Birds of a Feather (Oswald Cobblepot)

AKA What Did You See

    Jessica pops open her eyes to discover she's back in the Vaughn's apartment. The man with the glasses and lab coat has disappeared, along with the black fog and strange visions.

"What the hell?" she grunts aloud.

Even as she glances around the apartment, she doesn't feel the effects of Kilgrave's powers returning to hang over her. Like that guy said, whatever...whatever happened to her must have wiped the effects of Kilgrave's powers. And that means...

Jessica heads out the door of the apartment, crossing over to the elevator and smashing the button several times.

"C'mon..." Jessica grumbles, leaning her hands against the nearby wall.

Footsteps echo behind her, as Mrs. Vaughn and her daughter step out from the apartment.

"You're not suppose to leave the apartment," Mrs. Vaughn verbalizes Kilgrave's command.

"We're not suppose to let you leave," the younger Vaughn mumbles, her eyes looking unblinkingly toward Jessica.

Before Jessica can respond, Mrs. Vaughn lunges at Jessica, grabbing her by both of her arms. Jessica easily fends her off, pushing Mrs. Vaughn away, before dodging her as she tries to grab her again. The elevator arrives, the light above the door turning on and making a light dinging noise. But Jessica hardly notices it, as Mrs. Vaughn's daughter jumps onto Jessica's back, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her by her neck. Jessica rips the woman's arms off of her, before grabbing her by the head and slamming her into the nearest wall.

The elevator door opens, and Jessica rushes inside, jamming her finger into the button that closes the door as the two Vaughns rush towards her.

"We can't let you leave!" Mrs. Vaughn cries, pushing past her daughter to get to Jessica.

Just as the elevator door closes, Jessica kicks back the oncoming Mrs. Vaughn as she tries to force the elevator door back open with her hands. The elevator is in its final inches of closing when Mrs. Vaughn reaches her hand through the elevator, only to have it closed directly on her hand.

A bloodcurdling scream is muffled by the closed elevator as blood out from the crack between the doors. Jessica backs up to the opposite side of the elevator, as she slides to the floor, curling up into a ball, squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears with her hands.

Shell-shocked and breathing heavily, Jessica barely notices the elevator door open once more, at the lobby floor of the apartment building. The limp, lifeless hand of Mrs. Vaughn falls to the floor, having been trapped between the elevator doors. Jessica's eyes widen at the sight of it, and her adrenaline only grows when she looks up to find an equally horrified doorman guarding the apartment entrance. However, his shock quickly turns into determined anger, as he starts marching towards Jessica.

"Hey! You there! Stop!"

She bolts for the exit, and before the guard can try to stop her, she uses her super strength to elbow the large man out of the way, easily knocking him aside and allowing her to escape.

"Need to find Trish..." Jessica mumbles to herself, as she bolts down the city street, dodging past anyone in her way, "need to find Trish..."

"Alright Natalie, I've located a nice, isolated cabin in upstate New York where we could take Jessica," Trish tells me, as we sit at the computer in the bedroom of her Manhattan apartment.

On the computer screen, multiple images flash up of the cabin.

"Wow, those forests look just like the ones north of Gotham, past Bludhaven," I comment, leaning in to look with Trish.

She smiles, "Yeah, it'll practically be a vacation. Which...I think Jessica desperately needs."

"After everything that's happened, I think we all need a vacation," I declare.

Just then, the doorbell rings, causing the two of us to fall silent. Trish gets up out of her seat, signalling for me to remain quiet. She creeps down the hallway towards the door, and checks through the peephole. But as soon as she looks through it, she rips the door open.

"Oh my god, Jessica!" Trish breathes a sigh of relief as she hugs her friend.

Jessica doesn't smile, instead maintaining a determined expression, "We need to get out of here...now."

"I'm already on it," Trish agrees, before stepping away, "I've planned a little getaway to this far-off cabin in the woods, We leave tomorrow-"

"No, we need to leave now," Jessica shakes her head, before marching over to glance out the window, "Once Kilgrave knows I'm gone, this'll be the first place he'll look."

A little confused, Trish slowly nods her head, "Okay...we're leaving now then."

Trish walks into her bedroom where I've just finished closing the computer, "Natalie, you hear that? We're leaving now."

"Alright," but just as I agree with Trish, Jessica catches my eye.

She's staring at me with an unusual expression, one I've never seen on her before. She looks at me with a strange sort of acknowledgement, almost a kind of recognition.

I hand a couple of pieces of paper to Trish, "I've printed out instructions to the cabin."

She raises an eyebrow in confusion, "I've got Google Maps but...alright, bring it along anyway."

Somewhat embarrassed, I stuff the map into my pocket before helping Trish and Jessica quickly pack. Jessica keeps glancing over towards me, as we stuff clothes, electronics, and other necessities into two suitcases supplied by Trish. It's only once we're in the final stages of packing does Jessica speak up.

"Natalie...right? You...you ever have a boyfriend?"

I scrunch my eyes, all this build up and this is first question she asks?

"Uhm...I...I wouldn't call him a boyfriend-"

"Lover? Friend with benefits? Throwaway booty call?" Jessica throws out other terms with a blunt flippancy.

Even more confused, I counter, "Why do you want to know-"

"Very pale? Black emo hair? Wears stupid neckties and dark suits?" as Jessica describes this person, I turn towards her, taking my attention off of what I was doing.

"...Oswald?" I realize aloud.

Trish takes Jessica by the arm, "Jess...what are you talking about?"

Jessica pushes past Trish and gets directly into my face, "I saw...I saw you. But...but you were like me, and...and there was some friend of yours? Lab coat, glasses, grating voice? Said he was looking for you, but he accidentally took me instead."

"You mean Ed?" I clarify, "He's opened up a way back to my universe?"

"Guess so. I don't really know, I didn't exactly take the full round trip," she explains, "but, while I was in the middle of...the time...pocket...thingy...I came across what seemed to be you...and...that Oswald guy."

"What did you see?" Trish asks Jessica.

My eyes widen with worry, but Jessica recognizes my expression immediately, "Not for me to say."

Still persistent, Trish then turns to me, "Natalie, what did this Oswald guy do to you?"

I start to shrink up, clasping my hands together and taking a step back. Trish stops me from backing up by putting a supportive hand on my shoulder, "We can help you."

I twist my lip, and put a hand on the nearby suitcase, "Thank you...but right now, we have more important matters to attend to."