A/N: This is an awful AU of mine, but it's the best one I have that lets Jessica make her own choices.

It was a very rainy day, and that meant bad for business. The coffee shop I worked at was in a prime location, but much of our seating was outdoors. This meant long lines for coffee, and longer lines for tables. Fortunately, all I needed was proximity and time. It didn't matter what people were doing, it mattered they were doing it near me.

My name is Jessica Jones, and I can control minds.

My power gave me a low level field around me, around fifty feet in diameter, that makes people more susceptible to my will. After enough exposure, they would begin to obey anything I wanted them to do, as long as the task wasn't anything they wouldn't do normally. As far as practical uses of subtle suggestive power, all I could find was occasionally getting better tips. This wasn't the big leagues of mind control - this was maybe letting me cut in line once in a blue moon, and even then only maybe. After aliens almost killed us all in New York, it became clear that some of us just had powers - and some of the powers were better than others.

I don't mind much, to be honest. I'm just happy to be out on my own. The abusive family that brought me in eventually left me alone, and that was exactly what I wanted. It took years to "convince" them to formerly disown me, and hopefully my influence on them doesn't wear off.

Oh, that's another thing. I don't know how long my influence lasts. I also don't think there's a range. I'm fairly certain that it can spread without me through people I've had a lot of contact with. I have to be careful to keep my emotions in check, too. If I start getting upset, those I have my hooks in might pick up my intentions as instructions.

Like I said, bad for business.

So I got a job here, in the middle of the busiest city in the world. Here I can reach out to as many people as possible, and limit the amount of influence I can spread to any one person. I'm not afraid of my power, I'm just afraid of the fallout. Well, maybe a little afraid of my power.

What I should have been afraid of was him.

He walked in the door bone dry, followed by a dripping wet man holding an umbrella. He was tall, with dark hair and eyes, wearing a purple dress shirt with the top button undone. His eyes skimmed the room, not lingering on me for a moment. He sauntered to the front of the line and whispered something to a barrister, then turned on his heel and walked to one of the corner booths. He leaned over the occupants, and they quickly gathered their things and left. He slid in, facing the room, and motioned to the man holding the umbrella. The man with the umbrella, shaking slightly from the cold, briskly walked over and pulled a laptop in a sleeve from his coat.

I noticed all of this because for the first time in my life, there was a gap in my power.

It felt like my field, my bubble, it never reached him. Like there was a black hole around him that just sucked all of my influence out.

The barrister walked into my field of view, holding a cup of coffee in a ceramic mug and a freshly warmed croissant. She placed them on the table in front of him, before jumping a little and looking around, shaking her head, and walking back toward the counter. He didn't even acknowledge her, but did take a sip of the coffee.

All I could focus on was my power.

The barrister was focused until the moment the food hit the table. The millisecond that happened, she snapped back to the comforts of my influence. And he… he was still a dark spot. A gap. A person I couldn't reach, or read. The umbrella man, still freezing and cold, was beginning to succumb, but had some of the same resistance. He was crying, I realized with a start.

I had to appear normal.

I intensified my focus on my job. The clink of the dishware and the hum of the conversation. Focus. Breathe in. Breathe out.

I felt a lapse in the conversation as the room breathed with me.

The resulting renewal in conversation must have been more than the purple dressed man could handle. He finally tore his eyes away from his laptop and shouted

EVERYONE SHUT UP

They did.

The coffee shop went silent. The patrons were motionless. All faced straight ahead.

All except me.

I was reeling inside and out. His words… I felt them. Felt them. They hit me like nothing ever had.

He was turned back to his laptop now. The silence was almost deafening. He smiled slightly to himself. My hands trembled as I clutched a pile of dishware.

I dropped a mug.

The ceramic shattered and a shard nicked a nearby person's leg. It began to bleed. The customer did not react, but the man in purple did.

We locked eyes. His mouth twisted into a sneer. He rose, slowly, never taking his gaze off of me. The corners of his eyes crinkled. I broke eye contact, and took a hurried step toward the door.

STOP

That was directed at only me. I gritted my teeth as the command echoed around the room. I glanced toward the man… who looked surprised. The word had been angry, but he showed no sign of it. I took another step.

"Stop. Please."

I didn't stop. Those were just words, not commands. There was no power behind them. Spoken softly, pleadingly. Was he scared? I didn't want to find out. I needed to leave, get away from him and his power. He was like me… but nothing like me all the same.

I could feel him in the corner, my power confirming he hadn't moved.

EVERYONE, PICK UP THE NEAREST KNIFE

That got me go stop. Everyone else in the store picked up their knives and looked toward the man for further instructions. I could feel them in my influence, still, but their will was his alone.

POINT IT AT THAT GIRL

No. No no no. Oh my god, he was that strong? It would have taken me years to make them do anything this drastic.

TAKE A STEP TOWARD HER

They obeyed.

This was bad. This was so, so bad. The crowd was blocking the door and everyone's eyes were trained on me. The closest people to me were about a foot away, and I had nowhere to go. Maybe I could duck under one and

IF SHE ATTEMPTS TO LEAVE, KILL HER

I looked in desperation to the man in purple. He was smiling. It reached his eyes.

Focus, Jessica. Focus. You can still feel the crowd in your aura, you can still hear their heartbeat. You can fix this.

Stop. Please. You don't want to do this.

Unlike the man in purple, I didn't have the raw power to force people to obey. I could only suggest. Here, now, though, I needed them to listen.

Put down the knife and go back to your family and friends. You don't want to hurt anyone, you don't want to be mixed up in this.

I had something he didn't, though. I had finesse. I had power, and it was different but maybe it would be enough. I could shake their control.

Just walk away. Walk out of this. Break free, break out. Break away.

I breathed in and out, and the crowd breathed with me.

"I can feel you trying to get inside of my head."

He was british, which in the grand scheme of things was not surprising. His voice was smooth, level. Enthralling. I could almost taste the sinister undertones, and I could definitely taste the intrigue.

"No one's ever been able to resist me before."

I looked over. He motioned toward the booth, smiling warmly.

"Please, sit. I won't hurt you."

"That's a fucking lie." I snapped back. I could feel his pull on my power, which didn't help to distract me from the crowd holding knives. One or two of them were trembling. Good. I think I can snap them out of this.

He nodded in affirmation, before pausing and speaking to the crowd.

PUT DOWN YOUR KNIVES AND GO BACK TO YOUR DAY, AND TELL NO ONE WHAT HAPPENED HERE

This wasn't addressed to me. I could almost feel the words blow past me, a slight mist against my skin. Goosebumps. He had power beyond anything I've ever known.

The chatter in the shop resumed.

The man's eyes were pleading. He licked his lips; a subtle, nervous gesture. I took one last look out the open door before I walked over to join him.