Chapter Text
The room around you is bare, except for a table and three chairs, one of which you refuse to sit in. You stand next to the door, listening for anything, but all you could hear are steady heartbeats behind the weird-looking wall.
“Are you watching me?” You whisper, moving around the table to stand in front of the weird wall. You touch it and it was smooth and cold. A mirror.
You can hear the heartbeats spike and chairs shuffle back.
“Are you scared of me?” You whisper again.
The door opens behind you and two, no, three heartbeats join you.
“Ma’am, these men claim to be your lawyers.” You can tell he was the officer, his scent was familiar.
You look them over and sniff the air a little. One wears a strong cologne you don’t like and the other smells of silk and laundry soap.
“Yeah. These are my lawyers.”
They sit in the two chairs and start looking over your case file. You can smell the fresh printer ink and the hot paper.
“Who are you?” You ask, slowly approaching the table.
“I’m Matt Murdock and this is my associate, Franklin Nelson.” The Silk-And-Soap guy gestures to the Cologne Man.
“What do you want?”
“We’re your lawyers. We’re here to make sure justice is served.”
“I didn’t call you.”
“We know.” Cologne Man, Franklin, smiles.
“Why are you here?”
“We got a call on your behalf, Ms.” Silk Guy looks over my file, his fingers dragging across the page. “Y/N?”
“Okay.”
“Would you care to sit?” Franklin stands and pulls out the extra chair across the table from them.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t trust you yet. Sitting puts me in a vulnerable position and I don’t like being vulnerable.”
“Ms. Y/L/N, what do you hear right now?” Matt asks.
“How is this relevant, Matt?”
“Just hang on a second.”
“There are three people in the room behind the mirror, the desk clerk just had 2 cups of coffee, and three junkies are in the cell block tonight. Oh, and there's 6, no, 7 K9 units in right now.” You stop before explaining. “Dog hearts are quite distinctive.”
“And what do you smell?”
“Matt, you wash your silk shirts in detergent, which is bad for them, so don't do that anymore. Franklin, you’ve been sleeping over at your girlfriend’s house and you don’t want anyone to know that you used her strawberry conditioner.”
“What do you taste?”
“Okay, this is getting weird, Matt.”
“Give her a minute, Foggy.”
“I taste copper. But, old copper. You cut yourself, Matt, or got yourself cut badly, right here.” You touch your forehead right above your eyebrow. “There’s mildew under the floorboards and the chief is allergic. Sorry, I can hear his raspy breath from here, I guess that doesn't count as smelling. And there are lead pipes, so I wouldn’t drink the water.”
“And what do you see?”
“How do you mean?”
“With your eyes. What do you see?”
“I don’t see with my eyes, you idiot. I was born blind.”
“Holy crap, she’s just like you, Matt.”
“This is why he called.”
“Who called?”
“Why don’t you sit and tell us what happened, Y/N.”
So you do. You sit in the chair pulled out for you and fold your hands on the cold metal table.
“I was on the roof of my apartment building and I heard something a few blocks over, like a mugging gone wrong. There’s shouting, a gunshot, a girl screams, so I do what anyone would do.”
“You called the police, right?” Franklin stops taking notes for a second.
“No. I climbed down the fire escape and followed the screaming. They were at the opposite end of the alley and I ran towards them, asking if they needed help. Of course the chick runs. Seeing someone running towards you wearing a hoodie is a sure sign of trouble.” You laugh before continuing. “So, she ditches this guy in the gutter and I’m left with calling the police, an ambulance. And, by some twisted turn of fate, just because I'm soaked in this guy’s blood from saving his life and happen to be carrying my handgun, which I have a permit for, it apparently adds up to me having done it.”
“And what did you say to the arresting officer?”
“Nothing. I’m not an idiot.”
“Did you tell them you were blind?”
“No, she did not. Time’s up, boys.”
“That was not 15 minutes.” Franklin’s heartbeat spikes as he stands to confront the officer, but Matt’s remains steady.
“What are her charges?” Matt stands, gathering his papers.
“We haven’t found the girl yet. But the guy just got out of surgery, and they say he’ll be okay.”
“If no charges are pressed by tomorrow, I want you to send her over to our office.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Murdock, sir.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N.”
“Yeah, sure.” You stand and hold out your hands for cuffs. The metal scratches you harder than the crappy cotton shirt they gave you after taking your clothes into evidence.
“She’s, like, 130 pounds. Who is she gonna hurt?” Franklin asks in disbelief.
“They think I shot a guy, Frank.”
As he takes you out to the holding area, the officer leans in close enough that you can smell what he had for breakfast 2 days ago. Fruity Pebbles and toast.
“When were you gonna tell us you were blind?”
“Does it matter?”
“It makes some of your story a little… unreal is all.”
“Sorry I didn’t make it obvious, officer.” He shoves you into the cell and practically rips off the cuffs. “You got any kids?”
“No, why?”
“Cause a grown man shouldn’t eat Fruity Pebbles for breakfast.”
He slams the cell door shut and you feel around for a second for the bed. You sit on it with your back against the wall and cross your legs like you’re about to meditate. Then, you open your ears and listen.
Phone conversations, arguments, police sirens, dogs barking, cats meowing, babies waking up crying, rain dripping from the eaves all fill your ears, before you bring your focus the the precinct around you.
“Hey, you, Mara!” The desk sergeant calls.
“Yeah!” Your arresting officer walks to the desk, resting his fresh mug of coffee on the desk.
“That woman you’ve been looking for just turned up.”
“Where?”
“The hospital your shooting vic is at. Said a man in a red mask told her to go there.”
“That Daredevil twerp? How long she been there?”
“Over half hour, right before those lawyers showed up for your perp.”
“Alright, tell ‘em to bring ‘er in for an interview.” He picks up his coffee and sips it, his heart skipping a beat. Fruity Pebbles have not been treating you well, my friend, you think, smiling.
Your focus turns to just outside the precinct, where Matt and Franklin discuss your case as they walk down the sidewalk.
“If she’s just like you, Matt, we need to get her out of there.”
“They found the girl, Foggy. If her story doesn’t match up with Y/N’s, there’s no getting her out.”
“Well, what did that Stick guy say?”
Stick? You sit up a little.
“He said she needs more training, but she’s perfect for us.”
“You’re going to have to talk to Jonesy first, you know. Firecracker like that is bound to cause trouble.”
“Jones’ll come around. She has to.”
“First things first. We have to make sure that woman’s story corroborates Y/N’s.”
“It will.”
“What, did you tell her what to say?”
“I told her to tell her the truth.”
Whoa, what?
“I guess the mask thing could probably be intimidating enough to scare the girl into telling the truth.”
The mask? Is Matt-? Oh my god.
“Alright. You’d better go, Marci will be wondering where you’ve gone.”
“Marci? Nah, she won’t care. Karen might.”
“Karen? Really?”
“What?”
“No, good for you, man.” You could hear the smile in Matt’s voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”
“Yeah. Don’t go off doing something stupid now, you hear.”
“I got it, I got it.”
You cut out any sound except for your own heartbeat, as quick as the junkie in the next cell over.
Matt Murdock is Daredevil. And Stick knows him.
The cell door slides open, and another officer, a different one, steps in.
“Hey, get up.”
“What?”
“We need you for a line up.”
The bright lights buzz in your ears as the guys next to you groan and hiss at the sudden light.
“Now remember, they can’t see or hear you. Just point out the one you think shot your fiancee.”
I can hear you. You smile a little, smelling the nervous sweat on her palms.
“Well, none of them shot him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I am sure. But that girl, the one in the police shirt, she’s the one who ran up to me. Bertie said she was the one who saved him.”
“And you’re certain she didn’t shoot him?”
You scoff a little, but play it off like you were clearing your throat.
“No. A nervous guy shot him. Not a girl.”
The intercom clicks on. “Number 3 can you please step forward.”
You step forward.
“She’s the one, I know it. She saved my Bertie.”
“Alright.” Intercom on again. “Number 3 step back. Take ‘em back to their cells.”
“That’s it?” I ask, passing the officer who escorted us in.
“What, did you expect a prize?”
“No, sir, officer. Just don’t see why it couldn’t wait until morning.”
“That’s just how it works, ma’am. Move along.”
The next morning, you are dragged into another interrogation room, barely anything in your stomach and your clothes really starting to annoy you. You don’t smell the silk detergent or the strong cologne, but Fruity Pebbles is there and stronger than ever.
“Where are my lawyers?” You ignore an invitation to sit.
“We just need a statement from you.”
“Not without my lawyers, you don’t. I don’t want you twisting my words.” You spit out, leaning against the mirror.
“They’re on their way.” His heartbeat skips a little. A lie.
“No they’re not.”
“I called them myself.”
“No, you didn’t, stop lying.”
“I could arrest you for contempt.”
“And I’ll tell them you lied about calling my lawyers.”
“You wanna call them yourself?”
“Yeah, I do. Gimme a phone and their number.”
The phone clatters on the table and Fruity Pebbles writes angrily on a piece of paper. You listen carefully for the numbers he writes, but they get jumbled.
“I can’t see, Officer. You’re going to have to do it for me.”
He hands you the receiver and jams in the number, nearly breaking the keys.
“Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law, how may I direct your call?”
“Hi, it’s Y/N. I need to speak to Matt or Frank? The arresting officer wants my statement.”
“I’ll let them know right away.”
“Thank you. And you must be Karen, right?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“They mentioned it, in case I ended up calling.”
“Oh. Well, I’ll tell them they’re needed down at the precinct.”
“Thanks, Karen.”
“No problem.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
She hangs up and you sigh and hang up the receiver.
“They’ll be here soon.”
“I’m sure.”
You go back the mirror and listen to the low chatter inside. About 10 minutes later, the cologne smell hits you.
“Strawberry conditioner again, Frank?”
“That’s creepy.” Franklin pulls out the chairs for everyone and sits at one end of the table.
“There’s no shame in it. Officer Mara eats Fruity Pebbles for breakfast.”
“Fruity Pebbles are delicious.” Franklin agrees, opening his briefcase and pulling out your case file.
“So, your statement, Ms. Y/N, is that what they’re asking for?” Matt sits and you sit in the chair next to him.
“Yeah.”
“Honestly, I wanna know how our little Miss Y/N is able to hear a screaming woman from four blocks away.” Officer Mara sits across from us and turns on the recording device.
“Well, it all started when I was born. I was born blind, and didn’t have much else going for me-”
“Cut the crap. How are you able to hear a gunshot and woman scream from four blocks away.”
“I don’t know, officer, I just did. And maybe my mother smoked while I was in the womb, or maybe I was bitten by a radioactive bat. What I do know is that had I not heard, ‘Bertie’” You throw in some quotation marks. “Would be dead.”
“How did you know his name was Bertie?”
“Because I heard you two yammering behind the glass last night. And I know that The Daredevil told her to go to the hospital and wait for you schmucks. And I know that Franklin’s nickname is Foggy. And I know that you have heart palpitations that will result in a heart attack in about 3 to 5 days. You should really go see your doctor and lay off the Fruity Pebbles.”
“Y/N, I’d advise you to calm down and focus on the task at hand.” Matt says quietly enough for only you to hear.
“What was that?”
“My lawyer giving me,” You take a deep breath, “some accurate advice.”
“So, that statement you wanted from our client, is that still on the table?” Matt leans forward and I can hear him smiling.
“Yeah. Just recount what happened, Ms. Y/L/N.”
“I was on the roof of my apartment building on 45th and heard an altercation, a mugging if you will. There was a gunshot and a female scream, and the mugger ran. I go down the fire escape as fast as I can and run towards the sounds. I end up on the opposite end of the alley, wearing a hoodie and black pants, seemingly more intimidating than I really am. I run towards her, asking if she needs help and she panics, running off. So I call the cops and an ambulance and try my best to stop this guy from bleeding out on the sidewalk. Then you show up, Officer Mara, and immediately put me under arrest without so much as a ‘How do you do’.”
“What you swear that this statement is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do.”
“Sign here please.” He grabs your hand, shoves a pen in it and puts it on the paper. You do your best to scrawl out your name but you joke that you never learned to write. Which was a small lie since your mother insisted you learn.
“You’re free to go, Ms Y/L/N.” Officer Mara stands, picking up the papers. “We’ll be sending you court date once we catch the perp, if you wish to testify.”
“If my testimony will do any good, I will.”
“Remember to pick up your things at the desk.”
“Thanks. Remember to see your doctor about those palpitations.”
“I’m sure.”
Franklin lead you by your elbow to the desk to get the things they’ll allow you, Matt trailing close behind.
“So, are you taking me back to my place?” You ask as you three step out onto the sidewalk.
“No. Karen brought some of your clothes to the office and we’re going there.” Matt links his arm with yours. “We have something to discuss.”