It's been a long time since Jessica woke up with a hangover like this, because she not only heals faster, she also sobers up way too fast. But this was another one of those nights, when no amount of alcohol seemed to make it bearable, so she kept drinking. All her clients lately have been assholes or non-existent and she has to become even less picky if she wants to pay her rent for the next month. Not a great thought to start another shitty day and then it gets even worse.
"You've got a client waiting for you." Malcom's voice almost makes her jump.
"Fuck, what did I tell you about encouraging morning people to hire me?"
The idiot smiles. "Don't...?"
"Yeah..." Jessica takes the bottle of Whiskey he is offering her. "So, you do remember. It seems, you don't listen to anything I say." He just shrugs and she starts getting ready, knowing she can't afford to show the door to anyone anymore.
"Go and write down the details already."
Ten minutes later Jessica sits at her desk listening to Sonia Arocho bitching about her ex husband who currently has the custody for their son. Of course, she wants her to find dirt on him which is at least something a bit different. It would be nice not to follow a potential cheater around for once. Or maybe he did cheat, they are divorced after all.
Since Kilgrave and being accused of killing even more people after him, first by Fisk's men and then by journalists looking for someone who scares people, clients have come to her because of her reputation to be ruthless. It would be nice to get a case she would give a fuck about again. Could this be one? A mother fighting for her kid? Saving it from a bad upbringing? "Is he a bad father?"
Sonia frowns at the question and says: "Well I'm his mother. The boy needs me." The fact that she's defensive about it tells Jessica that he is probably a decent dad. And from her own experience mothers can very well be manipulative monsters.
"And he's a criminal." Okay, that's something to go on. But the fact that he still got custody in the first place is even more surprising then and that makes Jessica think she probably should not be helping this woman. So far, she isn't making the best first impression. Not that Jessica is a good judge of what it takes to be a good mum. She clearly wouldn't be, but for Sonia it seems to be more about sticking it to her ex, not about what's best for her son.
"Is he rich? Does he have a real good lawyer or something?" He could still be a bad guy. All she hopes for here is any indication that their son would be better off with his mother.
But Sonia informs her that he is in fact struggling to make a living after getting out of prison. Jessica kind of hopes now that she doesn't find anything. She will have to help this woman, because she needs the money and the kid may have to pay the prize. After she agrees to look into this, Sonia stomps out on her high heels taking with her Jessica's hope of getting some work that is actually worth her time.
The displeased private eye turns to Malcom who's looking at her apologetically. "I'm fired again, aren't I?"
"No, actually, I want you to call Matt Murdock and ask him what kind of information we would need for a case like this."
"Trish's new boyfriend? He'll be annoyed if you don't contact him yourself. He has been calling you a lot and I had to make up excuses why you couldn't talk to him." Malcom doesn't look happy about that task. Usually he jumps at every opportunity to make himself useful. "He sounds a bit arrogant to be honest."
"He's a lawyer and such a do-gooder on top of it. What do you expect?" And Malcom has a crush on Trish. Did she expect him to like the man who's taking up all her precious time now?
"I'd rather call Nelson." Why did she not fire him again?
"Nelson is a busy guy. Try your luck with him or Jeri if you want. I don't care. But Murdock is the one who really owes me. If you don't want him to ask for me all the time then call him about this. Maybe if he gets to assist me in some way, he'll stop bothering me."
Jessica immediately starts researching Sonia's ex. She hears that Malcom actually calls Matt and makes up another reason why she isn't able to talk to him herself. The assistant she can't get rid of looks at her like she has to at least give him a cookie for this, then he starts taking down notes and repeats everything he writes down, so she already knows what she should be looking for. Any contact to other criminals he used to work with would be enough.
Malcom finishes the call with a sigh. "I doubt that this will make him call less. But he was happy to help. He offered to take the case as well."
"Well, let's see first, if the father is a scumbag, before we fuck him over like that." Oscar Arocho even looks far too nice in his mug shot. She already likes him more than Sonia, to be honest.
Later that day Trish comes by the office and Malcom doesn't mind handling her with small talk. There is a whole other conversation going on between the lines and Jessica has this distinct feeling that it is about her. In the end Trish makes him leave them alone. He usually does what she says, so why doesn't he go and just be her assistant? While Malcom walks out, her sister stocks her fridge with leftover food. This is going to be one of those conversations again. The ones where she's concerned for her or wants her to save the world in some way. At least she brought food.
"I hope that's his cooking and not yours." She has to admit that Matt's taste is pretty much as good as you would expect from a guy who can smell every ingredient.
Trish smiles. "I wanted your attention not poison you." Then she takes out a file and sits down, clearly nervous. Jessica is not going to like this at all, she feels. This day is not getting better anytime soon.
"What's this? Got a case for me?" She eyes her suspiciously.
"Not if you don't want it. But I'm informing you that I'll be looking into this and I'd like for you to help me." Her eyes are begging her to listen and Jessica finds herself wanting to. She can't hide forever and she does miss her.
"Trish, just spit it out."
Her sister swallows. "It's a file on IGH. Everything Karen has found so far. I want to know what made you like this after the accident and I think it would help you to find out, too."
Jessica takes a deep breath and then rolls her eyes. "I guess, I don't get a say in this." Her anger at this slowly comes through in her answer, despite her best intention not to snap at Trish for another of her well-meaning but ill-advised suggestions. "Sorry, but you're on your own. I have no time for any sort of self discovering bullshit. The rent needs to get paid. I'm guessing there isn't any money in this."
Trish shoots back: "I would pay you, but you never take my money - or Matt's - for something like this. This is important." And there comes another rant about screwing around with her life and her powers. "People are selling this shit in Hell's Kitchen now. There are enough desperate idiots who want special abilities to fall for this crap and if some of these actually get lucky, who knows what they will do with it?!"
"You mean idiots like you?" And that was a low blow, but Jessica is tired of Trish telling her what to fucking do and how to use her abilities. She figured it would get better after Trish started playing vigilante herself, but it didn't. She can see tears gather in her sister's eyes, but by now she's too angry to care. "This might be a hobby for you and I just want you to let me do my job. I'm sure the Devil of Hell's Kitchen would be happy to assist you. Why don't you ask him?"
She can see how Trish tries to compose herself. "I will... I just wanted to come to you first." When she doesn't react, Trish goes on. "Fine. I don't want to waste any more of your time. I'm going to find out what they pumped into me." Shit, she wouldn't have hesitated if Trish had said it was about her as well. She has a right to know what made her like this. Then again it's not like she minds finally being... special. "I'll let you know if I find anything that you should know."
"I don't think I want to know," Jessica mumbles, already pouring herself a drink.
On her way out Trish only stops to say goodbye to Malcom who is stunned. His boss throws him a look that warns him not to say anything and he leaves her alone with her thoughts after that.
This isn't just about IGH and those enhancement drugs - fake or not. It's Trish worrying about her again and meddling because of it. They've had several arguments about Jessica's lifestyle and the way she is dealing with her past. It was especially disturbing when Trish started visiting her mind in her sleep. She had no control over that for a while and that led to Jessica blowing off some guys, because her fucking sister was stuck in her head and didn't get out of it anymore. Because she fucking cared. She didn't do it on purpose, though.
Now that doesn't happen anymore, since Trish seems to have gotten it under control. Or maybe she just doesn't tell her when she is there which makes Jessica too paranoid to try anything, mostly. She could still have sex during the day, of course.
Her sister certainly has sex any time she wants. Matt is always with her and they are still in that awful stage of their relationship where they only have eyes for each other. They deserve it after that rocky start. Still, those two went from being the hot new pairing to a superhero power couple within a week. It is fucking annoying, the way they finish each other's sentences and protect the weak together. She'd rather die than become as obnoxiously couplish as they are... or a third wheel. She's fine on her own and they should stop looking at her like something is wrong with her.
When she starts following Oscar Arocho around she considers talking to him, but he seems rather likable and she might want to help him if she gets to know him. She doesn't want another Luke situation. This is different though. It's purely professional. She just needs the money from his ex... whom she didn't kill...
And someone else is keeping an eye on the guy which is not a very good sign.
As soon as the sun's down there's a message on her phone. It's from Matt and it just says: "You've got company." Usually she just ignores messages from him for a couple of hours, but something makes her reconsider. It would be very cryptic if she hadn't noticed the other man, too. Matt could know more, though, given his freaky senses and if he already made the effort to come this far...
"Get your ass down here, Devil Boy, if you're that desperate to talk." She speaks loud enough for him to hear, since he must be in the neighbourhood. Maybe she just needs to tell him to leave her alone to his face, if he doesn't get it.
Seconds later she can hear some noise behind her and sure enough there he is, already in his ridiculous outfit. "Are you following the ex-felon who has custody for his kid?"
Huh, she expected him to ask about Trish first. Instead he tells her what he found out about Arocho and Jessica stores that information away reluctantly. In their fight against Fisk she came to know that she has become a bit of a devil whisperer. Maybe it was the other way around, too. Maybe, Matt also knows how to approach her. "He's picking the boy up at a friend's place."
Matt nods. "There is a Morano on his tail."
Fuck. The Morano clan is one of the groups filling the power vacuum Fisk left behind. They are a bunch of gun crazy morons with a leader who has been clever enough not to pick a personal fight with any of the super powered individuals watching each others back. Lenny Morano has been trying to give them information on his competitors since she made a deal with the psycho to save Matt from Fisk's clutches. He's been playing them from day one and having fun with it.
"Let's ask the guy some questions." Jessica goes ahead expecting him to follow. As they walk around the alley to wait there Matt smiles and Jessica can't take it any longer: "Not gonna ask about that argument with Trish?"
"Nope." It comes out rather casual, but he hesitated. He's careful not to upset her and obviously supresses a grin which only annoys her more. The creep probably checked her fucking heartbeat.
Then a man walks around the corner and when he spots them, he uses some kind of inhaler before he immediately runs the other way. He is very fast now, so Jessica has to follow him full speed. She still catches up with him after a couple of streets and grabs his coat, slamming him against a dumpster. When he swings around he hits her right in the face, screaming: "I'm sorry!"
But Jessica doesn't let him go, instead she pins him against the wall and asks: "What were you looking for, there?"
She can hear the panic in his voice. "I was just there to find a guy who forged documents for us." Matt is coming up behind her, a bit out of breath.
"Why? Is he working for you again?" It's definitely Arocho. This might be easier after all. If he is still working with the Morano clan he really should not have custody for his son.
"No, no, no... He went to prison for something and didn't even get paid. I'm supposed to give him the money."
"That's a lie." Having a human lie detector with you has some advantages. Jessica punches a huge hole into the wall next to his head and he shrieks. Did he forget that he took that drug? Or maybe those enhancers don't help with healing. He still hit her pretty bad.
After he calms down a bit he confesses: "Okay, okay, Lenny told me to offer him another job."
"Did you?"
"Not yet."
"Where did you get that inhaler?" Matt tilts his head, still listening to the man's heartbeat and Jessica makes a move warning the enhanced criminal with her fist again.
"We took them from some guys who worked for Fisk, when Lenny was looking for you." The Moranos did profit quite a lot from helping them, even more than she was aware of. Maybe that also explains why Lenny's bodyguard Tuck is such a good shot.
"Are you selling this stuff?" This has become more Matt's interrogation than hers.
He guy struggles to push her away again and it works. But Matt steps in his way and he wisely avoids his strong punches, himself landing one precise kick to the guy's stomach. That makes the criminal stay put. In that moment Jessica feels she doesn't want her friends without superstrength and healing deal with that drug business alone.
She hears Matt repeat his question and this time the man answers: "Not the real stuff. Just drugs. Lenny even kept most of it from us. He said we should lay low and wait for the dust to settle and then went underground himself. I don't even know where he is."
Matt grabs the inhaler from the guy and Jessica pushes him away. "Okay. Go!" There is nothing he could be arrested for. He was merely spying.
The guy blinks. "Really...?"
"Run before I change my mind."
Matt leans against the wall and inspects his new evidence. "Of course Lenny is involved." Yeah, the sneaky bastard probably keeps all the drugs until his rivals have used all of theirs. Then he'll rule in Hell's Kitchen alone. "So what are you going to do? Take pictures of the criminals aproaching the kid's father or warn the guy?"
She did not expect him to talk about her case again. She was still contemplating if she should get involved with this shit after all. They might be more vulnerable, but Matt and Trish know what they're doing. She can't babysit them all the time. "I'm not sure."
Suddenly, she hears a boy's voice. "Look, dad, there's a superhero!"
Jessica smirks at Matt's groan, but the dad - her target - pulls his boy away already, sending them a suspicious glance. Did he notice the criminal looking for him as well?
"I gotta follow those two." Matt is about to climp the building when she grabs his arm. "Watch her back. You hear me?" She knows he was going to do that anyway, but this is her way of greeting Trish and letting her know that she is pissed, but that she also still cares.
Her sister's overprotective boyfriend nods with a small smile on his lips. "I'll protect her. With my life." It sounds like he's joking, but he's dead serious.
"No, asshole. No martyr shit this time." She's not gonna babysit them, but she can still give him a piece of her mind. "You idiots stay safe. And call before you really get into trouble or I'll punch you so hard you'll wish to meet your maker even more." Now he's grinning like a jerk and she knows, this was his plan all along. She gets what Trish sees in him, annoying as it is.