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Enjoy! Sadly this is a major filler chapter. Thanks again for reading :)

Chapter 7 – The New Ghoul in Town

Chrys kicked the bent can with her foot as she walked along the side of the paved roadway making the small object her main source of entertainment. Occasionally Charon would say it was fine for her to play the radio and she would play a couple of songs until he gave a signal for it to be turned off so he could listen to the environment. Her first day with him had been an eventful one and she was glad to have gotten somewhere with him on their little chat before they had left Underworld. There was still a long way for her to go with him, but she had taken psychology in the Vault and understood that people weren't "fixed" at the turn of a dime. Still she wanted to believe she was making some smattering of a difference for him.

"Kid? A slave? Really? I thought you were above that?" Three Dog had asked when Charon had left to go put their stuff away. She shook her head.

"I know, I know, but I couldn't just leave him where he was and he's my companion not a slave!" she responded in a hushed whisper. Three Dog had apparently heard of Charon from Quinn who traveled to GNR from time to time and knew the details of the contract. "You have to swear not to tell anyone about the contract."

"Fine kid, but… be careful for Christ's sake."

Chrys sighed and continued along the road. They were heading to Megaton as Charon had advised that they not follow the Potomac River exactly and that they might as well head to that Jury Street cache before heading to Rivet City. She wanted to head to Rivet City immediately, but Charon's point was valid. Mutants would litter the ruins and Mirelurks laid claim to the river. Nevertheless every day spent not making her way to her dad brought them that much further apart. She looked up to the sky and prayed that her dad was alright though she was sure she'd find him at Rivet City in decent condition.

In the distance she saw the wall of Megaton appear over the horizon. She smiled at the thought of almost being at her "home" despite how temporary it might be. She was unsure whether Megaton would be her permanent home one day as she could go live with her father once she found him or maybe just keep traveling the wastes. The fact that her father had lied to her all these years did leave quite a damper on her desire to find him, and maybe he was taking this separation as bad as she was and prolonging it could be like his punishment. The thought of punishing her father however felt… wrong. She was sure he didn't mean for any of this to happen, but she still felt a well of sadness and frustration in her stomach at the thought of him abandoning her.

She turned her head to see Charon walking a couple feet behind her. He kept his vision focused ahead, but every now and then his eyes would scan the area. She pulled her lips into a line as she watched him. If he was bothered by it, he made no display of it.

"So Charon, umm… have you ever been to Rivet City or Megaton?" she asked trying her best to strike up some small talk. The question seemed to catch him off guard but he still responded, albeit hastily.

"I've never been inside Megaton or Rivet City." He said. Chrys motioned for him to walk closer to her.

"Hey unless I smell horrible I don't see why you're walking that far back. We can walk side-by-side you know." She waved him forward again. He came forward probably more out of adherence to the contract than actually wanting to. "Have you ever journeyed this far into the wasteland?"

"Yes."

"Have you traveled farther than this?"

"Yes."

"How far?"

He scowled a bit, not looking at her but aiming it toward the horizon. "Massachusetts."

"Massa- what?" she asked. The name sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"The state of Massachusetts. Or more so what was left of it after the bombs fell." He said trying his best to repress the memories of those times.

"Dang. Wait are you a pre-war ghoul?" she asked, hopeful that he would say "yes". She knew Carol was a pre-war ghoul but she didn't know if Charon was.

"Yes." He answered curtly.

"Can you tell me about it?"

"About the war?"

"No the life before it." She had always been interested in the pre-war times, mostly the technology, but also what in the world led to her ancestors deciding to blow the heck out of each other.

Charon looked down at the ground for once. He hadn't had to think about the pre-war times in a long time, and he never really wanted to since they were long gone and there was no going back to them.

Chrys saw the consternation on his face and placed a hand on his arm, "Hey, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"But you asked it of me."

"I asked if you could not that you should. There's a difference." She said as she patted his arm.

"Not in contract terms there isn't." he said as they neared the gate to Megaton.

"Okay how about this," she said stopping before the gate, "If I explicitly state, 'Charon, I order you to, blah blah blah' then it's an order. Otherwise it's a request or suggestion and you don't have to follow it."

Charon eyed her with a skeptical look but nodded a moment later.

"Good, now could you open the gate?" she asked.

"Nope." He smirked a bit.

"Hah! Now you're getting it!"

With that out of the way Chrys pulled the gate to Megaton open and happily dragged Charon inside giving him a clear view of the strangest peace of civilization he'd seen in a long time. She stopped to let him take in the city with a smile on her face as she watched to gauge his reaction to their "home". His expression didn't seem to change at all as his pale eyes scanned the area with deep scrutiny and it wasn't until he let out a huff that he turned his head to look down at her. She bit her lip out of nerves.

"So what do you think?" She asked as she made a swooping gesture as if presenting the city to him again.

He clicked his tongue, "My opinion should probably be heard in private. The locals might not like to hear it."

Chrys sighed 'Great, he hates it here.' At that moment she saw the familiar form of Lucas Simms traipse up the path towards them. Chrys could see the man's demeanor change from welcoming to stand-offish once his gaze flicked from her to the massive ghoul standing beside her. 'Oh come on! He can't be that bad!?' She waved to Simms anyway. "Hey Sheriff!" He returned the gesture with much less enthusiasm.

"Chrys you're back… and with a… friend?" Simms asked as his eyes trailed up and down Charon, most likely gauging Charon's possible threat level which was interesting since Chrys could see Charon doing the exact same thing to Simms.

"Yep, this is Charon. He's my companion and is helping me learn how to survive out in the Wasteland." She patted Charon on the arm hoping he would catch the signal to ease up on his cauterizing glare. He seemed to get the message and relaxed allowing Simms to relax as well.

"He a merc?" Simms asked blatantly. Chrys wasn't necessarily sure how to respond.

"Yes, but I knew Miss Winchester's father and I owe him a favor… helping out his daughter is the least I could do." Charon responded on his own volition which rather surprised Chrys but she kept her expression neutral as to not give anything away to Simms.

"A favor hmm? And how do you know her father?" Simms asked.

"I escorted him to GNR after he had come through here. Needless to say he saved my ass from being butchered by other smoothskins." Charon explained, the lie not showing at all on his face.

"And you know where he went afterwards?" Simms asked.

"He left towards Rivet City, but that place is highly unwelcoming of ghouls so he and I parted ways."

Chrys had to hand it to Charon… he was a pretty good liar or maybe he was an average liar and she couldn't lie for shit. However the stunt she played on Ahzrukhal seemed to work out fairly well but that wasn't entirely lying. Nevertheless, her companion's lies were working on the sheriff and kept the topic of Charon's services out of the conversation. The less likely the contract came up, the better.

Chrys knew that the more people learned about the contract the more people would want to get their hands on it… especially those like Moriarty. But while she knew someone like Simms wouldn't try and take the contract from her, the less word that spread about Charon's true terms of service the better. Plus it gave Charon some ounce of equality with everyone if they were ignorant of his "chains".

Once Simms was done questioning Charon he tipped his hat to the ghoul and welcomed the ghoul to the city, warning him to stay out of trouble and to be wary of people's reactions to his presence. That bit of warning irked Chrys as she still couldn't quite grasp why people looked down upon ghouls… plus the thought of someone trying to talk bad about Charon just seemed like someone asking for an ass-kicking. As the sheriff left she turned to Charon and pointed towards her home situated directly behind him.

When they entered the home she gave him a tour of the homestead with a good bit of excitement. She didn't own much but the thought of this house actually being hers gave her a bit of happiness especially after seeing how not everyone in the Wasteland was as lucky.

"And this is the spare room… which we need to get a mattress for you to sleep on." She said as she peered into the small room which already contained a bedframe. Charon scanned the room and found that other than the bedframe there wasn't much else in the room… but it was more than he got at the Ninth Circle. "You can decorate it however you want big guy. It's yours so do what you will. Also I figure you can lay claim to whatever locker of your choice downstairs. I have most of my stuff in the filing cabinet in my room… granted I don't really have that much."

Chrys turned and dragged him down to the kitchen and showed him the small store of food she had there. "Anything you like?" There wasn't much but she knew he had to be hungry after their long trek. But he shook his head.

"You need to eat more than I do." He said in the general tone he used when the contract was talking more than him. She puffed out her cheeks and eyed the little amount of food in the fridge.

"I'm not that hungry so you can dig in big guy." She made another presenting gesture.

"We will be journeying to Jury Street tomorrow and you need to be fed so I suggest you eat now so you don't come to regret it later tomorrow. I will be fine." Charon explained. To her surprise, and her amusement, he did a mock presenting gesture to the food as well. She couldn't help but smile.

She looked at the clock on her Pip Boy and found it was still fairly early in the afternoon. Gob had warned her that the saloon got busy around 8:00 and it wasn't even 5:00 yet. She glanced up at Charon and bit her lip thinking about Simms' warning about people's reacting to the massive ghoul's presence in the town. 'To hell with their prejudice they can get used to him!'

"How about we head to the saloon and get something to eat and drink in about an hour? Until then we can head to the supply store and see if we can get you a mattress. Sound good?" Chrys suggested. Charon huffed but nodded in agreement. She smiled and stowed her weapons away in her room. Charon held onto his shotgun not wanting to go out without a good bit of leverage against people… not that his size and the knife he kept strapped to his boot wouldn't do that enough, but still it was precautionary.

Chrys smiled and just before she headed out the door she paused and turned, "That's right… Wadsworth."

"What?"

"Wadsworth!" Chrys called. The robot, which had been hidden away at its charging station suddenly awoke and floated over to its master and the new individual accompanying her.

"Yes madam how may I serve you?" the robot chimed.

"This is Charon and he lives here now as well." She gestured to ghoul and the robot's sensor followed to him.

"Ah yes… what shall I address him as madam?" Wadsworth asked as a scanner traveled over Charon's form.

"Uh… what do you want him to call you Charon?" Chrys asked peering up at the ghoul. He raised a brow and shrugged.

"I'm not used to having a title higher than bodyguard. Whatever you deem appropriate." Charon said. Chrys slowly grinned as she thought of all the possibilities.

5 minutes later

"His Royal Highness?" Charon asked as the duo made their way to Craterside Supply. Chrys happily walked with a little bounce in her step.

"What? You said whatever I deemed appropriate. And 'His Royal Highness' seemed rather appropriate." Chrys said as they reached the front door of the supply store. Charon shook his head after rolling his eyes, he followed after the Vault girl into the store to see an even bubblier sounding red-head and a somewhat imposing guard situated at the side wall.

"Oh you're back! Oh that's a big ghoul friend you got with you!" the clerk said as she quickly got in Charon's personal space, much to his chagrin, and looked him over sporadically. It was strange and somewhat uncomfortable, but he braved it nonetheless. 'Is there no sane woman out here?'

Chrys went through the routine "This is Charon" introduction she had gotten used to saying lately. Moira seemed to keep taking particular interest in him which he still found unsettling even after she had given him space to go talk with Chrys.

"He's an interesting specimen. I usually don't get to see a ghoul this big this close… granted I don't think I've ever seen a ghoul your size there. But no matter, I'd study Gob more if I had the chance but the poor sweetie is always busy with Moriarty." Moira flashed a smile to Chrys, "Oh will you let me study him some?" Charon's mouth pulled to a straight thin line and shot Chrys a disapproving look.

Chrys scratched the back of her head and gave a small grin to Moira, "I'm sorry, but I don't think he wants to be… studied… or experimented on… or whatever it is you plan on doing to him." Moira snapped her fingers and shook her head in resignation.

"Oh darn well that's okay." Moira said and finally focused on asking what Chrys had come to her shop for.

Charon browsed the different wares the Moira had as Chrys bartered with Moira for a mattress and some sheets for him to use. Charon scoped out the supplies and made a mental list of supplies he would advise Chrys to purchase while they were here.

"Find anything you want Charon?" the kind voice of the Vault girl sounded from behind him. He turned to look down at her, dang she was short, and found her looking up at him expectantly. She had one of those soft toothless smiles adorning her face and her hands were crossed behind her back. Her big brown doe eyes peering up at him… he felt awe-struck by her.

He shook his head, and the feeling, away and cocked his head back to the rack of supplies. "Just some supplies I would advise you on acquiring before we leave town."

"Sweet. Show me the goods." She said moving to stand beside him. They collected a good amount of supplies that were, Charon noticed, in much better quality than those found in Underworld. After purchasing the supplies and arranging for the delivery of the mattress the two headed out of the shop. Immediately they were met with the fascinated expression of two young kids. Chrys recognized them: the boy was Simms' son and the girl lived with Billy West. It didn't take long to realize they were staring at Charon.

"You're huge!" the girl spoke up. Charon was unsure of how to deal with children… other obvious limitations aside, there were none of them in Underworld so he had little exposure to them in a very long time. Did he chase them away? Did he humor them? After a second he looked towards Chrys with a conflicted look. She giggled.

"Yeah he's huge alright." Chrys said and then bent down to be at eye level with the children, "And guess what? He's got superpowers too!"

The kids made even greater fascinated expressions as they flicked their eyes between the Vault girl and Charon. He scratched the back of his neck unsure of where Chrys was going with this.

"He's super strong and can take down Super Mutants! He can even survive an atomic bomb!" Chrys said making a mock explosion with her hands. The kids were fascinated beyond belief… and oh so gullible. Charon had forgotten how easy it was to impress children. All pre-war ghouls survived an atomic bomb technically but it wasn't like these kids knew that.

"Can he pick us up?" the boy asked.

Chrys stood up and eyed him with a sly expression, "I don't know, can he?"

'You've got to be kidding me smoothskin.' He scowled and looked down at the kids. They held up their little arms expectantly.

"Maggie! What are you doing!?" The call of a man sounded. Charon looked to see a man rushing to where the four of them stood. He came to halt when he neared them and slowly inserted himself between the towering ghoul and the two children. "Hello there… ummm… Chrys was it?"

"Yes. Hello Billy. The kids were curious whether Charon here could pick them up." Chrys quickly explained before any accusations could be thrown. Billy barely calmed a bit.

"Well I've been looking for them. They need to get home." He turned to the two kids and ushered them off despite their disapproving groans and pleas to let Charon pick them up. "Thank you for keeping an eye on them."

When the three were gone Charon breathed a sigh of relief. Chrys turned to look at him, a confused expression on her face, "Come on it couldn't be that bad. They're just kids, they weigh what? Like ninety pounds each? You could've lifted them no problem."

"That's not the point smoothskin." Charon said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think any parent wants to see their kid standing in front of a huge monster asking for it to pick them up?" he asked shooting her a cold glare. It unsettled her, but she held her gaze with him.

"Well no, but you're not a monster."

"To smoothskins like you I am."

"Oh please not everyone can really think you're a—"

"I just am in their eyes. The sooner you understand that, the better." His icy tone made it clear this conversation was done. He was ready to move on to the next item on their agenda and he hoped the topic wouldn't be brought up again. It pained him however to see the hurt in her eyes as her head dropped and she turned to head toward her house to drop off the supplies they purchased. He cursed himself internally and quickly caught up with her in a few long strides. He didn't ever mean to upset her, but it was Wasteland social norms that she need to understand that smoothskins hated ghouls in general, and a ghoul as massive and daunting as he would elicit even more fear than usual. Hell he was almost eye-level with a Super Mutant!

But how many times was he going to say that the sooner she understood something, the better?

10 minutes later

Chrys opened the door to Moriarty's Saloon and strolled inside making sure Charon just walked in rather than doing his usual scrutinizing of every new location. He didn't like the look of this place, but he had grown rather spiteful of bars with bastard owners which from what Chrys had informed him, Moriarty definitely was. They sat down at the bar and Charon scanned the room seeing no immediate threat. Additionally there was no immediate service at the counter which he could see drew concern from his mistress. Eventually Gob showed up and Charon was expecting of Gob's surprise at his presence.

Gob quickly got to the two of them and flashed a grin at Chrys, "You're back… but this doesn't look like your dad." The smaller ghoul was definitely nervous and frightened. Charon figured that would be the case as the last time Gob saw him Charon was still the infamous bouncer. "In fact it's kind of shocking to see you here… Charon."

Chrys smiled a bit and patted Gob on the hand, which elicited a strange feeling from Charon. 'What the? She's just patting his hand. What do I care?' He shook his head lightly and returned his attention to Gob.

"Charon travels with me now." Chrys said. Gob leaned in closer.

"And ummm… Ahzrukhal? Is he?" Gob dragged his finger along his neck in a quick motion.

"Yes." Charon responded curtly.

Chrys's smile died but she kept a calm face focused on Gob. "If you know anything… could you keep it on the down-low?"

"The contract you mean?" Gob clarified, shooting a glance toward Charon every other word as if afraid the massive ghoul will pounce on him.

Chrys nodded. Charon narrowed his eyes, the bartender shaking under the gaze.

"I won't say nothing." Gob swore. "Now uh, what can I get you to drink?"

"Nuka me as usual!" Chrys replied with an eager tone. She turned her head to the imposing ghoul on the stool beside her with a curious look. Charon eyed the girl and then his gaze bounced back to Gob. "What do you want big guy?"

Charon tapped the counter, "I'll just have a beer."

Gob nodded and went to retrieve the two drinks. The Vault girl playfully tapped out a tune on the counter as she waited and occasionally shot a glance to Charon. He could never understand her bouncy and cheerful attitude at times, especially in a place like this, but seeing something like it was rare in the wasteland. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, granted his opinion didn't matter.

"Hey hon you made it back alive. Didn't think your dad was a ghoul." A sickly sweet and definitely sultry voice sounded from behind them. Charon eyed the red headed prostitute behind them. Chrys had said her name was Nova.

"Nova! No this isn't my dad, he's just my companion." Chrys said patting him on the shoulder, a gesture that he found rather odd.

"He's a big motherfucker that's what he is." Nova said as she took a seat on the opposite side from Chrys. Chrys laughed a bit and explained to the hooker how Three Dog said almost the exact same thing while Charon drummed his fingers impatiently on the counter, trying to keep it quiet so he would not draw attention to himself. When Gob returned with the drinks the three got deep into conversation while Charon nursed his beer in silence. He had no intention of joining in the conversation and found himself scanning the bar for any threats. Men would eye Chrys from time to time as well as Nova but one look at him sent their gazes elsewhere. And that was fine by him.

After a while there was a pat on his upper arm. He turned to see the big brown eyes, hidden behind spectacles, of his employer. She smiled up at him. "Are you just going to be silent there Charon?"

He could feel his cheeks warming and he never felt so thankful to have no skin on his face than he did right now. "You are having fun without my incorporation."

"Well are you having fun?"

"Yes."

"No you're not."

"Conversation does not always equate to fun."

Chrys puffed her cheeks a bit and shrugged. "Well you don't have to sit there all broody and killjoy like."

"Killjoy?"

She poked his side. It had no effect except it brought a big smile to her face. "Yeah big guy. You could use some friendly chat. Those vocal cords need some exercise." Charon rolled his eyes. When he made no effort to join in his employer's smile slowly died a little with each minute.

1 hour later

Chrys opened the door to her home and scurried inside to see if the mattress for Charon had arrived. She smiled when she found the mattress sitting on the frame with a set of old sheets on top, which she was not yet accustomed to as the Vault always seemed to have new sheets for them to use, but there were limited fabric resources out in the wasteland so there was little she could do about it.

"Charon! Your bed is here!" she called down the stairs to the lumbering ghoul who just entered and locked the door behind him. He shot a glance up to her and his expression was rather void of any sort of excitement or happiness. She wrinkled her nose a bit at him and stuck her tongue out, "Fine I'll be happy for both of us big guy." She set to making the bed and before she could get very far the sheets were apprehended from her grasp and she and her new companion bent a couple minutes going back and forth at who should make the bed. Finally she gave up and let him make it himself - deciding to follow his instruction to go get some sleep since they'd be heading out early in the morning.

When she finished changing and packing her things she headed to check on Charon's progress to adjusting to his new room figuring he'd be a little stagnant with his freedom to do what he wanted.

"Liking the new room?" she asked from the doorway. He turned to look back at her and instantly froze. "What?"

His gaze lingered on her for a moment which then quickly directed back to packing his stuff in a corner and a curtly, "It's fine. I'm not used to it."

"If you need anything let me know okay? Or… well you look like you know what you're doing for the most part so you don't need me to go do something for you I guess. So you know if you need anything you can go get it yourself or-"

"You're rambling mistress."

"Hey! I said you don't have to call me mistress! You can call me Chrys!"

"I'll address you as necessary… and that is what I'm used to when referring to a female."

Chrys grumbled a bit at that, not wanting them to be on a title-calling basis as it did make her feel like she owned him or presided over him when she really didn't want to feel that way. But she couldn't quite argue that maybe giving him all this freedom was a little overwhelming for him to understand and deal with and after what she dealt with when she left the vault she couldn't quite blame him either.

"Well goodnight Charon."

She wasn't surprised when she received no response except that he paused from going through the bag that she was sure he had gone through about three times while she'd been standing there. With that she shrugged and returned to her room, a silent prayer in her heart that she could help Charon understand freedom one day.

OMG! I didn't even realize how long it's been since I updated this dang thing! And this is such a stupid crappy filler chapter I hope you all forgive me T_T