When things started to break her boss decided to close the coffee shop and send everyone home, 42 could understand why her colleagues were afraid after all no one liked to get hurt however since she could count on her powers 42 decided ti take the longer way to her house and see a little ibt of the chaos.
it was funny, watching all of it she wasn’t sure what to do, Kat didn’t felt she should help however she also didn’t felt she should contribute to the chaos, it all felt like it was a picture and she didn’t belong, so she just kept walking till someone caught her attention.
it was strange however it seemed like the woman was talking with her, 42 didn’t knew who Miss Kovach was or why the city belonged to her, however talking with her seemed more interesting than the options she had before. “What if I don’t know what I want?”
Jenna turned slowly towards the woman who had spoken. The rest of the crowd seemed resistant, wary of her promises. This woman was the only one willing to voice her concerns, however. To get to the heart of the problem.
She signed, and Maajida translated, word for word. “I know what you want. You want vengeance. You want chaos. You want the world to hurt as you have been hurt, and I do not blame you. I understand it. I feel the same.” It was Maajida’s voice, but Jenna’s words, her spirit and her fire flowing through them. “But destruction and violence -- they are not the end. They are the means. The means to get what it is you truly desire. An end to the pain inside you. An end to the loss, to your suffering. You are all lost, but you don’t have to remain that way. Come with me, stand by my side, and I will give you what you really want. A family. A place to belong. I will own this city and give you all a piece of it. None of us will get what we want alone.”
Jenna stopped, walking down to stand in front of the woman. She smiled sweetly, reaching up to touch the side of her face for a long moment, before signing once more to Maajida. “Miss Kovach wants to know what your name is,” she said softly. “And she hopes that helped to answer your question.”
When you didn’t really have a side, any side could be yours.. And Wade was keen to see things from the thugs side. He leaned against a rather mean tough looking guy as he listened to the speech. He wasn’t sure if he should start a slow clap.. The embarrassment if nobody else joined in would have been enough to hurt his feelings, so instead he put his hand up like a kid in class and waited all of five seconds before he would ask what was on his mind “I only came here because of the promise of free tacos. Where’s the tacos, man?”
He attempted to get the criminals next to him to join in and demand food, but this seemed like a solo mission. “I’d also settle for a free shirt. I mean, my loyalty for a shirt. Is that too much to ask?”
Jenna arched a brow at the masked man. She exchanged a look with Maajida and then signed to her. “I’m afraid Miss Kovach isn’t terribly fond of clowns,” the woman translated for her, though Jenna had used much harsher language. “Why don’t you go amuse yourself elsewhere? Perhaps you’ll even find yourself a taco. For those looking for something more, you may follow us,” she announced to the crowd. “The heroes of this city will rise against you. They will try to take your freedom, what you have fought so hard to get. They stand against you because they don’t like the truth -- that some of us are powerful and some of us are weak, and the strong are meant to rule. So tell me! Are you strong, or are you weak? Will you give up your freedom without a fight?” The crowd yelled, screaming their desires, and Jenna soaked it in, keeping an eye on the strange masked man. If he proved too irksome, she could always kill him.
Lily grabbed the drink and took a sip. “You know your stuff.” She said very pleased with the drink, Lily normally didn’t cared about what drink it was or how it tasted as long it got the jog done. “Oswald knows, he even got me a raise for it.” She said, Oswald knew a lot about her he was one of the few people that knew about her background and he didn’t cared, he still liked to have her around. “There isn’t much to tell, I basic change myself into what i touch.” That was true but it was a pretty basically explanation about her powers. “How are things between you and my boss? Both of you have bars so I guess you’re not exactly friends.” And the other business of course.
Jenna shrugged. It was her business to know this stuff, had been long before she had to take over the family. She no longer had to prove herself, but it was useful for showing she was more than a mere child playing at being queen. “Interesting,” Maajida said, translating for Jenna’s hands. “So he treats you well then? If you ever want for anything, Miss Kovach is happy to oblige. She knows how difficult it can be for the gifted in this city, particularly those who don’t don a cape and try to glorify themselves with heroics.” Jenna scoffed lightly, Fisk’s annoyance at the vigilantes had rubbed off on her. She took a sip of her drink before answering Lily’s question. “On the contrary. Mr. Cobblepot showed his support very early on for Miss Kovach’s claim to this part of the city -- though she does have questions about where his true loyalties lie. He’s been known to be... duplicitous in the past.”
A woman’s touch was certainly an option that Wilson Fisk would agree with, though Jenna Kovach was not the woman that he would have intentionally picked. Vanessa. She was meant to rule this city by his side, but Matthew Murdock had ruined that chance. “You would have loved my Vanessa,” he mused. “She understood the possibilities of the city at her mercy.”
He spoke the name with the same solemn tone as he had offered his condolences for her mother. Jenna’s curiosity was piqued. ‘Your Vanessa. Who was she?’ she asked. ‘She sounds like a very powerful woman. It’s a shame I didn’t get the chance to meet her.’ Though it did save her one less rival to her throne.
As much as Loki was reveling in the chaos occurring all around, he would not have missed the sudden whistle from the young woman atop the bus, nor the proclamation which came from the woman with her. He could not help but be amused by such a speech. Who did that young woman think she was? He was the one who made grand pronouncements to the populace. Did she actually think that all of the criminals around her would listen to her?
“Oh indeed?” Loki said, sauntering closer, “This city belongs to her? That’s interesting. I do not believe I saw your name on it, my dear.” He smiled condescendingly. “You seem to have a very high opinion of yourself. What makes you think that these hooligans will listen to you? How is it that you have the means to give them whatever they want?” Loki knew there were humans who, through various dubious means, had gained a measure of power in the underworld of the city, but he would not have thought this young woman to be one of their ilk. How interesting.
Some of the prisoners and escapees ran off before Maajida had even finished her sentence. But others began to gather around, interested or curious, or looking to challenge her. The man who came forward, pale skin and dark, slicked back hair was the most vocal. Jenna smiled down at him.
“Miss Kovach doesn’t need to brand every building in order to assert her dominance,” Maajida answered, watching Jenna’s hands as she signed. “Nothing so blatant and destructive is necessary. Her ego doesn’t require ” Jenna trusted her to speak without further instruction -- to carry out the plan they’d already formed. She hopped down off the car and began to walk among the escapees, brushing against them, skin to skin, stroking a cheek here, touching a shoulder here. Her experiment with Fish’s remaining blood flowing through her veins had proven successful at controlling Dinah. She had no reason to doubt it wouldn’t work here too.
“What these people want is a family,” Maajida’s voice rang out, and already Jenna saw their eyes clouding over, going glassy and glazed. “A family they can count on. A family that can lead them to greatness,” she continued. Jenna stopped right in front of this mysterious man, and held her hand out towards him. “A family they would die for. Kill for,” Maajida said, and the command seized each person Jenna had touched. She pointed at the stranger, and nodded to them all.
They lunged forward, intent on killing this challenger to her power. He would understand just how foolish he was before he took his last breath.
The first thing Taskmaster had commented on when it came to Jess’s torture technique was that she talked too much. People tended to fill in the gaps when there was silence themselves. They filled them with far greater horrors than you could depict, because they were entirely personal, something that got to the very bones of them in a way that a torturer could never do, at least not with extensive profiling. Jenna, though, she didn’t have that issue, for obvious reasons. Still, there were a lot of other areas she could have fallen short when it came to intimidating this man, and she didn’t. She was a natural. Must run in the family, Jess mused, or maybe it was a born talent. She would bank on motivation, but this job was one Jess had brought to her only today – not enough to gain an attachment, even if Jenna was the consummate professional.
“Oh dear,” Jess commented lightly, looking down at the man on the floor, the pool of blood that began to form from his head, thick and nearly black against the concrete. Her heart was thudding so hard in her chest that she could feel it in her throat, but this wasn’t her first stint at undercover work. There was a reason she had chosen these targets in particular. “That’s gonna leave a stain.”
Jess began to push against the trolley, holding herself back so that it moved slowly across the concrete. It wasn’t too hard, considering the fact that she had just been through a fight and that she had never focused her ‘talents’ on lifting. Jess turned just as the doors opened, meeting Jenna’s eye, and without hesitation threw her a gun that she had taken from one of the guards on the way in. Force of habit, she told herself – but maybe a part of Jess always knew this was how it would end up. “How good are you with that thing?” Jess asked. She let off a venom blast, taking out three of the guards at the front, and then gestured back to the trolley. “I can get this to the car if you cover me.”
Jenna would’ve laughed if she could. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and there was a thrill she’d never felt before racing through her veins. She usually only felt this way when she was watching Fish at work, but getting to do it herself was something else entirely. It was safe to say she had a taste for this. She wondered if she would be able to put it all into words later, to tell Fish how it felt -- if she would even need to.
She was enjoying this job so much that when things started to go wrong, despite her sigh of irritation, she found herself sort of pleased. She snatched the gun out of the air, remembering Victor’s lessons. With a quick check of the ammo, she cocked the gun back and took aim at one of the guards. The shot went lower than she wanted, tearing through his shin instead of his kneecap, but it got the job done. He went down with a howl.
The more interesting thing was Jess’ hit -- whatever she did to make electricity fly from her fingertips. Jenna’s eyes widened, and she nodded, smirking wide. She rolled forward, dodging a few return shots from the guards and landed next to one of the unconscious electrocuted men. With one hand, she fired off her gun in quick succession, because cover fire needed to be constant, not necessarily perfectly aimed. Her other hand groped at the ground without looking until she closed in on the next one. When she ran out of ammo in the first gun, she swapped and kept firing. Another man went down, hit in the shoulder. Two more, both stomach shots. So far nothing immediately lethal, and then --
Bang!
Her shot went right between the man’s eyes. They were strangely blank as he fell back, the blood just a dark, wet puddle shimmering in the streetlight. There was only a handful of guards left, and Jenna quite suddenly didn’t care about any of them. Her eyes were transfixed on the man’s body, still and unmoving. He hadn’t even screamed, apart from the gun it had been completely silent.
Jenna was less than thrilled to see her city turned into a zoo. And yet, there was an opportunity at hand here -- she remembered the way her mother had gathered Arkham escapees and Dalmacher’s freaks into a fearsome family, the start of her rebirth. She intended to do the same. Her people were out spreading the word through the underworld -- Raft and Arkham escapees were welcome at Vortex, no matter their crimes. Whether they were seeking stability or revenge, she intended to add them to her list of allies.
With her bodyguards and Maajida by her side, she went out into the chaos. It was as if a riot had broken out, windows were smashed, people were screaming, and smoke hung thick in the air. Cars were overturned, and even a bus had suffered a similar fate. Jenna climbed on top of the bus and placed her fingers between her lips, making one of the few noises left to her -- a long, shrill whistle, to catch the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
She motioned for Maajida to begin the speech they had prepared. “Welcome to the city!” Maajida announced. “Some of you floated here from far away, some of you are returning home, and some of you are here for the first time. Miss Kovach welcomes you all,” she said, gesturing to Jenna. “This city belongs to her, and as such, it is she who opens her arms to you. Stand with us, and you will have everything you want. All she asks for is your loyalty.”
Before she could say anything else someone helped her stand up, which she was thankful for the help since it would be hard to stand up trying to hide one hand and fucos to make sure it didn’t happen with the other one. The room was impressive and red was one of her favorite color, but the best thing inside the room was by far the alcohol. “I’m not picky, anything strong is good.” She said smiling at the quiet girl when she said it was free of charge. “That’s very nice of you, thanks.” And of course they had notice her hand that still looked like the floor. “Yes, I’m the best bartender that place or any pace has.” She said, Lily was proud of her job as a bartender and as a Oswald personal bodyguard but since the woman didn’t knew that she decided not to share that information. “I remember you, that time you wrote on a napkin for us to talk.” taking a sit next to her Lily placed her hand on her lap. “Yep, but is a hard power to control, sometimes it has a mind of his own.” She said before looking at her. “As well?” She asked
Jenna nodded, and went for one of the top shelf scotches -- plenty strong, and probably a treat for the girl. She couldn’t imagine Oswald paid all that well, and a bartender would certainly know her liquors. “This time, Miss Kovach has other options available to her,” Maajida said, as Jenna walked over with the drinks. She took a sip of her wine before signing again. “Miss Kovach is curious about your abilities. Does Oswald know about them?” she asked. “Miss Kovach has some special skills of her own, nothing to be concerned about,” Maajida assured Lily. Jenna picked up her phone and sent an order to the chef. “The food will be here very shortly,” Maajida explained for her. “Why don’t you tell us more about yourself while we wait?”
Gamora smiled faintly. The memories she had of the other Guardians – even the ones that weren’t perfect – they were good. Better than the ones she had with Thanos and Nebula. But she could see what Jenna was doing, the way she moved, the way she walked, the way she presented herself. Gamora was no stranger to being sized up, to people looking at her and wondering just what she was thinking. Gamora wasn’t intimidated, and while she respected Jenna, she wasn’t intimidated by her either. The young woman had a presence but it wasn’t like the suppressing one that Thanos had. (But perhaps Gamora’s inability to be intimidated was exactly why Jenna allowed her extended presence at Vortex).
“The planets that consider me one… they shouldn’t,” Gamora confessed. Was it her being humble? Perhaps – but the only reason she had been around was because of dumb luck… or money. Which was the reason that Gamora had sought out Jenna, for money. “We’re called, the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Gamora said. The title, the name, it sounded strange – pretentious even. Like the way that Peter introduced himself as Starlord and expected people to know who he was. “The title, it protected us for the most part – no one wants to kill a Guardian. But in simple practice, the Guardians, all of us, are for hire.” There were limits to what they were willing to do (but most of them were vague). “So what you’re looking for are… heroes for hire?” It was a joke – or at least an attempt at one.
Gamora had fascinated her right from the beginning. There was a strength in her, a fierce independent streak -- and yet she seemed so desperate for company and so reluctant to admit that. There were a dozen half-baked crime lords looking for good foot-soldiers in this city, Gamora could’ve chosen any one of them. But she had come to Jenna, who didn’t run a gang or a mafia or a mob. She was in charge of a family.
‘why not?’ she wrote, turning the notebook so Gamora could see it. Gamora was a woman of few words among most others, but around Jenna she seemed willing to fill in the silence. The Guardians of the Galaxy -- it was a grand title, a little over-dramatic for her taste. But she could understand the appeal. Heroes for hire... It was an interesting concept, but Jenna shook her head, smirking lightly at her associate. ‘im looking for people who need a family. who would be willing to die for it, once they found one,’ she wrote. Then, underneath she added to it. ‘but ill settle for paying for protection. there are a lot of enemies out there. what about u? what are u looking for? u must have come to this planet for a reason.’
Jemma could work under pressure. That wasn’t an issue. She worked under pressure all of the time and she strove for perfection. Anything less wasn’t good enough. However, working under pressure and having a knife pressed into her back were two different things. Her hands shook slightly as she did her work, trying her best to give this girl the results shew as looking for. She cleared her throat when they were interrupted and she smiled at the lab tech who entered. “I am extremely busy. Could you just leave the spreadsheet and go? Thank you,” Jemma murmured, her tone leaving no room for the lab tech to question. The man did as she said and left quickly. Jemma continued to work on figuring out the compounds, stopping when she was sure she had an answer. She scribbled down the components on a piece of paper. “This is what you need.”
The man in the lab coat seemed confused, but clearly Jemma held some power here. He obeyed her without question, and quickly scampered away, casting Jenna one last curious look. ‘Impressive,’ she typed, pulling the knife away from Jemma’s back. She wondered if the scientist even noticed -- she seemed utterly immersed in her work. Good. That’s what Jenna needed. And finally, her patience was rewarded. She snatched the paper looking it over. A list of ingredients, compounds, all the necessary trappings for Vydrate. ‘Thank you,’ she typed on her phone, stowing the list carefully away. ‘If this is some kind of trick, I’ll be in touch,’ she promised, smirking at Jemma. ‘And I would keep this little visit to yourself. If agents come knocking at my door, I’ll have to come knocking at yours,’ she warned, before sauntering out of the lab.
Jenna: She checked her watch. 12:16. The bomb would already be tearing that building apart, along with the bird, the idiot, and whatever proxy Jeremiah had decided to send in his place. Coward.
She knew he had not gone himself. Because she was watching him right now. The Vydrate she'd taken had made her invisible, and that was all she needed to get past his meager security. She'd waited until the explosion – she wanted to be sure that no reinforcements were on their way.
Nothing would save the clown tonight.
Jeremiah: Jeremiah poured himself another glass of scotch, his eyes on the many monitors he had set up in the living room. Ever since Sofia stopped living in the townhouse with him, it started looking far more like his old Bunker. Multiple monitors, papers stacked every which way. Books, scrape metal from creating Eve. The only things that remained from Sofia's time there was her candle collection and the record she got him, which he didn't really have the heart to remove. Many of the candles were lit currently, lighting the room up in an orange glow. The record Sofia got him playing in the background.
As he watched the monitors but his mind wasn't truly on the so-called danger Jenna posed to him. Rather, it was on Sofia and Jerome. His brother whom, he couldn't seem to get in contact with. Oddly enough, he worried for her, much more than he did himself. To the point where he didn't hear the footsteps as someone else snuck their way into his living room.
Jenna: The candlelight cast an eerie glow throughout the whole room. Jenna found herself appreciating it – it was like mood lighting. Music was coming from somewhere, faint and distant, but loud enough to mask her footsteps as she crept up behind him.
The knife was already in her hand. A gift from Fish for Jenna's last birthday. It seemed fitting. Like Jenna was merely a vessel, her mother taking her own revenge. She had taught Jenna when to get her hands dirty. When to strike. She wished more than ever she had a voice, so she could whisper to the clown right before she drove the knife in.
She would just have to settle for watching him bleed out.
With his back to her, it was almost too easy. She was right behind him now. The moment she'd waited so long for was finally here. She held her breath – and drove the knife into his back. She'd been practicing with Vydrate long enough to know how to control the powers it gave her, and she allowed herself to become visible again. She spun him around, and stabbed him again, right in the stomach.
Smirking at him, she pressed a finger to her lips. She kept the knife buried in his gut while her free hand pulled a handwritten note from her pocket and unfolded it before his eyes. 'I get the last laugh.'
Jeremiah: He'd prepared himself. After hearing from Oliver that the little wench wanted his head, the man couldn't exactly take risks. Underneath his suit, he was wearing something Ecco had given him. A hard vest. Something that make take a few bullets should someone mistakenly not aim for his head. It was never his style to be unprepared, but he was beginning to think his efforts would be wasted. Jeremiah was disappointed. He didn't see the little girl anywhere. At least, not on his live footage, and he knew what it looked like when someone hacked it.
Just then, he felt a sharp pain in his back and let out a surprised gasp. Just as swiftly, he was spun around and he saw her. He couldn't help but feel impressed. Admittedly, the man had underestimated the little creature. "Oh, you are silent, aren't you..." He purred before he felt it again. Another stab. Hard enough that he could feel it push it's way through the dense protective fabric and right into his sensitive flesh. The pain was... almost a relief. Most of the time he felt nothing. Nothing unless he was with Sofia, and for weeks he'd been so alone. Now... now there was something.
He blinked a bit, eyeing the woman's note before his lips twisted into a bright white smile. "Can you even laugh?!" He got out the joke. Letting out a pained chuckle as he stared deep into her eyes. Moving his hands to grab at the knife. "You know, you... you should be grateful. Killing Fish, as much as it was for me... it- it was also a gift. For you. You wouldn't have any of this if I didn't kill your mother."
Jenna: Her face clouded over, and her eyes went wild with rage. She ripped the knife out of his hands and threw him to the floor. She couldn't laugh, but she could scream with fury. He hadn't given her anything, none of this was because of him. It was because of Fish.
Fish had taught her everything she knew about survival. About power. About pain. Fish had given her the tools and the knowledge to survive even after she was gone. That was what a real mother did. That was a true gift. This clown wouldn't understand anything about it, wouldn't understand love.
She shook her head slowly, and placed a foot on his chest. No. He hadn't given her anything but pain and suffering and loss. It was his turn to lose. She bent down and stabbed him once more, with as much force as she could muster.
Jeremiah: She tore the knife out of him and all he could do was gasp before he hit the ground. His back slamming against the hardwood floor, he could feel another rush of pain and he couldn't help but let out a small moan. She pressed her foot down against his chest and Jeremiah reached up and wrapped his hands around her small leg. The vivid memory of him smashing it with a crowbar coming to mind. The delightful crack of her bone. He'd love to have that chance again. Instead he just squeezed at her flesh tightly, hoping to leave a few marks.
"What's a matter?" He whispered, "You don't like what I've given you? Hmn? I've- I've given you freedom. You would have been her little bitch for years and years, if I hadn't of- " He wasn't able to finish his sentence this time. Instead the blade cut him off and for the first time, he let out a pained sound. Close to a scream, before quickly containing himself. "Trust me... hmn. You may have loved her now... but she just would have disappointed you later. Left you. Hurt you. Threatened to... k-kill you. Fish wasn't capable of loving you back."
Jenna: Finally. That scream of pain from his lips was everything she hoped it would be. She wanted to hear more, wanted to rip those sounds from his lips to make up for all the sounds he'd taken from her. She had come to terms with losing her own voice long ago, but he had taken Fish's voice. The only voice that had never lied to her, never betrayed her, never left her. He was wrong. He didn't know what love was, because no one loved him, but Fish had loved her. And he had stolen that love away.
She reached down and roughly tilted his head up, staring coldly into his eyes. She pressed the knife to his throat. All it would take is one simple cut, one slice, and he wouldn't ever take anything from her again. Not her territory. Not her friends. Not her family.
But no.
She pulled the knife back, and instead stabbed once more in his stomach. She wanted it to be slow. She wanted him to suffer. He didn't deserve a clean death, not after what he'd done. The hole he'd left in her life. The torture he'd put her through, before that. His death would send a message to the entire city. She would not allow charlatans to threaten her throne. And disrespect would be punished.
So she just stood up, his grip on her pathetically weak. She wiped the blood on his legs, and stowed the knife away. Tilting her head as she looked down at him, she shook her head. She pointed a finger at him, right at his chest, where a heart should have been. Fish was more than capable of love. She remembered the way they'd hugged when Jenna returned from SHIELD. The way she'd come back for her when Jeremiah kidnapped her. How tenderly Fish had spoken when Kilgrave had taken her under control. Fish had loved her. But him? He wasn't capable of love, and he knew it.
Jeremiah: He let out a pained breath when she forcefully moved his chin back, exposing his neck more. Feeling the sharp blade against his skin, Jeremiah didn't break eye contact with her. He didn't fight it, instead he slowly moved his head to expose a little more of his throat. As if he was daring her to do it. He wasn't scared of death. He was close to it before. Drowning in a vat of acid. That moment of peace. Of acceptance once he stopped fighting it. The relief of all those emotions, of all his fear, fading away. He wouldn't be losing much this time. The only thing he felt right now was pain. Death could come for him and he'd be fine with it. He'd done enough, seen enough. Besides, if the world wasn't done with him. He'd just come back. Valeskas never died after all.
But she didn't end it. She was taunting him. He glanced at her as she pulled away and in that moment, gave her a little smile. Understanding her in an instant. She wanted him to suffer. To be tortured, the way she was when his men beat her. She stabbed him again and he let out another sharp gasp at the feeling of it. He wasn't quite used to it yet. That sensation of being stabbed, and he was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. Lightheaded. His grip on her was loosening and he placed his head down against the ground again. It felt like he was on fire.
He hardly registered when she pulled back, standing back up. Giving her another few, weak chuckles. If only out of spite. To rub it in that he technically would have the last laugh. Because she couldn't. She leaned over him again and he felt her finger against his chest. Everything was becoming a little too much for him all at once, too much that he couldn't really even think about what she was trying to say to him now. It was all just slipping away from him, far too quick. His pale eyes rolled to the back of his skull. Still partially open by the time he went far too still.
Jenna: Get your laughs in now, she thought, smirking at him. He would only have a few minutes left at most by her calculations. How many times had she stabbed him? She'd lost count. It didn't matter. All this ugliness was finally coming to an end. She watched his eyes finally break away from hers, rolling backwards though the lids remained open and then finally – finally he was still. Jenna stood up, slipping the knife back into her waist. She could truly take her throne now. Fish was avenged, and she had ended this war.
Eve: She ran as fast as she could to the townhouse. Oliver's warning had made it clear she had no time to waste on repairs. From what she could tell, nearly all her internal systems were damaged, her internal sensors were not working properly. The only system that seemed intact were her emotional processors – and they were clouded with fear, pumping it through her circuits, making her think dangerous and wild things.
The door was open when she arrived. "Master Jeremiah!" she called out desperately. She tore through, searching every room. Only when she reached the living room did she see him – and her mouth fell open.
He was still, so still. His eyes only partially open, and he was sitting in a pool of his own blood. It shone eerily in the candlelight. Eve knew she was meant to have emergency protocols for this situation, but she could not recall them. Could not activate them. She was broken, and he was –
"No!" she screamed, and against every logical impulse, she turned and ran away. She could not face it. Could not even name it. The man who had given her life, laying dead on the floor – it was too much to bear.
“I don’t like that phrasing if I’m honest but I’ll let it go, this time” Nora commented. “I don’t need her either, or anyone else for that matter” she said with a small shrug. “Though, and do correct me if I’m wrong, you need allies no? I don’t know how this thing works, where I’m from organised crime isn’t much of a thing anymore” it was hard to be a criminal when ARGUS had turned it into a police state. “Did Fish tell you what I can do?”
Jenna arched a brow. She would let it go? It was amusing that this woman thought she had any sort of power here, any sort of right to determine what would be allowed or not. “Allies, yes,” Maajida said, watching Jenna sign. “But Miss Kovach doesn’t see how you could be useful. This is a trying time for our family, and we don’t have time to deal with you. You’ll be allowed a few days to move out, but that is all we can give you. But please,” she said, as Jenna smirked. “Indulge us, if you wish. Show us what you can do.”
Jemma was a terrible liar, that much was obvious. It was one of the things she had never quite mastered. However, she also had never quite learned when to keep her mouth shut. It always came back to bite her in the ass and it was in that form when the girl put the gun away and pressed a knife into her back. The scientist gulped, a sense of dread building in her stomach. While she was terrified, she was more scared that someone would walk in and get hurt. She’d rather get hurt than one of her friends. Jemma continued to work quietly, studying the contents of the vial before leaning over and scribbling a few notes.
She tried to be patient. She knew something like this took time to get right. But she was eager to get the formula perfected, to get her hands on the power Vydrate could offer without having to go to that man. She checked the time on her phone, sighing irritably -- and then the door opened. “Simmons!” a voice called. “I’ve got that spreadsheet you asked for -- oh,” the man said as he rounded the corner and saw them. “You busy? Who’s this?” he asked, smiling at Jenna. Jenna smiled back, even as the tip of her knife dug into Jemma’s back.
Lily wasn’t sure if she preferred if someone had punched her or not, passing out was her own fault and it was a little bit embarrassing, and if was her fault she couldn’t blame on anyone else. “Can’t get mad at myself.” she spoke getting back to herself, her eyes adjusting to the light. “That’s very kind of you.” She said smiling at the girl. “I’m sure it wasn’t a big deal, I probable just need to eat something.” She said, when she looked at her hand it had shifted to the same material as the floor, she placed her hand behind her back hoping no one had notice. “But i won’t refuse a private room.” She needed a place quiet to get her powers under control
She was surprised to see that she recognized the girl. The bartender from Oswald’s club. She could be a useful source of information, if coaxed properly. Jenna couldn’t very well leave someone passed out on her club floor either -- it was bad for business. But she didn’t sign that part. Instead, she was watching the floor, the girl’s hand changing to match it. Jenna arched a brow. “Miss Kovach can have a meal brought to the room as well,” Maajida assured the girl, as Jenna motioned for her men to help Lily stand up. “Right this way,” Maajida said, leading the way. Jenna walked beside Lily, opening the door to the private room with a key attached to her wrist. It was a luxurious room, this one done up in red decor. A deep crimson couch stretched all the way around the back, and there was of course, a fine selection of liquors and wine on a shelf in the back. Jenna walked over and poured herself a drink. “What can we get for you? Our chef is capable of making most anything,” Maajida continued to talk, without needing prompting from Jenna. She turned over her shoulder and motioned towards the drinks, holding up an empty glass. “And you are welcome to anything in here, free of charge,” Maajida translated the unspoken question. Jenna settled herself onto the couch, and sipped her wine before signing once more. “Miss Kovach recognizes you. You work at the Iceberg, correct? She didn’t realize that you were gifted as well.”
She took a moment to consider his proposal. Killing in cold blood, he knew, was a harsh proposition. A true test of the extent of her conviction. He too had once been a scared little boy, too afraid to do what was necessary. Jenna Kovich was not a scared little girl though. She nodded and Wilson Fisk could see the steel behind her agreement. ‘I once sent my enemy the headless body of his traitorous brother as an example. You do not need to do so dramatic. You know your people. Do what it will take for them to understand. You are in control now.’
Jenna, far from being horrified, lit up at the idea. It was beautiful, poetic, almost movie-like in its terror, and something in her loved it. ‘They are not my people yet. Not all of them,’ she signed. ‘But they will be. Sometimes, a mother has to be hard on her family, does she not?’ She liked the way that looked, you are in control now. It made her heart thump in her chest, and she nodded. ‘Say that out loud,’ she signed, wanting to hear the words, wanting to savor them. She had lost so much recently, had suffered and been tortured -- but she was in control now.
There was something about a fight where the odds, at least on the outside, were entirely stacked against the good guys. In this case, Jess wasn’t entirely convinced that epithet applied to her, but there was another reason she had wanted to be the one to distract them. Jenna was young, but Jess had been young too, when she was in Hydra. She didn’t know what lengths the girl would go to if she felt threatened, whereas she did know that she was entirely in control of herself. More than ten guards came forward, some with tasers, others with guns, yet more with truncheons, and Jess cracked her knuckles before getting to work.
“Whoops! Missed!” Jess called out when the first guard took a swing for her, ducking underneath him and through his legs so she could deliver a quick uppercut to the boy behind him on her way back to her feet. “Guys, we could really talk about this! I promise, if you gave me five minutes it would be really fun for you! I have these nifty pheromones, it would be the best-”
None of them, predictably enough, were interested in Jess’s words, but luckily they managed to block out the clattering behind them, audible only to Jess’s enhanced hearing. Before that, Jenna had made no noise whatsoever – impressive, not that Jess had expected less, but still interesting to confirm for definite. “I thought we had a real spark!” That statement was punctuated, as per usual, with a quick venom blast to three of the guards in turn.
Jess sighed, pushing her hair out of her face, looking at the unconscious bodies strewn around her. She ran into the room adjacent, catching sight of Jenna just as the girl took out a blade. Well shit. “We gotta make this fast. I dealt with the first wave, but we’ve lost the element of surprise.” Jess looked down at the scientist, raising an eyebrow, not that you could tell under her mask. “You got this?” Jess asked Jenna.
The scientist stared at her with wide eyes. “You -- you’re just a kid!” he whispered. Even a mask couldn’t hide that much, but Jenna felt her blood boil. “You shouldn’t be here, you should --” Before he could finish his sentence, Jess burst through the door. Jenna looked to her, and nodded, pointing at the man and rolling her eyes. He was a coward, and cowards were easy to control.
She walked towards the desk and knelt down. For a long moment, she just toyed with the knife. She thought about jabbing it forward, just taking his eye for herself -- but Jess said they were running out of time. Her wounded pride would have to wait. She pointed the knife at his chest, and then back at the retinal scanner behind her. She drew the blade across her own throat, making it clear the consequences for hesitating. Then she grabbed him and yanked him out from under the desk, kicking him towards the panel. “I’m going, I’m going!” he said desperately.
He scrambled to his feet, Jenna’s knife at his back. She guided his head forward until the scanner beeped, opening the door. Jenna smiled sweetly and signed thank you -- before slamming the butt of the knife against his temple. He crumpled to the floor.
She turned towards Jess, nodded towards the trolley. This thing was damned heavy, it would go faster with them both pushing. But just as Jess had warned, they’d lost the element of surprise. As the bay doors opened, it revealed a dozen or so armed guards staring back at them. Jenna sighed irritably, glancing back at Jess. Her knife wouldn’t do much good here, so she made a gun with her fingers and held out her other hand, hoping the woman had a weapon to share.
