Timelined two days after Room Service
<Shaw> One hand resting on the highly-polished surface of the bar, Sebastian's long fingers drummed as he idly sipped his scotch from the crystal tumbler dangling from his unoccupied hand. The Hellfire Club seemed a welcome distraction from the office, where he'd felt uncomfortable, or his penthouse, which was worse. Far, far worse.
<Shaw> After his horrifying experience with Hope Stark, the few hours of sleep he'd dared to try were filled with conflicting images, and prominently featured Jessica Drew. Swallowing down another mouthful of scotch, he savored the burn.
<Jessica> Jess had dressed as was appropriate for the Hellfire Club and brought with her what she considered to be sufficient evidence of their attachment. She paused while she waited for her coat to be taken then headed into the club, scanning the room for Sebastian.
<Shaw> A blonde had been watching him for some time, and he'd returned the favor. The daughter of a hereditary member, they had shared company in the past, though he couldn't recall exactly when. As he finished his drink, she smiled and finally slid into the seat beside him.
<Jessica> Finding him, not surprisingly, at the bar, Jess started towards him, eyes narrowing on the blonde as she took the seat. She was lucky looks couldn't kill.
<Shaw> Unaware he was being watched, Sebastian ordered her a drink and himself a refill. Smiling, they exchanged pleasantries. Leaning close on his elbow, he toyed with one of her blonde curls as they talked. Within a few moments, and after their drinks arrived, he realized with some disappointment her eyes weren't green, as he had originally thought. Frowning into his scotch, he wondered at this fleeting observation.
<Jessica> Jess headed straight for Sebastian, avoiding the attempts of passing waiters to offer her drinks. She stopped a couple of feet behind him and simply stared at the blonde.
<Shaw> It took a few moments for the woman to notice the unfriendly stare, and when she glanced at the brunette behind her she paled beneath her expensive makeup. Sebastian quickly picked up on her discomfort and looked as well. "...Jessica."
<Jessica> "Sebastian." She waited to see if the blonde would run away now or if she'd actually have to tell her to get lost.
<Shaw> For his part, Sebastian was frozen in place, his mouth gone dry as he took her in. Unlike the night when she'd been first so elated to see him and then distraught, she now looked calm and deadly.
<Shaw> Lourdes, however, gathered herself and smiled. "Can we help you, Miss Drew?" the woman said.
<Jessica> "You can help yourself by leaving," Jess replied, turning her gaze on Sebastian, "We need to talk."
<Shaw> The woman simply laughed, taking a sip of her drink.
<Jessica> Eyes narrowing dangerously at the blonde, Jess raised a charged hand, "I'm not going to ask again."
<Shaw> "Now, now," Sebastian said, finding his voice and rising from the tall bar stool. "There will be no violence in my club. Not again." Turning his attention to Lourdes, he took her hand and bent to kiss it, giving her a winning smile. "If you'll excuse me, Miss Chantel, it seems I have some unfinished business to discuss with Miss Drew."
<Jessica> "Mrs. Shaw." Jess corrected under her breath as the glow faded from her hand.
<Shaw> He jerked at the correction, looking up at her from his position, then slowly straightened. Lourdes Chantel stood from her seat and wavered, indecisively, before finally nodding her head to Sebastian and taking her leave. He didn't notice, his eyes still on this insane woman who insisted she was his wife.
<Jessica> "I thought you'd be here. You practically lived here before they abducted and tried to eat you, since then the place lost most of its charm." She nodded to one of the booths, somewhere they'd sat together often. "Shall we?"
<Shaw> Eyes narrowed at the reference to the cannibals, he studied her for several long moments more. "It is my duty to practically live here," he said finally, picking up his scotch. "May I get you a drink at the very least?"
<Jessica> "If it'll make you feel better..." She gave a half shrug, starting toward the booth.
<Shaw> He caught himself watching her again, both with appreciation and confusion, then frowned at himself and barked an order at the bartender. Staring down at his own scotch, he tossed it back and slid the tumbler across the bar's surface for another himself.
<Jessica> Jess slid into a seat at the booth, opening her purse to take out the photograph and paperwork she'd brought with her and lay them carefully on the table.
<Shaw> Drinks in hand, Sebastian walked slowly to the table, noting the locations of his guards. Placing the drink in front of her, he caught sight of some paperwork. "I realize you aren't affected by the alcohol, but I do hate to drink alone." He slid into the booth across from her and placed his own drink carefully aside.
<Jessica> She nodded, "I know..." Waiting a beat, she reorientated the items to the right way up for him and pushed them toward him across the table.
<Shaw> On top was a certificate, attached to what appeared to be a government form. It was from the State of Hawaii, Department of Vital Records. It was a marriage license. He frowned as he read through the information, blinked at his own signature. May 27, 2017. Slowly, he raised his eyes to hers. "What is this?"
<Jessica> "Exactly what it looks like," She tugged the picture out from underneath it, "I told you we're married."
<Shaw> He frowned at the photo, looking hard at it and then back to Jessica. "Your hair is different..." Unconsciously, the fingers of his left hand fidgeted and he ran his thumb over his empty ring finger.
<Jessica> She nodded, "You always prefer it blonde... but I don't like to keep it that way for long... doesn't feel like me anymore."
<Shaw> The couple on the beach certainly looked like him and her. She was smiling, leaning into him, wearing a simple white sundress with a bit of ornate beading that caught the late afternoon light. He was dressed in a gray suit, his arm around her, and he looked happy. His stomach flipped and he closed his eyes.
<Jessica> Tentatively, she reached out to him, covering his left hand with her own.
<Shaw> He sucked in a surprised breath and twisted his wrist to catch her hand. The carefully crafted shields in his mind flickered and he wanted to trust her. It was unexplainable, but he could feel the salt air tugging through his hair and the warmth of her in his arms.
<Jessica> Her hand tightened on his, the sensation passing over her briefly too though she put it down to wishful thinking and familiarity.
<Shaw> "This..." He cleared his throat, breaking the spell, and looked up at her. "This is impossible." Only then truly realizing they clutched at one another's hands, he took his back with a jerk.
<Jessica> She stared at the place his hand had been, biting down on her lip in an effort not to display how much that hurt. "It's not..."
<Shaw> He flinched a little and reinforced his shielding. "Who sent you?" he said quietly.
<Jessica> She sighed, sitting back in her seat and picking up her drink, wishing for the first time in a long while that she could get drunk. "No one sent me."
<Shaw> "Was it Sarkissian? Why not come for me directly? What could she hope to gain from this sort of subterfuge?" Sebastian looked down at the photo one last time, then shoved it and the paperwork back across the table.
<Jessica> Jess took them back, putting them carefully back in her purse to keep them safe. "Viper has nothing to do with this. No one sent me, this isn't a lie... Someone did this to you!"
<Shaw> "Someone rewrote history, did they?" He snorted, picking up his drink and taking a long pull. "Sarkissian wishes for more status in the Hellfire Club, but I cannot grant that, not for one such as her. She has enough money, and if you wanted it you could have simply used your abilities, ensnared me to your will. "
<Shaw> His voice stayed even, watching her reactions. "All of reality has shifted, yes? It must have, for me to have married a prostitute."
<Jessica> Jess stared at him for a long moment, eyes quickly filling with tears. He'd never called her that. She looked down at her lap, swallowing the lump in her throat, "That life is long behind me."
<Shaw> "Is it?" He sipped his drink, repressing the momentary flash of regret.
<Jessica> She was shaking now as she fought to contain the desire to scream at him, "You know it is." She raked her fingers through her hair, moving to get out of her seat.
<Shaw> His eyes focused on the blue-stoned ring again and his hand shot out to catch hers. "Where did you get this?" Pulling her closer none too gently, the ring caught the light as he stared at it.
<Jessica> She let out a yelp of surprise as she was jerked towards him and tried to pull her hand free of his, "You gave it to me."
<Shaw> His grip tightened and he moved to take it from her finger.
<Jessica> Jess tried harder to pull her hand back, curling her fingers into a fist to make it more difficult for him. "Don't! Sebastian, please..."
<Shaw> "How could you get it?" He was undeterred and worked his fingers into her fist.
<Jessica> They were drawing the attention of other patrons now but she still fought to free her hand from his grip and keep the ring. "I told you! You gave it to me! You gave it to me on your birthday when you asked me to marry you!"
<Shaw> The ring was slightly different than he remembered, with a band fitted against it. He let go. "It's impossible."
<Jessica> "Why?" She straightened up to her full height, attempting to get herself back under control. "What about this is so impossible?"
<Shaw> "It isn't the same ring," he said with a sniff, settling back into the booth and regaining his own composure, though he kept stealing glances to it.
<Jessica> "The same ring? Your mother's ring? It is. We had our wedding rings specially made to match it and each other's." She looked at the ring herself, rubbing her thumb over the stone in the center.
<Shaw> Sebastian's sharp attention turned to her face. She knew it was his mother's ring. A ring locked in a safe at his bank, right here in New York. A ring he hadn't really seen for years. Slowly, he shook his head.
<Jessica> "Yes." She could see this was a sticking point so she tried to make the most of it. "I'm telling the truth."
<Shaw> "There are strange things afoot, and I will determine the truth of things." He wondered what else she knew about him, and how she learned it. It was tempting to ask, yet something held him back.
<Jessica> Frustrated and upset, she pulled the rings from her finger, looking at them in her hand before putting them on the table. "Fine. Have them examined if you want to. The paperwork for our wedding rings is in Boston, I'm sure you can manage to find out where if you really want to be thorough."
<Shaw> Eyes narrowed, he studied her face and tried to determine her motives for offering the ring back up for scrutiny. "Interesting counter move."
<Jessica> "If you're waiting to see whether I'll take it back, I won't. Go and have them checked, it's the strongest proof I have that I'm telling the truth." Though her hand felt wrong without them now. Determined not to break down in front of everyone, she turned to leave.
<Shaw> He covered the rings with his left hand and watched her, brow furrowed in thought.
<Jessica> She walked away as calmly as she was able, having to pause at the door to wait for her coat.
<Shaw> Once she disappeared from view, he swallowed heavily and picked up the rings, slipping them onto his smallest finger to get a closer look. Now, he was almost certain it was his mother's ring, and debated the merits of rousting someone out of bed to check his bank vault's access records.
<Shaw> Sebastian's gaze shifted to his ring finger and the strip of paler skin there. He had a tan right now, and knew he'd gotten it in Hawaii, but he remembered a business trip taken alone. A different life, in a different city. Was it remotely possible?
<Jessica> While she waited for her coat, the blonde that she'd shooed from Sebastian approached her. Jess rolled her eyes, "What do you want?"
<Jessica> "Just to tell you you're wasting your time. He's never going to remember anything about you, it's all gone, erased for good."
<Jessica> She didn't want to believe that, turning to argue but the blonde was already walking away and all she could do was stare after her.
<Shaw> Something was wrong, with all of this. That much he knew, but if she was delusional, Jessica Drew was intensely so. If this was all a set-up, it was an elaborate one, and to what end? Shaking his head, he was startled by a hand on his shoulder.
<Shaw> "There you are," Lourdes said, smiling down at him and moving to slide into the bench seat beside him. "All finished?"
<Shaw> Sebastian slipped the rings inside his breast pocket and returned the smile. "Yes, I believe so."