162 Picking Up The Luggage #162

"What the hell am I doing...?" I muttered to no one in particular as I stood frozen before an apartment door, my hand raised to knock on the wood.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I firmed my resolve before knocking on the door. The door quickly opened, revealing a disheveled middle-aged woman.

I barely resisted the grimace threatening to emerge on my face as I noticed the woman's exhausted appearance and dark circles forming under her eyes.

'She's been crying... a lot...' I thought as I looked at her eyes and noticed the red veins at the edge of her eyes.

"You're Grayson... right...?" the woman asked after a couple of seconds of silence, snapping me out of my thoughts, to which I could only nod. "Mark talked a lot about you..." she added, putting on a kind smile.

"Would you like to come in...?" she asked as she stepped aside, invitingly gesturing for me to go inside.

"I don't want to impose, Mrs. Miller..." I said, gathering my bearing and shaking away any stray thoughts to focus on the matter. I wasn't here to stare at Mark's widow blankly like an idiot.

"Nonsense. Hurry up and come in," the woman replied with a smile as she stepped back into the apartment and turned around, to which I followed suit, closing the door behind me.

"Take a seat," Mrs. Miller said as she gestured towards the sofa. "Let me get you something to drink," she added as she walked into the kitchen, leaving me alone in the living room.

'Looks cozy...' I mused as I looked around while waiting for her to come back. It was nothing fancy, but it felt warm, with all the family pictures on the walls, a couple of plants, and some toys on the ground.

"I'm afraid you caught me at a bad time. I need to restock the fridge, but I didn't have the time with everything that happened..." Mrs. Miller said, smiling as she put a cup of water on the table before sitting on the recliner chair.

"It's quite alright. I can't stay for long anyway," I replied, smiling as I took a sip of water before putting the cup down. "I'm here to offer my condolences and apologize for missing the funeral," I apologetically added, shaking my head as I sighed.

"It might not mean much, but I'm truly sorry for what happened to Mark, Mrs. Miller," I concluded, Mark's last moments flashing in my head, causing me to grimace.

"It's hardly your fault... I know that big monster hurt you badly while you were trying to protect us..." she replied, putting on a brighter smile as she sensed my discomfort.

'Hardly my fault... I'm not so sure about that...' I bitterly mused.

"Thank you for saving our lives... and for being here..." she went on, trailing off at the end of her sentence a second before continuing as she noticed my bitter mood.

"In fact, it's me who has to apologize... I knew Mark owed you money, but I had to spend most of our savings on the funeral..." she concluded, her tone turning nervous for a second, much to my confusion.

"I'm not here to collect a debt, Mrs. Miller..." I replied, frowning to play dumb, despite knowing what she meant. "I really don't know what you mean," I added, shaking my head.

"I... thank you..." she said, sighing as her nervousness visibly eased. However, she still seemed concerned. "I will pay you back once I can... that money saved Leah's life... and please call me Janet" she added, again misunderstanding my intention.

"Mark didn't owe me anything, Mrs..." I said, trailing off for a second before correcting myself. "Janet, I mean. In fact, I owed him a debt, which I'm here to fulfill..." I added, shrugging my shoulders.

"I didn't know Mark as much as I'd liked... but he helped me get through a difficult patch in my life..." I said and scratched my head as I elaborated in response to her confused expression.

"I lived in this apartment complex with my father before I got a place of my own... the drunk bum on the top floor..." I explained, resisting the urge to smile as her expression turned from bafflement to realization at the end of my sentence.

"It was a very dark time for me... but Mark's goofy smile and his dad jokes... you know, just seeing a friendly face for a change every time I went out..." I went on, sighing as I noticed Mrs. Miller lower her head, her hands trembling.

"It made everything easier to bear..." I concluded.

"Oh... Mark..." Mrs. Miller muttered in between sobs as tears escaped her closed eyelids, falling on her lap. "He... didn't deserve going like that... he was such a sweetheart to everyone..." she remarked, as she raised her head and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

Seeing Mark's widow break down into tears like that was not easy. I really wanted to console her, but I didn't know how. I could only wish I did as I watched her sob, internally gritting my teeth.

"No one deserves that, especially not Mark..." I said as I clenched and unclenched my hand to calm down. "I assure you, I will find the ones responsible, and I'll make them pay..." I added, my expression darkening, which didn't escape her notice.

"Do you... do you know who did that to my Mark...?" Mrs. Miller asked as she looked me straight in the eye, noticing the peculiarities in my tone and words.

"I do. But I won't tell you. The less you know about those people, the better for you and Leah," I added, firmly shaking my head as I took a deep breath and finally calmed down.

My words probably sounded condescending to her, and they might have been just that. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have told her, but she deserved to know that someone was hunting for Mark's killers.

I'd already reviewed the reports on The GCPD database about Mark's case, and they'd already given up after finding no clues in the past week as they had their hands full dealing with the aftermath of Brimstone's rampage.

It won't bring Mark back. It won't fix the situation, but it was all I had to offer, and it was better than nothing.

"That's not why I'm here, Janet. I don't want to make assumptions or impose on your lives, but..." I remarked, quickly continuing my speech before she could interject.

"Because of his job, many people knew Mark, and by extension you..." I explained, my expression sifting to match my severe tone as I adjusted my posture.

"Now that he's gone, those same people know there's a single mother and her child living alone in an apartment..." I added, holding back a sigh as I watched Janet's complexion instantly turned pale.

"I don't need to tell you what kind of neighborhood you live in, Janet. You and Leah shouldn't stay here..." I concluded, going silent so as to give the woman time to process my words.

"But... where would we go...? I barely managed to get my old job back..." Janet dejectedly said after a bout of silence as she tried and failed to think of somewhere else to go.

"Then there's Leah's school..." she added, her tone becoming more and more distressed with every word as she leaned her forehead into her palm, clearly anxious.

"I have an empty house in Tricorner Island. It's in the safest area of Gotham. You can stay there," I replied, finally giving up and letting out a tired sigh.

"I can get you a better job somewhere close and get Leah transferred to a decent school there," I concluded as I began browsing the internet with my personal computer power to find a suitable house for Janet and Leah.

"But you've already done so much for us... I can't accept any more from you..." Janet firmly said, but the tremor in her voice as she spoke didn't accept my notice.

She clearly, and desperately wanted and needed to take the offer, but her pride was getting in the way.

"The house isn't doing me any good vacant. I wanted to rent it for a while, but I can't just trust complete strangers," I replied, shrugging my shoulders as I finally found a suitable home.

"Think of it as an investment on my part. You can start paying me rent whenever you get back on your feet," I added, smiling as I dismissively waved to the side.

"That way, you can stay safe, and I get a tenant that I don't have to worry about turning my crib into a meth lab or a satanic cult meeting spot or something..." I jokingly concluded, getting a slight chuckle from Janet.

"It's a win-win situation if you ask me."

...

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