Erin glanced at the watch on her wrist after she'd dismantled the last Echo, then leaned back in her chair and turned to look at the asshole sleeping on her bed. It's been about thirty minutes since they spoke, and she figured that he should have fallen asleep by now, though she wasn't sure for how long.

She stood and walked across the room to the bed, treading softly so she wouldn't disturb the Deatheater on the handrail or the large body builder on the floor. Erin observed Dreads for a second, his breath was slow and even, and his body seemed relaxed. She bent and poked him in the cheek, not hard enough to hurt him, but enough that she could wake him up. Then as a second test she picked up his wrist and let it drop, limply hitting the mattress. When his breathing didn't even stir she smirked.

Dreads really shouldn't have used her toothpaste. Erin's toothpaste was mixed with a sleep-inducing chemical that was potentially strong enough to knock down a rakk hive if used incorrectly. This sniper wouldn't be waking up again anytime soon. She could kill him right now and he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing to fight back.

Erin wouldn't though. Not yet anyway. Even though a corpse has it's uses, it brings its' own shares of problems as well. Besides, she wanted to make sure she got on these 'Vault hunters' good side, so killing the sniper wouldn't help her in the long run.

She bent down and opened the drawer under the bed, spotting a small downy feather on the bottom mattress. She let out a derisive snort and promptly began removing the maps and notes from under it. Erin paused when she saw the freshly bent corner of the Hyperion wanted poster she must have stashed away. Slipping it out from under the unorganized stack of various maps, she stared at it. The grim, frustrated expression of her teacher stared back. Her eyes landed on the hole that was worn into the middle of his face from when she'd folded and unfolded it multiple times.

Erin felt her head throb as that awful memory played back in her head and began to fold the poster back up. It was getting to be time for her to destroy this final image of her teacher, because she couldn't stand having it in her mind. Erin folded the poster smaller, and smaller until it finally ripped under the pressure and could fit in her pocket. She glanced at the maps, old maps that her teacher had drawn up and covered in notes. She picked them up, deciding that they too will be burned.

She wandered to the desk, opening the drawer where she kept her teacher's Journal, and picked it up. Erin glanced at Dreads once more, concluding that he'd hoped to find the location of the Vault recorded in it. Sorry Dreads, no such luck. Knowledge of the Vault and its' whereabouts was on a strict need-to-know basis, and the Professor was never a man to make a record of such a secret.

Erin stared at the journal for a moment and opened it. She flipped through the pages. Her teacher never really wrote down anything deeply personal either, just his observations of the world around him, and a few of the things he wanted to prove. She shut it and tucked the book under her opposite arm.

Since she didn't know how often they'd be coming back to New Haven, she'd decided she better hide it from prying eyes. The Journal still had some useful notes that she wanted to keep, so she wouldn't throw it away. At least not yet.

"I've never seen someone attempt such delicate work before, you sure it'll work after you're done?"

Mordecai opened his eyes when he heard Roland's voice, and felt confused. He looked over at the couch where Lilith was flipping through a spiral notebook with a perplexed expression on her face. Roland was standing next to Erin's desk, leaning against it as she worked on the Echo device.

Shit. Did he fall asleep? For how long?

Erin leaned back in her chair for a moment then straightened, "I'm about… eighty-five percent sure that it will. They're made to withstand a lot of abuse, but admittedly not an impaling." I've fixed a few of these before… but none this… badly… damaged…" Erin paused as she bent her head down to look closer at the device.

She straightened, "Oh good… I didn't break the storage cache. That's this chip right here."

Roland leaned forward, "I see… what's that?"

"The backpack SDU chip I got from a broken claptrap. I don't have much use for it so I'm letting Dreads have it."

"Dreads?"

"His name is a mouthful and I keep forgetting it. For things like names I have a memory that lasts for about five seconds."

Roland chuckled, "That's fair, we called him moneybags for a little while because he trained his pet how to steal from bandits. He's got a lot of cash."

Mordecai frowned at that one.

"Nice ability. I should have him pay for my coffee maker."

Not a chance in hell.

"Did that thing really make a good cup of coffee? I've seen one of those before and they're not that good."

"I tinkered with it a little, and it made a pretty good cup too. I sold some for a little while, but I got in trouble because I didn't have a license. The boss got mad and threw me in a jail cell for a bit."

"That's a shame it was destroyed, I haven't had a decent cup for a while."

Erin was quiet and tapped her fingers on the desk for a moment then rolled her chair over to a small cabinet and rummaged around in it, picked something up then rolled back. Mordecai heard a soft fizzing noise and a click.

"Alright. That should do it."

"Does it work?"

"We'll see. Maybe I'll take out a fee if it does?"

Mordecai got up, "I don't think so."

Erin turned in her chair and pulled her work goggles down around her neck. She kicked the ground and rolled away, then pulled her legs up to her chest once the chair came to a stop. She eyed him suspiciously.

Mordecai walked to her desk and picked up the fixed Echo.

"You didn't put a bomb in this did you?"

"No."

He turned it on.

"Seems to be in working order." He said once he checked through everything.

"Hmph." She said, as she kicked the chair at him.

Mordecai stepped out of the chair's path.

"Very mature."

Erin turned, gave him an icy glare, and walked up the stairs.

"Good to know you're both making an effort to get along." Lilith said when their host left the room.

She was still on the couch adjacent to the desk. Her legs were crossed with a book in her lap.

"We made a truce." Mordecai said, folding his arms.

"One that involves killing her if she steps out of line?" Roland asked, raising an eyebrow.

He briefly wondered if Erin told him, but thought that most likely, Roland was awake and watching.

"A temporary truce." Mordecai corrected.

The soldier sighed, "well, I can't blame you. I'll admit it makes me feel better that someone's keeping an eye on her. I admit I feel uneasy with taking one of the few medical professionals in New Haven with us. She could get killed."

"Look, if you're so concerned about the safety of some nurse or doctor why let her come in the first place? Why don't we just get her to tell us where the Vault is in the first place?"

"Well what did you find out about her when you looked though her desk?"

He was watching.

"She doesn't have a lot of personal things, just that journal in her desk. I read a little bit of it, but it felt like the thoughts of someone who had lost their mind. Also, I saw an old Hyperion wanted poster under her bed with the name Ryder on it. Isn't that her name? There was a lot of zeros on it."

Lilith and Roland exchanged a look.

"I guess she's as much of a criminal as the rest of us," Lilith said as she folded her arms, "what's she wanted for?"

"I didn't see the rap sheet because it was under a pile of maps. She came back before I could get a good look at it."

Mordecai turned back to the bed and walked to it.

"Don't bother, Erin grabbed them while you were sleeping, the journal too."

"Of course she did," the hunter shook his head, putting his hands on his hips and sighed, "we really going to keep her around, Roland?"

"I think she'd be more trouble if we didn't keep her around," the soldier narrowed his eyes, "I wasn't expecting her to fix your Echo."

Mordecai looked at his Echo. As much as he disliked her, he had to admit she did a good job and he appreciated not having to find some way of replacing it or make do without it.

"Her fixing the stuff she breaks is going to cause a problem?"

Roland folded his arms, "well…"

Lilith stood up, "It was Angel that told us that you two were fighting, and that Erin said she knew where the vault is."

Mordecai looked from Lilith to Roland, "and you didn't tell me?"

Roland sighed, "sorry, I thought it best to have her believe that she caused the Echo to malfunction, not telling you made it more convincing. Though, I suppose that makes it pointless now."

The hunter pushed the sting of hurt away and folded his arms, "is that so… well, did she bring it up or ask any questions?"

"She didn't ask any questions, didn't act like anything was wrong when she was fixing it either... My guess is that we got lucky and the communication capabilities of the Echo were intact."

"Alright, then what's the problem?"

"She knows too much. We need to keep an eye on her, that's why I want her with us."

Mordecai looked around the room, "if we need to keep an eye on her, then shouldn't we be watching her now? And where's Brick?"

"He went upstairs to go play with Luka a while ago."

Mordecai sighed, shaking his head, "of course he did."

As the three of them walked up the stairs, he turned to look at Bloodwing and whistled, waking the bird. The hunter lifted his arm as the bird flew over to perch on it.

"Time to go Blood."

Marcus began to chuckle once he processed what she asked for.

"You're actually purchasing a gun?"

Erin sighed, "a simple revolver. Either a Jacobs Law or Viper if you have any on hand. I don't like repeating myself."

The merchant began to laugh.

"Is the sky falling or something?"

She folded her arms. "If you don't have what I want I can go somewhere else."

"No no, I have it." He said, catching his breath, "it's just I thought you'd never use one."

"It's not for me, it's for the asshole who's obsessed with getting even with me, even though he's the one who instigated the fight. I'm trying to make up for breaking his gun and Echo so I can get him off my back."

"How considerate of you," Marcus grinned and began to rummage through his gun safe, "lucky for you, I've got new stock."

He grabbed out a couple of revolvers, and even set out a Dahl Electric Law and a Tidore Incendiary Razor.

She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not getting him any more than I have to. I'm just fixing what I broke."

Marcus set the revolvers aside, "Those are for you."

"I'm not paying for what I don't want."

He shook his head, "Pierce and Scooter already purchased them for you. They're yours if you want them. If not, I'll just sell them to someone else."

Erin picked up the Jacobs Viper and handed him the money. He nodded, satisfied.

"You're not taking them?" He asked, gesturing at the two other weapons, looking hopeful. Marcus would only be too happy to keep Pierce's and Scooter's money and sell them again for double the profit. Greedy bastard. Erin glanced at the two weapons. If Pierce got her a gun, it was essentially Erin's blessing to go. And Scooter got her one too, which surprised the hell out of her. She wished he hadn't, then she wouldn't have to feel the obligation to take them.

She heaved a sigh, "I'll take them."

When she left the store, she sighed. She had paid more than she wanted, and he had roped her into buying ammunition and a holster for her pistol, then on top of that she purchased a Mirv grenade mod that she was certain was going to become useless the moment she stepped outside of New Haven.

Erin equipped the fire revolver while she was in the store. She hadn't carried a gun on her person since she was sixteen, and the feeling of it on her hip made her feel sick. Now that she thought about it, the last time she used a gun was an incendiary revolver, and the memory made her feel worse.

She shoved it back into her inventory with the others.

Her inventory was small, and she kept it that way because she never worked well with clutter. Mostly she carried first aid kits on her person, along with a variety of other things she thought might be useful. Empty hypo needles, extra grenades, a reusable match, few tools, a switch blade, and now three guns, and ammunition.

Erin recalled the incident at Lucky's bar, and how she was nearly killed by the sniper when she attacked him.

"Adapt or die."

She forced herself to equip the incendiary razor, at least she could slit someone's throat with it. She could at the very least do that. Maybe she ought to grab the little robot and keep that on her person too.

When Erin got to the west gate, she found all four of them standing next to the catch-a-ride. Dreads was the first to notice her, the Avian on his shoulder second, and they both watched her warily.

She marched up to him, grabbing the revolver and held it out to him, her hand on the barrel.

"What's this?" He asked. Erin watched the bird on his shoulder lean forward, narrowing his eyes and raising his feathers. he looked back to Dreads.

"To replace the gun I broke yesterday. Are we even now?"

His lip curled, but he didn't say anything. He took it out of her hand, examined it for a moment, cocking his head in the same way the avian did. Dreads put it in his holster and turned away from her without another word.

Good. She didn't feel like dealing with him any more than she had to.

"Do you know where we should go next?" The question was from Roland, his tone was professional. She was a little caught off guard that he asked her what the next move should be, but thankfully she had already asked Pierce about it.

Erin folded her arms. "There's a Dahl scientist by the name of Patricia Tannis, I asked the Boss to contact her for us. She said she'd be willing to speak with us if we collect some missing journals for her. From what I've heard she's been on Pandora for the past two years conducting research on the Eridian ruins scattered throughout the Rust commons. She'll have the equipment necessary to find the pieces of the Vault Key."

"Tannis?" Lilith asked, "she's around the area?"

Erin nodded, "I'm not sure exactly where though. I haven't been able to get out of New Haven thanks to an influx of wounded travelers – victims of bandit raids coming in and taking over their homes. And it's only gotten worse when Atlas came back to muscle Dahl off of Pandora."

Roland shifted uncomfortably, "do you get a lot of wounded?"

She shrugged, "it depends on the day. Since the roads have been closed, not too many, but the day Dahl suddenly left I think I spent eight cycles without sleep."

The soldier frowned, "I don't know how I feel about one of the few people with medical expertise leaving New Haven, especially if you get so many wounded."

Honestly, she didn't really know what to feel about it either, but decided not to think about it. Erin waved a hand, "Zed's got it taken care of, and I've got like five re-programed claptraps to help administer medical care."

He still looked unconvinced, "alright, if you say so."

Erin narrowed her eyes at him, "why is a Lance soldier so concerned about this place anyway? I thought the only thing you guys cared about was killing and subjugating all the locals for cash and glory."

Roland gave her a hard glare, "that isn't why I'm here."

She matched his glare, "then why are you here? A lot of the wounded that I treated were hurt by Lance Soldiers muscling into their towns and villages. Most of them unarmed civilians."

The former soldier worked his mouth, scowling, "I was told I was going to be protecting people that couldn't protect themselves when I joined the Lance. I got stationed here thinking the same thing, but I found out I was wrong." He huffed a sigh, "I want to find the Vault to make up for what I've done."

Erin studied him for a moment, and relaxed. She never really was a good judge of character If it were for the sake of repentance, she could relate. She began to walk to her bike, "I hope finding the Vault does make up for it."

"Why are you looking for the Vault?"

She paused, not willing to give the real reason, and thought of one that was half true, "you saw the clinic right? We need new equipment and supplies. I can only do so much to keep it together, so I think if I can get in the Vault I can do more."

Judging from Roland's face, he looked satisfied by her answer. The others seemed convinced as well, with the exception of the bird on Dreads' shoulder. The Deatheater had its eyes narrowed at her as if she were a Skag digging up its nest.

"That being said," she continued, "The boss has now given us permission to travel to Rust commons West which is right outside that gate over there." Erin pointed out where they had to go.

The Vault hunters got into their runner, and she waited for them to pass before she went to Lady.

As she mounted her bike she froze when she saw Luka bound up to her. Barking excitedly, he dropped a sharpened lead pipe next to her. Erin picked it up and put it on her back. She turned on the engine and began to move forward but stopped when he whined.

She sighed and pet his head.