life, huh?

anyway, here's chapter 18! hope you enjoy x

Next Caller

"Is it hard?" Trish asks quietly, watching Jessica's face from across the elevator. "Hearing what people are saying about Hope?"

Jessica leans back against the elevator wall. "They're all idiots who don't know what they're talking about."

"That's not an answer, Jess."

"Fine. Yeah, it pisses me off that nobody is willing to hear her out," she snaps. "Maybe it would help to have a popular voice speak up in support of her." Her eyebrows quirk questioningly.

Trish sighs and readjusts her grip on the bags in her hands when the elevator doors open. "Trish Talk is a lifestyle show," she says.

"Being in prison is a lifestyle," Jessica counters, following Trish out into the hallway.

"I can't just go on the radio and say 'mind control is real'," Trish retorts, giving Jessica a look when she turns to glance at her.

"But people trust you."

"Yeah, but that's because I back up my claims."

"You know it's true."

"I'll think about it," Trish compromises, turning to unlock her door. "And in the meantime, you're hiding from Kilgrave, right?"

Jessica watches her open the door and move inside. "No," she answers. "If he was coming after me, he would've done it by now." Especially with Malcolm stalking her - Kilgrave obviously has a way to find her whenever he likes. "I think with me he's more into torture and long-term suffering," she quips bluntly.

Trish hovers in the doorway, watching her expectantly, and Jessica shifts on her feet, feeling the clutch of guilt around her heart.

"I'll catch you later," she says, turning to leave.

"I knew it," Trish announces bitterly.

Jessica pauses and turns back to her best friend.

"You said 'let's do lunch'. You hate that saying."

"Because it's stupid," Jessica retorts. "You eat lunch."

"It sounds better than 'let's do Jessica another favour'."

"Look, it's not that, alright?" Jessica insists, approaching the doorway again. "I just- I really need to get some drugs."

As soon as the words come out of her mouth, she knows they were a mistake. Especially when Trish reacts.

"Uh, graduating from alcoholism?"

"They're for Kilgrave," Jessica tells her. She takes a breath, readying herself to drop the bombshell. "Surgical anaesthesia knocks out his powers."

Trish's face morphs from shock to disbelief to irritation. "Okay, that is huge," she says, marching forward to grab Jessica and pull her into the apartment. "How do we get some? I mean, it doesn't sound like something your average drug dealer would have." She shuts the door behind her and picks up her bags, walking through to the kitchen.

"Sufentanil is only available in hospitals, so unless you know any morally-compromised doctors," Jessica trails off pointedly.

"All the doctors I know save small villages," Trish replies, her tone tinged with regret.

"Figured. I got it handled."

"Have you asked Stark? I bet he wouldn't find it hard to get a hold of," Trish comments easily as she starts putting away the groceries.

"He'd ask a lotta questions," Jessica counters, scowling at Trish's back.

"So, what's the alternative? Stealing it?"

"I prefer 'redistribute it'."

"Come on, Jess. You're better than that," Trish insists, walking past Jessica as she pulls her sweater over her head. "Stark is the easiest option and you-"

"Jesus," Jessica hisses, noticing the insane number of bruises marring Trish's skin.

"What?"

Jessica walks closer to investigate, rage prickling at her skin. "Jesus Christ, Trish!"

"Oh. It's nothing," Trish dismisses, walking away.

"Who's doing that to you?" Jessica demands, her fingers itching to punch someone into oblivion. "Is your mom back?"

"Just calm down, will you?" Trish says over her shoulder.

Jessica glances around Trish's bedroom and clocks an additional security measure she hadn't noticed before. "Okay, is this why you have the video surveillance and the steel-reinforced door?" she snaps, gesturing up at the camera in the corner of the room.

"And bulletproof windows, a safe room," Trish replies, pulling off her shoes at the end of her bed. "I made some upgrades."

Jessica stares at the window for a moment, disbelief and sheer confusion clogging her mind. "You- what you made is a fortress," she retorts, stomping after Trish out of the room. "Trish, what are you afraid of?"

Trish turns to look at her, pausing at her spare room. "Not much anymore. Except clowns, but that's just common sense," she quips, opening the door to reveal a training room.

Jessica looks around the space, eyeing the mats and punching bag. "You turned my room into a gym."

Trish shrugs. "I needed a place to train."

Jessica takes another few steps into the room. "By 'training' you mean getting beaten purple."

Trish lunges and grabs the lapels of Jessica's jacket, hauling her over to slam her down on her back. Jessica's face slackens with indignation and pain, shaking her head as she gestures her hands wide in a "what the fuck?" kind of way.

"Nobody touches me anymore unless I want them to," Trish says smugly. "I let you fight my battles for too long. When you left-"

"You became a ninja?" Jessica snarks, rubbing her shoulder.

"Krav Maga. More brutal," Trish smirks.

"Well, can you back off? You're scaring me a little," Jessica frowns.

"I'll make sandwiches," Trish responds lightly, practically bouncing out of the room.

Jessica allows a smile at Trish's antics, glad at least that the person she loves most has taken steps to feel more safe and confident in her ability to look after herself. It is unnerving - especially seeing all the bruises - but it brings Jessica a sliver of comfort. Obviously, she still needs to worry about and protect Trish - with Kilgrave, it's not too hard to imagine Trish being used as bait or an incentive to do something terrible; but at least now she'll be more difficult to attack than she was the first time round.

Jessica pushes herself off of the floor and follows after Trish, rolling her shoulder to try to ease the pain that flared on her fall. "You're not gonna start prowling the streets looking for muggings and shit, are you?"

Trish is grinning when Jessica moves into the kitchen. "Don't you want a sidekick?" she jokes good-naturedly.

"Oh, you'd drag me into it, too?"

"C'mon, we'd have to fight crime together. It'd be perfect."

Jessica grins, eyebrows twisting judgmentally. "That sounds so dumb."

"Are you really telling me that fighting with the Avengers didn't stir something in you?" Trish asks seriously, pausing the sandwich-making to look up at Jessica.

"It stirred the contents of my stomach," she smiles sarcastically.

Trish rolls her eyes and goes back to the sandwiches. "Well, it gave you some connections, at the very least. I'm pretty sure you were in contact with Stark about all that Thomas King stuff, even if you kept it on the down-low. Why don't you just ask him about the Sufentanil?"

Jessica groans and takes a seat at the breakfast bar, pulling her phone from her pocket. "I hate you," she mutters petulantly.

Trish scoffs out a laugh. "Yeah, you too."

"How easy would it be for you to get me some surgical-grade anaesthesia? Like Sufentanil."

She hits send and drops her phone on the bartop, lifting her eyebrows at Trish. "There. Happy?"

Trish's grin is borderline-giddy. "We need to go costume shopping again."

"I'd literally rather eat-"

"What the hell, Jessica?"

Jessica looks down at her phone to find Tony's face staring up at her. "Why do you never call and give me the opportunity to decline?" she scowls, picking the phone up to hold it in front of her face.

Over the top of the phone, she can see Trish's giddiness fading into an amused-suspicion.

"Because I know you'd absolutely take that opportunity and I'd never get anywhere with you."

Jessica tilts her head concedingly. "Still. Can you give me, like, an hour or something?"

Trish catches her eyes and shakes her head, then gestures at the phone pointedly.

"You asked me for an anaesthetic used in surgery, Jones. Obviously, that's gonna ring some alarm bells."

Jessica scoffs. "You're one to talk." She glances at Trish, words tripping over themselves in her head when she realises how much she doesn't want Trish to know. But Tony looks affronted as if he can't imagine what he could possibly have done to ring alarm bells, and Jessica's too stubborn to let it go. "The camera isn't exactly normal behaviour."

Tony's lips pout distractedly, his eyes sliding from his phone to some point below it. Jessica clocks the dishevelled hair and stubble, the bags under his eyes, and tries not to let her concern show on her face.

"Huh. I thought you actually were asleep and didn't hear any of that."

She sees Trish mouth asleep to herself, her mouth curling deviously. "Listen, I'm busy. Can I call you back?"

"Jess!" Trish hisses irritably, amusement forgotten.

"I'm guessing if there's anyone you don't keep secrets from, it's Trish, so I think we're safe," Tony retorts, bringing his attention back to the screen to presumably watch her face.

Trish scoffs quietly, giving Jessica a look - and Jessica gives her a quick glare in reply because she's a private person, there's nothing wrong with keeping secrets.

"You need Sufentanil," Tony continues. "Yes, I can get it for you. And, yes, I will get it for you - even though you've been so very against my help this whole time. How much d'you want?"

Jessica licks her lips. "Enough to knock someone out multiple times."

Tony frowns. She watches him look away again, lifting a hand to rub at his face tiredly. But then he nods and clears his throat. "Alright."

She waits for him to finish the call, but he doesn't. He just sits and frowns, his mouth puckered thoughtfully, his eyes distant. The air around Jessica feels much less jovial now. Even Trish has paused her movements, standing on the other side of the bar with a solemn expression.

Jessica figures he's probably wondering, waiting for a right time to ask, and she decides to forego the anxious anticipation of whenever he deems best to broach it. "It's true," she tells him quietly, glancing awkwardly at Trish, whose expression is surprisingly unreadable.

A gentle pinch appears between Tony's eyebrows as he refocuses on the screen. "I wasn't gonna ask."

Jessica shrugs. "It's a hard thing to believe, I guess. Aliens? Sure. Mind control? Maybe not."

Trish's eyebrows furrow gently.

"I wasn't gonna ask because I didn't need it confirmed," he retorts. "I already believed you."

Jessica licks her lips and has to turn away, the earnest expression on his face proving too raw to handle. She knew he'd be able to piece it together once he'd heard Hope's defense; but she didn't expect him to believe without even hearing about it from Jessica. Maybe it's just because he's seen stuff wilder than the average person can imagine, but he's the first person to instantly believe her without needing any kind of explanation or evidence from her. And he's looking at her like he's hurt that she'd expect otherwise.

"It'd be so easy to find this asshole and just blow him up," Tony muses wistfully, using his standard trick of employing humour to distract from the vulnerability. "But you'll need him to save Hope, right? I hope you appreciate how hard it is for me to hold back on this, especially now that I know what we're dealing with."

"Do you finally understand why I've been so pissed at you?" she intones pointedly.

"Yeah, but, Jessica," he trails off, sighing. "I can't sit this out. You know that, right? I need to help."

Jessica frowns softly at the screen, watching him lean his forehead into his palm and stare at his own screen. "You will be, if you get me that drug. But I can't let you get any closer than that. With you under his control-"

"Yeah, I get it. He could turn me against the world. The Avengers, too."

The relief that washes through Jessica makes her physically relax in her chair. This whole time, she has been so vague about the consequences of Tony getting too involved, because it would have just invited more questions. She didn't want him to know, to know what had happened to her and figure out what that could mean, what she'd done. But now he knows. And she never in a million years expected it to be a relief - but it is, because he understands. And there's resignation in his tone - he agrees.

"As long as you feel like you have it under control, I'm not gonna intervene. But the moment it looks like he's got more control, like he's gonna get you-" He rubs at his jaw, his eyes sharp and blazing with anger. "I'll do everything in my power to put him down. I'll figure out how."

She decides not to tell him that, with his Iron Man suit on, she's pretty sure Kilgrave wouldn't be able to use him. She also decides not to let on about the heat searing through her veins at his promise.

"Just let me get Hope's story verified first," she says.

"Yeah. I know that's your priority."

And the way he says it makes it sound like he has a different priority, even if he supports Jessica's. She clears her throat and shifts uncomfortably.

"Alright. Let me know when you get the Sufentanil. Thanks, Tony."

"Be careful," he responds, and disappears.

Jessica puts her phone screen-down on the bar and glares up at Trish. "Don't say a word," she threatens.

Trish's eyes go wide with indignation. "Are you kidding me?" she exclaims, the corner of her mouth curling upwards.

"We're not talking about it," Jessica insists sharply, snatching her sandwich from the chopping board and stalking over to the couch.

"Uh, you're not getting off that easily," Trish scoffs. "You said you weren't friends-"

"We're not!" Jessica snaps around her mouthful of sandwich. "We're- I don't know. It's complicated."

"Doesn't sound very complicated," Trish grins, bringing her own sandwich over to sit at the other end of the couch. "It sounds like he cares about you! How much time have you spent together?"

"It's not a big deal," Jessica insists, rolling her eyes. "We were figuring out the Thomas King situation together and then I pulled back once I figured out who was behind it."

"How often does he call? And when was he talking to you when you were asleep-"

"Trish!" Jessica exclaims, trying not to laugh. "Can we talk about something else? Please?"

"This is cruel. You know it is. I hate you."

Jessica bites down her grin. "Yeah, you too," she replies.

Tony blinks when his music quietens and he turns to find Bruce Banner and Steve Rogers standing at the opposite end of his lab.

"JARVIS, you're grounded."

"You requested that they have permission to move around the Tower, sir. After you created rooms for each Avenger."

"Still supposed to give a guy some warning," Tony mutters petulantly.

"What are you working on, Tony?" Bruce asks amiably as he begins walking across the lab, Steve following behind him.

"This and that," Tony replies dismissively, turning to get rid of the evidence of his fixation.

"How are the repairs going?" Steve asks politely.

"Uh, slowly. Yeah."

The two men approach one of the desks that isn't as cluttered as the rest. Bruce takes a seat on the stool, and Steve leans against the other side of the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nice boots," Bruce quips awkwardly, gesturing at the segments of suit on Tony's feet.

"Didn't realise it was check-up time again already," Tony comments stiffly.

Steve sighs. "It's not a check-up, Tony. Bruce and I just wanted to see if you were up for some lunch."

"Or to show us what you've been working on," Bruce adds.

Tony cocks his head at Bruce disappointedly. "Appealing to my inherent desire to flaunt my talents doesn't feel so good when there's an obvious ulterior motive, no matter what the popsicle says."

Both men seem to deflate a little.

"Tony, I just think it'd be good for you to take a little break from whatever routine you've stuck yourself to in this place. As far as we know, you spend most of your time alone - we just wanted to give you some company, even for an hour," Steve says, with that persistently reasonable tone.

"So you can play the unqualified therapist again? I'll pass."

"We don't have to be qualified in anything. We just need to care about you and be willing to listen. You know we've both experienced-"

"I don't wanna talk to you about this shit, Rogers, alright?" Tony interrupts, frustration flaring in his chest.

"That's okay," he says, unbothered. "Who do you want to speak to, then? Bruce, alone? Maybe Pepper, or Rhodes? All you have to do is give them a call."

Tony grits his teeth and turns away from them again, distractedly shuffling some papers on the desk he's stood at.

"How about we change the subject?" Bruce suggests. "Have you guys seen the news? Jessica Jones has been in it recently."

Tony closes his eyes where they can't see his face and his hand clenches into a fist on top of the desk.

"Oh, yeah," Steve replies thoughtfully. "Something about a client of hers?"

"Clients' daughter," Tony corrects him quietly, opening his eyes again. "Hope Shlottman."

"Almost sounds like she's had a run-in with Loki, blaming the murder of her parents on mind-control," Bruce muses solemnly.

Tony looks down to fiddle with the wires connecting his boots to the chest piece hung over his shoulders.

Steve hums. "Her mind could be creating false realities. It can be a trauma response, right?'

"She's not lying," Tony says.

The two men go quiet, and the pregnant pause stretches on for an uncomfortable moment.

"Sir, Hope Shlottman's interview on Trish Walker's radio show is about to begin," JARVIS informs him.

Tony sniffs and goes back to fiddling with things on his desk. "Play it, J."

As JARVIS starts to emit the beginnings of the show through the speakers, the three men and their tense silence wait together to hear what Hope has to say, and how Trish will handle the situation.

Tony imagines Jessica will be listening, too, if not at the station with Trish, then with Hope. She'll be there, tension in every inch of her body, waiting for Hope to have her chance to put across her side of the story to a listener that Jessica trusts, that will know about her own experience.

The thought of Jessica having her own experience makes Tony feel.. things. There's rage, for sure. Loathing towards this power-hungry creep who took away Jessica's control of herself, of her powers. Who made her as distrustful and paranoid as she is. A rage and loathing so boiling it makes his stomach churn.

But he's scared, too. Scared for Jessica, that she'll lose her autonomy again. That she'll be captured again. That she'll get hurt.

That this asshole will turn Jessica against Tony.

What if he gets control and sets her against Tony, or the whole team? Against civilians, the government, SHIELD? How do you stop someone with powers like that, with a bodyguard like Jessica?

If it came down to it, Tony really isn't sure he'd be able to do what he knows she'd want him to do in that scenario. She'd want him to stop her. He doesn't know if he's capable of that, of hurting her. The thought only makes his stomach twist more.

"It was my mother's birthday." Hope's voice brings Tony back to the present, to the interview. "He made me call her because she'd have known something was wrong if I didn't. And I wanted to tell her that I was in trouble, and that he was holding me prisoner.. and making me do things that I've never done, that I never would do."

Tony's jaw clenches and he turns his face away to make sure the others can't see it.

"I wanted to tell her and my dad to come and get me."

"But you didn't," Trish guesses.

"The words were in my head, but way in the back, like this tiny echo."

"What was happening? Can you describe it?"

"All I could feel was this need. He said 'WIsh her a happy birthday' and that was suddenly the only thing that I wanted to say."

Tony stops fiddling with the tech on his desk, the tension in his body making it hard to move at all and still appear nonchalant. The thought of this guy doing this shit to a girl in college, never mind Jessica. And Jessica likely also being made to call someone, maybe Trish, and not being able to articulate the fucking danger she was in. If he took her again, how would Tony know? She's an elusive person anyway - if she suddenly stopped speaking to him or coming by, he'd be disappointed, but not very surprised. Especially if this prick was able to make her contact Tony and assure him she was perfectly fine.

"That was the last time I spoke to her before she and my dad came to find me, to rescue me."

"And the whole time you were with Kilgrave, you were aware you were being controlled," Trish prompts.

"Not at first. But then I'd get these glimpses of myself," Hope responds shakily, emotion clogging her voice. "And I'd try to hold onto them, but.. I wasn't strong enough."

Tony risks a glance at Bruce and Steve, his throat tight with anger and fear and hatred for Kilgrave and his crimes against Hope, against Jessica, and who-knows how many other women. His teammates don't even react to him looking at them, they're so immersed in the interview. Both of them look uncomfortable, disturbed even, and he knows they aren't going to dismiss Hope's claims as easily as the rest of New York, at least.

Hope is clearly struggling against a breakdown, now. "But when he told me to do that to my parents… I fought so hard. But I couldn't.." she trails off, her shaking sobs audible over the phone call.

"Hope, did you love your parents?"

"Yes, so much," she responds immediately.

"Did you want to shoot them?"

"No," Hope says, loud and firm and sounding angry for the first time.

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because Kilgrave wanted me to. Because he made me."

"Jesus," Bruce mutters quietly.

Tony's eyes have closed again, his clenched fists tucked up under his armpits to stop himself from punching something.

Knowing Hope has gone through this is bad enough. But everything she says, he's imagining Jessica going through the same. Part of him wants to stop listening, because he isn't sure he can take it. But the other half knows that this is the story, this is everything Jessica has not been able, or not wanted, to tell him all this time. And turning it off would be an insult to her, and to Hope. He's in a privileged position to only be imagining it. They're both reliving it.

"As you can see, Trish, my client's delusion is quite clearly formed," a new voice says. Tony recognises it from the start of the interview, when it was just a hazy mumbling in the background of his thoughts.

"Wait, you're dismissing the possibility that Hope might be telling the truth?" Trish retorts, clearly confused.

"That she was telepathically compelled to kill her own parents? It's unprecedented to say the least."

"As was the city being attacked by aliens, but it happened. Buildings were destroyed, people were killed."

Tony's so honed in on everything in the interview and what it means for Jessica that his brain doesn't even recoil the way it normally does at the mention of the Incident.

"Perhaps what has happened to Hope has happened before," Trish continues.

Tony's jaw clenches.

"Well, certainly, if there are other people who feel they have been controlled by this Kilgrave character, they are more than welcome to contact my office, but it is more likely that my client experienced a psychotic break."

Tony scoffs out a sound so bitter he can taste it, and his clenched fists fall to thump noisily against his desk, holding his weight when he leans over it just to try and move to dislodge the tension growing even stiffer in his body.

"Uh, Hope has no history of mental illness, has shown no evidence since-"

"Trish, sounds like you believe this Kilgrave is real."

It goes quiet for a moment. Tony stares hard at the metal beneath his fists, holding his breath.

"I believe it's naive to assume he isn't. So, yes, I think he's out there. This sick, perverted man. He is preying on the hopeless so he can feel powerful, probably terrified of his own weakness, which suggests impotence. And why do sadistic, corrosive men always seem to focus on women? Probably suggests some serious Oedipal issues a-"

There's a sharp noise of audio disconnecting, and then an empty buzzing. Tony's head snaps up to look ahead of him, his jaw unclenching as his lips part.

"What just happened?" Bruce asks, confused.

"Jessica," Tony mutters.

"We've got a few calls coming in. Let's start with Susan in Vinegar Hill," a woman says.

"Hey,Trish, thanks for having-"

The audio cuts out again. Tony stands up straight and starts fiddling with the wires connecting his boots to his chest piece, to the reactor.

"Next caller."

"First-time caller, long-time listener," a man's voice says calmly, his accent noticeably British. "Trish, I want to applaud your courage. You've always been a hero to the downtrodden. Self-preservation be damned."

Tony's neck crawls when he turns and starts lumbering in his boots towards an elevator shaft he knows to be empty.

"Tony?" Steve calls warily.

"J, where's my car?" Tony snaps.

"Basement level, sir."

"Keep it playing."

Tony stomps as fast as he can to the hole in his wall and leaps into the empty space, letting himself fall downwards as air rushes past him.

"It's admirable," the radio continues playing through the speakers around him, the sound distorted slightly by the speed at which he's plummeting past them. "But my question is, if there really is a man with the abilities you've described, someone who could make anyone, anywhere, do whatever he wanted them to.. seems to me that insulting him would be wildly dangerous."

"Thrusters!" Tony snaps, and his boots power up at the last second to give him a landing that won't break his legs. "Off!"

The boots' plates slide out of the way so that he can pull his feet free as he runs from the elevator shaft out into the basement level, sprinting for his car. He pulls the chest piece off and lets it clatter to the ground behind him.

"Or, let's just say it, stupid in the extreme."

"You sick fuck," Tony hisses, jumping in his car. The engine roars to life and he tears out of the basement, JARVIS opening the exit for him without prompting.

"Everyone has feelings, even, um- how did you put it? Sadistic, corrosive men. Are you worried he might, I don't know, make you kill yourself? Or worse? I'll take my answer off the air."

Tony smacks an open palm against his steering wheel, his teeth bared with pure, animalistic rage at the sound of Kilgrave's voice, at the threats oozing out of his calm tone. This glimpse at the man himself, pairing the voice and the words with the image he'd captured of Kilgrave, makes him solidify even further in Tony's perception of the world, of Jessica's world. He'd told her that it was hard to hold himself back, knowing now that they're dealing with someone who can control people; but he can't even begin to imagine the challenge it must be for Jessica. If he was in her position, he can't say he'd have the same selflessness to be able to stop himself from destroying Kilgrave before he could exonerate Hope.

Jessica is used to feeling exposed, vulnerable to attack. It lingered under her skin even when she thought Kilgrave was dead, never mind the overwhelming flare of it when she realised he survived. She's used to this, now. It's depressing to say, but it's become her normal.

But now Trish is the one vulnerable to attack, and it feels like a whole other level of fear. It's terror.

"I had to defend Hope. Hogarth was throwing her under the bus," Trish defends herself as they march through her building.

"Hogarth set you up to defend the crazy-ass notion of mind control," Jessica corrects her.

She tries to pick up the pace, her skin absolutely crawling with the fear that any of the strangers in this building will try to kill Trish after what she said about Kilgrave. God, she's pissed at Trish for doing something so fucking stupid. She's pissed and she's terrified.

"So she wouldn't have to. God, that is so smart, and evil of course," Trish responds.

"You insulted him, Trish. You put yourself in Kilgrave's crosshairs. He could be sending some poor asshole to kill you right now." Jessica takes a moment to breathe, feeling Trish's nervous energy humming at her side. She needs to calm down and stay logical. "It's a good thing you built a fortress. Just stay close to me."

They're getting closer to the doors. A few more seconds and they'll be free of this building and the people in it, but they'll be even more exposed on the street. She doesn't know which is worse.

"Where's your car?"

"Patsy Walker?" a man asks behind them.

Before Jessica can even react, Trish has turned and attacked the man.

"Oh my god," Jessica snaps, reaching for Trish after she knees the man in the stomach and sends him to the floor.

"He grabbed me," Trish says, a clear mix of fear and adrenaline and anger.

But Jessica clocks the belongings of the man, scattered across the floor. "Oh, shit," she hisses.

"He's a fan?"

The man gets on his knees and holds something up. "Autograph?" he rasps, red-faced.

"You're a fan! Oh, I'm- oh my god, I'm so, so sorry. I- I, uh-"

"I miss your red hair," the man says.

Jessica's face curls.

"Sorry, I- I-" Trish continues stumbling awkwardly.

"Okay, come on, we have to go," Jessica says, reaching for Trish. "Come on, we have to go!"

"I- I- I gotta go, I'm sorry!" Trish stutters, turning to hurry after Jessica. "Wow, Jess, I think I really hurt that guy."

"Worst-case scenario, you've unlocked a new kink for him," Jessica dismisses, turning her head left and right to try and spot Trish's car. "Where's your-"

Something loud and sleek and fast skids to a halt in front of them. Jessica holds her arm out in front of Trish and tries to move her backwards out of view. But then the window rolls down.

"Tony?" Jessica asks incredulously.

"Figured you'd need a swift exit - you alright?" he calls across the passenger seat and out the window.

Jessica grits her teeth and glances around them again, then pulls Trish behind her when she approaches the passenger door. "Uh, is JARVIS connected here?" she asks awkwardly.

"Hello, Miss Jones."

Jessica clears her throat. "Has an English guy spoken to him at all in the last twelve hours?"

"No. He has only spoken recently with Captain Rogers and Doctor Banner."

"Alright," Jessica nods.

She stands up straight and checks the street again, her fear thrumming under her skin. She needs to get Trish home and safe as soon as she can. She needs to get her off the street. But getting in a car with Tony Stark right after Kilgrave threatened Trish live on the radio is going to give Kilgrave a big fucking sign that, yes, Malcolm, this is Tony.

It'll be protecting Trish, but endangering Tony. She hates that it feels like a choice.

"Alright, c'mon," she mutters, pulling Trish out from behind her. "Get in the car." She guides Trish into the back of the car and climbs in after her.

As soon as she closes the door behind them, Tony quips a quick, "Seatbelts," and then pulls out into the street again.

"You were listening?" Jessica asks around the tension in her throat. She doesn't want to meet his gaze in the mirror, but she can feel it on her.

"Yeah. Gotta say, wasn't my favourite talk show segment."

"JARVIS, if you ever see Kilgrave around the Tower or inside it, you need to call me straight away. And you can't let him get in the same room as Tony. You guys need to get some security measures set up in case he comes for you. Or if he does get you."

"Of course, Miss Jones."

"We'll get some contingency plans goin', don't worry," Tony assures her.

Jessica glances at Trish when she finally relaxes in the seat, and notices Trish's eyebrows lifted pointedly, visibly confused by Jessica's familiarity with Tony and his technological butler. "Not now, Trish," she says quietly.

"Are you guys alright?" Tony asks, glancing in the mirror at them both. "I mean, educated guess, but that was him, right?"

Jessica sighs heavily and leans her head back, glaring at the roof of the car. "Yeah, it was him." She lifts a hand to run it through her hair and notices it shaking. "First time I've heard his voice since-" she cuts off, closing her eyes as Reva's face flashes in her mind.

"At least his powers don't work unless you're face-to-face," Trish says somberly.

Jessica glances at Tony in the rear-view mirror to make sure he didn't catch that, but she sees him frown and then his eyes snap to hers. There's a realisation in them, and it makes her very uneasy.

"Who knows what a near-death experience did to him," she says firmly. "It's not worth the risk, guessing what he's capable of. We need to be smart and not make assumptions that'll get us killed."

Tony runs a hand through his hair and Jessica notices the oil and dirt on his fingers.

"Do you think that guy's okay?" Trish asks, turning to look out the back window.

Jessica rolls her eyes. "You've got more serious shit to worry about than some middle-aged dude obsessed with the teenage version of your TV persona," she retorts gruffly. "It was good to see your training paid off, though."

Trish smiles, but there's still fear and paranoia behind it. Jessica recognises it instantly as what haunts her face whenever she looks in a mirror. She doesn't like seeing it on Trish.

"You believe I can handle myself now?" Trish jokes weakly.

"I believed it when you put me on my ass," Jessica retorts.

Trish grins for a moment, but then turns to look out of the window, watching the people on the street as they drive by them. "Uh, Mr Stark," she says slowly, leaning back into the middle of the seat to peer around the back of his seat. "Is this the way to my apartment?"

"Uh, yeah. I figured you guys would wanna go there," he answers, and he seems a little sheepish. Apparently he is capable of acknowledging when he can be creepy. "Oh, and you can just call me Tony, by the way. My preference would be taking you to the Tower, but I was worried Jessica would accuse me of interfering too much."

"I would've," she grunts, scowling at Trish when she elbows her gently.

"So, what's with the surgical anaesthetic?" Tony asks, glancing in the mirror at her. "I thought it might be an alternative method of knocking him the hell out, where you wouldn't have to get close, but you need to get close if you're just using a syringe, right?"

Jessica licks her lips and leans forward in her seat, clasping her hands to try and stop their lingering shake. She's been slowly forming a kind of plan, but it sounds batshit crazy in her head, never mind spoken aloud to other people. "His powers still work when he's asleep. But Sufentanil will knock him out properly, stop the effects."

Tony's eyebrows lift. "Alright, good. So he's got a weakness. Kryptonite. That's good. What happens after you knock him out?"

Jessica glares at him in the mirror. "I'm working on it," she grinds out. "And you're gonna stay out of it."

"Alright, let's not argue in front of my guest, okay? I'm trying to make a good first impression, here."

"Don't deflect!" Jessica protests, her face scrunching indignantly. "Did you hear the shit Hope said? Did you hear what he does to people? You're gonna sit there and just assume that you're gonna be a part-"

"I'm not assuming anything!" he argues, just as loudly as her. "Why do you act like someone trying to help is the worst goddamn thing in the-"

"Because it's dangerous, Tony! How many times do I have to tell you that it's too-"

"Jesus Christ, you're a broken record. When are you gonna get it through your thick skull that I wanna help you because I-"

"I'd be more willing to let you help if I was the one setting the fucking boundary but you keep crossing it! Over and over-"

"Would you two shut up?" Trish yells over the top of them, shattering the argument into silence. "Jess, I know you're scared, and I know that's just making your temper worse. I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry I insulted him and I'm sorry he called up and now you've gotta worry about me. I'm sorry."

"No, Trish-"

"I said shut up," Trish snaps, eyes blazing at her. "I get why you're pissed, alright? People keep trying to help you and that's stressing you out because it's making an unpredictable situation even worse. I get it. I might just be speaking for myself here, but I'm pretty sure I'm not; we're trying to help because we care about you, Jess. It's hard to sit back and let this shit happen, let you feel like this, while you go out and try to fix it on your own. So maybe we've jumped the gun a little and made things worse. I'm sorry. From now on, I'll let you lead, alright? I'll follow you. Whatever you say."

Jessica drops her head into her hands and closes her eyes, her teeth grinding against each other to the point of inducing a headache. The silence in the car is unbearably awkward.

"I'm not capable of a heartfelt speech like that," Tony speaks up, his volume much more appropriate for a level-headed conversation. "But, uh, yeah. I suppose there's a general consensus here. Miss Walker brings up some pretty decent points."

Jessica pulls her hands down her face as she lifts her head again, opening her eyes to look at Tony in the rear-view.

He clears his throat and meets her gaze. "I'll follow your lead, Jones."

Jessica feels wildly uncomfortable. She sits up straight and crosses her arms, her jaw clenching rhythmically. When she sees Trish watching her expectantly, she sighs and nods her head. "Okay."

"Jesus," Trish mutters, shaking her head and turning to look out of the window again.

"Look, let's just get you home safe, for a start," Jessica mutters.

"Alright, yeah. We're only a couple blocks away."

"Thank god," Tony mumbles to himself. But he catches Jessica's eyes in the mirror again and there's a slight sparkle of amusement in the rich brown.

Jessica bites down on a smile.

Tony pulls the car up right in front of the doors to Trish's apartment building. He and Jessica both spend a minute scanning up and down the street, making sure there doesn't look to be anyone hanging around waiting for Trish to return. When they deem it clear, Trish and Jessica prepare to leave the car.

"Thank you, Tony," Trish says earnestly.

Tony waves a dismissive hand. "Would've been nice to have been under better circumstances, but it was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Walker."

"Call me Trish," she smiles.

Jessica pushes Trish out in front of her, letting the blonde extract herself from the car before she starts sliding along the back seat.

"Jessica," Tony says quietly.

She pauses in the middle of the car with her hand around his headrest, staring ahead of her for a moment. She's already uneasy, just by the tone he used, but she turns to meet his eyes. And they are burning.

"Be careful with this guy. I'm serious." His jaw is clenching under the skin of his cheeks, and his mouth is a tight, grim line. But there's a hint of a twist to his eyebrows, something asking. "I'm worried about you."

And she knows he means in more ways than one - Kilgrave is a threat mentally, emotionally, and physically.

She can't break his gaze, but in her peripherals and through the tension coursing through her body, she notices how close her hand is to his face. The air around her knuckles feels walmer, his skin is so close.

Her fingers tighten on the leather of the headrest. Her hand is close enough to reach out and run a thumb over the bags under his eyes. Close enough to move that stray piece of curly hair from his forehead that's making him look so soft and vulnerable. Close enough to run her knuckles over his stubble and feel the scratch on her skin.

Jessica licks her lips, fighting with the pull of the tension in her body. "Don't let your guard down," she says quietly.

For a moment, she worries she won't be able to will herself to leave the car. But she thinks of Trish standing alone on the street, and logic takes the lead, breaking her free from the moment.

"When will you get the Sufentanil?" she asks.

Tony sighs almost inaudibly through his nose. "It should be coming today."

She nods and finally manages to tear her eyes away from his, freeing her body to move. Part of her wants to run out of the car.

But she doesn't. She just mutters thanks and briefly presses her palm onto his shoulder before she clambers out.

Review replies:

kenriot1214: thank you for sticking with the story! ugh, I can't wait either, but it's a slooooow-burner. and these two are.. messy and chaotic, to say the least. hope you enjoyed this chapter!

EmyEnna: thank you for your support and continued readership! my muse and i are indeed getting along better, but time is that ever-elusive factor.. but anyway. another new chapter! man i never thought about Jessica feeling the apathy towards Hope as attacking herself as well until I started writing that chapter and i was like, wait.. that would really fucking suck, huh? poor things. i'm so glad that you've been able to pick up on a difference between Luke and Tony! I wanted to fit that in there but wasn't sure whether i was being too subtle or too on-the-nose with it! thank you:) you've won that bet! and i'm glad your exam went well! thanks so much for the lovely review x

Hearteyesmf: thank you for sticking with the story and reviewing! means a lot to me. haha i'm glad I didn't make Tony too creepy but, like.. Jessica definitely needs someone keeping an eye out for her when Kilgrave's skulking around! hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

ObliviousOne: hello! I don't think you have left a review before, so welcome to the madhouse! thank you so much for sticking with the story! listen, this review was simply the sweetest thing and i appreciate it more than i can say. thank you. truly. i'm so glad you like the characterisations and plot, and the merging of the two worlds. and thank you so much for the tips on getting the muse up and running again! your understanding was very kind and it means a lot. i hope you enjoy this latest chapter :)