Chapter 34: Chapter 31: I found the cheeseburger!
Jessica led Grim to her apartment, her mind still reeling from the previous incident.
As she fumbled with her keys, she glanced at him, her curiosity piqued despite her drunken state.
"So, what's your deal? Why did you push me out of the way kid, not that I dont appreciate it." she asked, slurring slightly as she opened the door.
Grim shrugged, stepping into the chaotic apartment. "Not much to it. I was just out on my nightly stroll when I saw an empty truck hurtling towards a drunk passerby, so then I pushed you out of the way and took the hit."
Jessica snorted as she stumbled towards the bathroom.
"Well, congrats on being a dumbass, word of advice, don't be a hero, and mind you're own business...it gets you nowhere." She said with a bit of venom in her tone.
In the bathroom, the sound of Jessica hurling was audible. Grim looked around the apartment, noting the mess, it looked like a depressed hoarder's home.
Squeak!!!
'And was that a rat!!!' Grim thought hearing the sound.
When she emerged, she pointed at the couch, littered with bottles and food boxes. "You can crash there. I'll deal with you tomorrow."
Without waiting for a response, she trudged to her bedroom, leaving Grim in the living room.
He simply shrugged, not one to be easily bothered, except by food or his ongoing quest for a permanent end.
"This place really is a pigstein though, it's ten times worse than Felicia's home..."With Jessica asleep, Grim decided to tidy up the apartment.
Summoning Skia, they worked together, Skia devouring the rubbish into her shadow dimension, incinerating it with her flames.
While Grim handled the bathroom, the kitchen and the living room after Skia had dealt with all the rubbish.
Hours later, the apartment was unrecognizable, clean and organized.
Grim avoided Jessica's room, respecting her privacy, and eventually settled on the now-clean couch, closing his eyes for a moment of rest.
....
The next morning, Jessica's usual routine would have commenced with the destruction of her alarm clock...but she had already destroyed it without replacing it.
She grabbed her phone instead and stumbled out of her bedroom, cigarette in hand.
But as she stepped into her living room, she stopped dead in her tracks. The cigarette fell from her mouth as she took in the spotless apartment.
"This has to be a hallucination," she muttered, inspecting her surroundings. It was indeed her apartment, but cleaner than it had ever been.
Noticing Grim asleep on the couch, memories of the previous night flooded back. She approached him, her expression unreadable, and kicked his leg to wake him up.
"Morning, sunshine," she said dryly as he blinked awake.
"Morning. You look... surprised," Grim noted, sitting up.
"Did you do all this?" Jessica asked, gesturing around the apartment.
"Yeah, thought I'd repay your hospitality. You know, since you let me crash here and all," Grim replied with a casual shrug.
Jessica felt a mix of gratitude and annoyance. "Great, now I owe you. Fantastic," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
Grim raised an eyebrow. "You don't owe me anything. Just thought it'd be nice to clean up a bit."
Jessica paced the room, trying to process the transformation. "Sigh, never mind...so what's your story kid, give me the short version, I'm too hungover for the long one.
.....
Grim, only 18 and an immortal for just a month, sat up on the couch in Jessica Jones's now tidy apartment.
If her ex-husband saw this he would have thought he had come to the wrong apartment.
Jessica, still processing the transformation of her living space, eyed the young man. "You're what, a kid? And you're telling me you're immortal...Immortal?"
Grim nodded, a mix of confusion and nonchalance in his expression. "Yeah, died a year ago saving someone. Came back and... here I am. Still figuring it out."
Jessica, though usually a lone wolf, felt a strange sense of responsibility towards this peculiar teenager. "Alright, kid. As a thank-you for... whatever happened last night, and for cleaning the place, let's get you some breakfast. How about McDonald's?"
Grim's face lit up at the mention of food, a universal pleasure he still enjoyed. "Sounds good to me...but is there a Chimichanga place instead?
"..."
"Jessica" Grim called out to her as Jessica suddenly went blank.
"Oh sorry, the word you just said reminded me of a certain annoying prick with a mouth, and no it's McDonald's or I'm not treating you.
Grim shrugged, not minding either. Though he did wonder why the word Chimichanga reminded her of someone.
Could it have been the African American man in the photos he found with her and a little girl?
.....
They left the apartment, heading towards the nearest McDonald's. The morning air of Hell's Kitchen was brisk, filled with the city's polluted air.
"So, you just came back to life and now you're trying to die again?" Jessica asked, her tone a mix of curiosity and scepticism.
Grim shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. It's not as fun as it sounds, being immortal. Especially when you don't know why."
Jessica glanced at him, a sense of kinship growing despite her usual reservations. "Life's a mystery, kid. Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches...or punch fuckers who think they can tell you what to do."
Grim chuckled hollowly, he was beginning to grasp the type of woman Jessica was.
As they reached McDonald's, Jessica held the door open for Grim. "First lesson of the day: enjoy the small things, like a decent breakfast."
Inside, they ordered their food and found a table. Grim dove into his cheeseburgers with gusto, a stark contrast to Jessica's more reserved demeanour.
"So, what's your story? You're like a policewoman or something?" Grim asked between bites.
"No, I'm a private investigator. Been at it for years," Jessica replied, sipping her coffee.
"Cool. Like, solving murders and stuff?" Grim's eyes were wide with interest.
Jessica smirked. "Something like that. It's not as glamorous as it sounds."
The conversation flowed easily as they ate. Jessica found herself opening up more than usual.
Maybe it was because she hadn't really interacted with a lot of people for long periods of time.
.....
As Grim devoured his burger, Jessica took out some documents related to the murder case.
The photos were gruesome, and she was grateful that no one else was upstairs in the McDonald's to see them.
Grim, intrigued, glanced over the photos. "What's all this?" he asked.
Jessica explained the case details, her eyes scanning the documents. "It's a series of murders, that have been occurring in the last few weeks, some type of occult stick. The cops can't make heads or tails of it."
Jessica explained while eying a certain symbol that she was now certain she had seen somewhere before, but where?
As Grim looked at the photos, he hummed in interest. "Hey, Jessica, check this out."
"What is it?" she asked, leaning over.
"These victims... all their buildings have this specific graffiti. See?" Grim pointed at the photos. "It's not just random tagging. This is underworld stuff. I recognize some of these symbols from my gang days."
Jessica's interest piqued. "Can you make anything out of it?"
Grim nodded. "Yeah. It's like a coded message. 'Target, Sunday, 12 o'clock.'"
'It matches the time of all the murders.' Jessica thought with interest.
Impressed, Jessica looked at Grim with newfound respect. "Anything else you can spot?"
Grim shook his head as he took another bite of his burger. "That's all for now."
Jessica contemplated for a moment. "So, this immortality thing... you're saying even a bullet to the brain wouldn't do it?"
Grim confirmed with a nod.
"Okay, then. How about a deal? You crash at my place, help me with this case, and I'll pay you two grand," Jessica proposed.
Grim considered the offer, finishing his burger. "Sure, I'm in. But, isn't bringing a civilian into a murder case a bit illegal?"
Jessica flicked his forehead, causing him to rub the spot with a wince. "Leave that to me. Just help me on the case. Now hurry up and finish your food."
As she swiped a fry from his plate, then another, Grim couldn't help but wince.
This unexpected meeting was turning out to be more interesting than she had anticipated.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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