"Well, whoever decided to name Obvious Pass should be set on fire," Evelyn mumbled grumpily to herself. With her thumb and index finger, she pinched the knob of her Pip-Boy and flicked it to another area map. "Charon, are you seeing something I'm not?"

The ghoul's glowing eyes burned through the darkness. "No."

"Ugh." Evelyn's frustrated face was illuminated with a soft, neon green glow. "How-"

They had been wandering through a narrow ravine for hours now; the sun had long since faded its last rays, the faraway stars and a smiling moon their only companions. The ferryman had suggested prior to dusk that they make camp and resume their journey in the morning light, but Evelyn merely dismissed the idea and ventured further into unknown territory. Whether it was in eager anticipation to make it to their final destination, or to put distance as far between them and Crawshad as possible, Charon did not know.

He assumed it was the latter; she had been crying again.

"I just-ugh!" She kicked at a rock, careening it through the air to join the stars above. "I'm so fucking stupid!"

"Yes, you are." Charon agreed in his raspy voice. He watched her whirl around, unable to find him without the light from her Pip-Boy; she had terrible night vision. He crunched his footsteps loudly so she could pinpoint his location as he came close to her. "Let us set up camp; we will try again tomorrow."

With a frustrated huff, she nodded her head angrily and the ferryman continued past her in pure darkness. "Charon-wait!" She cried babyishly. "You know I can't see shit!" There had been an eerie skittering noise belonging to some invisible wasteland creature, and her mind instantly assumed the worst- some form of bug.

"Use your light." He grumped over his shoulder. There was a sniff, and he turned around and saw her wiping away fresh tears. He internally groaned as he marched back to her. "Did the flashlight not get fixed?" He asked irately, reaching for her hand.

"No…it did." She replied in the most humanely smallest voice possible. "That noise-"

"It's nothing." He lied, his eyes darting back to the overly, large, mutated centipede that was observing them along the cliffside. It would be poor tactics to inform his employer of one of her greatest fears and have her scream away their location to the entire wasteland. "Come on."

With a tug, he pulled her along behind him through the suffocating blackness, and he felt her fingers tighten their grasp. "Evelyn, you will break my hand." He warned her, and the iron grip relaxed slightly.

There was a small cave he had marked on his mental atlas that they had passed earlier; deciding that backtracking was a safer bet than resuming forward, the ghoul led her inside and made a quick sweep for any unwanted guests.

A fire was made, and both companions were awash in the abounding light of tingling heat. Evelyn performed her nightly routine and was soon curled down inside of her sleeping bag mewling quiet, pathetic noises.

The ferryman groaned cantankerously. "What is it?" The ghoul was tired of her sobbing drivel over the bounty hunter; she wanted him out of her life, so why was she still whining over it?

"Nothing."

"It is obviously something. Are you hurt?"

"NO." There was a hiccup. "It's just…he-he fucking smokes so much, everything still smells like-Charon-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Evelyn abruptly sat upright, gawking as the ferryman was tossing items into the fire. "Stop!"

He had picked up her book, holding it precariously over the flames. His head snapped back at her; the pages gave a ruffle as they fluttered open. "If it bothers you that much, then we should get rid of everything we do not need." He said evenly.

She scrabbled towards him; her bandaged hand outstretched for the novel. The silver lettering of The Great Gatsby gleamed brightly in the dancing firelight. "Charon, please." She begged him, and he reluctantly handed her the book back. She clutched it to her chest and began to sob. "I-I can't help it." She cried, smashing the heel of her palm to her eyes. "I really did like him."

The ferryman felt a growl vibrate deep inside his chest. "He was a mistake; move on."

She tenderly tucked the book back inside the depths of her bag, her voice tight. "I'm trying…it doesn't just happen overnight, you know."

A very vivid visual of the Lone Wanderer blinded the ghoul for a moment, and he felt himself grow cold.

"I…I understand." The ferryman sighed tiredly and rubbed at his jaw. "I am sorry."

Evelyn gave a shuddering exhale; her eyes turned to the mouth of the cave, yearning for something in the cover of night. "Yeah, me too."

Believe me, Evelyn. I know full well of men and their hideous facades. They wear masks of deceit and drink ales of pleasure; if they promise you the stars and the moon, run. The only thing you will find is the dirt at your feet.

Evelyn rubbed at her tired eyes, yawning loudly into her outstretched hand. You're the woman I want…and if you want me gone, I'll go.

Crash! Evelyn's bandaged fist sailed into the rocky mountainside, creating a sizeable crater as bits of dust and debris flew everywhere.

"What the fuck." Charon was instantly at her side, holding up her newly shattered hand that screamed you're a fucking moron. "Are you serious?" His eyes were like slits. "All of these bones are broken."

She bit on her lower lip so fiercely it drew blood; the small crimson stream dripping off her chin. "I-I'm sorry." She couldn't hide the insurmountable pain she felt from her voice.

The ferryman blinked at the indentation; the dust still curling from the blow with its decorative blood splatter. "Who won that battle, I wonder?" He said in his most disappointed tone, giving a shake of his head. "Do not move. I will grab a stimpak."

The injection was made, and Evelyn's face contorted in anguish as the bones began to pop like small fireworks as they commenced to heal. "Ughhh it always feels so weird." She whined, her wrist limp in Charon's hold.

The ferryman shot her a murderous glare; he was pissed. "You have absolutely nothing to complain about."

A few minutes passed as they waited; a rumble of rocks sliding together turning both their heads up the ravine. A familiar face waved to them from above.

Charon reached for his shotgun.

"No, no!" Evelyn placed her good palm on his chest, whimpering lightly as her broken hand gave a sickening crack. "He's a friend, remember?"

Campbell was beginning to make his way towards them.

"No friend of mine." The ghoul grumpily retorted.

When the mercenary drew near, he was wearing a sheepish grin and scratching the back of his head. "So, uh-" He then blinked at her bloodied hand, and his eyes darted to the newly formed crater beside them. "Was…was that explosion I heard earlier-"

"Mistakes were made." Evelyn snapped. The bones were nearly healed now, and the ferryman was gently caressing the skin to wash the blood away with a water bottle. "You're alone…I hope?"

"Most mercs usually are," Campbell informed, pointedly looking around. "Did Cross-"

"He's no longer in service with us." She immediately cut him off and worked her jaw in frustration to keep herself from crying. "Why the hell are you here?"

"Whoa, Cazador! I'm just wandering like yourselves." The merc took a cautious step back from the ferryman's lethal glower. "Heading towards Serrato, actually…I thought Cross said you guys were headed to Lake Capers?"

"We are." She growled, gingerly moving her fingers. The pain was slowly beginning to recede. Her face then tinged red. "…this is the way, isn't it?"

A shake of the mercenary's head made her groan. "I mean, sure, you can get to Lake Capers through Serrato, it's just a few days outta the way is all."

"Shall we go back?" Charon asked, his eyes hawking her face.

She wiped away at the blood down her chin and sniffed. "No. We'll just go through Serrato, I guess." In reality, she did not know if the bounty hunter would be pursuing them or not. As much as she internally wanted him to, she did not wish to see him again so soon, and a few more days of travel between them wouldn't hurt. She eyed Campbell. "What's in Serrato?"

"Super mutants, so I hear." He wiped his dirt-stained hands together. "Probably distant cousins of yours." He pointed at her demolition display.

"Ha ha." Evelyn stuck her tongue at him. "With that intellect, I would say more like yours."

The tanned mercenary grinned at her wit and hitched a thumb down the ravine. "So…want a new traveling friend?"

Thump

The bounty hunter groaned as he finally awoke, clutching at his head as he laid there.

Thump

The skull-splitting migraine that consumed every fiber of his being threatened to tear him apart, and he garbled something in Hungarian to himself.

Thump

"Oh, thank goodness."

Susie. He registered her voice, and suddenly the entire episode of his life was played on rewind. He paused it.

Shit, shit, shit.

If he wasn't so…incapacitated, he would have gone on a rampage on account of his own idiocy. He struggled to sit upright and open his eyes.

"Easy, Cross." Her voice rasped down to him, and he felt her hands gently touch his bare shoulder. "Doctor Marley said you're still in pretty rough shape…Andy thought you were dead."

A pained chuckle inwardly coursed through him, despite it all. Yep, that was Evelyn. The one-hit slugger.

The memory of her lachrymose face killed his light mood, and he visibly grimaced as he fought to rise. "Ne-nneed ssome fuckn' watr." He coughed violently, the racking from his chest threatening to rupture him in half.

A cup of irradiated hydration was supplied, and he drank it greedily, indicating for another. The second one he poured over his face and chest. The tinge of slight radiation was a welcomed friend.

It took about five minutes of steady breathing until he finally felt he could sit upright without blacking out. "Where…wah-" He harshly squinted at the late afternoon lighting that permeated through the dusty, broken blinds.

Susie was an amalgamated blur, but he recognized her form instantly. "Andy fetched Doctor Marley after he found you in your room. He said your caps didn't cover for-"

A snarl erupted from the mercenary and the ghoul woman startled backward from him. "How long have I been out?"

Susie wrestled her ruined hands together nervously; Cross was terrifying when he was upset. "Almost…three days, including today."

What the fuck! Cross dug the heel of his palms vexingly over his eyes. She's way gone, now.

It was a blessing that he knew her route.

"What happened? You-you just left me after that ghoul came and-" Her voice droned on, and she dropped her concern over his wellbeing as she recounted his stand up that night.

"Susie, please shut the fuck up." Cross's voice was dangerously low, and the clicking of her jaw closing was almost a sweet relief. It wasn't fair to her, though. Everything was entirely his fault, and now she was silently sobbing beside him.

Must have been keeping tabs on me to be here now. He thought, his regret at his sudden hostility towards the woman digging into him. I don't think I've ever fucked up this bad before.

That, was a lie.

"I'm sorry." He finally breathed out, blinking rapidly as he turned to look at her. Swinging his legs off the side of the gurney, his hands wearily reached for purchase to steady himself as he began to wobble. "None of this is your fault…I have to go."

She squawked as he went to stand uncertainly, and his large frame crashed into a filing cabinet to their right.

"Cross-!" She exclaimed, rising from her stool and beginning to reach out to him.

"Don't." He growled, mostly at himself. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he leaned against the metal shelf for a few minutes to regain his bearings.

For the second time in his life, he was completely fucked up by a single hit from her. He was damn lucky she didn't intentionally try and kill him, otherwise, Andy would have been busy scraping his brains off the walls.

When the merc was finally coherent enough to leave the clinic, he had to come clean to his past flame in the empty alleyway, and he couldn't meet her eyes as he told her the truth of his involvement with Evelyn. He could only imagine how him being with a smoothskin felt to her; it was the ultimate betrayal to most ghouls.

She spat at him and cursed his name with everything under the sun. She pounded at his chest and cried, and then briefly apologized and wanted to resolve, but then grew furious again at his decline.

"I can't. I'm sorry." He said, his pounding headache following in tempo with her fists barreling against him. With a quick tug, he brought her into his chest as she wailed against him, and he hugged her tightly with a light kiss atop her head. "You won't be seein' me again. It'll be easier that way. Take care, Susie."

Those large hands shoved deep inside his pockets as he strode away from her, leaving her alone in her grief as he made his way back to the scene of the crime. When he had strode through the front doors, the red-headed clerk gave him a wide-eyed stare.

"You're alive, after all," Andy said dumbly. He then scratched the back of his head in sudden remembrance, and he reached for something beneath the counter. "The woman you were with…she left you this."

A bag of caps clinked upon the counter, and a small paper note was slid forth. Cross grabbed at the message, his eyes reading it hungrily.

You never gave me your final fee, so, I delegated it upon myself to owe you what was paid before. 50 caps, no complaints.

The words should have made him furious. Fifty measly caps for the past week of hell was a laughable joke, but he couldn't help but grin instead. If she was somehow still able to sarcastically bite at him, then there was still a chance.

No matter how small, it seemed.