The living room was a mess.
Jessica didn't look at the family.
They had just escaped a calamity.
She also didn't look at the purple figure on the floor, who lay there like a broken sack.
A storm seemed to burn in her eyes, which were fixed on William, as if to incinerate him from the inside out.
The family of four began to stir.
They let out confused moans, faint and distant, as if from under Water, adding a strange vitality to the dead silence.
"You..." she finally spoke.
"What is that?"
Her gaze fell on the armguard of his right arm, which he hadn't retracted.
William's Adam's apple bobbed.
He swallowed, forcing his heart, which was about to leap out of his chest, to calm down.
Damn it.
His Danger Prediction was now like a faulty Fire alarm.
It flashed red frantically at Jessica, its buzzer already mute.
Kilgrave's malice was clear, like a poisoned needle with a definite target.
Just dodge it when it comes.
But the Jessica in front of him was different.
She was like a turbulent current, capable of swallowing everything at any moment.
There was no safe path here.
He slowly raised his right arm.
It was covered by the "foolproof plan."
He tried to force a smile, like someone selling a new juicer on TV shopping.
That smile best fit his "insurance salesman" persona, and was also the most annoying.
"Client care service."
William forced a smile that was uglier than crying, his facial muscles twitching slightly.
"To ensure my clients don't go to prison for committing a felony of murder out of impulse."
Jessica stepped in front of him.
That scent came again.
It smelled of whiskey, and also had a cold feeling.
It enveloped William instantly.
This time, she didn't grab his collar.
She reached out and grabbed the armguard on his arm.
"Crack--"
William clearly heard the groan of the titanium alloy casing as she squeezed it.
Her five cold, powerful fingers were like five red-hot tongs, nearly deforming this supposedly "indestructible" item.
A piercing pressure transmitted through the armguard.
The bones in his forearm creaked.
It hurt.
Excruciating pain surged like a tide.
But the "Elementary Pain Relief" ability was like a thin dam, just barely holding back the pain that would have made him scream.
He could still maintain that stiff smile on his face.
"Don't give me your broken insurance clauses."
She leaned in very close.
Her hot, alcohol-laced breath fanned his face.
Her eyes held mockery, anger, humiliation, and a bit of confusion he couldn't decipher.
That gaze almost swallowed him whole.
"You're stalking me. You're meddling in my business."
She spoke word by word, each like a nail.
"Do I look... like I need you to save me?"
This sentence was full of thorns.
Each one pierced William, and even more so, herself.
William knew she wasn't waiting for an answer.
She was furious.
Because someone had seen her weakness.
She would rather walk into hell alone, and perish with the devil in the most brutal way, than let anyone see her frozen and trembling.
And he, not only saw it, but also, in a nearly cheating and effortlessly easy way, dismantled her revenge, which she had staked everything on.
To her, this might be more humiliating than Kilgrave's control.
"No, of course you don't."
William quickly shook his head.
Now, whether trying to take credit or express sympathy, it was like trying to put out a Fire with kerosene.
He had to shift the topic from "she was saved" to something more practical and cold.
With his free left hand, he pointed at the unconscious Kilgrave on the floor.
He then pointed at the family.
They were struggling to sit up, their eyes still dazed.
Finally, his finger pointed at Jessica.
"What I saw was a high-risk client on the verge of an emotional breakdown, ready to turn things upside down at any moment."
William's speaking pace wasn't fast, but it was exceptionally clear.
"What I saw was a client. You're about to lose control, and things could blow up at any time."
William's speaking pace wasn't fast, but it was very clear.
"I also saw a mess. This mess has superpowers, capable of attracting the New York Police, S.H.I.E.L.D., and possibly even aliens. And these unfortunate people, they will soon become 'first crime scene witnesses'."
He met her murderous gaze and continued, gritting his teeth.
"My job is risk management, Jessica."
"I didn't save you," he said with certainty. "I was saving my own performance report. I was dealing with an urgent, disaster-like problem."
He paused, feeling the pressure on his arm lessen slightly. He decided to add more fuel, a Fire that could break this stalemate.
"And, to avoid being locked up in some unknown underwater prison with a bunch of real super criminals for 'withholding information' and 'potential complicity'."
"I bet the food there is terrible, and there's definitely no accident insurance to buy. Have you thought about my situation? No! You only think about yourself!"
These words contained truth, twisted logic, and the reasoning of a scoundrel protecting himself.
It seemed to finally quell her erupting anger slightly.
Jessica's fingers, gripping the armguard, finally loosened.
Her gaze was still cold, but that pure anger began to transform into a more complex emotion.
It contained scrutiny, and a particularly annoyed expression.
She released her hand and stepped back.
This small movement almost made William collapse to the floor, wanting to shout, "God bless the insurance industry."
"You..." She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she just irritably ran her fingers through her messy hair.
At this moment, the middle-aged man was fully awake.
He had almost slit his own throat with a fruit knife.
He looked at Kilgrave on the floor, then at the furious Jessica, then at William, who had a "just escaped a calamity" look on his face.
Finally, his gaze fell on his wife and children.
"W-what happened?"
His voice trembled, full of fear and confusion.
New problems arose.
William and Jessica looked at the family together.
Jessica frowned.
She clearly wouldn't handle this kind of "cleanup" and had no interest in it.
Her expression seemed to say, "Otherwise, just knock them out too."
William took a deep breath.
His mind, like a computer restarting after overheating, quickly switched to "professional mode."
He pulled down his sleeve to cover the "foolproof plan" then stepped forward, standing between Jessica and the family.
He put on that professional, reassuring smile again.
"Sir, madam, don't be nervous," he said softly, like praying in a church. "We are... emergency responders from the gas company. There was a slight gas leak in your home just now, which caused you to have hallucinations. This is my colleague, Jessica."
He nudged Jessica behind him with his elbow.
Jessica looked at him expressionlessly, her eyes like she was looking at an alien idiot.
"She's responsible for safety checks," William added, without batting an eye. "It's fine now, the leak has been dealt with. You just need to open the windows to air out the room, get a good night's sleep and..."
He didn't finish his sentence when the mistress of the house suddenly pointed at the glaring dark red liquid on the carpet and let out a stifled scream.
"W-what is that?! Is that blood?!"
William and Jessica looked down together.
Shit.
Forgot about that.
William's smile froze on his face.
Jessica Jones slowly crossed her arms.
Her expression held a hint of schadenfreude, as if she were watching a joke.
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