Title: Hope in a Heartbeat
Words: 2550
Genre: Romance/Light Angst
Pairing: Matt/Laurel, Karen/Foggy
Status: done-ish?
Summary: They don't think about each other. But when they come face to face, old feelings resurface. Maybe the pain is worth it, when the love is there.

They are in New York. She doesn't think about it. Doesn't think about the last time she was here. Doesn't think about the people she met here. They needed Barbara and Tatsu and that was it, she promised herself. Only a short trip and then it was time to get down to business tomorrow.

She doesn't think about him.

But she does find a church, some place quiet, where she can be alone with her thoughts for awhile, because no one will bother her if they think she is asking God for guidance.

She doesn't even hear the doors open again, too engrossed in looking at the stained glass and thinking about what it all means. "Lord, give me strength to fight, and the courage to do what needs to be done," She whispered to herself.

He noticed something off when he came in. It smelled differently. It wasn't only Father Lantom in the church, but someone else, someone familiar. They smelled like expensive perfume, a shimmer of gym sweat, and had a tropical body wash and hair product.

He doesn't think about the person who embodied all of those scents though. She was supposed to be saving her city. He's smelled those things before and attempted to talk to them, but it was never her.

He doesn't think about her.

She turned and got out of her pew and she saw him standing there. "Matty?" She said, softly, like his name is a prayer.

"Laur?" He choked out, because hearing her voice, god it sounds the same.

She nodded. Then she laughed a laugh mixed with other emotion, the undercurrent of missing you and relief. "I just nodded. Sorry, god Matty, I just I..." She said.

"Don't apologize," He said as he took her into his arms. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that," He said and smiled down at her.

She shrugged. "I think I might I have a pretty good idea," She told him as she put her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was so distinct, thumping across his chest.

He rubbed her neck, gently and breathed her in. Her scent, her sounds, the feel of her skin underneath his fingers.

It was different being next to her after all of these years, she felt different in his arms, her heart spiked when he moved his arm over a bruise on her side, her hair was styled differently, had a slightly different texture, but her breathing was more confident.

Father Lantom came up and cleared his throat, "Should we reschedule?" He asked, trying not to disturb the moment, very aware that something was going on, but not quite sure what it was.

Laurel took her head off his chest and parted from him. "You should see him Matty, but what are you doing tonight for dinner?" She asked him.

He shook his head. "Nothing I know of. Might be meeting up with Foggy and Karen, but I can do that another time," He chuckled, "Why?"

"You should come to dinner with me. Barb and her friend Tatsu are coming. And some of my friends. We could catch up," She said with a smile that he could hear, that made his heart flutter.

He nodded, "I'll tell Foggy then."

"Only if you tell them to join us," She said, the cheer in her voice evident.

He nodded again. "Give me the address," He said. "We'll be there."

It didn't take that long to get to Barbara Gordon's loft in the middle of Manhattan, but when Laurel did, she positively glowed with excitement. She came bouncing in, practically.

"What's got you so tickled pink?" Barbara asked in a lilting voice.

Laurel chuckled. "You're not gonna believe it," She said. She hardly believed it herself. This kind of thing did not happen to her. At all.

"I'll believe just about anything, seen some crazy stuff in my day," Barbara flat out laughed.

Laurel shook her head. "I want it to be a surprise," She said to Barbara. "We have enough room at the restaurant for three more people though, right?" She asked.

The Ms. Gordon nodded, curious as to what kind of surprised needed that specific information. "The restaurant's all ours tonight," She said, "Who you bringing?" She asked because three meant more than just a man coming to dinner.

Laurel shook her head. "You'll see," She promised.

She went in the back and pulled up the directions on her computer and called Matt to tell him where exactly where Chapter 52 was located. He told her, he would be there.

"You two should dance," Foggy suggested as he practically pushed them together and pushed them out on the dancefloor that Chapter 52 had, a great big patio space that had a DJ playing at one end of it.

Felicity saw Laurel dancing with someone she didn't know. Laurel looked positively happy as they came together and fell apart. The man seemed to be having a pretty good time to. "Who's that?" She asked Barbara.

"Matthew Murdock," Barbara said and smiled. "Laurel met Foggy, his best friend, in her Human Rights and Film Class, and Foggy decided it would be good for them to study group. And Matt and Foggy you practically couldn't separate back then. So he was there.

"And when she met him, she was different. She'd been holding onto something, well you know, Oliver and Sara for so long. And when she met him, it faded away. Seeing her with him was the first time I saw her smile after they left. She fell in love with him. And he fell in love with her too." She told Felicity.

Matt spun Laurel out and the grin on her face felt electric. She lit up the whole place with her smile and spun back into his arms and swayed to the music with him. God, how different she looked here, she looked almost free, like she didn't have so many deaths that she still felt so many feelings over.

"What happened?" Felicity asked.

Barbara shook her head. "You know her. She had to go back. She needed to be a hero in Starling. And he had to stay here and be a hero on his own. They ended up breaking each other's heart. Two bleeding hearts who were destined for separate places," She told her.

"I've only ever seen her that happy with Oliver and Tommy. And only occasionally." Felicity remarked as the couple stopped dancing, but instead went and talked to two other people, his friends, Felicity assumed.

Barbara nodded. "That's because that's Laurel Lance in love. God, help her. She'll still open her heart to it."

Felicity thought about Tommy and Oliver and how possessive they could be of her. Matt had a hand on the small of her back, but he cradled her, never caging her in. He seemed happy that she leaned into Foggy and put her hand on him.

Foggy shook his head as Laurel turned around, away from Matt, "You look even better than I remember." He told her.

She shrugged. "Been working out," She told him. "Can't hold out for a hero. Have to be my own,"

Karen looked enthralled at her. "So you knew Matt and Foggy in college? What were they like?" She asked.

Laurel threw her head back and laughed. "They were huge dorks. Foggy would make us take these silly pictures. And Matt would rent DVDs without descriptive Audio and we would have to narrate for him, said it was because he liked the sound of our voice." She smiled.

Matt chuckled. "You know, you were a huge dork too. What about the time that you and Barbara got stares because you were standing next to her chair and they thought you were dating and so you plopped yourself in Barb's lap and put your arms around her neck?" He asked.

She nodded and guffawed. "God, those were the days," She said.

Foggy smiled. "Oh, and Lance had this thing for bugles. The chips." He told Karen. "Matt couldn't even hear someone crunch on bugles for years, after you left," He told her.

"Oh?" Laurel asked and he heard her eyebrow raise.

He sighed and shrugged. "Not a loss."

"Says you, I loved Bugles," Foggy pouted.

Matt shook his head, "Besides Barb told me that you couldn't be somewhere they played 'Drops of Jupiter' so..." He trailed off.

"That's true. Not for a very long time," She told him.

Karen shook her head. "I've never seen him do it for so long, it's a little weird actually," She said to Foggy as she looked between Matt and Laurel.

"It is kind of weird, but it's a good weird. A weird I could get used to," He said as he rubbed his cheek against the knuckles of her hand. "Speaking of, how long are you in town?" He asked.

Laurel looked down at her toes. "Only tonight," She said. "Had to pick up Barb and Tatsu and then we're headed for a little trip," She confessed, not really wanting to disappoint them, but knowing better than to lie. Matt would hear it and it would become a thing. And she didn't want to lie to him anyway.

"Don't be a stranger then." He said.

Laurel nodded. She really didn't want to be. "I'll come back," She told Foggy and rubbed his arm, an attempt to comfort him from the sadness. She didn't want his last memory of her to be sadness.

Matt took her hand, "We should probably get you and your friends back home. You've got a journey ahead of you." He told her and his smile faltered. His voice caught.

She gulped down the emotion of not wanting to go and nodded. "Yeah, anyway, nice seeing you both," She said and hugged Foggy, looking to Karen and smiling. And with that they departed.

"He still loves her," Karen said as Matt and Laurel got out of earshot, even Matt's earshot.

Foggy shrugged. "Those two have always loved each other, basically from the second I saw Lance smile at Matt. Kindred spirits. Been it for the long haul, but their both hero-types who think they don't deserve someone who makes them happy. Kind of dumb if you ask me, but hey what do I know?" He asked while he took a drink and looked around the room.

Karen rested her head on his shoulder. "You know a lot more than anyone gives you credit for." She told him, with a loving smile. "And they know that too."

He shook his head. "I still can't get over how she's like the perfect girl for him. Damaged, a little bit neurotic. Hot as Texas in the Summer. But she's good. God, she's good."

"Hot as texas?" Karen asked and flicked her eyebrow up, "That an objective statement?"

He nodded. "And you are Death Valley,"

Laurel smiled when she saw Karen and Foggy cuddle up close to each other. "I'm glad someone's there to take care of you two," She said to Matt.

He nodded. "Yeah, Karen's great. I mean, there are inconvenient things about her and Foggy, but I like her. She makes the world a little less gray," He said.

"I thought your world was red?" She asked as she carded her hand through his hair.

He made a content noise and leaned into her nails. He sighed. They were gonna have to get through it eventually, "So this trip," He asked. "You're not just going to the bahamas are you?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not." She told him. "And I can't tell you where I'm going. Only that I have to save Oliver's life. He made a mess of it this time and there is a high risk of death," She said. She took his hands in hers though and squeezed. "I want to see you again though,"

There was nothing to say. She made her choice. He wasn't going to deter her away from that choice. She wouldn't let him try. Because they knew each other. And if she gave in, just because he asked, she wouldn't be the same person that he fell in love with when Foggy brought her home for study group, the girl who at the bugles, the girl who warmed his heart when he thought he was destined to be alone. "I feel like I should try to get you off this mission," He joked as he attempted to turn his lips up.

"I forgot that was your church. I just stopped where my feet took me," She said. "Guess, I know what they were leading me to."

"Better days?" He asked.

She nodded. "Definitely better days," She told him with a happy smile. "And who knows," She told him. "You might see more of me soon. I do like Hell's Kitchen. And there are lots of people who need to be saved."

"I forgot how much I missed you," He said as he breathed in her scent, "Be safe," He told her as he put his hands on her shoulders. "And call me when you get back to safety, okay? We can't do this whole five years again. I can't find you in a church, praying for the strength you already have,"

She put one of his hands on her cheek and smiled. "I promise I can call when I get back to safety. And if I don't make it back-"

He shook his head, "Don't even start, Laur. I can't even take that. I just got you back," He said, a little broken.

"You know it needs to be said." She said, determined not to cry, because the look of pain on his face broke her heart. He gulped in air. She nodded. "If I don't make it back," She paused for a second and put his other hand on her cheek. "I'm glad that I get to spend my last night of happiness with you," She told him. "I love you, Matty."

He let another breath and nodded. "If you die, I don't know how I'm going to handle it." He told her.

She knew that. "I'm gonna make good. Trust me?"

He brushed a thumb over her cheek, "You've never given me reason not to," He told her. "Be safe,"

"Same to you," She said as she took his hands off her face and started to back away.

He took her hand and pulled her in one last time and kissed her, right there in the middle of everyone. He memorized how she tasted like afterhint of mint toothpaste, fizzy drinks, and watermelon lipgloss. When he pulled back, he closed his eyes. "Go, before I change my mind and take you back to my place, so you can't get on that plane in the morning," He told her.

They were both strong. Laurel left him standing there and he took a deep breath and went to stand next to Foggy.

"You okay, buddy? She okay?" Foggy asked.

Matt shrugged. "Don't think I don't know how you think we're both idiots," He told Foggy with a smile. "And we will be. Once she gets back from this thing."

"God damn, your blind superhearing," Foggy muttered.