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It started, as most things do, with Matt Murdock brooding on a rooftop.
He was, quite typically, covered in other people’s blood, panting heavily, and forcing his enhanced senses to keep searching for more people in need of help, more people that needed someone to beat the shit out of those that thought they could get away with hurting other people, violating other people-
“Wow, Murdock. Even without the horns you still look like an asshole.”
Matt turned his masked head and sensed a familiar presence behind him, no, more than one.
“Jess. Luke. Danny.” He greeted, and he took a moment to balance his breathing. “What brings you to my roof?”
Jessica smirked. “Well, we were going to chat with a certain lawyer about a certain shitty corporation shitting on people, but then we found some masked idiot brooding on a rooftop.”
Matt tilted his head in acknowledgment. “... Admittedly that makes sense. Mostly. I thought we had gone our separate ways?”
“We had …” Luke said, and his voice was as strong and oddly reassuring as it always was. “Then we all heard about how Daredevil was killing people-”
“- and a vigilante was fighting another vigilante while Wilson Fisk was out of prison-” Danny interrupted.
“... And figured, hey, if Matt’s ‘alter-ego’ is being misused by some asshole then we should probably do something about that, since, hey, he fucking died , and if he somehow isn’t dead then we should kick his ass for not telling us.” Jessica finished. “Which, you’re welcome for us not barging into your apartment the second we heard you were alive, by the way.”
Matt let out a slight chuckle. “Well then, I’m alive. What do you need?”
“So, in summary, the Roxxon Corporation is still pulling shady shit.” Jessica said dryly.
Matt paused. “... Pretty much, yeah.”
Danny stood up from his spot where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Then we should do something about it! I should be able to get us in the door, Luke, you could be the muscle in case they’re expecting something, Jessica, you could come up with some kind of cover or-”
“Hold on, Iron Fister.” Jessica interrupted. Danny rolled his eyes at the nickname. “This is a multi-billion dollar corporation here, not a magical cave-”
“The cave wasn’t magical, it was the dragon -”
“I’m busy trying to deal with some psycho who’s stalking me and everyone in my fucking vicinity, Luke runs a club now, apparently, and Murdock doesn’t want anything to do with us.”
Matt tilted his head to the side. “What makes you think I don’t want anything to do with this?”
For a moment, no-one spoke. Then Luke and Jessica looked to Danny.
“You didn’t come to us when Fisk was out.” Danny said quietly.
“You’re right,” Matt admitted. “I probably should have come to you, but… Things were different . I’m sorry I didn’t.”
Luke smiled. “Then let’s make a deal. Stay out of each other’s shit, but…”
“But what?” Danny asked.
“But, meet on Matt’s roof every couple weeks and work out how to help each other .” Luke said.
Danny hummed thoughtfully. “... That sounds perfect.”
Matt tilted his head again. “Not the worst idea I’ve heard today.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “... Fine .”
Luke grinned triumphantly.
“Claire was right. That was surprisingly easy.”
It started with Matt and Jessica comparing notes regarding cases they were working on, while Danny and Luke compared combat techniques.
“It’s all about inner peace .” Danny explained, reverence in his voice. “To achieve true control, one must let go of their baggage.”
Luke tilted his head. “Danny, I’m gonna be honest, I still don’t understand most of what you say… But I’ll give it a shot.”
They continued to compare moves. On the other side of the roof, Jessica watched them, sat next to Matt with a table full of papers.
“Iron Fister and Luke Cage. The duo of the century.” She snarked. Matt let out a slight snort.
“All it took was punching each other in the face for them to become best friends.” Matt muttered. “Not that I’m one to judge. Anyway, from what I can tell, your client might be right. Her husband’s been visiting the same hotel every few weeks, on the same days he says he’s working late…”
Then, Colleen and Claire started coming to the fortnightly meetings so Luke and Danny wouldn’t accidentally kill each other.
“You want to shift your weight further into the punch when you’re dealing with someone bigger, Danny.” Colleen said. She gently guided his hand’s path and they proceeded to give each other the most disgustingly sweet dual expressions Luke had seen in some time. They’d be making out as soon as the rooftop meet was done - assuming it took them that long.
Colleen and Danny looked over to see him staring at them, and Luke grinned when he realized they were blushing . He spoke to break the tension.
“So, what’s next in punching 101?”
“Don’t kill each other tonight, it's my time off!” Claire shouted from her spot sitting next to Matt and Jessica.
Then, Foggy and Karen to ‘keep an eye on Matt’, while Matt finally got pulled into the group’s training.
“Your… Mentor.” Danny’s tone was careful. “He taught you very well.”
Matt was silent for a moment. Thoughts of Stick whirled around his mind, all the bad and all the not-so-bad. “... He was. Now show me that kick again.”
Foggy and Karen were sat next to Jessica this time. The loner P.I couldn’t get them away with her strongest glare.
“You need to visit Josie’s sometime.” Foggy advised, his voice half-slurred from everything he’d been drinking. “Best bar in Hell’s Kitchen. Don’t drink the eel, though.”
“Never drink the eel.” Karen agreed, as drunk as he was. “Made that mistake before.”
Jessica barely looked up from her phone - Malcolm was texting her constantly about his ‘investigative duties’ or some shit - but nonetheless noted to herself that Matt’s two buddies were smiling at her.
“What?” She asked, irritated.
Karen smiled. “I can see why Matt likes you.”
“Yeah.” Foggy agreed.
Jessica looked up from her phone again, ready to either glare at them more or say something snarky (whichever came to her mind first), then realized that they had both fallen asleep on the table.
Jessica sighed, then went back to her phone.
By the later ‘Defenders’ meetings, Trish and Malcolm had joined in.
Karen and Trish were stuck in rapid conversation almost instantly, Malcolm seemed to be agreeing with Foggy’s complaints about dealing with their respective friend’s shit, and Claire and Colleen were chatting quietly about something.
They all stopped, however, when they saw Danny, Matt, and Luke. Their training had… Progressed.
Danny threw a right hook that Matt ducked past. He returned with a swiping kick that Danny barely jumped over, and Luke threw a haymaker that glanced past the both of them. Matt responded with a blow to the side of Luke’s head and Danny used the distraction to take a shot at Matt’s legs that made him fall.
Matt flipped to his feet and went for Danny’s throat, making him double over for a moment, and a kick at Luke that bounced off. Matt grabbed Danny in a headlock, using his body as a shield from Luke. Danny responded with a kick at Matt’s foot, but Matt responded by bringing them both to the ground in some version of a wrestler’s headlock. After a few moments, Danny slapped the floor in submission.
“Alright, you got me.” Danny said, half-glaring at Luke, who was looking very amused.
“Round two?”
Before they knew it, The Defenders fortnightly meet-ups became a part of their lives. They started to help each other with random shit, too - Matt and Jessica found themselves working together on various cases, everyone usually took a moment to admire how insanely cute Danny and Colleen were always being, and Trish and Karen were either working on something important, dating, or both.
A few months passed before Foggy was free of his inhibitions enough to suggest what he described as, quote, ‘the best idea ever’.
“I have the best idea ever.” Foggy announced. “Forget all your superhero slash ‘I’m not a superhero’ bullshit - my idea will blow it all outta the water!”
“What is it, then?” Jessica drawled.
Foggy grinned.
“Karaoke night .”
“Never felt too good in crowds, with folks around…”
Luke stared.
As did Danny, Colleen, Claire, Foggy, Karen, Trish, Malcolm. Even Jessica.
Matt continued to sing.
“Honey, when you kill the lights, and kiss my eyes, I feel like a person for a moment of my life.”
“It feels good, girl, it feels good, oh, to be alone with you.”
The others stopped just short of grand applause when Matt finished the song. While everyone was looking impressed, Jessica spoke.
“How’d you get the lyrics right without the help of the screen, Murdock?”
Matt chuckled. “What can I say. I love that song.”
Danny and Colleen were up next with some duet Jessica didn’t know, then came Luke doing his best at ‘bulletproof love’, as demanded by an amused Claire, and then Foggy, Karen, and Trish gave their shot at ‘Holding Out for a Hero’.
Jessica didn’t sing. No-one minded.
“Alright, Foggy,” Matt said. “What’s your next ‘great idea’?”
Foggy grinned. “It’s Halloween soon! So, it’s obvious...”
“Costume Party .”
“Costume party?” Danny asked, confused.
“Costume party.” Foggy confirmed.
Danny looked intrigued. Colleen, Karen, Trish, Claire, and Malcolm looked amused. Luke shrugged - something that the group basically took as permission at this point. Jessica rolled her eyes so hard she was surprised that they didn’t burst out of her head.
“Eh, why not.” Matt said.
Danny and Colleen arrived first, dressed as Hawkeye and Black Widow respectively. They were smiling very widely. Matt passed them a drink each and laughed at their reactions to his Spiderman costume.
“Don’t worry,” Matt assured jokingly, “The real spidey would get a kick out of this.”
Luke arrived next, dressed as Captain America, and Claire was next, dressed in a purposefully cheap Iron Man costume. Karen came as a rather convincing Pepper Potts, Trish next with a Thor costume, complete with a hammer. Malcolm arrived dressed as the Falcon.
Foggy attached his phone to some sound system Danny had brought with him and got the music going, and the party began.
Ten minutes in, Jessica arrived. Foggy saw her first and grabbed at Matt’s sleeve.
“She’s dressed as Captain Marvel!” He whispered into Matt’s ear.
“What?” Jessica said, the others still staring at her.
“We didn’t think you’d…” Danny began.
“Show up.” Luke finished. “Or have an outfit.”
Jessica snorted. “I can have fun , Luke. Now pass me a drink.”
Matt passed a glass to her. “You look great, Jessica.”
“You’re blind, Murdock.”
“Still.”
The party, while a lot of fun, stopped eventually. The Defenders - apparently Trish made that name stick, mostly because she thought it was good and also to piss off Jessica - left over time. Jessica was headed to leave herself, then noticed Matt.
“What are you moping about, Murdock?”
Matt laughed. “I’m not moping. Just… Reflecting, I guess. I never thought I’d have, well… Friends. Friends that do what I do.”
“What, get the shit beat out of them?”
“That too.” Matt sighed. “Just… My dad’s been dead for years. Elecktra’s died twice . Stick’s gone. And somehow, I’m here. Having a costume party on Halloween. With friends.”
“So, what, you feel bad for having a life?” Jessica asked.
“I… Don’t know.” Matt admitted. “Maybe I’m just some asshole in a mask. Maybe I need the pain to let the light enter. Maybe I’m-”
Jessica moved forward with speed and kissed him right on the mouth.
“You think too much.” Jessica informed him.
“... True.” Matt said, shocked. “Are you… Um … Are we…”
“No idea.” Jessica said bluntly. “But everyone saw it coming before we did. Now get that fucking costume off.”
Matt woke several hours later, in his bed. Jessica was already up and was drinking some whiskey from his fridge. He walked into his kitchen and Jessica snorted.
“What?” Matt asked.
“Your shirt.”
“What about my shirt?”
“It says something on it. It’s a yellow shirt, with a red font. It says ‘I’m not Daredevil’.”
Matt chuckled. “ Foggy …”
“Well, I gotta deal with some personal shit.” Jessica said. She left the bottle on the counter and walked to Matt. “Crazy people who blame me for their own personal crap, I’m guessing.”
“Let me know if you need help.”
She laughed, and kissed him. “Will do, horns.”
Jessica walked to the door and said one last thing as she left.
“Oh, by the way, my office is always being shot up and Trish won’t stop bothering me about it, so I’ll probably be moving to the office opposite Nelson, Murdock and Page.”
“... What?”
Jessica laughed as she slammed the door behind her.
Matt mused on his newfound friends, Jessica , and how fucking tired he was.
He sighed, grabbed his cane and made sure to hide a mask on his person just in case, and got to work.