Chapter 10

"Kick off your boots, grab the beat. Start clapin'got a real good feelin' somthin' bad about to happen," Rachel sang with a grin, stomping her boots on the table she was standing on.

Charon's eyes traveled from the crowd cheering her on to the three empty bottles sitting on the table in front of the chair Rachel had been sitting in just a little while ago. As the music got faster paced it hadn't taken much urging from a couple of the other ghoulettes to get Rachel to climb up onto the table with them.

Charon had been right, after two beers Rachel had tried to get him to climb onto the table with her but he'd refused. He was not a dance on the table kind of ghoul. Even if the old picnic table would hold his weight…something that he seriously doubted.

"No." he'd told her as firmly as he could, leaning back in his own chair and swigging from his own beer. "I danced with you the night I purposed and the day we got married. That's two. That's all you get."

She'd just waggled her eyebrows at him, grinning. "Only two? We'll have to see about that."

Now with Rachel distracted by her knew found playmates Charon was free to relax at a distance. Maggie settled into the chair next to her brother, smiling up at their new resident smoothskin. "She's a spit fire. I can see what attracted you to her."

Charon nodded with a small smile. "With Rachel… Anything can happen. Life isn't boring with her around."

"You're not jealous of all those men around gawking at her?" Maggie teased, setting a fresh drink in front of him.

Charon shook his head. "No, I'm well aware of them but I know she's not the kind of woman who strays. Rachel likes to have fun but I do trust her. If anyone gets fresh she can take care of herself." He told his sister. He hadn't had to step in very often. Butch had been one man he'd had to have a talk with. Dave from the republic had been another and with those two in mind he added darkly. "If they don't take the hint from her she'll wave me over and I'll take care of it."

Maggie chuckled and Charon raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"It's just…" She waved her hands in front of her, searching for the best way to describe it to him. "I never imagined you as the zealous type."

"I never invested in anyone enough to get zealous. She's different. Rachel isn't just some girl I picked up on the sidewalk. She's mine. Body and soul."

"I like her." Maggie said after a moment. "She's…alive. The wasteland hasn't beaten her down like it has so many others."

"Not for lack of tryin'." Charon growled, recalling every time he'd failed to protect her in a couple of seconds. "She's kicked and scratched and clawed her way to the life we have now. We've worked hard to be comfortable. Or as comfortable as a person can get out here."

"You're lucky to have each other." Maggie sighed a little wistfully. Rachel's comment about his sister getting along with Gob floated to the front of his thoughts. Charon still didn't like it but he didn't like the idea of Maggie being alone all these years either. She was a good girl. She'd always been a good girl and his sister deserved a good man.

"You don't have any men I need to put the fear of god in?" He asked, looking at her.

Maggie laughed. "Not at the moment. I've had men in my life since you left but for the last fifty years or so…well, I guess I've just been busy trying to keep Sanctuary going. It's a lot of work."

"Are you having problems?"

"Just the normal things any settlement has to face." Maggie said with a shrug. "Finding enough food and supplies for everyone has always been a challenge but over the last ten years it's gotten a lot worse. We're running out of places to scavenge. We have a couple contacts from inside the wall that sell us things on the black market but that's both dangerous and expensive. Something's going to have to change soon or we're going to be in real trouble."

"Where do you get your water?"

"Luckily there are a few underground rivers. Water has never been an issue."

"That is lucky, In D.C water has only been available readily for a few years."

"What's D.C like?" Maggie asked.

"Compared to here it's almost peaceful. Used to be a warzone but The Brotherhood of Steel killed off an invading force. During that war most of the super mutants were killed off. That was before Rachel came to D.C."

Maggie's eyebrows went up. "She's not from D.C? Are there more places livable out there?"

Charon nodded, "lots of them. Rachel's from the Mojave Desert and I've heard rumors about the Zion canons and Boston too. The world isn't gone outside the sand storms. It's just different."

Charon reached into an inside pocket sewn into his leather jacket. He pulled out a picture, handing it to Maggie. "That was taken on The Strip in New Vegas a couple years ago."

Maggie looked at Rachel and Charon all dressed up like people from before the world burned. She could see the lights in the background and a fountain. In the picture Charon was giving the red headed girl the most loving kiss Maggie had ever seen."

"Wow," Maggie breathed.

She handed the picture back and Charon tucked it away. "That was a very good night. We have a similar one framed at home but we aren't kissing in that one."

Maggie opened her mouth to comment but a roar from the crowd caught both Charon and Maggie's attention. Rachel was dancing with the two other girls on the table. The girls were teaching her some kind of fast jig to a fiddle being played on the raised stage in the corner.

Rachel was picking it up quickly, she'd always been good at dance. Other members in the band picked up the tune with their own instruments and an old ghoul started singing. It wasn't exactly jazz or folk or blues but Charon liked it and he could tell Rachel did too.

Her eyes lit up, flicking towards her Pipboy. She was going to want to find a way to get the song into her library of music. Maybe he could find some kind of a recorder somewhere for her.

Charon let Rachel play until she tied her shirt up in a knot. That's when he made his way through the crowd and got a whiskey shot from the bartender. She was having enough fun that he was going to need wife bait.

"Rachel." Charon rumbled when the song ended. Rachel's eyes searched the crowd of faces until she saw him and her face lit up. She waved for Charon to join her on the table. The big ghoul countered by holding up the shot, shaking it just a little.

Garret and Joshua appeared on either side of her. She'd started to wave Charon onto the table again when the boys intervened, they'd seen what Charon was doing and come to his aid. Garret took one of her hands while Joshua took the other. Joshua sent Charon a wink and Charon nodded, grateful for the twins help.

He wasn't prepared wrangle Rachel on a goodtime high to bed. She'd make him chase her just for fun. Not that he didn't enjoy chasing her when they were home. He always got a nice kiss and more when he caught her but they weren't home and he didn't want anyone to think this might be a good time to make trouble.

Delighted by the attention Rachel let the boys lead her off the table. Charon bristled for just a moment when he saw both the men drag their eyes over her naked torso. Fortunately for them he caught the concerned glance the twins exchanged. Charon realized they weren't ogling his wife they were inspecting the long pale scars carved into her body.

Rachel said the scars didn't bother her.

Those scars bothered Charon. It wasn't that he though they made her less attractive, not at all. Those pale slashes were a visible reminded of the worse day of his life.

"Are those scars?" Joshua asked quietly once they'd gotten back to Maggie's apartment and Charon had gotten Rachel tucked in. She'd been tried by the time he'd gotten her into the bedroom and ready to curl up.

Charon ran a hand over his face. "Yes. The scars are from a deathclaw. Outside of the sandstorms deathclaws are the biggest thing out there as far as I know. They average twelve feet in height but I've seen bigger. We got pinned down, just barely escaped. I thought she was dead. She should be dead. Injuries like that are fatal. Doctors have no idea how she survived or how she made a full recovery but she did."

The twins left shortly after that, thanking him again for their help.

Charon liked those boys. He'd decided that at some point after the four of them had returned with Andy. They were decent hard working men and he was glad to have met them. As he turned to join his wife for the night he pushed away the lingering misgiving of the past, looking towards the future instead.

Rachel adjusted the grip she had on her hunting shotgun. The sandstone tunnels they were in was both cramped and dark but there was the faint glow of firelight up head. Charon was at her back, she could feel the heat from him as they walked.

Together the two rounded a final bend in the tunnel. Rachel stopped short making Charon bump into her. The ghoul's mouth fell open when he saw what had made Rachel stop short.

They were in what looked like an underground church with pews on both sides of the rounded cavern. There were candles flickering in rod iron brackets on the walls and a raised dais at the front.

The mini that had taken a liking to Charon stood at the podium in black robes, reading from an open bible in a series of gurgles and growls.

Dozens of mini's in the pews watched silently while Claws, dressed with ropes of braided flowers, lay curled behind the podium.

"Rachel?" Charon growled in her ear. "We should leave. This is creepy as hell."

The runt looked up at them, giving a short whistle. Every pair of eyes in the room turned to stare at the couple.

Rachel took a step forward and the mini's closest to her stood up on their pews. She looked at them, hands tightening on her shotgun but instead of attacking they bowed low. Rachel kept walking and the mini deathclaws kept bowing as she passed.

When she reached the podium the runt bowed to her as well. Rachel nodded her head respectfully and the runt straightened, gesturing to a five foot statue she hadn't noticed before. It was made of scrap and very clearly depicted Charon, Rachel and Claws all standing together looking important.

"Welcome; Great Mother of The One," the runt said in a clear voice full of reverence. The runt looked past Rachel to Charon as he approached too. "Welcome; Great Father of The One."

Rachel's eyes snapped open and she sat up in bed, eyes scanning for mini deathclaws but all she saw was dark unfamiliar bedroom.

"Ray?" Grumbled a sleepy voice next to her. Rachel looked at Charon as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Rachel blew out a sigh. "I just had a strange dream."

"Are your nightmares back?" Charon asked with concern, sitting up beside her.

Rachel shook her head. "No, I dreamt … I dreamt we were in a deathclaw church and they were worshiping us for raising their god."

Charon snorted, gathering her up in her arms and planting a kiss on her temple. "That's…creepy."

"That's what you said in the dream too," she chuckled softly, settling back down on the soft mattress. Charon pulled her tight against his chest.

Rachel snuggled into his hold. "I love you Charon."

She felt his lips twist into a smile beside her ear. "I love you too smoothskin. Now try to get some sleep."