Graverobber lay in the bag for a minute, acutely aware of the fact that two pairs of female eyes were watching him intently, both sure that he was doing something very stupid.

Well, you are doing something stupid, dumbass. You're broken. You should prolly make the kid just leave you here.

Fuck you. Graverobber thought to himself as he mentally took stock of what parts of his body had gone numb, which parts were still bleeding or bleeding again, what parts where throbbing and which parts, hopefully, wouldn't give way under his weight.

Shilo tilted her head to the side as she watched him,

"Yeah, see…now you're talking like a crazy person.. There's no way you can make it back without being hurt more and I can't deal with you hurting anymore!" Suddenly, she realized what she said and a deep blush crept deeply into her cheeks and she shut her mouth and looked at the ground. Graverobber rolled out of the confines of the bag and glanced up at the kid, resisting the overpowering urge to glance up that…belt she was wearing. He flashed her a brave grin when she glanced back up from the floor to check on his progress.

"Don't worry, kid, I've been through worse." She sighed and began gathering their clothes and belongings out of the bag; it was obvious that she was trying to keep the tiny whimpers to a minimum as she stooped.

"Well you shouldn't have to. Come on, you stubborn pain…" Graverobber levered his good arm against the torso of the cadaver next to him and slid his good leg up under him. Fighting to keep the grimace off his face, he stood, barely wavering even on the decaying bodies. He glanced down at where Shilo was still half kneeling, that slip of fabric barely covering that delightful little ass.

"Let's go, kid." Shilo stood and looked up at him, all the frustration was gone from her face. She tucked his good arm over her tiny shoulders and wrapped her arm around his waist as she tried to juggle everything.

"Come on… at least lean on me?"

"Or you can lean on each other…" Mag suggested softly.

"At least give me somma those bags." Shilo nodded and handed him some of the lighter things so that they wouldn't hurt his bad arm. She walked forward slowly, her face screwed up at the bodies under her feet. Graverobber tried to keep himself from laughing at her,

"The bodies bothering you, kid?"

"Only…ugh…when they squish between…ick. My toes…" she said, prancing about as best she could, face still scrunched up as she fast approached the place where they'd first met. So far the pain seemed to be ebbing a little, at least while she was uninhibited.

No.

What no?

You can't pick her up and carry her over the bodies. You can barely hold your own hardware, what makes you think you can pick up the spunky little shut-in?

Mag was following close behind Shilo, looking concerned every time that the girl whimpered or let out a particularly loud noise of disgust because she'd hit a particularly ripe body.

"Almost…there.." she muttered, voice still carrying across the empty room full of what had once been people.

"I know, kid. The tomb's unlocked, right?"

"Always is." She answered, sighing happily as she finally stepped off the last of the bodies and through the wall, its hole still in place even after months.

* * * * * *

Once he got to the tomb, Graverobber leaned on the doorframe for a minute before opening the door and gesturing her inside, managing to cover how much he was actually leaning on the door by giving her a gentlemanly bow. He glanced up and down the street, making sure the coast was clear and they weren't being followed. His entire body had stopped being on fire a while ago and it was like he was rolling around in a pit of white hot knives. Mag was inside and had somehow managed to muscle open the door on the inside that lead up to the house. Shilo stumbled in a little as she entered and she leaned against the door on the inside to hold it open.

"Come on, Graves…just have to head upstairs and into bed and you'll be okay…" Graverobber gave himself another second to steel himself against the onslaught of pain he knew was coming as soon as he moved. That done, he moved across the room as smoothly as he could, doing his best to play off just how much pain he was in. He playfully cupped her chin in one hand and gave her a smirk before grabbing the bags out of her hands and swinging them up on his good shoulder; he leaned against the rocky stone of the tunnel on his way up. He could feel Shilo behind him, he was sure her eyes were worried,

"When you get to the stairs, you will let me help you. No arguments." She said as they entered the house proper,

"'k, kid, whatever you say." He answered as he headed past the empty bird cage and started up the stairs on his own, his body had stopped screaming and frankly most of it was numb, except for what was actively being pressed against something. Shilo sighed and nearly threw herself in front of him, ignoring her own flinch of pain as she landed on the stairs, blocking his way,

"Bags. Now. Use the railing and me and take your time…"

"Or you could hand me the bags, Graves…" Mag said, a sardonic smile on her face. Graverobber half smiled as he glanced at her,

"No rules?" he glanced back at Shilo, but spoke to both of them, "I hold by the rule that the Lady doesn't carry the bags."

"I fear I may have stopped being a proper Lady sometime ago…" Graverobber was stunned by this, he grabbed the railing tightly for balance, the small bag of Shilo's clothing swinging wildly as he bowed deeply, taking Mag's hand and kissing it as he had so many times before,

"Never, m'Lady." He could see Shilo out of the corner of his eye looking at him as though he'd lost his mind.

"Bags, Graverobber or I will take them from you." She said, trying to look tough, her arms were crossed against her chest, one hand held out to him. Graverobber sighed and made a big show of handing her only her costuming bag that now held her normal clothing. Mag was smiling off to the side,

"Tsk, tsk, You'll give the game away…" Shilo took the bag that he handed her and held out the other hand, waiting.

"All of it, Mister." She was waiting for his harvesting kit, which was settled carefully against his back where it always had been.

"This isnt' that heavy, kid."

"All of them, so you can use the railing and me."

"Really, I've always carried it."

"No arguments. Gimme the bag, honey. Please?" Graverobber tried not to show the shock on his face at the pet name. He'd rarely been called anything other then his name unless someone truly wanted something, something bigger then to carry his bags so he could collapse himself into bed. With a sigh that reached though his entire being, Graverobber pulled the bag up over his head and held it just out of her reach,

"I'll give this to you if you use the railing yourself 'nd I'll be okay just using it and my own stubborn willpower. Okay?"

"Give and Take, Shi?" Mag whispered. Shilo nodded and smiled, liking the compromise that they'd reached.

"Alright, alright…but make sure you at least try and be careful. If I lost you…" she trailed off, shaking her head as she moved to the railing and started upwards, giving in on her side of the bargain, "Bag, please." Graverobber handed the bag over along with a kiss to Shilo's cheek. Her head snapped up, fully to attention, face a bright red. She took the bag and managed to wiggle into the strap before offering him her hand. "Thank you." Graverobber allowed himself a chuckle before he started up the stairs, hauling himself up mostly by his good arm, trying to gain as much speed as he could, hoping the momentum would work in his favor. He could hear Mag giggling in the background as he headed straight into the kid's room and let himself fall on his back on the bed. The pain that shot through him when his body hit the mattress was almost enough to make him cry out and all he could do was let a deep growl out. He glanced over at Mag and gave her a tired half smirk,

"Somethin' funny, Maggie?"

"You don't seem to need a formal invitation…Keep her bed warm…" Graverobber chuckled a little,

"Not a problem." Shilo wandered in behind him and dumped their stuff on the small loveseat near the window before carefully placing his toolkit on the piano bench. She tugged the visor off, she reached up and pulled her normal wig off the butterfly wig head and bashfully looked towards him,

"Comfy?"

"I'm not being tortured. I'm laying on the fluffy bed of a pretty girl 'nd 'm being watched by two. I'm good."

"Try to get her to sleep," Mag whispered, she smiled at Shilo though her god daughter hadn't seemed to see her just yet, "She needs it as much as you tonight…and I don't' need the rest."

"Gonna go visit some old ghosts?" Graverobber teased, Shilo looked at him strangely again a blush creeping over her cheeks from the compliments, "Come 'er, kid, lay down." She glanced down, embarrassed,

"I have to get out of this wig. Not to mention this ridiculous excuse of a dress first, but I don't want to leave you alone…"

"I don't mind." He told her, meaning that he didn't mind if she changed her wig here,

You don't mind if she changes her dress in here either.

Yes, I do. I'm in way to much pain to truly enjoy that show. He thought to himself as she smirked, then did his best to crawl up the bed and got as comfortable as he could.

"This house…" Mag muttered to herself, voice far away, dreamy, she didn't seem to be fully in the conversation. Graverobber was almost worried when he watched her perk, her beautiful eyes widening with an almost malicious delight, "I want to be around when the fireworks start…"

Fireworks?

"Only Dad saw me without the wig…I look ridiculous."

"You'll see…" Mag said in that singsong voice,

"I saw ya once, kid, remember? I saw ya without it once 'nd ya were just as stunning without hair as with."

"Still it's…oh fine." Stubbornly setting her jaw she pulled off the red wig and paused, as if to show him that it didn't bother her as much as it did. A deep blush of humiliation crept into her cheeks as she faced him, just as beautiful bald as she was with whatever chameleon color of hair she sported that day. Finally she pulled the black one back on and picked up her nightgown, biting her bottom lip. "I'm gonna go get cleaned up. I'll be back. Please don't move!"

"I'm not going anywhere." Mag sat down at the edge of the bed as Shilo nodded and hurried out, head ducked, still obviously embarrassed. Once she was safely out of sight, Graverobber sighed and looked down at Mag.

"It's been a long day, Maggie…"

"It could have been much longer." Graverobber let out a humorless half chuckle,

"Could have been a lot shorter too.." he said with a shutter.

"But here you are. "

"Here I am. There you are. There she went." He was starting to feel a little loopy from pain and sleep deprivation.

"Ah, she'll be back."

"Leavin' me, Maggie?" He couldn't help but admit to himself that he didn't want her to go. He fully understood that their relationship had been over, very over, for years since the night she'd told him he was bad for her and that he needed to leave, with tears in her eyes. Even as a young man, he'd left without making a scene, knowing it would only hurt her more; but before he disappeared out the window he'd just entered from, he swore to her that she'd never have to sing alone on stage again.

He'd kept that promise. He'd even been there in the Opera House, in disguise of course, when she'd sung her last note. He watched his brave little bird gouge her ill-begotten eyes, her slave chains, from her face with a smile; watched Rotti cut the cord that plummeted Mag to her death. He understood and accepted that they'd never again be lovers or even as close as they'd attempted to be, he wouldn't have wanted it that way anyway; they were friends now, pure and simple. But that wasn't going to stop him from flirting with her the same way he did with any other pretty female, especially one of worth, that set herself in his path.

"Paranoid, Graverobber?"

"Remember I'm a little boy at heart, Maggie."

"Lets home you never mature, then."

* * * * * *

Shilo's return was heralded by the clean smell of soap that tickled Graverobber's nose. She appeared in all her innocent little glory in a old fashioned little nightgown, complete with white lace with a red ribbon around her neck, that was nearly as short and the GENtern dress she'd just removed.

What was she complaining about?

Don't knock it.

She held a bowl with a wash cloth draped over the side of the bowl. She carried the bowl over and sat it down on her bedside table (recently vacated of all the would-be medical equipment) and Graverobber saw that it was filled with water, hot water judging by the steam rising from it. Shilo nodded at her father's clothes,

"Get that stuff off. I need to clean you up." Graverobber sighed,

"Can't I just lay here and bleed into my clothes again?" Shilo eyes narrowed into a nearly terrifying glare,

"No. Now then…Strip, Graverobber, I'm not asking again." She commanded, dipping the wash cloth into the hot water.

Did she just ask me to…

Yes. As you said before, don't knock it. Just do what the little lady tells you.

"Okay, kid, whatever you say." He lifted his good arm and started to undo the buttons on the shirt, struggling a little, "This is gonna take a minute." Shilo nodded while he continued to struggle with his shirt,

"Alright, I need to see if I can find some bandages and something for the pain…" she reached under his head and removed a small folded velvet case from inside her pillow. Movement of the flaps reveled a little, home-made lock picking kit, with which Shilo set at opening the top dresser drawer.

……

This kid's full of surprises!

With difficulty he finished undoing the buttons and began peeling the shirt from his skin. He actually had to rip at it in places where the dried or drying blood had glued it to his flesh. Thankfully his one pained grunt was drowned out by the kid's victorious little squeak when the drawer popped open.

"Jackpot!" Suddenly a slightly smaller model Z-gun appeared in her hands and after a few more seconds of rooting around, so did a small glowing vial.

"Whoa, now hold on there, kid!" Graverobber wasn't thrilled at the slight panic raising in him at the sight of the gun being loaded by those little hands. He was sure he'd be fine when it was he in control, but frankly, after what happened the last time the kid shot him up…

"You're hurt. Now shush. Take your medicine." She approached him on the bed, clicking the vial into place,

"Yeah, right!" Shilo looked stern as she poked him in his bare chest with one finger,

"Graves, you're hurt. You are going to take your meds or so help me I will tie you down and make you! And then where would your big, bad, grave-robbing pride be? Hmm?" Graverobber wasn't happy that he heard Mag snickering at the foot of the bed.

"Can we talk about this a little before you get carried away?" she sighed and nodded, placing the small gun on her lap and reaching for the wash cloth,

"Fine. We talk as I clean you up."

"I'm a little gun-shy 'bout now, kid. Member what happened last time I got shot up?" He watched that little face go from a stern, nearly adult look, and crumple into that of a heart-broken child.

"I…oh gods it's my fault they got you in the first place!"

"Kid, relax. They would have gotten me at some point anyway." She sniffled softly and shook her head, dunking the wash cloth in the water, probably more times then was necessary before ringing it out and starting to wipe the dried blood off his chest.

"I…but it's my fault…even if you say it's not, it is-" he placed his hand over her mouth firmly. Attempting to ignore the fact that right now his hand took up nearly half her face, he spoke,

"Kid. Amber's been gunning for me for years. She's prolly had wet dreams about doing something like this since before you started pinning bugs. It's not yer fault." She whimpered against his palm, her eyes were big and he could see tears shining in them. She nodded a little before pushing his hand away, dunking the cloth again and starting back in on wiping his chest,

"If you say so…" Graverobber took the wash cloth straight out of her hands and looked straight at her, he tilted her head up and made her look him in the eye.

"Kid, lookit me." He felt Mag get up from the edge of the bed and slowly make her away to the other side of the room, attempting to give them privacy without actually leaving. Shilo looked up at him, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "This. Was. Not. Your. Fault." Graverobber stretched each word out carefully, enunciating each one. "Repeat after me: Amber is an evil harpy from the fiery pits of some unimaginable hell." Shilo sighed before she mumbled,

"Amber's an evil harpy from some fiery hell pit…thing…" she started to look away.

"Kid." He caught her attentions again,

"Yes, Graves?"

"Luigi is a twisted bastard who gets off on spilling the blood of others."

Getting a little poetic, aren't we?

Shut up.

Shilo just wrung her hands together idly and started to not look at him again.

"I, Shilo Wallace," he caught her attention again by saying her name carefully, "am in no way responsible for the actions of these two sick individuals."

You forgot the Pavi.

Everyone forgets the Pavi, sadly it's his lot in life. 'nd he's really not that bad when he's not pulling yer arm out of the socket or back handing you with a mirror.

"Say it." Shilo took a deep breath and arched her eyebrow, "What? Do I get a prezzie after?" she asked.

"Sure, kid." Graverobber couldn't keep the trademark smirk off his face as he wondered just what sort of "prezzie" his kid's compliance would gain her. She nodded once, a blush forming on her cheeks again,

"I, Shilo Wallace am in no way responsible for the actions of these two sick individuals." Without giving her a second to breathe, Graverobber moved his hand from under her chin to the back of her head and pulled her forward quickly and kissed her hard. Shilo let out a little squeak against his lips, there was a whimper in the back of her throat before she let herself go sort of limp against him. Smirk firmly planted on his face, he let her go and calmly handed her back her wash cloth. Her hands were shaking slightly when she took it, and Graverobber frankly took a lot of pride in that.

If I did that with a kiss… he thought to himself as she began washing his chest and arms again, her voice was breathy and her eyes were fluttering slightly when she whispered,

"Some present…" Hoping to take advantage of her complacent state, Graverobber laid back like a "good boy" and enjoyed the warm terry cloth as it passed over half the things that hurt.

"Now, we're gonna handle this like this: if you like yer gonna finish doin' what yer doin 'nd if yer gonna insist on my takin' medicine, grab me a couple aspirin 'nd then come lay down before you fall over." Shilo's dreamy features hardened again as she gave him a "do I look stupid to you?" look; she cleaned the wash cloth and wiped at the blood that probably coated his chin and the deep cut on his cheek, smirking playfully at him.

"You're taking the Z."

"No, I'm not."

"Oh yes you are. You're hurt." She sighed and looked away to put the wash cloth back in the bowl, when she looked back her eyes were full of worry and her lower lip was trembling, "Please, Graves? I can't bear you being in pain!"

"Kid…" he was doing his best to ignore that trembling lip.

She's really that worried about me?

Did you miss the last like, two hours where she Broke You Out Of GeneCo?? I swear, sometimes I don't know what I bother with you anymore. Graverobber gave a defeated sigh, between the seemingly never ending pain and that trembling, worry-filled expression, he knew he'd met his match.

"Not a full dose. I'll teach you how to do partial doses." Enough to take a lot of the edge off, but he would still be alert and functioning. Well, functioning like a man who was bordering on having one too many to drink, but still functioning fairly well. Shilo's face brightened conciderably,

"Fine, but that means you're not leaving my bed until I say so, got it? And I'll be a quick study, promise!"

Okay. You will not hear me complain about not leaving your bed.

Sadly I don't think she's going to be here with us the whole time, nor would it be quite as enjoyable as we hope it would be.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, eager-girl." She blinked up at him, lip in her teeth.

"I just want to help you."

"I know. Help me by slowing down fera sec." She swung one of her legs over his and sat down on what would have been his lap and settled down, lip in her teeth, gun in her hands. "I just know how to do this stu-" Graverobber let out a sharp growl of pain as suddenly the kid's weight had caught up with his wrenched ankle and a white blade of pain shot through his body. She blinked at him, clearly concerned but confused. "Kid. Yer on…my leg…" she looked down and quickly shot up and off his legs, ending up with her knees on either side of his hips, straddling him.

"Better?"

Oh let me tell you how better that is, kid.

"Yeah, kid, that's better." He wished that hadn't hurt so gods be damned much so he could better enjoy the kid in the position she was in, but as his vision swam and threatened to black, he tried to keep his fuzzy mind on what he was doing. He was nearly undone when she squirmed a little, assumingly to get more comfortable, but he forced himself on the task at hand, "Now, you see this knob here?" she looked down at it, nodding and biting her lip in thought.

"Yup." She brought the gun up closer to see it better, "Do I just turn it a little or.."

"Yeah, the further you turn it to the left, the more you open it up and the bigger the hit. The further you turn it to the right, the less of a hit you get." She turned it ever so slightly to the right, glanced up at him, then when she caught sight of his glare, she turned it more to the happy medium they discussed.

"Okay, now…where do you want me to…cause I've only ever seen you do it to Amber…and I would have to get up."

But..didn't she…

Now at least I get to teach her what to do. You realize if she'd strayed just a little further down that she could have potentially killed us last time, right?

"You don't have to move, kid, just listen to me very carefully. Shooting people up with Z can be VERY dangerous. If you get them right on a major artery or vein, there is a 70something% chance you could kill them." Shilo's face looked stricken and she moved the gun a little further away from him, "Z is a relaxant, if it seeps down into your heart proper, without much time for it to dilute in your system, your heart will relax. Meaning it will stop."

How many times we've been tempted to put an end to something Sweet like that… just an inch or two down from where she likes it… press in a little harder… a minute later she'd be dead with a smile on her face.

"So where is safe?" Shilo's voice brought him out of his homicidal thoughts.

"The best places, kid, are here" he reached his good arm up and traced down from her ear where her throat met her jaw, then copied the movement on the other side. Shilo's eyes fluttered a little as she tried to pay careful attention to what he was saying. "Here." He traced down from her throat and traced above her collarbones with his thumb, a smile creeping over his face as Shilo finally let her eyes flutter closed. The pain part of her withdrawals had been over-used recently, he thought, there were some very fun parts to hyper-sensitivity. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to thank the kid as best he could for doing what she'd done for him. "and Here." He removed his hand and placed it on her thigh, sliding up upwards, taking her nightgown with him as he cupped the hallow of her hip and pressed slightly with his thumb, indicating the place. Unable to resist temptation, he playfully traced over the top of those burgundy panties to the other hip. She let out a strangled little whimper and Graverobber couldn't contain the predatory grin on his face.

Suddenly he heard Mag over by the window clear her throat. He was knocked back to reality and he moved his hand off the kid, bringing her nightgown back down to cover her as much as it would. "I would prefer here." He said, concluding the lesson and indicating just above his left collarbone. Shilo blinked a few times, her eyes dark with arousal, until she remembered why their little lesson had begun in the first place. She pressed the gun against his flesh and pulled the trigger. She looked down at him longingly as she got off him and slid down next to him, her leg coming up across his hips and pulling him close with her arms. Even after turning her on, the weight of the day had finally begun taking its toll on the kid and she was out like a light in less then a minute.

As soon as she'd hit the trigger, a blissful numbness wafted down Graverobber's body and he breathed a sigh of relief. The hit was a little bigger then he would have liked, apparently he'd seem like he'd decided to take that last shot after all, but the blue haze at the corners of his brain was exactly what he needed to get to sleep. The blinding pain was now nothing more then a sharp, yet dull ache everywhere and the kid really was warm next to him.

He allowed himself to settle back against the pillows and pull the kid close to him with one arm. He closed his eyes and just breathed for a minute.

I'm safe, he thought fuzzily, I'm safe, I've got a cute kid that cares about me snuggled up close. Amber's far away, might not even have noticed that I'm gone yet. Nothing could go wro-

"Hello, PackRat." Came a deep, masculine voice from much too close to the head of the bed.

Sunovabitch.