Chapter 37

Brandy wasn't comfortable holding a firearm.

That was the first thing Severus had noticed on the shooting range. She held it gingerly and her fingers shook. Severus adjusted her grip, his hands lingering on hers while he instructed her long enough to feel her warmth soak through his gloves.

He made her load, unload and reload again to make sure she had it down before he handed her a pair of ear protectors. She put them on and he got her set up, he'd already explained how to aim and motioned for her to go ahead.

Brandy lined up her shot, not at all confident about this and squeezed off a shot. It was loud and the recoil that bucked through her hands scared her enough that she'd yelped flung the gun away from her. It hit the floor and skittered six feet down her shooting lane.

Brandy clapped her hands over her mouth, turning a bright red.

Severus lifted his eyebrows at her but he was smirking.

"I'm sorry!" Brandy cried.

Severus made a noise that might have been a chuckle and went to retrieve her weapon. "It's alright." He told her, walking down to the target. "Look, only four inches off target."

"Really?" Brandy asked, sounding like she was one hard word away from crying.

He brought the gun back to her, holding it out. "Will you try again?"

Brandy looked like she wanted to refuse but she swallowed hard and took the gun nervously. Severus adjusted her stance and she fired again. This time she squeaked but managed to keep hold of the weapon. Brandy looked at him and he nodded his approval. "Much better. Again."

An hour later Brandy was much more confident, she didn't hit the center of her target every time but she did hit the target. She and Severus left the range and when they were in the workshop he picked up the leathers he'd left on her desk.

"Here, try these on."

Brandy looked the heavy bundle. "What is it?"

"Armor."

Brandy chewed her lower lip uncomfortably but did as she was told. Garret walked in while she was behind the screen in time to hear her say, "umm…it's a little tight."

"Let's see it," Garret called kindly.

"Garret?" Brandy's squeaked, her voice had turned nervous. "Who else is out there?"

"Just me and Severus. Now come on out."

Brandy poked her head around the screen, checking to make sure it was only the two ghouls before she stepped into view. The leather armor was foam fitting but only as much as it was supposed to be. The pants hugged her thighs and the jacket cinched around her torso, protecting her vital organs.

"What's uncomfortable?" Garret asked, taking over when Severus just cocked an eyebrow. It didn't look tight to him.

Brandy fidgeted and finally sighed. "The whole thing, but the arms I guess are the worst. I feel like I can't move all the way."

Garret nodded, stepping around her. "That's easy enough to fix, you're not used to moving in leather and it's a very heavy material." He pulled a small pen knife from his pocket and after telling her to hold still he quickly cut the stitches holding on her sleeves.

"Better?" he asked when they were off.

She swung her arms and rolled her shoulders, testing the movement. "Yes…and at the same time no. It's…exposing." She sighed and Garret laughed.

"Brandy, you're used to long skirts and baggy overalls but I can tell you that this armor fit you well and it will help keep you safe tomorrow. You look good in it." He assured her, tossing the discarded sleeves on his desk. "Like you could fight alongside Rachel."

"Really?" Brandy asked and Garret nodded. She looked up at Severus, twiddling her fingers nervously. "Do you think it'll be okay without sleeves?"

Severus nodded, Brandy was a lot curvier then he'd first thought. The armor suited her much better than the baggy overalls she favored. He could see a little bit of her inner fierceness settling around her. The same fierceness she let slip when she was being stubborn. "Yes," he pointed to the long mirror that they'd stashed in the corner. "See for yourself."

Brandy turned curiously and her breath hitched when she met the eyes of the stranger in the mirror. Her dark hair was twisted up in a messy bun and instead of seeing the vulnerability she felt the stranger looked like she might be able to walk through hell fire.

Severus appeared at her back and slipped her pistol into her hip holster. Brandy slowly let a smile creep over her face. She met Severus's eyes in the mirror and her smile turned into a grin. "Maybe…maybe going wasn't as horrible an idea as I thought."

It was late.

Late and dark.

Charon's shoulder throbbed painfully and Kevin dozed uneasily behind the counter. Claws was still circling the building the sniper was in, keeping the man pinned. Charon had a pretty good idea who it was that was playing with them.

He could hear the sniper's boots on the roof across the street, searching for a way to his targets without getting gutted.

In the darkness a different set of noises started drifting towards them and he tensed. Charon cocked his .45 pistol left handed from where he was sitting and Kevin peeked over the counter. Charon put a finger to his ruined lips and the boy nodded, ducking back down.

The noises got closer and Claws growled. Charon heard a lighter gurgle and peeked out onto the street. There at Claws' feet were five tiny deathclaws. The smallest caught his scent and Mini gave a delighted little pert sound, skittering into the café.

She jumped up onto his knee, nose huffing immediately against the blood stained bandage wrapped around him.

"I'm alright," he assured her in answer to her outraged squeak.

Outside Claws was gurgling conversation with the others and they all were conversing right back. The absurdity of it was not lost on him. If somebody had told him he'd one day be here in his hometown…pinned down during a death race trying to win back his smoothskin wife…while her deathclaw called mini deathclaw reinforcements…well he would have had a nice long laugh and sent them to Barrows for drug treatment.

"Kevin, I think the Calvary is here." Charon rasped and the boy's head appeared over the counter.

"Another one?"

"Meet Mini." Charon rumbled, scratching the top of her head with one large finger. "The others are outside."

Kevin looked outside and gulped but then he chewed his lip, thinking hard. "Do all outsiders have deathclaw pets?"

"No," Charon snorted. "I'm over two hundred years old and so far Rachel is the only soul who's managed to keep one's loyalty."

Kevin kept chewing on his lip. He looked like he was trying to work up the nerve to speak. "So…That guy wants to get over here to kill us, right?"

Charon nodded. "Yes,"

"What…what if we set a trap. It's probably too dark for him to see the regular deathclaws. If we could maybe send Claws away, maybe we can lure him down here into an ambush."

Charon's brows rose and he nodded, impressed. "That's a good Idea. Claws," he called. "Take a walk."

Claws growled outside and Charon hardened his voice. "Now, just a short walk."

Grumbling under his breath Claws finally stalked off. Two of the mini's went with him. The other two joined them in the café and they settled in to wait with the humans.

"Kevin, take my shotgun and hide. I think our friend on that other roof must be Roberts."

"If it is Roberts then I should stay." Kevin said even as terror rolled over him. Charon could almost see the kids fear wrapped around him like a blanket. "He won't be merciful and you're hurt."

Charon just shook his head. "Robert's is a dangerous man which is exactly why I want you hidden. If he does manage to kill me he probably won't go looking for you."

Kevin didn't like it but he didn't argue any further. Instead he carefully crawled along the floor, staying close to the walls and out of the snipers line of sight. The boy got his hands on Charon's gun and made his way back to the rear of the café. He gave Charon one last look and then he disappeared up a set of stairs that probably led to an office.

Charon leaned back against the wall, settling in to wait. He had his .45 in his lap and one leg stretched out. The other was bent at the knee while his head leaned back against the cold concrete.

He was so tired. Even with the bandages he was still bleeding, the red stain slowly spreading. He'd lost too much blood for comfort.

Silently he wondered if it would be ironic or just tragic to have come so far only to bleed to death now. Gene-Tec should only be a few blocks from here if he correctly remembered the maps he'd gone over in Sanctuary weeks ago.

His eyes settled on the place where Kevin had disappeared and he gritted his teeth. No, he wouldn't die here. He would kill Roberts, get Rachel back and they would get into Gene-Tec together.

Then, since he was going to fantasize, they would return home. They'd start remodeling their house in Megaton to get ready for the addition to the family. He'd maybe sign on to do shift duty with Stockholm so he'd be able to stay close to home. Rachel wouldn't be able to travel like they did once she started to show. Hell, he would do everything he could to keep her from traveling at all the moment she was confirmed pregnant.

That mental image brought a blissful smirk to Charon's dry lips. His beautiful Rachel, smiling up at him, her belly swelling with his child growing within her. They would have the kind of domestic bliss he hadn't thought he'd ever find.

Charon didn't know exactly how long it was before his domestic fantasy was interrupted. Maybe an hour, maybe more had gone by when Mini lifted her head. She'd been curled up next to Charon's hip. A heartbeat later Charon heard it too, the soft crunch of experienced boots on gravel moving towards them.

Charon heaved a sigh and sat up a little straighter, pointing his gun. There was a soft click and something rolled into the Café. Charon snarled and kicked the flash grenade away from him, only just throwing his arm up in time to protect his eyes from the worst of it.

Ears ringing Charon blinked furiously, trying to get his eyes to focus. A dark figure moved in from the street and lifted a rifle. Mini lunched herself from the ghoul's side and even through the ringing in his ears he heard a pained yell and a gunshot.

Charon rolled, sweeping his leg out and taking Roberts feet out from under him. Charon got his pistol up, his shoulder was screaming but worse was that he couldn't see were Mini was. She was still attacking; he could faintly hear her snarls and Robert's curses. The other two had probably joined in too.

Another loud gunshot went off from the left and everything went very abruptly still. There were two or three heartbeats of silence and then the soft orange glow of a lantern was lit a couple feet away. The gentle light helped Charon's vision focus and he blinked a few more times, getting a good look around.

Roberts was dead on the floor with the top half of his skull missing. The mini's were all gathering around the fresh meat. Kevin was standing by the lantern, a hand gripping his shoulder while he stood there looking like he was trying not to pass out.

"You alright?" Charon asked, noting his shotgun on the floor a few feet away.

Kevin nodded slowly. "Yeah, you didn't have a clear shot so… so I…your gun knocked me on my ass." He finally spit out, looking at the ghoul. Then the boy started to chuckle nervously. Charon joined in, laughing.

"You done good kid." He told him when he could breathe again.

"It's dawn," Kevin told him, picking up the shotgun. "You want to head out?"

Charon hefted the pistol, ignoring the throbbing in his shoulder. "Yeah, let's end this."