"GET BACK HERE, JESSICA!" 

His scratching voice cut through the air and imposed itself on the constant noises of the city, but to Jessica it was like a distant echo, a dull scream in her head.

"NOW, JESSICA!" Kilgrave cried again, but this time she didn't even turn around. Her well-shod feet marched on the filthy asphalt dimly lit by the street lamps, the long and elegant reindeer coat sheltered her from the bitter cold of that late January night, while in front of her stood the sign indicating the street of the city: 537 W 38th St.

Jessica looked at him with glassy eyes, but right in that moment her whole body was abruptly illuminated by the headlights of a bus. The deafening noise of the horn was interspersed with Kilgrave's desperate screams, and in the brief moment between the crash and the realization that she was dying, she turned to him. She looked him in the eyes one last time before she was completely mowed down by the wheels.

That’ll teach you, you bastard.

Everything had happened in an instant, all in front of his eyes.

Jessica, his Jessica, was not responding to his commands, as if she had suddenly gone deaf. He had called her, he had yelled her name out loud, louder, but she hadn’t even turned around. She had kept walking as if she had been attracted to the light, as if she had somehow made herself immune to his mental powers.

But Kilgrave had much more to think about now. Jessica no longer responding to his commands was certainly a problem, but Jessica dying was… Hell, pure, black hell.  

His hands, shirt and trousers were now stained with blood. He was holding Jessica's helpless body in his arms as an unsuspecting passer-by's car sped against the traffic at full speed towards the hospital. His heart was now about to explode from his chest, his hands were shaking.
 

"Fast!" he desperately ordered the driver, who gave the car more gas "Hurry up!"
 

The girl was pale, she didn't seem to be breathing anymore …
 

"Please, stay with me" he begged her softly, moving her damp hair from her forehead "Please, Jessi."
 

The car soon arrived at the hospital and parked in the ambulance area, right in front of the emergency room.

Kilgrave sushed annoyed the rescuers' protests and ordered them to help him. The health workers obeyed him with a snap and Jessica was propped up on a stretcher. He ran after them, did not lose sight of her.

There was an unbearable confusion in the emergency room. Doctors running from side to side, children crying, people injured, burned or otherwise full of expectations,complaining and demanding attention. No, that couldn't go like that. Jessica had to have top priority.
 

"You, people, out!" he scathingly ordered four patients, who immediately got up and went to the door "You too, get out!"

A mother with a crying baby, a limping boy, and an old man with an ice pack on his elbow walked in a still bad shape to the door. But that still wasn't enough.

Where the hell is the head of the hospital? Who are the best doctors? Why hasn't my Jessica entered the operating room yet?
 

His throat was aching now from how much he had screamed. An idea then occurred to him, Kilgrave made his way abruptly into the nurses' booth, snatched the hospital microphone, the one used for service communications, from their hands, and began giving orders.

"ALL DOCTORS AND ALL HEALTHCARE STAFF COME HERE IMMEDIATELY TO TAKE CARE OF JESSICA JONES!" he ordered loud and clear "NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO GET OUT OF HERE UNTIL JESSICA JONES WILL BE COMPLETELY RESTORED!"

Doctors ran into it, yes, but only those who were nearby, either for a coffee break at the machines, or simply by chance. 

"Bloody hell, stupid limited power!" swore the persuader, bitterly realizing that it would not be so easy to have what he needed.
He was already considering going to look for the head of the hospital, when the Blindfolded Goddess decided to smile at him.

An austere and reassuring doctor in his sixties rushed over to him as the automatic elevator doors opened.
Kilgrave's power might not have an effect at great distances, but that didn't change the fact that his message had been heard throughout the hospital via the acoustic system.
 

"Listen to me, Sir, may have you gone mad?" the old man attacked him, coming towards him with an incredulous expression. “How dare you make such communications, do you think we're playing here? I am Dr. Tenter, Chief of this hospital, there are people here who need serious treatment and… ”

Kilgrave cut him off immediately, bored.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk" he shushed him with a nervous wave of his hand "Are you the Chief, then?"

The old man immediately nodded and a satisfied grin appeared on the persuader's face. It was a piece of cake for him to put Dr. Tenter on the microphone and have him repeat his own announcement.
This time the result was very different.
 

In less than five minutes, all white coats in the hospital had poured cascading toward him, from available radiologists to obstetricians. all nurses, rescue workers, volunteers, everyone was there.
Moreover, from time immemorial, orders from a head of the hospital were not to be questioned, ever. If Kilgrave's inflexible orders were added to these, the game was done.

The persuader smiled, now they were in business.

8 hours later ...

Kilgrave was staring at the monitor the vital functions of Jessica, who was sleeping.
He was not a great connoisseur of medicine but he knew that as long as he heard those intermittent beeps and saw those lines continue to alternate their progress, meant that everything was under control.
He had witnessed at every stage of the delicate operation of the girl and the last nurse who had tried to send him away, he was still busy butting his head against the wall, but after all someone would find him sooner or later… maybe.

The head of the hospital came towards him with the medical record in hand. Kilgrave immediately got up from his chair.
 

"So what?" he asked tensely, piercing him with his eyes.

“The patient's condition is stationary, Sir. Her body is responding well to the therapy and is reacting with remarkable speed, dare I say miraculous, ” he reassured him.“ However… ”he mumbled soon after.

"However?" Kilgrave urged him, agitated "Speak!"

"However, the impact with the ground was very strong and superficially damaged the cerebral cortex" explained the doctor quickly. "I'm very sorry, sir."

Kilgrave stared at him for a few seconds, pale. Then he grabbed him violently by the white coat and slammed him against the wall.

"What the bloody hell does it mean she damaged her cerebral cortex?" he attacked him, shocked "What does that mean! Explain!"

"It means that she has completely lost her memory" replied the old doctor, promptly "She no longer remembers anything, but we are confident that she is still fully aware of the basic notions of civilized life and of everything around her. We will test the severity of her amnesia in the next few days, but as for the facts related to her private life, I am sorry but I fear that there is very little we can do about it. This is a very rare case of total and full amnesia and after all, very few people survive such impacts ”.

Kilgrave left his wrinkled coat and pushed him away. He tried to think, he had to think.
 

"When you say that she no longer remembers anything, you mean ..."

"I mean from the day of her birth to today, sir." the head of the hospital was as eloquent as possible. "Now we have induced her into a pharmacological coma and ..."
The latter stopped, noticing the glare of fire that the disturbing, elegant man was giving him.
"For her own good." he hastened to clarify, immediately calming him.

He wanted his Jessica to be okay.
 

"How long will she stay in a coma?" he asked.
"To preserve the organism and all its brain functions, at least two days." the respondent answered.

"Two days?" Kilgrave repeated, with an angry grimace "Does she have to stay like this for two bloody days?"
 

The doctor swallowed "I can assure you that we meticulously  have followed all the guidelines of the WHO, the standard procedure foresees that ..."

"I don't give a damn about the standard procedure, Doctor WHO!" he cut him abruptly "If Jessica doesn't wake up in two days , you take that bloody scalpel and stick it in your heart, am I clear? "

"Yes, Sir" exclaimed the chief, without batting an eyelid. 

"Now out," he ordered, his stomach tightened with anxiety. “Only Dr. Ten-don’t-know-who can stay here, to check that everything is in order. "

Okay that absurd situation made him confused and angry, but the health of his beloved came first.
 

The doctors assembled in the room came out quickly like soldiers.

Kilgrave sat down in the courtesy chair next to Jessica's bed and let out a heavy sigh. In cases like these, when he felt so tense and worried, it was usually Jessica who was in charge of cheering him up. A kiss, a smile, a more intense and complete form of relief… but now she wasn't there. Kilgrave felt lost, frightened as when, as a child, he was tied up in a cot and abandoned to the brutality of scientists.

He wanted his Jessica, he needed his soul.

He took her hand, it was cold and so he brought it under the covers.
 

"Jessi," he began, breathlessly "Jess, do you see what happens when you walk away from me?" he accused her between his teeth, with shining eyes “You must be with me! Why were you leaving? I called you! If you had listened to me, we would be home by now, safe and sound, it's your fault, Jessica, yours! "

His body had already become a bundle of nerves. He hadn't touched any food, drink or sleep since they entered the hospital almost a day before.

“But I won't leave you” he said more softly, stroking her fingers “I'm staying here with you because I love you, always. But you must stay with me, okay? " he resumed, the very thought of her dying freaking him out.

She was his, just and only his, and this thought reminded him of a moment when he had been thinking exactly the same thing.
 

"Jessi, do you remember when we went to Venice?" he said, still holding her hand, “I told you that this was a famous destination for marriage proposals, but that it seemed too trivial to me because… Well, everyone did it. Do you know what? Actually I lied," he smiled at her, embarrassed" I wanted to ask you too, but for some strange reason I didn't have the courage. Which is silly, after all you would have said yes anyway, right? "

He smiled at her, she seemed to have frowned in her sleep. 

“Jessica” he told her “I really want to spend my life with you, I've never loved anyone like I love you. Do you want to marry me, even if you don't… ”he broke off, an illumination suddenly caught him“ Even if you don't remember anything? ”.

Oh.

She remembered nothing.

According to the doctors, she didn't even remember her name, not even that damned sister she used to invoke so often in her sleep, not even those months they had spent together, between lights and shadows.

Kilgrave realized that he had a more unique than rare opportunity: he could build not only the future, but also the past. He could change the course of their story and start from scratch. A new beginning, without the shadows or mistakes of the past. Kilgrave was not amoral, he was aware that he had imposed to Jessica a questionable rhythm, if you can put it that way. He had pulled the rope with her, she herself had made him angry many times, but he had never hurt her, such a thing had never happened. The patience and concern he had shown with Jessica had been new to him even. 

And after all, how could he have behaved differently with the woman of his dreams? How could he have resisted it or given it up, if he had been accustomed by life to having everything with a simple wave of his hand? Kilgrave loved to justify himself in this way. And he was convinced that by dint of spoiling and pampering her too sooner or later she would fall in love with him. But, well, if she had been his wife, things would have speeded up a lot. Jessica would come to terms with it, subconsciously stop running away and finally start looking at him with different eyes.

And so, a plan began to take shape in the mind of the charming persuader.
What had happened before the deadly collision with that damned bus had been a wake-up call.
Jessica apparently no longer responded to his commands. He had called her, he had ordered her with all the breath in his body to go back, but the girl had inexplicably managed to ignore him. The shock she had suffered from killing that woman had obviously been too strong and had freed her.

Kilgrave could never control Jessica again, but now Jessica remembered nothing.

Tabula Rasa.

A new beginning.

A start together.

"Sir ..." ventured the chief, who had returned for routine checks, seeing him so engrossed.

"Shut up, I'm thinking!" he snapped, returning to his conjectures and reducing the doctor to a silent listener.

Until then Jessica had loved him because he had ordered her to… but if she had loved him because she was convinced?
Because he had convinced her?

He and Jessica deserved what they had not yet had in those months together, but which was still in Kilgrave's future plans: a married life.

A couple certainly couldn't have lived in a hotel, let alone staying there in New York, it was too risky.

And then tangible elements were needed , proofs that confirmed their formal and substantial union. Wedding rings, to begin with. A family home, full of projects and their photographs. A dog, maybe? 

He had to make choices, he had only two days left.

"You can talk again," he turned to the chief. "Consult with your team and keep Jessica Jones under constant observation ..."

"But, Sir, by now she is in a coma and four patients have died while the entire hospital was taking care of her ..." underlined the old man, still shocked by what happened . Sure, he loved that young woman's life, but he was the head of the Metro General Hospital, he couldn't have preferences!

Kilgrave, indeed glanced at the door and saw the crowd of doctors and nurses that had formed in front of the door, all standing and on their hands. He raised an eyebrow, his selective consciousness seemed to manifest.

"Okay, you can take care of the other patients too, but make sure you always check my Jessica, at least every hour." he finished, leaving the room.

He knew they would only do it for twelve hours, but it was better than nothing.

Twelve hours could be enough.
Also and above all to go and change clothes.
It was certainly not his habit to go around in bloodstained clothes, much less with his Jessica's blood on them.

The first phase, that one of the rings, was easy. It was enough for him to go to the best goldsmith in town, luckily for him not that far away. 

There were a large number of customers, but it certainly wouldn't have been a problem for him.
"You all have lost interest for this shop, right now. Everybody, go out." he said and everyone walked away without asking questions.

"But, Sir, this is so rude!" muttered the goldsmith, now alone, at the counter.

He was not a little worried when he saw him approach with a few strides.

"You want to make me two rings in white gold and you want to make them this way ..."

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

Getting an appointment with the real estate agent to visit the house that same afternoon was easier for Kilgrave than stealing candy from a kid.

He had decided that Queens would be the perfect place: secluded, quiet and surrounded by greenery, but also a stone's throw away from New York and its amenities.
 

That biscuit-colored villa, with the hexagonal-shaped driveway and the two flower beds on the sides of an exquisitely English lawn, so similar to those that adorned his beloved London, had convinced him from the first photos he had seen. 

The agent had taken him inside where he had appreciated the rustic style, but with its underlying elegance.
The way it was structured, the house reminded him of Jessica's childhood, the one he had asked her to talk to him about for a quite long time, memorizing as many details as possible.

Yes, that would be their perfect love nest.

"And this is the living room, large and welcoming, bright and with a sophisticated corner bar in front of the French window." the diligent agent praised yet another room, but the persuader didn't need to hear more. "If you now want to follow me into the kitchen, which is already fully furnished ..."

"I'll buy it." Killgrave interrupted.

“I appreciate your interest, but there are still two families interested in seeing this house and…”

“You don't understand. I want to buy it right away. Now. Sell it to me and prepare a contract, where for the first two months you will settle for a small deposit… ”he instructed him.

"Yes, sir," the agent obeyed submissively, using the kitchen table to pull his laptop out of his briefcase and open the standard contracts file. "Total value of the mansion: $ 1,750,000," he announced. "$ 750,000 to be paid within the first two months after signing the contract."

"Andrew," Killgrave called him by name, reading the tag on his red salesman of the month jacket .
He liked knowing the names of his victims, it gave him a sense of greater power over them.

"Y-yes?" stammered the young salesman, who hadn't been at ease for a while now.
 

"When I said small deposit, I meant really small," Kilgrave chuckled. "Correct the amount to be paid: 750 ... dollars." he specified, opening his wallet and throwing the banknotes one by one on the table. "Which I pay you immediately. And I'll tell you more. In two months I'll get you the whole cash. That's why you're making the real deal today. "

Kilgrave was not lying: even if in an unorthodox way, he was determined to do things correctly.

Over the course of that time he would find more and richer pushovers to involve in some poker nights where he'd have a blast gaining the victory with the most unlikely combinations, his favorite being a deuce and a seven.

Andrew made the necessary changes and, using the printer the studio was equipped with, the contract was printed and signed by Kilgrave, who could be called the proud owner of a dream villa having spent a very small sum.

At least for that moment.

Late in the evening, Kilgrave had returned to the hospital to watch over Jessica's sleep, while he too rested for a while, in an uncomfortable chair, light years away from the goose-down mattresses and the silk pillows he was used to enjoying.
But she was worth the price of a bone-wringing awakening.

Having re-established that same command of the day before, the persuader took advantage of the last day at his disposal to retrieve the keys to the villa, collect the rings and, given that there was time, even customize the house a little, with some photos, and especially taking care of Jessica's wardrobe.

A princess must dress like one. No. Not a Princess. A Queen.

--------------------------------- 

The next morning, Kilgrave was very excited about what was about to happen. Excited, but also worried.

Of course, he hadn't slept all night again. The uncomfortable chair, combined with the fear that something had gone wrong, had kept him awake and at the mercy of a thousand dreadful thoughts. But part of him was glad that this nightmare was coming to an end and that their new beginning could finally materialize. If all went according to plans, within twenty-four hours they would be together in this new house that he was still finishing up.
 

When the head of the hospital and his large team came out of the Intensive Care Unity approached him, Kilgrave jumped up.
"Did you wake her up?" he asked the Chief who nodded.

"Yes, everything went well," he reassured him, making him smile. "But as I told you, the lady suffers from amnesia and is now in a state of confusion."

"Can I see her?" he asked dryly.

"Nope, Sir, it would be better ..."

" I want to see her."

" Sure, sir ."

Kilgrave opened the door, his heart weighing in his chest. Jessica was lying on the bed looking up at the ceiling, but she quickly shifted her gaze as soon as she saw him.
 

“Oh, Jessi,” he exclaimed in a relieved tone, rushing to her bed “Jessica, my darling, how are you? Do you need something? If only you knew the fear I felt " he whispered, hugging her gently" My Jessica ".

She frowned and stepped back to look him in the eye.

"Who the fuck are you?" she asked, feeling even more confused.
 

Kilgrave fell silent, caught off guard. Then he turned to the doctors left at the door. "She doesn't even remember me," he complained, as if it were their fault.

"She doesn't even remember herself, Sir."

"Make her go back the way she was before!" Kilgrave growled, angry "Now!"
 

The Chief and the other doctors moved awkwardly, activated by the persuader's mental power, but then the latter seemed to come to his senses.

"No, stop, stop," he stopped them, with a nervous wave of his hand. He sighed and sat down opposite her.

Okay, it had been a low blow to see Jessica look at him like he was a perfect stranger. The state in which his beloved currently was had been explained to him in great details, yet hoping for some kind of miracle had been instinctive.
But wasn't that what he wanted after all?
A forgetful Jessica was the key part of his plan.

He had had a moment of weakness and had let himself be overcome by emotions, which was unusual for him, always so cold and calculating.

He returned Jessica's gaze and smiled at her.

Jessica shrugged and looked around. She was in a single room, spacious, well furnished, with a huge plasma screen on the wall. Opposite her was a line of male and female nurses standing and a squadron of doctors on either side of her bed. The only one in that crowded room who didn't have a white coat was the man sitting next to him, a very handsome dude with an inexplicably creepy attitude.

"Where am I?" she asked all those people gathered in front of her. It was that man who answered her again.

“You are in a hospital, darling. You had an accident. ”

Jessica glared at him, there was something about that all-combed guy that worried and irritated her terribly.

“Of fucking course I'm in the hospital” she answered badly, it came naturally to her. “But why, who are you? What happened to me? "

Probably, even Queen Elizabeth did not have a team of doctors as numerous as that.

The man from before spoke again, he almost sounded like the spokesman for the whole gang

"Jessi," he called her, touching her hand. But that simple, delicate touch startled her. Without realizing it, Jessica backed up and gave a powerful tug against the bed, so powerful that it uprooted the thick bars that smashed to the ground with an iron thud. Everyone jumped and she looked at them with an astonished grimace.

"I just touched them" she protested, confused "What the hell?"

"Jessica" Kilgrave tried to calm her down.

"What the fuck is going on ?!" she grew nervous, more and more agitated "Where the fuck am I !? What is this stuff? "

She started to tear the plumbing cables off, but Kilgrave at her side covered her hand with his.

"Calm down" he ordered in an intense tone, the concentrated frown "Calm down, it's okay."

Jessica analyzed him with her eyes.

"It's okay," he repeated softly, approaching cautiously. "It's okay, Jessica, I'm here now."

Kilgrave managed to hug her and she miraculously offered no resistance. "Soon I'll tell you everything, don't worry."

Jessica closed her eyes and inhaled hisperfume strongly. A fresh, musky smell that was very familiar to her. She realized she knew him.

"Who are you?" she finally asked.

Kilgrave smiled to himself and released the embrace, an arrow of victory shot in his eyes.

"I'm your husband, of course."

TBC

Notes:

You should know that a long time ago (just kidding, it’s not even been a month, we’ve been very fast!!), Ecate wrote to this friend of hers saying ‘I’m rewatching an episode of ‘Jessica Jones’ and I was struck by an idea: what if it was Jessica hit by the bus, instead of Kevin? And if after such an impact she lost her memory and he pretended to be her fiancée?’
Her friend shouted her most excited ‘waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!’ and added ‘But if it’s Kevin we’re talking about, he surely wants to do big things: why just her fiancée? Why not directly her husband?’
Ecate answered with ‘Would you like to write it with me?’ and said friend exulted even more, she ‘ll never EVER thank Ecate enough for that!

 

This is going to be a co-written story, there will be lights and shadows, funny moments and sadder ones, with the mutual goal of portraying the inevitable Jessica’s and Kilgrave’s characters! *O*
Hoping you’re enjoying this idea, let us know, if you want to makes us happy ^^
Even a word can make our day and we accept criticism as well.

Stay tuned!

InevitablePurpleRain