The Grey Zone (Black Noir / The Boys Fan Fic)

Ch 4 Last Minute Self-Reflection

Private investigators were always well payed. Especially if you worked in New York where the rich folk simply want to fight amongst themselves. The Agency needed Jess' skillset and they were always willing to pay for it. The downside was that Jess rarely had the opportunity to spend any of her earnings, as all she did was work.

That lead to two things: Gambling on crypto coins and lots of online shopping.

Because of this, Jess was always well equipped to dress for any occasion. This included a boujee Vought fundraiser ball full of supes, investors and donors. She didn't want to be the best-dressed person in the room - that would draw too much attention - but she could dress in a way that helped her perfectly blend in with the crowd.

She sat on her bed, blowing out her hair with voluminous curls as she contemplated her options. Cocktail dress, evening gown, elegant two-piece?

She settled on a champagne-cream spaghetti strap dress with a leg split, dainty jewellery and a subtle matching clutch bag. Chic but uninteresting. As a final touch, she added a fake diamond wedding ring just in case any men wanted to interrupt her evening. It didn't fit the 'Spiritual Advisor' mask that Phil had offered her, but ideally she needed to fade into the background and watch from afar.

As she got up to leave she took one more glance into the mirror; the absurdity of the situation she'd found herself in hit her. What happened to the badass professional who fearlessly took down trafficking rings in Thailand? What happened to the White Widow? What had her curiosity surrounding the Homelander incident driven her to?

The answer to that last question was brutal: 'Not much.'

She looked over at the make-shift evidence cork pin board she had propped up in the short corridor between her sitting room and bedroom. It looked exactly like the conspiracy investigation boards she'd seen in the movies, which only reminded her how many dead ends she had reached throughout her research.

She teetered in uncomfortable shoes over to her small kitchen area for a glass of water before leaving. Jess didn't know if swallowing New York tap water or swallowing her pride was worse. Each gave her a sense of shame. Her inner self-critic was ready to tear her down.

'I'm doing this to get answers. To get closer to Vought employees. That's all.' She thought in a desperate bid to convince herself this case was a good idea.

But what would she do when we got access to Vought? Where could she take her conspiracies? Once she had made a couple of high up friends within the company, it wasn't as if she could outright ask - so why did Homelander laser an entire village in half?

She swiped through the photos in her phone to remind herself of how far she'd come and why she was here in the US. Among them was a photo of her and a young girl she'd pulled out of a horrid abuse ring 5 years ago. Samorn, a sweet 8-year-old who was supposed to be safe in the countryside of Phang-nga. The girl she had left lilies for all those years ago in the wake of Homelander's attack on the village.

Jess gulped the last of her water and brushed the hair from her face, ready to get back into character. It was easier to mask grief when you were pretending to be someone else. 

Her phone buzzed to notify her that the Uber driver had arrived. Dousing herself in designer perfume before she left, she switched off the lights and headed out to catch her ride.