Girls On Film

Jessica Jones - Stakeout

“This isn't what I was expecting to be getting into as a photographer for hire,” Peter grumbled, sitting in the backseat of a beat-up old car parked on a dingy street lit like absolute shit with his camera in hand.

“You hang out in alleys like this all the time, don't bullshit me,” murmured Jessica Jones, leaning against the driver's side backseat window. She scoffed, holding onto an extra camera Peter had brought and holding onto it as her eyes peered out into the street.

Peter gave a small chuckle, ready to endure the brunt of Jessica's everything as he kept his eyes out on a single building. “Usually I'm wearing colourful tights, not parked with thousands of dollars of equipment. Sure, anyone trying to steal it is in for a pretty bad time, but it's about the principle of the matter. You hired a photographer with a nice studio all set up and great lighting to come take photos of who shows up to a crack house for a deal.”

“Sorry to disappoint by not paying you to take lingerie pictures of me, but I don't have some weird husband into watching other guys blow loads in me who I have to impress. I'm more into drunken hook-ups than laying out a photo spread of me flashing fuck-me eyes at a camera, and I think I've got a better track record and much better taste in men than what I've been hearing you've gotten up to." It was a mouthful, all delivered with a firm smirk that Jessica wasn't even really giving Peter as she remained focused on the other side of things, keeping her gaze out on the street.

"How does anyone keep a secret in this city?" Peter sighed, playing along with a wistful lament as she kept his focus on the camera out toward him, wanting to keep the attention on the sidewalk too. "All my business is referrals, and even when someone actually wants photographs instead of dick, they've heard about the dick anyway." He took a moment to let it set in before adding, 'And what have they been saying about the dick?'

Jessica turned toward Peter and snorted. "You might want to consider the idea that your business model isn't built for actually taking pictures." She intentionally avoided answering the question just to make Peter squirm a little, liking the chance to play around and tease him a bit. "Or look at it this way: any other dick with a camera in this city would sit there thinking I'm a huge bitch instead of bantering back with me. I'm paying you for that."

The moment hung quiet just long enough for Peter's response to have some real punch to it. "What if I also think you're a huge bitch?" he asked, and Jessica spiked into outright laughter in response.

"Hiring you was the best business expense this shitty job has given me, and I billed this guy for my night out on Saturday."

Underneath the relentless back and forth banter was a genuine bit of surprise for Peter, because he had been hired not for sexy lingerie pictures, but to sit in a car in the middle of the night and stake out a drug deal. It was as gritty and serious a gig as he could have been offered, one that felt like he was back at the Bugle--not that he ever did anything this risky and grand for Jameson--rather than doing some fun side work that usually ended with him balls deep inside some beautiful superheroine. It was a startling change of pace, something that in truth he kind of enjoyed. It wasn't really an exercise in photography as he really cared to explore it, but he spent so long swinging around in a mask or staking a place out from the rooftop or even atop a streetlamp. This was an interesting change of pace for everything he had been used to, but sometimes he needed that.

But at the same time, it was two old high school friends sitting in a car talking shit back and forth, snapping between snarky remarks and quips as they fell into an odd sort of routine. They hadn't been too close in school despite a bit of a crush she'd had on him, but had rekindled a bit more of something into adulthood and amid their forays into superheroics. Just two smart-mouthed New York superheroes working together; it was half of what Peter did, it felt like.