Clover was up before anyone else. She had a job to do and that meant getting it done before it got too much daylight, if she could. 'Cause the rest of them would want to do their jobs when it got daylight.

She was quiet but she woke Romeo up anyway. He was a hauler, so that meant he didn't sleep much on the road. And he didn't sleep too deep neither, 'cause there was always trouble on the road.

She wanted to spend a minute just being awake first, rubbing her eyes and scratching her scalp a bit. And that was fine. But Romeo went out to turn the generator off and check all the truck stuff, so she had to make Clover crawl up on the turret before she could wake up as slow as she'd wanted to. 'Cause she was on the sixty. That was part of her job.

"So, good mornin'." Romeo said, down on the flatbed. He was checking stuff still.

Clover yawned behind the gun. Real hard. 'Cause it was still dark out and she wasn't all the way awake yet.

"Trip said gear you up." He said. "Anything down here you need?"

She rubbed one eye, looking over the gear down there with the other.

"She needs some food. For lunch." She said. "And sommin' for breakfas'. Is there breakfas' MRE's?"

"Don't think so. I think it's all lunch stuff. Got some eggs though. Powder kind."

"She don't like that."

Romeo laughed. "You're getting spoiled, Clover."

So Clover frowned. "She'll eat it. Just wanna give her sommin' tastes better."

"That's what I'm talking about."

"We don't care, then." She said. A little snappish.

"Grumpy this mornin'?"

"No." She grumped.

"Probably wish you got to sleep in the back, huh?"

Clover woke up then, and focused sharply on Romeo. He just glanced back at her, smirking a little. So she had to cover for Clover. In case Romeo was gonna hurt her feelings.

"She's not jealous."

He laughed. "Oh, hell yes, she is."

She didn't say anything back to Romeo, though. 'Cause he was just playing. And Clover didn't want to play with him about that.

So she just watched the perimeter. 'Cause maybe something might come out of the dark and she could shoot it.

"Clover, I don't really want to give you a hard time." Romeo said, a little more seriously.

She sighed.

"She's got to go scout, Romeo."

So Romeo should stop talking at her and get done. So she could go away for a while. Go and be Clover out there, where she belonged.

Romeo just nodded. "Yeah, I know. Just wanted to make sure everything's all right with you."

"She's fine." Clover insisted. "We take care of her."

"Wouldn't mind Trip taking care of her a little, though, huh?"

Clover was starting to get mad.

"He's nice to her plenty. She don't care."

Romeo nodded. And came over to stand down there by the cab. So maybe he was done with his stuff already.

"Okay, Clover." He said. "Just wanted to be sure you were alright."

She should probably get Clover down there, fetching her gear. So she could go be Clover. Instead of talking to Romeo all morning. 'Cause that made Clover nervous.

Her, too, sorta.

But…

"It's…hard." She said. "Taking care of her, sometimes."

He was still listening. And he wasn't playing around anymore. So that was okay. Still made her all fidgety, though.

"Can't do everything she needs." She said. "You know?"

Romeo nodded. "Yeah, I do. Lot of folks have that problem."

"Yeah." She said, nodding. She supposed lots of folks did. "Hard to find somebody to help."

He snorted. "Sure as hell is. Anyone worth a damn, anyway. Especially for you, I guess."

"Yeah." She said, sadly.

"She's lucky to have you, you know." Romeo said. "Even if you never find anyone else to help, she's got you. So I guess that's something."

That surprised them both, though. Her and Clover. Because no one ever understood that.

"What?" Romeo asked, seeing the look on her face.

"Nothin'." She said. "Just…nobody gets that."

He grinned. "Well, I've been taking care of Romeo for a while now. So, yeah, I get it."

Clover thought that was kinda sad and nice. And she figured Romeo was alright, too, then. So she let Clover grin at him a little.

"He's a real pain in the ass sometimes." Romeo said.

That made her smile. Because Clover was a pain in the ass sometimes, too.

"Yeah." She chuckled.

So they were quiet for a while. And that was nice. Even though she oughta get Clover down and go scout. It could wait a minute, though.

"So what do you think about the ray gun girl down there?" Romeo asked.

So…it wasn't nice anymore. Because neither one of them liked that girl.

"She's trouble." Clover frowned.

Romeo nodded. "Yup. Got that feeling."

"She ain't human. Ain't mutie, neither."

"Kinda what Trip was saying last night, I think. So what do you think she is?"

She shook her head. "Don't know. Just trouble."

"Yeah." He said. "And she's getting her hooks in with Trip, too."

That made Clover mad. And she didn't like it much neither.

"She coulda…" She started, frowning.

But she really didn't want to tell Romeo about that.

…except, what the hell. Why not?

"She coulda had, too." Clover said. "Maybe."

Romeo looked up at her again, curious.

"You think?"

Clover nodded. "She thinks so. 'Cause she slept at his place alla time. And he's always nice to her. So…he likes her well enough. I prolly shoulda let her try, maybe."

"Why didn't you?" He asked. "You're alright. Better than any of the girls in Scraptown, anyway."

She shook her head. "No. Trip…he ain't a scavenger. He's town folk. And she'd have to leave alla time. And then it wouldn't work right, and that'd get her hurt real bad."

Romeo was looking at her funny, then. And his eyes went too deep. That made her nervous. So she wanted to go scout again.

"Had that happen already?" He asked.

She frowned. Why was she talking to him about all this?

"Just…one time. A little." She said.

She really oughta make Clover shut up, but...

"This…there was this guy in Rust." She said. "He let her stay there when she was trading. But…she had to…you know, like…like you have to do."

Romeo nodded. So he got it.

"Kinda got nice for a while." She said. "Didn't mind so much after a while. She liked it sometimes. When he wasn't mean about it."

"So what happened?"

She shrugged. "Came home one time…wasn't her home maybe, but…this other girl there. And they were doing that, we're pretty sure. So we left, didn't go back no more."

"Should have kicked her ass." Romeo said. "Lotta men screw around, Clover. You gotta make it so those other girls know you ain't gonna put up with it."

She shook her head. "No. She woulda killed 'em both. That's too much trouble."

And that got her thinking. About what she'd been thinking before.

"Romeo…" She said.

But she wasn't sure how to say it. Not in a way that wouldn't make him all jittery.

"What?" He asked.

"You think, maybe…? Well…we was thinking. We're already here. Salvage site's out there somewhere, which maybe we oughta go find it now. But…she's trouble. We oughta take care of that."

Romeo started looking at her like that again. Real deep. Maybe too deep. But at least he wasn't getting upset about it.

"Like how, exactly?"

"You know." She said.

He shook his head. "Don't think Trip would agree with that, Clover. Not a bit."

"So he don't have to know." She said. "Best for him, anyway. 'Cause she's trouble."

"This because you're jealous, Clover? You think that's gonna help you with Trip?"

"Ain't about that…"

"Yes, it is."

She looked back at him. Frowning.

"Well, okay." She said. "Part of it. But mostly not."

Romeo was staring up at her. Pretty hard, too.

And suddenly her chest hurt. And her eyes hurt, too.

"She already knows she can't have him." She said, her voice trembling just a little. "Ain't about that."

"Right. Because it don't work like that, Clover."

She sighed, frustrated. "We know that."

The truck shifted slightly under her. And the conversation had gotten pretty tense. Enough that she almost didn't pay it any attention…but Romeo noticed it. So she had to. So they knew what was coming when the door opened up down there.

When he jumped down from the truck and came around, she already knew how much he'd heard. He'd been awake for most of it. She just hadn't been paying attention.

And he was mad. Not the shouting kind of mad, neither. The kind of mad where he made decisions and you couldn't talk him out of 'em. So that was pretty bad.

He leaned up on the flatbed, on his forearms, with his fingers laced together like that. So, yeah, it was pretty bad.

"Good morning." He said.

They didn't say anything back. Because that'd just piss him off more.

"Something we need to talk about?" He asked.

So she started feeling guilty. Wasn't Romeo's fault, just hers. But she didn't want to say anything yet and get him to being mad only at her…

"No." Romeo said. Real quiet like.

"That's good." Trip nodded. "Because if we're talking about killing people, I think I'd like to be in on that discussion."

Clover figured maybe she should say something…

"We was just…"

"Do you two even know what we're doing out here?" He asked.

They didn't say anything. Because that was one of those questions you weren't really supposed to answer.

"She has a damned particle beam weapon in her pocket." Trip says. "In her pocket. Now, you think about that. What does that say about where she's from? You think maybe it might be a little better there than it is here?"

He shoved off the flatbed then. To glare at them both.

"Now, she's stuck here. With us." He said. "So we're salvaging for her, out here, so she can have something to trade. Maybe buy herself something to eat. Maybe even a clean pair of pants. And then what? You think she's going to stick around? Here? Or do you think she's going to go back where she came from as quick as she knows how?"

They didn't say anything.

"Well?" He snapped.

"She's gonna go home." Romeo said. "Quick as she knows how."

"That's right." Trip said. "Back home. Where they have a space program going. And they're trying to get up to the Phoenix. Or, even better, where they've already got to it and need help figuring it out."

He waited, letting that sink in a bit.

"You going with her, Trip?" Clover asked.

"If I have to make her drag me there by her ankle, you're damned right I am."

"Well…what about us?"

"I think that's kind of the whole point of this discussion." He said. "What about you? I was kind of hoping I could get you two out of here, too. Hell, that's half the reason I'm doing this. For you two. Now I'm wondering if that's such a great idea anymore."

"We aren't like you, Trip." Romeo said. "We don't know any kind of math or anything. What would they want with us?"

Trip huffed, throwing his arms out. Frustrated.

"What the hell's the matter with you two?" He said. "Where she comes from…I mean, I've only seen videos of what it was like before the war, but…if it's anything like that. Dammit, if it's just plain better than this, I'd clean toilets for a living! And I'd be damned happy to do it!"

"What's a toilet?" Clover asked.

"It's something you don't want to clean for a living, Clover!"

The truck shifted again.

And this time everyone noticed. Right away.

Trip put his hands on his hips and slumped, head bowed. Cursing under his breath.

He didn't raise his head when the door opened, the truck shifted again and the door was shut quietly back. Nor when she came around on the far side of the flatbed, either. He just kept staring at the ground. Because he was still cursing, if only in his head.

Then he sighed and looked up. And she was over there looking at them all calmly, hands folded neatly at her back.

"Excuse me for interrupting." She said. "But I preferred not to be murdered in my sleep."

Aw, God. So she'd probably heard...

"Nobody's murdering anybody." He said, frowning.

"That is good, then." She said.

"I'm thinking seriously about shooting some people in the kneecap, though." He said. "If that's alright with you."

"I don't think that would be very productive."

"Well, it was just a thought anyway."

Clover had something to say, though. So being Clover, she didn't hold her tongue.

"You're trouble."

"So I gather." T'Pol said.

"Yeah." Trip said. "So who was that talking about killing people a minute ago?"

"Because she's trouble." Clover insisted.

"Stranger danger." Romeo said. "Everybody's trouble. Can't kill everybody, Clover."

"Don't have to." Clover said, tightly. "Just her."

"No one is killing anyone!" Trip snapped. "Am I absolutely clear on that point?"

No one answered, though. Because he was really mad now.

"Clover!" He yelled.

"Don't yell at her." Clover said, quietly. Glaring at him now.

"You get your gear together and get your ass…!"

"Don't YELL AT HER!" She screamed at him, slapping the roof of the truck.

It was quiet for a moment. And Clover was shaking with fury.

In the turret, behind the sixty.

"Clover." He said, tightly. "You get your damned gear together."

"Wait." T'Pol said. "Excuse me."

Trip sighed, still glaring at Clover. Who was still trembling with anger, glaring hatefully down at him from the turret.

"Probably not a good time to chime in, T'Pol." He said.

"I think it is." She said.

She turned her attention to Clover.

"If you will calm yourself, I will speak to you." She said. "To all of you. There are things that you must know, before any further action is taken."

"No." Clover said, her voice trembling. "She don't care. She's leaving. Make all the trouble you want."

"That is your decision, of course." T'Pol said.

Clover thought about it for only a second…then slammed a fist onto the roof of the truck again, turning her anger on T'Pol now.

"Why are you here?" She demanded. "What did you come here for?"

"It was not my choice. And I am trying to leave."

"Then go! Go and leave us alone!"

"I need your help."

"Why? With what? Just go!"

"It is too far to travel by conventional means. I require subspace communications, to request recovery. Or, alternatively, a warp capable vessel. Such as the Phoenix."

Everyone stared. Realizing there was something to be realized there. But not quite realizing it just yet.

Trip caught up first, though.

"Wait…what?" He said. "What did you just say?"