Chapter Text
Matt couldn’t remember ever having a friend like Jessica Jones. He knew what it was like to be close with people, after all he had always been blessed to have people in his life like “Battlin” Jack Murdock, or Fiona, or Lip, or Ian, however those were connections made through family ties. Now that is not an attempt to downplay those connections. Mathew knew he would not be who he was without them, but they didn’t really count as "friendships". They were their own separate category, and the future lawyer loved separating things into categories.
Which brought Matt to Jessica Jones. To his eternal surprise the strange girl with a “too cool for you” attitude had gone out of her way before her and her family went back to New York to ask him for his phone number and email address so that they could stay in contact. Matt assumed this was just a formality. Just like Fiona telling boring guys “oh wow this was so fun! We should do this again some time!”, while having absolutely zero intention of ever seeing this man again. However Jones emailed him as soon as she got back to New York, (something that took Matt over a week to figure out because the only way he could check his email was at the community center) and their communication only continued from there.Evolving in texts and phone calls that lasted hours. However no one who listened would have mistaken this for a phone call between a boyfriend and girlfriend.
“Eat a dick Murdock.” Jones snapped over the phone.
“Listen I’m just saying that with my senses and agility I would be able to dodge any punch you threw.” Matt defended.
“You can do all the ninja flips you want(which I still believe is bullshit by the way) but the second I tag you the fight is over.” Jessica argued. “I don’t care what you say I would so win a fight between us.”
“You would never “tag me” Jones.”
“Murdock if it came down to it I would hit you so hard that you’d be able to see again.”
At this Murdock let out a belly laugh. “Bitch.”
“Jackass.” Jones said with a hint of a smile on her face. Changing the topic she said, “So what's new with you Murdock? You chasing after any wild women?”
“Any wild women”?” Matt said. “How old are you Jones?”
“Answer the question Murdock.” Jones sighed. “Dorothy has been killing me. She wants me to become Trish’s sidekick or some shit so she has stuck me in all these horrible acting classes. Do you want
to know what's interesting about theater kids, Murdock?”
“What Jones?”
“Nothing!” Jones snapped. “Not a goddamn thing! I swear the next time someone tells me that “Brittany only got the part because she slept their way to the top” or “Steven’s vest is so tacky, who does he think he’s impressing?” I’m gonna snap those skinny bitches in half.”
“What are you talking about, don't you love drama? Isn’t your dream to be a PI?”
“I love secrets.” Jones said adamantly. Matt could almost picture stamping her foot on the ground in frustration. “I love seeing things that I’m not supposed to and finding things out that no one knows. But these people know everything about each other, there are literally no secrets left to find because they can’t shut their mouths. I need some good old Southside action, something that is morally ambiguous while also being hilarious.”
“What do you think we get up to over here?” Matt scoffed. “We’re not some secret crime family, we have the same family stories you do.”
“Murdock the day we met you were having a bonfire to get rid of the bedbugs in your neighbors furniture.”
“Yeah and?”
“Just tell me about your week you dork.” Jessica pinched her nose. Then, almost like the word was pulled out of her mouth with a pair of pliers she added “...please.”
Matt’s eyes widened. “My God you are bored.”
“Get on with the story Murdock.”
“There is no story!” Matt defended. “I went and panhandled in front of the Bean but that's it. Nothing fun happened then.”
“Really,” Jessica said, clearly not buying it. “You panhandled in front of the Bean, one of the most popular places in all of Chicago and nothing of interest happened to you? You didn’t see a fight?”
“No fights.”
“You didn’t get talked to by the cops?”
“One did but he’s an old friend so he was pretty lenient.” Matt admitted. “The Chicago PD doesn’t think it would be a good look if they were seen harassing a blind kid.”
“Pun intended?”
“How is that a pun? The fact that I’m blind doesn’t mean that it's a pun to mention how something wouldn’t be a “good look”.”
“Get bent Murdock. Excuse me for trying to have a little fun.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “You meet any girls there?”
“...”
“Oooh what's her name?” Jessica laughed.
“Let it lie, Jones.”
“Come on Murdock you gotta give me something here.” Jessica pleaded. “Whats her name? What did you guys talk about? How’d you meet? You don’t have to answer all of them, just one will work.”
“Fine.” Matt sighed. If this would get her off his back about this then he was all for it. “We talked about how we both want to be lawyers some day.”
“Ok…” Jessica trailed off and Matt immediately knew he had made a mistake. Because Jessica Jones was a genius when it came to stuff like this. “Ok, so that means you probably met her while you were panhandling. Because I bet her parents walked up to you to make a big deal about how “kind” and “generous” they are while trying to teach their future first women president the importance of giving back to the “less fortunate”. No offense Murdock.”
“None taken Jones.”
“And while doing that they asked what you were going to use that donation for, and I would wager good money that you turned on the charm, flashed your biggest smile and proudly said “I want to go to Law School!” and those walking talking moneybags probably ate that shit up.”
“First,” Matt cut in, “I had my brother write a sign that said “College Fund” so that was where the topic of school came from.”
“No correction on the money bags comment though?”
“...”
Jones laughed. “Anyway, I bet the little miss princess thought she was in a rom-com or something. “Here is a guy from the wrong side of the tracks but he also has the same passion that I do. Oh it's meant to be.” So she sneaks away from her parents the first chance she gets and talks to you. How am I doing so far?”
“Not bad.” Matt sighed. “Her name is Jen by the way.”
“Jen what?”
“Does it matter?” Matt asked, his voice breaking a little. “I’m never going to see her again.”
For once Jessica was silent. A solid three seconds went by without one snarky comment. It's a new world record. “What is her name Murdock?”
Seeing no point in arguing he said. “Jen Walters.”
“Jen Walters…do you know if Jen is short for Jennifer or is it something else?”
“I’m assuming Jennifer but I could be wrong.”
There was a faint scribbling sound and then Jessica said. “Give me 24 hours.” and hung up the phone.
“24 hours for what?” Matt asked, growing more panicked he yelled. “Jones give you 24 hours to do what?” but there was no answer. Matt angrily redialed and waited for someone to answer. When someone picked up he said, “24 hours for what?”
“Matthew is that you?” Jones’s sister Trish asked as she picked up the phone. “What did you do to Jessica? She ran out of here yelling “I have a case again” and then literally flew away.”
“Jesus Christ.” Matt ran his hand across his face. Despite all the weird shit he had faced in his life, nothing scared him more than Jessica Jones trying to track down the cute girl from the park. “Listen,
when she comes down, both metaphorically and literally, tell her to let it go. Can you do that?”
“I’ll try.” Trish sounded like she was trying not to laugh. “But I can’t promise anything. You know how stubborn she can be.”
“Just try for me, please.”
“Of course Matthew, I’ll do my best.”
The two made small talk for a little bit longer and hung up the phone. Matt fell back onto his bed and shook his head. “Jones…what are you up to?”
***
The first thing any real detective knows is to leave their feelings behind whenever they are working a case.When a person is off the clock they are free to have as many feelings as they want, but when a case starts a good detective knows to leave those feelings for dead. Because feelings mess with your intuition,they cloud your judgment, make you see things that aren’t there or hide things from you that are there.
So like any good detective Jessica Jones shut parts of herself down as soon as the case began. The things that would interfere with her ability to find out what she needed to know, despite how loudly they complained and railed against what Jessican was trying to do. It wasn't that she had feelings for Murdock per say, she was aware that beyond Trish she really didn’t have any friends to speak of, and that Murdock was an objectively attractive individual, and that he was the only one who really understood what it was like to be different like she was…
“Focus Jones.” She growled and got back to work. She knew what was going on. She knew it was just a crush and that if she put herself out there at all she would find someone else besides Murdock.
However she didn’t really want to put herself out there, she was fine where she was, and Murdock was just a friend anyway right?
Jessica Jones was currently in the New York Public Library with her face buried in a computer screen, working the case as best as she could. As far as leads go “Jennifer Walters who recently visited Chicago” is a pretty bad one, but far from impossible to work with. If Jessica was a character in an old school detective novel then she would pour over birth records and marriage certificates to find any Walters family that had a daughter named Jennifer. However this was not an old school detective novel, the world had changed dramatically since then in a way that almost no one completely understood, and that would continue to grow and evolve at such a rate that no one ever would.
The source of this change was a little invention called “Social Media”.
In the past the only a PI would be able to find a target was by following the paper trail, birth certificates, court records,public records, etc, but now those targets would make their whereabouts public knowledge. With almost no attempt to hide it all, the attempt to hide their presence would be counterproductive to the point of the entire endeavor. Because in the dark ages of the mid 2000s this intervention was still in its infancy, but even then it had one all defining feature:
If you go on a cool trip you are going to want to brag about it to your friends.
So that is how Jessica found Elaine Walters, wife of William “Morris” Walters, mother of one Jennifer Walters, and that they had just gotten back from a family trip to Chicago! She even saw Murdock in the background of their pictures at the Bean.
“Found you!”. Jessica fistbumped the air and was quickly shushed by a librarian. Jessica then subtly flipped her off and went back to being one of the nation’s first cyber stalkers.
Back then no one really knew how unsafe the internet really was so Elaine Walter spilled the beans on everything. She quickly found out that Jennifer was a straight A student at her school in Los Angeles(of course she was), captain of the debate team and some fresh hell called the academic decathlon(barf), spent a lot of time with some nobody named Bruce Banner(was later revealed to be her cousin), and proved to be a a huge dork in every way that mattered judging from the elaborate Lord of the Rings costume from last Halloween and the photo of her covered in purple and gold face paint at the LA Lakers game.
In other words she was perfect for Murdock.
Jessica Jones leaned back in her chair and rested her chin in her hands. In the years to come she would recognize that this was the moment where she decided what kind of detective she would be.
What kind of person she would be. Would she do her job and deliver the information that her client asked for? Or would she act on the feelings that her stupid hormonal body insisted were there?
Jessica picked up her phone and dialed. After a few seconds it went to voicemail. “Hey Murdock, call me back when you get this. I…” For a second she paused but then her voice hardened and the Jessica Jones we all know and love was back. “I found her. If you want I can take you to her.” Then she hung up the phone.
****
“Ok…” Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. This conversation was getting away from him way too fast. “Just to be clear. You want to steal Dorothy’s car-”
“Borrow.” Jessica corrected. “And before you use that lawyer voice with me I already cleared it with her first so we would legitimately be borrowing it.”
“Fine.” Matt threw his hands in the air. “So you want to borrow Dorothy’s car, drive all the way to Chicago from New York to pick me up just so that we can drive to LA to find Jen. A girl I met once.”
“Yep.” Jessica replied.
“Jones, why? Why do all this?”
Jessica thought a minute before she answered. She thought of all the things she wanted to say, or that more accurately she would rather die before saying. Eventually Jessica shrugged and with a casual voice she said. “It's summer vacation Murdock. You got something better to do?”
And just like that the matter was settled.
****
In a weeks time Jessica found herself outside the Gallagher House, leaned against the side of her(Dorothy’s) car with Fiona Gallagher leaned up beside her.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Fiona asked.
“I got three different Atlases and enough gas money to cross the U.S three times over. We’ll be fine.” Jessica soothed.
“Thats not what I meant.” Fiona glared at her. “Don’t worry, his” she paused and put her index fingers on the side of her head, “psychic powers won’t work for now. I had Debbie start singing the “Its
Patsy” Album. Her singing normally screws up that voodoo that he does.”
“He doesn’t have “psychic powers” he has super hearing, all you’re doing is giving him a headache. Something that I’ll have to put up with.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “Also, I’m not sure what you’re
referring to.”
Fiona glared at her again and Jessica sighed.
“Listen I’m not trying to put the moves on your brother, or whatever you think is happening.” Jessica said. “I didn’t have anything else going on this summer. And I thought a road trip sounded fun. Sue me.”
“That’ll be Matty’s job in a few years.” Fiona snorted. She then leaned over and shoulder bumped the girl “Look I know we’re not as tight as you and Matty but if you ever want to talk, about school,
feelings, even shitty life stuff in general, I’m here for you.”
Jessica looked over at her. “You can’t help but be the big sister can you?”
“I guess not.” Fiona blinked and crossed her arms. “Is that a problem?”
“No!” Jessica shook her head adamantly. “No…no it's not…I was…” She looked out into the distance, crossed her arms and tried to bury the memory of Phillip before it overwhelmed her.“I-I was a big
sister once…I get it.”
The eldest Gallagher sibling gave her look that was so full of pity that Jessica had to resist the urge to rip her head off. Just then she spied Murdock walking out of the house and aimed her anger
towards him. “Are you ready to go, Murdock?” She called up to him. “We’re burning daylight.”
“All packed and ready for a trip.” Murdock patted his bag. He cocked his head and tapped his bag two times with his index and middle fingers. “Everythink ok?”
“Yeah of course.” Fiona said while tapping her leg with her index and middle fingers three times. Goddamn siblings and their fucking codes.“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“No reason.” Murdock shrugged and then wrapped his big sister in a bear hug. “If you need anything, call me.”
“Same here Matty,” Fiona hugged him back. “And call me when you get there.” The big sister then looked at Jessica. “That goes for you too, Jones.”
“We’ll call when we get there.” Jessica assured her. Then she got in the car and Murdock got in the passenger seat. With a wave they drove off down the street.
After five minutes of silence(not awkward silence mind you, silences with Murdock were always comfortable somehow), Jessica spoke up. “So that code you did with Fiona, the tapping fingers bullshit, what does that mean?”
“Its a code we invented for Debbie.” Matt replied. “1 tap means “hungry”, two taps for “angry”.”
When he trailed off Jessica looked over at him. “And three taps?”
“...sad.”
Jessica gripped the steering wheel. “I’m not sad Murdock.”
“I never said you were.”
“We are both well aware that Fiona tapped her leg three times.”
“That is Fiona’s opinion, not mine. I never said that you're sad.” Matt corrected. “However I do know that…”The future lawyer chose his next words carefully “that anytime my siblings, especially Fiona, get brought up your mood changes, so I assumed that-”
“That what?” Jessica rolled her eyes. “That I’d get all weepy anytime I meet a big sister?”
Matt was silent for a while until he let out a sigh. “I get “all weepy” whenever I meet a boxer.” Jessica's mind flashed through the news stories she had read online. “Boxer “Battlin” Jack Murdock killed
in a mugging gone wrong. Murdock is survived by his son Matthew”. “ You’d think it would be a dad right? That would make sense anyway. But that's not the case, because all fathers are different, just
look at Frank.” Matt shook his head, probably remembering whatever wacky shenanigans Frank Gallagher got up to this week. “But boxers…it takes a certain kind of man to get into the ring and more often than not they have a lot in common with ‘Battlin’ Jack Murdock.” Softening his voice he continued. “Greif doesn’t make sense, Jones, and there is no such thing as a wrong way to process those feelings. We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, I’m just saying that we can do so if you want.”
Jessica nodded and her grip on the steering wheel loosened. “My brother’s name was Phillip. Did I ever tell you that?”Matt shook his head no. “I think you would have liked him. He was a great kid,
even if he was a little shit sometimes.”
“I’ve been told that's a little brother’s job.” Matt smiled. “To be a “little shit” every now and then. Why do you think I would have liked him? Did we have similar interests?”
“No.” Jessica snorted. “I mean, maybe when you were his age. But he was 11 when it…anyway. I just can’t imagine anyone not liking Phillip.”
Matt nodded. “For what it's worth I genuinely think you would have gotten along well with Dad. He would have thought you were funny.”
They drove in silence for a little ways before Jessica spoke again. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You know what. I was ready to rip your head off and you completely defused the situation. I even told you about Phillip.” After a beat she said quietly. “I never tell anyone about Phillip.”
“We’re more similar than you think we are Jones.” Matt shrugged. “It's not that hard to guess where you're coming from. Can I ask you something now?”
“Might as well. We have a lot of time to kill before we get to LA.”
“Why are we really doing this? Going to LA I mean?”
“Haven’t we already talked about this? What is summer for if not to take a spur of the moment trip to the west coast? Haven’t you seen any teen movies Murdock?”
“Technically I haven’t “seen” any movies.”
“Oh don’t be that type of blind guy.” Jessica rolled her eyes.
“Fine, but this still doesn’t make any sense. If you wanted to go on vacation we could have gone anywhere. Anywhere at all! Instead we’re driving 30+ plus hours to visit a girl that I met once and has no idea that I’m coming. For fucks sake what is the plan for seeing her? Do you even have one or are we just going to bump into her magically?”
“First off, those nuns would scrub your tongue with a bar of soap if they heard how you talked now.” Jessica said dryly. “Second: the girl is just a reason to go to LA, we don’t have to see her if you insist on chickening out. Third: of course I have a plan.”
When she said nothing Murdock held his hands in the air. “Well?”
“I’ll tell you about it when we get there.” Jessica smiled. “It won’t work if you have time to think about it.”
“God I hate you.”
“If that were true you wouldn’t have agreed to travel around the country with me.”
***
The drive to LA turned out to be pretty uneventful all things considered. They stopped at two motels to rest(Murdock insisted on twin beds and Jones agreed just as quickly) , ate fast food for every meal(Dorothy’s “borrowed” credit card was really coming in handy), and just generally had a good time. Part of the reason why Jessica had suggested this trip was to find some flaw in Murdock, something to make this literal saint seem human and maybe cause these stupid feelings to go away, but at every opportunity, every instance where she would have lost interest or gotten angry with another person Jessica felt nothing but fondness for her friend.
Maybe her feelings were onto something.
Or maybe her feelings we stupid and ran the risk of ruining the best friendship she ever had.
“Well…” Jones pulled the car into a parking lot of a public park in LA. She turned the car off and gestured for Murdock to get out. “We’re here.”
Murdock tilted his head to the side, which Jones had figured out was the equivalent of a normal person holding a hand up above their eyes to block the glare of the sun so they could see clearer. “And where is here exactly?”
“Griffith Park.” Jessica replied. “Supposedly your girlfriend volunteers here during the summer as a tour guide for the observatory here.” Many years from now Trish will make Jessica sit through a movie called “La La Land” that features the same observatory and she will chuckle at the memory of what happened here today. “Apprently it is kind of a big deal. So are you ready to go?”
“Not until you tell me what the plan is.”
“Trust the process Murdock.” Jessica soothed. “Do you really think I would drag you all the way out here if I didn’t know what I was doing?”
“Jones, do you have a plan? Yes or no?”
“Murdock.” She repeated. “Do you really think I would drag you all the way out here if I didn’t know what I was doing?”
“Don’t answer my question with a question.” Matt crossed his arms. “That just means you are trying to throw off my senses.”
“Fine.” Jessica rolled her eyes. “Yes, I do have a plan. However it won’t work if I tell you about it.”
Matt cast his senses outward. By all accounts she was telling the truth. “Alright then. Lead the way.”
The pair started the trek up to the observatory. Pausing to take in the sights and so Murdock could explain what the public art looked like to his senses, because that was something that fascinated her. In a sense she was jealous of the way he saw the world. There was the fact that his senses would make him the best detective in the world if he set his mind to it, no alibi would be able to withstand a PI who could not only tell that you were lying but also what breakfast you had two days ago by smell alone. That stuff was cool but it was also the fact that his perspective in life was truly unique. Matthew Murdock was probably the only person in the whole entire world who could truly say that there had never been anyone like them before, and there probably would never be again.
Unknown to Jones, Murdock was just as envious of her gifts. Jessica saw her abilities as merely super strength and enhanced durability, but to a martial arts expert like Matt, one who had spent years of his life surrounded by fighting men like Jack Murdock and Stick, Jones’s gifts were a thing of beauty. All that power, without sacrificing any mobility or flexibility…Murdock truly believed that Jones could become their generation’s Captain America if she set her mind to it.
However the questions of their destinies would wait, for now they were just two teenagers screwing around in the park.
They eventually made it to the Griffith Observatory, and once there Jessica grabbed Murdock’s arm and pulled him to a stop. “Ok do your thing Ninja Boy, is she here?”
“Hold on…” Matt once more casted his senses outward. In a sense it was harder because LA was a completely new environment, full of new sounds and smells that were alien to him. Finding someone here would have been like finding a needle in a haystack, except for the fact that his target had just come from Chicago, and for better or worse that city leaves it’s mark on you even weeks after you’ve visited it. She might as well have been waving around a giant neon sign.
“200 feet to the left, walking in our direction.” Matt said, and Jessica turned and saw the legendary Jen Walters in the flesh. “From the sound of it she just finished her last tour and is going on break.”
“Perfect.” Jessica said and began counting down from five with her left hand. “Then the plan is a go.”
“Will you please tell me what the plan is?”
“Sure.” Jessica grabbed his coat and clenched her fist around it. “I’m gonna throw you at her.”
“Wait, your going to-”
Without warning Jessica shoved Matt forward, directly into the path of Jen Walters, He landed on the ground with a thud. He rolled over onto his back and held his arm. “Fucking Jones.” He thought.
“Oh my god are you ok?” At once both Jessica and Jen were by his side. Jen was genuinely concerned, and Jessica was hamming it up with her best valley girl accent. “I am SO sorry, I didn’t even See
you there!” Jessica put her hand up to her mouth. “Oh no, that was so insensitive of me to bring up your sight!I simply must fix this. Babe,”She grabbed Jen’s arm and leaned her head on her shoulders. “Will you stay with him while I go find some ice? I can’t leave him here all alone!”
“Ma’am I work here.” Jen, god-bless-her, started to say. “Why don’t I go find the ice and you-”
“Thank you!” Jessica said over her shoulder as she walked away. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Jen tried to call after her, but Jones was soon too far away. She sighed and finally got a chance to look at
the figure on the ground. “Wait…” She frowned. “Aren’t you that guy from Chicago? Matthew, right? What are you doing here?”
In another life Matt Murdock was one of the best secret keepers in the business, able to keep a lie going for years at a time with no one being the wiser. However one unexpected side effect from spending years surrounded by the Gallaghers was that he learned one valuable lesson: every good relationship is built on trust.
“I told my friend Jessica, the girl who just ran away,” Matt blurted out immediately. He then pointed in the direction he assumed Jones ran, his senses were still fucked up from the fall, “That I met a really cute girl at the Bean the other day and she somehow found out that you live here and convinced me to come and visit you.”
Jen said nothing, prompting Matt to keep speaking. “I know that's crazy, but I honestly did not think there was even a chance we would see you. I mean, LA is massive, what are the odds that we would bump into you an hour into the city. I mean that's crazy! I mean…Can you…Can you…” Matt rubbed his head. “Can you please say something?”
At this point Matt’s senses tuned in enough to realize that Jen was smiling and trying not to laugh. “I’m sorry,” she began. “I stopped listening after you said you think I’m cute, can you start again?”
****
Hours later Matt found Jones sitting on the hood of Dorothy’s car, sipping on a drink from one of the fast food places around here. Gesturing to the hood of the car he asked, “Mind if I join you?”
“Sure.” Jessica shrugged. “Are you sure you want to be here though? I thought you’d be making goo-goo eyes at Murphy Brown.”
“We talked for a few hours, exchanged email addresses and phone numbers, and I convinced her to delete her parent’s Myspace account.” Matt said as he sat down next to his friend. “All in all it was a
pretty good conversation.”
“So what are you doing here then?” Jones asked.
“I figured we should talk about why you wanted to come out here.”
“We can’t keep having the same conversation Murdock. At this point you either believe me or you don’t.”
“And what if I don’t?”
“Then you could always walk back to Chicago.”
Matt snorted. “If you ever need to talk you know I’m here right?”
“We just spent two days in the car talking and we are about to spend another two days doing the same thing. Of course I know that.”
“That was trading witty barbs back and forth, that's not talking.” Matt corrected. “The conversation we had at the beginning of the trip, when we talked about Dad and Phillip, that was talking.” Jones
said nothing so Matt continued. “Look, I know something is bothering you. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, I just want to let you know that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”
Jessica turned and looked at him. This would all be so easy if they were just some teens in one of those stupid movies. But they're not, and they never will be. “Everything is fine Murdock. I’m just not looking forward to getting back in that car, let's find someplace to crash for the night.”
****
Years later, while part of some new superhero team(don’t ask) Jessica will watch Midland Circle collapse with Murdock still inside it. Even then she doesn’t cry, doesn’t show any signs that she even cares about this strange man at all. But besides the days she spent with the Purple Man, the day she watches this building collapse will be the worst day of her life.
Later she will speak to Fiona at the funeral, and Foggy and some new chick named Karen, all of whom are able to outwardly show their grief while Jessica…does what Jessica does. What she has to do.
Through the next few months Jessica will of course wonder how life would have been different if she had acted on her stupid teenage crush. If they would have gotten together. If that act would have
saved her from the Purple Man, if it would have saved him from all his hardships with Fisk. If it would have saved him from Midland Circle…
Then her mind goes the other way. If she had never met the Purple Man then that monster would still be out there. Or worse if she had still met him and Murdock came looking for her then things could have become unbelievably bad. Or even much more mundanely, if they had gotten together, and had a messy breakup, then they could have missed out on an untold number of movie nights, phone calls, and all that other crap that people talk about when they mention their best friend.
When all was said and done, Jessica realized she wouldn’t have changed anything. She just thanked Murdock’s imaginary god that she got the time she did with him.
Then one day, months later, Jessica walked into her living room and found the bastard sitting on her couch, drinking one of her beers, and grinning from ear to ear at her.
“Did you miss me?” The bastard asked.
“Eat shit and die Murdock.” She said she punched him in the arm, but there was no hiding the smile on her face.