(750 words. Background for Hooker AU.)
Two months of running and fighting and surviving, and she gets caught for trying to steal half-rotted food from a damned brothel.
The guard drags Billie up a flight of stairs to the Madame's office and pushes her inside, closing the door without a word. The office is quite plain compared to the gleaming excess of the rest of the Golden Cat, and the Madame doesn't stand out much either – an older woman with greying hair dressed in neat but simple clothing. She regards Billie with a cool, critical eye from her place behind her desk and says, "So, you're the one who's got the Grand Guard swarming all over my city."
Billie tenses up immediately. She'd hoped there was a chance she might go unrecognized, get out of this with just a scolding if she kept her head down and looked contrite and desperate enough. As though she would ever be that lucky. Her eyes begin to dart around the room, searching for any chance of escape.
The Madame waves a hand at her. "Relax, dear. I've no intention of handing you over to that lot. They're rowdy and messy and rude to my girls, and I refuse to lift a finger to help them do their job." She laces her fingers together on the desk in front of her and tilts her head curiously. "Tell me, though, are you truly a killer like they say?"
Anger burns through Billie's caution. "I killed one man who deserved to die," she snaps. "If that's enough to call me a killer, then yeah. I'm a killer like they say."
The Madame considers Billie for a long moment, her expression unchanging, until Billie begins to fidget and eye the doors and windows again. Eventually, she lets out a quiet sigh and nods. "Yes, I'm afraid I can believe that. The Duke has always seemed decent enough, as far as royalty goes, but those sons of his… It was only a matter of time before one of them pissed off somebody who didn't care about his title." She shakes her head and waves a hand to beckon Billie over. "Come here, girl, and let me get a better look at you."
Billie does so, warily drawing closer and stopping just in front of the desk.
The Madame stands and reaches out, placing her fingertips delicately under Billie's chin and tilting her head this way and that. "Hm, lovely with a bit of work, I'm sure," she mutters to herself. She pulls her hand away after a moment and crosses her arms. "Unfortunately, the portrait on your wanted poster is a fair likeness, but I believe I could do something about that. Feed you up, change your hair, cover some of the scars – anyone truly looking wouldn't be fooled, but the Guard won't expect a street rat to achieve such a drastic change in appearance. You could manage to get by."
Billie takes a step back and narrows her eyes suspiciously. "And what would you want out of me?"
"You would need to work here, and I assume you know what kind of work that is." When Billie immediately begins to shake her head and back away, the Madame holds up a hand to halt her. "This is simply an offer. I don't like the idea of throwing you back out there to the hounds, but I can't be hiding a wanted criminal or taking coin out of my girls' pay to help you escape. You're free to leave now, and I won't raise any alarms, but I urge you to consider staying. You've been running a long time, and you've done impressively well, but I doubt if your luck will hold much longer."
Billie hesitates. She's spent so long trying to avoid this, fighting and stealing from the moment she left her mother rotting at home, trying to find any other way to survive. But the Madame is right. What little luck Billie still has isn't going to last. Someone will eventually get the best of her, either a Guardsman with a good shot or some other desperate street kid willing to sell her out. Hunger gnaws constantly at Billie's insides and despair clouds her mind at night, but she is still not quite ready to give up her life to the inevitable.
It's not the worst it could be. It's not a filthy mattress thrown down in a back alley.
She swallows hard, meets the Madame's eye, and gives a short nod.
