An elevator rattled to a stop at the top floor of a ritzy apartment building, and out of it stepped Daredevil, full costumed.

Head raised slightly, he meandered to the end of the hallway, stopping in front of a set of two doors on either end. In the penthouse on his right, a man and a woman spoke quietly to each other about something trivial, both relaxed. In the penthouse on his left, nothing. Dead silence.

Matt pressed a hand against the ornately designed door of the silent penthouse. This was where the trail ended. It would be easy to break in, but doing so discreetly would be another matter.

Behind him, footsteps grew gradually louder, approaching the door on the other side of the hall. He turned slightly, already prepared for the encounter. The moment after it opened, a set of keys clattered to the floor, the penthouse's male resident frozen above them in shock.

"Don't worry," Matt said quietly, voice gritty. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The man raised his shaking hands to his mouth, staring in disbelief. "Wh- who…?"

"I'm looking for someone else." He hesitated for a moment, turning the rest of the way around to face the man. "Who are you?"

"Jordan! Jordan Hunt!" the man shouted suddenly, throwing up his hands and taking a step backward. "I'm just a regular guy; I swear, you won't get any trouble from me! My wife lives here- please, if you want something, just take it; we won't give you any-"

Matt raised a hand to silence him. "Like I said, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Honey? Are you alright? What's going on- aiiee!" At Jordan's outburst, his wife hurried to the door, letting out a shriek at the sight of Matt in his costume.

Jordan held out an arm protectively in front of her, facing Matt down with some façade of courage despite his obvious fear.

Matt sighed quietly, gesturing to the door behind him. "Devon Campbell lives here?"

Jordan shook his head slightly, clearly trembling. "H- he used to. A while ago. He moved out; we have new neighbors now…"

Matt nodded once at that. "Who?"

"Zebediah. And his girlfriend, Jessica. I don't- I don't know their last names offhand, I'm sorry…"

"How long have they been living here?"

Jordan exchanged a glance with the woman behind him, and she shrugged uncertainly at him.

"I'm not sure… a few months, at least," Jordan mumbled. "They showed up unexpectedly; apparently they had bought the property from Devon without us knowing…"

"I don't think your neighbors are who they say they are, Jordan." Matt paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "There's been a string of killings. I think Devon was one of the victims. And I think that man, Zebediah, is behind them."

"I don't- I don't think-"

"They seem like a perfectly normal couple to me," Jordan's wife replied quietly, hand against Jordan's shoulder. "We've had dinner with them a few times… they have never seemed like they had anything to hide."

"Some people are just good at hiding."

She went silent, and Jordan looked back at her again, panicked.

"The longer he walks free, the more people get hurt. You can help me stop it," said Matt, taking a step down the hallway toward the elevator. "They aren't home. Do you know where they are?"

Jordan held fast, standing firmly in front of his wife. "…Why in God's name would we trust you?" He gritted his teeth, watching Matt carefully.

Matt steeled himself, gesturing behind Jordan. "Because your wife has already dialed 911 on her cell phone and has her finger hovering over the call button, and I haven't stopped her."

Startled, the woman let out a quiet squeal and took a step backward. Jordan stared at her with his mouth half-open, then turned back to Matt. "If we get a single reason to think we're wrong about you… I will call the police in an instant."

"And you should." Matt gestured to the door with his hand. "You should keep your door locked. If you think you might be in danger, call the police. The person we are dealing with… he's dangerous."

"What are you going to do to him?"

"I'm going to get him somewhere he can't hurt anybody. Find out who he is involved with."

"Are you going to… kill him…?"

"I don't do that."

Jordan grimaced, tapping his fingers together uncertainly. Matt turned to return to the elevator, nodding.

"He took his girlfriend to dinner. The brand-new Italian place on 23rd Street. They've been out for an hour or so."

"Thank you." Now armed with a destination, Matt stopped himself just short of the elevator to utter one more warning. "If anyone ends up coming back here tonight… don't come to the door."

It was easy enough to track down a man going the name 'Zebediah', as conspicuous as it was. The hostess at the restaurant addressed both him and his girlfriend Jessica by name as they left.

Matt followed their footsteps closely, tailing them from the rooftops. Even though it was past sundown, it was still early in the evening, and the foot traffic was heavy. It took nearly ten minutes before they made their way onto a side road where there were few enough people for him to find an opening not to be spotted.

Kilgrave and his girlfriend moved arm-in-arm down the sidewalk as Matt descended the building into an alley, emerging just behind the two of them.

Matt tilted his head, taking in his mental image of his surroundings. Clutching a baton in one hand one hand, he registered the arc of the weapon in his head, finding the perfect moment to throw it, and then…

thok

The baton ricocheted perfectly off of Kilgrave's chin, and he reeled back, propping himself against the side of the building in shock. His girlfriend took a step away, disoriented- and heart pounding. Matt caught the baton in his left hand as it bounced off of the nearest building and tucked it away.

Two drops of blood from Kilgrave's spattered on the sidewalk.

The nearest streetlight buzzed over 10 feet away. Cover of darkness. Matt sucked in his breath.

Like a blur, he came out of the shadows, driving his foot straight into the side of Kilgrave's leg- instantly bringing him to his knees against the wall. A right hook floored him afterward, and Matt could hear his nose snap at the bridge like a splintering piece of wood.

Kilgrave whimpered, like a child. Unbelievable.

Another punch beat him against the sidewalk, spattering blood against the wall to their side. Matt didn't let up, his instincts kicking in as he focused intently on his target. Even as pathetic as this man seemed, Matt wasn't stupid, and he knew that if he let up for a moment-

"Get- off!"

It wasn't Kilgrave- he was much too battered to speak- but Jessica, whom Matt had barely even paid any mind to since he moved in to attack. She was probably just a civilian, and he'd assumed she would just run.

Which was why he didn't even notice her reaching out to grab him from behind until her fist was already ramming into his face, sending Matt flying a dozen feet back and skidding harshly into the concrete.

Head spinning, Matt sat up and ran his fingers over his mask where he'd been punched. The plating had split down the middle on the outside.

Unbelievable. There was no way a woman of that size, with that little muscle, could possibly have hit hard enough to hurt his armor that much. Mike Tyson couldn't have done that.

And yet, here he was, on the ground. He certainly hadn't counted on that.

Jessica helped Kilgrave up as he grumbled to himself, touching his newly sensitive fractured nose and cursing under his breath. As soon as he got to his feet, he shook the woman off of his arm and pointed a finger harshly in Matt's direction. "Christ, kill him, Jessica."

And just like that, she set off toward him. And she was fast, too. Matt barely had time to kip up onto his feet before she reached him and threw another punch, which he only narrowly ducked under.

He landed two punches on her stomach to take the wind out of her, but Jessica did little more than grunt and step back. It was like hitting a sandbag; she barely even gave way to the blows.

…At least he didn't have to worry about hurting a civilian.

The hem of her dress rustled in the air as she moved her leg up, thrusting forward into an inelegant kick, which Matt easily sidestepped.

Sloppy… and completely telegraphed. Matt ducked her next hook and threw a punch at her shoulder to throw her off balance, ducking around to her side to drive his knee into her stomach.

She stumbled back with a quiet groan, not letting up. As soon as Matt approached, she threw another kick- and capitalizing on the opportunity, he dropped down and swept her leg, dropping her to the sidewalk. He grabbed the collar of her dress and landed a few punches with his free hand, finally stunning her at least enough to give him a comfortable opening- and then he hesitated.

Kilgrave had already collected himself and taken a few steps toward the two of them, but he hadn't said anything yet. But wasn't he supposed to be-?

whump

A kick to the chest yanked Matt back to reality as he soared off of Jessica, slamming hard into the side of the nearby building and sliding down onto his feet. The body armor soaked up some of it, but still, the pain was tremendous- a broken rib or two, minimum. Matt lolled his head back against the wall just to take a moment to catch his breath, and in the interim Jessica struggled to her feet and closed the distance between them again.

Matt barely brushed out of the way of another punch, and the brick and mortar cracked behind his head as her fist collided with the wall. No doubt it would have broken through his already damaged face plate- a second slower, and the inside of his head would have been painted on the wall.

Gritting his teeth, Matt took a few steps away and reached a hand to his belt, pulling out his baton and swinging it into Jessica's head from behind. It reeled her back at least enough to buy a few seconds, but just barely.

Matt sighed audibly. He had been trying to play it safe to avoid giving her any lasting damage, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and it was starting to seem like his punches may not cut it.

Jessica thrust her elbow toward him, and Matt rolled with the attack, grabbing her arm and spinning behind her to beat her over the head with the baton again.

"Dammit- shit!" Jessica grunted as she fell to her knees, swinging an arm behind her.

Gripping the baton with both hands, Matt whacked her again, and she finally gave out, falling face-first into the sidewalk. She growled to herself, digging her hands into the ground and turning over to face him. Matt couldn't help be impressed just by her sheer resilience.

But he still had a job to do. Lifting his baton over his head, he swung his arm down-

"Alright, stop! Stop, stop, stop. Both of you."

-and froze halfway through the strike, his baton now hovering in front of Jessica's face.

"Get up, get up. C'mon now," Kilgrave said curtly, resting one hand against his bruised face as he approached.

Matt tucked his baton back into his belt and stood, grunting with pain and leaving Jessica beaten on the ground.

"I can't even- tsch." Kilgrave laughed out loud as he looked Matt over, shaking his head. "Take off your mask."

Of course, Matt would never do such a thing in a million years, which is exactly what was running through his head as he reached behind his head and undid the straps to drop his helmet into his hands.

With a snicker, Kilgrave rapped his fingers on his sleeve, studying Matt's face. "You're, what, the… er, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, yeah? What in God's name could I have possibly done to get you after me?"

Stone-faced, Matt stayed frozen in place, dull eyes drifting off in no particular direction. "You went after Karen Page."

"Karen Page?" Kilgrave scoffed. "You've got to be kidding. That little blonde tart of a reporter? That's why you had to nearly give me a concussion? Christ, I barely even did anything to her!"

"I thought she was in danger," said Matt coldly.

Kilgrave sniggered, stricken with disbelief. "…What's your name?"

"Matthew Murdock," replied Matt automatically, filled with a sudden panic but unable to turn and run.

"Matthew Murdock? I dunno, sounds familiar." Kilgrave thought on it for a few moments, then shrugged. "Tell me something, Matthew. How in the world did you learn to do that?"

"I was trained by a blind master named Stick when I was a child. And I've had a lot of practice since then."

Stunned by his own words, Matt shuffled around where he stood, willing himself with every muscle in his body to attack, or run, or something, but…

"Un-bloody-believable. Truly. I never in a million years would have expected some whack job like you to be able to one-up Jessica of all people. You know she's a superhero?"

He gestured to Jessica, who was still lying on the ground and groaning to herself.

"I figured something like that," Matt replied quietly.

"Well, I'll tell you what." Kilgrave crossed his arms and paced around in a small circle, speaking slowly as he thought to himself. "Someone like you… may just be nice to keep around."

"You're crazy if you think you-"

"Quiet."

Matt shut his mouth, scowling.

"Jessica, get up. Are you alright?" asked Kilgrave, watching over his girlfriend with something resembling concern.

She sat up and groaned before getting all the way to her feet. "I'll be fine."

"Well, that makes one of us."

He rubbed his nose again, wincing slightly. Gaze shifting back and forth between Matt and Jessica, he nodded to himself, leaning back against the building. "I need a bit of time to think this through. I'll tell you what: the two of you go back to the apartment and stay there. Wait for me to come back, and don't contact anybody else. I need to get myself mended up. When I get back… I think I'll know what to do with Mr. Murdock."

Jessica frowned at him and turned her attention to the costumed man, still holding his fractured mask in his hands. His gaze was unfocused and imprecise, which made her raise an eyebrow.

Kilgrave took a step away from her, jabbing a finger in their direction. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get going, both of you. I'll be back later."

At that, Kilgrave took off down the road in the direction he came, moving with a slight limp on the leg Matt had driven his foot into.

Matt set off the opposite way, immediately wincing and stumbling forward from pain. Maybe it was more than just a rib or two that was broken.

Jessica put her arm around him, her expression dreary. "Are you alright?"

Matt clutched his mask tightly, visibly disoriented by what just happened to him. "I… I don't… this wasn't supposed to happen…"

"Yeah. I know." She helped him walk slowly down the road, setting her eyes forward. "…Trust me. I know."