"Not everyone deserves a happy ending." Wilson Fisk
Lena arrives back at the C.I.D. office and Helms informs her that they have already set up a permanent surveillance on Marshall so that he cannot disappear before the operation is ready to go. Lena hopes that Matt does not plan something reckless like having a go at Marshall himself. Lena considers warning him about the surveillance but then dismisses the thought. With his super senses he would doubtless spot the tail. And she has already warned him to stay away. However, to be honest, she does not think that her warning really put him off.
As a consequence, she is not really surprised when they get a distress call from the unit which is monitoring Marshall. Apparently the vigilante surprised them, knocked them out and then took his time to question Marshall. They found Marshall unconscious and bloody in his apartment.
Helms is furious and is barking orders. The whole staff is on alert. The carefully laid out mission is endangered. Lena is keeping her head down while working on damage control. A couple of minutes ago, Matt sent her a text message, consisting of only one word: "Sorry."
"MacKenzie, outside!" Helms orders.
Lena follows her boss to the hallway.
"Spit it out, Captain."
"Sir?"
"This motherfucking vigilante is your informant, isn't he?"
Lena is not surprised that Helms figured it out. She mentioned Daredevil in her reports on her undercover mission to catch Frank. Sure, she did not mention all: She did not mention the night Matt fell through her skylight or when he revealed his identity on the roof to save her life.
"Yes, he is." It is pointless to deny it. Helms is smart and even without super senses, he is quite good at spotting lies. "He contacted me about the weapons. Without him, we would never have found out about the theft."
Helms takes a deep breath and tries to control his anger. "Listen, MacKenzie, I know that at times the end justified the means. I have no problem collaborating with a criminal to catch an ever bigger criminal. However, this guy is jeopardising the mission. Get rid of him."
"How should I do that?"
"I don't care. Persuade him, trick him, shoot him, pick one. In less than twelve hours we are going to blow up a bunch of criminals who are steeling weapons from the Marines and I won't anything or anyone to screw that. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir, understood."
Lena leans at the wall when Helms goes back to the office, trying to calm down. The moment has come she has been afraid of: She has to choose a side. She closes her eyes for a moment and the picture of Matt appears, lying in bed next to her and smiling at her. She opens her eyes, shaking off the image.
Two soldiers are passing her, carrying a box with grenades. She has taken her decision, in fact, there has never been a choice. She knows what she is: A soldier, following orders. "Sergeant, hold a minute."
Lena knows that Matt would hear every hesitation, every variance in her voice. She goes to the next crossroad, hoping that the traffic noise would mask her heartbeat and any other tell-tale clue her body and her voice may give away. Despite all these dispositions she doubts that she could lie without him noticing it, so she intends not to lie but rather to be unspecific and evasive.
Matt answers the phone immediately. There is noise in his background too, voices of a man and a woman, joking around.
"We need to meet. At once," Lena says.
"Lena, I'm sorry about Marshall. But I had to try." Matt is feeling too guilty himself to catch the tension in her voice.
"I know. That why we have to talk." That is not even a lie. "I can't tell you on the phone." No lie as well. "Do you remember the warehouse the Russian blew up? There is another one just behind it. I'm waiting for you there in an hour." She switches the phone off before he can start a discussion and takes a deep breath. The reflection of her face in a shop window catches her eyes and for a moment she stares at herself before she averts her eyes.
Matt knows that something is wrong but he doubts that Lena suddenly has decided to turn him over. He figures that she is mad at him that he paid Marshall a visit before the Marines could lock him away for good. But he has to know what the Japanese are planning. However, the visit turned out to be unfruitful. Sure, Marshall confessed to steal weapons from the Marines and sell them cheap to the local gangs but he did not know anything about the plans of the Japanese for Elena's building.
Matt feels Lena's presence when he approaches the abadoned warehouse. It is shortly after noon but they are the only people in the area. Matt is glad that she has called him and gives him the opportunity to explain himself. Matt feels that she is nervous and tense. She is geared up for combat; Matt assumes that she is already ready for the raids of the premises of Listed Logistic.
Lena has almost hoped that he would not show up. He is wearing a suit and his red glasses; he looks like when she first met him in the hallway outside of his apartment. He is holding his cane, the cane Lena knows he does not really need.
"Lena, are you okay?" Matt asks worried when he hears her heartbeat increasing.
"I'm sorry." Lena pulls the ring and throws the stun grenade at him. Matt leaps aside. The blinding flash of light does not affect him but the loud blast makes his ears pounding and the only thing he hears is a shrill buzzing. He tries to keep his balance when Lena sets off the second grenade. The tear gas spread across the room. The gas irritates his smell and makes his eyes tear. He thinks that he feels a draft and lashes hectically out, starting to panic while his senses become uncontrollable. He hits something that he thinks to be Lena's face. At that moment an electronic shock wave runs through his body. He loses conscious even before he hits the floor.
Lena gasps, the gas made the tears run over her cheeks. She ignores it. She puts the Taser back in her pocket. Then she grasps Matt and drags him to the old cold storage room. It is turned off and it would be the ideal as temporary prison. She lies him down and puts off her jacket to push it under his head. Then she pats him down until she finds both of his phones. For a moment she looks down at him and hesitates. But she knows that there is no going back. She has made her choice and she would have to bear the consequences. She takes a last look at Matt and then closes the door of the storage room behind her and locks it with a padlock that she has brought with her. She places the key and the phones on an empty shelf next to the door. She almost steps on his red glasses which have fallen to the ground. She picks them up and places them next to the phones.
"Did you get rid of him?" Helms asks when Lena arrives on site.
"Yes, I did."
"So you could persuade him?"
"I shot him."
"In the leg?"
Lena shakes her head. "In the heart."
Author's note: I have more in mind to continue that story. However, I will first watch the second season of Daredevil to look how my ideas fit with the story. A big thank you to everyone who likes and reviews the story. Feedback is much appreciated.
