Far above Hell's Kitchen came the sound of thunder and a large purple circle opened up in the sky. If anyone was around, they would have gotten flashbacks to The Battle of New York, but the night was quiet and the streets empty.

A red-suited figure fell from the portal, one arm flinging out and hurling a grappling hook at the nearest overhang. It caught and the figure used the momentum to swing up to the roof of the building and landed heavily with a thump.

Then, it tilted it's head and jumped to another, nearby roof, heading eastward into the Kitchen.

———

Matt groaned, pacing the length of his living room as he tried to come up with an excuse as to why Daredevil couldn't make it to dinner on Friday.

"He's injured? No, that won't work if I show up without him and I can.'t do that to Karen. He's got dinner with his parents? No, no, then she'll ask if I've met his parents, think the relationship's serious and get all upset when I stage the inevitable breakup."

He made another turn at the kitchen counter and started back towards the opposite wall.

None of his excuses would hold up to scrutiny. Even if something was the slightest bit off, Karen would sense it like a shark sensing blood in water and worry at it until he gave in and told her the truth. He couldn't do that. He had to keep her safe. It was bad enough that Foggy had found out.

Then, his ears picked up on the sound of the roof access door creaking open and he dropped into a defensive stance.

Someone came down the stairs. Their breathing was unsteady and their heartbeat was stressed. They stopped abruptly before reaching the last step.

"Who's there," they called out.

Matt frowned. The billboard outside the window was buzzing which meant that it was on and Foggy had told him that it lit up his entire living room enough to see by.

"You're blind," Matt said.

The stranger tilted their head to one side. Matt wondered what he was hearing. The rhythm of their heartbeat was familiar and their voice sounded like his on court recordings.

"Who are you," Matt asked, trying to puzzle it out as he rose from his position.

"Matt Murdock," the stranger said and Matt nearly fell over.

He laughed. "Try again"

The stranger held their hands up. They were male, about his height and they moved in the same way he did. They'd had training, similar to his.

"I can prove it," the stranger said, stepping forward. His clothes didn't make much noise and Matt could tell that they were stuck tightly to his skin.

"I'm Daredevil," the stranger said and Matt gaped at him.

Fumbling, he reached up with shaky hands to feel the stranger's suit. The fabric of the suit was thick, almost latex-like. The stranger's muscles were long and rope-like and they relaxed as Matt ran his hands over them. He slid his hands up to the stranger's face. Part of it was covered with a mask, but the lower half of his face was stubble free. It wasn't until he felt the horns that he believed the stranger was telling the truth.

"But you don't have stubble," he said and the stranger-himself and isn't that weird, laughed.

"I tell you I'm Daredevil and all you can say is I don't have stubble," the other him asked.

"I have stubble," Matt said quietly.

His other self jerked and his heartbeat doubled.

"Wait," he said slowly, "who are you?!"

"Matt Murdock," Matt said and wondered at his other self's intelligence.

His other self nodded. "Yeah. I should have figured with the way you were touching my face and all."

"Sorry," Matt said and felt himself blush.

His other self waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. This is not the strangest thing that's happened to me."

He held his hands near Matt's face and asked, "May I?"

"Go ahead," Matt said and closed his eyes.

The examination was brief, but calming in a way and it was over too quickly.

"I like the stubble," his other self said and he could feel himself redden further.

"Please stop," he said.

Just then his phone started ringing.

"Karen, Karen, Karen," the electronic voice chirped and the other him tensed.

Matt picked it up. "Hello?"

"Matt," Karen said. "Did you ask him about dinner?"

Uh..." Matt had completely forgotten. The other him snickered, just loud enough for Karen to hear it over the line.

"Is he there with you? Can I talk to him?"

"We were discussing it," Matt said hastily. "I'll call you back when we've decided."

He hung up on her after getting her assent and turned back to his other self.

"Do you want to meet Karen for dinner Friday night?"

"Sure," his other self said, confused.

"Great," Matt said. "Then you're pretending to be my boyfriend."

"What?"

I'm sorry, this was so dialogue heavy.