Pain was either severe or prolonged, and I couldn't help but be grateful for that fact when a certain trigger happy asshole finally let up with the taser. I clawed my way back to consciousness, my vision finally clearing to give me a perfect view of the shit-stained carpet. Then my captor had to be an even bigger dick by shoving a gun to my head, the metal pressing hard against my skull followed by the clacking sound of a cocked gun. More hands reached for my arms, wrenching them back then lifting me to my feet to stand before the biggest tool bag in the room, Dimitri Christos. He stepped up before me, gaze sweeping up and down in a way that made me want to slam a knee between his legs. The smugness didn't make him any less punchable either, brushing aside blond bangs from his face before crossing his arms across his chest.
"See, when I was hearing about someone skulking around for information, I wasn't expecting someone as lovely as you."
"Fuck off," I spat, only to get slapped for my efforts.
"My, what a filthy mouth you have there. You know some guys would pay a pretty penny for a few minutes with you," Dimitri laughed, grabbing a hold of my chin and forcing my head towards him. "Don't get me wrong, sugar, you're not worth a fortune like your friend, but maybe you value your life over his?"
What the hell?
"Who are you talking about, the fucken lawyer?" I glanced at the man in question, happy to see he was still conscious when I noticed his head tilt towards me. Soon as this douche lets up on the gun, I could get us both out. Damn did I wish I had the same impenetrable skin as Luke.
Dimitri snorted, "The lawyer is just a means to an end. Don't play with me girly, protecting that masked asshole isn't going to get you anywhere."
"I don't know who you're talking about."
"Bullshit. If you don't know, then why're you here?" His hand released my chin in favor of my throat, clenching tight and threatening to completely cut off my airway.
"Hired."
"For what?"
"Find. Him," I managed to gasp out, nodding a head towards the bound man in the chair.
Dimitri considered me for a second then he released his grip, snapping at one of his lackeys before turning back to his first prisoner. They shoved me to my knees, my thigh throbbing from the bullet as another man showed up to snap handcuffs around my wrist and tie a rope at my ankles. Pushed fully onto the ground, it was then I realized just how many people had shown up to attack me. From this new angle, I spotted at least eight other men crowding in this room and even more In the hall. All of them were heavily armed between guns, tazers, crowbars, and whatever else was threatening. Even if I managed to throw off the first guy, the others would take me out in an instant. It seemed I ran right into an ambush.
Cracking his neck and knuckles, Dimitri strutted towards the bound lawyer, eyeing him for a moment before lifting his leg and slamming his foot into his prisoner's chest. Matt grunted as the chair tilted backwards and slammed into the ground, his head knocking against the carpet. From where I lay pinned down, I watched Dimitri crouch down with arms resting against his knees as he considered the lawyer.
"You know there's still the option of giving in, no need for sweetheart here to get caught in all this trouble. All you have to do is tell me where to find him."
Matt turned his head away.
"Listen here you blind bastard, he's clearly not coming to save your ass. Seems to me he gives no two shits about saving you. Why protect some ungrateful asshole like that?" Dimitri paused, giving Matt a chance to speak up. When he was met with silence, he sighed, pushing against his knees to help him stand up. "Fine, I'll give you the night to make your decision. I am after all a gracious host. If you don't tell me all you know about the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, then I'll just kill you and this girl here. So, spend the night really thinking: Hey is this Douche-devil really worth our lives?"
The man pinning me grabbed me by the arms and dragged me over to the lawyer at the gesture of Dimitri's hand. The leader stared at me with a sickly sweet smile before he gave me a swift kick to the side. Compared to some of the hits I've taken in the past, his weak attempt hardly hurt. Still, I let out a gasp, pretending the attack came from Luke and not this douchebag.
Slamming his foot down on my chest, Dimitri pressed down with a laughed, "And I'll leave you a friend. Talk to her, get to know her and what you'll be destroying when you sacrifice her life to protect a vigilante."
Another kick, this time to my head. It left me in a daze, but not enough to keep me from realizing everyone was leaving me and the lawyer alone. I listened as the door closed, catching Dimitri order two of his lackeys to stand guard. Much as I wanted to jump to action, I forced myself to wait. I had to make sure they weren't going to make a reappearance. Once I felt it was time, I yanked my hands apart, wincing at the sharp pain. Ripping the metal remains from my wrist, I turned my attention to my bound feet and tore the rope apart. My wrists and ankles felt sore, but it was a hell of a lot better than being hogtied on the floor. Limping over, I put all my weight on my uninjured leg to grab the chair, wrenching it and the man back upright.
"Wait," he gasped, head swiveling to and fro, trying to find me with those unfocused eyes. "Who're you?"
"Jessica Jones, nice to finally meet you Matt Murdock, but perhaps socializing is best saved for another time when we're not stuck in this shithole," I said, unable stop that charming sarcasm from coloring my voice.
I reached for the handcuffs around his wrist, but was stopped by Matt suddenly lurching forward, tilting the whole chair with him. His hands jerked upwards, managing to grab me by the forearm, anchoring him to me while saving him from a faceplant. Even with my strength, I couldn't help but be impressed by the strength behind his grip. Especially from a blind man.
"What are you planning?"
"To bust us out," I snapped, yanking my hand out from his grip while grabbing the chair to stop him from falling. I stifled a groan when I was forced to use my injured leg to keep balance, though I still pulled the handcuffs apart.
"You're shot."
He was really starting to piss me off.
I tore off the rope and helped him up, grumbling, "Nothing I can't deal with later."
He stumbled upright, swaying on his feet with a hand pressed up to his head. It was then I realized how messed up he was. He was pale with mottle colors of purple and blue stretched across one eye. A gash stretched across the right of his face, above the hairline, the source of the blood that tried into his hair and smudged against his skin. The way he couldn't seem to stand up straight was what concerned me the most. On a normal day, it would be difficult for me to carry someone and dodge a hell storm of bullets, but my leg still hurt like a b—Wait a second.
"How the hell do you know I was shot?" I asked with a glare, getting more pissed when I realized how useless that was with a blind man.
"Gunshot isn't exactly quiet, plus," he turned to me with a smirk, the way he acted like he was staring at me with those blind eyes was a bit freaky, "I can hear you limping."
"You've got pretty good hearing."
"Not as good as it normally is," he sighed, gingerly leaning down to sit on the ground. "Still, maybe take the time for rest before charging out of here and into hell?"
"You got to be fu—"
"These people aren't going anywhere soon, I can help you take care of that leg before you decide to risk our lives escaping."
"Fuck it, fine," I grumbled sitting down next to him to peer down at my leg. There was a hole in my blood soaked jeans from where the bullet entered, a little above the knee. I tore the fabric wider, ripping off the section of the garment and leaving the rest of my leg exposed. "And how're you going to help me with this leg."
Gesturing for me to move closer, he placed careful, calloused hands against my leg, feeling the wound for a few seconds. "The bullet is still inside. May I?"
"Sure," I shrugged, watching him grab the tatter remains of my jeans, tearing to strips so he could tightly bind the leg with practiced ease. "You've done this shit before."
"I used to patch up my father when I was a kid."
"Battlin' Jack Murdock you mean?" At the way he tilted his head and lifted a brow, I added, "There were some news articles online about what happened to your old—"
"Who hired you?"
This time it was my turn to raise my brows, even though it was useless. I had a strange hunch that his questions were turning into an interrogation. Weird when I was saving his blind ass. Guess I was going to chalk that up to all the other weird shit I've been seeing on this case. Between how Foggy acted in the hospital in this too defensive Matt, I had plenty of reasons to know that these people were target for more than taking on the wrong case.
"Your friends seemed pretty worried, especially Karen."
He tightened the fabric into a knot, knuckles turning white at the mention of Karen's name. "Are they okay?"
"Foggy's under observation at Metro-General, but nothing too serious besides that," I offered, all too aware of the way his muscles tensed.
"Thank goodness," Matt murmured after a moment, releasing his hold on my makeshift bandage.
I slid my feet beneath me, standing up slowly as I tested my leg. Even though I couldn't stop the grunt from escaping, the pain was tolerable enough to suck it up until I could find real help. I leaned down and offered Matt a hand, lifting him onto two feet. He swayed, his hands once again reaching for his ears with a wince.
"We're leaving," I told him, watching him with a critical eye. "I'll try to keep it slow, but how well can you follow?"
"Bad idea, we won't be able to make it out of here," Matt added, his eyes staring somewhere towards my left ear. "This place is armed to the teeth. They'll shoot you the second they spot you."
"And why the fuck are they armed?" I growled out, folding my arms across my chest with a glare. Fuck it if I cared that he didn't see my pissed off look, it still made me feel better. There was more going on with these goddamn lawyers than I realized, shit that I was too stupid to properly research. Goddamn these hostage cases. There were plenty of warning signs and I was too damn rushed trying to find this bastard. "What the hell do they want that they'll heavily guard a blind guy like you?"
Matt Murdock was full of surprises, especially with the subtle way his body shifted into defensive. "You're clever."
"I'll take that as a compliment, that and the fact that you're not immediately trying to bullshit me like your partner. Are you going to answer my question or not?"
"There's nothing to say," the lawyer shrugged. "They're going after Daredevil and figured their best lead is the lawyers who handled the cases he had some association with."
My eyes narrowed, focusing on his face before striding forward. He didn't flinch, even though I knew he could sense how close I was, our nose nearly touching and our breaths intermingling. He tilted his head, hands moving away from his ears while his body tensed again. An imperceptible shift. Defense turning to offense, hands kept hovering by his side, fingers twitching like they sought to close into a fist. I wondered how big his muscles were if they weren't covered by that rumpled suit. Had he not been blind or swaying, my instincts would be screaming threat.
Instead I growled out, "You know there were some reports that Carl Hoffman surrendered to the cops looking like he was put through a meat grinder. I wonder if there's any connections between that and the masked asshole. Seems to me that he had more involvement than just an association, or would you disagree with that Mr. Murdock."
Head tilted, "You believe rumors, Ms. Jones?"
"Some of my best leads are rumors in my field of work. Either way, I don't give a shit if you are working with him. My job was to rescue you and find evidence to put these guys away. Seeing as the most immediate concern is getting out, I'll be working on the former." I grabbed his arms, clenching tight enough that he couldn't break free. When I tried to drag him along, he stood firm, trying and failing to shake off my hold.
"I already told you, they'll kill us if we try. The moment you step through that door, the two men out there will open fire."
"I'll fucken handle it, just do exactly as I say, okay?" I waited, tightening my grip to make sure he knew I was goddamn serious.
Finally, after a few tense seconds, "Fine."
Like pulling goddamn teeth, but at least there was some kind of cooperation. Cracking my neck and rolling my shoulders, it was time to get the fuck out.
AN: Feels like this one had more cursing than usual,so sorry about that. Next one will be action packed.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! Been stressful as of late, so it really brightens my day! And thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read/favorite/follow, I really do appreciate the support.
Until next time.