An alternate universe where Jack Murdock survived and became a police officer and inadvertently engineers a meet-cute between his son, Matt Murdock and poor bystander Foggy.
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Officer Jack Murdock wasn't the biggest fan of protests, especially when they got this bad.
Thankfully that Matty was busy studying for his final exams, and therefore unlikely to be anywhere near the area, Jack waded north through the crowd (who seemed to be getting angrier and more and more frustrated).
The higher-ups had decided that this entire protest was getting a little out of hand, with more and more people trying to start a riot, starting fires, trying to rob stores or getting injured, which is when Jack received word that they were going to deploy tear gas.
Quickly, he pulled his gas mask over his face, which caught the attention of the surrounding protesters.
Some left and some jeered.
Privately, he decided that the jeerers probably hadn't had experience with tear gas… they wouldn't be stood here still if they had.
A whiz… a clang… and then a hissing sound and tear gas spilled from a canister in a white cloud not twenty feet from Jack.
More canisters go flying and soon, the air was so thick with gas, Jack could hardly see despite the mask protecting his eyes. As he stepped forwards, he heard retching and choking from someone low down, creeping forwards until his boots bumped up against something soft.
Kneeling down, he found a boy – a teenager, around Matty's age. He was wearing a WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED t-shirt, long blonde hair hanging around his face as he wheezed and rubbed frantically at his eyes.
"Hey, hey, hey…" Jack gently grabbed the boy's hands, "… that'll only make it worse."
The poor boy's eyes were bloodshot, spilling over with tears…. It was familiar to the look on his son's face after he was blinded, wide-eyed and completely in shock.
Jack was hit with a sudden protective instinct that he subdued, helping the young man to his feet and practically carrying him south towards the clean air. Once they were well out of the way, and the boy's breathing eased, Jack gently helped him to the ground, removing his gas mask.
"Are you alright?"
"N-not really…" the boy said, tears streaming down his face, "I can't see a thing-it's all just a blur! Why does this h-hurt so much?!"
It was quite nice to see a kid this age who wasn't trying to act tough. Tear gas felt like someone was repeatedly using your eyeball to light matches. "I know it hurts kid… lie down, and we'll try and rinse your eyes out."
Jack unclipped the small bottle of water from his belt and poured it over the kid's eyes until he was sure that the worse of it was over…. And then the kid sat up and cursed slightly. "Crap, crap, crap… you're a cop! I swear, I wasn't actually part of all that, I just got caught up in it all and- "
"-Calm down. Calm down."
"Please don't arrest me, I'm studying to be a lawyer, and they'll kick me out, and then I'll be forced to work in the family butchers shop, and I really don't like handling raw meat, it's disgusting and- "
Jack shook his head, slightly amused by the kid's rambling. "- Calm down kid, you're not under arrest. How old are you?"
"… Nineteen."
"In that case, I'm taking you home." The poor kid just got tear-gassed, with tears still streaming down his cheeks; Jack wasn't going to leave him to navigate the subway or get a taxi all by himself.
The kid shook his head in denial, trying to force down a coughing fit.
"Look, you say you're part of all this… but there's nothing for you to accomplish here except getting arrested for real or tear-gassed again."
"No, no, no…. I meant that I can go home by myself! Aren't you too busy?!"
"Nah, call it my good deed of the day."
"… Aren't cops always meant to do good deeds?"
Jack rose his eyebrow at the kid, "Future lawyer you say?"
"…. Sorry."
"What's your name kid?"
"Foggy."
"… Right. Okay Foggy, my name's Officer Murdock. Let's get you home."
Foggy followed Jack back to his patrol car, rattling off his address eagerly before they set off. As they headed down the road, Jack's phone rang, the sound echoing throughout the car.
"Call from Matty," the car then helpfully informed him.
"Answer."
"Are you okay?" Matt sounded really concerned, "I was having a quick break and the news said that the riots had gotten out of hand."
"We've had this conversation before Matty…" Jack sighed fondly, "… I'm the father, it's my job to worry, not yours."
"When have I listened to you before?" There was a faint tremble in Matt's voice that he couldn't quite mask.
"Well, I'm fine… I'm actually helping a kid about your age back home, far away from the riots, so it's all safe here."
"Really… he cute?"
"And he's on speaker phone Matty."
As Matt winced audibly over the phone, Foggy beamed, straightening up in his seat. "I'm cute… sorta… like an overweight Labrador!"
There was a pause, lasting around half a second before Matt spoke up again, "That… that does sound cute… you sound cute."
"As fun as it is to listen to my son flirt with a complete stranger…"
"We should go and grab coffee together!" Foggy continued, not seeming to notice that Jack was talking, "You live in the city, right?"
"R-right, but- "
"- Please? We don't even have to call it a date if you don't want!"
"I'm blind!"
Jack remained tense, hands tightening on the steering wheel. If this punk-ass kid rejected his boy just because he was blind then-
"Wait… Matty and Officer Murdock… you're Matthew Murdock! The kid who saved that old man from crossing the road and got his peepers knocked out!"
"They're weren't knocked out!" "They weren't knocked out." Both Matt and Jack exclaimed, one sounding more annoyed than the other.
"Oh… sorry. But dude, you're a hero! Please, please say yes to the date idea!"
"Uh, y-yeah okay!"
Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Great! Where's your nearest Starbucks… or none specific coffee shop? I can meet you there!"
As Matty eagerly gave him the address, Jack pulled up in front of the apartment building that Foggy had directed him to.
"Thanks Officer!" Foggy exclaimed, before turning his attention back to the phone, "Hey, I'm at my home now, but I'll see you later, right? Wait, unintentional seeing joke, I didn't mean it!"
Matty laughed, "It's okay… most people treat me like glass. I hate that. I'll… meet up with you soon."
"It's a date!" Foggy waved cheerily at Jack as he strode up the drive, not seeming to notice how stunned the policeman was.
"Woah…" Jack muttered, pulling away, "… What just happened Matty?"
"The best thing ever." Matt sounded very smug, "The best thing ever!"