Present day.
Jemma sat looking at the clock, it was dark now but still pretty early. She didn't want to go out to the car just yet. Skye was pacing and chewing on her thumbnail. The adrenalin was starting to wear off.
"Maybe we can just call Detective Ward, tell him it was self defence."
Jemma looked at Skye and waited for her to stop pacing. "Maybe at first it was. But we can't say that now. Not after cleaning up and trying to hide what we did."
She shrugged and slowly moved her eyes toward the bathroom. "Plus, you really went at him for a while first one or two stab wounds, we might have gotten away with it, but not as many as there are now. It'd be classed as overkill. We'd go to prison."
Skye's shoulders drooped and she mumbled out an apology to her best friend. "I didn't mean to get you involved in my drama and now I've ruined both our lives." She tried to look like she was sorry for what she had done, but she couldn't, she wasn't. And she knew Jemma wasn't either.
"You don't have to apologize, Skye. And there's no way I'd let you go through any of this alone. It's you and me against the world now."
Skye smiled and relaxed a little. "Just like Thelma and Louise?" Jemma grinned, and nodded yes. "Yeah. Just like Thelma and Louise."
A few hours later, Jemma decided it was late enough and quiet enough to head to the car and get out of there. She helped Skye carry everything out and put it in the trunk, then she went to Ian's car, unlocked it and opened his glove compartment.
Inside there was a gun, and three spare magazines, not including the fully loaded one already in the gun. It looked a lot like the one Detective Ward had. He'd called it a Walther P99 semi-automatic pistol.
She checked the rest of the car and found a small brown bag underneath the drivers seat, she opened it, her eyes widening. There had to be at least $20,000 in there. She took the gun and the spare ammo and dropped them into the bag. Then she quickly wiped the car down, hoping she'd wipe away her prints.
She closed the door and wiped the handle down before quickly getting into her car and driving away.
"What's in the bag?" Skye asked, looking at Jemma as she drove out of sight of the motel. Jemma didn't say anything, just handed the bag over, she heard Skye whisper out a whoa, and chuckled.
"I know, right? We should be okay for a while, as long as we don't get stopped before we can get rid of the car."
Skye folded the top of the bag closed and left it on her lap. "We should head for Texas."
Jemma looked over at the other girl, "What's in Texas?" She asked as she focused back on the road.
"A friend. He can help us. Let us stay with him until we figure out what to do. He can help us disappear if that's what we want." Skye answered, yawning as she did.
Jemma thought about it for a minute and decided it was probably a good idea. But first they needed to get rid of the car and..everything else.
"Okay. Texas it is. It'll take us a while to get there, we could drive straight through, but it'd be dangerous. And we might not even find a car straight away. So I suggest we drive tonight and find somewhere to dump the car, and then find somewhere we can clean up and get some rest."
They drove for another two hours or so, until they found an old abandoned junkyard. They'd stopped at a gas station a good few miles back to get snacks and gas, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Making sure there were no cameras around, Jemma turned off her lights and drove slowly through the huge yard, filled with rusty and decaying vehicles and other garbage and household appliances. It was dark and eerily quiet. But best of all it was out of the way. They'd be able to dump the car, burn it, and get away before anyone noticed the flames or the smoke. If it got noticed at all.
Once they were a few blocks away from the burning car, they started to notice more activity. There were people about, some drunk or high, others keeping to themselves as they shuffled through the dark streets.
Jemma and Skye huddled together, their heads down. They didn't want anyone noticing them. As they turned a corner, they were happy to see more signs of life. They were on a main street, a few lights dotted about illuminating their path. Most of the street lights were broken. But it didn't stop the working girls on the street from doing their thing. As they were passing a group, a heavy set woman in a mini skirt and tube top with bright red lipstick sticking to her teeth and smeared around her lips, stopped them.
"You girls lost?" She drawled, raising a thin eyebrow, and smirking as she did.. It was hard for Jemma to place her accent, her speech was slurred and she had a cigarette dangling from her mouth.
"Must be, don't see no girlies like you two 'round here much. I'd 'member. I'm good with faces. Right ladies?"
She turned to the group of women behind her and they all clicked their tongues and made various noises of affirmation. "Sure is, Janette." One of them called. She was thin, bone thin and it wasn't hard to see she was a frequent drug user. Probably methamphetamine by the looks of her.
"We're just looking for somewhere to rest and eat. We don't know the area.." Jemma said, keeping her head held high and her eyes on the woman in front of her.
Janette laughed and immediately started hacking, her cigarette falling from her lips. Once she regained her composure, she took another smoke from inside her top, and lit up. "This ain't Bethlehem darlin', ain't nowhere for folk like you here. We ain't got no room at the inn. Unless you're looking to do a bit of work?"
Jemma shook her head frantically. "No! No no no...W-we just, our car broke down and.." She was cut off by another burst of laughter this time from most of the women. One of them didn't seem interested at all and spent most of the time texting on her phone.
Janette wheezed and put her hand on Jemmas shoulder. "I'm playin' with you kid. These streets would eat a couple of babies like you up. This ain't no place for you girls to be wandering around. People is dangerous out here. You girls is ripe for the pickin'"
"I'm sure we'll be fine. Now if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to be on our way." As jemma was about to pass the women, Skye right next to her, she was suddenly stopped by a wall of flesh. All six women stood there, looking hard at them, their eyes glazed and their fruity and floral perfume mixing, causing a sickly sweet smell that made both girls gag more than the blood back at the motel did.
"I don't think so. You have somethin' I want." Janette snapped. The smile suddenly gone from her face. Now her mouth was twisted in an ugly sneer and she moved to stand in front of the two of them. "You ain't goin' nowhere 'til you pay the fee."
"Fee?" Jemma laughed out.
"Mhmm, hundred bucks a piece." One of the other women said. "Hundred and fifty." Janette corrected and moved closer into their personal space. Skye, who had been quiet through the whole exchange, rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"This is ridiculous. Do we look like we have money?"
She pointed between her and Jemma and continued talking. "You think we'd be here, wherever the hell here is if we had money? You ain't that smart is you Big J." She mocked.
Jemma looked at Skye in surprise, a grin breaking across her face. It was quickly wiped off when Janette punched the other girl right in the face. Skye fell back with the force but was held up by one of the girls behind her.
Before another punch could be thrown. Skye spit blood out of her mouth and growled. "Bitch, you will regret that." The bigger woman lunged for Skye but Jemma jumped in front of her, gun drawn. "One more move and I put one right between you eyes." She was calm and held the gun out in front of her like she'd done it a million times before and this wasn't the first time.
Skye watched in awe as Janette, still angry and looking like she wanted to rip them limb from limb with her bare hands, take a step back, her hands in the air. The rest of the group had scattered at the sight of the gun. She turned to look at Jemma, who stood there, calm and strong. A determined look on her face. And something else Skye couldn't decipher. She wiped at her lip, which was still bleeding and swelling, wincing as the rough material of her shirt rubbed against the wound.
Jemma was livid. How dare this this woman raise her hand to Skye. How dare she mark that perfect, beautiful face. How dare she hurt her friend. Her friend who had been hurt enough by people who thought they could push people around without thought or consequence.
"Oh Janette. I never wanted it to come to this, but I'm afraid you just forced my hand." She sighed and looked to Skye again. Her eyes losing all their warmth for the other girl and hardening into a cold unreadable stare that she aimed back at the prostitute in front of her.
"You see, Jan. Can I call you Jan?" She didn't wait for an answer, just carried on talking.
"You did the one thing I can't and won't abide. You hurt my friend here. You made her bleed. And now I'm mad." She shrugged, and squeezed her finger a little more on the trigger. "I know, I know, I don't sound all that mad, but trust me, I am seething with anger. So now I have to kill you."
Janette just looked at Jemma, a blank look on her face. Raising an eyebrow she turned to Skye and asked. "Is this crazy bitch for real?"
Skye stiffened at the slur. Jemma was anything but crazy or a bitch. She was the best person Skye knew.
"Here's a tip, She-Hulk, when someone is pointing a gun at you, it's best not to call them a crazy bitch. And yes, unfortunately for you, she is deadly serious."
The street was empty now, and darker. The other girls had disappeared. The only signs of life was from a 7/11 a bit further down the road. Where all the street lamps worked. At this end of the street it was pitch dark. And they were alone. Janette took another step back.
Jemma smiled apologetically.
"Yes, I'm afraid I am rather serious." And with that she pulled the trigger.
The noise was almost deafening, She didn't realise it would be that loud, or powerful. Her ears were ringing and her arm was tingling. She blew out a breath and looked down at Janette, sprawled on the pavement in front of her, blood seeping from the bullet wound that entered her face just under her right eye. Janette was still breathing, all be it raggedly, she was trying to move, to get away maybe, but she couldn't.
Jemma felt Skye's hand hold onto hers before she realized Skye was taking the gun. She watched as the shorter girl picked up the spent cartridge and then moved to stand directly over the wounded woman. Without speaking Skye pulled the trigger. She shot Janette through the head and all movements stopped. Then she flicked on the safety and put the gun in the waistband of her pants, picked up the cartridge, grabbed Jemma's hand and took off running.
Neither one of them looked back. Just carried on on their way. Looking for somewhere to sleep. Eventually they found a motel,they paid for a room and got some snacks from the vending machines. Jemma grabbed some ice for Skyes lip and they headed inside their room. After eating and showering, they both sleepily climbed into bed. The gun tucked under Jemma's pillow. They said goodnight and before long they were both falling into a much needed sleep.
The events of the previous night and today exhausting them.
Tomorrow they'd look for a car and start their journey to Texas.