Chapter 1: Mouse

People always say things start off with a bang, but this started off with a creak. She came into The Ninth Circle like a mouse. She opened the door timidly, peeking in to see if anything would attack her. So tiny compared to him, he thought he could snap her in two. As he observed her more carefully though, he saw her small but purposeful steps, her ruck sack packed to the seams with stuff, and a body that was not all that skinny as she came closer. No, she wasn't weak or as breakable as he first thought. Still, with her eyes constantly twitching back and forth, she gave off that prey scent: she was watching for a predator. She had a slight smile on her face, but it looked nervous and forced. Underworld wasn't exactly pleasant and the smell was worse in the small enclosed bar. She looked up at him with dark brown intelligent eyes as she walked past. She stopped before she got to the bar to turn and look at him again. She hesitated before turning towards him and taking quick measured steps toward the back corner of the bar. Now that she was closer he could really see how small she was. She couldn't have been much more than 5 feet tall. She wore an assortment of mismatched attire: an honest-to-god cowboy hat, dusty leather jacket that had seen better days, black top, faded jeans, and combat boots. Her dark hair was braided and wisps trailed around her face. She took off her hat and smoothed a hand over her hair and choppy bangs.

"I reckon your Charon," she said in a smoky voice that washed over him like silk.

"Talk to Azhrukal," he replied looking to his 'boss'. She quirked an eyebrow at him and followed his gaze. She turned back to him and began to open her mouth. "Talk. To. Azhrukal." He looked away hoping ignoring her would get her to listen. She might be a sight for decaying eyes, but he sure as hell wasn't going to get punished for some dame who wouldn't leave him alone.

She cocked her head and heaved a deep sigh that ended in a grimace. She turned on her heel and continued up to the bar where his snake of a 'boss', Azhrukal, greeted her.

Charon was too far away to hear the conversation, but when he heard her ring out a laugh and toss her long brown braid over her shoulder, what was left of his eyebrows lifted as he wondered how much of a mouse she really was. He saw her dump an enormous amount of caps on the counter. Nothing Azhrukal sold cost that much. He could see the smug-ass smile on the bar owner's face as he took out a yellowing scrap of paper.

No. Couldn't be! Azhrukal was going to give away his best defense against the outside world and all threats to this slip of a girl? Must have been a lot of caps for the bastard to part with his body guard and bouncer. Azhrukal was piling the caps up as she turned back towards him looking much more confident.

She gazed down at the paper in her hand. She started to squint then pulled out a pair of glasses from inside her jacket as she neared him. "I'm not really in the slavery business, and this contract sure does sound like slavery." She looked at the paper as he smiled.

"You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal?" he asked. She made a noise of affirmative, "So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know. Please wait here while I take care of something," he grinned and walked over to the bar.

Even with glasses on she couldn't make out much from the contract. It seemed like he was bound to follow whoever held the scrap of aged paper and defend them with his life if needed. Hurting him physically made the contract null and void. Seemed like she could give him as much crap as she wanted as long as she kept it to verbal and emotional abuse. "Fun," she scoffed in disgust. She looked up to find her new bodyguard at the bar with his shotgun pointed at his previous employers face. "Aw, shit!" she exclaimed just as Charon painted the wall with Azhrukal's brains. "Just what the hell have you gotten yourself into, Soph?" She stared up at the ceiling and pushed her fingers across her brow bringing her attention back to the faded relic in her hand. As Charon began walking back towards her she asked him, "What the fuck was that all about?"

"Azhrukal was an evil bastard. So long as he held my contract, I was honor bound to do as he commanded. But now you are my employer, which freed me to rid the world of that disgusting rat. And now, for good or ill, I serve you." He looked down at the slip of a woman he was now employed by and tried to get a read on who she was and what life would be like from now on.

"Heh, serve, eh? OK. Well, we need to square this out now. I don't own people. But I have hired a few bodyguards now and then so we'll work with employ. I'll pay you to follow my orders and if you get tired of me, I'll give your contract to whomever you'd like." She turned around and started to walk towards the door before she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Think it'd be OK to take my money back since that bastard can't use it?" Charon shrugged.

"If you think that's best, mistress."

"Oh, hell no! No, no, no!" His new boss turned around and walked toward him with determination in her step. He tensed up ready for anything. But was surprised by what he got. "I'm not mistress! If I was, you'd be paying me and we'd be in a swanky hotel in New Vegas, hon." Her lips quirked into a devilish smile that went straight below the belt. She seemed to realize what she said and coughed blushing a bit. "Not that I do that sort of thing. I'm a courier. Name's Sophia." She offered him her hand and he just stared at it. People don't shake hands with ghouls. Most of the population thought you could catch ghoulism from physical contact but that wasn't the case. The only way to become a ghoul was just the right amount of radiation over an extended period of time. But that didn't stop people from being ghoulist jerks. Looked like he wouldn't have to deal with that with Sophia. He reached out for her hand and she grabbed it and shook it twice. She smiled up at him and motioned for him to follow. Either this was going to be the best employer he'd ever had, he thought, or this would be the worst as his eyes wandered just below her belt and followed her out the door.