Chapter Twenty-Seven: Revelations

(Still) Day 66:

Kilgrave set Jessica's prescription down on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. When he returned, Axel's door was still closed and so was the bathroom door.

Instead of rushing to greet Jessica, he just sits. His lip that was now cut open bled into his mouth and some blood runs down his chin. He doesn't wipe it away or even bother to look as drops of the red liquid fall onto his shirt and pants. His jaw ached from the punch, but he recognized it could have been worse. Much worse.

He was entranced in thought, and he stays that way for minutes.

When Jessica enters the bedroom, she's in her robe. Her hair was still wet from just taking a shower. Seeing his back to her, she doesn't think anything unusual but notices the prescription on the nightstand. "Thanks." She says, placing her hand on his shoulder as she walks around him. "You've earned yourself a kiss." As she finally stands to face him, she sees the blood on his face. She stops. Her entire demeanor changes.

Looking up at her, he looks her in the eyes and whispers, "I ran into a kid who recognized me." His eyes hold a mixture of sadness and other dark emotions. "He said I made his father throw himself off a building. I guess I had this coming…" He mutters, motioning to his wound.

As Jessica processes this, she doesn't say anything. Her eyes reflect his emotions, mixed with concern. Without commenting, she dismisses herself from the room.

He doesn't question where she's gone and just sighs. It didn't matter where she went. This was the reality of the situation.

But Jessica returns from the bathroom with haste. She holds a damp washcloth in her hands that she had just rung out with warm water. Bending down, she takes the cloth and reaches towards Kilgrave. As gently as ever, she dabs the corner of his cut lip, starting to clean the wound.

And yet, upon seeing what she was doing, Kilgrave shakes his head and pushes her hand away. "Don't." It felt wrong to let her do that for him. Especially considering she was the one with the broken ribs. Besides, he wanted to sit with this pain. He wanted to ruminate in it. Maybe if he did, it would lessen the emotional turmoil he was going through. "I'm just glad Axel didn't see me like this." He whispers, his eyes disconnecting from hers.

Despite her wanting to help, she does as he asks and puts the washcloth down.

Before she does anything else, he gives up on sitting and lays down on his side on the bed. As if instinctually, his hands come close to his face, hiding its lower half. He had been hurt much worse before, and by Jessica no less. But something about this specific punch from a scrawny teenager seemed to break him.

Instead of speaking to try and make things better, Jessica remains silent. Slowly, as if approaching a timid animal, she lays down beside him, looking him in the eye. She could read the anguish on his face like reading a book.

When he speaks again, his words are just a mirror of his complicated thoughts. "He was just a kid. He asked me to make him commit suicide, Jessica… I had taken his will to live…" Kilgrave couldn't help but project the feelings he had for Axel onto the situation. No one wants their son to grow up feeling that way…

Still, keeping her thoughts to herself, Jessica reaches for one of his hands and takes it into hers. She holds it close to her chest. He didn't need someone telling him how to feel. He needed someone to listen.

"I sent him home…" Kilgrave continues, his voice getting softer and more vulnerable. He squeezes her hand unintentionally. "I told him to take care of himself because I was afraid…" Hearing him say those words, he scoffs in disbelief before going on, "I was afraid he was going to go home and kill himself." He takes a long hard blink, and when he opens his eyes, they're glistening. Finally, the dismal conclusion of this thought experiment comes from Kilgrave's mouth, "It doesn't matter how much good I do in the world. I can never give him back his will to live. I can't undo the lives I've taken…"

This was something Jessica knew years and years ago. But for him to come to that realization on his own, without being shouted at, without being prompted, was a major step in his growth. It was a long journey to get here, but one punch seemed to knock reality into him. There was nothing she could tell him that would comfort him now. Because that was true. He can't undo his past. All he can do is his best in the future. Instead of using words, she draws his hand up to her lips and presses a soft kiss to the back of his fingers.

He felt so undeserving of her touch, yet he relishes in the softness of her lips on his skin. He clutches onto her tightly, as if he let go, she would disappear. "To some people, I'll always be a monster." He whispers, searching for rejection in her eyes. It was almost what he expected and certainly what he deserved.

But he finds none. Behind Jessica's eyes, there is only acceptance and understanding. After all this, she still had compassion for him. She kisses the back of his fingers again, this time, letting her open mouth rest on his skin a little longer.

They sit there in silence for a moment, staring into each other's eyes, his hand cradled against her lips. For what feels like a long time, he lays still, searching for the answers of the world in her pupils. He finds no answers, only the love of his life laying beside him.

Finally, Kilgrave's the first to move. He lifts his free hand and gently touches the still wet, but unmoving stream of blood leaving the corner of his mouth. He smudges it on his fingers and reaches forward hesitantly. His hand hovers by her lips, before he slowly smears the blood onto her skin.

She embraces his touch and lets her eyes close as her lips part slightly. Moving her tongue to the corner of her mouth, she tastes a hint of his blood as her eyes open.

His eyes fall on her parted lips and he gradually leans closer. His heart was pounding harder than before, like he had to work up the courage to approach a woman who he once believed was his property. When he kisses her, it's a breathy, desperate kiss. He needed some way to relieve this anxiety. Still, he remains as gentle as possible, considering the fact that her ribs weren't fully healed.

Kissing him back, she tastes his blood in her mouth more vividly, but she receives it willingly. She's the first to push her tongue against his, her fingers interlocking with his in one hand.

He instinctively shifts his hips closer but not enough to connect with her body. Instead, he keeps his distance, treating her like something fragile. Since he was denying himself friction, he uses his other hand to slide up the side of Jessica's robe. The fluffy material loosely flops open and exposes her skin, as he grips her thigh in response to her kissing harder.

But Jessica wasn't fragile and she didn't want to be treated as such. He tilts his head upwards as he continues kissing her and she closes the gap between their bodies. Her hips do a slow rolling motion and grind against his crotch. Kilgrave slides his hand further up her robe and grips her ass, unable to help the urge to draw her closer.

Jessica lets out a quiet groan and continues the rocking motion, not planning on stopping any time soon. She was giving him the green light to make love to her. He had done something good today. He learned something invaluable that was going to help him change his life for the better. It was a hard realization to come to, especially considering it was meant to be painful. But Jessica wanted to remind him that she was there to help him through it. She wanted to comfort him to the best of her ability, and words wouldn't do the job that her body could.

Catching on to her hint, Kilgrave pulls his hands away and fumbles to unbuckle his belt. When his cock is free, he pushes aside her robe and exposes her sex, only long enough to penetrate her. Their kissing comes to an abrupt halt as Jessica lets out a high-pitched whimper, having longed for this feeling again.

He lets out a shaky breath against her lips once he's inside her. Their lips stay touching as he pushes himself deep inside of her. The moan Jessica lets out is prolonged and melodic to Kilgrave's ears. Shifting her hips, she presses herself against him with more force, savoring what it felt like to have him inside her again. She licks the wound on the corner of his mouth as his hand returns to its position, gripping her thigh. Her leg rested bent, on top of his. Whether it was because he was being gentle for her ribs sake, or because he needed this, Kilgrave takes his time with each thrust of the hip. He slowly rocks his body in time with hers, pressing against her with equal force.

Jessica initiates the next kiss and gently pushes her tongue into his mouth. He reciprocates the kiss with a low groan. His hand moves to grip her ass once again, zealously making him pull her closer, increasing the pressure between their hips.

Neither of them attempt to dominate the other by getting on top, but rather successfully counter each other's movements, staying on their sides. As they continue to make love, they both relish in every second of it.

*****REVELATIONS*****

The brown haired woman, known as Ms. Sky, had followed the teenager back to his home.

Surveillance on who she now confirmed to be Kilgrave ran much more smoothly in the last month since she set up shop in New York. She had hired a few people and was now simply notified whenever Kilgrave was seen leaving the apartment building. Therefore, she could still go and survey him herself, but she didn't have to spend huge amounts of her day doing nothing while he was at home.

She was there during Kilgrave's confrontation with the young man. Granted, she was on the other side of the street and didn't really get to hear much of what was said. Obviously, this was someone who recognized Kilgrave. She could put that much together on her own. What she needed to hear from him, however, was what was said.

Using a bit of manipulation and white lies, she managed to get herself invited into the teen's house. She was cunning and charming enough to weasel her way into a lot of places. This wouldn't be her first time using this trick and it certainly wouldn't be her last.

The teenager was under the guise that she was a journalist, doing a report on Kilgrave. Since he was still under Kilgrave's command when he opened the door to her, he held a large bowl of rewarmed leftovers in his hand. He was told to take care of himself, and this would be his first time eating in two days.

For that reason, Ms. Sky tries her best not to be disgusted by the way he chomped down on the food while answering her questions at the same time. She was luckily sat across the room from him, but still forced back a grimace. His appearance wasn't appealing to her either. He was dressed like all the other street rats she came across in New York. Compared to her outfit, it was more than obvious who out-classed the other. At least Kilgrave shared an appropriate appreciation for fashion and still wore suits to make himself presentable. Instead of chewing the gum in her mouth, she pushes it between her gums and back teeth, holding it there.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father." She lies, her British accent sounding deceptively sweet here. "That must have been really hard on you." She really couldn't care less about him or his 'tragic' life, but she needed to hear what Kilgrave did to him to understand the rest of the story.

The boy sucks the air between his teeth as if that were an understatement. "Yeah." He says, choking down another bite of food.

"And you said all this to him?" She continues to question, hoping to move past his life and get to the details she actually wanted.

Nodding, the boy takes a hard swallow. "He looked at me like I was nothing. Of course he did, because I'm one of, how-every-many-the-fuck victims he has. But I'd never forget his face…" Shaking his head now, he looks down at his food. "His face haunted me, all these years…" He mumbles this as an after-thought to himself.

But again, Ms. Sky wasn't interested in his trauma. Instead, she looks at him with slight disbelief. "You said this to him, then what?"

"Then I told him to make me kill myself too. I screamed at him to just do it and he… stared at me. Like he didn't know what to do for once in his life." He takes a spoonful of food and shovels it into his mouth, chewing furiously. His emotions were still surging. "He said… 'That was a long time ago…' like that was supposed to mean something." After he does another hard swallow, he goes on. "I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't even think, I just hit him."

Knowing everything she knew about Kilgrave and the supposed person he was, this was like hearing about a miracle. "And you walked away alive to tell the tale." Ms. Sky raises a curious eyebrow as her tongue runs over the lump of gum stuck to her teeth.

"Yeah…" The boy scoffs in disbelief, mirroring her uncertainty about the situation. "That's the weirdest part."

That was the weirdest part indeed. This kid didn't even know the half of it. Very few people were alive that had done something to hurt Kilgrave. Punching him was like getting in a cage with a shark while bleeding. Why did Kilgrave let him live? It didn't make sense to her. Not after what she had gathered about the situation.

"And that's when he told you to take care of yourself?" She asks, motioning to the fact that he was eating now. He had explained this a little before when she introduced herself, but she wanted to double check the facts.

Again, the teen nods. "Yeah." Looking around for a moment, he throws his hands up and sighs. "He also told me to go home. I was on my way to a friend's house, but fuck my plans I guess." He complains, making light of the serious situation. It was just part of his personality to cope with his complicated feelings.

Pulling out her phone, Ms. Sky makes note of this in a document she was working on. She unsticks the piece of gum from her teeth and starts to chew on it. This data point felt like a huge outlier in the rest of her information about Kilgrave. Sure, he was pretending to be good in front of Jessica to manipulate her. But why was he acting so innocently when he's on his own?

A moment of silence passes between them before the boy looks up from his food. His eyes are full of confusion and sadness. "I should be dead… I should be dead, right? He should have killed me…" His looks to this stranger for answers.

But Ms. Sky's gaze gives him no sympathy this time. She had gotten all the information she needed from him. He was therefore useless to her now. With a cold shrug, she says, rolling the gum with her tongue, "Maybe you're lucky. Or maybe he's torturing you by keeping you alive because he knows you're miserable." Her voice suddenly becomes venomous, as if she were hissing at him. It was one of the conclusions she could come to after this experience. This one instant wasn't going to label Kilgrave a saint in her eyes. Not before she gathered more evidence. With one sweeping motion, she stands up.

The boy's eyes widen. Technically, he was only a few years younger than her, but their age difference seems huge when he puts down his bowl and stands to meet her face to face. "You really think that?" He whimpers, as if it mattered what she had to say about him being alive or not. He was taller than her, but her demeanor was so much more commanding and overpowering that it felt like he shrunk in the room.

"Does it matter? You escaped an encounter with the devil. Call it a blessing or a curse," Moving towards the door, she starts to turn her back to him, "I don't care." she mumbles last, not caring if he heard or not. She grinds the gum between her molars.

"Wait!" He shouts after her, chasing a few steps behind. He reaches to grab her arm, but she whips around to look at him first. When she sees him reaching to touch her, her eyes burn into him. He abruptly stops and pulls his hand away, his tone sounding whiny, "You're doing a report on him. You must know more about him, right? Can't you like get him arrested or something… like -" He fumbles over his words, trying to coherently string together a complete thought.

She cuts him off, annoyed enough already. "Listen, if I were you. I would shut the fuck up and never mention this to anyone, ever." The way she says this is softened as much as it can be by her accent, as if telling him to shut the fuck up was a kind gesture. Turning back around, she reaches for the door.

The boy scoffs nevertheless. Deciding not to chase her anymore he watches her leave. Before his door closes, he shouts at her, "If I were you, I would stay away from him!"

But Ms. Sky rolls her eyes and slams the door shut. If only he knew how close she intended to get to Kilgrave.

Author's note:

Kilgrave certainly earned his kiss :)

Also, who is this Ms. Sky? What's her deal? I would love to hear theories in the reviews!