A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated ._." I'm slowly going along and updating all of my stories, just so I don't keep you guys dangling in the wind for forever and a day. Not much in this chapter but drama and an introduction into Janny's life during her ten year absence. I hope you guys like it, and I hope it was worth the wait!

Also, I recently updated Back in the Black Bayou, so I'd love it if you guys could mosey on down to my profile and check out the new chapter :D I'm asking for reviews because I'd love constructive criticism and feedback on the story overall.

Thank you for your time, and again, I aplogize for being so busy!

Happy reading, happy writing!

~Konfessionist out!~

Chapter Seventeen: You Say You Know Me

Day Four

Bryan was almost done sweeping the floor of the Weatherly Hotel lobby when he looked up and saw C.J.'s face, her thin lower lip jut out in an angry pout and her arms were folded over her chest. She was slumped back in her chair, too, with her hair dangling in her face to hide her eyes from him. He stopped sweeping, propped the broom up against the lobby desk, and went to her.

"Hey, C.J.?" He leaned over, trying to look at her face but she refused to look back at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She spat acidly, and he flinched away from her with wide eyes and a tight jaw, blinking in confusion. Why was she so sour all of a sudden?

"Uh…" He murmured, unsure of what to say, and reached a hand out to her shoulder. "C.J., if something's wrong, you can tell—"

C.J.'s eyes met his for a moment before she smacked his hand away from her shoulder and stood up, shoving her chair out from behind her.

"Woah!" He exclaimed, jumping back so the leg wouldn't trip over his foot and he shot her a half confused, half irritated look. "C.J. why are you acting like this?"

"You like her, don't you?" She yelled, stomping her foot down with her hands clutched into fists at her sides.

Bryan froze. "Wha—What?"

"I so knew it! You like Janny!" She. cried, eyes wide and gleaming with tears and she bit down on her bottom lip.

"I didn't say that I liked Janny!" He exclaimed defensively, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "What are you even talking about?"

"Whenever she walks in here, I see the way you look at her! You look at her like all those guys look at Trinnie down at the Muddy Rudder!"

"C.J., I don't know what—"

"Admit it! She's pretty, she's got a nice body, she's smart and sweet… You—You just wanna—" She stomped her foot down, her face taking on an irritated shade of red before she burst out screaming; "You just wanna screw her!"

"C.J.!" Bryan cried with wide eyes and his mouth dropped open. C.J. thought that he wanted to sleep with Janny? C.J. thought that he liked Janny as more than a friend? The thought horrified Bryan. He didn't think he liked Janny. He had good reason to always be so happy when she was around, as she had protected him and saved him when he was a little boy. He owed her everything, and like hell he was throwing her the googly-eyes like men did to Trinnie! It was simply the fact that not only was C.J. suggesting something like—like wanting to do that with a woman who he owed everything to, but the fact that she was so angered by it bothered him.

"Admit it, you do! You want to sleep with her!" She cried.

"I don't!" Bryan exclaimed, folding his arms over his chest in finality. "And for your information, I don't look at her like that, C.J.!"

"Yes you do! I see you do it all the freaking time!" C.J. yelled back, tears threatening to fall from her eyes and she sniffled violently, stifling a hiccup.

"C.J…." He murmured, his arms loosening from his chest and he stared at her sympathetically. "I—I don't know what I did to upset you so badly… I really don't, because I can tell you I don't like Janny. Wait, I mean—I do like Janny, but I don't like her like that, you see? She—She's just done a lot for me. Yeah, I owe her a lot."

"...You don't like her?" She inquired quietly, but her voice still had a hardened edge to it as she glared at him suspiciously.

"No." He shook his head. "Not like that, anyways… So why are you getting so upset?"

"…Isn't it obvious?" She asked with a hiccup of a sniffle and wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve. Bryan shook his head.

"No, I don't. I don't know why you're getting so bent out of shape over Janny when she is just—" Bryan wanted to say "friend," but that didn't seem entirely right to him. Janny was very nurturing and protective of him, but mother wasn't the right word, either. Sister, maybe? No, not exactly, but he didn't know if he was any closer to what he was looking for. Maybe another aunt-like figure? Nope… Family? No, she has more value to him than that. He finally sighed, unable to describe to her the relationship he shared with Janny.

"She's just someone who's very special to me." He finally answered, looking away and scratched his chin when he found the word he was looking for and looked back to C.J. "She's my savior."

"Sa- Savior?" She was starting to calm down now, and she didn't seem so angry anymore—but she still seemed suspicious of him. He wasn't giving her any reason to be, and he was still bothered by her outburst. Ever since Janny arrived, she had been acting weird. Like when he was sitting with Janny for dinner, and C.J. stormed off with James. Then Janny asked if she was—…

Bryan's eyes widened in realization.

No. Way.

"C.J., do you—… Are you—?..." He sputtered out his words unceremoniously before clearing his throat and speaking. "Are you—… Jealous?"

C.J. gave him a brief glance, her cheeks blossoming a burning pink when she suddenly stepped forward to close the distance between them. Her hands grabbed his broad shoulders, her weight went into her tip-toes as she leaned up to reach him and her lips were gently pressed to his before his mind could strike a single spark used to stop her. So Bryan stood there, arms crooked up at his sides as if he were afraid that if he touched her he would get burned, and his wide eyes stared back into the barely open slits of her own eyes, gazing back at him through a euphoric haze. She slowly pulled back so she was back on her feet and stared up at him with her hands still on his shoulders, smiling up at him in a daze.

"C.J., I—I don't…" He murmured, his tongue swelling up in his throat and he swallowed it. "I don't understand…"

"It's not that hard to understand," She giggled quietly and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I like you, silly… I have for a really long time."

This wasn't right! James liked C.J.! Hell, he probably even loved her if he was willing to change who he was for her! If he was willing to give up his life of trouble- of stealing, pickpocketing, lying, cursing, whatever, a life he enjoyed very much- to become a changed man that even his own mother wouldn't recognize?... How could she not see what he was willing to do for her? How could she laugh at him for wanting to change? How could she not see that she was his reason to change?

"C.J…." He murmured, continuing to stare down at her in sadness before unlatching her hands from around his neck by her wrists. Her contently dazed mask cracked, and some confusion shone through. "I'm sorry… I don't like you like that."

Her eyes widened in fear, and the tears threatened to come back. "You—I—what?"

"I don't like you—I only like you as a friend. Not a girlfriend."

"Why—Why not?" She asked, turning angry once again and she yanked her wrists from his grip. "It's because I'm not Janny! Is that it?"

"This has nothing to do with Janny!" He cried.

"It has everything to do with Janny! Is it because I'm not pretty enough? Or have nice blonde hair? Or is it because I don't have a nice body like she does? Is that it?" She went on yelling at him, red in the face with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I don't like you like that because James does, you idiot!" He exclaimed, horrified with himself that he called her something so mean.

C.J. froze in place, all the red color draining from her face to be replaced with ashen white and the tears seemed to stop for a fraction of a second.

"He—… James?" She murmured dubiously. "James likes me?"

Bryan nodded quickly. "He does! He has since we were kids and I first came to Rivet City! Heck, C.J., he's probably liked you since before I even came here!"

C.J. backed away, obviously unable to believe what he was telling her and she shook her head from side to side quickly, as if hoping the thought would tumble out and as far as her memory's data bank was concerned, the statement was never even uttered. She ran to the door with tears running down her cheeks.

"C.J.!" He cried, running after her to grab her arm, but she slipped from his grip and took off down the hallway.

"I hate you, Bryan!" She cried over her shoulder as she turned the corner of the hallway and disappeared from his sight, leaving Bryan to stand in the doorway of the Weatherly Hotel awkwardly with a frown on his face and his brows furrowed together. He sighed heavily, brushing his hand over his face and leaned his forehead against the cool metal door frame.

James is going to kill me for telling C.J. He opened his eyes. But what else was I supposed to tell her? That I liked her, when I don't? I couldn't do that to the both of them. It probably would have been better if I just said I didn't like her like that and forced her to leave it at that… He looked down the hallway at the corner where she disappeared. But either way, she'd still hate me.

"I hate you, Bryan!"

Bryan sighed again, only closing his eyes for a moment before he heard pounding footsteps quaking through the hallway and he opened his eyes again, watching as two Rivet City settlers—a young man named Esther and his brother, who's name escaped Bryan at the moment, came barreling towards him.

"Esther! What's going on?" Bryan called as the young man ran past him with his brother in tow. He only stopped for a moment to call back over his shoulder.

"To the marketplace! We're trying to find Lana!" Esther's brother had a grave look etched onto his face, as if he had a bad case of rad-poisoning and was about to vomit.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked, nodding to the brother when he finally remembered his name. "Evan?"

Evan hung his head and shook it back and forth in reluctance before jogging down the hall, away from Bryan and Esther.

"Haven't you heard?" Esther asked as he watched his brother leave and turned back to Bryan.

"No, what's going on?"

"A meeting was called by Rogue and Bannon!"

"So? They're on the council, they call meetings all the time."

Esther shook his head. "Not like this one!" He turned to jog away. "They're calling for everyone on the ship to come down to the marketplace! They say that the meeting concerns everyone and we should be alerted!"

"Alerted of what?" Bryan yelled after Esther as his Aunt Vera came out of the back room.

"Bryan, what's all this yelling about?" She asked strictly. "First I hear you and C.J. yelling, now you and Esther? What's going on?" She looked out the doorway as more frantic and terrified settlers ran in the same direction as Esther to get to the marketplace. "Oh my! What's happening?"

"Esther, what are we supposed to know?" Bryan called again over the sound of thundering footfalls against the metal floor. "What is this meeting about?"

"I can't believe you didn't hear Three Dog's announcement on the radio this morning!" Esther called as he was being pushed and shoved by running settlers. "Megaton's been blown up! It happened a few days ago! Three Dog's been saying that Megaton's bomb was turned on by an unknown party!"

Bryan could barely register his aunt gasping in horror behind him, shaking hand clasped to her mouth as she began to cry and every muscle in his body went rigid in disbelief at what he was hearing as Esther ran away.

Megaton… Destroyed? His mind replayed the message over and over again in his mind, turning it over this way and that and still unable to grasp the method, when a final thought dawned on him. Isn't Janny from Megaton?

He took off down the hall, streamlining through the crowd in the opposite direction of the settlers to get to Janny's quarters and ignoring his aunt Vera yelling after him that she was going to the marketplace to find out more information about Megaton's destruction. As he turned the corner to the branched off hallway where Janny's room was, he slammed right into one of the security officers, causing both men to stumble back.

"S- Sorry!" Bryan exclaimed after regaining his balance.

"Watch it, Wilks!"

"Harkness?"

"The one and only," He nodded his head and let go of a pipe lined up the wall, which he grabbed onto to keep his balance. "What's with all the commotion?"

"You don't know?" His eyes widened. "But I—I thought you were on the council!"

"I am on the council! Does this seem like council business to you?"

"That's what Esther told me!"

"Esther?" Harkness questioned, and Bryan nodded. "What did he tell you?"

"He told me Bannon and Rogue called a meeting in the marketplace! Council business that they thought the people of Rivet City should know about!"

"What's the basis of the meeting?" The commander asked sternly.

"You should know! You're on council!" Bryan exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Well damnit, Wilks! If I knew I wouldn't be asking you now would I?" He yelled back. "I don't know why no one has told me about this sudden "council meeting" with the people, so I'm asking you, now!"

"Megaton!" He threw his hands up into the air. "Megaton's been blow up!"

Harkness' mouth dropped open, nostrils flaring and his eyes strained wide open before he began to growl, his expression taking on a mask of pure and utter rage.

"I fucking knew it!" He barked, turning on his heel and made a beeline straight for Janny's room, pounding his fist on her door. "Open up, Janny! Now!"

"What are you doing?" Bryan cried, running over. "You knew what?"

"Go to the marketplace, Wilks." He hissed, continuing to pound on Janny's door. "I'll be there later. I said open up Janny!" He boomed.

The door suddenly flew open, revealing a frightened Janny.

"I have told you before that my door is always unlocked when I am in my room... But it looks like you're early for our get together—what are you yelling for?"

Harkness shoved his way into Janny's room, causing her to become unbalanced and her shoulder slammed into the corner of the doorway with a painful sound.

"Janny!" Bryan cried worriedly, stepping into the room with his hands hovering over her arm, unsure of what to do before he glared at the commander. "What did you push her for?"

"You had something to do with it, didn't you Janny?" Harkness yelled, pointing a sharp finger at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," She answered calmly, rubbing her shoulder with a slight grimace on her face. She nodded to Bryan to notify him that she was alright, but he wasn't looking at her—he was still trying his best to mentally set Harkness aflame for brutally shoving her.

"Megaton! You had something to do with blowing it up, didn't you?"

At this, Janny's eyes turned wide and her jaw tightened, plump lips parting slightly. Her shoulders began trembling violently and she forced her head into her shaking hands, small noises emitting from her. Bryan stared at her, completely aghast.

"J- Janny?..." He murmured. No. No! Not his goddess—his goddess didn't destroy a whole town! His goddess didn't kill all those innocent people! His goddess wasn't a horrid person! She wasn't!

But it would make sense, wouldn't it? A bitter voice in the back of his head asked.

It would explain why she was gone for ten years—scouring the wasteland, all of her time going into murdering and stealing.

It would explain why she was only back here now—not to visit him, but because she had no other place to stay.

It would explain why Three Dog stopped talking about her on the radio after a while… Because she was evil, and because she wasn't the golden-hearted Lone Wanderer that everyone came to love and know about her adventures.

It all made sense… All of it.

"How do I know that you're not lying to me again?..."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I feel like you don't trust me, Janny. I feel like you like having secrets and that you like lying to people… You said you'd never lie to me!"

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way, Bryan… I really am sorry. But the life I live out there- I know how savage and brutal people can be… I know that they'd do anything to gain the upper hand. I'm doing this so no one knows who I truly am- so that they can't link me back to anyone I care about."

The lying, the keeping of all these secrets from him—it wasn't to protect him from other people. It was supposed to protect her so no one knew how horrible she was! And he played into her trap… And by the looks of it, so did Harkness.

His head kept screaming that it made complete and total sense, but still… There was something wrong, there. Like a snag.

"I knew it… I fucking knew that you would relapse again, just like you did after your father died!" Harkness yelled at her. She didn't even flinch, and continued hiding her face in her hands and slunk up against the wall, curled into herself as he continued to yell. "Who'd you blow up Megaton for? Slavers? Someone else? Maybe for yourself because you've turned into that sadistic bitch that I knew all those years ago?"

Janny said nothing, continuing to hide her face in her hands with small noises continuing to string out of her.

"Janny Brookes, by law of Rivet City you are here by catalogued as unwelcomed and are hereby seen as an enemy to not only to the people of Rivet City but the people of the Wasteland, and I will take it upon myself as commander of security and by my seat in the Rivet City council to arrest you."

Bryan stepped forth, standing between Harkness and Janny like a brick wall and refused to move, his glare still falling upon the commander, who reciprocated one of his own.

"Stand down, Wilks. Or I will be forced to arrest you as well."

"Then go ahead and arrest me! You don't touch Janny!"

"Bry- Bryan!" She exclaimed, picking her head up in disbelief.

"I can do whatever the hell I want! She isn't a raider or some drugged up Wastelander, Wilks—she demolished a whole town of innocent people! She's lucky I didn't gun her down on the spot!"

"How do you know she blew up Megaton?" Bryan yelled back, still unwilling to move. It hurt him to defend her, having himself believe that she was the one who slaughtered Megaton's residents but she was his goddess, but something about it wasn't right. He had to protect her, he would protect her, because he had to find out why.

He had to find out what else she was keeping from him.

"Because you don't know her like I do, Wilks, now stand aside!" He yelled.

"And you don't know her like I do, either!" He yelled back, when Janny suddenly took a hold of his arm. He snapped his head over his shoulder to look back at her, eyes widening at the tears that streaked down from her blank, red eyes. "J- Janny?..." He murmured questioningly.

"Will you come quietly?" Harkness asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"I didn't destroy Megaton." Janny stated firmly. "And how dare you claim to know me, and then accuse me of murdering a whole town of people. Those people were my friends! They were my family after my father died, for God's sake!"

"What?" He inquired with wide eyes, and Bryan stepped to her.

"But you told me you didn't have anyone left! Just me and Harkness!" He cried.

She nodded and turned to him. "I was speaking truthfully… The bomb that Megaton was built around was detonated, killing almost everyone I ever loved and cared about…"

"Wait, so you knew Megaton was destroyed before today?" Bryan asked in horror.

"I did… I was out scavenging at this school away from Megaton when it was destroyed, and the blast knocked me out. When I came to, I ran to the town to find that it was turned into a giant sinkhole of radiation… Only two of my friends survived, but not for long…"

"What do you mean?"

"One of the people who survived was a woman by the name of Moira Brown. An inane scientist and tinker that I worked for not too long after coming out of Vault 101 and we became fast friends... The blast didn't kill her, as the radiation put her through a rapid metamorphosis of a ghoul—when the metamorphosis can take from months up to a couple of years. I led her to Underworld in the D.C. ruins so she would be safe, but… Not too long after taking her there, I left, and a week later I was hearing from Three Dog over the radio that Underworld was raided by slavers for cheap slaves. Moira was killed in the crossfire."

"What about your other friend?"

A broken smile came across Janny's face as slow tears came down her cheeks, trailing to the crest of her thick, trembling lips.

"His name was Charon. He was a ghoul bodyguard I hired out of Underworld, and he was an excellent companion… I left him at home while I was out scavenging because he was wounded and I wanted him to rest. When the bomb went off, all the radiation-… It tu- turned him feral." She choked on her words, burying her face into her quivering hands. "Oh God! The scream he made when he ran towards me! The way his nails just dug into my skin, his teeth sunk into my shoulder!... I pushed him off and pinned him down, I held a rock above his head to take him out of his misery and I swear to you he said my name as I swung it down onto his head! He said my name! He said "Janny," I swear it!" She crumpled to her knees, and Bryan's hand darted out to catch her before she could fall to the floor. Harkness stepped over and swept her away from Bryan and into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"I'm sorry, Jan… I—I should have known better than to think that you were the one who did it…" He whispered to her, and she clung to his chest, sobbing against the breast plate of his armor. "But why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because the ones who destroyed Megaton did so to kill me, Harkness! I was afraid to tell anyone because I didn't want anyone getting hurt because of me!" She wailed against his chest. "I shouldn't even be here!... I'm putting you all into danger just by coming here… I need to leave! I have to go, now!"

"Woah, woah, woah—" He soothed her, grabbing her shoulders to gently push her back and look down into her twisted up face. "You're not going anywhere. Now, what did you say? Who's trying to kill you?"

"Th- The same people that killed my father, Harkness…" She picked her head up, puffy red eyes staring back at the commander with her blonde bangs gliding into her face, like a curtain. "The Enclave…"