Venus had gone to The Boss to ask for a job. Her leg hadn't fully finished healing, but she didn't care anymore. All she knew was that she couldn't sit at home any longer, she felt like she would lose it.

The previous weekend had morphed into something else completely. Venus thought of how it had simultaneously been the best and worst weekend she had experienced in a while. Despite the good parts, Venus tried to block out both memories from her mind. After all they did not exist independently of each other. She couldn't think of Xena, and the delicious breakfast she had cooked for her without it morphing into the memory of her projectile vomiting all her breakfast up in her kitchen. Venus swallowed hard as she tasted bile on her tongue just thinking of the event.

"V."

Venus snapped out of her thoughts to see a man standing next to her. She recognized him as Carl, another Assassin that worked for The Boss. He was one of the few other Assassins that Venus sometimes interacted with.

"Carl, I need to see The Boss." Venus said to him. Nobody could not just walk into The Boss' heavily guarded mansion, especially when they had not been called upon. But Venus was different, and they all knew this. She had certain privileges which the other Assassins could only dream of. A smirk played onto Venus' face as she thought of just how powerful she was as an Assassin. It was the best thing about her.

Carl nodded his head, not even questioning her. He turned and said something to all the other Assassins around him before he motioned to Venus to follow him inside.

Venus followed Carl, walking up the steep steps that led to the main entrance of The Boss' mansion. She felt a slight pain in her leg just doing so, but she ignored it and continued onwards.

"I've got to give you a heads up, The Boss is taking care of some business at the moment, you might have to wait a bit."

Venus had not immediately understood what Carl had been referring to, but it immediately became clear to her the moment they stepped into The Boss' main room.

An Assassin which Venus faintly recognized but couldn't quite place was seated in a chair. Behind him, two other Assassins stood holding him down, keeping him firmly in place. The Boss himself was pacing around the Assassin,  holding a device in his hand. Venus instantly recognized the device and squirmed slightly.

"What did he do?" Venus whispered to Carl who was standing next to her.

"He told The Boss he wanted to retire."

Venus' eyes opened in shock. It was an unspoken rule, but they all knew it. Working as an Assassin for The Boss wasn't just a job you could give up one day. You couldn't retire. No, this was your life now, and you retired when you were dead.

As usual, The Boss' main room was filled with Assassins. However, there seemed to be even more this time, watching the events unfolding before them.

"Please Boss," the Assassin in the chair pleaded, "I take it back. I don't want to retire, I want to continue working for you."

Too late, Venus thought, and indeed it was. There was no changing The Boss' mind once he decided on something, and to him, any form of flaky loyalty was outright treasure.

As Venus watched, The Boss soundlessly leaned towards the Assassin, attaching the device to one of his front teeth. Venus swallowed hard. She knew what was coming.

"Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip your teeth out right here?" The Boss asked the Assassin, straightening back up but still holding on firmly to the device in his mouth.

Tears were rolling down the Assassin's face. He looked pathetic as he shook violently.

"P-please B-Boss. I was only asking because I have a wife and kids now. I wanted to be a better father to them. This line of work is dangerous. I want to be able to see my kids grow up."

Venus felt something stir inside her at that point, but she ignored it, focusing on the events unravelling before her. She knew that no matter what The Assassin said, there was no way he would get out of this alive. The Boss was only just teasing, giving him false hope, that was the kind of person he was, he liked to play with his food.

"Hm," The Boss hummed, placing his free hand on his chin and pretending to be considering what the Assassin had said.

Then without a warning, he yanked the device, cleanly pulling out one of The Assassin's teeth. The scream that erupted from his throat seemed to fill the room, no doubt that it was being heard even beyond the main room.

Blood was now flowing freely from the Assassin's mouth. The Boss was smiling widely at the scenery before him; it was obvious to Venus that he took great pleasure from this torture. Venus felt sick.

The Boss reattached the device to another of the Assassin's teeth and yanked. More screams followed. He continued like this in succession, inflicting pain upon pain.

As much as Venus wanted to, she couldn't force herself to tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her. She hated the fact that she was pitying the Assassin, so punished herself by watching as he slowly and painfully died. She told herself that he should have known better. That he deserved it.

The Assassin was now a fountain of blood. He opened his mouth to talk, to plead for what was left of his life; but whatever he was saying was incomprehensible. At this point, he was just a mixture of blood, sweat and tears.

The Boss was laughing at the Assassin as he begged for his life. Venus felt something go through her once again. She ignored it, instead squeezing her hands into fists at her sides.

The room was filled with a graveyard silence as The Boss reattached the device to more teeth and began yanking once again.

The Assassin screamed, thrashing violently in his seat.

Of course, The Boss ignored all this. He carried on. Unbothered.

At some point, it became clear to Venus that the Assassin had realized there was no point. He remembered who it was he was dealing with, Richard Mascetti. The day Richard Mascetti would practice forgiveness had to be the day that pigs would fly. The Assassin remained still at this point. No more begging, no more thrashing.

"Okay, now this is just boring." The Boss grumbled the moment he realized the Assassin had given up. He let out an exasperated sigh. One would think he had been the one being tortured.

Reaching forward, The Boss grabbed the Assassin's head roughly and bent it backwards. Venus watched with wide eyes as the Assassin choked on his own blood. He struggled to breathe, thrashing in his last moments. After a while, he grew limp, motionless.

There was a moment in which everything seemed still. At least to Venus. She wondered why that was. It wasn't her first time watching an Assassin die at the hands of The Boss, so why was she feeling different?

"Take out the trash." The Boss now ordered some other Assassins standing around.

They nodded their heads as they began to drag out the now dead body of the previous Assassin. Venus gulped, watching.

Venus wanted to leave. She just wanted to turn around and go back home, get as far away from this place as possible. Instead, she swallowed hard and dug her nails into her palms as she walked forward towards The Boss.

"V?" The Boss said, noticing her. He was cleaning his bloody hand with a cloth he had taken from the pocket of his robe. "I didn't call for you. What are you doing here?"

Venus swallowed once again.

"Boss, I've come to ask for a job. I don't mind what it is, any available job would do."

The Boss looked at her curiously before he made his way over to his chair. He hung his leg off to the side in his usual manner before inspecting Venus standing before him. Venus watched as he rubbed his hand against his chin, smearing blood all over it. She tried not to look at the blood.

"I mean, I am a bit surprised to see you back so soon. But then again, you are a hard worker after all." The Boss said to Venus before diverting his attention to another Assassin. "Santos! Get me some grapes!"

The Assassin he had been referring to nodded, disappearing out of the main room and reappearing a few seconds later with a clear bowl of grapes.

The Boss took it eagerly from him, lazily throwing the grapes into his mouth before refocusing his attention to Venus.

"I do have a job for you." The Boss began, and Venus was instantly at full attention. The Boss chewed on his grapes slowly. "The owner of La belle nuit club. I need him gone." He paused then, putting some more grapes in his mouth. "He's a drug cartel in the city, but I don't like that. He's dividing the demand for our drugs. I don't like that."

He took another bite of grapes, chewing slowly. Venus waited patiently.

"I was meant to be meeting him at his club this Thursday to come to an agreement concerning how we'd split the drug market." The Boss said, his voice rising significantly. "But why should I come to an agreement with him? I'm Robert fucking Mascetti."

The Boss had dropped the bowl in his hands in anger. There was the sound of the glass bowl coming in contact with the floor. It cracked slightly but didn't shatter. Venus didn't even flinch, she was aware of The Boss' sudden outburst.

"Anyway," The Boss began, suddenly relaxing all over again. "I need you to go in my place, take him out."

Venus nodded. She had gotten what she came for and was about to leave.

"Oh one more thing," The Boss suddenly said, stopping her in her tracks. "Make a scene. Things are more exciting that way."