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

Ch 35 Alone in a Crowded Room

Flashes from cameras, screams from the fans and paparazzi directions blended into an overwhelming sensory overload.

The short walkway into the building wasn't prepared for the onslaught of attention. Nathan A Lawson didn't usually command such fanfare. Alas, with Ashley pulling the strings to ensure that top Supes attended, along with Nathan harnessing fan power online, the venue employees suddenly found that hundreds of people had descended upon the once intimate setting.

"Maeve, Queen Maeve. Just one more over here!" A photographer called as the supes began to arrive.

"Mr Marathon, when's the next race? The fans are dying to know!"

"Homelander, are the rumours true about you and Queen Maeve?"

Each desperate hack tried to rinse as much as possible from the small interactions they were allowed with the Supes. Annoyed by the growing fan presence, it was only a matter of time before the paparazzi looked elsewhere for more controversial headlines to run.

But before they moved on, Phil Madison arrived on the steps of the venue.

"Mr.Madison! Mr.Madison!" Camera lenses turned in unison. A flutter of flashes greeted him and he beamed back at them. 

This was the hit he really needed. He longed to feel important again. The rush was indescribable. Every step he took felt lighter than the last as the weight of his insecurities lifted.

Most of the fans began to quietly gossip amongst themselves. Phil paid them no attention, striding towards the reporters.

"Mr.Madison! Cameron Coleman with VNN over here. Could you tell us a little bit about your involvement with Nathan's project?"

"Oh god no... no." He paused, gritting his teeth to ensure the correct words came out. "I'm just here to support really. In all my years working with Vought, it's just so wonderful to see new talent coming up the chain. I-"

"Mr.Madison, do you not feel threatened? You've been one of the big boys for a while now." Phil was interrupted by a different, sickly suave reporter. The question garnered a few laughs but Phil didn't find it funny.

For a brief moment, his smile dropped and his eyes narrowed.

"Don't be ridiculous!" He laughed in reply, "No, you're right I've been in the hot seat at Vought for many years and that really is why I hope to be able to assist in nurturing new talent wherever possible. That's why I came tonight, to show my support for dearest Nathan. What a guy, am I right?"

Phil had learned a thing or two over the years. Unlike Nathan, he didn't need Ashley to use him like a sock puppet to win over the press.

After allowing the reporters to eat out of his hands, he entered the venue.

Despite the gossip online, no one at the doors seemed concerned about his arrival. Either no one was checking the guestlist or it simply didn't exist. Perhaps the venue thought that no one would try anything funny with the appearance of Supes on the scene.

Inside, the venue was starting to get cramped. The air was warm and thick from the sheer amount of bodies that had piled in. It made navigating the room a challenge. Karma's cruel hand had placed people directly in Phil's path to challenge him.

Shuffling through the densely packed room was uncomfortable for all involved. Thankfully, a few familiar faces made the director feel somewhat welcome. Phil shook hands and received warm hugs, but there was an element of him that questioned why industry friends - people who supposedly liked him - would attend an event for his rival. Did they not understand how disrespectful it was?

Now and then he'd make awkward eye contact with people he had once worked with and subsequently fired. All of whom Nathan had collected for his own production team. Their wide eyes made it obvious that he was the last person they'd have expected to bump into. Phil's face scrunched as he noticed people that he recognised but couldn't quite place. It was their reaction that told him all he needed to know. The eye-rolls, the sharp looks to the floor, the flush of red over someone's cheeks. He might not have known why they were uncomfortable in his presence, but he certainly knew that they were.

One man, in particular, had a familiar, almost nostalgic effect on Phil. Never one to be sentimental, the feeling caught him off guard. The youthful actor-looking type looked as if he was about to come over and introduce himself to Phil. However, he needed to ensure he was seen with exactly the right kind of people and briskly swooped out of the unknown man's eye line.

As he continued to squeeze through the dense crowd, a fizzing glass found its way to Phil's hand, but he refused to take a sip. A wise choice. Swapping one substance for another wouldn't help his situation.

In the distance, he spotted someone who he felt matched his status and headed over to greet them.

Simultaneously, Chrissy had also arrived at Nathan's event and was working the room. Invited by the man himself, she was keen to ensure that her day wasn't ruined completely by her altercation with Phil Madison.

The warm, sticky atmosphere threatened to loosen her tightly curled hair as she moved deeper into the crowd. She had tried to replicate her hairstyle from the day Nathan last saw her, only this time it lacked the polish of her MUA friend. She had played it safe with her outfit; a mid-length, smart pencil dress. The styling made her look more mature than the average intern, which unbeknownst to her, was a good way to keep some of Nathan's creepier friends at bay.

She, too, clutched a drink but barely took more than a sip. After seeing how people behaved at Phil's event, she vowed not to make similar mistakes. Having said that, Chrissy couldn't help but notice similarities among the crowd.

She had expected a different tone to Nathan's event, yet the people around her were just as pretentious. Keen to network, she introduced herself to a few people who tactfully ended the conversation as soon as they realised she was of no use to them.

Unlike last time, she felt less out of place at Nathan's event but she secretly missed the gentle guidance that Jess had offered her beforehand.

Social rejection was deflating, but Chrissy was never one to give up easily.

Swiping her curls out of the way, she scanned the crowd and kept her eye out for Nathan. Chrissy wanted to thank him and tell him in person that she would accept his offer of an internship. However, the thick crowd had packed into the small and unprepared venue so tightly that it would be a while until she found him.

Concurrently, Phil had reached his destination across the room. "There he is! My Aquarian God!"

The Deep looked up at Phil with his signature smile and stretched his arms out to embrace him. Whenever in public, The Deep would always perform a gracious welcome to whoever wanted his attention.

"Mr. Madison! I wasn't sure if I'd see you again after we shared a few too many last time." He winked at the crowd of women around them as Phil shuffled an extra chair over to their table without invitation.

Sharing a magnum between them, the women all looked as if they'd come to party. Usually, Phil would have indulged with them, but he tried to keep his focus solely on the Superhero.

"Well, I'm glad you bought that up actually. I'd love to talk about Deep Blue Ocean 2. We didn't get time to do so when I last saw you," Phil said, leaning into the Supe to cut out the background noise.

"Ah man, of course!" The Deep slapped a hand on Phil's shoulder, "Lawson has submitted an excellent screenplay for the sequel, that's actually why Ashley bought me here."

Phil couldn't quite believe the words he was hearing. Only he had the credentials to create content with the current Seven lineup. Sure, Nathan Lawson had got lucky with the script for LampLighter's origin film, but executives had assured Phil it was a one-off due to his own tight schedule.

"Nathan has been given the green light for it?" Phil asked, his smile beginning to droop.

The Deep laughed off the question, "Come on buddy, don't tell me you didn't know."

The gaggle of women around the table began to giggle along with The Deep. As the table guests kept their focus on the gold and green Supe, he picked up the magnum and continued to make certain that everyone around him was well-hydrated.

Phil zoned out to the sound of cheering women and clinking glasses. The background noise suddenly muffled as if cotton had spontaneously sprouted within his ear. A familiar bitterness was swelling up within him and he knew that Nathan was long overdue a dressing down.

However, what Phil liked to refer to as a 'dressing down', other people often referred to as a tantrum.

The frustrated director began to wade into the crowd in search of Nathan A Lawson.

Meanwhile, on the adjacent side of the room, Chrissy had found him first.

"Mr Lawson!" She greeted him as soon as she saw a gap in his conversation with another attendee.

"Chrissy!" To his credit, he looked genuinely pleased to see her, "I was just telling everyone about my new set runner. I'm glad you could make it."

Their meeting caught the attention of Ashley Barrat who was standing nearby rolling her eyes.

Chrissy was somewhat taken aback by Nathan's initial remark about the job title. She loved the idea of learning the ropes and being an intern, even an assistant, but the subtle change in job title caused her slight concern. Set runner? As in, a full-time position? That wasn't quite what she was signing up for.

"Mr Lawson I, um, I just wanted to thank-"

Her words were abruptly cut off by a furious Phil Madison, who had finally squeezed through to their location.

"Oh of course, of course, you of all people would be here. Conspiring against me together!" Phil Madison spat at the pair as he approached them. His words were loud enough to cause a few heads to turn.

The sudden interruption was enough to shift the mood. Ashley's eyes widened and another familiar face in the crowd looked on with devilish delight.

"Hey, don't you speak to my employee like that." Nathan put one hand on his hip and squarely pointed right into Phil's face with the other.

"Or what? What on earth are you going to do? You've already sent your little wench to ruin my production." Phil retorted.

"That's funny because I heard you managed to do that all by yourself, pal!" Nathan remarked.

"I am by no means your 'pal'," Phil emphasised his point with air quotes and the two of them began to square up to one another.

"Mr Madison, please." Chrissy tried to cut in between the two of them. She was starting to feel embarrassed by the on-lookers and didn't want to cause a scene. "It really isn't what it looks like."

Ashley watched carefully to ensure Nathan kept his cool. She didn't want to jump in until absolutely necessary, as the thought of Phil embarrassing himself was too sweet for her to resist. 

But Ashley didn't see the next curveball ploughing through the crowd.

An arm reached out for Phil, pulling him back from the drama, "Phil, we need to leave now." Jess was here too.

She had spent all day looking for Chrissy and as a last resort, she checked Nathan's emails. It was a long shot, but Jess thought she'd better check for any signs that the two of them were together. To her disgust, she discovered that Nathan had announced his 'latest acquisition' to the Vought Media 'Hot Intern Olympics' email chain thread. An unsolicited image of Chrissy's legs from under the table at the diner was attached, along with the invitation to see her in person at his event.

Jess had planned to find her here, but she had unexpectedly run into Phil's warpath too.

"Absolutely not, woman! You must be mad. Mad or just terrible at your job." A red-faced Phil turned his fury onto her as he snatched his arm away from Jess' caring embrace. "She was under your nose the whole time, his little spy. You were supposed to watch her."

Phil had used his signature creative licence to twist the events and unfortunately for Jess, Chrissy believed it.

"You were... sent to watch me?" Chrissy asked, with puppy dog eyes.

"No. No. That's not how it was I promise. I swear to you, Chrissy."

By this point, Ashley had inched closer and was trying to signal to the rest of her team that she needed a distraction - fast.

"They've been working against me the whole time. Together! What am I paying you for?" Phil shouted for all the crowd to witness.

"I think you've had enough Phil. It's time for you to leave." Nathan calmly said.

For once, Nathan was willing to back down. After a simple whisper in his ear from Ashley, that was. Nathan could now see that the tightly-packed crowd was starting to watch the drama unfolding, so he went one step beyond Ashley's advice.

"I know you've been finding it hard Phil, but you need help," Nathan said.

Jess cringed knowing that Nathan was pouring fuel onto the fire. She didn't have time for this, but part of her still felt responsible for Phil's actions. Despite that, a subtle maternal calling begged her to run between the warring men and reach out for Chrissy. If she allowed Phil's words to embed in the young woman's mind instead of correcting them, the miscommunication could push her further into Nathan's embrace.

Jess needed to get Phil out of the picture first.

Again, she attempted to link arms with the disgraced director and quietly spoke, "Mr.Madison you're better than this, think of your legacy."

The hair on Phil's neck stood to attention as he turned to Jess and found the eyes of the crowd staring back at him too. Hushed voices commentated on the spectacle, as the attendees judged from the sidelines. It wasn't looking good for Phil.

Nathan spoke once more as Ashley bored daggers into him with her eyes, wishing him to shut up.