Jessica

Acceptance Part Six

Not too far away from New York's coastline, Governor's Island was reunited with its long lost neighbour. It took just a few months for the platforms to be reestablished and the exterior to be fixed. It only took such little time for the world to realise that, no matter how divisive it was, they needed a Triskelion.

Its return instilled a considerable amount of hope that perhaps many other things were destined to return as well. After this they could repair the Baxter Building, make a new Xavier Institute or maybe even reopen the short lived Ultimates Mansion. People started looking at the things they lost and prayed that change wasn't necessarily permanent.

But change isn't always bad. Jessica was the living example that some changes were so good that they should never be reversed and yet she still walked through the facility that should have been closed.

Along the way, she thought she saw Reed Richards, of all people, walking by Nick Fury's side but she had no interest to verify if that was the case.

She had other priorities in that place. Not work, though. No way she would ever go back to her old life. She was more than happy to make an independent team where others had failed. She didn't need fuel to go to the other side of the world, a crew to suit up her heavy hitters or a sense of obligation to her country. These are the reasons she succeeded where stronger men failed.

Although she no longer had a use for that place she still went there often, specifically downstairs where she would stroll past an innumerable amount of cells enclosed by a blue and purple field. Through the static she could see the ugly faces of miscreants she barely ever glanced at with her own eyes. That day was the first time she saw criminals locked up by her.

Maybe, one day, if she ever became a saint, she would find the strength to go talk to monsters like Tony Masters, the way she was going to chat to another person...

Approaching the room, the position of which she memorised, she heard the sounds of distant words. It seemed to her as if the person she looked for was already having a conversation with someone else.

Looking inside the room, she saw Charlotte, no longer ashamed by her looks, talking to an old lady sitting in a chair. The Witter girl seemed much more joyous than when Jess first took her there and she got to see this evolution one step at a time, every week ever since. That day, in the presence of a certain white haired woman, she also seemed very talkative.

She talked to her much more fluently than she ever did with the bronze haired girl but Jess couldn't exactly figure out what they were talking about. Charlie, on the other hand, could clearly see her in the corner of her pitch black eye.

"Jessica! Hi!", while saying that she was waving her hand and, although she was as pale as a ghost and her cheekbones were especially visible, she smiled.

"Hey, Charlie!... sorry if I caught you at the wrong time..."

"Don't worry." said the lady, "They must have messed up the timetable. Come in."

"Yeah, they're really not as infallible as they want you to think..." Jessica said, while finally walking in. As she got closer to her she noticed that the unknown woman wasn't sitting on a plain chair but rather a wheelchair and her legs were covered.

"Jess, this is my grandma, Cassandra."

"It's a pleasure." she said, though the old woman wasn't looking at her like she was. Matter of fact, she wasn't looking at anything and, judging by her black glasses, the reason was pretty obvious.

"Why, the pleasure is mine. She told me about you and the way you helped her."

"It's so nice that you two can finally meet!"