13. #Verdevil
Doctor-patient confidentiality was a thing and Caitlin was a doctor, but apparently, Vera didn't mind her sharing the results with the team Flash.
"She's gonna be fine. Some of the cuts will probably scar, but I gave her the best stuff," she reassured Barry and Cisco as well as the remaining figure of the Wests' family, Iris. "And she will probably have her fair share of nightmares, but that's not the kind of doctor I am. That's on her and on her choices."
Barry only nodded grimly, knowing horrifying memories all too well. Cisco did too. They all did.
"So…" Iris started, crossing her arms on her chest – a clear sign of approaching an unpleasant topic. "This Matt guy. How did he know to come to you for help again?"
"I overheard them talking about Cisco's visions and Barry's speed."
Iris jumped when Matt appeared and spoke up behind her shoulder.
"Jesus, you're like a ghost!" she complained, but quickly spun to the team. "And guys! Come on! Secret identity?"
"I have very good ears, Ms. West," Matt remarked with a mild smile.
"So you can hear you're not making a sound when moving?!"
"…I am making a sound when I'm moving."
"Well, you're apparently the only one who hears it, you're very quiet, that's my point," the reporter murmured, sighing. Then her eyes narrowed suspiciously and Cisco immediately smelled trouble. "Don't want to be rude, but how are you so quiet and so oriented? You know, Barry got blinded recently, but he was nowhere near your… confidence."
Matt seemed surprised when learning the new information. Cisco just grinned when he remembered helping Barry through his literally blind date with Patty.
"Well, I am blind since I was nine years old."
"Still. You came to this lab, what, yesterday or something, you couldn't get familiar with it enough, right? So how are you doing it?"
"Iris…" Barry protested, but Matt raised a hand to stop him.
"She can be trusted, right?"
"YES, I can!" she hissed exasperatedly, her protective side kicking in right after. "I'm not sure about you. You seem to know awfully lot for a stranger and you just happened to get a free ticket here, not to mention you learned the Flash' identity. So I think-"
"Iris-" Barry sighed, while Cisco just watched the woman getting worked up for no real reason. Well, she did have good reasons, actually, but she didn't know her worries were baseless. Because… Matt was a vigilante. A hero. Hell, he had even worked with the Arrow!
To everyone's surprise, Matt hesitantly took off his glasses, watching Iris' chin. She raised her eyebrow questioningly, but seemed convinced about the blind part of Matt's story at least. Not that it satisfied her; freaking reporters…
"…okay?"
"My eyes, they aren't working, not at all. I can't see what colour is your hair or your clothes, but I can tell you're wearing a dress ending slightly above your knees, probably cotton, freshly washed and that your hair are definitely long. I know you had a coffee about two hours ago and you're… you're working in an office, it smells a little like… it's familiar, actually— oh, newspapers. Are you a reporter?"
Iris was staring at the guy in horror, taking a step back. "What the hell?!"
"Matt, stop scaring people," Vera yelled from the door to the infirmary, admonishing him cheerily. She slowly walked to him, very cautiously brushing his hand and kissing his cheek lightly. She looked much better now, recovering quickly – she probably received a fresh dose of painkillers from Caitlin. Matt kissed her temple, his arm wrapping around her waist, probably to make sure she wouldn't fall, masking it as a loving gesture.
Cisco grinned involuntarily. They were totally sweet.
"Seriously. What the hell?! Is he… is he a metahuman?" Iris demanded, outraged.
"Depends on your definition of a metahuman, Ms. West."
"Oh god, stop calling me Ms. West, you know how long it is since I had my last coffee!" she spitted out, half-disgusted half-startled.
"I'm sorry… Iris. That was rude of me. I don't think I am a metahuman per se, no," Matt said enigmatically, his smirk showing he wasn't apologetic for freaking her out in the slightest.
"What is a metahuman? Is that a term for people who are… enhanced in some way?" Vera asked, intrigued.
"Yeah. There was a particle accelerator explosion almost two years ago – and the dark matter that was released with it, gave several people powers," Caitlin summed it up in plain English.
"That's how Barry got his speed. And that's how you're getting visions."
"Yep," Cisco hummed in confirmation.
"But it only happened in here, right?"
Cisco eyed Vera curiously. Why would she be asking that? "As far as we know."
She eyed Matt, seemingly lost in thoughts. "Oh… okay then."
"I'm still waiting!" Iris complained, throwing her hands in the air just a little.
"I lost my sight when I was nine. The chemicals that blinded me also gave me heightened senses. I can't see, not with my eyes, but everything else is incredibly amplified," Matt explained and Cisco couldn't tell he didn't get excited immediately. So, this was his heroic backstory, huh?
The engineer could tell Iris' curiosity was satisfied, for now at least.
"So you can tell when I had my coffee. Wow. That's terrible. How good your hearing is? And your other senses? How do you live like this?"
Matt sighed as if he was answering that question for the millionth time – which he probably was. Cisco was glad he was here to hear it, thought he had already got a pretty good idea of just how strong Matt's abilities were.
"I was able to tell Vera was waking up because I heard not only the heart monitor, but also her heart speeding up."
"What?!" Iris shrieked. "That's crazy. Seriously, how do you live like this?"
"It's not always easy. There are things that help. People..." he hesitated and Vera melted to his side at the note. Seriously, almost sickeningly sweet. Cisco felt kinda jealous. "And I had several years to adjust. That's all you're getting from me. The important thing is – I promise I don't mean any harm here. Barry's secret is safe with me as I hope mine is safe with all of you."
"Huh."
Barry was watching the affection shown between the pair too, grinning goofily. He was a shipper, after all. And this? They had a superhero and his girl. Matt and Vera. Hm… Mattra? Veratt? Vatt? Mara? It was difficult to come up with a nickname... unless. Daredevil and Vera. Darera? Verdevil?
Cisco beamed, finally content. Verdevil it was.
"Cisco!"
"What?" he jumped as Iris addressed him loudly. Speaking of loud… 'Run the World' was blasting from his phone. He rolled his eyes. He wanted to change this particular personal ringtone ages ago; mostly because he hadn't been the one to set it in the first place.
He accepted the call and grinned when he saw the person calling him.
"Hey, Felicity."
"Cisco! Where are you? I have an alert on the Flash and there are rumours he collared Wilson Fisk few hours ago?! What the hell are you— wait, are you in STAR Labs? What the hell?!"
Cisco just snickered at the speed the blonde was talking with. "Are hacking my GPS as we speak? Rude. And it's a long story. Just for you to know, I'm putting you on speaker. It's me, Caitlin, Barry, Iris, Matt and Vera."
Felicity's confused voice echoed in the whole room. "Matt and- what? What is Vera and Matt— uhm. Hey, everyone, I guess."
"Hi, Felicity," Vera greeted her, smiling.
"Can anyone explain me this mess?"
"Team Flash saved me. After Matt found them and asked them for help."
"Saved you from… Fisk," Felicity wavered and the sigh that escaped her lips was tired. "Right. And by 'found them', you mean…?"
"Long story," Matt cut her off swiftly and the message was clear – change the subject. Everyone got it.
Except the reporter in the room. Naturally. She turned to the Verdevil pair. (Oh man, what a ship name!)
"How do you even know Felicity?"
Vera didn't miss a beat.
"I met her when she was with her boss on a business trip to New York City. She's actually the one who recommended the café I work in to Cisco, Barry and Caitlin – which technically means she saved my life too. Thanks, Felicity!" Vera answered cheerily, effectively shifting the mood in the room.
Even Iris relaxed this time.
"You're welcome, Vera," Felicity noted, a bit confused. "How is the wedding planning?"
At that, Vera's fingers twitched, her face paling a little. Her bandaged hands brushed each other on instinct, as she realized she had no ring on her finger.
Cisco rushed to calm her down. "Safe and sound in the nightstand," he hissed barely audible, the tension in Vera shoulders easing, but not resolving.
"Well… we, uhm… we didn't have m-much time for that, but we're working on it," the barista stuttered, clearly uncomfortable.
Iris narrowed her eyes in suspicion again. Cisco internally groaned and cleared his throat to change topic once more.
"So, anyway. We're okay. Barry is running around, sunshine and rainbow all over."
"Yeah, about that. Bartholomew Henry Allen, we're talking about not telling be about having your back broken later!" the blonde thundered over the speaker and Barry shot Cisco a panicked and betrayed look.
Well. He could apologize to his super-friend later. He had done it to cover for another friend by changing the topic.
"Your back was broken?!" Vera yelped, horrified. "As in…?"
Barry nodded solemnly. "It caused me to lose my powers for a while, I couldn't even walk for few days. That's why we were in New York in the first place – vacation, recreation, rehab."
Vera gave him a dubious look as if she couldn't understand why would anyone come to Hell's Kitchen to relax. Which was… fair. "Well, glad it worked… no matter the questionable methods."
"Me too," Barry grinned, at ease.
"Okay. Guess you have enough on your plate right now, I'll call later and you're explaining me everything. I'm glad you're okay, Vera. Take care of her, Matt."
Matt made a face, exhaustion clear even with the dark glasses back on, and rubbed his forehead. "Believe me, Felicity. I'm trying."
"Yeah, it's a full time job, huh? Hope I'll see you again – under better circumstances than the last time. Also, take care of yourself, remember what we talked about. Bye!"
"What you talked about?" Vera parroted once the call was over, not following. Also, consider Cisco intrigued. What had Matt and Felicity could possibly talk about?
"Than the last time?" Iris questioned, sensing another catastrophe.
"Just… don't ask. Don't ask," Vera emphasized, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Then she lighted up a bit, a hint of red in her cheeks. It was a good look on her. "Speaking of full plates… any chance I could have something to eat? I'm actually starving and the pizza you had smells delicious…"
"Mine's still free," Matt offered with a kiss to Vera's hair. Cisco and Barry exchanged a glance of devoted shippers – gone was the awkward tension after the wedding question.
"My hero." She brushed his cheek with her bandaged hand, her touch feather-light, wary of her injuries, and rewarded him with a chaste kiss on his lips.
Cisco wrote down the ship name, passing the paper to Barry to check it out.
"You still got it," Barry praised with a grin and they high-fived again, making Caitlin roll her eyes as she saw what Cisco had written.
Iris shot them a curious gaze, but Cisco just grinned and shook his head. Nope, this was not for Ms. West eyes.
Yet.
Something told him that it was only a matter of time before the reporter would put two and two together. He hoped it would at least go well.
As much as an identity reveal could.
-.-.-Vera-.-.-
Eating was… exhausting. When she had asked about food, she didn't realize that eating anything that required using her hands – which was, everything – would utterly suck. Matt had to practically feed her. It was humiliating to say at least, but she was too hungry and too tired to care.
Right after finishing, her eyelids started feeling heavy – again –, as if she hadn't slept for two days or so. She knew psychical exhaustion was to blame as well. As amazing as the team Flash was, she couldn't ignore their worried glances. And Matt…
Matt was holding a lot of things back, she could tell. She could only imagine how guilty he felt about the whole thing. She didn't waste her breath to tell him it wasn't his fault. They both knew that to an extent, he could probably be blamed, but unlike him, Vera was realizing that she was responsible for her choices and if she was pissed at someone, it was Fisk.
Her heart clenched in fear at the name. She had spent enough time with Matt to learn how to put on a mask, learning from the best. She was trying her best to look okay and while thought she might have fooled everyone else, she was damn sure she hadn't fooled Daredevil. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him and her hands and arms throbbed despite the painkillers. She dreaded falling asleep again, but she couldn't show it. Not now.
So instead, she called Terri, knowing her friends must have been on edge.
"…Vera?" sounded shyly from the speaker and Vera couldn't help but smile.
"Hey, Ter."
"You're awake! That's amazing! When did that happen?! How are you? Where are you? I'm coming. Right now!"
Vera managed only blink at the fire of words. "Uhm… I'm only awake for few hours. Matt fed me a pizza about half an hour back... and I'm- safe."
The one small word changed the tone of the whole conversation at instant and Vera realized her mistake all too late. She was glad she had excused herself from the med bay and hoped to god Matt wasn't listening in, falling asleep when she told him to wait for her in his bed – which had been conveniently pushed towards hers.
"…Terri?" Vera whispered when her friend didn't react, only hearing her breathing quicken.
"I'm so sorry, Vera. I'm… I'm so sorry," she sobbed on the other end of the line and Vera froze. What was Terri sorry for? What did that mean? Did she know something Vera didn't? Something… bad?
She shook her head, scolding herself for being paranoid. Not that she wasn't entitled at this point.
"For?"
"Seriously?" Terri sniffled and Vera's lazy brain started racing. Huh?
"Huh?"
"For not seeing it, you dumbass!"
Oh. OH. Oh, Terri…
"You know that's not your fault, right?" Vera reminded her gently, rewarded by another sob. Alright, change of tactics. "Theresa! You don't exactly have an on- and off-switch for that thing! Stop blaming yourself for things that aren't under your control this very second! I have enough of that right here! Stop or I'm coming for you and kicking your ass!"
Honestly, Vera surprised herself with how sharp she got. Terri only replied her with stunned silence.
"Uhm… sorry, that was a bit-"
"Forget it. You can be scary. I need to get over it. Thanks," Terri chuckled, tears still present in her voice.
"Yeah, don't remind me…" Vera murmured under her breath, memories of her encounter with Fisk still fresh in her mind. What the hell she had been doing? Had she really been encouraging him? To kill her? What was wrong with her?!
"How… how are you, Vera? Honestly, please."
Vera sighed, tears reflexively welling up in her eyes at her friend's genuine care. She let them roll down her cheeks, slowly allowing the front she had put up crumble.
"…Vera?"
"I'm fine," she creaked, heavily falling into a chair. This must have been Cisco's workshop, right? There was Arrow's action figure. She released a wet chuckle when she noticed it.
"Right. I already spoke with Mrs. Walker-"
"Terri, I'm fine!" Vera hissed, not liking hat was crawling out from behind the walls she had built.
"Sure you are. You haven't been kidnapped and tortured at all," Terri remarked sarcastically, causing Vera's mind being filled with her own screams, Fisk's sly smile, dark cold room, and pain, God, so, so much agony- "Spill it. Cry about it. Yell at me. Do whatever you want and can, just try not to hurt yourself further. Alright? Screw if Matt can hear you. Get it the fuck out."
Vera squeezed her eyes shut at the direct orders, wanting to do all of the things Terri mentioned. Scream. Cry. Hit something. Crawl into a bed, hide under her covers and never leave them again. She wanted a hug. She wanted a drink. She wanted to sleep, but nightmares-free. She wanted her stitches to stop pulling at her skin so painfully, she wanted to forget the horrors she had been through and she just wanted to be back at home with her brother and mum and dad, with their ridiculously named puppy, she wanted to return to the moments on Marky's wedding, care-free, and mostly, she just wanted her life to be normal for a second, her biggest problem being that it was a rainy afternoon and she couldn't watch a chick-flick movie, buried in blankets, because she ran out of Nutella and it wasn't the same without it.
Terri asked her to let it all out. So Vera did.
Matt found her an eternity later, crumbled half-asleep in Cisco's chair. Her cheeks were still wet from her tears, salty reminder of how much she was suffering. She was in such temper that even breathing seemed to be too much of an effort and she just didn't manage to look strong for him. She was sure he must have heard every word she had said to Terri. Or yelled. Or chocked out. Heard every sob and curse as if he was right in the room with her the whole time.
Vera could see how much the 'sight' of her punched him in his gut, it was written all over his face. Yet, he didn't say a word, silently taking her to his arms and carrying her to bed.
Something resembling 'I'm okay,' left her lips, but she wasn't sure if he could understand. The moment she felt her body being lowered to bed, she returned to the land of dreams.
-.-.-
Notes:
I know I promised it would get less angsty and heavy, but this needed to be done. It will get better now, I swear ;)