Another missing moment of 'Balance'
Jessica is so deep in her reflections about the last weeks, when Killgrave amazes her. Once more.
One of the most romatic J/K moments I've ever written.
Written for the 'Flufftober 2021' Prompt 14: Slow Dance
At first this prompt was thought for the Barten, but then Killy said 'No, no, give it to me, you can't begin to imagine what I have in store...' and when he explained it to me... ooooooooooooooh, I decided this prompt had to be his 3
Jokes aside, I'm very excited because I'm about to share probably the most romantic thing I've ever written about my beloved Inevitables ... so if you, reader I can't identify, are on this page, right here, right now, I really hope you'll like it even 1/10 of how much I loved writing it.
IMPORTANT: if you like those stories where Killgrave is pictured 1000000 times worse than he appeared in the series, stay the hell away from my fics, especially this series... because I strongly believe in his better version (it's something I REALLY saw in him), blame me for this.
This story belongs to 'Balance' universe, it's a sequel of 'AKA What Women Want', but it's not so necessary to read that one too (but please, do, I find that one cute as well and no one has given me feedback about it so far :/ )
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
Work Text:AKA The Beauty in the Beast
Kevin hadn't shown up for a few days and Jessica wasn't sure how to interpret this absence.
The last time he had made a prolonged absence, she had gone into total paranoia, only to discover that, albeit in his own way, he had done something beautiful.
And he had done it for her.
- I have nothing to worry about. He will have his reasons for not looking for me, maybe he did not enjoy our last discussion very much ... but for once I want to believe that he is not doing anything evil.-
That time alone also gave her an extra opportunity to reflect on the events of the last days.
Jessica laid down on the sofa, the same sofa where she had watched a movie with Kevin three days earlier.
Watching movies together, telling each other about the day, having dinner, sometimes even on the bed, not to mention the countless times they had had sex.
- Next thing is that we begin to go out together, out in the open, that I show myself together with him, seen by other people, as if it was the most natural thing in the world ... not to mention all the times he sleeps with me, or I sleep with him ... with Luke it was too fast and complicated what we had to really call it a relationship, but now... I didn't feel like this since I was with Stirling, I lived with him as well! - the beautiful detective pondered, taking a minute of silence to mourn her ex-boyfriend, so brutally killed.
- Sure, Stirling didn't shine with morality, but Killgrave, fuck! He has done terrible things, he could do again ... so why do I feel like a fucking moth attracted to a fucking fire that will eventually burn it?- she asked herself confusedly.
Ricomincia nella notte questa storia troppe volte
(This story starts again in the night too many times)
E ha tirato botte
(And it kicked asses)
Colpi bassi mentre vivo
(Low blows as I live)
Che mi tolgono il respiro
(That take my breath away)
E mi danno la certezza che mi ostinerò
(And give to me the certainty that I'll persist)
A mancarti senza raddrizzare il tiro
(On missing you, without adjusting the aim)
- That damn night when he sedated me, vaccinated and handcuffed me, everything changed . How many times have I told myself that I just wanted to provoke him, get my revenge back and then finish it there? Instead how many fucking times have I retraced my steps, I looked for him to give me those feelings that nobody else can give me? With him I die and I am reborn every time. The way he knows how to read my soul, he knows how to understand me, he knows how to press both the right buttons or take me to the most extreme level of exasperation ... so much so that I know that I would no longer be able to kill him, even if he was about to do something terrible, which I hope he does not, maybe I could beat him up, yes, very hard, but I wouldn't get to give him the final blow, not anymore ... Fuck, how could this happen? - Jessica could not give herself an answer, kicking the air due to the nervous mood.
- When he controlled me, the months with him were hell and when he took what he fucking wanted, my body reacted as it reacted, but it was a fucking traitor to my mind, to be kept in constant check ... and it was horrible.- She analyzed the facts individually, as it was in her nature as a detective.
- When I realized that he wasn't dead, I was in total panic, everything out of the ordinary that was happening around me caused me a hell of anxiety and the bastard played a lot on this thing too ! - she snorted nervously.
- And when he made that love declaration to me at the police station, was it there that something started to change? No, shit, I just thought he was as crazy as a loon, that he did not know what he was saying, I didn't believe any of his words, I thought it was another of his tricks, as my former house issue ...-
While she was so deep in her pondering, she remembered the speech her sister had made to her as soon as she confessed to her what had happened in that abandoned building and then in Newcastle.
-Trish told me there were two Jessicas, so maybe there are also two Killgraves: before and after he figured out his feelings, the real ones, the ones he's confessed to me in the last few weeks. If it is true that the first one has done things to me too atrocious to forgive him, it is also true that the second one is ...-
It was her cell phone that interrupted the detective's flow of thoughts, with an incoming call.
Not just any call.
It was right from Killgrave.
"Yep?" she tried to answer on the third ring.
"You're home, aren't you?" he asked her.
"Yep."
"Are you alone?"
"Yep."
"Will you answer every question like this?" he enjoyed teasing her.
"Nope."
"Very good. Timothy is down there waiting for you. Get in the car, just as you are dressed now. " he instructed her.
"You remember that you can no longer command me, right?" she pointed out.
"But I'm not commanding you, chérie, I'm just avoiding you spending a boring evening at your house, getting drunk while pretending to solve a case,"
"I'm not pretending a fucking thing, asshole!" was the detective's calm reaction.
"You're pretending you don't want to accept my invitation, when we both know you're dying to see me again." he hit the mark.
"You, fucking smug!" she denied the evidence, hanging up.
The truth is, she was already walking down the stairs.
She recognized with ease the parked Land Rover.
"Hi Timothy," she greeted politely.
"Oh, Miss Jones! Good evening!" the driver cheerfully replied.
"You've been waiting for a long time," she asked as he started the engine.
"No really, it won't even be a quarter of an hour. Mr. Killgrave told me that if you agreed to be taken to the destination he would be happy enough to double my salary! " he informed her.
- So Kevin went from threats to prizes?- she reflected, very impressed by that news.
"And I guess the agreement also stipulates that you don't tell me anything about the destination ..." she inquired.
"Exactly, Miss Jones, I'm sorry."
However, Jessica's curiosity didn't wait long to be satisfied when the car parked at the dock near a penthouse she knew very well.
The mysterious destination was none other than Killgrave's house.
But it was what was hidden inside that Jessica could not foresee.
She rang the doorbell a little uncertain and almost gasped as Killgrave himself opened the door for her.
"Smug, perhaps, but certainly not disillusioned." He greeted her slyly.
He was very elegant, in a tuxedo with purple squiggles on a black background, with scattered paillettes that gave him more light in the right places. The tuxedo was so sumptuous that the classic black trousers and white shirt, as well as the handkerchief in the pocket were the only possible match.
"Have you already eaten?" he asked and she shook her head negatively.
There was a sandwich she had been keeping in the fridge for over two days and was no longer so inclined to eat it.
"I thought so. They'll keep our dinner warm, first there's one thing I want to do. Come with me." Kevin said, taking her hand to lead her to the living room.
Jessica's eyes were wide open: the lights were dim, with candles lit to create more atmosphere and on a stage set up for the occasion there was an orchestra of five elements plus the director, all dressed in evening dresses, but who could not even remotely get closer to the elegance of Killgrave.
"Kevin, but what ..."
"Jessica, in all our months together, there's one thing we've never done ..."
- Having wild sex while complete strangers are watching us? - the detective asked herself confusedly.
Those three days of abstinence were having some effects on her.
"Will you grant me this dance, chérie?" he clarified everything, extending his hand to her with a smile, while the first piano notes, almost wavering, spread all around.
Jessica accepted.
Kevin put a hand on her back, just below her shoulder blade, without too much pressure.
Jessica put her hand on his shoulder, while the other grabbed Kevin's hand, their fingers intertwined, as the music grew in intensity, enhanced by the cello.
They began to sway slowly, following the melody, without haste.
The pace became more sustained and the two began to spin, with her letting herself be led by her knight, as a true lady would do.
The violin was also added, to give a more melancholy note, but no less beautiful.
The music was reminiscent of the flow of a river, not much different from the flow of thoughts Jessica had had.
It was a poignant, delicate and beautiful melody and once again she had to acknowledge Kevin had a very good taste.
At a certain point the music slowed down, Jessica thought it extended to end and instead the drums and electric guitar arrived to give a whole different atmosphere, more rock, which certainly couldn't do anything but pleasing her.
A sort of compromise between their personalities.
The slow dance became more lively, with her squirming to the rhythm of the music and Kevin venturing a few steps, but mostly just watching her.
When the music stopped, Jessica felt dizzy but Kevin was ready to hold her in his arms.
"You can go, thanks." the persuader dismissed the orchestra, while Jessica found it only right to applaud them.
"Well, I was told that some time ago you kidnapped a cellist for a few days." the detective broke the silence.
"Well, it was time to go big," he chuckled. "But before you ask me, no, no mind control, I have regularly rented them and, believe me, they don't even have a cheap fee!" he snatched a smile from her. "It took me a while to select them, because I wanted the best in the town, here is my absence these days explained."
"You should be away more often, if these are the results." she murmured, still a little dazed by that surprise. "And you know the part I liked the most? That you left me dressed like that. " she went on, pointing to her ripped black jeans, combat boots and a Nirvana T-shirt.
"I wanted you to be completely at ease." he smiled at her, stroking her face with a knuckle of his hand.
"So why aren't you dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt too?"
"Because I wanted me to be completely at ease too!" he made her laugh.
"A purple jumpsuit, then?" she ventured and now it was he who laughed, before becoming more serious.
"I could have rented a castle, made you wear the finest of ball gowns, and showered you with jewels; but I know you, you don't want fairy tales. "
"But I want to see the Beauty in the Beast." she surprised him with her answer.
"And are you succeeding?" he murmured as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Shut up and kiss Me!"
"Are you asking the Beauty or the Beast to do that?" Kevin asked, bending over her, so close to her lips.
"To both of them," she admitted, giving him and allowing herself the first kiss of the evening.
The first of a long series.
Dinner could definitely wait.
THE END
Notes:This was the awesome melody
Rivers flow in you' by Yiruma,
Another thing I love about writing, especially about these two, is the wonderful things I discover doing the researches *O*
The Italian lyrics you read belongs to 'Il mio giorno più bello nel mondo' (My most beautiful day in the world) by Francesco Renga and fitted Jessica to a T
I really hope you enjoyed, it would made me extra super hyper happy if you left kudos or a tiny comment, but I already know I'll be ignored as it happens 90% of the times... I'm so sadly accustomed to that :'(