The ride is relatively quiet from there, besides my father speaking up every once in a while to give instructions. Soon enough we're at the motel and once I've made sure Jeri is staying put and not doing anything to give up the game, I take Kilgrave's parents to their room for that little chat.
"Right then, sit on the bed."
They do as I say and I take a moment to stare at them as I formulate my next words. Eventually though, I'm ready and so I smile and begin speaking, "Let's start with the good news. I'm forgiving you both for everything you did to me as a child, as well as your abandonment. I'm not going to kill or hurt or torture either of you for the pain you put me through."
They're both more than a little taken back by that, but eventually Albert speaks up, "T-that's… good?"
Chuckling, I wave a hand dismissively, "Yes, I feel like being stuck on the run for decades out of fear of me is more than enough recompense for leaving me in a situation where I had to use my powers to force others to take care of me. We've made our mistakes but we're all adults now and it's time to move on."
I only pause for one breath before continuing, "However, I was less than thrilled to find out the two of you have been working on a vaccine for me. That ends now. I've got too many enemies and only one way to truly protect myself. I can't let you leave me defenseless."
The fact that I knew about the vaccine efforts leaves both of Kilgrave's parents looking horrified, and as I finish speaking, Loise finally speaks up, "Kevin, you're our responsibility… we have to stop you."
I keep the smile on my face but shake my head at that, "You're right Mother, I am your responsibility… but I won't allow you or anyone else to stop me. So you're going to help me. You're both going to help me increase my powers. And to avoid any talk of it not being possible, let's get confirmation now."
Pointing at Albert, I give him an order, "Tell me whether or not you can increase the range and strength of my ability, truthfully."
He looks like he's sucking on a particularly sour lemon but he's still forced to open his mouth and admit, "Yes, I can."
Smiling despite the looks of dismay on the elderly faces in front of me, I clap my hands together, "Wonderful! So from now on, you will never work towards a vaccine again, and will in fact spend the majority of your time working on improving my ability. That said, I'm not a total monster, I expect you to sleep and eat still of course. Won't be working you to your death… but both of you are going to help me overcome all of the obstacles and enemies in my way."
"Now then, you two start working to box up anything here that will help you increase my powers. I'm going to go secure a van and then we'll find somewhere nicer than this seedy place to stay for the next little while."
Leaving my parents to their work, I head back outside to where Hogarth waits in her car. A quick command has her get out and stand before me. I look at her for a long moment before sighing, "I'm not… a bad person. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a good person either… I am a product of my circumstances."
She stands there in silence, face etched in stone as she tries to hide the absolute terror we both know she's feeling as I let out a self-deprecating chuckle, "Like, one of my first ideas after hearing you were planning to have me killed by a sniper was to have you finish driving us to Wendy's so that I could force her to murder you for me, possibly make her commit suicide after the fact to tie up the thing neatly for the police."