Renee carefully peeled off Curie's vest and let it drop to the floor. She winced at Curie's whimper of pain. "I'm sorry."

"I will be fine." Even still, Curie's jaw was clenched so hard Renee could see the muscle twitch.

Curie's once-pristine blue and white shirt was now stained dark red in the shoulder. She turned her head away from the wound with a groan. "I don't think my—my shoulder is broken. Zhe bullet missed any bone."

"That's good." Renee swallowed hard. "I'm, um, I need to, uh, you know. Take your shirt off."

Curie nodded once.

Renee reached to undo the clasps holding the uniform shirt together and it fell open to reveal a black undershirt. She pushed it back and off. Curie gasped again, her back arching off the bed. "I'm sorry!" Renee pulled her hands away.

"I 'ave…very little experience with sustaining injuries." Curie's voice was strained. Her eyes squeezed shut and she shifted. "Mon dieu…"

Renee bit her lip. Blood surrounded a hole in her shoulder where the bullet blasted through. "Looks like it hurts."

"It does." Curie moaned softly.

A settler poked in the shack where Curie laid. "You need anything?" He asked, his arms full of supplies. Clearly he was going around to check on the injured.

Renee shook her head. "I've got it covered. Thanks."

He nodded and left them alone.

Curie took a shaky breath. "Do you?" She asked, a teasing edge to her words.

"I've had to dig bullets out of myself before. I can handle this." Renee grabbed Curie's bag and began digging through it. She pulled out a Stimpak, some of the bandages the Synth packed, and a bottle of antiseptic. "This is going to hurt." She picked a worn cloth from the bottom of the bag.

"I know."

Renee wetted it down with the antiseptic and pressed it against the wound. Curie grimaced, snarling, and flinched away. "Merde…!" She hissed.

She dabbed at the wound to clean away the blood. Her hands still shook and she took a breath to calm her nerves. "I'm so sorry," she murmured. "This is my fault. I should've…"

"It was mine." Curie gave a strained chuckle. "I should know better zhan to get in front of a gun."

"But I promised you I'd never hurt you again and look what I've done." Renee blinked as her vision grew misty. "Curie, I shot you."

"You promised you'd never hurt me on purpose." Curie cracked open her eyes and gazed up at Renee. "You didn't shoot me on purpose."

"No!" Renee's hand tightened, making Curie gasp. She backed off. "No, I would never do that." She bit her lip and focused on cleaning up the blood.

Curie's nostrils flared at the sting of the antiseptic and her chest rose and fell with each breath. Her eyes were closed again. Renee could feel how tense she kept her muscles as she worked and reached one hand down to stabilize Curie's arm. "Hey, try to relax, okay?"

"It hurts," Curie growled.

"I know. I'm almost done." Renee dumped more on the cloth and wiped around the bullet hole. It didn't look as bad without all the blood; but Curie's skin was still an angry red color and clearly swollen. "It's a lot easier doing this to someone else than trying to do it on myself."

Curie shifted. She turned her head to gaze up at the redhead. "'Ave you often 'ad to do zhis?"

"Don't you remember how we met?" Renee glanced at her with a smile.

"Well, yes, but I was under zhe impression it wasn't typical for you."

Renee chuckled. "Nah. I've had to patch up more bullet holes in myself than I care to count. The worst was when I was shot in my side and it didn't go all the way through so I had to start digging for it." She cringed, shaking her head. "I think I did more damage trying to get it out than the bullet did going in."

"Why didn't you find a doctor?" Curie's brow furrowed.

"I…" Renee pulled the cloth away. "There. All clean." She reached for one of the Stimpaks. "Nearly done."

Curie inhaled sharply as she slid in the needle. Renee watched the wound start to close but not entirely. She dabbed away a slow trickle of blood and held out her hand. "Let's get you up so I can bandage this."

With Renee's help, Curie sat up, leaning against the wall. She put her other hand to her head. "Mm… I feel…dizzy."

"That's normal." Renee put a patch over the bullet hole before she wrapped a bandage around Curie's shoulder as best she could. "At least, that's how I always feel after taking a hit."

"You never told me your father's name, you know."

Renee glanced up. Curie's hazel eyes were still cloudy with pain, but she seemed much more alert. She breathed easier, at least. Renee reached to tuck a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. "Oh, right. His name's Richard. Richard Melvin Jones."

"Melvin?" Curie giggled weakly.

"Yeah. Apparently it's a family name. He…really doesn't look like a Melvin. Does look and act like a Dick, though." Renee tied off the bandage and smoothed it down. "All done. Oh, wait." She kissed two fingertips and pressed them to the wound. "There."

Curie's eyes widened and her cheeks took on a pink hue. "A-ah…"

Renee felt her face flush scarlet as she realized quite what she'd done. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry." She sat back in her chair. "It's just something my mom would do to us kids when we got hurt. I guess, it's sort of…habit. I wasn't thinking."

"What is zhe purpose?" Curie ducked her head, almost embarrassed.

"It's…" Renee looked away, actually embarrassed. "It's supposed to help you feel better."

Curie hummed in her throat and looked down at her shoulder with a faint smile. "Curious. I will 'ave to study zhis further."

Renee suddenly found herself wishing Curie'd been punched in the face so she could test out that theory. She shook her head once. She really wasn't supposed to be thinking things like that. Even if she did wonder, more than once, what Curie would taste like. Feel like. Sound like when she—No. Not now.

"Listen, I really am sorry. I never meant to do this to you." Renee reached for the blanket and her knife to cut off a large portion for a makeshift sling. "I'd sooner shoot myself than shoot you."

"And as I said, I should know better zhan to get between two people with guns. I wasn't thinking." Curie looked away. "I was trying to…to protect you."

"Protect…me?" Renee stood to tie it around Curie's neck and eased her arm in the cloth.

"Yes. I didn't want you to be hurt again."

Renee tied the cloth in a tight knot. She remained standing, her hands still where they brushed against the back of Curie's neck. "It's okay. I'm used to it. Please, let me get hurt instead of you. I can take it." She moved to sit on the edge of the bed.

Curie took a deep breath and looked ready to launch into another lecture when the sound of pounding footsteps interrupted them. They both looked to the doorway as none other than Anita Mayweather and Lily Cromwell burst in, looking frantic. "Jones! Jones, are you…" Anita blinked at them. "Wait, Curie?"

"We heard you two were here and one of you was hurt, we just assumed it was…" Lily's lips twitched into a smile. "Oh, this is funny."

"It's not funny at all!" Anita shot her a glare. She moved to stand at the end of the bed. "Dr. Collins, are you all right?"

"I will be just fine." Curie nodded and offered them a weak smile.

Anita put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Damn it, the General's not going to happy about this…"

"What happened, anyway? And why are you even here?" Lily arched one ebony eyebrow.

Renee furrowed her brow and glanced at Curie before looking back at the two women. "Nate sent me here to deliver a package. Said something about not hearing from anyone here for a while. What are you doing here?"

"Same reason. Garvey said he was worried about the settlers here since we haven't had a report for a while. We weren't far away when we thought we saw a flare, but by the time we got here, the fighting was over." Anita sighed again, chewing the inside of her cheek. "Hmph. This is going to be a whole lot of paperwork."

"Seems the Minutemen aren't as organized as you thought, hm?" Lily smirked at Anita's annoyed grunt.

"We've been busy with the Brotherhood!" Anita waved her hand. "Doesn't matter. Dr. Collins, how'd you get injured?"

Renee cleared her throat. "I—"

"I got in zhe way of a bullet." Curie shrugged her good shoulder. "It was an accident. My fault. Not paying attention."

"I see." Anita nodded once. "Fine. Once you feel well enough to travel, we'll escort you both back to Diamond City."

"But we aren't finished 'ere. I still need to gather supplies for my experiments." Curie made to get up.

Renee was quick to pin her back. "Oh no you don't. You're staying right here." She felt Curie's heartbeat pick up beneath her hand, where it was pressed against the woman's chest. "You need to rest. You know, that thing you're so fond of telling me to do."

Curie looked off to the side. "Hm, yes, I suppose I probably should…"

"Cromwell and Jones can handle the ingredients." Anita glanced back at Lily. "Right, Cromwell?"

"Sure, sure." Lily crossed her arms. "No problem."

Renee let her hand settle in her lap. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you get what you need." She stood and dusted off her jeans.

Anita flashed a grin and turned to go. "Great. I need to take care of some things. You all have your orders."

"Aye aye, captain." Lily gave her a half-hearted salute.

Renee left after them, glancing back at Curie. "You'll be okay alone?"

"I will." Curie shifted to lie down on the bed.

Once outside, Renee blinked in the light. She looked around to see the bodies of the dead Raiders had already been cleared away, though all the bloodstains remained in the dirt. She sighed. "God…"

Lily waited for her, her expression neutral. "So, what kind of ingredients are we fetching?"

"Just…plants and stuff. Vegetables. Things like that." Renee flicked down her sunglasses.

They were quiet as they walked over to a fenced-off plot of farmland in the middle of the settlement. Lily finally broke the silence. "So what really happened?"

Renee winced. "What do you mean?"

"Curie doesn't seem like the type to just walk into the line of fire. So what happened?" Lily looked down at her.

Renee stopped at the fence gate. "I… I shot her." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"You what?" Lily's eyes widened and she snapped her jaw shut.

"It was accident. I was aiming at a Raider and she just—She got in the way." Renee refused to look at her.

Lily took a breath and opened the gate. "That explains why you look like a kicked puppy." She flagged down a settler. "Hey, is it all right if we take some samples?"

The man, an older gentleman with more hair on his face than his head, walked over to them. "I suppose. Just don't take it all. You're lucky we have a surplus this season or else I wouldn't be letting you take any." He grumbled as he left the fence but stood close enough to keep an eye on them.

Lily gestured to the growing vegetables. "Well?"

Renee made her way through the rows of tatos, carrots, and corn. "How could you tell?"

"You're not exactly subtle." Lily chuckled. "With anything. It's written all over your face that something happened."

"You think I don't feel awful about it? I mean, I shot her. Accident or not, I still shot her, damn it." Renee got down on one knee to pluck a carrot from the ground. She shook off the dirt.

Lily held out a hand for it. "That's not all you're not subtle about."

Renee narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." A teasing grin spread across Lily's face. "Honestly, I think she's the only one who can't tell."

Renee felt her cheeks heat up again and looked away. "That's not any of your business."

"What? That you have a crush on a certain scientist?" She laughed as Renee threw a handful of dirt at her chest. She brushed it off. "Oh come on. I'm right, aren't I?"

"You don't have to say it out loud." Renee shifted through a mutfruit tree to find a good specimen.

"Though I wonder…" Lily juggled the carrot from hand to hand. "When are you gonna tell her?"

Renee shot her a glare as she picked one of the fruits. "I'm not."

Lily just shrugged. "Your choice."

"Curie has enough to worry about without me complicating things. She has her experiments and I have my own stuff to deal with. She doesn't need m—" Renee cleared her throat. "I'm not telling her."

"You almost said she didn't need you." Gone was the teasing lilt in Lily's voice and she cocked her head. "You really think that?"

"Just drop it." Renee took the carrot from her hands. "Forget about it, all right?" She started walking back to the gate. "We need to look for some other ingredients."

Lily followed behind. "Sorry."

Renee didn't respond. She tried to push the thought from her mind, but there was no stopping it. She knew, realistically, she'd have to come to terms with never actually being with Curie, not in the ways she wanted. Sure, it was fun to daydream, but at the end of the day… Curie just didn't need someone like her. And the sooner she accepted that, the better.