OoO( 100 )OoO

The look of horror on the man's face was extremely satisfying as the gunman flexed his sore neck again. The colonel just stared at him for a long moment before taking up his stance. But no longer did the aged warrior have the look of supreme confidence that he'd had before. Now, he had no idea what he was dealing with.

With a cheeky grin on his face, John held up a hand and gestured to the man, egging him to attack again. And so he did. Autumn thrust himself forward and threw a punch that would devastate, if not outright kill a regular human. But John met his challenge by throwing the exact same punch, causing their fists to collide. The wanderer's arm folded as the bones snapped, while the colonel withdrew his hand and shook it in pain, his knuckles now bleeding from the colliding forces.

John lowered his head and held his arm with its glowing veins as he felt it begin to reform again, the agonizing pain of the bones fusing together causing him to grit his teeth. But when it was over, he flexed his arm again and smiled back up at the glowing form of the colonel. "You're a monster!" shouted the man.

"No Colonel, that's what you don't seem to understand. I'm not a monster, I'm human. Just like her," he said, pointing out to Sarah. "And her," then his finger pointed to the tear-stained redhead. "Just like him," he said as he pointed to Charon. "And him." His finger moved over again and rested on Fawkes. "We're all human, Colonel. It's not our bodies that makes us human, it's our actions," he said as his glowing eyes narrowed on the man. "No, you are the monster here."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the gunman sprinted forward wildly and speared the Enclave leader. The colonel was caught off guard and gasped sharply as he was lifted from the ground. But he didn't have a chance to catch his breath, as John lifted him onto one shoulder, then swung him downward again, slamming him with teeth-shattering force into the metal floor of the rotunda. This time, the colonel's cough was laced with blood on impact.

Immediately, the gunman jumped up and slammed both of his booted feet into the man's gut, causing him to wretch and roll to the side as he attempted to recover. But the wanderer gave him no such leisure. Pouncing again, John gripped the man's arm and pulled him into an armbar. Normally, Autumn's higher strength might have gotten him out of the hold. But with blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, and his lungs rapidly trying to recover from the assault on his stomach, he wasn't able to fight back against both of John's hands and legs. With one sharp wrench, the gunman heard a satisfying snap, that signaled the man's elbow breaking.

The colonel let out a sharp cry of pain before gripping John's foot and twisting so hard that it too snapped, causing the glowing man to growl before freeing himself of the tangle. But, despite the seemingly two-sided trade-off, the gunman stood and flexed his ankle again with the same smirk on his face.

Watching as his adversary got to his feet unfazed, the colonel turned to Sarah. "Get me the hell out of here!" he shouted angrily.

She stared at him murderously through her helmet. "It should be a bit longer before the shield opens again, then I'll take what's left of you to our elder, or whatever nonsense title we've given him," she responded sarcastically as she shrugged.

"Sorry Colonel, but you nailed this coffin shut. Now, you will die in it!" shouted the gunman as he lurched forward again.

With one arm down, the man reached back and pulled a pistol from his belt. But he had no chance to pull the trigger as John kicked out and nearly broke his finger that had slid over the trigger. The gun flew and bounced off the wall before clattering to the floor.

Without the gun, and without his other arm, he had to fight tactically, backstepping and throwing punches when he could. But every attack he scored meant nothing. Every time he broke the wanderer's jaw, it healed. Every time he shattered the man's hand with a crushing grip, it healed. Nothing he did worked. And he was quickly growing tired, as opposed to the wanderer, who seemed to have limitless energy to burn.

Eventually, his tiredness took its toll. And a simple backstep made his foot slide on the blood from the ground. Being too exhausted to right himself, he fell onto his back. The gunman pounced like a panther onto his prey and straddled him before raining blows into the man's face. He punched back, shattering his opponent's hand again. But the glowing lunatic simply pulled it back, then punched again with a newly healed hand. Soon, he was no longer able to fight back. This was emphasized as John reached down, gripped the colonel's hand, and snapped it at the wrist, causing him to shout in pain again.

But his torture wasn't over. John gripped the man, then bodily lifted himself into the air before bringing both knees crashing down onto his leg with crushing force. Again, he shouted cries of pain onto deaf ears. Then came the other leg, and he was too tired to scream anymore. He now lay, sweating and bleeding from his mouth as his eyes drooped. But before he could drift off, the wanderer backhanded him. "Wake up Autumn! I'm not done with you yet!" shouted the gunman as he stood up and picked the paraplegic man up by his throat. Lifting him up high enough so that his feet were dangling, the young man shook his head in annoyance.

Elsa stared at him curiously, her worry kicking in once more. "What's wrong with him? His hands are shaking!" she said urgently as she looked over at the sentinel.

"I don't know. It could be the radiation. Has he ever been exposed to this much before?" asked the woman as she looked over at the AI.

"N-No. He hasn't! Not since the glowing one hit him!" she said as she began to pound on the blast shield. "John! Get out of there now!"

"Say his name you son of a bitch!" snapped John as he slapped the man awake again. "Say my father's name! Say the name of the man you killed! Say the name of the man whose blood is on your hands!" As the colonel began to drift off again, the wanderer gripped the man's broken arm and twisted, causing him to cry in pain again. "Say it!"

Coughing, the haggard man released a fresh wave of blood onto his enemy's hand before finally managing to choke out a word. "J...J...James…" he said quietly as he felt the abyss calling to him.

Growling, the gunman lowered the colonel to the ground, then scooped up the pistol from the floor. Autumn stared down the barrel into the glowing eyes of hatred that now had him cornered. "You will die as he did," said John as he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet directly between the man's eyes. As the colonel collapsed dead to the floor, the wanderer savored the feeling of the shot that echoed through his bones. He let out a sigh of relief before his fire died down, finally letting him get a sense of his situation. His vision burned as the waves of radiation washed from the machine. Turning around, he realized that he could no longer see the machinery around him. Everything was so bright that it was a miracle he could focus on his adversary as long as he did. But it wasn't just his vision. His knees were now weak, his breathing labored, and for the first time, he noticed his hands shaking.

Reaching out, he tried to feel his way around, but his mind was dulled. He could feel himself drooling stupidly as he frantically moved to find the switch to open the shield. But before he could, his legs gave out and he collapsed as he felt waves of nausea begin to flood him. Coughing loudly, nuclear green blood hit the floor as he closed his eyes and felt around him.

"John! What are you doing!? You have to get up!" shouted the redhead again as she moved around the shield until she was closest to him. Staring at him through the blast wall, she hammered it with her fist. "Please!"

"I...I can't...move," he said as he lifted his hand up and placed it on the barrier. "I'm sorry. I've failed you."

"Don't give me that shit John! You wake your ass up and follow my voice to the switch!" she snapped angrily as she thudded her fist against the shield again. "You can't leave me alone again!"

At her words, the wanderer's eyes snapped open. He forced himself to his hands and knees. "Right...where?" he asked, all of his energy being used to lift himself. He heaved again and more radioactive blood splattered the floor below him.

"Over here, move forward! The console is about five feet in the direction you're facing!" she shouted through the intercom.

"Medics! Get ready for a medivac!" came Sarah's voice as John moved his hands and knees as quickly as his failing body would allow him. One hand, one knee, one in front of the other until finally, his head bumped none too ceremoniously into the console. Feeling another wave of nausea sweep over him, he lifted himself up and grabbed the lever before his will gave out entirely. His weight pulled the lever down, snapping it off and causing the blast shield to raise. But as soon as he hit the floor, his eyes closed and the world around him winked out like a light.

OoOoO

"Please wake up. You can't leave me alone again…" said a familiar voice.

He turned towards it. For an eternity he felt nothing, tasted nothing, saw nothing, and heard nothing. His senses were dead as he dreamed. He lived it all again. His childhood, the vault, the escape, Megaton, Anchorage, DC, the raiders, Talon Company, the Brotherhood, the Enclave. He met everyone again for the first time, knowing that he already knew these people. He didn't know why they pretended not to know him. But he couldn't do anything to correct them. He was trapped in his own mind, unable to speak over himself. As if he had died, and his spirit inhabited his body from the past.

No matter how hard he tried to pound at the wall of his prison, it was useless. He was forced to watch every decision he made throughout his life replay as if some intolerant god were making him do so. So he watched and waited. And, as he watched from the outside, he finally saw what she saw. His reckless behavior, his self-destructive attitude, and his lack of regard for his own life. From the viewpoint of anyone who didn't know better, he could see a god complex; someone thinking that they were invincible. Someone thinking that no matter how much punishment they put themselves through, they would always come out on top.

But he knew better. He knew that it wasn't arrogance that drove him to do those things. It was psychosis. He was still a kid when he went into the sim. A stupid kid that learned how to shoot, and got a very real lesson in how the real world works. And despite his adventures with Nova, he was still sick over Amata turning on him. So much so that he got too fast and loose with Med-X, causing an addiction that could have gotten him killed if he had been outside Megaton when the withdrawals hit him. So it made sense that a simulation that was meant for a soldier, one already trained in the art of war, would have such a damning effect on his young mind.

Ever since he ran head first into everything. He thought he was a good person, being the first to sacrifice himself for others. But, while he would still sacrifice himself to save someone, he knew that was only half the story. The other half was his brain trying to free itself of the crushing weight that had been placed on it by the sim. And as he watched his life replay itself over for him, he saw every moment in it that could have been solved without him throwing himself to the lions. It was almost just as agonizing having to watch himself foolishly tap dance around a meat grinder.

It played itself out for him many times, and he had to consider that this was the exact torture that Elsa had gone through for two hundred years. He wondered if this was to be his hell, to watch his mistakes being made over and over again, dreaming to correct them, but not being able to do so. But any thoughts of heaven or hell vanished from his mind as he finally heard something. It was a voice, calling him. Not from the endlessly looping nightmare, but from somewhere else.

He dropped his resigned fate and began fighting against his cage again, hammering away at it with his fists as he craved to hear their voice again. But, he stopped when it repeated again as it pulled at his mind. "Please, you can't leave me here. I don't want to be alone again," said the voice. His eyes widened as he stared at the nightmare, and it immediately flashed to the concussive explosion that nearly killed him at the final stages of the war game. It was her, she was calling for him. He tried to scream her name as he began smashing away at his cage once more, but he had no voice. Suddenly, the voice screamed loudly, causing him to grab his ears in pain. "Doctor!" Then, a blinding flash of light.

OoOoO

She had watched him for two weeks straight, never sleeping, never blinking. She simply sat in a chair next to his bed and waited and watched for any sign of movement. Despite people bringing her food, she ignored everything and kept her tear-stained brown eyes locked on him, her sanity fraying as he laid, hooked to a breathing machine with his vitals bouncing constantly on a monitor.

She had always heard that talking to patients might be helpful. And while the statistics on that were extremely inconclusive, she did so anyway. Reminding him of how they had met, of their greatest triumphs together. Some stories were happy, some not, some laced with joy as she remembered them with perfect clarity, and some with anger. But it seemed like nothing she did helped, as he continued to lay on the medical cot with his chest rising and falling.

Her ears had picked up chatter several times outside, but she ignored most of it. Occasionally, there was talk of putting the wanderer out of his misery by the doctors. But they would have to fight her to the death before she ever allowed them to get close enough to mercy kill him. So she gave in to her last resort and started to beg him. "Please wake up. You can't leave me alone again…" she said as fresh tears made their way down her stained, freckled cheeks. "Please, you can't leave me here. I don't want to be alone again."

Then, she jerked backward in her chair, falling on her rear end rather painfully as she heard him speak. "E-Elsa…?"

She stared at his face, her own eyes widening as his opened and looked directly into hers. "Doctor!" she shouted at the man standing at another patient's bed with a clipboard.

Spinning around, he nearly dropped the utensil as he scrambled to get to the bed. "He's awake!?" asked the man incredulously.

Crawling up to the bedside, the young woman grabbed his hand and smiled stupidly as she scrubbed tears away from her eyes. Warmth spread through her as his hand tightened around hers. "Y-Yeah...he is," she said, causing the man to sprint out of the medbay door.

With him gone, they simply stared at one another. It wasn't long before someone practically kicked the swinging door of the place in and jolted inside. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" shouted Sarah as she now stood in her jumpsuit, staring at the both of them, her sky blue eyes wide in awe. She looked over to Elsa as she crossed her arms. "Has he spoken yet?"

Shaking her head, the android still couldn't get the stupid smile off her face. "N-No. He just woke up."

Shaking her head, she smirked at John. "Just for clarification, is there anything that can actually kill you?"

He chuckled lightly inside the mask before coughing heavily. Elsa reached up and rubbed his bare chest gently as she glared at Sarah. "Reel in the jokes you barbarian! He's still recovering!" she snapped angrily.

Smiling, Sarah nodded. "At least we know he's still himself. Sometimes patients coming out of comatose can have amnesia, or are altogether unresponsive."

Looking over at John curiously, Elsa sat up so that he was staring directly at her. "You are still you, right?" she asked, almost worriedly. Despite her higher thought processes, she hadn't thought about him coming back in a vegetative state. And much to her dismay, he didn't speak. But his arm began to move slowly. Still shaking, his hand lifted from the bed and drifted towards her. She watched curiously as he craned one finger, and tapped her chest. To most, this gesture would be meaningless. In most androids, even more so considering they didn't have a literal heart. But she immediately recognized the gesture, and more tears flooded her eyes as she reached forward and hugged him.

Unfortunately, he was still weak, and her sign of affection caused him to groan. Sarah pulled her off and held her back with a glare. "Stop it! You're only going to make him worse!" she snapped at the reaching girl. Elsa glared back, but knew she had a point. "If you want to stay with him, then you have to refrain from causing him more harm. He's still recovering, and we can't put his body under any more strain. Do you understand?"

"Fine," growled Elsa with a sigh as she crossed her own arms. Looking back over at the wanderer, she smiled at him again. "Can you speak?" He barely shook his head as his already heavy-lidded eyes closed. She began to panic, but Sarah stopped her again.

"Elsa! Calm down! He's sleeping!" yelled the woman as she hand to bodily hold back the girl.

OoOoO

It took days before he found the strength to speak again. In those days, Elsa explained everything that had happened since. The Brotherhood was now running the purifier with little opposition. The merchants came swarming to the shores of the Potomac with empty barrels ready to start packaging and selling. But they fled quickly as the armored soldiers chased them with warning shots. Instead, they hired caravans to start passing the water out themselves. Of course, anyone could come to the river themselves and partake. But the Brotherhood wasn't having any peddlers trying to strongarm the water. Though he didn't say anything, his smile was proof enough that he approved.

After finally managing to find his voice, the android was immediately at his side. "If you all don't get me some actual food, I'm going to kill myself first," he said sarcastically, making the girl cackle with laughter as she nodded.

Within the hour, the doctors had come in and closed the valve on the feeding tube before giving him a stern lecture. With him able to talk, he was tested to see if he could even handle food by mouth. Finally, he was told that if he wanted to transition to eaten food, he'd have to stick with liquids first. He simply nodded and sat with his back against the wall as he let Elsa spoon feed him some of the soup of the day.

Days after he began sitting up and eating, his condition improved. He could grip his fist again, though only for a short time. As the days wore on, he grew stronger and stronger again. But, something wasn't right. After a week, he could stand and move again, and he could grip his fist once more. But he found himself having trouble with some of the most basic tasks. One day, Elsa brought him an empty pistol, and he passed it gently between his hands. "Something feels off…" he said solemnly.

"What is it?" asked the young woman as she watched from her chair.

"I can still lift it, and presumably fire it. But, it's heavier," he said as he tossed it up and caught it again.

"You don't think…" started Elsa as she watched him curiously. Before finishing her statement, she held out her hand for him. He looked down at it curiously. "Squeeze my hand," she ordered as she looked up into his piercing green eyes.

"Okay…" he said as he reached forward and squeezed her hand gently.

"Harder. Do it as hard as you can," she said as she glared at him playfully.

"Alright, fine. But if I crush your hand, then I get to watch as Pinkerton moans your ear off," he said with a smirk as he gripped her hand again and squeezed. He didn't expect to actually crush her hand. Perhaps only those who had gotten the full serum could do that. But he also expected to be able to do...something. But no matter how much effort he put into it, Elsa's hand didn't seem to budge. Soon, he began pushing and pulling against it as well, but she was rock solid.

Her eyes widened slightly as she came to a realization. "Your strength has...depleted?"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" he growled as he released her and slammed his back against the wall.

"You may still be recovering," she responded as she lowered her hand into her lap. "It could come back soon. But, I think we should have Moira take a look at you just in case." He looked up at her serious, yet still adorable face, then sighed and gave her a nod. "Okay, I'll go get her then."

Elsa got to her feet and jogged out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts. He stared down at his hand and flexed it a few more times, wondering if her words were true. He wondered whether his unusual strength would come back to him, or whether the radiation had done something to him to cause this loss. It was minutes later when both Elsa returned with both Sarah and Moira.

The dusty brown-haired mechanic knelt down and stared at him curiously, looking from one eye to the other before saying anything. Then, she checked his pulse. Finally, she released his hand, drew her own back, and knocked him upside the head. Her strength sent him sideways on the cot, causing him to groan and rub his head furiously. "What the hell was that for!?" he asked in bewilderment.

Elsa just stood, frozen on the spot as Moira glared at him and Sarah jumped between them. "Let's not start abusing the patients please," said the sentinel with a stern look on her face.

"He's fine! He's fully healed, and that wasn't hard enough to do any damage!" growled Moira to the commander before glaring back at John. "As for you, we had this talk already! When I told you to kill him, I didn't tell you to take yourself with him!"

He sat up, still rubbing his head as he lowered his gaze. "I know," he said, causing her fiery attitude to die down slightly. "For the past two weeks, I've been locked inside my own head, reliving the events of my life. I know what I've been doing, and I'm done. I'll not be reckless with my life anymore. This I swear to all three of you," he said as he bowed his head in apology.

There was a long silence, then he was knocked sideways again as Moira smacked him upside the head once more. He groaned as Sarah backed off when the woman glared her down. With the sentinel out of the way, Moira turned back to John and crossed her arms. "I've heard that before. If you want to prove you aren't lying to us this time, you'll have to prove it with actions, not words."

"Fine, just don't smack me again," he said as he rubbed his head sorely.

"Don't give me a reason to," said the woman as she pulled a chair over and sat in it. "Now, from what Elsa tells me, yer strength hasn't returned. Is that correct?" she asked, her accent more noticeable now that she was less angry. He simply nodded, lowering his hand into his lap as he held his hand out to her. She reached forward and gripped it, and he squeezed as hard as he could. She didn't even flinch as she stared down at the weakened hand. "Still stronger than a regular human's but much less so than before. I'm not positive, the serum does interact with your DNA, which means radiation…"

"But, wouldn't your operation on me have prevented that?" asked the wanderer, causing Moira to sit back and kick her feet up on his bed.

"Under normal circumstances, yes," she said as she scratched her chin. "But the tinkering I did on your body was meant to pull radiation slowly from your body and use it to repair it," she said, aiming another glare at him. "I didn't think I needed to test it on nuclear waste levels of exposure."

"So, he may have overwhelmed his healing?" asked Sarah curiously.

"Then what?" asked Elsa from the side.

"Well, without examining his blood, all I have is hypotheses. But there's a chance that the radiation began destroying his DNA structure before the healing could remove it," she said with a shrug. "Your healing wasn't built into your body along with the serum, it was built separately. So chances are, if the radiation melted your DNA, it was rebuilt without the markers of the serum," she said before standing up and stretching. "That's only a guess, ya hear? Don't go spreadin' it around until I've made fer sure." With that, she left the room without another word.

"Great…" groaned John as he thumped his head against the wall.

"Well, you reap what you sow," said Sarah as she gave the wanderer a hardened look. "What were you thinking locking yourself inside there with him?"

"I wasn't," he said as he looked down at his lap angrily. "I had tunnel vision. After the purifier, he was the final goal for me ever since he pulled the trigger and killed my dad."

Sarah sighed and nodded. "I know. And that's why you're here, and not in a jail cell," she said as she eyed him. He looked up at her curiously. "Killing the colonel was a stupid idea, even for your reckless self. What he knew could have answered tons about the Enclave, their movements, their goals, and where they've been for the past thirty years."

"I know. I'm...sorry," he said with a sigh. "And all I've left you with is a blown up base and dead bodies."

"Not necessarily," said Sarah, causing John to lift his eyebrow at her. "The other reason you were spared the rod is because we got their second-in-command, his daughter."

"Right…" said John as he remembered the woman's unconscious form being dragged from the gift shop. "Were they able to learn anything?"

The sentinel shook her head in dismay. "Unfortunately, no. She hasn't said a word since the day she was brought in. We told her about what happened, and you'd think she died inside. She's been borderline catatonic ever since, barely eating or drinking, and just sitting in her cell with her collar."

"Collar?" asked John curiously.

"One of her restraints. If she touches it, it electrocutes her. If she tries to escape, we can manually activate it," said the commander as she took Moira's seat. "We can't have someone with her strength breaking out. While I think her 'special cell' would be able to stop her, we had to have backups just in case," said the woman as she crossed her arms. "But, she's never even tried. All she does is lay on her bunk and stare at the wall."

John reached up and ran a hand through his hair as he thought about why the militant woman would suddenly lose her will. Certainly, he'd had similar situations, but he'd always fought through. If this woman was really Autumn's daughter, then she had two hundred years to steel herself for the possibility of failure. He found himself wondering if he should feel sorry for her. But the thought passed quickly.

"Well, if I'm fully healed, then I should be able to get up and move around myself," he said as he stretched his arms and stood up. Sarah left the room and Elsa helped him with his clothing. And before long, he stood in his boots once more, with a new jumpsuit on and his duster resting on his shoulders once more. With Elsa gripping his arm fiercely, a large smile on her face as she did, he exited the medbay and made his way for the courtyard.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, the sun hit him like a super mutant's sledge. He covered his eyes and squinted before Elsa reached into her pack and pulled out his goggles. Grabbing them, he slid them onto his head and was finally able to see the outside. To his surprise, nearly everyone was there. Everyone from around the wastes was sitting around smiling at him from different tables. Reilly's Rangers with Cid, Charon, Amata, Butch and Poison, and the Regulators too. Even a newly married Harkness and Lana were occupying one table with Brian and Will sitting and grinning at him happily next to Billy and Maggie.

He stared around for a moment as a familiar voice hit his ears. "Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, and that lovely rainbow in between! I give you the Wolf of the Wasteland! The Grey Fox! The Archangel and the Wanderer himself! The Master of Disaster who'll charm you faster than a pastor! Put your paws together with Three Dog for him!" came the obnoxiously upbeat voice through a loudspeaker. As soon as he finished talking, everyone cheered and began clapping madly as Sarah walked up behind him with a smirk.

"Told you he wasn't dead!" she shouted over the uproar.

John's eye twitched as he heard the first notes of The Wanderer begin to play over the speaker while Three Dog approached him with a giant grin. Giving the man a stern look, the gunman said nothing.

"You know, you staying alive makes it much easier to write material about you," said the man with a large toothy grin.

Elsa elbowed him, giving him a playful glare. Finally, he sighed and looked at Three Dog. "Glad I could help. But you know, the more you write about me, the more people want to kill me."

"Ahhh, you'll be alright. If getting your neck broken and drinking enough Radorade to kill an army isn't gonna stop you, then a few overzealous fans should be nothing," he said as he slapped his shoulder happily. John groaned, but couldn't help but smile. "In any case, we've got a party here for your big victory at the purifier. So have a seat and enjoy yourself!"

"Yeah yeah, alright," he said as he looked at everyone around. They had all been a part of his life, both before and after the vault. Each of them influenced him one way or another. He grinned down at Elsa, who gave him a giant smile back before they both jumped into the party head first.

OoOoO

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Like I said previously, I moved twice in the span of six months, and not just from house to house, but across the country. So it was harder for me to write for this specific story, as my brain desperately wanted a break from it. But, now that it's done (technically), I will be able to start working more on my other stories. If you weren't aware, I've started a retelling of the Mass Effect Trilogy, and already the word count is higher than the first Harry Potter book. This revelation also inspired me to start writing my original material again. Long time fans of my stories will recognize the characters, so I'm excited to see (when it comes out) who will have read both!

That said, this story isn't finished just yet. While I will be taking a hiatus on it until I can get some of my other projects finished, there are still some mysteries that the wanderer has to solve. Most of you noticed one in the form of an oddly tattooed woman, and surprisingly, only one person has noticed a mystery at all around a specific character from Megaton that I shall not name. Not to mention the DLC. So as you can see, the story isn't over just yet. John and Elsa still have some wandering to do before they clock out as the heroes of the capital wasteland.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me throughout the years despite my shit uploading rate, and thank you even more to everyone who reviewed! At the beginning of this story, my writing was pretty shit. But thanks to your reviews, it has increased in quality to the point where I actually feel like a writer now. So know that I love you all, and if you loved this story, I'd be more than happy to have your criticism, coaching, and cheers on my other stories as well. I hope you all will still be around when I go back through and rewrite this one with my updated skills, and finally decide to continue the tale of the Wasteland Waltz. Thank you again, and may your wanderers never be lonely!