Of all the places she thought she'd end up this wasn't even on the list. Charlotte Pollard, Edwardian Adventuress turned into Charley Pollard, Space Pirate. Sometimes that thought was enough to make her burst into laughter, but then many things about her new life made her laugh. Glitz was prone to giving her strange looks, but Mel understood. Sometimes they would look at each other across the computers and burst into giggles. Glitz would sigh and leave the room until they calmed down. Charley had found that those moments were just another of the many ways she had found to love Melanie Bush since she'd found herself on the Nosferatu II.
Sometimes when they were lying together at night they would talk about all the strange and wonderful things they had seen with the Doctor. Those nights they would laugh and joke before making love. It would be loud and playful and Glitz would complain in the morning that he could hear them from across the ship. Other nights they would talk of the pain, the hurt, the anger, and the fear that had become a part of them when traveling with the Doctor. The love making then was slow and gentle. Soft fingers would move across her skin tracing all of the scars that would never show. Some nights they wouldn't talk of the Doctor at all, but instead they would tell stories of their childhoods on Earth. Those nights the love making would be warm and affectionate with Melanie's scent surrounding her.
Then there were the times when they would come together hard and fast against the nearest wall. The adrenaline would still be coursing through their veins as they made another escape from a successful raid. Clothing would be pushed aside rather than removed, seems would rip and later they'd have trouble finding all the buttons. It was rough and somewhat brutal and she loved it. Glitz had learned after those first few months not to stay and watch if he happened to run across them.
There were nights in fancy hotel rooms when they decided a holiday was in order. The beds would be so soft and so full of pillows it became hard to move. They would spend hours in bed, leaving only for room service or a bath. The many amenities of the hotel forgotten or ignored in favor of each other. Other nights could be spent under the moons of strange planets at the rim of explored space. The people around them would be celebrating the supplies they'd brought on the Nosferatu II. The corporations that ran this part of the universe had forgotten about the less successful colonies. Mel would say they were the intergalactic Robin Hood and Glitz would complain about all the money they were losing. Charley thought he did it only for show though as he was the one who usually kept track of what the various colonies they helped out needed. Later in the evening Glitz would wander off with one or two of the local women and leaving her and Mel to drink too much of whatever passed for alcohol on the planet. Drunken kisses would turn into a stumbling half run as they made their way to the house they were staying in that time. The kisses on those nights would be long and sloppy, interrupted only when it became too hard to undress without falling down.
One night was spent in the jail cell of an out of the way trading post. Charley had made a mistake in picking their next mark, it had seemed too good a catch and it had been. The ship had turned out to be a crew of bounty hunters looking to catch the Nosferatu II and their remarkably large bounty. That night was spent huddled together for warmth in a cold stone cell. The corporation willing to pay the highest price would be at the trading post by morning to take them into custody. In the dark of the cell, before dawn could finish breaking over the horizon, Mel whispered in her ear all the many ways she loved her. Charley sat with her head on Mel's shoulder listening to the soft words until the bounty hunters cam to march them out into the yard to await the official transfer. It came as a shock to everyone, most of all them, when Glitz showed up to rescue them several minutes later. Together they ran across the yard holding hands, laughing as they dodged explosions.