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The smell was almost overwhelming, violently attacking Matt’s senses. He slightly gags, feeling the looks the others give him before continuing onwards. All of his senses have been on over-drive since the Midland Circle incident, and after weeks of silence in the church as he was recovering, he was in a constant state of disarray. It was obvious to his fellow defenders that Matt wasn’t okay, but were waiting for the best moment to talk to him. Since he was back, a few days at most they think, they were in constant motion of fighting crime, cleaning up and re-establishing order back into New York. Until one of them was injured, or something similar happened, they weren’t going to stop.
The screaming wouldn’t leave, the chaotic sounds of New York City echoing back inside his head. Grabbing his batons, Daredevil hits and kicks his way through the sea of men, finding Jessica in the middle of a mob. Almost like a dance, Matt fights alongside the woman, feeling the adrenaline through his veins. He hears Danny’s iron fist, feels the bullets bounce off of Luke and can taste the stale air of the warehouse. All of it almost made him vomit. He was processing too much in too little time. Punching the last man in the face several times, Matt feels before he hears the roof collapsing. Too late to run towards the exit, Jessica grabs his arm and starts racing towards the other two when a weight collapses on them all.
Luke is the first to break through the rubble, steel and timber shifting around him. Groaning, he pushes the majority of the rubbish to one side of his hole, trying to clear space before he finds the other three. Going back down, its dark with dust particles blocking the little light available at night. Luke finds Danny first; Iron Fist having been close to the man before the roof fell. Sluggishly, Danny crawls his way to the other man, and is helped out of from the debris. Both rest for a moment before continuing, digging through and finding several bodies of their opponents, which were placed on the opposite side of the room. With each body, both men grow more concerned for their friends.
Reaching the last section, a large piece is removed to show Jessica out unconscious, Matt beside her desperately shaking her. The devil himself looked to be slightly hurt, a few cuts and bruises, but Jessica has a steel rod in her stomach. Luke immediately jumps into action, cradling Jessica to his chest and racing towards the car that the mercenaries had brought, leaving Danny to help Matt. Reaching for Matt’s shoulder, he yells before he can realise the pain as Daredevil twists his wrist, not breaking it but enough to cause extreme pain.
Having put Jessica into the back seat, Luke hears Danny’s scream, and rushes back inside. He finds Matt in a boxing stance, and Danny cradling his wrist to his chest. Making sure the younger man was alright, he sends the young man to look after Jessica. Luke turns to Matt, attempting to grab the man’s arm before getting kicked in the face. It does nothing, but it spurs Matt on, fighting tooth and nail to get away from his assumed attacker. It lasts almost five minutes when Luke is finally able to grab him, clutching the struggling man to his chest, ignoring the hisses and snarls from the man. Once again, Luke was impressed by Matt’s fighting style, impressable even from a normal person, let alone a blind man.
Dragging Matt out, Luke finds Danny with a pair of handcuffs, looking considerably upset. He locks them over Matt’s wrists, and makes sure that their secure before getting into the back seat with Jessica. Matt is locked into the passenger seat, Luke in the drivers. Hotwiring the car, he speeds his way to Claire’s house, giving the phone to Danny to ring her before arriving. It little time to get to the impromptu theatre, Claire waiting for them. Luke brings in Jessica, Danny following with the still fighting Matt, curses and threats being thrown all around the place. Leaving the boys to care for Matt at the moment, Claire focuses her attention onto Jessica, blood slowly oozing out of the wound. It doesn’t take long before the rod is removed and the wound stitched, Jessica having gained consciousness after the surgery.
Turning back to the boys, she finds Danny bruised and covered with cuts, grasping his wrist. Wrapping his wrist, he grabs her arm, warning Claire that Matt must have a concussion and is violent. Approaching Luke and Matt, she finds Daredevil cuffed to a chair, spitting at the other man. Carefully, she removes Matt’s mask and gloves, stopping for a moment as he tries to bite her hands. Sweat covers his face, and his unseeing eyes flicker all over the place, seemingly never stopping. Swearing, she orders Luke to grab a cloth and cool water, and removes the cuffs.
Matt backs himself into a corner, feeling for the walls and attempts to stand up. He collapses, legs flailing underneath him. His breathing increases until he reaches hysterical, near sobs coming out of the lawyer. Claire wants to join him in crying, but stops in time, calming down to help the panicked man in front of her. Danny and Luke join in waiting for the panic attack to die down, finishing soon after 30 minutes after the roof collapsed.
Matt can feel his heart beating furiously, almost beating out of his chest. He smells Claire’s shampoo, Danny’s metallic scent, Luke’s dusty clothes and Jessica’s blood all over them. Squeezing his eyes shut, he counts down from 10 before reaching out towards Claire, slightly flinching back when she grasps his arm. Pulling him off the floor, she gently guides Matt to the couch where she slowly wipes the grime and dirt off his face, tears tracks evident by the clear paths from his eyes. Jessica manages to get herself out of the bed, taking in the scene before joining Luke and Danny at the table. Matt’s face is a mixture of large dark bruises and smaller cuts, his left eye swelling purple.
Claire methodically takes care of Matt, keeping an eye on the three remaining defenders before they could run away. This was the moment they were waiting for to talk to him, and as she finished up, she motioned to Luke that the moment was now. Nodding at her, Luke drags the two-other people around Matt, whose face was already growing concerned as he realised he was practically cornered. Danny only asks one simple question, “Are you okay?”, before Matt breaks down. Sobs rack the man’s body, shaking as he nearly yells at them, emotions overfilling from suppression and are brought to the surface for his friends to see. Jessica acts first, the normally anti-social woman wrapping her arms around her friend, the other two joining in moments later. They stay with Matt throughout the night, listening to him, caring for him. They might not be the best people in the world, but they were his friends. Matt only hoped that one day Foggy and Karen would join him once again.