The morning alarm rang out far too soon for Jess' liking. She felt as if she'd only managed a 10-minute power nap before the sun was piercing through the gaps in her blinds.
She rolled over in her bed, letting the sheets constrict around her as she reached out for her phone on the bedside table. No emergency texts from The Agency. That was a plus.
Instead of making her way directly to the set, she first decided to call Phil to ensure he was fit enough to attend work. The phone rang through to voicemail. Typical. Her second option was to check the home security CCTV footage that was linked to her phone. For privacy sake, only employees from The Agency had access and only certain cameras were available for live view. She swiped through the screens and couldn't see Phil on the sofa where she left him.
Security log: Front door activity, 6:17am. She played the short clip and saw Phil leaving the house. It was surprisingly early for someone who constantly showed up for work late nevertheless, she got dressed and followed suit.
The clacking from her crystals and beads sounded extra loud as she stomped up towards the security checkpoint. Despite not drinking a sip, she somehow felt hungover from lack of sleep. She was in no mood to suffer Phil's ego and could only imagine how unbearable his mood would be if he felt similarly hungover.
"Mam, I'll need to see your lanyard." Security seemed more heavy-handed this morning.
"Yes, yes. I'm here at the request of..." Jess began to rattle off her credentials before she was stopped.
"Just the lanyard mam." The stoic security guard didn't even look at her as he interrupted. She shuffled around her bag for the lanyard, jewels rattling with every movement. She handed over the ID lanyard and tried to smile right at the security guard, hoping she could force a smile in return.
"And your reason for being on set today... Ms Holloway?"
"I'm actually here for Mr Madison, he's a client of mine. He should already be here."
He finally looked back at her with a curious look on his face. "I'm afraid we're only allowing cast members and staff on site today. Tight deadlines. At the request of Vought, I'm going to have to ask you to step away."
Usually, Jess wouldn't make a habit out of arguing with security staff. Her appearance on the set was more for Phil's self-importance rather than the good of the investigation. However, something felt off about the sudden coldness and the fact that Phil still had not returned her phone call.
"Well then," She said whilst going back to rummage through her bag "I suppose you'll be able to perform the ritual then?" She held out her hands to offer him the contents of her bag. A bottle of clary sage essential oil, a ball of twine, a lighter and a wrapped up bundle of smudging sage. The 'Spiritual Advisor' cover was proving useful once again.
The security guard was perplexed.
"I mean, if security doesn't deem me essential enough who am I to argue? But Mr. Madison will require a full energy healing session by 2pm today and the set will need to be cleansed in advance. I trust you've seen the state of him today so you'll understand the urgency." She looked up at him with an air of unshakable conviction. Fully in character, she need not argue with him, but making the guard question his own definition of 'essential' was a route that just might work in her favour.
"Mam, I don't think we're going to require your servi..." He started to hand back the materials. She interrupted him with a tut and raised the palms of her hands, "Nonsense. Phil Madison isn't spending 2k per session for you and me to decide his destiny. He called me here himself, but perhaps I shall call him and inform him that I'm being held up, shall I?" It was a last resort, using Phil's repugnant reputation to her advantage.
"Ms Hollway, I presume." A red-haired, suited woman intervened. She spoke from the other side of the checkpoint. Jess was unsure how long she had been watching this play out. As she turned to respond she noticed Chrissy sheepishly stood next to the woman calling her name.
"You can let her through, Stan, we have paperwork to discuss." She followed up whilst flipping through papers on her clipboard. Chrissy didn't utter a word and didn't even try to make eye contact with Jess.
"Well then." Jess paused whilst taking back the props she had handed over to the security guard. "It seems fate has intervened." She smiled back at him and finally the guard cracked a reluctant smirk back at her. Whilst she'd won him over, this unknown woman presented a new obstacle. Who was she and what paperwork was she referring to? Most importantly, where was Phil and why did Chrissy look like a schoolgirl who'd just been sent to the Principal's office?
"I hear you attended the fundraiser ball last night?" The woman asked, or more implied, as Jess passed through the security checkpoint.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Said Jess, clawing for a little explanation.
"I didn't mention it." The woman stated coldly. Jess instantly took this as an offence and it concerned her. She was on Vought's ground, pretending to be someone else, investigating a stalker whilst secretly investigating Vought. It was messy.
She decided to say no more until spoken to. This way, she could gauge how much this unnamed woman wanted to know about her. It was a strategy she'd used on targets years before. Often when faced with silence, people feel the need to fill the gap and what they say can often tell you more than they'd have liked to give away.
The three of them walked over to the set before the woman asked them to veer right into a trailer.
"Please take a seat." The stern-faced woman insisted. "I'm going to need to get you to sign one of these."
"With respect, I don't usually sign anything without getting my legal council to take a look at it." Jess retorted, calmly. She wasn't looking for an argument, but she genuinely didn't want to sign a document without knowing what she was getting herself into. Especially one that came from Vought. Chrissy sat on her hands, not saying a word.
"Ms Hollway, I can assure you this is simply formal procedures." She said whilst moving a pen across the table to Jess. She looked down towards the table and the cogs began turning, it was a non-disclosure agreement.
"Formal procedure when someone spends the evening with a supe I'm sure. Which we have not nor do we have the intention of doing so." Jess looked over at Chrissy for back up whilst saying this, but she simply bit her lip avoiding the confrontation.
"Ms Holloway, as I'm sure you're aware the public image of our talent is something we'd like to protect." She insisted.
"Who? That charming friend of Phil's? The swimmer?" Jess asked. The woman's eyes widened slightly. Only very slightly. Just enough to let Jess in on a secret. This wasn't about her. Something had happened and she was part of the cleanup act.
"I would hate for this to be dragged out any further." The woman put a stop to that line of questioning straight away. She unfurrowed her brow, which was the closest Jess would get to a smile from her. She shifted to a softer tone "I appreciate you don't want to keep Mr.Madision waiting and I apologise for taking time out of your morning, but I must insist that you sign this form." This slightly softer touch sealed Jess' suspicions, it wasn't about her at all. The Deep had fucked up, perhaps it was him who slipped something in Phil's bottle aiming to take the women at the table back to Vought Tower.
The feeling of being investigated by Vought swiftly subsided and her defences dropped. "Of course, darling. In my line of work, you have to do your due diligence." Jess smiled at the red-head as she scribbled over the signature line. Chrissy looked on, slightly amazed at how the script was flipped. She desperately wanted to know what had happened in her absence at the table but she couldn't ask Jess until the Vought Press Chief had left.
All three exited the trailer and the still-unnamed woman thanked them for their time and cooperation.
"So... I mean, if you don't mind me asking... Not that I want to assume anything... What happened with The Deep?" Chrissy spluttered as soon as the woman was out of sight.
"Chrissy, how did you feel this morning?" Jess glazed over the question to see what Chrissy knew first.
She looked back at Jess confused. "I mean, my feet hurt from those heels I wore last night but apart from that..."
"And where is Phil?" Jess inquired.
Suddenly Chrissy clammed up again. "Well at this time he'll, he'll be in the west wing of the set but he'll be with the lead actors so I personally wouldn't interrupt. It really is best if we wait for him to finish. He doesn't like it when people barge in on him."
She was speaking too much while Jess remained silent.
Jess decided to walk towards the west wing of the set. Chrissy continued to talk.
"He takes it ever so seriously I really don't think we should go over there. Hey, I also haven't introduced you to the make up artists yet you'll love them they're a great bunch of girls. Mr.Madison will understand, he's probably really busy right now."
As they turned onto the final corridor leading towards the dressing rooms, Chrissy's voice became slightly more desperate. "Jessica please, I've been specifically asked," and with that Jess turned to her.
"Asked by who?" A quietness fell between them, the two of them still reeling from their bizarre start to the day. Chrissy had been reprimanded and made to feel a fool by the Press Chief. Jess had thought that Vought had discovered her real identity. They were both on edge and it showed.
Without an answer to offer, Chrissy held her breath. Suddenly the distant sound of a heavy thud broke their focus on one another. It came from one of the dressing rooms.
Jess turned and marched down the corridor to find the source of the sound. Chrissy knew she had lost the battle and stayed in place at the end of the corridor. She sunk into herself as Jess turned the handle on one of the dresser doors.
The door opened wide and Jess was greeted by a shriek. "Jesus fucking Christ have you never heard of privacy. Get the fuck out of here right now!" Phil commanded as he turned away to pull up the zipper on his jeans. The young, shirtless actor on his knees below simply stared back at Jess like a deer in headlights.
This was not the scene she expected.
A dressing room chair was tipped over, which would explain the sudden thud. The room was musty with sweat and hand marks had been left on the dresser table and mirror. Most interestingly, lines of white powder and a credit card had been left out on the side, which explained how Phil had magically reignited his stamina after feeling so awful the night before.
"Leave. Now." He demanded as Jess let the door close behind her, but it wasn't just her he was talking to. The embarrassed actor left the room swiftly after and Jess stood in the corridor looking back at Chrissy, who held her palms on the top of her head as if holding back a panic attack.
Whilst Jess had avoided her first obstacle of the day, she'd walked right into another. She was not embarrassed, just disappointed that she didn't pick on it sooner. Granted she had only been on set for a short amount of time, but if she wasn't in a rush to check on Phil after last night she would have got the truth out of Chrissy eventually.
She began to retrace her steps back towards Chrissy, planning an apology, when the dressing room door cracked open once again.
"You!" Phil called behind her from the doorway of the dressing room, clicking his fingers. Chrissy turned away so that he wouldn't clock her waiting at the end of the corridor. Jess took a deep breath before turning back to the room again, she knew she had fucked up and she knew Phil would revel in her mistake.
He closed the door behind her. She folded her arms waiting for him to go off. The room was still in disarray, only now a cloud of cologne masked the scent of sweat.
"I pay you. I pay you to investigate my stalker. I'm the victim! I'm not the person you need to be snooping around!" He was read in the face and Jess knew there would be no calming him down if he was experiencing a coke-fulled rage.
She started to get that sick feeling again. The one she had when she was surrounded by Vought executives at the event the night before. Phil was using his status to get his kicks on set, in a similar way to how The Deep operated. Years of investigating predators gave Jess a strong stomach, but she still had no time for men who used their power in this way. Was she willing to brush this behaviour away to get closer to the truth of what happened in Thailand?
"And you want to come in here and judge me?" Phil was starting to project on her but she let it happen. It would be best for him to get it out of his system to her and not another member of The Agency. "You come to my house, hook up CCTV and then what? Spy on me? Treat me like I'm the one being investigated?"
"I apologise Mr.Madison. It wasn't my intention to intrude. I was concerned after what slipped in your drink last night." Now she herself had said too much. Phil looked back at her with both disdain and confusion. "Do you remember getting home last night?" She asked.
"What is this? You want to pry into my evening affairs as well?" He spat back at her. It was all too obvious that he did not remember the night fully. "You're off my set. You can come back to me when you've done your fucking job. Go!" He pointed to the door and turned away.
Jess promptly left the room. Chrissy was no longer waiting for her at the end of the corridor.
YOU ARE READING
The Grey Zone (Black Noir / The Boys Fan Fic)
FanfictionA private investigator stumbles upon one of Vought's deep secrets and crosses the path of notorious superhero/psychopath Black Noir. Will her skillset be enough to keep herself safe, or will she end up crossing a line? In a bid to delve further into...
