Sunday morning, Big Dog wandered out the back door of the pad. Sparkles was flat on her back under the van on what looks suspiciously like a scavenged skateboard. She waved as he approached.

"Hey Dog. You got a sec?"

Bog Dog shrugged and squatted down next to her. "Sure. What's up?"

She slid out from under the van and propped herself up with elbows on the board. She studied him for a long moment, not saying anything. Dog studied her in return, noticing for the first time just how clean she was, and that the faintly sweet smell that had been haunting him in the flat was coming from her hair.

"I...I wanted to say I'm sorry. For having a shot at you bout those smash heads." She brushed the dreads out of her face, unknowingly leaving a smear of grease across her cheekbone. "So much has happened lately, I'm really fighting just to keep up..."

Big Dog regarded her with an odd look in his eye. He realised that she was actually pretty, now that she had started taking care of her appearance. It was something that he had never noticed before. He briefly wondered whether she was getting "interested" in him.

No. She was like his little sister. That would just be weird.

And Dog was still feeling bad about the boosters. His new friends had helped a little. They had said things that made a lot of sense to him, but it was going to be hard, living up to His expectations. In fact, he was just heading back to talk to them again.

"Hey," he replied. "Don't worry about it."

He raised himself from his haunches, and made to go.

She bounced to her feet, catching his sleeve as he turned to leave. "No. I mean it. I'm starting to get it now. We were just so over our heads but I get it. You were protecting us. All of us. Not just you at that moment but you were thinking ahead. Covering all our arses. And I..." she looked down almost embarrassed. "I never thanked you for that."

Dog was surprised at this outpouring of emotion. He turned, placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a smile.

"Hey," he said again. "That's what I do."

With a slightly uncomfortable shrug she changed the subject. "So what's going on with you these days? You're in and out of here more often than I am. What," she gave him a cheeky grin, "finally got yourself a girlfriend?"

Dog laughed.

"No, I'll leave that to What's-On. It's not really my scene, you know? It's the community stuff that I'm getting into now. Like the trash collection, you know?" He looked at her thoughtfully. "Listen, Sparky. This is my hood. This is where I grew up. I know just about everyone down here, from the smash bums to the guy at the soup kitchen. And I don't want anything bad to happen to them, OK? And that includes you, and What's-On, and Rack, and yes, even Slippery. It's bad down here, you know? And I'm making things better. It feels good to know you're helping people, yeah?"

He broke off with a chuckle, aware that for the first time in his life he had something that he could be passionate about.

"Like I said. It's what I do. Don't worry about me."

She cocked her head and watched him thoughtfully for a moment. "Be careful, alright? All manner of shit going on lately. Bad tech, dodge cybergear, chromers. You just watch yourself hey."

"Yeah. I'm more worried about Rack though. I'll get into a fight to help someone out, but he's likely to get into a fight for the sheer hell of it."

He gave her another smile, and a light punch on the shoulder, before turning away.

"Oi!" she called after him as he walked away. "If you rescue any kittens from trees today Superman, feel free to bring one home. I'd love a new pet." And with that she slid back under the van.