AN: Life has been crazy! I haven't updated in such a long time and it's because I have moved, gotten a new job, moved again, sold my house, and had a hell of a time with my health. I've been working on this off and on and just couldn't get it JUST right. I think it's where I want it to be, so I'm posting it up for your reading pleasure! Also, the next chapter is almost done! Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things and I'll have no more big surprises in my life for a while! (Unless they're good ones that include lots of money!)

Special thanks to my hubby and all of the people who are still reading! I love y'all!

Chapter 9

Whenever Sophia traveled with someone she would end up sharing a bed, a dry piece of floor, or even a cave with them. She didn't mind it much and she found you could learn a lot about a person by how they slept. Everyone sleeps differently. Boone would sleep with his arms crossed, sunglasses still on, and move nary a muscle. Veronica would either end up pushing you off any bed you shared with her or somehow you'd end up with her elbow in your mouth. Arcade was a cuddler. Sophia felt like each person's personality was reflected in their sleeping style: Boone was the regimented soldier, Veronica was slightly violent and unpredictable, and Arcade was just a big softie underneath his sarcasm.

Sophia knew she wasn't too bad of a bed partner. She tended to keep to herself. Didn't move that much although she was known to steal covers every now and then. She was tolerant of others and normally just wanted a place to rest her head.

Apparently Charon moved nary a muscle which Sophia would have guessed anyway. What she was surprised to find was that she woke up cuddled next to his side, her arms wrapped around one of his. He didn't say anything to her as she untangled herself from him, but the side glance he was giving her let her know he had been the first one to wake up and didn't quite know what to do with a snuggling woman. Arcade must have rubbed off on her.

Sophia pretended it never happened as she walked to the bathroom to relieve herself. Charon followed as usual, but Sophia noticed he turned on a faucet after he used the facilities.

"What ya doing out there?" she asked as she pulled up her pants and flushed the toilet. It was one of the few that worked.

"Washing?" Charon looked at his hands. When did he start washing? Sophia came out, washed her hands and face, then noticed Charon did the same. Watching her, he copied as she swished water around in her mouth and spit it out.

"Charon, do you have a toothbrush?" Sophia dug around in her pack.

"Yes. I always carry it with me in my back pocket." Sophia looked up in shock to see Charon's deadpan and laughed.

"You almost had me there!" She handed him a clean toothbrush.

"This one I got from a grocery store near a town just west of DC. Ya know, most people don't go looking for them. It seems like everyone has one, but they don't ever replace them. Raiders and bandits don't use them at all." Sophia pulled out another toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste that was almost gone. She squeezed some out onto hers and the one in Charon's hand and began brushing her teeth. Once she spat out the paste and rinsed, Sophia leaned in like she was telling Charon a secret. "I have a small stockpile of brushes in New Vegas. The King and his gang always buy them off me. I swear they replace their toothbrush every 2 months. Something about The Original King was obsessed with brushing his teeth or something. There's a factory we'll visit in Tennessee that I always stop by if I'm in the neighborhood and pick up some more. They even have stuff that whitens your teeth. People in New Vegas love it. A few of the more expensive whores say it helps them get more customers." As they walked out of the bathroom and back to their room to pack up, Sophia told Charon all about her penthouse in the Lucky 38 and her friends.

She told him about Veronica, the little sister she never had. How Boone was the best sniper around, but lost in the past. How she had become best friends with Arcade, who was always fearful of someone finding out he was a Follower of the Apocalypse. It seemed like her life story started spilling out. She told him about Benny, the shot to the head, and how she didn't know what was best for New Vegas.

"That's why I came out here. I'm no leader. Heck if I know what to do for myself, let alone a whole city of people. Everyone wants me to side with them. I just want to be left alone."

Charon mostly grunted, showing he was listening. They had packed up and began saying their goodbyes to the people in Underworld. She hugged Winthrop without a flinch.

"Y'all have been real good to me! I think you might be the nicest people I've met in the Capitol!" She called them people and not ghouls. She really was one crazy kid.

Winthrop seemed to be watching her for insincerity, but couldn't find any. He shrugged and slapped her on the back.

"Try to stay alive out there, smoothy! If you come back this way, make sure to stop in! Oh, and if you find any of those magazines, I'll pay you for them!"

As she smiled and waved goodbye, Charon wondered at her sincerity, too. How could someone still be nice after being out in the wastes?

Walking out of Underworld and into the courtyard of the Natural History Museum, they stopped to say one more goodbye to Willow smoking a cigarette.

"Take good care of him." Willow nodded toward Charon. "He's decent for the most part."

"Oh, darling. I always take care of my partners! Why, hospitality and the courier go hand in hand!"

"Yeah, give him a hand once in a while and I'm sure he'll be as docile as a...whatever doesn't kill you in the wastes."

Sofia guffawed. "Men and floors, right?" Willow cackled, walking over to Charon.

"Take care, partner" she leered and mimicked Sophia's twang as she slapped him on the shoulder. "Or rather, let her take care of you." She wiggled what was left of her eyebrows and took a drag on her cigarette. "Have fun you kids!"

Sophia waved and they left the courtyard headed toward Andale. Charon looked puzzled as they left. "Floors?"

Sophia, with a smile, replied, "Yeah, old joke a caravan leader told me once."

The journey to Andale wasn't bad, except for one small hiccup. Going down into the metro was never a joy ride. Sofia hated dealing with ferals. There was always more than one, and it seemed that they would sneak up on you when you were least expecting it.

It started out just fine: a few ferals rushed at them from around a bend and they began to fire and pick them off quickly. Charon was taking point and rounded the corner to pick off three more. Neither of them saw that the one laying across the tracks in the rubble was alive. It pulled Sophia's leg, and the rest of her, down to the ground. She tried to shoot it, but was at an awkward angle and only hit its leg. The ghoul gave a choked growl lunging for her. She pushed herself back on the ground scrambling in the broken concrete and rubble around her. As it grabbed for her, there was a feeling of ragged nails against her collar bone and down her chest. The sound of gnashing teeth was far too close to her face. She pushed it away with her arms and pulled her leg in finding its shoulder. Thrusting her leg out she aimed and shot it in the face. Sophia fell back with a sigh of relief. Charon was next to her quickly helping her up.

"Is everything..." he trailed off staring at her chest. The feral ghoul had managed to rip part of her bra and shirt, revealing much more than he had seen before and leaving scratches going diagonal across her chest. He didn't know what bothered him more: the site of creamy untanned skin or the lacerations the ghoul left behind.

"Damn, that was my favorite one! Guess the fabric was getting too worn." She hissed as she touched the scratches finding them to be superficial. "Let's just get out of here, and then I can bandage this up."

The rest of the way out was clear except for the dozen or so radroaches. They made it out to the sun high in the sky behind fallout clouds.

Following the directions Quinn gave them, they made it to Andale without any other problems. The town was run down, yet had several more buildings still in sound condition. She spotted a kid behind one of the houses and walked up to the fence.

"Hey there, darling! Is this Andale?" Sophia asked.

Getting closer, they could see the boy was in his mid teens with a red baseball cap on. He jogged over to the fence and grinned nodding his head. "Well, look at the new blood! Always love to meet new people. My names Junior. Welcome to Andale." The boy smiled baring his teeth.