Damn that was good.. I'd love to read more from this universe you've created... Great fan-fic...

I know how much you struggled with this during your writer's block, so I want to thank you for persevering and finishing it even when the last few reviews you got were pretty critical. I wish there was more to Swank and Brie's story, but you gave them closure and left it in a good place. Great work once again. :)

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing it with us. Can't wait to see what you write next.

Nice way to wrap up a clever and interesting story. Neat take on Swank - one of the 'ignored' characters in FNV. I did feel the dialogue at the end was a bit stilted and contrived. No-one says 'as the latter' in a conversation - especially in a blown-apart America. And I didn't like Swanks' last line - my head tells me he'd say something like "Ya may be no angel, Brie, but you're our deliverer, right?".

No matter - I enjoyed reading your work again!

I love the ending and AWESOME cover art! Your art is as fantastic as your writing!

Oh my god I want more of this story! I love your courier, and her relatio ship with Swank. Wonderfullu written

I loved it! Perfect way to end!

Actually, I'm glad you reposted this because somehow I missed the alert for the first posting! Shame on my email provider, for shame.

Getting this out of the way first, I like how you're depicting Swank as the co-owner of the Tops, but when it comes to thoughts of Brie, he turns into the dreaded heartbroken-woman-trapped-in-a-man's body archetype. His excessive pining for Brie and persistent feeling of loss reveals him as a male character written by a female author. And I say this only because I've read your previous work where you depict male protagonists so well in a gender neutral style of writing (ex: Butch in Serpent Code), and I can just see the disparity clearly between those stories and this one. I know you can pull off romance without succumbing to the stereotypical trend amongst other female writers, so I'd like to see more of your usual literary caliber in this story.

Also, I realize this is intended as one of your shorter works, but there are contrived elements throughout this chapter, mostly surrounding his discovery of the adoption certificate. How convenient was it that his elbow knocked down the exact box that held the certificate? Why was such an important document located out in the open and unsecured? Did Brie consider it useless when she decided to escape? (And if that's the case, writing in a small descriptor such as "The box had already been opened and rifled through, as if someone had changed their mind about the importance of the items inside," or something to that effect would have helped.)

But with all that said, I did enjoy the details you included in the chapter, and I liked your depiction of the coarse relationship between Swank and Benny. You captured their tough-talking, old-time gangster personalities well in their dialogue and exchanges. I'm also loving this Courier, and I'm eager to find out just what debt it was she owed, and whether this Gabriel persona is her real one, while "Brie" was just a facade.

I didn't mean to be overly critical of this chapter, it's just that you're one of my favorite writers, and I hold you and your work in high regard. I do what I can to help you maintain your great writing standard :)

I hope to read the last update soon!

So you fast forwarded? Now she's back!

The plot thickens! I love the partial reveal of Brie's past and her connection to the Omertas. I really can't wait to see what happens when Swank next encounters her. Eagerly waiting for the next chapter!

At this point I'm wondering if she'll even remember him XD That amongst other things like the descriptive writing and the interesting character development of Swank (rather than him just being some game NPC) keeps me eager for every word of it I can read :D

Fav'd, Followed.

Fascinating. I think this is one of those to be reviewed when the whole thing is read - this is really intriguing - the writing flows and evolves neatly. Kewl.

Great start, can't wait to see how Swank handles seeing the Courier after this. Fav'd.

Read this on the kmeme and love this version even more. Your writing is spectacular!

A very interesting premise. So Swank's our lead guy this time? :)

My absolute favorite thing about this is how you depict Brie. She's not traditionally beautiful or a standard heroine; in fact, she's a disfigured prostitute. I love that she's self-conscious, but doesn't focus on the loss of her looks, especially given her profession. And the fact that Swank can see past the physical aspects to fall for the person on the inside already gives him great characterization.

Something I need to critique, though, is exactly what about her is he so captivated with? Nothing in the chapter really stood out to me as far as her having a selling point. We can see that she comes off as a sweet person, and that he's very affectionate towards her, but I'd like to see what it was that caught his heart in the first place.

But that was the only thing that I had a slight issue with. I really liked your descriptors for walking through Gomorrah, and I liked getting a look into Swank's tense relations with Nero. But most of all, the mystery aspect and the subtle hints.

I'm very curious to know what Brie did to get herself in that situation at Gomorrah. And like another reviewer asked, is she actually the Gabriel that the receptionist was talking about? All the clues point to yes-"she was no longer Omerta, but Slither Kin"-and if so, I am definitely looking forward to finding out what happened and where she vanished off to.

I'll be stalking this story for sure!