A/N: I couldn't resist throwing in the section about Josie knowing Jack. If you read the BATTLIN' JACK MURDOCK miniseries you'll know where I'm coming from, but if not, it doesn't matter.
Chapter Seven: Unmasked
-BW-
Josie's was Hell's Kitchen's store. It sold Hell's Kitchen's main merchandise: criminals.
Need a hit man? At the bar. An arsonist? Over by the window. Cost? Couple bottles of beer.
Josie was the storekeeper. She ran a tight ship and turned a blind eye to the criminal going-ons in her bar. She also had a hefty grudge against Daredevil; last year he had started a fight and she ended up with a bullet between her ribs and a wrecked bar. It had cost her more than a little money. So when Daredevil appeared in her doorway, she was not happy.
Heads turned to stare at the man near the door. He was wearing a dark red costume and a mask with two horns above the eyebrows covering most of his face. High on his chest were two interlocked D's. The eyes of the mask were hidden behind reflective fabric. The ensemble made for a frightening, demonic image. And that was just how Daredevil liked it.
"Hello ladies, gentlemen," Daredevil said, making little if no effort to hide the irony. "I'm here for Bullseye. I hear he's looking for me."
The environment up until now had been cold and fearful, but now it was plain old terrified. Everyone knew about Bullseye, he was, after all the best, and no one liked to run into him. No one responded to Daredevil's implied question.
"No one knows where I can find him?" Daredevil asked. He walked slowly to Turk, his usual snitch. "Hello Turk. What have you got for me?"
Turk didn't answer, so Daredevil grabbed a fist full of his shirt. "Come on Turkie, I know you know something." As soon as Daredevil said "Turkie", everyone started laughing.
But contrary to being embarrassed, Turk almost seemed to be restraining laughter. "I have a message from Bullseye. He says you are to meet him tomorrow night at the warehouse on 23rd."
Daredevil was about to release him when he heard someone creeping up behind him.
Why do they always try? He thought, kicking the man, still facing Turk. The beer bottle that was going to hit Daredevil's head went flying, but the poor man wasn't so lucky. He smashed into a wall. Daredevil waited a second, listening to the man's heartbeat to make sure he was okay, then turned back to Turk.
"Thanks. Tell Bullseye I'll see him there." He released him. Turk sank back into his chair, looking around as if daring people to make fun of him.
"Bye Josie. Thanks for your time." Daredevil said pleasantly.
Josie barely had time to snort before he was gone.
Daredevil headed home to his brownstone. He wanted to work out a little in his private gym then have an early night. He would need a good night's rest to fight Bullseye.
-SW-
Daredevil headed to Josie's bar. It was strange and a little harder to swing across buildings. It was also harder not being afraid when he could see what he was doing. Daredevil almost missed the familiar blackness. That fact didn't help his confidence much.
Daredevil opened the door to Josie's bar. He looked around. The expression on Josie's face was not happy, everyone else just looked frightened. Daredevil almost laughed at the man who was frozen, too shocked at Daredevil's appearance to notice the ball he was aiming at had been moved. Guilty conscious, perhaps? Daredevil thought.
"Does anyone have any information regarding Bullseye's whereabouts?" Daredevil scanned the room, looking for any signs of knowledge. There was a man in the corner who looked like he knew something. Daredevil walked slowly toward him.
"How about you?" He wanted to add, "Who are you?", but he didn't think that was a good idea. He could tell from the way the man was squirming that he did know something. Daredevil grabbed his shirt. "Well?"
"Bullseye says to meet him at the warehouse on 23rd tomorrow night."
Daredevil recognized the voice.
"Thanks Turk. Tell him I'll see him there." Daredevil was about to let him sit back down when something hit him, hard, on the head.
Daredevil's world started spinning; everything was getting hazy. He swung around to see the man from the pool table with a broken bottle in one hand and a shocked expression on his face.
"Oh My God." He whispered, and then he ran. The other people in the bar weren't far behind, including Turk.
Daredevil tried to focus on them leaving, but everything was blurry, spinning out of control. His already bruised head was splitting apart.
-SW-
The next thing Daredevil knew, he was on the floor. The bar was empty.
Daredevil tried to sit up, but his head was too heavy. He lifted his hand to his mask and pulled it off. That's when he noticed the door to the back of the bar was open. He tried to pull the mask back over his face, but in his dazed state, he wasn't fast enough.
"Jack!" Josie shouted, staring at Matt's face. The glass of scotch she was carrying smashed to the floor. Then her senses came back and she said, "No, it can't be!"
Matt stared at the woman who had just a minute ago been Josie - Josie the bar keeper with a huge grudge against Daredevil. He couldn't wrap his concussed head around it. "How did you know my father?"
"Your father? You really are Matthew Murdock?" Josie gasped.
"YES! How did you know my father?" Matt was shouting now. "And how do you know who I am?"
"You look just like him. Jack used to tell me all about you. He would come here for a drink before he got clean. He showed me a picture of you once. You were ten, reading a book. He was so proud of you! I remember the day he came in after you had your accident. I tried to pour him a drink, but he refused."
Matt looked closer and saw she was crying.
"I was there that night." She said softly. Matt didn't need her to tell him which night, he knew. It was the night his father was shot. "He told me he was going to throw the fight, but I couldn't bet against him. I told Jack I bet all my money on him. I wish I hadn't told him! He might not have decided to win if I hadn't." Josie was crying harder now.
Matt stood up, putting his arms around the sobbing woman. "It wasn't your fault. He told me just before he went outside that the reason he knew he could win was that I could take care of myself. That was why. It wasn't your fault. You just gave him another reason to win. He knew what he was doing." Matt whispered as Josie's tears wet his shoulder.
"Why are you here? Why are you Daredevil?" Josie asked suddenly.
"I'm here because I can be and I am Daredevil because I need to be."
"But you were blind. Jack told me you were blind!' Josie argued.
"Yeah, I was until last week. A car crash and a coma cured that. The radioactive isotope that I assume you know about did blind me, but it also enhanced my remaining senses. I used to hear a person's heartbeat from across a room, read by feeling the impressions on paper, etc."
"Used to?"
"Yeah, well, everything has a price."
"I should have known Jack Murdock's son would be more than he seems. I have been keeping an eye on you, you know. Ever since Jack died, I have been collecting newspaper clippings about you. I don't know why, it just made me feel like Jack was still here. You must think I'm just being silly." Josie laughed, as if trying to be nonchalant.
Matt didn't laugh. His head was still spinning too hard for sudden movements. "No, I don't."
Matt and Josie spent another hour talking about Jack Murdock. Then Matt left, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
