AN: I've currently got this classified as Romance/Adventure. Should it instead be Romance/Angst, Romance/Hurt/Comfort, or Romance/Drama? As always, thank you for the reviews! X D

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

The Fallout universe rights are currently owned by Bethesda Studios. I 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 Thirty Five: Departing Paradise

To his delight, Charon woke before Kate. When he had returned to bed, he tucked her back into his arms. She sighed and snuggled into him, and he was smitten. For a few moments, he felt whole again. He fell asleep after he had formulated his plan and made peace with it.

She had moved out of his arms overnight, but fortunately, she was on her side facing him. He longed to take her into his arms and rouse her with a kiss. To thread his fingers through her hair and touch her perfect, dainty ears. To brush his fingers over her cheeks and the contours of her smile. To trace the curve of her neck and keep going to find out just how smooth and how soft she really was.

Goddamnit, she needed to wake up now.

When she did wake up, it was with a groan. She squeezed her eyes together and rolled onto her back. She felt around blindly until she found Charon's side. "Good. You're still here," she croaked.

Charon scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm over her stomach. "I am in bed with the most gorgeous woman in the wasteland. This is as close to heaven as I am ever going to get."

He tried to snuggle his head into her neck, but she moaned and turned her head away. "Head hurts. I didn't drink enough water last night." She opened an eye. "Sorry. Nothing personal."

He gave her a quick squeeze, and then eased himself from the bed. He grabbed one of the good bottles of water from her pack, opened it, and handed it to her. She accepted it with a smile and drained as much as she could.

"You spoil me."

"You started it."

She stared up at him. "Why don't you get back in bed?"

"Because I don't want to bounce your head around."

"Charon. Shut up, and get back in bed."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, returning to her side.

"I told you not to call me that."

"You sounded so stern that it seemed appropriate. You should have said 'please.'" He propped himself up on an elbow and ran his fingers up and down her arm. "Is there anything else that I can do to help you feel better?"

"Is that an innocent question or a come-on?"

"Innocent. I have heard how ill-advised it is to proposition a woman with a headache. And just to be clear, 'wanting to do things the right way' does not mean 'waiting until you feel awful.'"

"That's good to know," she said, chuckling.

"Did you still want to go to Megaton?"

"Yes. The faster we're out of here, the better. I thought I didn't like all the dust out there, but it's better than breathing in rust. It doesn't feel like I'll ever get the taste of it out of my mouth."

"Why were you asking me if I knew anything about explosives? Were you thinking of buying some?"

"No. Just curious. Don't worry about it."

"You shouldn't use them until you know how. I will be glad to teach you when you're ready."

"There's this woman in Megaton—Moira. She's basically a good-natured sociopath. She's been writing this Wasteland Survival Guide using me as her guinea pig."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Kinda have to be. I didn't know that I needed to somehow magically accumulate a stack of caps before leaving the vault. You ever heard of a place called Minefield?"

"Yes, and we are not going there. Ever."

"Hah. She wants me to, but I wasn't planning on it. I was just thinking about how if you knew anything about them, it would be really useful when we get back to Megaton."

"Were you hoping to explode her?"

"Not my original plan, but that might be a good idea."

Charon stopped stroking her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. He looked down at the mattress. "Do you think you could go back to sleep?"

"Not with this headache. Why?"

"There are some things that I need to do today before we leave. I thought that I could take care of them while you rested."

"What happened to this bed being heaven?"

"It is, but I don't want to be the one that holds us up today. Besides, there aren't any Brotherhood of Steel assholes here, so I should be relatively safe."

"You're right. It seems safe. No Brotherhood. Just androids."

"Perfectly harmless. Besides, Zimmer made his point."

Kate pursed her lips. "I told you not to listen to that asshole. What do you need to do so badly that you want to get away from me?"

"I don't want to get away from you. The truth is that I was planning on going to see Doctor Li, and I didn't think that you would want to join me."

"You're right, but why would you ever want to go see her?"

"To see what she know about ghouls. I've only heard Doctor Barrows's theories. I was hoping that she might be one of the few smoothskins who might actually have some legitimate theories on how ghouls work or if it is in any way reversible. Besides, she's not that bad. You two just got off to a bad start."

"Tell me that you are not defending her."

"I'm not defending her. Not really. Just giving you a different perspective."

"Giving me a worse headache. Well, whatever. If you want to waste your day with her instead of me, that's fine. Your loss."

"Come on. You don't mean that, do you?"

"Learning about yourself isn't a waste of time. The rest of it is. Just don't take all day, okay? I guess I'll be in the market or terrorizing the robot since we aren't staying here tonight."

Charon squeezed her arm and got up from the bed once more. He began dressing. Kate rolled into the warm spot where his body had been, inhaling his scent. She watched his body disappear beneath the layers of leather. Once the shotgun took its place, he headed for the door. Kate sat up.

"Don't I get a kiss goodbye?"

The fear and disappointment in her eyes broke his heart. "You have a headache, and I upset you. I did not think that you would want one."

He slid a knee onto the bed, took her chin into his hands, and poured all of his feelings into the kiss. Startled, a frenzied moan poured from her mouth to his. She grasped his shirt, desperate to cover her body with hers. She opened her legs and pressed herself against his leg. With a growl, he eagerly pressed back, and pleasure shot up her body.

She gasped, momentarily parting their lips. Despite how impatient he was to return to them, he forced himself to press his forehead against hers. He shuddered as her hands grabbed his hips and rocked against his leg. He slid a hand into her hair and wrapped the other around her back. When she felt his reluctance, she stopped moving.

"What's wrong?"

"You make me weak."

She squeezed the muscles of his arms with a throaty laugh. "You are so deliciously not weak."

His cheeks warmed. He pressed his mouth next to her ear. "You know that I care about you, right?" he whispered fearfully.

She scoffed. "I've had my suspicions with how eager you are to do stupid shit for me, and I hope that you know that I care by how much I don't want you doing stupid shit for me."

His heart glowed. "Good." He pulled away from her.

"You sure you don't want to stay? I don't know the next time we'll have a bed to ourselves. And as I recall, you wanted a bed with me in it."

"Of course I want to stay. Fuck. You have no idea how much I want to stay, but I need to go."

Kate sat back on her feet with a sigh. "Okay. Fine. I'll just be here. Pouting."

Charon grinned mischievously. He darted in and kissed her once more. When he pulled back, she grumbled.

"You're nothing but a goddamned tease."

"Can't say that I've ever been called that before."

"Well. It's an insult. I'm officially insulting you."

Charon snorted. "You still won't get your way, smoothskin." He slid his fingers along her jaw and looked away, swallowing. "How are you at—touching yourself?"

Kate's face flushed. "Um. Pretty good."

He looked back at her with a cocky grin. "Then you should do that while I'm gone. You won't be pouting then."