The cries of fear, pain and deafening gunfire left a ringing in my ears long after it stopped. I looked around slowly, noticing our group had broken formation. Though considering how many wastelanders were involved, it wasn't that surprising. They weren't exactly trained for this sort of thing. Not seeing any of their corpses was a nice surprise though.

"Ha. That was so damned predictable I'm sorry I was ever part of them." I heard Jericho laugh as he approached me. "Know what I mean?"

"Yeah. Sure." I mumbled offering him a hand. He gave me a hard pull to my feet but I almost fell right back over from the pain shooting through my legs.

"Stockholm got a great shot. Blew the lead guy's brains out even from that distance, no wonder Simms made him the gate guard. Never seen a sniper with that much talent in all my days as a raider. How about you?" Jericho laughed again, grinning. Spilling blood always did make him happy, regardless of who it belonged to.

I looked back at where the fake Stockholm was, in the distance still perched atop the gate. It would have taken a lot of skill for a headshot from that far. I would have only been able to hit the guy's torso... but then again, I was out of practice. "Yeah, talented. You okay, Gob?"

The ghoul pushed himself up, glancing at the corpses of the raiders that attacked. "Fine... just a little surprised."

I walked over to a couple of the corpses, picking up their weapons. Even if I was in pain, I wasn't going to face the wasteland with just a pistol. Especially not in a group this size. I shouldered the hunting rifle I had gotten from one body and offered Gob the assault rifle that had been on the other. "You know how to shoot, right?"

Gob hesitated before taking it. "Of course... it's been a long time, but I remember a little." He looked over the weapon, checking the ammo and safety before hanging it over his shoulder by the strap.

"Just watch where you're aiming the damn thing." Jericho said. The look of irritation on his face made it obvious arming a ghoul was the last thing he wanted to see, but he said nothing about it. He knew as well as I did every gun can count at a time like this.

"Everyone here alright?" Katharine asked, running over. A few of the other settlers were with her, looking terrified. Everyone must have scrambled in the attack, I didn't see Simms or Steele anywhere.

"I don't know about alright..." I said, thinking about my sore limbs since they were geting worse again. "...we're alive though."

"I wish everyone could say that..." A blonde woman in the group with Katharine said. I'd seen her around town before, but never spoke to her unless I was wasted enough to attempt flirting at Moriarty's. Her name started with an L... but the only ones that came to mind were Leo and Lucas. Neither of those could be right. Lin? No, that was what I called Moriarty when I wanted to piss him off.

"Where's the sheriff planning to take us, anyway?" Jericho asked.

"That old Super-Duper Mart. It should be big enough to-"

"WHAT?!" Jericho and I yelled at the same time, but he's the only one of us that had the energy to continue. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! That place is a raider stronghold! Damn stupid Simms!" He yelled, running off.

"Jericho, wait!" Katharine called out, but he kept going. "Damn it... I should have known it was a trap when the Vaultie specified it as where to go in the note. I need to find anyone else that was separated from the group here, and someone to go ahead and offer Simms some support." She said, then looked at me. Not Gob, not one of her followers, me... the wounded, cursed villain that just wanted some Med-X, a Nuka-Cola and a nap.

I should have just flipped her off and told her where to cram her support, but no. I limped ahead like a lame brahmin to try and save the fucking day. Gob was nice enough to go with me, but that didn't keep me from thinking my normal, bloody thoughts about all the ways I wanted Katharine to die a painful death for causing me even more trouble.

---

By the time Gob and I arrived at the Super-Duper Mart, we were too late. Jericho made a point to say just that as he leaned against one of the Nuka-Cola machines and took a long drag on his cigarette. Then he laughed.

"You're gettin' way too slow, pal. Missed the whole firefight. Frickin' amateur raiders are to blame too, dyin' that easily. I tell ya, if I was as sure I was gonna die as that little pussy I had cornered, I woulda taken the bottlecap mine off the counter and rushed my attacker, blowing his sorry ass straight to hell along with my own."

I glared at him. "Don't scare me like that, you son of a bitch. By too late I thought you meant everyone was killed."

"Nah." Jericho shrugged. "Simms and his band of jackasses made it through alive. I swear, the guy's like a radscorpion, it'd take four clips to even come close to putting the bastard down for good."

"Thank Atom for that." I sighed. Then noticed what I said after Jericho gave me a funny look. "Damn Cromwell's getting into my head. Luckily a bullet got into his, only a shame it wasn't from my rifle."

"Driftin' back into a raider's mind, huh?" Jericho grinned.

"Hell no." I snapped, pushing the door to the mart open and going inside.

Gob's voice a my side made me jump, I had forgotten he was with me. Though how I could have missed his stink was the real shocker. "What did he mean?" He wondered.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Forget it." Steele was sitting on a counter to the right of where I came in, but I didn't see anyone else. He watched me from behind the glow of a burning cigarette and I scowled, walking over to him.

"The hell you looking at me like that for?" He asked, his voice rough.

I ignored him. "Where is everyone else?"

"In back. Those kids that went missing were locked up in the back room. Simms said for everyone to stay back there in case more raiders showed up." He explained. "You should go back with them."

"You heard him, Gob. Go." I said, not moving apart from my slightly shaky legs. It's damn hard to look intimidating when it feels like your knees could give out at any second. My expression seemed to be in the right place, at least. Gob took one look at my face and hurried off into the back without a word. Which left me alone with "Steele" and my very mixed feelings about seeing him again.

"Okay, ghoulie's gone, now why the fuck are you giving me that look?" He growled, hand drifting to the butt of the assault rifle leaning against the counter. Apparently, he still didn't know who I was. I was going to have to give him a reminder.

"Why?" My hand whipped from my side, slapping the cigarette out of his mouth. "Because all those years of telling your dumb ass to quit, you still haven't! Damn it, Matt! Those things are gonna kill you one of these days!"

For a second he just looked furious, but his expression slacked upon the name Matt. He stared at me. Seeing him at an utter loss for words was a nice change. I never used to be able to get him to shut the hell up. Of course, the first word that escaped his lips wasn't one I really wanted to hear.

"Tim?"

"Yes, but don't call me that." I said quickly, moving over to the counter next to him and sitting down on it before I fell down. Damn legs. "I gave that name up after I left. Just like you seem to have given up yours."

"No I haven't. I just think Steele sounds more impressive than Matt for a mercenary." He said, continuing to stare. "You know, I want to both hug and shoot you right now. What the hell happened back then? Ian came back to HQ after the base you were at exploded and reported some strange shit."

"Strange how?"

"He was saying you went nuts and murdered both Peter and Kenny for a start. Was he telling the truth?"

I laughed, recalling the event. "Oh, that. Yeah, it's true."

Steele's jaw fell open. "How could you kill your allies?"

"Well, I started with Kenny." I explained. "First I took my magnum and blew his head off, then aimed higher and put a bullet in his oversized forehead. Peter went for his gun, but was lacking a helmet at the time so I decorated the wall with his brains. What little he had, at least."

Steele continued to gape at me. "Tim, what the fuck is wrong with you? I know you weren't fond of people but-"

"They had it coming." I interrupted him. "I know I sound like a heartless bastard. Hell, I am. You know what we went through together, neither of us were saints. After my assumed 'death' at the base I went through even more. My opinion of people in the wastes has been twisted so many times even I don't know why I do some things anymore. Right now, the only thing I'm certain of is how much I hate... that name. Timothy Steele died in that explosion."

Steele sighed, leaning against the wall and shaking his head. "I've been through a lot too, but it sounds like you've had a worse time. We'll have to exchange stories sometime."

"I'd like that." I said, grinning.

Reaching into his pocket, Steele removed a pack of cigarettes. "What do I call you, then?"

"If you can't stand to call me Brother anymore, just use the name I took up in Megaton."

"Which is?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came. What the hell was the name I'd been using in Megaton? Thinking back, I didn't recall anyone using it recently... maybe ever. I was skimming through my memories when Katharine arrived with a group of people. Their eyes darted to the ceiling, where dismembered bodies of the raider's victims were hanging by meat hooks. I hadn't even noticed those on my way in. I did, however, notice Jenni Stahl in the group.

"Jenni, come here a second." I called out. She tore her eyes away from the corpses and moved unsteadily in my direction. Sadly, with Katharine helping her. The rest of the group made their way to the back of the mart.

"W-What is it?" She stuttered, her eyes red and face stained with tears.

I had planned to ask if she knew my name, but after seeing the state she was in I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just seemed too selfish of a question at the time, so I sighed. "How are you holding up?"

She bit her lip. "I don't know... first I lose Leo to some psychopath... then my home... now Andy's gone... I don't think I can take much more of this. I know the wasteland is dangerous, but... this is crazy..."

"Andy's..." I trailed off, unable to believe he had been killed too. "...what happened to Andy?"

"You talking about that guy at the Brass Lantern?" Steele inquired. "He was with Simms, should be in the back with the others."

Jenni's expression perked up ever so slightly at that. "H-He's here? He's okay?"

"Go see for yourself." He said, waving toward where the other settlers had set up.

Jenni dashed toward the back, kicking fallen shopping carts out of her way as she went.

I slumped onto my side on the countertop, pain setting in fully now. "So much for that."

"You claim to be a heartless bastard one minute and show sympathy to her the next. I don't think you know yourself that well, bro." Steele commented.

"Shut up." I grumbled.

"Bro?" Katharine wondered. I hadn't noticed she stuck around, or taken the time to warn Matt about her. Sneaky pain in my ass. "You're related to... him?"

"No, we're not related. Not like Jenni and Andy at least. It's complicated so mind your own damn business." I said, not moving an inch. I don't think I could have anyway.

"Why did he call you 'bro' then?" She asked, obviously not getting the point. Damned Regulators, always giving me a headache. Trying to kill me is bad enough, but Katharine and her stupid, nosy questions when my limbs were throbbing was torture.

Cutting her tongue out seemed the easiest solution, but then I wouldn't be able to hear her scream in agony as I slowly broke every bone in her freaking body, starting with her fingers and continuing up one arm until I could roll it like a shirt sleeve. Then moving on to the other and each of her legs in turn. I caught myself laughing at the thought and quickly stopped. Shit, Jericho was right. My mind was changing back to when I was a raider.

"He forgot his name, so it's really my only option." Steele said, making me want to kick him. He may not have known he was giving information to the enemy, but that was no excuse.

"Oh, really?" Katharine moved into my line of sight and looked down at me, her revolver in one hand. "He does have a few, doesn't he? Like Roy and Seth. I remember those two quite well."

Hearing those names escape her lips made me want to puke, and the feeling doubled when she aimed the gun at my face. She remembered and I was immobile. Son of a bitch... just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse.