AN: This story takes place after Season 2 of Daredevil and before Defenders, but there are A LOT of elements from Agents of SHIELD though we don't see any of the cast show up in this story (So far. It's still a work in progress). For anyone wondering, this is the sequel to A Spider, A Devil, and a Pack of Dogs. You may want to read that before reading this.

Chapter 2

Jess let them fall for a second before she snapped her arms open and the wings of her jacket caught the air. They weren't outright gliding, Matt's weight made it too heavy for her to do that, but it certainly slowed their decent enough that Jess could gain some control of the fall. Jess angled her body towards the building, reaching out until her left hand touched the wall. She immediately stuck to it, causing their bodies to crash into the building and her shoulder to make a sickening popping sound, but at least they weren't falling anymore. She wrapped her free arm around Matt as debris continued to rain down from above them.

Matt held on knowing his being there had made things worse for her. His extra weight had put her in danger. He said a prayer as they waited for the sky to clear once more. But he also felt her strain to keep hold. Her dislocated shoulder was making it difficult. He was making it difficult. Below, he could hear some of the debris hitting sacks of trash, could smell it rising in the air to meet them. He made a decision. "Let me go," he whispered in her ear. "There's a dumpster. I'll be fine."

"No." Jess ground out. She looked below them and sure enough there was dumpster. "One hell of a sense of smell Murdock. Hang on." Jess released her hold on the wall, and they started to fall again. Jess somehow managed to twist their bodies so that they landed safely in the dumpster, with Matt on top of her.

He reached up and closed the lid before a large chunk of brick and mortar fell from above. "You okay?"

"I will be. How good are you at popping shoulders back into their sockets? I need that done and then we have to run." Or at least she did.

Taking her injured arm, he gently pulled and rotated it until it popped back into place as best he could in the limited space. Once the worst of it had passed, he pushed the lid open. He climbed out first then helped her out.

Jess rolled her injured shoulder after she landed beside Matt. He'd done well – that didn't really surprise her. "Thanks for that. Are you ok?" She asked him, her voice a mixture of admiration and concern. She didn't wait for him to answer as she led them deeper into the alley. The farther away they were from this mess the better.

He didn't bother answering her question. "We can go to my place," he suggested instead. "You can clean up, plan your next move."

Jess was tempted. Sorely tempted. Just one night of rest on something that wasn't concrete. That's all she wanted. She licked her lips as she thought. "Is there anyone around following us? The minute you hear someone following us you have to let me know ok? I do not want to drag you any further into the shit show that is my life."

"No one is following us." But then he stopped and pinned her against the wall. A moment later, a cop car passed. Matt didn't move. He tilted his head as though listening. He placed a finger to his lips. His brow furrowed. Quietly he walked her down the alley. Only after they were several blocks away, did he explain. "There was someone looking for you, trying to make sure you were dead. He's still looking."

"How close is he?" Jess whispered, her body tense. She ignored the word "was". She didn't dare look over her shoulder as she continued to silently follow Matt. She hated her life, hated how she always had to look over her shoulder. Hated how she always allowed SHIELD to drag her into this shit. She just wanted to be left alone.

He stopped and listened again. "Still at your apartment building. The police found him before he could slip away. He's waiting to be questioned," he told her. "But he found the dumpster. He suspects you're still alive. He's already told his handler as much."

"If the police have him he won't be alive long. He'll die before he talks." Jess whispered. "Did you manage to catch a name at all?" If she were to be honest, she was surprised they went for the death threat. Usually they were trying to catch her and reprogram her. Maybe they had enough of that MO already though. Either way, Jess was incredibly grateful to have Matt with her right now, even if it was bad for him. "And you're SURE no-one is following us anymore?"

"I'm sure. But they're looking. And the police are only holding him as a witness," he explained. He pressed his lips together. "And my place is out. Whoever these people are, they know about us."

Jess' anxiety sky rocketed. This was not how any of this was supposed to go. If she ever saw Fury after this she was going to tell him to shove that stick farther up his ass. Hell, she would do it for him. "How many?" She whispered. She would tell him all of it once they had a moment to breathe.

"Not sure. At least half a dozen going to each location you have a connection with. My place. Battery Park. The New York Public Library?" Actually when he thought about it, it made sense. The library was a great place for research.

"It's a good place for research." Jess echoed Matt's thoughts. "You need your suit. If you are going to be dragged into this, you need it." Jess only hoped they hadn't found it. If they had, Matt was screwed.

"I…" He shook his head. "I can't. I'll just slow you down, put you in more danger." Hadn't he proven that already?

"You're daft if you think that, Murdock. We'd be dead right now or at least way more injured if not for you." Jess argued quietly. "If anything, I'm the one who put you in danger." There was a reason she didn't have friends and this was it. But Matt could defend himself. At least she thought that until he started talking like this. It concerned Jess but she was more concerned about him surviving. "You don't want to deal with this. But now they know about your connection to me, and I don't think they will let that go easily, no matter how brief it was. They'll use you to get to me."

That made sense. The last thing he wanted was to become bait at these people's hands. But, he swore to himself, this would be the last time he put on the suit. It had cost him too much already. He had to stop. He had to become the man his father wanted him to be. But first he had to help Jess. "Can we wait them out? Go in for the suit later?" He thought he knew what the answer was but wanted to hear it for himself.

"I'm fairly certain they've made themselves right at home. They'd have to be taken out." Jess pursed her lips in thought. "I could go in and lure them out. It's me they want anyway." Which was true enough. The problem was Jess didn't know who within Hydra was after her. If the one from her apartment had wanted her alive, she'd have her answer.

Matt pursed his lips. "Maybe we should just leave it. All I need is something to cover my face. That's what I did before."

"And while those scars on your body healed incredibly well, you do not have my healing factor." Jess hissed back.

"I never said I did," he snapped in return. "We'll go and check it out. These people are far more organized than the Dogs were. So if there are too many, we turn around and leave." The tone of his voice left no room for argument.

"I'm well aware of that. I've dealt with them my entire life. Lead on." Jess gestured, letting Matt take point since he had the super hearing.

He found the nearest way up to the roof and started to climb. They were both better on rooftops anyway. But as they got closer to his building he stopped behind a water tower. "They have two people. One on the building to the north. The other on the building to the east. We'll need to take a slight detour to avoid them."

Jess didn't agree with Matt in avoiding them. She wanted to take them out and leave them to rot. But she could also see why he would rather avoid them too. "When we get closer just let met distract them so you can get in."

He opened his mouth to tell her about the two inside his apartment but decided against it. He could deal with them himself. And her commotion could lure them away. "Fine," he finally said. "You distract. I enter."

Jess narrowed her eyes. "You said half a dozen in each location. There are two out here. Where are the rest?" She was not letting him take on any Hyrda anything by himself.

"Two in the apartment. Two keeping watch on the street." He tilted his head slightly. "And one in the stairwell."

"Then you stay here and I'll take the three in the building. This is Hydra, Matt. Not the Dogs." She shot his earlier words back at him. "They could be super soldiers in there."

Matt made a face. "Fine," he said in a tense voice. "I'll take the two on the roof. You take the three in the building."

"Yeah take them in your lawyer suit and then they'll put two and two together. I think not. Leave them, I'll be quiet enough." At least she hoped so.

He started to get angry then remembered he was trying to give up this life. "You're right. Let me at least get you one building over without being seen."

"Ok." Jess was slightly suspicious that Matt had backed off that quickly, but she allowed him to lead her closer to the building.

They went the rest of the way silently. Matt stopped and started, leading her along a slightly meandering path. He took her to the building south of his place. "Be careful," he whispered to her.

"Key?" She held her hand out to Matt. "I plan to use the door like a normal person for once."

He fished the key out of his pocket and put it in her hand. Then he made the sign of the cross and said a little prayer for her safety.

Jess waited until she was sure the coast was clear then silently slipped into the building. The sentry in the hall was dispatched easily enough – she put him in a sleeper hold and knocked him out before he could alert the others. She paused before the door of Matt's apartment and listened. They were talking quietly, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Jess inserted the key and jiggled the lock the way she remembered Matt doing all those months ago. She paused for a moment as the familiar scent of the apartment washed over her. She took a moment to remember those blissful two weeks of kicking ass, good food, great conversation, and amazing sex. She wanted more weeks like that. Maybe after all of this.

The whispers inside immediately stopped as she stepped down the darkened hallway, and Jess was instantly on the alert again. Just as she reached the main area of the apartment they jumped her. For the first time, Jess was grateful for that damn neon sign that lit up Matt's living room. She had no problem seeing her attackers, and it was all over in a distressingly quick amount of time. It put Jess's nerves on edge. That was too easy. There hadn't even been any yelling.

Jess shoved her worries aside and secured the now unconscious Hydra pawns, then made her way to where Matt kept his suit. She pulled it out and shoved it into a shoulder bag nearby but made sure the rest of the items in it and the box itself were exactly as they had been before. As an after-thought she even went so far as to go into Matt's room and grabbed him a few changes of clothes as well.

She was back at Matt's side in a shorter amount of time than she had anticipated. "That was entirely too easy." She quietly voiced her earlier fears as she handed him his key back. "Not sure what you want to do about the assholes inside. I'd recommend you just leave them there. We need to move. Follow me." Without waiting for Matt to respond she started to lead him quickly away from his home.

He followed her silently as he thought about it being too easy for her. When they were several blocks away, he said, "They probably thought I'd be by myself. Or that they'd be able to spot you before getting inside." People tended to underestimate him. It was something he was used to.

Jess considered. "Perhaps." She conceded, but she couldn't shake the feeling that they were just trying to lull her into a false sense of security. Jess didn't say another thing as they moved closer to Midtown where some upscale hotels resided. She paused outside one of them, leaning into Matt "Are we being followed?" She didn't feel as if they were, but it was nice to have Matt around to confirm it. Maybe she was relying on him a little too heavily for this, but he was the only person she trusted right now.

"No. We're clear. But they know you were at my place." He found it horribly typical that just when he quit this life Jess would come back with another evil group wanting to kill and probably take over New York.

"Not surprised." She took Matt's arm and pulled him down an alley and behind a dumpster. She pushed several bricks in the wall – which then moved to reveal a flight of stairs. She led Matt inside. "Welcome to SHIELD. Well, sort of."