Cassie starts drinking the moment she gets out of the bathroom, and ends up sleeping in Corax's nest with us. The next few days go the same as today. We hang out in the morning, occasionally end up in each other's arms, and all that stops when she starts drinking in the afternoon. Normally the three of us just end up playing cards and other games all day, and I read her to sleep.

Our good time is dampened by worrying about Vince and Ivy. The more Cassie drinks, the more worried she gets, or more likely, she's always this worried and the alcohol just brings it to the surface. The first night she went way overboard, which wasn't exactly a nice time.

Her nightmares also get worse after drinking, but Corax can always tell before things get bad and nudges me to run my hand comfortingly through what little hair she's regrown. That always calms her down, and we thankfully avoid her accidentally attacking me again.

Our relaxation can't last forever though. Eventually word comes that the storm has passed. It only takes us a few minutes to pack and for Cassie to order one last hot meal before we leave.

I finally plug myself into the tablet Zero gave us, and spend a moment memorizing the contents. It's a map of the desert, with a route already planned out for us. It leads us east, through a long and winding path to a small cluster of mountains that branch off of the Rockies. The tablet gives no indication what we're supposed to find there or what to do when we arrive, but I guess we'll figure it out.

"Alright." Cassie finishes her plate and stands up, tossing her backpack over one shoulder. "I'm ready to go."

"Us too." Corax is already sitting on my shoulder with his vest on. He's been anxious to fly for a while now, and I'm not going to do anything to make him wait even a moment longer. I made sure to already have my backpack and Vince's rifle on me so we can go as quickly as possible.

Corax's nest is still set up in the center of the living room, I just couldn't bring myself to destroy it. It's a little bit in the way, however, and we have to inch around the side just to get to the elevator.

I hit the button, step inside, and Cassie follows in behind me just a moment later. The door closes as soon as we're through, and the elevator begins to descend. It comes to a smooth, short stop, before starting sideways for a few feet and then continuing its downwards path.

The doors open to our car. Everything on the outside has been thoroughly cleaned, including my steam generator. The paint and dents from running into a wall at the mountain town have been repaired, and the back of the car is stocked with supplies. Gallons of water, a few week's worth of food, medical supplies, materials to repair all of ourselves with, extra ammunition and magazines, and a small wad of arcs sitting atop everything.

"That's a nice surprise." Cassie says to herself.

"Yeah." 'Expect no help.' Those were Zeros' exact words. I guess that despite their intimidating exterior, they have a small soft spot. Just like Cassie, actually. Maybe I could even be friends with Zero one day? Although, probably not. It's not like Cassie, they can so easily avoid me.

"I'll drive." Cassie says.

"It's probably better if I do." I say before she can hop in. "I have the map, and I'd feel more comfortable with you able to fight." I unsling Vince's rifle and hand it to her.

"Sure." She takes the rifle and quickly runs through a weapons check. Only once she's sure the rifle is clean and going to work well does she toss her backpack into the back seat and get in the car.

I climb into the driver's seat, grab the spare magazines for Vince's rifle that have been left in the back, and place them alongside a box of ammo on the center console. Cassie gets to work loading all of them and placing them securely into her pockets.

The door to the garage slides open, and I plug myself into the car and back out into a long, pure metal hallway. One end has a door that's already opening to a ramp heading upwards, and I drive towards it.

Out of the ceiling a camera snakes downwards. It's connected to a railing, able to move and keep up with us as we drive.

"I'd like to apologize for the mishap when you first arrived." The same voice that denied us entry comes out of the camera. "But I would also like you to know that I'm genuinely happy everything worked out."

"Do you think Zero would be angry if I shot the camera?" Cassie asks.

"Probably." I accelerate to get away from the camera a little faster, for all of our safety.

We ascend back into the barren desert. Not a single soul is in sight, but their tracks remain. Zero must have only told us the storm ended after all the caravans had already left so we could avoid running into too many people. That's probably smart, and our travel is limited by the storms, waiting a few hours isn't going to mean we rescue Vince any later.

"What's the plan?" Cassie asks.

"It's a 750 mile drive, and we have…" I go silent for a moment while I check how much battery power we actually have. That's a lot. Zero must have put whatever cell they put in Cassie's arm in here, and maybe a few of them. We could get back to Arc City with ease, and maybe even back if I conserved power. "We have a lot of power. As long as nothing goes wrong, we'll be there in 30 hours."

"You better not have cursed us." Cassie rolls down her window and aims into the distance with Vince's rifle, flicking rapidly between unseen targets. She's still not entirely used to her new arm, some practice would do her good.

"I hope so too."

We quickly settle into our normal driving routine. I disconnect the data lines running between myself and the car before I get too used to it, and Cassie works the radio while watching the horizon. Corax sits on my shoulder the entire time, keeping an eye out as well, just waiting for the sun to disappear.

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"Did Zero bother to say who we're going to be meeting on the tablet?" Cassie interrupts the comfortable silence.

"No, they didn't."

"Fucking great." She lets silence fill the car for just a few seconds. "Want to take bets on if this is another ambush we're walking into?"

"I don't think it is. Their body in the digital world is a manifestation of Vegas, I think that's all they care about. The only people they would sell us to are the Rangers, but then why give us the VIP room and take the risk of us not arriving instead of just killing us while I was dismantled?"

"But then who are we meeting?" She asks. "Someone who hates Mara, but who doesn't?"

"Maybe one of Vince's friends?" Although, no, Zero's said these people have a vested interest in the death of Mara, not rescue of Vince and Ivy.

"Where are we going?"

"Deep into the Rockies." I plug myself into our tablet, instantly copy the route to it, and hand it to her.

"I've never been there." Cassie hands it back to me. "And allies don't stay allies after more than a decade of no contact."

"So probably not then." I don't like not knowing, but despite everything, I do trust Zero. Or at least, I trust them enough. "We did tell them we're searching for Clover, maybe she's there?" I know he literally told us he doesn't know where she is, but maybe he thinks these people might know?

Cassie shakes her head.

"Clover's mainframe was somewhere in the west." She says. "If she did somehow survive getting destroyed, why head this far east?"

"To stay near Vince?"

"Without contacting us? Vince wouldn't be able to hide the fact she did from Ivy, and Ivy can't hide that from me. Plus, Silver's going to be pissed if she's been this close the whole time."

"Ok, so probably not then." Which means I'm out of guesses.

Silence settles over us once again, and isn't broken until the sun sets over the horizon a few hours later. The instant it does, I roll down the window, and let Corax jump out into the cool night air.

"You can get some sleep if you want." I offer.

"Not yet." Cassie reaches out, putting her hand on mine. I let her take it, settling together on the center console. "We still have 24 hours to go, and I don't want to be dead tired when we arrive. I'll sleep around dawn."

"Alright." I give her hand a small squeeze. I'm not sure if that's the whole story or not. Her staying up until sunrise makes sure I'm never left alone, maybe that's her reason? No, that's ridiculous, she's left me alone to drive plenty of times. She doesn't like being close while Corax is around, that's probably her reasoning. "Just let me know if you need help staying awake."

"And how are you going to do that?" She asks.

"I don't know." I'm much better at putting her to sleep. "But I'm sure I can figure out something."

"I'm sure you will." She says with a small smile.

"Anything on the radio?" I ask.

"Still us, mostly. Some of the stories that are spreading are fucking wild. Apparently some people are saying we're single handedly responsible for killing San Francisco, and that's how we got our bounty?"

"Really? How would we even do that?" Wait, could I make a nuclear bomb? I don't know where I'd get enriched nuclear material, but maybe? Making the plans for one is fairly easy, the problem is that it would require an entire city's worth of resources and a massive centrifuge. Other people would inevitably figure out how I created it. The last thing I want to do is to re-invent another world ending weapon. Actually, maybe someone already has? The bomb that killed San Francisco had to come from somewhere.

"Hell if I know. I think-"

An explosion in the distance behind us marks a sudden end to our conversation. Both of us react instantly, I reactivate the data lines to the car and draw my weapons, leaning out my window at the source of the sound. Cassie reaches for the back seat, throwing on her helmet, and tossing mine into my lap before taking a shooting position of her own.

The helmet won't really protect anything vital, but I put it on regardless.

"Do you hear anything? Where's Corax?" Please be ok. I'm not going to handle it if you're dead.

"I hear screaming, and-"

Two more explosions rock the landscape.

"No more screaming." She doesn't dare to take her eyes off the desert however.

Only a moment later two metallic claws land on my shoulder. Corax is puffed up, his feathers gleaming brightly in the starlight. Three of the small bombs in his vest are missing.

"Mara following. Gone Now." He says proudly.

I have no idea how to react to that. Terrified he took that risk without informing anyone first? Absolutely. This isn't a risk he should have taken alone.

Oh, is this what it's like for everyone else when I run off and try to solve a problem alone? Did everyone feel this helpless at the fact I could have just died every time? At the fact I almost did die every time? At least he could stay safe while doing it, that makes things better than what I did.

Despite my terror and worry, I can't help but feel a little proud of him. I shouldn't, of course, he just killed a few people. That's never something that should be celebrated, but no matter how many times I try to kill those threads the feeling always reappears.

"Hell yeah!" Apparently Cassie has no such inner conflict. She slides back into the car, and I guess I should too.

"Please tell us before you do anything like that again." I get settled in the driver's seat, continue driving through the port in my dash, and hug him tight.

"Good feeling." He says.

"Ok, but please let us help, or at least let us be there in case something goes wrong." I say. Cassie's eyebrows raising catches the corner of my eye. "I know I've done the same, but I'm working on it."

"Fine." He deflates just a touch.

"But thank you." I bury my face in his feathers and pull my knees up towards my chest, completely encircling him. "You really saved us."

His feathers puff back up. He deserves to feel good right now, I'm not going to take that away from him.

I drive like that for a few minutes, just holding him close. A stray thought keeps appearing, telling me the moment I let go he'll be gone. That this is all a hallucination. That he died in his attack and I'm just imagining him.

It's not, he's here, he's safe, he's in my arms.

I know Cassie will say something if I have to turn, but I probably should watch where the car's going. I slowly sit up, lower my legs, and let my arms fall.

"Alright." I look at him through a thin film of tears I didn't even notice escaping. "You can fly the rest of the night if you want to. Just give me a warning before you blow up any more cars please."

"Safe." Corax gives me a small peck on my hand to emphasize before disappearing back into the night.

I unplug myself from the car and grab the wheel.

A small chuckle escapes Cassie, and she smiles while looking at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Just a dumb thought."

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