24 hours

I: AKA I've had worse

Chapter I: AKA I've had worse

Cold.
She felt so much colder than when she had left her house.
As if she was wearing less clothes at the moment.
She felt something caressing her skin. Very little skin, to be exact.
And that was a fabric she was very little acquainted with.

What the hell had happened?
The only thing that Jessica recalled was crossing the road. She was determined to follow the last anonymous tip she had gotten to find Killgrave; because she just had to find him.
The soundproof room she had kept him captive in. The delirious meeting between Kevin and his parents. All the things that had happened after that. That button that had stopped giving shocks at the pivotal moment.
A total debacle. The new found freedom and then the getaway. She hadn't managed to reach him, she hadn't even had a chance to try to stop him.
Wounded. Weakened. Maybe even a little dazed and scared, but Killgrave had managed to escape, bringing his father with him.

And it was all her fault.

That's why,  as soon as she had heard about someone seeing a good-looking, very elegant man with a distinctive British accent around a luxury restaurant in the city centre, she had tried to run there.
And then there had been a stab of pain in her right hip. Something had hit her.
Everything had gone blank. Until that moment, when she was finally recovering.
Almost recovering.
She had never found so challenging to pop her eyes open as than in that moment.
Maybe because she was too afraid to do it.
She tried to bring her hand to her face in order to rub it, but no matter how hard she tried, she didn't succeed.
And it was the same with her other hand.
"Oh, shit."
At that point, she practically forced herself to open her eyes.
"Oh, shit."
Laboriously, she turned her neck from side to side, confirming her fears: she was handcuffed to a bed.
Not common handcuffs, of course; otherwise... why shouldn't she be able to break them?

"Oh, shit.
She had lowered her head, realizing what she was – or rather she was not–wearing.
A microskirt baby-doll, in purple satin. On both sides there was a complex filigree of black lace, very sheer and barely there. The black laces also wrapped the upper part of the baby-doll, held up by very thin straps.
Such an outfit left so little room for imagination!

Most alarmingly, it was partially purple. Purple like the wall of that room. Purple like the bedcover.
And she could associate such a color to one person only.
"Oh, shit!"
She was so agitated that she hadn't even noticed a small hidden camera among the wooden beams of the roof.
In another spot of that warehouse, house, or whatever building it was, someone was observing her.
Not very far from there.

"Alright, finally we are awake, aren't we?" Kevin muttered to himself.
He was pleased to witness the evident huge difficulty Jessica was having to break free from those common handcuffs.
So it was working for real.
"Oh, it looks like dear Daddy still knows how to do his job! It means that I'm going to have to wait a few more days, before making him cross the road blindfolded ... or something else more stimulating!" he contemplated out loud, before getting up and leaving the room with the monitors.

While he crossed the few corridors that lead to the filmed room, Kevin's mind drifted back to the latest events.
He recalled when he had reached the police station just in time to prevent her from doing such a reckless thing. He knew for sure she would have repented if she really had done that.
He recalled how satisfied he was when he had managed to find that house, exactly the house where Jessica had grown up. He had worked hard in order to make that place look exactly as it had all those years ago.
It could have been their perfect love-nest.
He recalled their short forced cohabitation, well... not so forced. After all, he had not ordered her to do anything.

He remembered what she had suggested that he do and he had pleased her, he had trusted her.
He had tried to change for her, maybe he was even liking it.
He had not forgotten that 'Thank you' that that woman had said to him, when he had rescued her from that mentally unbalanced guy who held her hostage with the other members of his own family.
A spontaneous thank you, not an ordered one, that he could always take for granted. This one had been so different.
Kevin wasn't accustomed to that.
Well, of course, he had also tried to make that waste of society commit suicide, but nope, Jessica hadn't allowed him to have his fun.
Because she wanted him to be a better man. And he had believed her. He had begun thinking that if he had walked on the right path Jessica would have seen him through different eyes.

But it had been only an illusion and the umpteenth delusion for him.
He recalled that bitter awakening in that aseptic room, filled only by the water that touched his ankles; as Jessica tortured him, making him relive in loop those horrible moments of his strange and unhappy childhood.
He almost had the feeling that Jessica enjoyed seeing him so miserable.
Sometimes he wondered who was the real sadist between them.

And sometimes Kevin wished that Killgrave's power could work on himself, too.
'Kill her'. 'Hate her.' Or even just 'Forget her'.

Kevin had spent whole days impressing those things upon himself in front of a mirror, screaming, crying, even punching himself in the most desperate moments.
But it was just useless.
He could only love Jessica, despite everything, no matter what.
She would keep breaking his heart and he would keep offering her the remaining shreds of it.
Maybe he could stop that mechanism. Or at least try.
And he was looking forward to trying. The corridors were over. Only a door separated them now.
It was time to open it and come into play.

"You know, my darling, I had two choices." he began, his footsteps echoing through the room Jessica had already turned towards him the second she heard the door handle click.
"Either I found some handcuffs made with a special titanium in a mine in the middle of nowhere... or I found a way to deprive you of your powers." he went on, getting progressively closer.

She was still busy processing the last shocking info; she couldn't even bring herself to answer.

"What do you think I chose? Besides, titanium is so expensive!" he chuckled, sardonic, sitting on the bed.

"What the fuck did you do to me, psychotic bastard?" Jessica snapped, yanking the handcuffs and trying to kick him; but not with the violence she meant. Besides, her bare foot, deprived of her trusty commando boot, couldn't do the job properly.

Kevin burst out laughing, grabbing that rebel leg.

"Your joy whenever you see me is always oh so touching!" he replied, caressing her ankle with an unexpected gracefulness.
No matter how hard Jessica tried not admit it to herself, she found it alarmingly pleasant.

"Let's say that I decided to take away from you that nasty burden of saving the world, at any cost. That's very kind from me, don't you think so?" he went on, as he kept caressing her leg, satisfied that she wasn't trying to retract it anymore.
"How? How the hell did you manage to do that?" she growled, prodding his right hip with her free leg, but it was but it was hardly more than a pleasant tickle for him.
"Oh, I'll tell you what. It was easier than I thought. I just went to dear daddy... by the way, thanks a lot for reuniting us!" he teased her, turning to her with a clearly fake touched expression that made her roll her eyes.

"Go on!" she urged him.
"I went to him and said "I'm going to give you a break: why, instead of making me more powerfu,l don't you try to weaken my beloved Nemesis?" It seems that that task motivated him much more than the usual one, because in only a couple of days he invented this sort of vaccine that takes super powers away. There are some advantages in being the son of a scientific genius!" he laughed maniacally, enjoying the fear in her eyes and her tremor.

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you that it can be used only once, and it lasts for only twenty four hours. Even the best science has its limits." he added, for good measure and, after all, he enjoyed as well the girl's immediate relief.

"Twenty four hours, you said, right?" she repeated, with a bitter tone.
"Neither one hour more nor one less" he assured. "It was only a matter of capturing you, but I made a keen veterinarian believe you were a filly to tame... well, it's not that this comparison deviates so much more from reality!" he chuckled, garnering another kick on the ribs, not at all painful, of course. "I have to say, that that guy had a brilliant aim with all that tranquilizer. You fell on the ground, knocked down at first shot!" he giggled at the memory. "And then, I ordered some people to bring you here. They vaccinated you, about half an hour ago, if you want to know. Ad it kicks in the first minute after the injection." he informed her, getting up from the bed.
Jessica was almost disappointed, not because he had left the bed , of course. It was just ... right, when he was close she could keep track of him better, yeah, she convinced herself that was the real reason.

She grew suspicious when she saw him leave the room, but he was back a few minutes later, brandishing a syringe with some liquid inside.

"Hey! You told me it can be used only once, didn't you?" she panicked, tugging at the handcuffs in earnest.

So he was going to torture her... the hell with the pleasant caresses!
These thoughts crossed her mind, as she got defensive the way she could... as the whole situation worked against her.

"Oh no, this one is not for you." he puzzled her with his answer. "You know, Daddy created a sort of generic fluid that takes the super powers away, any super power, even mine. And I want to level the playing field." he smirked, squirting a few drops of liquid from the needle, before injecting it in the deltoid muscle of his right arm. "That' it. No more powers. For twenty four hours. Just like you." he stated, leaving the room to throw away the empty syringe.

He wasn't stupid. Even if she was handcuffed, he would never leave her close to such a dangerous weapon.
When he returned, he found her still with the same astonished expression on her face.

"You didn't expect this, did you?" he smiled, arranging the sleeves of his blue shirt, before shrugging on his beloved purple jacket.
"You can't have done that for real!" she snapped, proving to him for the umpteenth time her innate defiance. "As far as I know, you could have injected a banal flu vaccine!" she retorted.
"So you don't believe me, do you? Don't you think that, for once, I want to level playing fields? Put each other at the very same level? Don't you think I'm trying to establish a sort of connection with you?" he wondered, with a hint of disappointment in his tone.

"Nope!" was the girl's concise answer.
At the very end, he loved her even for that.

If his baby wanted to play, then they would have played.

He walked closer to her, once more, this time with the most threatening attitude he could muster.
A shiver went down Jessica's spine, but she played it cool.
He stared at her for a long time, with his big, mysterious, dark eyes, silently, in an almost hypnotic way; and then he spoke.

"Bite your tongue until you rip it out!" he ordered, almost seraphic.

Jessica's eyes were wide open with pure terror, that commandment was sadistic enough to be Killgrave's line.
This was before realizing something not so irrelevant.
She did not want to obey that terrible order. Not even remotely.

"But... it means that..." she babbled, still astonished.
"Do you believe me now?" he smiled, affably.
He tried to skim her cheek with the palm of his hand, but he was not so surprised when she promptly backed away, until she touched the wall with her bare shoulders.
It was still too soon.
Well, that wall was so cold, uneven, inhospitable, while his arms could have welcomed her in a war embra...
No way, Jessica Jones couldn't have these thoughts!

"Why the hell would you ever do such a thing?" she tried to put his shoulders against the wall.
It was meant figuratively, of course, since, at least for that moment, she couldn't move.
"To expose ourselves to each other." he sincerely answered. "Oh well, you're exposing so much of yourself right now!" he chuckled, glancing at her in full approval, with a sexy smirk.

Jessica recalled how underdressed she was and immediately blushed.

"Shut up, you, pervert bastard!"
"Easy with the words, darling. After all, who knows? I could start taking off some of my clothes, in order to make you feel less awkward!" he sneered.

"No way, you, filthy pig! Stay the hell away from me!" she growled, tugging violently at her handcuffs, lacerating the tender layer of skin on her wrists.
"Tsk, tsk. This way you'll only end up hurting yourself. " he massaged her wrists, confining himself only to watching her, without any witty remarks, without any double meaning, without any mask.

"No, Jess, please, believe me, I'm serious. I want to start it all over again with you. A new beginning. Something we have never tried to do. So far you've just met Killgrave; but what if I introduced you to Kevin Thompson? He can't order you to do anything, but he's a funny guy. Maybe he can make you laugh and spend a nice evening." he murmured, managing to steal a smile from her.

"Why don't you introduce me to Jessica? Not the bad-ass heroine who must always think about everybody ... I mean that girl who, under that hard exterior, has such a big, hidden fragility. Who thinks about her, who takes care of her? Why don't you tell me, hmm?"

For a moment, Jessica silently wondered if Killgrave had really deprived himself of his powers, because his words were certainly affecting her.
Perhaps, she thought, this must have been simply Kevin and the silver tongue he had been gifted with... from the very start
And that strange game he had triggered seemed so innocent and harmless. She was feeling more and more like she wanted to indulge it.
After all, she didn't have many alternatives. To try to break free and flee was just impossible without her powers. If she did, Killgrave, Kevin or any other role he was having fun playing in that moment wouldn't react very gently.
However, this situation was new and unique: Killgrave couldn't order her anything, at least for twenty four hours.

She didn't fear him anymore. It was a feeling she could get accustomed to very gladly.
After all, all her research of weeks prior had focused on Kevin's past.
Now she could have Kevin there with her for twenty four hours, without any interference from Killgrave. She could separate them and focus just on one of them.
At the very end, after a very twisted reasoning, she could consider Kevin the very first official victim of Killgrave's.
Why shouldn't she give him a chance?

"Did you rip your tongue out for real?" he giggled, snapping her out of the deep silence of her own thoughts.
"Okay. This twenty four hours of normality thing.... well now twenty three for me. I'm in." she replied, with cold and detached tone.
It was more than enough for him. He smiled at her.
"You won't regret it." he murmured.
"I'm already regretting it!" she snorted. "Also because I'm not exactly expecting such a great night. I seriously doubt that Kevin is going to take me out for dinner, right?" she added, with a little jerk at her handcuffs, in order to remind him what situation she was in.
"You underestimate me, Jessica!" he winked at her, disappearing once again.

It took him at least twenty minutes to come back, holding some take-away food bags.
"If you can't take the girl out for a dinner... take the dinner out to the girl!" he explained, drawing out several cardboard containers. "You like Chinese too, after all, don't you?"
"Just Chinese? Doesn't it remind you of... bad memories... of few nights ago?" she teased him.
"Of course it does, but memories are made to be replaced with more pleasant ones!" he shrugged, opening a portion of noodles with vegetables. "Yep it's true, I've ordered some food. But it's not that I've ordered-ordered it ... I just asked for it, paying the regular bill, as all normal people usually do" he pointed out, with an innocent expression.
A giggle escaped from Jessica's lips.
"You're right, I have to admit it: Kevin is a funny guy, he makes me laugh." she smiled at him.

"A guy you can trust. See?" he said, grabbing some noodles with the chopsticks and eating them in front of her. "Nothing poisoned. I am not you." he scoffed. He had used a calm and jovial tone, but he had thrown in a jab, clearly.

She didn't strike back, she knew it would be an exercise in futility. She preferred focusing on the food.

It was almost ten in the afternoon and she was almost starving.

"Fine, let's eat, then." she suggested. "There's not even a tiny chance that you're going to set me free in order to let me do that, is there?" she dared to ask, with a sugared tone, fluttering her Bambi eyes at him, an amazing composite of hazel and green.

But it didn't work with him.

"I'm sorry, but I can't trust you at that point, not yet. Even like this, without your powers, just holding a chopstick you could be extremely dangerous!" he justified, sitting on the bed again.
"Oh, you do know me!" she sneered.
"No one knows you better than I do, Jessica." he whispered, serious, without any games, and she said nothing.

"You're right. You're handcuffed, but you need to eat." he recapitulated, sitting up, with his back against the wall. He sat right beside her holding the little carton with the still steaming noodles and they smelled so good. "Let's see how we can solve the problem." he smiled, grabbing some noodles again with the chopsticks, but this time he brought them to girl's mouth.
"Oh, shit, are you really going to feed me?" she rolled her eyes, one of the few movements she was still allowed to do. "This sounds way too much like a first date!"
He chewed on the right corner of his upper lip, peering into her.
"What if it was? Would it be such a horrible thing?" he murmured, as he tried to feed her once more.
"I've had worse!" she gave in, with a little snort, before accepting his gentle offer, receptively.

Kevin was jealous of those chopsticks and of the way the girl's soft and full lips surrounded them, so lustily.
He didn't know if Jessica was doing that on purpose, but every mouthful was followed by her appreciative moans, as she closed her eyes to savour them better.

Just that simple vision made him feel like his haute couture trousers had become suddenly and unbearably tighter.
Just the thought of replacing those stupid chopsticks and that stupid food with something much more satisfying to him... ooh, that made him feel dizzy.
His Jessica.
He just had to be patient. If he had played his cards well, that vision wouldn't be so improbable.
And he was playing them extremely well.
Once they finished the first portion, sharing it as the good friends they had never been, Kevin got up.

"Hey! I'm still hungry!" the girl protested.
Maybe it wasn't only the food she demanded, but also his closeness.

She wouldn't have ever admitted it, not even under the cruellest tortures, but to have Kevin feed her had been a pleasant experience... and even highly sensual.
Something was wrong. Sensual?
The bastard probably put something weird in the food. She just couldn't and,more importantly, shouldn't feel that way about him.

"Oh, I know it very well, Jessica. I still recall how insatiable you are!" he made his umpteenth double entendre witty remark.

Besides, he stared at her in a way that caused her an unexpected reaction in her lower abdomen. It was a wave of heat he shouldn't have been able to kindle in any possible way.
In a certain sense, she was thankful to him that, beyond that oh so skimpy baby-doll, he had allowed her to still wear her black knickers.

She followed Kevin with her gaze, seeing him bend over something at the end of the room, something she hadn't noticed yet: a mini bar fridge.
"What kind of dinner would it be without anything to drink?" he said, drawing out a bottle she immediately recognized.

"Champagne? For poor, simple Chinese food?" she burst out laughing. "Oh, c'mon, it's such a waste!"
"Nothing is ever a waste with you. Never ever." he murmured with a silky voice, but he already knew he'd better change his strategy. "However, yes, I suppose you would have preferred some gross beer!" he added, dangling some cans in front of her.
"Big fan of gross here!" she smiled, while he walked back to the bed, opening a can and inclining it towards her, in order to make her drink and then he took a sip, too.
"C'mon, you fucking, snobby dude, admit it, it tastes good!" she made fun of him.
"I've had worse!" he stole her previous answer on purpose, making her laugh.

They resumed eating. It was the almond meal chicken turn, with which Kevin fed Jessica the same sexy way, just like with every other portion; until they reached the last Chinese curry shrimp left.
"Gimme it!" Jessica commanded.
"I don't see why I should. I reckon you ate enough." he played hard, taking the shrimp with the chopsticks and twisting it again and again, in front of his own eyes.
"Because you're keeping me imprisoned here... all weakened." she attempted to play the victim, with puppy eyes.

Kevin burst out laughing.

"Oh c'mon! I'm offering you such a better night than the one you would spend getting drunk in that dump you insist on calling office!" he hit a nerve.

"Jessy, Jessy, you'll have to be more convincing than that," he shook his head, amused, taking the shrimp and bringing it closer to the girl's mouth. "Show me how much you want it!" he teased her, holding the shrimp between his teeth, all along its length, leaning closer and closer to her.

Jessica attacked his mouth, stealing the precious prize from him.

She really enjoyed eating it, but then she made the mistake of glancing at Kevin and the pure electricity between their looks nullified the girl's rationality.
She was back on that mouth to bite, for a kiss that tasted both of curry and wild passion.
He preferred to play a passive role at the beginning, parting his lips and allowing her the access she was insistently demanding. He let her find again that familiarity of all the moments of intimacy that they had shared.
When he decided she had explored enough, he took an active role in their kiss, battling with the girl's tongue, passing his own on her palate, between her teeth, nibbling her lips.

He would have liked to cup her face with his hands - he was the one who could do that, after all – caress her hair, holding her tight; but he preferred them to remain in that condition of absolute evenness. He let only their mouths establish that passionate contact.

When they parted, he sneered, kissing the tip of her nose in way too affectionately.

"Baby, I guess we're ready for after dinner."

TBC