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The room was overly warm, and Darlene could feel a bead of sweat rolling down the back of her neck under her hair. She drummed her fingers on the table, and dug one boot heel into the floor as she idly looked at the ridiculous crime collage on the bulletin board with its elementary school graphic organizer style. Honestly! She hadn’t watched a cop show in a long time, but that was so ripped-from-the-headlines. Embarrassing. She could feel the FBI agent’s angry stare on her skin, willing her to take this situation seriously. She snorted, amused. Next to her, the strange woman who had breezed in two hours earlier claiming to be her lawyer was wrapping up her speech. Throughout, she had barely allowed Agent DiPierro to get in a single word, cutting her off abruptly each time the agent tried to make a point and keeping her on edge. Darlene smiled. No matter what else happened to her, at least she had a ringside seat at a stupendous verbal ass-whooping.“So, in conclusion Agent DiPierro, even though my client requested a lawyer, you did not allow her to contact one. Is that correct?”DiPierro raised her voice, the strain making her sound uncertain. “In order for her to weigh her option, it was important that Ms. Alderson understand the severity of the -.”“In other words, it was important for you to intimidate my client -.”“And with the terrorism charges and the fact that she has been working with the Chinese -.”The lawyer bulldozed right over the FBI agent, “ - in an attempt to bully her into a spurious confession and then use her to entrap her brother and her friends.” Jennifer smiled, all teeth, like a shark.“Spurious?” DiPierro tried for an intimidating laugh, but it fell flat. “Ms. Walters, we have an excess of evidence that -.”The attorney cut her off again effortlessly. “Circumstantial, at best. And, considering the nature of the crimes involved, all too easy for a third party to fake. Not to mention the overwhelming financial and political interest certain parties have in finding a scapegoat. Or are we not supposed to know that the FBI has a tendency to be complicit in covert and manipulative movements by foreign powers against the United States?” she added sweetly. The attorney slid the loose sheets in front of her back into the file folder and shoved it in her briefcase. “Not that any of that matters, because with the lack of a Miranda warning and the violation of Ms. Alderson’s right to due process, I would be very surprised if we ever see the inside of a courtroom. We’re done here.” She rose and gestured sharply for Darlene to get up as well.DiPierro raised her voice, “I wouldn’t bet on that.”“We’re free to go, right? Because if you were actually charging my client with something I assume you would’ve mentioned it by now?” The lawyer smiled and swept out with Darlene following in her wake.They walked through the office, agents dodging out of the way of her determined stride as Darlene trailed her. Darlene struggled to keep up. Once they were outside, the attorney pointed at a mid-sized, late model car waiting in the parking lot and Darlene obediently followed her over. Popping the locks on her car so the two women could get in, the older woman gestured for Darlene to stay quiet as she took a small nondescript device out of her pocket and activated it. Darlene slammed the car door shut and pulled her skirt down roughly, jamming her knees together. She watched avidly. A series of lights on the device flashed red, then orange, and then green. Then the lawyer said, “All clear. You know, I have to say, I was a bit surprised that Tony Stark was willing to bankroll your defense, considering what you and your brother have been up to. He’s not big on global economic collapse.”Half fascinated and half irritated, Darlene said, “What is that?” and pointed at the device.The lawyer tossed it to her. “It’s a scanner. Makes sure we aren’t bugged or tracked.” Darlene turned it over in her hand, noting the SI logo. She added, “It’s probably because he has a soft spot for code monkeys,”Darlene looked over at her attorney. “You’re green,” she said flatly. She tapped the green light on the device and gestured toward the attorney’s muscular arm. “Why does nobody mention that?”The lawyer smiled and gunned the engine. “And you look like you might need some coffee. Your place, my office, or a neutral space?”“Your office.” Darlene leaned back against the seat. “Last time I was in a neutral space someone got killed.” She frowned.“Excellent choice. Your place isn’t secure, and I couldn’t guarantee that a public place would be either.” As she pulled out, she added, “And yes, I am green. You may have heard of me?”Darlene grumbled rebelliously, feeling off-balance, “Well, you said your name was Jennifer Walters.”“Also known as She-Hulk.”“Oh.” Darlene turned and looked out the window of the car as the attorney pulled out onto the street. It was a short drive, but plenty long enough for her to see more of the fallout from their hack. There were a lot more people sitting aimlessly and a lot fewer bouncing along in business suits with Starbucks in one hand and their phones in the other. It seemed quieter, much less frantic. But no one seemed to be enjoying their downtime. Instead, people looked even more stressed than usual. She was almost relieved when they pulled into a small lot adjoining an old-style red brick building and her attorney shut off the engine.It was a short and uncomfortably silent walk to their destination. When they entered the office, the lights were already on. “Hey, Jess, what’re you doing here?” Jen said as she swept in. Darlene squinted suspiciously at the dark haired woman who was perched on the edge of the desk thumbing through a file. The slender woman in the skinny jeans and leather jacket slowly looked Darlene up and down and flashed a quick grin at her outfit.“Waiting for you. I have that report you asked for. On E Corp.” She tossed it on the desk. “Hard copy only, in case we have anymore nosy nellies.” She winked at Darlene.Darlene breathed, “Evil Corp? What -.”“It’s a project I’ve been working on for a while. That’s how I heard about you.” Jen walked around to the far side of her desk and sat, gesturing for Darlene to sit in the chair that faced her desk. She opened the folder and ran her eyes quickly over the contents. “This looks good, Jess. Thank you. Oh, Darlene this is Jessica Jones from Alias Investigations. Jess, this is one of our hackers, Darlene Alderson.”Darlene asked accusingly, picking at the skin on her thumb, “So Tony Stark hires me a lawyer, provides you with tech no one’s even heard about, and I find out you’re investigating Evil Corp, too? What’s going on? What does any of this have to do with Tony Stark? Isn’t he some kind of corporate baddie, too?” She dropped into the chair, knees akimbo, in a parody of ease.Jessica grinned meanly, her arms crossed. “I’m going to tell him you said that just to see him sputter.”Darlene frowned. “Why would he hire a lawyer for me?”Jessica replied, “You may not like him, but he’s a big fan of your work, even if none of us really like the results too much.” She grimaced. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. We all know you’re a bunch of loose cannons. But he has enjoyed following your … exploits. Stark’s been keeping tabs on E Corp, the Dark Army stuff, fsociety, all of it. That’s how he heard you got picked up by the feds.”Jen nodded. “You should consider yourself lucky.” She turned a page in the file. “Stark’s not a fan of Trump and, let’s face it, you guys inadvertently helped to get him elected. So …”“Wait … how does Tony Stark know anything about … me?”“Have you heard of artificial intelligence?”“Yeah.” Darlene snorted. “That’s years away.”“Maybe for you and me. But Stark has one. He has her watching out for anomalies, interesting patterns, approaching shifts in the structure of society … things that he might want to know more about. He’s a big picture, defend the Earth kind of guy; he likes to be able to predict the future. He was never a fan of E Corp, substandard products, irresponsible corporate practices, pollution, blah blah blah. And like everyone else in the tech world he’s been keeping an eye on the Dark Army since 2008. So when stuff started to happen involving those two groups, Stark got interested. And when the feds caught up with you fsociety types, he asked me to come down and spring you.”Darlene laughed. “So what exactly is this? One capitalist oligarch trying to take down the competition? What does he want from me?”Jen looked at her. “In a sense. But please don’t tell me you’ve never used Starktech. Or that you don’t know anything about the clean energy initiatives and the work he and Dr. Banner are doing to reverse global warming. Now that all of the publicly financed climate initiatives are being executive ordered away, people like them are the frontline in that fight. Stark has a lot more to offer the world than most corporate types.”“He certainly never would’ve pulled that E Corp style shit with SI employees and their families. He doesn’t want anything from you.” Jessica snorted. “Let’s just say he’s working on his karma. Always. Anyway, I’m going to bounce, Jen. Let me know what other little jobs you have for me.”“Are you still running down Biswas for me?” Jen asked and Jessica raised her hand in a lazy salute.Darlene started. “Trenton? What do you want with her?” she asked angrily, turning her head to glare at Jessica.“Cool your jets,” Jessica said. “We’re just trying to reach her before the feds do. Or the Dark Army.”Darlene asked, “What do you even know about the Dark Army?”“More than you, little girl. You know they’re part of a larger group, right? You’ve heard of HYDRA.”“What?” Darlene swallowed. “Like cut off their heads and two more grow HYDRA?”Jess nodded. “Yep. You were really playing with fire there. And, I have to say, you kind of fucked the rest of us.”Startled, Darlene said, “What do you mean?”“Everything has been tabled, the Accords, the reconciliation of the Avengers, all of it, in order for countries to deal with the economic freefall and the threat of a fascist USA. We’re so busy fighting HYDRA here at home that we’re leaving the Earth relatively unprotected if something else big goes down … or if something big and bad comes visiting. Tell me you remember the New York Incident.”Darlene nodded, her expression closed off. “How could I forget? The city is still recovering…”“And now the panicking masses, helped by Russian hackers, elected one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse as president of the US. He’s going to be sitting in the Oval Office with one hand on the big red button and not even Iron Man can stop it once the nukes start flying this time. So … yeah. We’re all kind of fucked. Is that what you were after?” Jessica added conversationally, her hands on her hips. “Walking away from the past in slow motion as it explodes behind you like in a John Woo movie?”Darlene looked at her evenly, weighing her options. Finally, she decided, “We just wanted to punish Evil Corp. And … and help get people out from under all of their debt. The system was already fucked up; we just gave it a big push toward self-destruction.” She sighed. “We wanted society to change.”“But what was going to replace it? Chaos? Or a strong, authoritarian leader who could make the trains run on time?” Jen asked, leaning her elbows on her desk. “You do know what happens to most revolutions, right?”“But when you see everything that’s wrong with the system, don’t you want to sweep it away and let people start fresh? A true revolution?” Darlene said. “The tree of liberty has to be watered with the blood of patriots.” She clenched her fists on top of the arms of the chair.“Calm down, Thomas Jefferson. It’s not the so-called patriots who are bleeding. It’s the little guy, the ones who get overruled when they try to speak up for themselves, the ones who don’t want to have to give up control over their lives just for a little safety.” Jen shook her head. “I would’ve thought you were the cynical type. That you would say people are basically bad, selfish … are you an idealist, Darlene Alderson? Or are you just naïve?”“Then why are you helping me?” Darlene snapped.“Because some people think fsociety is worth saving, that you’re useful. That you can do good in the new world you helped to usher in.”The door to the office swung open and Darlene twisted in her chair to see who had entered. Jennifer said, “Hey, Patsy. We’re almost done here.”“It’s fine. I’ll wait. Hi, Jess.”“Hey Trish,” Jessica drawled. “I think I’m actually done, right Jen?” She got up and glanced dismissively at Darlene. “Trish and I are gonna grab some lunch before I head out. I’ll text you the details on my lead, but it’s a good one.” Jennifer raised a hand and waved and Jessica and the other woman left.“Patsy? Trish?”Jennifer sighed. “It’s complicated. Better if you just think of her as Patsy.” She glanced at her phone. “Look, I have another appointment in a few minutes, so I need to lay this out. You can accept my help or not. If you don’t, the feds will probably pick you up again. Make sure your public defender hears your side of the story about the violation of your rights. With the way things are now, it’ll take a while for your case to come to trial and unfortunately, you’ll probably spend a lot of that wait time in jail. Unless you have bail?” Darlene shook her head. “Yeah, didn’t think so. Or you let me represent you and my reputation combined with Stark’s money keeps you out on the street causing trouble.”“And what do I have to do in exchange? You want me to run a hack?”“Sort of. We need an in with one of your co-conspirators and she’s almost untouchable.”“I’m not selling out Trenton.”“Please.” Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you hear Jess?”“Angela? She’s barely involved and she doesn’t know anything.”“No. Joanna Wellick.”Darlene sat back in her chair, her mind racing. “Oh.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know anyone knew she was connected to us.”“We need eyes on her.” She smiled. “Well, really ears.” Then she looked at Darlene closely. “But first you need a meal and a good night’s sleep.” She got up. “Come on. I have a decent couch at my place.”