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“Shouldn’t be surprised that I’d find you in here. Finding you passed out is new though.”
Matt angled his head up over the pew, if only for the benefit of the sudden visitor. He hadn't meant to take a nap, but he must've been more exhausted than he thought when he had suddenly jolted awake to the sound of footsteps echoing against the tiled floor of the church. To anyone else it would’ve been enough to immediately go on guard; the last few weeks in the city have been turbulent enough to justify being wary. Between close calls during nightly stakeouts and hiding in thinly veiled disguises during the day, him sneaking out of hiding to visit Clinton Church like this was too risky.
Karen had protested just as much and for good reason. The AVTF having a target on Daredevil was one thing but also having one for Matt Murdock? Even if they weren't aware they were one and the same, Fisk did. And if they managed to catch him…
Safe to say everything would go to hell. What that hell would look like, Matt would rather never find out.
Even so it was a risk he was willing to take, promising Karen he'd be quick about it. He wouldn't be too long, just long enough to have a moment of respite amidst the never-ending chaos they were currently forced to endure.
"A hope and a prayer that this all ends soon," he'd told her, tired grin and all. "And I haven’t gotten a chance to visit since returning to the neighborhood. Not since…"
Well. That part didn’t need to be said out loud for either of them.
Karen had relented with a reluctant but understanding sigh, promising that if he didn't return soon she'd come after him.
The footsteps that stopped just before his nap spot didn’t belong to Karen, a Task Force member or any clergy that may have been awake this time of night.
Then again, Matt didn't know many people who wore worn down boots or smelled heavily of leather and whiskey.
“Jessica Jones. As I live and breathe.”
“And from the looks of it you’re barely doing either,” Jessica greeted, signature snark and all. "Shouldn't be that surprised if current news is anything go by. Probably should see the other guys though. Doubt they're breathing normally after what the Devil did to them."
Matt chuckled. “How’d you know I'd be here?”
“Page got a hold of my number. Called to ask if I could track you down since you haven't returned to… wherever you're hiding out these days.” Jessica sat in the pew behind his, leaning back as comfortably as she could get. “Lo and behold, here you are passed out well after service hours. Didn’t think churches stayed open this late.”
“They aren’t. One of the sisters caught me lingering outside and decided to let me come in. Said I could stay for as long as I needed."
"Must've been urgent if a sister is letting you chat with the Man upstairs."
"Well the conversation is always open to those who wish to speak to Him no matter where one is. I'm just here for a change of scenery while trying to be careful. Sure He doesn't mind though."
"Last thing we both need is the church to be caught in the middle of the crossfire yet again," Maggie had warned him, taking a scarred hand in hers as she slipped the back door key into his palm. ‘These are already turbulent times Matthew. Perhaps the Lord will have the answers you're seeking and if not, at least He shall provide some much needed comfort for you."
Matt doubted he'd find any kind of comfort but who was he to argue with a nun for a mother?
“So is this the part where you tell me I should get going so I stop worrying Karen and quit wasting your time?” Matt asked, though the usual bite he had when it came to chatting with Jess was half-hearted.
Jessica hummed nonchalantly, taking in the scenery around her from the tiny flickering candles up front near the altar to the lanterns hanging up above them. The ambiance would've been warm and welcoming if it weren't for the red lighting that lit up the sanctuary and nave, casting shadows upon the walls and making the stained glass windows more sinister than they should've been.
With the Devil currently taking his stay, however, it seemed quite fitting.
“Usually yes, especially since I would consider this to be cutting into my sleep, but it's not like I'm getting much nowadays," she answered. "Probably even less than my usual."
"No jobs lately?"
Jess scoffed. "With the way Fisk is running the city? I’ve had to start vetting all potential clients before I can even considering taking them. Not taking any chances on my end."
“Even with the argument that you’re only doing what you’re legally licensed to do?" Matt questioned.
"The explanation would do jackshit 'cause the only thing that matters to Mayor Cue-ball is his task force taking in any vigilante that falls out of line, including one trying to mind her own damn business anyways.” Jessica peered over the pew, looking at Matt knowingly. “Meanwhile certain others are raising hell around the neighborhood on purpose.”
Matt sat up gingerly with a wince, rolling his shoulders and neck as the aches from lying down made themselves known. “If I didn't know any better, you actually sound a bit surprised at my reemergence.”
“Not really. Heard Daredevil was back in action as soon as the incident with Angela Del Toro happened. Stuff with that serial killer too despite Fisk claiming his men were the ones who took care of him, minus the gunshots and death obviously. So no, I'm not too surprised about the Devil coming out of retirement after all that. I’m just…” Jessica huffed, chewing her lip and voice growing quiet. “I’m more surprised you’re back in Hell’s Kitchen is all. Haven’t exactly seen you since...”
That much was true, to Matt's aching regret. He remembered the numbness he'd felt when he'd told Jess when the funeral was. The hollowness in his voice when he'd asked if she could relay the message to Claire, Luke and Danny on his behalf. The exhaustion he must've exuded when Jess said she would, tone somber and honest but enough to get her feelings across.
Frankly it was a sliver of fresh air amongst the constant barrage of "sorrys" he'd been hearing at that point.
"It's been that long already huh?" He settled on that, idly picking at the buttons of his suit jacket.
"Well it's not like you called. Or visited. Or let anyone know you moved out of the neighborhood entirely," Jessica reminded him, bitterness laced in her words with a glare to match. “Had to find that out by overhearing one of the detectives at the 15th precinct you reopened over in Midtown as Murdock and McDuffie.”
Ouch. Matt couldn’t deny that even if he wanted to. He'd never said a word on purpose. Not to the Defenders. Not to Brett. Not to Maggie or even Theo. The only thing he'd been sure of last year was that he needed to be anywhere but the place that no longer felt like home.
And even now he couldn't help but wonder if he was a coward for leaving at all.
“I tried to stay in the Kitchen. I wanted to stay. Rarely left when I was a kid, less so after Dad died. Didn’t have much reason to and why would I, especially if this neighborhood was all I've ever known?" Matt tried to explain. "Hell, the longest I’ve ever been away before last year was for Columbia, and even then there were enough frequent weekend trips because of Foggy. Usually they were for visiting his family at their shop but if we were able, we’d just… walk around to kill time."
Plenty of memories came to mind, spanning across years and years of friendship. A trip to the hole-in-the-wall pizza place. The old record store next to the ice cream parlor at the edge of the neighborhood. The bodega around the corner of the first firm. Josie's. Foggy always knew the best places and it didn’t matter where they went, just as long as it was time well spent around their little corner of New York.
As long as it was with him and Karen.
A wistful smile tugged at Matt's lips, not bothering to blink back the incoming tears. “Maybe that’s why I felt like I had to leave. I know this neighborhood inside and out, but so did Foggy. People knew him, whether it was from the butcher shop or the firm or just being Foggy. It was one thing walking around and passing places that we used to frequent, but knowing I’ve probably walked hand in elbow with him wherever I was? That knowledge alone made every step I took feel like agony, hands reaching for the ghost of an elbow that no longer existed. And then when I found myself retracing steps to the old offices or his family’s business or Josie’s? To his grave? I… I couldn’t…”
The flicker of anger Jessica felt dissipated as fast as it came, the sharp glare she held softening. Everything about family was still a sore subject for her, even if the years have lessened the pain bit by bit with the occasional bottle if it festered too long for her liking. But it wasn't like she didn't get it. How many times has she considered leaving behind New York after everything with Kilgrave? Her mother? With Trish?
She sighed, leaning back in her seat, and observed the stained glass windows above. "Wanting to get as far away as possible from the source of your pain while hoping you could start over? Can't say I haven't almost done the same several times myself. I get it. People tell you to move on. That the past is the past and you should leave it there. It can’t hurt you. But it does and…” Her fingers twitched, tempted to take a swig from the flask hidden in her jacket but pressed on, ignoring the growing discomfort of her own vulnerability. “Life can move on all it wants but the skeletons from the past will stick around to haunt is what I think. That was your attempt to move on and start over as sudden and shitty as it was.”
“You know you could’ve come to the firm at any time," Matt pointed out. "Wasn't like it was private, especially when the White Tiger trial put a spotlight on us.”
“I could’ve.” She'd contemplated it. Had to physically restrain and talk Danny down from actually doing it. “Would’ve been easy too since you were technically my lawyer years ago so I would have some bullshit yet valid reason to visit. But you left without a trace on purpose. You had your reasons, and I had to respect that much."
Matt shot her a wry smile. "You care about me, Jones?"
"You said it, not me,” Jessica shrugged, knowing Matt would be able to tell she was smirking despite herself. "For the most part, I'm admittedly glad you're doing as well as you are, despite the shit show you've found yourself in. Which brings up the question of what in the fresh hell did you do to piss off Fisk this time, Murdock?"
“Easier to ask what I haven't done at this point. Pretty sure he considers my entire existence alone a constant pain in the ass."
"Him and a good chunk of New York's criminal circuit. They may have gotten cocky but the second word went around you were out of 'retirement', well, the fear still runs just as deep from what I've overheard."
"Heh. Well it's nice to know I was missed." Admittedly once in a while Matt had wondered about Daredevil's lasting reputation even when he did his best to ignore it existed at all. He's heard passing comments about where the Devil had gone: supposed sightings quickly disproved, theories about his disappearance, old stories of heroic saves and brutal beat downs.
Questions about if Daredevil would ever return to his beloved Kitchen as crime steadily rose back up to levels Matt considered dangerous.
He always forced himself to trek on to where he had to be when he heard those comments, unwilling to address the guilt that churned in his stomach each time.
Well it wasn't like he had to do any lawyering anytime soon. He had all the time in the world now to make up for that absence and guilt.
"So what exactly do you know?” Matt turned the question on Jess, head tilted in curiosity. "At least adjacent to me from the last couple months?”
“That, for some reason only you would understand, your bleeding heart saved Fisk from being assassinated by disgraced FBI agent turned rogue assassin Benjamin Poindexter. Civilian-wise, I think you’re currently declared missing after some undisclosed incident at Metro-General post mayoral ball, and you're obviously not unless I finally drank way too much for my own damn good. Combine those events together and you're practically a person of interest on both sides.” Jessica cocked an eyebrow at him. “I take it the manhunt for Daredevil plays into this entire mess?"
A dark laugh escaped from Matt. “Well Fisk certainly has a funny way of saying thanks that's for sure. Is it a horrible time to disclose he knows Matt Murdock and Daredevil are one and the same?"
"Jesu- what do you mean?!"
"Ryker's Island. Prison infiltration gone wrong on my end. A story for another night." Matt halted any further questions about that, waving off her frustration. "Fisk coming for me on both sides isn't anything new and certainly nothing I can't handle. Makes it more difficult to have a concrete plan to take him down but winging it is better than nothing. "There is something more important than the manhunt for me though. His wife ordered the hit on Foggy.”
To her own credit, Jessica was doing a good job of not cracking the pew for how tightly she was gripping it with every damn bombshell Matt was dropping. “Vanessa? What do you mean it was Vanessa?”
"She contracted Poindexter to do it. Whether Fisk is aware of it or not is unknown, but for everything that man has done and lied about, he was sincere about not having a hand in it at all. It was a deal after our last big confrontation years ago: as long as I left Vanessa alone, Fisk would do likewise with Foggy and Karen and keep my identity a secret. That promise was kept, especially since I figured the threat of exposing Vanessa's involvement regarding Agent Nadeem would've been enough to keep her in line.” Matt grimaced. "Really should've made sure there weren't any loopholes but it wasn't like I could've predicted that. Hence taking Fisk’s place as the Queenpin during his absence and executing her plan.”
“And the only good thing about her becoming Queenpin was preventing one hell of a power vacuum," Jessica muttered. "But why order the hit?”
“What do you know about Red Hook?”
“Other than being a shady port that's practically a hub for criminal activity? Not much. From the sounds of it, you know more than you’d like to.”
“Call it an ongoing investigation. The only reason I'm looking into it is 'cause it was Foggy’s last case before he…” Matt forcefully swallowed down the lump in his throat. Even after all this time it still didn’t make it easier to think about, let alone say. “His last client committed some crime there. Don't remember what it exactly was, but it was enough to elicit threats so Foggy stashed him in hiding while he looked into it. Managed to find some old charter that declares the place as a free port."
"Which would make it exempt from city law," Jessica guessed.
Matt confirmed with a nod. "Foggy was moving to dismiss the case entirely under those terms. Funnily enough Vanessa has been using the same port to store her art for sometime now. And because of the terms of the charter, it doesn't have to go through customs, taxes…"
"So she's able to commit money laundering with no consequences. And with Fisk's announcement to 'revamp' the port it would make that and much more all legal. No one would have the jurisdiction to stop it. He'd rule NYC's criminal underground unopposed." It was a foolproof plan if Fisk managed to pull it off, and it was enough to make Jessica scowl. "What does all that have to do with Foggy then?"
“Karen and I are pretty sure Vanessa moved to silence Foggy solely because he was getting a bit too close for her comfort since his case involved Red Hook, even in a small unrelated capacity." The smile Matt gave felt bittersweet, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes again. "He didn't know, Jess. He had no idea what he stumbled upon, and Vanessa had him killed just to keep her activities out of any spotlight that could expose it. I lost my fucking best friend just for that."
Fuck. So not only was it a murder, it was a murder for something Nelson wasn't even aware about in the first place.
Jessica sighed. "Is there anyone else who knows about this?"
"Just my firm partner. Honestly Kirsten sounded skeptical when I ran it by her, but knowing her she's probably poking her nose into it as we speak," Matt said, shrugging. "Haven't talked to her since she visited the hospital, and it's too risky to try and contact her in some way, even through Cherry."
"Not even in the horns?"
"Especially in the horns. Fisk likely has eyes on her 'cause we're firm partners, especially since I broke my side of the deal when I saved Angela from Muse so if he caught wind of Daredevil meeting with her?" Matt shook his head, lips pressed in a thin line. "I can't drag her into the rest of this mess."
That much Jessica understood, though she wondered if any association with Matt alone would've already had the former ADA under Fisk's radar out of sheer caution. Hell, maybe McDuffie was already in this mess given Fisk's track record of making sure he cleaned up all trails that led to him.
But if she were looking into the Red Hook charter and Foggy's findings like Matt assumed, then that would mean there was a way to use it to not only shove Fisk's ass rightfully back into prison, but also convict Vanessa of having a hand in Foggy's murder.
"How much more do you think there is to the charter?" Jessica asked.
"Probably more than what Karen and I already found, which is a lot but still not much to work with," Matt guessed. "Karen's been trying to look into it too, but she's also keeping a low profile. Pretty sure Fisk caught wind of her being back in the city, and neither of us want to risk confirming that suspicion."
"Hm. Well seeing as you're tied up between keeping a low civilian profile while making sure Fisk keeps tabs on your little rebellion I could try to dig up other info about Red Hook," Jessica offered. "Could try to make contact with McDuffie too and relay anything she's found back to you without actually outing that you're not exactly missing."
Matt furrowed his brows. "Not saying that I'm opposed to the offer, but I would think you'd want to stay away from this whole fiasco. You said so yourself that you've been trying to mind your own damn business."
"Yeah well if Fisk is gonna fuck up my business, it's only right that he gets what's coming to him. Whether that's through an actual ass kicking or though legal means is up in the air, but he's going down either way." She smirked, crossing her arms. "Only payment I ask for is that I help you kick any AVTF ass if you need some backup."
That was enough to get a chuckle out of Matt. "You drive a hard bargain, Miss Jones. No other catch?"
"Yup. Consider it the discount for people who have been through enough shit together. You're not doing this alone, Matt. We'll fight for as long as it takes."
And wasn't that the million dollar question in the air? What felt like months has only been weeks of nonstop battles and push-back against the iron hold Fisk has on New York. A city he claimed to love but only if it was remade to fit into his image just as he tried to do to Hell's Kitchen before. There was no love there, Matt knew that much.
That fight in the alley was so long ago but still played clearly in his head. A false claim of trying to make the neighborhood better, to something greater that only served to destroy the foundation of what was already there.
"This city doesn't deserve a better tomorrow. It deserves to drown in its filth! It deserves people like my father! People like you!"
A one sided conversation that only further proved Fisk's true feelings and hatred of this place, of the people that Matt had called home and family.
Even though he had abandoned it in his grief.
Even though he abandoned those who were still here without a word.
Even though his whole heart was ripped out of his chest while he heard Foggy's faintly fade away down below.
Yet here he was once more. Back to his roots. Back to the ones he loved despite it all.
"You really think that this will change anything? You think one man in a silly little costume will make a difference?"
Maybe not one man this time. Saving the entirety of New York City alone was an impossible task and he had known that.
But he wasn't alone. He never was.
Matt faced Jessica, jaw set in determination. "For as long as it takes. I don't know how, but we will take Fisk down once and for all. For Hell's Kitchen. For New York."
"Go be a hero. Just don't get killed doing it, okay?"
He took a shaky breath. "For Foggy."
He heard the shake of Jessica's hair, nodding in agreement. "For Foggy."
And with that promise, Matt was a little more hopeful and certain for whatever may come their way next.