Chapter 639

"What do you mean, we’d all have died?"

Jessica, Simpson, and the others exchanged confused looks.

Of all of them, Simpson had the most reason to be puzzled. He had been the one who designed the operation. Although his movement had paused for only a fraction of a second before firing, eight years of special-forces training had left him with an exceptionally clear memory of the scene.

There hadn’t been anything especially dangerous near the target.

It had been a coffee stand, not a restaurant with propane tanks scattered around the place. There were no exposed gas lines nearby, either.

And even if there had been, Simpson had only been carrying a tranquilizer pistol. The projectile didn’t have enough kinetic energy to set off anything explosive.

For the life of him, he couldn’t see what could possibly have turned the operation into a disaster.

"That’s why I called you idiots."

Moira’s voice was tightly controlled, but the anger underneath it was obvious.

"You assumed that because you were operating in a crowded public place, you could get in and out without consequences. You forgot one very important detail."

She looked at them coldly.

"This is New York."

Jessica’s group exchanged another glance.

She had a point.

New York had a bizarre tendency to attract the impossible.

Tony Stark had once turned the city into a battlefield with his mechanical army. Then two enormous green men had practically demolished half a neighborhood while throwing each other through buildings.

More recently, the planet’s finest collection of costumed heroes had fought the Chitauri in the middle of Manhattan.

Those were merely the extraordinary people everyone knew about.

Who knew how many others were still hiding beneath the surface?

"Was someone like that actually there this morning?" Simpson asked carefully.

"Of course."

McKenna took the cigar from her mouth.

"Right there at the coffee stand. The person sitting near your target was..."

She paused.

"...an extremely dangerous individual."

She stopped herself before revealing Evenson’s identity.

Moira folded her arms.

"If I were assigning people like you threat classifications, Jessica Jones would barely qualify as a D. Kilgrave would be a C-plus at most."

"I don’t like D."

Jessica shrugged.

"Unless you’re talking about my chest."

She gave the joke a moment to breathe before her expression turned serious.

"What about the person who was there this morning? What classification would you give him?"

"S."

Moira didn’t hesitate.

The rating suited Evenson.

If Evenson ever learned that threat classifications existed, however, he would probably be offended by anything less than SSR.

"That gentleman is usually extremely pleasant," Moira continued. "As you saw today, he didn’t even react when a bullet flew past him. He generously chose to overlook your little act of disrespect."

Her smile disappeared.

"But if that bullet had drifted slightly and he’d decided he’d been attacked..."

Her voice became cold.

"...you would have discovered very quickly that his anger is something you cannot afford to experience."

Moira looked directly at Jessica.

"Honestly, there was a moment when I sincerely hoped you’d provoke him."

Jessica felt a chill run down her spine.

Moira had already been furious about Jessica moving the operation forward without permission.

Then she’d reviewed the surveillance footage.

That was when the cold sweat started.

Based on Simpson’s firing angle, if the shot had deviated only two centimeters farther to the right, it would have struck Evenson’s Void Barrier.

And there was a problem with that.

After being caught off guard one too many times, Evenson had converted his Void Barrier into an autonomous passive defense.

The activation threshold was extremely low.

Evenson valued his continued existence rather highly.

A plastic pellet from a toy airsoft gun could potentially be classified as an attack and trigger the barrier.

If Simpson’s shot had struck it, Evenson probably wouldn’t have stopped to wonder whether the attack had actually been intended for him.

He would have responded.

Immediately.

At that point, whether Jessica survived would have been almost irrelevant.

Evenson’s identity was also highly sensitive.

A concealed Avenger being attacked in broad daylight was more than enough to trigger a SHIELD investigation.

And once SHIELD entered the picture, Hydra wouldn’t be far behind.

For all Moira knew, Hydra might have arrived first.

The number of people dragged into the situation would increase.

The consequences would multiply.

And if Evenson eventually learned that the entire mess had happened because Moira had failed to control the operation and misjudged the situation...

That would be a very unpleasant conversation.

Evenson might seem easygoing most of the time. The Eredar Twins rarely displayed their anger openly, either.

But Moira understood people like them.

They could forgive many things.

Disappointing them was not one of them.

Although...

The idea of Kilgrave’s mind control being combined with Hydra’s brainwashing methods was almost interesting.

Take a deep breath.

Give up.

The pain ends.

Obedience earns rewards.

It would be fascinating to see whether any of that worked on Kilgrave.

Unfortunately, that experiment would have to wait.

Right now, Jessica had endangered everyone, compromised the operation, and nearly gotten herself killed.

Moira’s patience was gone.

"Jessica Jones."

Her voice turned cold.

"I’m formally ending our cooperation."

She turned and walked away with McKenna.

Jessica hurried after them.

"Wait!"

She stepped in front of them.

"What about our deal?"

"Void."

Moira walked past her.

"Consider it as though it never happened."

Jessica grabbed Moira’s sleeve.

"That’s it?"

Her voice cracked.

"You’re just going to let an innocent girl spend the rest of her life in prison?"

Moira calmly pulled her sleeve free.

"That’s no longer our concern."

Her expression was ice.

"Our assignment was to deal with Kilgrave. Everything else is outside our jurisdiction."

She paused.

"That girl had already been given a glimpse of freedom. You were the one who threw it away."

Jessica’s resistance finally collapsed.

"I’m sorry."

She looked desperate.

"I’m really sorry. Just give me one more chance."

She clasped her hands.

"Please."

Moira gave a humorless laugh.

"Plenty of people go through their entire lives without ever getting one chance."

She looked Jessica in the eye.

"What makes you think you’re entitled to a second?"

"Just give her one more chance."

A new voice came from the darkened corridor.

Heavy footsteps followed.

A broad-shouldered figure emerged from the shadows.

"Young people make mistakes. Being that harsh seems a little excessive."

The newcomer was a white man with short brown hair.

His face was concealed behind a mask of unknown material and a pair of red tactical lenses, making his features impossible to distinguish.

He wore a black leather jacket, its zipper hanging open enough to reveal armor underneath. Black tactical pants covered his legs, and military combat boots completed the outfit.

A rifle of unknown make rested across his back in a standard military carry position.

A pistol was secured to his right thigh.

That weapon was immediately recognizable.

An M1911.

A soldier’s favorite.

The man stopped in front of Moira and snapped to attention.

"Soldier: 76 reporting, Commander."

Because his rifle was strapped to his back, he couldn’t give a proper salute.

Moira raised her hand in acknowledgment.

"At ease, Soldier."

She studied him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Excellent."

Soldier: 76 adjusted his stance.

"Honestly, I have never felt better."

"Good."

Moira remembered what had happened that morning and felt a fresh twinge of unease.

"Then let’s get this operation moving. The sooner we understand what we’re dealing with, the sooner we can avoid another disaster."

"Commander..."

Soldier: 76 tilted his head toward Jessica.

"Are you really going to leave that situation unresolved?"

Soldier: 76 was Jeffrey Mason.

The U.S. government had selected him as a future superhero, a new symbol for the military.

A man like that was almost guaranteed to have a strong moral compass.

Moira could ignore Hope’s situation.

Mason couldn’t.

Moira frowned.

For perhaps the hundredth time, she wished the computer assisting his cognitive processing could run continuously rather than only activating fully in combat mode.

His unnecessary compassion was becoming a nuisance.

"I give opportunities to people who have value."

Moira gritted her teeth.

"She destroyed her own value."

She looked at Mason.

"Follow orders, Soldier."

Mason hesitated.

Then sighed.

"Yes, Commander."

"Wait."

Jessica suddenly spoke.

"I still have value."

Everyone looked at her.

"I can be bait."

She took a breath.

"I can lure Kilgrave out."

Moira scoffed.

"Your failed operation this morning already scared him off. He knows you’re coming for him. He’s not stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice."

"That’s exactly why it’ll work."

Jessica’s eyes sharpened.

For the first time since Moira had confronted her, she looked confident.

"Kilgrave still hasn’t given up on me. He wants to control me again. But despite watching me all this time, he hasn’t made a move."

Moira listened.

"Part of that is probably his obsession," Jessica continued. "But there’s another reason. He’s cautious. He doesn’t know whether I’ve found a way to resist him since breaking free."

She pointed at herself.

"My stupid stunt today changes that."

Moira’s expression shifted slightly.

"Keep going."

"After what happened this morning, he’ll think I’m not much of a threat. He’ll think he’s figured me out. He’ll get careless."

Jessica pointed toward Moira.

"I’ve exposed myself."

Then she gestured toward the others.

"You haven’t."

She lowered her hand.

"Even if he becomes suspicious, he’ll be suspicious of me. He knows almost nothing about you."

A faint smile appeared.

"That’s your opening."

Moira considered it.

Carefully.

Then her eyes narrowed.

"Turned from scaring the snake away..."

She smiled.

"...into drawing it out."

Jessica nodded.

"Exactly."

"Interesting."

Moira thought for another moment.

The idea wasn’t bad.

Not bad at all.

Jessica’s eyes brightened.

"So we can keep working together?"

She extended a hand.

Moira looked at it.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then she finally took Jessica’s hand.

"I hope you understand that this really is your last chance, Ms. Jones."