Jimmy felt like he was drunk when he stumbled after the tall, blonde and handsome stranger, barely aware of his surroundings. The two women trailed after them, both alert and silent, but no one ever followed them. He had a hard time remaining focussed on walking and he hardly believed his luck.
On their way to Freeside they were ambushed by a pair of fiends, and if Jimmy had needed any more proof of it that he had been sent an angel, he would have received it then, when Arcade resolutely pushed him behind his back, standing protectively before him as he fired his gun and turned one of the fiends coming for them into a sorry little puddle of green slime.

They entered the gate of Freeside shortly after that, further remaining unmolested. Jimmy stuck close to his angel, but none of the people looking at them made a move for them, no one knew he had been a slave and was on the run, and no one seemed to care about them one way or another.
Still, he was strangely relieved when the gates of the Fort closed behind him and his saviour said that he was safe now and looking up at the taller man, Jimmy felt close to tears again.

“Arcade!” Julie hurried over and smiled. “The last caravan had some books I bought, I’m sure they’re useful to you and your research.” Then she noticed Stella and Veronica and smiled at them, too. “I see you picked up another travelling companion, Stella.”
Stella laughed. “That’s not mine, Julie. Arcade picked that one up in Westside.”
Julie blinked a few times and looked at Arcade again who put a hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. “It’s kind of a long story, Julie. But Jimmy here was a Legion slave, but after managing to escape ran out of luck, so I told him we could help him.”
“Sure”, Julie replied and gave Jimmy a warm, welcoming smile. “Where did you find him?”
“Ah... we... we found him at Pretty Sarah’s and...”
“What were you doing at Pretty Sarah’s?” Julie crossed her arms.
“I wanted to stand him a round to get some hair down”, Stella fell in. “Don’t glare daggers at the poor man.”
Shaking her head Julie uncrossed her arms and now addressed Jimmy. “It’s a common enough story, and I’m glad you had better luck than most. Arcade’s right, we can help you; just don’t expect any magic from us. It’s a long way you have to walk, but you made the first and most important step. Not to mention the hardest, too.” Then she patted his arm. “Are you hungry?”
Jimmy could only nod and followed Julie into a tent when she beckoned him. She made him sit down and supplied him with some brahmin jerky, bread and milk before leaving the tent again and as Jimmy tried not to devour the food like a wild animal he watched her talk with his saviour in what seemed to be urgent, low voices.
Arcade. He finally had a name for him.
Though he couldn’t hear what they were saying he knew it had to be something serious; he saw Julie gesticulate and elaborate while Arcade nodded and nodded again, answering only sparsely.

Not long after Jimmy had finished his plate full of food, Arcade entered the tent and sat down on the chair beside him. He looked a little strained.
“I’m glad we made it this far”, Arcade said and looked at his hands for a moment. “But from here, you’ll have to go without me. We’ll send you to the Boneyard, our headquarters, with the next caravan, where you’ll get help, education, everything you’ll need that we can’t give to you here.”
Jimmy found the pleasant feeling of food in his stomach turn into a lump of ice. “You’re not coming with me.” It wasn’t a question, and he hadn’t sounded it as one.
Arcade only shook his head. “No, I can’t. But that doesn’t mean we’ll never see each other again. You can come back, if you like.”
They silently stared at each other for a long moment.