Matt gets jumped in a random alleyway during the early evening.
This isn't exactly a new occurrence.
Maybe he should stop walking home from work alone.
One of the guys who'd cornered him cocks a gun and presumably points it at him. "Give me your money and no one gets hurt," he says, like some villain in a cartoon.
Great. This is just a random mugging. He wasn't even targeted. After everything he'd been through (getting beat up by Fisk supporters, getting abducted by Fisk's men, getting tortured by Fisk...Fisk in general), this is what happens to him?
"I have none on me right now," Matt says, which is true. He at least knows enough by now to not walk around Hell's Kitchen with a wallet full of money. Sometimes he doesn't even have money to put in the wallet, depending on how well the firm is doing, so beat that, random mugger.
"I don't believe you," he says. "Check him." Matt inwardly sighs.
After the others awkwardly dig into his pockets and check his bag and his cane (How's he supposed to put money in that stick?), Matt thinks it's over, but as luck would have it, he's suddenly shoved into a wall. His back hits rough brick that he can feel through his jacket. He grimaces. "There's no need for this," he says. "I'm blind. I can't even identify you." Which is when a hand grabs ahold of his hair and slams his head back into the wall once, twice—
Matt groans from where his cheek has been pressed to the rough ground. His head throbs. He reaches a hand out, touches a wall, and presses against it as he stands, putting his shaking legs underneath him and trying to stay upright.
He sighs. How does he get home from here?
As he walks, he traces the wall with his fingertips, eventually reaching a corner and presumably the sidewalk. He tries to let go of the wall to orient himself, but ends up leaning too much to one side and pinwheeling his arms wildly to stop the fall, only to hit the ground anyways, this time with his shoulder.
He groans again, touches the back of his head with one hand, and feels warm wetness. Huh.
"What the fuck?" someone says from above him, and suddenly an arm is under his own, dragging him upright so that he leans against a broad, strong shoulder.
"Frank?" he asks.
A pause. "No," the person who is definitely Frank says.
"Frank!" Matt says happily, turning to face him and almost falling over, would have fallen over if it weren't for Frank's arms around him, steadying him. He pats Frank's chest in thanks.
"...Red, are you drunk?"
Matt makes a face. "No."
"I've never seen you like this. You look even more like shit than usual."
Matt snorts out a little laugh. "I wouldn't know."
Frank groans.
"Not drunk," Matt says after a few seconds.
"Uh huh."
"Hit my head," Matt says breezily.
"What?"
"Yeah. Here," he says, lifting a hand to touch the back of his head. It's still bleeding.
Frank presumably sees the head wound, because then he says, voice sharp, "That looks more like someone else hit your head for you."
"Huh, suppose that's true. With a wall." Maybe Matt should be freaking out more about this.
"Hospital, now," Frank says, voice flat, walking forward and dragging Matt along.
"Aw...Frank, don't wanna. Been there too much already."
"I wonder why," Frank says dryly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Matt asks as Frank opens a car door and shoves Matt inside. Matt hopes it's actually his car and not, y'know, stolen, but then he loses the thought as Frank takes some hopefully clean cloth and wraps it around Matt's head. He buckles him in, and then slams the door shut. Matt winces, holding his head in his hands as the noise carves a fissure into it.
"Shit, sorry," Frank mutters, now on the other side. Right. Cars have two sides.
"Didn't answer my question," Matt says as Frank starts the engine. Matt wishes he knew how to drive. He'd walk home from work less and get mugged less, too.
"You lawyers always get into too much trouble."
"Gross generalization."
"True for you, at least."
"I resent that," Matt says. He blinks, suddenly aware that he's alone in the car with the Punisher, with nothing except for the clothes on his back. Where are his glasses? Where's his bag? Where's his cane?
"You alright, Murdock?" Frank asks. Matt wonders, just for a second, if he's a mind reader or something.
"My glasses," he says, in lieu of anything else.
"Probably left it in the alleyway where you got mugged...I'll find your stuff and return it later." Oh. That's nice. Maybe he can ignore whatever Frank and Karen have going on if Frank's also nice to her.
His brain feels like mush. He'll have to give Frank the shovel talk some other day.
"My glasses," he repeats, the murkiness in his head increasing.
"Yeah, you're attached to those damn things, aren't you?"
"My eyes. They...you can see."
"Pretty sure I can, yeah."
Matt groans. "No, I mean, you can see me, my eyes."
A pause as Frank presumably glances at Matt's eyes now that Matt's mentioned them. Stupid. He should've just left the topic alone. "Nothing wrong with 'em," Frank says. "Someone tell you that?"
"Uh huh," Matt says, nodding and then immediately regretting it, shutting his eyes tightly as the throbbing increases in intensity.
"They're a bit unfocused, but it makes sense, considering..."
"Considering my lack of sight?" Matt says, leaning his head back against the headrest.
"Yeah. But nothing wrong with a bit of different," Frank says, and Matt wants to believe him, he really does.
He sighs. "Why'd you help me today, Frank?" he asks. It isn't the first time. "You could've just left me stumbling around on the sidewalk like a drunk."
"That would've been a shit thing to do," Frank says. "I did it 'cause I could."
"That's not an answer."
"That's the answer you're gonna get."
"I want to know," Matt says petulantly.
Frank sighs. "Karen warned me 'bout your puppy eyes."
"Are they working?"
"No."
"Damn it."
"We're at the hospital."
"Double damn it."
idk how Frank's gonna get in the hospital without being recognized, but he'll figure it out. also, Frank totally changed the topic near the end so he wouldn't have to admit to Matt that he's somewhat fond of him. it is very important to me that you guys know he's a secret softie lol
