Chapter One- You Owe Me One

The harsh sun of the wastes beat down on the small town of Megaton. Waves of heat, and radiation pooled over the residents, and many had chosen to stay within their homes rather than go outside. A few dedicated church members still decided to come out to worship a long disarmed atomic bomb that they'd named Atom, which sat directly in the middle of the town.

Winding a little ways along the slightly rusted, makeshift stairs, the Wanderer's house stood. A cleanly kept outside betrayed the inside, which let out a loud clatter from within.

"Owch!" the Wanderer hissed as the cabinet full of armor toppled atop her, "Son of a-"

Rubbing her head, the tied up mess of strawberry blonde hair stuck to the beads of sweat that formed on her brow. While her crystal blue eyes squinted shut through the dull throb of pain.

Once the pain had subsided, she gazed to the floor where her hoard of armor was scattered on the floor. The original plan was to fix up the broken ones, and throw out the spare parts- but procrastination sounded like a better idea to the Lone Wanderer. So instead, she hauled out a few pieces to repair her own armor, and shoved the rest back into the locker- trying to ensure another avalanche of metal wouldn't befall her again.

"There... now that this is taken care of, we'll just fix up the armor I have and... there!" she fiddled with the last pieces before flopping backwards into her chair.

Her companion, a heterochromia canine, who looked more like a wolf that a dog, lay on his back with his tongue hanging out and panting. The poor thing was absolutely sweltering in the heat, and unfortunately then needed to head out into the wastes again soon. The young woman- now ungracefully sitting in her chair, a cold bottle of Nuka Cola pressed to her forehead, honestly didn't want to leave so soon anyways- but there was a difference between wants and needs. This was something that needed to be done.

"Alright boy, let's grab some gear and head out... we'll be sure to tell Gob and Nova bye before we leave. Maybe say bye to Moria too?" she gave half a chuckle at the mention of the crazy woman's name.

Moria was a very nice woman, but she... had a few missing screws in her armor- if you know what I mean. Her wasteland survival guide was still in the making of being written, and one major reason progress had halted was because the poor newbie from Vault 101 wasn't as skilled with a real gun as she was with her BB gun.

Between the shock of the gun and the lack of endurance on her end, it wasn't surprising she'd come back home with a few broken limbs and almost fatal wounds. Doctor Church had given her a severe reprimanding on 'wasteland safety' and how 'she had no common sense' but she knew it was because he was worried. He was just one of those kind of men that couldn't show it well.

Outside was surprisingly cooler than inside the house. A warm breeze washed over her face, and blew the loose strands of hair dancing around her face and attempting to convince her to eat them. This was met with a bit of sputtering and pulling of said strands away from her face, and repositioned behind her ears.

The bar was a short jog away, and luckily it was early enough that it was pretty much empty. The smoky atmosphere inside being kind of breathable, as well as the tables and chair being as clean as they could for the wastes. An empty seat right in front of the counter greeted the Wanderer and she gladly took it.

"Oh hey Grace! How's it goin'?" Gob perked up happily, at the sight of his friend.

Gob was one of the first to greet Grace in the wastes that wasn't a complete ass. The happy ghoul used to be pretty depressed and sad, but due to a recent death- that being the malicious Moriarty, who mysteriously passed about a week ago- his mood had improved and he was far happier than she'd ever seen him. Per usual since the previous owners death, he grabbed her a glass of cold, yet irradiated, water and slid it over to her.

Grace in turn slide 4 caps out onto the counter and smiled, "How's business my main man?" she laughed before waving over to Nova, who slid a seat next to the wanderer.

With a small whine, Dogmeat called out for attention- to which Nova granted with a nice scratch behind the ear. Sometimes that dog got more attention than most men she'd ever shared a bed with, which wasn't a bad thing. It was good for her to have an animal companion!

"Not bad smoothskin, and uhh... thanks again for... well... you know," he chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, what was left of chestnut brown hair ruffling beneath his fingers.

One thing that was interesting to note about ghouls, the wanderer found, was that they all either had smokey blue eyes or smokey green. Probably a symptom from their ghoulification. The race had to deal with people- by the majority- being racist and wanting to 'shoot them god damned zombies in the head'. While the wanderer wasn't much of one for science, it was interesting to note that, while most people said they were rotting, their skin had developed a protective layer to protect the muscle tissue. It was a rougher than normal skin, much like a clear or see through callous, making it all the more odd that people called them squishy...

But that happy and friendly attitude was what drew the wanderer back to the bar every time she came back to town, and the kindness of both the bar keeper, and the now co-owner and room rental maid, made Megaton a better place. However, Nova made it known she wasn't afraid to stab someone if they got out of hand, and Gob wasn't half bad with bar fighting either.

"Don't mention it! Haha! Ahh- seriously, I could get in a LOT of trouble if the sheriff found out!" Grace gave half a chuckle.

Typically killing wasn't her style, but she used the good ol' sandman technique the other night after Nova had to take care of a particularly beaten and bloodied Gob. The poor guy hadn't even done anything wrong- Moriarty was just mad he'd lost a game of cards and took it out on the poor guy.

With the last swig of her water the apricot haired female set the glass down and nodded, "I'm going to be leaving town again, and I don't know how long I'll be gone so I wanted to bid you guys farewell while I was away!" she smiled, leaning on the counter a bit.

Nova poured a small bit of water into a bowel and set it down for Dogmeat, who quickly lapped the fluid up, "You've only been back a couple days, you sure you want to leave again so soon sug?"

"Yeah, if I don't head out again, who knows how far my dad will be out in the wastes before I catch up with him again..." she sighed, "Worst part is... I'm kinda wandering, I don't even know where to head to next,"

The spoon on the counter suddenly became very interesting as the pushed it around with her pointer finger. She was really worried... it seemed like any leads or anything she'd come across only lead her to a dead end of some sort, or worse. Her grave was almost a couple of dead ends...

Gob was silent a few moments before he finally spoke up, "Smoothskin? You helped me out... a lot, so I'll tell ya that bit of information I kept hidden away when Moriarty ran the place alright?"

Grace had almost forgotten that she'd not been able to convince Gob to tell her anything the first time she'd been around. A smile spread across her cheeks and she nodded, "Alright! I'll take whatever bit of information I can get!"

"There's a place called Underworld, it's where most ghouls like me come from," he nodded as he recollected the way to get there, pointing it out on her pip boy, "Go there, and you should be able to get some sort of information, oh! If you see a ghoul called Carol...? Would you tell her I said hi?"

Grace didn't even question it, "Of course I will! Thank you Gob! Thank you so much!" with that she whistled for Dogmeat and took off towards the gate to megaton, and towards Underworld.

'I'll find you dad! Just you wait! Then I'll get my answers!'

Crossing the wastes wasn't as easy as her previous missions. There seemed to be a lot more raiders, and deadly super mutants the closer you got to downtown DC. Dogmeat was growling and the explosions from frag grenades and heavy fire from miniguns was almost overwhelming.

Grace had to stop a moment in one of the trenches to catch her breath, and shook as the explosion from yet another frag grenade exploded a mere five feet from her, and sent her sprawling onto her stomach. She groaned as her hunting rifle slid away from her, and her ears rang. Everything was in slow motion as one super mutant found her hiding area.

Struggling to crawl over to her weapon, the mutant aimed his own rifle at her to fire.

"Grr...!" Dogmeat growled as he launched himself at the mutant, and locked his jaw down onto the big green behemoth's forearm, causing the mutant to yell in pain.

Grace took advantage of this moment, and pushed her aching body over to her rifle, gripping it between her fingers she aimed at the offender and shot three times.

"YIP!" one stray shot hit her furry companion and she bit back a scream.

Luckily the other two shots hit her target, one in the eye and one in the shoulder.

Dogmeat had let go f the mutant in the misfiring incident, and crumpled to the ground, a soft whimper leaving his throat. This caused Grace to panic as she rushed over to her furry companion and looked at the damage. A pool of red spilled from underneath his belly and she had to blink back salty tears. All the while she cursed her inexperience with guns.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" the super mutant had recovered from his wounds and looked around for his dropped weapon.

The young woman had used the last of her stimpaks a little while ago as they'd left the metro and entered into the war zone that was happening over in the DC area. Poor Dogmeat looked like he couldn't even walk, and she'd be damned if she left the furry guy behind after all the times he'd saved her ass. So, lifting the dog onto her back and leaning forward, she heaved him up. It was going to be a struggle, but she'd manage.

She felt cold sweat pour down her back as she stumbled towards the entrance to Underworld. At least, her pipboy had said the entrance would be over this way. She sure as hell hoped so, otherwise she was screwed.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

'Damn! They're getting closer!' the female cursed as she turned around and reached for her side arm, her 10 mm pistol.

But he was too close, and there was no time to fire. A nail board slammed down on her hip, crippling her and sending her furry friend toppling across the pavement.

"DOGMEAT!" she hissed, the flood of pain and adrenaline coursing through her veins, "Fuck..."

She turned over and held her pistol up to shot the bastard in the face, but her arms were so weak and shaky the bullets just whizzed by. She closed her eyes and held her breath as the beast approached to lay another solid blow to her, this time aiming for the head.

BAM!

The beast stopped dead in his tracks, and crumpled to the ground. This sudden noise cause the wanderer to open her eyes and glance over towards the sound.

Slightly behind her stood a red headed female, adorned in armor- but not just any female, a ghoulette? The wanderer smiled, as she flopped back onto her back. She'd made it to the entrance to underworld.

"Oh thank god!" she almost cried, putting a dirt and sweat drenched hand over her eyes.

There was very few times she'd been scared for her life, and this was definitely one of them. The only other time was a near death experience with a bunch of raiders which she'd made a hasty retreat back to Megaton soon after.

"Well, well... looks like we've got a tourist," the ghoulette stated blandly as she looked the other over.

"Nnn..? Tourist? But I'm no tourist..." Grace managed to reply, as she used her hunting rifle as a crutch to help herself stand up.

"You're in DC, where the Washington Monument as well as several other exhibits reside- you're a tourist, as well as a pretty little rag doll," she commented as she gestured to the torn appearance of the other.

Looking at herself she did look very much like a torn up doll. Her armor was broken in some areas, while her clothes were torn and tattered in others. If she wouldn't have known better, she would have thought she was looking at a ghost.

"D-dogmeat!?" she suddenly panicked as she looked around desperately.

"You're little pup? Hold on, lemme take a look at him," she walked over and gazed at the dog, who looked like he'd seen better days, "Hmmm... he needs immediate medical attention... otherwise..."

Grace didn't need the other to finish, so she stumbled towards her dog, "It's okay boy... I'm gonna get you some help alright? Just... let me figure out how to..."

The ghoul hauled the younger up like she was nothing and pointed towards the entrance to the building in front of them, "Get going, I'll carry your pet... can't just leave you out here to die in the sun,"

Grace nodded, "T-thank you... uhh, sorry I didn't get your name," she was still amazed at how kind ghouls could be when most people weren't this kind out in the wastes.

"Willow," the woman spoke as she lifted up the injured dog like he was a feather.

Willow was a lot stronger than the wanderer herself to say the least. She'd struggled like crazy to lift her companion, while Willow was literally shouldering a 40 pound animal, while carrying a rifle in her other hand. If nothing else it was impressive.

Upon entering the building itself however, it was interesting to note the sight of several ancient beasts skeletons lying around the entrance. They resembled giant lizards and she had to keep herself from shivering at the thought of the beasts actually living at some point. A lot of the things outside the vault looked like something from an old horror movie, and she regretted ever watching them. Now her mind raced when she was in the wastes, and with as bad a shot as she was? Se couldn't chance being distracted by nightmares. She'd just been lucky to have Dogmeat this far.

Dogmeat...

Grace cleared her throat as she limped alongside Willow, "Do you think he's going to be alright?" her voice was heavy with worry.

"Hard to say smoothskin, but Doctor Barrows will know more about this kind of thing that I will,"

Grace nodded and stayed silent as they entered Underworld. Her silence was replaced by a look of awe when she saw how many ghouls were really inside the place. Once they'd entered another doorway, there were two staircases lined with about two or three ghouls a piece, chatting idle. Down the middle between the staircases was a hallway, with a small fountain that had long since dried up. Even more ghouls sat and chattered around this area, all staring at Grace with either wide eyes, or looks of confusion.

Apparently not many humans came to Underworld?

"Here's Doctor Barrow's office- I'll lay your pet down inside but it's probably best if you do most of the talking," she smirked, "So you take care, alright tourist?"

Grace couldn't help but make a face as the other teased her. But... she did help, and that was worth all the gratitude she could muster...

"Thank you Willow... you have no idea how much this means to me," she limped inside the office.

"Smoothskin, I'm sure we know more than you think," with that she lay the dog down onto one of the few beds inside the doctor's office and left.

A smell of slight mold rolled into Grace's nose as she looked around the office. Two glowing ghouls could be seen within the glass on the opposite side of her. It looked like a more beaten up version of her fathers office now that she took the time to look it over...

"Hey there smoothskin," yet another female ghoul greeted Grace, her salmon hair was missing in places, but her smile was genuine and friendly, "I'm nurse Graves, I just need a few questions answered and Doctor Barrow's will be right with you,"

Grace nodded, "Alright, but my dog... he's the one who needs seen more than I do..."

The nurse took a quick look over on Dogmeat, who's breath was very ragged and shallow by this point. Her expression faltered, but she tried to mustered the friendliest smile she could. After a moment of checking the dogs vitals as well as doing a though lookover she shook her head.

"He's in pretty bad shape smoothskin," she sighed.

"It's my fault... I... accidentally shot him," she felt her throat tighten and guilt wash over herself, "I'm not very skilled with a gun yet..."

The nurse gave a pitiful look before she moved over to the other and took a look at her injuries, "Luckily for you, there's nothing too serious... a few scrapes and bruises, and a broken femur, but nothing a few stimpaks won't be able to fix,"

Grace gave a smile and nodded, "No wonder it hurt so bad to walk,"

"I'm surprised you could walk at all- probably the adrenaline in your system," she gave a chuckle, "After that wears off you won't feel like doing anything, so I'll see how soon the Doctor will see you,"

Once the nurse had left to retrieve the doctor, Grace hobbled her way over to Dogmeat, and gently pet his fur. She could see where the nurse had stuck a stimpak on him and braced the rest with some guaze. She really did care at least.

"H-hey boy... it's me... Grace..." she stumbled over her words a moment, "One way or another things are going to be okay... alright boy? I'll take care of everything,"

There was a pathetic whimper from the dog as his tail gave a pathetic wag, his ears perked up a bit. He opened his eyes and looked over to her, but it was obvious he was in too much pain to move. He did however, continue to wag his tail, letting it brush against her side.

"I-I'm sorry boy... p-please forgive me..." she sniffled, a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Hmm? I have two patients, one in critical condition the other with minor injuries..." he looked over to Dogmeat and then the wanderer, "Hmm... It'll be 500 caps for you both to be treated,"

'500 caps!? You son of a...!' Grace couldn't believe what she'd heard... her companion was dying and this guy was charging an arm and a leg.

"It's reasonable I believe, since you'll be staying here for a few days- no exemptions," he gave a glare, "I don't understand how you could have let him get in this condition in the first place... but I haven't met a patient I haven't been able to fix,"

Grace's eyes widened. A few days? That... was relatively cheap...

Pulling a few caps from her pockets, she handed them over. Once he was certain the payment was in order, he began treatment. Two shots of stimpak to the thigh, right where the injury had occurred on her, and a dose of Rad away for the radiation she'd endured from eating irradiated food in the tunnels. Afterwords, another stimpack to the lower back to ensure there was no breakage along there.

Grace could feel her bones snap back in place, and the torn and damaged muscles set themselves to work. But she was still in a lot of pain, and very sore. It was like she was being rewired and rebuilt as the stims did their work.

"I'll need some privacy while I work on your... pet... so feel free to wander around and get something to eat, or drink- I assure you, you'll need it- and besides, you need to use those muscles to ensure they don't stiffen as they heal," with that he turned his attention to Dogmeat, the poor creature whimpering in pain.

"I'll be back boy, I promise..." she spoke softly, forcing her tired body outside, she needed to calm down.

The door she'd entered initially had a few ghouls crowded around it, that soon scattered as she exited. She made a face of confusion as she continued to walk, using her hunting rifle as a crutch. Just because it wasn't broken anymore didn't mean it wasn't sore... and the Doctor said to keep the muscles moving...

A small shop nestled itself along one of the staircases, and served for a spot to sell some of the things she didn't need. Inside was a wonderful ghoulette by the name of Tulip, who- after selling a bunch of things too- told of a bar upstairs that sold wonderful food, but the company was horrible. A guy by the name of Azrukahl ran it, while on the other side was a 'bed and breakfast' kind of place, where the food wasn't exactly the best, but the conversation was good. It was ran by a woman named, Carol and her girlfriend Greta.

At the mention of the name Carol however, Grace's eyes sparkled, "Oh thanks! I almost forgot I was supposed to tell her someone said hi! Thanks Tulip! Catch you later!"

With that the wanderer was off, and up the stair, even if she did have to stop every few steps from pain. She caught even more ghouls staring, but it wasn't surprising considering she was the only human there... It was a bit unnerving when you could hear people talking about you though...

The bed and breakfast of Carols Place didn't smell as bad as Tulip had made it sound anyway. It was the smell of something on the counter that made the wanderer's stomach churn. An excited ghoulette with brown hair, and missing patches of it- much like the other residents- greeted her with open arms.

"Hey... uh, are you by chance Carol?" Grace spoke up after a moment, leaning on the counter for support.

"Yes I am dearry! Why do you ask?" she had a rather happy look upon her face at the mention of someone knowing her without ever meeting her.

"A friend of mine- name Gob, he told me to tell you hi," she relayed the message, and looked at the menu they had to eat.

"Oh! My little Gobby? He's... he's like a son to me... I was so worried he may have... Well it's good to hear he's doing well! What's he doing now a days?"

"He runs a whole saloon by himself!" Grace chuckled, making over zealous hand gestures as she talked about it.

She commented on how he was the most successful business owner around, and how everyone went there for a drink. How the entertainment was fun, and he'd never turn down a thirsty customer. Carol seemed to brim with happiness as she heard each word the other spoke, and seemed almost giddy at the news.

"This is all so good to hear! But... you didn't come all the way to Underworld just to tell me this did you?" she asked surprised.

"That's partially the reason, the other reason was to find out more information on my dad... and well... now another whole reason altogether..." she let out a sigh, and rubbed her sore eyes- she'd already cried a lot that day...

"It's okay dear, you sit down and tell ol' Carol all about it,"

Information and gossip seemed to thrive in the area. Ghouls that had been gossiping and hiding, soon left where they'd been watching from the shadows and came to talk with the wanderer. They shared stories, and tales of things that went on in Underworld, while Grace shared tales of her adventures with her companion Dogmeat. She told them of how they'd survived a mine field, and taken on Super Mutants. Tales of originally going on a delivery mission, which was supposed to just be taking a letter to someones family, turning into a full out gun fight with another tribe of people in the wastes.

"Where is this cute little companion of yours anyway?" one of the other ghoulettes asked, as she sat on the edge of her seat, "I want to see this fluffy little hero,"

"Unfortunately he's at the Chop Shop right now, Doctor Baroows said he needed some time and peace to fix him up... I... I accidentally got him hurt really bad on the way here... I'm really worried," she took in a shaky breath.

"Oh, how unfortunate..." Carol spoke quietly, "I'm sure he'll be alright, just give him time,"

"Problem is, is if he's hurt enough- I don't know if I'll be able to defend him AND myself to take him home to recover... like... I can barely take care of myself without his help he's saved my butt so many times!" she extended her arms as if implicating the mass amounts of times the creature had come to her aid.

"As I've heard!" another ghoul added, still enamored with the stories the wanderer had told.

"So I'm not exactly sure what to do at this point- I mean, no offense but I can't stay here, all my things are at home and I'd run out of caps eventually," she sighed, letting her head slump to the table.

It was then a voice that the wanderer hadn't heard the entirety of her time in Carols Place spoke up, "Well, you could always hire a body guard," the ghoul smirked, as she continued to prep food on a nearby counter.

"Wait, you have BODYGUARDS down here? Like... for hire?" Grace smiled from ear to ear, "How much do they charge per hour? Or day?"

"Unfortunately for you, a majority of our bodyguards have been sold off to other people, and Willow refuses to leave us defenseless- so we don't really have any free," she nodded.

Graces head slumped back onto the table, "Dangit,"

"BUT... there is one man who may be willing to sell you his bodyguard," she let her eyes go dark as if the mere thought of the other made her sick.

"Hmm?" Grace went from face first on the table, to resting her chin on the top, "Who is it?"

"Azrukahl," Carol growled, obviously they did NOT get along at all.

"Oh... I heard a bit about him from Tulip, he runs the other place right? It's like a bar and restaurant?" Grace was curious as to what was going on.

"Yes actually, and let's just say he's an awful man- don't let him fool you," Gretta barked, "He's the kind of man who'd sell his mother for the right price,"

"And he's got the only bodyguard available for sale here in Underworld?" Grace felt her face go ridged.

"More like slave really, though I wish you luck in trying to convince him," Gretta, snorted, "I'll see you later smoothskin, I'm going out for a smoke,"

There was a moment of silence as she left, and Grace was left to think about it. Her face twisted in disgust at the though... a slave? How sick was this guy!? He was even enslaving someone of his own race?!

"What are you going to do smoothskin?" Carol asked after a little while, her eyes filled with worry- she knew how bad Azrukal could be first hand.

"I don't have a choice now do I? I'm going to buy his slave err... bodyguard... whatever you want to call him, and keep him as my bodyguard- I wouldn't have left the guy in this sick bastards hands anyway- Slavery's just... it's horrible," she clenched her fists and stood up, "I'll be back, I've got some business to discuss,"

More worried whispers could be heard as Grace limped out of the room and headed towards The Ninth Circle's bar. All the while she continued to hatch a plan of exactly how to convince Azrukahl to sell her his guard.