Foggy sighed. Once again, as he walked through Times Square and was jostled on all sides by businessmen and tourists, he was subjected to a painful sight. A group of colorful figures were gathered on the sidewalk with people crowded around them, enamored. And, tucked in between Elmo and Superman, two unidentified men in red costumes were catcalling women, smoking, and harassing tourists into allowing them to take expensive photos with their excited children. Spider-Man and Daredevil, or at least the Times Square versions of them. Foggy passed by them on a regular basis and never found them any less disgusting. Once, he had even been forced to watch a particularly surly Daredevil be led away in handcuffs.

Between that and the daily headlines in the Bugle proclaiming Daredevil, and other heroes like him, a public menace, Foggy found himself becoming increasingly cynical. What was wrong with people?

The Avengers didn't have to put up with it. Foggy remembered the one time he had seen a poorly made foam Iron Man costume among the usual group of Times Square anti-heroes. By the time he grabbed a coffee and left the coffee shop twenty minutes later, there had a been an entire team of men in suits brandishing cease and desist orders hovering around the poor idiot.

Steve told Foggy once that Tony Stark took the intellectual property rights of each of the Avengers superhero alter-egos very seriously. Foggy was still working on getting Matt to take his own life that seriously, so convincing the man to let him address Daredevil's public image was unfortunately low on the priority list.

So Foggy kept walking, his fists clenched, just like he always did.

"Why couldn't we do it?" Foggy asked, voice raised. "It's just a cease and desist order."

"Because it draws attention to us, Foggy!" Matt said, angry. "It connects us to Daredevil and puts us at risk. And that's if people don't connect the dots and realize who Daredevil is."

"No offense, Matt," Foggy said, "but I highly doubt that if we represent Daredevil, people will jump to the conclusion that he's you. When Superman puts on his glasses and becomes Clark Kent, it's a disguise. When you do it, it's for an entirely different reason. Pretty sure the fact that you're blind protects you pretty well on that front, buddy."

"That's even worse," Matt said. "People could conclude that you're Daredevil and come after you, Foggy!"

Foggy laughed uproariously, almost falling out of his chair. "Don't take this the wrong way, Matt, but you have now eliminated all doubts I may ever have had that you aren't actually blind because you clearly have never seen me. I wish."

Matt just sighed. "Could you take this seriously, please?" he asked.

"I am taking it seriously. Are you?" Foggy asked. "I thought part of the whole devil persona that you've got going on was that you wanted to be a symbol. You wanted to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. Isn't it easier for you if they see you and run away pissing their pants rather than deciding to be brave enough to attack? Every day that those assholes in Times Square are swearing in front of little kids and pick-pocketing from their parents, they're turning you into a joke!"

"I don't care, Foggy," said Matt. "I don't want our partnership tied to Daredevil in any way. End of discussion."

And that was it. Foggy decided to drop the subject. It wasn't worth the fight.

Just because Matt said that he didn't want Nelson and Murdock representing Daredevil didn't mean that there weren't other ways that Foggy could help. It didn't occur to him until the opportunity presented itself, but once it did he couldn't resist taking it.

He was sitting on his favorite bench in the park near their office when it happened. Out of nowhere, a man sitting atop enormous metal stilts and wielding a laser gun came stumbling down the city street towards him.

"Shit!" Foggy said, dropping his hot dog. Maybe he should leave New York City. If he did, maybe these things wouldn't keep happening to him. He got up, turned and ran without looking back, hearing screams and people scattering behind him.

Then, there was a whooshing noise, and a voice. An awkward, clearly pubescent and cracking, but also much too confident voice. Someone was mocking the Stilt-Man, trying to draw him away from the area.

Foggy turned around just in time to see Spider-Man engaged in the fight, his webs entangling the Stilt-Man's legs and enraging the man. Then, just as the battle was about to be won, one of Stilt-Man's legs kicked a car in the street with an immense force, propelling it through the air. Foggy gasped as he realized it was aimed at him, and heard a cry of "Duck, guy!" come from beneath Spider-Man's mask.

He ducked into a ball and saw the shadow of the car hovering over him. Looking up, he saw that the car was now hanging above him and wrapped in webbing, caught between two enormous trees that he had been standing between. Looking back towards Stilt-Man, he saw that the man was now detached from his legs and being subdued, a crowd gathered around him.

Spider-Man sat on top of the car in it's bizarre hammock, peering down at him. "You alright?" he asked.

Foggy gave a thumbs up and a smile as he sat up. "That was a close one," he said. "Thanks."

"Just doing my job, sir!" said Spider-Man, clearly about to swing away before the police arrived.

"Wait!" Foggy said, a flash of inspiration overtaking him. Spider-Man actually stopped and turned, curious what he had to say. Foggy reached in his pocket with one hand and hesitantly held his hand out with the other. "Foggy Nelson, attorney at law," he said, shaking a gloved hand and handing Spidey a business card. "If you ever want to talk about some of the legal ways you can take control of your image or reputation, or if you just need someone to help you out of a jam, give me a call. I don't even need to know your name to do it. I owe you one."

"Huh," said Spider-Man, considering the offer. "I'll keep it in mind." And with that, he swung off.

Foggy never expected Spider-Man to actually show up. Bruce had never called him, and he knew that expecting New York's most controversial hero to hire him on the basis of a thirty second conversation was a long shot. So, he never could have anticipated seeing the slender form of Spider-Man staring at him in his apartment one night from a corner as he flicked the kitchen light on to prepare a snack.

He hoped that nobody ever found out that he screamed like a little girl. "What the hell?" he said.

Spider-Man put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Sorry, man. I wish I could have just called ahead or given you a little more warning, but I can't be too careful, you know?"

Foggy calmed down, but was still panting heavily. "Why are you in my apartment?" he said.

"Well I didn't want to come by your office," Spider-Man said like the answer was obvious. "I thought it was better to be discrete. You know you should really lock your window. This city is dangerous."

Foggy left the window open for occasional late night visits from the other man he knew who fought crime in a red costume, but he wasn't about to tell Spider-Man that.

"Okay then," he said, resignation and acceptance in his voice. "Did you want to sit down?" What was he supposed to say in this situation.

"Sure," said Spider-Man. "Hey, were you gonna make yourself a turkey sandwich. Because I won't lie, crime fighting makes me pretty hungry."

Foggy just shrugged and started making a second sandwich, while Spider-Man settled himself on the couch.

"So, can I assume that your presence here means you're interested in hiring me?" Foggy asked as he spread mayo on bread.

"That's the idea," Spider-Man said. "You mentioned that you didn't need to know my name? And that you could do something about my image? Not sure how that's possible, but it sounded good to me."

Foggy nodded his head as he brought the food into the living room and took a seat across from his strange guest. "Right, well I may have fudged the details slightly," he admitted. "You wouldn't have to reveal your identity publicly. But at least one other person would have to know your real name."

"Go on," said Spider-Man.

"Well, let's say that you want to prevent those jack-asses in Times Square from dressing up like you, or that you wanted to stop that guy on the sidewalk in Central Park selling the t-shirts that show you giving the finger. As examples," Foggy said. "If you were anyone else who was famous, you could just issue a cease and desist order. And then if they kept doing it, you could sue them. But if nobody knows your identity, that's not really possible because anyone in a costume could just claim that they were you and that they gave permission. How would you ever be able to prove you're you, right?"

"It is a problem," said Spider-Man.

"There is a way around it though," Foggy said. "I've thought about this a lot, even consulted with some of my colleagues. And we figured out that you could get away with signing a document that states your name, that you swear under penalty of perjury that you're Spider-Man, and that legal actions taken under the Spider-Man name are authorized by you. If you did that, nobody else would ever have to know your name other than your lawyer. That lawyer could then act on your behalf however you needed them to negotiate merchandising rights, sue for libel, or anything else necessary to protect your reputation."

"But what if someone got to the lawyer?" Spider-Man asked. "Then there would be this piece of paper out there with my name on it too. I don't like that idea."

"Well that stuff could be negotiated," Foggy said. "There would have to be protections in place to keep the document and the lawyer safe. It would have to be someone you trusted."

"And you think that I should trust you like that?" Spider-Man asked. "I don't even know you."

"No," said Foggy. "You don't. To be honest, I didn't figure that you would actually want to hire me. I just wanted to consult with you and make sure you know your rights because i think what's happening to you is pretty lousy."

"Yeah?" Spider-Man asked.

"Absolutely, man," Foggy said. "You're a hero! And you're not even doing it for the money or the fame like some other people are. You're only doing it because it's the right thing to do. Plus, you saved my life today. I meant it when I said that I owe you. But if you did want to consider me, you should know that I come with excellent references."

"Tell me more," said Spider-Man.

Foggy was glad that he had made them food. It was going to be a long night.

The next day, Matt was surprised when he arrived at the office to find Foggy already meeting with a client. He was even more surprised when the client exited Foggy's office two hours later and he realized that he recognized them. Even if they didn't recognize him.

"Foggy," Matt asked once they were alone. "Why were you meeting with Peter Parker?"

"You know him?" Foggy asked, curious.

"Sort of," Matt said. "You realize that he's under 18, right? You really should have had a parent or guardian present if you're planning on representing him. And I don't like the idea of you taking on new clients without consulting with me first."

Foggy smiled. "First things first, I should probably tell you right now that if you're going to be distracted by other things, there are going to be times when I'm going to have to move ahead with a client without you, Mr. Missed Three Days of Work Because I Broke a Rib." Matt flinched in pain as though the guilt Foggy struck him with had been a physical blow.

"Second," Foggy continued, "Pete's a friend, and the work he has asked me to do for him is actually so confidential that even sharing it with you would feel like a violation of his trust. So as much as we're partners, you'll have to just let this one go. Attorney-client privilege."

"Foggy..." Matt looked concerned and unsure if he wanted to press the issue.

Foggy smiled, knowing that Matt was stuck. On the one hand, if Matt did know that Peter Parker was Spider-Man (which Foggy suspected that he did), he wouldn't want Foggy involved with him. On the other hand, Matt respected Spider-Man's right to a secret identity far too much to outright discuss it with Foggy without Foggy confirming it, which Foggy couldn't do. They were at a stalemate.

"Just be careful," Matt said. And he left it at that.

A week later, Foggy walked through Times Square with a smile on his face, happy to see that not only was the Spider-Man who usually frequented the area no longer there, but the severity of his cease and desist letter had scared off all of the superhero imitators altogether. The knowledge that just because nobody knew who they were didn't mean that they couldn't sue you must have spread.

If Foggy also made a new friend who had his back when Matt couldn't be there, well, that was just a nice bonus.