Matt took Laurel home to Barbara and he swore, he heard an invisible chuckle in her voice. "Good to see you, Murdock." She said as she wheeled into the kitchen.

"Good to see you too, Barb," He grinned. He liked her even more now than he already had before, when she just helped them occasionally. And that was saying something according to Foggy, because he already thought she was the bee's knees before. He turned, almost to face Laurel, who blushed and looked away. Interesting, he thought. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Eight O'clock sharp," She told him as she put her hand on his arm for just a moment. She then let it slip and he wished she hadn't. It felt good there.

He shook his head. "Right," He told her. "I should probably let you get back to the rest of your day," Matt said as he took a step back from her. Barbara shook her head and said something he couldn't quite place underneath her breath. He willed himself out of the apartment, not because he wanted to, but because convention dictated it.

When he came back to the office, Foggy looked at him, funny. "What?" He asked, worried. "Do I have something on my face?"

Foggy guffawed. God, his friend was an idiot sometimes. "Yeah, Matt." He confirmed. "A smile. What the hell put that there?" He asked. Although, it didn't take a genius to know what put it there. Matt had only been with one thing for any significant amount of time. Lance. Laurel freaking Lance. Laurel was making his best friend happy. So happy that the man smiled out of the blue.

Matt shook his head and sat at his desk. "Don't know. Guess it was just a good day," He told Foggy.

"I bet it was," Foggy said and just went to work at his desk. Yeah, Matt would be oblivious to the whole thing that was happening to him. But it might be the best thing that ever happened too. Laurel could hold her own, already proved it, and Matt, he needed someone like that in his life.

Barbara gave Laurel a sandwich and Laurel shook her head. "We had lunch," She told Barbara, who shrugged and ate the sandwich herself.

"So lunch huh?" She asked. "He must be something special."

Laurel shook her head, "It was just lunch. Get your mind out of the gutter," Laurel said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

Barbara shook her head. "Oh, honey, the last time you started having lunch with someone, you were ready to marry them, remember?" She asked.

"Yeah," Laurel admitted. The last time she had a lunch with anyone who wasn't strictly a business colleague was Oliver. But Matt was just a business colleague. No matter what he looked like. And smelled like. And yeah, he had a good laugh. But that didn't mean anything. "But it was just lunch. I mean come on, he could be my boss. I don't want to ruin that," She told him.

Barbara looked at her with an eyebrow cocked, "You sure about that?" She asked.


Adrienne stood between them and grinned. "You guys look cute today," She said as she fixed the lapels on Matt's jacket and Laurel frowned a little, her cheeks getting hot. Of course, when Adrienne saw this, she picked through her bag and found a lip gloss and put it on Laurel to which, Matt looked away. God, what he wouldn't give to be doing that for Laurel.

Mr. Collin Bosco of the FCC sat behind his desk when they walked into his office and he looked up, not quite sure of what he saw. There was so much going on. A woman in a power suit, the one who called him, and then a beauty queen, and a blind man to top it off. He wondered if he was actually dreaming, but they all sat down and smiled at him.

"What can I do for you?" He asked them, best to start this the way he would any other case. If it was a dream, it would get ridiculous from the get go and well, then he could ignore it. If it wasn't, well, he would deal with it like a consummate professional.

Laurel took out her case files, one of which included a copy of the note that was she was given by Adrienne. "The pageant Adrienne, our lovely client is a part of is being fixed by the owner," Matt told Mr. Bosco looked on like he couldn't even believe what he was hearing.

Laurel gave him the memo that was the most integral part of the case, "I'm sure the FCC agrees that this memo is convincing evidence of pageant fixing, a clear violation of 47 USC, section 509." She told him.

Mr. Bosco looked at the memo and then looked at the three people in the chairs opposite him and looked to the memo again. "The Quiz Show law?" He asked.

Laurel nodded. "As you know, the quiz show law prohibits any scheme to predetermine contests of knowledge, skill, or chance." She told him. "I mean regardless of the nature of the pageant, this has to be a pretty open and shut case," She said.

Mr. Bosco nodded his head once as he looked at the document once more. "Does this require skill though?" He asked.

Adrienne looked up and smiled, "Yes. The pageants two most weighted categories are the interview and the talent portion, which make up sixty percent of the total pageant. I mean it takes eloquence and skill to be successful in the interview, thinking of the best way t get your message across while taking into account the judge's specific dispositions. And the talent portion, is worth the most of any category." She told Mr. Bosco with her cheery disposition that made even Matt smile.

Yeah, maybe this was a crazy case, but this was a woman who loved this pageant and believed in it wholeheartedly. She deserved a fair shot at this crown. She did everything with grace, even when everyone who mocked her was less than.

"Okay," Mr. Bosco said rolling his eyes and putting the document down, "But why would Mr. Davis fix his own pageant? I mean doesn't that seem a little silly?" He asked.

Laurel leaned forward, "The finalists on that list are the daughters of wealthy business owners and politicians. Mr. Davis has a vested interests in keeping their families happy so that he can continue his leveraged lead in those industries." She told him. "But nowhere on that list is the are any of the crowd favorites according to this bookie website," She told him as she handed him another print out, which included betting ranges for all of the contestants of the pageant.

Matt nodded. "To be frank, Anthony Davis doesn't care about the Miss NYC Star Pageant. He just cares about the money he's going to make off of it, which includes ticket sales, advertising at the pageant, and the money he makes from the local stations running it." He said, defiantly.

Adrienne looked over at both of them with a look of awe, how they fought for, how they fought together was amazing. She looked at the FCC man in front of her, who didn't seem moved though and continued to smile. How could he not see all of this in front of him?

"That was very informative," Mr. Bosco said as he looked over them.

Laurel grinned, "So what do we do next?" She asked him. "You know what, we could work with the U.S. Attorney's office, cause this, this can't be the only thing like this. I mean this is huge. If a small pageant like this is fixing for profit, what's to say that the Miss USA pageant isn't also doing it?" She asked.

Matt nodded, now only there for moral support. This was outside his comfort zone. Which was beating up criminals and catholic guilt, not that anyone else needed to really know that.

Adrienne looked at Laurel like she had walked on water and then looked back to Mr. Bosco who looked a little confused as to what Laurel was saying. "Thank you for the visit, but the FCC is not going to pursue an investigation into Anthony Davis," He told her.

Laurel's face went blank, "Wait, what?" She asked. "You can't be serious right now,"

Mr. Bosco laughed a little, "Anthony Davis is a jobs creator, not just here in New York City, but across the country and around the world. He's important to our economy right now" He told them. "And the FCC isn't going to make a fuss against the man over a pageant, just to launch an investigation because a beauty queen thinks she's being treated unfairly." He told them. "I'm sorry, but we're done here," He said to them as he gave Laurel back her documents.

Matt stood up and took Adrienne by the hand, hearing her on the verge of tears. This was not a good day. They lost. They lost against the government to Anthony Davis. They lost in a place where they should have had the upperhand. He ushered her out of the room.

Laurel stuffed the pieces of evidence in her bag and left too and did her best not to slam the door on her way out.

"How could they do that to us?" Adrienne asked.

Laurel shook her head. "Because the government is broken and sexist," She told Adrienne, "But don't you worry," She promised. "We are not done fighting,"

Adrienne looked at her with wonder. "You're sure?" She asked.

"Oh, we're just getting started, Adrienne." She confirmed. "Just go home, we'll figure out a new play from the office and we'll call you," She told Adrienne who nodded and left her lawyers alone.

Matt put his hand on her shoulder, "You know we don't have to go forward with this." He told her. "You already proved yourself. Foggy will know that. And how you defended Adrienne in there? That was top notch work." He told her.

Laurel shook her head, "No, she deserves better than that. She deserves to be heard. And the FCC didn't take her seriously because she's beautiful. She deserves a fair shot at this. Because everyone deserves a fair shot. The law is supposed to work that way," She told him.

He nodded. "Well, then," He said, "Looks like we need to get back to the office."

She looked at him with surprise, it had taken only that to convince him? She had plenty more in her arsenal, but he stood there with his hand outstretched, she smiled and took it, walking blissfully to the subway with a man who sure was going to be something in her life.


"So how'd the FCC go?" Foggy asked as Matt and Laurel came into the office, standing side by side. He was as hopeful as they were and seeing them without Adrienne surely had to be a good sign.

The slumped shoulders of both lawyers in front of them showed the disappointment though. "It wasn't our fault though. Even with the compelling evidence put in front of them, the FCC decided not to launch an investigation into Anthony Davis." Matt told Foggy, "Laurel was great though. You should have seen here with Mr. Bosco and Adrienne, she was truly magnificent."

"Don't worry," Laurel said, keeping her head up, "I have a new plan."

Foggy looked surprised, but hopeful. "Okay, what is it?" He asked.

She took a second and thought about it. She didn't actually have a new plan, but this case and Adrienne deserved a new plan.

And then the light bulb went off. "The people on the list were all the daughters of influential people. People who could and would help him in business if they got good press. Having their daughters front and center of a nice noncontroversial pageant would definitely be that good press," She said as she remembered their arguments with Mr. Bosco.

Foggy nodded skeptically. "That we already knew, part of the reason it was easy to go to the FCC." He told her.

Laurel knew that and grinned. "Yeah, but since the FCC refuses to enforce its own rules on this matter, we can file a qui tam lawsuit, with Adrienne as a whistleblower." She told him as and giggled, thinking for a moment, how wonderful such a step would be in making a profile against Anthony Davis.

"That," Matt said, "Could actually work. Plus, Anthony Davis wouldn't even see it coming."

Foggy shook his head. "You guys realize that Anthony Davis has like a million lawyers?" He asked. "We'd be going up against an army,"

Laurel looked around and smiled, let herself linger on Matt for just longer than she should have, before she turned and looked to Foggy, "The three of us, against an army? I like those odds," She said.

Foggy nodded. "You're quite frankly crazier than Matt. And he talked me out of taking a big position after The Punisher case, which really raised my profile," He told her. "But I'm going to go get us some food, so we can all sit down and talk about how you intend to outlawyer an army."

Foggy left and looked as Laurel and Matt, stood there in ignorance of the world around them and just talked, but you could see the whole world light up between them. Two people who had seen so much and chose to be the champion of a beauty queen. Maybe her spirit was leaking onto them.

"He likes you," Matt said with a smile.

Laurel shrugged. "I'm hard not to like," She grinned.

"And humble too," He laughed. "Seriously, you and this thing with Adrienne, it's kind of amazing to see how much you want to fight for her," He told her.

Laurel tangled her fingers in his and tried not to think about how right they felt and shrugged again. "She's not exactly the most matyred case I've ever taken on, but she's sweet. And she's bright. And she deserves a shot at happiness. That's all she wants," Laurel said. "I think that's all any of us want, really."

Happiness, he thought, god he'd been so happy just standing here with her fingers in his, feeling her skin slide gently in his hands. Maybe the last time he'd been this happy was with Karen, but Karen didn't know his identity. And neither did Laurel. Laurel who was good and pure and only wanted to help people.

He made so many mistakes with Karen and he didn't want to repeat them. She shouldn't have to go through that pain again. She'd been through so much pain. They'd looked her up. They'd heard the stories about the sheer force that was Laurel Lance. He was not going to be the one to put a damper on all this girl could achieve.

So for good of her happiness, he knew it was time to step away. Time to figure out who he was before he started something. He had to let her have a chance at happy, even if it was with someone else. She deserved someone who made her happy everyday. Who could give her that. Not someone who would be late to dates, if they showed up at all.

Yeah, she made him happy, but knowing what his secret did to people, all the pain it put them through, hearing her get choked up by Mr. Bosco was hard enough, and that wasn't even pain. That was just resentment that the government wasn't doing its job.

"I think you've got a shot at it, Laurel," He said as he disentangled his fingers from hers and stepped away, intent on walking to his office.

"You sure about that?" Barbara's words rang, because fuck what you were supposed to do, all she knew was want.

She took his hand and turned him back to her, "I know I do, Matt," She said, before she gave him a gentle kiss.