Author's Note: An update on the future of this fic, to those who have kept up and intend to continue following it.

Since this fic was originally published, a new TV shows category has been added for Netflix's more recent Defenders series (under the name "Defenders, Marvel"), and I recently had the support staff add in its characters. So far I've had Purple Haze published as Daredevil/Jessica Jones crossover, which at the time felt like the most appropriate category to fit the fic into. However, in the long run, the worlds of these two shows aren't the only ones I intend to incorporate from the larger Netflix MCU body. As such, I ultimately consider the Defenders category the more appropriate place for this, and that's where it will be placed and updated on in the future. Thanks for your patience!

"So… I guess, sorry about trying to kill you, and all."

Jessica released the man at her side to fish out her key to the penthouse.

Matt let out a wry laugh and pressed his back against the wall next to the door, wincing in pain and clutching his mask to his chest with both hands. His armored suit ended at his neck, leaving his slightly bruised face totally exposed.

"It's alright," he groaned. "It's… it's not my first time."

"Yeah. Mine either." Jessica swung the door open and glanced over her shoulder, watching the door to Jordan's apartment with caution. "So, I don't want to alarm you or anything, but your face… er, your eyes… are kind of… off… I mean, I did punch you in the face, so I may have-"

"Don't worry. The mask has armored plating layered in the front; it soaked the damage. I'm just… well, blind."

He hesitated after saying that, then shook his head, resigned. It was a little late for keeping secrets, after all.

"…What?" She hung in the door for a moment, examining his off-kilter gaze with disbelief. "Blind? Did I hear that right?"

Stumbling forward in an attempt to walk on his own, Matt pushed past her to enter the apartment. He hurried to the counter of the penthouse's kitchenette to steady himself, dropping his mask on top of it. "Yeah. It's a long story."

"I've got nothing but time," scoffed Jessica.

She shut the door behind herself and locked it, following Matt into the kitchenette with her hands at her hips.

"My other senses are stronger than normal. I can hear things, and smell things, and taste things in the air, and… I can tell where things are. I just can't see them." He waved his hand in front of him, gesturing to the open space in the apartment. "I was in an accident as a kid."

Jessica opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself.

"I know how it sounds," Matt added with pained laugh, pressing one hand to his ribcage.

"I don't think you do. You're telling me I got outmaneuvered in a fight by a blind man?"

"It wasn't really fair. I have training. I've been doing this for-"

"That's not my point. How good must those goddamn senses of yours be for that to work?"

He thought for a moment. "Uh, better than yours."

"Better how? You get why this is ridiculous, right? What, you can tell what I look like from how I smell?"

"Well, no, actually, that's what I can't tell. What I can tell that your dress is expensive cotton. And that you shower with grapefruit-scented shampoo. And that the bottle of wine on the top shelf of the cabinet behind me is aged at least ten years." His nostrils flared briefly, and he tilted his head up. "I think Burgundy. I don't really drink much wine, though I have been to plenty of ritzy parties."

She blinked. "…Okay, so, this is the weirdest thing I have ever heard."

"You're an unarmed hundred-and-twenty pound woman that nearly killed me with two blows. You really want to talk to me about weird?"

"…Fair enough," Jessica replied with a shrug. "…I was in an accident as a kid, too."

Matt tilted his head with slight surprise- Jessica's loud breaths shortened at the very mention of it.

"Hard memory?" he asked quietly.

She narrowed her eyes at him with some irritation. "I've had easier."

"Sorry."

Matt frowned sympathetically, which quickly turned to a pained grimace as he pressed two fingers into his chest to feel out his injury.

Wincing just from watching him, Jessica took a step toward the counter, looking him up and down. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem pretty hurt."

"I'll be okay. I've dealt with worse."

"You can barely walk."

"Last woman that told me that pulled me out of a dumpster."

She stared at him as he limped out of the kitchenette, struggling to summon enough sarcasm to comment on that.

"I just need to lie down," Matt groaned, stumbling into the main living space and focusing to make out the contents of the other rooms in the apartment. "Can I use your bed?"

"Seriously? No, I was going to make you lie down on the carpet." She followed him into the living room with crossed arms, shaking her head. "Do what you have to do, man."

Moving forward with harsh breaths, Matt threw open the door to the bedroom and pressed one hand into the mattress, hesitating for a moment before taking a seat and taking his gloves off. With another loud groan, he reached behind him and began to undo the straps holding on his chest piece. The bulky suit fell to the floor piece-by-piece as Matt removed it above his belt.

"Tsch, buy me a drink first," quipped Jessica, stepping inside and briefly covering her eyes with one hand.

"Alright, save it." Matt pressed a hand to his bare chest, feeling around his fractured ribs with a sickly expression. "Do you have gauze?"

"Uh, I don't-"

"Never mind. You have bandages in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Get those. Ngh." He winced, removing his hand from his chest and setting it on his knee. "A bag of ice, too."

He spoke with complete confidence, and Jessica had to double take just to make sure he was serious before heading to the bathroom to retrieve the bandages.

Returning to the bedroom with Matt's supplies, she dropped them in his lap and pulled a chair to the foot of the bed to sit across from him. He winced as he pressed the ice pack to his chest, wrapping the bandages around it to hold it in place against the bruised area.

"Agh, thanks," he mumbled, focused.

"Yeah… no problem…" Jessica replied slowly, eyebrow raised. "I, uh, guess you don't need any help…?"

Matt chuckled at that. "No, I think I can do this myself, thanks."

She leaned back in her chair and watched him, blown away by the ease with which he felt out his own wounds.

"So…" Matt added after a few minutes, fixing the bandages in place and setting his hands on his knees. "…I… uh, I can't help but notice there's only one bedroom in the apartment."

She scoffed incredulously. "Yeah, not exactly my first goddamn choice!"

He nodded twice, suspicions confirmed, as bleak as they were. "I'm so sorry that-"

"-Nope. Don't. Just don't."

She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh, letting her black hair fall over the sides of her face. He nearly continued, but stopped himself, trying to be sensitive.

After a pause, he simply placed both hands in his hair, lying face-up on the bed. "I… showed him my face. I had no idea he would be this powerful."

"No one ever does."

"So how do we beat him?"

"Shit, you just had to…" Jessica stared at the floor, already exhausted by the conversation. "…We don't."

He lifted his head from the bed with a sigh. "Jessica-"

"I'm sorry, but that's not how this shit works. You don't beat him. You just don't. What you do is not fight him in the first place." She poked one of the pieces of Matt's armor with her foot. "But I guess it's a little late for you to be hearing that."

"Yeah, well, refusing to even try doesn't accomplish anything." He slumped his head back down onto the mattress, exasperated. "Look, I'll figure it out even if I have to do it myself, but-"

"Oh, don't give me that sanctimonious bullshit!" Matt jumped as Jessica slid forward in her seat, shooting him a sudden, poisonous glare. "You have any idea how hard I tried to fight back against him? You haven't seen one goddamn percent of what he is capable of. He made you show him your face, big fucking deal. The things he has made me do…" She trailed off at the end and quieted down a little, sliding back in her seat. "He ruined my life. He dug into my brain with both hands and scrambled it until I couldn't tell which way was up. He targeted everyone I cared about. I had my chance to fight him, and every single thing I tried only made it worse. A hundred times worse. And it ended, and I lost, and he got away with it. And now all I can do is wait for him to die, so I can finally kill myself."

Matt's mouth hung open slightly, and he froze, completely at a loss for words.

Worked up, Jessica leaned her head back over the back of the chair, her hair falling back behind her. It had been months since she had spoken to even a single person without Kilgrave next to her. Her head felt thick, foggy…

"Main Street. Birch Street…"

Matt tilted his head toward her, instantly picking up on her murmuring under her breath. "…Jessica?"

"It's Matt, right?" she replied immediately. After a moment without a response, she continued. "Look, Matt, you obviously have people you care about. So here's some advice. If they ever contact you again, if you ever have the chance to talk to them again, don't take it. That's how you can protect them. That's what you can still do."

Hands pressed into the ends of the mattress, Matt pulled himself up, wincing as the ice pack shifted against his chest. "I'm sorry about what happened to you. But I can't do that. If he walks free, more innocent people are just going to end up getting hurt."

"Yeah? Is that it? You're worried about innocent people?"

"Of course I am."

"Well, guess what? He's going to make you kill them. Innocent people. A lot of them. And there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. You're gonna have to make peace with that." Jessica looked at her hands as she spoke. "Why did you say you went after Kilgrave? Karen Page? Look, I'm sorry he got to her. Really, I am. But you should have just let him have her."

Expression blank, Matt scratched his face, thinking on it. The two of them sat in silence for some time.

When he eventually spoke, it was practically to the floor. "…Are you religious, Jessica?"

"Tsch."

He shrugged. "It may not be soon. Maybe not even in this life. But… you have to believe that sometime, somewhere, at the end of this, he's going to get what's coming to him."

She nodded slowly, barely reacting. "…That supposed to make me feel better?"

Matt hesitated again. "Maybe just me."

Jessica rolled her eyes at him, and he slumped his shoulders down, unable to come up with anything better.

After a moment, his head shot up with surprise, and he nearly stood from the bed as he tilted his head toward the entrance of the bedroom.

"What is it?" Jessica asked, immediately reminded of how puzzled she was by him.

He raised a hand in front of him. "Footsteps. Five men, heavily armed. Coming straight for this apartment. That can't be Kilgrave, can it?"

"I don't see why it would be…"

"Then who…?" Matt stopped short, his head shooting up suddenly in realization. "…Jordan!"

"Jordan? The neighbor? How do you know-?"

wham

Something heavy pounded against the front door. Matt clutched his bandaged chest with a grimace, and Jessica stood to cover him.

wham

She straightened out her dress, one eyebrow raised. "The hell is-?"

KOOM

The front door burst open with the force of a thunderclap, and all five of the armed men swarmed into the entrance with weapons raised, quickly spreading into the rest of the apartment.

The barrel of an assault rifle poked through the bedroom door, quickly followed by a police officer with clenched teeth.

A bit confused, he adjusted the gun in his arms, pointing it squarely at Jessica's chest. "Police! On your knees!"

Matt placed a hand on Jessica's forearm to stand, and she clenched her fist at the officer, Kilgrave swirling around in her brain.

"I'm not going to say it again!" shouted the officer. "Get on your knees!"

Jessica shut her eyes and opened them, suddenly a little disoriented. Behind her, Matt stood.

"Don't make any sudden-"

Without another thought, she rushed forward toward the door. On instinct, the officer pulled the trigger, and gunfire rang out in through the bedroom door.

Matt winced, the sound of Jessica hitting the floor ringing in his ears.