Author's Note: Wow, this has to be one of my quickest updates ever. Thanks to all those who reviewed and I hope you continue to do so. This one is dedicated to Ratdogtwo for being my most loyal reviewer/ego booster/idea bouncer-offer…you get the point. Happy early birthday, Ratdog!
Trapped in that place between sleep and wakefulness, Abby was vaguely aware of movement around her. The television clicked on, but the volume was low and she promptly fell back asleep. That lasted roughly thirty seconds until she was treated to the musical stylings of Mr. Rogers, asking viewers to be his neighbor at an ear-splitting decibel level. Startled, the most powerful weapon in the war between good and evil jerked, fell off the couch, and hit her head on the edge of the coffee table, causing several precariously placed food cartons to fall to the ground.
"What the hell?!?"
"Watch your mouth."
Disoriented, Abby looked across the room to see Elektra standing near the TV, smirking in a way that was quite infuriating.
"What's your problem?" the teen fumed, rubbing her aching forehead as she clumsily climbed out from between the couch and table. "What time is it?"
"7:00."
"You woke me up at 7:00 in the morning on a Saturday? What the hell!" She had to shout to be heard over the sweater-clad TV host, still singing about what a beautiful day it was.
"I thought you'd want to get a head start on this," Elektra said, indicating the pile of takeout bags and soda cans.
"Will you turn that crap off? I didn't like it when I was three and I don't like it now."
Brow arching, Elektra lowered the volume but didn't shut off the power. "Three huh? Was that when you were a toddler or are you still considered an infant at that age?"
Neck sore from sleeping on the couch, Abby rolled her head from side to side, only to find that the motion made her forehead hurt more. "If I have a concussion it's your fault."
Elektra went on as though she hadn't heard that last comment. "Speaking of infants, what was it you said about cleaning up after yourself?"
"I was going to," the teen grumbled, falling back against the couch cushions.
"But then you fell asleep instead?"
"So I left the TV on, big deal. That mean you have to torture me with public television for preschoolers?"
"Do you enjoy making me angry?"
"Oh yeah, you're a real blast when you're like this."
"I wouldn't have to be like this if you'd stop taking stupid chances."
"What chances? That I'd get food poisoning from the sweet and sour chicken?"
"I told you no deliveries. How hard is that? Why is it so difficult for you to do what I say?"
"It's not and I did," the girl protested, lying back down and pressing her face to a pillow. "You said no deliveries, there were no deliveries."
"You didn't," Elektra said in a dangerous tone. "Tell me you didn't leave this apartment last night."
Silence.
The ex mercenary slammed her palm against the TV, a rare loss of control. "Do you have any idea what could've happened?"
"Yeah, I could've been kidnapped by a couple of bad henchmen guys. Or approached to buy drugs, or possibly hit by a bus."
"Stop, just stop," the older woman demanded.
"You're overreacting."
"Don't tell me I'm overreacting. You don't know this man or what he's capable of."
"Where's Matt?" Abby grumbled.
"You're not getting any help from him, so don't go looking for sympathy."
"Doesn't answer my question."
"He went out to breakfast with Foggy."
"How come you didn't go?"
"Because he left before I got up."
"That's weird."
"No, it's not. Stop trying to smother yourself and clean this up.," Elektra ordered, marching towards the kitchen.
"Hey," Abby called after her, "lighten up. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood."
The only response was the sound of the refrigerator door opening.
"Don't be mad, I saved you some chow mein!"
In answer, the fridge door slammed shut with much more force than necessary.
"God, what'd you do to yourself?"
"Nothing, it was a dull razor."
"Matt, your face-"
"-has a few nicks, that's all."
"What'd Elektra say when she saw that?"
"She didn't, I left a note and took off before she woke up."
The two men sat at their usual table in Joe's Shop, the morning customers in search of coffee and bagels just starting to trickle in. "What'd you shave in the dark?"
Matt leaned back in his chair.
"Right. Sorry. Forgot I guess. You sure you haven't been-"
"No, but considering how fast the tabloids get wind of things you'll be one of the first to know when I do."
"Right, yeah. Not that you have to-"
"Foggy, it's Saturday morning, I'm tired, what's so important that it couldn't wait 'til Monday?"
"Right. Yeah," the man stuttered nervously. "You uh, you're going to hate me for this."
"What happened to your face?" Abby wondered the moment Matt walked in the door.
He shrugged wearily.
"What did you do?" This from Elektra, who came in through the hallway a second later.
"Dull razor," the blind man replied flatly.
Tilting her head, Elektra scrutinized him for a long moment. "Abby, can you give us a sec?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No."
"Figured.," the teen muttered, getting up and heading for her room.
"That was easier than usual," Matt commented.
"She's sulking so she's trying to avoid me. What's the matter?"
Sighing, Matt threw his glasses on the table and sat on the arm of the couch. "We're broke. At least the office is. And not in the usual way, this time we can't even afford basic operating expenses."
"Foggy told you this?"
The blind man nodded miserably. "Things have been deteriorating for months."
"He never said anything."
"Because he didn't want you to worry about it, not with everything else that was going on." 'Everything else' meaning Matt's supposed death and all that followed, including his difficult transition back to semi-normality.
"Ah," Elektra said more sharply than she'd intended. "More secrets."
And there it was, the proof that she was still hurt by Matt's attempt to hide from her after his release from The Hand's captivity. Grimacing, Matt decided that that was a battle for another day."He was trying to be a good friend, Elektra."
Sighing, Elektra sat next to him on the couch, running her fingers along his right arm. "I know."
"Anyway he's tearing himself up enough already, thinks that he wasn't a good enough attorney to handle the place on his own."
"But you don't think that."
"Foggy underestimates himself. More than that, what he says doesn't fit with it being his fault."
"Meaning?"
"Foggy didn't get overwhelmed and start losing cases left and right while I was gone, he had no cases to lose. We stopped getting calls altogether. He's been covering costs out of his own pocket without telling me."
Elektra wasn't surprised that Matt had known nothing of how badly his law firm was failing. His work schedule had been erratic while he slowly got back into the swing of things, and she could understand, if not appreciate, Foggy's attempts to keep these problems to himself. "Fisk?"
"He has the power. You know he'd love to watch me lose everything I've worked for."
"He'd love to watch you lose more than that," Elektra replied darkly, squeezing his hand as she did. "What're you going to do?"
"I don't know, I wish I did."
"Well you know that if worse comes to worst…"
"No," Matt said fatly.
"Matt, be reasonable about this."
"We're not using that money," he muttered fiercely, pulling his hand away.
"Even if not using it costs you your livelihood?" Elektra shot back.
"I'm not using blood money to keep my practice going."
"How is it that you can forgive me for things that had nothing to do with you-"
"Forgiving it doesn't mean I want to flaunt money around that you got from-"
"Flaunting? What do you think is going to happen if the place does go under?"
"It won't come to that."
"How do you know?"
Without answering, Matt stood up and walked away. "Forget it. I need to work out."
That was a low blow. Not only was he taking the coward's way out, he'd also claimed the training room, knowing full well that she used the space to work off frustration. Granted Matt used the room for the exact same purpose, but the chivalrous thing would've been to give her the weight machine and punching bag while he went out to brood on the roof. Annoyed, Elektra headed for the kitchen to find something that needed to be chopped. The fact that she now needed an excuse to wield a knife was a perfect example of how much her life had changed.
It was nearly two hours later when Abby came out from her room to find Elektra twirling a pair of sai at speeds that shouldn't have been possible. "Having fun?" the girl asked.
"Repetition is-"
"-the way to perfection, I know. " Abby said, finishing the quote from one of Elektra's many sensei. "That must be why Matt's up to a thousand chin-ups. I think his arms might fall off."
Elektra didn't reply.
"Are you guys okay?"
"We're fine," the older woman said carefully, though that wasn't completely true. By silent agreement there were things between the couple that simply weren't discussed. It was better that way, kept conflict to a minimum, and allowed them to avoid certain wounds being reopened.
Most of the time at least.
In the kitchen, Abby carefully removed piece of paper from her jeans pocket, hoping to throw it out without her guardian noticing.
Sensing something, Elektra put down the weapons and was across the living area in seconds, grabbing the item before her charge had time to react. "What's this?" she demanded.
"Nothing, its garbage."
"Is this another detention notice?"
"No."
"Did you get in a fight?"
"No."
A pause. "You haven't been expelled have you?"
"Why would you think that?"
"It wouldn't be the first time."
"You know, if you keep thinking the worst of me I'll probably end up another statistic in a juvenile detention center."
Not amused, Elektra skimmed over the document, breathing a sigh of relief as she did. The letter was a permission slip for a field trip to Washington, DC at the end of the year, nothing there about throwing Abby out of the school system. "Why were you trying to hide this?"
"I wasn't, I just knew you wouldn't go for it."
There was a hint of resigned sadness in the explanation. Abby wasn't pouting or being dramatic, she was trying to do the opposite. Shamed by her earlier line of questioning, Elektra made a clumsy attempt at smoothing things over. "I'm sorry."
"Its fine, I get it." Pushing past the older woman, Abby went around the counter, claiming one of the stools in front of it.
"Don't give me that look."
"I'm not," the girl replied peevishly.
"I know you want to go with your friends' but-"
"I get it," Abby repeated. "If I can't leave for Chinese food you're not going to let me go out of state for two weeks."
"Abby, when things are safer-"
"When will that be?" Abby interrupted, no longer trying to hide her frustration. "When Fisk is gone? What about The Hand? Do we have to take them down, too, or can we just wait until they find another weapon to chase? What about everyone else who might want to kill you? Or Matt? I know I'm being immature and selfish and whatever else, but when is it supposed to be over? Because every time you say that it is, something else seems to pop up."
Predictably, Elektra had no good answer to any of those questions. She wanted to believe that they could give Abby something resembling a normal life, but that hadn't worked out too well so far. The girl had trouble keeping friends because she was constantly being pulled from school to hide from some new threat. She made excuses for not attending parties or sleepovers, leaving her peers thinking that she was either antisocial or something worse. Her guardian knew all of these things, though Abby rarely complained about them.
"Don't throw it out yet." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Abby looked at her quickly, a glint of hope in her eyes. "You serious?"
"The trip's not for awhile, the situation might be different by then."
Grinning, Abby slid off the stool and, in a rare show of affection, hugged the older woman. "You rule. You're awesome, you're amazing."
"I haven't said 'yes,' yet" Elektra protested, not returning the embrace.
"But you haven't said 'no,' either, meaning that you're awesome."
"Don't count on this. If something does go wrong between now and then..." She didn't get to finish. Releasing the death grip on her waist, Abby was already bolting for the hallway. A moment later, she began telling Matt everything he'd no doubt heard already.
Sighing, Elektra mentally kicked herself, both for getting the girl's hopes up about something that may or may not be possible, and for not forcing Abby to write out her little speech filled with adjectives. It wasn't often the teen referred to her as 'awesome' or 'amazing,' and it would've been nice to preserve the moment.
"Mr. Phillips."
"Sir?"
"Find some evidence for me." Find meaning create.
"Evidence of what, sir?"
"A lawyer, bribing one of his witnesses. Perjury is a federal crime you know."
"Indeed it is, sir."
"And the other matter?"
"Still no Daredevil sightings, Mr. Fisk."
"Good. Place a call to Jordan on my legal team."
"Sir?"
"Find out all the possible consequences of adopting a child illegally."
"Circumstances?"
"Kidnapping, forged adoption papers, tell him he'll get the specifics later. Make sure he knows the father's murder case is unsolved."
"Yes sir, Mr. Fisk."