Chapter Text
All things considered, Matt Murdock’s life was going very well. It had been a couple years since not-dying and coming back to society, and he hasn’t had many major incidents since. He had a long-term boyfriend, became good friends with Jessica, his firm was doing moderately well- hell, even the police were starting to ease up on him as Daredevil.
So of course, Jessica stumbled into Matt’s apartment smelling like shittier-than-usual liquor and… something else.
She smelled like tears, and antiseptic, and… Murdock?
Certain parts of people’s scents were genetic, and Matt knew the Murdock smell. It hung in the air around his apartment, his office, steeped into his blankets and sheets. It’s one of the last things he has to remember his father by, because the image of his father’s face had long since begun to blur.
And that smell was on Jessica.
It was very faint, to be fair. Whoever this Mystery Murdock is, they only made a little contact with her- maybe a quick hug, or maybe they were standing next to each other for a long time. With most people, in most situations, it wouldn’t be very peculiar.
However, Jessica was not most people and this was not most situations. Jessica was rather touch averse, as a general rule. The only person Matt has ever heard of her touching (outside the context of sex) was her sister, and that relationship was… rocky, at the moment. Also, as far as Matt knows, he is the only Murdock left. His father’s brother had died childless in prison, and besides, there was a hint of Maggie in there. Matt was almost certain he was an only child.
“Murdock. We need to talk,” Jessica commanded. She sort of reminded him of the nuns, given the fact that they were both very no-nonsense and had no tolerance for semantics.
“Uh, okay, wha-”
“We have a son.”
Well.
Matt didn’t know what he had expected, but this certainly wasn’t it, not really.
Another Murdock in the world. Matt felt guilty about creating another Murdock. The entire Murdock line was practically cursed; his great-grandfather had come over to New York from Ireland, gotten married, had two children, and died by falling off the edge of a dock and drowning in the unforgiving waters of the Hudson. His great-uncle had died at age thirty-eight when he got crushed by a falling car working as a mechanic. His grandfather put a bullet in his head when the PTSD from his time in Vietnam became too much, and his grandmother got horrible lung cancer when Matt was a kid. His father, of course, was murdered, and Matt was a clusterfuck of a person.
And now there was another Murdock boy in the world. Did he have the devil in him, clawing to escape and burning him up from inside?
“I can see you worrying, Murdock.”
Thanks for the astute observation, Jess. What would he do without such revelatory commentary?
“Listen. We had a one night stand when you must’ve been in college or somethin’. I met Kilgrave near the end of the pregnancy, and he made me give the kid up. He got adopted by a real nice couple that loved him. When they died, he fell off my radar for a bit, but he turned back up when he was living with his aunt and uncle, who loved him too. His uncle was shot half a year ago, and now his aunt has terminal cancer.”
This kid was definitely a Murdock.
“His aunt is gonna die soon, I think. I don’t- I don’t know if you can claim him, or whatever, but it’s that or foster care. Neither of us are parent material, really, but I figured you deserved a chance to make that decision.”
Jessica was right, and he knew this. Between both of them being self-employed with unreliable paychecks and their vigilantism (Matt more so than Jessica) they weren’t really the best options for this kid.
However.
Matt was in the foster care system. He knew what it was like. And it was...complicated. It wasn’t as bad as some people try to make it out to be, but it was still pretty miserable. He was in the orphanage most of the time, but it was never meant to be a permanent solution. It was like a group home, and so his social workers were always trying to put him in a home. Most of the families were very nice, really, but they never knew what to do with him. They were always awkward about him being blind, or he would lash out and then he was sent right back to the orphanage. He was always drifting, never belonging anywhere. Eventually, when he was fifteen or so, they stopped trying to place him altogether. He never got what he needed, and he didn’t want that for his kid.
“I don’t want him to go into the system,” he said finally. “I was in the system, and I don’t… want that for him.”
“Is that even something we can do legally? I mean, I think I signed away my rights to him.” Jessica sounded nervous, if that was even a thing Jessica could feel.
“You said Kilgrave made you?” Jessica nodded slowly. “Well, that could count as signing under duress. And anyway, since I wasn’t… aware , I can claim him regardless as long as I produce a positive paternity test and prove I am capable of meeting the standards. The goal of the system is ultimately to reunite children with their biological parents when possible, so the authorities would likely agree. My blindness might make things a little difficult, but they cannot legally deny me just because of that.” She slumped in relief and put the bottle down.
“Hey Jessica?”
“Huh?”
“What’s the kid’s, uh, what’s his name?”
“Oh. It’s Peter. Peter Parker.”
“Also, one more thing. Were you with Peter today? Did you see him?” Matt knew the answer, but he had to make sure Jessica knew he knew.
“Uh, yeah. I visited him at the hospital. I told his aunt I was his biological mother, but as far as he knows, I’m just a family friend. How’d you know?”
“I could smell him on you. I just needed to make sure that you weren’t stalking him without his guardian’s knowledge.”
“Listen dude, I know my lines as far as privacy go are a bit blurry at times, but I’m not stupid.”
And so a new chapter of Matt Murdock’s life begins.