A/N: My first fanfic so please be nice to me! Reupload due to minor formatting changes

Matt Murdock was a pretty badass guy: blind lawyer by day; the man without fear by night. That was the way it used to be. All that had changed. Matt had fought his last villain, but at an unfortunate cost.

It all occurred on a dark, cold night, four years previously. It was the coldest winter that New York City had experienced in over fifty years. The poor infrastructure of Hell's Kitchen meant it was hit even worse. Homeless people were dying rapidly and the crime rate increased as food shortages pushed people over the edge. Matt was working in overdrive to help keep the people of Hell's Kitchen safe. It was only a matter of time until someone used the chaos of the food shortage to his or her advantage.

Wilson Fisk, also known as Kingpin, decided to make use of such an advantageous development. He knew that Daredevil was being overworked trying to prevent petty crime. He saw an opportunity to make a profit from the misfortune of Hell's Kitchen and cure his organisation of the thorn in its side once and for all. And so Fisk began to control the majority of food imported into Hell's Kitchen that winter. He took over various enterprises and gained influence throughout the city, until he was almost in complete control. It later became known as the Black Winter. Fisk became a warlord; the police department wasn't equipped to deal with the strength and might of Fisk's armed forces and Hell's Kitchen fell under the shadow of a devil that wasn't in red.

The citizens needed Daredevil more than ever. Fisk publicly challenged the hero, calling him to "show once and for all who has the most influence in Hell's Kitchen." The possibility of losing to Fisk was impossible for Matt. If he was to fail it would mean all the people he set out to save both as Matt Murdock and Daredevil would be left to fight against a monster they had no hope against. He had to give them that hope and show them how to stand up against tyranny.

For weeks Fisk managed to keep the US Army from driving tanks and armoured Humvees to his doorstep but it wouldn't last. Fisk wasn't stupid. He needed to hold out long enough so that he could deal with Daredevil, than he would disappear into thin air, possibly to Indonesia or Mongolia where he had powerful trade partners. Matt also knew that Fisk's grasp was tenuous at best. The only problem was if he failed, Fisk's hold would be tightened beyond hope. He could not afford to blunder any opportunities. The epiphany that entailed any possible plan though brought Matt to one conclusion. No matter if he succeeded or failed to stop Fisk, Daredevil would cease to exist. All of the rest of his enemies were behind bars either due to Matt Murdock, attorney at law, or the actions of Daredevil. Fisk was the final hurdle.

So Daredevil hunted Fisk down. The man took some beating but eventually Matt managed to knock him out. He then took him to the closest police department, already a pair of handcuffs on Fisk's hands. The trial took a long time but eventually all of Fisk's personal details and accounts were in the public domain. He was guilty of aggravated assault, manslaughter, murder and extortion in a long list of charges read to him at his trial. Fisk received a life sentence with no parole.

Matt then went about faking Daredevil's death. As a lawyer he had access to the Hell's Kitchen Morgue. He looked through various bodies, trying to find one with similar height and built to him. The body he chose had never been identified and had many bullet wounds; it had to be convincing to be successful. It was then just a matter of putting his Daredevil gear onto the body – an extremely unpleasant process – and throwing it into a river, weighed down with rocks so that it wouldn't be discovered for a while.

At first it was all over news. The speculation was extensive as to who killed Daredevil. Most blamed Fisk but he denied it. After about six months, most news companies dropped the story when they realised that Daredevil's body couldn't be identified and that they hadn't found out who killed him. Another six months later, everyone had all but forgotten the man without fear. Hell's Kitchen would never forget what he did though, and so two years on from his death a Daredevil statue was unveiled, immortalising the dead hero forever.

And that was the end of Daredevil.

But not Matt Murdock.

His best friend Foggy Nelson, his fellow attorney at law called out to him. "Hey Matt, how long you gonna take? Surely a blind man doesn't care about his hair!" Matt laughed to himself, realising he had been staring into the mirror for some time now and replied "come on Foggy, you're just jealous women find me mysterious and interesting." Foggy cursed quietly, Matt hearing it clearly.

"Yeah you heard that didn't you?" Foggy queried.

"You know me Foggy, I hear everything." Matt smiled and opened his bathroom door. Ever since Matt had faked the death of Daredevil, his friendship with Foggy was better than ever. The two loved their work in Hell's Kitchen and were slowly transforming their city for the better.

Foggy shuffled his feet slightly and looked at Matt sadly. "Are you sure you have to go Matt? Things are really going well here, you don't have to leave just because it's safe now."

"Foggy, you and I both know that I can't stand idly by while a city is corrupted by crime. I couldn't as Daredevil and I can't now. I was fortunate enough to save New York. Now it's Gotham City that needs me and I can't just ignore it. The spike in crime has gone through the roof since Batman disappeared." Matt sighed and readjusted his tie. It wasn't an easy decision to make for him but he knew that he had to do it. He hadn't fully made his mind up until he heard that Batman had gone missing. About six months previously he had received a phone call from Barbara Gordon, the newly appointed Police Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department. She needed someone with a lot of skill and guts to become the new Gotham District Attorney. Who better for the role than the blind lawyer responsible for putting away the likes of Wilson Fisk and other hard criminals in New York? That's why on a bitterly cold January day he answered Barbara's phone call. It was an offer hard to refuse but at the same time it seemed unnecessary with all the good work that Batman was doing, cleaning up the streets. As soon as he stopped appearing though Matt knew that a mask couldn't be relied forever.

Matt suddenly felt an arm on his shoulder. He snapped back to awareness. Foggy moved back slightly.

"Sorry Foggy I zoned out for a moment there."

"You don't say…." Foggy replied curtly. Matt smiled and held his arm out to Foggy.

"Like you even need me to escort you to the train station," Foggy pointed out.

"Let's be honest Foggy, I am the one protecting you, not vice versa." Even though he couldn't see it, Matt knew Foggy was rolling his eyes. Matt was so accustomed to Foggy's tendencies that he didn't even need to focus his senses to "see" them. Matt adjusted his red glasses and pointed to the door.

"Alright let's go, I have to be there by three so Barbara can show me around my new office and introduce me to all my colleagues in Gotham. There is a lot of work to be done."

They both walked out of Matt's apartment, the loud thud of his front door all but lost in the cacophony of downtown Manhattan.