A/N: It's been 84 years and I'm sure some of you have given up on this story. But I feel the creative juices kicking back up. I guess a hiatus will do that to you. Hope you enjoy, please let me know.

Chapter 4: Galileo

How long till my soul gets it right?
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light?
I call on the resting soul of Galileo
King of night vision, king of insight. - Emily Saliers

"And yet it moves." - Galileo Galilei

She felt the sweat rolling off her back as he slammed her against the back of the supply closet again and again. She grabbed his damp hair and twisted it as he licked the salty trail of moisture down her neck. Her own hair would be a mess after this.

What would the staffers say?

They would take one look at her and know. They would know from her swollen lips. From her disheveled clothes. From the look in her eye that said she had been well and properly laid by a man.

And she didn't care.

All she cared about was feeling him inside of her. Burning everything. Consuming every part of her. This moment was all that ever mattered.

Thank God Mellie wasn't at this campaign stop.

He broke away from her neck briefly, his blue eyes mirthful. "See, I told you it wasn't so bad the rally was delayed because of a broken air conditioner." She tried to join him in his laughter, but the humidity pressed down on her lungs and she strived to catch her breath.

Liv opened her eyes and blinked rapidly, focusing on the fire which remained a blur. She had several blankets piled on top of her. She wanted to throw them off of her, but her arms wouldn't cooperate. She tried to climb up from her position and groaned as a sharp pain from her thigh stopped any further notion of that. Suddenly she felt her head cradled up and cool liquid on her lips.

"Just drink up. You're going to be ok. You just got a little fever." He smiled, his blue eyes shining by the firelight. Liv stared at him in confusion, recognizing him from her dream. When he lifted the blankets from her, she started shivering uncontrollably. "I just need to check your wound." It had been two days since he found her. They moved slowly in his rover, with Fitz stopping frequently to check on her and taking the time to set up camp each night. Her injury still looked red, but the swelling seemed to be going down. He doused it with more alcohol and she yelled out in pain, thrashing deliriously.

Fitz dressed her thigh and piled her with the blankets again. She looked so small by the fire.

He shook his head. He shouldn't care. She was just a job now. He had to get her from point A to point B and collect what was owed to him. The more time he spent trying to get her well, the more exposed he was to scavengers or other bounty hunters. Hell, even the friends she kept on talking about could show up at any moment. He was probably just leading her to her death anyway.

He sat with his back away from her, determined not to look at every curve of her face again. He ate the rabbit he caught in silence. He tried not to let her moans get to him, but the food sat like lead in his stomach. Fitz finally turned around again and saw her shuddering. He reluctantly moved towards her and felt her forehead. She was warm to the touch, but the rest of her felt cold and clammy. Fitz remembered a healer in Boulder once saying that two naked bodies under blankets would help a person get warm. He couldn't remember if that was supposed to be for treating someone with a fever or hypothermia, but regardless, he didn't think that would be such a good idea.

An unwarranted image of her naked with a smile on her face underneath his body flashed in his head. Definitely not a good idea, at least not the naked part. At least not the naked part right now. At least not the naked part with the woman who was his bounty.

Still, he felt like he needed to do something. So he crawled under the covers fully clothed and wrapped one arm tightly around her quivering body. He propped his head up with his other hand and began to examine her face once again. He had met all sorts of women in his time; great fighters, great business partners, great lovers, but never had he saw a face as exquisitely beautiful as hers. Every line was symmetrical. Her skin was supple and flawless. She looked like a picture out of one of those old art books his mother used to show him. He moved some stray strands of hair off of her neck and almost unconsciously inhaled her. She had a clean scent, almost like rosemary and mint. She must take regular baths, which wasn't a given in this world anymore.

Her shuddering subsided after awhile. He should have gotten up and moved, but it felt good just lying there with her. He reflexively pulled her in closer as he drifted off to sleep.

He could feel her shapely bottom grind against his groin, which immediately made him stiff. Livvie is such a tease, he thought with a smile as he grabbed one of her breasts in an embrace and kissed her neck. He felt her fingers rake his hair and heard a contented moan escape her lips. Wait a minute, this isn't a dream. His eyes flew open the same time hers did. He noticed that dawn had broken before he heard her gasp. Fitz scrambled away from her. She turned around and shouted, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Fitz was momentarily overcome with embarrassment. "I . . . I, uh . . . I was trying to keep you warm! You were shivering all night."

She regarded him skeptically. "Oh, you feeling me up and kissing me is supposed to keep me warm, huh?"

Fitz grew defensive. "Hey, you were the one rubbing up all against me! I'm sorry; it was just a natural reaction."

Liviana felt the rush of blood to her face; she did vaguely remember dreaming about smashing up against him. Was that real?

When she didn't respond, he changed the subject. "Well, it looks like your fever finally broke and you returned to the land of the living." He thanked God, or whatever there was out there for small favors.

She just stared at him for the longest time, trying to understand what made him tick. "So, you dress my wounds. You bring my fever down, and for what? You say there's a bounty on my head so I guess I'm dead anyway."

He felt a jagged knife to his heart when she articulated the idea that he had in his mind for the past two days. Hearing her talk about her potential demise almost sent him into a panic. He didn't let his feelings betray him though, adapting a cool tone. "I don't know what they have planned for you all I'm doing is making sure you get to Denver."

"Well then, you don't have to worry. I was already planning on heading in that direction. My people are heading there also. So why don't you just send me on my merry way and we'll call it even, ok," she requested cheerfully.

Fitz smirked, finding himself back on safer territory. "Yeah, well, that won't work for me. There's the little bit of business of me getting what is due to me for your delivery."

"I can make sure you are rewarded handsomely for not collecting the bounty on me. Just let me go and I'll make you rich," Liv pleaded.

Fitz sighed, taking in her sincere expression. "I'm sorry, Ms. Bishop, but you truly can't afford me."

Liv shook her head, perplexed. "Who put the price on my head? Who are you working for?" The individuals she collected when she developed her name in the badlands weren't exactly the kind of people anyone would miss.

"Well, I guess you'll find out in Denver," he answered lightly, not divulging his inexplicable worry on the matter.

Liviana took in his words and watched Fitz cautiously as a sudden a gust of wind put a damper to any more banter.

It had been a week since they first met and they were slowly but surely making their way into the Denver Territories. Not only did Fitz have an injured bounty to deal with, but also her horse. He wasn't sure why he brought the animal along after he found her down the road. The creature wouldn't fetch all that much on the open market in Denver and while rovers didn't even come close to reaching the speeds of their older counter-parts back before the Cataclysm, they could move a little faster than a horse. Yet here he was, checking the mare's feet for any stones or injuries and scratching her behind the ear. She snorted as one perfect crystalline flake landed on her nose.

First snowfall.

Damn. He felt the knot in his stomach tighten. He was hoping to make it over the pass before the first storm. Still, they would be reaching it soon and one storm was unlikely to close the pass for the entire season. He briefly thought about making camp for the night, but dismissed the idea hoping he could push it just a bit longer. He gave the horse some water, tied her to the back of the rover and then got back into the driver's side.

"It'll be about another day before we reach the pass. If the weather cooperates we should be in Denver proper within the week." His passenger stared out the side window, refusing to acknowledge him. He supposed having her wrists bound had something to do with her sullen mood. Despite her injury, she already tried to escape twice. He rubbed his jaw again which still smarted after she bashed him with a rock. He made sure to keep all sharp objects out of her reach and kept her sleeves rolled slightly to prevent her from secretly palming something.

She hadn't talked to him much since her fever broke. She used just enough words to convey her basic necessities. Occasionally she would mention her friends and how they must be coming for her. Considering they had seen neither hide nor hair of them yet, these seemed like empty threats. They were either dead, abandoned her, or they never existed in the first place.

The snow started falling heavier, seeming to muffle all the sounds of life.

Fitz plotted the course using the old back highways, which took more time but were safer. Most of the asphalt had disintegrated, but there was enough of a recognizable road to get a traveler from one destination to another. Awhile back, the government of the Denver Territories started to resurface some of the old roads spreading out from Denver. The rover had just crossed into the dividing line of the resurfaced road, which would make for a smoother travel. However, better roads held other dangers. So far, they had been lucky they hadn't run into anyone else.

He glanced again at his unwilling companion. He could let her go. Just walk away and let the hand of fate take care of her. Her injury was well enough that she could probably get herself to the nearest populated town with her horse. Now would be the time to do it because they would be running into other people very soon. She would more than likely find herself in the hands of another bounty hunter soon enough, but at least he wouldn't be responsible for what ultimately happened to her. There was the rub. Ever since he first saw her, he felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Even when he wanted to wring her neck, he felt a strange urge to protect her or at least not let her out of his sight. People came and went in his life and he usually did not spare them a second glance. But here he felt he needed to see this through. Even if death was her ultimate destiny, he couldn't just walk away from her.

His eyes returned to the road just when the tires blew out due to a strip of nail-traps laid down in the middle of the road. He put on the breaks and the vehicle slid over ice. He could hear the horse screech and see the rope break before the animal was dragged with the rover. He couldn't stop the vehicle from spinning until it fell over the embankment. The last thing he saw was the tree before they hit it.

Liv sat in shock for a moment. She looked to Fitz. His head was bloody from a gash in his forehead. She was just about to check for a pulse when he let out a small moan. He's still alive, she thought. She looked around her for something to stanch the blood and realized that her hands were still tied. Now was her chance. She could find something to untie her hands and grab her horse and go. She hesitated for a moment, wondering what would become of him if she left him here. When he groaned again, she bolted out of the rover and tried to get her balance.

She stumbled in the snow as she climbed the embankment. She turned her head towards the rover as she heard Fitz call out her name.

She tripped over something and fell down. She looked up to see a young man dressed all in black from his cowboy hat to his boots. He smiled broadly, his teeth contrasting against his dark skin shinning almost as bright as the snow. "Well, look what we have here."