Author's Note:
As you all know: I don't own anything. And I don't make any money...
By the way, excuse my short chapters. But as I'm not exactly a fast writer, it's either that or possibly no update in ages... I thought this was better.
As usually: Feel free to correct my mistakes.
And last but not least: Thanks Guest Reviewer Sarah! You absolutely made my day by commenting. And thanks for the advice, I'll try to follow it as best as I can.
Foggy was sitting on the edge of Karen's desk, only half of his mind on their conversation. His eyes kept wandering to the clock on the wall. Ten to half past nine. Twenty minutes after usually all three of them showed up for work. And Matt still wasn't there. Foggy couldn't help but worry. His best friend was never late. He always came, no matter how beat up he was. He didn't dare imagining what must have happened to Matt that he still wasn't here and hadn't even called to excuse himself.
Foggy grew more anxious by the minute but tried not to let it show. There was no need to get Karen worried as well. Useless to say that he failed epically.
"... Foggy?" Her voice calling his name got him out of his musings.
"Yeah, sorry. I'm all ears. I totally agree with you there." He wasn't exactly sure what she had last been talking about but since agreeing most of the time did the trick, he thought it was the best way to go about it.
"You have no idea what I just said, do you?"
"Yes, I do!" She looked at him sceptically. "Yeah, you're right, no, I don't. Sorry", he said again.
"You know, he'll be there. Matt", she explained when he looked at her uncomprehending.
"Of course he will!" Foggy was aware of his not really convinced tone but he couldn't help it.
"There probably just was a problem with the subway or something."
"Then why didn't he call?" He could hear the worry creep into his voice.
"No service in the tunnels? I don't know. But I'm certain there's a perfectly logic explanation for Matt's absence."
"Sure", Foggy said, running a hand over his face and through his hair. It was very well for her to talk. She didn't know about the dangers Matt put himself in during the nights.
Since the day Foggy had found him bleeding out on the floor, he hadn't been able to get the picture out of his head again. Even when he had been so mad at Matt that he couldn't talk to him he had worried. A blind man being a vigilante was insane. No matter what said blind man was capable of!
Foggy had mostly given up on trying to talk Matt out of it but that didn't change the fact that he was constantly afraid for his best friend's life when he didn't know exactly where he was and what he was doing. It was exhausting.
"Let's give him another couple of minutes. When he hasn't arrived at nine thirty we'll try to call him, alright?" He could hear the almost patronizing tone in her voice but didn't say anything, only nodded.
To get himself distracted, he slid down from the table and moved towards his office. He had only managed about three steps when the front door opened. He swivelled on the spot and was utterly relieved to see Matt standing in the doorway. The man held himself upright and there were no visible new injuries, as far as Foggy could tell. He exhaled slowly to calm himself down.
"Morning, Matt", came Karen's cheerful voice from his left. He saw her casting a glance in his direction, clearly saying: Told you everything was alright.
"Good morning." Matt sounded slightly out of breath. "Sorry I'm late. I slept in, must have missed the alarm. And in the hurry afterwards I completely forgot to call you."
Foggy looked at his best friend inquiringly. That man didn't sleep in. Never had, not even in college. And there was no way he had missed the alarm, not with his insane sense of hearing.
"You alright?", he asked. Matt's head turned in his direction, his eyes hidden behind the dark red glasses as they always were.
"Of course, I'm fine." Foggy wasn't sure if he imagined sensing a lie in the answer. Maybe he was just too suspicious. But then again... Maybe he was observant.
Matt leaned his cane against the wall next to the door as he always did and shed his jacket, hanging it over the coatrack. He started walking towards his office. Was he moving slower than normal? Somehow he seemed more careful to Foggy, more focused on what he was doing.
Foggy decided to test his theory and look what happened if he broke Matt's concentration. Usually, the man could do twenty things at once and didn't have problems navigating even foreign spaces at the same time, but today... He just seemed to be struggling a little more.
"Have you given any thoughts to the Masco case since yesterday?" he asked.
At the question Matt, who had just reached the constantly open door to his room, miscalculated the space and bumped into the doorframe. Well, that was a first! Foggy had seen him in all stages of being intoxicated or drowsy, but never was Matt this clumsy. At least not when he was still standing perfectly upright as he did now.
This time, even Karen had noticed something was off. "You sure you're alright, Matt?" she asked.
Matt, putting a hand on the doorframe, turned towards her. "Yes. I was just... distracted." He shook his head slightly then moved a little to face Foggy. He missed the right angle by a few degrees. Also a first. "No, sorry, I completely forgot. I'll go over the facts again and tell you what I think, okay?"
"Yeah, of course. I'll get you some coffee. Guess you hadn't time to drink one this morning."
"Thanks!" The answer sounded heartfelt.
While Karen turned to her work again, Foggy kept his eyes on Matt's back, as the other man moved slowly through his office, uncertainly feeling for the table and the chair behind it. He seemed so unsure, so... lost, somehow. For the first time since they met, he really looked like a blind man.
Usually, even when Matt put on the pretence of seeing nothing, he was a hint too self-confident in foreign spaces. You didn't notice unless you paid close attention, but it was always there.
Today, that air of his was gone. Foggy wondered whether he should be worried or not, he wasn't sure. It was just such a strange thought. Worrying about a blind man appearing to be blind.
Sometimes he asked himself when his life had become so weird. Was it only when he learned about Matt's true capabilities or years before that, when he had first met the blind law school student? In hindsight he could see that his best friend had never seemed to be quite so ordinary.
"Foggy?" For a second time that day Karen's question pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Hm?" He looked at her.
"Do you want me to bring Matt the coffee?"
"No. No, I'll do it. I was just... distracted." He startled when he realised that he had exactly copied Matt's excuse from earlier.
"What is it with you two, today?" Karen asked. "You seem strange, you know that?" Her expression was borderline suspicious.
"It's nothing, really", Foggy hurried to assure her before finally moving to the small kitchen.
Three minutes later, he carried a steaming hot mug into Matt's office and set it down in front of his friend, carefully turning the handle so that Matt could easily reach it without getting is fingers burned first.
Sitting down on one of the chairs opposite the desk, Foggy lowered his voice.
"You care to tell me what's up?"
Matt let his head drop a little, an uncharacteristic movement. "It's too obvious, isn't it?"
"That you behave differently? Hell, yes!" Matt flinched a little. "You may be able to fool Karen, if you put a lot of effort into it, but certainly not me. So, what's the matter?"
Matt lifted his head again, staring in the general direction of Foggy. Even with the glasses on you could tell he didn't get it completely right.
"I'm blind."
The statement was so superfluous, Foggy struggled to suppress a snort. "Oh really? I haven't noticed."
"No, I mean, really blind. No world on fire, nothing." Although he had already thought in that direction, Foggy was a little shocked.
"You... You lost your senses?" Matt nodded. "How?"
"I think it was some kind of drug. Last night, I opened this door in an abandoned building and some weird gas was released. Within seconds I had no idea what was going on around me anymore."
The memory of that traumatic moment was evident in Matt's voice, it obviously had shaken him. Foggy didn't know what to say to that.
He imagined losing his heightened senses was to Matt the same as would losing his sight be to Foggy. He was astounded at how normal his best friend managed to behave. He certainly wouldn't have been able to hold up that good of a facade.
"Well", he finally managed to say, "if it really was a drug, this isn't permanent, is it? I mean, they lose their effect after hours, days max." He could hear the slight worry in his own voice but tried to let it show as little as possible. He didn't want to unsettle Matt even further.
"I hope so..." Matt's voice trailed off.
Inside Foggy's brain something clicked. When a situation seemed to get too serious, he usually tried to shrug it off with a laugh. It had worked pretty good so far and he was determined to give it a try.
"Well, I'm sure it'll wear off. Until then, you finally are what you claimed to be for the past twenty years."
To his relief, Matt played along. "What? A helpless blind man who can't walk across his own flat without breaking something?"
"Exactly. But see the bright side", he could practically see Matt roll his eyes at the bad pun, "if you behave clumsily enough until you're back to normal, maybe Karen will finally believe your stories of 'falling down the stairs' and 'running into the door'. Until now, you really didn't do too good a job at making that credible."
"Believe me, pretending to be blind is not as easy as you would think." There was almost a laugh in Matt's voice. Foggy grinned.
"At least this way I won't have to worry about you." Matt tilted his head questioningly and Foggy explained. "You won't be able to be out on the streets at night, will you?"
Matt snorted. "You should have seen me last night on my way back home! Wait, no, better not. You would never have stopped teasing me about it."
Foggy laughed. "So very true! And you're right, I would have loved that. But you know what? I won't leave your side until you're back to normal again, guess that'll give me plenty to laugh and tease you about. Until further notice you're completely at my mercy." He almost rubbed his hands in gleeful anticipation. "I hope you can hear me gloat."
"I can, dampened senses or not, and I'm truly terrified", Matt retorted, now almost grinning, too.
Foggy laughed, mission accomplished. "And you should be, my friend, you should be."
Karen stuck her head through the door. "What joke did I miss?"
"Insider", Foggy told her, not able to suppress the grin that still tucked at the corners of his mouth.
"Pity. Will you at least let me in on the work's progress?"
Foggy looked at her guiltily. "Uhm, there is none so far."
"Ah, I understand. You two drink coffee and tell each other jokes while I do all the work. I think I should sue you for luring me into an employment under false pretences or something. Is there such a thing?"
"Not exactly, but we can help you find another cause, if you want us to", Matt said helpfully.
"Dude, what are you doing?" Foggy pretended to be shocked. "She just declared us being the defendants and you offer her help? Did you sleep through the lecture '10 Things Not To Do As A Lawyer'?"
"Wait, there was such a lecture? Must have missed it entirely, sorry. Why didn't you tell me?" Matt did his best to sound sheepishly and accusing at the same time.
Karen laughed. "Okay, I think I can forgive you just this once."
Foggy turned on his chair until he faced her entirely and tried to bow without getting up. "Thank you for your graciousness!"
"Oh, shut up. But honestly, we really should talk about work. The first official hearing is due in only a few days."
Matt nodded. "You're right. Let's meet in the conference room in five minutes." With that, he started gathering his things. Karen turned and walked over to her desk while Foggy remained seated for another few seconds. He debated offering Matt help with the mug. Carrying a hot beverage when you could barely maintain a straight line was hard, after all. But then again... No, he would manage. Foggy stood, still grinning and left for his office.
It took him only half a minute to get all the papers he needed. When he had them securely tucked under his left arm, he positioned himself in the doorway, waiting for the others. Especially Matt. When his best friend finally appeared, he had left the coffee behind, only carrying his laptop and some apparently blank sheets.
"You forgot your mug", he stated. Matt grimaced at him.
"I didn't want to ruin your hard work by spilling it all over the already stained floor."
"How would you know it is stained?"
"Intuition", came the immediate response. Foggy decided to take a pity on the man.
"Well, I suppose I could help you out and get the coffee."
"Thank you for your graciousness", Matt copied Foggy's earlier tease. He didn't imitate the bow, though. Which was unusual but logical, considering that Matt hadn't been able to sense the motion. While walking to Matt's office, Foggy mused on how weird it was, having a blind friend but being used to him just knowing about things like nods and small gestures.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
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