Percy was the first to wake up. Looking at him asleep next to her, it was hard not to believe that the past month hadn't all been a dream. But she knew it wasn't a dream. She was different now, and so was he. Her chest hurt just thinking about it. She thought back to his words the day before; how he was remembering his past, after all these years. That she would be better off without him…What had he done to believe he was a monster?

When she had first bought Charon from Ahzrukhal, he had warned her that chains were earned.

What did Charon do to earn his chains?

As if on cue, Charon opened his eyes with a start. He always woke up like that. What did he dream about, or did he dream at all?

Turning to face Percy, surprise flashed across his face before he slowly said, "Hey…"

Percy's mouth quirked with a smile. "Morning."

He watched in silence as she got up and stretched in the morning light. Her lean muscles rippled slightly as she stretched. Percy didn't mind, she let him watch as she pulled breakfast out of her bag and walked back over to where he was just starting to sit up.

"I've got snack cakes and dandy boys. Do you want nuka cola or water?"

Percy looked up just in time to see Charon reach out and grab her. He pulled her into a kiss, hot and urgent, his fingers trailing from her hair to the nape of her neck. His rough and calloused fingers drew patterns in the tiny tufts of hair there. Percy gasped, but couldn't stifle her laugh.

"A little early for this, isn't it? Plus I prefer a roof over my head."

Charon chuckled against her lips. "Just…wanted to make sure this was real. My dreams get pretty vivid these days." He kissed the corner of her mouth before releasing her.

'So he does dream. Nothing good either it seems.' Percy wanted to ask about his past, what had been done to him to make him feel like a monster, what he had done…

But he would tell her when he was ready. And if he was never ready…well, it was his past. Not hers.

Percy fiddled with her map. The terrain in DC would be nearly impossible without more people. On top of that, they had gone farther south than she originally intended. The closest settlement from which to pick up a caravan's help was…Tenpenny Tower.

"Shit…"

Charon looked up from where he was picking up their mines.

"It was Tenpenny who put a price on my head, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but I killed his hitmen. You won't need to worry about that old fool anymore."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

She told him about her plan.

"Assuming no one recognizes you—"

"They won't; Burke never had a picture of me, and I hardly look anything like what I did when Burke was alive."

"And assuming," Charon went on, "that they won't try and steal all this valuable metal work for themselves, ghouls aren't allowed in Tenpenny Tower. If you get into trouble, I won't be able to protect you."

"We look for somewhere secure to put the stuff on our way there. I can handle myself, Charon. If I survived brain surgery and a vault coup, I think I can handle some old man."

"And his security."

Percy raised an eyebrow.

"…But I see your point. Fine."

As they got farther south, the terrain became less rocky. Something caught Percy's eye as she rounded a ridge.

"Hey wait a sec!" She ran to a shed door that stuck out of the cliff face. She opened the door, shining her Pip-boy light into the darkness.

"I thought so…" She said. "Wait a moment." She disappeared into the darkness. After a few moments, there was a loud screeching and groaning of metal and she reappeared. "There's a Vault here. It looks like it was gutted out years ago. We can hide the parts here.

Abandoned was right. Even though they had found the vault door closed, the interior was rusted and filthy. The door must have still been air tight, because the inside reeked with decomposition unable to air out.

"I don't like the look of this place." Charon grumbled as they set down the last piece.

"I don't like the smell of it." Percy straightened and stretched her sore back. She was looking forward to not having to drag that stuff all the way to Tenpenny Tower. And yet…

"Hey…Do you want to see what's in here?" She asked, looking towards the door to the rest of the vault. The main entrance looked just like one-oh-one…but dirtier.

"Why would I want to do that?" Charon asked looking with disdain at the filthy room.

"I dunno, we might be able to find some scrap to sell. You'd be amazed how much people are willing to pay for a vault suit. Plus, why is this one abandoned? What happened here? I'm curious to see if it was like my vault."

Charon wasn't convinced, but he followed her anyway. He kept his shotgun at the ready, just in case the place wasn't quite empty. Oddly enough, the ventilation system was still working, even if it was only circulating the stench of age, rust and rot. He didn't like vaults. There was something sinister looking about them. On top of that, they reminded him of—

Percy drew his eye. She was standing stock-still in the middle of the hall between two output vents.

"Wally…" her shoulders were shaking as she reached for her gun. But there was no one there.

"Percy…The only ones here are—" He stepped up, putting his arm on her shoulder.

She shot around. Her eyes were blown up in fear and surprise. But it wasn't Percy.

It was Noel.

"You…" No, this was wrong—she died! He…

As Charon backed away, he felt something crunch below his feet. His stomach dropped. Dead, everywhere dead bodies. Charon looked up, looking for Percy—they had to get out of here!

But she wasn't there, only blood and bodies.

All those settlements…all those people. He killed them all! They were all dead because of him…

Three faces stood out against the piles of corpses. 'Mom…'

His mother and two brothers were there among the dead. But unlike the rest. They were looking right at him.

"You did this. You couldn't protect us." His brothers said in unison.

"Why didn't you save them, son? I even took myself out of the picture, and you couldn't even save them. Did my sacrifice mean that little to you?" His mother looked at him with shame and disappointment. He backed away. Their eyes began sinking in, their skin growing tight against their skulls.

"I tried, Mom…I wasn't fast enough…"

Long nailed fingers crawled lightly from his back to his shoulders to stroke along his neck.

"You've changed so much, Charon. So big and strong! Say what you will about me, but my teddies are built to last!"

Charon roared, raising his gun and shooting into her face, but she dissipated into smoke and dust. But her laugh remained. First low, but it steadily grew louder, higher, more chaotic. Her laugh was deafening and the bodies were everywhere. Hanging from the walls—the floor could not be seen below them. Hall after hall, there was no escape! Her screeching, screaming cackle faded out as a man's low chuckle filled his ears. It became coupled with shrieks of pain and agony.

'Percy!' "PERCY!"

Charon ran through the halls, each corner turned made her screams louder, but so did the man's chuckle. The sound of fabric ripping echoed through his hears and he found them.

Burke was now laughing like a maniac; Percy's clothes were gone, but he kept ripping away at her flesh. Percy writhed in pain and with each toss of her head, the face changed from hers to
Noel's and back. Her face was the only thing untouched by Burke. Left untouched to leave no illusion of her agony. Charon could no longer think; he wrenched her body from the phantom, ignoring her screams and struggles as he thought only of the exit. He waded through bodies and blood, the scent choking him as he resisted the urge to retch. He finally scrambled out of the vault, slamming on the button to reseal it. He no longer cared about the parts, he only wanted to get away.

Percy was thrown roughly to the ground as Charon collapsed, gasping for air.

Mack was alive! 'No, he's dead—but th—the vault…' Percy turned to face the vault. Her heart was pounding, but with each breath she took, the faces grew fainter. Sighing with relief, she got up to find Charon. He was in a worse state by far. His eyes were screwed shut as he continued to hyperventilate.

"Charon?" Percy went up to him slowly, making as much noise with her feet as she could to help him keep track of her spatially.

His fingers dug into earth as he attempted to ground himself.

She gently put her hand on his shoulder, talking all the while as she kneeled down in front him.

"Charon, can you look at me please?"

He shook his head urgently. "No," He choked out. "They are everywhere. I killed them. They're here. I can't look—I can't see that again."

He pressed his forehead into the ground. "I'm so sorry, we don't have enough stims to fix you this time. That sick fuck! He ripped it all off!"

"Charon…" Percy carefully took his head into her arms, cradling him to her chest. "I'm completely fine. I'm not hurt, just a little scared. I think the vents were pumping some sort of hallucinogen in that vault. Please open your eyes."

Charon shook his head, holding her closer. She winced as his fingers dug painfully into her back.

"I can't see you hurt anymore Percy, this…" 'This is what I was afraid of…'

"You said someone was ripping something off of me; what was it?"

"Your skin." He hissed.

"My skin is fine. Here feel." She moved his hand to touch her arm from wrist to elbow.

"I don't know what you saw in there, but it wasn't real. Charon, please open your eyes."

He hesitantly opened one eye, still stroking her arm.

He looked up at her, but held her even closer.

The thing with Burke may not have been real, but everything else was. Even if it wasn't real anymore.

"We need to move." He said brusquely, standing up and grabbing their packs. "There's a subway station near Tenpenny tower. We can stay the night there."

He moved stiffly as they traveled, constantly listening for any signs of danger and eyeing the horizon. Percy kept pace with him, but didn't say anything. She had seen Wally, and a few other people: Amata, Officer Gomez; but also Wally's father. They didn't say anything, only watched her reproachfully. It was only Wally that tried to attack her, chasing her through the halls as she ran like a coward. Charon had grabbed her just as Mack was about to strike.

She snuck a look up at him as they walked. There had been anger in his eyes. Anger, fear, and such overwhelming guilt.

Charon chained the subway gate closed behind them. They had arrived just as the sun was dipping over the horizon. As expected, the place was crawling with ghouls, but they didn't expect to meet non-ferals.

"Stop right there! You there, ghoul; why the hell are you travelling with a smoothskin?"

"We just need—"

"I was asking the ghoul; be thankful I didn't just blow your head off."

The guard trained his gun on Percy, but Charon would have none of that. He stepped in front of her, completely hiding her from the guard.

"You do that, and we are going to have a problem. A big bloody problem."

"Shit…Don't tell me you're Charon? I thought you were in the Underworld!" The guard got decidedly uneasy. Unsure whether to lower his weapon to appease the giant ghoul, or keep his aim trained just in case. Not that he thought he could actually put up much of a fight against Charon of all people.

"You probably also think Ahzrukhal is still alive." Charon growled out, fixing the guard with a crushing glare. "We need a place to stay the night. The smoothskin's name is Percy and she's with me. And if you even look at her funny, I'll rip your throat out."

"Charon!" Percy pushed past him, looking up to the guard. "We just need a place to stay, we won't cause any trouble, I promise!"

The guard, Michael Masters, lead them through the subway into the safer feral-free area. The situation reminded Percy a lot of Meresti station. Only instead of vampires, there were about twenty or thirty ghouls. Charon followed silently. When Percy asked to speak with their leader, Michael looked nervous.

"Roy doesn't really care for smoothskins…"

"I don't care for accepting hospitality without a 'thank you.'"

'It was hardly offered…' Michael thought, rubbing his neck, but took them to Roy's room.

"Oh hello, I'm Bessie Lynn. Michael, have they talked to Roy yet?"

The woman smiled shyly, before nervously looking to Michael.

"I thought he'd be here. Where is he?"

"Last I heard he was wrangling some of the ferals together." She moved closer to Michael. "He's planning something, he just won't tell me! I'm scared, Masters…"

Michael cursed under his breath. "Keep an eye on these guys, I'll go find him."

Bessie seemed to shrink in place as Michael left. Charon leaned against the wall, lighting up a smoke.

Sensing that Charon had officially shut down for the day, Percy sighed and turned to smile warmly at Bessie.

"It's so nice to meet you, I'm sorry we're imposing like this."

"Not at all!" Bessie seemed relieved at how nice the smoothskin woman was. She rushed about the small room that must have belonged to her and Roy. She began heating Brahmin milk over the stove. The place looked lived in and homey, despite being in a subway tunnel. Lamps cast warm light and faded carpets covered the floor.

"Roy is a really nice guy; he helped all of us ghouls who couldn't make it to Underworld. He's even coming up with a plan to get us into Tenpenny Tower, it's only a matter of time! Oh am I rambling? He told me I shouldn't do that…" She handed Percy a mug of warm Brahmin milk and a few fancy lad cakes. She glanced up at Charon nervously, thinking of offering him some, but thought better of it.

"Tell me about yourself, Bessie…how's being a ghoul?" Percy took her attention away from Charon. It was clear that he was still on edge after what he saw in the vault. She was worried, but decided to give him space first.

"Oh... well... it's not so bad, I guess. Once you get used to it... but, it's not like before."

Bessie dropped her head to look at the hands holding her mug. The ragged red against the smooth ceramic. She took extra care to keep what little dishes and silverware she had shining.

"I used to be pretty, you know! Everyone used to come around all the time! People stop wanting to be around you, though... when it starts to happen... when you start to change, I mean..."

Even if Roy would break some of her pretty bowls, she would always do her best to put them back together with wonderglue.

"Roy changed all that for me…he made me feel pretty again. I'd go anywhere with him. I just like the way he looks at me." She raised her head with a dopey grin. "He gave me this dress, you know. Told me he liked the look of my shoulders. Told me I should show them off more."

"That's so sweet!" Percy never got to gush with a woman, not since the vaults. "Charon used to be so nervous touching me when we first met."

He made a noise of surprise, causing Percy to look back at him with a teasing wink. "Of course I noticed, big guy. Do you know how jarring it is to see someone as tall as you so skittish around someone as small as me?"

Bessie was frozen in her chair. "You mean you two are—"

"Bessie that smells amazing! Is there enough for me?" Roy was in the doorway. He was glaring at the newcomers, but his tone was kind with Bessie.

"Of course Roy, I'll heat you up some food!" Bessie jumped to attention, rushing for the kitchen."

"Who the hell are you? Didn't you get the memo? Smoothskins get to stay in Tenpenny while us ghouls rot away in the sewers."

"I have heard that. Charon and I were hoping to stay the night while we look for a caravan."

"Oh, I've heard of Charon." Roy scoffed. "What, do you shut your eyes tight when you ride that ghoul dick. But hey, why should I judge; anything for some protection, right?" He sneered at Charon, giving him a depraved wink. Percy grew quite red, but didn't say anything.

"Finally off Ahzrukhal then? I'm surprised you didn't do it years ago."

"Can we stay here or not?" Charon managed to get out. He was practically shaking in anger.

"That depends on what you can do for me. Those Tower bigots have gotten on my last nerve. I have enough ferals here to completely wipe 'em out, I only need a way to get them in. There's a tunnel that leads to the basement of Tenpenny Tower. All your little smoothskin needs to do is get in, open the hatch in the basement, and flood the place with ferals. Smoothskins die, we move in, win-win."

"That doesn't sound like a win to me." Percy glared at him.

Bessie had just walked in with a steak for Roy.

"Bessie, are you ok with this?"

The ghoulette looked at Roy before hunching her shoulders and looking at the ground. "I'm sure it's for the best…Those humans didn't leave Roy with any other option…" She gave Roy his dinner and sat down next to him.

But Percy didn't back down. "No, there has to be a better way. Let me talk to them! I can't just let you kill all those people, even if they are assholes!"

Roy looked up at Charon. "Can you put a leash on this one?"

"Enough!" Charon grabbed Roy by the shirt collar, slamming him against the wall.

"Roy!" Bessie screamed but Percy held her back.

"Percy is not some cheap fuck! You will not talk to her like that unless you want to lose your tongue! Neither of us with help you with your sick plan!"

Throwing Roy across the room, Charon took Percy by the arm, dragging her the entire way out of the subway. Once they were out in the wasteland night, Percy finally managed to wrench herself from his grasp.

"That really hurt Charon!" She rotated her sore shoulder. "And there were better ways of handling that! Now we have to sleep outside."

Charon's eyes softened. He rubbed her shoulder gently. "I'm sorry. I lost my temper. But the things he was saying…"

"I know…I appreciate you standing up for me like that…" Percy looked at the tower in the distance. "It's not that far. Let's walk a ways from here and settle down. Tomorrow I'll get into Tenpenny. Who knows? Maybe I can prove Roy wrong and convince them to let the ghouls in."

Charon held her close as they settled down for the night. Her hair smelled faintly of mint. It couldn't be her natural scent. He would ask her about that later. But for now,

"I'm not letting you go to Tenpenny Tower alone."

Percy rolled in his arms until they were face to face. He could count the freckles on her cheeks.

"We talked about this. They won't let you in. Tenpenny won't recognize me because he's never seen me, and I'll use a different name. I'll be careful."

Charon tried a different tactic. Rolling her onto his chest, he kissed her slowly and tenderly, running his hand from her back down to her ass before stroking up and down her inner thigh. She trembled against his touch, retaliating by rolling her hips against his. There were too many layers between them, but getting undressed out here was suicidal. Charon rolled them over again until he was on top. Taking both her wrists in one hand, he ghosted his fingers across her crotch. Percy whined, squirming as she tried to increase the friction between them. Charon smirked, leaning forward until his lips ghosted against the shell of her ear.

"Imagine doing this in a bed…warm sheets and soft pillows. Or over a table. Or in the shower…" Percy moaned as he dragged his teeth across her earlobe.

"Charon, tell me what this is really about." She gasped, turning her head when he tried to kiss her again.

'Dammit.'

Charon pulled away, sitting up. "If you're in there, I can't protect you. I won't know what's happening, or if you get hurt, until it's too late."

"Why the change of heart? She got on her knees so she was eye level with him. "Charon, I didn't want to ask this, but what did you see in there?" She held his face in her hands.

Charon avoided eye contact, tracing the veins of her hand with his calloused fingers.

"Before the war—before I even had a contract…I had a family. Two younger brothers and a mom. We didn't have a lot of money, but enough to get by…Until mom got sick."

Percy pulled him back until they were lying down again with Charon resting his head on her chest. Now, more than ever he needed to hear her heartbeat again. She stroked her fingers through his tufts of red hair.

"She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Day after day, we watched her get thinner and weaker until she needed help just to eat. I tried taking care of them, believe me I tried! I dropped out of school, took on as many jobs as would hire me…but even that wasn't enough to pay the bills and keep the boys in school."

"What happened to her?"

"I wish I could know for sure. She hated that I quit school. She even tried hiding the bills to make me think everything was ok. Then one day, she just disappeared. All her clothes were there, all her nice things. The only things missing were her coat and hat. She left me a note. 'Take care of your brothers.' And that was it…"

"What happened to your brothers?"

Charon's arms grew tight around her, his muscles stiffened.

"A break-in." She could hear a crack in the deep rumble of his voice.

"Back in the day…you always heard about kids disappearing. Army recruitment was normal, but this…this was sick. They were barely in their teens, goddammit!"

Charon went on talking, he couldn't stop himself. Someone had to know their story. It couldn't just disappear with the past. They had lived!

"Kidnappers could make a lot, selling boys and girls to the highest bidder. But they never got the chance this time. I killed them, Percy. Three guys against me and all I had was a lousy knife. I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing. All I can remember afterwards was that I was too late to save them." Charon sighed, "After that, I was arrested and turned over to some scientists who turned me into what I was when you met me. If there was one thing in my life I could have changed, it would have been that. If I have been home during the break-in…"

Percy listened in silence. He couldn't blame himself for something he couldn't have controlled, but her heart broke for him. No wonder he sided with Ashur. She thought of all the times Charon had interacted with children in Rivet City and Megaton. Despite his size and appearance, he was always gentle and kind. Even Simms' boy had warmed up to him eventually.

Charon was tense, breathing stiffly, despite his exhaustion.

Percy began to hum a song. It was familiar, from a brighter time. But rather than being bright and cheerful like the song was known for, Percy sang it slow, low, and calming.

"Somewhere, my love, there will be songs to sing. Although the snow, covers the hopes of spring."

Her fingers traced gentle circles on his scalp, and she felt the muscles in his arms loosen.

"Someday, we'll meet again, my love. Someday…whenever the spring, breaks, though…"

His breathing slowed, Percy covered his shoulders with the blanket as she sang on.

"Warm as the wind, and as soft as the kiss of snow. Till then, my sweet, think of me now and then…Godspeed, my love, till you are mine again."

Percy's eyes grew heavy. Soon she followed him to sleep.