Chapter 43: NYC Part 3: AKA Blackmail Bar
At 4pm that same day, Marie and Elise were still sleeping after going to bed at six in the morning. The two women jerked awake as the overhead light turned on in their blacked out Manhattan hotel room. Marie let out a yell and made a sloppy kung-fu kick at her blankets, while Elise peered around blinking owlishly. A slow clap sounded from near the table holding empty cans of orange soda and their computers. "That was marvelous. You really should join SHIELD," a female voice, dripping with sarcasm, complimented Marie.
"What the… What are you doing here?" Marie asked, slightly more calm now that she could see who was in their room. "Also... injured, so cut me some slack," she said pointing to her own face indicating the bruise that was starting to turn a lovely shade of green along the edges with dark purple towards the middle.
Elise slipped her glasses on and looked over to see the sleek form of the Black Widow leaning against the table and giving Marie an unimpressed look. "Natasha?" Elise yawned. "What are you doing here?"
The redhead frowned slightly. "I need your help," she stated simply.
"Our help? What can we do for you?" Marie gaped.
"You have press passes. I need to get into a press conference unnoticed."
"Um, okay. What press conference?"
"Hammer Industries is holding a conference to introduce a new technology. It's in upper Manhattan at Nineteen Hundred Hours.." She said this nonchalantly as she picked up an empty can and peered at the ingredients with a frown. "You drink this shit?" Her gaze didn't shift from the can.
"Hey, orange soda is only the best drink in the history of soda!" Marie defended her slight addiction. "Plus it doesn't actually have caffeine in it, and I only drink it when I have low sugar days." Marie looked at the clock next to her, adjusting her glasses, "Hey Elise, we slept like 10 hours. Awesome."
Elise rolled her eyes and slipped from between the covers to stretch. "Why do you need to get into Hammer's conference?" she asked after she had cracked her spine.
"The less you know the better," Natasha replied setting the can down.
"Right, I suppose that's all we're gonna get from you," Elise nodded and without another word headed off to take the first shower.
Two hours later, all three women climbed out of a cab and confidently walked into the main entrance of Hammer Industries, flashing their press passes at the guard. (Elise had quickly forged one for Natasha using some fancy photoshopping and scanning of their authentic passes.) The press conference wasn't due to start for another hour, but the hall in which it would be held was already filling up. They quickly found spots near the edge next to a woman with shoulder-length black hair and pale skin in a black leather jacket and ripped jeans. She didn't look like a press person, a suspicion quickly confirmed when Natasha glanced over and commented, "Didn't expect to see you here, Jessica."
Jessica eyed the Black Widow for a moment before smirking. "Nice to see you too, Nat. Haven't talked since that night drinking at The Tavern." A short pause was followed by, "I take it you're here for the same reason I am?"
"Most likely," Natasha replied as she adjusted her navy blazer. "I was only going to retrieve a little blackmail."
Jessica shook her head lightly. "You taking my clients?"
"Of course not. Had I known you had already been hired, I would have left you to it," Natasha rebutted.
Jessica and Natasha stared ahead of them to the podium where Justin Hammer would be taking the stage in a few short minutes. Elise and Marie watched the conversation with wide eyes, trying not to freak out about meeting Jessica Jones, or the fact that the Black Widow and Jessica had gone out drinking one night. "Proposition for you," Natasha said calmly. "I'll acquire the blackmail if you… persuade Justin Hammer not to associate with his new friend anymore."
Jessica smirked. "I think I could do that. You'll have to be sure you get blackmail on Doom and Hammer so they both comply."
"Of course," Natasha sent her a look that said just how stupid do you think I am?
"Let's do this," Jessica moved forward ignoring the look.
Natasha turned back to Elise and Marie. "Wait here for me. I'll be back before the conference is over."
The girls nodded mutely and turned to pay attention as Justin Hammer walked out on stage to rounds of applause. During the next forty-five minutes, while Elise and Marie waited, Elise took notes for an article, and Marie snapped pictures of both the crowd and Hammer. Towards the end of the speech, Natasha re-joined them along with Jessica, small smiles on their faces. A moment later, an aide came rushing out on stage and whispered in Mr. Hammer's ear. The technology icon paled for a moment before turning back to the audience. "I'm afraid that's all the time I have for questions. Thank you for coming!" He quickly followed the aide off stage.
"What did you do?" Marie asked as the rest of the press gathered their things to leave.
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," Jessica replied. Marie raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any further questions. "I think I need a drink," Jessica switched topics. "Care to join?"
"Sure," Natasha shrugged.
Jessica glanced over at both of the girls who nodded enthusiastically. No way were they going to miss a chance to go drinking with the Black Widow and Jessica Jones. They followed the two women out of the conference, Natasha leading the way to a bar she claimed was superior. They arrived at a sleek modern bar that was a bit more classy than Elise and Marie were expecting. However Natasha un-erringly made her way over to a corner booth where there were three familiar women already seated. Pepper Potts and Melinda May were chuckling at something Maria Hill had just said as Natasha, Elise, Jessica, and Marie slid in. A waitress popped over and took down drink orders: gin martinis with extra olives for both Elise and Pepper, whiskey sour tall for Marie, whiskey neat for Jessica, chilled straight vodka for Natasha, vodka water with a lemon twist for Maria, and a dark beer in a tall glass for May.
Marie and Elise eventually joined in the conversation talking about everything they'd experienced from werewolves and wizards to Time Lords and Fae. Maria and May in particular were very interested in the kinds of creatures and beings they'd come across and the concept of Erudites. "So you're saying that you two are supernatural too?" Maria asked before taking a sip of her vodka water.
"Er, not really," Elise replied.
"Yeah, we're more like innocent people who happen to run into a lot of trouble," Marie snorted with a laugh.
"More like trouble finds us," Elise grinned too.
"Cheers to that," Maria raised her glass and May nodded lifting her glass as well to drink with them.
"Guess the world is a little bit more strange than I grew up believing," Pepper commented. "I mean, I thought aliens attacking Earth and gods from Asgard were wild, but werewolves, wizards, and vampires? Those I could always count on to be fictional."
"And at one time everyone believed the world was flat," Jessica pointed out with a shrug.
"Yeah, I suppose. Still, sometimes it's difficult believing everything," Pepper replied.
After another round of drinks and a round of cherry bombs (ordered by Pepper), Maria gladly offered to foot the bill. She leaned towards the waitress and with a smile said, "You can put this on Nick Fury's tab." She flashed her credentials to prove that she was associated with Director Fury.
As they left, Elise turned to Maria, "Won't Director Fury be angry about that?"
Maria snorted out a laugh. "He owes me. This only scratches the surface." May smirked and nodded in agreement. Elise and Marie chuckled, but didn't argue.
The seven women went their separate directions, with Jessica and Natasha heading towards the subway entrance, May and Maria catching a cab, and Pepper offering a ride in Stark's car to Elise and Marie. They gladly accepted and greeted Happy Hogan warmly. The ride back to the hotel was short and the two journalists thanked Pepper and Happy profusely before heading up to their twelfth floor room. "Damn, that was a good night," Marie grinned as she slipped out of her shoes.
"Yeah, that's gonna be one for the records. Never thought we'd get to meet let alone have drinks with Pepper Potts, Melinda May, Maria Hill, Natasha Romanoff, and Jessica Jones. Sometimes I don't mind being an Erudite."
"Do you suppose it's that we're Erudites or journalists now?" Marie asked from the bathroom as she took off her make-up.
"I don't know, and I don't care. So long as it keeps happening!" Elise replied.