A/N: HEY READERS! Welcome to another chapter of Saving Me! :D

A few things before you get to reading- if you have been following my story A Trial of Risk and Fall, it will NOT be updated today. The chapter is not finished yet because I have been quite busy! Well, it IS finished, it just needs a little bit of tweaking because I'm not happy enough with it to actually POST it =w= Sorry guys!

Another thing- I have a poll on my profile that I would like my readers to vote in! It's simple, really. My story Another War For Your Textbooks will be hitting the 100 reviews mark soon, and in celebration I wanted to post a story for you guys! But there's a little issue I have right now- I have several stories that I would like to post for the 100 reviews celebration, but I don't know which one to post. The poll will give you, as the reader, the chance to make this decision for me! So go and vote on which story you would like to be posted :D

Thanks for your time, guys! You're awesome- really.

Happy reading, happy writing!

~Konfessionist out!~

Chapter Twelve: Hit Man For Hire

Day Three

Bryan stared down at the plasma rifle perched in his lap. He marveled at how perfect it looked, glowing eerily green but feeling so natural- it was a beautiful weapon indeed. It had scuff marks here and there, but other than that, it seemed that Janny was right- it looked loyal and in otherwise perfect condition. Not that he really knew what a perfect condition weapon looked like- he never really was into guns. His dad tried to teach him how to shoot once, but he couldn't get into it… He didn't like the idea of ending another's life- whether it was self-defense or just because. He couldn't even bring himself to kill a bloatfly. He couldn't stomach the thought.

Bryan glanced down to her discarded clothing, and his calloused fingers ran over the chocolate brown leather long coat she seemed to like wearing. It felt smooth against his hand, and if he imagined hard enough, it was almost as warm as Janny- as if she were actually wearing it right now, and it wasn't just an empty article of clothing in his lap.

Suddenly, a 10mm pistol with a strange part on the front was tossed into his lap, and he'd be lying if he said that he didn't jump and almost scream like a girl. He looked up to see Janny standing in front of him, dripping wet and quivering from the cold with goose bumps swelling on her skin, panting heavily with thin, shallow scratches and cuts on her legs and arms and a clotting graze on her bicep- to her, it probably all would just have been more battle scars, but to him, it was horrifying.

"Janny!" He exclaimed, jumping up and accidentally knocking all of her belongings out of his lap. "What happened to you?"

"Got chased-" She partially answered through her panting, hunching onto her knees as if it would help. "By a se-security guy… Marcus, his name wa- was… Blew him all the way to China," She finally finished, wiping the water that dripped off her brow and squeezed any excess from her hair.

"Chi- China?... What?"Bryan shook his head- he didn't know where China was, or what China was, either. He quickly leaned over and grabbed her leather duster from the ground to brush any dirt off of it. "Wait- a Rivet City security guard followed you into the bow?" He asked with wide eyes of shock.

"Yeah," She nodded, looking down at the bleeding graze on her shoulder with indifference. "Well, looks like I have a chance to visit your doctor for antibiotics… Want to make sure this doesn't get infected or something."

Bryan recalled the security guard that was speaking to Lucky Harith before he dozed off... He had seen him patrolling about the marketplace from time to time too, or strolling up and down the hallway where the Weatherly Hotel resided, but he thought nothing of it. He simply thought that the guard was out to talk to Lucky Harith who stood out front, or something, because most of the guards did that…

"Janny…" He murmured, stepping towards her with her duster in his arms. He opened it and draped it around her shivering shoulders. "What- What happened in there?..."

"I found Pinkerton." She held up an old book with a decrepit leather-bound cover- which was slightly wet- ad tugged the duster all the way aroud her. "He answered most of my questions before the guard murdered him. He then turned on me and I- erm…" She looked away, a shameful blush overcoming her cheeks. "And I had to distract him so I could get away…"

Bryan noted how red her cheeks were, and all he thought was how beautiful she looked- like a shy, blushing schoolgirl.

"Anyways, I did manage to get away, but he followed me. I opened up a gas pipe, and it caused an explosion. The blast killed him, and I made my way back here- to you." She smiled tiredly. "I promised you that I'd come back, right?"

He enveloped her in a tight hug, which made her wince, and he closed his eyes while sighing with relief.

"You did say that- but you didn't come back unharmed…" He muttered. "I was really worried abou you Janny- don't scare me like that ever again, okay?"

"Bry- Bryan…" She murmured into his chest, pulling back to look up at him with the blush still on her cheeks.

"Ye- Yeah?" He asked quietly, feeling his heart race faster and faster, almost as if it were to burst at any second. But then, Janny smiled kindly up at him, and he could have sworn that it just stopped right then and there in his chest.

"Let's get back to Rivet City. I would like to shower- I smell like gunpowder, lakewater and sweat."

"Su- Sure!" He replied awkwardly, helping her pick up her things. He kept an arm around her shoulders to keep her a warm as he could as they returned to Rivet City, laughing and talking like old buddies about this and that as a pair and a half of watching eyes gazed down from the flight deck.

"Bannon…" Rogue snarled, spinning around to glare angrily at the smaller man, and he pointed down to Janny below as he boomed; "What was that?"

"I- I don't know, Rogue!" He cried, backing away slightly. "She must have escaped the guard I sent after her!"

"It was pathetic is what it was!" He boomed, red in the face and he glared back down at Janny. "I knew that harlot was up to no good… She was down in the bow for a reason, and now, she's roaming free as a threat to everything I've worked for because your sorry excuse of a guard wasn't able to complete his mission properly!"

"We- We'll send someone else! Someone who's more skilled! You must remember that Janny has spent many years exploring the Capital Wasteland, she must know all of it like she had her very own map!"

"Then you best find someone who knows this hell on Earth like the back of his own hand because my patience is dwindling at an alarming rate, Bannon!" He warned grimly with a deep scowl, looking back at him. "What if she found out everything she needed to from that hack scientist, Pinkerton? What if he told her everything? If she is as strong as you say she is, than my wrath will be the least of your problems if she plans on confronting you!"

"You directed that I did not kill Pinkerton when I went to ask him about Harkness! I had demanded that I tied up any loose ends, but you refused my request!"

"That is because I did not know that a mere woman would come and tear down all the progress I have made on this lousy ship!" Rogue barked, rubbing the hollow of his patched eye and he sighed with irritation, attempting to calm his flaring anger. "She is a threat to my armies… She is a threat to everything I have worked for and amounted to…" He murmured to himself.

"Rogue?" Bannon called, hard of hearing. "What do we do now?"

"We?" Rogue laughed boisterously. "No, Bannon, not we- what are you going to do now that your guard has failed?"

"Are- Are you implying that I take matters into my own hands?"

"You did it once with that secretive little prick Seagrave, and I am certain that you may do it again with a nosey little girl. But now that I think about it, in this case, I'm not suggesting that you take this into your own hands because you have deemed yourself as useless to me... You mentioned that we need someone who is skilled to do away with her, correct? You wouldn't be able to last a day out in the Wastes… We need someone who can survive hell and back as if it were a damn merry picnic." He grinned from ear to ear, looking down upon the bridge. "And I know just the man for the job…"

"Who, Rogue?" He asked with a cock of his head curiously.

"Scully- a fine soldier in high ranks…" He stroked his two-toned beard, glorious thoughts of victory roaming in his head.

Bannon's eyes snapped wide open, and he clutched his chest as if it were about to burst out and his heart would run away from him.

"A- A soldier?" He strode towards Rogue. "You're bringing in a soldier? Won't the people of Rivet City become suspicious? Won't Janny become suspicious?"

"No." Rogue stared him down with his good eye, piercing into his very soul. "Scully will be an undercover operative… Try and find out what she knows- make her believe that he is a friend, and not an enemy. Scully is not only skilled in battle, he understands how people react, think, and work. It makes him one of our most highly valued operatives- and he is the craziest sonofabitch I have ever seen in my days… Believe me, Bannon. I've seen many in my line of work."

"I- I can't allow this!" Bannon shook his head. "A trained psychopathic killer on my ship? I won't allow it!"

Rogue laughed to the heavens, throaty and deep, tormenting almost with his head thrown back.

"This is our ship now- and the sooner you realize that, the better. These are not just your people, these people are our people, now. This will all soon be under complete control of us, and then-?..."

"And- And then?..." He was almost afraid to ask, and he swallowed hard to show his discomfort even further.

"Then all of this will become mine, of course." He laughed again, shaking his head. "Oh, yes! Scully will do the job quite nicely…"

Upon the words "Then all of this will become mine," A chill spread through Bannon's body like wild fire- and it made him shudder unpleasantly. It was then that he began to question Rogue's leadership and his promises once again, but it was the first time he worried that he had put his city under a strong enemy's wrath.

What have I done?...