Chapter Text
“Jess! Jess, calm down! I’m fine. No, that prick producer didn’t even touch me.” Trish tried in vain to explain to Jessica, who had called after the show was over, “The heels they gave me to wear, while sexy as fuck, also make great weapons. Got him right in the family jewels, and added in an uppercut for good measure.” For the first time that day, she’d felt a genuine smile cross her lips as she listened to Jess’s cackling laughter. Holed up under a small awning that doubled as protection from a passing rain shower, her handbag on one arm, she was relaying the entire story to her best friend/adoptive sister.
While starting off okay, the day had ended in disaster. Damian, the producer of the talk show she’d agreed to appear on, had made her life miserable. From objecting to the black pantsuit with the white collar and black heels she’d worn, to how she was forced to sit in the chair, he wouldn’t leave her alone. It reminded her of the days where she was Patsy, and the way her mother Dorothy had treated her.
During commercial breaks, however, she kept thinking of all the ways Jess could/would make the jerk pay for making her feel that way. In between smiling manically and giving herself fits of the giggles, Trish had managed to make Naomi, the show’s host, a bit uncomfortable. But she’d resolved it by asking her to return the favor and make an appearance on Trish Talk, to which Naomi had happily agreed to do.
“Guess you finally live up to the name tattooed on your wrist, Hellcat.”, Jessica told her jokingly, before her voice took a serious tone, “Seriously, though? You sure you don’t need me to come down there and teach that fucker a lesson? I can call Luke for backup, he’d be happy to beat some sense into the shithead.”
Trish could just barely make out Jessica’s voice as cab after cab continued passing by, splashing up mini walls of water that she kept having to dodge. “As sweet as that offer is, I’m okay. Really. Naomi found my stuff in the dressing room, and was nice enough to bring it out to me after all that. Even said I could keep the dress and heels. That’s a plus, all things considered….,” her voice trailed off into a shriek as she was suddenly drenched by a downpour the awning couldn’t protect her from. Her phone fell out of her hand and landed on the sidewalk, cutting off her conversation with Jessica.
As she bent down to pick it up, what she was hoping to avoid most happened: a dumb ass driver sped past, water splashing all over her. Momentarily blinded, she lost her footing and fell to the concrete, landing on her side. “Ow!” She lay there for a minute or so, attempting to regain her bearings.
She could hear and sense someone approaching her, so she turned her head, bringing up a manicured hand to wipe the water from her eyes. Feeling someone grab her arms and start to gently lift her, she applied a firm grip onto the person’s forearms.
“You took quite a tumble there, are you alright?”
Blue eyes widening, she felt her entire seize up with the realization that her unknown savior had just spoken her soul words. Swallowing hard and closing her eyes, she replied with, “I’m fine. Takes a lot more than that to really hurt me.”
The body holding her tensed underneath her hands, and she barely heard muffled swearing. A finger went up under her chin, lifting her eyes to those of her rescuer. Beneath a pair of glasses, eyes even bluer than hers looked down at her. Strong jawline. Incredibly pouty and kissable lips, and, beneath a stylish leather jacket and blue hoodie, a powerful and hard body.
The white halter dress she’d worn for the appearance was probably see through by now. And it clung to her skin, showing off every feminine curve. And, even in the half-white, half-black heels, she barely came up to his chest.
“Oh, oh sorry,” he finally spoke again, taking off the leather jacket and putting it around her, “Know it’s not much, but it’ll keep you warm,”, he added on with a small laugh.
Sticking her arms through the sleeves, she wrapped the offered jacket around herself, reveling in the warmth and the smell of both the leather and…Him.
Her eyes narrowed, then slowly started to widen as the realization dawned on her who he really was. He put one finger up to her lips, indicating she needed to be quiet.
“You...you’re....you’re”, she didn’t get to finish as he said quietly,
“I know who I am.”
They stood staring at each other in bemused silence until another passing cab sloshed a fresh wave of water up Trish’s legs and she shrieked.
“You’re wet through!” Steve realized suddenly. “You’ll catch your death out here. Please, come to the Tower - it’s just on the next block. Pepper can lend you some clean things, you’re about her size, do you need to get somewhere? I’ll borrow a car off Tony and drive you…”
Trish shook her head a little numbly, letting him wrap an arm around her waist and propel her along the sidewalk. She subconsciously curled herself closer to him, nearly moaning aloud at the warmth coming off his body.
“Oh!” Spinning back around, she didn’t see she splashed some water onto Steve’s glasses and hoodie. Her bag still lay on the sidewalk, in the same spot it’d landed when she’d fallen. But before she could even think of taking a step forward, Steve made his way over and bent down to grab it, giving her a spectacular view of his ass. The unintelligible noise that bubbled from deep in her throat made the First Avenger blush, then smirk smugly.
“Here ya go.” he softly told her, holding it out for her to grab. His smirk grew even further as she blushed and snatched it away, spinning around and stomping away.
“Trish!”
She paused, turning to the voice, only to find herself nearly tackled when Jessica threw her arms around her. Huffing out a laugh, she returned the hug.
“I’m fine Jess. Really, I am”, she beamed, her face lighting up in a bright smile as she looked over at Steve, who grinned back at her. Jessica turned to see Steve, her dark eyes narrowing dangerously into slits.
“Seriously Trish?! We only just got rid of Will Simpson not that long ago! Trading one wannabe Cap for another?!” she exclaimed angrily, wrapping an arm around Trish and starting to walk away in the opposite direction. “Figured you would’ve learned from that!”
“Jess,” Trish tried to explain, fighting her best friend’s grip.
“He’s lucky I never got the chance to get my hands on his sorry, cheap knock off ass.” Jessica snarled, her face turning into a scowl when she saw that Steve was following them.
“Jess, if you just stop for a second,” Trish nearly tumbled as Jessica picked up the pace in hopes of losing Steve.
“Aside from having good taste, I can’t see any other reason why you’d want this guy.” Jessica mumbled, about to pick Trish up and put her on her shoulder.
“JESS!” Trish screamed in panic, her nails digging into Jessica’s leather jacket.
“Put her down right now!” Steve ordered, the authority clearly in his voice.
“Who the fuck do you think you are!?” Jessica yelled, huffing and puffing over to Steve, who looked back at her with a serious expression.
Trish suddenly appeared in between them, her body shivering from the cold and rain, Steve’s leather jacket wrapped around her. “You’re not gonna do anything to him, Jess.” She made her way towards Steve again, snuggling back into his warmth. “He really is Steve Rogers. And, he’s my soulmate,” she managed to say through chattering teeth.
Taking off his glasses and cap, Steve continued with, “I found Trish after she’d fallen on the pavement. We ended up saying each other’s soul words. Gave her my jacket and we were just about to head back to Avengers Tower when you walked up.”
“He’s telling the truth.”
Jessica forced herself not to jump as Natasha Romanoff appeared out of nowhere, stopping beside Steve. Feeling her eyes widen and her mouth start to drop open. He is really Captain America! she thought to herself. Well, I always thought Trish deserved a true hero of her own. Her gaze softened some when she saw Trish begin to shiver more violently.
“C-co-cold. S-s-so c-cold.” Her lips were beginning to turn blue.
The spy and the private eye couldn’t stop the soft smiles from forming on their lips as Steve gently kissed Trish’s forehead and pulled her even closer to him.
“You’re more than welcome to join us.” Natasha offered, crossing her arms over her chest as Steve put his cap and glasses back on with his free arm.
A minute or so passed before Jessica huffed and put her finger-less gloves in her black leather jacket. She fell into step with Natasha, seeing as how Steve and Trish were walking ahead.
“I heard everything you said earlier. About this Simpson guy.” Natasha informed her, their respective boots making scratching noises on the concrete.
Jessica clenched her teeth and fists. “He started off a decent guy. Only to turn into a douche bag and drug addict. Fucker actually tried to kill her.”
The Russian’s eyes narrowed. “I take it he’s not going to get any more opportunities?”
“Damn fuckin’ right.” Jessica’s toothy smile told Natasha exactly why not.
“I think you and I are gonna get along just fine, Jessica Jones,” Natasha said with a smile.
Jessica smiled back before stopping dead in her tracks. “How do you know my name?”
“Spy?” Natasha pointed at herself, smirking. “Plus, you were on Project Insight’s lists. I checked out a lot of names. You can thank me later.”
“Huh.” Jessica started walking again, her eyes on Steve and Trish ahead of them, so close they were practically melting into each other. “Guess my days of just hiding out in Hell’s Kitchen are over, huh?”