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

Ch 22 You've Got Mail

Hello Chrissy,

It's great to hear from you,

Thank you for your application, I'm not sure how you found out about the project but you're clearly in the know! I must say, you have tenacity. I have CC'd my assistant into this email. Please give her a call to schedule an interview. It would be great to meet with you and see where we can use your skillset within the project.

Regards,
Nathan A Lawson
Director / Script Writer / Visionary
Vought Media

Chrissy stared back at the email. Her eyes bulged from their sockets as she held her breath in shock.

"Chrissy, can we have a flash check please!" One of the MUA assistants called out to her for help and she hastily stood up and shuffled her phone away, into her jeans pocket. Reaching for the flashlight, Chrissy began to circle the freshly made-up actor so that the MUA team could assess how shadows would be cast on the face whilst filming. This wasn't industry standard. It was one final check to ensure Phil Madison didn't find any faults. Was the contouring too harsh from certain angles? Would the actor's fringe cast too dark of a shadow from the downward lighting? Everyone on set had to be 3 steps ahead of Phil's pickiness.

Working with the MUA team was certainly a humbling experience. Chrissy would usually feel a little patronised for being asked to help in this area. Such a simple task to fulfil, whilst the MUA team stood around admiring their own work.

Chrissy waved the light around the actor, ensuring each angle was covered. The actor in question continued to look forward, looking through her as if she didn't exist. The MUAs bickered between each other, second-guessing their finished work.

It wasn't a nice working environment.

But today it didn't seem to bother Chrissy as much. She had found a potential way out. Jess had come through with her offer. Nathan was interested in hiring her. The role she had carved out for herself on set suddenly felt far less suffocating. It was all temporary.

"Halt!" One team member called out to Chrissy as she continued to shine the flashlight from various angles. Her arm froze in place, struggling with the heavy flashlight. "Just a tiny bit more highlighter on the cheekbone and we're good to go."

The team flocked towards the actor again to finish the job. Chrissy was nudged out of the way.

Now was the best time for her to escape and craft a response to Nathan.

Chrissy walked out of the main studio block, towards the security access gate. The warm sunlight stroked her face and she couldn't help but smile. There was a glow to her that life on set had almost entirely clouded over. The air felt fresher today, but it could have just been her lungs thanking her for not being around so much hairspray for once.

She clutched her phone, rereading the email from Nathan for the fifth time. Chrissy knew that Nathan A Lawson was not as highly regarded as Phil Madison, but the thought of working with someone else was much more appealing. Jess had also hyped up the Lamplighter project, so perhaps the tide was turning on Phil's commanding presence within Vought Media. Maybe he wasn't such an unshakable force after all.

Finding a bench near the outdoor smoker's section, she sat down to bathe in the sunshine and open air.

Toeing the line between professional and candid, Chrissy needed to play off her next move carefully. Until she had a real job offer - on signed paper directly from Nathan A Lawson - she couldn't hand her notice in on the current project. If she was meeting him in person, she would have to choose her words carefully about life on set with Phil Madison. There would be no doubt that Nathan A Lawson would have some choice words regarding Phil, but Chrissy would have to remain neutral. For the most part at least!

Her feet kicked up the dust from the floor under the bench. She wanted to reply instantly, but the thought was daunting. Anxiety opened the door for procrastination and she began to people watch from her place in the sun instead.

People rushed in and out of the studio, carrying equipment and shuffling through scripts. Everyone seemed as if they were on a mission and nobody ever looked bored. That's why Chrissy tended to look so out of place. If Phil could see her now, enjoying the fresh outdoors, he'd certainly have some choice words for her. She didn't want to risk being accosted by him again.

But the blue sky above her erased any thoughts of repercussion from Phil.

Nothing would burst her bubble today.

Smiling to herself, she watched as more and more stressed employees approached the security gate for their shifts. Soon enough she wouldn't be one of them.

From the distance she watched one particularly animated brunette man arguing with security to be let in, she could only assume he had forgotten about the new stamped ID system. Feeling smug about her yet-to-be-arranged secret meeting with Nathan A Lawson, Chrissy didn't think to go over and see if he needed help. Usually, she'd be keen to vouch for people and help them pass through in a bid to make contacts, but she was officially over it now.

The man gesticulated as he pleaded to be let into Vought Studios but the security team stood firm.

Chrissy knew she only had one person to thank for this new opportunity and that was Jess, so she opened her phone to give her a quick update.

"Jess! Thank you so much for putting me in touch with Mr Lawson. I think I've been offered an interview! Please don't tell Phil. xxx"

Back at her apartment on the other side of the city, Jess felt her phone vibrate from the arrival of Chrissy's text.

It was no surprise to Jess to hear of Chrissy's news as she'd spent the entire morning rifling through Nathan A Lawson's emails. Hiding away in her stuffy apartment, the successful hacking was just what she needed to push thoughts of Black Noir to the back of her mind.

Only four days after Nathan had received Chrissy's email, he had double-clicked the 'broken' image embedded within her CV. This instantly infected his emails with the spyware and gave Jess access to his inner professional life at Vought. His pathetic need to vet people by their appearance had been his Achilles heel. It was shocking to think that someone's ego was Vought Securities' downfall, but most hackings ultimately come down to human error.

Jess carried her laptop into her bedroom to continue sifting through her findings. She tiptoed over a half-empty suitcase that was still on the floor from her near escape. A ghost of her previous panicked state. Her freshly renewed determination stole every spare moment, so there was no time to tidy her apartment and clear the cases away. Nathan's emails were too important.

Among the emails, lay plenty of shady material. One group chain which included 3 other Vought Media executives detailed their exploits at various corporate events. Another email chain titled RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: HOT INTERN OLYMPICS had 10 male Vought Media staff CC'd and was full of lude pictures, taken seemingly without consent, of interns on the job. There was so much material that could expose Nathan and his co-workers, but not quite the kind that was needed for the case.

Jess felt a pit in her stomach. She knew that using Chrissy was a risk but the morality of the situation was only just really sinking in. Would this be an improvement for Chrissy?

Jess' fingers gingerly slipped over the key pad, pointing the cursor over Chrissy's email. She could block her from Nathan's address book, interrupt the hiring process and pretend as if nothing had ever happened. After all, Jess had what she wanted - access to Nathan's emails.

Nathan would soon forget, but Chrissy would likely be heart-broken; her chance of leaving Phil Madison's grasp dashed in an instant. There was no right or wrong choice for Jess. Neither option was faultless. She glared at the block button before ultimately choosing to let fate decide. Only time would tell if that was the right thing to do.

In further disappointing news to Jess, she was still yet to find solid evidence of Nathan being involved with Phil's stalking case.

Perhaps her expectations were too high. It wasn't as if all criminals kept a written confession hidden away in their email drafts. But perhaps there would be something, big or small, that could link him to the case.

Golden sunlight peered through her bedroom blinds, tempting Jess to leave the apartment. The gap seemed bigger than ever, as if someone had purposefully created a peephole into her room. Jess assumed it was simply brighter than usual as she adjusted her laptop screen away from the light.

Trips out of the apartment were a luxury, no matter how tempting the weather outside was. Until the stalker was caught, leaving her post was for emergencies or case related work only. After all, there was still a chance that she herself was being watched by Phil's stalker, or that she might bump into the real Black Noir.

He, too, played on her mind. Nathan's emails were a great distraction, but it had been a few days since her outing with Black Noir and the shame still lingered. Killing a man was not something easily forgotten, despite Jess being experienced in doing so. Teaming up with a Vought 'hero' made it even worse. The regret she felt was undeniable and every time she walked passed her Homelander theory board she felt her body cringe with guilt.

She had gone from being convinced Noir would return to finish her off, to assuming Vought was trying to frame her, to nothing but silence. It had almost been a week. She had barely left the apartment - other than to check on Chrissy and Phil - yet no consequences for her crime had presented themselves.

Jess lay on her bed, looking at the laptop and back towards the glowing gap in the blinds. Perhaps she could risk a walk outside, just to clear her head.

But before she could convince herself, another email landed in the inbox and Jess was intrigued.

Nathan,

I can confirm that The Deep will be attending tonight. I advise you drop by. I will override PM and get you on the guestlist. You owe me.

Ashley.

Jess recognised Ashley's name instantly. The red-haired PR jockey was already suspicious of both Jess and Chrissy, but it wasn't public knowledge that she was friendly with Nathan A Lawson.

Cupping her chin in her palm, Jess subconsciously leaned closer into the laptop. This was something relevant. PM surely must have referred to Phil Madison. She immediately copy and pasted Ashley's email address into the search bar and was presented with thousands of emails between the pair of them.

Every pixel was an inch closer to solving the case. Jess could feel it. A mixture of curiosity, concern and elation floated around her head. What was the nature of Ashley & Nathan's relationship and could they be working together in some capacity?

The glorious sunshine outside now felt like a less attractive option to Jess. She had work to do.