Shadow

Fauna

Fauna peered out the door's window of the apartment building. She looked right, then left, and sighed. She actually hoped there'd be a car. She'd settle for dealing with Ace rather than Daredevil. She took a second glance before stepping out. She walked as quickly as she could, tightening the shall around her shoulders. The night was briskly cold, and it was all she had.

She admitted she was very nervous for tonight. She wasn't sure what to expect or why her father wanted her there. Her arm still very much throbbed and was terrified that Daredevil would pop from the shadows. Suddenly a horrid thought came to her.

What if he did and I didn't make it to Grayson's? Her heart stopped as did her feet. She took a moment to glance around. She was mostly alone, just a few late night stragglers here and there. She continued on.

She made it to the gates of the shipping yard with no trouble. Four men, fully armed, guarded the gate. As she approached, one man spoke into his radio.

"Tell Mr. Gayson that Fauna's here." He said, while the other men unlocked the gate and let her through.

"Go to dock Twenty-three." The same man said.

She nodded.

As she drew closer to the dock she noticed the workers packing small crates into one of the warehouses. She saw Ace directing some of the men and her father, his back to her, casually looking on.

"Fauna, it's about time." Ace called out.

She mentally rolled her eyes and did not acknowledge him.

"Ah, good." Grayson turned. He had a clipboard in hand, "Now I can get out of here. I've more important things to do."

Her father thrust a clipboard in her hands. She winced as it connected with her arm. "Follow me." He said, walking into the warehouse. She obeyed, taking a quick glance at the clipboard. It was a manifest with different sections of Hell's Kitchen listed, but it was empty.

"Now," Grayson began. "I want you to begin recording the serial number to each of these crates and assign them a specific area."

Fauna looked up from the papers. Crates were stacked high all around. They weren't large, one man could handle carrying one, but there were so many of them. Too many, she thought. This was going to take all night, possibly two. What were in them anyway? She heard workers coming up behind her, so she scooted out of the way so they could pass. They brought in more crates, and kept stacking them.

"Get started." Grayson said, walking out.

Fauna didn't wait, it was cold and was going to be a long night. She figured if she kept moving it would help keep her warm and she'd get finished much faster.

She began moving around, writing down each number on the manifest. When she filled one part of Hell's Kitchen she moved on to the next. She started in the farthest corner or the warehouse, away from where the workers were currently stacking crates. After about twenty minutes they stopped packing them in.

"Thank goodness." She whispered to herself. She looked up to see where the workers were. She saw Ace on the opposite side of the room, he towered over a stack of crates as well as most of the other men. Her eyes darted from one of the crates to Ace and the men. She thought she might have enough time to peak in without them noticing. Her eyes again darted from the crates to the men and back again.

Curiosity got the better of her. If she was ever going to get any evidence, now was the time. She reached for the lid, but kept her eyes on Ace. It wouldn't budge. She studied Ace's movements for a moment, when she decided he was too occupied to pay any attention to her she turned to the crate and used both hands to pry it off.

"Come on." She begged. Then, with a quiet crack it popped off. She looked up to Ace. Did he hear that? To her, that cracking noise sounded like a trumpet blaring loud enough to wake the dead. Based on Ace, it wasn't noticeable. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart pounded in her ears. She silently moved the lid away and reached inside. She felt something soft and plushy.

Confused, she pulled the object out. It was a small white teddy bear with a red ribbon tied around its neck. Her eyebrows furrowed. She looked up, the men were still in their corner, so she began inspecting the bear. She turned it over and over not understanding why there were stuffed bears in the crates. Fauna noticed a loose string by the neck and casually pulled at it. The seam unraveled leaving a small hole in its side. She reached into the hole and pulled out small bags of white powder.

She sighed, "drugs."

"Aye, careful with that you idiot!" Ace screamed at a worker, startling Fauna. She yelped and quickly returned the bear and put the lid back in place. Grabbing the clipboard she went back to work, but her heart was racing.

She needed to get to her desk. A while back she hid a small disposable camera inside of it hoping one day she'd capture some evidence. This was her chance, right here, right now. She could also get copies of the manifest. Blackmailing Grayson wasn't ideal, but she needed something to keep the money flowing for her mother's care. Even long after Daredevil was through with him.

But she had to get that camera and get back down here and get pictures. She took the clipboard and headed for the exit. She had herself a plan, and felt a new sense of motivation.

"Um, Ace." She called out.

He turned. "What?"

"I don't have enough room to fit all these serial numbers, I'm going to have to go and make some copies."

He eyed her a moment, long enough to make her nervous, as if he knew what she was planning.

"Well, make it quick!" he said with a wave of her hand, dismissing her. Fauna felt a smile spread across her lips, something that hasn't happened in a long while.

She nodded and made her way to the exit. Fauna was about to open the door, but she heard an odd thud that stopped her. She put her ear to the door and listened quietly for a moment. There was no other sound, it must have been my imagination, she concluded.

Fauna opened the door and peered into the darkness. Where's the street lights, she wondered. Suddenly the darkness moved, startling her. As her eyes adjusted to the night she saw him, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was standing just a few feet away. There were bodies laying at his feet, his broad, muscled shoulders heaved breathlessly. His covered eyes bore holes into her.

Fauna stepped back, slamming the door shut. Though she knew that wouldn't do any good, it was all she could think of.

She began backing away from the door, it was only a matter of time before he made his way into the warehouse. And she didn't want to be here when that happened.

"What are you doing?!" Ace yelled at her. But all Fauna could do was stare at the door. He stormed to her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. She finally tore her eyes away from the door and looked at Ace. She must have looked terrified, his expression changed from confusion to understanding. He knew something was wrong, someone was out there and he had a good guess who it was.

With a loud bang the door exploded, splinters flew through the air. Ace pushed Fauna to the floor, and covered her with his body. As quickly as she felt his weight crash down on her, it was gone. When she looked up, Ace was on his feet and gun drawn. Shots rang out toward the door. The guards began shuffling into different positions. The lights exploded above their heads and the warehouse went dark.

Fauna scrambled back on her hands into the maze of crates hoping to find a hiding place. Once she was far enough away, she got to her feet. She ran deeper into the warehouse, all while hearing men grunting and groaning, bones breaking, their screams rang out.

She ducked behind some crates, after a few agonizing minutes, the sounds stopped. She didn't move for a few more minutes, she just listened. All she heard was silence. Her thoughts began swirling. She had to get out of here, she needed to get out. Though, even if she did it was too late, he knew she was here. He'd come for her, he knew where she lived and she'd just be another victim of his brutal delivery of justice.

She lifted herself from her kneeling position, even though it was dark and she couldn't see very well, her eidetic memory could help her. Three steps ahead and turn right, she coached herself and forced her legs to move. Six steps then another right. She tiptoed as fast as she could, she hoped without making too much noise. Left-

"Aah!" Fauna screamed as she collided with a guard. He scrambled back.

"Stop, right there. Don't move." He commanded. "I'll kill you, don't move."

Fauna threw her hands up in submission and backed into a crate. "Okay."

"Where is he, where'd he go?" His panicked voice and wild eyes told Fauna the man was panicked and terrified. He might shoot her in an accident. She knew exactly how he felt.

"I-I don't know." She replied.

"Don't lie to me." He screamed, thrusting the gun toward her.

Movement on top of a stack of crates caught her attention. Her eyes darted to the shadows. Daredevil jumped from the crates, grabbing the gun. A single shot rang out. Fauna took cover, but there weren't many places to hide. She watched as Daredevil knocked the guard to the ground. He stood over top of him, his back turned to her. He punched the man and effectively stopped the guard from getting up, another punch knocked him out completely. As the man's body went limp, Daredevil turned, facing Fauna.

She gasped at his sudden movement. She took a step back in response and hit a crate behind her. They wobbled and some began toppling down toward her. Fauna fell to her knees and braced herself for the impact. Daredevil quickly stepped over the unconscious body at his feet and covered Fauna with his body.

She heard the crates smashing into the floor. Curious as to why she hadn't been hit by one of them, she opened her eyes. Daredevil stood over her, blocking the falling crates. His body heat surged outward, and reminded her of how freezing she was. She looked into his covered eyes, and found nothing but an abyss. He tilted his head to the side in the normal way of his and extended his hand to her.

Yeah right! She silently said to herself. Not in a million years would she willingly place herself in a position that allowed him to have any physical advantage. She wanted nothing to do with him. However, not much point to all that now that he was this close to her, too close. Then, from out of nowhere. Ace flashed into Fauna's line of sight. He jumped from a crate and slammed into Daredevil. Both men went tumbling to the ground, grunting and brawling.

Fauna saw an opening and wasted no time, she ran.

Matthew

Matthew hopped the rooftops, he'd lost Fauna's trail and was trying to pick it up again. First he headed toward her apartment, but turned around when he couldn't sense her. She headed somewhere else and had gotten farther than anticipated. The last guard he fought was very well trained and took a while for them to come to a draw. The drug shipment was large, Matthew had made the right choice to follow Fauna. Now, at least half the drugs were eliminated thanks to a small fire caused by some gasoline and a cigarette someone dropped during the fight. He wanted to make a sizable dent in Grayson products hitting the streets. Tonight felt like a success. Now that he knew for sure what they have been up to, it was time to start collecting evidence to help get them prosecuted.

He was relieved that Fauna didn't know what was in those crates. She put herself at risk inspecting one. Maybe now, she'll want to quit her job, Matthew thought. But deep down he knew that wouldn't happen. There was more going on, he felt he had only scratched the surface. Maybe if she couldn't quit, she would be willing to help, instead of him forcing her. Matthew observed how frightened she was tonight. It amplified when she had seen Grayson, then again when she saw him standing at the door.

He had smelled blood on her, but hadn't had enough time to determine how hurt she was before engaging the guards in the warehouse. Matthew paused on a corner ledge listening. Fauna didn't head back to her apartment, she was going somewhere else. He stretched his senses farther. Then, after a moment, he found her. He leaped from the ledge following the sound. Her heartbeat was still frantic and heading toward the park.

He found her on a park bench. She was tucked into herself. She was shivering, her body temperature was dropping. With the rain threatening to fall, she could be in danger of hypothermia. Her hair lightly swayed and she was on the verge of tears. He listened for anyone nearby, for a moment his senses glitched as they usually did when he was around her. They had done so back in the warehouse, that was how he missed that last guard tackling him.

There were a few joggers on the opposite end of the park, otherwise they were alone. Matthew debated whether he should take his mask off or leave it on. Honestly she was terrified of him either way. When she opened that warehouse door and saw him, he thought her heart might actually explode, her blood pressure skyrocketed. Her reaction to him was his fault, so it wouldn't matter if his mask was on or off. He kept it on.

He approached her slowly, with his palms out, hoping it would seem less threatening. "Fauna." He gently called out.

She gasped and when she saw him she stumbled back causing her to fall to the ground from her seat.

It was written all over her face, she was about to flee. He began sprinting toward her. "Fauna wait."

She turned scrambling to her feet and started running. She was smaller and wasn't particularly fast, matching her speed wasn't difficult. As she ran into the trees he reached out for her. He slid beside her and hooked his arm around her waist. She tried pushing him away, but stumbled in the attempt. He pulled her to the ground, as they tumbled over one another, Matthew hooked his other arm around her head, protecting her from injury.

Once they came to a stop Fauna began kicking and punching him. But with Matthew's training he easily subdued her. In a panic she cried out and squirmed. He kept her pinned under him, avoiding her injured arm. Though her struggle against him was making it difficult.

"Fauna. Stop." She wasn't listening, and on the verge of hyperventilating. "Fauna!" He tried again, but it only frightened her more. He held her wrists with one hand and slipped off his mask with the other.

"Fauna, stop. I need you to just breathe."

She looked into his eyes with wild eyes. "Breath." He coached. The wind blew harder against them. She shivered beneath him.

"Please, let me go. I won't tell anyone about you, I promise I won't." She begged. Matthew understood, she believed he planned to hurt her, possibly kill her. Based on the other night, he couldn't blame her for thinking that way.

He shook his head, "Fauna. Just breathe. Deeply, in and out."

He kept his eyes on her and for the first time noticed exactly how readable she really was. He supposed he was too wrapped up in his own self and problems to see it before. She struggled to hide her emotions, her confusion, and fear toward him, especially her anger. After a few moments of coaching her she was calm enough.

"I'm going to let you go, don't run."

She nodded and he released her. She backed away from him, settling against the base of a tree. Matthew stayed crouched on the ground.

"How did you find me?" She asked, fighting back tears. But Matthew didn't answer, he was studying her. "I didn't go back to my apartment because I knew you'd go there."

He smelled the blood and bruising on her forearm, but he couldn't see it,

"I knew you didn't go home, I followed the sound of your heartbeat"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "You can hear my heartbeat?"

Matthew nodded, "Yes, right now it's telling me how frightened and angry you are." He watched as she worked through the information he had told her.

"So you have super hearing, and super smelling abilities?"

He nodded. "Something like that." It sounded crazy, but in today's world of super beings, Iron Man, and aliens it wasn't as far fetched as it was when he was a kid.

"Fauna, you're bleeding."

She looked herself over and then at him confused.

"Your arm."

Matthew didn't miss that she quickly glanced down, barely acknowledging it.

Matthew sighed. He needed her to open up to him. She needed to start trusting him. "I wanted to apologize for the other night, I was… out of line."

She didn't acknowledge him. Instead, her eyes darted left then right, planning another escape attempt.

"I don't want to hurt you Fauna, I never have."

Her eyes snapped to his, Matthew sensed her blood pressure rising slightly. He saw that in her eyes he had hurt her and she blamed him for it. He could accept that, now it was time to make amends.

"Then what, what are you going to do? I know who you are, you don't want me to, but it's too late." She wrapped her hands around her shoulders. "I mean, you've beat up everyone else at the warehouse, I'm the only one left."

"You were never on my target list. I came here tonight because I want to know about your arm." He needed to get to the bottom of why she was at Grayson's. Why was she hurt. He needed to get under the surface, and perhaps they can begin to help each other.

She swallowed nervously. "Nothing, it's nothing." She shrugged.

Matthew instinctively tilted his head, listening. It was a lie. Her heart jumped and sped up. The way her expression changed she knew that he knew she was lying.

He shook his head and lowered it to the ground. He knew right away she wasn't going to let him inspect it without a fight. Might as well get this over with, he concluded. He sighed and stood, tucking the mask into his back pocket. As he came toward her she tried backing away. By the surprised look on her face she forgot about the tree behind her. Her back hit it as she stood. Before she could run, he reached for her.

Matthew grabbed her wrist and pulled. He twisted, pressing his back into her. He carefully pinned her arm at his side. She yelped and tried pulling away, but his movements were too quick and she was unable to escape.

"No!" Fauna screamed. She pressed her cold palm against his back with her free arm, trying to push him away.

Matthew ignored her protest and extended her arm in front of him to get a better look. She squirmed.

"Let go." She demanded, now pounding her fist into his shoulder blade. Her attempt to hurt him was laughable, there wasn't much power behind her punch.

"Hold still." He demanded, deciding that laughing at her attempt was not appropriate at the moment. She ignored his request and continued hitting him.

Using his teeth he slipped off his glove and unwrapped the scarf covering her arm. She jerked, but he held her firmly. When his fingers touched her skin she frantically squirmed, trying to stop him. Matthew tasted the salt in the air. Tears, he determined.

"No! Let go."

Matthew gently slid his fingers across her arm, feeling each and every welted bruise. On the second pass he counted them. Fifteen. Fifteen marks. The night he held her, interrogating her about the lawyer, he heard her repeating that number, terrified. Why? He wondered.

"How did you get these?" Matthew asked, peering at her over his shoulder.

She shook her head and went still, finally accepting her attempts were futile.

"Fauna."

"It doesn't matter. Let go."

"Are you a self mutilator?"

"No!"

Matthew determined that was true. Matthew inhaled deeply and listened carefully. Her bone was bruised. Someone much stronger than her did this. "Who hurt you?"

"Just let go, please, and leave me alone."

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"Let go."

"No, tell me who did this."

They were in a standoff. Neither one was willing to give in. At least she stopped shivering so much, he thought. His body heat provided her relief from the cold. Matthew had suspicions, based on her reactions to Grayson it could very well be him. Both times he was with her at the docks she was terrified of him.

"Grayson." He said quickly, listening intently to her.

"No." She cried, her tears falling freely.

Matthew's jaw clenched at her lie. "Why?"

Her heart pounded. "Why?! Why?!" She grew angry, punching him again. "Because of you! Because I was fifteen minutes past curfew. Because you decided I was guilty without even asking!"

She stumbled back against the tree as Matthew released her. He whirled around, shocked. He studied her for a moment to make sure she wasn't lying, but Matthew didn't have a need for that. It was more out of habit. Instinct told him it was the truth.

"This is all your fault!" She continued. "Everything that's gone wrong is your fault. Did you know I was this close, this close-" She pinched her fingers togethers displaying a small distance between them. "- to getting the evidence I needed against Grayson, but no, you show up and ruin everything! Everything, once again."

Matthew turned his back to her. He was listening but all he could process was the punishment she took because of him. He had hurt her, badly. Not directly, but it was close enough.

She continued. "You know, you say you want to bring Grayson and his empire to justice, but it seems to me all you know how to do is punch people."

"Fauna." Matthew paused when her breath hitched and she maneuvered herself from the tree, ready to run from him if needed. He sighed in his disappointment. She was just as terrified of him as she was Grayson. "Get home before you freeze."

He stayed nearby, waiting for her to start making her way home. He wasn't going to leave without making sure she got there safely. She didn't move for a long while and for a few minutes he thought he was going to have to go back and force her. Finally she began walking. He had planned to talk to her, make amends and try to come to some kind of compromise.

When she admitted what happened and why, he was furious. Too angry to continue. He wanted to go straight to Grayson, beat him into oblivion and warn him never to touch her again. After a few breaths he couldn't, it would only make things worse.

As far as Fauna was concerned he's accomplished that by leaps and bounds. Learning what he has he'd have to agree with her. Pains of guilt and anger swept over him as he watched her shimmering figure shiver and shake. He could hear her teeth chattering as she walked. He ran the events of the night he had taken her through his head. She had tried to tell him about her curfew, begging for him to stop and allow her to go home.

He refused her, he didn't listen. He was a professional at that and at pushing people past their limits. He didn't accept opposing feelings, beliefs, opinions or views of those around him. That's what made him a good lawyer, but he always tried to do what he thought was right.

Fauna stopped and glanced around, then looked straight at him. She couldn't see him of course, but she bore into him anyway. Suddenly she began frantically searching for something. She paused, looking so defeated, and accepted the fate whatever it was she looked for and continued walking.

Once she was safely home and in bed, Matthew didn't call it a night. He was too ramped up. Instead, he went looking for something to fight.