Chapter Text
Chapter 1
“I have a plan.”
Normally, Kirsten McDuffie took great comfort in hearing that her law partners had a plan for entering the courtroom. However, hearing Matt Murdock announce that he had a plan on the very same day they were supposed to go into court with an already established plan wasn’t comforting at all. She paused in the doorway of his office and watched him pace around his desk, his brow furrowed as he wandered about half-lost in thought and half-caught up in the anticipation of telling her his new plan. Taking a breath to steady herself, Kirsten frowned and folded her arms over her chest.
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence, Matt,” she replied. “You do realize that we’re supposed to walk into that courtroom in a little over an hour, right?”
“Yes. I do know that. That’s why I called you. Foggy already gave me the ok, so all that’s left is for me to fill you in on what’s happening, and then we can do some brief rehearsals,” Matt said as he continued to pace. Kirsten watched him walk back and forth, watching how he moved, and she wondered how she’d ever somewhat doubted that he was Daredevil. She’d seen the videos and the pictures of Daredevil—God, she’d seen them for years. Even back when she’d still gone home for the holidays, she’d heard about Daredevil and watched the footage of him kicking ass and taking names.
When the press leaked that Matt Murdock, blind lawyer of Hell’s Kitchen, New York, was Daredevil, Kirsten had admittedly had some trouble believing it. Matt Murdock was blind—he couldn’t possibly be Daredevil, she remembered thinking. Matt Murdock was a smart mouth New York lawyer; no earthly way he could have ever been Daredevil. But the more evidence that Kirsten had read and the more she’d researched, the more she’d slowly become a believer in the Matt-Murdock-is-Daredevil theory.
And now as she watched Matt pace around his small law office, the fact that he was undeniably Daredevil in the front of her mind, she saw it in his body. He moved with the same ease and grace that Daredevil did. He kept a loose stride but remained in control over his physical movements. He was quiet and contained, but he also sucked out all the air in the room. Matt was a larger than life person with a larger than life, well…life. Kirsten had always known it, but studying him just then was a bigger reminder of the reason why she’d broken up with him in the first place.
This situation was a lot.
And he’d just thrown a lot more on her.
“Rehearsals?” she repeated, hating how confused and in the dark she sounded. She hated not knowing what everyone else did, and she knew Matt knew that. “What are you talking about? What are you planning, Matt?”
“We’re completely changing how we’re going about this,” Matt replied. Kirsten lifted her eyebrows.
“We,” she deadpanned.
“Yes. We.”
“You mean you, but you’re saying we,” Kirsten corrected. Matt stopped pacing and paused to consider her statement, his red hair catching the light streams of early morning sunlight beaming in through the window as he tilted his head to the side just a little bit while he thought.
“Ok, yes,” he agreed after a moment’s hesitation. “I mean me, but I’m saying we. I’m changing how we’re approaching the trial, and we need to rehearse because I need your help.”
Right away, Kirsten shook her head. “No. Matt, whatever you have planned, it’s a bad idea. I can already tell.”
He twisted his mouth in a mildly offended glare. “What? How? It’s not a bad idea. I mean, yes, you’re going to think it’s a bad idea, but Foggy already approved it, and we’ve got to do it. I can’t…Kirsten…listen to the plan first, ok? There’s no talking me out of it.”
“Doesn’t mean I won’t try,” Kirsten grumbled. Heaving a sigh, she took a few more steps into his office and faced him directly, her brown eyes patient but wary. “Ok. Lay it on me, Counselor.”
“So the Sons of the Serpent are pressuring me into this case. If I don’t take it, they’re going to expose my identity, but if I take it, I’m going against my better judgment, which is something I loathe doing.” Matt put his hands on his hips and started pacing again. He tilted his face down to the ground as if he were looking at the neutral-colored carpet lining his floor. “I can’t knowingly go to court for this guy when I know the kinds of people the Serpents are. I just can’t.”
“Noted,” Kirsten interjected. Patiently, she waited for Matt to continue. She’d worked with him long enough by now to know that he enjoyed listening to himself talk things out, and sometimes he did these long speeches just to get it all out there in the open. If anything, he did these talks for himself, and she’d learned to sit patiently through them while he talked through everything he needed to before he reached his conclusion. Seeing this side of Matt Murdock, infamous lawyer, was fun for her because in court, Matt was the most well-spoken, beautifully verbose person she’d ever known. He didn’t say a word unless he wanted it there for a reason. Not a syllable was wasted, and he could never be accused of using up the people’s time and oxygen by talking too much. So for Kirsten to get to see him use up all his words and vocalize his thought process out was fascinating because this was the side of Matt Murdock the courts never got to see.
“Right,” he agreed. “So I’m in a bit of a difficult situation because of my identity…they know I’m Matt Murdock. Well, I talked to Foggy, and I think it’d be best if I beat them to the punch. If I take away their leverage, they have nothing over me. If I out myself, then I’m free from them.”
Kirsten paused, realizing what he was implying.
“No,” she said slowly. “You didn’t…Matt—Matt—you’re going to reveal your identity? No. That’s stupid. This is a stupid plan.”
“Kirsten, it’s the only thing I can do.” Matt turned to face her, his hands still on his hips. “It’s the only way out of this. They won’t have any leverage if I reveal my identity first. They can’t force me to take the case anymore.”
“But…but your identity,” Kirsten pressed. She hadn’t known Matt for as long as Foggy had, but she knew that his identity was important to him. Hell, it was so important to him that he’d sued the press for millions when they’d outed him in the first place all those years ago. If he’d been willing to go that far—to take those kinds of drastic steps, his identity meant more than just something to him.
“I know. I know.” Matt smoothed a hand over his hair. “Believe me. I’ve thought through every possible plan I could even dream of coming up with, and this is the best one. I know it sounds like it’s not…but it is.”
“But we go to court. Today. In an hour. How are we going to pull this off with such short notice?” Kirsten frowned. She remembered back on their first date that Matt had told her he liked going into the courtroom with 90% of a plan. However, from what he’d just told her, he was going in with about 30% of a plan, and he was dragging her along with him.
“And that, Counselor McDuffie, is exactly why I called you,” he said. Crossing back to his desk, he ran his hands over some sheets he had scattered about. She watched him until he picked up a handful and smiled before passing them to her. “These are yours.”
Kirsten took them and looked down at them. Just from a first glance, she could tell that these were questions she was supposed to ask him, meaning that she was going to call him up to the stand in front of God and everyone. She’d known it the second Matt had said it, but realizing his plan only confirmed her initial opinion that this was a bad idea. Glancing back up at Matt, her frown only seemed to get bigger. “I’m going to call you up to the stand.”
“Yes.” Matt nodded to confirm her statement. “I have all my answers prepared. I just want you to be prepared for what I’m going to say.”
“Matt…” Kirsten read over the questions again. When she looked up, he was waiting expectantly for the second part of her statement. “You’re sure about this. Because once we start…there isn’t any turning back.”
He gave her an impish grin. “That’s the plan, Counselor.”
Kirsten swallowed, knowing that the expanding pit in the middle of her stomach meant that she was going to regret this. She should say no—she should tell him she wasn’t going to help him. But she didn’t. In fact, she did the opposite. “Ok. Fill me in on everything.”
“We’re going to walk in, and I’m going to do that thing I always do where it looks like I’m lead counsel—“
“So you’re going to swagger in there.”
“Not the words I would use, but yes, I’m going to swagger in. If the Serpents catch any hint of anything fishy, they’ll try to beat me to the punch. After we get settled, I’m going to announce that we’re skipping opening statements and going straight to the testimony. Then I’ll announce that you’re taking lead counsel on the case. Following that brief, sudden announcement, you’ll call me up to the stand as the defense’s first witness. And then that’s when I’ll be sworn in, the questions will start, and so forth.”
“And by swear you in, you mean…”
“That’s when I’m going to announce that I’m Daredevil,” Matt finished. Kirsten made a small, amused noise, and he frowned. “What?”
“It’s so Matt Murdock to reveal his identity this dramatically,” she said. “Sorry. Just musing on it to myself. Continue.”
“Anyway, I’m sure that’s when the courtroom will go a little crazy, so after things have settled back down, that’s when you’ll come in with the questions,” Matt continued.
“Do you already have your answers thought out?” Kirsten asked, glancing up at him again.
Matt had the decency to look mildly offended. “Of course I do. Well, there’s only one question that I’m planning to just wing when I’m up there, but it’s not a hard one. No need to worry about it. Kirsten, I’m not going in there blind. Well…”
“Alright.” She sighed and smoothed her hair back before placing one hand on her hip as she read over the first question. “But Mr. Murdock, you couldn’t possibly be Daredevil because Daredevil isn’t a blind man.”
“I’m Daredevil, so yes, if you’re getting into the technicalities, Daredevil’s blind,” Matt answered, his voice solid and even the way it always was in court. “This is when I’ll submit my medical records for evidence.”
“Good to know,” Kirsten murmured, her eyes scanning over the page at a mile per minute. “So then you’ll go into detail about your medical history.”
“Correct. I’ll talk about my radar sense, how I trained, all that fun stuff. I’ll even dumb it down so there’s no confusion,” Matt said. He tilted his head to the side as Kirsten didn’t reply for a few moments. “Your heart’s going crazy.”
“Can you blame me?” she asked drily. “We’re going into court very, very soon, and you’re dropping this on me with no warning whatsoever.”
“Can you blame me?” Matt countered, sounding mildly frustrated. He crossed to his desk and sat on the edge of it while he folded his arms over his chest. “I mean it when I say I’m pressed here. I’m between a rock and a hard place.”
“I’m not saying that you’re not,” Kirsten protested. “I just…this is a very big step to take, Matt, and you’re sure…you’re so sure…”
“I don’t see any other alternatives. Kirsten, we’ve been over this.” His voice was gentle as he explained it to her. Gone was frustrated Matt Murdock the lawyer. Now he was Matt Murdock, the man Kirsten had gotten to know quite well on a personal level until she’d broken up with him. Even though he couldn’t see her, he looked at her so sincerely from behind his sunglasses that she couldn’t help the extra thump of her heartbeat.
“If you’re convinced…which you seem to be…I’ll have your back through this, but just know that I think it’s a bad idea,” she replied.
“It probably is,” Matt admitted. “But it’s the best action plan right now.” He waited for her response only to get nothing from her. “Kirsten.”
“Matt.”
“Do you trust me?”
Silence. Matt could hear his own heart pounding, the sound of it mixing with hers as he waited for her answer. And then she spoke. “Yes.”
“So you trust me with this?”
She sighed. “Yes. I don’t think it’s smart…but I trust you. And I’ll go through with it.”
Slowly, Matt’s smile lit up his face. “You’re amazing.”
“Don’t forget it.”
“I don’t plan to.”
And that’s how Kirsten found herself in the courtroom with a pounding heart and a slight sheen of sweat starting to line the edge of her hair. There were cameras and people everywhere; there was no escape from the announcement that was about to happen, no matter how much she wished one existed. Her heart thumped wildly beneath her ribcage, and she knew Matt could hear it by the way he tilted his head towards her, his expression calm and worried all at the same time.
“Like we rehearsed,” he said quietly as he reached for the pitcher of water on their table. “You ready?”
Kirsten thought about how to answer. No. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready at all. She and Matt had rehearsed what they were going to do, how they were going to handle this trial, but she didn’t feel confident. Honestly, they were unprepared, and she hated being unprepared.
“Kirsten?” Matt turned to face her again.
Kirsten’s mouth was dry, and she tried to swallow, but her heart only picked up even more. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this nervous. God, she’d been nervous when she’d gone on that first date with Matt, but she hadn’t been nervous like this. Though really, they weren’t even the same type of nervous. They were two completely different types of nervous. Was that a thing? Were there more than—
“Kirsten, I need you,” Matt whispered, interrupting her thoughts. And that’s what did her in. Just those few words Matt said to her, so softly she was almost sure she’d heard them just in her, those four words, and she found the courage.
“Ready,” she finally replied without looking at him. If she looked at him, she’d lose her nerve. With her consent, Matt proceeded forward. She tried to ignore the pounding of her heart as Matt stood up. This is it, she told herself. This is the point of no return.
She tasted pennies in her mouth and was surprised to learn that that wasn’t just a weird stereotype books always included. She’d always wondered if it were true, but as she sat there in that courtroom with a half-assed plan Matt was convinced would work, she tasted anxiety in the taste of pennies. Grimacing, she tried to block the taste out of her mouth so she could focus on what Matt was saying.
“Your Honor, defense waives its opening remarks and will move directly to testimony,” Matt said, his voice strong and confident. “Ms. McDuffie, effective immediately, you are lead counsel. Call your first witness.”
“Objection. Your Honor, this is out of order—“ the opposing counsel started to shout, but Kirsten stood up. It was now or never, she thought. She was in it—she’d agreed to be in it, and she’d told Matt that she’d come through for him, so she had to. God, now she didn’t have another choice. She’d come through for him again if he asked her to. Even if he didn’t she knew she would.
“The defense calls Mr. Matthew Murdock,” she announced, her voice steady and clear. Her tone mirrored Matt’s own confident tone that he’d just projected out across the courtroom, whether or not she felt it inside. While the courtroom burst into a frenzied symphony of low murmurs and half-raised voices, she took a moment to breathe. Silently, she told herself that she could do this, and she pulled herself together, watching Matt make his way up to the witness stand.
While Matt moved easily and smoothly, seemingly unbothered by all the chaos breaking out around him, the judge slammed his gavel down several times to demand silence.
“I’ll allow it,” he grumbled, and Kirsten sent up a silent prayer to whatever it was that may or may not be out there for allowing things to go smoothly thus far. She knew that there was a long way to go still—God, this trial wasn’t going to end quickly, nor would it end painlessly—but this was a start, and she could live with a start. A start was something.
Quietly, she watched the bailiff take the Bible up to Matt, and she watched Matt lay his hand on it as he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Last chance to back out, Matt, she thought, silently hoping he would but knowing he wouldn’t. Taking a second, she inhaled and then stepped forward as she crossed towards the stand. “Will you state your name for the record?”
“Absolutely,” Matt answered, his face earnest. He tilted his face towards the sound of her voice, and Kirsten had the distinct feeling that if he weren’t wearing his glasses, he would have been looking directly at her.
Come on, Matt. Come on.
“My name is Daredevil.”