Gray Heroics: Book 1

Criminally Abrasive: Chapter 2

Knock-knock-knock. 

"Hardy-baby, ya still in there? I came as soon as I could." A middle-age man inquires from outside of the blonde's home -- an apartment within the mobile stadium that she's been allowed to stay in for a small fee for nearly six years now. 

"Yeah, I'm still here. Come on in, the door's unlocked." She raises her voice to answer him from way within her bedroom. Being told such a thing, the male in a fashionable brown suit turns the knob to open the door and then proceed inside.

"Everything okay, champ? They aren't tryna' screw my superstar over, are they?" He asks while mindfully shutting the door behind himself before walking cautiously forward, not too sure where she even was inside.

"No, no... Nothing that small, unfortunately. I'm in the bedroom, by the way." She responds. 

"Oh? So what's going.... on....?" He begins to ask, but his voice trails off once he steps inside that bedroom. Or rather, a crime scene in waiting. A female with a fraction of her skull and brain matter missing laying slumped over lifelessly in bed with violet-pink colored blood splattered on the wall behind her. There were also a few firearm wounds on her body. Beside her on the other end of the bed is a deceased male slouching off the edge. The kitchen knife that's impaled through his hand and thoroughly into the wall keeps his unresponsive body from collapsing completely onto the floor.

"A break-up phase, I guess." Hardy nonchalantly answers him just before taking a swig from her second wine bottle. There's a faint visibility of thick blood on her clothing and a small portion of her jaw as she casually looks upon her own handy work. Her fishnet sleeves are gone, replaced by a black pair of clean tactical military gloves.

 "What? Gwenth, this is--" He pauses and takes a moment to look over his shoulder. He walks further inside and shuts the door before continuing his thought while lowering his voice.

"This is murder. There's no weaseling our way out of this. There's probably cameras everywhere on this thing... What were you thinking!?"

"I just... I dunno'. I just didn't want to share another breath of air with either of them. I got tired of his excuses, too." She answers as honestly as possible.

"And you think it was worth it!? What, did he cheat on you or something? Was killing two people really worth risking your career over!?"

"I asked myself that, too. It's why I kind of took my time... But in the end, yeah. I decided it was definitely worth risking everything over. The satisfaction was all I could ask for." She answers, far too calm for her manager's liking.

"Well, I hope so. Because I don't think I can get you into another gig like this." He tells her just before reaching up to pluck off his gold shades off his face with his right hand while his left palms over his eyes and allows his fingers to soothe his temples.

"I know and I'm prepared to deal with it. It's why I transferred all of my earnings to you while you were on your way over."

"What...?" He asks just after lowering his hand to look toward her in shock.

"I gave you all of my money, Jeffery. I just need you to do one last favor for me." She sets the bottle in her hand down beside her seat.

"S-...sure... What do you need?" He asks hesitantly. It's then and there that she pushes herself up to stand on her feet.

"Just a ride to the nearest planet so I can be on my way."

[Sometime later. . .]

"This seems like a pretty good one, actually. There seems to be a lotta' folks here who look like you here." Jeffery shares his observation while using the built-in computer of his Milkyway Saber -- a sleek silver 'space car' that serves as a four-seater -- to examine the inhabitants of the planet they're heading for. However, Hardy stares out the window on her side at the vast pitch-black space that's decorated by countless stars that twinkle within its immeasurable reach.

"Oh yeah?" She mutters without turning to face him, or even glance at the screen. Her chin remains still in her cradling palm while a bored expression occupies her face.

"Yeah, that's right. Seems like a pretty good place to lay low for as long as you need to. I mean, seriously... They share a very striking resemblance to you. Is this where you were born? On..." He squints his eyes and leans in a bit.

"Planet Earth?"

"No. Never even heard of it... I'm from the realm of Asgard." She answers. This time, his choice of words does pique her curiosity enough to get her to turn her head to see what he's referring to. Instead of shifting toward the screen however, he eyes rest upon the sight of an enormous great, blue orb that seems to illuminate beautifully within the darkness of space. The visual before her is enough to mesmerize her into a state of mindlessly staring.

"Huh. Maybe it's a cousin planet to your home world or something. You'll find out soon enough, though." He responds. He waves the screen away and then steps onto the acceleration to speed up. The drive down is nearly ten minutes long and the time for them to finally part ways arrives. He winds up parking atop of a library rooftop within a city, of which she opens the door to step out onto while placing the strap of her gym bag over her head. She shuts the door and then walks around to bid her old friend farewell.

"This is it..." She tells him.

"...Yeah, this is it." He responds almost sadly. He sees the stoic, yet solemn look on her face that tells him that they likely weren't going to be seeing each other again. 

"You take care out there, okay? I know they'll come asking questions, so be smart about it if it actually does come to a confrontation. Tell them I threatened to kill you, too." She instructs him.

"Ah, I'll be fine, Gwenth. It's YOU I'm...." He stops himself mid sentence upon realizing what he was saying, and to whom of all people.

"Ehh... We'll both be perfectly fine. You just live your best life and try to stay out of trouble, ya here?" 

"Heh!" His words draw a chuckle from her throat and grin across her lips.

"We'll see what happens, but you know me. I'm not one for a quiet lifestyle."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Now, you go and get. It's time to move on with your life, too." She tells him just before lifting and extending her right hand out toward his window. Seconds later, he sticks his hand out and the two gently grasp at each other's forearms. The two share one last exchange of staring before Hardy gives him one last remark.

"And don't go spending all that money in one place, young man." Her words earn a small chuckle from him before they release one another, and Jeffery goes on to take his leave. Driving back up to exit Earth's atmosphere. Just as he becomes a tiny dot in the distance, a soft crackle of lighting rings through the gray sky before rain begins drizzling down. The patter of raindrops landing all around her fills in the void of what was a brief moment of dead silence.

"How funny..."