Chapter Eighteen: This Is Weird
Day 10:
Jessica's eyes slowly open and for a moment, she blinks in confusion. Her body shifts and she turns her head to the nightstand next to her. She squints at the time on her phone and groans. It's five in the morning. After putting her phone down, she lays on her back and stares up at the ceiling. Kilgrave is fast asleep with his back turned to her.
The dream she was just having was… unpleasant. Not necessarily a nightmare, but an experience that was distressing on some level. She can't remember any of it. Only the emotions it gave her.
Unsuccessful in recalling the details, she turns to lay down on her side, facing Kilgrave. With a sigh, she reaches forward and very gently combs her fingers through his hair, almost as a way to cope with the lingering feelings this dream left with her. She pauses after one stroke and observes his response. He doesn't move. So she combs through his hair again, slowing down to appreciate its softness. This time, he stirs, his limbs briefly stretching out, his head readjusting on the pillow. It didn't matter much now, because she had already shifted closer, preparing for another stroke down the back of his head. Her fingertips track the same path for a third time, only going slightly further, past his hair and down his neck. When she touches the raised scar from where Glitch's chip used to be, she stalls.
It's this single reminder that causes her to recall some part of her dream. In fact, she had dreamt that this was a dream; the past week and a half. She envisioned waking up to a reality where Kilgrave was still dead and her life went on as it should have.
Her eyebrows furrow and she abruptly pulls her hand back. That was what was so distressing to her?
Kilgrave turns over onto his other side to face her, his eyes remaining closed. He yawns and hums a little before gradually opening his eyes. It's clear that he expected her to still be asleep when he looks at her because upon seeing her expression, he frowns. "Jessica?" Whispering, he pulls the covers closer to them. "What time is it?"
"Umm…" Trying to process the question in the midst of her other scrambling thoughts, she shakes her head and whispers back, "I don't know, early..."
"Are you okay?" When her answer isn't immediate, he sits up and looks at her more intently, quickly shaking off his sleepiness. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She lies automatically, then groans at her own response. Annoyed by herself, she carefully sits up as well and rests her back against the headboard.
Kilgrave waits, as she sighs.
Though he had turned to look at her, she looks down at her knees. Slowly, the proper words formulate in her mouth. "You don't remember anything… about being dead?"
He sighs too, seeing what this was about, and shakes his head. "Nothing." After he woke up and was told that he had in fact died, he thought a lot about his lack of existence, to the point that it was quite painful. Still, he attempts to reiterate what he had been able to figure out. "Maybe it's impossible to remember. But it was sort of like being asleep, I guess." He slides closer and softly smiles at her, "Why? Were you hoping I could tell you what Hell looks like?"
She holds back a smirk and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, right." Her gaze stays down and becomes increasingly contemplative.
"Why are you thinking about it?" Concerned with her state of mind, he reaches for her hand and is pleasantly surprised when she doesn't pull away.
"I was…-" She quickly abandons that train of thought and finally looks him in the eye when she asks, "This is weird… right? This situation we're in is weird…"
"Kind of." He mutters, laughing nervously. His thumb brushes against the back of her hand and he tries not to frown again. "Well… it's weird how we got here, and there are certainly a lot of things I would change about our past if I could, but… us… here, together… I don't think that's weird…"
She nods, but there was a level of understanding that seemed to be missing. The silence between them is prolonged before she whispers, "The scar where… the scar on the back of your neck. Does it hurt?"
Grateful to be able to hear what was on her mind for once and provide some reassurance, he says, "No. It doesn't bother me."
Again, she nods, but her face doesn't express any amount of confidence that was detectable in the dark.
Kilgrave fills her lack of response. "If it makes you feel any better, I promise I'm okay." He breathes out before leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.
Yet, she turns her head at the last second and captures his lips with hers. Her mouth opens and her tongue finds his with delicacy. As if she couldn't help herself, she kisses him affectionately and her hand squeezes his. It lasts a handful of seconds before she pulls away from him and turns her head forward. Blinking, she wipes the corner of her mouth with her other hand.
Understandably caught off guard, Kilgrave takes a shallow breath in through his teeth, letting his eyes roll back closed. Sometimes he would forget how good she tasted, and reminders like that were delicious. Instead of going in for seconds, his head falls back on the wall behind him and he returns the squeeze of her hand.
The silence lingers once more, until Jessica mumbles. "I'm just gonna sit here… for a minute."
"Me too." He answers, leaving his eyes closed.
*****THIS IS WEIRD*****
When Jessica gives the address of a nearby park to the cab driver, Kilgrave raises his eyebrow. "The park? Why?"
"Trish is there with Axel. She has a photoshoot or something she has to get to, so I figured we'd save her the trouble of taking him back to the apartment." Jessica mutters, though her thoughts were clearly elsewhere. So were his.
The two had just returned from completing Kilgrave's first task for ODMA, following his assignment to apprehend the Ramsey sisters. The strange thing about it was how uneventful it was. The man he was sent to recruit, Matthew Turner, really was a normal guy. Kilgrave used his powers to force his honesty, and even with the thoroughness of Jessica's questioning, they could gain no useful information from him. He had a low-level corporate job, a wife, and one kid. It didn't come as a surprise that he was a mutant, but his powers of water manipulation were severely underdeveloped and frankly mundane. He had never heard of Zayden Price, but he was vaguely familiar with ODMA. Nothing else about him or his life was even interesting, let alone helpful. When they finished questioning him, Kilgrave told him to go to ODMA and sign up for the informatory course as the contract stated.
"What are you thinking?" Kilgrave asks after a moment, glancing at her as she looks out the window.
"Something about this off…" She answers, shoving her hands into her pockets.
"I know." Pulling out his phone, he fires off a text to Shadow to say that he was done.
Going on, Jessica's eyes narrow in thought. "They know the full extent of what you can do…" she changes her wording slightly, so as to not clue in their driver, "and the first thing they have you do is this? Either they actually are harmless or they don't want to overwhelm you on your first task, and they have something much bigger planned for later. And I doubt they're harmless…"
Shadow answers, {That is good news. As soon as we verify his attendance, payment will be made. I'll be in touch.} - 4:36pm.
Kilgrave groans and slumps, adjusting his jacket. "I'm tired of this already."
"You won't work for them forever. I'll make sure of that."
Her protective tone leaves him smiling.
It takes ten minutes for them to arrive at the park and Jessica leads the way. Since it was a warm autumn Sunday, there were plenty of people out enjoying the weather, but she had no problem finding Trish and Axel, as she had brought him to this park many times before.
"Mommy!" Axel exclaims when he sees them approaching and runs to hug her around her waist.
"Hey, kid." Jessica's thoughtful expression morphs into a smile as she effortlessly lifts Axel up under his arms and rests him on her hip. Since he had run to her, she starts carrying him back to where he and Trish had been sitting.
Wrapping his arms around her neck, Axel beams and waves at Kilgrave. "Hi, Daddy!"
Jessica momentarily tenses, although, luckily, Trish was too far away to hear him say that.
Kilgrave grins proudly. "Hi, Axel."
Trish stands up off the blanket in the grass they were sitting on and brushes the wrinkles out of her pants. She smiles at both of them as they reach her. "Hey, thanks for meeting me here."
"Of course, I know you have work to do." Jessica nods, before turning to look at Axel. "You can head out and we'll pack up here."
"Great." She gives Jessica and Axel a brief group hug. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Bye, Aunt Trish!" Axel waves.
As she turns to leave, she peers at Kilgrave, still smiling. "Bye, guys."
Once she's out of sight, Jessica sets Axel back down and bends to pick up the blanket they had spread out. "Let's get packed up and go back home."
Axel starts pouting immediately. "But… you just got here. And… I didn'ts finish my bug house!"
Jessica stops moving their belongings and gazes at him. "Your what?"
"My bug house!" Flopping back down on the blanket, he points to the grass next to them where he had collected a pile of sticks and fallen leaves. There didn't appear to be much shape or structure to it, although he was proud of the work he had done so far. "I haven't even got the roof up yet…" He continues to pout.
Looking at the pile, she attempts not to sigh. "Okay, but Mommy is tired. And I'm sure the bugs won't mind if the roof isn't on."
Kilgrave slides his arm around Jessica's waist, a smile plastered on his face. "Oh come on, Jessica. You can't expect us to leave when his bug house doesn't even have a roof yet."
She pushes his arm down and glares at him, but Axel was overjoyed to have someone in his corner. "Right! See, I need more sticks for the bottom and then the leaves will be on top."
"It can't hurt to stay a bit longer." Kilgrave chimes in again, holding back a laugh. "At least until his bug house is completed."
After being double-teamed, Jessica throws her hands up, looking back to Axel. "Fine. But if we stay, you have to promise not to complain about finishing your homework when we get home."
"Thank you, Mommy! I promise." He beams, quickly setting to work on his nature project again.
"We're gonna sit down over here, okay, kid?" She says, motioning to the bench that was close behind him.
Axel nods, though he doesn't look up to see where she had motioned.
Letting her sigh be heard this time, she and Kilgrave take a seat on the bench.
The moment they sit down, Kilgrave's eyes flash. Something about the view of the trees and city line directly in front of him was familiar. After only a second of trying to recall why that was, he remembers the very first time he saw Axel and the first time he saw Jessica after six years. The picture that ODMA presented him on the day he woke up, was of them in almost this exact same spot. The fact that the bench was included in the picture from behind compels him to glance behind himself, as if to pinpoint where the person who took the photo was standing.
The brown-haired woman who had been staring right at Kilgrave quickly turns her head down to her phone in hand, though her screen wasn't even on. He only glances back for a second and doesn't seem to notice her, as she's off to the side more. That was the second time today that he had nearly looked directly at her. It's not like he, or either of them, would recognize her, but if they saw her behind them more than once, they would obviously become suspicious. If they ever approached her about it, she would certainly and honestly explain herself, but she'd rather not before she's certain that Kilgrave is who she thinks he is. Her racing heartbeat begins to slow down again, and she resumes observing him.
The wind blows and splits her short bangs, revealing the piercing nature of her brown eyes, a darker shade than her hair. Though her features are young and smooth with the light and professional application of cosmetics, her expression is stern more often than not. She leans against the tree next to her, with one leg crossed over the other. Her navy cache pants come down to her ankles which show off a gold ankle bracelet that matches her drop-shaped earrings and the chain around her neck. Her feet ached from standing all day despite the fact that she was wearing flats, however, it didn't bother her as she was used to wearing heels most of the time. She shifts to face the wind, allowing it to blow her hair back, staying close enough to the bench they were on to catch parts of what they were saying.
It is hard to discern every word due to the busy nature of the park around them, but what Jessica says next is pretty clear. "If I hear the words 'bug house' again, I'm going to lose it."
Kilgrave's laugh stands out. "But look how happy he is." He gestures down to the boy.
The brown-haired woman moves around the tree slightly and angles herself differently to gaze at the child. He was gleefully pulling up blades of grass to fort around the stack of twigs he collected. She rolls her eyes and reaches into her long tan jacket pocket, pulling out a bent pack of fruit-flavored gum. Taking out a fresh stick, she systematically spits the stale piece in her mouth into the wrapper and sticks the new piece under her tongue. The pack goes back in her pocket and she methodically folds the wrapper.
Jessica grumbles something else, inaudible to her. The woman watches as Kilgrave puts his arm around Jessica's shoulders, and this time, he isn't pushed away.
She smacks her gum in annoyance. Their conversation from then on is too immaterial to be worth her time. They discuss work plans for tomorrow, getting interrupted regularly by the child, making unimpressive discoveries about common plants. It continues to frustrate her, as any time she gets close enough to hear what Kilgrave is saying, it's never what she wants to hear. He's too careful in public apparently.
Even still, the brown-haired woman doesn't move. She can't risk leaving, as he was so rarely outside and in earshot. She could track him location to location as much as she wanted, but following him into buildings without looking suspect was nearly impossible.
"I need some help." The boy says rather loudly, ensuring that his mother and Kilgrave heard him.
Upon this interruption, Jessica asks him, "What you need?"
"I need you to hold this bit up while I add more." The boy motions to a section of sticks he was holding onto.
Jessica nudges Kilgrave. "This is all you."
The lines around Kilgrave's eyes indicate his smile. Instead of protesting, he seems happy to do it, as he gets up from the bench and sits down on the blanket next to the child. "What should I be holding?"
Even though the boy asked for his mother, he appears just as pleased with her substitute. "Here." His small hands assist Kilgrave's in showing him what he was supposed to be doing.
A crease appears between the brown-haired woman's brows and she grinds the gum between her teeth.
"I think I got it." Kilgrave clearly grins now, glancing in Jessica's direction as he holds the bundle of sticks.
"Okay, good." The boy lets go and springs to his feet. "Don't let it fall!"
"Where are you going?" Jessica asks him, as he was evidently about to run off.
"We need more supplies!" The boy exclaims and sprints in the direction of the nearest tree.
"Don't go far!" Jessica calls back to him.
"I won't!" He yells as he begins rummaging around the tree's base for more branches and leaves.
The brown-haired woman keeps her attention on Kilgrave. He stays generally still and peers up at Jessica, unquestionably entertained. She must not have returned his amount of amusement because he laughs, "I'm a grown man, in a bloody suit, sitting on the ground, holding a pile of sticks together to help create a house. For bugs."
From the side, it's unclear to the woman what Jessica's face was expressing. Her tone, however, is light. "Do you want an award for that?"
Kilgrave's reply is something along the lines of, "Yes, actually," as the woman's eye is caught by the wandering child. He had migrated to a different tree which was now out of Jessica's line of vision. Jessica doesn't seem to notice, as she's occupied in banter with Kilgrave.
While her main focus was Kilgrave, this was a unique opportunity for the brown-haired woman.
Swiftly, and quietly, she slips behind the tree she was leaning on. Her slim figure and agility made it easy to weave through the moving people and make her way to where the boy was foraging. She bends down and picks up a sizable stick, holding it delicately between two fingers as she approaches from the side. She's able to get so close to him without him noticing, that he bumps into her before he sees her.
"Oopsie." The child looks up at the woman, innocently. "Sorry." He says with humble sincerity, clutching a handful of plants.
"It's fine." The woman replies, doing her best attempt at a smile, though it came off more as a crooked smirk. The sound of her British accent causes the child to tilt his head. It was airier and posher sounding than Kilgrave's, her tone uniformly rigid, and her words precisely enunciated. "I saw you were collecting these. Here you go." She says, offering the twig she picked up to him.
Rather reluctantly, he reaches out and receives it. "Thank you." He mutters, sounding a little wary now.
Chewing her gum between words, she takes advantage of this chance, "Is that your mummy and daddy over there?" She motions in the general direction of Jessica and Kilgrave.
The boy slowly nods.
"Oh, really?" She tries to use the tone of voice that most adults use with children, but can't seem to get the frequency right. "What's your daddy's name?"
The boy takes a small step backward, looking around for a moment. "My mommy told me not to talk to strangers…" His voice had gotten quieter, muffled with anxiety.
The woman was smart enough to know not to respond to that, or continue to press him. Instead, she forces another crooked smile and reaches into her pocket. "Want a piece of gum?" He appears to be ready to take another step away, until he sees the colorful packaging. "It's strawberry flavored."
With that, the apprehensive look on his face dissipates. "Yes, please." She hands him a piece and he immediately unwraps it and puts it in his mouth, stuffing the wrapper in his pocket. "Thank you." He says politely, vigorously gnawing on it.
Her nose involuntarily wrinkles after watching his dirty hands touch something that went into his mouth. "You're welcome." She answers stiffly, the first to turn and start walking away. "Have a good day."
"You too!" The boy returns to his prancing, going back in the direction he came.
The brown-haired woman promptly makes her way back to the tree where she was standing before, eager to see if Jessica had noticed the absence of her child. She hadn't, and only looks up away from Kilgrave to see her son returning.
Kilgrave laughs when the child sits down, laying out everything he gathered. "That's a lot of supplies."
"We gotta wrap this up soon, kid." Jessica says, though this did seem to make her laugh too.
"I'm almost done." The boy says, chomping hard on the piece of gum in his mouth.
Jessica's entire demeanor shifts, and it's even noticeable from the distance the woman was standing at. "Axel. What are you chewing on?"
"Strawberry gum." The boy beams, looking at his sticks, rather than his mother.
"Where did you get it?" Jessica asks, sitting up at attention. Kilgrave's demeanor begins to mimic hers.
The boy shrugs. "That lady over there gave it to me."
"What lady?" Jessica is on her feet, her stance braced.
The woman stops chewing her own gum and moves behind the tree, rather than leaning on its side. She stays there, peeping around the trunk. This most definitely would look strange to other people, but she doesn't really care as long as the child didn't point her out.
The boy motions to where they had their interaction but doesn't actually check if she was still there. He doesn't appear to understand that his mother is upset. Kilgrave lets go of what he was instructed to hold and reflects the concern on her face, turning to look in that direction as well.
"Spit it out, right now." Jessica is growling. She holds her hand out in front of his mouth.
Finally clued in that something is wrong, the boy frowns. "Why…? I know you said -"
"Spit it out, Axel." Kilgrave demands, using a softer tone than Jessica's, but with an equal amount of authority. And just like that, the boy spits it into his mother's hand.
The brown-haired woman blinks twice. Did she just witness it? No, it could have been a fluke. She needed more than one instance to be certain.
Jessica and Kilgrave exchange telling glances. "Come on. We're leaving." Jessica snaps, flicking the gum into a nearby bin before lifting up her son with one hand.
Upon realizing his mistake, the boy's lower lip quivers. "I'm sorry, Mommy. Please can we stay…?" Reaching toward his unfinished masterpiece, he attempts to get down.
"No." Jessica snaps again, using her other hand to hold him to her chest and keep his arms down. Her tone switches from angry to dispirited when she asks Kilgrave, "Can you grab the blanket?"
"Sure." He sighs, showing signs of distress for both of them as he picks up the blanket and follows them to the park exit.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" The boy continues to cry, tears filling his wide eyes as he longingly looks toward what he left behind.
The brown-haired woman watches them walk past her to leave. They were likely headed back to Jessica's apartment, so there was no point in following them anymore for today.
Her eyes dart to the bin where the boy's gum had been thrown away and she groans at the idea that just came to her. This wasn't part of the plan either, and yet she reaches into her pocket, retrieving a small pack of tissues. Taking one out, she approaches the bin with a grimace. Luckily, the chewed piece of gum had stuck to the side of the bag, so she didn't need to reach far to get it. It takes her a few seconds to overcome her disgust before she pinches it with the tissue. She folds it multiple times then carefully sets it in the bottom for her pocket.
Despite the tediousness of what she had set out to do, she was one step closer to finding out the truth. Using one of the sanitary wipes that she always had with her, she wipes each of her hands thoroughly, then turns to saunter out of the park, pressing the strawberry gum under her tongue.
Author's note:
It didn't take over a month for an update?! Shocker.
I need to make another appreciation post about Lady in rose! For her help with brainstorming, and her integral role in creating the brown-haired woman with me. What's her deal by the way? If you wanna send me guesses about what you think she's up to, I'd love to hear them (though I will neither confirm nor deny those guesses :)
I hope everyone is staying healthy and keeping busy! I look forward to the continuation of our story.