Brooklyn, NY

Modern Day

It's late and the streets are empty. A lone figure shuffles his way through the cleared sidewalk, hands in his pocket and his head down as he wears a hoodie and baseball cap with the shadows obscuring his face. The apartments surrounding him are empty as he makes his way toward a dark alley. Once he turns the corner, he faces a door with a single light above it. Beside the door is a large man in a leather jacket. As the lone figure approaches, he steps in his path, "Whatchu want, man?". The lone figure murmurs something under his breath as he keeps his head down. The man in the leather jacket leans in, "What's that?". The lone figure speaks up only slightly, "Said I came to see Big Ben." The man in the leather jacket shrugs, "Big Ben? I don't know no Big Ben." The lone figure says nothing as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of cash. The man in the leather jacket snatches it away from him and looks at it under the light, "This all you got man?," he waits a moment and finally decides to let him in, "It's cool, I guess. Hope you got more on you, otherwise, you gonna lose it all in about five minutes." He opens the door, "Get your sorry ass down there." The lone figure says nothing as he makes his way through the door and down dark stairs. At the foot, he comes to another door.

He opens it and comes inside a basement illumanated by bright lights. Music plays, scantly-clad women with drink trays pass by, and a large roulette wheel is in the center of the room. Behind that, is a blackjack table. At the other tables littering the area, men sit and play poker. At the farthest wall, a man sits at a booth, flanked by bodyguards. He wears a long coat and shades. This is Big Ben. The lone figure walks into the center of the room, pulls his hood down, removes the hat, and reveals the face of Luke Cage.

Cage surveys the room for a few seconds, notices Big Ben at the other end, and puts his fingers up to his lips; then he whistles loudly, getting the attention of everyone in the underground casino. They immediately stop playing and talking as they turn to see Cage in the center of the room. A few of them quickly but silently start for the exit.

"Can I have your attention please," Cage announces, "Ya'll need to pack up your stuff, get whatever money you have left, and take off. I'm only here for one man and that's 'Big' Ben Donovan. If you ain't Big Ben, count yourself lucky."

Big Ben rises to his feet with his bodyguards right behind him, "Is that Luke Cage?"

"Nah, it's Captain America. Who the hell do you think it is?"

His bodyguards pull guns from their jackets. "I think Captain America is about to get shot," Big Ben sneers.

"Seriously, people need to stop bringing guns to a Luke Cage fight," he casually walks around the room toward the roulette wheel, "And what's with you, man?," he motions toward Big Ben, "With the long coat and shades? You look like you just got out of the Matrix." Big Ben's men raise their weapons. In an instant, Cage rips the roulette wheel off and hurls it like a frisbee, taking them out before they have the chance to fire. The poker players behind Cage rise to their feet and also begin to pull weapons from their jackets but they don't make it far before Cage spins, slapping the bottom edge of the table and flips it into their faces, knocking them down along with their drinks, cards, chips, and money. The man with the leather jacket races in from outside and rushes him, only for Cage to grab him by the lapels and hurl him into the blackjack table across the room. Big Ben raises his hands in surrender, "Okay, man. It's cool. It's cool."

The place quiets down again as Cage turns to him, "You have more sense than I thought. When I saw that you wear sunglasses at night, it threw me off." Big Ben quickly drops his hands as two gold-plated guns drop from his long sleeves and into his palms. He raises them and fires. Two bullets bounce off Cage's chest, putting two holes in his hoodie. He looks at the holes, then back at him with disappointment. Big Ben shrugs and drops the guns, "Sorry."

"I don't know if I should kick the crap out of you for the holes in my shirt or the guns," Cage tells him angrily, "I mean, gold-plated guns? You wanna get some guns, then go out and get some guns. What's the point in the gold plating? It's not gonna help the bullets shoot faster. How much those things cost anyway?" A few minutes later, he marches Big Ben outside with his hands tied behind his back.

"So who paid you to come after me, man?," Big Ben asks, "Was it Morgan?"

"Nope."

"The cops?"

"The neighborhood."

Cage brings him around the corner. The once empty streets are now lined by the residents in the nearby apartments. They all step out onto their stoops to watch Cage cart him through their neighborhood. "These people asked you to get your casino out of here and I heard they asked real nicely but you just didn't wanna listen, did you?," he leans in closer, "You no longer got business here. I'll make sure to stop by this area every once in a while. I better not see you."

Big Ben nods, "Alright, man. Whatever you say."

Cage is in front of a parole board the next morning. The head of the board looks over his paperwork, "Well, Mr. Cage, you have done exceptional work. Your business has led to the apprehension of several convicts including an international arms dealer and a super powered terrorist. It says here that you are now being employed by the Rand Corporation?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, you're certainly in good hands. You've been more than stable and a great asset to society," the head explains, "Your sentence has already been reduced but you have successfully been on parole for over a year now and have done this country a great service. Keep this up and you're looking at an early release."

"Thank you, sir."

Cage arrives at a small office building, unlocks the door, and goes inside. There, he sits down at a desk that rests across from a chair. It's a small office but he happily looks at the business cards on the desk that has his name printed on them along with the business name: Hero For Hire. Jessica Jones enters the office with a cake, "Did you get an early release?".

Cage shakes his head and kisses her, "Nah, but maybe next time. The board seems really impressed with me."

She sets the cake down, "That's great. Did you tell Danny?".

"Danny's off in Asia," Cage explains, "Colleen and Misty are with him. By the time they come back, I'll probably be set."

He plops down at the desk and Jessica cozies up to him, "Your business is better than ever, you're about to get off parole and you have a beautiful woman in your arms," Jessica tells him happily, "What more do you need?"

"This just about does it," he says with a smile.

"Good because I've been thinking..."

"Oh no."

"What?"

"I always hate conversations that begin with 'I've been thinking'. Especially if they're from a girlfriend."

"Just shut up and listen."

"Alright, sorry."

"I've been thinking about moving in. Y'know, my lease will be up in about three months. There's plenty of room at your place,... so why not?"

"But it's farther away from your office."

"I can take the metro. It's not that bad. So what do you think?"

"I don't know. I mean, I like you. I do, but I don't know if I'm the kind of guy to move in with. I go after some dangerous guys. I've made a lot of enemies. They know where to find me and if they come looking for trouble and find you instead..."

"I get it. I know the dangers."

"There's a difference between knowing the dangers and experiencing them firsthand."

"What do you want out of this relationship?"

"This. I want what we have right now. Isn't that enough?"

"It is... for now. But y'know, I'm a journalist for a major news corporation and it's not entirely a secret that I know you. If the bad guys come after me, they'll come after me."

"Don't talk like that."

"You know it's true, though. If anything, living alone is more dangerous."

"You have a point. I just think it's safer if we keep things a little more casual."

"Well,... promise me you'll think about it at least."

"Yeah, I'll think about."

She kisses him lightly on the lips.