Daredevil and Tigress met on a rooftop.
He was dressed up like the devil, half-armour half-costume equipped with lethal batons connected by bungee cables.
She was dressed up like a Chinese tiger, half-stealth suit half-costume equipped with razor-sharp Chinese-style metal fans.
They both wore masks and they both prowled the streets at night. He was the first, taking down criminals and attracting the attention of the media. They called him "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen" which quickly morphed into "Daredevil".
She followed in his footsteps much later, stopping robberies and ending kidnapping attempts. The press called her "Tigress" for her orange stripes and cat-like grace.
He kept the few blocks that made up Hell's Kitchen safe. She watched over the streets of Brooklyn. He listened. She looked.
He was a lawyer by day, vigilante by night.
She was an adrenaline junkie do-gooder by night, barista by day.
Both upstanding citizens - except for the vigilante part.
Their paths were destined to cross.
They met on a rooftop. He was chasing a car that had a kidnapped child inside. She was following the sirens, also chasing after that car. They had both been at it long enough that they knew of each other's presence via the media. So when they started jumping across the same rooftops neither of them was suspicious. They said no words yet it became a sort of competition: who could look the most impressive, who could parkour the best, who was the fastest.
Daredevil was. He and Tigress kept following the car long after it had lost the police on its tail. When it finally parked it was Daredevil who landed on the hood with a bang. Tigress landed on the roof a second later with a thud.
The perp was easily dismantled between the two of them and the child set free. They walked the girl home and then climbed the side of her building to talk to each other.
They had a lot in common. They kept the personal questions to a minimum. No names. No jobs. No locations. They talked about the vigilanteism and the press. Current events. Armour. Tips and tricks. Martial arts.
"This stuff is dangerous," he said. "What we do. It's even more dangerous to do it alone."
"What are you suggesting, Mr. Devil?"
"That maybe we should have a way of contacting each other - in case we need back-up. I have a burner phone. For reasons like this."
"Do you have a list of all the other vigilantes in your phone?"
His lips twitched. "Not yet."
And so it was that they became acquainted with each other. They started running into each other more often. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen was seen skirting the border of Brooklyn while Brooklyn's Tiger took to crossing into Hell's Kitchen every now and again. The press started to see them as a team and speculated about romantic intentions.
While they were not yet lovers they both definitely had romantic intentions. But out of fear of the unknown and of mixing personal lives with their dangerous ones neither admitted it. They flirted, they fought, they fell, deeper and deeper. Their "accidental" run-ins continued and never once did his emergency phone ring.
Until one fateful day.
"Daredevil," crackled the burner phone. "Daredevil, I need you."
"Where?"
She rattled off the intersection. "Please hurry-"
He was already sprinting. He tried to listen for her, to strain his ears but his own heart was pounding so loudly that it took him too long.
The scene was swarming with police officers. There were unconscious bodies everywhere and ambulances lined up down the street. Something big had gone down on the far side of Brooklyn, too far for him to have heard even this much of a commotion.
There was no sign of her. Until there was. He found her unsteady heartbeat pulling away in an ambulance. He chased after it, beating himself up for being too slow - for not hearing the police radios or ever telling her his true feelings.
He followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital. He perched on the roof and listened. He sat and listened all night waiting for her to come out of surgery. She wasn't stable until morning when they wheeled her into a private room.
Still, he sat there. What would he say? How would he apologize? How would he explain that he was blind? He sat there for so long, so deep in thought that he almost didn't hear them.
Guns. Marching. In the hospital. No one had noticed. They were headed upstairs. To the east wing.
To Tigress.
Daredevil swung himself through the hallway window and flew. He wouldn't be too late this time. He wouldn't be too late this time.
He whirled around the final corner where the shooters were approaching her room. Two men. Heavy artillery. They raised their guns when they saw him.
Matt slid like a baseball player to home base and knocked out both of their legs. They tumbled and he tussled with them, wrenching away their weapons and tossing them out of reach. It was an easy fight made easier by his rage - at them and at himself. She was defenceless now and vulnerable. He took it upon himself to protect her.
To thank him for his service, the nurses allowed him some time alone with his friend. She was asleep when he came in. He could tell by her breathing. Decision made he popped off his helmet and placed it on the side table, figuring it was only fair.
The chair by her bedside was not inviting but he sat in it anyway. He didn't deserve to touch her or hold her hand so he held his own face instead. And he listened.
The monitor beeped. And beeped. And beeped.
She was not like to wake any time soon. For a long time, he contemplated leaving a note. The nurses were very helpful and brought him flowers he could put by her bed. He left a simple note written by one of the nurses.
"I'm sorry," it read. "Please call me when you're ready. Your Friend."
She called the next day and asked to meet in person. As soon as she was discharged from the hospital she called him again. That night, he found her on the hospital roof waiting for him. She had no mask on.
"You don't have to be sorry," she said instead of "hello".
"I still am," he insisted. "For you getting hurt. For not stopping the crime. For your secret identity leaking to the hospital staff."
"They told me what you did," she said. "How you saved me."
"I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice."
"I really like you, Daredevil." His heart skipped a beat. "Would you go on a date with me? I don't want to waste any more time."
"You don't even know who I am," he protested weakly.
"I know exactly who you are. You're my hero. Not just for this. But since always. Since you made your first appearance as the Man in the Mask. You inspired me. And when we met you were my mentor. My teammate. You are sarcastic and cynical and selfless. And I have grown to love you just a little bit. But a little goes a long way."
His throat was closed and no matter how he tried to pry it open it would not budge.
"I was afraid of getting burned by you. Of our personal lives making things complicated. But I was being a coward. Besides, I can't possibly get more burned than I am right now."
At that, he had to laugh. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I- Let me take you out for coffee."
"Dinner," she shot back with no hesitation. "You said you were sorry so now you're going to make it up to me."
The smile on his face wouldn't wane. "I will. I promise."
"Good. My name's Viola, by the way."
He reached up and unhooked his mask. "Matthew."
Matt and Viola met on a rooftop.
A/N. Hello! It's me. The author who disappeared for several years. Yes, hello. I apologize for the super long wait. Real life got the best of me. Then one day I wrote this. It's the first fic I've written in a long time. It doesn't promise more fics. This fic is just that: a fic. I'm sorry if you got your hopes up but I'm not in a position to make any promises right now.
If you are interested in my writing I do post fairly regularly in the forum "The Marvel Cinematic Role-Playing Universe". I hope all of you are having a good start to the new year.
Until next time!
Rose