A/N: This chapter was a bitch to write. Major kudos go to Cressida Isolde for a lot of the plot help, and being my unofficial beta. She's absolutely wonderful. Also, the rating goes up to 'M' in this chapter.

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The next few weeks are touch and go for Jake. Evelyn awakened a week before him by some miracle. Dog Meat was laying in a ball against her bed. She doesn't see Lucy. She faintly wondered if Lucy is even alive.

Her breathing is ragged and she can barely stand. Elder Lyons is called immediately and two Paladins stand menacingly with huge plasma rifles behind them. Did they not trust the frail outsider?

A man in red robes that had trailed in behind Elder Lyons felt for a pulse from Jake. He nodded slightly to Elder Lyons. Lyons looked at her and started talking. It took a few seconds to actually comprehend what he was saying to her.

"...Have been completely wiped out of the area. We commend you and your companions. We wish to make you and Jake, if he wakes up, honorary Brotherhood of Steel paladins."

Evelyn nodded, not fully understanding what he meant. She saw the bags under his eyes and even more wrinkles if possible. Something in the back of her mind screamed at her. She should know what's going on. It was so obvious. Evelyn squints.

"Where's.. Where's Sarah?" She asked. The words jumbled together and feel weird as they come out. Elder Lyons looked sadder and then regained his composure.

"I'm afraid my daughter died at the Purifier."

"I'm sorry." Evelyn muttered, eyes fully on Jake.

"She died for a good cause. She died for something that benefited the whole Wasteland."

"Yeah, she did. How long have I been out?" Evelyn asked quietly.

"Almost two weeks."

She remembered after her Dad died. It seemed like she hadn't stopped crying. But Elder Lyons was standing here, looking only a little sad, if that.

"What happened to my friend? Lucy?"

"After much reluctance on my part, she is helping train the Initiates with a gun."

"And... Jake. Is he going to be okay?" Her voice cracked slightly and the man in the red robes took over for Elder Lyons.

"He should be fine. He's made it past the first week which is amazing. None of you should've lived."

Evelyn sighed in relief and crossed the distance to Jake. His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Evelyn bit her lip and brushed the black hair out of his eyes. A gnawing pain chewed at her heart. What if he didn't wake up? What if the scribe was wrong?

Evelyn faintly heard the Elder and paladins leaving.

"If you do wake up I'm going to beat the shit out of you." Evelyn muttered to Jake's sleeping form before laying back down on her own bed.

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"Hey, Evelyn. You awake yet?" A soft and low voice greeted Evelyn as she slowly regained her senses.

"No. Last time you woke me up it was all out hell."

Lucy shook her and Evelyn groaned into the pillow.

"I promise its good! Now c'mon."

"I don't wanna." Evelyn whined lowly and turned to face the wall.

"You'll like this surprise..." Lucy told her almost triumphantly. "You just have to get up to see for yourself."

"God, fine. Lucy, if this is some sort of sick joke you're going to be the first to go." Evelyn muttered, kicking the covers off of her legs.

"Its not Lucy anymore. Its Verity now." 'Verity' told her and grabbed a brush.

"Why Verity?" Evelyn asked, and sat down to let Verity brush her black hair out.

"Because, I'm leaving Lucy behind. I'm not some drug addict anymore. I'm Verity." There was a edge of proudness in Verity's voice that made Evelyn smile.

"I'm proud of you. Now where's my surprise?" Evelyn asked and Verity pulled a few strands of loose black hair.

"You can be patient."

Evelyn felt like a kid at Christmas. Verity was delaying the showcase of her surprise for the hell of it. Evelyn listened to the steady hum of power armor clanking and clunking as Brotherhood of Steel members walked through the corridors. Verity helped Evelyn out of the chair and in front of a cracked mirror.

"You did a good job with my hair." Evelyn murmured. Self consciously she touched the straight hair.

"It looks fine. Now c'mon." Verity covered Evelyn's eyes, much to her displeasure. Evelyn heard Dog Meat bark behind her. Evelyn leaned down to pet her puppy to realize he's not so much of a puppy anymore. She counted it on her fingers, and mouthed that its been three weeks now. Everything clicked. The only one that wasn't with them was Jake. She quickly wiped the realization of Verity's surprise off of her face and went along with the older woman.

Sunlight greeted the pair, and Evelyn reached to cover her eyes. Verity swatted at her hand. Evelyn shot her a annoyed look. Evelyn's eyes scan over the courtyard and she saw Jake. She broke into a sprint and headed straight for him. Her fist met his jaw, and he stumbled back.

"If you ever do that again, I will murder you!" Evelyn shouted, and Jake rubs at his jaw. He noticed her rubbing her sore knuckles.

"You still can't throw a decent punch." He remarked, eyebrow raised. A smirk was playing over his features and it made Evelyn even madder.

"You're a idiot. Just what were you thinking going in there?" She asked, looking straight at him.

"The betterment of the Wastes, you know all of that good savior shit my Dad was so intent on."

Evelyn knew as much as he tried to play it off, he was actually ready to die for his Parent's dream.

"They want us to go on another mission. You know, to remove the Enclave from the area." Jake told her, and stopped himself at her incredulous look. "We're not going. Besides you've been following me around for a month now right? Why don't we take Verity and go see your sister? We deserve a break."

"You're kidding me, what about the Brotherhood? They've had their thumbs up their asses for years..."

Jake shrugged and motioned for her to come help him back down to the bunks. He leaned against the young woman and pulled her close to him. Evelyn can smell the soap on him.

"They can take care of themselves with Liberty Prime. I have no reason to stay here anymore. Mom and Pops are dead, the purifier is active, so we'll move onto Vegas. You in, Eve?"

The use of her damned nickname, and she still wanted to follow him. Maybe Verity is so goddamn right about how she felt. Which wouldn't be a surprise.

Evelyn helped him onto the bed, and sat at his feet, cross legged.

"How would we even get there? Where would we find enough food? I hear the mid-west is pretty much deserted except for gangs, Brotherhood and Legion slavers."

"Did you hear that from Verity? I already asked her. It'll take us a couple of weeks to get there... but we will, I promise. We can leave as soon as I'm recovered."

Evelyn rested her head against the wall, and stared at the desk across from the bed.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

Jake struggled to sit up and put his head in her lap. Evelyn played with the pieces of long and shaggy black hair. The hair is actually clean. Evelyn had been taking a shower every chance she could. It was a luxury that she had sorely missed while in the Wastes.

"So, will you?"

"If you agree to a haircut. I don't like your hair this long."

Jake closed his blue eyes and chuckled.

"As long as you go with me."

Evelyn wanted to kiss him, but she didn't feel like testing her boundaries just yet. In the comfortable silence, Jake is lulled into sleep.

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Evelyn explained the plan to Verity who agreed wholeheartedly. It takes a couple of weeks but they leave the Citadel. Jake wormed them out of the mission. Evelyn saw it as a miracle. The last thing they needed was having to worry about watching their backs from heavily armored paladins with a fetish for energy weapons.

Their first stop was Megaton for the night. They were all back to fairly good health, and being back in the Wasteland instead of cooped up in the Citadel put all of them in a good mood.

Evelyn took note of how well Verity was doing. She looked much healthier now that she wasn't suffering through withdrawals.

The trip back to Megaton was relatively quiet. They came into view of the make-shift town and Evelyn let out a audible sigh. It was so good to be home.

Verity pointed something out, on the outer wall of Megaton, making Evelyn squint. It looked like something was strung up... Verity quickened her pace, and the other two hurried to keep up.

Evelyn's eyes watered when she made out what exactly was on the wall. Charon. He was strung up by his wrists. His clouded eyes were open and were staring blankly at them. Whoever had done it knew exactly what they were doing. This wasn't some random killing by Raiders..

"God fucking dammit." Jake muttered and took the note that was pinned to Charon's armor.

We've been watching. Springvale, tomorrow.

Jake crumpled the note and threw it on the ground.

"Help me get him down." His voice was cold, but Verity and Evelyn obliged anyways. Evelyn stepped back as Jake examined Charon's body. There were lashes on his back, whatever they used clearly went through the leather armor. Evelyn could see the blood droplets fall as Jake turned him back over. It had been recent. Jake closed Charon's eyelids.

Charon hadn't been her favorite person, by far. But she had to admit that he was a tough bastard when he was alive. Who could've done this to him?

"Will you get me a shovel, Eve? Please?"

Evelyn nodded and quickly discarded her pack near Verity. She knew she had a shovel somewhere in her house. Her house was cool and dark, just as she had left it. Evelyn turned on a dim lantern and searched for a shovel. She finally found it under the desk.

By the time she had come back, people were already starting to gather. Shit. Dog Meat growled beside Verity as she tried to disperse the people that had come to see the 'Lone Wanderer'.

The sun had set by the time Jake finished digging the grave. People still stood around. They whispered amongst themselves. Evelyn stood near Jake as he buried the ghoul.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Jake murmured. His posture showed Evelyn how tired he really was. She wrapped her arm around his waist and let Jake lean against her.

They got back to Jake's small house. Evelyn dropped her bag near the door. Wadsworth hovered near the stairs.

"Good evening, sir! How may I service you this fine evening?"

"Purify everything in this bag." Jake handed a bag full of waters to Wadsworth. "You going to be okay, Verity?" Jake asked, stopping before the first step upstairs. Dogmeat wagged his tail, clearly waiting for Verity to leave so he could follow.

"Yep. Been here before. Its been a hell of a long time, but yeah." Verity sets her stuff down near a shelf decorated with miscellaneous objects and small weapons Jake found interesting. There's a garden gnome in the corner, looking pristine.

Jake waited for Verity to leave before using Evelyn as a crutch. The jukebox at the top of the stairs played a low and soft Ink Spots song. All of her muscles cried in protest as she shouldered most of Jake's weight. She helped him out of the armored Vault suit and he changed into a loose pair of pants. Evelyn did the same, changing out of her trusty leather armor and into a loose shirt and shorts. She turned the lights off.

Jake lowered himself slowly onto the bed, muscles aching. Evelyn kissed his forehead. She knew he was to weary to mentally struggle over tomorrow. He pulled her down to him, and Evelyn instinctively wrapped both of her arms around him. His whole body rested against hers.

"Go to sleep. You need it." She told him, brushing her lips against his forehead once more. Jake shifted a little and his face hovered over her own. Much to her delight, Jake kissed her. Suddenly, all agony of aching muscles is gone. Her heart thumped wildly against her chest as she twisted her fingers in Jake's hair.

After one last kiss, Jake rested against her once more.

"We're both going to live." He promised, breathing evening out. Evelyn's heart fluttered and she agreed. They would. They had made it this far, and they would make it even further.

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A/N: I know I took forever, sorry. Jake finally got his wits about him and actually kissed her. Go Jake. :3