4

You Can Keep Me Up

10:41PM.

Well, there was no way he could help being late given the way he lived.

Alexis sighed as she cleared the two place settings at her kitchen table. She cleared the carefully-prepared meal of steak, green beans, potatoes and homemade bread with butter and local honey, and packed the ensemble into whatever Tuberware containers she could find. She re-corked the wine, and checked her phone again. Still no call. Not even a text.

It's silly to worry. He always lets me know when he needs me.

Even though that had proved the case every time thus far, that didn't stop Alexis from worrying. For all she knew, Matt was out there getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of calloused Russian hands. Or, he had spent all night stalking said bullies and planning out his next plan of attack down to the minute that he delivered the first, unsuspecting blow. How he did it was still a mystery to her. But she wouldn't know which until he called.

Seriously, God. Why did it have to be such a brave, selfless idiot this time?

She blew out the candles that had adorned the shabby two-person table in her even shabbier apartment. The home cooked meal and that smile which carried sadness, mirth and wit all at the same time would have adequately decorated it, though. A comfortable, anticipated dinner for two had turned into an anxious, lonely glass of wine for one.

And then the knock at the window.

Alexis leapt from her couch, almost spilling her glass in the endeavor, and rushed to the small window in the corner of her kitchen which led onto the fire escape. He was already leaning his full weight against the window, his blood liberally smearing the pane. Within seconds, the window was up, Matt had entered, and Alexis was supporting his body, blood and all, and yet everything somehow felt infinitely happier than it had just moments ago. He titled his head up slightly and smiled. That smile.

"Am I too late for dessert?"

Never mind, God. I remember. Thank you.

Within an hour, Matt was lying on Alexis' humble couch (if you could call it that), stripped of his bloody shirt and breathing easily. Her nurse kit sat on the floor, its contents strewn all about, except that which was holding Matt together. Alexis' efforts were still rather crude, but they had improved greatly since she had begun only months before. Had it only been a few months? It seemed like she had been tending to his physical and emotional wounds for much longer. And it seemed even longer ago that he had started healing her. In so many ways that she didn't know she needed.

Alexis walked back into the living room with lemon camomile tea for the both of them and another warm washcloth. She curled up on the alpaca futon seat that she would always set up next to Matt's head so she could feed him when he was too weak to sit up, which was often. He would always deny if that was the case, but in the end he would trustingly yield to Alexis' good judgment, as he did now.

"Easy there."

Patiently, Alexis propped Matt upon pillows against the arm of the couch. With her hand gently supporting his strong neck, Matt sipped the tea with some effort.

"Any better?"

"Always is after you've made your rounds."

She applied the warm washcloth to the now-stitched gash on his shoulder.

If you had come earlier, you could have gotten your treatment sooner." she smiled.

Matt tried not to cringe as she caressed the gash. "Not this time. New trail. For a meeting tomorrow night."

"And they were just asking for it again?"

"Uggh...no, ran into a couple of the Italians as I was following. Apparently we had the same idea-"

"How many?"

He winced as he sat up even further, propping himself against the back of the couch.

"Oh, you sure you want to do that?" Alexis reached out to steady him, though his strong frame didn't seem to need it.

"Yes. Because I want to face you when I'm talking to you."

"Ok, but general courtesies can be abandoned when you have holes through your body."Alexis sat back and sipped her tea. Despite her protestations, she was happy to look him in the eyes. His success at nearly-perfect eye contact never ceased to amaze her.

"If we can abandon little acts of respect because of individual pain, how will we manage greater respect in times of common suffering?" Matt quipped back.

Alexis laughed because he was right. And Matt knew he was, so he laughed as well.

"How'd your writing go today?" When Alexis wasn't tending to a broken Matt, she was a screenwriter and author.

"Ehh, ok," she surmised. "Plugging away at the next episode for Barbara. It'd be easier to write if I wasn't worried about you, though."

"Well, don't worry about me then."

"And how am I supposed to do that?" she inquired playfully.

"By commending me to our Lady's care. Like you always do," Matt replied. As if to seal his advice, he reached out and laid a reassuring hand on her crossed legs. Monica started a bit, in spite of herself. It wasn't new, that touch, but Matt's displays of affection were sporadic, so she had tried not to expect them.

"What am I going to do with you?" she sighed.

Matt smiled. "Well, the plan was to keep on letting me break through your window late at night whenever I needed you."

Alexis blushed. She couldn't help it. Not this time.

"Are you smiling?"

Matt's chin had dropped a bit now, as though he was trying to hear her smile. He was all a tease now, though. Why wasn't this Matt in her living room more often?

"I don't know. Am I?"

He smiled. That smile. There was everything in that smile. His hand traveled up to her face, feeling for the dimples in her cheeks, his fingers moving softly over her lips. She was about to smile, to let him win this one. But before she could, he was leaning, softly, yet swiftly. She waited, not daring to move, to disrupt the moment. How warm he was.

Can I return your warmth?

But then, almost as softly, he hesitated, hovering in front of her face-unsure and nervous, two things Matt Murdock usually wasn't. As if he didn't want to make a mistake this time. Of all times. Then it came back: the surging, aching pain through his body. He winced.

And she closed the gap. Her lips to his. Gently, yet firmly. To let him know it was all right. That he was enough.

May you always know that...

"Now you're smiling," he said, when he had released her.

"So are you."

"Well now. I guess we're both all right."

He winced again, though, and Alexis helped him to lean back.

"Well, you will be once you've had more rest," she said, as she allowed herself to switch back into over-protective caretaker mode. "I'll make more tea, and you should be ready for the Advil."

"You know it's not safe, Alexis. Every minute I'm here isn't safe for either of us. Just like the city isn't safe."The pain was back in full swing now, and he would have avoided speaking if he could.

"Yes, well, here's what I think,"Alexis continued, as she put more water on for tea and rummaged through her cabinets for the pain reliever. "I say that God takes a turn babysitting the city because he knows that we need some quality time together, and that you need a night off."

"Weren't we just having quality time?"Matt teased.

"No, seriously,"Alexis smiled as she plopped the tea bags in and slipped over to her poky little bookshelf across the room and pulled out Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring.

"We aren't even through the first book yet, and I'm not about to let you die before we finish the series."

"Is that a threat?" Matt teased.

Alexis stopped right in front of him. She knew he was teasing, but that only made her upset. It might be a joke today...

"Matt. Please. You need to trust. For tonight."

Matt looked away, anxiety once again dominating all of his features. Alexis knew she was asking a lot. But she also knew she was right. She fetched the tea and, despite the miniscule size of her couch, managed to curl up next to him without impeding his rest. Matt was still pensive.

"If I hear something, you'll let me go, right?"

Alexis smoothed her hands over his anxious brow. "Only if we commend this night to Mary."

Matt finally smiled. "Deal. Now, where were we?"

While being careful not to put pressure on his damaged body, Alexis leaned her head on Matt's shoulder and opened the book.

"The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater..."