Zeelee-Vallen: I know it has been a long time D: I am sorry. But here we go! I worked hard on this chapter! It is even super long! Also, I am one to rush relationships, so I am doing my best to have it go a little bit more… slow.

I do not own any characters of this story other than Ratface.

XxxxxXxxxXx

Without further incident the kid finished eating. He watched her the whole time, rather mortified. What type of condition did a kid have to grow up in to end up in such a state? Was she treated as an animal? Kept in a cage?

The girl looked up at him with rather adoring eyes. That look pulled at his heartstrings, let him tell you. It was so full of admiration and trust. How could a woman have such eyes? He pat her head endearingly, he just couldn't help himself.

"Now your all done, are you up for travel?" she tilted her head. It was rather cute, like a puppy. A mangy puppy, but cute nonetheless. "I want to go to Goodneighbor, I am good friends with the mayor. He might be so kind to give me a bit of a discount for a bath." She tilted her head again, but now in the other direction.

"I will follow you?" The girl spoke, her voice chiming. Valentine nodded in affirmation. At least she understood, even if only bits.

"Well, I just got to let Ellie know first, okay?" The child nodded, clutching onto his jacket.

XXXxxxx Fasttravelfun-stillinValentinespovXxXXXxX

"Well look, if it isn't my old friend Nick Valentine." Hancock came strolling out of his office. Although he was a showoff, he had a soft-spot for the overdressed ghoul.

"Hey there, I came in need of your services. I got a…." He paused. He couldn't exactly call the girl a child. But woman seemed too much. "A person." That fit. "In dire need of a bath."

"How bad, would you say?" The ghoul asked, taking a puff of jet. Where did he even pull that from? His hands were empty moments before. He sighed pulling Ratface out from behind him. The girl made a noise of protest and reached out to cling to him again. "Pretty bad, I would say." He said, eyeing the child up and down. "Just hit up Hotel Rexford, tell them it's on my tab." He couldn't be more grateful to the ghoul. He nodded, allowing the girl to clutch to him again. "That child, is it okay?" Valentine had brought children here before. Hell, the ghoul mayor even brought him kids once in awhile. Usually it was the really lost ones, that were in dire need. Otherwise Goodneighbor watched out for their own.

He let her cling to him as they strolled to the hotel.

"He has cool skin." Valentine glanced down at the kid, a little surprised. Did she not know what a ghoul was? He was under the impression everybody knew. He had to confirm.

"Do you know what he was?" The girl paused for a moment, her eyes ahead at the narrow alley. She clutched to him tighter, her lips pursing as she shook her head. No, she had no idea what a ghoul was. Just as he was about to explain, she had begun to talk.

"My mom's friend had skin on her arm like that, from a fire." Ah, but since she was opening up, he better take the opportunity to ask some questions. He would have to leave the explanation for later, after all information was always the first priority.

"Your mom, what was her name?" He decided to start with something easy.

"Ai." It was a prompt answer, and rather quick.

"What was her friends name?" He asked as they turned the corner. After another turn, the hotel was in sight.

"What was your mom's friends name?" He asked.

"Red." Another quick answer. The girl had begun to get a little too pointed with her answer, he decided to leave that as it was for a little bit. He would have to ask her something else.

"Where did you live before going to Diamond city?" They were already at the doors.

As the entered, he could hear her little whisper. "In the dark tunnels." It was so soft, human ears might not have heard it. Good thing he had exceptional hearing.

Deciding not to pry anymore just yet, he let the conversation end. They were at the hotel anyway. They went up to the desk, where Clair was straight to the point. "What do you want?" She asked, no shits to give. She was a busy woman, and very straight forward.

"I came to use one of your baths again, Hancock said to put in on his tab." The old woman sighed, writing something down. "Second floor, last room on the right." The woman spoke without looking up. He took that as a confirmation and tugged the girl along.

In the hall, they passed another ghoul. He was wearing a yellowing hat and ratty overcoat. He looked absolutely miserable, his black eyes stricken with despair. The girl watched him pass, her lips parting in silence. She watched him right until he ushered her into the room.

She planted herself in front of the door, not moving even when he tried to lead her to the washroom. He sighed, letting her be. If she wanted to stand there, she could. It was her choice.

He would try move her again after he prepped the bath. When he came out, she was still in the same spot.

"That man wore the same look as my mom before she died." The girls voice was soft, her eyes blank.

Ah, so she remembered her mother.

"When did she pass?' He asked, not letting the chance pass.

"I don't know; I was very little. Her body, it didn't take the outsi-" The girl paused, her eyes going wide in fear. "I don't know! I don't know!" She clutched the sides of her head. "That's right… I don't know?" He started at the girl, a bit surprised at her outburst. Did she have some mental block? She seemed highly adamant on not saying anything.

"I understand; you don't need to force yourself kid." He put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle push towards the washroom. "Now let's get you cleaned up." The girl nodded, her shoulders slightly tense. The whole room was steamy with the fresh water. "Can I leave you to clean yourself?" The girl stared at him blankly. "Do you know how to clean yourself?" She still stared blankly at him. "Do you know what it means to clean yourself?" The girl was still staring blankly.

Good lord, he had his work cut out for him.

But how exactly was he going to deal with this? He could either explain to her in detail, help her himself, or he could try find a random female from the street to help.

First off, it was likely she wouldn't understand him if he tried to explain it to her. If she didn't understand his last three questions, she was going to be a bit… lost when it came to cleaning herself.

Next, getting a female off the street was possible. But, could he trust some random female? What if they tried to do inappropriate things? God, he worried too much.

There was only one option left.

He felt this was going to be held against him some day in the future.

"Okay, you need to get into the bath- Ah shit!" He stopped her just as she was about to hop in fully clothed. Yeah, he had no choice but to help.

He just had to think of her as a child.

Knock Knock- Came from the door. Who would be visiting them?

"You need to take off your clothes. Once their off, that is when you enter the water." She started at him for a moment, before nodding. "I will be right back, okay?" She nodded again, already beginning to strip layers off.

He exited, leaving the door slightly cracked open just in case.

Another nock came as he got to the door.

A rather big surprise was waiting on the other side. It was none other than the mayor himself, a few items in hand.

"My, what do we have here?" He nearly wanted to laugh as the ghoul turned slightly red. The ghoul quickly recovered, putting on a cocky smile.

"Fahrenheit had some old clothes." He held the items out, a cocky grin donning his face. "We can't let a child wear such muck after all." Ah, he didn't think of that. His plan was to let her wear her clothes until he could convince Ellie to give her some hand-me-downs.

Hancock was such a good kid. He really liked to look out for others. "It's fine, wont your people need it more?" After all the Ghoul housed homeless in his attic. Much more then he could say for Diamond city.

"We make sure ours are looked after." The Ghoul nudged the items toward him, but he shook his head again. The mayor was already really helping out by letting him use the water.

"Plus, she isn't really a child." A slight look of confusion crossed the man's face. "She says she's sixteen," The ghoul blinked, processing. "Yeah, I thought she was younger too. She's almost wild as a feral, she must have been raised pretty rottenly." The ghoul nodded, he must have understood. After all, the world they lived in could be a complete shit show.

"Still, she could use something better than that dirt crusted rag she's wearing." The ghoul had a point.

"I will take them, but I'll either owe you one or pay caps. What is your preference?" After all, he was an honest man. Well, synth.

"Then you'll owe me one." The Ghoul grinned, shoving the items in his arms. With a quick tip of his trihorn hat, he strolled away.

Yeah, he was a good kid.

He shut the door, grinning. He approached the bathroom, items in hand. He stopped at the door, minding his manners. "Is it okay I come in?" He asked.

"Yes!" She sounded awfully excited. He opened the door slowly, peaking in. The whole bathroom was full of steam, the girl's body fully submerged in the slightly murky water. Her little toes were peeking out, and she was wiggling them wildly. Was that why she was so excited?

"Valentine!" She jumped out, the water flying everywhere as she through her arms around him. Thankfully she was still so covered in muck that no body parts were visible. On the other hand he had good reflexes, because he was able to get the clothes out of the waters path. "You're back." She said happily, her voice chiming.

She was really sticking to him, hey?

"Yes, yes. Now sit back down, okay?" She made a small sound of disapproval, but sat back down nonetheless. She sunk a little more, only her eyes above the water now. "You remember the man with cool skin?" she nodded, her eyes wide as she found out bubble's rose from her mouth. She began to blow hard, bubbles forming and dissipating just as fast. It made it hard to believe this child was supposed to be sixteen. "Well," He interrupted her bubble blowing. "He was so kind to give you some new clothes." She popped up from the water, her eyes wide. "Really?" He nodded, unfolding the clothes. It looked like a plain blue blouse, and a navy colored skirt. Did Fahrenheit really wear things like this? She was such a tough looking woman; it was a little surprising that she had such clothing available.

The last item he unfolded was a loose pair of trousers. To his surprise, a small thump sounded. He looked down to see a small bar of soap.

Sneaky boy.

He picked up the soak, handing it to the girl. There was no point in trying to give it back now, he would just have to repay the man at a later date. The girl took it, eyeing it like food. "What is this?" She asked, sniffing it.

"It's called soap. You use it to get clean." He said, folding the clothes back up. "You rub it on your body like so." He pretended to be rubbing the bar all over his body. The girl watched him, copying his every move. He didn't even feel that embarrassed, considering his idiotic moves. The water became more and more black, so much it looked like mud. They didn't even get to her hair yet, or her face.

She was so ridiculously dirty.

"You will need to do your hair next." She started at him, she must be expecting him to demonstrate. But, well, he didn't have any hair. "I guess I will help you with this part." She held out the soap, a big smile on her lips. He rubbed the soap into her hair, pulling out chunks of mud and other questionable things. At one point he might have even pulled out a pencil. How the hell did that even get in there?

Then, she was clean. Her hair was long, flowing in the mucky water like silk.

"I'll leave you to do your face by yourself," She made a sound of disapproval, but he ignored it. "After your done dry off and dress up, okay?" She grabbed for his coat, but he would not fall for that, he was able to evade her quick hands. "I'll be right outside the door." He said, shutting the door quickly.

He waited for a few moments, listening as she exited the water. After that he could hear some rustling, and a few curious sounds.

The door opened, revealing something he did not expect.

She was quite the looker. Her hair hung around her petite face, her skin pale and free of blemishes. All that mud must have shielded her from the environment in some way. She was still very small, but now she looked her age. The pale blue blouse and skirt really helped define her age.

She smiled wide, running up to him and clinging to him.

Ah, but she was still the same child.

Well, he better say his goodbyes to the mayor before they left.

XXxxXxxxxxxx

Zeelee-Vallen: I tried to make it in character as possible QoQ From my gameplay, I concluded Hancock is a clean freak. So I bet he can't stand seeing really really dirty people. And well, they are both pretty kind people, who would try help out anybody. As for Valentine helping with her hair-you see him go into water all the time so you would expect he is water proof. Otherwise why would he go swimming with our Soul survivors?