Jewel Comes Knocking

Hawkeye was even more frustrated than Stark.

Why were you the only ones getting in the car?

Who was I?

Where was I?

It was clear that internal troubles had made Stark keep his distance from S.H.I.E.L.D. for the time being. He had a pile of problems of his own and no time to worry about someone else's business.

Mike grabbed a cheeseburger and got off halfway through the ride.

Stark Tower was also in Manhattan, at Bryant Park on 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Surrounded by skyscrapers, it stood in a bustling commercial district—a world apart from Hell's Kitchen, and quite far away.

Besides, the entire press conference was basically Stark's personal showboating stage. There was no need to go over there and suffer on purpose.

After being away for five days, Mike kind of missed his shabby little supermarket.

There was no place like home.

"The fat goose is back."

Mike charged into the supermarket excitedly.

There were no cheers like he had imagined.

Old Earl and Chloe were nowhere to be seen... At this hour, Chloe should have been at school, while Old Earl should have been working as usual.

Damn it, was he slacking off openly just because the boss was gone?

Dock his pay!

Just then, Skye walked out with a black-haired girl, both of them smiling.

"Mike, you're back." Skye smiled gently. "Your female friend came looking for you."

Mike somehow felt there was a knife hidden behind Skye's smile—a butcher's knife.

And the black-haired girl looked rather familiar.

But Mike was certain this was the first time he had met her. He often could not remember the names of girls he hooked up with, but after talking about life and exploring tunnels together, he would not forget their faces unless they had gotten plastic surgery.

Black hair, Audrey Hepburn-like big eyes, Anne Hathaway-like full lips, and a palm-sized face—she really was one of Mike's favorite types.

She should have been Skye's friend.

"Hello! I'm Mike."

Mike was very enthusiastic. This was the first time he had met one of Skye's friends.

"Jessica."

Skye froze for a moment, then said to the black-haired girl, "Jessica, Mike and I need to talk for a moment. Make yourself at home."

"It's fine." Jessica seemed perfectly relaxed as she looked around the supermarket.

Skye pulled Mike aside and asked in a low voice, "Mike, what is going on?"

Mike was baffled. "What do you mean, what's going on?"

"Isn't Jessica your female friend? Did you put your pants back on and decide you didn't know her?" Skye heavily emphasized the word "female" in "female friend."

She sounded like she was gritting her teeth.

"No. I thought she was your girlfriend."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent."

The two looked at each other.

That little bitch acted like she knew Mike so well earlier. What is she trying to do? Skye thought.

No wonder Skye had been acting strangely earlier. She had thought one of Mike's hookups had not gotten enough and wanted another all-night rematch.

"It's all your fault!" Skye rolled her eyes.

"How is this my fault too?" Mike rubbed his nose.

Forget it. A good man did not fight with women—unless it was in bed, where they absolutely had to battle until drenched in sweat, fighting to the death.

"I'll go ask what's going on first." Mike reassured Skye. "Hopefully, she isn't here to cause trouble."

"Fine. If she is here to cause trouble, when you make a move..."

"Don't worry, I won't make a move."

"I mean, if you do make a move, try not to hit her in the face. She is a girl, after all."

Mike: (||￢_￢)

Mike stepped forward with a smile. "Looks like the situation is a little complicated. Care to explain?"

The black-haired girl remained composed. "Let me introduce myself again. Jessica Jones, private investigator."

Jessica Jones?

Jewel?

"So you came to check out the competition?" Mike said.

"No." Jessica shook her head. "I just wanted to see what kind of man made my sister, who is as proud as a peacock, wait two days for your call—and you still never contacted her."

"Uh... I was on a business trip abroad these past few days." Mike had a question in his heart. Who is her sister?

Of course, he absolutely could not ask that directly. That would be courting death.

Jessica suddenly stepped closer, stared into Mike's eyes, and said, "You didn't forget who my sister is, did you? Looks like you really did... Hahaha!"

Jessica burst out laughing.

Mike again: (||￢_￢)

After laughing for a while, Jessica said, "Tracy. Tracy Walker, my sister."

All right, Tracy Walker... a professional skirt suit, blonde hair, and the air of a stern prosecutor. But the wildness she had shown during their bodily clash had left Mike dumbfounded. She was a female rider who had made quite an impression on him.

Tracy had indeed mentioned having a sister, but they did not share the same surname, so Mike had failed to connect the dots.

Jessica had been worried about her sister, so she investigated Mike.

Mike complained, "Didn't you and your sister have a bad relationship?"

Jessica said, "We do... Not just with my sister. I have a bad relationship with everyone."

Mike noticed that even when this girl laughed heartily, gloom lingered at the corners of her eyes.

The Purple Man incident had inflicted tremendous damage on her. The wound was still bloody and had yet to heal.

"But she is still my sister."

"So?"

"Nothing." Jessica gripped a stainless steel shelf and left a handprint in it.

The meaning was clear: what Mike and Tracy did as consenting adults was none of her business, but if he dared deceive her sister, she hoped his bones were as hard as that stainless steel shelf.

"Heh."

What the hell... Did stainless steel shelves grow on trees?

The moment Jessica left, Skye immediately leaned in. "You didn't fight? Who was she? What happened?"

"Just a private investigator. Maybe she heard I was pretty famous in this line of work and came to check things out?"

"A fellow competitor? That's it?"

"What else would it be?" Mike felt a little guilty and quickly changed the subject. "Turn on the TV, quick! There's a good show on..."

On the television, Stark wore a melancholy expression and spoke with great eloquence. If someone Photoshopped out the half-eaten cheeseburger, he would have looked like quite the philosopher.

Less than an hour after the press conference, Stark Group's stock hit the limit down. Mike felt that he had taken another step toward the pinnacle of life.

Just then, Old Earl poked his head in from outside.

Mike gave a sinister smile. "Old Earl, where did you go during work hours? Aren't you afraid I'll dock your pay?"

"Boss, you're back!"

Old Earl said happily.

He looked around the supermarket and muttered, "Huh? They actually didn't fight?"

It seemed Old Earl had gone off to "take refuge" earlier.

What a disloyal bastard!

Docking his pay really was a wise and brilliant decision.

Mike went back to the second floor, took a hot shower, then headed to the underground base to put back the things he no longer needed.

Skye quietly followed him.

"How did the mission go?"

"Very smoothly. Didn't you see Stark on TV just now? He's alive and well."

"I mean, were you hurt? Who cares whether Stark lives or dies?!"

"No." Mike smiled. "The terrorists were all women. When they saw my peerless handsome face, they couldn't bear to shoot."

Skye snorted with laughter. "Even if they had shot, it wouldn't have worked. Your skin is thicker than a wall."

The two chatted for quite a while, though Skye did most of the talking. She told him about some of her experiences—life in the orphanage and being passed from one foster family to another.

Finally, Skye brought up what she really wanted to say: she had joined a hacker organization called Rising Tide, whose purpose was to expose hidden truths.

Simply put, Rising Tide was an illegal organization, and every member was wanted. Skye was afraid of dragging Mike down with her.

Mike knew about Rising Tide. Like every organization founded by idealists, it eventually became corrupted, turning into a tool for profit and ambition.

Mike smiled. "If you knew the kind of people I deal with, you wouldn't talk about dragging me down."

"What kind of people?" Skye asked curiously. "I'm just curious. If you can't tell me, that's fine."

"Calling them 'people' isn't quite accurate. Some of them aren't even human..."