Chapter 25

Rachel could feel eyes on her, Charon was leaning against the far wall of the bar with a cigarette in his mouth. He was watching her too but she was used to his gaze. Rachel took another swig from her half empty whisky bottle and lazily scanned the room from her stool at the bar.

The Muddy Rudder was packed and most everyone seemed to be having a good time. She was too, listening to everyone and laughing along with the strangers around her. Rachel shifted her eyes up and spotted a young man through the smoke in the air watching her from the balcony.

When their eyes met he flashed a smile, Rachel took a drag and blew a smoke ring in his direction, giggling. He chuckled and crooked his finger, motioning her to come up to where he was.

She nodded and stood, looking in Charon's direction. When she caught his eye she motioned that she was going up stairs and he nodded. Rachel slid around a few people and bounced up the stairs, she definitely had a good buzz going.

The man was waiting for her at the top of the stair and he flashed another white smile. Rachel's eyes flicked over him. He had weird hair, she decided. He also had really nice teeth and a black leather jacket on over a blue vault suit.

"Hey!" she grinned, raising her voice so he could hear her over the ruckus of people, "We just came from that vault!" she giggle some more and took his hand, leading him to a table near the edge of the balcony so Charon would be able to see her. She didn't want him to freak out and think she'd been kidnapped.

"You've been in vault 101?" he asked, surprised.

Rachel took another drag of her cigarette and nodded happily. "Yep, I was. We was! Me and Charon."

Okay, maybe she was a little more than buzzed at this point. She wasn't wasteland wasted yet but she did feel pretty damn good.

"How'd you get in? I thought the door was going to stay sealed."

Rachel swallowed the whiskey on her tongue and shook her head. "Not anymore. We spent the night there." Before the man in front of her could comment she scowled. "Some vault asshole lookin' for revenge against the whole outside world tried to fuckin' fuck me against my will in there. Wally…that…that was his name I think. Don't worry. I kicked his ass, every…everybody else there was super nice."

"Wally really did that? Well he's always been an asshole, my names Butch." he grinned and she laughed.

"That's a weird name," Rachel's grinned lit up her eyes. "It matches you're hair!"

Butch chuckled, not sure what she meant. "You're kinda drunk ain't ya'baby doll?"

"A lil' bit, but you're wrong, 'bout my name." she told him, hands gesturing animatedly as she talked. "My name's Rachel!"

"You're all kinds of dynamite, doll. You must be stayin' here in Rivet City tonight?" he asked and Rachel nodded, sipping her whiskey. When she didn't answer Butch pressed, "Where?"

"The Weather place…Weatherly Hotel. We got us a room there a'fore we came down here."

Rachel picked up two shot glasses that were on the table and inspected them. They looked about as clean as anything else in the wasteland so she pour two shots from her bottle and pushed one towards Butch.

He took it asking, "Who's we beautiful?"

"We is me and Charon." She told him, happily playing with her shot glass.

"Who's she? Your sister?" he asked hopefully as he stole a glance at the red heads cleavage peeking out of her black tank top. If this Sharon looked half as good as Rachel he might have the opportunity to swing a really good night.

"Nooooo, Charon's not a sister. Charon's…he's my buddy! He's grouchy sometimes but a good guy." she slurred with a grin, scanning the crowd below them. When she spotted the large ghoul she jumped to her feet and pointed, leaning dangerously far over the rickety railing. "That's him!"

Charon tensed when he saw his employer leaning so far over the railing and he motioned for her to get back, she did. And he relaxed a little. She was having a good time and he estimated another hour or so before she'd be open to leaving.

That was fine. Being in the bar wasn't terrible and these drunks where much more lively than the ones in the Ninth had been.

Rachel settled back into her seat and saw the look of disgust that flashed over her drinking buddies face.

"You don't mean the maggot farm do you?" he sneered and looked at her in time to see her face turn from happy drunk to pissed the fuck off.

"Yes! I mean the Ghoul. Don't go judgin' them, most ghouls are a lot more decent then most humans out there!" she pulled his empty shot glass back to her side of the table. "And bigots don't get free drinks from me!"

Charon watched his employer talk to the vault kid on the upper level. Apparently he'd said something she didn't like because her face got angry and the guy put his hands up in a sign of surrender. He said a couple of things to her and she settled down.

Good, he didn't want to have to kick anyone's ass tonight and risk having to deal with a drunken Rachel while in the middle of the D.C ruins. He gave that more thought and shuddered. Rachel pissed off for getting kicked off the ship would be bad. Drunk off her ass and armed with a shotgun and a deathclaw would be oh so much worse.

He saw Rachel turn her head and smile at him while she talked at the kid. It must have been a compliment because the man wrinkled his nose while she wasn't looking. Prick.

Rachel turned back to Butch with a smile. "How long since you were in the vault?"

"I don't know, a year?"

"And you're still wearin' your vaults suit?" She asked, she couldn't feel her face anymore and she loved it. "Dun you have trouble wit that out im the waste?"

"Nah, I live here. I'm a barber see."

Rachel laughed and drained her bottle.

Butch watched her throat move and cleared his own. "So, how'd someone as pretty as you end uptraveling with a ghoul?"

"He's got a biggun," Rachel told him, waggling her eyebrow suggestively and she laughed when the kid choked on his beer. "I mean really, Charon's got a beautiful custom combat shotgun. There ain't nothin' he and I can't kill!"

Butch and Rachel chatted a few more minutes and he told Rachel to wait. He quickly retrieved two more bottles of beer from the bar, working out in his head how he was going to convince the red head to join him in his room for a little night cap. When he came back Rachel was leaning over the edge of the railing again while she looked at her Pipboy.

Butch opened the bottles and leaned next to her, cocking his eyebrow when she talked into the device on her arm.

"I'm not gonna to falllllll… mother hen."

Butch was going to ask what she was talking about when the speaker on the Pipboy crackled and a rough voice growled, "I mean it smoothskin. Stop leaning over the railing and sit your ass down."

Butch followed her gaze and realized it was the ghoul. He was talking into something strapped to his wrist in time with the voice in the speaker. His Pipboy didn't do that, what the fuck?

"Fine!" Rachel pulled the chair around with her foot and plopped her ass down. "Happy?"

"Marginally. Let me know when you want to leave."

Rachel giggled, "Ten-four good buddy!" Butch saw the ghoul roll his eyes and snickered as he handed her the reasonably cold beer.

"Here," he said, sliding his eyes over her and Rachel grinned.

"Why thank you good sir." She toasted him. "Cheers!"

Charon kept an eye on her while she talked and drank with the vault kid. How she kept bumping into these idiots was a mystery but at least this one wasn't asking to travel with them…yet.

Rachel stayed seated for maybe twenty minutes but when Mighty Mighty Man started playing she jumped up and hauled the man to his feet. Charon felt another stab of jealousy as she made the kid dance with her but he pushed it away. It would take a direct order for him to dance and he wouldn't be happy about it.

He could tell from the way her lips moved that she was singing along with the songs she liked, which was most of them. Rachel loved music. Fortunately her taste was similar to his although he'd never tell her he enjoyed those lazy afternoons in Megaton when she turned up the radio and danced around the house.

She made the kid get up and dance with her whenever something fast came on over the speakers, she didn't dance to anything slow and that was a small relief. It meant she didn't want to cuddle up to Mr.101, she just wanted someone to jump around with her.

Once, while Mr. 101 was getting them another bottle, Rachel tried to get him to come up.

"Not a chance smoothskin," he told her viva communicator.

"Please, you don't have to dance with me, just hang out!" she tried to coax but Charon knew better.

"No, you're trying to trick me."

"Charon!" she wined.

"Look behind you, kids back with drinks." he told her.

Rachel turned and grinned as the boy offered her a full bottle. Charon sighed, she'd been successfully distracted and with the kid buying her drinks she wasn't spending any of her own caps.

Charon waited until the bar started to empty out, by his guess it was around three in the morning and Rachel was very close to done. Honestly she'd lasted longer than he'd expected but Mr. 101 had gotten them a plate of crispy squirrel bits so the food had likely helped.

Charon glanced up and found his drunken employer easily. Butcher Pete was on and Rachel was dancing with her knew friend.

Rachel stumbled and the guy caught her. She laughed, fingers clinging to his arms for balance. He laughed with her as his eyes traveled over her body. Charon saw the kids hand travel down her waist and rest low on her hip.

The ghoul gritted his teeth and stood slowly, heading for the stairs. It was definitely because Rachel needed her rest and not because he wanted the sleazy vault prick to get his hands off of her.

He heard Rachel's laughter when he was half way up the stairs and the kid voice talking to her, "So beautiful, wanna take this party back to my place?"

"Sure," she was slurring enough that the ghoul knew she wasn't thinking very clearly and Charon didn't like the way the guy had pulled her close. "But only if Charon can come too, h- he likes to know where I am." she added much to Butch's displeasure.

Charon inwardly smirked, pleased that even in her drunken state of mind she was thinking about him. He crossed his arms over his chest when he hit the upper floor and cleared his throat.

The kid glared over the top of her head but Rachel grinned when she saw him, her eyes lighting up. "Chaaron! Butch wants us to go to a party, do ya wanna come?"

"I think he doesn't want me there." the ghoul rasped, glaring back at the kid with just as much distaste. Butch wrapped an arm around her waist and Charon growled under his breath.

Rachel shook her head. "That's, that's not true. Right?"

"I was kinda thinkin' it would be just you and me doll." he admitted and she frowned.

"Oh yeah, you don't like ghouls. Well I am sorry sir but I dun…I dun party without Charon." She tried to pull away but Butch tightened his grip.

"Come on, don't be like that baby doll." He purred but Rachel shook her head. He didn't give up though.

He'd been with her for hours and he'd thought she'd be a sure thing after they'd started dancing. "I've been hangin' out with you all night. Buying you drinks and dancin' with you. Come back to my place party with the Butch man."

"Sorry, ba' I told you. I only party whit Charon." She insisted.

The ghoul smirked and Butch scowled. "What? Don't you want a guy that can get it up? Come on and I'll show you what being with a real man is like."

Understanding dawned on her and Rachel scoffed. "I can't fuck you today…your hair is too weird."

She said it in an incredibly serious tone and Charon snorted. Butch blinked at her and she twisted out of his grip while he was distracted. Rachel tripped over her feet but this time it was Charon who caught her. The big ghoul scooped her up in his arms and she laughed.

"Charon, ur…ur just like a...a mountain with words," Rachel laughed harder and Charon nodded. "My hero in dusty leather!"

"I know," he told her, hitching her up higher. "Thanks' smoothskin."

Rachel nodded, settling her arms around his neck as the world around he started to spin. "You are indeed quite welcome my good man."

"Hey!" Butch scowled but Charon took a threatening step forward.

"The lady said no." he growled.

"Yeah, fuck off. I don't party with bigots." she was still giggling under her breath but Charon stared the kid down until he put his hands up in defeat, cursing.

Charon sent a last glare in his direction before he carried Rachel out of the bar. She told him she could walk but he knew that it would take them over an hour to get to their room if he set her down.

"I'm sorry," Rachel told him as she yawned.

"For what smoothskin?" he asked, glaring at a couple of people when they started to whisper as he walked by with the girl in his arms.

"That guy was fun to drink with but he was a ass to you." she stretched in his arms and settled in against his barrel chest. "Next time we will hang out someplace where you can have fun too. Maybe tomorrow we can go to Underworld. I'm sure Willow would love to cuddle up to you." Rachel told him, resting her head on his shoulder. "She asked me to let you off your leash you know. I was gonna anyway but it was nice she was concerned about you. You're real good at your job but you got to have fun to, you deserve to get laid and drunk too." she rambled.

Charon grunted in way of answer, not that he disliked Willow but he didn't want to use her like Butch had been intending to use Rachel. Besides, it was hard to think of anyone else with Rachel's breath ghosting over his skin as she talked.

He had to put her down when they reached their room. Charon couldn't get the door unlocked while holding her. He did keep a firm grip around her waist to keep her upright while he unlocked their door though.

Rachel took a step across the thresh hold but she tripped on the lip of the doorway and pitched forward. Charon yanked her back against him and scooped her up again. He kicked the door closed again and carried her to bed, setting her down gently. Rachel fell backwards and sighed her contentment, her legs still dangling off the edge of the mattress.

Charon sighed and got to one knee, taking off her boots and socks for her gently. Rachel fiddled with her Pipboy and turned on a song Charon recognized from a long time ago.

"Someday he'll come along…the man I love…" she sang along softly, wiggling her toes when they were free. She had a wonderful singing voice, it was low and sultry when she sang along with these kinds of songs."And he'll be big and strong…the man I love…and when he comes my way…"

Rachel put her foot on his chest playfully and he gently pushed it away. "Charon, have you ever been in love?"

"No, go to sleep."

"I'm not tired." She lied, yawning. "Neither have I."

Charon shifted her so that she was lying fully on the bed and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. Rachel's eyes drifted closed and she murmured something he didn't hear as she rolled onto her side, facing him.

"Good night smoothskin," he whispered. She made a noise that sounded like it was supposed to be night and he shook his head. Even if Butch had gotten her to go with him she'd have passed out before he got to do anything. Whether or not he'd have taken advantage of her while she was asleep Charon couldn't say but thankfully it wasn't a question that was going to be put to the test tonight.

He looked around the room, there was only the one bed but that wasn't a problem. He moved to the other side of the room and sat against the door with his shotgun in his lap. He'd slept like this many times and now it didn't bother him at all.

Charon looked at Rachel's sleeping form on the bed and shook her head, hoping she'd be able to sleep through the night. He hadn't seen the poor woman get a full night's sleep in all the time they'd been together. She tried to hide it from him but he saw her exhaustion all the same.

Rachel snapped her eyes open and looked around. It took her a few seconds to figure out where she was and a few more seconds to figure out why. She'd never been the kind of person that blacked out and she did remember everything up to the point where Charon had tucked her in.

She smiled, her brain still swamped with booze. Rachel closed her eyes again in the dark room but it felt like the whole ship was turning on its side. Somewhere way back deep in the slightly more sober part of her brain she knew she had vertigo but she still didn't like it.

Rachel's eyes found Charon sitting against the door and she furrowed her brow, leaning towards the edge of the mattress to get a better look at his shape. She could hear him snoring lightly but the whole situation confused her drunken mind.

Why is Charon sleeping on the floor? That can't be comfortable. She sat up slowly and waited a few second for the room to stop spinning. Awe, he gave me both blankets, he's got to be cold.

Charon does look cold. She replied to herself in her mind.

I should give him one of these blankets.

That would be a nice thing to do, he does take such good care of you.

Rachel moved to the edge of the bed and slid quietly to the floor, not wanting to disturb her sleeping friend. She looked down at herself and scowled at her pants. She hated sleeping in pants.

It took her a minute but she got the offensive garment off and tossed them up onto the bed. Once she was free standing up seemed like way to much work so instead she crawled on her hands and knees towards the sleeping ghoul.

He's sleeping with his gun on his lap.

That doesn't seem safe.

I'll just move it for him.

Very carefully she lifted the weapon from his lap and she was pleased that she hadn't disturbed him when he didn't move at all. She gently set the shotgun down a couple feet away and looked at him now that she could see more detail.

His arms were crossed over his chest and he had one leg stretched out straight while the other was bent at the knee. He looked more relaxed then she'd ever seen him, there was even a small smile on his lips.

I should give him a little kiss goodnight, that's what you do when you tuck some in right?

He didn't kiss you.

Maybe he doesn't know you're supposed to?

I feel like…this is a bad idea. She frowned to herself.

Why?

I…I can't think of a reason. I just feel like he wouldn't like it.

Really?

Yeah, he would probably want to be awake.

You're right. I'll just have to wait for him to wake up.

Rachel looked back at the bed but deemed it way too far way to wait for him to wake up. She might even fall back asleep and miss him.

It didn't occur to her at all that that didn't really make any sense or that she'd just had an entire conversation with herself.

Instead of starting the long a perilous journey back to her bed she crawled into his lap and settled with her body between his legs. Rachel sleepily rested her head on his thigh, feeling very comfortable. She pulled the blanket over the both of them and closed her heavy eyelids with a relived little sigh, listening to the distant sound of his steady heartbeat.

The first thing Charon noticed when he started to wake up was that his thigh was incredibly warm. He reached out to touch the spot where his shotgun was warming him but his finger didn't find the smooth and familiar butt of his gun.

Charon's eyes flew open and her jerked when his gazed landed on Rachel sleeping soundly in his lap. She grumbled and tightened her arms, which Charon noticed, were wrapped around his leg like she was holding a teddy bear.

For almost a full minute his brain stalled. He had never woken up like this before. He had no idea how she'd gotten there without waking him up. He'd never been a heavy sleeper, it was one of the things that made him a damn good bodygaurd. The girl must be quiet as all hell. She'd even managed to move his shotgun and that was a mystery all in itself.

He looked her over and blinked, she was still in the tight black tank top but her pants were gone. Again. Her long naked legs were tangled with both his and the blanket she must have brought with her.

He'd never seen anyone lose their pants like Rachel seemed too. He looked around the small room but he didn't see the dark jeans she'd been wearing when he put her to bed. He sighed, moving on to more pressing matters.

"Smoothskin?" Charon rasped. He was glad that she was sleeping but not thrilled about her location.

Rachel growled and snuggled her face into his thigh. The action made the ghoul jump and press tightly against the steel door when her head rubbed dangerously close to a place he really didn't think she should be rubbing.

Rachel slapped her hand against his thigh and growled louder, annoyed that she was being disturbed. Charon growled back and got ahold of himself. He shifted carefully and got his arms around her. It was a little difficult to lift her from this position but he managed once he was able to pry her arms off of his leg.

He got her back onto her bed but when he tried to straighten Rachel wrapped her fingers around his wrist. He stood there for a couple seconds but she didn't let go. Instead she pulled his hand close to her and cuddled his forearm.

He sighed in defeat and maneuvered onto the bed with her. He was able to drape the arm she had ahold of over her waist and lay comfortably on the other side of her. He did notice that he wasn't doing a great job trying to emotionally distance himself from the girl.

Rachel sighed in her sleep and his skin prickled where her breath floated across his hand. Just as the prickling started to subside Rachel softly pressed her lips to the place just under his thumb and he froze. It was so soft he might have imagined it but he didn't think he had.

Charon stayed frozen in place for maybe a half an hour before Rachel let go of his arm. He sighed in relief but it was sort lived because she stretched and rolled over to face him, her eyes fluttering open.

She blinked a couple times while he tried to remember how to breathe and then she frowned.

Charon swallowed, not sure exactly how to explain why he was in bed with her. "I-um…you were…"

Rachel slowly sat up and stretched her back. Charon heard her spine pop a few times and she sighed sleepily. The girl looked around and her brows knit together. She looked at him and he gulped, awaiting her fury, he'd spooned her against her will. She wouldn't ignore that.

"Charon…?" she asked slowly, her voice a little raspy after a long night of drinking. "How…why are we in the bed?"

"I apologize mistress, you were on the floor when I woke up and-" he fumbled but Rachel waved her hand, silencing him.

"We are gonna circle back to the mistress thing." she told him as she ran a hand threw her hair, "I know about all that. I woke up still pretty drunk and you looked cold." She explained slowly, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "So crawled over to give you a blanket." she told him as she rubbed her eyes. "Then the bed was too far away so I stayed with you…"

She blushed a little more and bit her lower lip sheepishly, "But how did we get to the bed and why were we spooning?" she added.

Charon would have been blushing if the skin that still clung to his cheek wasn't essentially attached leather. "You were sleeping on me so I attempted to move you back you your bed. But you held onto my arm and since you were finally sleeping soundly I didn't want to wake you, so I simply allowed you to hold onto me."

Rachel smiled at him tenderly and his stomach did a little flip. "Thank you. I was dreaming you know. I was falling but I managed to grab onto something and then everything was okay. It's hard to explain. I wasn't seeing just feeling." Rachel looked away and swung her leg over the edge on the bed. "Do we have any water? I got some fuckin' cotton mouth like you wouldn't believe."

Charon chuckled and got up, searching in her pack. When he found a full bottle he handed it to her and watched her gulp the liquid.

"Ray?" He asked when the bottle was empty.

"Yeah?"

"Now that I know how you ended up on top of me and I know you're not angry I would like to know something?"

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"Where in the fucking wastes are your pants?"