"Sweetheart," Vanessa said, and he wanted to hang up and didn't dare, at the same time, because. No. Because he didn't deserve to hang up, be honest, Matt.
"Vanessa," he said. He couldn't think of anything else to say; his head was entirely empty, nothing but the noise of traffic going through him.
She laughed, very soft. "You were always too afraid," she said. "I didn't see it, I thought - well. I thought that you were just an intimidated little Catholic boy."
"I - I didn't -"
"I thought that you were brave," she said. "Oh. Well. People make mistakes; we're only human, aren't we?"
And that was enough to set his heart racing: "What are you doing," he said, "what have you done - "
"Nothing," she said, calm, calm. "Nothing, Matthew, I don't mix my business and personal life. I haven't done anything to your lawyer friend, or the Page woman."
"Don't -" he said. He'd never felt more helpless. He'd clenched his free hand hard enough to draw blood; he could smell it.
"No," she said, "that would be a threat, and I don't make threats, Matt. This is just - sharing information. For example: Wilson's going to be out, in five years; less, if we're lucky. Isn't that good news. Be proud of that, Matthew, but - well. He was only one man; there are hundreds of people who were...loyal to him."
"Vanessa," Matt said. "You don't actually want to do this."
"I'm not doing anything," she said, and for the first time she sounded furious, cold and furious. "I'm congratulating you and your friends on putting away one man, and I am reminding you of the void his absence leaves, at the top of his organization."
"He's in jail," Matt said - begged. He wasn't too proud for that. "He's in jail right now, Vanessa, you could - you could walk away."
She laughed. "Is that what you thought you were going to do, at the end of this?" and Matt's heart was breaking, a little, because she was right: he'd hoped that there would be a finish line, some point that he would sprint past to find that it was over. "You shouldn't have made it personal," she said, very evenly. "Good night, Matthew. Good luck."
______
...uh. KINGPIN VANESSA, ENDGAME, basically, and all the work Matt and Foggy and Karen are doing within the bounds of the law starts getting...fucked up, y'know, OP? Like. Paperwork gets lost. Cops don't work with them. Brett gets transferred out of Hell's Kitchen. There's one judge who always rules against them when they go to court, and then it's two, and it's this long slow beurocratic nightmare (that i personally am too lazy to write @ this minute) where Wilson Fisk is in jail but the system is so corrupt that it doesn't. even. matter.
and then one night Matt can't stand it, he played by the rules, they got Wilson Fisk put away and nothing changed, so he. He decides that if working within the law doesn't bring any justice, he's going to go outside of it, get shit done.
and puts on the mask and starts beating justice into hell's kitchen, DAREDEVIL MATT and KINGPIN VANESSA, BAM MOTHERFUCKERS
Re: fisk/matt/vanessa, undercover!matt au NOT A FILL 3
"Sweetheart," Vanessa said, and he wanted to hang up and didn't dare, at the same time, because. No. Because he didn't deserve to hang up, be honest, Matt.
"Vanessa," he said. He couldn't think of anything else to say; his head was entirely empty, nothing but the noise of traffic going through him.
She laughed, very soft. "You were always too afraid," she said. "I didn't see it, I thought - well. I thought that you were just an intimidated little Catholic boy."
"I - I didn't -"
"I thought that you were brave," she said. "Oh. Well. People make mistakes; we're only human, aren't we?"
And that was enough to set his heart racing: "What are you doing," he said, "what have you done - "
"Nothing," she said, calm, calm. "Nothing, Matthew, I don't mix my business and personal life. I haven't done anything to your lawyer friend, or the Page woman."
"Don't -" he said. He'd never felt more helpless. He'd clenched his free hand hard enough to draw blood; he could smell it.
"No," she said, "that would be a threat, and I don't make threats, Matt. This is just - sharing information. For example: Wilson's going to be out, in five years; less, if we're lucky. Isn't that good news. Be proud of that, Matthew, but - well. He was only one man; there are hundreds of people who were...loyal to him."
"Vanessa," Matt said. "You don't actually want to do this."
"I'm not doing anything," she said, and for the first time she sounded furious, cold and furious. "I'm congratulating you and your friends on putting away one man, and I am reminding you of the void his absence leaves, at the top of his organization."
"He's in jail," Matt said - begged. He wasn't too proud for that. "He's in jail right now, Vanessa, you could - you could walk away."
She laughed. "Is that what you thought you were going to do, at the end of this?" and Matt's heart was breaking, a little, because she was right: he'd hoped that there would be a finish line, some point that he would sprint past to find that it was over. "You shouldn't have made it personal," she said, very evenly. "Good night, Matthew. Good luck."
______
...uh. KINGPIN VANESSA, ENDGAME, basically, and all the work Matt and Foggy and Karen are doing within the bounds of the law starts getting...fucked up, y'know, OP? Like. Paperwork gets lost. Cops don't work with them. Brett gets transferred out of Hell's Kitchen. There's one judge who always rules against them when they go to court, and then it's two, and it's this long slow beurocratic nightmare (that i personally am too lazy to write @ this minute) where Wilson Fisk is in jail but the system is so corrupt that it doesn't. even. matter.
and then one night Matt can't stand it, he played by the rules, they got Wilson Fisk put away and nothing changed, so he. He decides that if working within the law doesn't bring any justice, he's going to go outside of it, get shit done.
and puts on the mask and starts beating justice into hell's kitchen, DAREDEVIL MATT and KINGPIN VANESSA, BAM MOTHERFUCKERS