Author's note:

Vale Luna here!

Eh, if you're just stumbling on this story, please know that this is a sequel to my other story Purple Kisses. If you're looking for something to read, start there!

If you're a returning reader, hey fam! Long time, no see! Okay... it hasn't been that long at all. Surprised? As am I. I guess I couldn't wait to get back to work. Anyway, if you've read the description, you're ready to jump right in! See you at the bottom ;)

Chapter One: Did You Miss Me?

It was Jessica's first week of kindergarten duty. She figured having the kid out of her apartment during the day was going to make her responsibility as a mother more relaxed. She was very wrong.

"Axel! Axel David Jones, get your a-... get your butt out here, now, before you miss the bus!" Jessica yells at his door, quickly getting the bag of healthy snacks Trish had prepared for him out of the fridge.

Thankfully, Trish volunteered to help with a lot of things before and since the birth of Jessica's son. She was much better at organizing a nursery and all that crap than Jessica was. And knowing that it was going to be a hectic first week, Trish had taken a few extra steps to ensure that her sister wasn't too overwhelmed.

However, Axel was not making her job any easier.

From the moment Jessica left the hospital with him, she knew he was going to grow up to be a handful. The boy was a fighter. Born prematurely at three weeks early and weighing only five pounds and nine ounces, he was placed on life support for the first month of his life. Only when they planned to release him did Jessica fully give him his name, as a mark of his strength.

As he complained to her for the last two days, he didn't like school and he rejected going willingly.

Jessica knew he was awake and dressed because she woke him up and dressed him, but he simply refused to leave his room.

"Axel." She growls this time and opens his door with a tight fist. Of course, as she expected, he wasn't visible. She sighs through her nose and rolls her eyes to herself. "Come on, kid. Don't make me do this every morning."

He doesn't respond or move to give away his position, so she was going to have to look.

The key was to find anything that was relatively his size, and that was a duplicate of something already in the room. Often times, it was his stretched out blanket or his treasure chest on the floor by the window. But today, Jessica could clearly spot the second nightstand by his bed. It was obviously him because she knew exactly where the first one was placed and there was no collected dust on top.

This was the first time he went as the nightstand which seemed like a more complicated transformation. In her head, she was impressed by his developing skill, but she couldn't say that to him now.

"Okay, nightstand." She calls him out, then pokes the top, where his head would be. "I found you. Now let's go."

There's a ripple from where her finger had touched as the fake nightstand melts in its place, becoming an undefined, grey blob, just before the true shape of Axel's body returns. His clothes appear with him and the boy frowns up at his mother. "I thoughts you wouldn't see me that time." He pouts and crosses his arms over his chest.

Axel accidentally started using his powers a year after he was born. Besides how startling it was for Jessica to watch her son turn into an identical form of the shirt she was wearing one day, it came as a surprise because it was already established that he wasn't a mutant.

Thanks to a new law that was passed a few months before she gave birth, any newborn had to be tested for the X-gene. Whether the gene was active or dormant didn't matter. Anyone who tested positive would be tattooed with an X on the inside of their left wrist. Along with newborns, anyone who was already on the registration list was tracked down and given the same mark, no matter the age. This was nothing more than the government trying to ease people's fear. As if knowing that someone around them was a mutant was going to relax anyone.

Axel was tested and given no such mark. So just like his mother, his powers were unconventional. It probably had a lot to do with who his father was too…

By the time he was three, Jessica could tell he was transforming into things on purpose, which gave him a distinct advantage during hide-and-seek. His abilities were most likely going to continue to change and develop, but for now, he had specific limits. He had to be touching whatever he decided to turn into, and it had to be relatively the same size as him. Knowing that, it wasn't hard to pick out what he was duplicating.

Thankfully, the only other person who was aware of his abilities was Trish.

Jessica made sure Axel agreed that whenever she spotted him, he had to change back. So far, he followed that rule.

Dressed in jeans and a plain indigo T-shirt, the boy looked remarkably like his father. The main difference was that Axel's short brown hair was a slightly lighter shade. Jessica tried to get his hair to comb down, but he often ran his fingers through it and spiked it upwards. His eyes were the same brown as his mother's and yet one could see every crystal-like structure in his iris. It made it that much more heartbreaking when he cried.

Now, he stood in front of Jessica with his arms still crossed, looking up at her. "I don't wants to go…" He mumbles this, then stares at the floor.

"You haven't even given it a real shot, it's your third day." Forcing his arms to uncross, she grabs him by the hand and pulls him out of his room.

"The other boys don't like me…" He continues to mumble as she helps him get his backpack on.

Sadly smiling, Jessica drops to her knee in front of him and wipes the sleep from the corner of his eye. "You'll make friends in no time." His face suggests he's not convinced, and she sighs again before asking. "Do you trust me?"

Axel hesitates as if it was a trick question. "... Yes…?"

"Okay, well, I think you're great. And when they get to know you, I bet everyone in your class will too."

His head tilts naturally. "Really?"

"Really." She smiles again and kisses his forehead. "Now, before we go to the bus, tell me the rules."

He huffs and shifts on his feet, struggling to recall the two things they had been over so many times. "I do nots use my powers in public. I do nots talk about my powers in public."

The frustrated expression he gives the floor makes her grab him by the shoulders. "Hey, look at me." When he does, she sternly says, "I'm serious, kid. No powers outside this apartment."

"Okay! Okay!" He whines, trying to squirm out of her tight grip.

Seeing that he got it, she lets go of his shoulders, only to pull him into a hug. "I love you, Axel."

His small arms wrap around her and he grips the back of her shirt, nuzzling his head against her shoulder. "I love you too, Mommy."

Jessica starts, "Always have, -"

"- Always will." Axel finishes.

And dammit if she didn't love that boy. Not having an abortion despite the pressure she felt was turning out to be the best decision she ever made. He was everything she lived for now. Like it or not, Axel was changing her. She'd do anything to protect him.

What she was feeling now was not always the case, so the saying 'Always have, always will' wasn't necessarily accurate. The first few months with him were much harder. Besides all the struggles a single mother with a newborn has to face, postpartum depression made every little thing feel like torture. Every time she held him, it felt like holding a stranger. Questions like, what am I doing with this stranger in my apartment? And why am I supposed to love him? Came up constantly. And of course, the question of if she was fit to be a mother.

But her feelings for him changed with time as she learned how to properly care for him. Now she found herself at the point of unconditional love.

Even still, the question of whether she was actually fit to be a mother was one she had left to answer. She was fucked up enough as it is and now she had a whole other person she had to be responsible for. She certainly wasn't a perfect mother and it was questionable if she was even a good one. There were times when she felt way too intolerant to deal with Axel or his behavior and in regrettable instances, she would snap at him when he was simply acting as any child would.

As it always had, it took her a large number of drinks to get drunk, so she still drank regularly, but almost always when Axel was asleep. Her fear was that one night, Axel would need her and she wouldn't be in her right mind enough to help him. But giving up alcohol was not really an option. So many things in her life now perpetuated her need for it.

One, being her goddamn libido. She probably should have taken Victor's warning a little more seriously all those years ago when he reminded her that this was a side effect for life. And now both the reason she had it and her relief from it was dead… There was no one to fill that hole either. Men came and went like nothing and no one was ever allowed to stay the night. She didn't need to have Axel asking questions about the different men leaving her room in the morning. Besides, having a son made it nearly impossible to have a real relationship with anyone, even if she wanted one.

And so, alcohol was used to tame her desires when she was too busy to search for a meaningless fuck. For the circumstances she was in, she was doing the best she could.

Now, holding her son's hand, she takes him to the designated area that his bus was supposed to show up.

They had barely arrived on time so Jessica receives a few judgemental glares from the other parents. She does her best to ignore them, but it was only day three and they were already getting under her skin.

Just before sending Axel off, she says to him, "I'm might be late coming home from work, so Aunt Trish is going to pick you up from the bus stop. Is that okay?"

He nods, though he seemed distracted by the other kids, lining up to get on.

"Okay, kid." She sighs and lets him go. "Have fun…"

Axel shuffles on the bus to take a seat by the window where he nervously waves goodbye to his mother.

*****DID YOU MISS ME?*****

Trish had implored Jessica to have an abortion, only after the horror of the fact that she had sex with him settled in, and it was the first she was hearing about it. Jessica considered it for quite some time and before she could even make up her mind, it was too late to back out. Luckily, Trish's judgment of who his perceived father was didn't reflect negatively at all on her relationship with Axel. She loved him as any aunt should, and the feeling was mutual.

She arrived after noon with some work of her own to do and a few new toys for Axel, listening to what Jessica had to say about their morning routine.

Jessica's head falls against her desk and she groans. "I'm going to lose my shit if he does this every morning before school."

Trish laughs and sits down adjacent to her on the sofa. "It's not like he's hard to find. Besides, he's just having a bit of fun, Jess."

"That's the problem!" Lifting her head, she looks her in the eye, obviously filled with concern. "He thinks it's fun, Trish. He thinks using his powers is just a game. What's gonna happen if he wants to show-off to some of the other kids in his class? Or worse, if the teacher sees him doing that? They could… I don't know. They could take him away from me to do tests on him or something. And what if they give him that goddamn mark on his wrist after all? He's gonna grow up being discriminated against every day in his life!" Her fists clench at the thought and she tries to steady her breath. "I can't… I can't protect him out there."

Trish frowns and she can feel the worry in Jessica's tone. "Hey… it'll be okay. Axel's a smart kid. He won't disobey the rules you gave him, alright? I'm sure he won't." This doesn't seem to ease Jessica at all, so she attempts to give her a bit of a vacation. "Why don't you take the whole night off? I can put him to sleep."

Although she appreciated the gesture, Jessica still shakes her head. "No, I'll be back. He'll freak out if I'm not here to tuck him in." Picking up her bag, she slings it over her shoulder and stands up. "You're doing enough for me already…"

"Oh, please. I love spending time with him, you know I don't mind." Jessica's lack of energy was obvious to anyone and especially Trish. "Just… don't overdo it, alright?"

"When do I ever overdo anything?" Jessica manages to smirk back as she heads for the door.

After Axel's birth, Jessica had to childproof her apartment. That also meant she couldn't have her business there anymore. The last thing she needed was potentially psychotic clients coming around her kid. With Trish's and Malcolm's help, they were renting an office a few blocks away which was the new site for Alias Investigations. Jessica could still work from home, but she had to have her meetings at the office.

As understanding as ever, Malcolm was still running things with her when she started working again. It almost bothered Jessica that he was so dedicated to the job, and she couldn't see why someone of his nature would ever stick around and deal with her shitty attitude on a day to day basis. She'd snap and tell him to fuck off, and he'd return with coffee. Why? Honestly, it probably had something to do with Trish.

Malcolm and Trish had been hiding their relationship for a few months from Jessica. But Jessica was a P.I. and they were the two closest adults to her in her life. No way in hell she wouldn't have figured it out. Really, the only surprise was that it took them this long to finally get together. The sexual tension between them was bad enough before, now it was just obvious and unbearable. There was no reason for Jessica to ever bring it up, and she was glad that she hadn't had that awkward conversation with either of them yet. What they wanted to do with themselves was not her concern. But she suspected that Malcolm's affection for her sister often translated into his behavior with her.

Either way, she hated to admit it, but she needed him as a partner. She needed someone as a partner. And Malcolm was the only guy who understood her past and was willing to put up with her.

Yet, business wasn't great. After coming back to work from her own maternity leave, Jessica had to be careful in the way she went about investigating. Normally, using her strength in public was something she did naturally and without thought. It was New York. No one ever gave a shit about anything anyone else was doing. But now, anything out of the ordinary was extensively questioned. It made it somewhat harder to get things done if she was constantly questioning who was watching around her. Sometimes, she'd just send Malcolm on a solo mission because it was too mentally exhausting for her.

But lately, that wasn't even the worst of what she had to deal with. In the past month, she was experiencing strange gaps in her memory that were making work close to unmanageable. Almost every other day for three weeks straight, several hours of her life would simply vanish. Nearly every instance happened when she was home and Axel was already in bed. Normally, she would use that time while he was asleep to work from home.

Now, she could remember that she would be sitting down behind her desk, doing some research, and then all of a sudden, she was waking up in bed the next day. Her clothes were often scattered over her bedroom floor and a lot of times, the file of the case she had been working on had been pushed onto the floor, along with anything else on the desk. It looked as though she had thrown a tantrum or gotten into a fight with someone, and then went to sleep and forgot the whole thing.

The initial explanation she went with was that she got wasted and blacked out. But she never got that drunk with Axel at home. It didn't add up. The only other explanation she could think of was… his ability to erase memories. Could someone else with the same power be fucking with her?

The thought was unsettling. It almost made her worried to be alone while Axel was asleep. But she couldn't have Trish spending the night every day just to protect her from an imaginary foe. Certainly there was another, more reasonable answer for this. She was considering placing cameras in the apartment to capture whatever was going on, but she hadn't yet because the truth worried her. What if she was experiencing some sort of psychotic breakdown? This irrational fear of hers made sure she didn't tell anyone about it either. This being one of two of the only secrets she had left to keep to herself.

She would have to figure out the cause of it sooner or later… All this meant, for now, was that she had to get more work done in her office before she went back home.

Malcolm almost always showed up before her, because he was actually on time, according to their posted hours. He was sitting behind his own desk when she arrived, talking on the office phone.

Seeing her, he nods a hello and finishes making an appointment with the client he was speaking to. Upon hanging up, he watches her drag herself to her chair. "You look like hell." He points out, not sounding surprised. "Getting him to school is that bad?"

Jessica glares at him and plops down in her seat, grumbling. "You don't know the half of it."

Knowing she wasn't going to elaborate, he stands up, taking his jacket off the back of the chair. "Have you eaten today? I'm going to get lunch, I can bring you something back."

Instead of actually answering, she just mumbles, "I'm fine."

He shrugs. "Okay. I'll be back before the appointment in an hour."

Jessica looks at the time and tries not to groan.

Malcolm leaves silently. Though he offered and she turned him down, he was going to bring her back something to eat anyway, and she knew that.

The first thing she does when she logs onto her computer was scroll through her news feed. She hated reading the news but she had to stay updated in case anyone wanted to come up with any other dumbass law that pertained to her or her son. What she sees at the bottom of her list brings back awful memories.

The headline read, 'After Years of Deliberation, UK Government Decides to Willfully Execute Clones'.

Parts of the article went on to say, 'Three years after the concluded investigation into Elijah Glitch and his corporation, the United Kingdom has finally made a decision on what to do with the remaining clones that were created during Glitch's life. Dozens of employees have already been sentenced to prison, some receiving between two years and life. But the fate for Glitch's clones is much harsher. [...]

The decision comes as a surprise to few and was expected by many. A number of members in Parliament spoke out, saying that the clones were created in an "ungodly" manner, and should not be allowed to continue life, conclusively pleased with the outcome. This comes after extreme push back from the 'Life is Life' campaign, largely led by mutant allies. Even with philosophy and ethics experts on their side, protesting for the clones to live has ultimately failed. The executions will be by lethal injection and will proceed as scheduled sometime next year.

Speculation about whether or not the clones could be used as organ donors has been circulating in the medical field. But tests show that the mixture of Glitch's genes could have negative side effects and experts say it is not worth the risk.'

Jessica's head drops back into her hands. Kevin and his sacrifice had changed her perspective and now she couldn't help but feel partially responsible for this shit. Six goddamn years later and her involvement with Glitch was still haunting her.

She didn't have time to think about this. She had clients to prepare for.

*****DID YOU MISS ME?*****

Day 1:

It was just after midnight and Jessica had put Axel to sleep several hours ago.

The knock on the door is the second she receives that night, as her other two visitors had left less than an hour ago.

Jessica was preparing to go to bed herself, but she doesn't show any annoyance to the matter that someone was stopping by so late. In fact, she smiles. "Coming!" She calls with uncharacteristic and giddy excitement.

Her day clothes were scattered all over the bedroom floor and some had been thoughtlessly torn. Still, she throws on her jeans and shirt. The tears in the shirt make it nothing more than scraps of cloth, that hung off her shoulders, barely covering her exposed breasts.

Right now, she was much too careless to mind.

When she opens the door, the smile leaves her face and she blinks at the man standing in front of her.

"Jessica." He breathes, his heart pounding at the sight of her. It had been six years after all.

Dressed in a classically dark purple, three-piece suit, almost nothing about him had changed from the last time they saw each other. Nothing except an unidentified black mark on his neck, just below his ear, and the fact that the signs of sickness weren't there anymore. But he appeared to have not aged a day.

From the looks of her, Jessica hadn't changed much either. And fuck if she didn't look beautiful in this moment. She had some sort of glow to her, like a sense of satisfaction that made her that much more gorgeous. Not to mention the obvious lack of a bra and proper top.

The statement 'I've missed you' is the first to come to his mind, as he had been waiting for this moment. But he knew well that she had been without him much longer than he remembered being without her. So instead, he asks, "Did you miss me?" He can't help but provide a devilishly charming grin, his head tilting in anticipation of her reaction.

For a second, Jessica slowly scans him up and down before her eyebrows furrow. Not with concern, but just slight confusion. "I'm sorry… do I know you?"

Author's note part 2:

A common reaction to this chapter would be, "What the fuck is going on?" Don't worry, you aren't alone in your confusion. So many questions! :)

Lady in rose has helped me gather my ideas for the plot, though nothing is completely finalized. She also tried to persuade me to give Jessica a little girl and not a boy. Haha, I commend her effort. While it has come to my attention that Jessica first has a girl in the comics, that was a result of her marriage to Luke Cage. Clearly, that is not the case here, and though I love adding nods to the comics, this is its own story. Plus, almost every other fanfic I've read with Jessica having a kid, it was a girl and I like shaking things up. I also like the idea of Axel looking 'like his father'!

Another random thought, the title I chose for this story is not as random as it appears. But I'll explain when we get to that.

This is going to be one hell of a ride, folks. And not a short one either. I'm not going to bullshit myself and say we'll be done in 30 chapters again lol. Still, it's good to be back, eh? Not sure how "back" I am yet, but I had so much fun writing this and I'm excited to keep going!

Please follow and review! I won't disappoint! Just one question; did you miss me?