Grey Line

Burner Phones and Partnerships

When he woke the next morning, as promised, Mika was gone. The bed was made, everything was cleaner than it had been before. The hero walked over and smirked at the note left on the pillow: Thanks again~M.
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She finally made it to her apartment. Her body was screaming at her as she unlocked her door and stumbled in, almost dropping the medicine bag. She disposed of her bloody clothing in the garbage and locked her door. Once she forced the medications down her throat, she turned on the shower.

"Damn," she let out a small breath as she unwrapped her abdomen slowly. It was so sore from her movement, but she desperately wanted to bathe.

After managing to brush through her thick hair, she re-wrapped her wound and dressed in a baggy tshirt and shorts. Opening her fridge, she luckily had some leftover rice and spam she could cook up. Tomorrow was a grocery run.

After eating, she crawled into her bed, careful not to disturb her wound. Her mind wandered back to Hawks. He was interesting. Heroes typically tried to scold her, telling her she's a villain is disguise. Hawks didn't. If anything he seemed to understand what she was getting at. Mika didn't enjoy killing, but her targets were always the ones who got away due to their money and connections. They were people who believed they were untouchable. She gladly educated them. Her eyes grew heavy, and soon, sleep claimed her.
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A week has gone by. Hawks found himself flying over her block multiple times, but alas, she was nowhere to be seen. Part of him worried she was in bad shape, that her wound had gotten infected. Perhaps she was just resting, trying to heal. Another part of him worried someone had gotten to her. At any rate, it was annoying him.

The sun was setting, making the changing leaves stand out against the grey sky. Tokoyami was on duty tonight, but Hawks was bored, so he flew around the city. Well, that's what he told himself.

He saw movement down a side street and focused his eyes in the dusky darkness. Sure enough, Mika was slowly making her way to her apartment, take out food in hand. He smiled and made a swoop to land in front of her.

Mika blinked, "Stalker much?"

"Yes," he looked her over, "I wanted to see how you were feeling."

"It's still painful, but it's closed now," her eyes looked at him before looking around them, "so what do you want?"

His signature smile crossed his face, "I have an offer."

"No thanks."

"W-wait-" he followed her as she began to move around hin, "I promise it's a good score."

A sigh left her, "I'm not hero material Birdie Boy."

"I don't need a hero. I need someone to do some dirty work."

".....come on." She walked up to her apartment door, "I don't like talking business in the open."

He eagerly followed her in and up to her floor. The inside of her apartment was simple, but nice. Everything had a place and was put away. She sat the food down on her counter and began opening it, "So what is it?"

"I have a friend who is hell bent on taking out the Commission," he leaned on her counter, "We might need a few extra bodies."

"I'm in," she opened the lid to her soup.

He blinked, "Really?"

She nodded and took a long sip, feeling it warm her bones, "It's personal."

"Fair enough," he thought for a moment, "I'll need your number to send you details."

"I don't have one" she took a bite of her rice.

"You....don't have one?" For once, he was almost speechless.

"I didn't want anyone tracking me."

"I can give you a burner phone," he reached into his pocket, "It doesn't have tracking capability."

Mika sighed and took it, "Who all is involved?"

"The entire DynaMight agency, and most of the pros. The commission has been doing some back handed deals, and are seemingly targeting select pros."

"How is that my problem," she stopped eating and gave him a blank stare.

"Because my neck is on the line," he grinned, "Not to mention, as they move down the ladder, you'll be making more noise...I'm sure they'll notice."

"I'm not working with any of them. The less people involved the better." She figured she owed him this much for saving her life.

"Deal," he slid the phone across the table, "I'll let you know what to do going forward."

"It needs a charger," she held it for a moment before setting it aside, continuing her meal.

"I'll bring you one," Hawks stood and walked to the door, "Heal up, you've got some work to do."
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Days had passed before the almost dead phone buzzed with a text:

Meet at the following address when it's dark-H

Mika rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee. She hadn't really been to the shop since her accident. Today was the first day and when the hot liquid touched her lips, it felt like she was awake for the first time in days. While she was still sore, the wound was closing. After some test movements, she knew her limits.

"You look like your stressed," Rocky sat down at her table.

Mika smiled, "That's because I am..."

"Let me guess, you can't talk about it."

A sigh left her as her grey eyes gave him a knowing look. The phone in her pocket buzzed. Pulling it out, she confirmed their meetup point and put it away. Rocky smirked, "Since when do you have a phone?"

"A business partner loaned it to me to keep us in contact." She rested her chin on her palm, "He was appalled I didn't have one."

The man gave a hearty laugh, "Welcome to the future." He stood and patted her head, "Be careful out there, kid."

Mika adjusted her black long sleeved shirt as she stood grabbing her coat. Darkness was beginning to cover the sky as she began her journey to her meetup space.