Anything recognizable is the property of the appropriate owners. I do not make any claim to ownership, nor do I make any money from this.
Note: I have not seen past Season 2, Episode 5: Kinbaku.
Foggy procured a small duffle bag for the mask and a comfortable suit for the day, but he wasn't going to the office. Instead, the lawyer caught a bus leaving Manhattan and just watched the city pass him by. He found a car rental near the bus depot and picked a random direction, not knowing or caring where he went, figuring he would know where the right spot was when he got there. A flash of ocean out of the side window inspired him to get closer. Matt had mentioned that he had never seen the ocean except in movies as a kid, and then he lost his sight. Perhaps a quiet beach was the right place to put his friend to rest.
He found himself passing a quaint hand carved sign of a fisherman in a rowboat with the words 'Welcome To Historic Sea Bright.' The town was a perfect representation of eastern seaboard fishing towns, resplendent for the height of tourist season with baskets of flowers outside every shop and fresh bright paint. As beautiful as it was, Nelson couldn't help thinking of all the Stephen King novels that took place in towns just like this. Shaking off the eerie feeling, Foggy parked near several promising looking restaurants, vaguely planning to order a sandwich to go and then walking the long beach along the spit of land where Sea Bright was located to find a place to bury Matt. Or at least the DareDevil mask.
Foggy had his meal wrapped in wax paper and paused long enough to hold the door for the person behind him when he heard the familiar tap and swipe sound of a cane. When he turned to look out of habit, Nelson nearly dropped his sandwich right into the path of the blind man feeling his way through the antechamber. His heart leapt into his throat. It was Matt! It had to be! But Foggy couldn't find his voice for a long second and when he did, it wasn't to call his name.
"Door's open, then three steps down."
"Thank you." Maybe-Matt nodded towards the source of the voice and kept on walking along the edge of the sidewalk.
When he passed by, Foggy stared hard, hoping to catch some kind of confirmation that it really was Matt, since he couldn't be sure under the oversized sunglasses, but nothing. He moved quickly, obviously familiar with the area and his destination. Probably going to find a sunny place to eat the lunch wrapped up under his free arm. Ignoring the strange looks from a passing local, Foggy followed at a respectful distance, trying to alternately convince himself that he was imagining things and that it really was Matt tapping his way towards the boardwalk.
Once at the edge of the long beach, Maybe-Matt stopped and tilted his head before turning around. "Can I help you?" His voice was the same, polite and curious, or that might have been Foggy not remembering correctly.
"Yeah, I was looking for a friend of mine."
"Well, doubt you were looking for a blind guy." He raised his cane as example.
"Actually, I was." Foggy's heart fell. Murdock had always known his voice, but there was no sign of recognition. "His name was Matt."
Finally, the blind man smiled lopsidedly, sending Foggy's heart thumping in his chest. "What're the chances of that. I'm Matthew." He held his hand out to shake and Nelson took it gratefully.
"What are the chances of that?" He still couldn't decide if this was his Matt or not. On one hand he looked exactly like his former roommate, yet there was still the disturbing lack of recognition. But he seemed lighter somehow than his friend, like something had been weighing Murdock down for so long it had become a part of him.
"Can I have my hand back?" The Maybe-Matt asked gently when Foggy didn't automatically release it.
"Are you sure you're not Matt Murdock?" It was a longshot, but he couldn't give up now. "I swear you could be his twin."
"Maybe I am?"
"What?" Foggy was sure he had stepped into the twilight zone at some point. What else could explain his situation.
"I don't know." The blind man shrugged.
"I-uh. What?" He repeated stupidly. Nothing was making sense.
"I don't know who I am. I don't remember anything before about a year ago." Maybe-Matt elaborated, which didn't exactly prove anything, but Foggy was ready to take any miracle he could get.
Nelson stood there slack jawed for a moment as his head spun. What if Matt had been confused by the noise attack that night and tried to hide in a truck that ended up in New Jersey and couldn't remember anything in the morning? Incredulous words ended up falling out of his mouth without thinking about them first. "You've been here the entire time?"
Suddenly the blind man's relaxed posture tensed and he leaned away from Foggy. "How do I know you actually recognize me and this isn't some elaborate ploy to steal my kidneys?"
"God, Matt, I've missed you." Laughing, Nelson ran his free hand through his long hair, realizing he probably needed a trim and trying to think of something to convince the suspicious man. "What if I could tell you things about you?"
"You can walk me up to the library." Could-be-Murdock turned up the boardwalk and clearly expected him to follow.
"Okay, um, here." Foggy bumped his elbow into Matt's for him to take and he was relieved when he did, settling his hand into the same natural spot he always did. "I'm Franklin Nelson, by the way." He could have smacked himself in the head if he wasn't holding his sandwich, he never introduced himself by his birth name.
"Nice to meet you, Franklin."
"So, your birthday is May 10th, 1986." Foggy offered, trying to think of other things that might prove their former relationship while automatically narrating their journey. "Broken board, step left."
"I have no idea what my birthday is, or who my parents are, or my last address, or my social security number." Matt shot down that idea right quick.
"Okay, um." The blond man cast around for any inspiration, but drew a blank. There wasn't much to compare notes on if he truly couldn't remember anything at all. "Oh, I know. You've got a lot of scars, a big one on your side."
Matt shook his head. "All that proves is you've seen me naked."
Foggy wanted to point out that he hadn't been totally naked when he had helped stitch up the wound that left that scar, but technically he had accidentally walked in on his roommate while changing in the past, so yeah, he had seen Matt naked. There was only one thing that Murdock had only told him and his priest, but Nelson didn't really want to share it in case this really was a case of mistaken identity. But then again, if it wasn't Matt, it probably wouldn't mean anything to him.
"Almost to the library. Two steps up." Nothing else came to mind, so he spread caution to the wind. "A world on fire."
Matt's hand clenched painfully in Foggy's elbow and he stopped in his tracks. "How could you know that?" His question wasn't the gravely angry DareDevil voice, but it still sent a shiver down Nelson's spine.
"Because I'm your best friend." Foggy finally knew for certain that this was his partner, just missing some memories.
Murdock nodded in apparent agreement and flicked his cane towards a bench near the library but facing the ocean. "What happened?"
The blond man gladly lead the way, figuring they could eat their sandwiches while they talked. Maybe something might even come back to him. Once they were settled and began unwrapping their lunches, Foggy struggled with where to start before he figured he should start at the beginning.
"You lost your sight when you were 9." Matt ate quietly as he listened. "You saved an old man's life when an illegal hazmat truck went out of control. When you were splashed with whatever they were transporting, you got your world on fire."
"What is it?"
It was definitely strange to be the one to explain something he didn't fully understand. "You told me once it was a mixture of all your other senses together trying to replace your eyes."
The brunette nodded, accepting the basic explanation, perhaps as confirmation of his own theories after having lived with it for a year. "How'd we meet?"
Foggy chewed and swallowed quickly to answer. "College. Columbia. We were roommates for three years, then we did our clerkship together. And we opened a law office together after that."
"So we were lovers." Murdock mused mostly to himself but Foggy nearly choked on the last of his sandwich.
"What? How'd you figure?"
"You've seen me naked and we were partners." It was a logical assumption, if not accurate.
"That was to save your life!" Foggy stumbled over his own tongue.
"Uh-huh, cause it sounds like you were in love with me." Matt gave another lopsided smile to show he was half teasing.
"Well, I-uh. We weren't lovers." Nelson stated for the record. It wasn't the first time someone had assumed they were more than they were, and he was never offended, but it's not like he had ever done anything with a guy before. Though, if he were going to, it would have been with Matt.
"Shame."
Foggy choked again even though he had already finished his lunch. This Matt was definitely more like he had been in college than the lawyer living a double life as a vigilante. "What?" He hated that he was starting to sound like a retarded parrot, but there were only so many turns in the conversation he could follow.
"I like your voice. Did you read to me?" Matt had his ear cocked towards Nelson, ostensibly to hear him better, but Foggy knew better.
"Yeah, I did sometimes." At the time, he had figured his blind roommate's fingers got tired of reading braille, or he was tired of taking so long to get through a chapter, but maybe he had just wanted to hear him talk more. It let a butterfly loose somewhere near his navel.
From the beach, a pack of teenage guys walked by with puffed up naked chests and brightly colored board shorts, probably had been playing beach volleyball going by the white orb held under one teen's arm. One spotted the pair of men on the bench, and loudly pointed them out to the others. "Look, a blind faggot!"
Another piped up. "And his seeing eye dog!"
They all laughed heartily and moved off down the beach leaving Matt gently restraining Foggy's arm. "Don't worry about them."
At the familiar touch he had nearly forgotten, Nelson relaxed his body and let go of the desire to smash in the little prig's face. But the distraction unsettled him and he suddenly wanted to get away. "Look, I understand you've got a life here, but do you think you might let me be a part of it?" It wasn't what he had been planning on saying, but he was glad his mouth didn't let him throw this chance encounter away.
"You want to open another law office?" Matt smirked. "It might take me a while to study for the bar again."
"No, well, I kept Nelson & Murdock open, but I was thinking getting to know each other again first." Foggy couldn't help thinking that he had finally nailed a smooth line for once.
"What if I'm not the same person you knew?"
Nelson could hear the uncertainty in the blind man's voice of someone who had probably been fairly lonely for literally as long as he could remember, so he answered honestly. "I think you're still pretty amazing."
"See, I knew you were in love with me." Matt chuckled, just the same as Foggy remembered from years of living together and sharing a law firm.
"Okay Murdock, I'm rolling my eyes at you." Foggy couldn't help the light shoulder bump before changing the subject. "So tell me what you've been doing for the last year."
"Not much." Matt shrugged. "I recovered at the clinic here. Doctors said I had been beat up pretty bad, half drowned, and I had a skull fracture. But everyone seemed to like me, so they set me up with an apartment and work and I've been here ever since."
"You always have a way with people." Foggy had always been a little jealous of Matt's ability to get people to do things for him, beating even his general affability. But the green emotion was washed away by the relief that Matt was safe and well cared for in his absence.
"So do you know how I got here?" Matt carefully controlled his voice to hide how much he needed an answer.
"No, I wasn't conscious, but I know you saved my life." Nelson wasn't 100% sure if DareDevil had actually done anything since the paramedics said his heart was stopped when they found him, but Matt had definitely saved him on other occasions.
"I did? Like CPR?" The blind man sounded surprised as if he never thought he might be able to help someone.
"Something like that. All I know is I was technically dead when the paramedics found me, then I coded in the ambulance, and again in the hospital. When I woke up, you were gone." He couldn't help the slightly accusatory tone after spending the last year thinking that maybe his partner had abandoned him on purpose.
"I'm sorry." And he sounded it, despite not remembering the circumstance, or even anything about the man he was apologizing to.
"I'm sure you didn't leave me on purpose."
"Still feel guilty."
Foggy couldn't help the chuff of humor that escaped him. "And that's how I know you're still you."
Latching on to another facet of his unfamiliar personality, Matt wanted to know more. "Was I usually guilty?"
"No, but I think you were always trying to pay penance anyways. You were raised by catholic nuns for a while when you were a kid." Nelson supplied the reference and was thrilled to see Matt smile slightly too.
"Huh, that's kinda how I picked the name Matthew when I woke up and they needed something to call me." Maybe it meant something that he happened to pick his real name despite the lack of memories, or maybe it was just coincidence.
A random thought popped into Foggy's mind and he gave it voice. "Matthew 7:1."
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matt quoted automatically.
"You once said that passage was part of why you became a lawyer." It had been a conversation years ago, when they had first been assigned as roommates, but it had stuck with Foggy for some reason. Maybe that was part of what had created DareDevil too.
"The nuns would be so pleased." Matt mused, vaguely distracted by wondering what had happened to the sisters who had raised him before he realized he didn't remember anything about them.
"Hey, can I give you my number? If you need anything, or whatever." Foggy flushed, feeling foolish, even though he knew he shouldn't. It was just Matt. Or at least basic Matt. Kind of like a factory reset, he thought, without the shadow of the devil over him.
"Sure." Murdock fished his phone out of his pocket for the number to be programed in.
Foggy also sent a text message to himself to have Matt's number, not that he would likely call it first, but it made him feel better about the inevitability of leaving, which he might as well get around to as it was well afternoon and he had no desire to get caught in traffic. "Well, it's getting late, and I still have to drive back to New York."
"It was really great talking to you, Franklin." The blind man smiled genuinely, sending another pang through Foggy's heart but he couldn't bring himself to correct his name.
Maybe it would be a good thing to have another reminder that this wasn't the same man he last saw in New York City, "I'm glad you're okay, Matty."
"Me too." If the pet name affected the blind man, Foggy couldn't see it.
"Do you want me to walk you anywhere?" Nelson offered automatically, knowing that Matt didn't really need his help, but not really wanting to leave yet either.
As Foggy expected, he declined with a wave of his hand. "Nah, I'm gonna sit here and listen to the waves. Lot to think about, you know?"
"Yeah, I know." Understatement of the year.
Foggy was wondering why he wasn't dragging Matt home, and excited to tell Karen that he found their missing man, but then he remembered that she had left. Then there was the concern of what would happen if Matt regained his memories and the paperwork necessary for him to be declared legally Matt Murdock. What if he did have to take the bar again? What if he never wanted to see him again? Or potentially worse, what if he never remembered?
"I'll give you a call some time." Murdock promised, seemingly unperturbed that his former partner was still standing by the bench.
Remembering that he was actually supposed to be leaving, Foggy tried to find some parting comment that conveyed what the blind man meant to him without coming across as creepy. "Sure, any time. I, uh, missed you."
Matt gave his patented polite smile and a wave, clearly already lost in his own thoughts as Foggy wandered back down the boardwalk. He was ecstatic to know that his best friend hadn't been killed that night like he had feared, even if he had lost all of his memories. But they had been friends before and Nelson knew he could win him back, but what if Matt had only been Matt because of the things in his past? Maybe he would be an entirely different person without the trauma of losing his father and growing up in an orphanage.
Foggy drove north on autopilot, still mulling over that afternoon, occasionally glancing at the black bag in the passenger seat. To think that he had left his apartment with the intention of putting the past behind him, only to find the man he had been searching for completely by accident. Finally back in his/Matt's apartment, Nelson tossed the bag with the mask out of the way and looked around aimlessly. The only thing he could think to do about the whole situation was to follow through with his original decision to put DareDevil behind him and to treat Matt like an entirely new person he just happened to meet while on a stroll. Yeah, Foggy nodded to himself, a nice, handsome man he randomly met, who might call him in the future. If he didn't call, well, that would be that and he could respect that. Maybe.