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When Thanos eliminated half the world with just a snap of his fingers, you were probably one of the only humans alive who was grateful for it. While mostly everyone was going about their lives, you had been cowering in a corner and protecting yourself from shards of glass as your boyfriend threw objects at you in one of his temper tantrums.
No one had known what was going on when people suddenly turned to dust before everything quickly went to shit, and it wasn't until almost a week after that the remaining Avengers put out a statement about what had happened.
You hadn't been on your own for a little over three years, so it took you a while to get back on your own two feet. Prices for anything and everything went up, and you were just grateful that hospitals everywhere were in desperate need of nurses. Finding a new place to live, however, proved difficult but you lucked out a few months after the Snap when the perfect apartment went up on the market. It was an open floor-plan with brick walls in a fairly secure building, and the only reason it was so cheap was because of an enormous billboard two blocks away that poured too much light into the apartment at night. The apartment itself was lovely and the billboard issue was easily handled by blackout curtains.
For the next five years, you took your life back and really settled into your new life.
So of course, it all goes shit on your day off as you're lounging around your apartment in nothing but a shirt and panties. One moment you're catching up on one of your favorite supernatural shows, fantasizing about one of the lead vampires, and the next there's dust materializing between you and the TV. Your mouth drops open as a man now stands there, head turning from side to side as he tries to get his bearings.
"Who's there? Who's in my apartment?"
Your heart thumps wildly as you quickly scramble off the couch. "Y-Your apartment? This is my apartment!"
The man keeps glancing around, eyes unfocused as his hand reaches up to tug his tie loose. You walk until the couch now resides between the two of you, your heart plummeting as you hear vehicles screeching just outside your window and people shouting and screaming. His head snaps towards the window, looking but not seeing. He's.. he's blind. He must be.
"What's happening?" He asks.
It takes a moment for everything to click in your brain and your heart falls into your stomach. "You're coming back. You're all coming back," you murmur.
"Excuse me? What do you mean by coming back?"
You gulp. "Sir, this might be hard to believe, but you've been gone for five years. You and half of Earth's population have."
"No. No," he says. "That's impossible. I was here, I had a dizzy spell, and then there was this stranger in my apartment. You were here in my apartment."
"I am really sorry." You wince. "But I am telling you the truth. There was this alien named Thanos. Earth's mightiest heroes fought him in space and fought him here on Earth. We- we lost. And in losing, half of Earth's population just turned to dust and vanished with no warning whatsoever. We thought you all died."
He calms down some after your explanation, but he still seems confused as hell. "M-My friends! Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. Do you know if-"
"I'm sorry. I don't know them." He immediately starts patting down his pants' pockets, frowning when he doesn't find what he's looking for. "I, uh, I have a phone you can use if you want."
"Yes! Yes, please."
You walk back around to your coffee table, picking up your phone and holding it out for him. When he doesn't make a grab for it, your suspicions about him being blind are confirmed. "Do you, um, do you need me to dial for you?"
"Oh. Yes." He quickly rattles off the number and you dial it for him. It rings and rings before going to his friend's voicemail. "Foggy? It's Matt. I'm not sure what's going on, but there's a woman in my apartment and she tells me I've been gone for five years. If you need to reach me, call me back at this number. I.. I have no place to go and I can't seem to find my phone." You end the call, frowning at the fact that this man couldn't reach his friend. "I'm sorry about putting you on the spot. I didn't even think before telling Foggy he can reach me at your number."
"Don't even worry about it. I'm off today and tomorrow. If you need help, I'll supply it."
His shoulders sag in relief. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Anyone else you wanna call?"
"Karen." He rattles off her number next, but when you dial it, an automated message tells you the number's been disconnected.
"I'm sorry," you tell him. "There's a good chance Karen might have been blipped."
The man starts pacing back and forth, and ends up running into your sofa chair. He sighs and leans down so his hands are resting on the armrest as he hangs his head. "I'm sorry," he suddenly says. "I'll try to get out of your hair as soon as I can. I just- I need.."
"Don't even worry about it," you find yourself saying. "This was obviously your apartment before and now it's mine, and I'm sure thousands of people all around the world are having this exact same issue. If everyone suddenly reappeared, I'm positive we're about to be thrown back into chaos once more. If you're comfortable here, I don't mind having a roommate until we can get you back on your feet."
"That's awfully generous of you." He picks his head up, gaze just to the left of you. "I'm Matt Murdock, by the way."
"YN YLN."
"So Miss YLN, while I wait for my friend's call, do you mind explaining what happened again?"
"Sure. Just, uh, just let me put on some pants."
For the first time since he's appeared, his lips twitch in amusement. "You've been pantless this entire time?"
"Well this is my apartment," you say. "I was terrified at first, but when I realized you were blind, I figured I was good."
He huffs a laugh. "I'll just wait here then."
"Mhm." As you start making your way towards your bedroom, you call out over your shoulder, "Don't walk around too much. I'm sure the layout I have going on now is a lot different than what you're used to. I'll give you the tour in a bit."
Matt hums back an affirmative and you quickly pull on some joggers. You grab the hem of your overly large shirt, bunching it up in your hand and tying a knot with the material at the small of your back. And even though Matt is blind, you quickly fix your hair so you appear more presentable.
"I, um, I have water and beer if you want something to drink," you say while reappearing back in the living room. "And some wine, but it's the cheap stuff."
Matt, sitting in the lone sofa chair, picks his head up and nods. "Water would be good. Thank you."
"Mhm." You head to the kitchen, grabbing yourself a glass of wine and a glass of water for your guest. As you head back towards Matt, you hand him his water and take a seat in the corner of your sofa with your legs tucked beneath you. "So, uh, Thanos.." You trail off with a sigh and take a sip of your wine. "According to Steve Rogers, Thanos had been looking for something called Infinity Stones. There were six of them and if all gathered by one person, they become the most powerful being in the universe."
"And this Thanos guy found them?"
"Yep." Another sip of wine. "The last one he needed was here on Earth. The Avengers and their allies tried protecting it, but they lost. And with a snap of his fingers, half the world paid the price. You all just- you vanished. Turned to dust and then nothing."
"What happened after that?"
"It was complete chaos," you tell him. "For weeks, it was nothing but violence and looting. It took Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff a while to give a statement, but after they did it kind of upped the government's morale and they eventually got everyone under control again."
"And what? Everyone just went on with their lives?"
"We had to. The remaining Avengers and their allies could not think of a single way to bring any of you back. We all just figured you had died. Hoped in some cases," you say, heartbeat slowly accelerating at the thought of your ex seeking you out.
"Hoped? Why would someone.." Matt trails off, head tilting as if listening to something only he can hear. "Did you- did you hope that someone wouldn't come back?"
"I was.. I was dating someone at the time. He wasn't exactly nice," you tell him, gulping down the rest of your wine before getting up to pour yourself some more. "He vanished mid-fight and I was left to pick up the pieces of my life. I'm happy here and if you're all coming back, there's a good chance he did too and-"
"And nothing. You're going to be fine."
"You don't know that." You retake your seat on the sofa, sighing. "He's possessive and jealous, and very easy to set off."
"But if we're reappearing where we vanished, he'll reappear in your old place, won't he?"
"Yes. And it'll piss him off even more when he realizes I'm no longer there."
"Hey, listen to me," Matt says as he looks in your general direction. "You're going to be fine. My friend Foggy and I are lawyers. If it comes down to it, we can help you out."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Matt grins. "Your boyfriend-"
"Ex-boyfriend."
"Okay. Your ex-boyfriend has no idea where you're at. And by the time he hunts you down, if he even decides to hunt you down, Foggy and I will have hopefully settled. You'll be in good hands."
"Thank you. I-" A sudden pounding on the apartment door startles you into spilling some of your wine. "Shit!" Your heartbeat skyrockets and the voice yelling through the door hardly settles you.
"Hey. Hey, it's fine. It's just my friend Foggy."
It takes a moment for you to calm and remember your manners, and you quickly set your glass down before getting up to answer the door. A blonde, slightly overweight man stands there, eyes wide as he pants.
"M-Matt?"
"In there." You hook your thumb over your shoulder as you step out of the way. Who you're assuming is Foggy brushes past you and you grin at his exclamation of relief upon seeing his friend.
You walk back in to see the two friends embracing one another before taking seats and you hesitantly take a seat back in your corner of the sofa. Foggy is trying to fill in Matt about what went on to ease his confusion, but Matt tells his friend you already told him as much as you could. Foggy looks at you as if just now realizing there's another person there, apologizes profusely for barging in, and then proceeds to introduce himself to you after Matt tells him your name.
Foggy then tells Matt everyone they knew who had blipped away, Karen included, and tells him that she'll be staying with him and Marci. He apologies for not being able to take Matt in and that's where you jump in.
"Oh. Well that shouldn't be a problem," you speak up for the first time. "I already told Matt he can stay. I know everything's about to go to shit again and people are going to be displaced, and this apartment is more than big enough for the two of us."
Foggy stares at you, probably in awe of how kind you're being. He then leans closer to his friend, whispering, but you still hear him loud and clear. "What is it with you and attracting all the hot girls? You literally just got back from being dusted and BAM!, hot girl accepts you into her apartment. You need to give me some of that Murdock luck."
You snort and Matt shakes his head in fond amusement.
"Well that is very generous of you, YN," Foggy says as he turns towards you once more. "Thank you for looking after my good friend Matthew here."
Matt sighs in exasperation. "Me staying here will be good for YN also. I was just told about an abusive ex who might come looking." Foggy winces. "I already told Miss YLN that we can help out if it comes down to it."
"Of course!" Foggy smiles reassuringly at you and you relax a little bit more. "And Matt, I put your stuff in storage. I can be back later with some clothes and.." He trails off, glancing towards the bedroom. "And an air mattress?"
"Oh! Matt can take my room," you say, but he's quick to refuse.
"No way. I'm perfectly fine on the couch. And besides, isn't there a billboard still outside the window?"
"Well yeah, but that's why blackout curtains were invented."
Matt grins. "I'm not taking your bedroom."
"Fine. The couch pulls out," you say. "And I have an extra cushion to add to it so it's not uncomfortable."
"Perfect." Foggy claps his hands, standing up. "Matt, real glad to have you back, buddy. Give it a day or two and we'll all go out for drinks." He then turns towards you, reaching for your hand and shaking it repeatedly. "YN, thank you so much for taking in Matt."
"It's no problem," you assure him. "At least now I have some company to watch- er, listen?- as the world goes to shit once more."
Both Matt and Foggy grin, and then Foggy's telling his friend he'll be back later with clothes and his cane and some other things he might need.
After Foggy takes his leave, you give your attention to Matt once more. "So how about that tour? You can reacquaint yourself with the apartment so you're not bumping into stuff all the time."
"Sure. I'd really like that."
Matt lasts a whole week on your sofa before his Catholic guilt kicks in and he starts looking for an apartment elsewhere. But in the one week that you'd known him, you grew incredibly fond of the blind man and his company. So throwing caution to the wind, you put some of your stuff into storage and had Foggy bring Matt's bed. It wasn't an ideal situation, but his bed fit perfectly where your dining table once was behind your sofa. And after making absolutely sure you were okay with him being there for the time being, Matt agreed to stay for a bit longer.
You worked from seven in the morning to five in the afternoon, so you had no idea what Matt did during the daytime. He, however, was very accident prone and you found yourself patching up a few scrapes here and there. The first couple of times you chalked it up to him being blind and clumsy, but the bruised and bloodied knuckles said otherwise. You, however, never confronted him about it and let him keep his secret. After all, he and Foggy had promised you free counsel if or when your ex came back around.
Late one evening, you're just getting home from work to find Matt sprawled on your sofa and listening to the local news. You grin as you head towards your bedroom, your steps faltering when you see the dried blood along your friend's temple.
Sighing, you ask, "Let me guess, I should see the other guy?"
Matt immediately realizes what you're speaking of and smiles. "Boxing incident. I guessed I missed a spot."
"You think?" You drop your bag by your bedroom entrance and then head back towards Matt. "Sit up. Let me take a look."
Knowing it's pointless arguing with you, he sits up. "The cut's just on the inside of the hairline."
"Jesus," you mumble. "You would think people would know not to take a cheap shot against a blind man." Matt chuckles and lets you angle his head whichever way you need it so you can see the small wound for yourself. "Well it's not deep enough for stitches, but I can put a bit of glue to keep it closed and to keep anything from getting in. It'll fall off anywhere from five to ten days."
"Yeah. That'll be fine."
"Okay. Hold on." You stand back up to go grab one of your First Aid kits, only to halt when someone pounds one the door. You glance at Matt, frowning. "You expecting anyone?"
He shakes his head. "No."
"One sec." You sigh and head for the door, swinging it open with a friendly grin. Only the moment you see the person standing on the other side of the door, your grin drops and your heartbeat pounds as if trying to escape your chest. "W-What are you doing here?" You ask.
Your ex, David, smirks. "What? I can't greet my girlfriend?" For every step he takes forward, you take a step back. "You know, YN, it was a real pain to reappear in our old place to a new family living there. You could have at least left a note."
"Ex-girlfriend," you tell him. "And I didn't leave a note for a r-reason. Now what do you want?"
His smirk turns cruel. "Ex? When did I agree to that?"
By now you've stumbled out of the hallway and into the room where David has the perfect view of Matt. "YN? Is something wrong? I thought I heard another voice?"
When you and David both glance at Matt, it's to see him standing with his cane in hand. Your stomach drops as you glance back at David and see his smirk turn cruel. "How adorable," he coos. "I vanish into thin fuckin' air and you start playing house with a blind man."
"I-It's not like that!" You blurt. Your heart is pounding so furiously that you feel like you're going to be sick. You keep glancing between Matt and David, the tension getting thicker by the second. "Matt and I are just-"
"Are just what, YN?" You cringe at David's tone and before you even see it coming, pain is exploding along the right side of your face. He's backhanded you. Hard.
"Hey!"
You fall back as Matt rushes forward, dropping his cane along the way. Holding your face with one hand, you shout at David and Matt as the two of them meet with fists flying. But.. but Matt is perfectly holding his own. The blind man is actually whooping David's ass!
You watch on in complete awe and shock as Matt expertly dodges David's fists, delivering well timed punches of his own that actually connect and a knee to the gut that sends David doubling over and trying to catch his breath.
Matt then grabs David by the nape of his neck and hauls him up so he's standing on his own two feet, murmuring something in his ear before shoving him towards the hallway. You can hear David scrambling for the door and then your gaze darts back to Matt as he makes his way to you without the aid of his cane. He stops in front of you, holding out a hand for you to take.
"Come on. I think it's time we cash in that favor with Foggy. He can represent you since I've gotten involved now."
"H-How did you do that?" You ask, shakily taking Matt's hand and letting him help you up. "It's like you saw every punch he was throwing, but you're blind." Matt remains quiet as he leads you to the sofa, dropping you off there and then heading towards the kitchen. "You are blind, right?"
"It's.. it's complicated."
When he comes back from the kitchen, he has a bag of frozen peas that he hands to you for your face. "Well then uncomplicate it. I'm all ears, Murdock."
"Let me make a call to Foggy real quick. I'll explain after." He does as he said he would, calling Foggy and telling him to get to the apartment as soon as possible as you attempt to get comfortable with the ice cold peas against the side of your face. When he's done, he takes a seat on the opposite end of the sofa you're sitting on. He sighs. "When I had the accident that took my eyesight, it heightened my other senses."
"To the point that it made you a complete badass?"
He huffs a laugh. "No. I had to learn to fight like that."
"Matt," you say in utter disbelief, "the way you fought, that isn't normal for a blind individual."
"Well I'm not totally blind." He gulps and you sit a little taller at his confession. "It's kind of like- like a world on fire. It literally looks like everything is on fire until there's movement or sound and then I can see. Sort of."
"So all those times I've walked around in nothing but a shirt and underwear, you could see?" His lips twitch and your eyes widen before you chuckle in disbelief. "You're such a dick, Matthew."
"I apologize. If it makes you feel any better, I never actually looked when I realized you were half naked." He's smiling in your general direction before his head tilts as if he's listening for something. "Foggy's rushing down the hall. He must have been close when I called him."
"What? You can hear him coming down the-"
There's a sudden pounding on the door before it's opened and then closed, and Foggy rushes around the corner nearly out of breath. "What happened? What's going on?" Looking at him, you remove the bag of peas and he winces. "Is that a black eye?!"
"Remember that ex I told you about? Well he finally paid a visit."
"Jesus, YN," Foggy says. "Are you okay? Is that your only injury? Do you need a hospital?"
"Foggy. Foggy!" Matt says, chuckling. "She's fine."
"I'm okay," you assure the blonde. "Apparently Matt's been holding back on me. He totally kicked ass today."
"Oh good." Foggy's whole demeanor seems to relax. "Now that the whole Daredevil secret is out of the bag, we don't have to censor ourselves anymore."
Wait. What? "Daredevil? What are you talking about?"
You glance between both men- Foggy who looks like a deer caught in headlights and Matt who's pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You.. you didn't know?" Foggy squeaks.
"No, Foggy, she didn't know," Matt says. "All I told her was that I had heightened senses and learned to defend myself."
"What the actual living fuck," you mumble. There's a split second where the room is eerily quiet before Foggy has the audacity to giggle and Matt grin. Your mind is whirling with every news headline and picture you've ever seen of Daredevil, and then.. and then you sigh and lean back in your seat while placing the bag of peas back on your face once again. "You know what, all your injuries make sense now." Another bout of silence follows before you say, "And can I just say that, that suit of yours does wonders for your ass. I don't know how I didn't realize sooner."
Foggy loses it, guffawing loudly as Matt shakes his head in amusement. "You look at my ass?"
"Fair's fair, devil boy."
"I don't stare at your ass. I politely look elsewhere."
"Oh bullshit." Foggy huffs. "Your good boy Catholic mannerisms fool no one."
Everyone shares a laugh and then a minute later, the laughter tapers off.
"So are you really okay with this?" Matt asks. "I can find an apartment elsewhere if this is too much for you."
"Are you kidding? This is actually kind of cool," you say. "You keep on and I'll just- I'll continue playing dumb. But I need to see you in that suit of yours up close at least once. For educational purposes, of course."
"Oh. Of course." Matt smirks.
"So now that that's out of the way, let's talk about what happened to your face," Foggy says.
You groan. "David came over and he wasn't happy he reappeared in our old apartment, only to find a new family living there. He was under the assumption we were still dating, I told him we weren't, and then he got set off by seeing Matt here. He backhanded me and then Matt kicked his ass."
"Do you want to file a restraining order?" Foggy then asks.
"Yes." Matt answers for you. "I know men like him. He'll retreat for now, but he'll be back after he licks his wounds. It'll also be a good idea to photograph the evidence of tonight's altercation and file a police report so they'll have a file started on David in case this ever happens again."
"You two are the lawyers," you say. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."
You and Foggy spend the next few minutes talking and him taking up close pictures of your bruised face, and then he steps into the kitchen to make a phone call to Karen to get your paperwork started.
You wander back towards Matt and he grins as you take a seat on the arm rest closest to him. "So my suit, huh?"
"Yep. If you let me feel you up a little, I'll make you home cooked meals for a week."
Matt chuckles. "I think your brain got a little addled when you took that hit."
"Nah. Just made my tongue a little looser."
"You know when you get back from the police department, we have a lot to talk about."
"Oh for sure. But I better not come back to all your stuff missing, Murdock. I've grown accustomed to having you around."
"I attract trouble."
"Daredevil attracts trouble. Matt Murdock attracts ridiculously hot girls that are envious of me because I have you as a roommate and they don't."
His lips twitch. "My enemies will eventually figure it out."
"Then when they do, we'll be prepared. If I have to leave until you take care of the problem, then I will, but there's no use in talking about it right now."
"Hey YN, are you ready to go?" Foggy says as he's finally done with the phone call.
"Sure. Let me just grab my bag." You walk over to pick up your bag once more, chancing a look in Matt's direction one last time as you head towards the hallway where Foggy is waiting. "Seriously, Murdock, chill. And don't leave. I'll hunt you down and figure out how to kick your ass if you leave me high and dry here."
He chuckles softly. "I'll be here."
"Good. See you later."