Author's notes:

1. Story title and chapter titles are the Stephen Crane poem, "In the Desert." If you click on the box to choose a chapter, you'll get the entire poem. It's a very poignant piece, one of my favorite poems, and Face seemed to reflect most of it within each chapter.

2. Just for kicks, when I wrote this story originally in early March, I didn't name Kerry. She was only referred to as "her", "she", "Murdock's girlfriend", and things like that. I honestly didn't think she needed a name; although she was important to the story, I never considered her a protagonist. She was mainly a plot device to explore Face's and Murdock's relationship. And it was kind of a fun writing exercise (which I have done before, but not at this length).

However, I knew it was a little bizarre and needed some objective opinions about not actually giving her a name. I read and post on a message board, and asked if it would bother people to read a story in which the male characters were named but the one female character was not. The overwhelming response to my query was, "Name her!"

It was interesting to see what people thought: from not naming her = male superiority/women are lesser people, to "I couldn't finish a story if an important character didn't have a name" to, "sounds like you're just lazy!"

Of course, hind sight is 20/20. I asked the question on a naming board, and those folks are obsessed with names and naming things. So maybe it wasn't incredibly unbiased. But I had my answer, so I mucked around, sucked it up, and found a name that seemed to fit.

I know that this information doesn't mean anything to anyone, it's just background noise, but again, I thought people's responses were fascinating.

3. Plus, now that she has a name and it grew on me, there is always the possibility in the future that she'll be back in some capacity.

4. Finally, and this one is the most important! Thanks for reading! You all are the very best. Lynixan, rawriloveyou, AutumnOlivia, Belker, WriterMonkey0626, rubberducky2010, callietitan, HeartMurdock345, danang1970, Astra68, Robin, and Red Molly, I love you all and you taking the time to read my story and letting me know what you think has meant the world to me. I hope it's been as enjoyable for you as it certainly has been for me.

To quote our dear Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock: ". . . because of you, my life is sparkly and unicorns and the fuckin' a-bomb."

No lie.