The city stank of hot garbage and weed. Traces of iron and sweat snuck their way in, too. It bled together, mixing and staining the air. The whole thing left a fairly distinct impression on anyone unfortunate enough to walk through the steam that rose from the concrete. The scent of Hell's Kitchen sunk it's way into every wall, every slab of concrete, every surface it could touch. It was inescapable, and Alex couldn't help but sneer at the dark city around her for daring to sink its scent into her.
Alex's old boots slapped against the concrete as she made her way towards the drop off point. The fluorescent street lights danced in front of her as her only source of light, the shop lights having been shut off at least an hour ago. She shrugged her backpack up more snugly against her shoulders as she rubbed at her nose, trying to brush away the offending scent. Her dark hair stuck to her sweaty forehead, feeling the sweat stick her back to her old hoodie she had to keep on to hide her face. The whole thing was all too familiar. Still, she felt her hand sink into her pocket and curl around the pepper spray she had tucked away whenever she went out on jobs. On the upside, it was the last one of the night, and the smallest.
Turning a corner, Alex made her way into the alleyway she'd told Tommy to meet her in. Of course, he was already there. The gangly man leaned against the brick wall, fingers twitching in anticipation. She could practically smell him a block away, with his rotten teeth and clear lack of access to running water, the stench he gave off practically made Alex tear up. Still, she kept her face as slack as she could while she approached the man.
"What's up, Tommy?"
The man whipped his head towards her, big blue eyes wide and already tinged red. He looked at her like a desperate dog, leaning towards her. Even his shaggy blonde hair gave off the impression of being a sad, abandoned puppy.
"You got it?" he slobbered.
Alex felt her face fall into a scowl, lifting an eyebrow irritably at the junkie in front of her. "What, no polite conversation? Chivalry really is dead."
"Have you got it?", Tommy demanded desperately.
"Jesus, yes", the girl groaned, sliding her backpack off of her shoulders and digging her hands inside, "Have I ever let you down?"
"Yeah, yeah, you're right", the man giggled like a child, probably already high off of something.
Alex sighed as she felt her hands wrap around the plastic inside her pack. With little hesitation, she lifted up the little plastic baggie filled to the brim with white powder. She quickly threw the now-empty pack back over her shoulder. She could see Tommy practically leaping forward at the sight, arms outstretched in a childlike grab for the powder. Just as he was about to snatch it, Alex pulled it just out of his reach, holding her hand out against his chest to hold him back.
"Uh-uh, not so fast, Dopey", she stated, shoving him back with little effort, "You owe me."
Tommy's blonde hair fell in greasy sheets over his eyes as he hunched over. His beady eyes flicked all over Alex's face as if he were trying to find a proper answer somewhere in it. "Uh, I have- I have the money. I just need to- uh-"
"You know the deal", Alex cut him off, "No money, no coke."
"But I-"
"No buts", she commanded, her voice losing any traces of humor, "I don't fuck around with this, Tommy. Give me two grand and you get your fix. I don't do payment plans."
Tommy's face twisted, turning bright red. His screwed lips opened only for flecks of spit to fly right out. "Fucking cunt!"
Swiping a stray fleck of spit right off of her cheek, Alex shrugged, unphased by the whole thing. "Alright, then. Guess you don't need this shit after all."
It was as if a switch was flipped for the junkie. His stiff, furious posture quickly slackened into a strange sort of pathetic hunch. He swiped at his lips to try and wipe away the spit, his feet shifting nervously underneath him. Big blue eyes bore into Alex's as he shifted closer to her.
"No! No, I- I've got the money. Please, just- I've got it."
He quickly dug into his pockets, producing several crumpled fifties and hundreds that looked to have something sticky on some of their surfaces that shone under the bare traces of the street lights. Alex felt her nose scrunch in disgust at the state of the money. It almost looked like he'd wiped his snot on them. But that didn't really matter
"There's a good boy", she simpered with a slack face, "Now say you're sorry.'
"What?"
Alex felt her lips curl into a smirk, still holding the coke just out of reach. "I said say you're sorry. You learn this crap in kindergarten, you don't get your toys back unless you apologize."
The words seemed to pass straight through the junkie's head. He twitched slightly and couldn't seem to stand steady on his feet.
"C'mon, Tommy", she insisted, "You don't want the Devil to drop in on us while you're making up your mind."
"Fine I'm- I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry", the junkie pleaded, sweat beading on his forehead and skin turning pink, "Please just… just give me my stuff."
Alex felt her smirk fall from her face. She felt her chest constrict and fingers tighten on the little baggie still clutched just above her head. Looking over at the man sweating and begging made her feel sick. He looked so miserable, so desperate, so familiar. Feeling her arm drop down to her side, Alex quickly pushed the feeling down and secured a carefully neutral expression on her face, eyes locking with the junkie in front of her.
"God, all you had to do was ask", she grumbled, tossing him the baggie that he clumsily caught and held to his chest, "Pleasure doing business as always."
Without so much as a thank you, Tommy turned on his heel and ran down the alleyway, leaving Alex standing alone in the bare traces of the fluorescent street lights. "…and he doesn't even say goodbye. What a fucking gentleman."
Looking down at the crumpled bills in her fist, the dark haired woman carefully started to count them. Bits of what felt like melted candy stuck to her fingers from the disgusting paper bills. Cursing, she realized that Tommy had come up nearly a hundred short. Again.
Alex threw a look over her shoulder. Then again down the alley. Careful to note that no one else was around to watch her, she pulled her backpack down and unzipped the front pocket where she kept her own money. Riffling through the carefully stacked bills, Alex snatched a single hundred and crumpled it in her fist. Satisfied that it looked like something Tommy would produce, she released her grip on the money and slipped it into Tommy's pile.
With a few muttered swears, Alex slung her backpack securely over her shoulders and made her way out of the alley and back into the street. The hot, sticky air clung to her skin as she carefully calculated which streets to take back to her home. She couldn't risk being seen by a cop, and it would be worse if she ran into another gang member. They weren't exactly known for being amicable, and she wasn't in the mood to be interrogated about her deals tonight. So she kept to the back streets and areas she knew for sure weren't going to have any deals tonight.
The walk was long. A solid half hour of zig zagging back and forth from one back alley to another. Alex scratched at her skin, feeling sweat and dirt sticking underneath her nails as she did. Soon enough, she saw the red painted door of her apartment building. It barely stood out amongst the other run down doors and buildings, but it was easy to spot for Alex. Unfortunately, standing just beside the front window was the lanky, meticulously groomed Brendon Lynch.
Alex held back a groan as she saw a cigarette dangling from his smirking lips while he looked over at her. His overpriced jacket hung over his sharp shoulders and skinny body. He leaned back on his heels, running his fingers through is overly-greased hair like he owned the whole city block. Barely two years older than her, the man still had the air of a spoiled teenager, which was only tolerated because he was the son of one of the most powerful men in the Irish mob. Well- the new one. That, and he had a penchant for being liberal with his use of a switchblade. He'd been worse since Wilson Fisk brought his father's small time gang deep into Hell's Kitchen's crime syndicate, and even worse when Fisk fell nearly a month ago, leaving a crime vacuum in the city for them to fill.
"Well hello, Lexi", he simpered, smoke puffing out from his lips as his beady eyes raked her up and down, "How's your night going?"
Alex rolled her eyes at the nickname he never ceased to use with her.
"What did I say about coming to my apartment, Brendon?" she demanded, already feeling her face heat up at the sight of the man sauntering in front of her, "What are you doing here?"
The man shrugged, his lanky figure seeming to ripple down as he did. The smoke dispersed around his sharp, smiling face. "Thought the door was always open for me?"
"Ready and waiting to slam straight in your face", the girl sniped back, "My home is off limits."
"Whatever", he shrugged her off, completely ignoring Alex, "Had to make sure you didn't run off with the money."
Alex felt her face screw up in indignation, lips tight and nostrils flared. Ripping the backpack off of her shoulders, she quickly dug her hand in and held out the wads of cash from the night's jobs. A solid twelve thousand dollars stuck together with Tommy's loose bills sticking to the otherwise organized stack. "Go screw yourself. I've got your fucking money."
Brendon stuck his cigarette back between his lips. "I just thought-"
"I have the money."
"Clearly", the greasy man conceded, though not without a condescending grin spreading on his lips. He turned his beady eyes back to the stack of cash, skillfully counting the bills quickly and cleanly. His smirk turned downward into a petulant frown. "Well, looks like you had a weak haul today."
"It's a Wednesday", Alex shrugged, throwing her pack back over her shoulder, "Corporate douches usually stock up on Thursdays before their big business trips."
"And yet those corporate douches seem to love to buy from you", he responded, turning his eyes on her again, "Can't be the looks. Must be your sparkling personality."
Alex silently tried to keep her temper in check. She only had so much room to insult him, and she was very careful not to cross that line. Everyone knew what Brendon did to people who pushed him too far, or just annoyed him too much. And everyone knew his father would cover up for his rabid dog of a son.
"Tommy tried to come up short." she provided, jaw tight as she did.
The other man's brows rose up in interest. It hadn't been the first time this particular junkie had tried to hustle them. "Did you cover him?"
"What do you think?" she countered, trying to keep her eyes from flicking around and giving herself away, "Count the money."
"Why do you always have to be so bitchy to me?"
Alex felt her nose wrinkle in annoyance. "Just an idea, but maybe I'm a bitch."
"Maybe you should get it pounded out of you…" he simpered, leaning forward suggestively. His hands reached for Alex's hips, fingers barely brushing her before she took a defiant step back.
"Didn't you just call me ugly?" she spat, feeling her muscles clench in protest against his touch.
"Never said ugly, Lexi", he said in what was half reassurance and half demand, "Sometimes you just gotta take what you can get."
He reached out and firmly gripped her just above the hip, squeezing her flesh like he wanted to mark her with his fingerprints. Alex nearly gagged, the scent of nicotine thick on his breath and the feel of his hands on her leaving a disgusting feeling that she couldn't name. She quickly shoved his hand off of her, stepping back and carefully averting her gaze. It'd only piss him off more if she looked him in the eyes.
"What are you doing here, Brendon?"
Throwing his hands up in playful defeat, the tall man sauntered back. "Fine. I'll get to the point. I've got another job for you tonight."
"I'm off the clock", she stated simply, turning towards her door.
Before she could even take a step, she felt a hand grip her arm harshly and wrench her backwards. Alex swallowed a cry of surprise as she felt her feet drag and she was held right in front of the lanky man once again.
"I never said it was optional", he spat, his grip tightening on her arm, "You don't want me telling them you're living up to your family name, now do you?"
Alex's entire body froze. She felt her skin heat up and she would bet that her face had turned bright red. She knew what that threat meant, her mother and friend's faces flashing in her mind. She was practically biting the insides of her lips to keep herself from ripping into the spoiled piece of shit in front of her. Instead, she stood shock still, fists clenched and fighting to keep herself silent.
The whole image seemed to flip Brendon's mood almost instantly. His sneer turned into his usual smirk that made him look like an asshole. He leaned forward, levelling his gaze with hers.
"There you go", he muttered, eyes falling down to her red cheeks and tight lips in a way that made Alex's skin crawl, "That's how I like you. Maybe you should practice keeping your mouth shut. I'll help you if you like."
Alex nearly gagged, but kept herself in check. She stared down the man in front of her and saw that he was quickly losing interest in her lack of response. Pulling himself back up to full height, he gazed down at her with what could only be described as sick interest. He shot her a smile that he seemed to think was charming while finally letting go of her arm. The skin throbbed and Alex knew that it would leave a bruise later.
"The job's on 11th and 53rd", he provided as if he hadn't just threatened her, "Two other guys are gonna be there."
"Who?", she managed to croak out, keeping her gaze to the side.
"Jack and Noah", he replied.
Alex couldn't hold in a scoff at the names. "Those two are morons."
"Clearly", Brendon chuckled, shrugging and sliding his hands in his pockets, "That's why I need you there. Jack's shit at math and Noah has a tendency to get a little happy with his fists. And this buyer is someone my pops wants to keep around."
"Some corporate piece of shit, I'm guessing?"
"You always were a sharp one, Lexi", Brendon smirked, jerking his chin in the direction of the deal, "You better get a move on. Deal's in less than thirty minutes. The boys already have the goods. Don't want those two shitheads screwing it up before you get there."
Feeling her throat contract, Alex swallowed and nodded. She kept her gaze away from Brendon, choosing instead to walk around him and head in the direction of the job. The small gesture only made her angrier. But still she kept her mouth shut. She couldn't afford to piss him off more tonight, and she didn't have the energy to fight.
The place was by the park, just a few dozen feet from the entrance. Just secluded enough to not draw attention but not popular enough with junkies to be suspicious. Alex figured it must be someone with money if they wanted to meet there. Someone who didn't want to be seen. She could understand the desire. However, she couldn't bring herself to care much. All she needed to do was get through the deal, put up with Jack and Noah for less than ten minutes, and get home.
She got to the drop quickly, seeing both men loitering around a park bench that was one seat away from breaking apart. Noah had a joint stuck between his lips and Jack was messing around on his phone, leaning against a car that must have been left behind by someone at the bar only a block away. Alex scoffed, noting they looked more like bored high school students than anyone who could hold their own in a deal.
"Hey, shitheads!", she called out carefully, "You got what we need?"
A boyish smile spread across Jack's pale face. His brown curls fell over his forehead, making him look much younger than he was. "Ready whenever."
"Got the stuff right here", Noah cut in, hoisting up a tattered backpack with way too much pride.
"Okay, put that away", Alex hissed, swatting the backpack away from her, "Look, we're just gonna go through with the deal and get out of here. No fucking after party, okay? In and out."
Both men shrugged, barely listening to her. She rolled her eyes, not expecting much else. Instead, all three of them waited for the buyer in annoyed silence.
They remained like that for ten minutes. Then twenty. Minutes ticked by as Alex waited for the buyer. Nervous, she looked down the darkened street in the hopes that someone would be walking down.
"Where the hell is this guy?", Noah groaned, grinding the stub of his joint under his heel, "He was supposed to be here, like, an hour ago."
"Maybe he got jumped?" Jack provided dumbly.
Alex chuckled, glaring over at the curly haired man across from her. "Last I checked, all the criminals are right here."
Stepping up away from the car, Jack sneered over at Alex. "Watch it, bitch. This is our deal."
"Yeah?" Alex, not at all scared by this guy, stepped right up to him. They were the same height, which made it easy to look a little more intimidating. "Well, I'm the only one who knows what the hell she's doing. You may be the one selling, but I'm the one running this deal."
"Just because you're Brendon's fucking pet project doesn't mean you get to take over our operations."
"No", Alex simpered, "You two being incompetent junkies means I get to take over. I'm in deeper than either of you, and I don't plan of having you two screw up everything I've had to work for. Get it?"
Jack seemed to slump under her gaze, pouting as he took a step back from her. Alex couldn't help the flicker of satisfaction in her chest as she watched him back down.
In hindsight, Alex would later come to note that her biggest mistake was that one stupid statement.
Still holding onto the satisfaction of shutting Jack up, the dark haired woman almost missed the rustling behind her. Whipping her head around, Alex felt her brows pull together at the noise, which had quickly disappeared. "Did you guys hear that?"
"What?" Jack sneered, "Getting nervous now, boss?"
Despite the fact that she could have shaken it off and put Jack in his place again, Alex couldn't help the little chill up her spine. She knew all too well what happened to criminals when they stayed out too late in Hell's Kitchen. "I- I think we need to leave."
"You scared of a little noise?" Jack continued to taunt her. Alex whipped her head around to glare over at the man.
"Hey man, lay off", Noah slurred, high off his ass.
"Look, they buyer's clearly not coming", Alex insisted, feeling her hair stand on end, "Let's just go-"
Suddenly, out of the dark, a hand reached out and grabbed Jack by the back of his jacket. Alex couldn't help the scream that ripped its way out of her throat when she saw the figure grabbing Jack slam him down into the concrete. Noah was screaming just a few feet from her, too sluggish and high to move quickly enough to get out of the way. With Jack clutching his head on the ground, the figure stepped up into the streetlight towards Noah.
Alex felt her eyes widen as she realized who was attacking, the one who had given everyone working on the streets nightmares for almost a year: Daredevil.
Stumbling back as quickly as she could, Alex started running as fast as she could down the street. As she did, she turned her head for a second to see if the devil was pursuing her, only to feel her toes slam into a large crack in the sidewalk. She fell hard onto the ground, the skin on the heels of her hands ripping up as she tried to break her fall. She tumbled down, her whole body rolling against the uneven and sharp concrete. Her knee slammed into the ground with an audible rip, her jeans ripping apart on impact. Alex let out a yelp as she felt her knee burn and blood trickle down her calf. Desperate, she tried to push herself up, but felt her leg give out as she tried to put weight on it. Feeling her breathing become more ragged and panicked, she noticed a car not too far from her. Quickly, she dragged herself behind the car, curling in on herself to try and make herself as indistinguishable as possible.
"Holy shit", she gasped, feeling like her heart was going to beat straight out of her ribcage, "Holy shit- holy shit!"
Peering cautiously around the side of the car, Alex tried to see what was happening. It was too dark to see who was who in the fight, and she quickly gave up on it. It was all drowned out in the sounds of fists on jaws and bones breaking. Instead she tried to keep her breathing under control as she pressed herself bruisingly close against the tire of the car. She knew she had to get out, and get out fast. Nodding to herself and trying to build up the courage to run, she brought herself up to her knees. She winced as she tried to put weight on her knee, feeling the blood running down her leg at an worrying rate.
Apparently Jack had the same idea. He was dumber than a pile of bricks but apparently had the brains to try and run. Looking up, she saw that his face was beaten badly, blood pouring out of his nose and mouth.
Suddenly, a body flew into the windshield just behind her, the feet slamming carelessly into the back of Jack's head. Alex screamed, curling in on herself and shaking as glass flew over her and stuck in her hair. The body tumbled down off of the hood of the car right next to her, forcing Alex to see Noah's bloody, open face. She could feel bile rising in her throat at the sight of it. Jack crumpled down under him, crying out in pain as he tried to push Noah's heavy body off of him.
Then, out of the darkness, was the black clad vigilante himself. Moving quickly and precisely, he kneeled down and delivered a harsh blow to Jack's head, knocking him out cold. Alex pressed herself further against the car, her heart rate out of control. Then, slowly, she saw Daredevil's partially covered face turn towards her.
Terrified, Alex scrambled backwards towards the street, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and the vigilante. Her ragged breath ripped through her throat as she watched Daredevil easily make his way over to her and grab her by the front of her hoodie, hauling her up onto her feet and slamming her back into the side of the car. Alex let out a short scream, starting to lose it.
"Be quiet", he demanded, his voice surprisingly low and quiet, "I have a few questions."
"W-what?", Alex manages to stutter, her arms going up instinctively to try and dissuade the black clad man from hurting her, "I d- I don't know what you-"
"Who reports to Fisk?"
The dark haired girl stopped shaking for a millisecond, instead looking up at the vigilante confused. "Wh-what?"
"Your organization", he elaborated, voice unnervingly even, "You worked for Fisk before he went under. Who keeps tabs on his orders?"
Alex felt her chest contracting, truly unsure of what she had to say to escape this situation. She racked her brain, remembering only snippets of Brendon bragging about something to do with Fisk. "I don't- I don't know anything. I swear, I- I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Weren't you just saying you were the one running the deal?'
Feeling her mouth open and shut like a gaping fish, Alex had no response.
Daredevil's partially covered face tilted to the side. "It's not a good idea to lie to me. You mentioned someone named Brendon. Who is he?"
Part of Alex told her to tell him everything, but the rest of her knew the consequences of that. But they were hard to focus on with the Devil himself staring her in the face.
"I c- I can't. I swear, I don't know any-"
Suddenly, Daredevil's gloved hand lifted up into a fist and slammed into the car window just an inch away from Alex's face. She screamed, snapping her head away as quickly as she could. She felt tears spill involuntarily from her eyes, crying out and trying to regain her breath.
"I said", the man said lowly, face only a few inches from her own, "don't lie to me."
"O-okay!", she sputtered, feeling spit flying from her mouth and snot running from her nose. This always happened when she started crying. Shakily, she raised her gaze to the black mask, her entire body shaking violently. "He- he's the boss's son. He's in charge of the- the small time deals. Coke, heroin, th-that sorta stuff."
"Is that all you've got?"
"I- I really don't-", she pleaded, her words choppy and shaky, "I can't say- please don't hurt me. I can't say anything!"
Alex could see Daredevil's brows pulling down underneath the mask, his lips tugging into a deeper frown.
Tightening his grip on her shirt and pressing her further against the car, his lips parted, a scowl on his face.
"What's your name?" he demanded.
"Alex", she panted, too terrified to say anything other than the truth.
She watched at the vigilante's head tilted by a fraction of an inch, face turned towards her as if he were trying to memorize her. Her heart pounded against her chest, feeling as if he were committing her to memory. The whole thing felt off, making her stomach twist.
"We're not done."
Then, without warning, he slammed her back against the car and let go of her hoodie. Without the vigilante holding her up, Alex collapsed onto the ground, her leg throbbing as she did. She didn't take her eyes off of him for a second, seeing him retreat into a darkened alley not even twenty feet away. The black outfit made him blend into the shadows, making him indistinguishable from the darkness around them.
Not needing to stick around much longer, Alex scrambled to her feet, ignoring the throbbing all the way down her leg. She broke into a half run-half limp out of the park as quickly as she could. She ran all the way back to her apartment, slamming her shoulder into the door in her haste to get inside. She stumbled up the stairs, making her way to her door. With shaking fingers, she pulled out her key and barely managed to slide it into the lock before nearly falling straight down onto her floor.
She slammed the door behind her, locking it and putting on the deadbolt. Feeling her heart still racing, Alex leaned against the door and slid down onto the ground. Attempting to get her breath under control, she pressed her head into her hands as the smell of blood soaked into the air.
She had no idea why he had questioned her, or if the vigilante really would have hurt her. She was tall, but skinny to the point of looking like a good gust of wind would snap her in half. She was small time, no one important to anything or anyone. Besides, it would have looked really bad for him to beat up a woman if nothing else.
We're not done.
His words rang in her ears. She had no idea what that meant. Could he find her? Had he followed her home? How stupid was she for running straight home. She could have lead him right to her.
Alex sat like that for nearly an hour, not knowing that this terror and confusion would only last until the next night. It would only take a day for her to run into the Devil of Hell's Kitchen again.
A/N: So guess who needed to fill a Matt Murdock sized hole in her heart. This girl!
Just a note that I'm using the black ninja outfit for this fic because, to be perfectly honest, I didn't like the daredevil outfit too much. Just thought I'd mention that. Also can't wait to introduce you all to my newest child, Alex Moreno.
I promise I'm updating Out In The Wild soon. This story just took over my brain.