I got a lovely guest review for my story recently and they indicated that maybe it would be intetestesting to see a little Johanna/Murdoch action. I thought so too. Thanks a lot for your kind review Just A Fan. It's reviews like yours that get me going. I'm writing on a cheap cell phone and the app now and it's kind of hard to write this way.

Please leave some comments or reviews, I'd love to read them.

xXxX

"You need to talk about it, Johanna," Murdoch prodded gently as he watched her pulvarize yet another target with her laser rifle.

"No. I really don't," she snapped, reloading her weapon.

Really she was just wasting ammo, but destroying the targets was oddly cathartic.

"At least tell me who gave you those bruises. I promise I'll only beat the shit out of them a little."

Johanna ignored him and lined up her sights with the target.

She had been in a very poor mood for the past two days and Jo was suprised that Murdoch was putting up with her bad attitude as well as he was. He was patient with her, never pushing too hard, but it was obvious he was curious about what had her so troubled and who had grabbed her hard enough to leave bruises. He was under the impression that one of the knights was harassing her. She let him believe it.

She couldn't tell him the truth of course. She couldn't tell anyone.

The thought of Arthur was like a lead weight in the pit of her stomach, worse than all the radiation poisoning she had ever endured. She would never forget the look on his face when he had exploded, not if she lived to be an old woman. No one had ever looked at her like that before, so full of rage and hurt. It was an image that never strayed too far from her mind.

Murdoch's constant presence helped, but only a little. He hadn't kissed her again, but he made a point to take her hand in his whenever possible, lacing their fingers together.

Johanna let him. It eased the pain in her chest somewhat and she could find no real reason to stop him after Arthur had harshly ended their relationship.

"Hey," Murdoch put his hand on her shoulder just as she was about to continue firing rounds into the smoking target at the end of the range.

She might have ignored him again except for the softness of his tone and the concern he voiced.

Jo lowered her weapon.

"What is it?" She asked, trying not to sound annoyed. He didn't deserve her attitude. He had no way of knowing the problems that one little kiss had caused her.

"You can trust me, you know," he told her, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"I do trust you. With my life."

"Then tell me what the hell your problem is. You've been a real bitch these past couple days."

Her temper flared to life with a vengeance. Johanna looked at him sharply, prepared to tear into him with all the anger and frustration that dwelled within.

How dare he? He didn't know what she was going through. He had no idea what he had caused her to lose.

"Don't call me a bitch," Johanna snapped. "You have no idea what's going on."

"Then tell me," he pleaded, reaching for her gun.

After a moment's hesitation, she handed it to him. He placed it on one of the work tables and took both of her hands in his, waiting for her to say something.

"I can't," she whispered. To her horror, tears started welling in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, cursing her weakness.

"Yes, you can. You can tell me anything." He kissed her cheek, lips on a tear that had escaped. It was so sweet that Johanna nearly forgot she was mad.

He was always doing things like that. Things that made her forget why she was hurting. It was, Johanna thought, quite a special gift he seemed to have.

He ran his thumb over her knuckles and her heart thawed just a little more.

"Can't you just drop it?"

"I want to know who's hurting you," he said firmly, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

"It was an accident." She looked down to her wrists, fighting the urge to pull her sleeves lower over the bruises, glad for her Pip-Boy to obscure the worst of the marks.

"At least tell me..." he hesitated and his fingers flexed over hers. "Ever since I kissed you, you've been distant... Do you wish I hadn't?"

An image of Arthur flashed in her mind, his eyes blazing with cold fury at her betrayl.

Yes.

"No," she lied, to spare his feelings. Nothing could be done about it now anyways.

"Prove it. Kiss me."

"What? Now?" Johanna looked around the training yard to find it dense with soldiers.

"Yes, now." He smiled at her.

Johanna considered for a moment, before deciding to humor him. She was feeling somewhat detached from her body as she pushed herself up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek.

Murdoch grabbed her face with his hands, directing her mouth towards his. Their lips brushed once, twice, meeting in a dance that had Jo's head reeling after only a few short seconds. He coaxed her lips along with his own, showing her how slow and gentle a kiss could be. It was every bit as good as the first time and Johanna found she was sad when he pulled away.

He must have read the disappointment on her face because he chuckled with humor.

"Good?" He teased her. She nodded and he brushed his thumbs accross her cheeks as he leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I won't ask you about this again, but you have to promise me something."

"Promise you what?"

"That you'll be okay." He shushed her with his fingers on her lips when she opened her mouth to speak. "And don't just agree to get me to shut up. Don't say it unless you mean it."

"I'll be fine," she said, finding that she did mean it, at least a little.