Willow sits passively on a bench outside of the Third Rail, where she hugs her knees to her chest and stares blankly out at the world in front of her. She's already cried for so long that she no longer produces tears, no longer heaves with each breath. She just feels exhausted, and her head hurts, and all she longs for is to feel MacCready's arms around her. She wants to hear him tell her it will be okay, then make her laugh and hear his own laughter in return. But by now, the sun has set and the clouds have dissipated to reveal a sea of bright stars. The caravans are long gone. MacCready is long gone.

Yet Willow is not alone. Sitting dutifully beside her is Maggie, who is quiet as she, too, observes the world around them. Hours pass and Willow hasn't moved at all, but when she finally lowers her feet to the ground and leans forward with a groan, Maggie perks.

"How are you feeling?" she asks tenderly, and Willow shakes her head but cannot find the strength to respond for fear of crying again. Maggie frowns and puts her hand on Willow's back. "Hey. You're alright." she soothes her. "You did the right thing, Willow. You know that, right?"

Willow draws in a ragged breath, then puffs her cheeks out and exhales. Her hair curtains her face and blows gently in the breeze, and she chuckles bitterly.

"Did I?"

Maggie looks a bit taken aback by the answer and her hand stills where it had been rubbing Willow's back. The older of the two shakes her head and grits her teeth, then leans back and pulls the toy soldier from her pocket. She turns it over in her hand, feels the texture of the wood beneath her fingers, and then groans as a pang of pure grief stabs mercilessly into her chest. It manifests as a burning ball of rage which collects in her throat, and Willow has to make a conscious effort to swallow it lest she scream out at the top of her lungs.

"I mean," she hisses instead, sitting up when much to her dissatisfaction, tears gather in her eyes once more. "I feel like I just let go of the one thing that's ever made me feel something other than fucking despair." Her head shakes angrily. "Why? Why did I... What the fuck was I thinking?!"

Her words devolve back into sobs and she buries her face in her hands. Her shoulders shake and she whimpers pathetically, all while Maggie sits beside her in quiet contentment. She resumes rubbing her back and leans closer to her.

"But Willow," she whispers excitedly, "You're so close."

A sob catches in Willow's throat, and she bites her tongue and lifts her head, then quickly uses the shirt beneath her jacket to wipe her tears from the wood of the toy.

Maggie is right. One more name. One more name, and Maggie can rest. Willow can rest. She can live her life without the shadows of her past following her around and clinging to her like hot tar. She can finally put her old life behind her once and for all – and this brings her at least some degree of comfort.

She turns her head and looks to Maggie, who gives her an encouraging smile. "So close." she repeats, and Willow nods, sniffles, then offers her a weak half-smile in return.

"Yeah." she sighs. "So close."

When she faces forward again, she sees the bright red doors of the Memory Den push open, and her eyes widen as Cass emerges. He doesn't immediately notice her as he steps out onto the sidewalk and runs a hand through his dark hair. He smooths it back but it is long enough that some strands fall back into his face, so with slight annoyance, he pushes them to the side and does up his jacket.

That's when he spots her and pauses. His eyes narrow as he scans the area, and Willow is unmoving when he then approaches her. He keeps his distance, though, stopping some ways away from her and regarding her curiously.

"Long time, no see." he tests the waters, and Willow notices how tired he looks. Her gaze flicks to the establishment he's just left and she quickly figures why, and then she thinks of her own heartache and her eyes fall down to Cass' boots.

"Yeah." she replies meekly, and Cass frowns then softens his countenance.

He looks about again as he pushes his hands into his pockets. "What happened to your friend?" he asks.

Willow chews her words for a moment, then sighs. "He, um... He went back home." she shrugs in an effort to look nonchalant. "He was a mercenary and he finished what I hired him to do, so..."

Cass recognizes the way she looks so sullen, and though she is a good liar, Cass has always been hard to fool. Carefully, he sits down beside her on the bench, keeping as close to the edge as possible to maintain a good degree of space between the two of them. "He was more than just your bodyguard, though. No?"

He doesn't expect her to answer. And she doesn't, she simply goes back to looking at the statue in her hands, and that says enough for Cass who sighs empathically.

A silence lingers between them, but not a strained one. Finally, Cass kicks a rock on the ground and asks, "Do you want to, ah... Talk about it?"

Willow glances to the man beside her and her jaw clenches. His brown, almond-shaped eyes are heavy, his face amiable as he watches her. She regards him with reluctance, though. "Dunno. You sober?"

Cass raises an eyebrow, and then he looks away in shame. He exhales through his nose and uses his toe to roll back the rock he'd kicked, then he kicks it away again. "Today is 83 days without chems." he replies, then smiles to himself with pride. "I, uh. I just sell them now."

He turns his head to meet Willow's gaze once more, and is shocked to see her eyes wide and dampening. "You... Really?" she asks, to which Cass responds with a chuckle.

"Yes." he nods once. "It has been pretty hard, but my old man..." he sounds fond as he speaks of Dr. Sun, "Well, I could not have done it without him."

Willow believes him; he speaks so earnestly that it is hard not to. "I'm, uh... I'm really proud of you, then."

"Thanks, Willow." he says and breaks eye contact. Now, to him, the silence feels a bit awkward. But Willow doesn't seem to notice as she sniffs and pulls the toy soldier in toward her chest, then draws in a breath.

"You wouldn't... Happen to be heading back to Diamond City any time soon... Would you?" she asks. She doesn't want to be alone anymore. Especially not now.

Cass tilts his head and then wears a quizzical grin. "As a matter of fact, I am." he quirks an eyebrow. "Why?"

A beat. Then, "Could I go with you?"

Cass is surprised to hear Willow ask him for help. And dually surprised to hear her request for him to take her to Diamond City, of all places. He knows she doesn't like it there, and that she hasn't returned since that fateful night in 2280. What reason she could have for a visit is beyond him, and he tilts his head in bewilderment. "Why?" he asks, "What is in Diamond City?"

The woman isn't so sure she wishes to answer him. She knows he will not approve of her intentions. "Just..." she fumbles silently through the process of crafting an excuse, though she knows Cass will not believe her anyway and she is just wasting her time. She sighs in resignation. "I... Please?"

"Hm." Cass looks skeptical as he tries and fails to figure out what her goal is. But finally, he shrugs. "Okay. I'll take you to Diamond City," he says, then leans toward her with a winsome grin, "on one condition."

Willow frowns and groans and fights back the urge to roll her eyes. "Yeah?" she side-eyes him, "And what would that be?"

Cass looks almost smug. "Whenever you are done with whatever it is you have to do in Diamond City," he begins as he once again pushes his hair out of his face, "I want you to come with me to see Detective Valentine."

"What?" she gasps, her eyes wide. "Why?"

"To clear my name, God damn it!" Cass' head falls back as he laughs disarmingly. "Come on. Own up to what you did already. And don't worry," he shakes his finger at her, "I think he will understand. Nicky is good like that."

The prospect is terrifying to Willow, and this is clear as her face pales and her eyes unfocus. But after a mentally turbulent moment, she swallows and nods meekly. "Okay." She says, because she figures it is a fair request. After all, it wasn't Cass who had been responsible for the disappearance of Maggie. It wasn't Cass, it wasn't Tim, it wasn't Constance or Maggie's parents or even one of their clients.

It was Willow.