The Hagan Manor

Dominic was skipping down the stairs as the duo entered, a cell phone pressed between his ear and shoulder, his hands madly toying with a limp bow tie hung around his popped collar. His hair was in disarray and his belt had missed two loops. The young Hagan was in working frenzy as he struggled to prepare for the opera and undo some of the damage his father and sister had done upon their arrival.

"Nik," he called out, exasperated, "lot happened while you were out. Dad and Jules are back. They made a scene and Rhea left the mansion." He looked past the jolly butler at the much sterner-looking woman on his flank. "Ms. Kruse, I believe?" he offered her a warm (though obviously hurried) smile, "pleasure to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but..." A chime went off somewhere in Dominic's coat pocket. He whipped out yet another cell phone, scowling as he read the message on the screen. He looked apologetically at Shari. "...you get it." He pointed at her. "But your assignment still stands. You are the official bodyguard of Ms. Rhea Vaeros, effective immediately. Her survival is essential to Tech Con's standings with Terran industry." He gestured to the phone at his ear. "I've been trying to get a hold of her for the last eight minutes. Nothing's going through." He looked to Denaris. "Nik, would you please get my contact datapad? I'm going to put in a call with the LDA." He grumbled. "No doubt they've been spying on her since the day she walked through these doors. I'm sure they know where she is."

"I would rather you retrieve her as soon as possible," Shari droned to Nikolas, speaking just as though she were one of the Aschen's assembly line robots. She was about to continue when Dominic appeared, coming down the stairs. Her scrutinizing stare locked onto him.

The edge of one of the woman's eyebrows twitched ever so slightly as she heard the news. Her sturdy gaze held fast onto Dominic's smaller form.

"What you are telling me," began the woman, an edge to her already coarse tone, "Is that the woman you sent me to guard is gone?" Her fingers curled in toward her palm very briefly, then sprawled out again. "I see, already, that you have a talent for keeping an eye on your business. I hope you understand that I've traveled a long way to get here." She let a pause float by patiently, then, snidely, she stated, "I do hope you find her soon."

This was indeed unfortunate news and Nikolas held back a rather grim look as he glanced between the young master and the security officer who seemed rather upset, and for good reasons no less, but it was the tone she took that brought a frown to the butlers face. Before he could even say anything Dominic had asked for his datapad and with a courtly nod the butler was off as quick as a bullet.

The faintest tinge of steely command crept into Dominic's otherwise pleasant tone. "And I hope you understand, Ms. Kruse, that you are under my employment. Your services are entirely at my disposal so long as I continue to sign your check. Ms. Vaeros' disappearances is an unfortunate oversight, one that will be quickly rectified. " His put his hand delicately to his chest. "I do hope the thousands of cubits I'm paying you is sufficient compensation for the boredom you may experience in the meantime."

The woman's features were as though they were etched from stone. The stare was so cold one could just about feel the temperature drop around them.

"More than enough, Mr. Hagan," she remarked, clenched hands behind her back tightening their grip on one another. A silence followed the statement, but not one in fear as a result of Dominic's statement. It was far too easy to tell that this woman would not falter, even given the worst of the situation. No, perhaps it was a smidgen of respect that the man had the balls to respond the way he did. This meant, to some measure, that she was not employed by a complete moron.

Or perhaps he still was. She could not be entirely sure.

"Excellent," Dominic smiled, "I'm glad we have an understanding." He gestured towards the stretching corridors of his home. "Won't you make yourself comfortable in the meantime?" He put his phone back in his pocket and beckoned for her to follow.

As he led the mercenary down the grand hallways of the manor, Dominic was carefully weighing the situation at hand. Shari Kruse was Tech Con's best mercenary. The problem was, it seemed, that she knew it. There was an ego to the girl that was as cold as it was intimidating; a confidence and poise that the young Hagan both admired and mistrusted. Power in a woman was an attractive feature, but Shari was his to command, not the other way around. He couldn't have the bodyguard of Rhea Vaeros second-guessing her boss. It was a struggle for dominance between the two of them. Dominic needed to win.

"Your dossier is quite impressive, Ms. Kruse," Dominic remarked nonchalantly as they walked, "I understand you've had high-risk details on Terra, Akorant, Niihama... even Blackrock. Your dedication to your profession is commendable." He looked curiously over his shoulder. "...most of those assignments were garrison contingencies, if I remember correctly. Skirmishes and tactical advances. Not much bodyguard or protection work." Dominic turned into a large atria. A grand piano stood off to the corner with several couches and tables gathered near the far end. The Hagan family crest, crossed with two gleaming blades, was mounted above the nearby wall. Apart from that, there was a large carpeted space.

"Langara, Caprica specifically, isn't anything like the foreign worlds you've been fighting on," Dominic continued casually, "things are clustered. Obscured. Deceptive." He stopped near one of the couches and turned to face Shari.

"Do you feel prepared for this assignment? Even in light of all your various..." he smiled charmingly, "...disadvantages?"

There was a minor, barely noticeable tilt of Shari's chin. Her expression was still steely, but vaguely, vaguely entertained.

"Disadvantages, Mr. Hagan?" she asked in a scoff so very well disguised as a simple question, one asked with the most sarcastic surprise Dominic would ever hear from the woman. "I did not hear anything about disadvantages, however, I did catch mention of a challenge."

The tilt of her head returned to its same position before, and Shari returned to becoming that imposing statue that she normally was.

"I will go to find the diplomat. I refuse to stand here and wait while nothing productive is being done."