Extended summary:

After moving to Hell's Kitchen, settling down and somehow winning the sympathy of the Devil, Vera is happy. There were sure more than a few bumps on the road, but now they are all overcome and she has an amazing (a little too reckless and a little too much heroic) boyfriend, couple of good friends, steady job and relative non-bloody calm.
But this is Hell's Kitchen: its guardian angel is called the Devil and he has issues on his own. There is no non-bloody way of doing things there – after all, she learnt that in a hard way before.

Characters from other Marvel Netflix show will appear, playing less or more important role, fair warning. It still didn't feel like it should be categorized as a crossover.

1. Things you shouldn't ask (for)

Jab. Jab. Cross. Jab. Jab. Hook. Hook. Hook. Uppercut. Uppercut. Knee. Elbow. Turn and kick.

Her breath hitched. And that was only a kick. Jesus. She would not want to be on the receiving end of that. She thought it would get easier for her to be here . It didn't. She still watched him in awe, jaw almost in her lap as she sat on the edge of the ring, her (or Matt's) favourite spot. She might be drooling a little. But just a little.

It became their habit. Once Matt came to terms with the fact Vera would be observing him during his training ( even managing to focus on his workout technique rather than his muscles moving under the not so tight, but gradually soaking-with-sweat t-shirt from time to time), they spent almost every other night at Fogwell's.

Vera had been thinking for a while now: Watching Matt was nice enough, but she would like him to teach her a little something – not the back flipping and all the nonhuman stuff he was able to do, obviously, but something. She had no idea how to bring up the topic, though. She was determined to finally ask him tonight – she chickened out many times before. So far, she had already found courage to speak up four times tonight. The first time, she had changed her mind and said No kicks today, huh?, ignoring his confused expression as he changed his series of punches and added a kick indeed. The second time, she teased him about flipping, her heart beating agonizingly fast as she swallowed her question. The other two times she wanted to ask she just bit her tongue. Aaand third time right now.

Matt delivered an extremely strong blow with a huff and turned around to make his way to her - or she thought so, until he reached for the towel and water instead. Vera allowed herself to exhale slowly, releasing the breath she had been holding since he spun to her.

Now would be a good time to ask – things were quiet lately. The Avengers released Matt with their contacts, satisfied only with the fact that they knew where to find him in case of a real emergency (or in a need of a lawyer different from Stark's sharks). They hadn't contacted him since Tony sent her the photos – not that she knew of. Matt seemed to be content with his day job, sometimes receiving payments in currency other than bananas. His night job kept him occupied as well, but not in the very bloody way. It didn't change the fact Vera arranged several meetings with Claire to teach her the basics of necessary medical attention for Matt Murdock – she knew few things from college (and everyday life, she grew up in relatively small town, spending time outside, in nature, climbing trees and falling down, thank you very much), yet they never got to learning stitches there and, let's be honest, Matt always needed stitches. Vera wondered if he knew about their sewing sessions – he hadn't say a word about it.

Hot breath tickling her nose snapped her back to reality. Matt framed her sides, hands leaning in the edge of the ring, face close.

"So…are you gonna say it or not?" he demanded, lips almost touching hers.

Despite his proximity, she stayed perfectly focused. Her eyes went wide, mouth opening just to close again. She gulped. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Vera was sure he would recognize her lying even without hearing her heartbeat. She felt his lips twitching against hers, gingerly taking her lower lip between them, caressing. She returned the kiss lazily, tasting the salt from his skin. It never failed to astonish her, how quickly he could change from the violent, dangerous vigilante to the tender, loving boyfriend. Then again, she couldn't deny she enjoyed when the line between them occasionally blurred – in the best way possible.

He withdrew too soon and she opened her eyes discontentedly. The corners of his mouth were up, eyebrow rising. "So? Don't pretend you don't want to say something. I would be probably able to tell even without hearing you heart and breathing."

She huffed. "Show-off."

He smiled wider, extending the distance between their faces as if he could observe her better from there. He waited.

She opened her mouth again, no sound coming out for a while. "I've been…thinking," she said eventually, and Matt raised his other eyebrow as well.

"That's not surprising. You tend to do that."

She rolled her eyes, mentally smacking his chest – she actually had enough will not to do it for real. She remained silent and he whined.

"Vera. Whatever it is, just say it," he pleaded, expression clouding as if he anticipated trouble. Well…

She decided she would ease into it "I would like to get a fit-box coach licence," she blurted out and he blinked several times, confusion all over his face. "Uhm… I mean… I like fit-boxing. Maybe I could teach it. I don't know if there is any centre hiring, but I thought I might handle one or two lessons a week. Actually I was wondering if would be willing to give it a try here…" she babbled, unable to look at Matt's face, because what she told him was only a part of what she wanted.

He was quiet, too quiet, so she turned her face to his. Matt looked absolutely taken aback. Like did-you-just-told-me-the-Devil-of-Hell's-Kitchen-is-blind taken aback. He kept blinking like her statement would make more sense after that. Apparently it worked, because he finally returned to reality.

"That…doesn't sound bad at all," he offered with small smile and her lips spread at the honesty in his voice. She could tell he was still confused though

"You think?"

Matt shrugged. "Sure. You'd be great."

Vera bit her lip, trying to figure out how to share the rest of her thoughts. "I would like to be better than that."

He tilted his head curiously, sensing something odd in her voice. She knew she sounded nervous. And her heart sounded nervous as well. "Meaning?" he prompted when she didn't continue.

"Meaning I want you to teach me."

That did it. He tensed, face freezing in an unreadable expression. She carefully lifted her hand, touching his cheek, brushing his wet hair from his forehead. He didn't move. She swallowed against the lump in her throat, gathering her thoughts to explain.

"I…I need the certificate, okay? It's a necessary evil. But I don't care about some piece of paper. The courses will be fine, but I want to know how to throw a punch, alright? And… and something more. I'm not talking about your flipping and other crazy gymnastic stuff you can do, I'm not that naïve to think I can learn that. I'm talking about defending myself. I've been here in New York for what? Four, five months? I had a gun at my head twice, almost got mugged and got kidnapped. I'm getting into trouble once a month."

Vera examined his features hardening and then turning somewhat hurt. "You don't think I can protect you," he whispered, sad eyes on her chin.

And what? She frowned at him, decoding his words. What was he talking about? "What? Why would you-" Oh. Oh. She let her hand fall. He was such an idiot. And she was such an idiot. "That's- don't be ridiculous. Of course I think you can. Jesus, Matt."

"I couldn't. Too many times for now. I get it."

She whined desperately. She didn't consider Matt's everything-is-my-fault attitude. She needed to choose her words more carefully. She reached for his cheek again, this time framing his face with both her hands, making him level his sightless gaze with hers.

"Matt. Stop doing this. It wasn't your fault, whatever situation you're thinking about now. You can't protect every single person in Hell's Kitchen 24/7, and you're not my personal guardian. That wasn't the point, anyway. I trust you, okay? I trust you, and that's why I want you to teach me. Because I know you're the best. Because I believe you can take at least some of the amazing things you're capable of and pass it on me. Which would probably be a nightmare for any teacher, really. I want to be able to defend myself against some stupid mugger, so you can actually help people and you don't have to keep saving my trouble-magnet ass," she finished her speech, waiting for his verdict, expectantly examining his expression.

She could see his emotions changing – from the guilt to hesitance to slight amusement. "It's a very nice ass," he noted and returned to seriousness. "Vera, I don't think… I don't think you would want me as your teacher. I'm… I'm not good at that."

"I literally just said I would. You've tried it before?"

"No."

Vera let go of his face just to throw her hands in the air. "Then how could you possibly know?"

He shifted uncomfortably and didn't answer.

"Okay. Matt, look-" His eyebrows shot up. Smart-ass. "-dammit- I don't care, okay? If you don't want to teach me -fine. But if the only reason is the fear of you failing, then… Oh. Unless you think I'm a lost case. Then I understand. Even though I thought Catholics had a soft spot for lost cases-"

"Vera? Shut up."

She did, watching him as he considered his options. If he was smart about this, he would know that there was no person in Hell's Kitchen who could better teach her to protect herself. And he would be aware of the fact that there was no way fit-box courses would provide her any useful defensive moves. She bit her cheek from the inside to keep from explaining all of this to him, respecting his wish and keeping her mouth shut.

Matt sighed in resignation and Vera couldn't help yelping "Yes." Her fist twitched , but she managed to stop from punching the air in victory. He ran his hand down his face, suddenly looking exhausted.

"Done for tonight?" she offered in small voice, not sure she was allowed to speak again.

Matt eyed her unhappily, before he tucked her hair behind her ear, expression torn between tender and miserable. "You're going to be my death, you know that?" he breathed, bringing his lips to hers once more.

Vera didn't like the kiss. Well, she loved all of Matt's kisses but this time there was a sadness in the way his lips moved against hers, a certain desperation she wished would go away. She lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist, pulling him closer, hands weaving in his hair. He didn't react as she expected. He took her around her waist, his other hand holding the back of her neck, keeping her in place as his lunges became more aggressive, his lips, tongue, teeth demanding With no words spoken, she heard what he was saying.

You're going to be my death…and I'm gonna rush in its arms willingly with a smile on my face.

"Two words, Mechy: Double date." Terri's words shocked Vera in the middle of preparing a hazelnut latté and Vera almost burned herself hearing them. She calmed her hands and finished the drink, handing it the customer before she considered what her friend said.

Double date? As in Terri and Victor and her and Matt? In one room? At the same time? As in her crazy best friend who wouldn't shut up, a scary teddy bear who Vera barely knew, a girl who would be nervous the whole time so she would be putting her feet in her mouth (unless she would run away) and a man she just couldn't describe in a single sentence. That was a perfect recipe for a disaster.

"No."

An astounded gasp made Vera to turn around. Terri's face was pure hurt. "What do you mean 'no'?"

Vera was slightly ashamed of her quick negative response. But she… she didn't do double dates - they were awkward. No one ever did them again. But seriously, what kind of a date would it be? They couldn't even go to watch a movie, dammit! So what, dinner? Talking? Matt would probably be tense, not letting his guard down for a second, because he would be afraid he would somehow gave himself away? Hell no.

"Just… no. I mean, can you imagine it? A double date? You, Victor, me, and Matt?" Her friend of course had no idea Vera's blind boyfriend was in fact the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, a kick-ass ninja vigilante with basically superpowers (no matter how much he kept denying it) and extraordinary ability to make Vera's knees turn into jello with a single kiss – preferably in a dark alley, mask on, his body pressing against hers, whispering love declarations in Spanish. And yeah, maybe her kinks were showing with too much intensity given the circumstances, but she had a point. She returned to the right train of thoughts and snapped back to reality. Terri was speaking. Focus.

"Yeah. That's pretty much the definition of a double date. Two couples hanging out together," Terri said mockingly, baffled and insulted by her lack of enthusiasm at the idea.

"And what exactly do you imagine we are gonna do? Where would we go? I hate to remind you, but we are four different people who don't have a common interest. I mean, apart from coffee. I can talk about preparing it at least…" She really didn't want to sound too sceptical, but her reasoning was… reasonable. Vera smiled professionally at another customer, ignoring Terri's huff – Terri took care of the next one. Once she took his order, she bugged Vera again.

"Then we can do something together and talk about that to break the ice! I don't know, a movie? That's a normal thing to do! Why are you being so negative about it?" Terri complained, preparing an Americano on looked at her significantly, eyebrow raised, waiting for her to realize. Terri didn't notice until the silence lasted too long. Only then she frowned and Vera eyed her expectantly.

"Oh. Shit. Not a movie then."

Vera's lips twitched as she served another person.

"A rock concert?"

"Yeah. NO." Matt and his sensitive ears. So many people around. Smells. Tastes. Jesus. He would be in ten different kinds of pain.

"Then something else!" her friend burst out, hands thrown in the air. There were no more customers. Becky took her break. Shit.

"Like what, Terri?" Vera asked her, tired. Just no. No.

"I don't know. You tell me. Hey, we can adjust. What do you guys usually do on a date?" Terri asked tactically, changing her expression to a patient one.

And Vera just…froze. 'What do you guys usually do on a date?' The problem was not only that Vera didn't do double dates. She and Matt…didn't do dates. They just didn't. Which might look kinda weird to any outsider, but Vera was incredibly happy with concept. She didn't need to go to restaurant or to movies or whatever. Sure, it would be nice to have a little piece of normal, but she liked their normal. The fact Matt climbed up to her window almost every night and they talked and snuggled… or more. Unless he came at ass o'clock and she was already out cold. Their meetings in Fogwell's, electricity in the air, something hot and delicious, yet ungraspable. Their lazy mornings if time allowed. All of it..

Fingers snapped in front of her face. "Vera! Earth to Vera. Jeez, girl. You still got it bad…" Terri murmured and Vera wondered for just how long she had been zoned out. Apparently for too long. "Seriously. Tell me."

Vera shrugged. "We…uhm…." What the hell was she supposed to tell her? There was literally no way to say any of this without screaming my boyfriend is the Devil. Or at least my boyfriend is not so blind and can see in a manner of speaking. Shit. Maybe the Fogwell's sessions were acceptable? With few alterations?

Terri's eyes went wide with shock. "Do you ever go on dates? You never talk about them! Are you telling me you're not- what the actual hell, Vera?!"

Oh no. Oh god no. "Look, it's…" Her mind was racing, trying to come up with a valid excuse. It wasn't like she didn't have plenty. "It's… we didn't exactly have time for that. I mean, we got together in October, after I was discharged from the hospital. We went out and then there was the mess around you-know-who almost dying and then- Aha! We went to the benefit-"

"That was in November, Vera!" Terri blurted, horrified. But Vera wasn't finished.

"AND then someone was taken and I got shot while helping him and I couldn't even walk! So I'm sorry I stayed in."

Thinking about it like that, they actually were kinda too busy to have an actual date. And she wasn't complaining. Matt was… Matt. He was smart, easy to talk to about anything from music, movie and food to freaking World War II., dorky, cute, loving and hot and suggestive which usually ended up in only one possible way. And to be honest, he was a woman's dream - strongly intuitive – who was she kidding, the senses had something to do with it too - he just knew what to do. And they were both quite bendy…

"Oh my god, you have the I-just-had-sex expression," Terri complained and the approaching customer – an elderly lady, with a cute little boy by her side, looked extremely offended. Vera ran her hand down her face, screaming internally. She hated Terri's I-can-see-right-through-you ability. Vera pulled her aside, leaving Becky – who had just come back- to deal with the pissed off woman. "That's it, isn't it? You two waited for too long and now you're like a couple of horny teenagers…" Terri continued and Vera gasped, feeling her cheeks reddening. It wasn't like she was completely wrong.

"That's- that's…not exactly wrong, but dammit, Terri! We spent Christmas at Nelson's and right after that, the letter came and I knew I would have to testify and somehow, I wasn't in the right mood for a date, and I assure you the only thing I did at night apart from sleeping occasionally was crying," Vera protested, slightly insulted by Terri's assumptions. The memories were unpleasant. Matt's empty eyes still haunted her from time to time, the nauseous feeling of the fragments of his skull moving under her fingertips was still quite vivid. She felt sick all over again. How did they start talking about this again?

Terri gave her a sympathetic and, surprisingly enough, a guilty smile. "Sorry. I know that…that was hard. And I'm sorry I wasn't there. Just… it's been a while-"

"It's like two weeks since the trial, Terri," she deadpanned, unimpressed.

Terri rolled her eyes. "Exactly. Perfect timing. You and Murdock. Me and Victor. We'll figure something out. So, what do you say? Come on, don't be grumpy. Say yes. One little word. Three letters. Repeat after me:Y-."

Vera sighed, refusing to play the little repeat-after-me game. "Yes, fine, I'll ask, okay?"

"YES!" Terri's fist hit the air, almost knocking cups from Becky's hands as she passed them on her way to the counter. Terri didn't even apologize to Becky and threw her arms around Vera, who immediately regretted her promise.

Jesus Christ. What had she gotten herself into?