"Same as always, smoothskin?" Gob asked the woman who had just walked in the door. Although he already knew the answer, he asked her all the same.

Nicole gave Gob a wry smile and nodded as she bellied up to the bar, "You know me too well, Gob."

The ghoul slid a shot glass and a bottle of scotch over the rough surface of the bar and said in a hushed rumble, "No, you spend too much time in here, Nicky."

For just a moment Gob could see a glimpse of the girl that had wandered into Moriarty's saloon ages ago. Nicole's eyes blazed, her cheeks coloured up from indignant anger instead of booze and she scowled. Her tongue wet chapped lips, smoothing the way for some cutting comment, but it never came. Instead, that girl was shoved aside and replaced by the Nicole who looked drawn and haunted.

Nicole shoved double the caps at Gob and muttered, "Keep the change and don't tell Moriarty."

Gob ducked his head in appreciation, grabbed the caps and hurried off to the next customer. He was used to watching people drowning their sorrows, it came with the job, but something about watching Nicole do it was painful. Unfortunately it wasn't his place to tell her, or anyone else for that matter, what to do so he just let her get on with it.

Nicole watched Gob shuffle away, grabbed her glass and her bottle of poison and retreated to the same dark corner that she always sat in. She liked it here. The darkness hid her just enough so that she could watch who came in and out of the saloon without drawing attention to herself. It also was a good spot to eavesdrop from since it was relatively close to the bar.

She sat her glass and bottle on the wobbly round table that had seen much better days, but didn't sit down just yet. Either side of this table were two armchairs. No one would find it odd that she always sat in the chair on the left, not that anyone really cared or even noticed. It could, after all, just be chalked up to habit.

It wasn't just habit though.

Nicole chewed on her lip, barely noticing that her cracked lips had started bleeding. Idly, her tongue poked at the coppery tang and after fighting with herself for a few minutes, Nicole lowered herself into the armchair on the right for a change and poured herself a drink. The bottle of scotch clinked against the chipped rim of the shot glass because her hands were shaking and she uttered an oath when she spilled some of her comfort in a bottle. The stuff was overpriced as it was, God forbid she let the table enjoy more of it than she did.

Her frayed nerves cried out for the soothing amber liquid, urging her to down the shot, but Nicole hesitated and raised a silent toast to an invisible companion.

"Happy anniversary," she thought bitterly, threw the drink back and grimaced as the fiery nectar made its way to her stomach and spread its familiar warmth through her belly.

After three more shots in quick succession, Nicole started to feel numb so she leaned her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. All she wanted to do was forget where she was for a while and remember who she had been two years ago.

Nicole remembered happier times when she was still safe in Vault 101 with her father. It hadn't been perfect, but at least she didn't have to worry about Raiders, mercenaries trying to bag their quarry, and mutated creatures killing her in her sleep. The worst she ever faced down there had been Butch DeLoria and his pathetic gang, The Tunnel Snakes.

Then there was the Overseer and his overbearing rules. She had never been able to figure out why Alphonse Almodovar seemed to dislike her and her father so much, but all that became clear once she had escaped. "We're born in the Vault, we live in the Vault, and we die in the Vault," he had often said, but the truth of the matter was that neither she nor her father was born in Vault 101. They had, in fact, been reluctantly allowed in by Almodovar because the Vault was in need of a doctor. Nicole's father, James, fit the bill so he had been admitted along with his infant daughter. It often amazed her that it never had come to light long before her departure, but then again, there were many skeletons in the closet of Vault 101 that probably never would see the light of day.

In spite of the Overseer's attitude, Nicole had been close friends with his daughter, Amata. Nicole was a fairly social creature, or at least had been in the Vault. Even if she didn't have a huge circle of friends there, she relied on social interaction. Out here though, it was so different. She had learned the hard way that you were better off keeping yourself to yourself, even if it was painfully lonely sometimes.

Nicole sighed and cracked her eyes open enough so she could pour herself another drink and then went back to her solemn remembrances. In fact, she was so lost in her self-pity that she barely registered the door opening and the sound of footsteps approaching her.

"My dear girl, drinking on your own really isn't a habit you want to pick up."

Nicole snapped to attention when she heard the man speaking to her, but was unable to find her voice. Instead she stared at him with something that seemed to border on hatred.

The man chuckled and gave her a delighted smile, "May I join you?"

After opening and closing her mouth a couple of times she croaked, "Suit yourself, Mister Burke. You seem to be good at doing what you damn well please as it is."

Burke couldn't help but notice the pure venom with which she said his name, but he could hardly blame her.

"I believe you're in my seat, or do you remember?" Amusement crinkled the corners of his eyes, not that Nicole could see it. Two years later and he still wore the same hat and tortoise shell sunglasses, effectively hiding anything that might give him away.

"I didn't see your name on it," she sniped and poured another shot. "I'd offer you a drink, but I'm sure you wouldn't care for the swill us Wasteland knuckle-draggers have to make do with."

Again the corner of Burke's mouth curled slightly. In two years she had changed quite a bit. The day she had come into Moriarty's, the fear she felt was palpable and came off her in waves. Add to that the desperation and innocent way in which she dealt with the patrons and Burke had become rather enchanted by her. It would have been easy to take her, wind her around his little finger and have her do his bidding, but it would have been far too easy. Burke liked a challenge.

Now, here they both were, two years to the day and it was such a different story. She'd grown more aware and wary of her surroundings and those who were nearby. He'd noticed her hand flitting to the grip of the silenced 10mm gun on her hip more than once. Her blue eyes didn't sparkle as they had that day with wonder and amazement. Instead they held a hard glint that searched out a person's face to judge their true intent. It made Burke thankful that he was a master of the bald-faced lie.

The same sweet teenage girl that had crawled out of Vault 101 two years ago had turned into a recalcitrant and cynical woman. It was rather disappointing that the Wasteland had moulded her and not him, but then again, it opened so many new possibilities.

"You know that they say sarcasm is a higher form of humour," Burke said and sat down and produced a battered silver flask from inside his jacket, as if to confirm her accusation.

Nicole snorted, shook her head at the sight of it and snarled, "You're such a pompous arse."

"My dear, I merely want to enjoy a drink or two in your company. If you're going to hurl abuse at me I shall leave. I had hoped that we might celebrate today's momentous occasion together."

A crafty smile spread over his lips and made a shiver run down Nicole's spine, but she bit her tongue and asked with a guarded tone, "Whatever would we have to celebrate?"

Burke picked up on it instantly and said, "Oh, I believe you know," he waved a hand dismissively and then unscrewed the cap of his flask before raising it towards her. "Here's a toast to the Lone Wanderer's second anniversary in the Wasteland! Fortune was truly smiling on me the day you stumbled in here."

Nicole's hand gripped her glass tightly and she glared at Burke.

"It is customary for you to charge your glass as well, my dear," he jokingly prompted before taking a swig of the extremely rare malt whiskey that he kept for special occasions. "It's also impolite to stare. Surely your father taught you that?"

The barb stung Nicole deeply and she took in a shuddering breath, "That was low, even for you."

Burke feigned innocence, "My dear, whatever do you mean?"

"Don't pretend that you don't know. Three Dog shouted about it long enough that even the feral ghouls were starting to give me their condolences before trying to rip me apart!" Nicole struggled to get her breath; it felt as if an iron band was tightening around her chest.

"Ah, yes, that." Burke looked thoughtful for a moment before musing, "That fool doesn't know when to shut up at the best of times." He sipped from his flask and added as an afterthought, "My commiseration for your loss, by the way. Better late than never, I suppose."

Nicole rolled her eyes and started to pour herself another drink, "So sincere. As always."

Burke scowled and grabbed her hand gently to stop her before saying quietly, "My dear, I am nothing but sincere. You of all people should know that."

Nicole's eyes were fixed on Burke's hand and felt the primal urge to fight or flee rising in her. It had become an instinct she had learned to trust, as well.

"Let go of my hand, now," she said firmly.

"That rubbish will kill you," he nodded to the bottle of scotch on the table. "Considering everything you've been through it would be rather disappointing for you to go out in such a mundane way." Burke's thumb stroked the back of her hand and much to his delight he heard her breath catch slightly.

Nicole jerked her hand away as if it had been burned.

"All I've been through?" Her voice wavered, "You don't know the half of it, so don't pretend that you do!"

Burke leaned back and studied her face. For one unguarded moment, every worry, stress, and tragedy she'd been through was etched on her face. It made her seem far older than her 21 years. The Wasteland had chewed her up and spit her out, but she still was here, wiser for it all. Initially, Burke had predicted that she would only last a week but she had far surpassed any expectations of his.

He found it intriguing.

Leaning close, he spoke softly to her, "I know that your father sacrificed himself to save his life's work, and by that, I don't mean you. You were taken prisoner by the Enclave and interrogated. I know that you very nearly died of radiation poisoning when the Brotherhood of Steel reclaimed Project Purity and you selflessly volunteered to enter the irradiated control room to finish what your father had started. I've heard that Elder Lyons made you an honorary knight but the others still look down on you. You've been banned from returning to Vault 101, in spite of helping them with their little factional crisis in a peaceful manner. The only friend you had out in this world, your dog, was killed as he tried to protect you during a fire fight with Talon Company. By and large you are utterly alone. Night after night you return to your little shack, although I dare say that you occasionally entertain a visitor. I'm sure Mr. Stahl is more than happy to accommodate you, isn't he? Of course you have your trusty bottles of scotch, but in all truth, they don't make great companions, do they? However you've found that if you drink enough you can sleep the sleep of the dead."

Nicole tried to look into eyes that were hidden behind tinted lenses to see if he was being sympathetic or trying to tear down her defences, but he betrayed nothing to her. Burke knew far more than she felt comfortable with, so to throw him off the scent she tried to be nonchalant.

"So? I prefer to work on my own anyhow," she shrugged.

"Do you? I also heard about the Brotherhood initiate that you had a brief flirtation with. Apparently you were inseparable." He leaned back and laced his fingers together, "What happened to him again?"

Nicole stared at the floor and whispered, "He was killed during a mission."

"Have you ever noticed how anyone who gets even remotely close to you ends up dead?" Burke said far more cheerfully than she cared to hear.

She remained silent for some time, trying to gather her thoughts. Of course she had noticed that a lot of people ended up dead around her, but she did everything she could to try and ignore that. Whether she did it by drinking herself into a stupor or the occasional roll in the sack with Leo Stahl, it didn't matter. As long as the ghosts stayed away, she was alright.

Burke's steady gaze made her feel more exposed than being out in the open Wasteland with nowhere to hide and she stiffened. It wasn't just the way he was looking at her; it was the way he was talking to her. As soon as she put up a barrier, he tore it down with his well chosen words.

"So you've kept close tabs on me. How... obsessive of you. Surely you had better things to do with your time than that? Oh, but I forgot! You had time to send Talon hitmen after me! Do you know that I had to put up with those morons for over a year? Of course you know. How many times I found a contract on their mangled corpses signed by you, I can't even remember!"

Burke gave her a self-satisfied grin, "But my dear, you had been warned that disobeying my orders would be dealt with severely. I am a man of my word and you left me no other option. It really didn't matter though, did it? You managed to outwit them time and time again. I finally gave up and decided that you were far more amusing alive than dead. How right I was! Besides, I was sick of wasting the caps on petty revenge."

"You're a twisted man, Burke," Nicole snorted.

"I've been called far worse," he laughed, but then turned serious. "I didn't lie to you though. I had every intention of bringing you to live at Tenpenny Tower." Burke scowled, "That idiot Tenpenny wouldn't be budged on the matter."

"I'm surprised you even bothered to get his permission anyhow. Let's face it though; I'm not really Tenpenny Tower material, am I?" Nicole sighed and slumped in her chair before muttering, "I got my hopes up though, no thanks to you and your damned letters."

She could feel herself colouring up and hoped that he would put it down to the drink.

Burke watched her out of the corner of his eye as he lit a cigarette. She was flushed, and it wasn't from drinking. He'd seen it plenty of times, but for some reason he found it all the more endearing when it was her.

A wicked smirk played on his lips, "My dear girl, you're blushing."

"Bugger off Burke! It's the drink and you know it," Nicole turned her head away and struggled to get control of her breathing. It didn't help that her heart was trying to run away from her.

"The drink, of course, how foolish of me to think that it might be..." he trailed off, leaving the unspoken sentiment hanging in the air.

Nicole's eyes flicked to him and she laughed nervously.

Burke took a drag of his cigarette, looked over the top rim of his glasses at her and enjoyed her obvious discomfort. He let out a long, slow breath, the smoke curling from his nose and dissipating around him.

Tilting his head, he said, "I must ask you one question though. In spite of the warning I gave you, you still disarmed the bomb. You were desperate for the caps. Carrying out the job would have made you quite wealthy and would have earned you a penthouse suite in Tenpenny Tower. "

Nicole sat up and mirrored Burke's head tilt, "It's easy enough to figure out, really. I broke one of the rules of the Wasteland."

Burke's eyebrow twitched, "You got too close."

She nodded but refused to look at Burke, "Yes. That's the thing about being out here. You need some emotional detachment or else you're going to go crazy. I stayed here too long, got caught up in their daily struggle for survival and helped them. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to do it." Her eyes took on a distant look and she whispered, "There I was with the fusion pulse charge in my hands and I couldn't do it."

Burke leaned forward and stared at her intensely, "You don't do well on your own."

"I do fine on my own, thank you very much," Nicole tried to build the walls up again and shut him out.

"Well, you can believe that if you like, but I can see otherwise," he said as he stubbed out the cigarette.

"And I suppose you think you're the expert?"

"I pride myself on being able to read people, my dear."

Nicole raised an eyebrow and gave him a mirthless smile, "You read me wrong that day then."

Burke slid his glasses to the very end of his nose and allowed her blue eyes to properly meet his brown ones for the first time ever. Nicole was surprised, but didn't let it show.

"Of course not, my dear girl," Burke said in a mildly bored sneer. "I honestly didn't think you were up to the job, but you fascinated me and for once, I gave someone the benefit of the doubt. You should be grateful."

Nicole's eye twitched. She'd gotten by on her own for two long years with nothing more than her own resourcefulness. If anything, the man sitting beside her had been a thorn in her side for most of that time by sending the Talons after her. Now he had the audacity to tell her that she should be so thankful that he'd deigned to give her a chance!

Through gritted teeth she growled, "I'm so glad that you've found my pain and suffering a source of entertainment. Tell me, Burke, did you come here just to rub salt in the wounds? If that's the case I'm going home now."

Burke tucked his flask away. So the crux of the matter had finally arrived.

"Very well. Tell me, what have you been doing since the furore with the Enclave?"

"I help the Brotherhood clear out the Super Mutants, Raiders and Talons from the DC ruins. Occasionally I do a bit of bounty hunting for the Regulators."

"As I thought. Your talents, my dear, are being wasted. Since everything has died down you've become nothing more than a glorified exterminator in power armour."

Nicole's hand reached for her gun and she said in a husky voice, "And if you aren't careful Burke, this glorified exterminator might mistake you for a Radroach."

Burke smoothly reached for his own weapon and calmly said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Now, you can choose to lose your temper and the Wasteland will be down one holier-than-thou do-gooder or you can be a good girl and listen to my little proposition."

Nicole weighed Burke up. Would he be willing to pull a gun on her in the middle of a crowded bar and kill her in cold blood? She decided that he would be happy to do just that and most likely enjoy every second of it, gloating over her as she lived her last moments gasping for breath.

After deliberating, she hissed, "Go on, I'm listening."

"Excellent," he purred and lightly curled his hand around the grip of his gun. She needed to remember that he wasn't someone to mess with. "I will pay you the compliment of being blunt. You're no fool; well, at least you're less of one than most of the Wasteland rabble. Because of this I don't believe you'll have any trouble keeping up with what I am telling you." Burke leaned forward and lowered his voice even further, "You're familiar with the Garden of Eden Creation Kit or G.E.C.K. for short?"

Nicole froze for a moment before pouring herself another drink and slowly answering, "You damn well know I'm familiar with it."

Out of all the horrors that Nicole had encountered since leaving Vault 101, her journey into Vault 87 to retrieve the G.E.C.K. still plagued her nightmares. Even in waking moments if she thought about it too much she could smell the stench of death, decay and blood that hung heavy in the stagnant air of Vault 87.

Around every corner were the scattered remains of the Super Mutant's victims or gore bags hung from the ceiling, dripping the foul by products of decomposition and blood into slick puddles on the floor, but that was nothing compared to the sight of the failed mutations.

The twisted bodies were neither Super Mutant nor human, but held characteristics of both. Muscles bulged, there were obvious changes to the skeletal structure, primary and secondary sex traits were either diminished or absent. What haunted Nicole the most, though, were the expressions on the faces of these victims. The sheer agony of the transformation when it worked properly was enough to drive "normal" Super Mutants insane. For those that the FEV had failed, death must have been a sweet release because their faces were frozen with terrified expressions, almost as if they had died mid-scream.

Nicole shuddered and quickly drank the shot before giving Burke a withering look and sneering, "Thanks for the memories, Burke."

Burke waved the sarcastic comment away and continued, "I need a G.E.C.K. but in order to find one, I need to locate a vault that had one issued."

"Why would you want a G.E.C.K.?" Nicole asked with more than a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"I have my reasons," he answered cryptically.

"Good luck finding one. Apparently only a handful of them were ever given out. Then there's the fact that the locations of most Vaults have been lost to time."

Burke gave her a predatory grin, "That, my dear, is what makes you my new best friend."

"How? I don't have access to any of that information. I never even knew about any of the other Vaults until I stumbled across them or were informed of their existence. I don't see how I'm going to be of any use to you," Nicole said and relaxed slightly, hoping this would put an end to the matter.

Burke, however, was undeterred and nodded towards her left arm, "Will you permit me?"

Although wary, Nicole held out her arm and instantly felt annoyed when Burke lightly took her hand. She sniped at him, "If this is a lousy excuse to cop a feel..."

"Hush," he snapped, "it's no such thing. Besides, why would I resort to such a pathetic charade? If I want something enough, I take it. This is beside the point."

All his attention was soon focussed on her Pip-Boy and he inspected it with gentle fingers, turning her arm slightly to look at the lock and frowned. "Damnable things and their biometric locks... I'll never know why Vault-Tec insisted on such a feature. Although, knowing them, the Pip-Boy was probably designed to monitor the wearer and send telemetry to one of their top secret Vaults. If it were easily removed they would have gaps in their data." Burke tapped against the locking mechanism, scowled and then tried to run a finger under the edge of the Pip-Boy and airily commented, "Of course, there are other methods of removing them."

Nicole jerked her arm away in horror, "You won't be removing it one way or the other! I saw what the Outcasts did to remove a Pip-Boy from one of those clones from Vault 108 and you're not about to do the same to me!" She cradled her Pip-Boy protectively against her chest and glowered at Burke.

Rich, cruel laughter rumbled from Burke at Nicole's naivety, "My dear girl, how have you managed to survive while being so gullible?"

"I am not gullible, I just don't trust you," she pouted.

Burke nodded, "Be that as it may, I do need your help. Your Pip-Boy should be able to interface properly with any Vault-Tec terminals and possibly their mainframe."

"Why don't you just hack them? Surely even you could figure that out?" Nicole needled, trying to get under his skin as much as he had hers.

Burke ignored the dig and said, "Hacking only gets so far before it corrupts the data. Remember, some of this technology is over 200 years old and hasn't had much, if any, maintenance in all that time."

Nicole rubbed her forehead and tried to ward off the headache that was brewing. She watched as Burke sat back in his seat, folded his hands in his lap and awaited her decision. The air of arrogance and self-confidence that came from him was almost unbearable.

"I have a few questions before I agree to anything," she said and narrowed her eyes. "I need to know why you want a G.E.C.K. Surely you can understand my reluctance to try and find another one after my previous experience?"

"Of course I can." Burke pursed his lips for a moment in thoughtful contemplation, making Nicole wonder if he was trying to find a suitable lie. "In all honesty I am rather tired of how bleak this arid, dead landscape looks outside my window."

Nicole snorted and picked at a hangnail, "Why am I not surprised that your reasons all centre on you and not your fellow man?"

"On the contrary, once it's done I will allow a select few to join me in my lush haven." Burke smirked at her, "You, of course, would be at the top of the list."

Nicole felt her cheeks growing warm again, even though she wanted to hate him for what he was suggesting. She mumbled, "You're a pig, Burke."

Burke let out a raspy chuckle, "Ah, perhaps, but I'm a pig you like, whether you want to admit it or not."

"No," Nicole shook her head defiantly, "I pretty much hate you and what you stand for. So no doubt your Tenpenny cronies will be joining you there?"

It was Burke's turn to shake his head emphatically, "God no! They're shallow, empty headed and bore me to death. That's why I shall be more selective about who joins me in paradise."

Nicole grinned broadly, "Considering your high standards, you'll be all by yourself, then." Burke merely frowned at her and then she added, "You are aware that the G.E.C.K. is thought to be highly unstable and unpredictable, that's even if it works at all?"

"Yes, but that's for me to worry about and not you." Burke stood and approached her, "Will you join me?"

Nicole chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. Burke was probably one of the vilest characters in the Capitol Wasteland. He was underhanded, conniving and couldn't be trusted any further than he could be thrown. Although many would disagree with her assessment that Burke was more dangerous than a pack of feral ghouls, he was. Burke's brand of evil was insidious. It would hit you when you least expected it and catch you off guard. Besides all that, he would be more than happy to use her to get what he wanted and then casually toss her aside.

She was, however, incredibly bored these days. After Project Purity started working and providing clean and safe drinking water to the Wasteland, she was a celebrity, everyone's blue eyed girl, but now, two years on, everyone seemed to have forgotten her. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though; it meant that bounty hunters weren't as keen to track her down, but there was a gaping hole in her life now that she had no quest or mission or goal to fulfil and no amount of drinking, screwing or bounty hunting seemed to fill that emptiness. Nicole desired action and excitement and gathering dust in Megaton was certainly not sitting well with her, but she didn't want to seem over eager to Burke.

Nicole stood and put her hands on her hips, "I need time to think about it."

Burke nearly broke into a triumphant grin. It was as good as a yes, but he stopped his premature celebrations and nodded, "Very well, my dear girl." He tipped her chin up with a finger, "But don't take too long. I'd hate to have to send Talon hitmen after you again to put a bullet in your pretty little head."

Nicole jerked her chin away and growled, "Two weeks. Give me two weeks and I'll give you an answer."

Burke smiled, satisfied with her answer, and said, "Well, I can't say fairer than that, can I? Very well, Nicole, I will be awaiting your decision at Tenpenny Tower. I believe you know the way?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I do," she huffed.

"Excellent. I shall eagerly anticipate our next meeting then," Burke said before giving her one last smirk, tipping his hat to her and then disappearing out into the balmy summer night.

Nicole watched as he left and when the door of the saloon finally closed, she realized she'd been holding her breath and let it out in a rush.

Burke unnerved her, set her on edge and turned her on her head, and although she knew logically that she should hate him for everything, there was a small part of her that just couldn't hate him. Shaking her head and chastising herself for how foolish she was being, Nicole bid Gob goodnight, stepped out of Moriarty's and took a deep breath to try and clear her head. A quick check of her Pip-Boy told her that it was nearly midnight and so she wound her way through Megaton's rusty walkways to her home that was high above most of the others, thinking over what Burke had told her. A flutter of excitement in her chest made her smile more than she had done in some time.

Nicole was so lost in her own thoughts that she never noticed someone in the shadows as she unlocked her house.

"Nicky? Where the hell have you been?"

She jumped and whirled to see Leo Stahl skulking in the darkness and shouted, "Leo! Why are you hiding there?"

"I'm not hiding. You've been in Moriarty's again? You could come into The Brass Lantern every now and then, you know?" Leo said with a hint of indignation.

Nicole sighed, not really wanting to deal with Leo right now, but she knew there wasn't much choice. Her shoulders slumped as she finished unlocking the door of her house and motioned with a nod of her head, "Come inside."

Leo smiled broadly and followed Nicole inside, his eyes darting around the room, taking everything in, even though he'd seen it all before.

"You want a drink?" Nicole asked as she headed up the stairs to the Nuka-Cola machine.

"Yeah," was the only word Leo could manage since he was too busy watching Nicole's backside as she climbed the stairs.

She took the ice cold drinks from the pristine vending machine that she'd bought from Moira Brown's Craterside Supply and ran one over her brow and then down her neck. The night was hot and humid and the chilled glass did little to relieve her discomfort.

"Here," she offered the other bottle to Leo as she reached the bottom step but then paused. Leo was nervously roaming through the downstairs and repeatedly touching the Vault-Tec bobbleheads that Nicole had collected on her travels through the wastes.

"Oh, thanks!" he said cheerily and reached for the bottle, but Nicole held it just out of his reach.

"Leo, look at me," she said sternly, as if talking to a child. After a few moments, he finally did look her in the eyes and Nicole sighed, "Leo... Why?"

For most of her time in Megaton, she'd been trying to help Leo overcome his Jet addiction. He would do fine for a while, but then he'd revert to old habits. It was frustrating. Leo could be an incredibly sweet man, but the Jet changed him for the worst.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Nicole though. One step away from becoming an alcoholic herself, she probably wasn't the ideal person to try and help keep a junkie on the straight and narrow.

Leo nervously laughed and shrugged, "Just... couldn't ignore it anymore. I had to have it, Nicky."

"Leo, what am I going to do with you?" she asked, her brow furrowing with aggravation. "Take your drink."

Leo took it and drank half of it in one go and then gave Nicole a cheeky grin, "I've got a few ideas of what you could do with me."

Nicole shook her head and huffed as she stomped upstairs to have a quick wash in the sink she had installed a few months ago, cursing Leo under her breath the whole time. After everything she'd done for him, this was how he repaid her. She bitterly thought that it would serve him right if he ended up killing himself with the stuff.

She stripped off her clothes and tossed them into a corner and proceeded to wash herself. It was times like this that she missed Vault 101 and the convenience of a proper shower. Nicole had always been a neat and tidy person and being unable to get fully clean was something that she abhorred. As she furiously lathered her face with a bar of soap she'd scavenged from a long abandoned Super-Duper Mart, she felt rough hands slide over her stomach, one finger lightly circling her bellybutton.

"C'mon Nicky, don't be angry with me, please?" Leo pleaded in her ear before gently nibbling her earlobe.

"Stop that!" she snapped, smacked his wandering hands and rinsed off her face. "I'm not in the mood and I'm angry with you because you deserve it!"

"Nicky..." he brushed his lips over her shoulder and sent a chill through her.

Finally she turned to face him, "Do you even realize why I'm mad at you or has the Jet fried your brain?"

Leo looked at her with puppy dog eyes, "Yeah, I know why. I'm sorry."

"Damn it Leo, you say it every time," Nicole half-heartedly pounded a fist against his chest.

"I mean it this time though, no more, ok?" Leo crossed his heart and held up three fingers in a scout's salute.

"I wish I could trust you," Nicole sighed and ran a hand over his cheek.

Leo smiled and pulled her against him and leaned down so his lips were just touching hers, "Then trust me."

Nicole hesitantly kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling a pang of sadness pierce her heart.

"Come on," she said, took his hand and pulled him towards the stairs, "let's go to bed."

Leo, more than thrilled that his luck had come in, obediently followed Nicole downstairs.

Nicole, however, grimly thought, "Enjoy it while it lasts, Leo. Tonight's your last night with me."