Rated M for gratuitous profanity, violence, and ghoul sex.

The Fallout universe rights are currently owned by Bethesda Studios. I do not own the rights to Fallout intellectual property and receive no money for this. It is merely a creative outlet, dream space, respite from the real world, and something to tide me over until Fallout 4 is released.

Chapter Fourteen: Silver-Tongued Devil

"Hey, smoothskin!" Willow called.

Kate's head jerked up. She had been in her own little world. Willow had given up on her long ago and resumed her normal patrol route.

Willow nodded towards the battlefield. "There's lover boy. You can stop worrying about him now."

Kate's heart beat faster and her eyes scanned the mall. When her eyes met his, she beamed and waved excitedly. The anxious look on his face softened into relief, and he grinned at her. The satellite dish was wrapped up in his arms over his chest. She stood up and brushed off her hands.

"You made it!" she said, sprinting the distance between them.

Willow joined them. "Poor thing's been like a puppy dog since you left," she said with a smirk.

Charon lowered the dish to the ground. "Didn't have any trouble, I hope?"

"None besides watching her mope."

He put his hands on his hips and groaned as he stretched his back. He figured that Willow was exaggerating, but he couldn't deny how good it had felt when Kate seemed happy to see him. He smirked at Kate. "The next time you send me for a satellite dish, smoothskin, remind me to leave the rest of my shit with you." He stretched his arms over his head and bent side to side from his waist. He shook out his arms and sighed.

Kate frowned at the dish. "How heavy is it?"

Charon shook his head. "Not heavy. Just bulky."

Kate reached for it. "Then I'll carry it the rest of the way."

Kate grabbed the edge of the satellite and pulled it up. It moved a half-inch from the ground.

Charon grinned. "Not heavy to me, anyway."

Kate scowled. "Then why did you let me try to pick it up?"

Charon snorted. "Because until you saw for yourself how heavy it was, you were going to argue with me about carrying it. You put up enough of a fight about me going to get it in the first place." She blushed. It felt good to be right. He smiled. "That reminds me. I got a present for you."

Kate scoffed. "And when did you have time to do that? I thought you were just going in and coming right back."

Charon harrumphed. "Well, that's not quite the level of gratitude that I was expecting." He unlooped an electric cord from his neck and drew out a hunting rifle from behind his back. "You should probably get rid of that cord. It was a temporary solution with the dish. Oh, and before you ask, it's only got the ammo that was left in it. I didn't think that it was the best idea to go looking for more."

Kate accepted the rifle into her hands, grinning wildly. "I can't believe it! You just found it on the way there?"

Charon smirked. "Not exactly."

Then Kate noticed the blood on the stock. Her eyes widened.

"Sorry that I didn't have time to clean it off for you. I was kind of in a hurry. I'll take a look at it later. It's condition is hurting quite a bit anyway."

Kate furrowed her brow and pressed her lips together. "Charon, you weren't supposed to have to kill anything."

Charon shrugged. His skills were top-notch, but killing was usually just a job to him—unless it involved innocents, of course. Somehow, killing for her gave him an unusual feeling of pride. "You wanted a hunting rifle, and I got you one."

Kate scoffed. "What about all that about avoiding bullets by not having people fire at you?"

Charon's lips curled. "No one fired at me. I was quiet. It was quick." He snorted. "The only reason that it has blood on it is because the bastard cut himself on some metal on the way down."

Kate's mouth hung open. She chuckled and shook her head. "I don't know what to say."

Charon snorted. "You need to work on your gratitude, smoothskin."

Kate smiled up at him. "Thank you."

Charon smiled. "You're welcome."

Kate pursed her lips. "But next time, don't take unnecessary risks like an idiot."

Charon scoffed. "Compared to some of the things that I've been called, you're practically praising me by calling me an 'idiot'." When Kate didn't respond, he turned his attention to Willow. "Thanks again for looking out for her."

Willow had been standing beside them, arms folded in amusement. "Sure thing. Don't make it a habit though."

Charon stooped down and picked up the dish. "Come on, smoothskin. Let's get rid of this."

Kate frowned at him. "You don't want to rest or anything? What about some water?" She began to reach into her pack.

"Nope. Don't bother. While I realize that I look rather frail, I can take lots of abuse," Charon said.

Kate winced at his words. "Okay. Well, you promise to tell me if you need to rest, okay?"

He chuckled, knowing that he would never be the one that asked to take a break. Well, unless he had to force her to take one. "I promise. Let's go. Just because I can carry this thing doesn't mean that I like it."

Kate smiled at Willow. "Thanks, Willow."

Willow grinned back. "No problem, tourist. Just remember: fuck today, die tomorrow."

Kate went red. Charon raised his brow and looked between the two of them.

"You got it," she said, turning away from Willow and walking in the direction of the towering monument.

Charon fell in pace behind her. "What was that about?"

Kate shook her head. "Nothing."

Charon snorted. "I told you not to throw around that word."

Kate chuckled. "Lesson learned." She stopped and looked around the mall. She pointed. "How about we go that way? If we sneak around, we can probably avoid the attention of the mutants and the Brotherhood for a while." She looked back at him. "Sound good?"

Charon nodded. "But then what happens with the Brotherhood?"

"You will stay crouched down behind me until I'm sure that they aren't going to shoot you."

Charon shrugged. "I'm not too worried about them. Not that I enjoy getting shot, mind you. But I bet that I could do some pretty good damage with this dish."

Kate snorted. "Then we will be right back to where we were before you went to the museum."

"It was a joke, kid. I'll be careful with it. Although you do realize that if they attack me, I do not plan on just standing there." Charon pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I suppose that now is as good a time as any to mention that physical violence on your part invalidates our contract."

Kate sighed. "And I suppose that if I shot you in the foot right now, you wouldn't be free, would you?"

Charon raised a brow. "While I appreciate the sentiment, no. I wouldn't be free. If my employer dies before my contract is passed on, I am compelled to find another employer."

Kate smirked. "Don't worry. I would have used the pistol. Not the rifle."

"I am glad that you are so methodical in planning how to shoot me."

"Then aren't you glad I asked you if it would work before I decided to see for myself?"

"Giddy with pleasure."

Kate scoffed. "Don't look so offended. Come on. My heart was in the right place."

Charon snorted. "Forgive me. It is difficult to ascertain where one's heart is when they are talking about shooting you."

Kate smirked. "Let's go. You can pout on the way there, if you like. Just remember to stay behind me until I've calmed down the Brotherhood."

"It would take a miracle to calm down the Brotherhood."

Kate scoffed. "You know what I mean."

Charon frowned. "You sure you want to go first, kid? If anything is going to be shooting, I would much prefer that it be at me and not you."

Kate smiled. "While that's sweet, I really think that this is the best way." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless you're bad at sneaking."

"I can't say that I've ever tried to do it while carrying a satellite dish, but my track record has been flawless thus far."

"Then I guess we'll see how good it is, won't we?"

As they left the cover of the buildings, they crouched down and began inching towards the monument. On her original trek across the mall, Kate looked around continually to make certain that nothing was planning on shooting her. That was how the rock had gotten the drop on her. This time, she kept her eyes down. When she needed to gauge how far they were from the posted soldiers, she stopped moving to flick her eyes up at them. Charon proved to be as good at sneaking as he had claimed. He made no noise. If their lives weren't at stake, she might have forgotten that he was behind her. When she felt that they were close enough, she paused behind a pile of rubble. She looked at Charon and put a finger to her lips. Charon nodded, although he looked displeased.

As soon as Kate stood, guns were trained on her.

"That's far enough, outsider. State your business," the soldier on the left said.

Kate let out an inaudible sigh. She hadn't been certain that they wouldn't just shoot her the moment that they saw her. "My name is Kate. Three Dog sent me to get a new satellite dish for the relay and install it."

"So where's the dish?" the soldier on the right ask.

"I have a ghoul with me, and he is carrying it."

The soldiers looked around, guns following their sight.

"He is of no harm to you—"

Gentle as a teddy bear, the memory chided. Charon winced and stuffed down a growl.

"—so I'd appreciate it if you didn't shoot him. Also, I'm sure Three Dog would also appreciate it if you didn't ruin one what is possibly the last satellite dish in the wasteland."

"Why in the hell are you travelling with a ghoul?"

Kate scowled. "Because he is my stalwart ghoul companion."

Charon rolled his eyes.

"And, he does an excellent job protecting me."

Charon's heart thumped once more with that same new shade of pride. The unfamiliar feeling irritated and perplexed him.

"So do we have a deal? You promise not to shoot him?"

"He isn't feral, is he?" the guard on the right asked warily.

Kate snorted. "From what I've seen of ferals, they wouldn't make very good bodyguards. No, he's not feral. Now, is it safe for him to come out?"

The guard on the left snorted. "So long as he doesn't try to pull any shit with us."

Kate looked down at him and nodded. Her eyes were nervous.

Charon stood slowly, still hugging the satellite dish to his chest.

"Whoa! That is one big, ugly mother fucker!"

Kate bit her tongue. As much as she wanted to correct him—wait. Correct? Was that the right word for it? She plastered a smile on her face and put the thought out of her mind. As much as she wanted to—whatever—the guard, she wasn't about to piss them off. "Okay. So we're just going to go fix GNR's relay now. Alright?" Kate looked at Charon. "Be nice," she whispered.

Charon rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Whatever," the guard on the right said. The soldier went to a console by the doors to the monument and typed for a few moments. Finally, a loud click sounded. The guard nodded towards the doors. "Go on. Knock yourself out."

Kate smiled at Charon, relieved. She walked to the doors and pushed them open for Charon. Once he was inside, she closed them once more.

"I tell you, smoothskin. You sure are lucky that you've got one big, ugly motherfucker to carry this dish for you," Charon muttered, rolling his eyes.

Kate frowned at him. "I hope that you didn't take it personally that I didn't stand up for you back there. I didn't want to risk upsetting them."

Charon shrugged. "I'm used to it, kid. No need for you to bother. If 'idiot' is a compliment, then so is 'ugly.'"