Chapter Twenty-Six: Like Father, Like Son
Day 66:
"Alright. What's our one objective out here today?" Kilgrave asks as they enter the children's clothing section of the store together, Axel's little hand cupped in his.
"What's an objective?" Axel asks, getting distracted by some cool looking shirts.
Kilgrave watches his gaze wander and resists the temptation to stop walking and pick out a few new shirts for him too. Jessica had sent them to the store with one mission and if he came back with a mountain of clothing, it wouldn't be a good look for his first day out alone with his son. Still, directing where they walked, Kilgrave answers, "An objective is like… a goal. What are we supposed to do here?"
Axel looks around, as if making sure nobody was nearby. When he sees the coast is clear, he says in a quiet voice, "Not use our powers in public…" His eyes look up at Kilgrave with uncertainty about his guess.
Kilgrave can't hold in his laugh and he smiles at the wholesomeness of that answer. "Yes, that's true. But it's not our objective." When they reach the section with winter apparel, he stops them. "Your mother wants us to get you a new winter coat. That's our mission, okay?"
Using the word mission seemed to make Axel understand better and he nods, looking around at his options. "Okay."
"So why don't you look around, pick out a few you like, then we can decide together which is best."
Letting go of Kilgrave's hand, Axel repeats, "Okay," before excitedly running up the aisle to view his choices.
Never used to this child's energy but reveling in it anyway, Kilgrave follows slightly behind his son. Axel prances up and down the rows of coats, expertly dodging people who crossed his path. Kilgrave does so with less ease and grace but finds himself admittedly enjoying this menial task. Still, his parenting radar was in full affect, so he watched Axel like a hawk, ensuring the distance between them was never very big.
It doesn't take long for the kid to pick out three different jackets and bring them back to Kilgrave for review. "I like these ones." He says, showing them off for their unique qualities.
Those qualities, however, were that they were all superhero based, with one of the well-known heroes appearing on each of the jackets. "These are nice…" Kilgrave starts, but finds himself hesitating to approve any of them. What he had noticed wrong with the jackets was just that. None of them were truly winter coats. They were all pretty thin and likely wouldn't do much to protect him against the winters of New York.
Kilgrave finds himself thinking, What would Jessica say? She would surely disapprove. Therefore, he would have to too. This was all part of the process of becoming a responsible parent.
"But what about something thicker?" He starts, instantly getting a frown from Axel. "It's going to get really cold in a few weeks."
"None of the thick ones are cool." Axel states, matter-of-factly, letting his lips form into a pout.
Still smiling, Kilgrave does his best to counter that thought. "Maybe you'll like one." When he gets an unconvinced stare back, he smirks and takes the jackets from Axel's arms. Laying them back on the rack, he gently takes his hand again. "Come on, maybe we can find something better."
Considering his lack of excitement towards the idea, Axel drags his feet but follows anyway.
Kilgrave manually switches his brain into ultimate-dad-mode, making him very picky about what he ends up choosing. The selection that he falls upon is one of the biggest and puffiest of the coats for his size. In terms of design, it was pretty bland, but it's design has no effect on functionality.
"How about this one?" Kilgrave suggests, pulling it off the rack and holding it up to Axel's body to estimate the size.
Axel's pout deepens. "This one's lame." He retorts, unable to hide his true emotion.
"It's not that bad." Trying to reason with him, he pulls the coat off it's hanger. "Why don't you try it on?"
"Hmm…" Despite his clear displeasure, Axel lets Kilgrave help him into the jacket.
He couldn't help but feel like a proud father as he zipped Axel up into the coat that fit him well. "There." Still, with the way it was made, Axel looked like a puff ball with legs. "How's that?" Kilgrave asks, already feeling like he knew the response he was going to get.
With the coat all the way zipped, the fabric pushed Axel's cheeks up and made his frown look chubby and adorable. "This one is too big." Waving his arms around, he observes the physics of the way the jacket makes his arms bounce back up.
"This one will keep you warm." Kilgrave counters, smiling to try and encourage him to agree.
Knowing that he usually lost arguments against adults, Axel sighs. Unzipping the coat, he dramatically shimmies it off, while mumbling, "I don'ts like this one…"
Kilgrave takes the coat and puts it back on the hanger, keeping it in his hands. So this was the constant dilemma Jessica had to face raising a child. Whether or not to make him happy or do what's best for him. Obviously, the coat he chose was the superior option, but it weighed on his heart to see Axel saddened by such a small decision.
Reciprocating his sigh, Kilgrave reaches down for Axel's hand. "Your mother won't be happy if you're not warm, Axel." Formulating a plan in his head, he leads him away from the winter apparel section. "Come on."
Axel drags his feet but follows suit.
Instead of leading him towards the checkout, he takes him back towards the boy's shirt section. Letting go of his hand, he says, nudging him forward, "Go ahead. Pick any one you want."
The joy immediately returns to Axel's entire body and his eyes light up in response. "Really?" He beams, already scouting out different styles around him.
"Really." Kilgrave reaffirms, unable to help it. He wanted to spoil his son. He wanted to give him the world. For now, he would start with a new shirt.
Picking up speed in an instant, Axel dashes around the corner to where he was sure he would find something he liked. By the time Kilgrave even catches up to him, he was holding two shirts, in the middle of a dilemma.
Debating which one he prefers, Axel weighs each shirt in opposite hands, as if that were a determining factor. Kilgrave waits patiently for him to decide, before Axel turns to him for advice. "Which one do you think is better?"
The two options he was presented with were a Captain America shirt versus a Spider-Man one. Kilgrave really had no preference or strong opinion about either of the heroes, and therefore had no opinion about the shirts. Shrugging, Kilgrave grabs both of them from his little hands. "Let's get them both."
The smile that Axel gives him makes him feel warm inside. Maybe he was getting soft. "Thank you, Daddy!" He exclaims before charging into Kilgrave's legs. He practically reciches off him before Axel wraps his small arms around his waist and hugs him tightly.
"Oh?" Kilgrave blinks, embracing the impact of Axel's body. Bending down, he reciprocates the hug, wrapping one arm all the way around him, keeping the clothes in his other hand. "You're welcome, Axe." As he stood there, hugging this child, Kilgrave could feel the pride radiating off of him. It was more moments like this that he desired in life.
When Axel pulls away, he is the first to reach for Kilgrave's hand. Once he has it, he leads the way to the checkout, eager to get home with his new clothes.
Kilgrave pays for the items with the money he had accumulated from working for ODMA. He certainly didn't have the paycheck that Jessica did, but he had acquired enough to make a living with this job of his. It wasn't something he was proud of, but he was glad to have the means to buy things properly and show Jessica he could be a functioning member of society.
Upon returning to the apartment, Axel hugs his mother, gently. "Did you have fun?" Jessica asks when she releases him, glancing at Kilgrave's smug expression.
"Yeah!" Her son answers, his attention shifting from her to the bag in Kilgrave's hand. "Can I have my shirts?" He asks, outstretching his arms.
"Sure." Kilgrave says, reaching into the bag and retrieving them for him.
The moment they are in Axel's hand, he turns to run to his room. "Thanks!" He says giddily, before closing himself in his room.
"Shirts?" Jessica says, raising her eyebrows, the instant it's just the two of them. She was sitting on the sofa, looking up at him.
Taking the coat out of the plastic bag, he hangs it in the front closet. When he stands back in front of her, his head tilts as he answers, "I couldn't help myself, Jess. He didn't like the coat I picked and he hit me with those bloody puppy dog eyes." After saying this, he smiles, shrugging. "I'm sure you've caved before too."
She sighs, not going to scold him for it but not giving him validation either. "Whatever. At least you got the coat."
"So?" He asks, taking a seat next to her. "Did I pass?"
"Pass?" She questions, leaning back in her seat. "This wasn't a test."
"Of course it was a test." He replies, smirking at her. "Everything with you is a test. Did I pass or not?"
"Well, if this were a test, you'd have to get points off for bringing home more than I asked for." She hisses, though it's clear she's not mad.
"I told you, I couldn't help myself." Pouting, he imitates the facial expression his son had made at the store. When she doesn't respond, he leans closer to her. "You have to admit, I did good for my first run."
Rolling her eyes, Jessica concedes but only a little. "You didn't fail." She crosses her arms. "I can say that much at least."
"So I did pass." His pout disappears and is replaced by a grin. He leans even closer, his eyes on her lips, seeking a celebratory kiss.
She scowls, and puts her hand on his chest, stopping him from touching her. "You didn't do that well."
"Oh come on. It's not even worth a kiss?"
"You can kiss me when you do something else for me." She states, gently shoving him away.
"Name it."
*****LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON*****
Jessica's price was running another errand for her. She was almost out of pain medication and the doctor had just sent in a new prescription for her.
Picking up a prescription wasn't a hard task, so Kilgrave didn't complain. Instead, he did it without question, desperate to present himself as helpful.
It was a short trip to the pharmacy, so Jessica expected him back soon. It's as he was leaving the store, however, that he slows down.
With Jessica's medication in hand, Kilgrave stands on the sidewalk, looking to hail a cab back to the apartment.
Just as he stands there, a teenage boy walks past him. He was no older than seventeen, and looked rather disheveled. His curly hair was a mess and his clothes were loosely hanging off his body. They were either bought too big for him, or he had lost a considerable amount of weight. The latter would make sense, considering he was quite thin.
The boy does a double take when he sees Kilgrave out the corner of his eye. He stops in his tracks and does a one-eighty spin to look at the man. He does nothing but stand on the sidewalk and stare for a moment.
Kilgrave notices him, but does nothing. He was used to getting odd looks every now and then.
This time, however, the teenager doesn't move on. Instead, he steps closer to Kilgrave and gets him to look him in the eyes. "I don't believe it… you're him."
"Excuse me?" Kilgrave asks, not really catching what he said. He looks the boy up and down, a bit of disdain creeping into his facial expression.
Hearing his voice, the boy's nightmare is confirmed. "Holy shit… you're actually him." It becomes much more apparent now that he was shaking. His hands tremble as violently as the rest of his body as he balls them into fists.
Having no memory of this person, or real care for what they had to say, Kilgrave looks back towards the street. A cab is on its way down the street and he prepares to summon it. He never gets the opportunity.
The teenage boy's eyes are now clouded with tears. They are quick to start falling from his eyes, but he doesn't sob. Instead, he musters all the restraint and courage he had to speak. His voice is shaky as he struggles to get the words out. "I was there… the day you killed my father."
Kilgrave's eyes finally return to the teen. To say the least, he was stunned, his focus no longer on hailing a cab.
"You told me to wait in the closet until you were gone…" Furiously, the boy wipes at his tears with his sleeves, but they don't stop coming. "I'll never forget what you said to him… you said 'Reach the ground floor as quickly as possible'." In a frenzy of emotion, the young man laughs a laugh weighted with sadness and distress. "You said it like it was a fucking game. Like it was going to be funny to see him fling himself off the balcony."
Paralyzed and unsure what to say, Kilgrave takes a step back. Maybe he should have used his powers to deescalate the situation, but he wasn't thinking straight. It had been so long since anyone from his past confronted him. The last time someone did, he sent them to their death as well. But he was a different person now. That was out of the question. How was he supposed to handle this?
"I was just a kid…" The teen cries, his breathing becoming sporadic. "When you left, I ran to my dad. He had already hit the concrete… I sat there and I debated whether or not I should follow him. To this day, I think I should have done it. I should've died with him but I was too much a fucking coward!" He yells now, causing a commotion. A few passerbys glance at the two of them, but no one stops. "I wish you would have told me the same thing. I've never wanted to live since that day."
The teen takes a step towards him and Kilgrave takes another step back. It didn't feel right to use his powers on this kid. Not after what he had just heard. He didn't want to dismiss him entirely but he couldn't think of the right words to say. What could he say? Nothing would make this right. "That was a long time ago…" He mumbles, hoping to convey that he was a changed man.
But he fails to calm the boy in front of him. "Go ahead. I know you're one of those powered people, so do it. Tell me to kill myself too." He growls, taking a wide stance in front of him. "Do it! I want to die, so do it!" He begins shouting when he doesn't get a response.
In an attempt to show that he was now peaceful, Kilgrave lifts his hands and shows his palms. "I'm not going to do that…"
The tears start coming faster as the emotions of the past envelop him. "Do it!" He screams this time, getting more eyes on them. When Kilgrave doesn't comply, the rage consumes him. "Fuck you!"
The punch he delivers isn't at all telegraphic and seems to come from nowhere. His fist connects with Kilgrave's jaw and sends him stumbling backwards. From the stance the teen had taken, this was going to be the first of a flurry of punches. His emotions had erupted and he was acting on pure fight-or-flight instinct. He had chosen to fight.
Kilgrave takes the first punch but won't stand for another. "Stop." He quickly commands, tasting the blood in his mouth. He keeps with a passive posture as he takes another step back.
The boy stands still, shaking tremendously. His aggression continues to emanate off of him.
For someone who had just been punched, Kilgrave reacted remarkably calmly. Maybe it was because he felt he deserved it. "Go home…" He mutters, adding, a quiet, "Take care of yourself."
As the blood drips from lower lip, he watches the teenager stand up straight and turn in the direction of his house.
Several eyes were glued to him now, after witnessing the assault. But Kilgrave wasn't thinking about them. He was thinking about himself. Would the person he used to be ever stop haunting him?
Author's note:
As Kilgrave becomes more part of Jessica's family, it's important to remember the families he's broken up in the past...
This chapter is a little shorter but the next chapter is already in the works/close to done! We'll get to see how Jessica responds to this...
Anyway, at least the beginning was cute! :)