After doing what I could to finish up my repairs in the tense silence of my singular room house, it didn’t take long for sleep to take me.

I found myself in a dream, which was unusual. Didn't dream most nights. I stood beside a lake, or no - some kind of pleasant river. Two normal hands, but I couldn’t speak. Behind me, a fire ravaged through the surrounding woodland. Despite the stifling smoke and gradual heat warming me, I couldn’t stop staring at the flowing water. It was calming despite the danger.

Any further details or insights into some hidden metaphor were slowly lost as I woke. Daytime once more, if the faint light breaching the covered windows were any sign. I turned and sat up on my mattress. Rubbed at my head. Even now, any vibrancy of my sleeping thoughts had faded. A waning mist turning into gray, shapeless mush.

Wounds were pretty healed, but some ache remained on the fresh skin. Shrapnel removal device was rather traumatizing for the lower layers, so took an extra day or two to fix up even with the stims. Not that I had anything important planned for the day. Maybe spend the agonising time necessary to type out a status update for Boss.

Two debriefing reports to send off, too. I’d really dug myself some fresh hell this morning. Or afternoon. Wasn’t too sure how long I slept in, and didn’t care to check. The lack of routine on my off days was something to allow my brain to unwind and not weave itself tight enough to burst.

Wasn’t murdered in my sleep, which was… nice? It was hard to paint it with anything more negative, otherwise I’d sound more miserable than necessary.

I sat on the edge of the mattress for a few minutes, with my eyes closed. Just… existing and listening for any odd noises. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even though my house looked like it was built from the wreckage left in the wake of a hurricane, it was reasonably good at dampening the ambient noise of the wasteland further beyond where I slept.

Far enough from the city to be away from prying eyes, but still close enough that I avoided roving mutant packs.

That just drove my thoughts back to the possibility that Boss would relocate me to the next city over. Neo-Tully. They had tighter security, however. Would be difficult for me to even get in past their checkpoints. Then again, I shouldn’t make plans for the unknown just yet. Still plenty of contracts here, no doubt.

I wondered if the superhero had been coming over to kill me last night, but didn’t have the courage to. It was also possible that she recalled a few additional insults to levy my way, but decided leaving it to the morning to berate me was sufficient punishment enough. There was plenty of boring crime in the city. She should focus on fighting that rather than tripping over my feet and being mad at me for the injustice. That or just kill me.

With a sigh, I couldn’t hold off on letting Boss know any longer. Mostly, I didn’t want to move anywhere. There was some comfort in the known, and I had enjoyed my simple life of work and nothing else whatsoever. A voice at the back of my mind decried disagreement with such a statement, but it was soon silenced as I brought my STAR device up.

I cursed my stubbornness at denying the vocalizer chip. At least I could now fully admit that I had taken things a little too far in trying to distance myself from a normal existence.

So, I tapped slowly at the device with the muzzle of my gun-arm.

Boss. Super moved in next door. Friendly but soft. Suspicious? Advise.

Left out the part about her being annoying as shit and also that she had witnessed me off my target the night before. I normally went for full disclosure, but not only was typing agony, but… part of me didn’t want to get admonished from Boss as well. Didn't need the only two living people I knew chewing me out.

A tap on the side of my hydration cannister and it felt like it was near empty again. Recovery always drained them quicker... seemed like everything did these days. Needed to report that the newer ones had the sediment problem… but that just added to my typing requirement. I sighed and accepted my fate.

With no violence to mete out today, I might as well spend my time getting caught up on the rest of the ‘paperwork’. Perhaps if I had any sanity or energy left afterwards, I’d sort through my ammunition crate and do some stocktaking. See if there was anything I’d need to ask Boss to deliver.

An errant thought danced through my mind. A question of whether there was any such ammunition that could disable the powers of a super. Small mag of those, and I’d not be so worried about Roxy. Not that I was worried. But if there was going to be an eventual fight, I’d like to be prepared to give it my all.

With a sigh, I got up to my feet. She wasn’t on my contract list, so I doubted I’d really care to kill her even if she started something. Being irritating wasn't a crime, certainly not one worthy of whatever I cost to hire.

I walked over to the workbench to dig out a fresh can. Sat down and tried to recall the details of my contract against the snob with the death pool. Was it… eight incapacitated, two dead? Had used almost a full ten-mag of the taser shells. I tapped the muzzle of my arm-gun on the edge of the bench as my mind played through that evening as if it was a movie.

Nine and two. Seven tasered, two blunt force trauma, then killed two with normal cartridges. Nothing else really to report. Still had half a box of the incapacitating ammo, so didn’t need to request more just yet. Didn’t have the heart to add a smiley face at the end to provide feedback on how satisfied I was with the mission completion.

Sent that one off as I slowly jabbed at the screen. Would have been nice if they affixed it to the side of my gun rather than my inner arm, but Boss didn’t want it getting damaged or something. Complication with the V-Force powering my weapon. Said that it could be voice activated… if I ever cared to have that part of me fixed. So far, I had refused. Life was easier without expelling my dour thoughts into the world. Up until the super had shown up, things were just peachy with me being inside my head all the time.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

I stretched out my arm before continuing to last night’s contract report. Twenty dead… no complications. A sigh as I paused on this note. It was true in that nothing interrupted my completion of the mission, nor prevented me from returning home safe. Was she a witness? Sure, but not exactly something easily explained.

Problem was, I couldn’t lie to Boss. Even bending the truth gave me an ick. This whole setup was built on trust. Full and correct information. But in saying that, I didn’t know how things were going to pan out. If Roxy had reported me to the League or law enforcement, then that was a more dire position than if she would leave me be, but still live next door.

Still, there wasn’t exactly a way I could force a decisive answer out of her to let Boss know. At least, not with my lack of social skills.

Just before I was about to start jabbing at my STAR once again, there was a knock at the door.

My eyes went over to the drum mag. Now fully loaded and sitting expectantly at the top of the crate nearby. There was really only one person that would actually have the patience to knock and wait for me, and I didn’t fancy the chances of my normal cartridges being any use.

Against better judgement, I avoided loading up as I stepped towards the front of the house.

The whirr of a sigh, before I readied myself and pulled open the door.

It was her.

Baggy gray tracksuit and navy baseball cap. Eyebrows furrowed and arms crossed. Must be her day off, and she was using her idle time to come and annoy me further. The hobbies some people had. Didn’t look dressed to break my neck, but then again, it was more of a low profile outfit than her overt hero costume if she wanted to do it on the sly.

“W,” she began, as if spelling the letter out fully was my formal name. “I feel like we need to clear the air about what happened last night.”

A statement rather than a request. I felt like she needed to clear my doorstep of her presence, but didn’t have a pleasant way of communicating that. She hadn’t pulped my head in yet, so perhaps I’d give her some allowance to speak what she needed. I gave her a slow shrug in response.

“I just need to know… what you... are?” Her face wrinkled up. “Some kind of mercenary?”

I gave her a brief nod. Close enough to the truth.

“Do you kill good people? Bad guys? Innocents? Employed by someone, or solo?”

Behind my green tinted goggles, I narrowed my eyes. Gestured with my hand that she was making this complicated. She understood the body language, at least.

“Sorry. I guess the important one is… do you only kill criminals?”

The truth had some nuance to it. While none of the people on my contracts were good, the morality of whether they should receive a death penalty without trial wasn’t something I cared to deliberate over. Some things just didn’t graze the behemoth that was law enough to become criminal, even if the act was reprehensible if gazed upon by wider society.

I couldn’t give her a clear yes or no answer, so I just maintained my blank stare.

She worked her jaw, hoping that I would answer. “Fucking… you’re an asshole. I feel like I’m putting in all the effort here… and you’re just a wall. Mute or not, you’re being a prick.”

Still standing in my doorway, I glanced over to her house, before back at the fiery woman. For the most part, I just didn’t understand why she was making the effort to be friendly and accepting. It wasn’t just unnecessary, but also against what I thought the principles of a superhero should be. I’d murdered a guy she was trying to arrest right in front of her, and she was acting as if I had just eaten the last… whatever people ate. Pancakes.

Any anger seemed to simmer and cool, as she came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to meet her halfway. The annoyance switched to disdain.

“Well. Fuck you then, Dubs.” Her crossed arms dropped, and she shrugged. “I did my best, but this… let’s just stay out of each other’s way? Okay?”

I nodded.

“Fine. I’ll be requesting a change of location. Until then, well… don’t get in my way again.” She turned and took a couple of steps away before stopping. Her head turned back to me. “Don’t worry about getting reported or anything. Think of it as my goodbye gift.”

She continued back to her house, flipping me off along the way.

I closed the door, another sigh vibrating through my re-breather filters. Well, that was two matters settled. One less meddling superhero, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the military knocking my door in at night. Relief would probably be the normal thing to feel at this stage… but I just felt detached.

Depending on how long she held up her side of the bargain, I might not need to relocate. The likelihood that I’d get a contract where I’d butt heads with the woman again was slim to none. Other than hearing her land in her front yard, it would be like she wasn’t there.

Sitting down in my chair, I didn’t feel like doing much now. Even with the future reports to Boss clearer in my mind, thanks to Roxy’s need to bully me with her affability... I couldn’t stomach typing it all out again. My fingers drummed on my desk. Listless. Instead, I went and laid down on my mattress on the floor. Stared at the plain ceiling that had started to grow some manner of mildew or something. I wasn’t even tired… just taking an extended break. Yeah, that was it.

Maybe I’d get around to completing a full inventory check. Pretty sure there were some plastic explosives in one of the crates collecting dust. Last time I had needed one was…

Oh, yeah. An odd contract in that it was in the wastelands themselves. Gang of mutants who had taken over an abandoned underground vault. Whoever had inherited it from their grandparents wanted it cleared out so they could strip it for anything useful. Nobody wanted to live in the wastelands - bunker or not.

Usually the type of thing a Monster Hunter would deal with, but the profession had fallen out of fashion. Most people with natural abilities went the superhero route and dealt with crime in the city. Safer, and more fame and wealth to be gained. The Hunters that remained to date were the grisled and outlandish few. A possible plan B for me if things ever went sour with Boss. Head north, away from the city clusters and to the Deadzone.

Find my death amongst the horrors there and hopefully make the world a marginally better place. I rolled my eyes at the notion. The only thing that I…

I raised my left hand up to look at my wrist. A message, my STAR flashing light silver.

Understood. Business as usual, but keep me updated. Boss.

Hmm. Probably best to keep updates to the important things only, rather than every sour word the super leveled at me. I’d give it a couple of days to see if she stuck to her word and kept out of my way, then I’d tell Boss. If she got relocated, then this was just an odd blip in my life that I could simply move past.

I would perhaps smile at this thought if I had any of the necessary physical parts. But something in the back of my mind told me it wouldn’t be that easy to shake her.

Not wanting the lady in red to totally eclipse my day, I begrudgingly accepted that a stock take might be a good use of my downtime. Yet, before I could even take a step towards the crates, my STAR illuminated again, another message received.

Great work on both contracts, Agent W. Take a day to rest, and then I have something important for you. Busy season, rewards will increase. Boss.