Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - Finally Together
Exiting the taxi, Jessica took a moment to take a deep breath, and palm the pocket of her jeans where the syringe of sufentanil was concealed. It was a risky move, drugging Alva and Laurant, and hoping that them passing out would distract Kilgrave long enough to afford her the opportunity to inject him, but it was her only chance to take him without adding casualties to the already overwhelming number weighing on her conscience.
If she could stop him now, she could save so many more people, and be rid of the fear that drove her to constantly be looking over her shoulder, wondering when the day would come that he'd decide he'd had enough of whatever game he was playing and reclaim her mind and body by using his powers.
For now he was playing nice and seemed to even be enjoying their domestic arrangement, much to her frustration as she had resigned herself to being hostile toward him every second he was in her presence. He even wanted to be a hero, go about "balancing" the scales of his wrongs by using his powers to save others. She knew from experience though that this new obsession of his would soon pass, just like most of them did - the yacht in Bali discarded after a month, a villa in Provence forgotten when winter arrived, Hope Schlottman, and so many more things and people lay abandoned and ruined by his ever-wandering fancy.
Except her. For some inexplicable reason his obsession with her had surpassed more than a few nights accompanying him to dinners in Michelin rated restaurants or spent between high thread count sheets at five-star hotels. In his sick and deranged mind she was the love of his life, and not even throwing him under a literal bus could shake the commitment he had to having her by his side.
'Too bad,' she thought to herself as she reached the front door, swinging it open to find Alva and Laurant standing in the entryway wiping their faces, most likely having spent the last few hours watching for any sign of her at Kilgrave's command.
"You're back," Alva exclaimed excitedly, her arms and torso momentarily making a forward motion as if she was going to embrace Jessica, but then going back to stillness as if she had thought better of it.
"I am," Jessica said, plastering a fake smile on her face and holding up the two bags of Chinese food, "and I brought us all dinner."
At her words, Jessica noticed the worried glance that passed between Alva and Laurant before Alva put on her own exaggerated smile, and made to take the bags from Jessica's hand. "How thoughtful, I'll make up your and Mr. Kilgrave's plates, and have them waiting in the dining room for when you're done."
"No," Jessica exclaimed loudly, knowing that the adrenaline thrumming through her body had gotten the better of her the second the word left her lips. Composing herself, she continued, "I'm helping Kilgrave be a better person, and step one of being a better person is being kind to other people. I'd like you and Laurant to join us for dinner tonight."
Again Jessica noted the weary glance that passed between the two frightened staff before Alva once again spoke up, "of course. We'd be honored." She paused a moment, then continued with a somewhat pained look on her face. "First though, Mr. Kilgrave has instructed us that he would like to see you upstairs...please."
Jessica was tempted to say 'hell no' outright, though she knew that the 'please' at the end of Alva's sentence was not from Kilgrave, but rather a plead from Alva on her and Laurant's behalf to spare them from whatever safeguard Kilgrave had put into place should Jessica deny his request. Thus, with a long sigh and a roll of her eyes, she trudged toward the dining room, depositing the food on the table heavily before doubling back to the stairs and slinging her leather jacket over the bannister.
"I'll go see what he wants, and be back in a minute, then we'll all eat," she said over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs. God, what did he want? The first thought that came to her mind was that he had spent the afternoon browsing possible superhero costumes online. For all that he and Trish hated each other (rightfully so on Trish's part), they did have a fascination with playing up the cheesier aspects of having super powers.
She paused at the top of the stairs. The room in front of her had light pouring from underneath the closed door, illuminating the dark space of the hallway immediately outside of it. He hadn't shown her this room on his initial tour through her childhood home, though she knew it had previously served as her family's guest room. What was it now? Could he possibly be using this as his bedroom?
As she reached for the door knob another thought occurred to her as to what this situation might be...a seduction. It would be just like Kilgrave in his deluded state to think that one good deed equated to her falling madly in love with him, and that she would willingly throw herself into his arms and his bed. He probably even thought that her afternoon spent apart from him was to war with her conflicted emotions as she suddenly realized what a "good" person he was, and how she may truly be in love with him. The thought alone made her want to gag.
Resolved to get whatever this was over with, and get him down to dinner as fast as possible so that she could drug and ultimately imprison him, Jessica turned the door knob and forcefully shoved the door open, shouting, "I swear to God, Kilgrave, if you're naked on a rose petal covered bed, I'm going to rip off your...."
What she saw instead not only stopped her mid-sentence, but also stopped her body dead in its tracks as if she'd slammed into a brick wall.
"Shhhh, Jessica...not so loud," Kilgrave chided in a low voice, readjusting the bundle in his arms as he sat up in the rocking chair that was situated in the corner of the room. "Though I do like where your mind is. The naked part at least," he said, giving her a filthy smile.
Jessica felt her stomach drop to the soles of her feet, weighing her down like stone. She couldn't move. Couldn't speak. How had he known? How had he managed to obtain the one thing she was sure he had no idea about. The one thing that she was going through all this pain and suffering for.
Looking down at the baby in his arms, a wide grin spread across Kilgrave's face. "I think we've rendered Mummy speechless, my precious boy," he murmured as his lips pressed to the infant's head.
Seeing him, this monster, looking so adoringly at her child was all it took for a primal instinct to take over in Jessica. Marching forward she held out her arms, and growled, "give me my son. Give me Jamie."
Looking up, the smile that had previously graced Kilgrave's face vanished, and his eyes darkened. "I do believe that you mean OUR son, Jessica. And no...," looking back at the baby, his smile reemerged, "...I will not be giving him to you just yet. I haven't seen him in over a month. Been a bit busy with all these surprises for Mum, haven't I," he cooed.
Reaching her hand for her pocket, Jessica knew that she had a choice. She could inject him with the sufentanil now. She could take Jamie, and she could flee as far as she could go. Let Simpson take care of Kilgrave. She knew he and his men were stationed somewhere in the neighborhood.
They might even be able to save Alva and Laurant. She knew she should feel guilty for this thought. Knew that they would probably be collateral damage, but when it came to some strangers' lives or her son the choice was an easy one.
Just then, Kilgrave stood, cradling the child near his chest, his eyes never leaving the boy's face, and it hit Jessica...
"W-what do you mean you haven't seen him in a month?"
Looking up at her wearing an incredulous smile, he shook his head, "come on, you didn't think I didn't know about our boy, did you?"
Reading her expression of shock he continued, "oh, you did. Well, that's awkward. For you, I mean. No, I've known about our dear James, strong name that is, since you were eight months pregnant. Imagine my surprise at the time though. Here I was just healed from a major surgery, and I find out that I'm going to be a father."
"You're not his father," Jessica rasped, daring to take a step closer towards him, "and how? How could you possibly know?"
Giving her the same incredulous look from a moment before, Kilgrave rocked the baby in his arms. "Come on, Jessie, we were shagging like insatiable rabbits during our time together, and look at our boy. He has my eyes and this hair...," he motioned with his chin towards the baby's head, "...definitely mine. Well, that and you were literally compelled to be unable to sleep with anyone else during the time of his conception, so in this case, I am definitely his father."
He said this so matter-of-factly, his tone light, as if what he had done to her was consensual, natural. As if what he had done to her wasn't rape. It made her stomach curl in on itself. "You're not his father because I say you're not. You're not even on his birth certificate," she shouted, breathing heavily, and clasping her hand around the syringe in her pocket as the other one balled into a fist at her side.
"Mmmm, yes, I had to remedy that with the hospital staff once you took this little one home, but don't worry, I did fix it," Kilgrave smiled at her, as if it had truly been an oversight on her part to leave him off the document in the first place. "And, as to how I knew, I came looking for you. Five months after you left me to die under a bus. Admittedly, I was ready to destroy you. Make you beg for your life, and then beg for me to end it when the pain became too much. But then..." pausing for dramatic effect, Kilgrave once again kissed Jamie's head, "then I realized you were carrying my child, and I knew. I knew that you must have some love for me if you were willing to bring a life that we created together into this world."
Her face scrunched in repulsion, but he continued, regardless, "look, look, Jess, I even compelled one of the nurses to send me a picture of you and our boy." He dug one handed in his pocket for a moment, producing his cellphone and swiping to the homescreen, then turning the phone so she could see a picture of herself in her hospital gown, gazing in awe at her seconds-old son as he laid in her arms for the first time. "It's the most beautiful thing in the world. I wish I had been there, but you know, that was during our break."
Taking another step forward, Jessica pushed the syringe up into her sleeve, then withdrew her hand from her pocket. "It was beautiful, mostly because you weren't part of it, and you will not be part of his life now, or mine."
Shaking his head, Kilgrave stepped back toward the crib against the wall, still rocking his son. "Of course I'm part of his life, Jessica, and I have been. For all of it. Ever since you sent him to live with Patsy's friend, Elizabeth or whatever her name is, a few days after his birth. And yes, I know about her, too. You see, I've been visiting our boy at least once a week for the last six months. You can't tell me you didn't notice some of my gifts when you visited, and trust me, I don't judge you for only seeing him once a month, though I will point out that I was also busy and still made time for our child."
This information seemed impossible, and made her head whirl. Though as Jessica thought back to the precious few visits she was able to make to see her son for fear that Kilgrave was still lurking in the shadows, she remembered the random toys and clothes that would appear. The ones Elisa repeatedly, and in retrospect rather mechanically, said she just couldn't resist getting for Jamie.
Looking around Kilgrave at the crib, she even recognized the teddy bear with the purple ribbon around its neck that had made its appearance around her first visit. She had stuffed it into the closet of Jamie's nursery, though it always seemed to be in his crib when she returned.
Oblivious to the panic attack building in her, Kilgrave placed his son into the crib, stroking a few wisps of the brown hair on his head, and continuing to ramble, "...I hadn't planned on bringing James home so soon. I wanted us to work on our issues and build some trust, but I feel like we made some real progress today, you know. We're gonna be doing this hero thing together, and I want our boy to be here with us, to see how great his parents are. I'm so excited, Jess. We're finally going to be a family."
Looking up at her from his position leaning over the crib, Kilgrave finally caught sight of her panicked demeanor. "What's wrong?"
"This isn't happening," she breathed out, taking a step forward. "I won't let this happen."
Standing tall, Kilgrave held up his hand, and motioned with his fingers in a come hither gesture, which Jessica did, taking another step closer to him. It had to be now. She had to make her escape. "What's going on in that head of yours, Jessica?"
"I'm not going to let you control me anymore. I won't let you control him. Ruin him, like you've ruined me and so many others," she said with a defiant challenge in her eyes, taking another step forward she was surprised that Kilgrave stood his ground, and the dark look was back on his face.
"Ruin him...ruin you...," he barked out with a laugh. "Oh, Jessica, your delusions have to stop. We're parents now. We're responsible for shaping this little life. I need to know that you're willing to be my partner in this." His look then turned pleading, as if something was about to happen that greatly pained him. She hoped the needle jabbing into his neck would indeed be painful. "Please say you didn't do something stupid? Tell me, love, that you didn't bring anything into this house that could harm me or our child?"
"I would never harm him, as for you..." she began, lunging at him as the words left her mouth, the syringe clasped in her hand. She knew she had to be fast. Faster than his words commanding her to stop, and she would be. Or she would have been. That is, if she had realized that Alva had previously entered the room quietly, and that she was carrying a loaded dart gun. A gun which she aimed at Jessica's shoulder blades as she was halfway to Kilgrave. A gun that she squeezed the trigger on.
Feeling a stinging pain in her back, Jessica hardly had time to register that her legs were giving out underneath her before she was crumpling to the floor. "Shoot her again," Kilgrave barked, even as he caught her under her arms. Jessica heard the whoosh of the gun, and this time the stinging was in her thigh.
"Oh, my darling," Kilgrave's voice was low and soft as he pulled her to his chest, and plucked the syringe from her hand, examining it. "You cannot continue with these ugly displays. We need to provide a better example for our boy." He paused, looking into her eyes, and a frown crossed his face, as if he was truly sorry. "I'm afraid it's your turn to learn just how bad a sufentanil hangover is."
The last thing she registered as her eyes closed were his lips on her forehead. "Sleep well, my love. I'll be here when you wake."