A series of experiments. Haven't written in ages, so I hope this collection of drabbles work well.

Daniel Bigsley's thoughts on the Lone Wanderer.

He didn't know her then, when she was fresh from the vault, all smiles and enthusiasm. He didn't know her when the death of her father was still fresh, how much of the innocence she possessed left her, and the harder edge started to take hold. He knows her now, leaner, tanned from the nuclear sun but skin still smooth, the freckles a little less apparent than they used to be. Her hands are swift with a number of killing implements, he's heard the stories, and now having met her, can almost see her in the midst of battle, dark eyes gleaming at the sight of spilt blood.

The Battle Goddess, Kali made flesh.

The thought terrifies him, but it makes him hard at the same time. The confusion of the sleep deprived, he rationalizes.

Her hair is cut short, a stark style that highlights the angles of her face. When she smiles, it's world-weary, a little cruelty etched behind her eyes-she's seen way too much for a vault dweller, done things that even Three Dog doesn't know about, or perhaps is just too polite to mention over the airwaves. Can't tarnish the Last, Best, Hope for Humanity's image, now can he?

He asks her to investigate the missing caravan, not realizing how much he misses her until hours later, when the thought of what she might face causes him to lose even more precious sleep.

The moment she returns, looking a little exhausted, and battle weary, a Valkyrie in flesh and blood, heaving her steel-toed clad feet on his desk, staring him right in the eye, he discovers that there's a part of him that shut down, a little partition of Daniel that wanted/feared/needed to see her again. Even if she was less than pleased.

Daniel has learned that life holds many disappointments, doesn't play fair, and most times, while nice guys finish last, snarky acerbic ones finish DEAD last. So when he screws up the courage to ask if she'd join him for dinner, the last thing he expects to hear from her is a yes, followed by a smile that makes him think maybe she was waiting for him to do just that. Hard to tell with women.