AFTER wilson fisk kicks the shit out of matt murdock, after matt has managed to slink away and lick his wounds, this happens:
John gets the really shitty luck, because he's the one who gets stuck showing a picture of someone's soul mark on what is obviously a beat-up side to everybody in the neighborhood. It's slow, boring work; most people are wiseasses. A couple people look worried, a couple look nervous, but nobody recognizes this guy's soulmark. It's a needle in a haystack, and this is gonna be a long, boring, unproductive day. It's too hot outside for this shit; he's sweating through his shirt. Max partners him, and Max is irritable; a few weeks ago the masked man knocked him to the ground with one hit and ever since then Max has been getting weird headaches and periods of double vision. When they find this guy - if they find this guy - John hopes he gets the chance to get a minute alone with him before they turn him over to the boss: he's known Max for six years. He deserves a chance to get a little revenge.
He and Max hit the gym at about midday, which is great, should be quiet enough to be in and out in a hot second. The man at the desk is tired and grizzled; he looks like he doesn't have time for their shit. John envies him. When you work for Fisk, you're moving and shaking, absolutely, but you always have to leave time for the boss's shit.
"Looking for a guy," Max says. "Probably lives around here, paramedics brought him to the hospital, no ID on him. Unconscious right now; we're on lunch but hey, I'm seein' this nurse who works at St. Peter's and she feels bad for this guy, wanted me to make the rounds. See if we could find his people."
It's not a bad cover story; the nice thing about working for Fisk is that he knows how to stay under the radar. It's almost true. It happens, is the thing, especially in this neighborhood; people get in trouble, and they're not carrying ID; someone has to find their families. The only tricky part about it was cropping the surveillance footage of the masked man's side so the photo looks vaguely official, the kind a nurse might send out with her boyfriend who rides in the ambulance.
"Huh," the old guy says. "Haven't seen you boys around here before; which ambulance you said you were on?"
"Number 27, cross town," John says. because it's true. "We're not from around here; his girlfriend works at the hospital. I think it's a stupid idea anyways, wandering around the neighborhood when I could be eating, but I don't get a say."
So the guy pulls out his old-guy readers and squints at the photos, and then he scowls. "I'll be damned," he says. "Good thing you came by, that's - unconscious?"
"Car crash," Max says. "You know him?"
"Have to say I do," the man says. "Yes, I really do have to say I do. Well. Shit. Comes in pretty regular; that's the Murdock boy. What a real damn shame."
"Murdock?" John says. B-I-N-G-O, guess who's fucked now, no fuckin' way. No fuckin way did they just get this lucky. Slow, slow; can't scare him off now. "Got a first name?"
"Matt," the old guy says. "Never seen a soulmark like that before; never seen another like it. Definitely the Murdock boy." He shakes his head. "Who would hit a blind man? What's the world coming to these days?"
___
"Wait," Max says. "That old man has to be wrong, there's no way the man in the mask is blind. You weren't there, you didn't see, he didn't hit like a blind man, he hit like a fucking piledriver."
"No," John says, making a face; Max's nose still hasn't healed. "Obviously. But it's a good disguise, isn't it?"
"It's tacky," Max says. "Come the fuck on. Blind?"
"Ain't gonna matter in a minute," John says, grinning. "He done fucked up, and pretty soon he's going to be dead and nobody's gonna have to worry about this shit ever again."
(...I love this scene, and I planned this scene, and then I wrote it and realized FUCK, how do soulmarks work in this world? If Wesley could see whatever's on Matt's side and immediately recognize it as the piece that goes to Fisk's totally public mark that everyone knows about, uh...why don't these guys make that connection? Sure, Wesley and Fisk are both highly motivated to track down this mask guy, but why would they allow random low-level minions to show this around to everybody?
um. *flails* in...this...world...there's a weird...magic shit going on here? soulmarks can totally be photographed and videotaped, and people can see them, but you can't tell which marks match unless you see them on two people personally? like. these minions have seen Fisk's neck and they've seen a picture of Matt's side, but until they saw Matt's actual live side they wouldn't be able to recognize them as compatible? hoodoo bullshit? scrap this scene entirely and figure out another way to get here?)
Re: Matt/Fisk Soulmate AU Another Fic Update (read after "bitty little fic update"
John gets the really shitty luck, because he's the one who gets stuck showing a picture of someone's soul mark on what is obviously a beat-up side to everybody in the neighborhood. It's slow, boring work; most people are wiseasses. A couple people look worried, a couple look nervous, but nobody recognizes this guy's soulmark. It's a needle in a haystack, and this is gonna be a long, boring, unproductive day. It's too hot outside for this shit; he's sweating through his shirt. Max partners him, and Max is irritable; a few weeks ago the masked man knocked him to the ground with one hit and ever since then Max has been getting weird headaches and periods of double vision. When they find this guy - if they find this guy - John hopes he gets the chance to get a minute alone with him before they turn him over to the boss: he's known Max for six years. He deserves a chance to get a little revenge.
He and Max hit the gym at about midday, which is great, should be quiet enough to be in and out in a hot second. The man at the desk is tired and grizzled; he looks like he doesn't have time for their shit. John envies him. When you work for Fisk, you're moving and shaking, absolutely, but you always have to leave time for the boss's shit.
"Looking for a guy," Max says. "Probably lives around here, paramedics brought him to the hospital, no ID on him. Unconscious right now; we're on lunch but hey, I'm seein' this nurse who works at St. Peter's and she feels bad for this guy, wanted me to make the rounds. See if we could find his people."
It's not a bad cover story; the nice thing about working for Fisk is that he knows how to stay under the radar. It's almost true. It happens, is the thing, especially in this neighborhood; people get in trouble, and they're not carrying ID; someone has to find their families. The only tricky part about it was cropping the surveillance footage of the masked man's side so the photo looks vaguely official, the kind a nurse might send out with her boyfriend who rides in the ambulance.
"Huh," the old guy says. "Haven't seen you boys around here before; which ambulance you said you were on?"
"Number 27, cross town," John says. because it's true. "We're not from around here; his girlfriend works at the hospital. I think it's a stupid idea anyways, wandering around the neighborhood when I could be eating, but I don't get a say."
So the guy pulls out his old-guy readers and squints at the photos, and then he scowls. "I'll be damned," he says. "Good thing you came by, that's - unconscious?"
"Car crash," Max says. "You know him?"
"Have to say I do," the man says. "Yes, I really do have to say I do. Well. Shit. Comes in pretty regular; that's the Murdock boy. What a real damn shame."
"Murdock?" John says. B-I-N-G-O, guess who's fucked now, no fuckin' way. No fuckin way did they just get this lucky. Slow, slow; can't scare him off now. "Got a first name?"
"Matt," the old guy says. "Never seen a soulmark like that before; never seen another like it. Definitely the Murdock boy." He shakes his head. "Who would hit a blind man? What's the world coming to these days?"
___
"Wait," Max says. "That old man has to be wrong, there's no way the man in the mask is blind. You weren't there, you didn't see, he didn't hit like a blind man, he hit like a fucking piledriver."
"No," John says, making a face; Max's nose still hasn't healed. "Obviously. But it's a good disguise, isn't it?"
"It's tacky," Max says. "Come the fuck on. Blind?"
"Ain't gonna matter in a minute," John says, grinning. "He done fucked up, and pretty soon he's going to be dead and nobody's gonna have to worry about this shit ever again."
(...I love this scene, and I planned this scene, and then I wrote it and realized FUCK, how do soulmarks work in this world? If Wesley could see whatever's on Matt's side and immediately recognize it as the piece that goes to Fisk's totally public mark that everyone knows about, uh...why don't these guys make that connection? Sure, Wesley and Fisk are both highly motivated to track down this mask guy, but why would they allow random low-level minions to show this around to everybody?
um. *flails* in...this...world...there's a weird...magic shit going on here? soulmarks can totally be photographed and videotaped, and people can see them, but you can't tell which marks match unless you see them on two people personally? like. these minions have seen Fisk's neck and they've seen a picture of Matt's side, but until they saw Matt's actual live side they wouldn't be able to recognize them as compatible? hoodoo bullshit? scrap this scene entirely and figure out another way to get here?)