#fightlikehellcat

Jessica had managed to clean herself up somewhat after the last 24 hours’ excitement (for lack of a better, more accurately sarcastic word) but she still didn’t quite feel human. She’d never been this exhausted in recent memory, not even after crimefighting or a particularly nasty hangover.

If nothing else, she was glad to have Luke and Trish by her side. Having Thor for backup didn’t hurt either.

Trish had brought food with her when she arrived- Jessica’s request. It was probably all cold by now after such a drawn-out labor, and it still wasn’t quite her turn to eat. Jess had the newly-christened Danielle to feed first, before anything else. Breastfeeding was supposed to be pretty simple, right?

@fightlikehellcat

[Jessica felt a little stupid, calling her sister like this.  She was so wholly stunned and feeling emotionally fragile after everything she’d witnessed two days earlier.  But to let two whole days pass with little word to Trish was unacceptable.  In Jess’s defense, she’d spent one of those days dealing with the legal system, and honestly she was surprised it hadn’t been a bigger issue.]

C’mon, pick up...

[Since then, she’d been avoiding most people.  Jessica’s face was all over the news, and she wasn’t accustomed to this sort of notoriety.  Her work voicemail was completely filled with all sorts of messages- insane rants, emotional thanks, and everything in between.  To some, she was a hero.  To others, a murderer.  It was enough to make her head spin.]

Hey, Trish.  It’s Jessica.  I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner, it’s been... well, the last two days have been hell.  But I couldn’t leave you.  I needed... I wanted to check on you.  See how you’ve been handling everything.

@fightlikehellcat

“Don’t look at me like that,” Jessica sneered.  “We can’t all be reformed, troubled starlets who still have a world of prospects ahead of them.”  Her countenance melted into a teasing smile and she reached across the table to- gently- punch her sister in the arm.

Jessica picked up her drink, whiskey neat, and took a sip.  “So I quit the office job, no big deal.  I mean, I’m pretty unqualified for most work, but I’m about a thousand percent certain I was overqualified for that position.  And the xerox machine was stealing my soul,” she asserted.  The bar bustled with youthful energy on a Thursday evening, after working hours.  

Jessica knew she would never quite fit in like her sister, Trish.  Hell, if Trish could even fit in herself.  Former child star- Jess watched it happen.  The rise, the fall, the image clean-up.  All that, and Trish was still insisting Jessica put herself in the public eye and be a hero.  She hated the H-word.

‘ ...i know. too well. my girlfriend keeps tellin’ me i should let it out now or it’ll come out later ten times worse. an’ she’s right, ‘course, but so’r you. i just wish it never happened. glad that asshole’s dead, though. ‘

Jessica waved up at her office window, knowing Luke could see down to the street.  Trish had her car pulled up to the curb in front of Jess’s apartment, so once she made nice for the man upstairs, she opened the door and hopped in the passenger seat.

“Hey, Trish, thank you so much for coming so last-minute.  I told Luke we’re doing brunch, but...”  She trailed off.  She hadn’t given her sister so many details when she texted that morning, but she’d emphasized the urgency and the secrecy of the matter.  Trish knew of her general distrust of doctors so to hear Jessica ask to be driven to one must have conveyed the seriousness of the situation.

[Jessica was waiting for Trish outside of the WNEX studio, leaning against one of the ridiculously oversized advertisements featuring her sister’s face.  She shook her head with bemusement over the woman’s celebrity, but perked up when Trish approached.]

Jessica had been lounging on Trish’s couch for the better part of an hour now, wondering if she should just leave a note and then be on her way.  Not that she ever really bothered to ask, but she didn’t know her sister’s schedule at the radio station, and had assumed that she would be home a lot sooner.