At work the next morning, Matt continued to get to know his computer. He was quickly able to get back to his email.
He had an email from Wesley asking how the meeting the day before had gone. Matt quickly replied with an update. He wasn't sure why Wesley had the faith in him that he had shown, but Matt wanted to prove that he was a worthwhile hire - for more reasons than his history in Hell's Kitchen.
Two other emails were from human resources, introduction materials and a list of corporate training courses he would have to complete.
One more email was from a sender Matt hadn't met, asking him to read an attached document and provide any feedback that he might know about the neighborhood.
It didn't take long for the mechanical voice to read the document, then Matt went back to the original email and found the sender's phone number.
"This is Samuel." The other man answered.
"Hi Samuel. I'm Matt Murdock."
"Oh, yeah, the new community relations guy. Did you get my email?"
"Yeah, I've read through it-"
"Already?"
"Sure."
"They said it might take you a little while to get up and running."
"Yeah, it-it took a few minutes, but I'm up to speed."
"Okay, so you read about the lot on 51st."
"Yeah, I read it. I'm just not sure what you are wanting me to do."
"Figure out a way to help us. That's your job, man. You know these communities. There are a few families that don't want to move, and it's holding the neighborhood back."
"I grew up in the Kitchen, but it's not like I know everybody." Matt replied.
"I don't care. Spend a couple of days at the local bakery or something, expense some coffee. Go out and learn about the neighborhood, figure out what makes it tick."
Matt double-checked that he wasn't expected anywhere else, and packed up to visit the area he had been hearing so much about.
He had explored his old neighborhood enough, before The Incident, but he hadn't been to the area that was so important to Union Allied since right after getting out of prison. He took in the sounds and smells until he found a place to start conversation.
A bell chimed when he opened the door to what he hoped was a diner. He wasn't familiar with the place, but the smells surrounding it were of coffee and breakfast. Once inside he was struck with a moment of real blindness, not sure if he was supposed to take a seat at a table or wait for somebody to direct.
"Take a seat wherever." A male voice announced.
"Uh, thanks. Is there a counter-"
"Oh, sorry, didn't realize, um..." Matt heard the speaker move swiftly to his side. "You have a preference for a booth, or the counter?"
"Counter's fine." Matt was sure to provide his warmest smile. The speaker's heart rate immediately slowed.
"It's, uh-"
"Over there?" Matt asked, pointing in the direction the man had been standing.
"Yeah. Clear path. You got a little bit of vision?"
"No. Just lucky sometimes."
"I don't have any special menus or anything. There anything in particular you want?"
"Cup of coffee and some local gossip." Matt replied.
"We have plenty of the coffee, but I'm not one for spreading rumors."
"Then I guess I'll just settle for the coffee."
A cup of coffee was placed in front of Matt. "Need any cream or sugar?"
"No, thank you."
The coffee was good. Matt sipped the liquid and took in the soundscape within the diner. It was late-morning. The breakfast crowd had tapered off and the lunch crowd hadn't arrived yet. There were two older men discussing baseball, but nothing useful within the building.
The waiter disturbed Matt from his eavesdropping by topping off his drink. Matt looked toward the man. "Thanks."
"No problem. So, are you new in town?"
"Thought you didn't deal in gossip?"
"It's not gossip if you are telling me your story."
"My story?"
"I get the feeling you aren't a tourist trying to experience the local flavor."
"Hell's Kitchen, born and raised."
"Oh yeah? I don't remember seeing you around."
"How's it been around here, recently?"
"Well, if you're a local, you know."
Matt sat back and looked toward the suspicious man. "I had an apartment on 49th. It was destroyed in the Incident. But my view of things is a bit... Limited."
"You look like you landed on your feet."
Matt shrugged.
"This area have a lot of damage?" Matt asked.
"Enough to bring in the greedy bastards that profit off of anything like that."
"The what?"
"Oh, you know, those greedy bastards that are buying up the Kitchen, tearing down buildings, running people off. Then they build some fancy overpriced condo and make a killing while they run off to gentrify some other neighborhood."
"But gentrification is good, isn't it?" Matt asked.
"Good for who? Not me, if I can't afford to live near my business."
"The Kitchen has been expensive for a while." Matt argued.
"Some of us got in before that. We got rent control."
"And if your building's condemned-"
"No way we can find another place around here that we can afford. But you should know that, if you're living in the Kitchen."
"Of course. I just didn't realize there was such a gentrification problem."
"All those money hungry developers want are profits. They don't care about the people. I thought when those alien fuckers tore the place up, it would help bring back a little bit of the Kitchen that we once knew, ya know? Maybe it wasn't pretty, but at least it had a place for us little people."
"Tell me about the people being affected by this."
Matt sat and listened to the man talk about the people of the neighborhood. These were his neighbors, the people he grew up with, the people he listened to every night, at Josie's. His neighborhood was changing, and it wasn't for the better.
Finally, the cafe started to fill up with the lunch rush. Matt thanked the man, tipped generously, and left.
He returned to the office and sat at his computer. Not sure exactly what was expected, he spent a moment listening to the office chatter.
From the crowd of voices, he ended up focusing on one. It wasn't the words, but the man himself that startled Matt.
"Yeah, I'm sure it's clean."
It was a voice from Ryker's, but not anybody he had been friends with.
"I gotta get home tonight. The old lady is mad about me being out the past three..."
It was also the voice from the church. The one that made the little girl's heart race. Matt wondered, briefly, if Union Allied had been following him for that long-he hadn't been back to Father Lantom since he started at Josie's. There was no way they had been following him before Hell's Kitchen was destroyed.
The same man that bragged about the way he used his women had been with a very scared little girl at Matt's church, and was now in his workplace. Matt knew there wasn't much expected of him, yet, so he closed out of his computer and left for the day.
He was restless. While working for Josie, he had been active, both while stocking the bar through the night and when he occasionally, unbeknownst to Josie, assisted with the security. He didn't throw punches with unruly patrons often, but it did occasionally give him an... Outlet.
Matt went home and changed out of his business clothes. He did a light workout in his living room, one reminiscent of what he would do to stay active when he didn't want to draw attention in prison - jumping jacks, burpees, that sort of thing. But it wasn't fulfilling. He didn't need strength training, he needed a release.
He checked the time and walked up to the roof access. He could feel the last rays of the sun, setting behind the building to the west. He listened, and nobody was watching, so he ran across the roof and jumped to the next building. He tucked into a roll as he landed, pushing onto his feet and smiling with the exhilaration. He caught his breath a moment and listened carefully, making sure there was nobody there to watch as he moved to the next building.
He was three buildings away when he heard the man's voice again. They were practically neighbors. Matt crouched on the roof, listening to him verbally abuse the girl's mother. His words infuriated Matt.
Time passed and the woman went to bed, but the man did not. Matt sat in horror as he heard him enter the child's room.
The girl didn't scream, but she cried. Matt listened to her cries as he slowly made his way back to his apartment. They kept him up, all night.
...
The next day, Matt called Foggy after work.
"What's up, buddy?" Foggy answered.
"You have a second?" Matt asked.
"Sure thing. I was just sitting on the couch thanking the heavens that nobody literally ate me alive at my new job today."
"That bad?" Matt asked, feeling slightly guilty he forgot that this was Foggy's first day at Landman and Zach.
"It's intense, but so was law school. I'll handle it."
"I'm sure you will."
"But today I'm just exhausted."
"Need me to do anything?" Matt offered.
"I'm good. What did you need to talk about?"
"I, um..." Matt really had no idea how to bring the subject up. "You know that part of my job has been to get to know the neighborhood, right?"
"It's already gone crooked, hasn't it? As your attorney, I recommend-"
"No, I'm fine. I just... I think there's a little girl down the street who's in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"I think... There's a man that's... I think she's being abused."
"What makes you think that?"
"I hear things."
"Gonna need a little bit more information than that, buddy."
"I was near their building, and heard some things. More than once."
"What kinds of things?"
Matt's tone hardened. "He was bragging, Foggy."
"Oh."
"People... Some people don't think I can hear them." Matt figured it was close enough to being true. "I thought about calling an anonymous line or something. But I wasn't sure, since it's a child."
"I'll find out the right folks and text you a number."
"Thanks, Foggy."
"You're a good man, Matt. Never tell yourself otherwise."
...
Foggy sent the number, and Matt filed a complaint. He had very little to do at work, so he continued to listen to his coworkers. The pedophile continued to show up. He learned more about Union Allied, which as far as he could tell, was about half-legitimate.
Every night, Matt listened to the little girl, but nothing changed. The man still came in to her room and, even from his bed, Matt could hear every whimper.
He wanted to kill him.