So this ended up being a lot of plot and a lot of dialogue. On the bright side, I ended up within 300 words of my intended word count (technically I have a different writing project I was supposed to be working on when this prompt hijacked my brain). I am super open to writing a few shorts in this setting. I'm definitely going to try to write one that matches the original prompt (the X-men helping Daredevil in a fight).

Other things that totally happen in this world that I may or may not write:
- Logan teaches Matt to enjoy the finer things about enhanced senses (teen Matt)
- Matt and Scott steal Logan's motorcycle to go to a sci-fi convention they weren't allowed to go to (teen Matt)
- Matt asks Nightcrawler to prom with him, they date briefly and are really cute (teen Matt)
- Ororo takes Matt flying
- Foggy comes to visit the school for a day and everyone plays 'hide-the-evidence-we're-superpowered', hijinks ensue

Lemme know if you've got suggestions/ideas and enjoy!

X The Present X

"Jean, call everybody to the conference room. We've got a pest control problem." Scott spoke out loud, but it was clearly only for Matt's benefit - he and Jean had established a telepathic link back before Matt graduated. Scott knelt down and began to untie his boots. He pulled them off and walked over to where Matt was lingering by the door.

"Hey, Matt, they might be a bit big on you, but they should fit. Shoes on."

Matt shook his head. "I'm not taking your shoes."

"You're taking my shoes, might as well get used to it. And then we're walking across the courtyard to the war room and we're going to decide what would be the most efficient way to destroy this guy."

"No. You can't risk-"

"Hey Matt, I really like this new attitude. But in the short term I'm going to carry you or you're going to wear the shoes. Let this one go and fight the battles that matter."

Scott's boots were steel toed, he'd been right. The walk back across the courtyard was quick, because Matt didn't want Scott suffering for his spotty self awareness lately. They headed inside and then to the conference room. Maybe half the school was there, sitting or standing around the conference table. "Alright guys, I'm going to need a conference call set up with Kitty and Doug. We're probably going to need tech backup on this one."

Logan strolled in and wandered over to the far side of the table, snagging a seat next to Kurt. "Hey Summers, what we got? We haven't done a war party in good while."

"You want to tell them, Matt, or should I?" Scott asked. Matt shook his head and leaned forwards onto the table where he could hide his head in his arms. Scott rested one hand protectively on his shoulder and cleared his throat.

"We all know that Matt became a lawyer after graduation. I assume most of you knew that his firm helped with the take down of one, overambitious, real estate developer and criminal boss, Wilson Fisk. Turns out, Fisk has leveraged his influence to basically run the prison where he is awaiting trial. Matt went there to find information for a different case and caught Fisk's eye by threatening legal action against Fisk's girlfriend."

Logan whistled. "I like it."

Illyana leaned her chair back, feet on the table. "And then, I presume, this criminal decided to get even."

"He threatened to financially ruin and then have assassinated Matt's two former work associates. Matt offered himself up instead."

Matt protested. "He wanted what I wanted."

"Jean, could we have a bubble for a moment," Scott said, twirling a finger in the air to indicate a small circle. The sound of everyone else in the room breathing abruptly cut out as Jean held the air back from vibrating. Scott knelt down next to Matt. "Matt, he offered you the chance to die without it being suicide. You were in a bad headspace and you didn't see a way out. But Matt, I need you to know that whatever you fucked up back in New York, you're worth having around."

Matt shook his head. "I drove off everyone except Electra and then I got her killed. I'm not worth this, Scott."

"If you never put on the suit again and never tried another case, you'd still be worth having around. You've already done plenty, okay? You've done plenty. Matt, you're my friend. And even if you can't accept that right now, if we let Fisk get away with this, who does he do this to next? We've got to act."

Matt thought about it. It wasn't that he wanted to die. But back in New York it had seemed so tidy. A storage unit rented with cash with the suit neatly folded. A few goodbye letters left at Josie's to be mailed six months on. All Fisk had asked was that he stop everything and fade away; there was nothing he'd wanted more. Something he could do without fucking up. But obviously Scott was right, he couldn't just let Fisk blackmail people, run a criminal empire from prison. Fisk hadn't lied when he said Karen and Foggy would be alright if he followed through, but who would he target next.

"Okay."

Scott took his hand and squeezed. "Thank you, Matt. Jean?"

The tension around the bubble broke and the heartbeats and chitchat filtered back in. Scott outlined the deal in rough detail. "What we need is a plan. The most obvious choice is to kill Fisk."

Matt shook his head. "No."

"I dunno, Murdock, I like that plan," Logan said. "What if we just roughed him up a little bit, put the fear of mutants into him?"

"Logan, we're not supposed to exist. Please, let's not start revealing our existence by threatening criminal overlords," Rachel said.

Jean put an arm around her shoulder. "Well said, Rachel. And no, we're not killing this man. We have no idea what measures he might have put in place in the event of his death."

"Thanks Mom," Rachel said.

"Okay, so the problem is that this man has power and influence in prison. Could we get him sent to a different prison, one where he'd have less influence?" Illyana said, tipping her chair back forward with a clunk.

"I like it," Scott said. "We gather proof of his crimes in prison, forward them to the right source, get him removed from power. But how do we protect Matt's colleagues in particular?"

"What if that was part of the information we turned over to the authorities?" Logan leaned forwards, angling his body towards Illyana. "What if we had recordings of Fisk blackmailing Murdock. What if we could get testimony from whatever hired thugs he has on hand? If we had that, you could probably get federal protection for them."

"There is no recording," Matt protested.

"There's no recording now. Illyana ports back in time with Rachel, they tape the meetings while Rachel masks their presence so they aren't fucking up the timestream too bad. Port back forwards. You turn the recording over to the police and testify. Kitty and Doug go through digital records to eliminate any financial holdings he's got in foreign banks. I go to New York with Scott and scare the shit out of any enforcers he's got working for him. We get Raven and Irene to go to their government contacts and tip them off to Fisk's amassing power base, subtly encourage him being put somewhere with lots of security and oversight. Two days work, tops, nobody loses their secret identity, nobody gets killed, easy."

"Oh sure, easy," Illyana said. "Clearly you've never tried to manage time-linked stepping disks. Me and Rachel might end up living invisible for a week or two if I overshoot."

"Hey, it's the perfect opportunity to get some NYC touristing in. Could be fun," Logan said.

"If Illyana can do it, I think it's a go. Matt, I'll need you to think of any possible evidence we can turn over. Property he's destroyed, threats made, goodbye messages you sent, anything. I want this to go smooth. Anyone with an objection to the plan, speak now or speak later, always feel free to raise objections as they come to you, but I'd rather hear them now."


X The Near Future X

Foggy gets the call sitting on the floor of Karen's apartment, trying to explain to Karen that no, they should not drink the bottle of whiskey she'd found in her cabinet. Technically he had work the next morning. She had work the next morning. And alcohol wasn't going to help them think of new avenues to help Matt.

"Hey Nelson, it's Brett. Called as soon as I could. Remember how you were in here asking questions about Murdock three days ago?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well he turned up at the station three hours ago with a box of tape recordings of Wilson Fisk. Some of it has to do with you, can you meet at at Metro General?"

"He's in the hospital? Is Matt okay?"

"He's okay. They wanted him in for observation because he's dangerously underweight and he's been out on the streets. And we're documenting old injuries for evidence."

"Evidence of what?" Shit, they were going to find out about Daredevil. No way could Matt lie his way out of his near-autopsy scars. That man couldn't lie his way out from under a rock.

"Apparently Murdock wasn't just clumsy. He was being leaned on by Fisk's right hand man to take legal cases and to drop your investigations into Fisk's dealings. One James Wesley, unfortunately deceased. Unfortunately because I'd really like to kick his ass. Murdock looks like he was vivisected. He never told you?"

Foggy met Karen's eyes. "No, he said he'd been hit by a car. But his apartment was trashed, someone had busted up his furniture. Me and Karen are on our way. Are you with him? Matt really hates hospitals."

"I stepped out for a bit to call you; he's been asking for you. But no, a friend of his from high school is here. Apparently ran into Murdock on the street and convinced him to turn in his evidence on Fisk."

"Matt has friends from high school?"

"His name is Scott Summers. I assume it was some school for the vision impaired, because they've got matching shades. Come on over, Nelson, I've only got a few more minutes here and then I've got to roll out, we're taking down Fisk."

"Fisk is in jail."

"Exactly," Brett said. Then he hung up. He really enjoyed lording privileged information over Foggy, he always had.



Matt looked small in the hospital bed, probably because he'd shed at least twenty pounds. His hair had gotten longer, he'd tied it back, but he was clean shaven. But he had his glasses on his face and a hint of a smile. If Foggy hadn't known better, he would have described the smile as shark-like. The man sitting with Matt was dressed in a leather jacket and dark jeans, bright red sunglasses with dark frames. He had a motorcycle helmet on the floor next to him and one hand tangled with Matt's. He looked up as they entered the room and gave Foggy a serious nod.

"Do you want me to leave so you two can talk?" he asked Matt, not bothering to tell Matt that visitors had arrived. Another person in on Matt's secrets?

Matt shook his head. "Stay."

Foggy was suddenly unsure of what to say. He had no idea what was going on, what it had to do with Fisk, how this random dude had found Matt when they'd been searching high and low all week. He wasn't mad at Matt any more, as per say, he just didn't know whether they were friends. Matt had cut him out for good reasons.

"Hey Nelson," the man in the chair said. "I'm glad to see you're safe. The police might assign a protective detail to you and Miss Paige, depending on how they assess the legitimacy of Fisk's threats. If not, we'll find private security."

"Are you Matt's boyfriend?" Karen asked, taking in the hand holding, the protective slouch as Mr. Summers leaned over Matt.

That broke through Matt's icy shell and he started wheezing with laughter. Scott smiled, a flash of a grin that he immediately hid. "No. No, we are not dating, nor have we ever dated nor will we ever date. I'm married actually. I have a daughter named Rachel and a baby boy on the way eventually."

"Eventually," Matt said with a weirdly knowing tone of voice, like they were sharing a private joke.

"Hey Matt, I have no idea what's going on," Foggy said, "but I know I wasn't there for you when it looks like you needed it. I don't know what we are right now, but I'm really-"

"I'm going upstate for a couple of months, once the police don't need me any more," Matt said, cutting him off. "I'm going to stay with Scott's family for awhile; I just need the time. I've been a bad friend, these past few months. I was a worse business partner. If you'll have me, when I get back, I'd like to tell you my side of the story. And Karen?"

"Yeah?" Karen said.

"We made a terrible couple. But the same offer holds for you; if you want to be friends when I get back, I'd love to be your friend again. This time with a few fewer secrets."

He smiled at Scott like this was another private joke. Foggy wondered what he was missing, but decided it wasn't really any of his business.

"Hey man, all I ever wanted was for you to be safe. I can't say that we should work together again, but I still want to be friends with you. You'll keep an eye on him, Summers?"

Scott offered a hand to shake, "My word on it. When Matt wants back to New York, you'll get him back, safe and sound."

"Be safe, Matt," Karen said. "I know I didn't keep my word last time. But this time, I promise it's the truth. Whenever you're ready to tell me, I'm ready to listen. No judgments."

Author's note: hahaha the idea of claiming Wesley tortured Matt. Fisk would deny it, of course, but there's no one who can prove it didn't happen. Best I could do to explain them on short notice.