Lions, Tigers, and Lawyers

Fauna

Fauna left her mother's house not long after Mr. Androle. Confused and frustrated she began walking. She didn't care which direction she was headed, just as long as she didn't have to go back to her apartment. Besides, Fauna did her best thinking when she walked. Even though her life was headed toward numerous disasters, all she could think about was the fact that MacFinn Distribution wanted to buy her mother off.

The threatening tone of Mr. Androle told Fauna they were hiding something. Perhaps they could reach some other kind of agreement, Fauna thought. One that would fix issues like Drax and Grayson. Could it be possible?

Her mind drifted back to that moment when she begged the doctor for something to try on her mother, anything at all to stop the cancer from killing her. She closed her eyes, the image of the business card being slid across the desk was as clear now as it was then.

When she lifted the card up it felt heavy. The card only had a name and address listed on it.

Drax Corp.

23rd and 7th

She now knew what that heaviness meant. Accepting the Drax Corps help meant putting the world on her shoulders. She had to go to her father for the money and she signed away her freedom for it. It was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Her mind snapped back to the present. Her mother worked her entire life for MacFinn. It had to count for something, anything.

Mr. Androle was not out to help her mother. That was clearly evident. She didn't know much about laws, lawyers, privileges and contracts. What could she do alone? She certainly can't afford help. Thoughts, ideas and possibilities dominated her mind as Fauna put one foot in front of the other, pounding the sidewalk, but with each step she became more and more frustrated.

Her situation was hopeless. Grayson wouldn't allow it. She owed him too much, not to mention all the things she had seen and heard. Fauna felt the sun pelting down on her. Her day off was half over already. She sighed, wishing otherwise. She came to a four-story building and leaned against the red brick to adjust her shoe. As she bent down a metal sign caught her eye.

Nelson & Murdock

Attorneys at Law

Well, that'd be nice, Fauna thought. She wished more than anything she had someone she could talk to and tell everything to. She stood up and began walking when another small sign caught her eye. It was handwritten and taped to the window.

Free consultation

Nelson & Murdock

See Karen Inside

Fauna paused, staring at the note. Mr. Androle's word's re-entering her thoughts, "attorney-client privilege."

MacFinn had attorney's, no doubt much better than these guys. She turned to leave, but stopped and turned back. Her thoughts continued to roll around in her head. It was free, what harm could be done? She reached for the door. A tall, slender woman opened the door a few seconds after Fauna had knocked.

"Hello," the woman beamed a smile. "I'm Karen. Can I help you?"

"Um," Fauna fidgeted nervously. "I saw the sign… a free consultation?"

"Absolutely, come in!" Karen stepped to the side and ushered Fauna to a plain room, with only a table and chairs inside.

"Please sit." Karen instructed, her smile never fading. "Can I get you anything? Coffee, muffin -"

Fauna's stomach lurched at the thought of food. "Yes, please." She said with a little too much enthusiasm.

Once Karen closed the door behind her, Fauna's concerns and fears shot through the roof. She could have planned this better. What was she going to say? She couldn't say too much. She didn't know these people very well. For all she knew they could be greedy and corrupt like most people. She looked around and disregarded that last thought. If they were greedy and took bribes on cases, Fauna figured they have much better office decor. As well as a much better location. In any case she wasn't going to take any chances, she'd leave as much detail out as possible.

The door opened to Karen smiling at her and holding two cups and a tray of muffins. Behind her a man appeared, wearing a suit and a friendly smile. His blonde shaggy hair brushed against his shoulders. He was good looking but not handsome. His teddy bear looks told Fauna he'd make any woman very happy.

"Hello, I'm Foggy Nelson." He reached out his hand to Fauna.

Fauna offered him a quick smile, accepting his offer of a handshake. "Hello."

"I'm sorry, I'm still getting used to this. I didn't get your name." Karen said as the two took their seats. Karen sat at one end of the table, while Foggy sat across from Fauna.

"Oh, um, Ff-lora." Fauna quickly changed her name, "Flora." She needed to be as cautious as possible. "Sorry, I'm a little nervous." She admitted.

"That's okay." Foggy said, "it's normal." He held up his palm to her, a pen intertwined in his fingers. "Let's just begin with why you're here."

"Okay," Fauna shifted in her seat. "Well, I have a friend."

Fauna's eyes darted between the two individual's as both nodded their heads in unison.

"Before I go on, what exactly is attorney-client privilege?" She took a muffin and began gobbling it down.

Karen and Foggy quickly looked at each other.

Foggy cleared his throat, "well, it's a way a client, say… you, could disclose information to the attorney, me, without fear of legal consequences."

"So… I could say I murdered someone and you couldn't tell anyone." Fauna asked.

"Basically, yeah." Foggy replied.

Karen sat up a little straighter and leaned forward. "Was it self defense?"

"Oh, well no. No!" Fauna's cheeks flushed with color. "No, I didn't murder anyone. I just wanted to make sure I understood."

"Whatever you tell us, Fauna. It doesn't leave this room." Foggy reassured her.

"My Friend, I'm not sure how to help him." Of course Fauna was talking about herself, but thought it best to pretend she wasn't attached to the situation. So she changed her name, referred to herself as a friend and changed genders. She hoped that it was convincing and made a mental note to keep up with all those changes, otherwise it was going to get very complicated.

"Is he injured?" Karen asked.

"Oh, no." Fauna quickly answered. "Um, he got himself involved with a company."

They nodded again, encouraging her to continue.

"He got sick and had to quit, and now this company wants to buy him off." She explained mashing together her's and her mother's situations. "When he refused their offer, the attorney threatened him."

"Okay, go on." Foggy replied.

Fauna swallowed the lump in her throat. "The company isn't-."

"Are they involved with illegal dealings?" Foggy interrupted.

"Um, I think so." Fauna answered.

"Would your friend be willing to testify against this… company?" Foggy asked.

Testify? Thought Fauna. She hadn't considered that. Fear rose and her heart began pounding. Grayson had their hands in a lot of pockets, including judges.

"I'm not sure." Fauna answered. "What would happen?"

"He'd go into protective custody." Foggy answered.

Fauna knew what that meant. That meant her life would be in the hands of people who may or may not be on the payroll of the city's biggest crime bosses. In the aftermath of Wilson Fisk, the city took down a lot of corrupt officials. It was on the news for weeks, the trails took even longer. Investigators took down one right after the other.

It was impossible to know for sure if all of them were arrested. Even some, supposedly innocent, officials got caught in the crossfire. Once the nightly News got through their careers would never recover. And what would happen to her mother? Suddenly Fauna realized even if she wanted to testify, she'd never be able to.

"What about his family?" She asked.

"They could go as well." Karen answered.

If she and her mother went into protective custody and she testified, the money going toward her mother's experimental medications would end. Her mother's cancer could return. Whether they were experimental or not, they were working, she wasn't going to watch her mother die again. She couldn't take that chance.

Fauna stood. The chair raked loudly across the floor. "Thank you both for your time, but I must be going."

As Fauna headed for the door Foggy rushed in front of her. "Flora, wait! If there's anything else, we can help you. Protect you." Fauna realized he was referring to her in the situation. She guessed the whole 'my friend's in trouble' act had been played too many times before and they saw right through it.

Fauna looked up into the man's kind eyes. He was sincere, but unfortunately it was her she was worried about. And no matter what promises he made the wrath of cancer was out of his abilities. She smiled.

"Flora, please. Let us help." Karen begged. "This place doesn't look like much but they helped me and they can help you too."

"I'm so sorry, th—this was a mistake." Fauna said.

"Well, perhaps we could try –" said Foggy, he was anxious for some reason.

"No, I'm sorry, I—I'll tell my friend about your advice." She interrupted, she didn't want to hear any more. She didn't have to. If she wanted to keep her mother alive and safe, she'd have to figure something else out. She opened the door to leave and in her haste slammed hard into a warm body behind her.

Fauna stumbled, then steadied herself by grabbing his forearms. She felt his muscles rippling under her grip as he balanced them both. Then she went still, the noise in her ear silenced as she stared hard at the cut on his face. Images of the night before began sending panicked signals through her body. The way the man known as Daredevil held her, threatening her. The eyeless mask covering his face was terrifying. The blood trickling down his neck sent shivers down her spine.

She closed her eyes for a moment, pushing the images away. Get a grip, Fauna, she told herself, the last thing you want is to start having PTSD.

"I—I'm a – I got to um… go" Fauna stammered as she made her way to the exit.

Matthew

Matthew caught up with Fauna a few blocks later. She had just entered the park. After a few minutes of walking the cemented path she found a bench and sat down. Matthew took a spot by a tree behind her. He was conflicted as to what to do. Just as he was the night before.

He had to make sure she wasn't going to the police, or worse her employer and tell them everything she knew about him. If his secret was known he wasn't the only one at risk. His friends and their families would be ruined. And not just ruined. They'd be in danger. Every enemy he made would be after them, thinking they could get to him, and they would be right. He had to protect them. He had nothing to lose, not much anyway. But Foggy and Karen. They had everything.

What could he do? How would he stop her? How far would he have to go? He debated his choices as he watched her. The slight breeze swirled strands of her hair around her shoulders. She shimmered a bright mesmerizing light while everything else around him was dark and on fire. She stared up at the sky, taking in deep breaths. Her heartbeat was a little fast. It could have been from the brisk walk to the park. Or it could be she's about to do something that has her adrenaline and nerves high, like about to walk in the police station and announce his identity to everyone. Or give details to her Grayson about him, his work and friends.

What was she anxious about, he asked himself. The last time her emotions were overflowing the shimmers swirled through her body erratically at high speeds. Right now they were calm. He knelt against the tree and kept his senses trained on her. Minutes ticked by, then hours.

Just as Matthew decided to approach her, well kidnap her, the church bell rang a single toll to signal the half hour. Matthew snapped at attention when Fauna jumped to her feet and took a mad dash for the park entrance. He followed and as soon as he could, he ducked into one of the alley ways. He would be faster if he could drop the poor blind man act. He took to the roof tops, he would get ahead of her that way. He had to stop her before she made it to the police station or to her boss. She must have been sitting there trying to decide what she should do. In either case Matthew wasn't going to let her get far.

Kidnapping was not ideal. But he could hold her until he found something that mattered to her. Scare her into thinking he'd hurt them if she told anyone about who he was. He would never act on it of course, but she didn't have to know that. And though kidnapping was illegal, in the scheme of things, it was the least of his worries with all the other laws he'd broken.

As he jumped from one roof top to another he called Foggy on his cell.

"Yo Matt, what was up with you earlier?"

"No time now to explain, the girl that was in the office earlier. I want everything she said and did in a file waiting for me. Can you ask Karen to do that?"

"Which one? The one you bumped into and then took off after? I mean I'm assuming that's why you left, because of her."

"Yeah, that one. I gotta go." Matthew hung up before he heard another word from Foggy.

He positioned himself at the edge of the roof and allowed himself to fall parallel to the building, catching the fire escape. He pushed himself against it and jumped horizontally, turning his body 160 degrees, to the neighboring building. He caught a drain pipe and slid to the cemented alley floor. The sound of his shoes echoed. He straightened himself and listened to make sure no one else inhabited the alley. The evening was beginning to set. The alley way was growing dark, perfect for what he was about to do.

He heard Fauna approaching. He began reaching out to grab her. Suddenly a car screeched its brakes, came up onto the sidewalk and stopped in front of her. Matthew drew back his hand as a man jumped out of the car.

"Hello Fauna." Said the man, he towered over her. Matthew heard Fauna's heart beat skyrocket. She was afraid, very afraid. Her small feet retreated a few steps.

"Your father wishes to speak with you." The man said. He stepped aside and motioned inside the car. Despite her fear, she obeyed and the car sped off, leaving Matthew behind.

He cursed the now exhaust filled air. He'd never be able to follow them. It wasn't dark enough yet, and though he was quite skilled and very fast he'd never be able to catch up to them. And since he had no idea who her father was or where he lived he was left behind.

Panic filled him. How would he get to her before she had the chance to reveal him, he thought. He'd have to stake out Grayson Shipping if he wanted to find her again. He returned home to suit up for the night. It was the only thing he could do.