Newt, Evelyn, Keisha and Dante sat on the ground outside Terry's little shack. Evelyn had never been more thankful for a stranger to show up in the middle of the night. There was food. Glorious food.

Terry and his wife lived in a shack down the road, it was identical to the one they had slept in, but theirs was a bit more lived in. Some worn out chairs, a few pictures of people nailed to the cheap wood walls. Terry's wife, Maria was quiet and very fidgety. And seemed a bit more gone than he was, she was very obsessed with the word purple. The poor woman would randomly yell it out or whisper it over and over.

Evelyn sat and watched a blank expression on her face. Their little neighborhood cookout was a small campfire, with pieces of meat speared at the end of sticks and roasted over the open flames. It looked like beef and chicken. Whatever it was Evelyn didn't complain. It settled the ache in her belly and helped ease the anger, which meant the crank was quiet. For now.

"We thought they gave up on this place a few days ago." Terry said.

"What do ya mean?" Keisha asked. She was breaking small pieces of meat off for Dante to eat.

Terry shrugged, "This whole place was originally meant to be a civic service, back in the day when the higher ups had time to worry about anything but saving their own hides. But...once we got full, they stopped dropping people off. Word is they're just burning them is massive pits on the east side of the city. Maria says it's over there because the wind tends to come from the west. They don't want to smell burning bodies all day in their precious city."

"Oh no, we wouldn't want that now would we?" Evelyn snarled, and let a small twisted chuckle. She could feel the crank giggling in her head, her eyes held a bit of madness. She felt Newt's hand on her back. She clamped her eyes closed and shook her head hard, trying to dislodge the voice.

"Sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be sorry dear." Terry said.

"They're purple." Maria said, her mouth full of meat. She was looking at Evelyn dead in the eyes, leaning forward, like this was urgent news she needed to hear. "They are all pure. Purple when they go in and purple when they come out."

"Do they tend to come out?" Evelyn asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Damn you two!" Keisha's eyes widened, "what's wrong with you tw-"

She stopped before she finished. Evelyn looked at her sharply, her eyes flashing a frosty white. Newt pressed a hand to her back a bit more forcefully.

"Lee. You're okay, Love."

"Sorry." Keisha said quietly.

Evelyn growled, but lay her meat roasting stick down and crawled into Newt's lap, not carrying that Terry was looking at her sadly or Keisha had a look of guilt and pity. Maria, on the other hand was blissfully unaware and just sighed wistfully, "purple." She was staring into the fire, her eyes glassy.

"But then you came along." Terry went on like that weird side conversation never happened. "We saw the truck, saw you get out, saw them act like jerks, and then drive away, saw little Miss there," he indicated with his head to Evelyn, "saw her collapse. That's when we ran into town to tell people, but they all seemed to already know. Knew who you two were too." He pointed at Newt and Evelyn. "Strange times. And getting stranger."

"Don't know why they'd give a klunk about me." Newt said, "I ain't immune like the rest of them, they just had me along for the buggen' ride, nothing but a bloody control subject." He spat. "Once I caught the Flare, my days at bein' important were long gone. Who bloody knows. He probably wants to know how I end so someone poor sucker can write a report that no one will ever read." His voice was so broken and bitter.

Evelyn whimpered. She knew Janson would probably give up his own child to have her back. Newt tightened his arms around her.

"You won't go back, Love. I promised, ya? Remember I said I wouldn't let that happen." He pulled her face away to look at her. Her eyes had dilated in fear, the automatic response to anything related to Janson.

"What do they want a crank back for?" Terry asked.

"Because...she's...special." Newt said slowly.

Terry gasped, making Dante and Keisha jump. His eyes were wide and his mouth dropped open, he was pointing at her. He opened and closed his mouth a few times. Evelyn could see it in his eyes, she knew that Terry knew exactly who she was. How they knew it exactly what he knew she didn't find out because before he formed words. Maria shreaked.

"PUUUUURRRPLE!"

She had thrown an accusatory finger at Evelyn and narrowed her eyes. Evelyn's muscles tensed, the cackling in her head started and her head jerked, the crank was trying to take over. Evelyn tried her best to stay in her right mind. She clamped her hands over her head. Newt held her head pressed firmly into his chest.

"They were all purple after."

Without warning Maria leapt to her feet. Her eyes were wide with terror, letting out hysterical shrieks, as if someone had just poured a bucket full of spiders down her shirt. Terry had grabbed one of her flailing hands and tried to pull her back to the ground. But she shrieked louder and yanked her arm away. She smacked him in the forehead, stomped her foot and screamed.

"She was PURPLE! Don't you get it?" Her body stilled, standing ridged, her fists at her sides, she glared down at her husband.

"I didn't even have the chance to raise her! How could I? In this mucked up world? How could I dare? Better to be purple than crazy! Better purple than eaten by some damn crank! Better purple than taken by WICKED and thrown into a damn stone cage like Jack! Like an animal!"

The words spilled from her mouth, one word over the other until it was a rush of wild madness. She sucked in a breath, and then screamed a world with so much agony and hurt, she screamed from deep within her. It ripped through her throat and out of her mouth.

"SHE WAS PURPLE!"

And then dove. She dove into the fire. Screaming now from physical pain than anger, she slapped the the burning logs, and the flowing hot coals, the ashes turned grey but still smoldering with an intense heat. Evelyn could see the burns melting her skin. Evelyn sat in Newt's lap and watched. She knew in her mind, deep in the far back of her mind, she should be able to help this woman with her burns, she could heal her...fix the burns. But the wild irrational part, the chaotic and crazed part allowed her to sit. She sat calmly, almost impossibly and watched, like a movie. Her face slack, without emotion her brain feeling numb to the pain and wild scene unfolding in front of her.

Terry launched at her, and tackled her out of the fire. They rolled a few feet. Newt had to scramble out of the way, dragging Evelyn with him. Again Evelyn just stood motionless watching, then slowly a smile twisted Evelyn's face, as she watched Terry put out the fires on Maria's clothes and then cradle her like a baby. Keisha had Dante's face pressed into her chest so he wouldn't see, her own eyes were clamped shut, like if she couldn't see it the world would go away.

Terry said nothing, just held his wife and pressed his forehead to hers. Both had looks of pure anguish on their faces as silent tears streamed down both their faces.

Evelyn stood watching, Ferry and Maria; her eyes glazed and a twisted smile on her pale face. Not that she enjoyed watching someone in pain, but she saw how Terry worried and fussed over his wife. She saw how he took care of her, wept with her...she was well passed the same stage as Terry, but he still loved her unconditionally. She saw herself and Newt. In her twisted Crank view of things it was beautiful.

Then the sorrow hit her like a slap to the face. She realized what Maria was talking about, why purple was an obsession. It brought so many questions. Evelyn was sane enough to keep her questions to herself, especially when Terry finally looked up and gave them a 'don't ask' look. She wondered, which came harder. The madness of toom to kill your own child or the madness that resulted from killing your own child...and at what stage did the Flare creep its way into the whole affair?

Newt was holding her hand tight in his, he pulled her into a tight hug, one arm wrapped around her back the other pressed the back of her head.

"You okay" he asked.

"He loves her...he loves her so much...even even after...even after everything she did...would..would you still love me if I had done that?" She asked, her voice coming out rather dry.

"Yes." He said automatically, "yes I would."

"Me too." She said.

He nodded. He glanced at Keisha and Dante.

"You okay?" He asked rather lamely.

She nodded without a word. Dante as always didn't make a sound. Quiet as the dead. Evelyn snorted at the thought. Newt looked down at her for a second, his eyes flicking over her face. He looked troubled and uneasy.

"We ha e to go." He said suddenly.

This seemed to get Keisha's attention. She looked at them sharply. "What? Go where?"

"We won't be long." Was all he said, he slid his hand into Evelyn's good hand and was alreatakimg away. Even expected Keisha to argue, but she gave them a small knowing smile and said quietly,

"We'll be okay."

Newt was already pulling Evelyn down the street, away from their crazy neighbors.

_________________________

Newt held her hand firmly in his grip. His shoulders were stiff and tense, his gentle eyes were stormy and uncertain. Every so often he would shiver. At one point on their walk down the deserted road Evelyn pulled him over to the side of the road when a nice big thick tree was growing and she flopped to the ground. Newt sat beside her and they just sat silently, side by side in the quiet under the shadow of the huge oak tree.

Eventually without a word, Newt pulled Evelyn into his lap. She shifted and turned around, so she was facing him. She held her constantly throbbing arm to her chest and leaned forward, placing her head on his shoulder, pressing her face into his neck.

She took a shuddering breath.

"How are you doing, Love?" He asked quietly, burhirhis hand into her hair.

"It hurts. Everything hurts." She whined.

"Tell me."

"My arm...it's constantly shooting pain, up t
My neck and into my chest and back. And the claws around my lungs are back. Oh and I have a constant pounding headache."

"Let me see."

He gently pushed her to sit up. And took her infected arm pushing the sleeve of her shirt up. Her scratches looked horribly infected, she hadn't been able to cover them probably, her veins were white blue, looking more like the frozen icicles than blood veins. He tugged her shirt off, carful if her arm. It didn't phase her that she was in a bra in the middle of the possible public. There wasn't anyone around, but even if there were, the Crank had enough hold on her moral decency she didn't even care.

Newt gently turned her infected arm so he could see the icy veins that ran up her arm that was now spreading up her neck. His fingers gently trailed the veins up her arm, over her shoulder, up her neck and then back down to her chest.

She sucked in a sharp breath when he did.

"Newt..." She mumbled, her eyes fluttering.

As soon as her eyes closed her head started to spin with an exhaustion she didn't realize she had. Terry had come knocking in the middle of the night, interrupting their sleep.  Her head shot up, her eyes wide awake, only to have them slowly fluffer closed, when his hand gently caressed her chest.

"Sleep Love." Newt whispered in her ear. His voice was gravely, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

"But..."

"I'll keep watch."

She felt a hand press the back of her head to his shoulder and she was asleep within a minute.

_________________________

Evelyn groaned as she woke up, her neck was stiff, but she was comfortable. The sun had shifted in the sky and it was warm on her back. She felt the regular steady rythmic breathing of Newt. She smiled to herself. So much for keeping watch. He was sound asleep. It didn't bother her that they were sleeping beside a road in Crank Palace, she didn't have a shirt on...on some level there was an alarm going off in her head, yelling at her it was unsafe.

Little witch...I will protect us. I will you and our boy. Don't worry. Feral kitty has claws, remember? Now don't wake our boy...he is tired.

Evelyn hummed in contentment. She smiled at the cranks words. She felt the familiar weight of her hatchet and knife on her hip. And she knew, if she needed, her crank would come out claws blazing. She was at the point where the Crank and her were sharing equal space. She was becoming one with the Crank. Instead of trying to fight her Crank she was embracing her.

The giggle that escaped her lips was manic and twisted. Evelyn was becoming crazier by the hour.

But at the moment she felt dosiel, tamed to sit in Newt's lap, her face pressed into his neck and listen to him breath while he had a much needed nap. And to listen to the Crank coo comfortingly to her.

I will keep watch my feral Kitty. I will protect us. Sleep little feral one.

Evelyn closed her eyes again and let sleep take over her sore and infected mind and body.