Synopsis: Trish realises that being in a relationship with Daredevil and becoming a vigilante herself is nothing like she imagined it to be. Better in some ways, but also much worse in others. When some new side effects occur while Trish's new powers develop she tries to hide it from Jessica and Matt. But she gets him to investigate IGH with her to find out where Jessica's and her abilities come from, while the PI is not interested in digging up her own past and doesn't appreciate them doing it either.
This is a sequel to Punch or Kiss Him ( s/12704112/1/Punch-or-Kiss-Him ), where Jessica helps Matt fight Fisk after The Defenders and Trish becomes my version of Hellcat. She has a huge crush on Daredevil while she forces him to train her. Read it if you want to know how Matt and Trish get together. But I think this one will work on it's own as well. I plan to explain everything that happened before along the way if necessary. Let me know if anything is unclear.
I think a T rating should be enough here, but tell me if I'm mistaken or if it should go up. :) There are some heavy themes in here, but also guest appearances and other things I wanted to play with. Enjoy!
"It's all connected to IGH." Karen sums up what she found so far for Trish. "Not just the origin of Jessica's powers and Will Simpson's strength. By now criminals in Hell's Kitchen also deal with samples of those pills. Frank says, it's a bit like enhancement drug lottery. They rarely give anyone special abilities, mostly make you addicted and very aggressive. There is just no way to know anymore which ones actually work and it appears that you also can't know what kind of ability you might get. We think IGH got plundered by Fisk's men, but some scientists must have fled with the good stuff and when they realised that most of the pills weren't helping them get stronger, they just started to sell them."
Trish nods slowly. "And apart from the pills?"
"Like the substance you were injected with? It could easily have come from them. The pills you guys found in the laboratory definitely did. And it sounds like while the effects of the pills and inhalers wear off, sometimes with injections it's permanent." Karen offers Trish a sympathetic smile. But there's really no need for it, since that substance also gave her power, something she always longed for. "Maybe there is more out there we don't know about. We also don't know if IGH is still active somewhere."
"Thank you. This will help." Trish takes the folder on IGH from the journalist who has become a dear friend since they met. Someone she can talk to about anything, not just work, while other people in her life usually try to shut important stuff down. And from what Karen told her it's even worse with Frank Castle, so she can relate. These people may be incredibly strong, but they are also damaged and in some ways more vulnerable than they would like to admit. "Don't write anything about this yet, okay? Or can you keep Jessica's name out of it?"
"People need to know about this. Especially if this stuff is poisoning the streets." Karen is right, of course. She is always eager to tell the truth and that makes her brilliant at her job.
Trish still has other priorities. For her some people come first. "I know and they will, but Jess is already an outcast. If her name comes up in this, people will be even more afraid of her than they already are."
Karen considers this. "You know, if I could talk to her and make people understand that she is a victim in this - as an anonymous source..."
"She wouldn't like to be seen as a victim." Trish also hadn't told her yet about her little investigation. That will make her angry enough. She is not looking forward to telling her. "You can quote me anonymously and I can tell you about those headaches I had initially."
"Alright, don't worry, I'll keep her out of it. And maybe I'll find someone else who wants to talk." Karen smiles. She trusts her.
"Let me know if you do and I'll keep you informed as well, in case I find anything else." She's going to tell Matt about this tomorrow. He has been keen on finding a way to help Jessica. This might be a chance to repay her for everything she has done for him. "So, how are you?"
Karen shrugs. "I'm fine, really. Work is difficult these days, but in a way, it makes me want to be as good and honest as I can be. You know?"
"I know what you mean. But I only get to talk about diets and celebrities at the moment. That's hardly relevant." Trish rolls her eyes. She has been trying to keep a low profile on serious issues lately, especially anything involving vigilantes or special abilities. By now, she is desperate to get a meaty story like this again. "Please give me a heads up when your story is finished. Maybe I can get you invited on the show."
"Sure." She smiles.
"And how is Frank?" Trish has been curious about Castle from the moment she found out that the sweet and charming woman in front of her cared for him deeply.
"He has been around more and I think that has a lot to do with him finally accepting that Matt is with you now. He didn't want to come between us, somehow."
Matt is still not thrilled about Karen's frequent contact with the Punisher, although it's not like he would get a say in the matter. According to Karen he never really did. She hated the way Matt tried to decide for her what was too dangerous. And that was even before she knew he was Daredevil. Trish made sure from the beginning though that he knows ordering her around, even if he knows better, is not the way to go. It's been a struggle. "Frank also probably stayed away in an effort to protect me."
Trish scoffs. "Those two jerks have more in common than you'd think."
Karen drinks from her coffee and raises her eyebrows curiously. "And how is your new hobby shaping up?"
She is of course talking about Trish running around the city as Hellcat at night and fighting thugs with Daredevil.
A happy grin is blooming on Trish's face. "It's a blast. And the company is excellent as well."
Her vigilante boyfriend has not disappointed her after he gave up on pushing her away. Sure, they did fight sometimes, but mostly those arguments came from worrying about each other. It all came from a good place. Like Matt thinking that she's too tired sometimes and trying to convince her to stay home, when he is going out to protect his city. Or Trish getting angry whenever he takes unnecessary risks and gets hurt. Apart from that it is going really well.
Like this evening. When she returns from meeting Karen she can already smell that he is cooking in her apartment. Matt knows his way around the kitchen (not just Hell's Kitchen) and she started putting braille labels on the ingredients he can't smell that easily when she found out about this talent of his. While fumbling with the keys she makes an appreciative comment knowing that he'll be able to hear her.
Trish puts the bag with the IGH folder on the floor next to the entrance. She'll bring it up tomorrow, for today she has other plans. "Hey! What are you making?"
"It's a surprise." Matt smiles. "I wanted to try something new, but didn't have all the ingredients."
"So, I owe this pleasure to your inability to stock your fridge?" She doesn't mind, of course.
Matt raises his eyebrows and smirks at her. "I'll make it worth it."
"I don't doubt that."
Trish goes over to give him a welcoming kiss and then looks over his shoulder. "Huh… this looks… elaborate."
Matt chuckles. "Anand gave me the recipe. It will have to cook for a bit longer."
While she hugs him from behind one of her hands casually slides under his shirt. "I was hoping I could enjoy the meal now, when I realised you were cooking. You're telling me I have to wait?"
"Let me just get two more ingredients in then we can let it cook for a while." He kisses her again teasing her with a bit of tongue and a wicked grin afterwards.
"Are you saying I get to taste you first?" Not a bad consolation prize.
"If you want to…"
"Do I ever not want to…?" She starts kissing his neck while Matt is putting some more spices in the pan and moving the spoon around until they're evenly spread. Then he suddenly turns around and lifts Trish up to put her on the counter.
Now both her hands are under his shirt and he's also all over her. When he moves on to opening her bra she can hear him sigh which amuses her again. "You pick the most complicated bras just to annoy me, don't you?"
"So far you've always managed to open them easily." She giggles and whispers: "Impress me."
Matt leans back chuckling and raises his eyebrows. "Seriously?" He then tilts his head to the side and puts one hand in her hair to move her forward and kiss her thoroughly, then he skillfully moves his other hand behind her back and quickly opens the clasp with a swift movement of two fingers and immediately covers the now freed skin with his palm. Damn. He's faster at this then she is even with using her own powers.
"This really does turn you on." She can feel him laugh at the realisation.
Then she starts opening the buttons of his shirt without needing to use her hands, keeping them busy elsewhere and he makes some approving noises.
She grins: "You like it, too, when I use my ability."
"I can't deny that…" His lips travel down her neck until he breaks away from her with a surprised laugh. "You're not really stirring the food while I'm kissing you, are you?"
Trish lets go of the spoon with her mind. "Does that bother you? Don't tell me you're not listening to what's going on in the streets right now."
Instead of replying he just pulls her even closer until that clever tongue in her mouth has her undivided attention, which probably was his intention. His fingers travel across her skin, knowing somehow exactly how she wants to be touched and it is getting more and more difficult to notice anything else around her.
But just when it gets interesting Matt breaks away with a knowing smirk, his hair a total mess and otherwise adorably disheveled as well. "I think the food is almost done now." Closing the buttons of his shirt again he walks back over to the pan.
"Jerk."
Matt chuckles while she tries to get her breathing under control, fixing her bra and blouse. She should have seen that coming. But the food smells amazing, so she just rolls her eyes and gets two plates out.
"I hope you have dessert planned."
"Don't worry. I plan to satisfy all your needs today." Now that's a promise.
And he delivers on it, not just regarding the meal which was also delicious. If her cook wasn't as hot as Matthew Michael Murdock she would have been completely content with being fed like that and just going to sleep. But as it is Trish can't resist him, even tired like this. After they have put everything in the dishwasher she pushes him against the fridge to give him a long and passionate kiss. Matt picks her up effortlessly and walks with her legs around his hips to the bedroom without leaving her lips with his or bumping into anything along the way.
"Smooth," Trish comments and looks behind him once to close the door with her mind. Then she gets rid of his shirt and pulls him into her arms.
Sleeping with Matt is still pretty much as good as it gets, since both of them usually enjoy the same things and like teasing each other. Even if he is sometimes surprised by what works for her, so far he's always been on board with anything she suggests. He never suggests anything though which kind of irritates her. She's sharing all her inner - occasionally embarrassing - desires and he still insists that there is nothing he'd like to try. "Your imagination is much better than mine, trust me." He would always say.
When she realises that her vision is very vague suddenly and she "sees" herself from his perspective - all smells and quiet snores in a world on fire - she knows she has fallen asleep again. "Crap. Wake me up!"
Trish always wanted to have special powers to help people, but when it finally happened by accident while fighting a kidnapper, she didn't get to choose what she would be able to do. If she had, travelling with her mind into other people's heads while sleeping would not have been it.
"Not happening. You are exhausted." He's whispering now making sure that she in fact won't wake up. Damn. He's stubborn, he won't change his mind.
The good thing about this ability is that it helps her pick up his fighting technique. He told her a couple of days after he found out that she had been dreaming herself into his patrols that he noticed her learning process must be incredibly fast because of it. "Can you show me those backflips again at least? I think I'm starting to figure out how you do them."
He chuckles. "Sure. Any more preferences?"
"Don't get killed." They are joking about it now, but she was sure she'd lost him already when he was taken and tortured for days by Fisk's men. It was probably the worst week of her life and that's saying something.
"Noted." Matt had afterwards accepted that it was foolish to think that fighting Fisk alone would not lead to others getting hurt. In the end Elektra died for him (again!) and even Vanessa, Fisk's wife, took her own life as well as her own husband's after she saw what he was capable of. Trish would have killed him, too, if she had gotten the chance and while she was worried about that instinct, killing the guy was the only option left, since he knew Matt's identity and was determined to make him suffer. He needed to be stopped the same way Kilgrave did.
The first people Daredevil saves this night are two teenagers, a girl and a boy getting mugged. The boy tries to act tough, but the moment Matt shows up, his girlfriend only has eyes for the vigilante. "Careful, I think the minor has a crush on you." It happens all the time now. The people of Hell's Kitchen aren't scared of him anymore after they have seen videos of him as a hostage. Instead some of them are kind of star struck when they see him and others immediately want to check if he's wounded and take care of him. He hates it and Trish loves making fun of it.
"Can we have a picture with you?" The girl flutters with her eyelashes.
"No." His sharp tone makes her boyfriend bark out a laugh and she starts to pout.
"Come on, Matt, being mean to fans will give you a bad image." Trish laughs while he already climbs the fire escape. The boy is trying to take a picture of him and as he arrives at the roof he makes sure that his middle finger is caught on camera.
"Make sure you get home safe," is his last warning. The young couple giggles and starts to get going. He discreetly follows them to make sure, they are fine.
Criminals also have become a bit more cocky around the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and try to make fun of him, but they usually regret it instantly. Trish sometimes still has to hold him back, before he loses control. Just one more reason she doesn't like to see him go out alone like this.
It is a rather slow night, so Matt even has time for a break on the roof where he shows Trish some more moves with a bit of commentary. "If anyone sees or hears you doing this, you're going to look like an idiot."
"Jessica would argue that I always look like an idiot."
"True. Guess I'm the kinkier sister." Thinking of Jessica makes Trish want to check up on her, so when she's had enough fight instructions, she tells him that she is going to jump into her sister's head.
"Trish, wait!"
"Yes….?" Usually Matt urges her to go. Maybe he feels that she is spying on him.
"We talked about this. I think you need to get some proper sleep. Your mind needs rest, too." Somehow after training her Matt decided that he is the expert on her condition.
"I am sleeping." She can hear him sigh. "You don't have to worry, I've got this under control." Well, he can't know she's lying now. There is no heartbeat around to listen to.
"Fine. I trust you to take care of yourself. But please… let Claire take a look at you, or any other doctor. To be sure that everything is fine."
It's really funny, the way he starts to sound like his best friend Foggy, the ultimate worrier, when it's not him brushing off health concerns. "I'll do that when I feel something is wrong. Everything feels normal. I've just had some stress."
Okay, yes, she has been more tired lately. And yes, she has been sleep-stalking people a bit, unintentionally, and maybe she isn't always able to control that, but it is getting easier to switch around.
Thankfully this is not the only ability she gained, only the freakiest. She can't jump into any heads when she's awake, but somehow she's still able to detect their emotions at least. As long as they are not bottling them up. The most useful power of hers though, is moving things with her mind. It's more difficult to do with heavier objects, but that one still is handy in a fight.
Trish finds Jessica in a bar again with some guy trying to chat her up. She witnessed this kind of thing before, but that guy is especially unworthy of any kind of attention. Still, Jess seems to be drunk enough to not care anymore. Trish doesn't say anything knowing that her sister doesn't like her peeking into her head at all - naturally. Now at least she's able to avoid it, so she leaves immediately. She is just worried about her, but she doesn't want to take away her privacy, not if she can help it. Also, she really does not want to see what comes next.
Jessica has been distancing herself from Trish and Matt since they've gotten together. It's not really like she's not happy for them, especially after all the drama and pain that led to it. Trish can feel it. But it also makes her a bit miserable at the moment and she needs some space. That's also the reason why Trish wants her to confront her own past. She thinks it might finally help her deal with her issues. Jessica is even worse than Matt in letting other people in and if she keeps this up, someday even Malcom might give up on her after she fires him again.