NOTE: I wasn't gonna continue with this until I'm done with my other series, but this chapter was ready, so I figured... why not post it?

FOGGY

Karen is already busy on the computer typing away when Foggy enters and she barely acknowledges his greeting. "Did you watch Matt's first episode yesterday?"

"I'm not going to watch Matt flirt on TV. No."

It's more how she says it than what she says that makes Foggy think he has the last missing piece to a puzzle. "I knew it! There's something going on between you two." That makes the reappearance of a certain ex all the more annoying. At least Matt did look taken aback when he saw Elektra again.

Karen laughs bitterly "Well obviously not, otherwise he wouldn't go an a dating show, would he?"

"You know very well he did that solely for publicity." Well, Foggy knows very well that's not the entire truth, but he can't tell Karen as long as she's in the dark about their colleague's vigilante escapades and he promised his best friend that he would not reveal his little horny secret to her. However it got very difficult to stick to that after he had to convince her that Matt Murdock decided to go on TV willingly to be part of a show called "Everlasting".

"Come on, Karen, we've been through this. The producers just made us a very good offer." An offer they couldn't refuse to be exact.

All Rachel did was tell them how they could justify it, really. It's not like they had much of a choice. Although, to be honest, Foggy actually didn't think it was such a bad deal for his law partner and that pissed him off even more.

So whenever Matt acted like he was a martyr for cleaning up his own mess Foggy was having none of it. "Great. You make dating a lot of beautiful women simultaneously sound like a sacrifice for our crappy firm."

And the asshole even laughed when he said that, before pointing out that he was going to have to play his role the entire time.

Karen at first even acted like she didn't mind that much and she only warned him about how fake and superficial it all looked on TV. And especially about all the drama that they always seem to fabricate on reality shows like that. "Be careful, Matt. I've heard some dark rumours about those producers."

"Don't worry, Karen. We're gonna sue their asses if they screw us." Foggy saw it more like he got stuck with their workload while Matt had a good time with the ladies. He was not really concerned about his superhero buddy, well... until Elektra showed up...

But they do actually get a few more calls after the premiere, some of them from potential paying customers. So that publicity thing actually seems to work. He almost feels grateful, until he has Rachel Goldberg on the line again. "What else do you want from us?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nelson, I promise we won't keep your partner longer than we have to."

She always sounds so sincere that he is tempted to believe her and then he reminds himself that this is her job. "Just tell me."

"Well, usually at the end of the show we go to our star's family with our last contestants and since he doesn't have any... He told me you and Karen are as close to family as it gets." Foggy can't help feeling a bit moved by that statement. Damn.

"So... what do you suggest?"

"Well, I want them to meet the Nelson & Murdock family in Hell's Kitchen. Do you think that's possible?"

Foggy sighs. There's no way around it. For a short moment he thinks about suggesting that they should go to Fogwell's, but showcasing Daredevil's gym on TV is probably not a good idea. "Alright, I'll talk to Karen. Tell me what you need..."

"I'll send a team over to check out some locations." The woman sounds relieved.

"But don't expect anything too fancy." Karen is not going to like this.

RACHEL

They watch as a blindfolded contestant clumsily tries to figure out which of the five different guys in front of her is Matt.

"I'm not complaining because there's so much touching so early in this season, but Rachel, I thought you understood my concerns about the damn glasses. If the viewers are supposed to fall for him we have to show them his eyes."

"I know, but we have to give the contestants a chance to recognize him and so far they've only seen him with the shades. You want none of them to score alone time with him?"

Matt even decides to help some of them a little, encouraging them to not be shy in a quiet whisper. Still, quite a few pick the guy next to him, especially after they feel their arms and they are obviously under the impression that a blind lawyer would not be that fit. Which - she has to admit - is not unreasonable, especially since they've only seen him in a suit so far. But soon she's going to make them do something where he has to dress in a T-shirt to show off those arms.

"Just don't stretch out your man of mystery angle too much or people will get bored."

"Don't worry I've planned a good reveal for the glasses and he agreed that he won't be wearing them for the rest of the season." It was not easy convincing him of that. He seems to think his unfocused eyes make people feel uncomfortable.

When it's Jessica's turn it seems that she's not too invested in finding him, but that's probably what gives her away to Matt who's suddenly smirking. After she moves on to the guy next to him, Matt walks out of the row to switch with the last man in line.

"Oh, looks like he has his head in the game after all!", Quinn realises happily. "And now she appears to be confused."

Jessica frowns and probably to make sure she doesn't pick him she touches his lips to make up her mind. Noticed them before, did she? Then she goes back to the one before him and asks if he is Matt. "Did that one just do that on purpose? We've never had a contestant who didn't want alone time. What's up with that?"

"I don't know. But I think it's intriguing, don't you?" Rachel likes her. Although, Jessica will obviously be a challenge for her to produce. How is she going to make her dress up?

After purposely picking the wrong man she takes off her blindfold to look mock dismayed at a chuckling Matt.

"I think she's up to something..." Quinn muses. "Keep an eye on her."

Next up is a girl called Celine. She like all the others raises her eyebrows at feeling the hard muscle under his suit. But it doesn't make her discard him. Instead she feels his glasses and chin and when he smiles she nods knowingly, before announcing that she found him. Much to everyone's surprise.

Last up is Elektra and now Rachel of course knows that the woman has an unfair advantage over the others, since she knows him already. She also does score some more points with Quinn. Of course, she pretends that she doesn't recognise him right away, instead she argues that she has mostly seen his back the night before, because "Matthew" seems to have avoided her.

"So now, I guess I'm gonna have to feel this..." Elektra slowly travels back and down with her hands, until she arrives at his ass to feel him while she bites her lips. "I hope you don't mind..."

Quinn fans herself and then she gets even more ecstatic when Elektra takes Matt's glasses off and reveals the angry heat in his eyes - that can also be mistaken for something else. "I'd recognise that ass anywhere."

She takes the blindfold off acting surprised that she guessed right, but Rachel isn't fooled. This also wasn't her plan and she shoots Jay, who's handling Elektra an annoyed look. "What? Someone had to take initiative..."

"The villain isn't supposed to get the important reveals, Jay." But he just shrugs.

And Quinn supports him: "I don't care as long as we got rid of the shades. You're lucky that I like him Rachel. Now make sure he doesn't cut Elektra from our show, because he did look a bit tense there again."

MATT

Since they were in the woods without much happening around this area there wasn't as much distraction as there was in the city. Listening to everyone in the house Matt slowly forms an idea of what he has gotten himself into. Rachel seems to have suspicions about his good hearing, so every time her conversations with Quinn get interesting she changes the topic. But he's sure they've done some shady crap in the past. Things they'd rather not have anyone find out.

He could also hear the contestants talk to each other about him, most of them pretending they weren't disappointed. Well, he's not rich and he can't even see, so he's hardly the prince they were promised signing up for this. And a part of him is actually insulted, but at the same time, he's the one who isn't in this to find someone to marry and he's quite surprised when he hears some of their heartbeats tell him that they are.

Then there's Elektra. The last time he saw her was when they tortured the guy who was responsible for his father's death together. She disappeared without a trace after he refused to take revenge and kill the guy. It was probably for the better. Foggy helped him back then to focus on his studies again and he was sure he'd never see her after this, until now.

Last night he left his room - expertly avoiding all the cameras - to go for a run and clear his head. It didn't take long for her to seek him out and he asked her directly what she was doing there. Her answer he didn't expect. "I could use your help."

Oh, she has quite some nerve to ask him for that. "As you might have noticed I'm a bit busy."

"I could get the team to go where we are needed if you're serious about this silly show. I'm... connected." She stepped closer towards him then. "But I don't think you're here, because you want to be. Did someone find out about your little secret?"

Elektra lifted her fists challenging him to fight her, but Matt was not in the mood to give her what she wants while he himself was getting quite desperate to use his fists. However he couldn't go on camera with bruised knuckles, that much he understood. "Please, just leave me alone. I'm going to send you home tomorrow if you won't go on your own."

"We'll see about that," she mumbled after him, knowing fully well that he'd be able to hear her.

Sensing Rachel approach his room he opens the door before she has time to knock. "What now?"

"You can't cut Elektra."

Matt groans and steps aside to let her in. "Didn't I tell you she's dangerous?"

"You did. But I've got the impression there's some unresolved tension between you."

"Yeah, you're right. The last time I saw her she almost made me kill someone. It's not like we can discuss that openly..." Then he tilts his head, because he can hear someone else sneak up to listen at the door. Jessica. "Hang on..." He waits for a minute and then his senses tell him that she gave up and moved on. Interesting...

After making a sign that she can talk again Rachel goes on. "You have good ears."

"You knew something was making up for the eyes," Matt mumbles.

"Yeah... but seeing it confirmed is..." She stops herself. "Anyway: I'm just asking you to consider that it isn't going to be fair to those women to drag them along to the end getting their hopes up. At least Elektra knows what she's getting into. She's not going to expect a proposal at the end of this, is she...?"

"Well, no." Matt then shakes his head in disbelief at what he just heard. "But you're the reason that they have screwed expectations and now you're making it my fault?"

"You could give them a chance... We might be selling a fantasy, but those are all real women and I'm sure you'll find that it's worth it getting to know them all. And who knows? Maybe meeting Elektra again will even lead to some closure. But first I need you to change into a T-shirt..." She then starts talking to one of her colleagues. "Get the picnic basket to Matt's room."

Before leaving she turns around once more. "We're also organising our stay in your hometown right now and I was wondering... Does Karen know?"

Matt shakes his head, still contemplating what she just told him. Rachel isn't completely wrong. Just like he's determined to keep Jessica around, because she's obviously here to snoop around and not to find a husband, maybe he should send those home first who actually seem to like him without knowing what they are getting into.

Suddenly he hears Jessica make a call to a guy named Malcom and he finds his suspicions confirmed that she's here for a case. "They are definitely hiding something here. I'm not sure if it's murder yet, but there's something off with that lawyer. Maybe he isn't really blind."

Oh shit.

RACHEL

Quinn is pleased when Matt shows up for his picnic with Elektra in less formal clothes, without the glasses and without a stick up his ass. "Oh yeah... you weren't lying about him. I like the way he fills out his shirt."

There is obviously still tension in the way they talk, since they both have to lie through their teeth, but something tells her that there are honest moments in there. Surprisingly they come from Elektra. "I'm sorry about making you feel uncomfortable."

Rachel can tell that she means more than their awkward reunion and by the look in Matt's eyes - boy he's an open book without those glasses - he knows it, too.

"I've been thinking about you." Again that statement is a lot more serious than it seems. She's obviously talking about the years they spend apart. "And it hurt that you've been avoiding me, so I'm sorry that I felt like I had to 'grab' my opportunity to talk to you..." Elektra still looks a bit smug about how she earned her picnic date with Matt and of course Quinn loves it.

His lips are pressed into a thin line at the last admission, but it seems like he's been giving Rachel's words some thought. Good. "I can't see, so if you thought I avoided you on purpose..." He shrugs and they both knows that's crap.

Elektra still chuckles at the joke. "Well, I'd like to make it up to you, but if you want me to leave..."

"No, no, nooo!" Quinn shoots Rachel an angry look. "I swear, if you didn't convince him to keep her-"

"I want you to stay." He even manages a smile to Rachel's huge relief.

Crisis number one averted. After their villain leaves Matt is joined on his blanket by Celine and they seem to connect quite easily. Rachel is immediately reminded of the first evening she met him in a bar in Hell's Kitchen noticing how easy he is to talk to without any intentions of bringing him on the show.

"Can I ask you how you lost your eyesight?", Celine asks tentatively. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to be nosy-"

"No, I don't mind." He's prepared for that question, of course. "It was an accident. I saved an old man and chemicals spilled into my eyes when I was a lid. I learned to adjust."

It's after the second glass of wine - one more than he drank with Elektra - that Celine starts talking about her ex boyfriend. "You remind me of him. To be honest, I wasn't sure about doing this, but a friend of mine said I should give it a try. I wasn't interested in dating anyone after he died and it's been five years..."

Matt takes her hand in his with an encouraging smile to go on and Rachel can't help wondering if it has been that long for him since Elektra. If he has dated anyone since her. She doesn't know how long he has been Daredevil and that doesn't seem to leave much room for a private life, does it? "What happened?"

"He was a cop. Died on the job." Celine doesn't go into detail and they stay quiet after that, but it's not an uncomfortable silence.

Quinn looks a bit impressed. "Okay, you almost made me tear up and we're only two episodes in. I think this is going to be a good season after all."

Rachel is pretty pleased with herself, too. But maybe she is a bit quick to congratulate herself, because that's when Matt Murdock makes a decision she didn't anticipate.

"You know, maybe this isn't such a good idea."

Rachel sees Quinn frown in alarm beside her.

Celine also looks up at him. "What do you mean?"

"You and me." Matt sighs. Damn. This is him thinking he doesn't want her to get the wrong idea about him. "Don't get me wrong. You're wonderful and I think you'll definitely find someone else who's worthy of you. But I make powerful enemies, too, and if it took that long for you to get over the death of your last boyfriend..." He places another hand over their joined ones in an attempt to make her understand that this is for her own good as tears gather in her eyes. "I don't want you getting hurt like that again. Maybe you should start looking for someone a little safer than me."

"But-" He kisses the tear off her cheek. "You're asking me to leave?"

Matt smiles. "I'm asking you to run, before this hurts any more than it has to. And promise me that you won't give up looking, okay?" She nods vaguely. "Give it a shot and get some better friends who don't make you do something like this on TV..."

Rachel barely registers Quinn yelling her name while Matt is trying to cheer Celine up. What did she do, getting someone like him on this show?!

NOT: If you'd rather wait a little and then have quick updates let me know. And also let me know if you have any suggestions where you want me to take this. :)