Lost Girl

Fauna

Fauna lay there unmoving, trying to blink away the nightmare leaning over her. He pressed a single finger to his lips.

I'm dreaming, right? She thought. I have to be dreaming? Why is he here?

She nodded and he lifted his hand from her mouth. Dressed fully in his Daredevil ensemble, he backed away to allow her some space. She supposed it had something to do with the stipulations he made during their last meeting. If she told the truth, or didn't run, he'd keep his distance.

She stood and when she realized she was not wearing pants she blushed and wrapped the blanket around herself. At least her shirt was long enough to cover the important areas, but it still wasn't modest enough for her.

He leaned against the short wall that made up the ledge of the roof, and crossed his arms at his chest. He stayed quiet, but his lips fell in a grim line. He was upset, Fauna realized as she noticed his jaw clenching.

"Wha-What are you doing here?" She stuttered, afraid of the answer. "What if someone sees you up here…" She paused, but couldn't stop herself from saying it, "...with me."

He looked away from her for a long moment, tilting his head as if he was listening to something.

"No ones around." He said, shaking his head.

Fauna's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Are you omniscient , or something?"

"If I was, none of this would have ever happened."

Fauna eyed the wound on his side, "You know you're bleeding, right?"

He replied with a low rumble in his chest.

"There was nothing inside the cargo container." He announced, ignoring her observation.

"What?! It was empty?"

He titled his head again, this time toward her. She wondered why he did that? When he didn't answer soon enough she continued, "so... it was empty?"

Fauna watched as he seemed to relax a little, his shoulders lost some of their tension.

"It was." He growled.

"Well, you missed something, that makes no sense." Her eyes went wide and she pressed her lips together and backed away from him a few steps. Accusing Daredevil of not being thorough probably isn't the best idea. "Or...you know, I mean maybe there was something more." She tried to back track.

He said nothing, only studied her.

"Well, why would they ship it by itself, there must be something special about it. Maybe you got there too late." Stop accusing him Fauna, you're gonna get punched. She scolded herself again. "I mean, I'm not saying that-"

"I got there early enough to watch you leave." He interrupted.

Fauna was taken aback by that, the thought of him spying on her was unnerving.

"There weren't as many guards as you said either."

She didn't understand why the container was empty. Her father wasn't there today and the guards were doubled earlier. Why? She wondered. It had to be because he was preparing for it's arrival. He's done that before when he expected something important. Wait. She told herself. Why should I trust in anything Daredevil says?

Fauna's eyes flew up to meet his covered face. He could be lying. She stared at him. To her, that made more sense than the container being empty. She took a few more steps back toward the fire escape. Her heart sped up a little. He was here for more information.

Fauna knew he wanted to take Grayson down, but the easiest way to do that would be to use her. She couldn't help him do that. The faster he took them down, the faster she'd lose the ability to pay for her mother's treatments.

"So you either sent me on a fool's errand so you can make other plans or-" He began, but Fauna interrupted.

She began shaking her head, "No, I gave you inside information, enough to use against me, enough to blackmail me in keeping quiet about you." She took another step back, she froze when he stood. "You got what you wanted."

His head tilted at her again as he stepped toward her. "You think I'm lying."

He said it as a factual statement, not a question. Fauna legs felt like jelly. How did he know that? She wondered, was he a mind reader now.

She decided since he seems to be a human lie detector, she'd just be honest. "It makes sense. You're here because you got a taste of what you can get from me and you want more."

"It was empty, which makes our deal barely legitimate."

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" She backed further away from him, but he took steps toward her. It was like they were in some sort of dance.

"Don't Fauna." He commanded.

"Don't what?" She said as her heels hit the cemented half-wall leading to the fire escape.

"Run." He said in that low threatening voice.

She pursed her lips, trying to act like that never crossed her mind, "I wasn't going to run. I'm going down stairs and going to bed."

A smirk slithered across his lips. She could tell he knew that was a lie. Didn't he know, that was kind of a natural reaction to him. She wondered. People wanted to run from him, whether they were aware of it or not.

"There is another possibility." He closed the distance between their bodies and crossed in front of her. He sat a few feet away from her near the fire escape's ladder. It took everything Fauna had within her to hold her ground.

"What?" She asked, knowing he was trying to intimidate her. His tactics were working. He had her trapped, there was no way she would get within arms length of him on purpose, which meant she couldn't get down that ladder.

"That container could have been a decoy to sniff out rats."

The fire escape was quickly forgotten at that statement. Her stomach dropped.

Did I just tell on myself, she thought. Her eyes searched the roof below her feet. It would make sense for Grayson to set up a trap after the break-in, she concluded. What was worse was they would know she sent Daredevil there.

"Did anyone see you?" She asked.

Matthew's head tilted again. "No, why?"

"If it were a trap they'd know I sent you, of course. Are you sure?"

"Nervous?"

"Yes." Wow, he could be a jerk on top of everything else.

Something else he said nagged at her. Fauna backtracked their conversation. Other plans, she wondered. "Wait, do you think while you were off at Grayson's tonight I went and told the whole world about you?"

"Did you?"

"Of course not! You think I'm stupid enough to be here, wide open for you to, to… do... whatever it is you do... to people." She struggled to get that last part out, imagining everything he could do was not fun. Though in her world those thoughts shifted between him, her father, Ace, the police. All of them had her against the wall with nowhere to go.

He was studying her again.

Honestly, thought Fauna. That was getting annoying.

"What am I supposed to do to get you to believe that I'm not going to broadcast your identity to the whole world?"

"Not feeding me information that leads to a dead end would be a good start." He replied. "You can either give me some solid leads or I'll take something more valuable to you."

He was threatening her.

Wait, leads? As in plural. Before she could question him he turned and leaped off the side, thumping quietly on the landing below.

The information she already gave him was wreaking havoc on her nerves, the thought of giving him more was impossible. And him finding out about her mother was terrifying, she had to do what she had to do to keep her as far away from the Devil of Hell's Kitchen as possible.

Matthew

Matthew sat at his desk rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes. Between staying out all night, catching a few hours of sleep and following Fauna the next morning, he was exhausted. The wound on his side was now at a dull ache. He wanted to just go home, but he had to push through, he had to show he had some kind of daytime life. Earlier, he spent a couple hours with Foggy explaining everything.

Matthew thought his friend was going to blow a gasket. Though Foggy had the same concerns he did, he wasn't comfortable in blackmailing Fauna. Matthew wasn't either, but what choice did he have? Foggy also pointed out he was putting her in danger, Matthew realized this too, but hadn't taken the time to dwell on it. If they realized she was passing along information to him, they'd kill her. "One step at a time." He had said to Foggy.

Karen had not been by this morning . But he heard her coming in the stairwell. He sent her a text earlier, he wanted her to check into Fauna's employment at Grayson's. He went over the transcript of their meeting with Fauna or Flora that is. More than likely she was the friend she referred to or she could have a friend trapped there. Perhaps that's why she's stayed. Obviously someone there was threatening her, and, by the state of her bruised face, they acted on their threats.

Matthew's guilt had increased dramatically. Karen's scent grew stronger as she entered the office. She rummaged around then knocked softly on Matthew's door.

"Come in." He replied.

"Hey, boss." Her smile lifted his spirit, it always has. "I got that info, you got a few minutes?"

"I do, please." He motioned for her to take a seat.

"Ok," She began, shuffling around papers in a file. " So Fauna,-"

She emphasized her name now that she knew the truth.

"-as far as I can tell she's your normal, perfect kind of girl next door type."

Matthew sat back in his chair to listen to Karen's soothing voice.

"In high school she was president of her class, three years running. Perfect attendance, and a 4.0 GPA. The only reason she didn't get a fourth year was because she graduated at sixteen."

"Really?" Matthew said, sitting back up to attention.

"Yes, apparently she's some kind of prodigy. I found old newspaper clippings of her competitions. She spent a year studying abroad in London, before she accepted a full scholarship at Juilliard."

"You're kidding." Matthew huffed.

"Nope, while at Julliard again a perfect student." Karen paused to shuffle more pages. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Then a little over a year ago she dropped out, practically disappeared."

"Why?"

"Her file stated personal reasons, so then I began looking into her home life. I haven't found anything on her father, apparently he hasn't been a part of her life." She paused, shuffling again. "But her mother caught my attention, a. . . Louisa Bosk. They don't have the same last name, Fauna Grace is her stage name. Her mother changed it officially when she began winning 'Little Miss' competitions."

"Little Miss?"

"It's kind of like peewee football, only for dancers and singers."

"Fauna sang mostly, some dancing. She's even been featured in a few Disney movies."

"Really?" Matthew was taken aback of why she was at Grayson's.

"Back to her mother." Karen continued. "The only thing significant I found was her medical file. Don't ask me how I got it." She held up her palm to him.

Matthew smirked, Karen was truly an asset.

"At the same time Fauna dropped out of school, her mother fell ill. According to this..." she paused shuffling through papers again. "...it was stage four lung cancer. Around the same time Fauna also disappeared from her social media pages."

Karen's face turned grim.

"What's wrong Karen."

"I wish you could see this Matthew." Her voice turned somber.

"Describe it to me."

"It's the pictures she's posted. In them she looks happy, and healthy. She's enjoying life, having fun, you know... being young." She paused, her heartbeat skipped. Matthew heard the hitch in her breathing, tears welled up in her eyes. "The girl that walked into this office… it's like she's a shadow of her former self."

Matthew sighed.

"I think she might be in trouble, Matt."

Karen doesn't realize just how right she was, thought Matthew.

"Oh! And I looked into Grayson. There's no record of Fauna's employment there. It's like she ceased to exist until she walked into our office. But there is one very odd thing."

Matthew looked up from his desk.

"Her mother made a complete recovery. It was a miracle, there's no medical reason for it."

"Then why did she stay at Grayson's?"

Karen shook her head, "I don't know. If that is her employer. Maybe she was lying."

Matthew leaned forward and placed his hands on his desk. "Thank you Karen."

"Sure. I want to help her, Matt."

Matthew nodded, "I know."

Karen had a big heart, especially to those that big corporations took advantage of.

"We'll try." He assured her, though Matthew was unsure how. If Fauna stayed at Grayson's willingly, she wouldn't have much of a defense against their crimes.

Karen's smile returned, she stood and began leaving. "Uh, Karen."

"Yes." She turned.

"When Foggy returns, will you fill him in? I'm gonna call it an early day."

"Sure thing Boss." She turned and left.

Matthew leisurely strolled down the sidewalk, making his way toward Fauna's apartment. He began reevaluating her file back at his apartment. He had first tried to sleep, but his mind wouldn't rest. Not after everything he learned about her today. After finishing, he wanted to check in with her and right about now is when she would be getting home.

Matthew stopped a couple blocks away and waited for her to show.

A few minutes later Matthew inhaled deeply, her scent was in the breeze. Besides the normal scents of body wash, shampoo and daily activities, people had natural scents. For some reason he had trouble placing hers. It was set in something sweet, and when he breathed it in it felt refreshing. It was as if his lungs could expand a little more. It lifted him yet reminded him of that grounding feeling after a heavy rain.

He spotted her walking slowly down the sidewalk, her small frame swallowed up by the tall buildings, and the sun set behind her. She was looking up to the sky as her hair bounced around her.

She quickly ducked into her building. Matthew stayed a while, listening to her settle herself down for the night. Then he decided to get a couple more hours of sleep before heading out for the night.

Matthew landed a spinning kick to his opponent's head. A dock worker he was questioning about the next few shipments set to arrive. It did cross his mind that he could get the information from Fauna, but sometimes when his frustration was high and he needed to clear his head, hitting something worked best.

He ducked into the shadows and made his way to Fauna's apartment. He needed to check in, hopefully he could get a hold of a better lead than last time. It would be nice to get a solid lead, but the main purpose was to have more to hold over her head.

Matthew paused, catching his breath before launching himself forward and onto the next roof. He ignored the guilt bubbling up again.

Matthew reached her window, stretching his senses. He pushed them hard, anticipating the moment when they lapsed like they had done every time he'd been around her. However, that moment didn't come. The apartment was empty. Matthew noted her keys with the apartment fob was left on the kitchen counter, along with her bag and her cell phone. He titled his head listening... no one was on the roof either.

Where was she? It was odd for a young girl to leave her keys and phone. Her scent was faint, but he could trace it. Luckily for him she walked everywhere she went. If he hurried he might be able to follow it. As long as the breeze was in his favor.

As Matthew neared Grayson's he realized that she must have returned to work. As he slid under the fence of the shipping yard he again pushed his senses forward. Her scent was stronger. He took a few extra minutes to gauge whether or not this was a trap. Grayson could be luring him in. But he found nothing resembling one.

He was closed in on her scent and then he found her. Well, her heartbeat anyway. It was pulsing rapidly with fear. Matthew climbed to the roof and there across from him on the other side, she stood. In the same outfit he had first seen her wearing. Her hair was in a long braid and peeked out under her hood. She was leaning over the ledge, watching the docks.

What the hell did she think she was doing?

Matthew stepped silently toward her. He really hated to do this again, but seeing they were right in the middle of Grayson's Shipping yard and that she seems to be a naturally fidgety person, he couldn't risk her screaming and alerting everybody here.

Simultaneously he snaked one arm around her ribs, pulling her into his body and pressed his other hand against her mouth, keeping her from screaming loudly. Her heartbeat slammed against his forearm. Her muffled scream sounded out. However, she shushed herself quickly. She, too, didn't want any extra attention. Matthew listened for any guards that might have been alerted to the scuffle.

Fauna's hands came up and yanked at his.

"Shh, shh. Fauna, it's me Matt. Calm down." He whispered into her ear.