The door to the room flew open. "Braxton P.D.! Cross, you're under-!"

A quick blink at the frozen occupants. The ferryman was clutching Evelyn's waist from behind while the bounty hunter was visibly down her throat. There was a loud slurp as he pulled out. The door violently slammed shut, and Cross snapped an irritated look at his fellow ghoul.

"You didn't lock the fuckin' door?!"

An incoherent grumble was heard in response as Charon shrugged, unfazed.

"OhmyGod-ohmyGod!" Evelyn croaked, beyond embarrassed as she began to reach for her clothes with her cuffed hands. How was she supposed to meet anyone's eyes after having someone witness that?!

Cross gave her an aggravated look as she struggled to put on her underwear. "Were we done?"

"What the fuck do you think!?" she exploded.

"C'mon, not like it matters-"

"Are you kidding me?!" she squeaked angrily, breaking the chain with a swift yank and waving her arms around. "How does that not-"

Charon rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff. Dramatic Evelyn was by far the most annoying Evelyn, and she would continue her ranting tirade unless otherwise silenced. He went to the door and threw it open with a rush of air.

"Yes?"

A clinking pair of handcuffs were held out, an unfamiliar ghoul woman from the night shift not meeting his eyes...or trying to land anywhere on his body. The ferryman was still completely naked- with a throbbing, drooling erection, to boot.

"C-C-Cross is...is he-? H-he's-"

"Under arrest again?" the merc finished with a drawl, shoving into his pants. "Yeah, yeah. I'm comin'."

"Why?!" Evelyn placed a hand on his forearm, the broken cuff still attached to her wrist.

Cross smacked a kiss on her forehead before delivering another to her lips, and she couldn't help but bring her hands to the sides of his face- his kiss was so desperate. After finally pulling away, he rubbed at his mouth, seemingly plastering on a goofy grin.

"Thomas is probably just mad he ain't invited. Ya ever wonder if you could see him glow when he's inside-"

Evelyn shoved the merc roughly, throwing him off-balance as he put on his boots. "You can take him, please."

"Think they got visitin' hours. We can pick up where we-" Another shove, this time into the hallway. Cross had barely managed himself into his burgundy shirt. "Damn, can a man finish gettin' dressed?!"

His two outer layers were thrown at his face, and his hat was frisbeed before the door slammed closed, and locked. Cross mumbled Hungarian curses under his breath as he shrugged into his duster and held his hands out to be cuffed. The ghoul woman led him back to the police station, motioning for him to follow her down to the cell block. All the eyes of those on the night shift watched him with expectant stares.

Rrrrt

The cell door opened, and the bounty hunter stepped inside.

The ghoul woman with the Pre-War patch Braxton P.D. on her vest removed the cuffs from his wrists and held out a hand expectantly. "Weapons."

"Ain't goin' to pat me down?" He grinned down at her as she became flustered. The gun was handed over, but she curtly waved her fingers. "Aww, c'mon, it's more of a toothpick-"

"Knife."

A grumble, and it was unsheathed as he reluctantly gave it to her, the honed edge slipping through his gloved fingers. The tip was then firmly held on to, and she gave him a puzzled look as he refused to release his grip. "Can ya get me a lighter?" He gave a wiggle of the blade. "Please?"

The knife was let go, and she said nothing as she locked his cell door and clacked down the corridor. The sentry standing guard at the end was lighting up a smoke, and the merc sighed loudly at the reminder. He glanced over to Roman sitting quietly in his own cell across, his dark eyes glowing at him. The merc shook his shoulders- fuckin' creep. He couldn't wrap his head around Evelyn's relation to him. The ghoul was just, so- how?! Just to the right of the blue ghoul's cell was Rick, still unconscious on the frame of a stained mattress with a hitched snore reverberating loudly in his throat.

This was not the company the merc had envisioned for the night.

The ghoul woman came back a few minutes later. Cross put his arms through the bars and leaned forward, tilting back the tip of his hat. A flip lighter was tossed, and he winked after catching it. "'ppreciate it."

With a shy nod of her head, she left. An hour then passed, the relative quietness of the prison sector making the bounty hunter drift off until there was a sudden commotion at the end of the cell block.

Rrrrrt

"Here, let me see him."

"Gruh..."

Carmen gave a disheartened look at her lover's present condition. His left cheekbone was smashed and sunken in, and both of his eyes were swollen shut. She noticed a few more missing teeth than was accounted for previously. "Who fucking did this to him?!"

The sentry at her back gave a garbled, rumbling cough, just giving a look to the merc lying on the bed in his cell. Cross' hands were clasped behind his head, his hat hiding his face away from the world- as well as his grin.

Her eyes went wide, and she dropped the green ghoul's collar from her hands. Rick hit the concrete with a thud and distorted groan.

"You?!" She stomped towards his cell in a flash of anger. "Just whose fucking side are you on, anyway?!"

The merc lifted his hat slightly, a single eye glowing at her in the dark. "Quit fuckin' bitchin'. Some of us are tryin' to sleep."

Her eyes narrowed. "Did you fucking grow a conscious over her? You're pathetic."

Another tilt, and the glow disappeared for a moment as he gave her a wink. "Not what you said that one time in back of Kretcher's. Oh, Cross, your big coc-"

She snarled and stamped her foot. "Don't you fucking dare, you fucking pig!" A muffled chuckle drifted over as she snapped her fingers at the sentry. "Patch Rick up, and then go around and get the others." She threw a scathing glare at the merc. "Are you fucking with us? Or not? Did you fucking forget what he promised us? Is she worth it, over that?"

The bounty hunter was silent for a moment before he slowly began to sit upright. Roman's glowing eyes silently watched him as he came to stand before the woman.

Cross rasped with a dangerous growl, "How 'bout you open my fuckin' cell, first?"

Carmen assessed him, then nodded curtly to the sentry on duty. "Do it. Then open the armory; we're not taking any chances with this."

Rrrrrt

The merc fished out a smoke as he stepped out; the lit ember tip illuminated his shrouded face in an orange glow as he took a long drag.

Carmen redirected her beady eyes to the blue ghoul sitting quietly, seemingly disinterested in the unfolding of events. "Roman, are you with us?"

Roman said nothing- she was not his employer, and she was unaware of the special conditions that made him so.

"Eh, we don't need him." The merc whisked his newly acquired lighter closed and stretched his spine- a few loud pops sounded. "Let's get this shit over with. Is he here?"

Carmen was still suspiciously glaring at the silent ghoul. "I don't want to discuss the plan without Rick, first." She then snapped her horrible stare at him. "What the fuck were you thinking?!"

Cross rolled his eyes. "Had to 'play the part', didn't I? Got Thomas hawkin' my ass- think he'd let me stay if I didn't at least try and get her back?"

"And what about the others?! You destroyed my operation at the Catwalk! Was that all 'playing the part'?!" Her voice was now shrieking, and it grated his ears. "I swear to God, if you fuck this up for us-!"

The bounty hunter nubbed a pinky finger inside his ear canal, giving it a vibrating rub. "Goddamn woman. I've heard deathclaws fuckin' that sound more pleasin' than you."

"Ugh!" She roughly shoved him; he didn't budge an inch. "Where's the smoothskin now?!"

He rolled his cigarette to the other corner of his mouth. "Back at Tweedy's. She's got a ghoul bodyguard with her- he's a tough sonofabitch."

"So? What's his price? Did you bother asking him? He's our kind- it shouldn't be an issue."

He let off a few puffs, squinting his eyes at Rick's crumpled form that was being administered aid. "Ain't so simple... He has a thing called a contract. He's bound to whoever has possession of it."

"The smoothskin has a ghoul slave?!" Carmen visibly riled. "So then just fucking kill him!"

The merc dove his fingers inside a breast pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper. "Figured he'd be best to have on our side."

Carmen blankly stared at the piece of yellowed parchment before her face broke into a wide, eerie smile. "Oh." She then gently placed a hand on his chest, and he stared at her mottled fingers slowly creeping down south. "Well, well," she said coyly. "Aren't you full of surprises...maybe later, we can revisit that time, and I can show you a bit of mine."

"Car-Carmen-" Rick croaked out, and the ghoul woman quickly whisked her hand away to reconvene with her lover on the floor of his cell.

The sentries stood back as she embraced him with loving grace.

"Oh, Rick!" she cried, before she snarled at the others, "What the fuck are you all still doing here standing around?! Get to work!" The guards on duty began to scatter before she gave a slight cough to Cross as he began to walk off. "Meet us in the conference room. We'll be along shortly."

She then threw him a subtle wink with a bulge of her tongue inside her cheek before Cross ambled down the hallway, shaking his shoulders to ward off the evil he felt from that nasty woman. Braxton's Mayor and his longtime lover took little time in joining him, and Rick gasped as he caught sight of the merc.

"What the hell is he doing here?!"

"Rick! Calm down-!"

The mayor waved his hand accusingly. "Calm down?! ME?! He tried to kill me!"

"And if ya don't shut the fuck up about it, I'm goin' to make sure I finish the job this time," Cross threatened.

"Carmen, really, you think we can trust him?! HIM?" Rick scoffed, gingerly touching his mending cheek. "He is completely head over heels for her- how can you not see that?!" The merc gave a low growl in his throat, but Rick continued, "Let's back this up a step. We're not actually considering having him secure the package for us?"

"You forgettin' who fuckin' brought her this far?" Cross snarled. "She trusts me- took a lot of fuckin' work to get it that way. I can get her to hand over her fuckin' self if I ask her to."

"If you were serious about the job, you would have escorted her directly to us as agreed. So, where were you?" The mayor squinted, a sadistic glimmer in his eyes. "She is a rather beautiful woman...did some nightly company happen to sway your one-track mind?"

Cross blew out a breath. "Not goin' to lie, it'll be hard to go back." He gave a grin as Carmen rudely commented on his nightly tendencies. "Can ya blame a man for takin' the opportunity? Now, thought we were tryin' to be serious here- I got shit to do, and some caps to collect."

"As we all do." Carmen delivered a seething glower to Rick before she turned her attention to the merc. "So?"

"Won't be easy. Thomas suspects somethin' as it is. He has a few guards stationed around the buildin', and he's pretty damn set on keepin' her tucked away for the night-"

Carmen waved her hand, interrupting with, "Not an issue. We have an insider that Thomas trusts."

"Who?"

She crossed her arms and nodded to the sentry at the door.

A rosy ghoul was summoned inside; Penny gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm late." The merc simply stared at her as she came around to his side, and Penny joked quietly at his impassiveness, "Surprised?"

Cross grunted, "Didn't take you to be the type."

"For a moment there, I could say the same about you." He said nothing, and she shifted on the weight of her heels. Penny then asked softly, a lace of genuine concern in her voice, "...can you let her go?"

A shrug of his shoulders, and he met her eyes. "It was one hell of a ride...but you learn to move on from it."

Carmen narrowed her beady stare to their low conversation in the corner. "What are you two discussing over there?"

"Just the operation, sorry," Penny apologized, clearing her throat. "We're ready, when you are."

Three Months Ago

"Yuck!"

The sound of distaste snapped his head on a swivel, and he gave a quick zip of his pants. Small rocks crunched loudly under the heavy weight of his boots; arms crossed and grimace set, the ghoul gave a disapproving stare down at his employer spitting loudly and wiping at her tongue with filthy fingertips.

"Oh, fuck. It's on my gloves!"

This ensued to more dribbled spittle, and soon she was on her knees, gagging.

Charon rolled his eyes, pulling her upright by the elbow. "Stop that. You will make yourself sick, and you are almost out of water."

The days were growing increasingly warmer- enough so he was constantly pulling out her canteen as a passive reminder to keep her hydrated. An episode of forced vomiting would not spell good for her health.

"But it's icky!" she whined, and he nabbed at her hand before it could make another fatal swipe at her tongue.

"What did you eat?" he asked in the most condescending tone a human being has ever mustered.

A simple jab of her finger at an oozing cactus- the crimson ghoul narrowed his eyes at it, and then glared down at her.

"Are you serious?" he snarled. "Evelyn, those are poisonous."

Her ugly expression of displeasure quickly transformed into one of horror. "What?! Well, why didn't you say anything?!"

A menacing growl was her only answer. The ghoul couldn't even have the decency to take a fucking leak for a few minutes without her getting into something. He hadn't even shaken off the dribbles of piss from the tip of his dick when he heard her vocal complaints.

"I'm all out of antid-guh!" Before her panicked state of mind could rape his ears, he shoved a few fingers down her throat, meeting with the clench of her tongue and the putrid sound of her gag reflex. To his surprise, she didn't puke.

Evelyn batted his slobbery hand away, the trails of saliva from his fingers slathering across her cheek. Tears smarted her eyes from the sudden intrusion. "What the fuck are you-?!"

Another dive inside, as deep as he was willing to go without the risk of her hot sick coating his hands. Another gut-squelching sound of her throat constricting, and yet, she still kept her stomach contents. The ferryman pulled out, blinking at his sticky, gooey palm.

"That's so rude!" she barked, literally frothing at the mouth as she stepped back a few paces.

"I do not understand," he said bluntly, as though he was commenting on the weather, and not the fact he just fucked her throat with his fist.

"I've had some practice, asshole!" she snapped, and before either could fully understand what it was that she just said, a scuttle of rocks drew their heads up.

"You guys alright?" A caravanner waved down from a small slope some yards away. "Heard a fuss."

"Oh, thank God." Evelyn wiped at her face, shaking the remnants from her fingerless gloves to the barren ground of hot sand and rocks. She began towards him with a friendly hand raised up in kind. "Y-yeah, hey! Do you by chance have any-"

Her voice rang on in that overly friendly mannerism she had with complete outsiders, and before Charon could grumble his complaints about her laxness with strangers, he realized the meaning behind her explanation, and looked back down at his large hand.

He really didn't care to know.

They ended up following the trader back to his brahmin and small campsite, where some sociable conversation was exchanged, and items were traded.

Evelyn tilted back a small bottle to her lips, and the ferryman couldn't help but stare at the way the muscles rolled along her trachea as she swallowed…he was still so perturbed at the information she had unwittingly shared.

The trader was openly ogling the tan line above the swell of her breasts; the tight-fitting tank top she wore was nearly translucent from her sweat, and as she finished her drink and wiped at her brow, the gesture lightly raised the fabric at her waist for a peek at some untouched, ivory skin.

Charon's deathly glower was palpable enough for the man to take notice of. The ghoul had his usual look to him that made most people quake in their boots; it was more than enough for this timid soul; the caravanner quickly busied himself with the ropes of his cargo atop his livestock.

They parted ways and continued on; the ghoul kept his head turned at their backs, eyeing the man with a smoldering glare until they were a respectable distance apart. Evelyn was fiddling with the knobs of her Pip-Boy, singing alto chords to a song as she engrossed herself with her screen.

"Birds singing in the sycamore tree." A dial was clicked, and she scratched at the tip of her nose with her free hand. "Dream a little dream, of me." A vibrant hum belted the instrumentals, and she suddenly chewed her lower lip and proceeded to scratch her head. "Hey, Charon?"

The ghoul gave a stifled grunt, his indication that he was listening.

"…which way is east, again?"

A very loud, very annoyed sigh breathed out. A muscled arm raised and pointed to her right, and she returned a sheepish grin over her shoulder.

"Yeah, okay, thank you. Sheesh. You'd think I was asking you of one of the nine Herculean feats."

Charon snorted. He only understood the reference due to the fact she had told him the story a few weeks ago. "You should know this by now, Evelyn…you've had some…practice."

The ticking of her Pip-Boy came to a halt. Her brows furrowed, and then her entire face grew a vibrant shade of red. The epiphany of her earlier statement sunk in, and she had a mortified expression on her face.

"Oh my God! I-I-!"

The ghoul stomped past her embarrassed squeaks and squeals, a smirk twitching at his lips, but not fully committing.