabin. His hands went to work removing that hoodie, then the shirt, then fumbling with the bra clasp as he lowered his mouth to her neck and nipped while she shuddered against him and moaned.

Get a grip, Rhys! his mental voice scolded him, and Rhys knew that it was right. "Damn - no - I need to tell you something - "

But her mouth was tangling with his again and she pushed him backwards until he fell onto the sofa. Sasha straddled him, pressing down on his chest until he was forced to lay flat. Rhys was glad the furniture happened to be wide enough to hold both of them with room left over.

"Sure - what's up?"

The innuendo wasn't lost on him, and biting back the urge to make a joke, he responded instead by pulling her down to his level instead. His hands ran up along her chest, feeling every perfect curve until they came to her shoulders, where they rounded to the back of her head and forced their lips to meet in yet another fevered tango. He didn't allow his fingers to linger there long. He traced them down her sides until they found her pants. Sasha was way ahead of him, tangling with his belt (and giggling into his mouth when she couldn't figure out how to remove it right away). This was at least one thing he could outdo her on. Her's was simple but ... but ...

Crap ... His fingers writhed there for a little too long. He knew full well that if they passed this threshold, he (and most likely, she) wasn't going to stop. He needed to tell her. He needed to tell her first, and now because she managed to unbuckle his belt and was going to ... to ...

Rhys tucked his robotic hand into the small of her back and spun the both of them. With his left arm, he pinned her prying fingers where they were, keeping them from roving any further. There was no denying it - the restraint was actually physically painful to him. But he needed to do this. He needed to get it out or he was going to regret it for the rest of his life.

"I love you," he panted in one breath. It came out too fast and that, he felt, made it sound insincere, so he lowered his face to her's and said it again - slower this time and brimming with all of his heart and soul. "I love you."

Rhys wasn't sure why he feared rejection from her so badly when it was clear the sentiment was not his alone, but he had braced himself for the absolute worst. So when Sasha held her face close and pierced his mouth again with something a thousand times more passionate and much less desperate, relief washed over him.

"I know," she crooned. Their foreheads touched. In the darkness, Rhys' glowing Synth eye almost appeared to brighten. Almost. "I love you too."

They lingered there for a while, the frantic nature of their frenzied motions dying down enough to simply let them enjoy each other's presence. Then Sasha shook with laughter.

"Hey Rhys?"

"Hey Sasha?"

"That was so ... romantic."

Her laughter intensified when he leaned down with a devilish smile (which of course she couldn't see in their surrounding blackness) to lightly bite her lower lip, playfully jesting, "Oh, you are so gonna pay for that."