Chapter Text
The Universe, Fate and Karma are very fickle things. Fate sees both who you were and the person you will eventually become. It knows whether you will bring harm to the world or make it a better place. Karma decides the punishment or reward depending on what Fate says. And the Universe carries it out. Whether that be making it so you trip down an unseen manhole because you laid hands on your wife or making sure you find a winning lottery ticket on the ground because you make sure to stand up for those without a voice.
Everyone knows that there is a one in one million chance of fucking up so badly that the Universe itself takes pity on you and helps you fix it. Whether that be teleporting you out of the way of something that will royally fuck your life up, or making sure you get a promotion at work that will eventually send you down the path of pure happiness.
One night, on a roof in Hell's Kitchen, Frank Castle and Matthew Murdock are having a fight. And in one timeline, Frank Castle shoots Matthew Murdock in the forehead, not anywhere he'd be permanently damaged, just enough to get him down.
But not this one. In this timeline, Frank Castle shoots Daredevil in the face at point blank range. In this timeline, Frank Castle goes on to murder more before being killed by police in a shootout. In this timeline, Karen Page discovers Matthew Murdock is Daredevil only after he dies. In this timeline, Matthew Murdock doesn't get the chance to reconcile with Elektra or save everyone.
However, the Universe takes pity on Matthew Murdock. Sure, his ways of dealing with his anger probably aren't the healthiest but he doesn't kill people and that gives him a point of favor. So, they give him another chance. A one in one million chance. To change everything.
Bang.
-
" Foggy Foggy Foggy Foggy, " The automated voice of his phone is cutting through the dead sleep Matt was in. He shoots up, extremely disoriented. The last thing he remembered was Frank leveling a gun at his head and pulling the trigger. Carefully, he moves his fingers up to his forehead.
Nothing. Just the same wrinkles and little insignificant scars there's always been. His phone stops saying Foggy's name just as Matt registers it. Thankfully it starts up again soon after. He clicks the answer button to the best of his ability (read: fumbling with the controls and almost missing the call again .)
"Hello?" Matt says, still confused out of his mind.
" Good Morning, Sunshine! " Foggy's voice comes through the speaker and something about that phrase sends a wave of deja vu through him.
"Uh, what time is it?" It's not what he really wants to ask but he feels like asking ' what's the date today and also am I dead ?' would be a little much for the morning.
" Half past get the hell up. Let's go! We gotta meet the real estate agent in forty-five ." Foggy answers and Matt can hear cars in the background.
Real estate agent? For what? Matt thinks hard and when it hits him something cold and horrifyingly similar to fear washes over him. He groans into his hands.
" What was that? Was that a moan? Do you have somebody in bed with you? " Foggy asks, suddenly sounding much more invested in the conversation. " The paralegal? Is it the para over at- never-mind, I don't wanna hear about it. No, I do wanna hear about it! What was she like? "
Matt remembers this conversation vaguely. This was the morning after he busted the human traffickers over by the dock. He starts to think that if he's been sent back in time maybe he shouldn't fuck with the timeline before realizing that the reason he's been sent back is probably to do exactly that.
"No one is in bed with me, Foggy." There's a disappointed sound on the other end. "I'm just... sore." He wants to tell him. He doesn't want Foggy to find out the way he did last time (not that he plans to do the Nobu thing again.) but how does one go ' oh by the way you know how I'm always cut up and weirdly buff despite being blind and seemingly unable to do anything too physical without help? Well I'm actually a vigilante and I have super-senses. Still blind though. '
Yeah... maybe not like that...
" What, did you take a hike yesterday or something? " Matt, still trying to think of a way he can half-lie his way out of this, doesn't answer. There's a sigh from Foggy's end and Matt flinches a bit. " Matt you know you shouldn't do that. That's dangerous. "
"I'm fine Foggy, just did some.... yoga." He lands on. If yoga was beating up human traffickers and being shot at than yeah, he did some yoga.
" Yoga? Whatever, anyways. " Matt sighs in relief at the change in topic. " Oh hey, real estate agent, not your type. Very homely. Might be genetic. No need to be charming. " Matt laughs softly. Oh he remembers this part. " And she kinda told me she thinks blind people are 'God's mistake'. "
"That's an awful thing to say, Foggy." Matt chuckles.
" I know! In this day and age? All right, shake it. I gotta go bribe a cop. "
Matt remembers this too. Oh shit, this is the day they meet Karen. "Foggy." He sighs, trying to sound exasperated but ends up just sounding fond.
" Kidding, NSA if you're listening. But seriously, yeah, I gotta go bribe a cop. " Foggy hangs up without another word and Matt collapses on his bed.
He takes a deep breath and lays out the facts in front of him. He's gone back in time, back to the day they met Karen, the day everything started. He knows whats going to happen and no one else does. He can prevent all of this. He can prevent Ms. Cardenas' death, Ben's death, he can save so many people.
Just thinking about it makes his head hurt.
This is going to be exhausting.
-
He gets to the office, the one that eventually goes through so much but right now is just an empty office, around the same time he did the first time he did this. He curses his awful memory, knowing it'll just make this ten times harder.
"Corner suite has a view of the Hudson. You can flip a coin with your partner for it." He hears when he walks in.
"He can have the view." Matt says, hearing the way the real estate - Sandy? Sheryl? - agent starts before whipping around to look at him, her heart spiking in embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-" She starts, spouting out an apology he's heard a million times.
"Of course not."
He hears her heels click on the floor, walking closer to him, and the way her arm swishes against the fabric of her shirt as she raises it, presumably to shake his hand. "Susan Harris. Midtown Property Solutions." Ah right, Susan .
"Matt Murdock." He says back, not moving to shake her hand. Not only would it be suspicious as hell, he's also not a huge fan of this real estate agent. Nothing against her personally, just weird vibes. He rests his hands on his cane and smiles.
There's more swishing of fabric and a little chuckle. "She just curtsied." Foggy tells him. "It was adorable."
"Glad to know chivalry isn't dead." Matt jokes, straining to remember what he said and mostly going with what he thinks he would've said. Not like anyone will know the difference. "Susan, would you mind walking me around the space?"
There have been times in the time when he's known Foggy where he can feel his eye roll, no sight necessary. This is one of those times.
"Of course. My pleasure." Susan walks forward and links her arm with his, walking with him. "As I was telling your associate," She starts and Matt resists the urge to correct her with 'partner, actually'. Associate never felt like a good way to describe him and Foggy. Too professional. Not at all like their relationship. "This office was barely touched by the incident, which is why it's on the market already. The neighbors weren't so lucky."
Matt chuckles and remembers how he thought the first time around, ' What a stupid name for such a horrible tragedy. ' "Oh, 'the incident'? Is that what it's called now?"
"Well it sounds so much better than 'death and destruction raining from the sky, nearly wiping Hell's Kitchen off the map'." She snaps.
"Shorter, too." He comments, secretly reveling in the way she was getting pissed at him.
"Owner figuring in the delightful view of cranes and scaffolding?" Foggy cuts in, sounding annoyed. "Feels like we're getting pre-incident prices." Matt barely restrains a giggle again.
"They're a quarter of what they used to be." Susan points out, her customer service voice firmly in place. "Hell's Kitchen is on the rebound Mr. Nelson, and in 18 months, you won't be able to rent a broom closet at this price point."
Vaguely remembering he said something about wanting to buy it the first time around, Matt speaks up before Foggy can. "We'll take it."
"We will talk about it." Foggy argues. "Because we're not sure we can afford even this palace, unless we make some changes to our current clientele policies."
He can practically smell the confusion and intrigue from Susan. "My partner and I disagree on the direction we want to take Nelson and Murdock." He's forever glad that Foggy agreed to having his name first, it sounds so much better. "I believe that we are here to defend the innocent." It's funny that after everything his point of view on this hasn't changed.
"And I believe the innocent includes everyone not yet convicted of a crime." Foggy turns and Matt can feel his glare leveled at the side of his head. "You know, as the law states ."
"You use such fancy terminology, Foggy." Matt sighs.
"And my partner fails to recognize that, as defense attorneys, we're never gonna be able to keep the lights on, waiting on a horde of innocent souls to stumble into our loving arms." Foggy shoots back.
"At this point I'd settle for just one." Matt says, smiling a little wider when Foggy sighs in exasperation next to him.
"So... you'll take it."
"Yes!" Matt says happily and Foggy sighs right alongside him.
"Perfect!"
-
They're unpacking their stuff that took almost two full hours to get into the office, despite not having a lot of things, when Foggy gets a phone call. Matt pauses, knowing it's about Karen, and listens in.
"Hey buddy." Foggy says, his voice muffled by the walls.
" Homocide. " Brett Mahoney's tinny voice can be heard. Quiet, but audible. " Female suspect found at the scene. Definitely qualifies as interesting. "
"She been charged yet?" Foggy asks, as Matt moves the same three things around his desk repeatedly in an attempt to look as though he's not listening.
" Assistant DA hasn't made the call yet. " Brett answers, and Matt thinks he hears a bit of suspicion in his voice.
"Do you have a name on the suspect?"
" Karen. Karen Page. "
"Thank you, buddy!"
" Yeah whatever. " The call ends there and Foggy sighs happily.
"Matt!" Foggy sings, walking over to where Matt is scrambling to look busy.
"Yeah?"
There's some taps on something, probably Foggy tapping on his phone. "We got a case!"
-
On their walk there, Matt tries to think of a way he can bring up his... after-dark activity. He doesn't want it to get too late, too close to how he found out last time. It's been awhile since Matt started being a vigilante and he doesn't want it go on any longer without telling Foggy.
"Buddy?" Foggy asks, hitting Matt's shoulder lightly with his own.
"Hm?"
"You alright?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You got quiet."
Matt hums and decides that now probably isn't the best time to be having this conversation. "Just tired, sorry."
The sound of their footsteps changes as they walk into the building. They get up to the desk and Matt can feel Foggy's shit eating grin. "Hey, buddy!" He crows, tapping his fingers on the desk. Matt stands next to him, hands on his cane.
He can hear a lot of heartbeats, steady ones, tired ones, a few nervous ones and one that must be Karen's. It's fast, terrified.
Foggy ends his conversation (*banter) with Brett and they get to the room Karen's being held it. The door opens. There's a lot of fabric swishing and the distinct clink of handcuffs against a metal table.
"Okay, can we please take the handcuffs off the 110-pound woman." Foggy snaps, already annoyed.
"Ms. Page," Matt grits his teeth, remembering this officer. He works for Fisk. He killed a man in this police station just for saying his name. "Can you tell me who these men are?"
"We're her lawyers." Matt answers for her, trying not to sound as pissed as he is. "Un-cuff our client and give us the room." He's pretty sure he said please last time but he can't bring himself to say it this time.
There's a huff oof annoyed air and more clinking of metal on metal as they take the handcuffs off Karen. Matt sighs in relief, he could smell the copper from where the cuffs had been cutting into the skin of her wrists. He can also taste the salt on her face from her tears.
He doesn't thank the detectives as they leave the room, mostly because he's incredibly petty. They leave and the door clicks behind them.
"Miss Page," It feels so weird calling her that after knowing her as 'Karen' for so long. "My name is Matt Murdock. This is my partner, Foggy Nelson. Do you mind if we sit down?"
Some fabric shifting. Matt can feel Karen's eyes on him as she looks at him suspiciously. Foggy leans over. "She gave a vague shrug I say we go with it."
Matt finds the chair with his hands and slides it out, sitting down next to Foggy. "We understand you're in some... trouble." Understatement of the century but coming right out of the gate with ' you've been arrested as the sole suspect in a murder case ' isn't really a good ice breaker. "We, uh, may be able to help."
"Can you tell us what happened?" Foggy asks. There's waves of suspicion radiating off of Karen as she stares at them blankly. "Why don't we start with what we know, then?"
Foggy sighs and Matt fidgets nervously with his hands, it's been so long since this encounter with Karen and so much has happened. He has grown to love her as both a friend and a part of his family. So coming back here, where she felt so much pain and hurt, it makes Matt want to cry thinking about it.
"You were found in your apartment with one Daniel Fisher." Foggy continues, and Matt flinches. Too bad he didn't come back early enough to save Daniel. He never knew him personally but he didn't deserve to die. "Who appears to be the victim of a homocide,"
"And you are the only suspect, Miss Page." Matt finishes.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Karen speaks finally, her voice cracking slightly.
"I'm Matt, he's Foggy." Matt says in an attempt to lighten the mood. Foggy smiles awkwardly next to him.
"Who sent you?"
"No one sent us." Matt reassured her.
"So, what?" She demanded. "You're just a couple of Good Samaritans? Today's just my lucky day?"
The first time around, no. This time, yes. Matt is going to do absolutely everything in his power to make sure both Foggy and Karen have the best lives possible and get hurt the least amount possible.
"I bribed the desk sergeant with a box of cigars for his mom." Foggy told her happily.
That obviously only made Karen more confused so Matt cut in. "Our practice is relatively young, Miss Page and we are aggressively pursuing new clientele." He clarified before leaning to his left and lowering his voice. "Stop giving Bess cigars, Foggy."
"She likes to smoke Matt, it's a free country." The banter between him and Foggy seems to loosen some tension in Karen's shoulders and Matt relaxes alongside her.
"So how long have you been.... practicing law?" Karen asks apprehensively.
"What time is it?" Matt asks, moving his hand to try and find the blind-accessible watch that's somewhere on his wrist.
"12:22am." Foggy tells him.
He calculates it in his head quickly. "About seven hours." He says finally. Karen gasps, taken aback by both their lack of professionalism and lack of experience.
"Well if you go from when we passed the bar-" Foggy starts, probably trying to reassure Karen.
"I was going from when we got our own desks." He clarified.
"Oh, then yeah. Seven hours."
"You've never done this before?" She squeaked.
Matt tries to smile in a comforting manner, feeling a little like he's failing. "If you were to hire us, then, yes, you would be our first client."
"Technically, yeah." Foggy adds.
It's interesting, Matt thinks. Somehow their first ever client became their first ever employee and then their first ever friend.
"Miss Page," Matt interjected, not remembering or particularly caring about what was going to happen next. He wanted to get his point across. "I believe you when you say you didn't kill Mr. Fisher. However, there is a fair amount of evidence stacked against you."
"So I'm screwed?"
"No. Because there's too much evidence."
"Matt, what are you talking about?" Foggy whispers to him.
Matt ignores him, flattening his hands on the table, making sure he doesn't fidget too much so he doesn't make Karen more nervous. He knows from being friends with her that too much movement makes her nervous. "Miss Page, Karen." She starts when he uses her first name. "You are the sole murder suspect, holding the murder weapon, no defensive wounds, and with only you and Mr. Fishers DNA at the scene." He relays. "In any other instance, this should not have come to this. Lawyers, that is. Foggy and I should have been reading about this in the paper, not coming here to talk to you."
"So why... why am I here?" She wonders out loud.
"Karen," Matt starts, before stopping again. Last time around, the only reason Karen got out was because someone tried to stage her suicide. They couldn't keep her in the jail after that and they didn't charge her in time so they let her go. This run, they both have enough time and enough evidence. There's nothing Matt or Foggy can do to get her out of here now.
Matt's heart sinks when it hits him that he'll have to leave Karen here to get attacked and just pray that she fights just as hard as she did last time. "I think," he starts slowly, "That you've had a long day. We all have. I think it would benefit everyone if we left and continued this tomorrow."
He bites on the inside of his cheek, pretending he doesn't know how disappointed she is. They bid her a goodnight and it takes everything in him not to find the cop that tried to kill her last time and strangle him before he can lay hands on her.
"Matt?" Foggy runs up to him as they exit the building. He puts his hand on Matt's elbow and stops him from walking further. "What the hell was that?"
"Foggy. Something isn't right about this case, I can feel it."
"You can feel it?" He sounds skeptical. "Alright, I'm going to say this once, and then we can move on. You don't show the best judgment when beautiful women are involved."
Oh, he remembers this conversation vividly. It was the first time Matt thought that Foggy might be suspicious of his abilities. "How would I even know if she's a beautiful woman?"
"I don't know." Foggy huffed. "It's kinda spooky actually. But if there's a stunning woman with questionable character in the room, Matt Murdock's gonna find her and Foggy Nelson is gonna suffer."
"Okay, I don't disagree with anything you're saying-"
"Thank you!-"
"-But I need you to back me up on this."
Foggy groans next to him and lays his forehead on Matt's shoulder. "Matt."
"I know, Fogs." He sighs, patting Foggy on the back. "Do you trust me?"
"What?"
"Do you trust me?"
Foggy raises his head. "Of course I trust you."
"Then trust me when I say that Karen didn't do this." He says, putting his hands on Foggy's shoulders and looking him vaguely where he thinks his eyes are.
"Matt." Foggy breathes.
"Foggy." He responds.
"Are you sure about this?"
"I have never been more sure about anything."
"Then I'm with you."
-
They get back to the office an hour later, stopping for Thai food on the way. They reconvene in Matt's office where they still are another hour later. There's the swish of air and a dull slap of skin from Foggy throwing a baseball up and catching it in his hands.
"Our client may be innocent-" Foggy starts.
" Is innocent." Matt corrects.
"Either way, I don't think she's telling us everything."
Matt is antsy. He knows that, if he's correct in assuming the time, Karen should be literally fighting for her life right now.
"Matt, are you listening?"
"'M listening." He responds, holding his fingers up against his mouth.
He tries to listen but they are nowhere near Karen right now, there's no possible way he'd be able to tell if she's winning the fight or not.
"Foggy." Foggy falls silent and Matt feels a little bad, he was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't even realize Foggy was talking. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you."
"It's alright, I was just kind of rambling." Matt hears the way the floorboards shift when Foggy shuffles his feet.
"Um," Yet again, Matt thinks about how he can approach the subject of his abilities. "I-"
He's cut off by Foggy's phone ringing. "Sorry," Foggy mutters, his phone scrapes against the desk as he grabs it. "Hello?"
" Mr. Nelson? "
"Speaking."
" You are the attorney for Miss Karen Page? "
"One of them, yes."
" We request you return to the jail. Your client is being released. "
Matt lays his head on the desk, maybe a bit aggressively.
"Released?" Foggy repeats.
" Yes. It seems that during the night one of the officers in charge of her attempted to kill her. "
There's a very tense silence before Foggy speaks again. "We'll uh, we'll be right down."
He hangs up the phone and Matt hears him place it on the desk. "Uh, Karen-"
"Yeah, I heard." Matt sighs, standing up in one fluid motion.
"You... heard?"
"Yeah Foggy." He grabs his cane and walks out ahead of Foggy, who scrambles to follow him. "We have a lot to talk about later but right now, we need to go get Karen."
-
"I'm going to make this easy on everybody, Detectives." Matt declares, sitting down. "Get the ADA in here to release Miss Page and we'll recommend to our sweet and media-friendly client that she not plaster the airways with how she was nearly killed in your custody."
"And I'll agree not to make cooing noises for the rest of this meeting when I think about the civil suit we have on our hands." Foggy adds on and Matt is pleased to see that he's back to normal. Or at the very least good at faking it.
"How do you know they're not charging her?" Douche-tective number one asks. Matt doesn't remember his name nor does he care enough to find out.
"Other than the fact that you were required to do so four hours ago? If you were going to do it at all, that is."
"Excellent point." Foggy smiles. "Another one is how the security cameras in Miss Page's detention area mysteriously went out right before her assault."
"We'd like to speak to," Fuck fuck fuck what was the cops name again?
"Mr. Farnum." Foggy whispers, low enough that Matt was the only one that heard it. Which does raise more questions but not now.
"Mr. Farnum about that, as well a-"
"Get in line." Douche-tective number two interrupts. "He'll be arraigned in the morning."
More like murdered in the morning. Matt seethes.
"Get my client released. Don't make me ask again." Matt spits.
There's a few beats of silence and some shuffling before he feels the first asshole lean down towards him. "I'll call the ADA. But you take that tone with me again, I don't care if you're blind, I'll kick the shit out of you."
Matt smirks. "Don't threaten me with a good time, Detective."
There's more silence, shocked on Foggy's end and pissed with a touch of horror on the Detective's end. But they don't say anything more, walking out and leaving Foggy and Matt alone.
"Matt." Foggy hisses. "What the fuck was that?"
"What?" Matt smiles innocently.
"You owe me an explanation." Foggy reminds him.
"I do." Matt agrees. "When I was nine, I was walking home from school, my dad and I lived close enough that I was fine to walk and he trusted me not to die on my way there." He chuckles lightly, trying his best to remember the details of that fateful day. "But uh, I was walking home and I heard this crash. It was huge and loud . I look over and there's this giant truck careening for this car, another car behind it just crushed to pieces. The car moves but behind it, there was a man. And the man didn't move. So, I ran up and pushed him out of the way."
Foggy gasps, his attention fully on Matt, making Matt shift a bit. "But the truck didn't stop fast enough and it hit me. It didn't hit me hard enough to kill me but he did hit me hard enough to send me flying. I broke my wrist and one of my ribs. And then while I was down on the ground, the truck fell onto its side and all these chemicals came out. I got doused of course. That's how I lost my sight. But with my sight being gone, my other senses got a boost. A big boost."
"Okay, right." Foggy mutters, clicking his nails against the table. "Anything else?"
"Uh, yeah but you're not going to like it."
"Fuck it, tell me anyway."
"I'm a vigilante."
There's a beat before Foggy is spluttering. "Wait, wait, wait. How the hell did we go from 'oh yeah I can hear better than you' to 'I'm also a low-rate superhero'?"
Matt breathes deeply and tells him the same story he told him the first time around. He feels Foggy's anger when he begins the story and the sort of satisfaction at the end. It's.... nice in a way. Knowing that the man that was doing those horrible things to his daughter stopped because Matt forced him to.
"Well, good for you on that front. But why did you keep doing it?"
"Because people kept needing help Fogs."
"Thank you for telling me."
"Are you... do you hate me for it?" Matt asks nervously, the pain from the first time Foggy found out still very very fresh in his mind.
"No, no Matt I don't." Foggy sighs. "I don't think I ever could."
"Don't be so sure." Matt whispers miserably.
"I feel like there's something else."
Matt pauses. Well, here comes a brand new problem. Does he tell anyone about the time travel thing? Because, sure everyone is aware that time travel is a possibility if you fuck up bad enough, but is it really believable? Will the Universe take it back if he tells someone? Will Foggy demand proof of some kind?
He's honestly not sure. The consequences might just outweigh the benefits on this one.
"There is something else, Fogs." He says, putting his head in his hands. "I'm not sure if I can tell you though."
"Why?"
"Because, I don't know if it'll fuck everything up or not." He snaps.
"Okay." Foggy soothes. "I understand. Thank you for telling me about your men in black vigilante thing. I really appreciate it. Also, you probably look like the main guy in Princess Bride with that thing."
"Never seen it."
"Really?" A beat of silence. "I hate you."
Matt laughs. "I know, Fogs. Let's go get our client."
-
Back at the office, sitting in the main reception area, Foggy, Karen and Matt all get settled. Foggy starts milling about, making tea. Matt sits down next to Karen who is sniffing periodically.
"Couldn't find any milk. I hope it's okay." Foggy mutters.
"We have tea now?" Matt smiles.
"I stole it from the financial office next door."
Matt gasps in faux horror. "Foggy Nelson, a criminal! Who would've thought?!"
"Only every teacher I've had ever."
Matt and Foggy laugh while Karen just chuckles quietly. "How are you holding up?" Matt asks, tilting his head in Karen's direction.
"Better." She sniffs. "Thanks for getting me out."
"Don't thank us yet." Foggy warns, his voice tense. "Just because they released you doesn't mean they won't eventually bring charges."
"Which means," Matt hastens to add on. "It is crucial you don't speak to anyone other than the two of us about what happened."
"I don't have anyone to talk to, anyway."
Matt cringes. Right. He breathes in deeply and continues on. "Do you have somewhere safe you can stay tonight?"
"My apartment isn't far."
"You can't go back there." Foggy tells her, regret coloring his words.
"Miss Page, our immediate priority is to keep you safe." Matt tells her. "And in order to do that, we're going to need to have a frank discussion."
"Okay."
-
As they set up everything for the impromptu interview, Matt tries to brainstorm how to prevent the attack against Karen that'll happen later tonight. He couldn't prevent the first one but he'll try his hardest to prevent this one.
They sit down and there's a click as Foggy hits the 'recording' button on the recording machine.
"Do you know who's trying to kill you?" Matt asks first.
"No."
"Do you know why they're trying to kill you?"
A pause. Then, "...Yes."
They let her collect herself before she goes on to tell the story about her working for Union Allied Construction and what they found. Matt responds the way he thought he did the first time around and only really half-listens to her, having heard all of this already.
When Karen gets to the part about the pension file, Matt stops her. "Karen, I'm going to ask you something and I need you to not lie to me, okay?"
"Okay?"
"Did you keep the file?"
There's silence. Matt tunes into her heartbeat and is pleasantly surprised to find it's steady.
"Yes. It's hidden. At my house."
"Okay, does anyone know you put it there?"
"I don't think so, but there must be people watching me or something." She rambles nervously. "That's the only possible explanation for the way that they knew what I was going to tell Danny."
"Understood."
They go through the rest of the interview and Matt feels his heart break all over again when Karen breaks down in Foggy's arms just like she did the first time. He offers up his place again and again, they go.
"It's dark in here." Karen comments as Matt locks the door with some (fake) fumbling.
"Oh yeah, I usually don't bother with the lights." Matt jokes. "Uh light-switch is... to your left I believe."
Matt hears the click indicating that she both found the switch and also flipped it.
He offers her food again and again she turns it down. Last time, this is when he had asked her about the file but this time, he just makes some tea and sits down.
Matt can hear the fabric rustling as she adjusts the shirt he gave her. He has the same conversation about his blindness, makes the same jokes. But this time, he goes to sleep earlier and therefore, Karen leaves to sneak into her apartment earlier.
It feels easier to subdue the guy this time. Maybe it's because he's technically already taken down Fisk or maybe it's muscle memory. Either way, the fight ends quickly and he gets the file back.
He doesn't regret giving the New York Bulletin, and by extension Ben, the file so he does it again.
-
It felt longer the first time but this time, it feels like he blinks and suddenly Karen is feeding them her special 'virtue' dish. They give her the job and everything clicks into place.
Since he got to her apartment earlier this time around, the man who attacked her the first time didn't get the chance before Matt had knocked him out.
He feels... lighter. He successfully prevented the second attack on Karen. Sure, there's a lot ahead but... it's worth it.
-
Before he knows it, he's dressed in his black outfit, standing on a roof. And he hears it again, the screaming.
" DADDY! DADDY! DADDY! " And a heart-wrenching shriek that followed it.
He follows it, of course he does. But he's more cautious this time. He still needs to get to the same dumpster at the same time later in order to meet Claire.
But this time, he thinks he can be less half-dead.
Time to get to work, Matty.