Disclaimer: I do not write for profit and I do not own anything or any of the characters, even the ideas this time started from a brilliant prompt of Ecate EFP (together with other prompts of the Challenge 'Blossom By Blossom', which however I will mention at the end of the story, because it would spoil too much

Setting: Somewhere in episode 2x10 'AKA Pork chop', so it would help more to know the second season, but if at least you know the wonderful 2x11 'AKA Three lives and counting' you can understand what is going on.

Not betaed: please forgive my not so perfect English, I always try so hard ^^'

This story partecipates to this challenge: #BLOSSOM BY BLOSSOM - THE SPRING BEGINS! @Non solo Sherlock - gruppo eventi multifandom FB

(See the end of the work for .)

Chapter Management
: Chapter I: Subway train to take or lose Chapter Text

Chapter I: Subway train to take or lose

Jessica had finally reached an agreement.
Her mother's confessions in exchange for Dr. Malus' freedom
This would have allowed the woman not to be transferred to the RAFT.
No more isolation.
No more alienating life.
Jessica could have continued to see her mother during prison visits.
She would have maintained a bond, no matter how feeble it was, a bond, nonetheless.
She wasn't going to lose her.

Jessica no longer intended to lose other people.
The last one had hurt her too much.
Of course, when he was alive he had turned the girl's life into real hell, but now that he was dead ... maybe it was even worse.
At least the first time, when she believed that the impact with that bus had killed him, she continued to perceive his presence, to be distressed, she saw him, heard him speak to her, sometimes even felt his physical touch; as if it wasn't over yet, as if she knew deep down that there were still some unresolved issues.

On the other hand, Jessica hadn't suffered from those ailments for months now: not a nightmare that made her wake up with palpitations and a cold sweat in the middle of the night, not even the slightest visual or auditory hallucination, not a semblance of purple around her .
An issue resolved forever, with her own hands.

To the outside eye it might seem that Jessica was healed, that she was fine.
Jessica was not feeling well at all, least of all since she had unwittingly created a reputation as a 'Vigilante' around her.
She still remembered that woman who had hired her not so much to investigate her unfaithful companion but ... to kill him.
Did people really think that about her?
That night at the docks had drastically changed her life and Jessica was no longer so sure it had changed for the better.

Suddenly she thought of one of those silly cheesy films, Stirling had insisted on watching it with her, he had always been the most romantic of the two.
Stirling, another clear example of how nice guys were never her match.
She could not even explain why her memory had evoked such a distant story, albeit very important, perhaps for the content of that memory.

In that film it was highlighted how a simple different detail, such as taking the subway train in time or losing it and waiting for the next one, could make a difference.

Jessica had often wondered over the last few months about her 'subway train' to take or lose: and if during her 'reformatting of Killgrave' plan she had believed fully in him, had given him a chance, had helped him if not to to become a hero at least to stop being a threat to others?
What if they never met? He wouldn't have been obsessed with her and avoided those death trails to get to her.

What if that night at the docks, she had just knocked him out, put a muzzle on him to keep him from talking, had him isolated in the RAFT?
Had killing him really been the only solution? To say it with an adjective so dear to him, the most inevitable?

Jessica was almost glad she arrived at the Paradise Suite because those thoughts were haunting her.

A firm kick and the door swung open easily, making Karl Malus jump.

"Jessica, but how?" he asked bewildered, attempting a burst of speed to escape through the open door.

Seconds later the detective's hand was tightening firmly on his throat, keeping him suspended in midair.

"I don't think running away is a good idea. And to answer your question, my mother is a great talker, "she replied, setting him back on the ground for him to breathe.

"Alisa? Where is she? Is she fine? I... I have to go to her... " he replied, rubbing his neck.

"She is where she always should have been, from the day you turned her into a fucking monster, like you did with me!" the detective growled, exasperated.

"You don't understand!" the scientist yelled at her.

Again lifted from the ground, this time to be slammed against the wall.

"Don't you dare tell me what the fuck I understand and what I don't!" she hissed.

"I love Alisa and she loves me. We ... got married, right here. " he confessed to her.

This time it was the shock that made her loosen her grip, but she quickly regained her usual coolness.

"She was legally dead, I guess that wasn't official," she replied, in an attempt to downplay it.

"It was, for us. Our feelings are real. "

"Speaking of real, take off your glasses, fix yourself and stand against the wall so I can take pictures for the fake passport I'll give you to get you out of the country."

"I'm not leaving Alisa."

"You will do what I say, which is what she wants, too. If it was up to me, I'd break your bones, but she wants you safe. You will leave for South America and we will never hear of you again. " she explained, starting to take pictures of him.

"It shouldn't have been like this," muttered the scientist. "Jessica, I should have kept you with us. We could have known each other better, I could have been a very good father to you. "

Jessica decided she had enough pics, which is why she didn't hesitate to punch him, immediately leaving a bruise under his left eye.

"I had a father and you are not even worthy of saying that word!" She barked.

"It would be enough for me to go back in time and do everything differently this time..." Dr. Malus reflected, only he did it aloud.

"What are you babbling about?"

"The IGH... Upgrading soldiers is not their only interest. Imagine facing the Second World War, if not the First, with today's technologies .. we would have won over the enemy in an instant! "

"I will not stay a minute longer to listen to the ravings of a madman!" she looked at him disdainfully as she was about to leave.

"Torchwood!" Dr. Malus suddenly said.

"What is Torchwood?" she frowned.

"A secret British organization, with technologies not typical of this planet. The IGH found a device in one of their lairs some time ago. They suspect that it allows time travels, but they are still studying it, they don't really know what the contraindications might be... "he confessed, capturing the girl's full attention.

"Where is this device?" she urged him to speak, tugging at him.

"The old IIGH laboratory. It looks abandoned, but it's just a farce. There is a secret passage that leads to the real laboratory, the underground one, which is watched over. "

"Tell me exactly where it is and I'll take care of the rest." Jessica demanded.

It was almost ironic. She had done everything to escape the control of that unscrupulous persuader and now she found herself entangled in one of the worst mental traps that could exist, from which she felt she could not escape.
Not if that trap was showing her exactly what she wanted.

A very risky plan was making its way into her mind.
She felt she had to risk it all.

Karl Malus decided to tell her everything.

"You'll see, Jessica, when you bring me that device, I'll find a way to understand how it works and you, Alisa and I will have the life we deserved." Dr Malus began to daydream.

"Shut up! It's because of your sick idea of a fucking happy family that I want that device. Indeed, there's something you can do for me before I bring your passport back. After all, for a scientist with your knowledge, I imagine it is a piece of cake to create something that contrasts a neurodegenerative disease in a child of seven to eight years, with a life expectancy of perhaps no more than two years. "

Now it was Dr. Malus who looked at her without understanding.

"So, is there anything you can do?" she insisted, getting impatient.

"Uh well, I could ... I could create a vaccine that increases the immune defenses, without affecting the nervous system ... something to inject into the bone marrow of the spine ..." the scientist began his reasoning.

"Well, let me find it for when I bring you your passport. Then I'll move on to the next stage. "

-------------------------------------------

Dr. Karl Malus did not disappoint her expectations and two days later, even if Oscar had not yet completed the passport, she had returned to him, finding what was requested.

She kept that precious vial with the vaccine in a small airtight case, while she moved with ease in the secret laboratory of the IGH, knocking anyone who walked in front of her with ease.
Not because they weren't worthy opponents, but because Jessica was too determined.

By now she had arrived at the room of her interest, lifting the heavy dome that protected the precious device: a bracelet with a very futuristic look.

A new horde of soldiers rushed at her.
They were surrounding her and they were all armed, ready to fire.

"Jessica Jones, get out of there now or we'll open fire!" one of them said, perhaps the boss.

The identity of the super heroine was certainly no mystery to them.

Heedless of their threats, she tore the device out of its holder by wearing it on her right wrist.

Now it was the soldiers who felt threatened and not one of them had dared to shoot.
The risk of hitting the device was too high and the consequences too unknown.

"Interesting toy, do we want to see how it works?" Jessica said, perfectly at ease.

"Don't touch it! W-we - we have been studying it for m-months, we must first understand the components, which technologies it responds to, if there are any contraindications... " said one of the scientists who was there, panicked.

"There is only one way to find out: try!" she sneered contemptuously, opening the front panel.

She closed her eyes, visualized a precise date in her mind, a date she still had in her memory, when Killgrave had shown her that video in her old home.

October 31, 1985.

If she recalled correctly, the last fateful injection that had infected him with that virus took place in the early afternoon, she focused in her mind to be there for lunchtime.

She closed the faceplate with a lightning snap, wished with all her heart that it would work ... and it did.

The IGH saw her vanish in a flash.

Jessica floated in an abstract and hazy space, beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Was she really time traveling?

She was unable to establish whether it had lasted a few seconds, a few minutes or a few hours, she only realized that the journey was over, when with a glow as intense as it was instantaneous she appeared in that laboratory she had seen in the video stored in that flash drive.

And that child with the cables connected to the neurons, stared at her in silence from the glass, with his mouth open, so surprised that he dropped to the ground part of the constructions he was composing.

"Albert, but ... what happens?" Louise cackled, frightened, clutching her husband by the arm.

"I ... I don't know ..." the man muttered, standing in front of her, with a protective attitude, before turning to that intruder.

"Who are you? How did you get in here? Go away, now! " he hissed, his tone cold.

"Oh come on, you all saw how I got in here and it surely wasn't using the door!" Jessica shrugged. "I come from the future and you must believe me, because it is as true as I can do this!"

And as she said it, she grabbed a steel stool that was nearby, squeezing it in her hands as if it was a ball of paper.

"Albert! I'm afraid!" moaned the woman of science.

"I'm not." said the kid, who rarely spoke during the experiments.

"Good, Kevin, you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm here to save you. " Jessica smiled at him, speaking to him with a sweetness that she had never had towards him.

"You know my name?" He asked, even more amazed.

"I know everything about you," she nodded, then turned back to his parents. "About all of you. I know what you want to do. The intent is noble, but the method is wrong. You have no idea of the trouble you are about to cause, but I am here to prevent it. " She explained to them, opening the briefcase.

"Do you want to kill us?" Louise asked, alarmed, sure she was about to draw a gun, but was dumbfounded when she realized it was a vial.

"But what ..."

"If you want to heal Kevin, you have to give him this, through the bone marrow." She informed them, handing Albert the cure.

"But ... it will be a very painful injection ..." the man of science muttered, perplexed.

"Because cerebral spinal fluid extractions are a health walk, right?" the detective shrewdly countered.

"But y-you ... ho-how do you know?" Louise stammered.

"I told you, didn't I? I am from the future. I know everything. And I know what will happen if you don't do as I told you. " Jessica insisted.

"Mom, Dad ... am I sick?" Kevin asked in a small voice.

Moreover, no one had ever explained anything to him, he did not understand the reason for those experiments. He just obeyed because that was what good children did.

Jessica walked over to the glass, placing her hand on it.

"Yes, little Kevin, you have a bad, ugly disease, but I am here to help you. I know that you are a strong and courageous child and you will fight right? "

Kevin tore the cables out of his head, to get up and run towards the glass, resting his hand where she had put it.

"Yes, girl from the future, I will fight the bad and ugly disease!" He promised her, determined.

Jessica smiled at him again, before turning to his parents with a nod of assent.

Albert got the special syringe, poured out the vial and walked into Kevin's room, who was looking at the needle in terror, then turned his gaze to Jessica.

"Kevin, I'm not going to lie to you. This thing will hurt you, very bad, but it will only do you a lot of good afterwards. Do you trust me?"

The child nodded weakly with his head, while his father made him bend over the table and his mother also joined to hold him still.

"Come on, my son, everything will be fine." She whispered, before Albert applied pressure and the needle entered.

It was slow, heartbreaking, and Kevin screamed the whole time before he passed out.

Jessica entered the room too.

"It's normal. He could remain unconscious for hours, the scientist who designed this vaccine informed me of this possibility. You have to believe me, you did the right thing. " She congratulated as Louise picked up her little son. "Take him to his room, he needs a lot of rest. I will stay with you as long as necessary to ascertain the results." she stated.

Jessica kept her word.
It took Kevin all day to recover and just as Louise was one step away from accusing Jessica of putting her son into a coma, he opened his eyes again.

"Kevin, sweetheart!" His mother rejoiced, just as the father also seemed more serene.

"Girl from the future, you stayed!" He greeted her, with an expression of joy, proving that his brain functions had not been affected.

"Yes, little Kevin, I will stay until you are fully recovered." She stroked his hand and he wasted no time and squeezed it, while with the other he held his throat.

"I'm thirsty." He said, coughing a little.

"I know, my son, it's a consequence of the injection you had, but I can't get you to drink fluids until tomorrow morning." His father explained.

"But I want some water. Right away!" he whimpered. "Bring me some water!"

"Kevin, really, you can't, it's for your own good. If you scream it's only worse, because you are more thirsty. " Jessica reassured him, speaking to him quietly. "In the morning you can drink all the water you want, a matter of a few hours that will pass sooner than you think."

"She's right, Kevin." Albert approved. "As a good guy, try to sleep so you won't think about thirst. You still need a lot of rest. " He advised him and the boy yawned, feeling his eyelids get heavier, until he fell asleep within minutes.

Jessica followed Louise and Albert out of the room.

"Wonderful." commented the detective.

"Excuse me? My son is dying of thirst and you find it wonderful? " Louise snapped.

"You don't understand, it's wonderful that he commanded something and you didn't please him."

"Yeah, sure, as if a seven-year-old boy could command me!" Albert grumbled. "Why were you so worried about it? Do you want to tell us once and for all who you are and why you helped us? "

"You are right. I owe you some explanations. I'll tell you everything, as long as it remains a secret between you and me. Little Kevin will never have to know. " she made a decision and only went on when she saw Albert and Louise nodding.

"My name is Jessica and this is my story."

(End I)

Notes:

The story is already completed, but I wanted to leave you with a bit of suspense.
Do you like it so far?

I know I use to write fluffier stories about them which most of the fans of this fandom don't like, but this is different, so I hope it can conquer a bigger audience *finger crossed*

Did you enjoy little Kevin? There will be more about him, stay tuned ;)

Thanks for your time. Hugs

Lu