In the wake of the Act, Foggy had some time to think. He had a few things to consider, a few wrongs he felt needed righted, and a best friend who was still out there being an idiot despite the fact that Foggy has told him time and again to put up the mask.
Number one: Matt was stubborn. He was stubborn, and strong-willed, and angry, and so full of self-righteousness that he'd never be able to pull his head out of his ass. Foggy knows. He's tried. And he's tired of trying. After Castle he thought that Matt might get the hint, that he might stop and think about what this was doing to them, but he didn't. Not even when the two had come onto the shaky ground of tentatively and begrudgingly agreeing to disagree. Life was short enough without going after each other's throats, so Matt had let Foggy vocally duke it out with him over his opinions, told him he appreciated the concerns but he wasn't going to stop, and then asked if Foggy could accept that.
"No." Foggy had said, crossing his arms with a glare. Matt had fixed him with a searing look which was quite a feat when he couldn't even see. Sighing, Foggy had relented.
"I won't accept it, but I know I can't stop you either so I won't hold it against you. You're still my best friend Matt, crazy ninja shit aside. I don't want this to be the thing that tears us apart so no. I won't accept it, but I'll still be there for you because someone has got to watch out for your shiny leather clad butt when you get in over your head. "Matt had given him a smile that seemed to leech all the tension from his body and Foggy had agreed to stow the discussion.
As time passed and Matt talked more and more about who he had saved each time he came to Foggy for medical attention, or needing a place to crash before the next day as he tried to find work to make up for their now dead law firm, Foggy slowly started to understand why Matt did what he did and even grudgingly respected it. Not that he would ever tell Matt that. He wasn't the only one who was stubborn.
Number two: People were animals. There was just no other way to describe it. In the anti-enhanced furor that seemed to be sweeping the nation, Foggy saw atrocities littering the news daily. A little girl whose parents were rumored to have worked with the Fantastic Four once was pelted with rocks on the way to school. A man who had unusual athletic skills was called a "mutie" and had the shit beaten out of him outside the gym where he worked as a trainer. Karen was sent numerous threats to her news column due to her once association with Daredevil, and her continued correspondence with Jessica Jones as a source of information.
The list went on and on, and while the poster boy that was Tony Stark spoke out against these attacks daily and reminded those that perpetrated them that they were no better than the vigilantes who sought out their own justice, it just escalated things. Lumping people like Matt in with people like the venomous cretins who attacked unarmed civilians fueled the flames of the rather lopsided view that these masked heroes made things worse than better. Or worse: that they were similar in any way.
The worst thing was the attack that Foggy personally witnessed one day as he was coming back to the office from lunch. He had been walking along, minding his own business, when he accidentally bumped into a man who had been striding away from something with his eyes downcast. Foggy had apologized as the man nearly jumped out of his skin.
"It is ah, it's fine." He said, his accent thick and his gaze skittish as he looked around as though waiting for someone to jump out and get him. His fears seemed well warranted a few minutes later when a group of cretins charged down the street.
"Where do you think you're going, you stinking mutie?" One of them asked, baring his yellow teeth at the person that Foggy had run into. The man had backed up slowly, trying to make himself as small a target as possible.
"Whoa, hey. Let's all just calm down." Foggy had said, moving to intervene when he was struck hard in the stomach so he was winded.
"Freaking mutie lover, aren't you?" One of the friends of the yellow-toothed cretin growled, getting ready to send another blow in his direction as the third buddy held him when the man who Foggy had run into stopped them.
"He's not with me!" He exclaimed, scrambling up from where he had leaned against the wall for support whilst holding his side. Foggy now got a look at how beaten down he seemed from whatever had happened before the poor guy had run into him. As he looked at the guy, he also got a good look at the street and the crowd that had stopped to watch. Some had even seemed to be ready to step in but stopped when they heard the buzzword "mutie". If there was one thing the public hated more than vigilantes at the moment, it was mutants.
"Whatever." The first man had scoffed, turning his full attention back on the injured man who was taking the brunt of their anger to spare Foggy any further pain.
"We've got you where we want you." With that he delivered a crushing right hook to his jaw to a few jeers from the surrounding audience as a mother hurried her child past the mob cheering for the senseless violence. Foggy was horrified and he seemed to be the only one.
"Ladies and gents, I for one have had enough of these freaks running amok in our fair city." Yellow Teeth cried out over the commotion. "I say it's time we take it back from them, starting with this demon thing right here." There were cries of affirmation as Foggy made to stand and protest, only to have a boot driven into his back that kept him pinned to the ground. Horrified, he could only stare as the men closed in on him and started to reach for their victim's throat.
Before anything could happen, a group of police officers came running down the street and people started to scatter. Yellow Teeth cursed and kicked the man hard in the stomach, telling him that next time he wouldn't be so lucky. The man pinning Foggy released him after stepping down hard on his back to wind him once again and make him pretty sure that besides making his new suit filthy, he was going to have a boot print bruise there for a long time.
Dragging himself up as the officers started to make their way over, Foggy made his way over to the mob's victim who groaned softly. When he finally got a good look at the curled up figure, he drew in a sharp breath. The man on the ground was most definitely a mutant. He was blue and..was that fur? He wasn't sure but as the victim of the attack gave another moan Foggy decided he didn't care. Poor guy had done nothing but walk down the street and got throttled for his trouble.
As he heard the heavy footsteps of the officers, he made a decision and shielded the mutant with his frame to give him a chance to slip away if he wanted. Luckily, Brett was one of the two cops who had noticed the angry mob.
"Can't seem to stay out of trouble, can you Nelson?" He clucked at Foggy who gave a sheepish grin, his bruised face making it a bit more grotesque than friendly but that wasn't his main concern now. "Mind telling me what happened?"
"Well-"Foggy started as the other officer looked over Foggy's shoulder at the man who was hunched in the trenchcoat and had his face covered by the hat he had retrieved after the crowd dispersed. Obscuring their view with a miniscule shuffle over, Foggy gave a miserable shrug.
"Bigoted idiots, vigilante justice, the new normal I am sadly getting frighteningly accustomed to around Hell's Kitchen. I was just walking my client here safely to the bus when we got jumped by an angry mob. Something to do with the fact they believe that tripe in the Daily Bugle about our firm and Daredevil?" Foggy heard the man's breath behind him settle at the cover story while giving a slight huff of recognition. Guess he'd heard about the Devil of Hell's Kitchen too.
"Ain't garbage if it's true." The cop with Brett muttered, giving Foggy a glare. Brett gave his partner one of his own who shrugged.
"Are you okay, sir?" He asked the man behind Foggy who had stepped further back into the shadows. Once again drawing their attention, Foggy intervened.
"Look, we've got a case we're working on and my client is clearly exhausted. I was the one attacked, so any statements you might need I can give in the morning. That is if I even bother to press charges because from the looks of it, you might not be so keen to catch the guy." Brett's partner narrowed his eyes at Foggy's statement and looked about ready to get into it when Brett broke it up.
"Alright Nelson. Get your client home, but I expect a full statement in the morning. Drop by the precinct bright and early." Signaling to his partner with a jerk of his head that it was time to go, they went back to where they'd stopped their car all the while Foggy continued to match glares with Brett's partner.
As they left, Foggy turned to address the mutant who had been attacked, only to see him slinking further into the shadows.
"Hey, you got somewhere to go? I know a place if you need one." He called after the man who was making his way in the opposite direction.
"My friend, I do not wish to bring any further misfortune upon you. Just know that I am in your debt." He spoke softly as he turned away, his accent was heavy and definitely German. "I have my own people I can return to, but should you ever find yourself in need of sanctuary, you can count on us." He pulled back his cap in a gesture of goodbye and Foggy caught a full glimpse of Nightcrawler before he disappeared.
Wondering how this was now his life, Foggy sighed and made his way home, calling in sick the next day so he could rest a bit. Last thing he needed was too many questions.
And number three: Sometimes, Matt was right. He hated it when Matt was right, because it meant that his stubbornness was justified and fed the damn vicious cycle that was Matt being bullheaded and then doing something reckless. However, with the bill passed and criminals feeling empowered by the new restrictions on heroes, the streets were as bloody as ever.
Five shootings in the span of five hours over Labor Day weekend. A little girl scooped right off the streets in broad daylight on the way home from school that thankfully was released after her family paid up. Gangs trying to reclaim turf that had once belonged to the heroes' patrol routes.
There was suffering and pain and blood everywhere and the cops were overwhelmed as even small-time bad guys crawled out of obscurity for their moment in the sun. Matt and the others like him tried to do the best they could, but they were fighting both the villains and the authorities now and they were only able to be half as effective.
It all came to a head when Spiderman's-Spiderchild more like it, he was like fifteen- was targeted after he followed Stark's advice and took off the mask.
The school lost two students and a teacher and Spiderman wasn't even attending classes that day. He was on a PR tour with Tony. That quickly ended and Spiderman was now on the run after quitting Tony's official team.
And the anti vigilante terrorists who caused the attack vowed to hit the Xavier School for Gifted Children next.
Enraged and sickened by what was going on, how he couldn't even walk after dark in his own city, Foggy started making calls. A few strings pulled here and the cops looked the other way when Luke Cage stopped a mugging. A call there and Jessica Jones was able to pack up her vandalized office and get rent at a hell of a discount near their office.
A letter of appeal and a generous donation from a wealthy investor named Mr. Lee who had been saved by Captain America and suddenly there was an underground clinic for anti-registration superpowered individuals all run by volunteers. They called themselves the Night Nurses. Claire got a real kick out of having a codename like Matt.
Behind the scenes Foggy kept tags, coordinated movements through the favors they had curried in their work and the people they had rubbed elbows with. Karen wrote articles about the status of the street, interviewed people still being saved by the street level vigilantes who never gave up on them.
Matt didn't know. He was too busy with his daring dues, so it was a surprise to him when a few battered and desperate heroes showed up at his door while he was over for a visit one day.
"Is this the home of a Mister Franklin Nelson?" Sam Wilson, the Falcon, asked as Foggy stared in muted shock at the cadre of people gathered outside his door.
"Uh-" A blonde man stepped forward, undeterred by Foggy's confusion.
"We heard through the grapevine that you might be able to help us. You're the lawyer that's been setting up safehouses and helping people escape the pro-regs, correct?" Captain America himself asked and Foggy gave a small squeak at the fact that he got their attention.
"Foggy, what's going on?" Matt demanded, his voice dipping into Daredevil territory. Hawkeye shoved his way into the apartment, trying to get to cover.
"How about we have this conversation behind closed doors?" He gestured and the Falcon, Captain America, and was that Spiderman? They all shuffle inside as Falcon and Hawkeye took position at the windows to look for trouble.
"Foggy." Matt's voice went flat, deadly, and even a bit annoyed at the whole thing.
"I...may have been doing some pro bono work." Foggy gave as a lame excuse while also acknowledging the fact he was who they were looking for. Captain America gave him a small smile of weary approval and thanks before looking at Matt with an appraising gaze.
"We apologize for the intrusion Mr. Murdock, but we need a lawyer we can trust to help us with this next bit and your friend came highly recommended."
"From who?" Matt demanded.
"Name Nick Fury ring any bells?" Hawkeye tossed back after being satisfied they hadn't been followed. Spiderman, for his part, was looking guiltily at Matt and the rest of the group with a skittishness that belied his age.
"As in, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D.? I thought he died a few years ago when the organization went belly up?" Foggy asked, baffled at having caught the attention of the spy agency. Hawkeye shrugged nonchalantly.
"Just what do you need a lawyer for?" Matt questioned, trying to get things under control again.
"There's a few things in that document the public doesn't know about. A superpowered Gitmo to start with. Then there's the provision to start registering mutants in a year's time."
"That can't be legal." Foggy gaped. "At the very least, it's a gross encumbrance on the rights of any of the arrested heroes that are American citizens."
"Not if they spin them as domestic terrorists." Falcon piped up, frustrated at the legal rigamarole meant to distract from the actual crime of the thing.
"And we thought, who better to help us out than Daredevil and his best friend?" Spiderman piped up and you could almost hear a pin drop as all eyes slowly turned to look at Matt. Matt for his part closed his eyes, counted to three while inhaling, then let out a huff.
"Peter, what did I tell you was my number one rule when we started our… arrangement." Peter frowned.
"You said you'd train me, provide me back up, and keep me out of trouble if I kept your name secret after that whole thing with the ninjas who took off your mask but I thought these guys already-" The three in the dark heroes were appraising the two lawyers in a new light.
"Well, that explains the passion behind what you're doing." Sam observed. Hawkeye gave a small huff.
"Nat owes me $20. I had you pegged half a year ago, but she told me there was no way to prove it so I should drop it."
"Well, then at least I know she followed through on her word to keep this under wraps." Matt scowled at Peter who looked even more sheepish.
"Sorry, Mr. Murdock."
"You know Black Widow!?" Foggy gaped at his friend.
"And apparently you're running a secret underground resistance behind my back, I'd say this makes us even." Matt huffed at Foggy, unperturbed by his outrage at that juicy detail.
"Wait, you're that Matt?" Hawkeye asked, interested now.
"'That Matt?!'" Foggy crowed, wanting more details.
"Gentlemen." Captain America said loudly over the bickering. They all turned their attention back to him.
"Sorry Captain Rogers, sir." Foggy stumbled, clearly not sure how to talk to his boyhood hero as Hawkeye snickered in the background. Steve gave Clint a look.
"Just Steve is fine."
"Okay, Steve-that's not weird at all. Okay, Steve. I'm not sure what you think I'll be able to do. You might want to find a constitutional lawyer as that'd be your best bet." Foggy offered, getting back to the matter at hand.
"Perhaps, but there's none I trust. What about it, Counselor? Are you willing to help us get this out there? Help us pursue any legal recourse we have available to us?"
"Now hold on-" Matt interjected, not wanting his friend anywhere near this.
"You are more than welcome to have a chance to read it over yourself, Mr. Murdock." Steve cut off his objections. Before Matt could protest again Foggy decided to be just as stubborn as he was.
"We'll do it." Matt heard the finality in his tone and groaned, deciding that he knew better than to argue with Foggy on this.
Because there were three things Matt knew about his friend:
Number one: Foggy was stubborn when he saw something he believed in with all his heart
Number two: People were animals and the firm of Nelson and Murdock might be the only one willing to take a stand against the degenerate behavior of the more viscous of the pro-regs
And number three: Sometimes Foggy was right. As much as he didn't want his friend on the front lines of this war, he had already put himself there so Matt would do everything he could to minimize the crossfire he'd find himself in.
Captain America gave them a weary, somber, and sad smile as he held out his hand.
"Well then gentlemen, welcome officially to the resistance. Let's hope we're able to do some good with it."