The next day, Murdoch was released from the med bay and he sought her out as she was tearing apart a junk terminal in the workshop.

He found her hunched over the machine, in a very poor mood.

After carefully removing about a dozen screws over the course of an hour, she was sweaty and tired of fighting with the casing. It was a lot harder than she had expected.

Murdoch crept forward with more stealth than a man his size should have been capable of. When he grabbed her around the waist from behind, Johanna screamed and whirled around, brandishing her screwdriver.

"That wasn't funny!" she shrieked, not caring about the dirty looks she was receiving from her fellow soldiers. She balled up a fist and punched Murdoch as hard as she could in the shoulder, remembering his wounds at the last minute.

Murdoch laughed heartily, his whole body shaking with mirth.

"You hit like a girl, Polowski."

"Why are you here?" She shot back, ignoring his jibe. "I'm busy."

"Too busy for me?" He asked, making Johanna pause uncertainly, but only for a moment. She was still angry with him, making it a lot easier to speak freely.

"Go to hell," she hissed, turning her back to him. She still had a half dozen screws to remove before she even got to the inside of the old terminal.

"Ouch. I see how it is. You don't have any time for me now that I'm not dying."

He played dirty.

She sighed deeply, taking a moment to collect herself.

"What is it that you need?" She asked, patiently as she could. She turned back around the face him, schooling her features into a mask of indifference.

He grinned back at her.

"Just the pleasure of your company," he told her smoothly, reaching out and tugging on the end of her braid.

He was flirting with her, Jo realized uncomfortably.

She honestly hadn't given much thought to Murdoch since she had left him yesterday morning, but he obviously had been thinking of her.

She suddenly regretted her many visits to the med bay. Looking at his wide smile, Jo realized she may have given him the wrong impression.

He was watching her intently, waiting for her to speak. She swallowed hard and forced a smile.

"I need a break from this," she gestured to the terminal. "Walk with me?"

"Sure."

Jo left her tool bag under the workbench, trusting that no one would disturb it while she was gone.

They headed up to the mess hall, Murdoch walking closer to her than he usually did. Their arms brushed together several times on the way.

"I missed your face this morning," he said conversationally, like it didn't hold any implications.

"I'm sorry I didn't come. I just started a new project."

"Oh yeah? What's more important than visiting your injured squad leader?"

Johanna hesitated, wondering if he would believe her excuse. She wasn't a very good liar afterall, which is why she had wanted to strip down the computer as soon as possible. To make it feel more like a real job rather than a cover story.

"Elder Maxson tasked me with rebuilding his terminal. I was tearing apart that old computer for its processors."

Murdoch frowned and Johanna did her best to suppress a blush.

He couldn't know, she told herself firmly.

"Wonder why he didn't choose Ingram. Isn't she supposed to be gifted with computers?"

"She is," Johanna nodded in agreement. She had expected someone to bring up Proctor Ingram and was prepared. "But her time is far more valuable than my own. Perhaps the Elder didn't want to take her away from her duties."

"Makes sense, I guess. That's too bad."

"What is?"

"I was hoping we could go to the airport. I've been stuck on this ship for too damn long."

"I'm sorry. Vargas wanted to get off the ship too, maybe she will go with you."

"It isn't Vargas that I wanted to spend time with."

Johanna didn't know what to say to that, so she stayed quiet.

He caught her wrist in his hand and pulled her to a stop in the hall.

"Maybe we can get lunch before you have to get back."

"I have to go to the med bay first. I need to get my Rad-X from Cade."

"You're still taking those for meals?" He asked, looking a little suprised.

"Three times a day," she told him with a scowl on her face. She didn't need to be reminded how fragile her body was compared to the wastelanders.

"I thought nothing could get me back into that room, but, for you, I'll make an exception."

"You don't have to. I could meet you in the mess."

"No, I'll come. I've already been gone an hour, I'm sure Cade misses me."

He slipped his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together with a charming smile. He didn't seem to care that the hall was full of prying eyes. They didn't seem to be paying much attention, but Johanna was uneasy.

She flexed her fingers unconciously, feeling the rough callouses of his palm against her much softer hand.

This was crossing a line and Johanna realized she would have to say something.

"Murdoch..."

"What's wrong, Princess?"

"Nothing. I just... don't think you should be holding my hand."

His expression was serious, but he didn't look overly concerned and showed no inclination to let go of her hand.

"Why not?"

"It seems inappropriate," she said, hoping it would satisfy his question. She had no other answers to give, not without confessing that she was involved with someone else. She was sure that wouldn't go over well, with either male.

"Inappropriate?" He laughed, squeezing her hand.

Before she could reply, he had stepped forward and captured her mouth with his own.

Her heart pounded in her chest as his lips moved against hers, slowly and so gently that she wondered briefly if he expected her to break.

His lips were chapped and rough, stimulating the sensitive nerves of her own lips and sending a shiver down her spine.

Jo pulled away after a long moment, amidst the hooting and catcalls that echoed in the corridor. The exchange had not gone unnoticed and she was suddenly blushing like crazy.

"How's that for innapropriate?"