( Alarm hits first, eyes WIDENED as all he could do was WATCH, watch as the CHAOS UNFOLDED. Instinctively, his hands moved to the wheels of the chair, pushing back despite the fact that she was NOWHERE NEAR his line of fire, but perhaps it was simply out of SHOCK. And guilt. He’d caused this. He’d SNAPPED AT HER, because… why? Why had he snapped at her? Because she’d been rude? She was ALWAYS RUDE, especially to him. But as the STORM RAGED ON, the telepath couldn’t help but feel like, PERHAPS… this wasn’t about him. Not really. She wasn’t ANGRY AT HIM. This… this was something else. Something DEEPER.
And when she had finally EXHAUSTED HERSELF, when grief won out and the ANGER SUBSIDED, Charles slowly, carefully approached, eyes fixed on her, ready to back away at a moment’s notice, should she quickly take another violent turn. But she WASN’T GOING TO ——————– at least, he BELIEVED she wouldn’t. Not this time.
Within a few moments, he was sat in the corner beside her. But it wasn’t enough, and slowly, CAREFULLY, with a little effort, he lifted himself OUT of the wheelchair, rather unceremoniously COLLAPSING onto the floor. Dragged himself back BESIDE HER against the wall. Breathe. He was FINE. This was fine. )
“ ——————————– I’m NOT HIM… “
( Quiet words, spoken EVER-SO-DELICATELY, because it didn’t take a GENIUS to figure it out, and he was certainly that AND MORE. When they had first met, he had SENSED IT, a deep trauma to her. She had recognized the feeling, the feeling of another INSIDE HER HEAD. Someone like him had been in there, MUDDLED EVERYTHING UP, and that… that PAIN… he couldn’t fix that. It was something which Jessica would have to figure out ON HER OWN. All he could do, was make a few things ABUNDANTLY CLEAR. )
“ And I’m not here to help you. TRUTH BE TOLD, I can’t ——————– not unless you WANT ME TO. What I’m here for, is to listen, and promise you that I will NEVER HURT YOU. And, if you feel like, one day, you could… you CAN TRUST ME. “
he approaches, makes his case & she listens.
one thing she’s learned from her job is how different each person can be from one another. motivations, experiences, reactions, all having subtly matching to a different beat. intricacies in the human collective make the species as a whole varied. no two people are precisely alike. knowing that, though, doesn’t make it any easier for her to trust other people. especially not someone capable of doing what xavier can. what KILGRAVE can. that’s the only similarity she requires in order for them both to seem the same. a flawed, broken perspective, she knows. but one that’s there nonetheless.
emotionally fatigued, but markedly calm (at least in comparison to a few moments ago), jessica stays leaned against the wall in the corner of her dingy, cheap apartment. her back is to him, like she’s trying to forget who’s talking to her altogether. just to make it easier. “ that’s an easy promise to make, is’t it? “ she asks, pulling her knees up to her chest & wrapping both arms around them. a deep inhale through her nose, palm coming up to wipe at her nostrils before it falls back to her legs.
jones lets her head drop down, tired of the effort in keeping it up. “ he raped me. “ she says plainly, almost void of emotion. even now, though, she finds herself searching for the right way to describe it. “ over … & over … & over again. “ it’s a muddy trek back through disgusting, hazy memories. “ but. he … MADE me want it. i obviously didn’t, & i never did, but it FELT like i did. there’s nothing so confusing, so disgusting, & so thoroughly … intrusive. invasive. horrible. & … he … FORCED me … to beg for it. “ now she seems hollow, empty, tears listlessly falling & crashing against the wooden floorboards. “ he forced me to do a lot of things. for him, to him; to others people. “ nails idly carve into the flesh of her knee, a bit of blood smearing over pale skin. “ he kept me for months. & every night, he’d … “
words trail off, since she doesn’t need to elaborate on that topic any further. he can probably guess where that’d been going. “ he also utilized my … gifts. i broke arms for his amusement, legs, fingers. not mine, obviously, i was too valuable to him. & he, uh … “ all she can see now is her face. reva connors. “ made me kill a woman. punched her hard enough in the chest to kill her instantly. “
out of all the things she’s revealed in this little sit down, it’s that aspect which compels her voice to break. “ & kilgrave, he, “ choking back a sob, she searches for the words, grasping them before they float away into darkness, “ he didn’t even … REALIZE what he’d done. that’s probably the most disgusting, terrifying part. when i told him that he’d raped me, he was shocked. genuinely, truly shocked. motherfucker … “ she tucks back a strand of messy hair. “ he insisted that i misunderstood his orders. so he tried to blame me for killing that woman. “
now she slowly turns to face xavier, eyes bloodshot & looking like a mess. “ so, telling me that you’d never hurt me? it’s all too clear that it’s just a matter of perspective. & i have no idea what your’s might be like. & when someone can just … DECIDE that their own way is the right one? “ she shakes her head, closes her eyes. “ that makes it difficult to trust anyone that can do what he could. “