Authors Note: Remember these are in no particular order. Use the Date for Reference when events take place.

Enjoy

Thursday 20 May 2010

She felt like her head had gone through the blender and the cars honking, thunder roaring and sirens screeching were most definitely not helping in the least. Pulling herself up, Jane found that she was in the exact same alley she had been five minutes ago or rather just before she had become well acquainted with the brick wall she was leaning on. She took a couple of minutes to regain her bearing before she attempted to stand up and search out the Red Lantern that had ambushed her mid-flight. If she were to be completely honest, she was actually a bit surprised to not see him hovering over her the moment she woke up.

Five long minutes would pass before something interesting would happen, unfortunately for the mugger slash, possible rapist in the alley who had found her Jane wasn't in the least bit interested in playing along with this gag and the man found himself taken out with a flick of her wrist. To say he had been caught off-guard by the green light constructed backhand was an understatement. He was held up with said light construct as she shuffled around the alley for some rope, then she proceeded to tie him -with zip ties she found in his pocket- and hauled his happy ass to the nearest station. She didn't have time for petty crimes, but apparently, the precinct she entered didn't seem the least bit interested in doing their job and had the audacity to release the convict as she continued to argue with the moron behind the desk.

The brunette grumbled to herself and offered the officers in the precinct the finger when she left. It was nothing she wasn't used to, no one listed to a woman nevertheless one of a minority. She was surprised they didn't try to apprehend her for one thing or another, it sure as hell wouldn't have been the first time.

As she left she nabbed a paper from the stand inside of the office, rolled it up and placed it under her arm in an attempt to keep it dry as she searched out for somewhere to drink. Outside of attending events with Hugh in New York, Jane hadn't bothered with visiting the big apple, so she was outside wandering for a good fifteen minutes before she found a somewhat decent bar she was only 20% sure she would get thrown out and 40% sure she would be stabbed in. Compared to the other three joints she passed this one seemed promising even with those presumptions.

"I haven't seen you around before." Jane looked up from her drink as she unrolled the paper, the woman was large and definitely not the kind of woman you wanted to piss off. What added to her character was the trucker shirt she was wearing over a black low cut Harley Davidson shirt of sorts. The numerous large rings on her fingers and the metal bracelets on both her wrists were adding to her charm as well as the twelve gauge Jane caught sight of under the bar table when she walked in. The bar for as small as it was frankly was quite busy, or rather there were more people there than Jane would have expected.

She figured they were locals if nothing else.

"First time," She replied simply as she smothered out the paper, but kept her eyes on the barkeep. "I take it you are Josie?" When the woman didn't make to speak Jane retracted her hand and leaned forward onto the counter. "You can call me Jane and honestly I happened across this little piece of heaven by chance, but if you would prefer I can take my business elsewhere ma'am." The woman looked her up and down, something Jane didn't particularly care for but allowed to slide in hopes that the woman would have her.

Business that is.

And not the rolling around type.

"What will ya have?"

"I'll take an Old Fashioned." Josie nodded and turned to make the drink when Jane spoke up once more, "Make that two!" A grunt from the woman was all she had in response when she turned her attention to the paper though she didn't miss the two well-dressed men walk into the bar. The men sat two seats down from her as her eyes locked onto the headline.

Playboy Billionaire Tony Stark kidnapped in Afghanistan!

Her mind was reeling with information, with memories, instantly she was standing at the playboy mansion with Howard and Hugh at her sides. She was entertaining the soon-to-be three-year-old.

If what the girls had told her held any truth this whole encounter was all Hugh's idea. Apparently, The Playboy had been speaking over the phone with Howard when Tony came up and, quite suddenly, Hugh invited Howard over (surprising since they had left on foul terms earlier in the year) to talk about the future of Stark Industries and his backing of it. The deal breaker? He would have to bring Tony along. To her fellow bunnies it seemed like an odd request and had been the talk of the night, namely because they would kill to see a kid, but Jane knew better. Many didn't give Hugh the credit he deserved when it came to his intellect, but Jane could spot it a thousand miles away, this was Hugh trying to convince her to keep her child.

She had to give him credit, it was almost working. The kid was a genius there was no doubting that and he was definitely Howard's son, but that didn't change her mind. She knew it would be in her son's best interest to be raised by another. She could watch a child, but how does one who knew of nothing but war raise a child properly.

What solidified her decision had been watching the father and son's interactions during their time together… or rather the lack thereof. She could easily spot the disconnect between father and son. While she had every intention she of biting that in the ass, when she had brought it up and Howard gave her that look. She knew she couldn't argue. Like she, he was doing what he thought best and who was she to get in the middle of that...especially when she had so little an understanding of his situation? She would literally be doing to Howard what she didn't want Hugh doing to her, so she turned her attention back to the boy and decided to be the best damn aunt he would ever have.

Jane snapped back to the present when Josie set her drinks down in front of her. "He hasn't been found yet." The barkeep spun the paper around to look at it herself, "Can't say he didn't have his enemies, but I would never have guessed the Taliban wanted him."

"The Taliban?"

"Exactly, if you ask me I say it's all a cover-up and a load of shit. But there is no denying that he ain't here." Jane bit her lip and swallowed down her first Old Fashioned in one go. She had been swept by the headline itself the date had blown over her head.

2010, it was fucking 2010. How was that even possible. Earlier today she was reading about India's recent Atom test under Prime Minister Gandhi's Government and this man plastered on the front of the paper, who was undeniably Howard's son, was turning four and had asked her for copper, wires, and whatnot for his birthday. She had left the gift on her bed at the mansion on her bed before she took off for New York with Hugh just the other day!

The second Old Fashioned went down the moment that thought crossed her mind and she motioned for another round of drinks to Josie.

"Long day." Jane couldn't help but think back to the outrageousness that May 20th had been for her, she honestly couldn't wait for the clock to hit midnight and her wake up from what could only be a distorted fucked up dream. Honestly, she was looking at a glass screen hanging on the wall playing the Braves and Reds game. It was thin, extremely thin and nothing like the boxes she knew that were once called televisions. One could claim that Jane, while she may have been taking the changes in stride, was internally throwing one shock after another for later processing. Much like she had every time she returned from the war and the changes that had occurred back home during her time away.

"You can say that," The Lantern chuckled, "It's almost halfway through 2010." She added turning away from the screen and back at the barkeep as Josie made her second round. "Where did the time go?"

"You're preaching to the choir lady." Jane wasn't much of a religious sort, hadn't been since she was a kid. But she understood the reference and was surprised to see that specific 'newly phrased lingo' had lasted all this time.

"Jane." The brunette smiled, "Jane Hope. You make one hell of an Old Fashioned, Josie "

"Flattery ain't gettin ya anywhere Jane." The brunette smiled and handed over a 20 from the confines of her pants pocket.

"Keep the change, a promise to return." She added with a wink to which the Barkeep rolled her eyes and returned to the other two patrons at the bar.

As tempting as it was to screw around with the two other patrons at the bar, literally if for no other reason than to keep her mind from catching up with the night's sudden turn of events. Jane had more pressing matters to deal with. Namely the fact she found herself 36 years into the future! If that wasn't bad enough she was a hundred percent positive that this wasn't the first time that she found herself in this situation. The memories were fleeting and vague but on the tip of her mind and she knew that they were right there, just out of reach.

She left the bar without hearing Josie's bidding farewell. No, Jane had to figure out just what the fuck happened to get her here. They had landed at JFK shortly after noon and she had caught lunch with Hugh along with Fiona and Lynda, fellow bunnies before they were making their way toward the World Trade Center Towers which had been opened a year prior. Jane having been pregnant at the time wasn't able to attend the Ribbon Cutting and Hugh wanting to get her mind off of her giving up her son promised to take her.

She never got to see the sight, their limo had been flipped three blocks from the site. She had barely enough time to regain her bearing and bust the door open with a large green constructed fist then hastily throw up a wall to keep the red plasma from drenching the four of them in the vehicle. To say Hugh and the girls were surprised would be an understatement, but she shoved the constructed wall against Collins with an out of breath 'I'll explain later.'

Her main priority was to get Collins away from the public, the last thing any American needed was a boost of rage to spark a riot. And luckily while he may be a red lantern his infatuation with her was still creepily dominant in his mind, so when she shot up to the skyline he followed. She had issues sparring with him when he was a green lantern, whatever had happened to make him flip red was beyond her and beyond the guardians who stated something about the butchers light being on the other side of the universe. But here he was kicking her ass every time as a red lantern, she would weasel a win but would usually have to provoke him into believing her.

A feat proving tougher and tougher to do as time passed.

They had to have only been at it for thirty or so minutes. She knew that because that was about the time it took both the news and police helicopters to show up and as she suspected the moment three of them were buzzing around Collins charged the nearest one. An NYPD police chaser and Jane, being Jane constructed a lasso and caught him around the torso.

She forgot that Collins was anything and everything, but stupid.

The next thing she knew he spun around grabbed hold and yanked her toward him. She had never been more appalled at being in someone's arms until that moment, there was a kiss she would rather not think about and then the sound of gunfire. Where his sudden burst of strength came from was beyond her, the next thing she knew she was hurtling toward the ground and reaching out to grab Collins with a constructed whip. She had caught his left leg when he was mere meters from the helicopter and saw him jerk back before everything went black.

"Excuse me." The sun was in the skyline when a voice reached her ears and snapped her out of her mind. "You seem troubled." Jane looked up from the ground and zoned in on the suit-clad male standing before her, his red tinted glasses and walking stick told her everything she needed to know. The man was blind, albeit he wasn't half bad looking. "You've been walking around for quite some time."

"A girl would have half the mind to ponder whether or not you are actually blind or trying to do something more skeevy." She felt fairly confident that if she had to take the possible-pseudo-blind man down she would have been able to. Not that being questioned on the street wasn't something she wasn't used to...alright that's exactly what it was. "Going anywhere in particular?" There were a few people passing by on the streets and honestly after a moment of pause Jane toyed with the idea that maybe he just needed help getting somewhere.

Not that she would be the best option for the man, but it wasn't like he knew that.

"Are you?" The question as innocent as it was caught the Lantern off guard. Sue her she was going through a lot, what she did know was that anywhere she thought she may go was likely either out of business or something and the last thing she wanted to do was make an ass out of herself. She could appreciate a good looking man, blind or not. Plus, outside of Josie, as pleasant as she had been, Blind was the first to strike up a conversation with her. Her people skills were far from superb, far from decent if she were to be completely honest.

"I doubt anything I remember is even here anymore." She grumbled kicking at the ground, childish? Yes, but Jane didn't really give a damn about that at this moment, it wasn't like Mr. Blindman was going to see it.

"Been a long time since you've been to Hell's Kitchen?" Jane shrugged, before walking over and snatching his arm. Pausing only to allow him to pack up his cane before taking off. Folding canes, what other wonders the world must have come up with.

"Yeah, New York in general. 36 years." It was a grumble and more to herself than anything, she only kicked herself after he turned to face her and 'hmmm-ed' in response. "Decades. So much has changed." She quickly offered, unsure as to whether or not he believed her all the while she reprimanded herself for muttering around a blind man and contemplating on if their hearing was as phenomenal as people claimed due to their handicap. Then she stopped momentarily and beat herself up further for worrying about him hearing that, it wasn't as if he could see her. So who cares?!

"Born and raised?"

"Nah, well I guess I could be." She shrugged holding onto his arm and stopping to wait for the light to switch. If she were on her own she would have strutted across the road and dared someone to hit her, but she was with company and that would be rude. When he made no move to speak she continued, "Adopted. Foster care system. I mean technically I would be Jane Hope Padilla, but yeah no. Jane Hope at your service."

"Nice to meet you Jane Hope. I'm Matt Murdock." The two shook hands before Jane looped her arm around his once more and escorted him across the street. The pace was a bit quick, but their handshake had dug into the time to cross and she had no intention of finding out just how much the medical treatment had changed with the times. That could wait, she knew it would only be a matter of time before she found herself in a hospital for one reason or another. As nice as Light Constructs were if she wasn't careful they sure as fuck didn't stop bullets.

"The pleasure is mine, you're Threads are rather fab." Murdock chuckled and Jane arched a brow. "What? It's this stupid lingo isn't it." Jane sighed, "Look I don't actually talk like that."

"Sure." She glared at him and tightened her arm to indicate her 'displeasure,' but if the smirk on his features told her anything it was that he wasn't falling for it and frankly that just made Jane's day all the better. "Where are we going?"

"No idea, I was just sorta following your lead." There was a moment of pause before the both of them laughed.

"I am blind."

"Blind, but not dead nor an idiot. You know a couple places around here I am sure." His chuckle answered her question and she could feel him take lead slightly. "How is it you don't run into people is beyond me." She grumbled, "I can see perfectly fine and I swear there are more people on the streets than there was yesterday."

"I wouldn't be surprised." He stopped outside of a closed cafe and motioned out looking for a seat, Jane couldn't help herself. Ensuring he was settled the Lantern made toward her seat but paused when he spoke. "This is going to seem either random or rude."

"I've got thick skin, shoot."

"What kind of perfume do you use." Jane paused and blinked twice before a smirk slid onto her features. A hundred and one witty or somewhat flirtatious remarks came to mind, but she paused and instead of falling into her 'bunny' mindset she thought back to what exactly she had put on before her day had gone to shit. "You don't have to answer of cou-"

"It's called Millot Crêpe de Chine." She answered as she slid into the chair across from Matt, the words flew off of her tongue fluently while she didn't fluently speak french she made it her mission to say what little she knew correctly. For any language as a matter of fact. "It apparently discontinued in the 60's, which means it is going to be super difficult for me to find," Jane complained as she dropped her head down onto the table with a groan, disliking the idea of traveling into the future with every passing moment. "As if it wasn't difficult enough before."

"I take it that is your favorite." How the hell it was Murdock was so perceptive was beyond her and she wasn't too sure if she liked that about him or not.

"More than anything, but with it being out of production I am sure I will find something else I will like." She shrugged bringing her head back up and rubbing her forehead thoughtlessly, "It can't be too obnoxious, though. I prefer something more natural I suppose, though no roses. Those things stink." She scrunched up her nose. "Something subtle, something natural, nature-y." Jane shrugged then realizing just where the conversations ended up she quickly derailed it off of her and back onto him. "I'll figure it out, but enough about me. What's going on with you."

"What would you like to know." He was too smooth and Jane wasn't too sure if she liked that or not. But she also wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and while she had learned enough by Josie initiating the conversation behind a bar in the clothes she was wearing. Jane wasn't a hundred percent sure where to even ballpark what Murdock did for a living. She was willing to admit that his handicap was what was throwing her off, he was much too well dressed to be your average Joe. Or rather, he was better dressed than everyone else she had run into on the streets. And that was not to say that she thought he was incapable of working with his handicap, she fucking fought in Vietnam since she was 13 and was apparently part of some Galactic Police Corp for just as long. Anything was possible.

"Mah, well let's start with what you do for a living."

"Technically I am currently unemployed…" Murdock began and she could see that the answer had bothered him slightly, but she made a note of it and continued instead to lead him onward with a 'buuuut.' "My friend and I just graduated from Law school." Murdock finished surprising the Lantern a bit further.

"Hot damn, lawyers. Talk about school hours. I'll take a war over that any day."

"You were in the service." His interruption was quick and curious, nothing like how she was used to seeing others treated when they brought up their military experience. Expected given the lack of support from the general public at the time, keeping that part of her life hidden had been difficult. How couldn't it be, for six years of her developmental life she was fighting the 'good' fight and facing real-life moral dilemmas that children barely grazed over in school. Whenever the subject of her childhood came into question she quickly derailed it, but this was a different time or perhaps Murdock was a better man than most.

It would be nice to actually talk about it sometime.

"A long time ago, yes. And before you ask I am currently unemployed, not really looking for a job." Just not now, perhaps. She finished internally with a smile. For now, she was completely content with keeping that portion of her life locked up in the deepest confines of her mind if she could. She would definitely have to play catch-up on history and figure out just what exactly, or where exactly most people felt when it came to Service men - or woman in her case. And apparently how the war had turned out 36 years. She really hoped it had ended in that time.

"You're not?"

"I need to find my place in the world. Might see what the family is doing, might backpack." She shrugged ignoring the comforting hand he placed on her arm. "I'll figure it out. Again, off of the subject of little ol me. But you are dressed rather well dressed for someone with nothing to do on a Thursday. We can catch brunch another time, where is it you have to be." As if on cue a rather ear-catching voice began echoing the word 'Foggy'. Confused Jane watched as he pulled out some sort of contraption with a screen on it, before pulling it up to his ear and speaking.

It was easy for the twenty-four-year-old to bud out of his conversation, her mind was focussed on the thing in his hand and she was childishly curious as to how so much could have changed in just under forty years. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was speaking on some sort of handheld phone, a non-hardline phone...obviously.

She recalled Motorola being in a magazine she was reading just the other week and couldn't help but wonder if this was the 21st century equivalent of his mobile phone.

As to how he had answered it was still a mystery, she hadn't spotted any buttons in the split second she had a glimpse of it. Her mind went back to some of the students she had gone to college with, short amount of time or not, and how they spoke about being able to communicate with one another at any given point in time. She had argued the point that personal time would be lost as anyone would have the ability to get a hold of you at any moment in time and therefore there wouldn't be any 'sacred' time to have.

"It sounds like my friend may have found us an interview."

"I'll walk you there," She offered standing up and taking his arm when he stood. "I need to stretch my legs anyway and get the blood moving."

"You really don't have to."

"Honestly I have nothing else to do at the moment." She didn't miss his smile and returned it with one of her own. "I'd just die if I heard you were mugged or killed on your way to your friend." Jane heard him chuckle and something in her gut told her that this random introduction was quite possibly just what she needed.