Chapter 23

Matt positioned the two chairs so that they faced each other, and they sat down. There was an awkward silence between them for a few moments since neither knew how to even begin the conversation they needed to have.

Nyah shifted nervously in her chair, then blurted out, "how is it that you can fight so well?"

He smiled and relaxed a bit, that was an easy question. "I was blinded when I was just a kid. Shortly afterwards, I discovered that my other senses had become hyper-aware. I can hear things most people can't, and I can sense things like temperature changes, electricity in the air, vibrations. All this help me 'see' the world around me almost as well as you can, if not better sometimes."

She cocked her head and looked at him dubiously, "how so?"

"Well, right now, I can tell you are nervous because your heart-rate is elevated, and the temperature of your skin is higher than normal. You are twisting your hands in your lap, another nervous habit." Taking a deep breath, he plunged on, "when you first moved in, I could hear and feel you moving around in your apartment. The area where you do your Ti Chi is almost right over my bedroom. I would lay in bed and follow your movements." He smiled at himself, "creepy, I know. But that is also how I was always out on the landing waiting for you in the morning. I would know when you where up and when you left your apartment."

"Wow, you would make a hell of a stalker," she smiled. "That explains a lot, though. But what about the fighting?"

This was a bit more difficult for him. "When I was older, I found a mentor who taught me how to fight. He always said he was preparing me for this great battle that was coming, but would never tell me anything about it, just that I needed to be ready."

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"I finally figured out that he didn't really care about me, only this battle, so I told him to fuck off and he left. He comes back from time to time to try to get me to commit to his cause, but I always tell him no in the end." Matt sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I still don't know what this epic battle is, but I know that when it comes, I want to meet it on my terms, not his."

She nodded, understanding. "That is what I am struggling with. I think all my nightmares are my subconscious trying to tell me that I need to start living my life on my terms. The problem is that I don't know what I want or how to go about figuring it out."

"I think we are in the same boat, there," he told her. "But I'm not finished."

She leaned back, "okay."

"I know about that night you were killed by being shot in the head," he said.

She sat back up in her chair, "what? How?"

"I followed you that night. Your sudden disappearances were a mystery I just had to solve. I thought you were in trouble and I wanted to help you, or you were up to something bad, and I needed to stop you. Either way, I followed you. I was there when you were shot. You saved me that night." He stopped and waited for her to put it together.

Her brow furrowed as she considered what he told her. He could tell the instant she figured it out, her heart jumped and started racing and she flushed all over.

"You're him? You're the Devil of Hell's Kitchen?" her voice rose, and she jumped up out of her chair. Matt stayed in his chair, sitting still and just following her agitated movements.

"Oh, Heavens, it makes so much sense now! All the cuts and bruises you always have. You got them catching criminals. I'm such an idiot for not realizing it sooner!" she berated herself.

"Well, don't be too hard on yourself, my best friend didn't figure it out until he caught me in my suit," he told her.

"Karen knows too?" At his nod, she continued, "now I understand." She flopped down in the chair and it creaked dangerously under her weight. "Wow."

Matt finally moved, leaning forward in his chair towards her. "Are you okay with this?"

"Am I okay with this?" she echoed. "Matt, I die every month and am resurrected. I'm over 700 years old. I would be history's greatest hypocrite if I wasn't."

They sat in silence for a few minutes while it sunk in on both of them. He couldn't believe how well she was taking his revelation. Maybe there was hope.

Nyah was the first to break the silence, "I'll buy you new furniture to replace all we broke. After all, I did throw the first punch."

"We were pretty well matched, though."

"Oh, I was taking it easy on you because you were blind. I didn't want to hurt you."

He laughed, "I was the one taking it easy on you. I only wanted to keep you from leaving, not hurt you."

"I hear a rematch in our future," her voice lightly teasing.

Matt laughed again, "maybe next time, we do it upstairs on your training area."

She laughed too, "yeah, but let's put Lei's ashes somewhere safe first!"

"What's next?" Matt asked her, not sure if he meant their relationship or the human trafficking ring.

"I have an idea, but you aren't going to like it," she said.

So, she was going to focus on the ring instead of them. He could live with that for now. "Okay, let's hear it."

She was right, he didn't like it. At all.

Nyah had been thinking about the partial failure of her first plan. True, they had saved, or Matt had saved, the women in the warehouse, but they were no closer to finding Mrs. Vitalidi's daughter or Alice. Nor were they any closer to putting an end to the enterprise and seeing that those responsible got what they deserved. Thinking back on it, she realized that the failure was all on her: she had not let the others in on her plan, so they were unable to anticipate and adapt as conditions change.

This time, she would do it differently. They would be involved from the beginning and help her plan it. Well, hopefully they would. If she could convince them that it was sound idea.

Foggy and Karen didn't like the idea either.

"Oh, hell no!"

"Absolutely not!"

"I've already told her the same thing," Matt said.

"Okay, then come up with a better plan for nailing these bastards," Nyah challenged them.

"Look, we are four intelligent people. Surely we can come up with something that doesn't put you back at risk." Karen looked at the two men for support.

"Yeah, the last plan that did that didn't work out so well for you." Of course, Matt would be the one to bring that up.

"Do you really think I want to do this?" Nyah looked from one of them to another. "If we don't catch this guy in a way that he can't possibly get out of, every one of us will be in danger. Not to mention the fact that they will just keep on kidnapping young women and selling them to perverts."

The three of them didn't have a comeback for that.

Karen, as always, was the voice of reason. "We don't have to decide right now. Like you said, Nyah, we have almost an entire month. At least give us a chance to try to devise another plan, okay."

That wasn't an unreasonable request, Nyah thought. And to be honest, her plan scared the hell out of her, so she nodded in assent. "Three weeks, but then we have to move forward one way or another."

It was late and they were all tired, so Karen and Foggy said goodnight and took their leave of Matt and Nyah. Before she closed the door behind her, Karen turned around and caught Nyah's attention.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you, Mrs. Vitalidi stopped by this morning looking for you."

"Did she say what she wanted?" Nyah asked her.

"No, but she seemed sad," Karen said. "I think she has given up on finding her daughter."

"I can't say I blame her; it's been nearly five months since she disappeared," Nyah said glumly.

"I know," she grudgingly agreed. "She said she was going to stop by tomorrow around ten. If you're not doing anything like getting killed or beaten up or destroying Matt's apartment, you could stop by the office."

Nyah smiled weakly at her jibe, "I'll stop by."

"Ok, see you then." Karen shut the door behind her, leaving Matt and Nyah alone in the apartment.

Once again, they were alone in his apartment, this time there were no big revelations or a fight to distract him from the tension that suddenly existed between them. He knew what he wanted to do but was so busy second-guessing himself that he was effectively frozen by indecision. Only when Nyah got up, did he realize they had been sitting in uncomfortable silence for several minutes.

"It's getting late and you actually need to go to work in the morning. Karen said you have a hearing first thing in the morning." She gathered up her few belongings, including that damn urn and turned towards the door.

The thought of her leaving finally galvanized Matt into action.

"Wait," he said, rising from his chair. "Stay here tonight."

She stopped and turned back towards him, "I don't think that's a good idea, especially after what happened this morning."

"Are you referring to our fight or what happened before it?" He asked her, rising and walking across the room towards her.

"Both, I suppose," she shrugged her answer, a bit of a frown between her eyes as she watched him approach. "Karen says we both suck at this kind of thing and she's right. It isn't healthy that we went from making out on the bed to trying to kill each other in less than five minutes, don't you agree?"

. Stopping close enough that he could reach out and touch her but not so close as to make her feel threatened, he took in the tension that radiated from her. It felt as if she was on the verge of bolting again and he wasn't sure he could keep from going after her, which might result in a repeat of the events of the morning. He would have to try a different approach.

"She's not wrong, but I don't think she's entirely right." He held out a hand to her, palm up, and gestured to the door. "Let's go up. I want to show you something."

With only a slight hesitation, she nodded, turned and led the way.

Inside her apartment, she again turned to face him, wondering what he was up to. What could he want to show her in her own apartment?

"May I?" he nodded past her.

She licked her lips nervously, "go ahead."

He walked past her into the dark apartment, "come on." He paused and said over his shoulder, "leave the lights off. Live in my world for a bit."

Silently, she followed him as she moved through her space as if it was his own; navigating obstacles and walking swiftly and surely to the stairs that lead downstairs to the open space. In the exact middle of the space, he came to a halt and turned to face her again.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her abruptly.

Wary of his intentions, she answered him cautiously, "maybe."

"Fair enough," he chuckled as he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for her to see.

"What's that?" She stepped closer to see it in the darkness. It looked like a scrap of cloth.

"It's a blindfold. Turn around," he said.

She almost said no, but she had to admit that she was curious. She turned and waited. Standing with her back to him was unnerving, she didn't like not being able to see what he was up to, so when he touched her on the shoulder, she nearly jumped out of her skin. What had happened to the calm woman that nothing fazed that moved in less than six months ago? How did she go from that to this ragged bundle of nerves?

She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing until her heart was calm and she no longer felt like jumping out of her skin. Matt stood behind her, still and quiet, giving her the time she needed. A peace she had not felt for days descended; time slowed. With her eyes closed, she could hear his breathing behind her and after a few breaths, realized that it was echoing hers.

"Okay," she told him softly.

His hand on her should lifted and the cloth was draped over her eyes then tied firmly behind her head. She stayed still as he stepped away, waiting for his instruction. His steps were light as he circled around her, but still easy to follow.

"Now you're in my world," his voice was suddenly loud after the long silence and echoed slightly in the openness of the room. "All you have to do is touch me. I'll make it easy for you by staying within arm's reach."

"Just touch you?"

"Yes," he said. "Sound easy?"

"Deceptively so," she replied lightly, but her skin prickled with goosebumps at the thought. She had fought him almost to a standstill earlier, but this was different. This morning was fueled by anger and desperation. She wasn't sure what this was, but it was more intimate feeling, more sensual. Even blindfolded, she was hyper-aware of his presence so near to her. It was distracting.

"Begin."

His voice was behind her, so she spun clockwise, reaching out with her right hand and grabbing...nothing. He was no longer there. Spinning back the other way to catch him coming around from that direction, she was met by empty air again. She made several more fruitless attempts, becoming increasingly frustrated.

"You're just guessing instead of using your senses," he taunted from her left. She spun towards him, only to miss once again.

"Is this how Wen Lei taught you?" he asked from behind her.

Furious, she kicked out this time, trying to catch him off guard. Nothing.

"What happened to that peace you found not long ago?"

Spin. Miss.

"You're reacting on instinct instead of thinking."

Counter-spin. Miss.

"You're not learning from your mistakes."

Spin. Miss.

"You are better than this."

She stopped abruptly. He was right. She was trained to stay calm, to think, to anticipate, to learn. The only thing that had changed was the blindfold. Everything else was the same. Surely, she could adapt.

Once again, she focused on her breathing, slowing it and squelching her frustration. When she was calm, she listened. His breathing was still matching hers, calm and even, at her eight-o'clock position. Before she spun, she shifted her weight on her feet slightly as if she was going to spin counterclockwise. Her muscles tensed and she swiftly spun clockwise instead.

Nyah's hand struck Matt on the shoulder.

She got him!

"Got you!"

He laughed with her and she pulled the blindfold off her eyes. The room was still shrouded in darkness, but after the pitch black of the blindfold, it seemed much brighter. She could make out Matt's face and his smile. It made him look younger and was infectious. She grinned back at him.

"Again?" he asked.

"Yes!"

They joined in a dance of forms: hers like the smooth flow of water and wind, he like the abrupt movements of earth and fire. They twisted and spun across the floor of the room, silent and swift in the dark, like ghosts and shadows. More often than not, he escaped her touch, but she was victorious enough to keep the game going for over an hour.

Finally, they collapsed on the floor, both panting but strangely renewed.

"Are you hungry?" Matt asked her.

Nyah had been in the process of stretching, feeling her tired muscles release their tension. She was about to say no, but her stomach chose that moment to growl. They both burst out laughing.

"I don't need to answer now!"

"I'm going to grab a quick shower downstairs. Meet you in twenty minutes?" he asked as he sat up.

"Sure." She stood and held out a hand to help him up. He took it and allowed her to pull him up. Together, they went upstairs. In the main apartment, she asked, "Can you let yourself out?"

"Yeah, see you in a bit."

He headed for the door and she went to her bathroom to shower.