The Dead World Ch. 16

He passed her a roguish grin, his eyes sweeping down her slender form to take in the light changes she'd made to her attire, looking much more the image of the Charlie he had met early on with the exception of her long, wavy curls sweeping from beneath the beanie upon her head.

She heaved a sigh, and rolled her eyes, her voice a dangerously low, demanding tone. "Where's Danny?"

"Shit, was 'bout ta ask ya the same thing, dollface." Slash chuckled at her and shook his head slowly. "Ain't seen him since last night. Oz was on the overnight shift with Ruthless. When he ain't show at dawn for relief, Boss took a stroll around ta check fer him. Nobody's got eyes on him this morning. All figured he was with ya."

He shrugged absentmindedly and heaved a sigh, shaking his head as he did so with that passive smile still etched upon his lips. "I'll tell ya what... ya shoulda sent him away the other day, baby. You fuckin' idiots just keep rufflin' lil brother's feathers."

"Skully has him if he's nowhere else..." Her dark brows knitted together, and she felt the prickles of anger rising. Moments from demanding their leader's room-number from Slash, he shook his head again, and frowned, this time almost thoughtfully.

"Checked with Skully already. Dog pushed some fuckin' buttons with that last one, kid... ya know that well as I do, don't'cha? Skully came down on him fer it, but he ain't rough him up or nothin'. Ain't seen him since last night, like I said. Don't fret, dollface... he'll turn up. Prolly just takin' a walk. Shit's changed a lot since we got here, an' Dog ain't fond o' shit changin'. Anytime it gets tense, he'll take off in a heartbeat... but he always turns back up. He's loyal like that."

The weather was harsh and unforgiving for anyone to be outside, exposed to the elements. There were dangerous people looking for them. No good could come of Dog being out somewhere on his own... and even more than that, it was hard not to question what exactly had pushed Dog to leave when they had been so... so happy, only a day prior?

She felt the nervousness slowly subside, but couldn't deny the pulse of heart wrenching sadness at the thought of it... of Danny just disappearing without a word to her about it. The sinking feeling was hard to come to terms with. The tease of panic she wanted to let grip her was carefully redirected, and instead, Dove thought to hold on to only her worry over it. Slash moved in the doorway, pressing it wide, and tossing his head back in a wordless demand for her to enter the room. It earned him a heated glare from the younger woman, who crossed her slender arms haughtily over her chest. God did she detest this fucking man.

"Chill the fuck out, girly... he'll be straight. Dog's a survivor if ever was one. Boy's smart as a whip. Prolly found his way back to yer lil' hideout... He'll turn back up when he's ready, that's the way of it." She pushed past him, and he let the door slip closed after her, not bothering with the lock.

Slash's space was chaos. She supposed it only suited him, the scattering of various items of clothing here and there, the multitude of weapons of various sorts strewn about, clusters of bullets and travel bags of multiple purposes.

Charlotte winded her way through the landmines of material on the floor, and sunk languidly down to sit in the chair nearest the door to the patio. Slash didn't seem to mind the clutter at all, moving through it with expert focus to swipe the square silver lighter from the nightstand aside the hotel bed, drawing a joint from his pocket and placing it between his thin lips.

"... Skully took him on when we passed through Texas, first time 'round close to winter when the shit first went down. Was just a scrawny lil' shit then. Ain't nobody but Skully have the mind or patience ta deal with him. Damn feral he was--raiders took his tongue, couldn't speak--only growled and barked an' tried takin' yer fuckin' hand off with his teeth if ya got too close to him... Colt brought him around again. That's why Dog owes him e'rethin'. Been thick as thieves, girly... til we came by ya, at least."

She was hesitant still, and tried not to allow her mind to dwell too long on the details of it all, knowing only what the man standing before her was telling her now. Her arms remained crossed tightly over her chest, and she nodded slowly. "... Alright.. I... I, um... I'm supposed to..."

She trailed off abruptly as she tried to regain her pattern of thought, finding it difficult to clear Daniel from her mind.

"He'll be back. Best believe it, so calm down. I think after bein' that way for so long when it all went down... sometimes he just needs to reset. Sometimes he just wants to be off by himself."

Charlotte's teeth teased her bottom lip nervously. She took in the calm tone of Slash's voice as he sought to do something rather unexpected when reading the absolute worry on the pretty thing's face. He reassured her as best he could. He inhaled deeply of the medicinal herbs, and closed the space between them, his thin fingers curling around her chin delicately to tilt her head back and bring her gaze to meet his own. His thumb brushed her bottom lip as he leaned down and pressed their lips together with devious intent, breathing the mind-altering smoke into her lungs.

This time was glaringly different from the first time he'd dared to be so bold. Charlotte looked as if she wanted to kill him the first time... but now she hardly seemed phased by the gesture. She didn't impulsively pull back or away from him or push her little hands into his chest with vicious defiance and demand for her personal space. Her dark lashes fluttered, threatening to slip closed, and when he pulled back, the mellow annoyance that echoed in her deep brown eyes was far from the smoldering hatred she had looked upon him with days ago.

"Chin up, Charlie. Ain't used ta seein' ya so fuckin' defeated and mousey... not a good look on ya, lil' shit. Where's that spitfire, huh? All that fight and spirit gone, just like that?"

"Dove," she corrected him promptly. He arched a brow, and straightened up, placing the joint between his lips as she exhaled slowly and averted her gaze. "... I... I haven't gotten anywhere fighting against any of you. It's only made things harder for me. It seems the more I fight, the worse things get, so... I gave up. That's what he wants... isn't it? He wants me to be obedient... he wants me submissive, right? That's why I agreed to the contract, because I knew if I fought him on it, he was going to make me accept it. So no... no more fighting, Slash... not from me..."

"... Always a reason ta keep fightin'... Charlie." He extended his hand and offered her the joint. Dove hesitated, and slowly turned her eyes back to him before plucking the small, smoldering bat from his fingers and placing it gently between her lips. "Buck up, kid. Ain't take ya fer a quitter."

"You don't know anything about me," she snapped dryly, the wispy streak of thick, herbal smoke trailing languidly from her lips as she shifted in the chair and crossed her legs. Her eyes shifted back to Slash, who turned his back to her now, and moved about the room quietly, shifting through various bags before digging out a long-sleeved, thick knit shirt better suited for the drop in temperature with the power now cut in the hotel.

"I know yer a stubborn lil' shit... an' ya care too fuckin' much about e'rethin' but yerself, huh? Not gonna win anythin' stickin' yer neck out fer nobody, girly, best believe that." His light green eyes grew hard as he turned his eyes back upon her, carefully winding his belt through the loops of his jeans as he nodded at her. "Ya here ta settle up? Don't worry 'bout it. Pass me up. Like I said, I'm not fond of ya all meek and mild, lookin' like yer about ta fuckin' cry, pipsqueak. Where's the fuckin' fun in that?"

"... How fucking thoughtful of you, Slash! Seriously, you're the last fucker I thought who'd turn me away... except I can't just 'pass you up.' I'm sure you already know that though, don't you? You and Skully talk it all through... right?" She turned her head and pulled her eyes away from him, glaring off at nothing in particular with an uncharacteristically dark, sneering smirk curled over her plush lips. She tapped a bit of the ash growing on the end of the joint against the arm of the chair before placing the joint back between her lips and inhaling deeply.

"I can't go anywhere. I'm sure he's watching, and he's said already he wants details to make sure I'm 'holding up my end of the contract'. If I don't do what he says, then I have to spend the 'wasted night' with him, and I'm not fucking doing that..."

Slash laughed crudely at that, pausing in the search through the cluttered flooring of this suite to look back to her with his light brows arched high. "Tough fuckin' break, kid... but like I said... I don't like this look on ya. So just kick back. I'll tell him myself I shooed ya off, so he don't come down on ya. I got shit ta handle anyways... clock's tickin' down, gonna be a rough ride up coast assuming we don't all end up fuckin' dead tryna make it outta here."

Dove's weary gaze said everything. She didn't trust him; she had absolutely no reason to, but... she had also never known Slash to be anything short of an insane, selfish fucking prick. To be met with a sudden and unexpected act of apparent kindness from him took her off guard. She shifted nervously in the chair and watched as he approached to reclaim the burning herbs from her.

"Ya look like ya slept like shit. So take the pass, and I dunno, fuckin' sleep or somethin'..."

As he moved to sit on the bed and pull the dark tan boots onto his feet, Dove moved to stand and close the space between them. She stole the joint demandingly from his hands and placed it to her lips, drawing in a deep breath.

"...I want you to find Danny."

The mellow, thoroughly amused expression he met her with as he straightened up held an essence of dark curiosity. He had never known Charlotte to be demanding. He certainly didn't expect her to request help from anyone... He took her as proud and untrusting through and through, and so to have her standing before him now basically commanding him to act on her behalf did nothing but ignite a curious sort of amusement in him. He studied her expression as she exhaled and offered the joint back.

"I would do it myself... but I can't, you know that. And I know you know more than what you're telling me of why he isn't here... so do this for me, please. Just check on him. You can call me on the favor later," she said.

"I guess that lil' spitfire's still in there after all, huh? ... Alright, lil' Dove. I'll check up on him fer ya." He laced the boots rapidly and stood in front of her. She stepped back as he moved to shift through the weapons on the floor, taking from the haphazard collection the sheath containing a machete, and one of the high-powered rifles. He checked the magazine, and satisfied with its contents, looped the strap of the weapon over his shoulders.

"... 'Fore I set out, I want somethin' from ya. Aht-aht, save the fuckin' death glare, I ain't mean it that way... just let me check the wound on yer shoulder." A low chuckle answered Charlie's irritated glare before she heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head defiantly.

"It's healed. There's nothing to check." She all but snapped the words.

"Fuckin' hell, kid... just let me fuckin' look at it, will ya?" It was Slash's turn to roll his eyes as she argued against him, but she moved to sit at the foot of the bed nevertheless, easing her arms from the form fitting feminine leather jacket. She didn't bother entirely disrobing, instead simply pulled up the slightly large black thermal up at the back until she fully exposed the healed wound on her shoulder. The signs of scarring were entirely gone now. The area looked as if it had never known violence at all. Smooth unblemished skin with no telling signs of prior injury left behind.

"This is fuckin' wild, Charlie. I'll tell ya what. Looks like ya got yerself some kinda fuckin' superpower."

"Make sure you tell everyone so you all can stop gawking at me like some kind of fucking circus attraction every time you notice..." She released the gathered material with mild irritation and slowly laid back on the bed, letting her eyes slip shut. Slash moved about the room, gathering items that suggested he certainly meant to spend his time out in the cold. Once he was satisfied with the supplies, he moved on toward the door... and hesitated there for a moment.

"I'm sorry 'bout it... catchin' ya with the knife. Fer what it's worth, wasn't even my idea. All the same... it's my bad, kid... and I'm glad ya mended up the way ya did. Lock up, will ya? I'll check back on ya close ta sundown after I find yer lil' boyfriend and we get the shit settled in the back o' the Hummer."

Dove felt a flicker of satisfaction that the insane asshole had thought to apologize for the violence he brought against her... it was unexpected... like much of his behavior today. But it was not at all unwanted or unwelcome. She hesitated a moment before rising to her feet and crossing the room where he waited. That coy, obnoxious, lop-sided grin pulled over his lips. He took the black band from around a thin wrist and gathered most of his silvery blonde hair up, securing it in a loose knot, his eyes sweeping down the petite woman's nimble frame as she drew near. Oh, Slash was showing exceptional restraint by not going back on the earlier gesture of kindness, allowing her out of the contracted day. Even with that brooding scowl on her face, Charlotte had no less of the disturbing allure she always had.

"I'mma hold ya to that favor later on, dollface.... Expect a good show outta it, too!" He moved beyond the door, and she slammed it promptly behind him, snapping the deadbolt in place and the security bar as well with a low, irate growl. How was it that Slash had single-handedly reversed most of her absolute seething detest of him in a few well said phrases, only to obliterate it in two minutes with only two sentences at the very end...

"Fucking asshole."

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