yet another chapter that was sitting in the finished folder. I really need to get my shit together, but my adult life shit kicked up first. I'll try to get better on this, I promise you all!

I own nothing!

The phone that vibrates in Clint's pocket pulls Matt from his restless sleep, also earning an annoyed groan from Clint in the same go. The archer shifts in the chair and pulls the device from his pocket, fumbling a bit before actually answering the call. "Yeah," he slurs, lifting his other hand to rub the side of his head.

"We need you," a familiar female voice responds, causing Matt to roll over to face Clint. "We have a mission."

"Now?"

"Three hours."

Clint groans again and moves, shifting his legs to sit correctly in the couch. "Fine," he huffs, using the heel of his hand to knead his eye. "I'll be ready."

"You better."

The line disconnects and Clint sighs, dropping the phone onto his lap and holding his head in both hands. "Was that Natasha?" Matt asks, causing the archer to look at him over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he says through another sigh. "Just as bossy as ever."

Matt smiles at the memory of his old friend and pushes himself up. "Tell her I said hi, would ya?" he asks as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. "It's been a while."

"Will do, buddy," the Avenger assures with a half-hearted salute and another yawn. "I'm sure you heard, but I gotta go."

"I heard." Clint's yawn causes Matt to yawn and he runs a hand down his face. Matt frowns at the glove that makes contact with his face and blinks, finally realizing he fell asleep in his suit...again.

"I was wondering how you slept in that thing," Clint comments after seeing his confusion, a few tired chuckles passing through his lips with the words. "It looks like it would ride up like a b-"

Matt shushes him quickly and listens, picking up on Leslie's heart rate. "Language," he reminds, causing Clint to cringe slightly and turn to her.

"Sorry, kid," he declares gently, earning a half nod from the teen in reply. Clint returns the nod and looks back to Matt. "Well," he grunts, pushing himself to his feet and stretching his arms over his head. Lucky jumps down from his place on the couch beside Leslie and releases his own yawn before taking his spot beside his friend. "Looks like I'm leaving."

"Looks like," Mat agrees, sliding down to the floor himself and sighing. "Sorry for dragging you down here just for papers."

"Don't worry about it," Clint dismisses, gathering his belongings and hooking Lucky to his leash. "But I'll be calling you with a tedious favor one day, and you can't say no."

Matt allows a faint smile to play on his lips before nodding in agreement and following him toward the door. "Fine," he declares, leveling with Clint in the middle of the hall. "But I will complain."

"It wouldn't be the same if you didn't," the archer teases lightly, shifting everything to his left hand and extending his right. "See you around, Murdock."

Matt accepts the hand and shakes twice. "See you around."

Clint nods and leans over slightly. "See you, Leslie," he calls, making Leslie jump and her heart rate spike.

"You scared her," Matt informs, earning another apologetic cringe from Clint in response.

"Sorry."

Matt nods and releases the hand, both men sighing contently before Clint finishes the trip to the door. "Another day, Murdock."

"Another day." Matt listens as Clint and Lucky exit the apartment and make their way down the stairs, Clint continuously grumbling obscenities about the heavy rain that continues to fall. He focuses on the guests until they get all the way outside and hail a cab that allows Lucky in once Clint flashes his Avengers ID. After the two leave the block, Matt refocuses on the ongoings in his own building.

There's a leaking pipe on the floor below, and Matt guesses that it's been like that for a while due to the growing mold spot under it. A few apartments over from him, a newborn cries again, two mothers debating about who's turn it is before the second mother crawls out of bed to feed their child. In his apartment, Leslie's stomach growls. She's hot under the heavy blanket that she pulled over herself sometime during the night but she does nothing to move it. Her uncasted leg bounces at a lightning rate. Her heart still races. Her breathing is rhythmic but still faster than normal.

All and all, Leslie's still nervous.

On a brighter note, the worst of her wounds are starting to lose the touches of infection and none of her stitches are broken or pulled. On a not so bright note, it's going to take weeks to get the scent of wet dog from his couch.

Foggy...Foggy...Foggy...

Leslie emits a small yelp of fear and pulls herself into a tight ball around her cast on the couch, heart rate spiking at the sudden sound. Matt swears under his breath and rushes to his phone, quickly answering and holding it to her ear. "Fog," he breathes quickly, holding his phone to his ear as he moves back toward Leslie. "Hold on a second. Leslie's freaking out."

"Take care of her."

Matt responds distractedly before setting the phone on the table and crouching in front of Leslie. "Hey," he says gently, hands hovering awkwardly around her as he debates on whether or not to touch her. "Hey. Leslie. Breathe. OK? You're OK. Breathe with me, alright? Ready? In."

A shaky inhale.

"Good. Out."

Half sob.

The lawyer coaxes Leslie through the exercise for about five minutes before she calms down on her own. Once she's back to her normal heart and breathing rates, Matt sighs in relief and retakes his phone. "Foggy?"

"Is Leslie OK?" Foggy asks as soon as the word left Matt's mouth. "What happened?"

"Leslie's OK," Matt assures rising from his crouch and walking toward the kitchen. "I think she was on edge when Clint came over and then was startled by our phone call."

"Who's Clint and why was he over?" the other lawyer asks, the over-protective tone he only uses during his Daredevil lectures clear even over the phone.

"An old friend," Matt admits, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it from the tap. "Avenger actually. But he didn't stay long."

"Why was he there in the first place?"

Matt hesitates a few seconds before sighing. "I'll tell you when I see you," he responds,walking back over and handing the glass to Leslie.

"It was a night job thing?" Foggy infers, earning a confirming hum from Matt in reply. "Leslie?"

"Something to do with that, yes," the blind man answers, still hovering around Leslie for any other mishaps.

"And you're sure she's OK?" Foggy asks again. "I can stop by before work if you want."

Matt smiles at his friend's concern. "She's fine, Foggy," he assures again, listening as Leslie finishes the glass and lowers it to her side. "Just shaken up as always." He extends a hand toward the teen for the glass, only to have to retract it slightly when she flinches away. "I'll make sure she's OK before I head to work."

"Is she going to the church again?"

"Probably not. Her broken leg is grinding again and I'm sure she's not going to want to walk on it. She'll be fine on her own for a bit, right?" He directs the of the statement to Leslie and causes her to flinch again. She gives a shaky nod in response and Matt returns the nod. "I'll take off a little early though," he declares around a yawn. "I don't wanna leave her alone for too long if I can help it."

"Makes sense. Hey, I'll see you in the office. I'm pretty sure someone's trying to steal my taxi."

Matt laughs lightly and accepts the glass once Leslie offers it. "See you then. Bye, Fog." He disconnects the line and sighs, setting the phone back on the table and turning back to Leslie. "Are you alright?" he asks, earning a quick nod from Leslie as she slowly uncurls herself from the tight ball. "You sure?" Another nod. "Alright."

He sighs again, this time from tired relief instead of just being tired. "Good," he says through a faint smile. "Hungry?" She pauses in thought before wringing her hands together and nodding slowly, her stomach agreeing with the gesture by releasing a soft round of grumbles.

Matt feels the heat rise in the teen's face once the noise settles and can't help but laugh, causing Leslie to tense more and tighten her hands together. The lawyer coughs to hopefully stop laughing and shakes his head a few times. "I'm sorry," he says, crouching down again and resting a hand on his knee. "I didn't mean to laugh. Honestly." Leslie gnaws on the inside of her cheek for a moment before relaxing as much she can and nodding.

Matt flashes her an assuring smile before pushing himself back to his feet and starting for the kitchen, mentally cursing himself for causing the situation and congratulating himself for getting out of it. Once he settled himself, he exhales deeply and focuses, sorting through the remaining food he has in his fridge and cabinets. Same as before: nothing.

"Um," he ponders aloud, reaching for the cabinet with the quarter bag of dried fruit and pulls it open. "Do you like..." Pauses to sniff. "Dried cranberries, banana chips, pineapple, and papaya?" He shakes the bag slightly and catches another whiff. "It has nuts in it. You aren't allergic to anything aren't you?" Leslie hesitates and chews on her lip for a moment before shrugging.

He almost doesn't give it to her. The last thing he needs is to discover Leslie has a fatal food allergy in an uncontrolled situation. His arm twitches to put it back, but Leslie's stomach growls again in anticipation and stops him. After debating the other contents of his house before sighing in defeat and closing the cabinet and going back to the couch. "We'll go shopping soon," he promises, extending the mostly empty bag to the teen. "Until then..."

Leslie slowly accepted the bag, sending Matt a grateful nod as she lowers the package to her lap and carefully pulls it open. "There's a market not too far from here," Matt continues once Leslie fishes a few banana chips from inside and lifts them to her mouth. "We might be able to go there tomorrow of the rain lets up. How's that sound?" The teen doesn't respond for a few seconds, then gives a weak nod before swallowing the chips. "Great."

Once Leslie's tries everything in the bag at least once and nothing bad happens, Matt nods again and moves to his dresser. "I'm going to shower and head to work," he informs, opening the first drawer and grabbing a pair of boxers and some socks before moving to his closet. "I'm going to pick up some take out tonight for dinner. Any preferences?" A quick shake of the head in reply. "Alright. I'll see if Foggy has any suggestions, then."

Leslie nods again and Matt heads to the bathroom with his clean clothes in hand, stopping and backtracking to get Leslie another glass of water before completely committing to the shower. After thoroughly cleaning himself of any dirt and blood that may be clinging to him, Matt dries off and dresses, still running his towel through his hair as he exits the steamy room. Leslie still sits in the corner of the couch, the only noticeable changes that happened being the now empty bag of trail mix beside her and the book on her lap.

"Everything alright?" he asks at the end of the hallway, causing Leslie to jump and slam her book closed. "Whoa," he says, lifting both hands to show no threat. "It's just me." It takes Leslie a second to calm herself to her normal levels and she nods again, another wave of heat rising in her face. "Everything OK?" Another nod and Matt returns it. "Good."

He makes sure his hair is a decent level of dry before tossing the towel haphazardly onto the chair near his room. "I'm heading out now," Matt informs, grabbing his briefcase, watch, and cane from their spots as he listens to Leslie flip through the book again. "My second phone is here. If you need anything, call Claire. She works nights normally, so you should be able to reach her." A third nod.

"There's nothing much to eat here," Matt continues apologetically. "But you can see if any of the take-out food is still edible. You know where the cups are. You can shower if you'd like. And don't forget to use the bathroom." The muscles in Leslie's face twitch and a smile flickers on her lips, causing Matt to share the gesture before running a hand through his hair. "Great," he chimes, running a finger over his watch and allowing his smile to fall. "I'm late."

He hurries and assembles his cane as he rushes toward the door. "I'll be back soon," he assures, snatching his keys from the bowl on the stand near the door. "You're OK for now, right?" Wow. Maybe Barton was right about the mother hen thing...

Before he can entertain that thought, Leslie nods in confirmation and pulls him away from it. "Good," Matt responds as he unlocks and opens the door. "Call if you need anything. See you soon." He receives another quick nod from Leslie just as he shuts the door and he focuses on her for a few seconds before assuring himself Leslie is OK.

Foggy...Foggy...Foggy...

Matt fumbles for his phone and spins toward the stairs on a heel, pulling it from his pocket and answering it before the fifth ring. "I'm on the way," he informs in a huff. "I'm on the way."