Two black cars pulled up beneath a building under construction. Four men and women, all dressed in black suits and sunglasses, stepped out and swiftly entered the building. They rode the elevator straight to the roof.
Upon arriving, they approached their colleague, who was draping a coat over Jessica. The middle-aged man in the lead, with a slightly receding hairline, nodded to his teammate before turning his attention to Jessica.
"Jessica, we meet again."
Recognizing the familiar voice, Jessica looked up, still wary, and nodded. "Agent Coulson, yeah, we meet again."
"Jessica, if I recall correctly, you've been missing for at least six months. Do you have any idea what you've been doing during that time?"
She glanced at Kilgrave's body nearby. "The guy over there, Kilgrave, aka The Purple Man... Your organization's powerful, right? You should know who he is. What is it again? The National Strategic Defense... something? Sorry, your name's too long."
Coulson's face grew more serious as he nodded. "Yes, I know who he was. A former Yugoslavian spy who turned rogue. We have intel suggesting he had a unique form of hypnotic power. Were you under his influence?"
"That wasn't hypnosis," Jessica corrected him. "He had a superpower—he could control anyone within a certain range just by speaking. He controlled me for over six months. During that time..." She faltered for a moment, choking back her emotions, but took a deep breath and continued. "During that time, I hurt a lot of people... even killed some. Until someone just now killed him... and freed me."
The implications of Jessica's trauma were clear, and Coulson could guess what she had suffered while under Kilgrave's control.
With a sigh, Coulson crouched down next to her and gently patted her shoulder. "Jessica, he's dead now. Everything he did to you is over. You're free. As for the people you hurt, it was all Kilgrave's doing. You were just a tool—none of it was your fault. Don't burden yourself too much."
After a brief pause, he added, "Do you know who killed Kilgrave? Whoever did it clearly resisted his mind control. Kilgrave fell from a significant height. The footage we have shows someone with abilities similar to yours. We need to figure out why they killed Kilgrave—whether it was for justice or for other reasons. Can you tell us anything about this person?"
Jessica looked up and met Coulson's gaze. After a moment of silence, she slowly shook her head. "Sorry. He was wearing a hood, covering his face. I didn't see him clearly. He showed up suddenly in the restaurant, and under Kilgrave's control, everything's a blur. I really don't remember what he looked like."
Jessica wasn't lying. Not only her, but the others in the restaurant as well—while under Kilgrave's control, they were entirely focused on serving him. There was no room in their minds to notice their surroundings or the people around them. And on top of that, Abel had disguised himself and covered his face.
Coulson didn't press her further. He simply nodded. "Alright, for now, we'll leave it at that. You'll come with our agents. We'll provide you with therapy to help you recover from what you've been through."
Jessica wanted to refuse. She just wanted to hide and recover in her own way. But she hadn't told the whole truth earlier—she had her suspicions about who Abel might be. When Abel killed Kilgrave, he had said something about Kilgrave hurting his family. She had her guesses, but Abel had saved her, freed her from Kilgrave's control, and even covered his face to protect his identity. She didn't want to risk causing him any trouble by telling Coulson everything.
This was the least she could do for him. Though she didn't know who he was, she would always be grateful.
With a silent thank you in her heart, Jessica followed one of the female agents, leaving the rooftop and getting into one of the cars to rest.
Once she was gone, Coulson approached the agent handling Kilgrave's corpse. "We need to take Kilgrave's body with us. We might be able to learn something."
"Yes, sir," the agent responded.
"Good. Let's wrap things up here. We have more leads to follow." With that, Coulson and his team started leaving the rooftop.
Meanwhile, two staff members working on Kilgrave's body exchanged a glance. One subtly shifted his position, creating a blind spot for the other agents. The second staff member discreetly pulled a flat box from the toolbox, taking a tissue sample from Kilgrave's body. He quickly stowed it away in his kit.
After completing this task, the two continued loading Kilgrave's body, transferring it to the transportation team.
The staff member who had secretly taken the tissue sample handed his toolbox to another agent, whispering, "Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra," the agent responded quietly.
The two agents exchanged a knowing look before returning to their respective tasks. Everything proceeded smoothly, with no one else the wiser.
At the same time, Coulson and the rest of his team stood in the restaurant's surveillance room, watching the now-deleted footage. The master tape had also been taken.
Coulson sighed in frustration. "This guy is way too careful. No clues left behind. But we can still gather footage from passersby or nearby buildings. We'll figure out his identity. I refuse to believe he left no trace at all."