Jessica Jones
Heroes 
God didn't do this. The Devil did. And I'm going to find him.
Posts: 51 
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Post by Jessica Jones on Apr 30, 2017 22:27:38 GMT -5
1941
It was already dark when the late night showing of Dumbo was getting out, but Jessica Jones wasn't worried about getting Laura home safely. She never was. They were both under the protection of Artie Cade. More than that, they both had powers that meant that anyone trying to mug them basically signed their own death wish. Not that people around here didn't know Jessica's face already. She was well feared in this part of the city, and for good reason. Her reputation was brutal. Just brutal enough that no one would think twice that she was walking out of Disney's latest feature with a child. No one would dare laugh that she was babysitting Cade's newest addition.
For going on three years now, she had been Artie Cade's hitgirl and now for a year she had been a babysitter as well. For the first few months, it was rough making the adjustment. She was still not sure she wasn't being replaced by someone Artie could more easily protect and love more easily than someone ... well, someone with Jessica's baggage. But she was getting along better with Laura now. Something she didn't think she'd ever be able to say. She was glad she was, though. It was nice having a kid around again. She'd missed it, and she hadn't realized how much she'd missed it until Laura was in the picture. Maybe it was just what she needed to heal from her trauma. Who knows. All she knew now was she didn't feel her gut churn with frustration when Artie asked her to take Laura out to the movies anymore.
Jessica smiled, something she only really did for Laura anymore, and picked her up. The girl was twelve now, and hardly needed to be carried, but she always seemed to get a kick out of Jessica's super strength, and she did like to show off a little bit for what might as well have been her younger sister. She sat Laura up on her shoulder and held onto the younger girl's legs to keep her stable.
"So, what'd ya think of the movie, kid?" she asked, shoving her free hand casually in her pocket. "I mean, I don't know about you, but I kinda liked it. Those pink elephants are really going to mess with my head for days, though." She smirked up at Laura and turned the corner, walking casually down the street.
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on May 1, 2017 15:16:53 GMT -5
The twelve year old was unusually energetic tonight, not only had the film made her happy. the young girl having chosen to interpret the story as about a mutant finding acceptance, but Jessica had relented and let her have her own tub of popcorn and so she had more sugar in her system then she was used to.
As they walked, Laura held onto Jessica's hand and tapped out the rhythm to 'when I see an elephant fly' against the older girls wrist with one of her fingers. Laura had found the plays on words something to focus on and had been running the different puns over in her head comparing the different meanings. The movie had made her cry at the scene where Dumbo had to say goodbye to his Mother, but she had only been sitting next to Jess, one of the two people allowed to see her cry so that had not been so bad. The film had carried a happy ending all the same so it was not that bad regardless.
Jessica was Laura's only friend. Father had tried to introduce her to kids her own age, but to them Laura was either creepy or a bully or too quiet. depending on what mood they met her in, and how they acted around her. Meanwhile she usually found them too loud or with nothing in common with them. And naturally Artie accepted "I do not get along with them." as a reasonable complaint. So the result was Jessica, her babysitter/protector/more or less big sister. things had been awkward at first, which Laura chalked up to the fact she had been incredibly slow to like anyone that was not Artie in her first year of being in New York, but things were better now.
The little girl gave an excited noise when she was picked up and smiled at Jessica when she found herself sitting on her shoulder. Laura put her hand on Jessica's free shoulder to steady herself, appreciating and trusting the older girl to help just as much in that regard.
"i liked it!" she assessed easily. "I had formed an emotional attachment to Dumbo very quickly, and wanted to see things end well for him. it was good story telling." She laughed softly at the comment about the pink elephants and nodded rapidly. "is that you see when you and Father drink?" she asked, a mixture of interest and concern. "i will never drink. It can not be worth that." she promised with a firm resolution.
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Jessica Jones
Heroes
God didn't do this. The Devil did. And I'm going to find him.
Posts: 51
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Post by Jessica Jones on May 5, 2017 14:37:44 GMT -5
It did thrill Jessica to know that Laura liked the movie. When she'd had the idea to take her little sister out to a movie, she had no idea what a twelve year old would want to see. Not that Laura was a normal twelve year old, anyway. At the very least, she knew that Disney was a good, family friendly, sort of production company. She had good memories of Snow White when it came out, so why not Dumbo? And, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she did think Dumbo was a sweet and charming movie.
"Good!" She bounced her shoulder playfully as she walked, smirking up at Laura. "I'm glad you liked it, squirt. I think I liked it too." Though she had to laugh a little. "No, dad and I don't see pink elephants when we drink. Might be what I see now, thanks to Disney, but not normally." She smirked and whistled the Pink Elephants On Parade tune as they turned the corner.
As they got closer to home, she noticed an ice cream vendor, and stopped to get ice cream. Laura was already on a sugar rush, but she was the cool big sister, so she went ahead and got her an ice cream cone anyway. Laura's favorite flavor. Her own favorite flavor was mint chocolate chip, because she could drench it with chilled honey whiskey and it tasted amazing.
The vendor seemed surprised that such a small woman could carry a twelve year old on her shoulder with ease, but Jessica brushed it off by saying she worked out a lot, and left it at that. That seemed to satisfy his curiosity.
As they kept walking and as Jones at her ice cream, she glanced up at Laura. "So, The Wolf Man is coming out soon. You think you might wanna see that? Could be fun!" She almost had a sing-songy tone to her voice, kind of teasing Laura for her claws as only a big sister could. "I might even convince dad to come with us next time, too!"
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on May 26, 2017 17:58:53 GMT -5
The small girl gave a surprised squeak at being bounced, which turned to quiet laughter as she clung onto Jessica more tightly to stay on board. "Jessica! you almost dropped me!" she mock complained. it wasn't true in the slightest, and Laura was simply trying to goad her big sister into doing it again.
"Good. it would not have been as enjoyable if you had been stuck bored for the whole time. I am glad." she agreed before nodding as she took in the new information. "That makes sense. I am sure I would have noticed if alcohol was a hallucinogenic." she doubted the club would be as organised. or Father as capable of work.
Laura had already been plenty happy with how much she'd been treated to that evening, and so was as close as she ever got to beaming as they came away with the vendor, a cone of strawberry flavour in the hand not on Jessica's shoulder. Laura briefly considered the perfect angle she had that could drop some of the ice cold substance down the back of Jessica's neck as a joke. but thought better of it. For one the idea was something their Father would do, which usually meant it'd get everyone involved in trouble. but also it was a waste of ice cream and she wanted all of it to herself. "thank you Jessica." she said happily as she brushed such thoughts aside and licked at the cone, waving goodbye to the man at the stall as they left.
She hadn't been expecting another offer to get to go to the movies again so soon, and especially not something like The Wolf Man. even though Laura was a trained assassin it was hard for people to just accept her presence in movies classified as "not for children". which either Laura's glare, or Father reminding everyone he was still Artie Cade, usually corrected. but she understood the joke well enough to smile. "I am not a wolf." she insisted, even though she'd never been actually accused of such. Laura knew that tone enough to fill in the blanks. That conversation would go nowhere so she moved on. "but yes, I would be interested in seeing it. I hope we can."
There was a blatant uptake in excitement in her voice at the possibility Father would be able to come to. "you think you could?" she asked immediately. Laura loved it when Jessica and her did things just the two of them, and had on occasion made up excuses of why she had to stay just so her big sister needed to babysit. but there was so much fun to be had in watching a movie with Artie Cade. If a movie was bad, he would make it hilarious through calling out the parts he found the ost useless. if a movie was good he would wait until the movie was over before telling her the jokes he'd thought up so that he did not ruin the film for her by talking. "If we can I would like that a lot."
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Jessica Jones
Heroes
God didn't do this. The Devil did. And I'm going to find him.
Posts: 51
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Post by Jessica Jones on Jun 4, 2017 16:34:46 GMT -5
Jessica laughed, bouncing Laura again. What a sight the must have been a small, skinny girl carrying an even smaller girl on her shoulder like a parakeet. For all her talk of keeping her powers quiet until needed, she didn't seem to be too worried about people seeing her strength. After all, for now she was just being the fun big sister to little Laura. That's all that mattered right now. Not what people thought of them.
"Trust me, kiddo. If any kind of booze made me hallucinate, I wouldn't be drinking it." Though, she wasn't sure she wanted to explain why to her little sister. If liquor was hallucinogenic, she would have been more at risk for having the flashbacks she was only just now starting to get over. She didn't want Laura to see her like that. Artie had already seen her at her absolute worst, and that was bad enough.
Jessica looked up at Laura, smiling genuinely as she saw the smaller girl beaming. It warmed her heart to see her little sister so happy. She licked at her ice cream and bounced again, paying the man a healthy tip before moving on. Their father liked to supply Jessica with a hefty paycheck, but she never knew what to spend it on. As such, she tended to just give her money away to people that needed it.
As if on cue, they walked past a homeless man, sleeping under a pile of newspapers. She stopped, fished out a handful of cash, and gently woke him up. He blinked at her until he saw the cash in her outstretched hand. He froze, as if unsure if she was serious, but she quietly set it down for him and walked away.
Jessica continued eating her ice cream, playing it off like her act of charity was nothing, smirking up at Laura. "I'll see what I can tell dad to make him want to join us. I think it's his turn to owe me a favor, after all. So he should be more than willing to tag along."
She rounded a corner and saw, in the alleyway, a couple of people mugging a guy screaming for help. She wanted to help the poor man, but she had given up the hero life years ago. She was afraid that it would attract unwanted attention from people better off dead.
She looked up at Laura and twitched her head over toward the action.
"What do you think? Want to help the guy out?"
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Jun 26, 2017 17:43:49 GMT -5
Laura liked hearing her big sister laugh, it may have been hypocritical to hear coming from the rather moody child, but she knew Jessica hurt and it was good to see her seem to be genuinely happy. it was important for both of them to know the other was happy, and Laura was all the while subconsciously being shown how trying to improve herself might actually pay off, since hey Jessica was clearly able to do it.
The girl considered the new information, blissfully ignorant to the fact the real answer was far sadder then she could guess and just nodded. "I trust you. And I would not want to be unable to trust my own sense of sight either." She took a long lick of her ice-cream as she spoke, "It would probably give me increased paranoia." Laura worried about enough things that the idea of not being certain what she was looking at was indeed what she saw would be an added level of stress she would avoid like the plague.
The next bounce had, by intent or chance, been timed just as Laura was going for more Ice-cream and it bounced her just at the right moment for Laura to get a small amount of ice cream into her nose, and Laura yelped at the cold feeling, sniffing and snorting repeatedly to try and clear it.
"Jesssss!" she wined, not actually upset but more complaining just because she could. "that was your fault!" she turned her head away from them and any passing persons and gave one deep intake of breath and exhaled forcefully enough to clear her nostril. the bit of offending desert flying harmlessly off to the pavement. Not that Jessica could have seen that..... Laura smirked, and brushed her clean fingers along her ice cream just enough that when she then slid said fingers down the back of Jessica's neck it would feel legitimate. "there. wiped the mucus-cream off." she teased matter of fact-ly, waiting for the reaction she would get.
It made Laura feel strange to watch Jessica hand the money over to the homeless man. she went quiet as it all happened and just observed the interaction until they were moving away, only then did she twist enough to give the man a small wave goodbye. the still stunned man gave an equally small wave back to the child as he looked at the money with the same shock in his eyes. It made her feel strange because of the cognitive dissonance it caused in her. It was clearly a good thing to do, Laura understood the concept of charity perfectly well appreciated the decency in it. but doing that had not occurred to Laura for a moment even though she'd seen the man for as long as Jessica had.... possibly longer. And she didn't know why.
what she did know was how to think of her sister though. "you are a good person." Laura told her softly, thinking back to her own time homeless. "he will remember you fondly for a very long time." maybe a good person didn't deserve ice cream pretening to be snot down her neck. Laura felt a small wave of shame and leant down to tap her forehead against the top of Jessica's hair. "sorry for your neck. it was not really from my nose. I promise."
If Laura hoped to be able to do better, it was the perfect chance to make that statement when Jessica directed her towards the screaming man. it made sense to help him. he had done nothing wrong. the muggers were a danger to everyone in the city and would always be until they were stopped. Resolute, Laura's eyebrows met in the middle of her face as she started wolfing down the rest of her ice-cream as she considered things. the ally was narrow, cluttered. harder for them to get at the threats together.... or all at once.
Laura swallowed. wiped the back of her sleeve against her mouth and felt confident. "throw me at one of them. attack the other in the opening." she suggested without a trace of hesitation or joking. to her it was the perfect plan if one had super strength and the other could heal.
plus as Jessica was keen to remind her, Laura was a lot smaller then her.... for now. this should work.
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Jessica Jones
Heroes
God didn't do this. The Devil did. And I'm going to find him.
Posts: 51
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Post by Jessica Jones on Aug 27, 2017 16:49:45 GMT -5
Jessica spent a moment trying to strategize. Laura's suggestion to throw her at one of them was a good one. It would take them by surprise, at least. She could fly over to the second mugger and attack him. But she had to make something clear to Laura. Before they did anything, she had to lay down some ground rules.
"We're here to be the hero," she said. "We're not here to kill. We're here to save. No killing if you can help it. We're going to turn these punks into the police if we can."
She looked up at Laura to make sure she understood. "This is what we do when dad isn't around. We show mercy when it's possible. As long as you understand that."
With that, she lifted Laura with both hands and waited until she was ready.
When she was, she called out to get the muggers' attention.
"HEY CREEPS!"
They stopped what they were doing and looked at them, and they recognized the children of Artie Cade.
While they were busy being stunned, Jessica hurled Laura at one of them, and took flight in the direction of the second.
Her fists collided with the side of the man's head just hard enough to knock him away from the poor victim on the ground. He tried to recover and swing at her, but she kicked him off to the side and took a boxing stance like Artie showed her. She still relied on her strength instead of her skill, but she was getting better.
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X-23
Heroes
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
Posts: 120
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Post by X-23 on Sept 7, 2017 17:55:55 GMT -5
Laura didn't fully understand what Jessica was talking about. Killing these threats would make the city safer because there was zero chance they could ever hurt another person. and that was the entire reason they were doing this right? but then Jessica always acted so odd around the subject of death and Laura had learned not to argue with her about it.
For some bizarre reason, discussing the virtue of killing targets seemed to bother her big sister to hear. But Laura trusted Jess to know right from wrong better then she did herself. The homeless man hadn't been the first time she'd noted that. If this is what Jessica wanted there was no reason to deny her, this was not a situation where they were in enough danger to disagree. If there had been more men, or Laura thought there was any chance Jessica would be hurt or worse, Laura would ignore the instructions and go through them as fast as possible to keep her safe. However there was no chance of her insulting Jessica enough to say she was in danger from two random street punks.
"I will not kill them unless there is no other option." Laura promised, not understanding why that would make them a hero. or why they deserved mercy at all. but after that there was no time for contemplating philosophy as Jessica did indeed throw her.
whatever the mugger had expected to happen next, a flying, snarling, twelve year old was not it. In fact he was so bewildered by the sight he'd barely gotten his arms up to defend himself when she collided with him, flooring him from the impact alone even before Laura started to strike him with her tiny fists. If she had been allowed, Laura would have stabbed him once in the throat and that would have been the end of things. instead he was still conscious, but disorientated and in pain, when his head cracked the ally floor, and he lashed out swinging blindly at her to try and get the tiny hell spawn off of him.
Laura took the hit, her smaller body jolting off him from being hit by a full grown man. they got up at roughly the same time, him gesturing with his switchblade to try and scare the child off, while Laura rolled and came up in a crouched position near Jessica.
The girl only took her eyes off of her opponent to look up at Jessica and grin at her with a savage instinct. Then she moved, pouncing forwards to meet him, the man hadn't expected the kid to risk herself like this and clearly hesitated to attack a child even after all this, his stab was wide and lacked the furosity of someone committed to the killing blow, Laura was able to side step it with the ease of his weakness and her own training.
She popped the claws in her right fist and stabbed through the extended hand, twisting as the bone spikes tore through his flesh and muscle with ease. his knife fell from fingers now numb and twitching with spasm as she tore them free. the punk screamed and fell back, clutching his limb in horror.
he'd live. Laura was sure of that. The fact he might loose function in his hand never crossing her mind as failing to live up to the spirit of what Jessica had asked for. The target was no longer putting up a fight and alive. just like she was asked. Laura doubted he was going anywhere and turned to see if Jessica needed her aid.
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