"Karen woke up. Let's meet at the hospital." Jessica cringes when she reads Trish's message and she is relieved that she is able to respond with a legitimate excuse. "No time. Gotta prepare our Morano trap."

Nope, she doesn't do hospital visits if she doesn't have to. Right now, Oscar Arocho needs her help and he might get them new information on Lenny or the invisible guy. She refused the IGH case at first, because it sounded like a damn therapy mission and she didn't want to actively look for any more past demons to cast out or whatever. She's going to treat this like any case, but it's not easy to do that around her also personally involved sister and the self proclaimed protector of Hell's Kitchen. They are both too intense sometimes and she's still not sure that she can trust them to keep their promise and not look into her own past. They're annoying like that and it's even more annoying that she can't help worrying about them, that she can't let them do their crap alone, it seems.

After a couple of minutes she writes: "Tell her to get well soon." Karen is a nice girl and she doesn't usually hang around those. It is good to hear that she woke up, but Jessica has wasted enough time being almost sober in the hospital. (There is no way to get a drink there which borders on irresponsible, because a lot of the visitors surely need it.) And it's not like her friends need her support now that she's awake. They could tell her later if she had anything to add to Frank's observations.

Jessica never understood what the fuss was about with that blonde journalist anyway. Of course, Trish bonded with her and she swears there's more to the young woman, but frankly, she had all of her sister's worst habits minus the fun parts. Enduring the two of them together and with Devil Boy in the mix isn't very appealing right now. It's not like Oscar's company is that much better, no. Okay, so it may be nice to talk to a completely normal guy for once, with every day kid-raising-problems, who doesn't chase criminals in his free time. That is definitely a plus. Yeah, fine, the mob may be after him, but apart from that: Ordinary. But it's not like he'd talk to her if she hadn't promised to get the crazy killer clan off his back...

A couple of blocks away from the building with the studio where the man is supposed to paint - his drawing of the playground was rather nice... - Jessica decides to suddenly jump up on the roofs to make sure she won't be followed by anyone she doesn't see. She enters the apartment next to the place that now has cameras and bugs installed. This is where they are hoping to catch the Moranos or get a new lead at least. She sees that the live video for their little stakeout is already running. But there is nobody in the room yet, since Oscar is still nervously sitting here with Malcom and officer Brett Mahoney. She greats them with an awkward wave.

The police officer nods in her direction. "Miss Jones, your assistant told me what we're doing here. We've been trying to get something on the Moranos for weeks. Murdock can be a pain in the ass when you're opposing him, so I'm glad that he contacted me about this. I think this can benefit everyone."

"He told me, we could trust you and that you won't fuck this up for Mr. Arocho." Oscar's smile tells her that he appreciates her concern.

"We have backup on the floor in case something goes wrong," the officer assures her. So the single father won't be in danger. "If what they say supports his version of what's been happening, he won't have any issues. Just make sure they confirm that he refused to work with them before and then today he has to agree and ask what they need him for."

"I can't get in trouble for this, right?" Arocho still looks conflicted.

Jessica puts a hand on his shoulder to comfort him and he's startled for a moment. In his eyes though she sees a need to be told that he won't lose his son over this. "Unless you lied to us you have nothing to worry about. I'm not telling you it is not dangerous, but it is the best way to prove that you're on the side of the law here. And I'll protect you." He smiles at her last statement and releases some of his breath that he's been holding since she approached him. "You're afraid of me."

He shakes his head vehemently, but when he opens his mouth "a little" comes out to Jessica's amusement. Then she turns to the officer and informs him that Matt will be coming later and that he's with a friend at the hospital. She needs him here as a lawyer, because he's the only one able to point out someone invisible who might not show up on the cameras. And in case Oscar needs a lawyer, because he forgot to mention some incriminating detail. Hopefully they'll get enough information to go Morano hunting on the roofs tonight.

That will have to be without Hellcat, though, because Trish calls her later to let her know that Claire said she shouldn't be fighting right now. What she says doesn't surprise her of course, but that she admits it at all and listens to the nurse surprises her sister. Trish asking for medical advice about her powers sounds too good to be true and that probably means that the side effects must be much worse than they suspected. Jessica sighs deeply, but Trish sounds frustrated and she shouldn't be lectured when she has finally come to her senses. "Look, just catch up on your sleep, I promise I'll look out for him, okay?"

"Thanks Jess. For everything. We..." It seems like there is something else she wants to say, but she stops herself. "Please, take care of yourself."

"I will." But she'll heal. Keeping that horned idiot alive is the bigger challenge. They both know that. And Jessica also knows that he is probably the one who made Trish talk to Claire and that kind of thing provides one more reason for her to protect his martyr ass.

Matt arrives two hours later and from the look on his face - and she can read him pretty well by now - he is also thinking of something he isn't sharing yet. "Later," he mumbles when she asks about it and she doesn't like his hesitation. This is either about Trish's side effects or about whatever Karen told them.

Malcom also takes in the lawyer's state. Ever since they fought together he has become strangely protective of the blind man who he doesn't know is secretly deadly. "How is your journalist friend?"

Everyone ignores Oscar's precise brush movements that they've been observing for a while to look at Matt and he swallows. "She'll be fine. She's tougher than she looks." That's not the first time someone says that about Karen Page. And the same can be said about Matt Murdock. She has this strange urge to take care of that idiot. It's not just because of what Foggy calls the blind wounded duck thing or him being her sister's boyfriend. He has this aura of someone who's been through hell and challenges life to hit him with another tragedy any day. Jessica recognises it to some extent, because she's not that different. They both don't expect good things to happen and they've found different ways to deal with that.

While waiting for someone to show up Jessica thinks back to the moment when she found out that the lawyer who died sacrificing himself as Daredevil is in fact alive. He called her, just like that. For some reason he didn't expect her to recognise his voice and she wouldn't even have made the connection either if the job he had offered her hadn't been to check on Franklin Nelson and Karen Page. He sounded weak and unsure.

"Murdock...?" Her voice wasn't much steadier when his name left her lips.

For a couple of tense seconds he didn't utter a word. Then she heard him take a deep breath. "You can't tell anyone."

She had to let that sink in. Getting a call from a dead man can be a bit overwhelming. "Where the fuck are you...?"

Two hours later she was sitting in front of him and she couldn't help but think: Is this a miracle? Did some higher power save the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, because he was a proper hero, giving his life for his city? And then she thought: Bullshit. That couldn't be true, because he looked beyond miserable. This wasn't a reward to him, a chance to live the life he deserved. It was a punishment. He had intended to die. She saw it in his empty eyes, when he told her about being responsible for the danger his friends were in after Fisk had threatened them. When he argued that they were better off without him, she wanted to kick the stubborn bastard.

But she also could relate and that's probably why she couldn't leave him be, why she wanted to help him fight the depression that he didn't acknowledge. He was blaming himself for things that he had no control over and being Daredevil was the only way that he could bear existing. The only way for him to cope was to feel that he made a difference that he had some kind of purpose. That is her theory at least and he hasn't shown her anything that doesn't support it.

Just like Malcom and Trish saw her at her lowest, she saw Matt Murdock when he'd given up and she was the only one who knew, the only one who could save him from himself. She doesn't know when she started considering him a friend, maybe it was even since before Midland Circle, but it was definitely long before the word actually came up at Trish's little birthday party. Ever since then he's been trying to help her in any way he can, so it wasn't really a surprise that he joined Trish's let's-fix-Jessica-club, he's just a bit more careful, trying hard not to overstep any boundaries and she appreciates it. She has a feeling, though, that she's won't like what he'll tell her later. He certainly thinks she won't and it worries her while they are waiting for something to happen.

At one point he's tilting his head with a frown and she sees a tiny smirk appear on the corners of his mouth. She can't ask what's amusing him, though, because it's probably some conversation he listened in on.

"You know, that woman he's painting looks a bit like you." When Mahoney points it out she sees it, too, and that grin on Matt's face tells her he probably guessed it as well, by tracing the brush strokes. Ugh, of course. If that's supposed to be her, it's very flattering, though. She feels a blush creeping up on her. Is that how Oscar sees her? That woman looks tough, but when you look a little closer, she also seems a bit fragile to the forms and objects around her. Can he see that already?

Before she can think about that some more someone crashes through the window and just knocks the man out to take him. Jessica reacts as fast as possible. She grabs some cuffs from the table knowing she's the only one able to follow, jumps out the window and when she's up on the roof she sees the person look back, assuming to be face to face with the strong woman from the lab. There's a moment of pure shock when she actually recognises her: "Mom...?"

The woman stops for a second and then jumps to the next building with Jessica on her trail. She chases the woman for a bit until she slows down, turning around with the unconscious man in her arms. Can it be...? It's not the first time she knows of someone coming back who was supposed to be dead.

The woman just looks at her suspiciously and now that she doesn't move, she looks exactly like her mother, only a lot older. "I don't know what Lenny promised you, but you don't have to work for him. This man has a son who needs him."

"I'm not your mother." She sounds sure, but she doesn't move. "They are coming after people like us. I've lived in a lab long enough. I'm not gonna let that happen again."

"You still don't have to work with a criminal." Jessica is still not sure what's going on. She looks at Oscar and sees all the cuts he has from the jump through the window. Shit, she was supposed to protect him and she failed. "Put him down. I can help you."

"Jessica, what are you doing...?" It's Matt. He must have tracked them with his freaky senses. He can't have followed them out the window without giving his identity away, so he probably used his other methods to find them while the cops were running around without a clue. "She isn't your mother."

Jessica stares at him disbelievingly. She isn't your mother? He fucking knows?! It didn't sound like he just heard this for the first time. "How do you know that?" Her sharp voice cuts through him. She can tell.

He opens his mouth and closes it. "We stumbled over it. You told us you didn't want to know..."

"And you kept looking after you promised you wouldn't." She can see him panic. "Since when did you know?"

"Look, she's not your real mother! Please, listen to me..." He's suddenly desperate to share everything he knows. Too late.

"Since when, Matt!"

There is a heavy silence, until he sighs and she can imagine the pleading look in his eyes under those stupid glasses. "We found out that the old lab was closed after your accident a couple of days ago, but we didn't look into it and today..."

"Shut up! I don't even care."

She's noticed that the woman - maybe her mother - hasn't left yet, kind of curious about the drama. Then she just says: "Leave him. Come with me."

Matt stares at her desperately and Jessica scoffs. "I'm not going to work for Lenny."

"I'm not sure I'll do that either." She smiles and it's a kind smile, one that Jessica wants to trust. If she doesn't give it a chance she might never know.

"She's lying. Jessica, please. She's a killer. She doesn't have any memories of her life before they tried to revive her body."

And that makes her snap at him: "Well, she never pretended to be someone she can't remember. But you! You knew all of that and you had all day to pull me aside and fill me in. You knew she was running around in my mother's body, asshole!" And Trish must have known as well. The feeling of betrayal spreads in her like a disease and the only cure is walking away. So she does.

"Jessica, don't go! I can't let you...!" He tries to grab her arm and she tears it away and pushes him back. "You don't get to decide for me! I'm not listening to your orders, understand?!"

She sees that he gets what she's refering to, that he is taken aback, but he's still not giving up. "Shit, I'm not trying to control you! I just want to help. Like you helped me, when you pulled me out of the convent, back into life." From the way he sounds she's almost sure that there are tears gathering behind his stupid glasses.

When she turns away again, he grabs her shoulder which makes her try to punch him straight in the face. But he dodges and she then attacks him fully, knowing he won't let her leave, just like she didn't let him stay in the convent.

She knows that he wants to help, but she's too angry to care, too far gone to feel bad about hurting him. So when the other woman hits his head against the wall, she's relieved for a moment. But a second later she sees the blood on his skull and immediately kneels next to him checking that his breathing is still fine and that the murderer behind her didn't kill him. "I didn't break him, did I?" Jessica shakes her head and sniffs silently while she reluctantly takes the cuffs out of her pocket to chain him to some pole, so he won't be able to follow them.

They wait there for a moment. Fuck, did she really just do that? His glasses fell to the ground in their struggle and she takes them with her. They are a bit broken, reminding her of him breaking her camera after they first met. She puts them in her pocket, then she asks her maybe-not-mother to give her a second and grabs a bottle of water from an apartment close by that she leaves next to him.

Jessica looks at him one last time, determined to text Trish as soon as she's confident that he won't be able to find her. She's scared that he knows her scent too well by now. She also grabs his phone and lays it down out of his reach.

"He is going to hate me for this."

"He'll understand." No, he won't. She doesn't even understand. It's not like she trusts this woman. She might be doing a big mistake just because she felt betrayed by the people who were supposed to be her family.

Jessica looks at Oscar who is now also lying on the floor and stirring a little: "Let me take him somewhere safe and I'll go with you."