Author's Note: This chapter is shorter than I'd like it to be, but I've been having some pretty bad writer's block and I haven't had a lot of alone time to focus on my stories. Sorry guys, but I hope you enjoy anyway :)

Wasteland Survival Part 23

The past five days had been absolutely terrible. Sarah had mostly spent them alone, finding it too awkward to face Clover. She was thankful for the three days that Crimson had been here. She didn't have to give the dark skinned woman an excuse so she could stay in her little room near the stairs.

Whenever the Sentinel thought about her reaction to Clover's actions from the alcohol, she cringed. She had no idea how the libidinous slave would treat her when they came face to face again. Sarah felt horrible for how she had reacted to Clover's advances; her response had been rushed and spur of the moment. If Sarah had reacted with a little more tact and a little less overreaction, she wouldn't feel like such a bitch.

Her overreaction had probably set her ten steps back in her attempts to gain the friendship of Clover. The slave hadn't even knocked on her door or attempted to speak with her when she retreated to her room. Maybe she had gotten so drunk that night that she couldn't remember what happened?

Sarah didn't know if Clover remembered kissing the Sentinel or not; but she couldn't avoid the libidinous slave forever. It was time to make things right.

…

Sarah hesitantly poked her blonde head around the corner of Eulogy's room, seeing Clover busily making the large pink bed that dominated the center of the slave driver's massive room. The Sentinel nervously chewed her lower lip before hesitantly entering the room, calling out the slave's name as she did so.

Clover's chocolate eyes darted up to meet Sarah's emeralds. The slave smiled weakly, looking almost bashful as her eyes darted back to the blanket she was smoothing out. "Sarah."

Sarah awkwardly wringed her hands as she made her way to the table that she and Clover usually sat at. Really should've thought out how I'm going to make this right…

Clover sat across from her and immediately began speaking. "Sarah, I'm really sorry for the other night. I usually don't apologize for my sexual behavior…but I feel like I forced myself on you. I don't remember much, but I remember kissing you and trying to pull your dress up. You ran and I was trying to take my clothes off and…I was a drunken mess," She trailed off, looking at the wall, a slight blush on her angular cheeks.

Well…that was unexpected. Sarah gaped at Clover, dumbstruck. The usually stoic and calculating Sentinel actually stammered for a response due to her shock. "You're apologizing to me? I never thought…well, I thought you would be pissed at me; or unapologetic at least. Or maybe a combination of the two…"

Clover gave a throaty laugh, her warm chocolate eyes darting back over to Sarah. "Lover, I could never be mad at you. I'll admit that I was kinda shocked that you weren't into it as much as I thought you'd be. And disappointed that you didn't even turn around when I started taking my dress off," Clover shook her head slightly, giving a small sigh.

Sarah blushed deeply, unsure of what to say. Clover's next comment knocked her for six. "Oh well Sarah, I felt you kiss me back though. It was just for a second, but then you froze like you realized something," the slave gave the Sentinel a knowing smirk as she leaned forward, propping her head on one of her hands.

Sarah quickly looked away from the slave who had suddenly become shockingly reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat. Her emerald eyes kept themselves glued to the neatly made bed as she scrambled for a response. "Clover you were wasted; you must've been imagining it or something."

Clover's grin became impossibly wider. "You're blushing, Sentinel Lyons. I think I wasn't imagining anything. Maybe you did kiss me back, even if it was just for a second…"

Sarah blushed deeper and cleared her throat as she looked about the massive room for a way to change the subject to something a little less awkward. "So…how about that skeleton hanging in front of the projector? Pretty creepy, huh?"

Clover smirked as she took in Sarah's embarrassed demeanor. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed!" The slave averted her eyes to the corpse, cocking her head slightly as she spoke. "And don't worry about that guy; that's just Harmon. He doesn't bother anyone anymore," she waved a dismissive hand at the skeleton, turning her attention back to the Sentinel with a warm smile.

Sarah avoided Clover's eyes, looking up at the skeleton again. "Who was he?"

"The previous head of Paradise Falls. Harmon Jurley. Believe it or not, he was worse than Eulogy. Fucker was a cannibal; ate any slave that didn't sell fast enough. One day Eulogy got tired of his shit and got some of the other slavers together to stage a coup. That was before he got me and Crimson though, so I couldn't tell you about it firsthand."

This was a chance to learn more about her potential ally; Sarah grabbed it with both hands. "So how long have you been with Eulogy?"

Clover hummed in thought for a moment, inspecting her perfect nails as she chewed her lower lip. "Hmm…I guess close to a year. I know he's had Crimson for way longer than me, but he originally brought me in as a slave. Took an interest in me right away though; much like he did with you."

"Why us though?"

Clover's chocolate eyes took on a thousand yard stare, looking past her nails into nothingness. "We're strong; been to hell and back. We can fight…we have history doing nothing but fighting…"

The Sentinel arched an eyebrow at her companion, leaning forward slightly as she spoke. "Why don't you tell me about yourself, Clover? You know I was in the Brotherhood, but I know nothing about you."

Chocolate eyes darted back into the present and away from whatever memory they had fallen into. "It's all ancient history, and none of it matters now. I am where I belong." The slave gave her blonde friend a weak smile, not meeting the Sentinel's eyes before she gazed back down at her own nimble fingers. She put her arms on the table with a sigh, resting her weight on her elbows and keeping her eyes to her hands.

Clover's voice was lacking its usual cheeriness, her husky tone even huskier than usual. Sarah had hit some pang of darkness inside of the woman. Maybe she felt that she belonged here because of her past? "Well, maybe if I tell you about my past, you'll tell me about yours. It doesn't have to be now; we can wait as long as you want. Or you could just keep it to yourself, if you'd rather do that." Sarah gave her a reassuring smile and met her eyes, keeping her voice gentle as she lightly rubbed the back of one of Clover's hands.

Clover gave a genuine smile. "Normally I would make a comment about you rubbing on me, but I can't. Not right now anyway," she gave a short laugh before putting on a serious tone, "Seriously though, thank you for not pushing the issue. It's…really kind of you."

Clover had looked like she was struggling with her word choice, even though every word was sincere. She was so unused to someone actually being kind to her, and Sarah could tell. She smiled back at Clover, before taking her hand back. "Better pull back then, before I push my luck and we have a repeat of last time. And no problem, I can be nice," she gave a small laugh.

Clover grinned before visibly relaxing. "Now that we've gotten all that emotional shit out of the way, wanna help me clean up this place a bit?"

"Of course."

Maybe Sarah had actually found a true friend in her newfound ally. It was amazing…and it could make things more complicated than they already were.

Author's Note: Looks like Clover's got a dark history of her own. I've already got it all planned out and I think you guys will love it ;) Also, It seems that we have some Sarah/Clover shippers! I originally hadn't thought about including romance in this story, but I'm reconsidering it. It could bring a lot more to the story, but it won't overpower it. This is Wasteland Survival afterall, and there's lots of nitty gritty problems other than who wants who. Still an interesting little concept that could potentially bring out more complex emotions in some of the characters though... Do you guys have any pairings that you like? Or should our team focus on the main mission here?