I do not own Fallout or any of it's charicters.
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As always, thank you to Rex Greene, my uncle, good friend and happily willing beta reader! Also, to my friend, Kayla, who came in after Rex to take a secont look. Thank you!
She was a mess. Dust covered her face and clung to her leather armor. Mud caked her boots; mud and... something else.. blood maybe?
Charon didn't know, nor did he truly care. She wasn't somone he would ever look twice at; her hair, a tangled brown mess, framing a plain, dirty face. Normally, Charon wouldn't be looking at her at all, but she was standing and talking with Ahzrukhal, and as Charon's contract owner, Ahzrukhal was to be protected, from Deathclaws to radroaches and everything inbetween, including children straight out of the vault.
She didn't seem to be a threat. Her body was relaxed, her weapons holstered. Her only unrelaxed feature was her face; she seemed annoyed. It suddenly occured to Charon that her and Ahzrukhal were arguing. Over what, Charon couldn't tell, though Azrukhal looked thorougly bemused.
"1000 caps," Danica offered, trying to sound firm. The ghoul's face twisted into a smile as he laughed; a considerably frightening sight for someone who had never seen a ghoul until that day.
"You're kidding, right?" Ahzrukhal continued to laugh, weezing and coughing as he did so. "No, 2000 caps, or no deal."
"Oh, come on! Please?"
Ahzrukhal rased an eyebrow. "Sorry, kid," he said in his usual scratchy, ghoul voice.
"Look, I'm saving up for something important. Let me have him for 1000."
"No." Ahzrukhal's face was completly blank now. "I dont give a fuck what you are doing with your caps. If you want him, it's 2000 caps. Otherwise, piss off."
"Please, there must be some way we can work something out!"
"Wanna kill Greta for me?"
"What?" Danica stared at him for a moment, brown eyes large with shock. "No, i'm not going to kill Greta!"
"Then hand over the caps or take a hike!"
"Ugh!" Danica mumbled obscenities under her breath as she counted out the caps. "1998, 1999, 2000! There you go! Now hand over his contract before i shoot you in the head!"
Ahzrukhal glared at her for a moment before handing her the papers. "I'll give you the pleasure of telling him yourself."
"Thanks," Danica breathed, a tone of sarcasim behind her lips.
Charon watched her as she turned around, took a deep breath and walked straight over to him. Charon was to talk to no one but his contract owner. Ever. That was made more than clear, so when the young woman opened her moth to speak to him, Charon was quick to cut her off. "No," he said barely looking at her. "Talk to Ahzrukhal."
To his surprise, the woman smiled at him. "No," she said, holding out some old papers. "I bought your contract."
"I see," Charon said, heart pounding in his throat. "Please excuse me for a moment."
Pulling out his shotgun, Charon walked over to Ahzrukhal and...
"What the hell was that?" Danica exclimed taking deep breaths after running out of Underworld With Charon, who had just shot and killed his former contract holder.
"He was an evil bastard," Charon said simply.
"You... you're not going to do that to me, will you?"
"No."
"... umm... okay then.. let's get going."
Working for Danica was easy. She was a scavenger and never found much trouble, aside from the occasional raider and vicious dog. He seemed to only be there to carry her things; a ridiculous amount of tin cans and empty soda bottels to be sold in the closest town.
They didnt stop to rest much but when they did, she was kind to him, making sure he was fed, well armed, healthy and rested.
Danica rubbed her eyes and rolled over in her bed to see Charon sitting at her desk, reading a copy of one of her big gun skill books. He saw her looking at him almost right away. Puting the book down, he stood up straight, waiting for her demands as usual.
"You may sit."
He did so with no hesitation. They never really talked. Charon was always so emotionless with an all work kind of attitude.
"Charon..." Danica sat up, stretching.
"Yes, what is it?"
"May I ask you somthing?"
"You hold my contract, therefore you may do whatever you wish."
"What do you think about all day long?"
Charon was silent, his expression, as usual, blank and unchanging. The only sound in the Megaton house was the sound of Wadsworth's jets as he passed by the room.
"It is not my place to question your behavior.."
"No, please do. I would love to hear what you have to say."
Well... If I may ask.. what did you pay for my contract?"
"2000 caps"
"Hmm.."
"Why do you ask?"
"It is not my place to question your behavior."
"No, please tell me. Why did you ask me that?"
"I do not feel that you are puting me to my true potential. I am a body guard, and yet, you take me places where there is not much to guard you from. Was the amont of caps you gave for me worth it?"
Danica smiled. "It will be."
"May I ask the reason for your excessive cap collecting?"
"Why do you ask?"
"It is my expereince that 5000 caps will get you anything you want out here. Why do you continue to collect?"
"Because 2000 caps only buys one slave."
Charon said nothing to this, almost wishing he hadn't asked.
"Are you tired?" Danica asked, gesturing to the bed.
"No."
"May I ask you somthing else?"
"You hold my contract, therefore you may do whatever you wish. What do you ask of me?"
"How did you get this way?"
"Radiation," he answered, sounding defensive.
"Oh no, I know how somone is turned into a ghoul. It was explained to me. What I meant was, how did you get to be a..."
"A slave?"
"I don't think slave is the right word. Slaves dont have contracts."
"Forgive me for disagreeing, but it is the right word."
"Oh.. so, then... how did it happen?"
"I do not wish to tell you, but if you demand it of me, I must."
Charon said nothing after this and so, Danica, not wanting to push the subject, decided to also say nothing.
It was a long walk to Paradise Falls. Not only long but, to Charon's mild delight, dangerous. Not as dangerus as jumping into a Mirelurk nest alone, with nothing but a base ball bat, but compared to their usual outings, dangerous. Danica's gun skills were surprising and somewhat refreshing. There was a few close calls, but nothing a stimpack couldn't fix.
"Wait here," Danica demanded as she turned to leave Charon at the entrance of the slaver town. He did as he was told and watched her enter.
"What the fuck are you supposed to be?"
Charon turned to look at the guard sitting to his right.
"Holy hell! You look like shit! Hey, man, get over here and check out this poor basterd!" Another guard walked over and started to laugh once he got a good look at Charon.
"Oh my god! What the fuck happened to your face?"
Charon sneered at them and looked away.
"What the fuck do you mean I can't have them all?"
"You can't have them all! That's what I mean!"
Danica glared angrily at Eulogy Jones. "I've got the caps!"
"You can have two, but that's it."
That's fucking bullshit! I have the caps! Why can't I have all the slaves?"
"Because, miss.. Danica, was it? I said no! You can't just clean us out like that! It's bad for busieness. Besides, I got three people coming in later to look at the merchindise. What am I going to tell them when they show up and all the slaves have ben bought?"
"Damn it, Eulogy, I don't give a fuck what you tell them! Let me buy them from you!"
"The answer was no. Now get out of here before I have you violently escorted out."
"This isn't over.. I'll be back."
Danica stomped all the way out of Paradise Falls, going back to get Charon. He was standing where she left him but his back was facing two men, who were hysterically laughing.
"I've shit out things that look better than you," she heard one of them say.
Danica took a deep breath and walked over to Charon. "Fuck off, Grouse," she said to one of the men and led Charon away.
It had been a long walk there, but the walk back seemed to be taking even longer. Night fell before they were even half way back to Megaton. It was getting darker and darker out in the wasteland, making it harder to see, so they set up camp in a small clearing.
Danica sat, poking at the fire, watching the flames dance in the darkess and mumbling angrilly to herself. "20,000 caps and he still won't sell them... all for nothing..."
"You seem frustrated," Charon said, hesitantly. Danica only gave an angry grunt before Charon continued. "If I may make a suggestion... Why not get what you want by killing what stands in your way?"
"I don't want to start any trouble."
A long time passed in silence before Charon spoke again. "It is not my place to question your behavior..."
Danica noticed that he had trailed off this time. When he hadn't seemed to have completed his full thought, she spoke lightly and kindly; "Yes, go on."
"If you don't mind me asking... What could you possibly be planning to do with all those slaves?
"Nothing. I don't plan on doing anything with them. I plan to set them free."
Charon was not expecting this at all. Though she hadn't seemed to notice, he couldn't help but stare at her.
"You said you were a slave, right?"
Charon said nothing. His brain was racing. He knew where he hoped this would lead, but knew better than to get his hopes up. But just the thought.. the dream of long-lost freedom always seemed to be nothing more than an impossible fantasy to torture himself with. He had long ago given up the hope of being, one day, set free.
As if reading his mind, Danica continued; "How long has it been since you've known freedom?"
"100 years.. maybe more."
"What would you do? What would you do with your freedom?"
Charon's heart started to race. Don't get your hopes up, he told himself. She didn't even see you as a slave. Just take a breath and answer her question. "I wouldn't know."
"Haven't you ever thought about it?"
"No.. Not for a long time. I have accepted the fact that I will never go free."
There was silence again. The only sound that could be heard was the campfire cracking and popping away. Charon was much calmer now but couldn't help but think about Danica's question. 'What would you do with your freedom?'
"I like weapons."
Danica looked up in suprise at his seemingly random out-burst.
"I like the way they look and the way they feel.. before I was... taken... I dreamed of opening a gun shop.. But I have since abandoned that dream."
"What would you have called it?"
"Dog Meat..."
A smile pulled at the corner of Danica's mouth. "Dog Meat," she repeated. Charon said nothing as Danica held back laughter. "That seems so random... why?"
"It was so long ago... I really do not remember."
"Not even a little?.. I mean... It seems so odd."
"I... I think we had a dog... and my sister... she was the one who named it Dog Meat."
"How old were you?"
"I was 10," he replied flatly, saying nothing else.
Neither slept that night. Odd sounds filled the cold night air and Charon refused to rest. His job was to protect Danica and he was not willing, at any point, no matter how much Danica asked him to, to rest. Danica couldn't sleep, so she sat up with Charon, back to back, keeping each other safe, though he never realized that these were her intentions.
The sun was up within a few hours, the camp fire was put out and they were ready to continue their walk to Magaton. Not much had been said between them after their short, unexpected conversation the previous night. Things didn't change all through their walk, which was perfectly fine with Charon, who never had much desire to speak to anyone in the first place.
When the door to Danica's house was closed, Charon turned and looked at her, waiting for his orders. He was tired and Danica could tell. His eyes seemed glossy with heavy lids, and he had stumbled a few times on the way in. He was an old and tortured ghoul. How old, Danica couldn't tell and wasn't sure if anyone could, really. If he had wrinkles, they must have been hidden by rotting skin.
100 years, he had said. 100 years without freedom.. maybe more. Danica couldn't imagine what that must have been like. "Horrible" may have been the right word. But how would she know? This world was still relatively new to her. She had adapted quickly, but the vault was all she knew before this. Yes, after a while, the vault felt like a prison, but to be a true prisoner.. a slave.. she just didn't know.
"Charon," she said with a little smile.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I want you to go to bed."
"But I-"
"No. You will go up to my room and lay down. And you will stay there until you fall asleep."
"Very well.. How long do you wish for me to sleep?"
"I'll come get you when I'm ready."
Charon had fallen asleep almost right away, though he was woken up once or twice by some loud banging and metalic sounds from downstairs. It is not my place to question her behavior, he thought as he drifted back to sleep.
"Charon... Charon, wake up."
Charon sat up almost right away to see Danica standing in the doorway. "Did you sleep well?" she asked in a sweet voice.
"More or less."
"That's good.. Come with me. There's somthing I need to show you."
Charon stood up and walked with her through the house to the door. The entrance room looked really clean.. too clean. Almost as though she had cleared out all her things. That must be what she was doing the whole time, he thought as she led him out the door.
Charon found himself standing at a small round table, looking at a chair with its back facing Danica's house. She gestured for him to sit, and he did as she sat across from him. "What is it you wish to show me?"
Danica smiled as she rummaged through her bag. "Charon, I've been thinking.. a lot..." She pulled out an ashtray and a book of matches. "About everything we have talked about over the last month or so, though there wasn't much talking, was there?"
Charon said nothing.
"I have considered all you have said.." she trailed off and as she did so, Charon watched as she pulled out some papers. "Do you know what this is, Charon?"
He took a look. He hadn't seen it more then a few times in the last 100 years or so, but he would recognize it anywhere. "It's my contract," he anwered, flatly.
Danica's smile suddenly disappered. Charon watched as she crumbled up the papers, lit a match and set it on fire.
"What are you-"
"It's not your contract," she told him as he watched in shock as the papers quickly turn to ash. "You have no contract."
There was an intense silence as the flame began to die, leaving nothing but ash behind.
"You... I..." Charon stammered. "You mean I'm... I'm..."
"You're free, Charon.. but.. there is one more thing I want to show you..."
Charon stared at her with wide, almost scared-looking, eyes, the first real emotion Danica had ever seen from him.
"Listen very carefully. I want you to stand up and turn around."
Slowly, Charon pushed his chair back and turned.
He was now facing the door to Danica's place.. but it wasn't.. Above the door she had takin an abundance of melted scrap metal and wonder glue to make a sign. Charon stared at the slopy, black paint;
DOG MEAT
Weapons and amo
Thank you for reading!
I plan on having three more chapters and I look forward to your Reviews!