Work

7:30 am; Virtue News

The newsroom was a fairly quiet place. The nightshift was gone, the morning shift was still settling in for the day and the previous evening lacked anything dramatic or sensational to be reported. Hannah liked those kinds of mornings, they let her focus on her work without so much distraction. Unfortunately for her two of the three problems she had with her job were standing between the main entrance and her desk; the Virtue News morning anchors Richard Richardson and Pamela Packwood.

Rich was tall and classically handsome. High cheek bones, a square jaw, a thick neck and broad shoulders gave him a masculine look. His whole upper body was quite muscular, almost pushing out against his dark blue suit. Rumor had it that he was the sole reason the station hadn't lost the female 30-49 demographic. Hannah could see the appeal, but she was in the know in regards to the morning hunk of Virtue News. His secret was that he only worked out the glam muscles on his arms and chest; the parts of him visible to the audience while sitting behind a news desk. Apparently he always skipped leg day.

Then there was Pam. Her short blonde hair was styled in a bob that framed her round face and hazel eyes. She was quite attractive, which was probably why she was an anchor, but a lot of people couldn't get over her resting bitch face. The only time she didn't look like she was offended by whatever was in front of her was when she was on camera. Hannah gave her a once over as she approached the pair, what she could see of Packwoods body was fit and toned, but it was hard to guess her dimensions past her rather conservatively cut white dress.

At first it seemed like Hannah would walk past the two without issue but Richard spotted her from the corner of his eye and held a hand up as though to stop her.

"Oh hey, mind grabbing me a coffee? Thanks doll." He barely looked at her while he made his request, but his head visibly snapped to her chest a moment later. He coughed and looked away, "and dress more appropriately. This is a respectable news station."

Hannah looked down to her chest expecting to find something wrong, but her blouse only showed a small but of cleavage. "There's nothing wrong with how I'm dressed."

"That's just what I'd expect from someone who supports super skanks like Vixen." Pam never let an opportunity to spout her own opinion pass her by. "The only super hero this city needs is Blind Faith. He's-"

"Blind Faith is just as much a threat to this city as whichever super heroine you're jealous of today, MISS PACKINWOOD!" She had been cut off by a shout from the other side of the room. Mr. Black had heard the comment and begun thundering towards the trio.

Hannah put her hand to her face. Rich mumbled, "But I like Blind Faith."

Pamela smiled her best as the stations owner and proprietor stopped in front of her. He was a bit overweight, his grey hair contrasted his dark brown skin and he always seemed to smell of dust. She had grown quiet under his intense stare, "Um, it's Packwood, sir."

He didn't seem to hear or care about her correction. "Any one of those super dickbags can bring hell and all its flame down on us at any moment, Blind Faith included. All it takes is one super human pushed too far and we're all dead." He turned and looked upwards, "Oh sweet Jesus Lord in Heaven, I pray I die peacefully in my bed before some idiot in spandex gets me killed."

Black turned from the trio and began to address the entire news room. "Listen up everyone. Channel 6 is killing us in the ratings and we need exclusives, something juicy to bring in new viewers. What have you got?"

Rich piped up, "Maybe we could do a segment on Blind Faith and all he's done for the city?" Black spun to stare daggers at the anchor. "Maybe include footage of him fighting Bombshell?" The stare intensified. "No?"

Pamela stepped forward. "We could do a segment about how the cities moral fabric is decaying." Black looked at the blonde from the corner of his eye. "And blame it all on the super humans!" His eyes slammed shut as he brought his palm to his face.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that is Packinwood?" Pamela opened her mouth to once again try correcting her employer but Black cut her off. "Not only would moral chest thumping further alienate the bulk of our remaining audience, but going all super racist is a great way to make sure we'll never get younger viewers." He rolled his eyes in an overly dramatic fashion. "Because apparently kids these days are suicidal and look up to masked crime fighters like they're heroes or something."

Black turned back to addressing the gathered reporters. "We need something new and interesting. Something that none of the stations have covered before. Whoever gets me something good will escape this pit you lot call a newsroom and move into the empty office upstairs." The room was quiet, "Well? Get to it!"