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Daredevil Prompt Post #12

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This post is for prompts involving characters from Netflix's Daredevil.

Now that The Defenders prompt post is live, all crossovers between anyone in the four individual shows should go over there. Prompts only including characters that appear in Daredevil should still go here.



Rules:
  • General
    1. YKINMKATO. Play nice. Respect others. If you don't like something, scroll on.

    2. All comments must be anon. If you would like to be politely banned to avoid anon-failing, leave a logged-in comment on the mod post or pm the mod account.

    3. Subject lines should only be changed if you're posting a prompt or a fill (indicators like OP or Author!Anon should go in the body of the comment).

    4. RPF is allowed. Crossovers, characters from the extended Marvel Universe and comics canon are allowed, but must relate to the 2015 TV show in some way.

    5. Prompts focusing on characters from other Netflix Marvel shows or the comics should go on their respective prompt posts, but crossovers with Daredevil can go here.

    6. Drop a comment on the mod post if you have any questions or problems.

  • Prompts
    1. All types of prompts are welcome.

    2. Use the subject line for the main idea of your prompt (pairing or characters, keywords, kink).

    3. Warnings are nice, but not mandatory. Get DW Blocker if there's anything you really don't want to see.

    4. Reposted prompts are allowed once one round has passed - e.g. prompts from post #2 cannot be reposted until post #4. Please include a link to where it has been previously posted.

  • Fills
    1. When posting a fill, either add [FILL] (or something similar) to the subject line, or change the subject line to the title of your fill.

    2. Announce your fill on either the Completed Fills Post or the WIP Post.

    3. Long fills can either be posted over multiple comments, or posted on AO3 and linked back here.

    4. Multiple fills are always okay.

    5. Fills can be anything! Fic, art and vids are all welcome.


Please post any prompts related to Season 2 of Punisher over on the dedicated Punisher prompt post, and put SPOILERS in the subject line!

Re: Matt + Frank, Gen, Matt matures into a vampire, Babysitter!Frank

(Anonymous) 2017-10-09 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
could this also include vampire frank? bc incredibly bitter vamp!frank who bothered to rejoin human society for the first time in ?? decades/centuries immediately having his people killed and going on a rampage of revenge only to end up babysitting a brand new vamp is hilarious to me

Re: Season 1 Vanessa is actually a vampire

(Anonymous) 2017-10-09 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
Brings new meaning to the Nelsons being butchers...

Re: Matt + Frank, Gen, Matt matures into a vampire, Babysitter!Frank

(Anonymous) 2017-10-09 09:38 am (UTC)(link)
OP

Well, my most favorite trope is people being freaked out by Daredevil, with Frank-as-Outsider-POV à la Beguile's It Takes a Village coming in at a very close second, which is what motivated me to put him in this in the first place. BUT, I love vampire!Matt so incredibly much that I'll take whatever I can get outside of romance, lol! I do love the Frank-and-Matt-being-weirdly-responsible-for-each-other trope too!

Maybe if it included somebody else being the one freaking out...? 🤔 Frank's pretty used to violence... Substituting him for the Avengers instead might be more explosive! And Frank would just bulldoze into the situation knowing exactly what to do which would freak everyone out MORE, and they wouldn't be able to arrest Frank because they Need Him To Fix It!

Re: Season 1 Vanessa is actually a vampire

(Anonymous) 2017-10-09 09:40 am (UTC)(link)
"+if Karen or Foggy are secretly vampire hunters and get dragged into a knock-down, drag out fight for Matt's immortal soul"

Well, OP, you had my curiosity, but NOW you have my attention!

+9999

Re: Season 1 Vanessa is actually a vampire

(Anonymous) 2017-10-09 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Prompt OP....one more idea for the road...

++after all is said and done, Matt's no longer a vampire (if he did get turned), but some abilities linger on (as if a NORMAL Daredevil isn't scary enough...)

Fill: Daddy Issues 4/?

(Anonymous) 2017-10-10 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Foggy didn’t question when his dad insisted on coming back to campus with them, but Matt could tell he was nervous and uncertain. So far, on the subway ride back to campus Foggy was shuffling, tapping his fingers, and flicking his head back and forth. Every time he turned his head, Matt could hear his hair brush across his shoulders. Matt understood Foggy’s anxiousness (after all, imagine if your father insisted on going to your place of study with no explanation) but Matt couldn’t help but feel irritated.

“Foggy, please, would you stop fiddling,” Matt brought his hand up to his temple. He was already developing a headache, he hated the subway. The smell of greasy pizza, homeless people, and the various noises (like the man ranting about extraterrestrials three cars over) didn’t make for the best environment with his super senses.

“How did you know I was fiddling?”

“I can hear your pants shuffling, your tapping against the subway rail isn’t helping either,” The moment Matt said it Foggy stopped drumming his fingers.

Foggy and Matt were standing right next to each other on the busy train car, Edward managed to finagle a seat somewhere a few feet away from them (he said something about his back.)

“Matt…I’ve been respecting the whole thing that went on between you and my dad back at the family apartment, but the fact I don’t know what the hell is going on really doesn’t bode well for my nerves,” Foggy leaned in toward Matt. “This might be overstepping, but…can we play the yes or no, game?”

The yes or no game was something Foggy made up to get Matt to admit things a while back. The concept was like this: Foggy asks questions, and Matt answers yes or no. Apparently, Foggy had come up with the idea after he’d come to the realization that Matt really didn’t like discussing his problems…so the yes or no game was a perfect solution. Foggy would get to know what was going on, Matt only had to say two different words.

Matt gave a slight nod, and he could hear Foggy’s broad smile.

“Okay,” Foggy lowered is his voice. “So…does this have to do with school?”

Matt furrowed his brow, well, sort of, “In a way.”

Foggy made a series of high and low notes that indicated he was upset with the answer but would not directly comment on it. Matt wasn’t entirely sure whether this series of notes was actually loud enough for anybody but his super-ears to hear.

“Relationship problems?”

“Sort of.”

Foggy made the series of notes again, “A girl?”

“No.”

There was a pause, “A boy?”

“Yes.”

“Do I know him?”

“Yes…” Matt closed his eyes. It didn’t do anything for him, not really, but gave him a sense of security.

Foggy noticed and gripped Matt’s arm, “Did he hurt you?”

“Yes,” Matt heard Foggy’s heart get higher.

“Was this a one time thing?”

“No.”

“Has this been going on for a few days?”

“More,” Matt said. Foggy didn’t comment on the deviation from the rules.

“Weeks?”

“Yes.”

“How did he hurt you, Matt?” Foggy’s voice cracked.

“That’s not a yes or no question, Foggy.”

“Was it physical?”

“Yes.”

“Emotional?”

“Yes.”

“Is it more than that?”

“Yes.”

“Was it sexual?”

Matt just nodded this time. He didn’t want to talk anymore.

“Did somebody…did somebody rape you?”

“M-Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not- I don’t know.”

“I know him…” Foggy gripped Matt’s arm harder. Matt startled and Foggy said sorry and let go. “I know him, I didn’t, how did I not notice this? I fucking know him,” Foggy mumbled to himself. “Is he a classmate?”

“No.”

“A…a professor?” Matt could still hear Foggy’s heart rate steadily rising.

“Yes…”

“Professor Burke.”

“Yes, Foggy,” Matt’s eyes began to water but he quickly rubbed at them. They were at the subway for god’s sake he couldn’t break down now. He wasn’t weak. Stick taught him to be strong. He wasn’t weak, he couldn’t be weak.

“Fuck, I said the guy was a creep I should have kept you away from him, I should have fucking known,” Foggy rubbed at his temples and took three breaths. “Fuck, are we reporting him? Is that what’s happening? How did my dad manage to get it out of you? God, I’m sorry, Matt.”

“You don’t need to be sorry, none of this is your fault.” Matt cleared his throat in an effort to sound less emotional. “I’ll file a report with your dad, he’ll help me…he saw some things, I had to explain. Bruises.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill Burke if I see him. I’m going to rip his throat out if I see him.”

“Your dad will help me. You don’t have to be a part of this.”
“What if I want to be a part of it?”

Matt shook his head. He didn’t want Foggy getting involved, that would only make things harder. “You can deal with the fallout, you’re my roommate and best friend, but…well, I don’t want you getting involved with the semantics of the situation it’s complicated enough I don’t want to add assault charges against you on the plate.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be there for you, Matt. Forever.”

_

After they got to campus Matt felt like he was in a bubble.

Things happened around him, he spoke to various people. Went to the Dean’s office, went to a station, went to the clinic even and had his blood drawn. There were cold hands, and concerned voices, angry voices as well. He answered all the questions honestly.

They were in the clinic now.

“We’ll be testing for various sexually transmitted diseases Mr. Murdock,” A young women was speaking to him. No one else was in the room. Did he send Foggy and Edward out? Is Foggy back at the dorm? He couldn’t remember. “I was told you have bruises? Is it alright if I see those?”

Matt nodded and held out his arms, “Edward Nelson told me I have bruises on my wrist. I’m not sure where else.”

“Not sure?”

“I’m blind, I can guess where some bruises are based on feeling but I can’t be certain whether they’re visible,” Matt explained and gestured to his glasses.

The young women hummed and her heart rate spiked, she’s embarrassed, Matt guessed she wasn’t aware of that, “Ok, well if you’ll take your shirt off I can check for any injuries that might be of concern.”

Matt didn’t argue, and then zoned out again. His movements were robotic. He answered more questions, listened to more sympathizing voices. Somebody recommended therapy and he declined.

Edward was back.

“How are you feeling, Matt?”

“Like…like I’m not real,” Matt admitted.

“Care to explain that?”

“I feel like I’m just going through motions I don’t even remember, I don’t remember most of the day I’ve just been on some sort of autopilot.”

Matt had various dissociative traits when he got stressed. He’d noticed it before, a few times training with Stick when he’d let the devil out. Other times when he simply didn’t care for the world around him.

“Well I spoke with your Dean, and he’s immediately taken Burke out of the system for now, as a safety measure. You spoke to him too, you don’t remember that?”

Matt’s mind went back to it, yes, he remembered, “I have to come back tomorrow for an official hearing.” They were going to review Burke’s status as a professor at the school. It was closed, a mediation.

Nobody else would know about it, Burke would be quietly filed away.

“I don’t think you should go through arbitration, Matt. I think it’s important people know who Burke is, and what he’s done…You should go through a traditional court hearing.”

“My condition is that Burke can’t teach, not ever again, I want that on his record- but I don’t want to go through a court hearing, Mr. Nelson. I can’t do that.”

“So you’ll just wave your right to a trial? Just like that? Let the school keep it under wraps?” Matt could tell Edward was appealing to Matt’s inherit need for justice.

But he still wanted to go through arbitration. It was faster that way, they’d settle the dispute, he was certain that the Deans at Columbia would make sure Sam never taught again. He was certain of it, and that’s all he wanted. He didn’t need to see Sam dragged through the mud, he didn’t need Columbia to fall with it. He just needed peace.

“What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent,”
Matt said. “What is the quality of my intent? My intent will be evident in the results. Burke will never get a job again, he’ll be alone, and shamed, I’ll be free of him. I don’t need any more than that, I don’t need any more.”

Edward was stunned silent, “Did you just quote someone?”

“Thurgood Marshall,” Matt smiled to himself.

Things would be okay.

Re: Foggy and his crushes on Matt and Karen; yes, sad Foggy

(Anonymous) 2017-10-10 06:16 am (UTC)(link)
+1

Re: Matt + Frank, Gen, Matt matures into a vampire, Babysitter!Frank

(Anonymous) 2017-10-10 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
OP Or maybe, you know, the Defenders... *headdesk*

Re: Matt + Frank, Gen, Matt matures into a vampire, Babysitter!Frank

(Anonymous) 2017-10-10 12:02 pm (UTC)(link)
OOO this one is really fun!

Re: Fill: Daddy Issues 4/?

(Anonymous) 2017-10-10 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, great chapter! Thanks a lot for writing!

Fill: Family Matters 2/?

(Anonymous) 2017-10-11 12:48 am (UTC)(link)

Everything was loud, not just loud, all consuming. Every touch, smell, noise, taste…all of it consumed him in a firm iron grip. Three people were arguing about the price of fresh fish, as if the smell itself wasn’t enough. Five children were playing basketball outside. Sister Wanda just smacked someone in the hand with a ruler, they began to cry. The air on his face felt like sharp jets and everything felt like… he couldn’t articulate it.

Matt knew he could hear more than other people, he used to hear entire hushed conversations across the room just after his accident but this was something different. Something more.

The vibrations hit off the sides of things, he knew he was in a room. He was moved away from the other children, the last people to visit him were…

The women who smelled like orchid flowers and the man who smelt like fresh cut wood. They wanted to adopt him. They said they wanted him to be a part of their family. Why would they want to adopt him? He could barely function. He couldn’t see, he was…He was crazy.

Matt at least thought he was most likely crazy, that was the only explanation. Like the man across the street who was screaming about the second coming, whose teeth rotted in his mouth and skipped over every word like a clattering bell, if there even was a man. Was this all in his head?

The women and man…Mary and Frank? No, Maria and Frank. They hadn’t come back since the last visit, what if they’re not coming back at all. What if they weren’t real.

“They think you’re gettin’ worse, but you’re not… Are you kid?” Something rushed toward him. They jingled in the air, he put out his hand and caught it. “You’re getting stronger.”

The man’s name was Stick. He learned that later, after he felt better, after Stick helped him focus on one thing in the room…He was here to help him, he’d already helped him for the last few days he’d been there. So Matt wasn’t crazy.

But what about Maria and Frank?

_

By the time Matt finally had the courage to ask, he fiddled with his hands. “I thought, are you with the two people who came in to see me before?”

“Nope,” Stick laughed. “They’re gonna weaken you, but I can’t stop the process. It’s a complicated one. I’m slowing down the paperwork, you shouldn’t get adopted for a long while. Probably not at all if I can keep it up long enough.”

“But I want to be adopted.”

“I’m not going to let some sweet family soften you up because they think they’ll do good in the world if they help out a poor blind kid who lost his father,” Stick swung his cane at Matt’s legs and Matt fell to the ground. “ They’re just pitying you, and we don’t want pity. We’re going to finish this first. Now get up!”
_

“I don’t know what you mean! We’ve done all we can! There’s a steady income, there are other children in the home, we’re ready! I don’t know what else we can do,” Maria paced across the family room. She was livid, absolutely livid. It had already been a month, a month without seeing Matt again. She had showed up once uninvited, to try and reassure the boy they hadn’t disappeared on him, but apparently he was with a ‘tutor.’ Maria thought that was bullshit. She hung up the phone in frustration.

“They’ve kidnapped our child, Frank.”

“He’s not our kid yet,” Frank adjusted the newspaper in his hands. He was upset too, he wanted the kid in his home just as much as Maria, but was still trying to figure out exactly why this was happening. He turned it over in his mind but there was no explanation he could come up with for the orphanage setting off the adoption papers. “I don’t know why they’re given us the run around but it seems like someone doesn’t want the kid adopted.”

“Do you think it’s Matt?” Maria suddenly thought. She ran a hand through her hair, “What if he’s insisting on not being adopted?”

“I don’t think so,” Frank set the newspaper down and stood up to wrap his arms around his wife’s waist. “There’s something else going on. If it were just the kid then they’d have already told us.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, we become foster parents first, and the Church isn’t giving us room to do that…the process is supposed to take a long time, six month period of transition is needed,” Frank explained. “But we’ll get him Maria.”

“You’ve been reading.”

“I might've asked for a few articles on adoption from our case manager,” Frank gave a quick kiss to Maria on the cheek. “He says he hasn’t seen so much pushback from things like this. Usually the Church is happy to adopt, they’re overcrowded anyway.”

It hit that part of Frank’s brain, the one that told him there was something bad going on. Something dangerous. It was rare that his instincts were wrong, it’s saved him on the battlefield so many times before…But this wasn’t a battlefield, this was a Catholic Church and a kid. Who was trying to keep them from this?

Frank almost didn’t notice the wetness in Maria’s eyes. He embraced her and she let out a choked sob, “I’m worried. I’m worried we’ll never get him out of there.”

“I’ll handle it.”
_

Frank took a more…unorthodox approach than his wife had. It wasn’t like he was spying, but he was definitely spying. He stationed himself outside in the early morning just as the sun came up, sat on a bench in the park and drank his black coffee, pretending to read a newspaper. Kept an eye out for the kid, watched who went in and out. So far he hadn’t seen anything other than the occasional church goer and nun, but he wasn’t one to give up easily.

It was at about nine in the morning he saw an old blind man, and he recognized one Matt Murdock alongside him. Maria had mentioned a tutor. He observed the old man carefully over the sport’s section… he had a rough face and hands, walked confidently. Frank took a glance at Matt and noticed he was imitating the old man, indicated respect. As he observed them he noticed Matt pause, tilt his head toward Frank- Frank frowned. The kid couldn’t have noticed him. Could he?

Didn’t matter, Matt continued walking when the old man said something to him. Frank watched them for as long as he could before getting up casually and following them. They walked around the back of the Church, and opened up a sidewalk cellar. Both of them climbed inside and closed the doors behind them.

Frank didn’t bother to follow them inside, that would be too obvious. He just waited, ordered himself a dirty water dog off the side of the street and sat on another bench.

They day was winding down, and Frank was getting concerned. Who the hell keeps a kid in a basement for this many hours? He glanced at his watch. It had been eight hours.

Wasn’t until another hour later at six pm, when Frank had managed to get a cup of coffee from a gyro stand that the pair finally came out of the hole. The kid was limping, he looked exhausted and had a fresh bruise on his left cheek.

What the fuck was going on here?

He threw his newspaper and coffee out and walked over to the old man, “Hey!” He called out.

The man frowned, “Who the hell are you?”

Matt didn’t say anything but got closer to the old man. That just made Frank more frustrated.

“What the hell are you doing to the kid?” Frank got up in front of him. “Who are you?” Frank gripped the man’s collar. He didn’t care if the guy was blind. If he was hurting this boy for God knows what reason, it didn’t matter.

Old guy didn’t look concerned anyway, “Name’s Stick, and I’m helping Matty with his various problems,” Stick did something with his hands and pushed out of Frank’s grip. “You must be the prospective, father. Well, sorry to tell ya’ but Matty here doesn’t want you. Come on kid,” Stick put a hand on Matt’s back.

Frank didn’t budge, he got down to Matt’s level, “How about you tell me yourself, kid?”

“He’s not going to speak to you-”

“He can talk for himself,” Frank interrupted Stick. He put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “You might not remember me, but me and my wife came in to see you. I don’t know what’s going on here but we still want you to be a part of the family.”

Matt frowned, “I- Stick’s been helping me.”

“This doesn't look like help,” Frank looked at Matt’s bruise. It was only then he noted similar healing bruises near Matt’s collar. How long had this been going on? “How about me and your Twig friend here walk over to Saint Agnes and have a chat with the nuns.”

Matt shook his head, “You don’t need to do that. I’m fine. I don’t need a family. Stick is-” Matt didn’t finish the sentence.

“It’s for your own good, kid,” Frank stood up and faced Stick, and spoke to him directly. “You’re coming. Whether I have to force you or not.”

“Sure you want this guy to be your new daddy?” Stick raised an eyebrow. “You can’t force me to do anything I didn’t already want to do. I’m leaving.” Stick began to walk away, Frank gripped his arm but Stick brought up the cane and smacked Frank’s wrist off him. “You’re too much of a hassle anyway, kid.”

“Stick…” Matt looked confused.

“Who needs him,” Frank said more to himself than, Matt. “How about you come with me, Matt?” Frank put a hand on Matt’s shoulder.

Matt stepped away from him and ripped his should out of Frank’s grip, “You made him leave.” He looked angry.

“He was hurting you.”

“You made him leave!”

Frank didn’t want to argue with the boy who looked very obviously upset. He didn’t tell him that if it took that little to get man to leave Matt then the guy obviously didn’t care enough about him anyway, “I’m sorry about that. But we should still head over to your orphanage, this is your choice, Matt. I’m letting you have fair ground here. But whatever that guy was doing?” Frank gestured over to where he saw Stick in the distance. “It was no good. No kind of help should leave a kid with bruises and limp.”

Matt frowned, “I just want to go back.”

Frank nodded, then paused, “I just nodded. Straight ahead, we’re going back.”

The journey was silent. Matt’s cane tapped quickly along the sidewalk. Frank looked at the kid’s brown hair bob along side him and wanted to just set his hand on the boy’s head, but restrained himself. It was the kind of thing he would do with Junior, but this was only the second time he had met the boy.

Frank was going to call Maria to do the arguing with the nuns. This wasn’t his area.

_

Matt heard Maria yell at the nun in the adjacent room, “You’ve been letting somebody, who, according to you is only known by the name ‘Stick.’ Who doesn’t have any proper paperwork other than some claims of work with special children. And you’ve been ignoring the clear evidence that he’s abusing a young boy right under your noses. Is that what you’re telling me?”

Matt was sitting in a small room across from the usual main office, he had been told to be polite and wait while things got sorted out. He had to fight to keep himself from crying. Any moment now he thought Stick might come back for him.

He didn’t know these people. But from what he heard, this Maria women already seemed to care deeply about him. Even Frank, who he was still harboring an anger for, had a protective edge.

He focused on the conversation again, “Ma’am…” The nun sounded off put, and pardon the idea, but like she had the fear of God instilled in her.

“Don’t ma'am me! You’re going to get my foster home paperwork or I’m called social services right now to come inspect this Church for unsafe practices. This boy needs a loving home, not somebody who pushes him aside to some stranger. Now give me a fucking pen so I can sign the papers.”

Matt couldn’t help but blush at the language and smiled to himself. He liked Maria.

He supposed he wouldn’t mind a new home, he didn’t like the Church anyway. Their food tasted like it was laced with various chemicals and sat in cans for several days. He didn’t have any friends at the orphanage.

“Maybe this is best,” He said silently to himself. Maybe this was best.

It was only a short amount of time later that the two people, who he knew might become his new parents, walked into the room.

“Honey, I want to talk to you,” Maria kneeled in front of him. “We want to harbor you as a foster family, and I managed to get the paperwork expedited…but I don’t want to bring you in unless this is what you want.”

“I told you this was your fair ground,” Frank explained. “You get the last word.”

Matt inhaled the scent of wood and orchids, and made his decision, “I want to come with you.”

FILL: Lay Me Down and Do It Again (1/?)

(Anonymous) 2017-10-11 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
After the woman from CPS leaves, Matt sits for a long time in the chair he thinks of as Foggy’s, elbows on his knees and fists in his hair. It hurts, but he doesn’t care. It doesn’t hurt as much as being betrayed by a parent you should be able to trust, and it sure as fuck doesn’t hurt as much as crucifixion, so he’s got no room to complain.

Finally he sits up and slips out of the chair onto his knees. “If what I intend to do is wrong, I’m sorry,” he prays aloud. “I can’t sit by and let this go on. You gave me the ability to help. I need to help.”

There’s no answer, but there never is, and Matt’s OK with that. Answers are for confession.

*

Except that four days pass, and he doesn’t hear it. He knows Cynthia Waterford’s on the night shift so he braces himself to let it happen one last time, but there’s nothing. The murmurs of But you said you loved me and Mom wouldn’t understand and Shut up and do what you’re told don’t find their way down the block; he doesn’t have to leave the apartment and walk as fast as he can (in public) in the other direction to escape the noises of pain and the quiet crying. He does go out, trying to track Bradley to his usual haunts, figure out a good place to catch him alone (ambush him, really), but he can’t find the man; he doesn’t seem to be home.

Then one of Matt’s infrequent migraines sneaks up on him, and Foggy takes him home on their lunch break and skedaddles back to L&Z to cover for him (as interns they technically get sick leave, but everyone knows it’s a bad idea to take it), and that’s why Matt’s close enough to hear Cynthia sit her daughter down at the kitchen table and say, “Sweetie, if there’s anything you were scared to tell me, you don’t have to be scared anymore. Nothing you say will make me angry with you.”

Someone caught Bradley Waterford as he was sloping home drunk and beat the living hell out of him. He’ll be eating through a straw for a month, and when he gets out of the hospital he’ll be going to jail on charges of rape. From the sound of things Cynthia intends to start divorce proceedings, and Matt only wishes there were some way he could offer to be her lawyer pro bono. He doesn’t specialize in family law, but for this he’d sure as hell read up.

Matt prays a rosary in thanks, and sleeps like the dead, and when he wakes up the migraine is gone.

*

A few months later Foggy calls him at 2:30 in the morning. Matt hasn’t been asleep for long but it’s not like Foggy to call so late; he plays at being a selfish jerk but he actually cares more about Matt’s sleep schedule than Matt does.

And he sounds...weird, though Matt honestly has a hard time with emotions over the phone, where he can’t sense any of the other things he normally uses to decode them. “Matt,” Foggy says, his voice tight, “can you come down here?”

“Uh,” says Matt, still about a quarter asleep. “Yes, where’s here?”

Foggy tells him. Matt has long since lost any impulse to stare at things when they confuse him, but he feels himself tense. “OK, A that’s practically in the Village, and B it’s a police station. Are you OK?”

“I’m fine. I even still have my wallet!” Foggy says, with enthusiasm that Matt can tell is false even over the phone. “I can get home alone, it’s not that big a deal, I just—”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Matt says. He starts to move even as he’s speaking, shedding his sleep pants. “I’m gonna hang up so I can call a cab, but I’ll be there, I promise, OK?”

It takes him less than half an hour to get to the precinct, though once he’s there he has to ask to be taken to Foggy instead of just homing in on the familiar heartbeat. Foggy’s in one of the detectives’ offices, sitting on a swaybacked couch with a cup of terrible coffee. His heart jumps when he sees Matt, and Matt swallows all his questions to give Foggy a hug.

Foggy, it turns out, was mugged. Which isn’t in itself the problem; they’ve both been mugged before, a tax you just expect to pay living in New York City. Heck, once they were mugged together, and Matt turned over what cash he had rather than punching the guy in the face like he wanted to because he couldn’t figure out how to make it look coincidental. No, the problem was that this mugger didn’t want to let it go at Foggy’s money, phone, and watch.

“My God, Foggy,” Matt says, appalled. It’s not that he’s unaware that such things happen, even to men. But even for a New Yorker, that’s a hard one to be blasé about.

“Yeah,” says Foggy grimly. “I was trying to work out how to punch him in the dick and run for it when this guy showed up. I mean like out of fucking nowhere, Matt. Like he fell out of the sky.” Foggy must be pretty rattled; he rarely swears.

Matt pauses. “A guy?”

“No shit, there he was,” Foggy agrees. “Wearing some...outfit, I think it was red, it was some hardcore Batman stuff. He had a mask on.” Foggy laughs. “And he beat Rapey McRaperson within an inch of his life, and then he picked up my stuff and handed it back to me like the world’s kinkiest concierge and said I should be more careful, and then, and I swear I am not shitting you, he jumped onto the Dumpster and went up the fire escape. He went up the fire escape faster than I walk on flat ground.” He draws a deep breath. “I called the cops, they have the mugger, but they want to ask me about the guy too.”

“It sounds like he was there to help,” Matt says. Foggy makes a complicated movement that sounds like it started as a shrug.

“I mean, yes, and don’t get me wrong, I am really glad I didn’t have to try to punch that asshole in the dick.” So is Matt. Foggy’s hardly helpless, but his strength is talking his way out of things, not punching. “On the other hand, that getup the guy was wearing, it was pretty clear this was not the kind of thing where you’re passing an alley and happen to notice what’s going down. This is a full-time gig for him.”

Matt nods and says lightly, “Technically, being a vigilante is not a crime in New York.” He looked it up, back when he was listening to the Waterfords, out of morbid curiosity about what laws he was planning to break. They'd've had him dead to rights on assault, though.

Foggy snorts. “Why am I not surprised that you know that?”

Matt grins at him; he sounds more like himself, and that can only be good. “OK, well, can you leave or do they want to talk to you tonight?” It’s gonna be the first one if Matt has anything to say about it; he will browbeat the desk sergeant if he has to. Foggy can come back and give a statement tomorrow.

“They told me I can go home. They have my info to get in touch.”

“Great.” Matt stands and offers Foggy a hand up.

“Matt,” Foggy says, his voice small.

“What do you need, Fog?”

“Can I sleep on your couch?”

Matt huffs a laugh and slings his arm around Foggy’s shoulders. “I’ll take the couch, buddy,” he says.

*

Now that Matt’s paying attention, there do seem to be an awful lot of stories in the news about foiled muggings, criminals being found in less-than-pristine condition near the Fifteenth precinct house, and general consternation among the cops. He doesn’t have as much time as he’d like to poke his nose into it; L&Z keeps him and Foggy hopping and they don’t have a lot of time for extracurricular activities. But he keeps his ears open, and his ears are, well, spectacular.

The Man in the Mask seems to like Hell’s Kitchen; Foggy’s encounter was the furthest afield by quite a stretch. The Bulletin takes to calling him the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen and Matt can’t help but wince at the name.

He’s also...a little miffed? It should make him happy that someone’s helping the people of his city without him having to get involved—he shudders to think of the ethical implications of a defense attorney going out and doing what the Devil does, not that he was going to let that stop him—but it actually bugs him, just a little, that someone else is doing it. He feels like he should be helping, or at least should have been consulted. It’s nonsense and he knows it; he’s been so very careful to ensure no one knows about what he can do, he doesn’t get to be annoyed that he’s succeeded.

Then Matt notices that for all the Devil’s care for Hell’s Kitchen, he rarely gets close to Matt’s building. It could just be a coincidence; Matt’s block is actually one of the less crime-ridden ones. But as time wears on it starts to look like the Devil is avoiding Matt specifically, and that’s very interesting. Maybe Matt has an inflated idea of his own importance—every authority figure he’s met since his dad died has warned him not to think of himself as too special—but it sure seems that way. He takes to plotting reported encounters on a map, pushing glass-headed sewing pins into intersections, and the doughnut-ring around his block just keeps getting denser.

He starts to think about going out hunting, just for a few nights, to get some answers. He orders some black, non-restrictive clothing from Amazon—which is a paper trail, but if it gets to the point that someone’s checking his purchase history he’s screwed anyway. Besides, he has really good alibis for several Devil sightings.

Also he’s blind, so.

The very first night he thinks he gets close, zeros in on a purse-snatching that gets interrupted with punching, but by the time he gets there the thief is down, stunned and groaning, the victim is half a block away and on the phone to 911, and there’s nothing else but a strange faint chemical-plastic scent he’s never encountered before. Matt sniffs around for lingering body odor in case he encounters the Devil in some other context, but his own scent overpowers whatever traces the Devil might have left. He leaves once the cops show up and heads home over the roofs, annoyed.

After that, the Devil seems to go to ground; Matt would worry he got spotted, but there was no one close enough. He spends a few more nights monitoring, then folds his dark clothes away, figuring he can take a break and try again when the Devil’s had a chance to calm down. He and Foggy are on a new case at work, a guy who’s being sued for leaking proprietary information, and Matt needs to be on the ball. He doesn’t like Landeman and Zach but there’s no denying a permanent position there would be good for getting on his feet before he and Foggy strike out on their own.

*

It’s an oppressive late-summer night when Matt’s startled out of sleep. He tunes out the normal sounds of the city just like a person who lives near a freeway ignores the traffic—otherwise he’d never sleep at all without a sensory deprivation tank—but there are feet scuffing over his roof in the direction of the access door. Through his open windows he can smell blood, and that weird chemical.

The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is on Matt’s roof.

The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen is in fact trying Matt’s roof-access door, but it’s locked tonight. The Devil makes a soft noise and Matt feels an unexpected pang of sympathy; that sounds like a guy who’s just had his last hope crap out on him. Matt has made that noise.

There’s a sound of sliding next to the door; the Devil leaned on the wall and now can’t stay standing. Matt supposes it could be a trap, but the smell of blood is heavy enough that he’s inclined to think not. And since no one ever claimed that Matt was good at looking before he leaped, he grabs his cane and slips his feet into sneakers. He takes the stairs too quietly for anyone but him to hear it and spends a good thirty seconds slowly turning the deadbolt latch. The Devil’s breathing isn’t good, reminds Matt of the last time he had a bad cold, but the man’s heart is steady, if slightly rapid.

When the door’s unlocked Matt stands to the side, takes a breath, turns the knob and shoves. It swings open. Nothing flies through the space and the Devil’s vitals don’t change. The chemical smell is a little stronger here. Matt waves his cane across the open doorway. Still nothing.

He decides to risk it. The thing is, he’s concentrating so hard on making sure the Devil isn’t bait in a trap that he’s crouching in front of the man, feeling for the wound he knows is there, before it really registers what’s so strange about him.

Matt can smell the man’s suit; leather, glue, and whatever that strange material is that’s probably armor. But he can’t smell the man himself. Because he smells just like Matt. Not as well-washed, and Matt thinks he hasn’t been eating well, but his basic scent is the same.

OK, Matt thinks calmly, this is weird. His searching fingers follow the trickle of blood up under the edge of the cowl-helmet the Devil is wearing. The wound is a long streak back through his hair—which feels exactly like Matt’s hair, and Matt carefully doesn’t think about that. All he can figure is that a bullet went at precisely the right angle to skirt along the Devil’s skull. Unlucky in one way, but then again it didn’t go through his eye, either. And it means the problem here is probably a concussion rather than blood loss per se.

Matt heaves the Devil into a fireman’s carry to get him down into the living room.


Re: frank/matt - "one bad day away" - matt kills

(Anonymous) 2017-10-11 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I second this.........like a lot

Foggy gets on Jeopardy..and he's really good

(Anonymous) 2017-10-11 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm obsessed with Jeopardy, I just am. And I thought to myself? You know I think Foggy Nelson would be awesome at Jeopardy...So write me a fic where Foggy decides to audition on a whim because he watches jeopardy while drunk at night, goes to audition and actually gets on

He wins a lot of money, Matt doesn't know what to think of it. Foggy is quirky on jeopardy. People realize he's really frikkin smart

AND MAYBE WHEN HE FINALLY LOSES... AND THE FINAL ANSWER WAS DAREDEVIL.

Re: Foggy gets on Jeopardy..and he's really good

(Anonymous) 2017-10-11 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I’m under the impression that they use legal names on jeopardy- so he’d have to be introduced as Franklin Nelson.

As a “interesting fact” piece when Trebek does the interview section with the contestants , he’d be like “So, Franklin I hear that you have interesting nickname?”

“Almost everyone calls me Foggy, because my roommate in college though my snoring was like a foghorn.”

“Doesn’t sound like you were friends then.”

“Quite the contrary, we run a legal firm together now”

Fill: Mother, May I? Part 1/3

(Anonymous) 2017-10-11 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Matt tensed as the bus slowed to a stop, even though he knew it wasn't even close to their stop yet. Matt tried to force his body to relax before Foggy noticed anything, but it wasn't cooperating.

"Are you okay man?"

"Of course," Matt replied in what he hoped was a breezy laid back tone. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You look like you're on your way to meet a firing squad instead of my parents."

Matt flushed. "No I don't," he insisted.

"Wow, the nuh uh defense. That's some slick legal meneuvering buddy."

Matt frowned. "Okay, maybe I'm a little nervous." There wasn't much point in denying it now.

"Why?"

Matt shrugged. Why indeed. It had been a long time since Matt had allowed himself to become invested in someone else's opinion of him. Stick- Well it seemed that Foggy had managed to wriggle through his defenses. And despite all conditioning Matt found himself worrying that he would give Foggy's parents a bad impression of him, thus sabotaging his fledgling friendship with his new roommate. "I'm not great at first impressions." Or second impressions. Or third-

"Lies. Slander. How dare you falsely malign my friend in such a way?"

Matt chuckled despite himself even as a thousand butterflies explored the confines of his stomach. "It's true."

"All of our professors love you."

Did they? Matt doubted it. But now wasn't the time for debate. "I make people uncomfortable." Matt forced out the truth before he could chicken out. "People see me and... It's awkward."

"Matty, I know you've had to put up with your fair share of ableist douchebags, but I swear my parents aren't like that. And even if they were, why would you care what they think? It's not like I'll decide I want to switch roommates if my parents don't like you." There was a long pause as Matt fiddled with his cane and tried to will the heat from his cheeks. "Holy shit, is that why you're so nervous?!"

Matt cringed. "I know it's dumb-"

"Matt, that isn't dumb. Look, I'm sorry I teased you. You are like one of the coolest people I've ever met, and I'm not going to abandon you over something petty like sticking your foot in your mouth in front of my parents. Plus I am fairly certain they are going to love you anyway, so there is literally no reason to be nervous."

Matt nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry about... Thanks Foggy."

Foggy threw an arm over Matt's shoulder. "No problem buddy. Now you have to promise not to abandon me after you meet the hell child that is my sister."

Matt laughed. "I promise."

...

"We're here," Foggy belted out loud enough to almost make Matt flinch. "The prodigal son doth returneth with the prodigal roommate and we both want prodigal baked goods!"

"I am so embarrassed to share DNA with you," a young girl with some sort of electronic device in her hand said from what Matt was pretty sure was a sofa.

"I love you too oh darling sister of mine."

"There's my boy," A woman who smelled like flour shouted as she rushed into the room.

"Hey Franklin," a man who made the air taste like dust when he entered said. "How's school?"

"It's great, of course. Matt, the sulking teen on the couch, currently giving me the finger btw, is Candace Nelson, my darling sister. These are my parents, Edward and Margaret Nelson. Clan, this is my roommate, Matt Murdock, legal eagle."

Matt stuck out his hand. "It's nice to-"

"Did you say Murdock?"

There was something so cold in Mrs. Nelson's voice it made Matt's hand fall and the smile slip right off his face. "Yes," he said in a weary tone.

"Maggie is something-" Foggy's father didn't get to finish his question.

"Get out of my house." Matt's radar sense mapped out a hand with a finger pointed toward the door Matt had just come through.

"Mom, what the hell?!"

"How did you find me, you, you devil child?" Mrs. Nelson wasn't using the teasing tone Foggy had used to call his sister demonic. Margaret Nelson sounded very serious.

"I... Uh.. I don't-"

"Maggie-" Mr. Nelson tried to intervene.

"Get him out of my house!"

Matt flinched. "Okay. I'm- I'm going."

"Hold up, no," Foggy said. "Mom, what the hell is going on?"

"How did you do it?! How did you find me?!"

"I think you might have me confused for someone else," Matt suggested wearily.

"I am as far from confused as anyone could ever be," the woman all but spat. "You look just like Jack."

Matt almost jumped out of his skin he was so startled. "You knew my father?"

"Jack," Mr. Nelson sounded confused. "Your ex-husband Jack?"

"Yes," Mrs. Nelson said in a trembling voice. Matt tasted salt in the air. "I loved him once. We were very happy together." Her voice hardened. "Until the devil came into our lives."

"You were married before dad," Candace asked. Matt had almost forgotten she was there.

"I was. I married a man... He was a lot like your father, and he was very devoted to me. But he changed. The devil changed him. It came into our lives under the guise of an innocent child. But this monster was no innocent. He tried to destroy me. Tried to convince me that I was a horrible mother." The taste of salt grew stronger and stronger. Matt realized he was tasting his own tears. "And now he's back! I won't let you take everything from me again!" Matt knew she was coming toward him, but he couldn't deflect the blow without raising suspicion. He wasn't even sure he wanted too.

Maggie was strong, stronger than Matt suspected. She shoved him hard enough to make him stumble back, hitting his head on the wall and dropping his bag. "Mom!"

"Maggie, stop it!"

Only Candace was quiet. Well, her and Matt. "Get out! That truck should have killed you!"

For a second Matt couldn't breathe. He couldn't hear. He couldn't do anything. He tasted copper in the air. He was bleeding. So be could do that. He was good at that. He found his voice after what felt like an eternity, even though he knew it was only a moment. "Sorry for the trouble. Happy Thanksgiving." Then he ran.

Re: FILL: Lay Me Down and Do It Again (1/?)

(Anonymous) 2017-10-12 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
holy shit this is amazing

Re: FILL: Lay Me Down and Do It Again (1/?)

(Anonymous) 2017-10-12 11:39 am (UTC)(link)
Omg, this is amazing

Foggy helps Matt pick an engagement ring

(Anonymous) 2017-10-12 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I've had this idea in my head for a long time and I'm not coming up with ideas to write it myself, so I'm hoping someone can help me out.

I'd like Matt to ask Foggy to help him pick an engagement ring for a female character. Karen would be nice but as long as the character is female I don't care if it's reader or OC or anything. I'd like it to describe the actual process of whatever they need to do to pick the ring, whether it's Matt feeling them and/or Foggy describing them, whatever.

+ for actual proposal
+++ if proposal goes entirely sideways or happens unplanned/spur of the moment involving whump or something

This is my first prompt so thanks and I hope I did this right....

Fill: Mother, May I? Part 2/3

(Anonymous) 2017-10-12 05:13 pm (UTC)(link)
The only thing Matt could smell was copper and salt. The only thing he could hear was his pounding heart. The only thing he could feel was the ache in his chest. That is until a noise broke through it all and redirected Matt's attention to his radar sense. The sound was squealing tires. A car was coming right for him. Matt realized he was going to get hit by a car. I might die, he had a moment to think before something yanked him back. Matt hit the ground hard. The grass scratched against his skin. It smelled like earthworm and dog feces. A man was breathing heavily. Mr. Nelson. Matt could tell by the scent of dust. Upon closer analysis the dust was microscopic wood shavings and dead skin cells that had been in close proximity to vinyl.

"Are you okay?!"

Matt wasn't sure. He felt like he was far away. He struggled to sit up. Mr. Nelson tried to help him and Matt flinched, throwing his arm up in front of his face. Mr. Nelson dropped his hands from Matt as though he had been touching a hot stove.

"Matt! Matt!" That was Foggy's voice. Matt managed to sit up as the voice drew closer. "What happened?!"

"I..." What had happened? "I wasn't paying attention." Matt paused. "I dropped my cane." He had dropped his bag as well. But he was more worried about the cane.

"I see it," Foggy's father said. "Just a sec."

"My hand is at your 12 O'Clock," Foggy said.

Matt knew. He took the hand and let Foggy pull him to his feet. "Thank you," Matt whispered.

"Of course man," Foggy said. "Do you think you might need to go to the hospital for that cut?"

"What?"

"Your head," Foggy said.

Matt reached up and gingerly explored the wound on his head. It was bleeding even worse now than it had been before. Although a lot of the blood was matting up in his hair. When Matt took his hand away Foggy gasped. "Good Lord," Mr. Nelson said. "Let's get you to the ER."

Matt shook his head, an action he was surprised to discover was quite painful. "I've had worse. I don't need to go to the hospital." Stick used to beat him bloody, and this felt no worse than any of that.

"Matt, your hand is covered in blood."

That didn't make sense. "No, I didn't hurt my hand. My hand doesn't hurt." Matt touched his hand and then wrinkled his nose in distaste. "It's sticky." Matt shook his hand to try to dislodge whatever it was that stuck to his skin. "Do you have any hand sanitizer?"

"Matt," Mr. Nelson said in a calm soothing voice. "I think you might have a concussion."

"No," Matt said. "I don't. I'm fine. I just... I feel a little nauseous. Can I use your bathroom? Or no, wait, I'm not supposed to go in there..." Everything was fuzzy now. Matt felt like he was forgetting something important. "I think I might be late for Mass."

"Well how about we give you a ride," Mr. Nelson asked.

Matt touched his head. It hurt, a lot. "Sister Maria was furious with me," he said. "I shouldn't have talked back to her. She was right."

"Matt," Foggy said. "I think you're confused. You're not at St. Agnes anymore. You're at my house, don't you remember?"

Matt's head was pounding. "You don't understand. She was right about everything. Sister Maria always said I had the devil in me, that he marked me as one of his creatures. She said if I were truly repentant of my sins God would restore my sight like He did Paul's."

"Matt," Foggy whispered. "You were only nine years old."

Matt threw up. He felt himself start to lose his balance, but somebody caught him. "Come on Matthew," a gentle voice said. "It'll be all right."

Matt didn't believe that, but he followed anyway.

...

Matt clenched and unclenched his fists. He wanted out of here. The nurses were being difficult on purpose. He knew this for a fact because he could hear them whispering about him in the break room. He could hear Foggy in the waiting room as well. Every so often he would flag someone down and ask to see Matt. Every time Matt told the nurse who came to ask him if that would be all right that he didn't want any visitors. Foggy kept persisting though. Matt couldn't figure out why for the life of him. Foggy was talking to a familiar voice now. Two people had just entered the waiting room.

"I don't understand," Candice was saying. "How could you keep this from us?"

"Rosalind made it clear to me that she didn't want to be a part of my life or my son's life. I never meant to deceive you, but I saw no reason to tell you about her."

"You saw no reason to tell me my mother isn't really my mother?" Foggy sounded incredulous.

"She is your mother. She raised you from the time you were a baby. You weren't even two yet when we got married."

"I have a half brother," Candice said. "And you never told me."

"Maggie never told me she had a son. She mentioned an ex-husband a few times, but all she ever told me about him was that his name was Jack and things didn't end amicably."

"Did she know he was dead? Did she know her son was in an orphanage?"

Candice snorted. "Doesn't seem like she cared much about him one way or the other. You saw what she did to him."

"Kids," Mr. Nelson said warily. "Try not to judge your mother too harshly. She's had a tough life."

"Are you serious?! She had to know! Her son was being raised by nuns who hit him and called him names and made him afraid of loud noises and scared to eat to much! Her son was being abused and she did nothing! Are you telling me you wouldn't have wanted her to bring Matt to our home?!"

Mr. Nelson sighed. "If I had known of course I would have wanted Matt to come live with us, but I have to believe Maggie had her reasons for not telling me about him."

"Didn't want a blind kid I bet," Candice said.

Matt tuned out the rest of the conversation. He couldn't help but imagine what his life could have been like. He could have had a brother and a sister. He could have grown up in a home. But his mother hadn't wanted that for him. She hadn't wanted him. And who could blame her, he thought. Who would want the devil in their house?

Re: Fill: Family Matters 2/?

(Anonymous) 2017-10-12 11:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, that was a nice twist...Stick getting his hands on Matt first!

Re: Fill: Family Matters 2/?

(Anonymous) 2017-10-13 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
This is great!

Re: Foggy gets on Jeopardy..and he's really good

(Anonymous) 2017-10-13 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
The Final Jeopardy! was "It's the alliterative name of a hit Netflix show about a masked vigilante in New York City."

Fill: The Devil's Due

(Anonymous) 2017-10-13 10:35 am (UTC)(link)
"You want to run that by me again," Foggy asked the man seated across the conference table. "You want to sue-"

"Daredevil, yeah."

Foggy looked over at Matt. Matt was grinning, the cheeky bastard was actually enjoying this. "Mr. O'Neill, it would be somewhat difficult to sue someone who's name you don't know."

"Difficult but not impossible," Matt said.

Foggy wondered if there was a term for murdering one's business partner. He was tempted to find out. "What exactly is it you want to sue Daredevil for," Foggy asked.

"Lost wages," the man said with a completely straight face. "Ever since I got out of jail no one will hire me."

"If you were convicted for a crime in a court of law that isn't something Daredevil is liable for, even if he aided in your arrest," Matt said. "If you're claiming false arrest it's really the NYPD-"

"No, no," the potential client said. "I was guilty of the crime they convicted me for. 100% guilty, no two ways about it."

Well that was a refreshing level of honesty. "So what's your beef with Daredevil," Foggy asked.

"Maybe it will be easier if I just tell the whole story."

"Please do," Foggy waved his hand in a 'go on' gesture.

"All right, so Turk and I were chilling out back guarding the loading doors, right? All of a sudden the lights inside go off. At least the ones we could see through the window. Turk gets a bad feeling and he runs off, but I'm no pussy, so I head in to take a look. Sure enough the devil of Hell's Kitchen is inside, or Daredevil they call him now. I raise my gun, but the fu- guy throws something at my hand. He wasn't even looking at me, wasn't even facing me, but he gets my wrist and I drop the gun. I'm pretty sure my wrist was broken at this point cause it hurt like a mother. Guy comes at me and I'm thinking he's gonna kill me or at least knock me out like all the guys on the ground. I take a swing with my good arm, but he grabs it and twists my arm behind my back. He growls in my ear that I'm gonna answer his questions, and he'll know if I'm lying."

Foggy was having a hard time picturing the events described. He didn't doubt they had happened, but now that he knew Matt was Daredevil the vigilante's more violent acts were so much more shocking. Foggy could never imagine Matt grabbing someone and twisting their arm behind their back. But apparently he had, and worse.

"So naturally I assume guy's full of s- I feed him a line about some stuff going down at the docks. He grabs my broken wrist and starts to bend it. I'm howling like a baby, screaming. So I tell him everything. He drops me to the ground like a sack of flour."

Foggy shivered. Matt did that. His Matt. Sweet, charming Matt Murdock beat and tortured a man. "You said the suit was for lost wages," Foggy whispered.

"Well ever since then I haven't been able to do the same kind of work I used to, honest work I mean. My wrist is all jacked up, and it can't support much weight. It's hard enough finding work as an ex-con, but a crippled ex-con? Forget it. Oh, sorry Mr. Murdock."

For a moment Foggy panicked. Did he know? Then Foggy realized the man was just apologizing for using the word cripple. Foggy ran a hand through his hair. "Mr. O'Neill-"

"You're not going to take my case? Figured as much. I thought if anyone had the guts to stand up to that schmuck it would be you guys, but... Well thanks for listening I guess."

Matt cleared his throat. "If you're still looking for a job, I know someone looking for a barback."

"Really? Hey thanks man, I appreciate that."

"Well you seem like an honest guy trying to put his life back together. You deserve a second chance."

"You guys are all right." The man didn't stick around long after getting Josie's information, and the atmosphere in the office noticably cooled.

"Foggy-"

"So that's what you do, huh?"

"The drugs they were importing were tainted. I had to find them before-"

"Save the excuses. I'm not in the mood."

Matt ground his teeth in frustration. "You know what I do. None of this is news to you."

"I guess it's a little different hearing a firsthand account."

"He was going to shoot me."

"So the torture was his punishment?"

"No!" Matt shook his head. "I never meant... Things move so fast. I had to prevent those drugs from hitting the streets. I'm not perfect."

Foggy snorted. "No shit."

Matt sighed. "There's nothing I can say is there? You're determined to be angry."

Foggy scowled. "So I'm unreasonable for being disturbed by what you did?"

Matt struggled to find the right words. "What would you have done?"

"Called the police!"

"There wasn't time."

Foggy rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Okay, fine. There wasn't time. Maybe next time though you can avoid permanently disabling some poor guy."

Matt nodded. "I'll be more careful."

"You're not even careful with yourself," Foggy said scornfully.

Matt threw his hands in the air. "What do you want from me?!"

Foggy collected his notes. "Something you can never give apparently. Good night Matty."

"Foggy-"

"Good night," Foggy said louder. All the way home Foggy tried to picture the scene. But he couldn't. It was like Matt was two people, but even when he was just Matt Murdock mild mannered attorney, the devil was never far away.

Re: Fill: The Devil's Due

(Anonymous) 2017-10-13 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, wow. This is impressive! Thanks for writing!