Page 93 of Breaking the Dark

She places her hand on the inside of his door frame, falls against it at an angle, lets her head drop, and sighs. “I have had better days.”

Luke smiles and leads her into his living room. He’s halfway through a meal, some kind of meat with some kind of starchy carb that Jessica would kill for right now. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your—I dunno, what even is this—a dunch?”

“It’s fine. Seriously. I’d offer you some, but this was the end of yesterday’s leftovers. Can I get you anything else? I have chips and dips. I have beer?”

Jessica gazes at him, her gut churning with affection, with fear. “Chips and dips would be amazing. Thank you. And some very cold water.”

“Coming right up.”

She watches him across his kitchen counter. He pulls three different bags of chips from a cupboard and waves them at her. She points at one and he tips them into a bowl for her, spoons salsa into another bowl, drops ice cubes into her water. She wants to watch Luke Cage get her snacks for the rest of her life.

“This is the best thing that’s happened to me all day. Actually, maybe my whole life.”

She slides off her boots and massages her sore feet. She necks down the cold water and crunches the shards of ice.

“Shelves are still up,” she observes, looking at the walls.

“Yup. You did a great job with the spirit level. Straightest shelves in Harlem.”

He’s put some books up. She didn’t know he read books. There are two plants. And some photos in frames. His father in an NYPD uniform, his hat tucked under his arm, his mother holding him on her lap as an apple-cheeked toddler.

“Get you with your nice stuff.”

“Well, you know, you gotta act like an adult if you wanna be an adult.”

“You might be onto something there. You know, Malcolm cleaned out my fridge while I was away. He scraped mold off of it. Sprayed it. It was surprisingly profound to put food into a clean fridge.”

Luke nods and gives her his fist to bump. “And you’re how old, Jessica Jones?”

“Yup. But I’m growing. Slowly. I am. I just need…”

Her phone buzzes suddenly and alarmingly, reminding her that there is a world outside Luke’s nice apartment and his bowls of chips. It’s Frank, Julius’s boyfriend. She mouths an apology to Luke and answers.

“Hey, Jessica?”

“Hey, Frank. Thanks for calling. Any news?”

“Yes. Just got the test results back. Are you ready for this?”

“Er, yeah. I guess.”

“So, the technologist found traces of human adrenochrome in that sample. And wait for it…neuronal cells.”

“Neuron—?”

“Neuronal cells, they’re also known as nerve cells, specialized projections known as axons—”

“Literally, explain it like I’m five.”

She hears Frank sighing. “Whoever created this concoction used elements of a living human brain.”

Two Years Ago

Saffron Walden, Essex, UK

They’re perfect. She knew they would be.

As they approach her car, Polly is a little concerned about the fact that they are all wearing the same navy uniform, it might make this meeting a little conspicuous. She hadn’t thought of that. But she chose this corner of town deliberately after detailed research. No cameras, no people. It only takes one, after all, to blow the whole thing.