Chapter 23

Great! Blood.

Not that she minded. What she really didn’t want to deal with, was that damn car wash of a shower!

“Is there any other way for me to bathe aside from that shower thing in the restroom?” Charlie took a shot at asking, trying not to feel stupid.

“What do you mean? There’s one in every on this ship,” Xander answered her warily.

“Okay, fine. Is there any other setting on the shower that doesn’t push water and soap into places they don’t belong?”

“Oh, you must have used the wrong button, I’m sorry. I should have showed you that earlier. I’ve been distracted,” he said looking at her honestly. His words nor his tone were the least bit arrogant or making fun. He was truthfully sorry for her experience. It must have happened to him before.

“What button do I push?”

“What are you used to on your planet?”

The question startled Charlie, and for a moment, she didn’t know how to answer. She had gotten so involved with her newest missions, she’d forgotten she wasn’t doing what she’d always done, with people she’d always been with.

“Um, just water like rain, pouring straight down, not too hard,” she answered him, feeling a little silly at all of it, humbled at Xander’s true concern.

“Sounds like the last button,” he said, smiling the best bedroom smile she’d ever seen.

His chocolate eyes, dark and beckoning, and she wanted so badly to walk back to him, that she walked backwards off of the deck. Suddenly she stopped.

“I don’t have anything to sleep in, or soaps or razors or anything. What do I do?”

“Well for the soaps and things, hit the yellow button outside of the bathing station. It will give you a screen and options. Select what you want and you will have it. As far as something to wear, I may have something,” Xander answered her.

“Okay, well thanks,” she said, turning around almost running toward the bathroom. In her own element, she might have been more comfortable, but this was not her normal after-mission encounters.

Typically there would be a lot of screaming, high-fives, chow, and there had been one time when she’d needed to get additional adrenaline released, a time when they had lost a teammate, and sex had been her release. However, that was not what she was faced with this time. This time, there was no loss, and yet even after victory, there was sober reflection and disbelief. Then a slow and purposeful seduction with someone of her own level, one who was just like herself, and now she was going to begin the focused intent to finish the seduction.

Tonight would be her last night as a free woman, and maybe her last night alive. She would spend it in the arms of someone who at least appreciated her value and sacrifice.

She knew she was alive for one specific purpose, otherwise, God would have taken her instead of her sister. These two people, she knew in her soul, were the last ones she was meant to save. Saving Brick was all there was left for her.

Worry didn’t eat at her, loneliness did. Need crawled into her body, into her heart, and drove her to do this last thing for herself. No matter his level of interest––and she knew he was at least interested––Xander would be for her alone, Xander was for her body and heart. He would soothe her need, and take care of her want. She would feel appreciated, and cared for, then would go to her next future.

The light swoosh of the door left her alone, inside the restroom again, and her clothes were gone from earlier. She really prayed they didn’t get shredded or something crazy. Oh well, she had more to be concerned with than her clothes. Besides, most of the time, things worked themselves out.

Taking off her makeshift slave garment, she put it in the same bin her other clothes had been in. Then she went to the wall.

Hitting the yellow button did indeed bring up another transparent screen. She chose the pictures of the things she recognized, and did her best to avoid anything that looked like it might be automated.

After she finished selecting her items, she waited a moment, and a small, barely visible door along the wall opened presenting her with the things she asked for. It was like a weird version of a vending machine. Shaking her head, she took the things and pressed the bottom button, threw up a prayer, and stepped onto the square.

The walls came up, and the water fell over her head, she found a small knob and adjusted the heat until it almost scalded her skin. The smell, of blood, the coppery taste that coated her mouth, seemed to be with Charlie more often than not. So, seeing the evidence of her earlier deeds flow from her hair, down her body, to her feet and through the floor, or wherever the water and stuff went, was no surprise to her. It just made her want to scrub harder. She could tell Xander was having a hard time seeing her in such a role, the last thing she wanted to do, was go to him with blood anywhere on her. At least on her physical body, her heart, mind, and soul...that was different, but at least he couldn’t see that.