Maria looked between the two of them. "He wouldn't let you in?" she asked Kate.
Kate shook her head.
Maria pressed her lips together. "Well… Shouldn't you be in school?"
"No, school's already out for the day," Kate answered.
"So," Maria turned her gaze to Jay, "who are you?"
"a person who knows how to get into places." Jay replied not wanting her to freak out about who his dad was.
Maria arched her eyebrows. "Really? So why are you helping my daughter?"
Kate pressed her lips together, mirroring one of Maria's expressions naturally, and shot him a look as if to say, Sorry…
"because I heard that they weren't letting her in and I could help her get in. Is that a problem." He asked sarcastically.
Maria narrowed her eyes. "I recognize you from somewhere…"
Kate panicked for a second, thinking her mother had somehow, somewhere, seen him with Brink. "I don't know where you would know him from," she added hopefully.
"I live in this town. It would not be a big surprise if you have seen me before." Jay said to her.
Something clicked. "You were with the Joker's son!" she snapped.
"Wait, Mom, it's fine. He wasn't helping them!" Kate insisted.
"yeah. I may have been with them. Hi have hung out with him before. But overall I choose to stay nutral in situations I have no need in being in." Jay stated staring at her.
Maria kept her gaze level with his. "Yet you feel the need to be in this situation?"
"you're the only one who sees a problem with my presence."
"I'm concerned for the safety of my daughter," Maria shot back.
"alright." He said simply and sat back looking at the ceiling.
"Shouldn't someone get a nurse and let them know you're up?" Kate asked Maria.
"Why doesn't he do it?" she asked.
"He's on crutches, Mom. I was just throwing an idea out there."
"I could get a nurse." He said. Then took off his jacket making sure to slip his ID thing in his pants pocket then stood and grabbed his crutches. He walked to the door opened it and walked down the hall in search of a nurse.
Once he was gone, both Hills spoke at once.
"I don't trust him–" "–Please, just give him a chance."
Maria sighed. "I don't know what you see in him… but alright. I'll try."
He found a nurse and directed them to the room and explained. A few minutes later he came into the room behind a nurse.
Maria and Kate were hugging tightly again. Kate's eyes were squeezed tight.
The nurse nodded to Jay then walked over to them. Jay went to sit in the chair so he didn't have to stay standing.
They slowly released each other.
"Ms. Hill, we're going to have to take you into another room for some brief testing if you don't mind."
"No, it's fine," Maria replied.
Kate glanced over at Jay.
Jay looked at Kate. He could already tell that her mom hated him.
"If you two could leave please…" The nurse eyed them suspiciously. "How did you get in here, anyway?"
Jay just nodded and left her question unanswered. Slowly he stood up grabbed his jacket and used the crutches to get to the door.
"Ma'am, we're with S.H.I.E.L.D., for one, and two, I'm her daughter." She hugged Maria again quickly before she followed Jay out.
Jay leaned against the wall of the hallway. "So I believe your mom doesn't like me."
"She… It's not that she doesn't like you, it's that she doesn't trust you yet," Kate said, rephrasing his words.