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!

Comments

Fill: Don't let me ruin me (I may need a chaperone) Part 1/?

[(Anonymous)]

Non-Defenders compliant, either Defenders didn’t happen or it did and this is a handwavy period in the future where Matt decided he prefers to be on his own, decide as you wish. Also no spoilers, but as someone who has a vested interest in Matthew Murdock’s struggle with dealing with his emotions, I enjoyed the series very much :)
--

They’ve worked together just a few more times than Frank can count by now. They aren’t friends, or even partners by any means, but when either of them are in a pinch and need some back up, well. Usually they’re fighting the same guys anyways. Red still wasn’t giving up his one-man crusade to find Franks— humanity, or something, but that was fine, the leftover ringing in his ears from the accident usually blocked him out.

The situation was this: during a mission that had lasted three days too many, at a time early enough that even Frank was struggling a little without his coffee, the both of them stumbled into an empty building that functioned as Frank’s latest home away from home, woozy with exhaustion. Most times, they split after a fight with barely more than a nod in each other’s direction, but every so often circumstances lead them both back to wherever Frank is housed. Red’s place was off limits, and that was fine. Frank let him pretend to keep his two lives separate to spare them both the grief of that conversation.

“Sit on the bed,” Frank said, closing the door behind them. Though relatively unscathed as far as injuries go, Red had a slice on his calf just bad enough that in the likely event that he tried to leave it unstitched and untreated it would scar pretty bad even if it didn’t become infected. For obvious reasons Red seemed not to care much about the dozens of scars that litter his body, but the idea that he could never wear anything less than a full suit in his poor attempts at a normal life made Frank feel some kind of way that he’d rather not examine too closely. Red limped over to the double mattress shoved into a corner that functioned as Frank’s bed, and collapsed onto it with little to none of his usual grace. Noticing the presence of someone not-Frank, Max lumbered over from where he’d been sleeping on a pile of blankets and what looked to be two or three of Frank’s shirts, ears back and belly low with excitement.

“Hey buddy,” Red said quietly, patting the dogs side and scratching behind his ears a few times before taking the toy offered to him; a half-chewed teddy that Frank had picked up on his most recent first-aid run along with some other generic items to avoid suspicion. That most of the items were dog-related was neither here nor there. Frank watched Red try and fail to play fetch with Max as he prepared what he needed to stitch him up, finally having sympathy on him as he sat down at the foot of the mattress.

“He don’t play fetch,” Frank said, watching Max try and settle over Red’s lap with the bear still in his mouth. “Only dog I ever met that wants you to keep the toy, damned thing.” Red huffed a laugh, pushing gently at the dog’s body until he was on the floor rather than on top of him. Then he took the proffered toy and set it carefully on the mattress beside him.

“C’mon, let me see your leg,” Frank said after a moment.

Red nodded, reaching for some hidden zip on his back to unfasten his suit, pulling the armoured top over his head then shuffling his pants down to his knees. The left leg came off easy, along with his boot, then he gestured at the cut on his right, still oozing a little. “You gonna help me?”

“Such a princess,” Frank grumbled, but set about getting off his boot anyway. He ignored Red’s wince as he tugged the material away from the cut, already having dried at the edges. “Next thing I know I’ll be tying your laces before we go out.” The pause after he says it was just long enough for Frank to look up from where he was examining the wound, but Red’s face betrays nothing other than the exhaustion that Frank is feeling himself. He internally shrugged and gets to work. Neither of them were exactly conversationalists at the best of times (ironic, considering Re day job), but Red got close to non-verbal as he crashed after a fight, especially one that lasted as long as this one had.

That was fine by Frank. He shoved a pillow under the leg and focused on using the little light available to stitch Red up as neatly as he could, thankful that his hands were steady despite his own exhaustion. The room was quiet besides the sounds of Frank working, and soft huffs from Max’s direction as he fell back asleep under Red’s steady petting. Red barely made a sound. Not that it was unusual, he rarely did when in pain, but Frank thought back to the fights earlier, to the many times they had interacted in the past. Red wasn’t naturally quiet when hurt, Frank didn’t think. He was familiar enough with the angry grunts and the growls of frustration that the Daredevil made to be fooled by his silent stoicism now. Get the kid even slightly emotional and he forgot himself— despite those years of training he didn’t like to talk about, despite the catholic martyr in him and the way he was surely brought up with a boxer for a father, he was never truly as in control of himself as he let people think. As he wanted to be.

Frank couldn’t help but envy that softness in a way. It was likely a source of much self-hatred for Red, but for Frank, the ability to let go of the iron-control he had on his emotions was the cause of a lot of arguments between him and Maria. Story as old as time was that of the distant father that couldn’t express his emotions, and he tried his damnedest not to be that to the kids, but it had been a work in progress. Not that it mattered now.

“Alright, that should do it,” Frank said eventually, finishing taping the bandage to his leg. He started to pack away the first aid kit, but paused when he looked up at Red, who at some point had apparently fallen asleep. His chin was resting on his chest, his body listing to the side even as one hand still rested protectively on Max’s head. He’d apparently been fiddling with the teddy as he’d fallen asleep, because his left hand was curled around the bear on his lap, clutching it to his stomach. Frank stared for a while, taking in the way Red’s hair stuck up in places from the removal of his helmet, the little red dents left behind on his cheekbones, and the tiniest of frowns that Frank had the urge to smooth away with his thumb. Strange, Frank didn’t think he’d done anything like that since before his— since before. Usually these days if he was touching someone it was with the intention of violence. And yet here he was watching the devil of hell’s kitchen nap in only his boxers and undershirt in Frank’s bed, having just carefully stitched him up with nary a complaint.

It wasn’t even the first time Red had slept in his bed, was the thing. They’d fought together enough times by now that he’d had to give up his mattress to a heavily injured or concussed (or drugged that one time they both tried to forget about) Red on too many occasions. The kid was honestly a danger magnet even outside of his tendency to run headlong into fights without a thought for his own self-preservation. No wonder Karen and the other lawyer had been getting stress ulcers over him. Caring about Matthew Murdock couldn’t be easy.

Frank continued watching him sleep for a little while longer, pushing down the upturn of his mouth that threatened whenever Red’s grip shifted on the teddy, fingers petting and seeking out the soft fur even in sleep. Frank had noticed his inclination towards soft things by now, so it wasn’t that surprising really. A little more surprising was that somewhere along the way, without his knowledge, they had fostered something like trust between them, enough of it that Red felt he could let his guard down so significantly in front of Frank, which was no small thing. He didn’t know how to feel about that.

It was late— or early now, if the weak light filtering through the cracks in the single boarded up window were any indication, and Frank really needed to catch up on the sleep he hasn’t had for a good week now. Levering himself up from the floor and feeling every rotten year his age while he did it, Frank gathered up the first aid kit and set it on the desk by his guns, ready to be taken apart and cleaned later. Too tired to do much else, he shucked off his shoes and jeans, changed his shirt to something a little less blood-stained (though smelling a little of dog), and moved back over to the mattress.

Frank grabbed Red’s good leg in one hand and his waist in the other, careful of waking him at first, but when it seemed he wasn’t likely to wake easy, tugged at him until he was horizontal instead of curled up against the wall. The hand that was on Max ends up curled against his chest with the other one, grip on the bear still something just shy of white-knuckled. He tried to curl up in a ball, knees to chest like Frank knew he usually slept, but the pain in his calf must have stopped him, because he let out a few wounded sounds in the back of his throat before settling down still on his back. Once Frank was sure that Red was done moving about, he checked the locks and the police scanner one last time before throwing his blanket over Red and finally, finally letting himself collapse face down on empty space next to him. His dreams were more memories than anything, hazy and light-filled, and when he woke he didn’t remember them.

That was the start of it all. The beginning, though, is another story.

Re: Fill: Don't let me ruin me (I may need a chaperone) Part 1/?

[(Anonymous)]

Op here. Wow, I had good timing glancing at this post. I'd given up on someone filling it. So glad you did. Love this fill, and am soo excited to read more of it. I'm really impressed at how subtle and believable you managed to make this part. Waiting eagerly for more.

Re: Fill: Don't let me ruin me (I may need a chaperone) Part 1/?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm so glad you checked back, I was worried about if you'd ever see this tbh! I'd been thinking about the prompt for a while, and for some reason watching The Defenders spurred me into action (something about Charlie Cox's face...)

I'm happy you like the way I wrote it, I was worried it was a little too subtle, but I thought it fit with the 'accidental' aspect of your prompt to write it that way. Plus I really enjoyed playing around with Frank's perspective- he's such an interesting character.

I'm posting this cleaned up over on ao3 too if you're interested :)

archiveofourown.org/works/11849868

Re: Fill: Don't let me ruin me (I may need a chaperone) Part 2/?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know if anyone would prefer an update to be posted here, but the next chapter is up on ao3 :)

archiveofourown. org/works/11849868/chapters/26868768