Amos sent Jesse back on the barge to Gladstone, amidst complaint, to retrieve meds for the girl, and to inform Avery that they would be spending some time in St. James. Jesse, with a swollen eye and sore throat, hadn't wanted to go. Amos patiently reminded his younger brother that he had to eat, and who had the caps?

"You," Jesse groaned.

"Go," Amos shooed him away.

One of the downfalls of being the leader of ARC was that he'd constantly had to learn how to deal with the mishaps that his employees got into. As a result he'd gotten pretty handy with wrapping wounds, retrieving bullets from flesh, and administering emergency first aid. He appointed himself to help this girl out because the ghouls had no idea how to even apply Rad-Away, much less how much would be appropriate for her specific sickness.

Amos found the other ghoul at the Samson, a local bar. He spoke with Medicine Man about the situation, who was, thankfully, understanding. Amos thanked his own lucky stars he'd made friends with the ancient ghoul. Lionel, Lilian Swanton, and Amos set the girl in the empty shack behind the Samson and Amos looked the two ghouls over.

Lilian, he knew. She'd wormed into his confidence by providing ARC with tips on the residents of St. James, while working at the Samson. She'd been a decent informant until he'd released her from the obligation, under the pretense that he couldn't afford to pay her. In reality, he'd not wanted those bony fingers in his pockets. Lilian was lonely, or so he'd thought at the time, and he already had a wife.

And the other... Amos examined the ghoul. He was a big guy, but quiet, and that missing arm was surely a story. He cared for the girl, or so it would appear, but Lilian kept digging at him about the situation and Amos gathered that Lilian and Lionel had been together for a long time. And then the girl came along.

Amos looked the girl over. A healing wound on her face appeared to have been caused by something irregular in shape. A cuff mark around her wrist had bruised and was fading, indicating she'd been imprisoned recently. She was gray from the radiation and thin, almost too thin. Wasn't eating properly, probably. She made little movements in her sleep that made him wonder if she was having a nightmare. He imagined to himself her injuries being caused by this big ghoul that was literally hauling her around the wasteland. He shot a look at the ghoul. He was certainly violent enough.

At any rate, she had to be separated from the ghouls. It just wasn't right, such a young girl traipsing about with them.

"Who is this Cameron Landis?" Lilian asked.

"Fellow skipped out on some bills in Spalding," Amos said. "But the similarity is remarkable. If you didn't tell me that the girl's father was dead, I'd suspect some relation."

"Probably is her old man," Lionel muttered. "With the shitty luck she has, it wouldn't surprise me."

"Man's got a right to know, if he is," Amos said. "Even if he's a deadbeat." He scrutinized the ghouls. "You've explained the situation, but I'm still curious about a few things."

Lilian gave him one of her half-smiles. "What's that?"

"Why did you decide to bring her to St. James?"

Lionel clenched his fist. "Safe," he said. Lilian scoffed.

"Should have kept going. Gladstone is a far better prospect, and has nicer people." Amos rubbed his beard. "I know about this Paramount group, enough to stay away. You think the people down there will be alright?"

"No," the ghoul answered. "Probably dead."

Lilian scoffed. **"Honestly, Lionel―"

"I'm not telling her that," the ghoul said to the woman. "You've seen how she's acting."

"Yes, and you should know better than that," Lilian said. "Encouraging this little girl to come with you, and treating me like you have been!"

Lionel turned on the woman. "You need to stop acting like you've been wronged," he said.

"I haven't? You practically dumped me on the road like a pile of trash!"

"Because you lied for ten fucking years," the ghoul snapped.

"And you forgave me without question, for ten fucking years!" Lilian yelled back. "Until―"

Amos cleared his throat. "Take it outside, folks."

Lionel shot him one of the meanest glares he'd ever received, and grabbed up Lilian's arm, hustling her out the door.

Lilian wrenched her arm out out of his hand the minute they got outside, angrily. "I'm sorry that you thought you had a monopoly on my attention," she hissed. "That you owned me."

"That is not how I feel, and you know it," Lionel said.

"Do I?" Lilian looked at him sideways. "You're acting ignorant, Lionel."

"Apparently that's all I'm good at," he rumbled.

She scoffed at him. "I never made light of your intelligence," she started. "But you're being especially stupid right now―"

"Goddammit, Lilian―"

"She's not like us!" Lilian said, her eyes aflame with anger. "That girl was fine as a friend, a pleasant thing to have around! But you've gone all soft in the head for her!"

Lionel looked away from Lilian. His chest felt tight. "Don't push me," he said, strained. "You don't think I don't know?"

"She's dangerous for you," Lilian said, touching his arm roughly.

"I know," he said. "Believe it."

"Why would you even want that!" Lilian tightened her hand on the healing wound. He grimaced. "You moved to Grayling to get away from pain!"

He didn't remember. It was something he'd been trying, in vain, to recall. Lionel shook his head. "Being a ghoul means being in pain," he said. "I told you that, when you first changed. You can't run away from that."

She rolled her eyes at him. "So, we're done then? You and me? No more of this?" She waved her hand between them.

"I don't know," he said, achingly. "I really don't, Lilian."

"I might be a damn hypocrite, but I am not comfortable sharing you with that little floozy."

"You aren't sharing!" he said, and grabbed her by the chin, looking into her eyes. "I do love you, you know."

"You patchwork piece of shit!" She threw a fist out and hit at him. He let her bounce off his chest without moving. "You can't have everything! Didn't you tell me that? That no smoothskin would ever want me, that I would never find what I wanted?"

"I did." He closed his eyes and winced. I'm a hypocrite, now, he thought.

"And then she decides to pay some attention to you―"

"She wasn't coming to the shack for me!" he yelled. "Dammit, Lilian, she loves you just as much as me! No one else gave her any attention!"

Lilian laughed, cruelly. "Whatever attention you've been giving is a little more than familial," she said.

Lionel exhaled in anger. "Lilian, please don't make me lose my temper."

"What, you going to hit me? I'm frightened."

"I might," he said, seething. He stared her down. She was pushing all the right buttons and he was trying very hard not to lose his temper.

Lilian shook her head and laughed. "What happens when she finds out you aren't a real man?" she sniped at him.

Lionel broke his own rule then, a rule he'd had for one hundred and fifty years. He raised his hand and backhanded her across the mouth, sending her sprawling into the dirt. His hand stayed in the air for a moment, shaking.

"Goddammit," he muttered, and stalked away from her.