A/N: Hey guys! Hope you're up bright and early this Saturday morning because I am up MUCH earlier than I would have liked to be :D! Yay!

Anyways- I decided that because I was up so early, I'd get posting done instead of doing it later on tonight. I'm out on the road with the family, and with all the driving around we've done I've had enough time to clean up chapters and whatnot for an early morning post.

For those of you watching Back in the Black Bayou, a new chapter will not be posted until the 27th of this month (Tuesday) so a full week can pass before the new chapter. Sorry for any of you who were looking forward to a posting of that story today!

But all that aside- here's the new chapter for Saving Me- and I hope you enjoy :D

Happy reading, happy writing!

~Konfessionist out!~

Chapter Thirteen: A Heated Argument

Day Three

Janny was sitting on the edge of her bed in nothing but a long shirt that reached her mid-thigh and her boy shorts, ruffling her damp hair with a clean towel. She took a nice, long, hot shower- but she was still thawing out from her freezing swim to Pinkerton when there was a knock at her door. She snapped her head up.

"Come on in, Harkness. The door's open!" She called, still drying her hair.

The door creaked open, and the commander's head popped in. "You know, if I were a threat, I could have easily come in and strangled you in your sleep."

"Then it's a good thing that you're not a threat, and that I'm not asleep." She shot back playfully, motioning for him to sit at the desk. "There's a lot that I need to tell you about Horace-"

"Wait- he's still alive?" He asked in a shrill tone of disbelief, and he slapped his hand to his forehead. "I don't believe it…"

"He was alive…" She answered quietly, wrapping her towel over her shoulders and stared at him. "Horace Pinkerton is now dead."

"Wha- What?" He boomed, plopping down at the desk chair with shock, and he stared straight into her eyes. "You- Jan you killed him? You were only supposed to get information and get out!"

"I got what I could before one of your security guards came in and shot his head clean off!" She exclaimed. "The guard then turned on me and chased me around the bow, trying to kill me! But before he died, he-…" She nodded to the worn leather journal on the desk behind him. "He gave me that."

Harkness turned over his shoulder to look at it. He picked it up with a cautious hand and held it in his lap, thumbing through the pages.

"This- This is-?..."

Janny nodded. "That's his journal. It contains all the codes he could obtain from you when he performed the mind sweep. I read through it a bit- found some interesting stuff…" She smiled a little.

"Like?" He asked curiously, but once turning his head up to look at her, he froze the moment he saw her mischievous smile. "Wha- What is that look for?" He asked in a worried tone.

"Commence code Blue-7231X," She recited, and Harkness immediately punched himself in the face.

"Ow!" He exclaimed, dropping the book on the ground and rubbed his nose. "What the hell was that for?" He punched himself in the face again- a nasty right hook to his jaw.

"Oh- sorry, wrong code…" She picked up the journal and flipped through it, scratching her damp curls, smiling when she found the code. "I meant to use the "entertainment" code… That was the "self punishment" code. Oh well," She shrugged. "Either way, it's quite entertaining to me!"

"Janny," He growled menacingly, punching himself in the gut this time.

"Harkness," She shot back in a sweet voice. "Abort code Blue-7231X, commence code Blue-2713X."

Harkness stopped punching himself in the face and immediately began belting out the song "Butcher Pete" with a twitch in his neck, glaring at her angrily.

"Hmn, you're not a bad singer," She smiled. "That's the "entertainment" code… Abort code Blue-2713X."

He stopped singing, changing it up to growling at her like a rabid, angry dog instead.

"Commence code Omega Red-A6-Janny."

Harkness' eyes flashed an intense, neon blue color before fading away and he blinked, looking down at his hands and rolling his fingers curiously.

"What- What was that code for? And why does it have your name in it?" He asked, looking back up at her, still rolling his fingers and flexing his hands.

"It's a code that keeps you from harming a specific target," She smiled. "Like I mentioned, it's a good thing that you're not a threat and that I'm not asleep."

"Wait, so- you used a code that would keep me from hurting you?" He furrowed his brows together. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, not just hurting, but potentially killing." Janny replied, nodding down to the book. "Plus, I plan on having a lot of fun with these codes," She smiled playfully. "And I can't have you trying to knock my block off for a bit of good fun."

He sighed, slapping his hand against his forehead again. "I give up… Just- please stop using the codes?"

She giggled, closing the journal and nodded. "Only because you asked nicely."

He growled at her once again, folding his arms over his chest as he plopped back down in his seat.

"So what else did you find out from Pinkerton before he died?"

Janny frowned, running her fingers through her damp hair. "You're not going to like it…"

"Just tell me- no good is going to come from keeping it to yourself."

She chewed on her lower lip, eyes connecting with his. "Someone on the ship knows a few of your codes… and I have reason to believe that whoever knows them is either working with or for Zimmer, and might even be the person who told Zimmer to return and continue his search for you."

"Are you fucking serious?" He roared dubiously, holding his head in his hands. "How does this person know my codes? Did Pinkerton-?"

Janny nodded. "He did… They had a gun against his head! He was afraid, Harkness! But he only told him the codes that he asked for- such things as a self-destruct sequence or combat trigger words, complete and utter loyalty, which is similar to a type of brainwashing…" Her voice trailed off, then was cut off by the frightened commander.

"Wait- self-destruct?" He cried fearfully. "I can explode?"

"Shhh!" She murmured sharply, bringing a finger to her lips. "Would you mind saying that a little louder? I don't think the whole ship heard you!"

"Pinkerton just had to log down these codes…" He pursed his lips together tightly. "Did he tell you who this person was?"

"Said it was a man by the name of Banner or Brandy… He couldn't quite remember, but-"

"But don't the names he gave sound a bit like Bannon?" He questioned, looking up at her.

"That's what I was thinking," She frowned, brows furrowing together as she looked up at him. "Horace said that he was with another man. He could have ordered someone on the security team to escort him to Horace as protection from the Mirelurks down there- and if he ordered another guard to come and find out what I was up to, maybe even kill me-?..."

"If that's the case, Bannon is on the city council above me so he can easily direct the security guards without one single complaint, and then order them to keep quiet." Harkness stared down in his hands. "The boys respect me, so does Lana, but I know it's nothing personal… It's just the job… They don't listen to me much anymore, Jan. Not since Madison left and Rogue took her place three years ago."

"Three years ago?" She furrowed her brows together. "But- hasn't Dr. Li been gone for almost nine years?"

He nodded. "Yeah, jumped on the bandwagon with you and your father for Project Purity."

Janny looked away, chewing on her lip and closed her eyes with a sigh. "Don't remind me…"

"I heard about the mess that happened there with the Enclave, a little after the last time I saw you. I- I'm sorry, Jan… About your fath-"

"Don't." She pleaded sternly, looking back at him with her eyes watering slightly. "I don't want to hear anymore apologies… I- I can't, Harkness…"

His brows furrowed together, but he nodded in understanding. "Okay."

"Anyways," She exhaled deeply to calm herself. "Why such a big gap between Li leaving and Rogue getting on the council? Has he not been here that long?"

"He settled in Rivet City about seven or eight years ago, only a few months after Madison left. At the time, Seagrave had replaced her- much to Bannon's dismay. When Seagrave died, Rogue practically pounced on the chance, and Bannon wasn't against it, he said it was a great idea- he believed that load of Brahmin shit about Rogue being able to clean this place up. I was skeptical, but I kept my mouth shut…" He rubbed his eyes, as if he had suddenly grown tired. "I should have said something… I should have known before the shit hit the fan, Jan."

"You didn't know, Harkness." Janny got up and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, leaning down slightly so they were at eye-level with one another. "Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Yeah…" He snorted, smiling a little and looked up at her. "You made me do that to myself enough already. Didn't know I could punch that hard…" He murmured to himself, chuckling a little and shaking his head.

Janny laughed as well, sitting on the desk at his side and he turned around to face her.

"What else did you find out?"

"He asked Horace a bit about his handiwork on you. Bannon claimed that he was familiar with his work, and asked if he could really do facial reconstruction on a human. Horace said he could- I would know," She frowned. "He asked if I wanted a nose job."

Harkness snorted and she slapped his arm, covering her nose with her other hand.

"That's not funny! There's nothing wrong with my nose!" She exclaimed with a slightly embarrassed blush coming over her cheeks.

"You're right, your nose is fine- I just think its damn funny." He started laughing.

"Commence code Blue-7231X." She snarled in a low tone, removing her hand from her nose.

Harkness punched himself in the jaw again. "Ow!"

"Abort code Blue-7231X. Bannon then asked if Horace would be able to do a mind swipe as well- but, get this- he asked if he were able to perform a mind sweep on a human."

"A human?" He rubbed the side of his aching jaw. "Why would Bannon ask that?"

Janny shook her head, folding her arms over her stomach. "I don't know, Harkness… I don't think it would be for himself, or he would have made it clear that he wanted a mind swipe done. Horace had lied and said no, that he would only be able to do one on an android as their AI is complex, but not as complex as the human brain is."

"Why would Pinkerton lie to him?"

"He claimed that he didn't like the "vibes" he was picking up from Bannon- he felt that he was bad news, so he lied, thinking that it would do some good. That was when he pulled a gun on him and demanded some of your codes. What concerns me more is how Bannon knows that you're an android."

"Maybe Pinkerton told him," He scoffed. "The bastard told him everything else…"

"No, he didn't. Horace made it sound like Bannon had knowledge of your true identity previous to speaking with him. The first words out of Bannon's mouth was an explanation of how he already knew that you are an android, and he asked Horace about his work on you."

"It doesn't tell us how he knows or who told him,"

"But it does tell us who didn't tell him, and it tells us who isn't working for Zimmer to find you."

"I know it's Bannon, Jan! He's working for Zimmer to get to me," Harkness jumped up from his chair and strode over to her. "We need to get him while we still have the chance."

"Think about it, Harkness!" Janny jumped up as well in front of him, and they were so close to one another that their chests almost touched. "What would happen if someone questioned your motives for arresting Bannon? You don't have any evidence, no proof- all you have is the word of a scientist that everyone believed to have died a very long time ago. All we have is a gut feeling and a vague suspicion… We need more against him. Besides, you can't arrest a man for working with an arrogant prick like Zimmer. And what if whoever's doing this is someone we don't even know?"

"What if it is Bannon, and he plans on using these codes on me? He could kill me, Jan!"

"I know, I know! But we need to think this through! We can't just rush in head-on without being firmly aware of the enemy we're fighting! Look," She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Horace, he-… He told me that Bannon left after getting all the information he needed- he said something about visiting Seagrave."

"When- When was Bannon down there?"

"I don't know- he said a while ago but did not specify the time."

"I don't see why he'd feel the need to visit Seagrave if they hated each other, and quite frankly, I don't care! We need to move before he plans to use these codes on me! If he does, the whole ship could be in danger!"

"We don't have a choice, Harkness!" She cried, grasping his arms to get him to calm down. "We can't let something like this just traipse up and down the halls until we know for sure. What if we're wrong, and it isn't Bannon, for example? What if we're wrong, and this just creates a giant panic with everyone in the city?"

"What if we're right and he gets away, Janny?" He roared at her, causing her to stumble back a bit with surprise. "What if he kills me? What if he sends another guard to kill you?"

"He won't get away, and he won't kill me, I promise you!" She replied, her breathing tightening her chest. She had seen Harkness angry before, but not this angry!

"A promise like that means nothing! Don't make a fucking promise if you can't keep it, Janny! You're the Lone Wanderer, you're supposed to be a fucking savior to these people, and you're going to abandon them?"

"I am not the "Lone Wanderer" anymore, Harkness! Everyone in Rivet City only hears stories about me, anyways- and as far as everyone else is concerned, the Lone Wanderer is dead! You can't drag a lost hero into this!"

"You're just fucking scared! And if you're not going to help me nail this sonofabitch, then I'll do it myself!" He roared as he stomped towards the door, ripping it open and striding out. It caused the mirror to slide off the wall and smash on the floor, sliding sharp fragments across the scuffed metal in all directions.

"Ha- Harkness! Harkness, get back here!" Janny cried, evading the sharp glass on the floor as she ran out into the hallway and stared at his retreating back. "Where are you going? We still need to talk things over!"

"Well I'm done talking, and my lunch break is over!" He called back over his shoulder snidely, fists rolled at his sides and he turned the corner, disappearing from her sight.

Janny sighed in disbelief, confusion, and anger- shoulders trembling and she ran quivering fingers through her hair with the tears coming to her eyes. She bit down on her lip to keep them from coming, hearing the murmured usherings of some of the people of Rivet City who had watched what happened. It didn't look like a pretty sight- her standing in the hallway, not exactly looking decent in nothing but a long top and her boy shorts, and looking like she was about to start crying as Harkness stomped off. It was practically the breeding ground for new rumors.

With an aggravated huff, she closed her door and locked it, turning and striding down the hall to the Weatherly Hotel while shoving people out of her way. She'd have to ask for a dustpan and a broom so she could clean up the mess Harkness had made.

She was so tempted to use his codes against him out of spite, but she decided to take the high road and not breathe a word of them. They were good friends, and even good friends got into heated arguments once in a while. The angry winds would blow over in a day or two, they'd apologize to each other, and they'd return to their friendship as if nothing ever happened.