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It might be surprising to know that Matt couldn’t handle San Francisco. It was so loud. Which was ironic coming from someone who lived in New York for his entire life. But San Francisco was open. The noise seemed to echo through all the open space. And the bay was full of crashing waves. Everyone was nice here, which was a problem when you’re blind and hate talking to strangers. Matt dreaded the few times a year he had to travel for his job. Except for one reason. The reason was frantically pulling at his arm right this second.
“Come on, Matt. Otherwise, I’m going to be late for court.”
Matt laughed. “Sorry, Kirsten. I don’t quite have my bearings yet. I guess you’ll have to lead me.”
Kirsten McDuffie. One of the most beautiful women he had ever met. Or so he was told by Foggy. They had tried the whole dating thing but when Matt moved back to New York, had called it quits. The long-distance just emphasized all the problems Matt had been causing. But it didn’t mean that he was over her. Not by a long shot. She was still smart, funny, and gorgeous. So every once in a while, if he took the trip to California to see her, no one would tell. She was easy to be around in a way that most people weren’t. He never found himself second guessing if what he said would push her away. He already knew his actions would.
“Matt, I’m serious.” She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, hands on her hips. Another thing that would never fly in New York. If you stopped in New York, you would just get trampled.
He grabbed her hand. “Lead the way, McDuffie.”
Hearing Kirsten perform was an act of grace. The way she spoke, she could have had no proof and Matt would believe her. Luckily, she had plenty of proof. An open and shut case, if Matt had ever seen one. Which, he hadn’t.
Kirsten turned and waved slightly at him, as the defendant took the stand. Matt wiggled his fingers in return. As much as he loved Kirsten, he hated watching someone else’s case. He didn’t have any of the information and didn’t even know any of these people. He would have preferred to go back to Kirsten’s place and reconnect a little.
Someone opened the door. “Sorry to interrupt but I have very important news.” The cop stood in the doorway. “Someone has just confessed to the murder.”
A gasp rose from the crowd and immediately a million conversations started. Matt tried to focus on Kirsten to see how she was reacting but instead caught a glimpse of the defendant. His breathing was steady. He wasn’t surprised. He knew someone else was going to confess. Which meant either he was guilty or had been tipped off. If only he could communicate this to someone. For the first time, Matt missed having everyone know his secret identity. The defense lawyer was frantic so she clearly wasn’t in on it. As Matt focused harder, he was able to pinpoint at least four jury members who also weren’t surprised. Either they were really good at hiding it or they had a backup plan.
If Matt had money, he would wager Kingpin was in on this somehow. Unfortunately, taking most cases pro bono meant that he didn’t have any money. The court continued to get louder, as the judge banged her gavel. “Silence, silence. We need silence.” The judge was yelling but no one was listening. “Sgt Hunter, get these people out of here.” She yelled to the cop.
Matt knew he needed to get his senses under control but he wanted to help Kirsten. He could help Kirsten. He kept trying to listen to the conversations, splitting his concentration between the five people who weren’t shocked. Because he was focusing so hard, he missed when the officer started shuffling everyone out of the room. He only noticed when someone grabbed his arm roughly.
The officer snarled. “What are you deaf? She said everyone out. That means everyone.” The cop forced him to his feet. “Get out of here.” He shoved Matt towards the aisle. Matt calmly grabbed his cane.
“Sorry, I was waiting for my friend. She’s Kirsten McDuffie.”
“I don’t care if she’s the queen of England. The judge said everyone out. That means everyone out. Now.” He continued to shove Matt roughly out the door and he tried to catch a final view of Kirsten hearing nothing but the cop loudly yelling at him.
“I can’t believe this. It’s such an easy case and someone else confesses.” Kirsten exclaimed, pacing across her floor.
Matt handed her a cup of tea. “You’ll figure it out. You always do.”
“Thanks, Matt. I just feel like this is some bigger conspiracy you know? I guess you must be rubbing off on me.” She took a sip of the tea. “Jesus Matt, this is some of the worst tea I’ve ever had.”
Matt sighed. “Are you okay? I was planning on going for a walk later but if you need me, I can stay here.”
Either way, he was going to go out, but the real question was if he had to try to sneak out or if she would let him go.
“Honestly, a walk would do me some good. Maybe I can think of some way to save this case.”
Matt nodded, feeling his heart sink. It would take him longer to find answers.
“Besides, I don’t like the idea of you wandering around the city by yourself. You said today that you don’t have a handle of the city yet. I get you know Hell’s Kitchen like the back of your hand but I don’t want you to wander into the bay.”
Okay. That was kind of his fault. But how do you say “sorry I was reminiscing on how amazing of a girlfriend you were and how I totally let you down”?
“Well then, lead the way, Kirsten.” She looped her arm around his and grabbed coats for both of them.
Matt was beginning to think he was bad luck. First, Kirsten’s case goes south and now they’re being shot at. He hunched behind a car with Kirsten as more shots rang out.
“I’m starting to think there is a conspiracy.” He yelled at her. “Unless this is a common occurrence for you.”
She shook her head. “Nope. Although you’re seeming much calmer than I would expect. Common for you?”
“I live in Hell’s Kitchen.”
She shrugged. “Fair enough. The good news is that the cops should be on their way. The bad news is I’m not sure they’ll get here before we get shot.”
Matt cocked his head slightly. “I think they will.” It was a little harder to tell but the sirens sounded close. As he was listening for the sirens, a loud shot rang through the air. Matt instinctively went to cover his ears before feeling the piercing sting of a bullet rip through his side.
“Kirsten, I think I was shot.” He hated having to act weak but she couldn’t know his secret.
“No shit. Can you move? Obviously, this car is no longer safe enough” Of course, he could. He was Daredevil. He could do anything. Except as it turned out, stand up. Or even roll or crawl. Whatever they shot him with was not a normal bullet. He tried to say this to Kirsten but found his tongue was now bigger than his mouth. The only thing that came out was “mnnmf” which obviously meant nothing to her before he passed out.
He woke up with a start, trying to bolt up, only to be restrained with thick straps. There was a constant beeping and a sharp smell. He was drugged which was leading all his senses to be slowed.
“Matt, calm down. It’s me, Kirsten. You’re okay. You’re just in the hospital. Do you remember what happened? You got shot and it turns out that it was some kind of neural toxin. The doctors have managed to flush it out of your system.”
Matt groaned, leaned over, and vomited.
“They warned me that might happen.”
He groaned again, this time because he had a pounding headache and the stupid smell was so strong and the noises were so loud.
“They want to keep you for a bit for observation. But then you can come back to mine. I called Foggy and told him you were going to be late.”
Foggy was never going to believe that he had gotten shot while not being Daredevil. He went to rip the IV out of his arm but had forgotten about the restraints.
“Apparently, this is not the first time you’ve tried to do that,” Kirsten said. “At least, the bullet didn’t change your stubborn nature.”
Matt tried to laugh but kind of just croaked instead. Just then, someone dropped a medical tray and the metal instruments echoed through the halls. The sound cracked through his skull and he whined, trying to cover his ears. He felt like he was back in the hospital after his accident. He pulled against the railings, trying to block out all the noise. When that didn’t work, he flailed his legs, trying to get some kind of leverage to get out of these bonds.
“Matt, you need to calm down,” Kirsten said. She leaned down, taking one of his hands. She placed it on her chest and covered his ears with her hands.
The only thing Matt could hear was the muffled rumble of the fluid in his ears and the only thing he could feel was Kirsten’s heartbeat. He knew that was just his body shutting down but it felt calming.
He breathed in, trying to match his heart rate to Kirsten’s. Just as he was starting to feel calm, the door swung open and someone started trying to talk to him. He growled, kicking wildly, just wanting to get out. The nurse was wearing a strong aftershave which flooded Matt’s nose. To his shame, he could feel tears starting to gather on his lashes. He just wanted out. He started pulling at the bars again, using the mild bite to try to ground himself.
“... Sedation.” The nurse said.
Matt whimpered. He absolutely refused to be sedated. Luckily, Kirsten seemed to understand what Matt was trying to say since she refused the sedation. She also kicked the nurse out of the room. She really was a marvel.
“Hey, Matt. It’s okay. It’s just us again. You know I’m safe right.”
Matt whimpered.
“Come on baby. I got you.” She undid his hands and he rubbed them against his eyes furiously. “Can I hug you?”
Matt normally hated hugs but Kirsten gave really good hugs. So he nodded and she squeezed him tightly. “You just gotta breathe darling. I can do the rest.” She ran her fingers through his hair, deeply breathing. He continued to whimper and cry a little, hating how weak she made him feel.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He muttered finally.
“There is nothing to be sorry for darling. I should have known.”
He rocked a little, feeling Kirsten move with him. “I’m sorry.”
“None of that sweetheart. You’re okay. You’re wonderful.”
She squeezed him tighter, holding him together until he could hold himself together.
He sent Jen on the case and she figured it out. He was going home.