Slowly And Then All At Once
Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock; Daredevil
Mae Whitman as Doreen Green; The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
The subway train roared dragon-like as it flew along its track. The individual cars clanked and jerked as the train stopped and started and went collecting and discarding passengers in endless rotation. Matt Murdock slumped down onto a hard metal and plastic seat with a weary sigh and began the tiring mental process of adjusting to the sensory queasiness that subway travel always imbued in him. He leaned his cane against his knee and loosened his tie even further with abrupt jerks as a feeling of being choked overtook him and breathed in the musky scent of underground air. What was even the point of ties?
He was tired. The tiredness that overtakes a young soldier when he realizes that the end of the first battle does not bring about the end of the war; also, Matt ached. From his right cheek where stiches had recently been removed to his healing ribs and his knee where a guy with cleats had kicked him, all in all, he was a hot mess. That was not even taking his admitted psychological problems into account. He snorted in wry amusement at the thought.
'Okay, then. There are eleven other people in the subway car with me: Seven male, six female; nine adults, two teenagers. There is a seventy-ish year old man who smells strongly of peppermint schnapps who has a pace maker. He is sitting next to a forty something women who smells overwhelming of hospital disinfectant and baby puke…so maternity ward nurse?' Matt began the always riveting pastime of mentally cataloging the people around him, searching out threats.
The subway car slowed to a jangling halt and a young man on the high side of twenty lurched in. He smelt like meth and desperation and his heavy footed clumping suggested anger.
'Really, now?' Matt rubbed his nose in annoyance. Today had already sucked. It sucked like Fleetwood Mac sucked as a band. That was how much today sucked. He had hoped in vain to get home without incident. All he wanted was to sleep.
But, nooo. This guy was looking for a fight. His everything indicated incoming violence. His everything being his smell, his stance and the knife he was fishing out of his pants. Inconvenient meth guy shuffled closer to the baby nurse.
Matt gripped his cane and let out a soft mental curse. He hated fighting in enclosed areas. Not that Mr. Inconvenient would be anything like a challenge. But, still. It was the principal of the thing.
The doors for the subway car began to close and someone else slipped through, someone small and female.
"Oh, dear me," she seemed to trip over her own feet and rammed into Mr. Inconvenient's shoulder causing him to drop the knife with a clang. The baby nurse nurse's heart rate went up as the girl scooped up and pocketed the knife.
"I am so sorry," The new passengers' voice was pleasant and sweet even as it dripped sarcasm. A booted foot caught him in the back of the knee and he fell forward.
"Watch it, bitch," Mr. Inconvenient sputtered indignantly forgetting the knife.
The newcomer shook her head, "There's no need to be rude." With a sharp twist of her arm she sent him flying forward and his head met the floor with a clang, a clang that knocked him unconscious. New girl hosted him up with little effort and dropped him on a seat. She rubbed her hands against her knees and turned. Her breathing jerked and her shoulders squirmed as she seemed to realize that everyone's attention was on her.
She scurried, really there was no other word for it, to the empty seat across from Matt and sat down (oddly the squelch of sweaty plastic was replaced the rustle of a furry cushion), ramrod straight her ankles folded primly to the right and her hands clasped together in an exaggerated ladylike fashion.
"Hi! My names Doreen and I'm a perfectly normal college student."
Matthew Murdock blinked rapidly. She had really said that. It was a lie so big that the girl's heart literally jumped around in protest.
The other passengers in the ancient and revered custom of New York abruptly turned away and began to mind their own business.
He turned his full attention on her. She was on the low side of twenty, tiny about 5'1 with hard muscle under soft generous curves. She was trained, Matt could tell from the way she walked near silently in heavy soled Doc Martens, a shoe that people stomped in. Dancing and martial arts, he would guess from her slow and steady resting heartrate and her unconscious grace. He knew the combination well.
She was bouncy. That was unfeigned. But, she overstated it in an effort to appear completely harmless. It was less effective then she believed.
Clothing wise she was wearing cords and a fitted denim blazer with an overabundance of zippers and a silky top that ruffled with ruffles. She smelt of organic skin products that gave of a subtle hit of lilac and orange blossom, a hint of high end cosmetics, and tea tree oil shampoo. Also, Nutella lip gloss.
"It's disconcerting to be stared at intently by a blind guy," She said after a moment. Her voice was…lovely. It brought to mind concertos and quiet libraries and picnics in the park. It soothed.
"Yeah, well it's disconcerting to be lied to by somebody you were just introduced to," Matt returned.
She let out a huff, "We haven't been formally introduced."
Matt's lips quirked up, "Matt Murdock." He leaned forward with his hands outstretched.
She shook his hand; her grip was firm and soft all at once. Her callous were odd. They reminded him of the pads on a kittens paw.
"Doreen Green." Her head shook in bemusement making her asymmetrical longish bob of hair slide in silky waves around her face. "What exactly do you think I'm lying about? That my name is Doreen or that I'm a college student."
Matt laughed lowly, "Oh, neither of those. I have no doubt that Doreen is your name and that you're a college student. It's the bit in the middle that's giving me trouble. You called yourself perfectly normal."
Doreen tilted her head, "So you think I'm abnormal then. I don't think that we've known each other long enough for you to make such an assessment of my character, Mr. Murdock."
He regarded her with amusement chasing the weariness out of his voice, "Are you always so quick to make assumptions, Miss. Green? No, I don't think you're abnormal. But, you're definitely not perfectly normal. I think that you are…interesting."
"Interesting, huh? Are you certain? For all you know I could be very boring. I could be an unremarkable wallflower with an ordinary as oatmeal at room temperature personality. I could be the kind of person who listens to elevator music on purpose," Doreen demurred.
Matt snorted, "Oh, I'm certain. I've never met anybody who talks like that for starters."
"Talks like what?"
"You talk like you've just walked out of a novel."
"Hmm. Is that a good thing," Doreen shifted and bit her lip.
"I like it," Matt smiled at the girl. "It's… interesting."
"What else make you think I stand out from the rest of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free?"
"The way you move. As if you're ready for trouble should it come your way," Matt said.
Doreen smiled. He would bet she had dimples. "Well, I suppose it would take one to know one."
"I suppose it would at that. By the way, very nice take down; everyone else thinks you're just awkward and clumsy," he informed her.
"Really? That's just what I was going for. But, as it happens I am truly horribly awkward and on occasion clumsy," she returned.
"Good to know my first impressions of you aren't off," He said.
"Hey!" she yelped in false outrage.
"Wait. Matt Murdock. Would you happen to be a lawyer who resides in Hell's Kitchen?" Doreen asked in sudden recognition.
"Yeah," Matt affirmed cautiously.
Doreen laughed breezily, "This is the sort of thing that would happen to me. I used to be your sister's roommate in Minnesota."
"You're the 'Reen that bullied Skye* into going to community college with you," Matt sat up from his hunch. He'd been grateful that when Skye had ventured into the great unknown without him that she'd found someone to watch her back, much like Foggy did for him. Her recent joining of the Rising Tide and removing herself off the grid did not make him a happy Matty.
"Yup, that 'Reen," Doreen paused, "It's not the most graceful diminutive is it? It sounds like an internal organ. You've ruptured your 'Reen."
Matt snickered, "What did she say about me? I wanna know if I have to live up or live down to your expectations."
Doreen shrugged, "You're the best big brother in the whole entire universe…"
Matt's chest puffed out.
"Also, you're a ginormous pain in the ass."
He laughed out loud. "Yeah, that sounds like her, deflating my ego from states away."
"So, why'd you move to New York?"
"The pleasant winters," Doreen snorted out a laugh. "Not really; although, they are a vast improvement over winter near the Great Lakes; I came to the NYC to further my education. I'm going to Empire State."
"What are you studying?"
"I'm majoring in computer science and minoring in everything else," Doreen replied.
"Everything else…that's some course load. Any reason?" Matt wondered.
Doreen shrugged, "I'm on occasion overwhelmed with a crippling sense of my own ignorance."
"An affliction that more people could use," was his opinion.
They fell into an easy comfortable silence. Matt listened to her quiet breathing and slow steady heartbeat that strangely seemed to beat in counterpoint to his own.
"What are you?" Matt wondered. She seemed to good a thing to be true. And while things that seemed too good to be true usually were…he wanted her to be real. It was a sudden harsh want that hit him in the gut and left him breathless.
Doreen fidgeted, "What am I? That question is both oddly odd and oddly invasive."
The train clanged to a stop. Doreen Green hopped to her feet to step forward and leaned down and said very quietly into Matt's ear, "Secretly, I'm a superhero."
Her peppermint patty breath rose goosebumps on Matt's sensitive skin.
"I believe you." His voice had lowered becoming somehow richer and decadent.*
Doreen startled at the sound of it and abruptly pulled back.
She was real. The relief of it was like plunging into a cool pool of water on a hot day. Real. And the other thing.
A superhero.
Huh.
The subway train door swooshed open and Doreen cautiously backed away, "I have to go."
Matt reached out and gently grabbed her wrist, his thumb lazily rubbed against her pulse point and his smile widened at the way her pulse quickened at his touch. "I'll be seeing you again."
"Funny, blind people humor," Doreen said in wry amusement.
"Doreen," Matt drew out her name like warm molasses. "I'll be seeing you again."
"Fine. I suppose it wouldn't be completely horrible," she gently pulled her hand away.
"I'm trying not to be hurt," Matt fake pouted as she headed for the door.
"Goodbye, Matthew," Doreen laughed as she ambled away from him.
"See you around, Doreen," Matt was vaguely smug at getting the last word in.
The train lurched once more into motion and Matt settled himself into his uncomfortable seat; He still tingled with her residual warmth.
He missed her.
*Yep, that Skye. Due to a computer error one Mary Sue Poots was mislabeled as Skye Murdock. After Matt and Skye's initial surprise, he and his new sister decided to just go with it.
*Yes, making his voice go all rich and decadent is a thing Matt can do. Foggy calls it the chocolate cake voice. Foggy also calls it cheating.
Doreen was not flirting during this first encounter. Whenever she had ever attempted to flirt in the past it was more akin to failing about awkwardly while fluttering her eyelashes to excess. Mostly, guys have asked her if there was a bee. So, she doesn't flirt. Doreen can banter like a champ though. Matt was totally flirting. He can't help it. It's his default…like Gambit of the X-Men.
Matt deeply resents being compared to Remy LeBeau.
The costumed vigilante known as Daredevil raced over the roof tops of Hell's Kitchen, NY in a dizzying combination of acrobatics while his sensitive ears listening for those who'd pray on the weak and defenseless.
A song caught his attention in the endless tumult of noises that the city, sighed out, shrieked out, warbled out and whimpered out in a never ending din.
It was…cheery to the point of being obnoxious. The female voice seemed very aware of this and took a measure of glee from the knowledge. * Squirrel Girl, Squirrel Girl! She's a human and also a squirrel! Can she climb up a tree? Yes she can, easily! That's whyyyy her name is Squirrel Girl! Is she tough? Listen, bud: she's got partially squirrel blood!
Daredevil listened. The voice was familiar, even if it were a few decibels higher and far squeakier then it had been the last time he'd heard it. He smiled and followed the song to its source.
Who's her friend? Don't you know: that's the squirrel, Tippy-Toe! Surprise! She likes to talk to squirrels! At the top of trees, is where she spends her time like a huuuuman squirrel. She enjoys fighting crime! Squirrel Girl, Squirrel Girl! Powers of both squirrel and girl! Find some nuts, eat some nuts! Kicks bad guuuuuys' evil butts! To her, life is a great big acorn! Where there's a city crime-torn, you'll find the Squirrel Girl!
He stopped a building away from his quarry and goggled at the sight his echolocation showed him. "Hi! My name's Doreen and I'm a perfectly normal college student." He mocked under his breath.
Well, the huge furry prehensile tail explained why it had sounded like she was sitting on a furry cushion and the tail; also, explained the name in her theme song. She had a theme song. It boggled. His mind was boggled.
"Hey! My voice isn't that pitchy!" …Squirrel Girl called out as she spin kicked a ninja in the groin.
Daredevil laughed, "Right now it is."
"This isn't that weird," she said wildly. "I'm just a squirrel themed superhero fighting three ninja mimes on a rooftop in Hell's Kitchen at midnight and it's…starting to rain." Her legs were kicked out from under her and she crashed to the ground. With an annoyed huff she flipped back onto her feet and punched the heavy set one in the jaw. "Okay, put like that it's a little weird.
"Ninja mimes? Is that even a real thing?" Daredevil wondered. She was very good. Squirrel Girl fought like her three opponents with both efficiency and verve. He would imagine that a prehensile tail would make coordination more difficult.
"Stop. Trying." Thump! "To put me in." Thump! "An invisible box!"
'Oohh. She punched that guy in the face with her tail. Cool! He's down for the count. Also, it's just hitting me that she has a giant squirrel tail… I don't really care. It's interesting; but, not that important.'
"Pretty sure about the ninja mime thing," she muttered.
Squirrel Girl shook her head in exasperation, "What is with you? You don't have wind powers. The only powers you've got creepy mime guy are being all creepy and a moderately non-sucky aptitude for ninjitsu."
Daredevil folded his arms and tilted his head, "I'd jump in but, you seem to be having fun."
"Does it look like I'm enjoying this?" She pirouetted away from an errant strike before summersaulting onto her final opponent's shoulders. A quick tweak in a nerve cluster with her foot and he too was insensible to the waking world.
"Yes!"
She surveyed the ninja mimes sprawled at her feet and laughed, "That was kinda fun."
"Who'd send ninja mimes after you?" Daredevil wondered. It was decidedly strange. What kind of enemies did she have anyway?
"Donno,"She hopped to the building's ledge and faced him. "Of all the highly unpleasant people who I've pissed off lately, I can't think of any who'd hire ninja mimes," she said wryly.
"Do you piss off a lot of highly unpleasant people?" Daredevil wondered.
Squirrel Girl laughed, "Oh, yes." This was said with a certain amount of disturbing contentment.
"You can hear me from over there?" He wondered. His voice was just over a whisper and the two buildings were a ways away from each other.
"Yup. My everything, including my senses, is proportionate to the everything of a squirrel," she rubbed the back of her neck absently.
"Powers of both squirrel and girl," he said in amusement. "Hence the name." He tilted his head in contemplation. "Your costumed persona is this silly on purpose."
"When you're stuck with a theme," she waved her tail at him, "you might as well go all out. And as for my purported silliness, I can't pull off the whole, 'I am vengeance, I am the night,' shtick that you've got going. "
Daredevil snorted.
"I can do cheery menace just fine," He could hear the grin in her voice. "'Sides, I can work with people underestimating me constantly."
Squirrel Girl leapt from a crouching position and launched herself effortlessly to Daredevil's building; she hit the roof with a solid thud.
He gaped at her," That was fifty-three feet."
"Powers of both squirrel and girl," she returned smugly.
"Mutants…such showoffs," Daredevil rolled his eyes.
Her nose wrinkled up, "Not a mutant. Or a mutate, nor an inhuman." She bowed elaborately, "I am unique among Earthlings! Except, of course; for my mildly naughty clone who scarpered into another version of reality."
The Man without Fear considered that statement, "What is your life?"
Squirrel Girl laughed, "This is the hero biz. Your life will become just as weird."
Daredevil wondered if this was supposed to be comforting.
Squirrel Girl spun and glared at the roof of the building she'd just vacated. The empty roof. "Did you hear them leave? I didn't."
Daredevil frowned, "No, I didn't. That's worrisome." Which was an understatement; he certainly should have heard three goons regaining consciousness and getting away.
The rain went from a slow sprinkle to a faster shower, the Squirrel Girl looked up.
The echoing drops of water brought the bottom part of her face, the bit not obscured with steampunk-esk goggles, into sharp relief. She had a round face with a stubborn chin and dimpled cheeks (totally called the dimples!), a cute nose and a very pretty mouth and he caught a glimpse of a graceful neck.
She sighed. "I probably wouldn't have got any answers out of them anyway. Ya know the whole mimes don't talk thing."
Squirrel Girl turned her full attention on the crimson avenger and took in the whole outfit and smothered a giggle.
"What?" He asked. Daredevil was a bit perturbed, as pretty as her giggle was it was directed at him.
"Nothing, it's just that while the eyeless, horned mask of yours is all sorts of creepy it in no way deflects from the fact that you're cavorting about the town in a leather onesie."
Daredevil sputtered. "It's not a onesie! You have no room to talk costume-wise. What is even your look? Anime steampunk aviator?" He flicked one of the squirrel ears on her alice band making it wobble.
"Yeah, that's actually totally what I was going for," she said cheerily, tugging on her cropped aviator jacket.
Daredevil face palmed. Because, really.
"And it's not leather, it's some kind of macro armor that's been made to look like leather…"
She poked at his shoulder; he could feel the odd little pad on her finger and wondered if it was as sensitive as he thought it might be. And he wondered why she wasn't wearing gloves."
"That's good, better 'en hide. My body suit is made of unstable molecules," she informed him.
"Unstable molecules?" That made no sense. Whatever, the body suit she was wearing under the suede bootie shorts and corset, was made of, it sounded like the whisper of heavy silk when she moved.
"I don't get it either, every time it was explained to me I kinda fell asleep." She stood and luxuriantly stretched out her body.
Daredevil may or may not have paid a great deal of attention to the details.
Squirrel Girl watched him as she stood precariously on the ledge. He wasn't worried that she would lose her balance; she could walk a tight rope without once losing her footing.
"You're not going to ask how I know what you're wearing?" Daredevil said as he moved closer to her.
"Nope. There's more than one way to see." He could sense her gaze, as soft as a flower petal, fliting over him. "You see clearer than most, because you can't see."
Daredevil blinked at that, "Not in spite of."
"Uh-uh."
He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm just glad to meet someone in our line of work who doesn't believe the rumors. I mean, they're dying down…" The idea that she might think he'd blown up midtown was…unpleasant.
She snorted, "You come very well vetted. Not just from Skynet."
"She hates being called that you know," Daredevil pointed out.
"Oh, I know," Her voice etched out a smile. "The word on the street is that you are a good deviled egg."
The world stilled and he felt his shoulders began to shake in barely suppressed laughter. "A good deviled egg. You've been itching to use that one haven't you."
"Yeah, ever since the stories of the Devil of Hell's Kitchen started last year. It was right there. I couldn't not use it," Squirrel Girl giggled.
"You've asked around about me?" He asked archly.
"Don't let it go to your head, pretty boy," Squirrel Girl made an *arabesque on the ledge. "I ask about anyone in uniform."
"Pretty boy?" Daredevil was delighted. He grinned unabashedly at her.
She huffed.
"You're rolling your eyes at me aren't you?" Daredevil asked.
"Oh, yeah. I'm rolling them in protest at you." She hopped off the ledge onto the roof. "As fun as this has all been, I've got to get back to my dorm. I need to finish rewriting a paper on the fall of Constantinople in 1453." She sighed dejectedly.
Daredevil thought that she'd probably rather beat up more ninjas. "Sounds riveting."
"I'd rather be listening to that guy with the prehensile metal arms monologue on his own superior intellect. Professor Norrell hates me."
Daredevil laughed. He'd met Doctor Octavius. The guy really loved the sound of his own voice.
*"But, you're Squirrel Girl, who hates you?"
"I donno…jerks!"*
"Do you really have to go?" Daredevil was uncomfortably aware of much he sounded like a little kid who was upset because his new friend had an earlier curfew.
Squirrel Girl nodded, " 'Fraid so."
"Till next time, Doreen."
"Expect me when you see me, Matthew."
*Lyrics from the comic book, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North.
* Arabesque (ah-rah-besk): This means to pose on one leg whilst extending the other leg to the back.
*That exchange is from 'The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl' Volume One.
Matt Murdock sat on a bench brooding. He had no idea what he was going to do for a closing argument, Foggy was likewise stumped. Harvey Specter had destroyed their arguments into dust and paste. Matt wanted to punch him so, so much. A face that smug deserved it. He knew Specter had a smug face because Foggy had described it in detail.
Trying to prove that Victor Stein was the inventor of a revolutionary cancer drug and not someone who had stolen said drug was getting increasingly more difficult.
Stein had worked for Roxxon Corp. for thirty years and now thanks to severe brain damage the once genius couldn't prove that the math involved was his.
Specter's annoying little minion Mike Ross had found witnesses that would testify to Stein's former protégé being the main force behind the project.
And his own witness, visiting professor Larry Fleinhardt, had been stricken down with food poisoning.
In short, the case was going badly.
His internal gnashing of teeth faded as his heartbeat slowed down from angry waterfall to inexplicably mellow clarinet. Matt blinked in confusion at his sudden calm.
Ah.
Doreen was here.
And she was arguing with a squirrel.
The squirrel threw a nut at her head.
"Was that entirely necessary Tippy-Toe?" Doreen paused and listened to the squirrel's irate chittering. "Look, I don't think I'm being unreasonable. I'm just not comfortable with bulling someone into this life. So Tomas doesn't want to put on tights and fight crime. Just because he has super cool chipmunk powers doesn't mean he's obligated."
Just what? Matt listened in because he had no shame when it came to eavesdropping on private conversations. Also, she was talking to a squirrel.
"Yeah, I had a suit made for him. That was just me messing with him. He'd rather join a boyband. And he hates boybands. And who says I need a partner anyway?" Doreen asked plaintively.
The squirrel squeaked some more.
Doreen shrugged. "Yeah, I enjoy working with people; nevertheless, we were speaking of me needing a partner… totally different thing. Okay, yes I miss working with Skye. She was a great hyper competent sidekick…"
Skye did what now? Big talk young lady. You are getting such an earful when our Saturday phone call comes. Yes, I know I'm being such a hypocrite right now.
"I've been doing fine all by my lonesome," Doreen said firmly not turning around. "I can talk to squirrels Matthew. It's not that weird."
"It's not perfectly normal either," the lawyer told her a touch of hilarity in his voice. He had wandered over to where she was having the strangely intense convo with a rodent and hovered just behind her right shoulder. "Is that squirrel wearing a satin ribbon?"
"Yes, he is. And it's pink."
"It's a he?"
"Yes and you should respect his life choices. Matthew Murdock, Tippy-Toe, Tippy-Toe, Matthew Murdock."
The squirrel bowed formally at him. "Nice to meet you?" Matt wondered if this was going to be a thing with Doreen making his perceptions of the world melt and turn sideways. Because, this felt like it was going to be a thing.
Doreen turned and peered up at him. "What's got you so down in the dumps?"
"What makes you think I'm down in the dumps?" Matt wondered.
"You're kind of leaking sulk all over the place," she noted.
"First, I don't think that sulk can be used that way and second I'm not leaking anything," absently he held out an arm.
Doreen contemplated the offered arm and shyly took it as he led her to a bench. "I can hear you rolling your eyes, Tippy-Toe."
Matt decided to ignore that for the sake of his own sanity.
They sat down together. Doreen sat as primly as she had the night they had met, feet crossed at an angle, hands folded on her knee. "Come on. Something vexes thee."
Matt slumped down. His lips twitched at her phrasing, "I have a case that I'm losing. Our evidence is evaporating and our witness was taken out because of bad shellfish."
"Hmm. Sounds like a conundrum." He could here Doreen biting her bottom lip in contemplation. "Okay, so how do you plan on swaying the jury? If you can't feed them facts until they bow to reason, you'll have feed them the truth till they bow to emotion…and jeeze. I really do sound like a character in a book. Is it creepy…I feel it should be creepy. Or at least off-putting."
Matt snorted, "It's neither creepy nor off-putting. I, myself, find it charming."
"Oh."
He grinned. Matt could practically feel the heat of her blush.
"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to reach the jury. Harvey Spector, the opposing council is…"
"A colossal jerk-face," Doreen finished for him.
He grunted in amusement.
"I've met the guy."
Matt sighed and pulled of his glasses and rubbed a tired hand across his eyes, "He's got everything and I'm gonna fail my client. The guy has lost so much already…"
"Hey…"Doreen trailed off.
"What? He could feel her stare.
"Your eyes might not be in working order but, they sure are pretty."
Oh. Matt smiled slowly.
Doreen squeaked. "I said that out loud? What's wrong with me?"
Matt laughed, "You complimenting me is not going to upset me, Doreen." It was nice actually. Most people thought his eyes were creepy.
"Having no super law powers I cannot help you legally gut open your opponents…so pep talk. Brace yourself Matthew.
A moment later her velvet and silk kitten hands were cradling his face. He sucked in a surprised gasp.
"Listen, you are prettier than Harvey Specter…"
Matt giggled. He couldn't help it.
"You are smarter. You are scads more cunning. You are braver and less face it in comparison to your excessive badassery…your opponent is kind of a wimp."
Being praised earnestly by Doreen after a day like today was like standing in sunlight after a week of cold heavy fog, he could feel the weariness melting of his bones.
"You are going to go in there and kick his ass so hard that for generations to come, lawyers of the future will look back upon it in fear and trembling and…and…I'm touching you! I'm touching you without your permission!"
And then she was gone.
Matt sighed. "I really didn't mind you touching me," he said to the empty space she had just been.
Tippy-Toe likes to feel pretty.
"Hi! My name is Deadpool and I'm here to pick a fight! Well, that's not actually the name on my birth certificate; it says my name is Wade. Deadpool is what they call me, well that and 'The Merc with a Mouth,' and 'That Utter Lunatic,' and my personal favorite, 'Not in the Face! Not in the Face!"
Daredevil swerved out of the way of an incoming jab, "Why are you picking a fight with me?" His newest opponents cheerful, malice free introduction baffled him a bit.
"I was bored and taking out the new superhero on the block for a spin seemed like a fun way to spend the evening," Deadpool shrugged.
"Huh," Daredevil knew that this was the truth. "I'm not a superhero…just a costumed vigilante." This according to Foggy was just being needlessly pedantic.
"Oh, don't be silly, you are totally a superhero," This time he got Daredevil in the gut. "You help the helpless," Deadpool kicked him in the kidney, "you stand up to bullies," Daredevil ducked under a roundhouse kick, "and you have an absolute plethora of issues including; but, not limited to, daddy issues, little to no self-preservation and a lack of self-worth, two alliterative names, and you totally have a origin story."
Deadpool cocked his head to the side, "You my ironically garbed friend are a member of the 'Save the World Club.'"
Daredevil swerved and leapfrogged over the madman's head. Deadpool fought like a drunken monkey on speed.
"You're not bad for someone with limited training. You're a lot better than the web-head that's for sure—don't get me wrong, the kid is all kinds of scrappy but he has no idea what he's doing," Deadpool said after a brutal ten minutes. "Let's see…Good Old Fisticuffs—solid foundation…ooohhh you've been trained by one of the Chaste."
Daredevil pushed himself up, "The who?"
Deadpool waved at him, "Give yourself a mo…and I'll be Mr. Exposition. The Chaste are an ancient order that were formed to combat the Hand, yet another ancient order…of evil ninjas."
"Oh, why not. Stick was never exactly forthcoming," Daredevil muttered.
"Stick…that & #%!" Deadpool sputtered.
How he was actually pronouncing comic swear symbols was baffling.
"I know it's baffling; however, our author is too much of a lady to put in many expletives in this story and I am a bit of a potty mouth on occasion." Deadpool explained.
"Who are you talking to?" Daredevil wondered for the merc had turned his back on him and was talking the brick wall.
"Our readers…you know the people on the other side of the fourth wall…never mind. You'll just go mad from the revelation if I explain it to you." Deadpool said.
"I think I can handle it."
"In other universes we're fictional characters."
"What?"
"And the author of this particular story is an adorably blond IT girl who is determined to improve the life of a certain blind, Catholic, vigilante lawyer guy because he's a sad puppy man. Nice of her," Deadpool said cheerfully. "And I totally researched you…don't worry I'll only attack you while you're wearing that hot little getup. Going after your secret identity would just be tacky. Like wearing socks with sandals. And it would make me look fat."
"Well, we wouldn't want that," Daredevil managed to mutter. He ignored imaginary Foggy's laughter. He was not a sad puppy man.
"Nice alliteration," Deadpool complemented.
"Thanks," said Daredevil.
"Thank you, Wade," said the author. She chewed on her red pen and tried to ignore her hunky hubby doing reps on the salmon ladder.
Daredevil looked around wildly. He was sure that for an unsettling moment that someone else had momentary joined the conversation.
"But, dude, Stick" Deadpool shook his head, "That guy was thrown out of the order. The Chaste are very into sayings like 'pain is weakness leaving the body' so as you can guess them throwing him out for a little peccadillo like excessive cruelty is a huge deal."
'Huh, that actually made a lot of sense,' Matt thought. Stick had many grandiose claims of inventing his own martial art. Clearly, he was full of bull.
"I know, right," Deadpool exclaimed. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not a mind reader. You just have a very expressive lower face…"
That was a relief.
"Have I entertained you enough for the evening…or do wanna go a few more rounds?" Daredevil asked plaintively.
Deadpool let out a chuckle, "You look like an angry kitty right now."
Daredevil scowled, "Do not." He winced. He sounded like a fourth grader.
"Awww, you just an adorable little cinnamon roll ain't cha?" Deadpool cooed.
"I don't know what that means."
"I like you. You're like made of equal parts man-pain and sass. So, I'm gonna give you some advice on how to survive the lifestyle you have chosen.
1. Take naps. Not just for toddlers.
2. Eat your vegetables. They are good for you.
3. Expand your skillset whenever you can.
4. Never! Utter the words; 'What could possibly go wrong,' it's like mooning fate.
5. Don't flirt with the significant others of the Avengers…it will end in pain.
6. Time travel is overrated. Avoid it.
Daredevil wondered if he had a concussion. It was the only way this nutjob's advice was sounding like sound rational advice.
7. Avoid getting into fights with the walking nukes like Captain America, Thor and Squirrel Girl…
"Wait, Squirrel Girl?" Daredevil shook his pounding head in bemusement. "I've met Squirrel Girl and while I'll admit she's one of the most dangerous women I've ever met I wouldn't call her a walking nuke."
Deadpool let out a whooping laugh that clanged against Daredevil's eardrums like sledgehammers. "First off…one of the most dangerous, no; she is in fact the most dangerous women you've ever met including the deadly ballerina, the daddy's girl and the Grimm Cinderella."
Daredevil parsed the curious descriptions. So, Natasha, Electra and…Karen? He wondered why the Grimm (he could hear the extra m) Cinderella seemed to fit Karen so very well. He'd ponder that later, when he wasn't bleeding quite so much in a dirty alleyway.
"Not only is she the most dangerous women you've ever met she's the most dangerous person you've ever met," the lunatic said.
"She beat you up didn't she?" Daredevil smiled.
Deadpool laughed. "Oh, yeah, multiple times and it was awesome," he let out a lascivious moan.
Daredevil lost the smile and clenched his fists. He could feel his fourth wind coming in.
"I'm totes fine with being beaten up with by a girl. It's one of my favorite kinks." Deadpool paused to let that sink in.
Suddenly, the idea of Squirrel Girl beating up Deadpool wasn't so fun.
"Also, I'm a feminist."
" Anywhooo, that's not why she's the most dangerous person you've ever met. It's not just that she's one of the most proficient martial artists on the planet or that she can painfully unalive you with her army of squirrel minions…it's how reality warps around her." Deadpool said with relish.
Daredevil pondered this with great skepticism.
"I can tell you're greatly skeptical. Trust me, that won't last. Have her in your life for any length of time and watch as probability rolls over for her benevolent whim. Any life that has Doreen Green in it will get better." The lunatic sounded strangely wistful. "Do you want her in your life Matty?"
"Yes!" Matt was surprised by his own enthusiasm. He barely knew her.
"Why?" Deadpool asked. The tone of the merc's voice was searching.
Matt shrugged uncomfortably under the other's intense gaze. "I like her. I don't care about any weird reality warping powers she may or may not have. Doreen makes things better just by being…Doreen."
Wade let laughed happily, "That is so the right answer," He patted the vigilante on the shoulder.
Matt grunted under the friendly assault.
"Sorry," Wade said apologetically. "Do you need help getting home?"
How is this, my life? "No, that's okay."
Deadpool nodded, "Well, that was a good first interview. You've got the job on a trial basis."
"What job?" Daredevil dreaded the answer.
"We'll talk again in our quarterly review or if someone hires me to poke you with a stick which let's face it is bound to happen in this story line." Deadpool wandered to the end of the alley paused and turned back and said, "Hey, if things go well with Squirrel Girl you can expect me for a truly spectacular shovel talk."
Shovel talk? Oh. Matt could feel himself start to blush. He hadn't blushed since he was twelve.
"The Future is the Past!" suddenly screamed Deadpool as he ran laughing into traffic. "ONWARDS AOSHIMA!"
"A nap sounds really good about now."
*Wade Wilson has a vacation home in Gravity Falls. He finds the town relaxing.
The brisk chill of autumn air was slipping into something chillier frost tinged winds played tag.
Matt planned on a quiet late afternoon going over legal briefs before attempting a quick nap before it was time to patrol. It was a nice thought…but he wasn't sure a nap would come easy. Maybe he should forego it and go straight to meditation. Yeah, that was probably a good idea. His latest round of injuries needed a bit extra.
He stopped nearly tripping over his own feet in astonishment. An unexpected person was exiting his stairwell.
"Matthew?"
It was the person he least expected.
"Doreen. Hi!" His lips twitched up in a smile. "Tippy-Toe," He nodded at the beribboned squirrel who was riding her boot like a divan chair.
The squirrel chittered politely at him. At least he assumed it was polite.
"Why are you at my apartment building?" He wondered. "Are you stalking me?" he teased.
She let out an annoyed huff and stomped her foot (Tippy-Toe squeaked in indignation), "Look, I don't know what you have heard…I didn't stalk Speedball."
"What?" Matt asked in bewilderment.
"Robbie Baldwin. He's one of Xavier's students and no matter what that emo little jerk has been telling people I wasn't stalking him. It's not my fault that's he's a perfect damsel in distress that constantly needs rescuing…My dorm was smashed to bits by a giant robot fight."
It was like she thought that giant robot fights were just a regular annoying thing. Of course, in Doreen World it probably was.
"Wait. This is your place." She sighed. "Tippy-Toe found it for me." She raised her foot and shook the squirrel on it. "Why did you park me next to him? Oh, don't give me that… you totally knew that this was where he lives."
The squirrel said something. He sounded amused.
Matt wondered if he should be worried that he was getting good at analyzing the moods of arboreal rodents. After some internal debate he decided that he had enough to worry about.
"I do not need looking after!" Doreen exclaimed indignantly. The squirrel let out a mocking squirrel laugh before hopping of the wobbling shoe and scaling the building.
"Objection," Doreen went still. Matt was suddenly a lot closer. "The defendant is perjuring herself."
"How so?" Doreen question came out a lot breathier then she probably intended.
Matt grinned. She had taken the apartment next to his. His sudden joy stung a bit in its intensity. "You absolutely need looking after."
She let out a vexed huff of air. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"Sweetheart, if I started on that list we'd be here all night." Matt told her mirthfully.
He knew her sudden intense stare was because of the endearment. Her heart actually skipped a beat. But then, this was Doreen and because this was Doreen she was going to ignore both the endearment and her reaction to it.
"I'm not that bad," she deferred.
"Everyone you'd ever known would disagree with you." Matt took in her outfit for the day. The inch of warm skin between her thigh high knitted socks and her short pleated be-ruffled wool plaid skirt would drive him crazy if he let it. And he took great care not to notice the way her cashmere sweater shifted between her curves and the weight of her short peacoat. He very carefully did not notice any of that.
The air changed. It wasn't the subtle shift that meant a storm was evident it was blatant.
Doreen looked up and sniffed the air. "Oh, boy."
"Yeah, that can't be good," Matt agreed taking in a whiff. It smelt like ozone and freezer burn.
"The sky is just filled with dark grey clouds that are glowing around the edges. It's gonna thunder snow. In a blizzard," Doreen said. She sniffed the air again, "It doesn't smell like magic, so maybe a person with powers, weird science or an alien artifact? This is really bad."
"Avengers bad? Do you think?" Matt frowned. Magic had a smell?
"Avengers team up with the Fantastic Four bad," Doreen corrected him.
Matt pushed his glasses up his nose, "That's really bad."
It began to snow.
Doreen made a strangled noise. "They look like cartoon snowflakes. You can see the fractal patterns."
It was of course that moment when all the power on the block flickered out.
"Yeah, that's just what we need," groused Doreen.
Matt hooked his arm around hers and pulled her towards his apartment building. "Well, we have no choice. In order to survive we're going to have to cuddle to survive the night."
"What!"
He pulled Doreen through his apartment door.
"That's not a coach, that's a very fancy rack," Doreen said of his leather and metal coach.
"It was on sale and my ex said it was stylish," Matt explained as he locked up and took off his overcoat.
She lightly kicked at one of its legs making a faint pinging sound, "Did this ex have reason to wish you crippling back trouble?"
"She wanted me to be anyone other than who I am," Matt said after a moment's thought.
Doreen laughed lowly, "I know what that feels like."
She spun in a circle and pulled of her messenger bag and plopped it on the aforementioned coach. "So, I take that the lifesaving cuddling won't be taking place on the coach of fleshly mortification?"
Matt put his cane in the umbrella stand and leaned against the wall, "I won't subject you to that, no."
"I could handle it. I've slept in trees." Doreen said quickly.
"The bed is more comfortable and I promise to behave myself."
"But, I…" panic made her voice hitch.
"Doreen, do you trust me?" Matt asked with an artful drop of hurt.
"Yes, more than anyone…"Doreen gasped and brought her hands up to cover her face and rocked back and forth.
Oh, yeah. She actually said that. Matt was never going to let her forget it. Doreen's extreme reaction was probably because she hadn't really known him for all that long. Nevertheless, it was the truth. Matt reveled in that for a moment.
"Make yourself at home. Let your tail out."
Her tail snaked its way out of her skirt and puffed up like a dandelion.
He loosened his tie, "I'm going to change into something more comfortable."
She let out a muffled squeak and removed her hands from her face. "Matthew, do you mean to sound like a femme fatale from an old movie?"
Somewhere Foggy is laughing at him and doesn't know why.
The temperature was rapidly dropping.
Doreen free of her peacoat and boots is restlessly shifting from socked foot to socked foot as Matt, wearing sweatpants and a Henley, smooths yet another comforter onto the bed.
"Just how many blankets do you own?"
"Like twenty-something. Apparently, I'm hard to shop for." Matt pulled the large the bedding back and slid in. He took off his glasses and put them on the nightstand with the cell phone.
He patted the bed. "Come to bed, Doreen."
"I, uh, this is weird," she muttered. Doreen hesitantly sat on the bed slipping her legs underneath heavy covers. "Oh. Silk sheets…fancy."
"Can I see you?"
"What?"
Matt waved a hesitant hand in the air, "It isn't a line…I want to know if you look like you do in my head."
Doreen pushed an errant lock behind an ear. "I guess if you really want to." She turned and tilted her face upwards.
He breathed deeply and stopped his hands from trembling. He gently cupped her right cheek with his hand and ghosted over her forehead with his other. Matt smiled as her scent subtly changed. He outlined her ears and mapped out her nose and chin. Her lips were rose petal soft and warm and more than a little perfect.
He really wanted to kiss her.
Reluctantly, he dropped his hands to his lap.
"So, what's the verdict?"
Matt smiled, "Yours is a face I would never get tired of looking at."
He just knew she was blushing.
Doreen sighed softly, "Goodnight, Matthew."
"Goodnight Doreen."
Matt was curled around her tiny body, his hand pressed up to her stomach and his face against her side of her neck and her tail looped around his leg. They slept like children sleep; deeply and without care, in a dream that loneliness couldn't touch.
Matt Murdock would never share this memory with anybody.
"I find myself becoming greedy."
_The Matt Murdock Soundtrack_
1. Daredevil Main theme: Daredevil OST
2. God's Gonna Cut You Down: Johnny Cash
3. World on Fire: Les Friction
4. Take me to Church: Hozer
5. It Can't Rain all the Time: Jane Siberry
6. To the Stars: Instrumental from the movie Dragonheart
7. Hurt: Johnny Cash
8. I'm so lonesome I could cry: Hank Williams
9. The Day thou Gravest: Evensong Hymn
10. With a Little Help from My Friends: The Beatles (or Joe Cocker)
11. I Won't Back Down: Tom Petty
12. Hell's Bells: AC/DC
13. Let It Be: The Beatles
14. Demons: Imagine Dragons
15. Papa Can You Hear Me: Lea Michele
16. Comfortable Numb: Pink Floyd
17. Bad Reputation: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
18. Being Alive: John Barrowman/ Company
19. Carry On My Wayward Son: Kansas
20. Holding Out For a Hero: Bonnie Tyler
21. Sinnerman: Nina Simone
22. Kung Fu Fighting: Carl Douglas
23. Calling all Angels: Jane Sibarry
24. The Sound of Silence: Simon & Garfunkel
25. No Hiding Place: Babylon 5 OST
26. When the Man Comes Around: Johnny Cash
27. Rock of Ages: Def Leppard
28. How to Save a Life: The Fray
29. Heroes: David Bowie
_Doreen Green Soundtrack_
1. 'I Am the Doctor': The Eleventh Doctor's Theme
2. Brave: Sara Bareilles
3. The Prayer of St. Francis: Sarah McLachlan
4. Fight Like a Girl: Emilie Autumn
5. Fight Song: Rachel Platten
6. Do You Believe in Magic: Aly & AJ
7. Back to Black: Amy Winehouse
8. Survivor: Destiny's Child
9. Hallelujah: Jeff Buckley
10. Roar: Katy Perry
11. Everything is Awesome: The Lego Movie OST
12. Hold On: Sarah McLachlan
13. Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You): Kelly Clarkson
14. Safe and Sound: Taylor Swift (Hunger Games)
15. The Rainbow Connection: The Muppet Movie OST
16. Dare you to Move: Switchfoot
17. Beautiful: Christina Aguilera
18. Walking On Sunshine: Katrina & The Waves
19. It's My Life: Bon Jovi
20. The Call: Regina Spektor
21. All Star: Smash Mouth
22. Happy: Pharrell Williams
23. S.I.M.P. (Squirrels In My Pants): 2 Guyz N the Parque (Phineas and Ferb)
24. Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole
25. Cherry Bomb: The Runaways
26. Kick Ass: MIKA & RedOne
27. Because I'm Awesome: The Dollyrots
28. Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys
29. Perfect By Pink
_The Matt and Doreen Soundtrack_
1. When I Fall in Love: Nat King Cole
2. Eternal Flame: The Bangles
3. At Last: Etta James
4. I Can't Help Falling In Love with You: Elvis Presley
5. Power of Love: Luther Vandross
6. Unchained Melody: The Righteous Brothers
7. I Don't Want To Miss A Thing: Aerosmith
8. We Belong: Pat Benatar
9. Iris: Goo Goo Dolls
10. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles): The Proclaimers
11. So Close: Enchanted OST
12. Semi-Charmed Life: Third Eye Blind
13. Stand By Me: Ben E. King
14. A Thousand Years: Christina Perri
15. Breathing: Lifehouse
16. Arms: Christina Perri
17. Your Song: Ellie Goulding
18. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
19. Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
20. I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden
21. When You Say Nothing at All by Alison Krauss
22. I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders
23. All of Me by John Legend
24. Fix You by Coldplay