Fandom Banana Fish crossover RP

[BelladonnaNightshade]

Jessica let out short bursts of air as her throat and stomach clenched, but there was no more vomit to bring up. She thrashed her head around at the image of the drill left beside Shorter's head, believing for a moment before he was brought in that she could block everything out, begin to numb herself of this torture. But freshly witnessing someone exposed to that pain brought her emotions rushing back. It was the way Shorter's eyes widened when he saw her, strapped down right next to her and smiled before it all went to hell.

'What do you sick people even want with a kid in this lab? Don't touch her.' He hadn't even known her. But he'd reacted with such horror, it reminded Jess that this wasn't a normal situation. There was someone else, a Japanese boy. He was protecting him. She'd disassociated many times, using the techniques her therapist suggested after her time with Killgrave. The address didn't belong to her family anymore, they were dead so she didn't feel that she was putting anyone in danger by saying it out loud as a coping mechanism.

Shorter had given her the first smile she'd received since the car crash - at least a real one. Jess expected this one to be pitiful, but it was more a 'things will get better' sort of smile. But obviously, things did not get better for Shorter.

The rain of bullets had not been enough to remove Jess from whatever plane of existence she'd used to survive the experimentation, she still mumbled 'Birch Street' repeatedly and kept her eyes closed while she heard someone's footsteps along the floor getting closer. She couldn't hear Dr Abraham, but sometimes he was quiet in between his mutterings on the Banana Fish drug. Was it him?

"How are you even alive?" The footsteps belonged to a man, young by the sound of his voice. Jess was surprised he wasn't kicking up as much of a fuss at her current physical state. Any regular person probably would have thrown up themselves just from how she smelled, though she did hear the occasional disgusted snort. Her short hospital gown, which reached just above her knees was drenched in her own sweat, blood and waste from when she hadn't been able to get up from the table to go to the bathroom. Which was never. She hadn't left the room in god knows how long, losing track of time.

She winced as he reached for the straps, for a brief second opening her dark eyes to find a golden haired visage with brilliant green eyes. He startled at that, but she writhed at the sight of the other table and kicked her legs. "Drill, drill, drill." Jess was annoyed she could barely speak right now, but her mind didn't make much sense. She was sure if she'd been dealing with random school bullies and not wackjob doctors, she'd have had some clever quip or insult on her tongue. Of course, she'd already dealt with wackjob doctors, the ones from after the crash, but this was somehow even worse than the accident.

They'd been using something on her to make her sluggish, strength had not come easy to her. It was being suppressed, somehow and it had terrified Jess. Her body felt like lead. It was another reminder that her power had its limits.

The stranger picked Jessica up, she was thrown over his shoulder. The action made her retch, but she felt some relief in her groggy, half conscious state in that awareness she was leaving the lab consumed now by fire. The man was disheveled, his clothes ripped and he held a gun. Noting this, Jess wasn't sure if he would take her somewhere equally bad. Maybe she'd be recognized and brought back to the Walkers? It was a desperate hope - desperate because Dorothy Walker, her adoptive mother was also a monster of her own kind, but at least this was a monster who gave her food and clothes and at the Walker residence, she could go to the toilet again finally, finally walking free (unless there were fights, of course). Jess would be with Trish again. They'd been each other's rocks since the adoption. Sisters in all but blood.

In all the confusion, Jess noticed that she must have fallen asleep. She was being picked up again, not remembering leaving the stranger's hold on her in the first place. It was daytime. At first, she gasped at the feeling of another strap against her chest. But it was a car seat-belt and it was immediately clipped off of her. Her vision swimming, Jess could only hear what was happening.

"I've got her!" Before she knew what was happening, Jess was unceremoniously dumped onto what felt like a couch. She curled in herself, screwing her eyes shut once more. All the men's voices terrified her.

Suddenly, she heard the blonde man's voice and there were some gasps of shock. He said to wake him up in 2 hours, and also; "Don't scare the poor girl. Give her some space. Eiji's the least threatening one, I know he's 19 but he looks pretty young. She's still a kid. Maybe 14? But we can't know her age for sure considering what state...she's in." He grunted, then said no more. He probably wanted to, but sounded very tired to Jess. She wasn't aware of how long they'd traveled while she was unconscious. Moments later, the men all started talking over each other again. She could already imagine them all looming near the couch.

"If only there was a woman here to help. What about bringing Shorter's sister over?"

"We should get her some food, she's pale."

"But there's vomit all over her. Who knows if she'll make another mess."

"Well she definitely needs a bath. Ew, I've never smelled something so bad."

"That's why I said to get a woman over here! We can't help with that."

"Ash said on the way down we shouldn't have her brought to a hospital because Golzine's men will be looking for her."

Jess wanted to say 'well why don't you just ask her what she wants' but all she could manage was a light moan. She missed her sarcasm.

"Hey, the kid's waking up." She grumbled in response to that, wishing once more it was something coherent to snap back. 'Don't call me kid' or something.

'Once I get my strength back, I'll be out of here. Just play innocent.' Reluctantly opening her eyes, Jess noticed indeed, the faces of several men. Immediately taking in her surroundings after some blinking, Jess deduced she'd been picked up by some sort of gang. But they didn't seem aggressive at all. But Jess knew they might have ulterior motives, especially considering her experience with seemingly kind and helpful people in the past who ended up not so nice. Maybe if they think I trust them they'll let their guard down. You're just a poor naive child, swept up in this bull'.

But still, Jess didn't know what to say. She was tired, though still filled with adrenaline. She was itching to fight them all, but there were so many. The young girl curled in on herself, silent as she observed the boy who must've been Eiji. He looked only a few years older, but had grown considerably more. She was tinier even than him among these rough looking thugs. He was sixteen, maybe? Without it being an act, but reflex in the face of so many unknown people, Jess realized she had the luxury of using her hands to defend herself and reflexively brought her arms around herself, pleased that she could cover her face with her hands. She wanted to stay like that forever, hiding. Before she knew she had to fight for a bit before she got home.

"Shorter. Lab. You." She said, sounding muffled as she peeked over her own fingers. Jessica remembered his distressed yells, the commotion as Shorter was infused with the drug.

"Banana Fish." 'Perhaps they'll protect me, if I give them something to latch onto.

"Banana Fish. In me. Survived. Chemicals." She said, more urgently as she curled her toes and rocked back on forth on the couch a little bit. It was very hard getting words out and making sense after being trapped for so long. Jess knew it was the radioactive chemicals in her that made her survive something that should have killed a regular person. At least in truth, she wanted this Eiji person to know how nice Shorter was to her. Perhaps someday, she could say exactly what happened in that lab to Eiji. If he wanted to, at least. Maybe ignorance was bliss. Ash's men continued talking to each other, but Eiji only stared. Jess knew she was tossing cards up by becoming a potential threat, but she wanted to survive. That connection to Shorter might be her hope in doing so around these ruthless criminals.

Though she doubted very much Eiji would put two and two together that 'chemicals' meant what she tried saying, that she was biologically different. That she was super-powered, even if her abilities didn't feel very super right now. It sounded, even to Jess' ears simply like the nonsense of a lab rat that was speaking gibberish from her time in Golzine's.

 

[WhimsicalWriter]

Dark thoughts—fresh memories of gunfire and Golzine’s bed and oh god if he closed his eyes too long he could still feel the weight of Shorter’s corpse collapsing on top of him—constantly lingered at the edge of Eiji’s mind. Far too much had happened in such a short time. His brain wanted to process the hectic slew of events, but he managed to force it back each time. Recalling would only leave him an anxious mess. So when Ash finally arrived, set down the girl, and subsequently passed out, Eiji clung on to the new distraction she presented.

Despite the immense relief seeing Ash alive brought, the gang members gathered in the room were working themselves into a tizzy over what to do with the girl.

He absently rubbed his stiff shoulder. After being tense for so long, his muscles were aching, and the uncertainty rolling off the boys wasn’t helping.

But the moment she spoke Shorter’s name, his breath caught in his throat, and his head whipped around to face her. Then came the chillingly familiar words “Banana Fish.” She…was injected with it? And survived? His gaze roved over what he could see of her sickly, fidgety frame. From what he could tell, she showed none of the symptoms. If she really did have it in her system, however, they couldn’t risk leaving her alone.

Considering where Ash must have saved her from, though, having a bunch of loud boys around may not be good for her either.

“Hey, ah…” he started to speak out to the other males and found his voice drowned out by their banter. This time he did sigh, and, after standing from his seat, he tried again with subtle authority sharpening his tone.

“Everyone!”

The others paused and gave him curious looks.

“Someone should get Shorter’s sister. The rest of you can…get things ready for when Ash wakes up?” he suggested.

Several of them hurriedly nodded.

“You’re right. We can’t risk not having his stuff ready when he wakes up.”

“Jesus, can you imagine how terrifying he’d be if that happened?”

“H-Hey now, stop thinking about it. Let’s go. I’ll get Nadia.”

“Wait…er, Eiji, right? Will you be fine watching her alone?”

Eiji gave a dismissive wave. “Of course. Make sure not to take too long, all right?”

And with that reassurance, Ash’s gang scurried out of the room. Placing a hand on his hip, Eiji grinned to himself. That went better than expected, he mused. Now he could focus on the matter at hand.

He turned to her. Questions itched on the tip of his tongue, and it took incredible effort not to barrage her with questions. She was just a young girl who went through undoubtedly traumatic events--prying was the last thing she needed. So instead he sat back down in the chair across from where she sat, placed his hands in his lap, and offered the most reassuring smile he could muster. He wanted to look as little intimidating as possible.

"Sorry for the commotion." He hesitated. What words would help her the most right now? "...they mean well. You're safe here, okay? Ash and I promise that."

 

[BelladonnaNightshade]

"You can't promise that." Jess grumbled and sat up from the position she'd previously been in, once lying on her side to talk properly to Eiji and now facing him fully. She supposed 'innocent' was a word that did not pan out with how she was found or looked like right now. Jess ran a hand through her dark hair, which needed more than a brush through. She wished that Killgrave could see her now, and be disgusted. Turned off completely. To remove this image he'd had of her being perfect that made him so obsessed with Jess in the first place, to realize she was just a brazen and ratty teenager with more than a few issues and flaws that couldn't just be swept under the carpet. If only he realized she was just a person, nothing special.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder to start twisting it, frowning at all the nervous habits she'd started developing. The hair needed a good cut, it was far too long. It was going to take a while to get her act back together, to pretend she was fine all over again.

Jess kicked her legs a bit and kept rocking slightly, just looking at Eiji made her remember Shorter. Jess hung her head, the unwashed strands covering her face as silent tears fell into her lap. Ash was her savior, but Eiji was another nightmare. Obviously, compared to the others - he hadn't done so intentionally. The dude was just trying to help. But she couldn't cope looking at him.

"He was so...nice, to me. And he smiled, like - like a real smile. And he died." Jess didn't look up to gouge Eiji's reaction, her voice having increased in volume until she yelled the last part, squeezing her eyes shut as her mind flashed back to the mansion and her trembling hands clutched the edge of the couch while Eiji sat on the other side. Even though she'd escaped, it was like she never left that lab. It was still on her mind, probably always would be. She just needed to find a way to put it in a box. Kind of like shoving a box of memories in a basement or dark attic. "Shorter didn't even know me at all, didn't have to even acknowledge my presence. But he was the first person who came into that room and said it was all wrong. That never happened. Even, even...before." Jess trembled as she covered her mouth, thinking back to when she first got her powers and woke up to all the doctors after the car crash.

Shit. Had she said too much? She gasped and glanced up at Eiji, but quickly broke eye contact and returned to her hunched up state. Jess realized she had to be careful, and not reveal too many things. It had been a while, since she was actually recognized. She'd spent years with Killgrave and Papa Dino. The date relayed by Ash's gang said as much. She needed to check what was being said about her on the news...she couldn't exactly hide her identity for long if Tony and the others were still involved in a missing persons case. But would it really still be reported, if it had been so long?

Would these gang members show their true colors, once it was revealed how much she was really worth?

"I'm s-sorry. For all of this. You don't have to do any of it." Jess sniffed, rubbed her shoulder and wiped her nose, wishing she had never cried in front of Eiji. Already, she was showing vulnerability in front of the criminals. Hadn't she already learned from past experience, that it never did anything? And it was as if all the adrenaline was finally going out of her system. Which didn't make any sense, because she was with a goddamn gang of murderers. She needed it to get out, to escape. Why did her body want to even trust these people? Jess angled her quivering frame away from Eiji, her hands flat on the surface of the couch as she stewed over her predicament, grunting involuntarily as she tried regaining control over her wits and her emotions, but it did no good. She'd been locked away far too long and the human interaction beyond the poking and prodding doctors was confusing her. She leaned her head down on the arm rest, still refusing to face the Japanese boy as she tried to quiet down her whimpering and pull everything together. It was far too embarrassing, and her cheeks flushed.

 

[WhimsicalWriter]

Eiji flinched. Well, she wasn't wrong; he technically couldn't promise her that they were safe. It felt like they never were. But at times like these, when they'd endured so much, he liked to hope they would have a moment of respite. They deserved a break, didn't they? Surely the world could grant them that?

Shorter. Tears blurred his vision, and he swallowed harshly against the lump in his throat. It was difficult to breathe past the tightness in his chest. Eiji had no doubt Shorter showed kindness to her. The Chinese male cared with all his being regardless of the situation, and every ounce of his honed skill and willpower went toward protecting until the very end--when he begged Ash to save Eiji against himself.

"Shorter is...was..." The correction made his heart twist, and he shook his head. Tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks. When he wiped them away with the back of his hand, the recent knife wounds on his arms stung despite being well into the healing process. He finally managed to finish his sentence in a choked whisper. "I know he must have thought you needed help. Ash did, too. That's why he brought you here. And...I'm glad you're out of there."

He cleared his throat, forced in a long breath, and scrubbed at his face once more to remove the drying tear tracks. Straightening, he met her gaze again. "You have nothing to apologize for. We were caught up in all that, too. Do you have a name? Relatives, or someone like that we can contact? We can't, um, take you to the police ourselves...but I'm sure we can figure something out if we need to do that."

 

[BelladonnaNightshade]

"Name's Jessica Campbell. I'm an orphan." Jess avoided as much information as possible, but sticking to the truth closely. She didn't want Trish to be hurt in any way - after all, the Walkers lived in New York because of the Patsy Show, if it still aired even. She wouldn't put it past Dorothy to keep Trish in that cheesy rainbow dress until the poor girl could run for the hills and escape her forced lifestyle when she was old enough to live independently.

"My family died in a car accident when I was a kid on a trip to Disneyworld.” She clarified. She knew the crash had been on the news, but would these people REALLY bother trying to track down anyone close to a young orphan girl? There were hundreds of accidents on the roads during the years she'd been missing. Jess HAD been adopted by the Jones family, but she was too 'difficult' for them and sent back to the orphanage until Dorothy adopted her, for Trish's PR on television. "There's no point trying to look for anyone, I've been missing for years, they probably gave up." She sighed, avoiding what she wouldn't doubt was an uncomfortable sense of pity the guy was giving off (he actually sounded like an em-path, even cried in front of her too which was surprising). Jess got up from her curled up position on the couch and fully stood.

Without thinking, she padded barefoot towards a room with cupboards attached to the wall which looked like a kitchen, it had a doorframe but no door. The place wasn't exactly classy, with the wallpaper having peeled to reveal brick. But Jess didn't mind. She realized she was starving, but never exactly learned to cook. She clambered next to the stove, knees precariously balanced on the edge where Eiji could probably still see and found empty cupboards. But there was bread, a near finished pack and dumped the loaves into one hand, eating a slice without any butter and shoved the whole thing in her mouth ravenously while the wrapping was on the floor. Her mind was too focused on filling her stomach to think about asking for food and using her almost non existent manners. Once she saw the kitchen, her mind had blanked.

Her knees wobbled, figuring out that the spot wasn't exactly the best or safest for eating. But Jess was still trying not to drop the pile of stale bread in her hands. She moved to sit down on the counter, legs swinging back and forth as she gorged. It probably wasn't the best idea to eat bread after surviving on a feeding tube for so long, and Jess had already ripped that and the breathing one still stuck around her neck off to eat. They'd given it in the first place to her because she refused anything from Doctor Abraham, so they had to make her eat. Now she could eat whenever she wanted, provided this Ash person probably wanted his own food soon.

 

[WhimsicalWriter]

An orphan...and now she was dealing with all this. Once again he was reminded of how different this side of life was, a far cry from his own youth, where getting the best grades and passing the next pole vaulting hurdle were his main worries. Ash, Jessica, and the countless others he'd encountered had had to fight for their survival and endure things no child should ever have to encounter. Here he was, nineteen years old, and he was having a hard time grasping everything going on; he couldn't imagine what it was like for her.

Unable to keep the pity softening his gaze, he mulled over her words. Then he noticed her rise and head over to the kitchenette. He didn't have the heart to take the bread from her, but he couldn't just let her have at it, either. She'll get sick at this rate. Grabbing a tiny trash can nearby, he stood and walked over to her.

"Don't eat too fast," he gently insisted, setting the trash can on the counter beside her. There was a good chance she wouldn't listen, so it was best to give her something to vomit in. On the bright side, even though she was clearly weak, she was coherent and walking around. She was tough, that's for sure.

"You make it sound like there is someone out there who would want you back, though," he pointed out. After a brief search through the cabinets, he found a chipped cup and pulled it out. He used the sink to fill it halfway--her drinking too much at once was not a good idea either--and then handed the cup to her. "Why would it hurt to try to find them?" he added.

 

[BelladonnaNightshade]

"I said, there's no one and they're all dead. Stop asking questions, stop sticking your nose in my life! I don't want it." Jess ground out, setting aside the bread she slid off the counter and ignored the paper basket, smacking her shoulder into Eiji's harder than she intended.

No attachments.

That was a promise. She wasn't going to be manipulated again. Jess needed to get back to Trish, that was her first goal. Maybe it was better to just not talk to them so much...

Stepping through the kitchen into the living room, Jess gave a gasp when the door swung open but her shoulders sagged with relief when only an Asian woman stepped through with clothes in her arms. "Ah, you must be the girl! I went out and got some clothes about your size. Come on, let's get you cleaned up and leave hot water for Ash later, when he wakes up." The other guys hadn't come back yet, thank god. Jess glanced back but saw no movement from the kitchen, she frowned and wondered for a second until she saw fragments on the flooring from skidding. Nadia went to chat with Eiji in the kitchen for a few minutes first, leaving Jess alone in the living room.

As Nadia opened the door to the bathroom and started to leave the water running, Jess stripped off her disgusting hospital gown and grabbed a blanket from the bed next to Ash's, deciding she too needed some rest.

"Oh no you don't, you'll sleep like a baby if you lie down now. Wait for the bath, then you can go rest on the couch. Okay hun? I'm Nadia, by the way." The lady extended her hand but Jess stepped back, refusing to take it. "Oh no, I should have gotten you a pillow and blanket. I'll come back later to change their bedding anyway, take it to the dry cleaner's." Nadia said as Jess sat on the couch, fighting a growing exhaustion with the large blanket engulfing her.

Feeling the fabric against her made Jess want to close her eyes so badly, that she squeezed them tight and just whispered, "Let me sleep." Jess didn't want to lose her temper and show her strength. It was too early for them to find out and if she had it her way, hopefully they never would.

"Look Honey I know it's hard but for your health you really need a bath." Nadia took the seat next to Jess on the couch and went to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Jess shrugged it off quickly. "Come on, tell me what you like."

"Rock music. N-Nirvana. The band."

"Isn't that kind of emo?" She asked, smirking at the image of Jess walking around wearing headphones that played loud rock tunes. "Anyway, what songs of theirs do you like?"

"Come As You Are. Where. Did. You Sleep Last Night." Jess mumbled, her eyes closing for a few seconds before she was tapped on the shoulder. She still jolted away from being poked, and noticed that Eiji was hovering, but she assumed he didn't want to provoke her after being snapped at. Weird - it was like he was a normal person and not part of a gang at all. And Jess hadn't seen him move to this room at all. 'I really must be tired.'

"A little rock should keep you awake for a bit then, right?" Nadia reached for her left jean pocket and swiped her phone, searching for Nirvana on youtube.

"Wow. That's how much Youtube's changed? Where are the sidebars?" Jess gasped, taking Nadia's new phone and checking out the model and what features they had. "What version of the iPhone is this?"

"How long have you been missing exactly, Miss Campbell?" Nadia inquired, eyes tightening but not enough for Jess to notice in her less than coherent state. She had been just fine minutes ago. Now, she was all confused again and everything was overwhelming.

"I don't know. I was little, I can't remember." Jess' voice was becoming slurred now and try as she might, Nadia couldn't wake her up more without slapping her face or jostling her, which was not something she wanted to do to someone who'd just escaped a kidnapping.

"I mean, Doctor Abraham can't have had you for more than a few months. Who took you before? When you were smaller?" Nadia kept gently interrogating Jess, making her voice firm yet not threatening all while the young girl's eyes slowly shut.

"P-pur...ple..." Jess had slid down into Nadia's arms during her funny little mantra, filthy dark hair pooling into the older woman's lap as she breathed heavily like she'd run a marathon. She tossed and turned, stuck in that half-awake, half-asleep state.

"Purple? What the hell does purple have to do with her kidnapping? Was it the color of an object? A place?" Nadia wondered aloud. She could not put Jess in the tub without her permission, so she sighed, slid away and got up to stop the flow of the water in the bathroom. Instead, she went to the kitchen and brought back a first aid kit, working through some of the grime on her face, checking for any worse scarring or injuries. "Hmm, a few bruises and some cuts. I was expecting some serious bone breaks." She told Eiji, looking up at him.