Kilgrave's Joy

37- Aka Just Around the Riverbend

The temperature was bitter, cold enough that by the time we had reached the car, my feet stung.

Kilgrave hadn't said anything to me since I had confirmed to him that I was pregnant with his child, he couldn't even look at me.

The hatred for Kilgrave that my parents had tried to drill into me built up inside, causing my fists to clench as I sat in the car. The door shut as the guard walked around to the front seat, the same side as Kilgrave slipped in. The cool air made me shiver as he quickly slipped into the car, a blanket in his hand.

"Here." His first word to me in a short while, and it was with a curt tone.

"Thanks." I took the blanket and wrapped myself in it, buckling up as we prepared to leave.

"Turn the heating up to full, and drive us back to New York. I'll tell you where when we arrive into the city." He instructed, making the guard start the engine and have cool air blast out, the engine still cold so of course the air flow would be. When we started driving silence ensued, but I noticed his eyes wandering to me, looking at my stomach.

"It's not a dream, Kilgrave. Nor is it the result of whatever fucked up shit they were doing in there. It's ours." I turned my head to him, his face ragged and eyes sunken.

"Eight months ago." Kilgrave rubbed his face, feeling his scruff. It had grown little in eight months, although I had no idea what conditions he was held under. From the looks of the both of us, I got the better deal.

"A lot has happened since then." Looking down I rested my hands on my stomach, feeling the baby kick slightly. It took me by surprise, making Kilgrave snap to attention.

"What is it?" He certainly didn't miss a trick. Instead of replying, I grabbed his hand and gently laid it onto my stomach, allowing him to feel his child kick at my belly. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but it was the first time that I had been able to feel it with my own hands. "Do you know-"

"No. They wouldn't tell me, although my mum insisted that it was a girl." I let go of his hand, realising that he probably didn't want to touch me, after everything.

"When we get back, I'm going to find everyone in that corporation and slaughter them, like the animals they are." I looked into his eyes, a flash of what I thought was purple refracting from them.

"I thought you would have been outraged that I'm carrying your child." I knew that he had wanted nothing more than for me to be with him, as the personal house arrest that had happened over eight months ago had proven, but the last few days before we had been taken... I remember that things had changed between us.

"Why would I be outraged." The way he had spoken made it so that it wasn't even a question, but a statement.

"I- I just thought you would be." Looking up at him once more, I looked over all of his features, and over the months we had been apart, he hadn't changed.

"Joy, I don't know what they did to you in there, but they tried to get me to become ungifted. To take my powers away from me. So I can only guess that's what they were doing to our child." It felt weird, Kilgrave acknowledging that it was our child. Our daughter, as my late mother would have me believe.

"They fed me and kept me well, but they never went near the baby when they found out I was pregnant." Rubbing my stomach to soothe our unborn child, I looked over to him to see his eyes burn with hatred, hatred for what they had done to us.
"I haven't seen you for eight months. The last thing I said to you-" I couldn't even remember anymore, the fact that the brainwashing my parents had tried to get put into effect was internally fighting me, blocking out just before we got captured was the easiest way to suppress it. "My parents tried to brainwash me to loathe and despise you, you know." I came out with it, breaking our silence.

"What?" He asked, turning to me. "And do you-"

"I fought it. So much so that I almost miscarried." I thought back to that day, they had promised not to try again since they wanted the child to live. "Why they didn't kill us, I don't know."

"It needs your blood." The driver suddenly spoke, making Kilgrave scoff.

"Talk again and you'll be seeing nothing but blood."

"Kilgrave." I scolded. After everything I couldn't deal with him getting out of control.

"No. I've been through enough." He replied, and I snapped.

"And you think I haven't?" I turned to him, looking at my stomach. I knew I had no basis for this argument. He had clearly had the worst end of the treatment, but it didn't give him an excuse to lash out. He had already killed my parents today.

"You know damn well I didn't mean that." The car pulled up to the kerb, we were home already.

"We were that close." The baby inside me kicked, a pain contraction racking my body. "Argh!" I grabbed my stomach, the feeling fading as fast as it had appeared.

"Come on." He said, a look of worry all over his face. Kilgrave wouldn't let me go to the hospital, I knew him too well. He wanted me where he could control every circumstance, every single thing that the doctors would do to me, he wanted to make sure was in his best interest. Helping me out of the car, he hooked a hand around my waist and held me tight. I put my hand on his shoulder and the other on top of the hand on my waist, another contraction racking through me.
"I. Need. A. Hospital!" I hissed through my teeth, scrunching my eyes up tight.

"You are not leaving my sight." Kilgrave replied as he led me into our apartment building. "Anyone trained in midwifery, come with me. Everyone else ignore us." He shouted, and immediately all the surprised faces averted their gaze, apart from one nurse that looked like she had just gotten off of duty, who proceeded to follow us to the lift.

"Kilgrave. Please." I begged, water running down my leg.

My water had just broke.