[AN] This picks up right where the last chapter ended.

Joel saw Ellie run up next to him. "So, who's this friend of yours, exactly?"

"His name's Bill."

"And, why does he owe you some favors?" Ellie asked with more enthusiasm than anyone should have at this hour of the morning.

"Doesn't matter." Joel replied, not wanting to talk to the girl he had almost killed less than a minute ago.

They walked on the road in silence for the next couple of minutes. Ellie looked up at Joel, "You sleep well last night?" Joel was silent. I didn't. He thought to himself.

They continued walking.

A couple of minutes later, he walked past an abandoned store front. "It's worth checking, I guess." he thought to himself.

He walked towards the entrance of the store. "You wait here." He told Ellie.

"Shouldn't I come in with you?"

"Do whatever you want." Joel replied, walking into the store.

The sun was up now, and light began to fill the room. He walked behind the counter, looking for anything he could use. Nothing, no surprise there. He thought. This place had obviously been looted ages ago.

As he walked out of the store, he saw Ellie sitting down next to the window with a lighter in her hand. The flame was on, and her eyes where fixed on it; with the fire making her green eyes seem to be made of emeralds, beautifully reflecting the dancing flame.

"My lighter's almost out." Joel thought.

"Give it to me." He walked up to Ellie.

"Why?" Ellie asked.

" 'Cause the last thing I need is for you to be playing with fire-

"Seriously Joel?"

- and mine's almost out." He reached out his hand.

[2009, early February, around 10:00 PM]

Joel sniffed Is that smoke? He thought to himself. He walked downstairs, and then ran into the kitchen.

"Sarah!" He said, reaching for a glass and turning on the faucet. Sarah had a box of matches in one hand. There was a small, crumpled up piece of paper on the counter, with a burning match on top. Sarah was watching the flames, the fire making her light blue-grey eyes glow.

Joel dumped the glass, now filled with water, on top of the paper. He hugged Sarah, relieved he had come downstairs when he did.

"Sarah, what where you doing? What did I tell you about touching the matches?" He asked.

"I'm sorry dad, I'm sorry." Sarah was crying at this point.

"I know Sarah. But if I haven't come downstairs, the fire could have spread, and I couldn't have stopped it. Do you know what I mean."

"Yes daddy. I'm sorry."

"Promise me you won't touch these again, ok?"

"I promise daddy. It won't happen again." Sarah managed to get out between tears.

Joel was more relieved than anything, If I haven't gotten down here when I did... He didn't want to think what could have happened.

"Okay, I forgive you. Common, it's past your bedtime." He said as he gently took the match box out of her hands I'm putting this in a place where I know she can't get to them. He thought. He should have been more careful, he knew Sarah was a curious little girl.

"Common now. Up to bed." He said, as he walked up the stairs behind his baby girl.

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Fine, take it." She held the lighter, now turned off, up to Joel, who grabbed it out of her hand.

"Okay, its yours. What the fuck would I do with it other than manage to kill you in your sleep?" She said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Well, if you knew I almost did just that, then I'm sure you would find a way. He thought to himself. He sighed, and walked out of the door, Ellie tagging along behind him.

They walked for a couple of minutes when he heard Ellie stop walking.

"What's this?" She asked. Joel turned around and saw a baseball in her hand.

"You don't know what a baseball is?" He asked.

"I've heard of it, I've just never seen one is all." Ellie said. Ellie threw the baseball forward. That was a surprisingly good throw. Joel thought to himself.

The baseball landed on the hood of a long abandoned car. As soon as it hit, he heard the sound of a group of clickers up ahead.

"Shit. Ellie, lets go this way." He said, pointing back towards a road that they had just passed up

"Good idea." She said, as they walked back.

"Way to attract the clickers. Off to a great start." Joel said sarcastically.

"They were already nearby. I just showed you where they are. You should be thanking me, asshole." Ellie said.

She's right. But I'll be damned if I give her that satisfaction. Joel didn't respond.

They kept on walking.

"So, you haven't told me how exactly your mother knew the fireflies." Joel asked.

"She and Marlene were both original members. My dad was too, actually."

"They were there all the way back in 2014, in Boise when the fighting started?" Joel was a little impressed by this. It's not every day you meet the kid of one of those people. Lots of the fireflies back then weren't alive any more. Revolution was a high-risk occupation.

"Actually, back in 2013. I'd rather not talk about it any more though." Ellie replied.

"Okay then." He had lost enough people he cared about to know that it still hurt. He wasn't going to press the issue. It's not like he gained any knowledge out of it.

"So, what happened to your parents?" Ellie asked.

"Lost contact with 'em during the outbreak. They're probably dead now."

"Oh."

Joel sighed softly. "Dammit kid. You aren't quite as bad as I thought you would be. He was actually feeling a bit of guilt for almost killing Ellie in her sleep. Haven't felt that- more accurately, haven't really cared about that in a long time.

Ellie asked another question, but Joel didn't respond. They were mostly silent for the rest of the day.

[That Evening]

"Lets get inside, its getting late." Joel said.

"Okay." Ellie responded. Joel heard her footsteps behind him as he walked over to the house.

Walked inside. "No spores, no infected. That's a relief." He called to Ellie, "Come inside, it's safe."

Ellie walked inside and sat down on the sofa in the living room. Joel saw her rifling through her backpack.

"I'll go search the house for supplies, be right back down." Joel walked upstairs, searched, and found nothing. As he walked back down the stairs, he saw that Ellie had a deck of cards out.

"You know how to play Texas Hold 'em?" Joel asked. He hadn't played anyone in years other than Tess, who was too awful to count.

"Yeah. I'm not too bad. Want to play a couple of rounds while we still have light?"

"Why the hell not. Haven't played in ages." Joel said. He wasn't too tired, much to his own surprise.

They played a couple of rounds, using empty bullet casings as chips. To Joel's surprise, Ellie won most of the time.

After an hour, the sun was down, and they couldn't play anymore. "Well, I'm done having my ass kicked by a little girl. There's a room up stairs. You take that while I sleep down here on the couch."

"Sounds like a plan. 'Night Joel." She was halfway up the stairs when she said. "Lets do this again. Kicking your ass is fun."

"Beginner's luck."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night." Ellie said as she jogged up the stairs.

Joel was asleep within seconds.

[Next morning]

"Wake up Joel." Joel opened his eyes. And saw a flame inches away from his face. Ellie's face was above the lighter that she held in her hand.

Joel grabbed the lighter from her. "How the hell did you get this?" It was the lighter that he had taken from Ellie yesterday.

"I pick pocketed you while you were sleeping." Ellie said, clearly amused by all of this.

"Great. That's reassuring." He said sarcastically. He noticed that the sun was already up. "What time is it?" He asked.

"Sun's been up for a couple of hours. I figured you would want us to get moving." Ellie said.

"Well, thanks for getting me up. Lets go." Joel and Ellie walked out the door.