Betty Brant

"Okay, what's the information we have so far on our target?" Jessica asked.

I was at the office of Alias Investigations – which was also Jessica Jones' apartment. I was interning with her. It wasn't an unpaid internship, which I appreciated. But what I learned from Jessica was far more valuable than the money I was earning. I felt like I actually gained better investigative skills because of it. I guess this is why Jessica started to trust me enough to take me along on some of her cases, albeit the more down to earth ones. At this moment, we were talking about a case involving the husband of the client who hired us.

"Well, let's see," I said as I opened my notebook. I flipped the pages until I got to the notes about the case in question. "Kaitlyn Stone believes that her husband, Jonathan Stone, is being unfaithful. The reason she cited is the fact that he's recently been working late a lot more than usual. So far, we have nothing to implicate him. If anything, we probably have evidence to the contrary. We staked out his workplace, and he's been there every day we've been monitoring him, so he is where he tells Mrs. Stone he is. We staked out the bar he frequents. He has a close a friendship with the female bartender there, but when we tailed them when he accompanied her to her home, not only did nothing happen, her husband was actually at the apartment and greeted Mr. Stone rather amicably, so there's likely a level of closeness there. We interviewed some of his coworkers rather discreetly, and they all had the same story of him politely turning down a coworker who made a pass at him. The most we can really say at this time is that Mr. Stone could probably stand to cut back on his overtime hours."

"So, basically, a whole waste of time," Jessica groaned out as she leaned back in her seat. "I mean, we're still getting paid, but we may have to wrap this up soon."

"There still is a chance that he's hiding something."

"Yeah, but there's also a chance our client is the one doing the hiding."

I raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"It wouldn't be the first time that I've been hired to investigate a supposedly unfaithful spouse while the spouse doing the hiring is the one having action on the side."

I blink a couple of times in confusion. "But, why?"

"It's simple. You catch your spouse slippin' and now they're looking like the bad guy while you're still getting it in with your sidepiece." She shook her head. "I hate it when stuff like that happens. I can't keep a steady if my life depended on it, and I get hired out by ungrateful fucks that are willing to risk burning their marriage down to the ground for some extramarital action."

I nodded. "People can be rotten."

Jessica smirked at that. "Preacher, meet choir. Anyway, we'll spend two more days on this case before we call it quits."

"Okay." I closed the notebook. "Is there anything else you need me to do while I'm here?"

Jessica looked up at the ceiling in thought. She then looked back at me. "Actually, yeah." She leaned forward in her seat. "You're going to graduate high school and start college this year, right?"

I nodded slowly. "I am."

"So what are your plans?" she asked. "Do you still want to work here?"

"…I haven't really thought about it," I admitted. "Honestly, I thought you'd want to let me go as soon as I start college."

Jessica glared at me. "Betty, I know I can be quite the bitch sometimes…"

I smirked. "Most of the time."

I saw Jessica's lips move slightly as she tried to keep the glare on her face. "Fuck you. As I was saying, I'm not heartless and I'm not stupid. You got a lot of potential and Malcolm and Gillian like having you around. I guess what I'm saying is, if you want to stick around, there's a place for you here."

I thought about teasing her, but I was too happy to do that. So instead, I dropped my note book, stood up, walked around the desk quickly and hugged her tightly around the shoulders.

"Thank you!" I said as I rubbed my cheek against hers. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just don't let it go to your head, you little shit," Jessica grumbled. Still, she patted my arm with her hand. "Anyway, we'll talk payment later and –" She paused as she looked down. "Okay, I'm going to need you to let go now." I unwrapped my arms from around her and stepped back. She reached down and pulled out her phone. I saw the name "Matt Murdock" on her screen. "I got to take this, kiddo." I walked around the desk and sat back down on the chair in front of the desk as Jessica took the call. "Well if it ain't Third Eye Blind. What's going on?" She went quiet. "No, I'm with my intern." She looked at me. "No, she can be trusted. She's one of Kitty and Craig's peoples." Her eyebrows furrowed up. "…I mean, I guess I can bring her along, but what's the issue?" I saw her eyes shift a bit during a very long pause. "…Okay, I'm coming." She hung up the phone. She looked at me. "We need to head to The Law Office of Nelson, Murdock, and Page. Bring your notebook."

Before I could even ask why, she stood up and walked out of the door. I sighed before I stood up. Something told me I was going to be walking into a bombshell.

On the taxi ride over, I got a text from Ned. He was telling me he had to cancel our plans to hang out later on in the day. I was a bit disappointed at first. Disappointment turned into worry when he explained to me what was going. Something happened to Carmilla and she and Peter were out west and Peter was feeling extremely guilty over it. I frowned as I typed up my reply, asking him to keep me posted on how Peter was doing. After I hit send, I pocketed my phone. I looked out the window of the taxi in thought.

It seemed like ever since the X-Men got back home from Madripoor, there was this dark cloud hanging over all of us. I tried to keep a positive attitude about everything. But while I was optimistic, I was far from naive. I knew there was a chance that Peter and MJ will never get back together. I knew there was a chance that the X-Men will run into somebody – or some people – that are a way bigger threat than Kraven or (the fake) Scorpion and are able to put an end to them for good. I really wished I could go back to thinking everything and everyone was bulletproof, so to speak. However, I lost my naivety the moment my brother got involved in some shady business and left my family years ago. Just the memory of that was enough to make me sigh.

"Everything okay, kiddo?" Jessica asked.

"Sort of," I replied. "I just have a friend that's going through some things."

The taxi arrived at the office after a while. After Jessica paid the driver, we made our way up to and into the office. Once inside, we were met by a man with dark brown hair. He had his walking stick in hand and sunglasses on his face. He walked up to Jessica rather effortlessly.

"Jessica, I'm glad you came," he greeted. He turned his head towards me. "Is this the intern you're talking about?"

"I am," I spoke up. I almost brought my hand out, but between his walking stick and his sunglasses, I figured her couldn't' see me. "I'm Betty Brant."

"I'm Matt Murdock." He brought his hand out. I smiled and took his hand before giving it a shake. He smiled before he withdrew his hand. "Is it true what Jessica says? That you're affiliated with Kitty and Craig's peoples?"

"It's true, Mr. Murdock."

He waved his hand dismissively. "No 'Mister Murdock' necessary. Matt will suffice. So, does that mean you're… gifted?"

It took me a moment to realize what he was asking. I shook my head. "No, I'm not. I just support their cause."

"I'm glad you two are getting along well and all, but can we get to the reason we're here?" Jessica interjected.

I looked at her and glared. "Jessica, you –"

"No, no, she's right," Matt interrupted gently. "Please, follow me."

We followed him to a conference room. Inside, there was a blonde woman and a man with hair who either a light brown or a dirty blonde (I couldn't quite tell) sitting at the conference table.

"Please, sit," Matt said. As Jessica and I sat at the conference table across from the two of them, Matt sat next to the man. "Karen, Foggy, you already know Jessica Jones. With her is her intern, Betty Brant. Since she knows people who are more than familiar with my time as Daredevil, feel free to talk openly." It took a lot of effort to keep the look of surprise off of my face. I couldn't believe I was sitting across from The Devil of Hell's Kitchen. I had to so many questions, but I knew that now wasn't the right time.

"Pleased to meet you, Betty," Karen said with a smile. She then looked at Jessica. "I'm glad to see you're sober today."

"I lost a best to this little shit here," Jessica grumbled, causing me to chuckle. "Because of that, I'm not allowed to drink while she's on the clock. So, please, if we can get to the point of this meeting, that'd be great."

"Well, I told you over the phone that Luke Cage is in trouble with the law. He was arrested about an hour ago for allegedly performing a robbery in Yonkers. Said robbery involved a hit on an armored truck that was transporting gold bars to the Federal Reserve in Manhattan. Luke Cage gave himself up to the NYPD without incident before he called our firm."

As my eyes went wide in surprise, Jessica scoffed. "And how did Luke Cage become a suspect?"

"Well, there was surveillance footage," Foggy answered. "The armored truck was hit near a gas station. Said gas station had a high definition camera that got footage of Mr. Cage and three other men rushing in. They were all armed, and they were able to catch the guards off guard and disarm them they drove off with truck. The truck has vanished without a trace despite a GPS tracking system in it. Mr. Cage, of course, maintains his innocence."

"Luke Cage wouldn't do something like this," Jessica said. I looked at her in time to see her shaking her head. "This has to be a frame job!"

"That's exactly what we're all thinking," Matt replied in agreement. "I believe that Luke Cage is innocent. The issue is that the video footage is rather convincing from what Nancy and Foggy tells me."

"Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that we know Luke Cage very well, I would have said he was caught in 4K," Karen remarked. "As it is, it's going to be hard to prove that Luke Cage wasn't responsible."

"But why Luke Cage?" I asked. "Why frame him of all people?"

"I don't know," Matt replied. "The way things are looking, we may have to go the extra mile in trying to figure out who is behind this." He paused as he took in a breath. "That may mean going outside of the law."

"You could reach out to the X-Men," I suggested. "I know Kitty's very good at infiltrating places."

Matt nodded. "That's certainly an option on the table. I don't want to burden the X-Men too much, however. Given what they're fighting for, I don't want to do anything to take their focus off of that. Besides, with the noise they've been making lately, they've been the main target for Damage Control and other anti-vigilante efforts, so it allows other vigilantes to go about their activities a bit more easily these days. So, even if they're not helping with this, they're still helping with this. For now, we'll focus on his legal defense. Jessica, if there' any way you can help with this –"

"You're already had me at hello, Matt," Jessica said. "If I find anything, I'll let you know."

We took a taxi back to Alias Investigations. When we got back, Jessica took a seat behind the desk. She opened a drawer. I wasn't the least bit surprised when she pulled out a bottle of Wild Turkey 101.

"I know a bet's a bet," Jessica began. "But…"

"No judgment, I understand," I said as I took a seat in front of the desk. "…You and Cage are close, huh?"

"You can say that." She twisted open the bottle and took a swig from it. She offered me the bottle. I stared at it for a moment before I took the bottle from her. I took a swig. I grimaced as I swallowed.

"That is… not good," I commented as I handed Jessica back the bottle. "How can you drink this stuff?"

"I treat the taste of alcohol the same way I treat the looks of a guy I'm bedding. I'm not looking for top shelf. I'm looking for something that gets the job done." She leaned back in her seat and looked off to the side. "…I'm not my biggest fan, Betty. I'm not even on my own Top 50. I don't have many friends, and, like I said earlier, I can't exactly keep a steady." She frowned before she looked at me. "Luke Cage, though… he made me actually like myself for a bit. He made me feel like I wasn't some piece of shit that's playing hero. Even when I destroyed any chance of him and I ever being a thing, he made sure to know I have a friend in him." I wanted to tell her that she wasn't so bad. I wanted to tell her that I'm a fan of hers. Something told she didn't want to hear any of that. Instead, I merely nodded. Jessica took one last sip and placed the top of the bottle. She left it on the desk and nodded towards me. "I know you're at the end of your shift, so to speak, but if you want to, you can come with me to Yonkers. I'll even cover lunch along the way."

"Any way I can help with this, I'd like to," I said. "Besides, my day's open now since my boyfriend had to cancel our date."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Is everything okay on that front?" she asked.

"Yeah, it is. It's just…" I paused for a moment before I spoke in lower town. "Ned and I are friends with Spider-Man, and right now, Spider-Man has been going through a rough patch. And Kitty asked Ned to keep an eye on him."

Jessica smiled as she shook her head. "I guess you can't be a hero in New York without having to go through some shit."

I scoffed. "With him, it's an understatement. Ever since I knew the person under the mask was Spider-Man, there's not a week I haven't made at least one prayer for him. And as of lately, I've been praying for him every day and…" I trailed off when I saw the sad look on Jessica's face. "…Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine kiddo. I'm just… You reminded me of a friend." She took in a breath and stood up. "Come on, let's go." I nodded as I stood up and followed her out.