Chapter 22

The deck was completely silent. Lennie looked as though he was going to throw up. Poor kid. At least he was getting his sister back. Immediately, Xander began the initiation sequences for take-off. The last thing they needed was to get caught down on the ground and not able to leave. Not that there was any kind of strict landing and take-off policies here, but if a few ships blocked him from all sides, then they could only do more killing. A lot more killing.

Charlie had been efficient and quiet. Her work was professional, and he’d seen few who did it so stoically. He’d been shocked when she offered the other girls to come with her, he hadn’t counted on that. He supposed he was going to have to be prepared for just about anything when it came to Charlie. Yet, something told him it would have grieved her to leave them without at least the option at a new life.

He hadn’t been able to really see Rolara’s reaction to the kill Charlie had made, but he was sure he would see it momentarily. For some reason, all he wanted to do was hold Charlie. He’d known she was capable, had seen it, had felt it, he had , yet...he didn’t know how she would feel about it, and he wanted to be there for her just in case she didn’t take it well.

Xander had never thought to ask how many kills she’d made, or if she’d made any at all. He’d never thought to ask if she was okay with any of the possible scenarios she could come across. She had seemed prepared and comfortable with what was about to happen, and he never thought to ask. He should have asked. He’d never worried about anyone else he’d worked with before, but no one else had been Charlie. It shouldn’t make any difference, but it did.

Still seeing from her camera, he saw her running behind Rolara, and they were maybe ten feet from the door. He let down the stairs, and listened for her booted steps, knowing the sensor would close the door after them.

“Everyone, buckle up, we’re getting out of here fast!” Xander said.

There was no arguments or excited squeals from his two youngest passengers, they seemed to be in shock. He completely understood if they were. He was still trying to figure out if he was in shock.

No one rushed their ship, no one came after them. They simply left the planet, they left the atmosphere and were heading toward Sojo. Another term, then they would be there. Xander had fulfilled all of his promises, and now it was his turn to get his brother back.

Standing up, he stretched.

“We’re moving at a steady pace, and there isn’t another port for the next half term. You can get out there, or make whatever plans you want. It’s up to you. I’ll help however I can,” Xander said.

“Mr. Xander, I can’t thank you and Charlie enough for what you’ve done for Lennie and I. I have no idea what would have happened to me otherwise...” her words just floated off into nothingness.

Lennie unfastened himself from his seat, and ran toward his sister, throwing himself on his knees his arms around her trim waist, his face in her stomach. His words were muffled, but still easily understood.

“Don’t think about it, Rolara, don’t think about it. We found you, and you’re safe now. We can go home, or go anywhere, but we’re safe now, and everything is going to be fine now,” Lennie said, sounding more like a child than the young man he was becoming.

“I know, Lennie. Everything is fine now.” Rolara turned to look at Xander, her eyes rimmed with unshed tears––he imagined they would fall when she got alone. “Is there someplace we can go?” Rolara asked.

“Yes there are four extra quarters to the left in the back. Lennie should know where they are, pick any of them except for the big messy one, that’s mine. Everything else is open,” Xander instructed.

He watched her stand, and even with Lennie around her, there was grace and elegance in her movements. Her long red hair was just as Lennie described it, and her face was sweet, bright green eyes surrounded by a spray of light freckles on her nose. She was extremely pretty, and he could see fully the reason the crazy woman craved her. However, when he looked at Rolara next to Charlie, it was like seeing a new star next to a sun. They were both amazing, but there was no comparison.

Xander watched Rolara leave with Lennie under her arm. Then, turned to look at Charlie, only to find she’d been watching him. If it was in him, he would have blushed, and for the first time, he was cognitively thankful that such a thing wasn’t part of his character. Rolara, because of Lennie, had instantly become like a kid sister on so many levels he wasn’t even going to try to count them.

Xander half sat on the command-com in front of his chair, placing his hands beside each hip. He wanted to talk to her, but a woman like Charlie would have to come to him; and she would, when she was ready. If he pushed the issue, she would run away.

“You know they aren’t going anywhere, right? I mean just because they have land on some planet somewhere doesn’t mean they have a life. Not to mention the salvers will be back. She won’t be safe anywhere else, and she’s smart, she knows it. They’re going to ask to stay with you,” Charlie said.

“I figured it would be something like that, but you know people make their own decisions about life, you can’t force them to be helped,” Xander, of course was talking about the other slave girls, and he was fairly certain Charlie knew it.

“Yeah, I know,” Charlie said, then changed the topic. That seemed to be a favored tactic of hers. “You used a word earlier, what does it mean? Term? I don’t understand, there’s so much I don’t understand.”

“A term is how long it takes a particular satellite to revolve around The Allegiant Docking Station. We use it as a standard of time. How long does it take for your sun to revolve around your planet?”

“Oh, we call that a day, and it’s twenty four hours,” she answered.

“Well, our ...is twenty eight hours, if I’m doing the conversion right.”

He waited a few minutes, expecting her to answer or expound on the topic, but she didn’t. She just sat there, staring out the large front visu-port.

“Look, Charlie, what you did today...” Xander couldn’t stand it any longer, he had to say something.

“Was reckless, and not good for the team, and I blew our cover, because I’m not forgettable enough,” Charlie picked up is sentence like she’d had it told to her a million times.

“Um, no. What you did today was incredibly brave, it took guts and strength of will and mind,” as Xander was talking, Charlie had gotten up out of her seat, and walked toward him slowly, like a , stalking it’s prey, and Xander’s words got slower to match her strides until she was straddling his right leg.

“Were you able to see what I’d done, Xander?”

“Yes,” he answered, uncertain of where she was going with their conversation.

She took her index finger of her right hand and drew a slicing motion on his upper thigh, oh so very close to where he would love her full hand to be.

“I cut her here, and here,” she drew on both sides of his inner legs, “then here and here,” she flowed her fingertip over the main arteries under the arms, “then ended it here,” she placed her hand on the bend of his neck.

Xander turned his head slightly, to look at her hand, then looked her in the eyes. His leg was heating up where she’d been straddling him, and the rest of him was heating up just at her proximity. It was a good thing she’d taken all of her equipment off when she got on board earlier.

“I know what you did and I know how you did it, Charlie. I was watching, and I was wondering if you were alright?” Xander asked her.

Charlie look startled, like she was certain she’d heard wrong. She even shook her head a little bit. “No one has ever asked me if I was okay after a hit.”

. What a weird way to call killing someone. Wait.

“Wait, you’re an assassin?” Xander asked.

“Not exactly, but yes, for the most part. Until this last couple of years, it’s been my job to rescue high profile people, and it normally results in at least one kill. So, knowing that ahead of time, I suppose I am an assassin,” Charlie answered just as calmly as though she were telling him they were running low on fuel.

“Charlie, are you alright?”

All the kills had to have had an effect on her. Of some kind.

A small sad smile curved the corners of her mouth. “Yes, Xander, I’m okay. It’s not always easy, but most of the time I look evil in the eye, like I did today, and evil is easy to dispose of.”

“How do you know they’re evil, how do you know the good from the bad? You read those people out there today like you had all their info on a hand com. How are you so sure?”

“My bullshit-o-meter,” Charlie said, smiling. It was a genuine smile, and he wanted to capture it, and keep it locked in a box just for him.

“That’s what my Uncle Charlie calls it. It’s stupid, but I’ve always been able to tell when someone is lying or telling the truth. It’s probably that weird anomaly you say I have. It’s what always allows me to tell the good from the bad, the bad from the evil, and sometimes, I even get their story. It’s one of the reasons I’m so good at what I do. No one can lie to me, no counter espionage gets sprung on me, and I don’t have to be worried about being swayed or convinced to join the wrong team. It’s just how it is with me,” Charlie finished.

In her mind it was as simple as that.

And a light grew bright in the back of Xander’s mind. She was The Time Keeper. She simply didn’t have to be alone and sheltered. She could live a life, a real and even a hard life, and still do what they needed. He no longer had to be afraid, and he might find a way out of this for all of them after all.

Relief and excitement roared through him and when she went to turn away, he pulled her back, pressing her too him, hard and rough. In the back of his mind somewhere, he knew he should be sweet and gentle considering all she’d been through, but he wasn’t feeling sweet and gentle. Xander was feeling victorious.

Her lips met his and where they tasted slightly of tears the first time, they were full of bloodlust this time. He devoured her and she countered. His hands went to her hair, and he fisted his hands in the soft locks. She gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer, moving up his leg until the warmth of her center was warming his cock. She pulled away to breathe, their foreheads resting against each other, their chests heaving.

Looking down, Charlie asked, “What’s on your shirt?”

They separated, Charlie backing off of Xander’s leg enough to notice against the black fabric of the Mothering Gown, the blood of the crazy woman was hard to see, but up against the light color of Xander’s shirt, there was no doubting what the substance was.