Jessica scrolled through the search results from her latest case. It was late on a Sunday morning and Jessica was sitting at her desk in her pajama pants and tank top. Beside her laptop was a plate with half a piece of toast and the remnants of several others. Jessica finished off her coffee and put the mug aside.
Jessica's position at Heroes for Hire had bolstered her business and pay. She was getting clients far more frequently and for higher paying cases too. She had the freedom to work from home whenever she wanted. Had Jessica not known for a fact that Luke was a softie, she'd have been suspicious of the catch
"Jessica," said Bobbi as she walked into the apartment, "Good, you're up."
Bobbi was carrying a large paper bag from a nearby bagel place.
"I already ate," said Jessica.
"Fine by me," said Bobbi, "More for me. Here."
Bobbi walked past Jessica's desk and tossed a small pile of printouts onto it.
"What are these?"
"One sec," said Bobbi, "Emailing you now."
Jessica looked at her phone in confusion as she received several emails at once. She pulled them up and opened them on her computer.
"Jessica, we're bringing in significantly more income than you were before," she said, "We can afford to upgrade from this crappy apartment."
"Watch it," said Jessica, "This crappy apartment happens to be my home."
"It's also nowhere near your place of work," said Bobbi, "Wouldn't it be nice to be able to get there quickly when you have to?"
"Maybe I like that our income is that much higher than the rent," said Jessica, "Maybe I'm trying to save up."
"What if there were a 1-bedroom apartment in Harlem that's nicer than this place, closer to work, and even lower rent?"
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"Check your email, Jess."
Jessica opened up the emails, following the links to various apartments. She found the one Bobbi was referring to and pulled it up. It really did look nice.
"Look at you," mused Jessica, "You've convinced me. I mean, I'll at least take a look."
"Yes!"
"You came prepared," said Jessica, "Didn't you?"
"I have to get up pretty early in the morning to keep up with Jessica Jones," smiled Bobbi, standing up.
"Yeah you do," smiled Jessica back.
Bobbi kissed Jessica on the forehead. They both looked at each other for a moment, happy.
"Those printouts are more pictures of the place," said Bobbi, "Let's swing by during your lunch break and-"
"Only if you're buying me lunch."
"Really?"
"You're taking my lunch break," said Jessica, raising her eyebrows judgmentally.
"Fine," conceded Bobbi, "I'll buy you lunch."
"Hey Jessica I'm hitting up that taco food truck," said Misty, "You want anything?"
"Oh," said Jessica after a moment, "No, no thanks. Bobbi's getting me lunch today."
"Any particular occasion?"
"We're… looking at apartments in the area."
"Look at you," chuckled Misty, "moving into the neighborhood."
"We haven't decided for sure yet," said Jessica, "Bobbi's been doing most of the research."
"Research?"
"She has a spreadsheet," explained Jessica, "with tables and conditional formatting. It ranks all of the places by aspects that matter to us."
"Wow," sighed Misty, "What a dweeb."
"Yeah," scoffed Jessica, "she is."
"How do you not give her a wedgie, like, every time you look at her?"
"Perseverance," said Jessica, "Plus I take all that out on Peter."
"About him," said Misty, lowering her voice, "You know how obvious it is that he's Spider-Man, right?"
Jessica scowled. She wasn't mad at Misty for saying it, but she was mad at herself for how accurate it was. On the offhand it was a trick, Jessica continued to say nothing.
"You brought him in here alongside Thor Jessica," explained Misty, "Beyond that, it doesn't take a genius to connect the dots."
Jessica still didn't say anything.
"It's going to get out there eventually, Jessica," said Misty, "You know that, right?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,"
"I'm sure you will," said Misty as she walked off.
Jessica huffed and returned to her work. Multiple clients had come to Heroes for Hire regarding an enforcer or burglar fitting the same description: a woman who used some sort of advanced throwing weapons.
Jessica was trying to connect the dots as to what the cases had in common other than the perpetrator. Most instances appeared to be related to gang activity in some way. The perpetrator seemed to have no allegiance, attacking the same gang one day that she was fighting on behalf of the day before.
Jessica limited the cases to the oldest known sightings of the assailant. She had attacked three different crime families, though now it was clear those families all had a common enemy. That common enemy was the Maggia.
Next Jessica compared reports related to the assailant and reports related to members of the Maggia fitting the same description. She couldn't find any matches. She did, however, notice a member that disappeared a while back: Rachel Leighton. What was more, Leighton was a former special forces agent who specialized in throwing weapons.
That's her, concluded Jessica, Time to put the word out.
Jessica pulled out her phone and began texting. She knew a number of small-time criminals who helped her out in exchange for information like this. She let them know that the mysterious new assailant was Rachel Leighton. Soon Leighton would be enemies with half of the criminal underworld. That would smoke her out
Satisfied with her work, Jessica closed her laptop and walked off to meet Bobbi for their apartment tour.
Jessica could hardly believe it. Bobbi had really done it. Not only had she found the perfect place for them to move into, she had successfully convinced Jessica that it was a good idea. Jessica had lived in that last apartment for years. Convincing her to move elsewhere was no easy feat.
The quality of the apartment helped make the decision easier. Despite being cheaper than Jessica's studio in Hell's Kitchen, this 1-bedroom was spacious and got plenty of natural light from their windows. Jessica couldn't argue with fact. This place was an upgrade.
Bobbi and Jessica had made the official decision a week or so before, informing Jessica's current landlord of their upcoming move. Now that their new lease had begun, they were moving their stuff in. Jessica and Bobbi were currently unloading the first of their furniture from the moving van at the foot of the apartment complex.
There was one catch to the apartment. They lived on the 4th floor, but the building had only one elevator. Today, that elevator was broken. That meant this move would be extremely difficult, or at least it would have been if Jessica hadn't been a superhuman. Being able to carry entire stocked dressers by herself with ease had its advantages.
"Careful, careful," cautioned Bobbi.
Of course, that meant that Jessica was significantly more likely to damage something by moving too quickly. She had made it to the 4th floor alright, but moving the dresser through the doorway was suddenly proving very difficult. As such, Jessica was relying on Bobbi's guidance.
"Careful!" exclaimed Bobbi as the dresser bumped the wall.
"Hey!" shouted Jessica, "I just carried this thing up 4 flights of stairs! Show some respect."
"Oh come on," scoffed Bobbi, "That thing weighs nothing to you."
"True," acknowledged Jessica, "but my underwear has been riding up since the second floor and I'd like to rectify that sooner rather than later."
"Oh get over it," teased Bobbi, giving the dresser a light shove.
"Hey! Whoa!" let out Jessica, stumbling back.
Bobbi gasped as Jessica stepped backward out over the staircase, falling back and dropping the entire dresser on herself before they both slid to the landing, hitting the wall and sending clothes scattering everywhere. Miraculously, the dresser seemed mostly intact. Jessica, while uninjured by the experience thanks to her enhanced durability, looked furious.
"I'm… So sorry…" whispered Bobbi, "I thought you had- I'm so sorry."
Jessica pushed the dresser off of her and got angrily to her feet. Bobbi backed nervously into the empty apartment. Jessica took off up the stairs after her. Bobbi only got a few steps away before Jessica had caught up and tackled her to the ground.
"Come on, Jess!" pleaded Bobbi, "It was an accident! I- AH!"
Jessica had cut Bobbi off by forcefully sticking a spit-soaked finger down into her ear. Jessica pressed her finger further into the air, getting saliva in every crevice she possibly could. She smiled in satisfaction at Bobbi's face of disgust before she got up and playfully shoved her away.
"A wet willy, Jessica?" moaned Bobbi, rubbing her ear, "Seriously? It's our first day in our new home!"
"I know," said Jessica, returning out the door to get the dresser, "and you're lucky I didn't christen our new toilet by giving you a swirly."
Bobbi cringed at the very thought of that. She had barely returned to her feet when Jessica leapt back into the room.
"Look out!" she cried.
Several gunshots boomed throughout the building as bullets tore through the wood and plaster of the building's walls. Bobbi's training kicked in. She rolled forward toward the doorway, ducking beside it and preparing herself. The moment the attacker entered the room Bobbi attacked her.
The attacker was a tall woman with short blonde hair in a black leather jacket. She had her pistol drawn as she walked through the doorway. Bobbi redirected the weapon toward the ceiling as the attacker fired several more times. Bobbi pulled her wrist back and pulled the gun from her hand, disengaging and leaping away.
Bobbi emptied the clip and tossed the gun aside. Jessica had gotten back up by now and was charging the woman. The woman pulled open her leather jacket to reveal a studded belt lined with what appeared to be dozens of tiny, diamond-shaped throwing knives. She deftly flung several of them at Jessica.
Jessica grunted but kept running as knife after knife stuck into her shoulders and torso. The blades were short, so while each knife stung they didn't pierce anything vital. Jessica made it to the woman and struck her with a powerful backhand blow. The woman flew into the opposite wall and slid down into a slump.
"Holy shit," realized Jessica, "That's her. That's Leighton."
"She must have found out that you were after her," concluded Bobbi.
"Or that I leaked her name to the criminal underworld," added Jessica, wincing as she pulled one of the knives from her shoulder.
Suddenly Leighton grabbed something from the inside of her jacket. It was a small device with a button on it.
"Leighton?" she smiled, "No. It's Diamondback now, sweeties."
Diamondback pushed the button. Jessica screamed as the knives still stuck into her all detonated. Bobbi gasped in horror, though was relieved to see that Jessica's powers seemed to have softened the blow a bit. Still, the front of her body was now covered in burns visible through the smoking holes in her clothes. Jessica seemed to barely be standing, swaying back and forth.
"Jess-!" began Bobbi.
Diamondback leapt back to her feet. Bobbi went to respond, but Diamondback had thrown several diamond knives at her before she could do much. Bobbi grunted as several knives sliced past her arms and one stuck into her shoulder. Bobbi hurriedly pulled the knife from her shoulder and threw it across the room. By then, Diamondback had delivered a powerful sidekick directly to Jessica's abdomen.
Bobbi ran at Diamondback, but the assassin predicted the attack and countered with a leaping spin kick down onto Bobbi's head. Bobbi grunted as she found herself crashing to the hardwood floor and Diamondback turned back to Jessica, who had stumbled back to the window.
"No!" cried out Bobbi.
Diamondback threw 3 knives at Jessica's feet before turning on her heel and sprinting out of the room. A moment later the knives all exploded. Jessica threw her arms up to shield herself and pushed back. She accidentally sent herself clean through the glass and fell back out the window.
"JESS!" cried Bobbi, running for the window, "JESS!"
Bobbi leaned out the window and looked fearfully to the ground. Jessica was actually only 1 story below, dangling high in the air with her flannel snagged onto a flagpole hanging over the street. Several people on the ground had taken note of the sight and begun to take photos.
"Nnnngn…" groaned Jessica.
"Oh thank God," sighed Bobbi, glad to hear Jessica was alive.
"Bobbi," said Jessica, suddenly jerking around, "Bobbi, Leighton! You have to stop her! Don't-"
Rip!
"Goddamnit."
RIIIP!
Jessica's flannel tore away from the pressure of the flagpole's point. Jessica fell to the ground, torn open flannel flowing behind her like a cape. She landed mostly on her feet, but fell right onto her side. Even with her enhanced abilities, it was painful. Bystanders murmured at the sight.
"You okay?"
"Of course I am!" shouted Jessica impatiently, "Go after Leighton!"
"She's gone, Jess," said Bobbi.
"We have to get back to the office," said Jessica, "Luke and the others are in danger too."
Misty continued filling out her notes. She typed away at her laptop, using mostly her organic left hand while tapping the occasional couple of keys with her artificial right hand.
Misty was the only one in the office that day. It was a Saturday afternoon, so most of the office was off. Misty had come in by herself to get some extra work done on a case, knowing she wouldn't have enough time to take care of it during the week.
It was peaceful. Most of the lights in the office were out, but the natural light that came in through the windows gave the office a quiet, warm glow. Misty actually quite liked working in the office alone when she could. It gave her more breathing room to think. Since she would soon be moving to manage the new location in Brooklyn, she had plenty of work to do.
Misty heard the soft sound of the elevator arriving. That was strange. She wondered who it could be. Was Luke stopping by to check on her? Misty got up and cautiously looked out into the main area. She immediately pulled back into her office when two knives came flying straight at her. She rushed to her desk and got out her sidearm. She prepared and pointed the pistol straight at the entrance to her office, ready to fire it.
Misty cursed as the assailant rolled into the doorway on the floor, causing Misty to miss her first couple of shots as she fired over the attacker's head. Misty had aimed her gun directly at the woman when she quickly threw a knife directly at the weapon. Misty sucked her teeth as the gun flew out of her hand from the impact of the knife. Misty clenched the fist of her robotic arm. The gun wasn't her only weapon.
Misty grabbed her desk with her robotic arm and flung it forward. The large desk launched into the air, sending electronics and paper everywhere. Misty's robotic arm, while a little clunky compared to a normal limb, carried with it the industrial strength of almost 20 times a human's natural capacity. Misty's right arm was even stronger than Jessica's.
The assailant threw several more knives, although none of them got past the enormous desk now blocking the doorway. Misty then leapt clean over the desk and came down with her robotic fist out, slamming it into the floor as her opponent rolled away.
Misty kept moving after her punch missed, ignoring the dent she had left in the floor. Her attacker flung several more knives at Misty as the investigator successfully made it around the corner without being hit. Misty regretted taking the fight out of her office. Her gun was still in there. She had gotten cocky and tried to end the fight without retrieving it.
"Who the hell are you!?" demanded Misty, not looking around the corner.
"You can call me Diamondback," responded the woman, "and I have a bone to pick with you Heroes for Hire!"
"Diamondback?" scoffed Misty, "What, like the snake?"
Misty, knowing the smartass remark would briefly take Diamondback aback, ran back around the corner to continue her attack. Diamondback, midway through thinking of a retort, haphazardly threw several knives in Misty's direction. Misty knocked two away with her robot arm and blocked the third, catching it as it stuck into the robotic forearm. Misty then swung at Diamondback. The assassin took a step back, but the blow still grazed the side of her face. She was sent careening into the wall before collapsing.
Misty smiled in satisfaction. Then Diamondback grinned at her as she pulled out some sort of device with a button on it. Misy grunted as a bright flash blinded her and a bang filled her ears. The knife embedded in her arm had detonated. Though Misty was unharmed, she clenched her teeth in fear when she realized her robotic arm was frozen. The explosion had fried the mechanics.
"Ah!" cried Misty out in pain as a knife flew into her shoulder.
"Sorry," offered Diamondback lazily, "but you've been relieved of duty, Ms. Knight."
Misty heard the soft sound of the elevator ding again. Both she and Diamondback looked over as Jessica Jones came barreling out, letting out a low growl of anger as she charged straight at Diamondback. Misty took the opportunity to pull the knife from her arm and toss it aside before Diamondback could detonate it like the others. This proved to be the right move, because the next knife Diamondback threw exploded upon impact with Jessica, detonating the others in the room as well.
Jessica kept running through the flare and smoke, unwilling to let herself be slowed down. Diamondback cursed as she leapt over Misty's desk and back into her office. Jessica almost followed her inside.
"No, Jessica!" shouted Misty.
"Fuck!" cried Jessica as a gunshot went out, accompanied by blood flying from Jessica's shoulder, "The same shoulder! Fuck!"
Diamondback had retrieved Misty's firearm from her office. Jessica ran back toward Misty, dodging the following gunshots. The two women ducked around a corner and took a moment to breathe.
"Sorry about that," said Misty, "She disarmed me at the start."
"Then it looks like she de-armed you," noted Jessica, looking at the inactive robot arm.
"Yeah," said Misty, ignoring the tasteless pun, "You know this chick?"
"She was part of a case I was working," explained Jessica, "She attacked Bobbi and I when we were moving in."
"Is Bobbi okay?"
"Yeah," said Jessica, "Yeah, she said she just wanted to grab some equipment before coming here."
"Let's hope she hurries up," said Misty.
Several gunshots went off again, piercing the wall they were hiding around. Jessica considered rushing her again, but that had failed to work at least three times now. She needed a better strategy and she needed it now. As luck would have it, that's when they heard the soft ding of the elevator again.
"Stop right there, Diamondback!" came Bobbi's voice.
When Jessica and Misty looked to the elevator, they saw Bobbi wearing a completely different outfit than either of them had seen before. It looked like a navy blue variation on her old S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, but with a mask covering her eyes and large, billowing sleeves. She stepped confidently off the elevator.
"Oh my God," sneered Diamondback, "Who are you supposed to be?"
"I'm the Mockingbird!" she declared, "And I hereby order you to stand down."
"Is she for real?" whispered Misty.
"I think so," sighed Jessica.
Diamondback growled as she flung several knives at Mockingbird. Jessica gasped, but underestimated her girlfriend. Two long, white batons fell from Mockingbird's billowing sleeves and landed in her hands. She skillfully struck each of the knives as they neared her, deflecting one to her left, one to her right, and one straight back at Diamondback.
Each knife exploded on impact, shattering glass and sending plaster bursting into the air. The final knife exploded as it struck Diamondback. The assassin screamed as the remaining knives on her belt all began detonating as well. Within a few seconds her jeans were completely blown away to reveal her pink hipster briefs. The burnt and dazed woman then collapsed on the ground, defeated.
"And the day is saved," announced Mockingbird proudly, "thanks to… Mockingbird!"
"This is obnoxious as hell to you too, right?" asked Misty quietly.
"If she hadn't just saved our lives I'd have shoved her into a trash can by now," said Jessica.
"What do you guys think of the costume?" asked Mockingbird loudly from across the room, "I finished it last week. I've been working on it for months!"
Jessica smiled. Annoyed or not, she was proud of Bobbi.
"I can't believe you're dating Luke Cage," said Peter as he opened a large cardboard box, "What's that like?"
"Um… You don't know?" asked Claire.
Claire, Peter, Bobbi, and Malcolm were all unpacking Jessica and Bobbi's boxes. Bobbi had just finished plastering over the bullet holes from the earlier fight. Misty, Luke and Jessica were on their way up with the last of the boxes. Bobbi had promised that as soon as everything was in the apartment, she'd order them all some dinner as thanks.
"I just feel like it's some sort of ADA violation," noted Luke, "You might even be able to get some money out of them."
"We'll keep that in mind," said Jessica, bumping the door open with her hip and entering with Luke, Misty, and the last of the boxes.
"Hey, wait a minute," said Luke, nodding at Peter, "Why is he on unpacking duty? He's as strong as I am, isn't he?"
"What!?" croaked Peter, failing to hide his distress, "What do you mean!?"
"Oh, honey," sighed Claire, "You thought we still didn't know?"
"You showed up at our office with Thor, man."
Misty shrugged knowingly at Jessica. Peter blushed, but softly laughed it off.
"Alright everyone," said Bobbi, breaking the awkward silence, "Pizza, Mexican, or Chinese?"
Soon the food had arrived and everyone was sitting in their own makeshift seats around the apartment. Some sat on the couch, others on top of tables or boxes, and several on the ground. They were enjoying their dinner as they exchanged stories and chatted about the past few days.
"You couldn't have picked a different name?" asked Jessica, "You still attached to the whole 'Mockingbird' thing?"
"Kinda," admitted Bobbi, "but I think it's as good a name as any, don't you?"
"It's not the name that bothers me," chimed in Luke, "It's the costume."
Claire shot Luke a judgmental look. Everyone noticed.
"What?" asked Luke.
"You're really going to criticize someone's first superhero costume?" she scoffed, "After I had to put up with your Power Man phase?"
"His what now?" asked Jessica excitedly.
"Oh, you don't know?" smiled Claire, "Check it out. Before there was a Heroes for Hire, Luke tried his hand at the hero business solo under the name Power Man."
"That rings a bell," mused Peter.
"Oh my God!" gasped Jessica, looking at her phone.
"That's not-" stuttered Luke, "We don't have to-"
Jessica was already displaying the image around the room. Power Man, who was clearly Luke, wore a silver circlet with matching wrist cuffs along with a deep V yellow shirt. His demeanor was also very different from Luke's. He had a lot more bravado, so much so that it was evident in every photo. Everyone in the room was gasping and laughing.
"Listen," muttered Luke, "I was trying to have a brand. Obviously it didn't stick."
"Thank God for that," laughed Misty, "or I wouldn't let Claire date your dorky ass."
"Bobbi," said Luke emphatically, changing the subject, "How do you feel about making Mockingbird a hero for hire?"
"Seriously?" asked Bobbi, "You're offering me a job?"
"Yes," nodded Luke, "We need more hands-on employees now that half of us are handling bureaucratic shit."
"I… don't think so," said Bobbi after a moment.
"Can I ask why not?" asked Misty, surprised.
"Mockingbird isn't that kind of hero," explained Bobbi, "She can't beholden to any one organization. I can't let Heroes for Hire be liable for what I may do. I can't have that on my back. My actions will be my responsibility and mine alone."
"...shit," murmured Claire, impressed.
"Sounds familiar, huh?" said Jessica to Peter.
Peter shrugged and smiled. Bobbi smiled back.