Wow, four months, sorry about that guys I got extremely busy and lazy due to school starting up and wanting to spend time with my girlfriend. Hope this chapter answers your questions from the last.

Ashlyn sat on the cot that James had been sleeping in crying quietly. She held herself; her arms holding her in a hug. She squeezed tighter as she thought more of James. Ashlyn began to feel the burning in her lungs as she cried aloud. She wondered how all of this could be ending so quickly. She had fallen in love with him and now, now he was gone. Ashlyn felt it for herself; he had no pulse.

Ashlyn didn't understand why the Followers were even trying to heal him. He was gone. The last time she had spoken to him was just before he left; she hadn't thought anything like this could possibly happen, not like this. Ashlyn wailed louder as she again was struck with the pain of James' death.

"He's gone." She thought to herself as she continued to cry.

The Courier fell onto the cot and curled up still bawling. Ashlyn heard the sound of the tent flap moving slightly. Rufus slowly walked over to the cot and laid his head on the cot near Ashlyn. Slowly she moved her hand to pat Rufus' head. The dog whined and scooted closer to her. Ashlyn pulled the dog up on the small cot and held him tightly as she cried painfully again. Rufus whined feeling the pain that Ashlyn felt.

The two laid together in a sea of sorrow, waves of pain crashing onto them erratically. Pain consumed the two; their strong bonds with the Ranger began killing them from the inside. Rufus lightly began to shed tears, his mental pain causing him great distress. Ashlyn's cries began to finally cease as her body gave into exhaustion and she fell asleep. Rufus laid for a time before he too fell asleep.

The sun shined brightly into his eyes; he blinked as he looked away. The river seemed amazing to him, the sparkling waters reflecting the light at him. The breeze was pleasant and refreshing as it lightly blew through his hair. The smells in this place were just fantastic. All of the smells he loved were here, his closest friend, meat, clean water, and the smell of the dirt around him.

This was the second time he had seen this place, his friend had brought him here before. He had many great times here; life was calm here and he didn't have to fight anymore. Looking back at the river he felt compelled to jump in. He looked to his friend, he nodded. The waters again became like gems to his eyes. He jumped. The cool water rushed to his skin.

Euphoria that was what he felt. Pure joy and relief; he wished that his friend would join, but he simply stood at the riverbank and watched.

"Come on in man!" He yelled to him "It feels great!"

His friend stood unmoving.

"Please?" He called out.

The friend shook his head.

"But.." He trailed off "Its great…"

He looked down into the water and wondered if he had upset his friend. His happiness had now faded. He felt like he had done something terrible.

"Please…." He whimpered out.

His friend shook his head again, but with a frown.

"Please!" He shouted to the on looking friend.

The friend again shook his head as he slowly began to turn to dust as he waved goodbye.

"No! Stay!" He cried out to the ashes "I need you!"

His friend disappeared into the wind, the suns light shining down on the single tear in his eye before he was completely gone. He ran to shore and stood right where his friend had been. The water was no longer euphoric for him, it hurt. The heaviness of the water made his legs weak, so he collapsed to the ground in sadness and pain. He had lost him the friend that gave him a life. He wondered why.

The sun slowly dried him as he lay on the river bank. He laid in the same spot unwilling to move, he wanted his friend back. He wanted more time, more memories. Now, he would have neither, because now it was all over. He was gone.

A shadow slowly walked to cover him. The shadow brought him comfort, but why? He looked up; the shadow was that of a woman, she smiled. She knelt to comfort him.

"Don't cry, he didn't want to leave you either. He hurts too." The woman said in a soothing motherly tone.

"He loved you. Very dearly he loved you, don't forget that." She added "Remember what you had, the fun, food, and companionship."

"You have to stay strong; otherwise she will be gone too." The woman continued.

"Not her, at least let her stay." He said dried tears on his face.

"Then rise up, be there since he cannot, protect her now that he cannot. Be what he wanted to be for her; be her guardian." The woman said spiritedly.

The woman disappeared and the sun once again shined bright. He rose as the beams became brighter onto his body. He looked around; everything was just like before minus his best friend. He slowly walked from the river knowing who he must find and what he must now do in his friend's memory. This time, he was alone on the path. He found a strange comfort though, as if his friend was still beside him watching him, simply waiting to come back.

"Rufus, keep on fighting buddy." The wind whispered.

Rufus slowly opened his eyes to find Ashlyn still lying on the cot holding him. He sniffed quietly; Ashlyn's smell was calming. Rufus knew that this was the new smell that would be close to him.

The tent again opened as Veronica entered. She sat on the cot across from Rufus and Ashlyn. Tears had dried on her face just as they had on Ashlyn's. Veronica felt James to have been a great man; she respected him and cherished their short time being friends. She looked down at her hands; she removed her power fist and put it beside her. Her knuckles were beat red on her left hand and possibly broken. As for her right hand, it was lighter than the rest of her skin. How long had it been since she took the gauntlet off last she wondered.

Veronica put her head in her hands, slightly wincing as her left hand extended its fingers then touched her face. She knew that the Followers were still trying to bring James back, but they wouldn't let anyone into the surgical tent. She knew that it was too late or close to it. The odds were against him having been revived and even slimmer that they had managed to mend his wounds and re-supply his body with blood.

"Ashlyn is gonna have a hell of a time with this and Rufus too." Veronica thought as she looked at the distress on the sleeping woman's face "She might even try to die just to be with him."

"That man had some strange power to draw strong feelings out of people. He was like some wasteland savior." Veronica thought more as she saw small tears well up in Ashlyn's eyes.

Ashlyn opened her eyes and saw Veronica looking at her. She sat up slowly to allow Rufus time to move. Rufus slowly slid off the cot then walked from the tent. Ashlyn rubbed her eyes.

"How long…" Ashlyn mumbled.

"About an hour and a half." Veronica said looking at the Courier.

"Why did he have to do what he did?" Ashlyn asked.

"Ashlyn he saved those people, he just did what James does; saves everyone and shows compassion." Veronica said "I may not have known him long, but James was easy to read. He wanted a better life for everyone, even if he had to die for it."

"I've know him for less than a week Veronica, you know that right?" Ashlyn asked sad eyed.

"I was never told, nor would I have guessed, you two seem so close." Veronica said back slightly surprised.

"I fell in love with him in that time, I don't understand it." Ashlyn said with distress in her voice.

"He was unique, I barely know him and his loss hurts even me." Veronica stated as she breathed deeply.

"I want him back, I need to at least be able to say goodbye. Just goodbye is all I ask." Ashlyn said as she began to cry again.

Veronica walked over to Ashlyn and proceeded to sit down beside her and wrap her arm around her. Ashlyn buried her face into Veronica's chest and cried loudly. Veronica held her tighter as she cried. Veronica couldn't help but begin to tear up again. Seeing people sad made her the same way, a natural response she thought.

Both women cried together holding each other. The tears soon stopped as the two calmed down again.

"We should go get what he left by the Deathclaw." Ashlyn said slightly choked up.

"Yeah, we should. It's something he would probably want." Veronica said unsure of her statement.

The two women grabbed their weapons and slowly prepared to leave. Ashlyn was the first to walk out of the tent, she then quickly yelled for the guard to open the fort doors. Veronica and Ashlyn stepped into Freeside slowly, unwilling to push themselves to travel to the scene of James' final fight.

The walk was slow for the two, in both reality and mentality. Two hours of snail paced steps to reach the location. The blood pools had dried to the dirt and bits of prewar road that they fell upon. Veronica picked up James' service rifle and examined it. Empty. Veronica then gathered the spent casings knowing how to reload them. Ashlyn walked over to the Deathclaw. She stared at it, the creature was mangled and had a knife lodged in its neck.

Ashlyn grabbed the knife and tugged. The knife didn't budge. She planted her foot on the beast and pulled harder. The knife was finally freed from the Deathclaw's carcass.

"I want its claws." Ashlyn said blankly.

"What?" Veronica asked picking up the last of the spent casings.

"It's claws, I want them." Ashlyn said stabbing the knife into the joint of the Deathclaw's wrist.

"What the fuck Ashlyn?!" Veronica said not believing her eyes.

"They're gonna be mine!" Ashlyn screamed as she sawed the hand of the Deathclaw off violently.

Veronica stood still as she watched Ashlyn break before her eyes.

"I'm going to make the claws into knives and kill every last fucking Deathclaw I see!" Ashlyn screeched and she dug the knife into the other wrist of the beast.

Ashlyn sawed both of the hands off of the dead Deathclaw then put them into her pack claws sticking up into the air. Veronica walked over to Ashlyn and put a hand on her cheek. She looked into her eyes; they were grey and dull.

"You gonna be okay Honey?" Veronica asked as kindly as possible.

Ashlyn looked away as tears again fill her eyes yet again.

"I've cried too much today…." Ashlyn said between pained inhales.

"Shh" Veronica said as she lightly hugged Ashlyn again "Lets go."

The women walked back to the fort, slightly quicker than the trip to the Deathclaw. Veronica knocked on the fort's gate door which was soon opened. The two walked to the tent and set their possessions inside.

"Veronica, would you get these claws out of the hands for me?" Ashlyn asked "I really will make knives out of these and kill every Deathclaw I see."

"I will." Veronica said knowing that she had best do as Ashlyn asked in her fragile condition.

"I'm going to see when we can bury him." Ashlyn stated as she walked out of the tent before Veronica could say any different of her plans.

Ashlyn reached the surgical tent. The Follower at the door allowed her in. James was lying on the operating table completely stitched and bandaged. Julie stood close by James' body.

"Ashlyn, you shouldn't be here." Julie said "We tried, but his heartbeat keeps fading. He's gone."

Ashlyn walked over to James then kissed his pale lips "I know."

Ashlyn looked to the heart monitor to see that Julie indeed was telling the truth James was dead; she looked away.

Beep.