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Every fathers day, Matt visits Jack's grave. He's done so every year he was able to, and he doesn't intend on stopping until he joins him in the ground. He visits in the early morning, dew still on the ground; he kneels in the grass and he talks to his father. He tells him what he's missed in the past year, asks what he thinks of current cases, tells him who Daredevil has saved recently. The conversation will stick in the back of his mind all day, as it does every year. Just enough to make him contemplative, and color all his actions a particular shade of thoughtfulness.
This year, he tells his father about Sam. Last father's day, he hadn't really known him. He'd mentioned Blindspot to Jack, but he hadn't even met Sam yet. The conversation is one-sided, as it is every year. Some years it hurts, to talk to his father's grave as though it were really him- it's never the only time he visits in a given year, but barring the years he visits on the anniversary of Jack's murder, it feels like the most significant. But this year it's simple and pleasant, he reflects on the time that's passed with a calm and thoughtful perspective. He's only a little sad, but then, sometimes it seems like he always is.
"I think I'm happy, Dad." He whispers to the headstone. "I really think I'm happy." He sighs, smiling.
"I wish you could've met Sam." He says after a pause, he waits as if for a response. "He's a good kid- he probably would've liked you, you would've liked him."
Sam probably would've been a little intimidated by Jack, now that he thinks of it. The kid always seems to be quieter around other people, it took a little bit for him to even start cracking jokes in the office. But eventually, they would've gotten along. Sam's got a heart of gold- in the moments that Matt forgets why he does what the does, why he constantly puts himself and his loved ones in harm's way, Sam is the one who reminds him. Whether by directly telling him, or by just existing in the vicinity. Sometimes it's like he believes in the cause so much it's contagious- Jack would've liked him.
He comes to the office afterwards feeling light and thankful. It's a calm day, no clients, really just busywork. Sam seems a little skittish, though, and he leaves early. It occurs to Matt to be a little worried, but he asks and Sam isn't lying when he smiles and says he's okay. He's obviously nervous, but he isn't upset. Shortly after Sam leaves, Matt ventures back to his office from where he'd been chatting with Foggy. He pauses in the doorway.
There is something new in his office. Sitting in the middle of his desk is a small box. Matt tilts his head curiously, cautiously. From here it doesn't smell dangerous, no poison or unfamiliar chemicals. It does smell faintly of saline solution and metal; Sam. Huh. He smiles, that's what Sam was so nervous about, and opens it to find a small card on top of some tissue paper, covering a few items. It reads, in braille that Matt taught him: Happy father's day. Love, Sam.
He pauses. Runs his fingers over the message again.
Matt knows that Sam is a very private person. He has a hard time expressing his feelings and being vulnerable; Matt thinks they're similar in that way, sometimes. And he.. he kind of knew that Sam thought of him as a father figure, or something similar, but he'd never.. Sam had never said it before. He'd come close to saying it, said everything but the word "father", but that word is an important one. So it- it surprises him, a little. It catches him off guard, and he belatedly realizes he's started crying just a little.
He carefully puts the card in his pocket and wipes the tears from his face.
Under the tissue paper are.. boots. And a small bag containing some mechanical somethings. A second braille note explains that there are panic buttons sewn into the boots, and the unknown objects are receivers he could give to allies- Sam already has one. Matt smiles wide, still teary-eyed, and rushes back into Foggy's office to show him. Naturally Foggy immediately demands one of the receivers, and Matt gives him one.
When the night comes, Daredevil takes to the streets, grinning. An hour or so into his patrol, he senses a presence from an adjacent building, he smiles. Sam doesn't normally make it to Hell's Kitchen this early, he must be nervous still.
"Blindspot!" He calls, smiling. "Get down here!"
Sam skitters down the building and Matt pulls him into a hug. He startles just a little, in a way that reminds Matt of himself when he was younger. Before he knew Foggy or Karen, when he was in the orphanage. He didn't get many hugs back then. He frowns, had he ever hugged Sam before? When was the last time Sam got a real hug? He holds Sam tighter, and Sam relaxes into the hug.
"Thank you for the gift," Matt starts.
Sam mumbles something along the lines of "of course, yeah, totally!" , sounding embarrassed and bashful. Matt smiles.
"You're.. a good son." Matt says, still holding Sam to his chest. The words feel strange in his mouth, unfamiliar and just a little bit terrifying- He's not quite sure how else to broach the subject, unused to telling people exactly what they mean to him. He knows that's not great, but he's trying, isn't he? Sam's heart jumps, and he exhales hard into Matt's shoulder.
"I haven't been anyone's son in a while," Sam whispers after a long silence. "I don't think I'm very good at it."
Matt sighs and smiles a bitter smile.
"That's okay," he leans his head on Sam's, "I think you're doing fine as it is."
"Foggy," Matt starts, coming through the window later that night, " I have a son ."
Foggy makes a strangled, startled sound.
"Sam is my son ." Matt continues.
"Oh thank god, this is just you coming to terms with your emotions. I thought you'd discovered some secret love child or something." Foggy laughs.
Matt huffs a little laugh and sits down on the couch, suddenly and absolutely exhausted. He whispers it to himself one more time.
"You okay, Matt?" Foggy asks, sitting on the couch next to him.
"Maybe I should visit the graveyard."
"Didn't you already?"
"Yeah, but. Maybe again." Foggy hums in tentative agreement.
The next day Sam walks into work and Matt immediately steers him back out.
"What's happening, where are we going." Sam asks, deadpan and suspicious.
"Field trip." Matt smiles, tucking Sam's hand into the crook of his elbow.
They walk to the cemetery, Matt sort of pulling Sam along. Once they're within view of the cemetery Sam makes a strange noise- sort of understanding and hesitant and a little surprised. Matt guides them to Jack's grave, quietly folding up his cane as he does so. They stand there in silence for a moment, and Matt crouches down to feel the engravings on the stone.
"I visit him every Father's day." Matt starts, speaking quietly and gesturing for Sam to join him on the ground near the stone. Sam sits next to him, a little apprehensive. "We talk. Or, I talk. And I told him about you, but- I just."
He pauses, tearing up, and Sam offers him a hand to hold. He takes it.
"You can never meet, but I figured this is as close as we could get." They sit in the quiet for a bit.
"Could you tell me about him?" Sam asks after a bit. Matt smiles, and tells him old boxing stories and how his dad had taken care of him in the year between the accident and his death. It's a good day.