howdy folks, and happy holidays! this one isn't my best work, I know, and it feels kind of filler-y, but.. idk some shit gets worked out so it's necessary? lmao hope you enjoy anyway!

I Can't Be Your Hero, Baby

Jessica shifts uncomfortably in the elevator as it carries her back up to Trish's floor. She can feel the bend in the pictures leaning against her ribs, tucked into the inside pocket of her jacket, and every touch incites a flash of memory of Kilgrave's room. She closes her eyes against it and rubs at her neck, her mouth curling unhappily.

She's known that Malcolm has been taking pictures of her, known that it's been for Kilgrave; but seeing the evidence so blatantly and boldly displayed like an exhibition in a fucking museum has really made the knowledge settle deep in her bones. While it's still difficult to connect harmless Malcolm to being the person supplying Kilgrave with all those pictures, standing in the middle of the room with the evidence bearing down upon her definitely made it feel a little more real.

The elevator chimes and the doors slide open. Jessica licks her lips, takes a deep breath, and opens her eyes to walk out into the hallway. She barely makes it two steps before she hears Trish's door unlock.

It opens just wide enough for Tony to slip out, his eyes wide and alert, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, hair dishevelled, and then he pulls it behind him until it's almost closed again.

"Hey," he says quietly, his dark eyes scanning her, lingering on the cuts on her cheekbone and temple.

"How is she?" Jessica asks, stepping forward with the expectation that he'll move out of her way. But he doesn't. "What's going on?" she frowns up at him, her chest tightening worriedly.

"Interesting thing," he responds, tension hidden under the cheerful tone he adopts. "While you were out and I was, y'know, pacing around waiting for either Trish to wake up or you to come back or none of the above, I kinda realised that we didn't figure out a pretty crucial piece of strategy, here."

"What are you talking about, Tony?"

Tony's jaw clenches and he pouts his lips, his eyes narrowing at her. "God this feels shitty. Super-duper shitty. But how do I know you haven't been.. y'know. Thingied."

Jessica's face scrunches. "'Thingied', seriously?"

"Yeah, thingied," he retorts sharply. "It's a pretty valid concern, don't you think? If the rest of us have to prove ourselves, then so do you."

"How am I supposed to-"

"Well, see, that's what I was talking about! We shoulda gotten something cooked up so you could prove you're a real boy and not a wooden puppet with a long-ass nose."

Jessica blinks. "Is that supposed to be a comment about my nose?"

Tony rolls his eyes. "Yeah, why the hell not. I'm standing here worrying about whether this fucker's made you come back to attack your best friend, and I figured I'd throw in a dig at your appearance just for some extra flavour." He waves his hand in the air with a vibe of sheer disbelief, and lets it fall to slap against his thigh. "I think we both know that I have no complaints about your appear-"

"You want proof?" she cuts in, tense.

He shifts to stand up straighter, puffing out his chest, and readjusts his grip on Trish's door handle. "I feel like you'd want me to want proof, if this was anyone else in this scenario, and I don't see why you should be any different."

"Alright, first," she intones grumpily, pointing at her face, "He set the nuclear family on me so he had time to run off. Second-" she shoves a hand in her jacket to fish the pictures out and flattens out the pile, turning it around to show him the one on top, "-he left this picture for me. See how it says 'see you later'? Obviously, now wasn't the time to brainwash me. Now can you please get outta my way so I can check on my sister?"

Tony blinks at the picture, frowning gently. Then he glances at the two other doors in the hallway and silently steps back into Trish's apartment, holding the door open for her.

Jessica pushes past him, trying to ignore the obvious concern on his face. When she turns into the living room, she finds Tony's suit standing at the end of the couch closest to her, its hand pointed right at her with the thruster lit up as if ready to fire. There's no natural light getting into the place, as apparently Tony has closed every curtain on every window. And Trish isn't where Jessica left her.

"Stark?" she prompts tiredly.

"Back it up, J," he says. The suit - by itself - takes some steps to the left, away from the couch, and lowers its arm to its side; but Jessica is pretty sure the thruster didn't power down. "I dunno what kind of resources anybody has but I didn't want him or the paparazzi getting a view of Trish Walker lying unconscious on her floor."

Now that the suit is out of the way, she can see Trish laid out on the couch instead, with a pillow under her head and a blanket over her body. Jessica walks over to crouch at Trish's side, scowling at the bruises already forming around Trish's neck. The rage from before prickles at her skin, and her fingers shake when she reaches out to brush a bit of hair from Trish's forehead.

"I can't lose her, too," she murmurs involuntarily, feeling tears stinging her eyes.

"Stand down," Tony says quietly behind her, and she finally hears a soft humming sound as the suit's thruster powers down.

Jessica sniffs and pushes to her feet, the pictures creaking when her hand grips them a little tighter. When she turns around, she sees Tony's head bowed as if to give her privacy, his arms crossed over his chest. She looks over at the suit, which he'd had standing guard, and Trish, moved from the floor with a blanket draped over her, and hears him making himself uncomfortable to make sure she was safe to let in to see Trish again.

"Thank you."

Tony tilts forward on the balls of his feet and then settles back again. His head shakes minutely and his tongue clicks.

"Tony."

He clears his throat and lifts his head, his dark eyes meeting hers. Something inside of Jessica moves and she feels that strange sensation of her heart warming again. He lifts his hand to run it through his hair, and she realises that the state of it is because he's been running his hands through it too much while she's been away. It gives him a slightly unhinged look, but she has to admit that it's more appealing than the slicked-back, neatly-trimmed looks he always wore in the news and magazines. Not that she paid much attention to him before she met him.

"We should probably get those seen to," he says quietly, gesturing at his own cheek as reference to her injuries.

Jessica sighs and pockets the pictures away safely. "Fine," she concedes, pulling off her jacket to lay it on the dining table when she walks towards him.

Tony clicks his fingers for a moment, clearly thinking something over, then opens the cupboard underneath the sink and finds a cloth. He gives it a quick inspection, shrugs, and runs it under the tap until it's soaked through. Jessica leans against the countertop next to him and faces Trish, watching her sleep.

She hates how close she was to losing the only family she has left.

"Uh," Tony mutters.

Jessica turns to look at him and spots the uncertainty on his face, the way the damp cloth sits waiting in his hand. She realises that his intention was for him to do the cleaning of the cuts, but when he's turned to her, he has suddenly become unsure of whether he should, or maybe whether he can.

And Jessica just doesn't have it in her to resist something gentle after the shit she's just been through. Even if it brings Tony closer.

She turns the side of her face to him again and tucks her hair behind her ear, clearing her throat awkwardly. Asking for help isn't something she ever does, but allowing someone else's desire to help is a little easier, and Tony recognises the granted permission like they've been doing this dance for years. He moves forward a couple of steps, approaching her side, and Jessica grips the edges of the countertops just so her hands can do something, struggling not to look round at him when he's so close. She can hear him breathing, feel the faint puff of air trace across her skin - it simultaneously soothes and electrifies her.

And then his finger and thumb touch her chin hesitantly, the warmth of his skin burning against her own, and Jessica's fingers tighten on the countertop in response. Tony uses his touch on her chin to guide her head into a slight tilt, presumably so he can see the cuts better. The pressure of his fingers lessens a little, as if he's about to drop her chin, but then he readjusts his grip and keeps that soft hold of her.

"Might sting," he mutters.

The drag of the cloth over her cheekbone is almost too gentle to feel like it's doing any work, but she can see it coming away with the red of her blood staining it in her peripheral vision. He works efficiently, wiping the blood away until he locates the cut and then cleaning it out as gently as possible.

The warmth in her chest pulses away like a second heartbeat, and she has to consciously fight against the involuntary drooping of her eyelids. She can't remember the last time she let someone else take care of her the way Tony is, but if she thinks about it too much, she knows she'll throw her walls up and push him away. The guilt is buzzing at the edge of her mind, waiting for her to overthink the situation so it can regain control. But she's tired - too tired to think about all the reasons why letting this happen is wrong, and too tired to do anything other than lean against the counter and let Tony take care of her.

A small, quiet part of her is trying to memorise the warmth of the left side of her body, with him stood so close to her side, and the soft touch of his fingers on her chin. There's something in the way he's seeing to her that she desperately wants to avoid analysing, but that quiet part is desperate to lean into it, to find out if he'd wrap his arms around her if she let her shoulder rest on his chest, to let him care.

But as soon as the two cuts are cleaned, Tony takes a step back from her, his fingers brushing down her chin when he lets go, and the warmth starts to trickle away. "Probably permanently stained her cloth," he comments.

Jessica licks her lips distractedly and turns to look at it when he drops it into the sink. "Not the first time," she shrugs.

He turns to meet her gaze, lifting a questioning eyebrow, and Jessica bites down on an answering smile.

"Thanks, Nurse Stark."

"Nurses are the backbone of our society, so thank you for that insane compliment. I'm flattered you think so highly of me."

She can't hide the smile this time, and his lips quirk in answer as he tilts his chin up to look down his nose at her teasingly.

"Don't let it go to your head," she warns him, pushing off of the counter to walk back to the seating area.

"Wow, I can't believe you didn't deny it," he retorts.

"Maybe I just didn't wanna hurt your feelings."

Tony scoffs. "Since when?"

Jessica throws a grin at him over her shoulder, but it softens when she looks back down at Trish. "Since you stuck your nose into someone else's business and ended up saving Trish's life," she answers solemnly. "Doesn't mean that's gonna happen every time, though. Don't get any ideas about constantly getting all up in my shit."

"You might be in denial about how 'up in your shit' I already am, Jones."

Jessica's amusement shrivels up. She glances at her jacket on the table, where a pocket holds two pictures Kilgrave has referred to Tony on.

"What happened to the guy?" he asks, sitting on one of the stools at the island.

Jessica sighs. "Stopped him from jumping off the roof, tried to convince him he didn't kill anyone, and sent him on his way."

Tony sniffs and nods, glancing over at his suit for a moment. "I take it he was there."

She goes to the chair at the end of Trish's table and pulls it out to slump into it. Leaning her elbows on the tabletop, she supports her jaw in her hands and avoids his gaze. "He ran before I could even get into the apartment," she mutters.

"Did he see the syringe?"

"It was in my pocket."

He shifts on the stool and she glances at him to see him wiping a hand down his face tiredly. "The hell is his motive?" he grumbles.

Jessica lets her hands drop to the table and leans back in the seat. "I thought he'd just want me under his control again," she replies. "Maybe he still does. Just under his terms."

"Still seems like a missed opportunity on his part. He didn't even try?"

"He just set up a bunch of shit to stall me and got out. I dunno where." She sighs and looks over her shoulder at Trish for a moment, and then turns back to Tony with a frown. "Don't look for him. Don't roll your eyes at me - I could see it on your face that you wanted to."

"Need I remind you that-"

"He might have spies in your company watching your every move? No, you needn't," she retorts. "You saw what happened today. Someone pisses him off, he goes after them. I know you think you're invincible in that suit, but you don't know that for sure and you don't wear it 24/7."

"Okay, mom. Jesus," he mutters.

"Maybe if you-"

"Jess?"

Jessica's face goes slack and she pushes out of her chair immediately to go to Trish's side. "Hey, are you okay? How do you feel?" she asks quietly, sitting on the edge of the cushion.

Trish pushes herself up a little against the armrest and lightly runs her fingers over her neck, swallowing with a wince. "Like someone tried to choke me to death," she mutters bitterly, but her eyes are wet and her fingers are shaking.

Jessica's face scrunches, distressed. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone, I didn't even think that he'd use a cop."

Trish shakes her head. "It's not your fault, Jess. I'm the one that insulted him to the whole of New York."

"I knew he'd try to send someone after you, I shoulda just-"

"It doesn't matter, Jess. You got here in time and you saved me," Trish insists, finding Jessica's hand to squeeze it.

Jessica can see the word in the twist of Trish's eyebrows, in the love and gratitude in her eyes, in the proud curve of her mouth. Trish is looking at her like she still thinks Jessica is a hero.

"You, uh, actually have Tony to thank for that," Jessica says awkwardly, sending a glance over her shoulder at the billionaire. "I wouldn't have known if he hadn't tried to contact you about keeping an eye on you."

"Oh," Trish blinks, leaning her head to try and see past Jessica. "Uh, thank you, too, then. What do you mean by 'keep an eye' on me, exactly?"

Tony clears his throat and comes to sit in the armchair closest to the balcony, leaning an ankle on his knee and his elbow on the armrest. "I figured I could get JARVIS linked up with your security system so he could detect any signs of an intruder and let me know."

Jessica looks back at Trish to find her with a light pinch between her eyebrows, a cautious twist to her mouth. Trish glances at Jessica and her eyebrow quirks almost imperceptibly.

Jessica licks her lips and turns to Tony. "Kilgrave thinks she's dead," she says. "That gives us some time to figure out how to move his attention away from her again. By the time he knows she's alive, she'll no longer be in danger."

Trish gives her a small, appreciative smile. But then she sighs. "What happened to your face?"

Jessica shuffles them around so that she sits at the other side of the couch and Trish pulls her legs up closer to herself, sitting up more straight again.

"He'd hijacked some family's apartment and set them on me when I tried to follow him," she answers.

Trish frowns. "He was there?" she asks quietly. "He saw you?"

Jessica flattens her lips and nods.

"Are you okay?"

"Mostly pissed off," she shrugs. "He ran away before I could catch him."

"Can I just ask," Tony cuts in, frowning at her curiously. "What exactly was your plan if you'd managed to catch him and knock him out?"

Jessica scowls at him defensively. "Duct tape and handcuffs, then come up with a way to expose his power to the right people so Hope would be proven innocent."

"Duct tape and handcuffs?" he repeats, eyebrows lifted judgmentally. "That sounds more like some kink play than a way to keep a mind-controlling sadist imprisoned."

"He's British, he's puny," she retorts.

"Right, so, I'm not allowed to assume he can't control me through the suit, but you're allowed to assume that a couple bits of duct tape over his mouth will do the job?"

"There's a much bigger risk if he got to-"

"Are you just intentionally ignoring the fact that him controlling you would be pretty fucking dangerous, too?" he snaps, planting both feet on the ground and leaning forward, glaring at her.

Jessica feels the phantom crack of Reva's chest cavity under her clenched fist, sees a flash of the woman's face as she stands before her. Jessica shoves up off the couch and paces away from them, going for her jacket.

"Jones-"

"I know how goddamn dangerous it'd be, Stark," she snarls, whirling round to find him standing now. "I know exactly what that asshole could do with me under his control. I know what he would do. But I'd be easier to put down than goddamn Iron Man. There wouldn't be a national fucking riot if someone had to kill me to stop him." She realises she's stomped back over to the coffee table, shouting at him over the top of it as he watches her with wild eyes and a twitching lip. "My priority is Hope. I'm trying to keep the collateral damage as minimal as possible but I'm already fucking struggling because people keep caring and Kilgrave's using it against me. I can't risk anyone else but I can risk myself, because I'm the one trying to end this goddamn shit. I'm the one who's gone through it before. I'm the one who knows him. I'm the one he goddamn wants!"

"It's not as simple as that, though, is it?" he retorts loudly, spreading his hands wide. "You say he wants you, but he had a chance and he didn't take it! He's calculated and deliberate and he didn't take you when he had the easiest fucking chance to. Doesn't that tell you that he's obviously got a plan that's a little more complicated? That might extend beyond you? You don't have all the facts and you're just barrelling in there without any sense of self-preservation and it's gonna get you killed!"

"Would you two stop?" Trish cuts in, as loud as she can manage in her lethargic and injured state.

Jessica sighs raggedly and closes her eyes, letting her head fall backwards. Her blood is pumping loudly in her ears, and the whispers are a constant murmur across her neck.

"You both look like you're gonna start punching each other and I don't think my insurance covers furniture broken by a super-battle."

"Apologies, Miss Walker," Tony responds, clearly practiced at reigning himself in to be more professional. "I don't think anybody on the planet is as stubborn and infuriating as Miss Jones."

"Shut up, Tony," Jessica groans.

"You're as bad as each other," Trish retorts buntly. "And it's exhausting to watch, never mind be a part of."

"Trish," Jessica mutters warningly, lowering her head to level her sister with a glare.

"You're clearly going round in circles with these arguments. Tony thinks Kilgrave is too dangerous to take on alone, and you think it's best to keep the people involved as limited as possible. You both make good points, alright? Jessica, you're not as expendable as you might think you are; Tony, you've gotta understand that Jessica just knows better in this situation. Putting ourselves in harm's way is not only a point of concern for her, but it's also a distraction that she can't afford. But, Jess, there are ways you can let people help that won't draw Kilgrave's attention."

"I have let him help. I've let both of you help! And look where it got you, Trish, you're-"

"Jess, would you shut up for a minute?" Trish interrupts, a disbelieving laugh in her voice.

"I'd like to point out that I do know that Jessica knows best, here, and that's why I didn't go deal with the guy as soon as I realised what he was," Tony comments.

"Both of you shut up and sit down," Trish says firmly.

Jessica meets Tony's glance and they silently raise their eyebrows at each other, but both slump back down into their seats.

"I feel like a babysitter," Trish mutters, running a hand through her hair.

Jessica sighs. "What are you trying to say, Trish?"

"I'm trying to say that if you're not going to let us physically do anything, maybe there's a different way we can help. You know, strategising, planning, helping you figure shit out."

"What is this, Mission Impossible?" she snarks.

"You're saying that as if the mission you've set yourself isn't practically impossible," Tony retorts pointedly.

"Nobody asked you, tin can!"

"Jess!" Trish cuts in, exasperated. "Stop being an asshole and walk us through it."

"What are you talking-"

"Treat him like a client's set you up to figure him out. He's just another case," Trish says, more gently. "Someone has come to you because his behaviour is shady and they wanna know what he's doing and what he wants."

Jessica licks her lips and sighs through her nose, rubbing at her eyes. "Alright, fine, Sherlock. Where do we start?"

"What about today?" Tony suggests, his elbows balancing on his knees. He looks like he's leaning into this easily. "That cop said some shit to you, right?"

Jessica nods. "He said Kilgrave said it wasn't my time."

"Time for what?" Trish frowns.

"To die."

"So, that's his endgame? You dying?"

"I guess."

"But he coulda easily done it today, so what's he waiting for?" Tony prompts.

Jessica frowns. "I think he wants me to fail with Hope. He wants to crush me before he kills me. I think he wants to see me running around putting out his fires until I break. He wants me to be powerless against him."

Trish stares at her, realisation dawning on her. "Because of what happened," she murmurs. "He's pissed off that you-"

"Yeah, I think so."

"What are you talking about?" Tony asks, watching them both carefully.

Jessica avoids his gaze, but ends up meeting Trish's again, and her sister says a lot with a simple quirk of her eyebrows.

Sighing, Jessica rolls her shoulders back and looks over at Tony. "The last time I saw him," she begins slowly, uncertain and uncomfortable. "He.. made me do something. I think the shock, maybe, uh- I think the shock of it somehow got in the way. He was telling me to come back, and I just.. I walked away. Then he got hit by a bus and I thought he was dead until all this shit with King and Hope."

Tony stares at her with an unreadable expression. "You walked away?" he repeats, slowly frowning. "As in, you did the opposite of what he was telling you?"

"Somehow."

Tony's face scrunches with disbelief and he shifts closer to the edge of his seat. "You're telling me that his power didn't work on you?" he asks incredulously.

Jessica grits her teeth, uneasiness crawling up her spine at the memory. "In that moment, yeah," she mutters.

Tony's eyes are wide when he glances between the two of them. "So, you resisted him?" he asks rhetorically. "Has that ever happened before?"

"Do you think he'd tell me that, if it had?" she retorts.

Tony sighs and runs his hands over his face, staring into nothing. "It's possible to resist his power. Or, at least, it was in that moment, under those circumstances." Almost too quickly to follow, he pushes up out of the armchair and walks around it, clearly needing to pace as his mind works. "Obviously, he made you do something drastic and whatever it was made it possible for you to resist him. But how? We can't figure out how you resisted it until we know how the power itself works. We can't do that without having him in a lab to study him, and we can't really do that without risking collateral damage."

"Tony?" Jessica asks warily, watching him pace.

"What do you know about his past?" he asks quickly, turning to face her.

Jessica frowns over at him. "Nothing."

Tony clicks his tongue and resumes his pacing. "Kilgrave's obviously a fake name. A shitty name, but still fake. We could get DNA samples and try to trace him back, but we'd obviously need to get dangerously close to get the samples. I could get JARVIS to try to find any accounts that match his whole deal and try to trace him that way - he had to start somewhere, right?"

Trish shifts at the other end of the couch, her eyes wide. "What about his parents?" she suggests. "If we could find them, they might know something."

Tony nods thoughtfully. "Question is whether he was born with the power or got it later somehow. Whether the parents even knew about it before he came over here."

"Whether he left them alive," Jessica comments bluntly. "Doesn't seem like the kind of guy to leave a loose end." Trish gives her a flat look. "But he's also arrogant enough that he'd think leaving them wouldn't come back to bite him on the ass."

Tony braces his hands on the back of the armchair and nods at them. "If we could get as much information as possible about his past, maybe we could figure out more about his power and how to resist it." His eyes fall to Jessica and bore into her. "You resisted him," he comments quietly. "We need to figure out if it was biological, psychological, or something just.. you. If it was something tangible, maybe we could use it to make up some kinda deterrent. Protect ourselves against him even if he was standing right in front of us telling us to do something."

"Don't get your hopes up, Tony," she warns him. "It could've just been a glitch. Something we could never replicate."

Tony sniffs, his eyes going distant again. "If we had him, we could force him into running a test," he mutters. "We could make him tell us everything."

Jessica scowls and leans forward. "If I get him, I'm not taking him anywhere near you. Any of you. I'll find somewhere hidden away and keep him there. I'm not taking him to the Tower or something when he could worm his way out and then start up a vendetta against you, too."

"How are you gonna prove anything if you've got him hidden and taped up?" Tony challenges.

"I dunno, I'll bring a detective to see him in action, or something!" she snaps defensively.

"Alright," Trish cuts in before they can start arguing again. "Maybe that part of the plan isn't so well thought-out. But we have something we can do in the meantime, right? We can try to find his real name, find his parents, and his past."

"We aren't going to do anything," Jessica counters. "Stark might have people in his company spying on him for Kilgrave, and you've been in enough danger already. I'll do the investigating, alright? You two can do all the theorising and debating behind the scenes, but I'm gonna do the practical shit so he doesn't realise how involved you are."

Tony sighs and pushes off the back of the armchair, running a hand through his hair again. Trish watches her empathetically.

"Trish is right," Jessica admits quietly. "I can't afford to be worrying about you two being in danger. I don't want either of you in danger."

"Hope you're not goin' soft on us, Jones," Tony replies, resignation hidden under the teasing note in his voice.

Jessica allows a small, amused twitch of her lips.

"Speaking of going soft, have you done anything about your neighbour?" he asks, breaking the moment.

"What neighbour?" Trish frowns.

Jessica sighs and slumps back against the couch.

"The addict next door who's stalking her and taking pictures, evidently for Kilgrave, since she came back with some printed out."

"What pictures?" Trish demands, concerned. "Jess, why didn't you tell me?"

"He's harmless," Jessica insists, moving quickly to gather her jacket and the pictures inside before Tony can steal them and find the ones mentioning him.

"He's enabling the sadistic obsession of an abusive prick," Tony retorts.

Jessica pulls her jacket on and throws a scowl at Tony. "He might not have a choice."

"How long have you known about him?" Trish asks.

"Long enough to have had the chance to confront him," Tony answers.

"Did you find pictures today at that apartment?"

Jessica grits her teeth. "A few."

"So, he must be getting the pictures to Kilgrave somehow? Have you tried following him around?"

"I've been busy."

"Jess, he's a lead," Trish frowns, confused. "You followed the cop, why haven't you followed him?"

"Look, it's just different, alright?" Jessica snaps. "Malcolm hasn't tried to kill anyone."

"Yet," Tony counters. "Kilgrave's gotten to him and you think his end-goal is to kill you. Who's to say Malcolm won't be a part of that?"

"I only have two advantages over Kilgrave right now - the Sufentanil, and the fact that he doesn't know I know about Malcolm. And that's barely even an advantage anymore because he clearly knew I'd find the pictures today."

"What do you mean?" Trish asks.

"He wrote 'see you later' on one of them," Tony answers.

"Jesus, Jess," Trish sighs, leaning her forehead in her palm.

"He might leave Malcolm alone now, since I could figure out who's been taking pictures of me soon," Jessica reasons.

"Why are you making excuses to not follow this lead?" Tony snaps.

Jessica licks her lips and looks away from them both. "Malcolm's not just some cop that Kilgrave has used because it's quick and convenient. He's vulnerable. I looked him up - he seemed like a good kid. I dunno if it was Kilgrave that turned him into this or not.. but I don't wanna put him in danger, either. Kilgrave chose Malcolm for a reason."

"You mean because he's an addict?" Trish asks hesitantly, shame creeping into her tone.

But Jessica frowns, her head cocking. "Wait a minute," she mutters.

"Jess?"

She closes her eyes, trying to pull something from the back of her brain. A memory, from before Kilgrave. Just before Kilgrave. Jessica had been trying to do good in the city, trying to help people.

There had been a mugging.

Behind her eyelids, Jessica's eyes sting.

"I saved him."

"Who?" Trish asks gently.

Jessica clenches her jaw and sniffs, opening her eyes again. She can feel the tears threatening to fall, see them clouding her vision. "Malcolm. When Kilgrave found me, I'd just saved Malcolm."

Tony and Trish stare at her, silent.

"He took the good I'd done and turned it against me."

She thinks about the note written on one of the pictures: "DOESN'T KNOW THE REAL YOU".

Trish had been encouraging her to be a hero, and she'd saved Malcolm. That's why Kilgrave chose him to be the one to spy on her. Hope was an innocent girl and he chose her to torture the way he'd tortured Jessica, he'd let her find Hope, and now he wants her to watch as she fails to save Hope.

"He wants to prove I'm not a hero."

Review replies!

kenriot1214: thanks for the review; hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Hearteyesmf: omggg I'm screaming, the three of them truly would be so chaotic.. poor Peter having emotionally-stunted parents though, yeesh. not a genuine compliment between them. but they'd be badass and protective 3 yeah he big time wants to be around her more since he feels like she understands him best out of anyone! don't see her caving any time soon though.. thanks for always leaving lovely reviews! i hope you enjoyed this chapter even if not much happened in it hahaha