Danger of powers

by JadeEleanor

Anna has powers she has to hide from the world in order to survive. If that wouldn’t be enough, she ends up in another mess where she can’t get out, until she saves the life of a certain masked vigilante and her whole world changes.

15. Chapter 15

She stood there for a second without any emotions or signs that she would be happy to see him. Matt froze as he sensed the cold expression on her face, with zero love toward him. It was her, but still wasn't her.

"Anna?" He asked again somewhat weakly, and shifted his weight to focus on her more, not really sure what was happening and why his brain was playing an evil game like this on him.

She furrowed her brows, and he noticed her heartbeat picking up this time, but she just closed her eyes for a second and expelled a harsh breath.

"Step away, please, so I can help her." She instructed him seriously and still without emotions and Matt started having a feeling that he's indeed hallucinating, but this time in a very painful way. She had no feelings for him at all.

Anna was still waiting for him to move with raised eyebrows, so he did as he was told, knowing that the woman needed help right away, or she's dead. And if Anna was really here, then she's the only one who can save her life.

She lowered herself next to the woman and put her hands on her neck, shortly explaining her the process.

"Just relax, close your eyes and don't fight. Everything will be fine." She whispered calmly and both women closed their eyes. Only took a few seconds, and the woman's breathing returned to normal, and the smell of fresh blood disappeared.

She opened her eyes, mouth parted, looking at the other woman who just helped her. "Thank you, thank you both. You just saved my life. How was this even possible?"

"This is what I do." Anna said quietly, and they waited several minutes in silence for the woman to recover from the dizziness, then she stood up to leave.

"Thank you..." The woman said again somewhat skeptically.

"Please, go home, take the lit up streets." Daredevil said after waking up from his shock. Anna was really here, because it wasn't just him this time who saw her, but the woman did as well. Unless he was imagining the woman too, and this was all just a weird dream. No it can't be. He told to himself. The woman carefully walked toward the street, looking back at them a few times in disbelief.

Anna faced him slowly, and her eyes scanned Daredevil from head to toe. He was taller than her, strongly built, but slightly on the skinny side, wearing all black as usual. The surprise mixed with confusion was still clearly recognizable on his face even with the mask on, but she knew it wasn't because of what she did to the woman. It was because of something else.

"Anna..." Matt said and started walking closer to her to take her in his arms. He needed to feel her to believe this was really happening. This wasn't a dream, he wasn't hallucinating this time, he kept repeating the words in his head. Can't be a dream, it's too real. Please, don't be a dream. Please let it be more than just the empty air. He begged in his head as taking a step and reaching out with his arms toward her.

But she hold her hands out in front of her in a defensive manner and with eyes wide quickly backed away from him.

"Whoa... whoa... whoa... who are you and what do you think you're doing?"

Matt froze and forced his arms not to reach for her. This was her, no mistake. That familiar voice, that unique pleasant scent, and that unmistakable heartbeat. She was here in front of him, alive. He tilted his head, focusing on her more, maybe he missed something.

"Anna, you don't recognize me?"

"Anna? Why are you keep calling me Anna?" She asked with confusion, and he heard her heartbeat speeding up again, much faster this time. "Do you know me?"

"Yes. Of course."

Her brain was trying hard to remember, to put the pieces together. She'd never seen Daredevil before, she was sure of that. She would remember somebody like him. She only heard stories about him, knowing that he helped saving people. But she remembered this voice, she heard it before... she heard it every single night. This pleasant, warm, deep, comforting tone what was so close to her heart and she would recognize it without any doubt. And this voice only could belong to one person.

"Matt?" She asked softly and narrowed her eyes at him, heart pounding loud in her chest.

A big wave of relief washed over him, hearing his name from her made his chest tingle. Finally a small smile appeared on his face.

"Yes! You remember!"

She took a step backwards again, still being defensive. "I... don't know... I... I have these dreams... every night. I just wake up from them saying your name, but don't know why... I don't remember meeting you ever. I have never seen your face, only hear your voice in my dreams... you are talking to me. I recognize your voice." She rubbed her eyes, like that would help with her memory. "I had no idea you were real."

"I thought I lost you forever... I've been searching for you since the kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?" Anna was trying hard to focus. "When was that happened?"

"Two and a half months ago."

She looked at him in shock. That's quite a long time to search for someone.

"So... if you have been looking for me, that must mean I was someone important to you and you know me well?"

He nodded. "Yes, you are very special to me and we know each other quite well. You have been missing since late November. Everyone thought you were dead."

Anna took a sharp breath in. "But you were still looking for me..." She trailed off, whispering, feeling a strong twist in her chest. She didn't know this guy, but still felt like she did. His voice, and that pleasant feeling he caused inside her.

"You are Daredevil." She swallowed, cocking her head while studying him. "I heard stories about you. But I know your real name... how's that possible...?"

"Because you know me, the real me, and you know my secret." He was careful not to pour too much information on her and scare her off. Wasn't sure what happened to her and why she's acting like she knew nothing. But she was here, he found her and didn't want to risk losing her ever again.

Anna's eyes widened. She's been living in this fog for over two months now, knowing nothing about herself, trying desperately to remember anything without any success. She didn't even remember her own name! First time finally there's somebody who can help clearing that fog. Her name was Anna. She got kidnapped around the same time when that fog clouded her memories, which meant Daredevil must be telling the truth. She had no idea who this Matt guy was, but her dreams about him weren't nightmares. They were the opposite, always filled her with pleasant feelings and hope. He was comforting her in those dreams, talking to her with gentle words, giving her strength and helping her survive when she needed it the most. And now she just found out that voice in her dreams belonged to a real human being and he was standing right in front of her. Maybe he could help her to remember who she was.

"Do you know where I live?"

His lips turned into a smile. "Yes."

"Can you take me there?" First in a long time there's some chance she will learn the truth about herself and her heart was pounding loudly in her chest.

"Yes, it's not far from here." He reached his right hand out and she looked at his masked face. He had a small smile on it still and he didn't seem to be someone dangerous to her. And if the stories about Daredevil were true, he'd never hurt her. So after a few seconds of hesitation she grabbed it nervously. He was wearing his thick gloves, but the second she touched it a lightning ran through her body. She remembered this touch, she knew she hold this hand before, this calming and enjoyable feeling she couldn't explain and filled her heart with pleasure. She locked her fingers in his and let him lead the way.

They walked in through the rooftop entrance and Anna was searching for the switch on the wall. When she turned the lights on she looked down from the top of the staircase and took the view in. It was a large apartment, high ceilings with the structural elements of roof wood joists and beams exposed beautifully. Two big skylights and several tall industrial windows with brick walls from floor to ceiling around them letting the colorful lights of the city in. The rest of the walls were painted with yellowish pastel color. She ran her palm along the old handrail - the brown paint chipped slightly on it revealing some of the previous grayish color underneath - as she slowly walked down to the living room. The place was mostly clean except the few empty bottles left on the coffee table, and a blanket tossed on the couch, like someone was sleeping there. And there was her jacket, carefully placed on the back of one of the armchairs. She remembered that jacket, she left it in that slaughterhouse. Her throat tightened up to the horrifying memory. She eyed the kitchen area with wooden bar and nice grey brick wall behind it and floating shelves on the other side of the fridge, and was trying hard to find anything that would prove she really lived here, but there were no pictures or any personal items visible. This didn't look like a woman's home. The warmth of the heated apartment felt good though and she rubbed her palms together as walked up to the hot radiator, looking out through the window at the huge billboard across the street as its brilliant neon lights bathed the apartment in a soothing ambiance. She's been outside in the cold for almost three months and sighed deep as her body slowly warmed up.

Her face turned toward Matt who just came down the stairs and pulled his mask off. She narrowed her eyes, trying to recall if she's seen this face before, but he did not look familiar at all. He put his mask, gloves and batons in the chest and walked to the kitchen to set the teapot on the stove and make some tea. She started wondering what kind of relationship she had with him. Were they friends? Or maybe since he was Daredevil, she just helped him out when he got injured? What possibly happened a couple times.

He motioned towards the couch and tossed the blanket over to the armchair to create space. They sat down on its two ends, keeping a distance. Anna sipped into her hot tea while her eyes were still scanning the room, trying to find anything familiar.

"Are you sure I live here?" She started talking slowly with skepticism.

"Yes."

"How..." Anna shook her head and looking around in disbelief. "How can I afford a penthouse apartment like this?" She faced him with confused look. "Am I some fancy lawyer, or businesswoman?"

Matt laughed quietly, shaking his head. "No. I'm the lawyer. Though not a fancy one."

Anna raised an eyebrow smiling. "That's ironic, don't you think? Daredevil is actually a decent citizen, who is a lawyer?"

"Well, as Daredevil I get to save the world. As a lawyer... maybe I can fix it. It doesn't work if I only have one."

"Hmm..." She thought about it for a minute. "I think maybe you are right."

"Did I have a job?" She asked after some pause.

"Yeah, though not in the past few months, because you were hiding. You worked at a bakery."

"A bakery? That's disappointing. Not as interesting as being a lawyer."

She narrowed her eyes, and looked around again suspiciously. Other than the two empty beer bottles on the coffee table, there was a man's sweatshirt on the dining room chair way too large for her size, and the facts that he used the chest in the closet like his own and knew his way around in the kitchen sorta gave things away.

"Sooo... looks like it's not just me who lives here..." She said, biting her lower lip.

Matt laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "No, I live here too."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are we...?"

"Dating?"

Her face turned all red. This man was extremely hot, did she have a hot boyfriend like him? How could she possibly forget about that?

"I wanted to say roommates..."

"Oh... Well, sorta roommates... we were together." He said carefully, watching her intensely with his senses.

"So... that means we knew each other very well... like... really, really well...?" She was asking blushing with wide eyes, embarrassment written all over her face. She felt uncomfortable by the fact that she was that intimate with this man in the past she knew nothing about right now.

Matt thinned his lips nervously, then quietly added. "Yes, we were a couple and lived together."

"Oh... sounds like we were indeed serious..." Her heart started pumping the blood faster and she felt the heat rushing to her head as her face heat up. She had someone in her life, someone very close. She covered her eyes with both hands as realized that person was also Daredevil. 'Shit, Anna... what did you get yourself into...?' She thought with whitening face. Her life must have been a bit complicated before.

"So... do you remember what happened to you?" He asked with a calming tone.

She grimaced in pain. "Some of it." Her eyes moved to his face and settled there. "You weren't surprised that I healed that woman. So... you know about my ability...?"

"Yes, I know about both of your abilities."

Anna sighed in relief. He knew about her ability to hurt people as well and he was still here. She relaxed a bit and quietly started talking.

"I remember dying, trying to keep my heart beating some to give me enough air to breathe and stay alive. It was hard and I only was able to make it beat very slow. My first memory is two guys pulling me out from a trunk of a car then dropping me on some sort of table. I guess the oxygen I was able to force into my lungs wasn't enough, because my brain just refuses to remember what happened to me before that."

Matt tilted his head, and his eyes were landed on the wall behind her. Anna watched him carefully, something was off. Why he's not looking her in the eyes? Maybe he wasn't hundred percent comfortable with her other ability after all? Matt noticed her confusion and changed mood, so stood up to get his glasses from the shelf, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable about his unfocused eyes. Anna turned around on the couch, her gaze following him and when he turned to face her, she got startled.

"You blind?" She lifted her right hand to her mouth to cover her surprise. "Wait..."

Matt froze and tried not to move, just stood there by the shelves, letting her figure things out. After a few minutes she finally spoke up.

"There are other ways to see..." she said smiling.

Matt smiled back at her with relief, blowing the air out he was holding. "You remember."

"I always thought that was a dream..." she laughed with true happiness, finally she started remembering things, even if they were small, still more than before. Just being close to this man helped a lot.

"You mentioned kidnapping... they kidnapped me? That's how I ended up in that trunk?"

"Yes. They wanted to experiment on you because of your powers." He answered and stepped closer, resting his hands on the headboard of the couch.

Anna nodded as an acknowledgement. "So I almost died because of the experiments? I felt a bullet wound in my liver..." she asked with confusion.

"One guy shot you while you were trying to make his boss pass out with your power to escape."

"That makes sense. Those two took me to this slaughterhouse, I was weak, and for some reason they thought I'm dead. I guess they were trying to get rid of my body. One man... he wanted to..." she cleared her throat, didn't want to say the word rape, looking ashamed. "Anyways, I used his energy to recharge, he kinda freaked out when I sat up on the table and he ran away. So I escaped."

"They are all in prison now. Everyone who was responsible."

She faced him with amazement and huge gratitude. "Are they? That's a relief."

She stood up and walked around the apartment, trying to remember anything. The huge sliding door to the bedroom was open, so she walked in. This room was big as well with tall windows and whitewashed brick walls, and her fingers ran through the soft grey sheets while walking up to the dresser, then to the armoire. The drawers had women's clothes folded in them, probably hers. None of them looked familiar though and there were a few women's dresses hanging in the small armoire. If he lived here as well, where were his clothes? She thought and suddenly multiple questions popped up in her mind about their relationship. Maybe it wasn't as great and happy... She made her way back to the living room, where Matt was standing motionless, waiting for her to say something.

She stopped right in front of him, only a foot away, biting her lower lip.

"You don't have to be nervous." Matt said quietly.

She blushed, he was really good at reading people despite of his blindness.

"Matt... it's very... not sure what the best word is... nothing looks familiar here, and this whole thing feels a little weird, or strange..." she swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Matt shook his head. "There's no rush, or pressure. Maybe with time it will all come back."

She smiled at him nervously. Wasn't sure what he expected her to do or say, had no idea what type of person he was and she felt a little insecure.

"What if I will never remember?"

Matt's lips turned upwards. "Then we will create new memories together. If you will also want that."

Her face turned red, he was very nice to her and patient.

"Are you sleepy?"

"It must be around 4am, so yeah, I am..." she bit her lip again. "Does this mean I can sleep here?"

"Of course. You live here. The bedroom is all yours, I stay on the couch." Matt said, heart beating loudly in his chest, hoping she was indeed going to stay.

"So... I can stay, but I also can leave any time I want?" She wanted to make sure this wasn't some trap or he wouldn't lock her up or something.

Matt let out a nervous laugh. "Yes, of course."

"Thank you..." She said blushing, considering the offer. He was a stranger to her, but didn't seem dangerous. And if he was really that man from her dreams, then she knew she could trust him. And he was Daredevil, who would never hurt a woman. Plus he just offered her the bedroom and doesn't seem the type who would rape her. So decided to stay and find out more about herself.

"Where have you been staying lately?"

"I moved around in New York and New Jersey a lot. Since I ran away from those two men at the slaughterhouse I had this instinct to hide from people. So I just moved from one abandoned building to another, to be in a different part of town each day. Trying to stay hidden."

Matt realized that must have been the reason why he wasn't able to track her down. She never stayed in the same neighborhood for more than a couple hours.

"It's safe now. You don't have to hide anymore."

She smiled at him, a little bit unsure of believing that, but hoping he was right and indeed telling her the truth.

"You don't know how much this means to me, thank you."

Matt smiled back, holding back his urge to move closer and touch her, so clenched his fists next to his body. There's no way he's gonna do anything that would scare her away. She's here for real and this wasn't a dream finally. None of his dreams and hallucinations lasted this long before.

"Are those my clothes in the bedroom?"

He laughed nervously, well definitely not his. "Yes, those are all yours."

She walked up to the dresser, trying to look for something to wear for bed, and quickly changed in the bathroom.

"Good night, Matt." She said after she came out from the bathroom, and that simple three word sentence warmed his heart to high extent. He always loved hearing it from her, every single night, and missed it so much. His heart got squeezed by the strong emotions and had to force a happy tear back.

"Good night, Anna."

She walked in to the room, leaving the sliding door open as always. He smiled again, she's really here, alive. He laid down on the couch, closed his eyes and just listened to her heartbeat with a smile on his face, until he heard it slowing down to sleep, and his mind followed hers.

---

Matt woke up in the morning with a beam on his face and excitement in his heart. Heard her breathing from the room right away, that meant she was really here, alive. He felt happy, and said thank you for the millions of times to God, giving him a second chance and bringing her back to his life. He wasn't hallucinating last night and this wasn't a dream either. He sat up just to listen to this calming sound for a while, filling him with more happiness, then quietly sneaked into the bathroom to dial his friend.

"Matt, you are up early... Is everything okay?" Came through Foggy's concerned voice.

He let out a short laugh. "Yes, Foggy. Everything is perfect. You are not gonna believe what happened last night."

Foggy put his phone on speaker, so Karen can hear his voice as well. He wasn't sure what was going on with his blind friend that caused this huge spike in his mood, and was worried something bad happened. His voice was all unusually happy and excited. He hadn't heard Matt laughing in a long time. Also, his friend was never awake this early in the morning. Something was definitely going on with him, and most likely nothing good.

"Matt? Were you out drinking?"

"What? No, of course not. Anna is back!"

The engaged couple exchanged a seriously worried look, and Karen climbed out of the bed to start dressing up, because they knew they had to go there immediately and check on him. He must be hallucinating again, or took some drugs, or who knew what did he do.

"Matt..."

"She is here, alive!"

"Matt... where are you?"

"I'm home, with Anna. She's still asleep though."

Foggy rubbed his face, forming the words 'oh my God!' with huge eyes at Karen's direction, who threw his shirt and pants at him to start getting ready as well.

"Matt... listen to me. Anna died in late November. You are hallucinating again. Remember, it happened before. Just sit down, and don't move, ok? We are heading over. Just don't do anything."

Matt laughed, now a bit louder. "Foggy, I'm not hallucinating. It's all real this time, she is really here, sleeping in the bed."

Foggy almost fell face forward trying to put his pants on as quickly as possible. "Just stay where you are, ok? We will be there in fifteen minutes. Just don't do anything."

They hung up and Matt furrowed his brows. Why were Foggy and Karen so freaked out?

He walked back to the living room and listening as she turned to her other side, murmuring something in her dream, then he heard her whispering his name. He smiled with a big sigh. This didn't sound like a bad dream, more like the opposite.

"Matt..." she breathed, waking up now from her usual dream and rubbing her eyes. She looked around in the room and smiled. She's in an apartment, her home, her real home, where she supposedly belonged. She didn't have exact memories of the place, but felt safe in here. Being out on the streets alone, without knowing who's after her, what danger she's in, and what exactly happened to her wasn't pleasant. It was frightening. Her only comfort was this mysterious Matt, his voice in her dreams, and the care and protectiveness she felt from him. Now she knew that he was real, and he was right here with her. Speaking of which... she peaked out to the living room, finding Matt sitting there on the couch. His hair was messy from the sleep and he was wearing sweatpants with fuzzy socks and an old t-shirt with a gray hoodie on top, at least two size bigger than he was.

She walked up to him, and Matt raised an eyebrow noticing she's wearing his shirt what she always wore. He let out a quiet laugh.

"What?" She asked smiling, then started checking her hair and looking down her body, maybe she didn't look appropriate, completely forgetting about his blindness.

"Nothing, just happy you're here. Good morning."

She smiled again. "Me too."

"Hungry?"

"Starving... but first I need a shower. Haven't had a decent one since I remember. I stopped at the homeless shelters a couple times to clean up, but was afraid those people were watching them, so I kept my visits very short."

"The toothbrush on the left of the sink is yours, but you can pick a new one too if you'd like."

"Thanks."

"Uhm... Foggy and Karen are on their way here. I'm not sure if you remember them..."

She rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry, I... I don't."

"That's okay, don't worry. You don't have to meet them if you don't want to."

"Were they... are they my friends?"

"Yes, they are our friends."

Anna nodded. "I would like to meet them." She hesitated for a moment. "Matt... I really want to remember."

"No pressure, we have time." He nodded and walked to the kitchen, opening the door of his empty fridge then closing it fast to search on the shelves instead for cereal or something eatable. He hasn't eaten much lately, and didn't really keep the kitchen stocked, except some food what his friends brought him time to time. But now there wasn't much around.

She went to the bathroom, looking around and finding women's stuff next to his, probably hers. He kept everything, despite the fact that everyone thought she's dead, like he was still waiting for her to come back. The strong emotions squeezed her heart painfully at that thought, imagining herself in his shoes.

"I really want to remember." She said to herself and checked the medicine cabinet, finding sleeping pills prescribed for him, almost three months ago, when she went missing. Or actually when everyone thought she's dead. She found supposedly her brush and combed her hair, then jumped into the hot shower.

Foggy knocked on the apartment door with his fist violently. "Matt!"

His friend walked up to it and let the two in.

They both eyed him with confusion, and Karen grabbed his wrists immediately, pulling his hoodie's sleeves up, then checking around his neck as well for cut marks, while her fiancée rushed to the living room to look if there's anything harmful in there.

Matt laughed. "Guys, I'm fine. I told you, everything is fine, Anna is back."

The couple froze when they heard the shower opening in the bathroom.

"Matt? Who is in there?"

"I told you already. It's Anna. Though there's something happened to her, she doesn't really remember anything. She didn't recognize me, and didn't remember you either when I mentioned your names to her. So please, don't freak her out, just be very careful what you say and how much information you pour on her, ok?"

"She doesn't remember anything, does she?" Foggy laughed in disbelief, spreading his arms out wide. "Matt... where did you find that girl in there?"

"It's her!"

"Matt..." Karen pulled him down onto the couch and sat next to him. "She doesn't remember anything? Then how can you tell it's her?" She whispered calmly, and Matt suddenly realized how this whole thing sounded. Matt Murdock was a blind man, who couldn't see and identify someone that easily.

"I... I recognize her voice. It's really Anna." He whispered.

"Jesus, Matt." Foggy shook his head and dropped down in the armchair. "Hope you didn't bring home some hooker, or a homeless woman. Did you have sex with her last night?"

Matt furrowed his brows in pain.

"Where did you find that woman?"

"Daredevil found her and brought her here." Matt said, realizing that it's more believable than a blind man finding her. And it's basically not a lie.

"Daredevil?" The couple exchanged a shocked look, this wasn't the answer they expected to hear, and suddenly both of their eyes shifted toward the bathroom door. The shower stopped and they heard noises, then five minutes later a dark blonde girl stepped out of the bathroom, wearing jeans and a blue sweater with flowers on it what Karen gave Anna several months ago. The girl in question froze and looked at them. Foggy and Karen's jaws were dropped and their wide eyes glued on Anna for several seconds, then shifted to Matt, who was smiling wide, then back to the girl.

"Anna?" Karen asked carefully and Anna took a few steps toward them.

"I believe that's my name. Are you two our friends?"

Karen and Foggy shook their heads fast like they were seeing a ghost.

"Yes, we are. Sorry. Uhm... so you really don't remember anything?"

She thinned her lips with regret. "Sorry... I don't. I only remember Matt's voice, but nothing else."

Karen couldn't stay seated anymore, she jumped up and hugged Anna close to her body. "Oh my God! You're alive!" She said, tears rolling down her face. Anna hugged her back automatically, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to remember anything.

Foggy slowly woke up from his shock and turned toward his friend who still had a big smile on his face.

"Matt... this is really her! Oh my God! I can't believe it!" He jumped up as well and gave Anna a big hug. "You are really here!"

Matt stood up and stopped by the coffee table, laughing with happiness. "This is Karen and Foggy."

"It's really nice to meeting you." Anna said, laughing now as well, feeling thankful for having friends like them. They seemed so happy to see her and learn that she's alive.

"But how? Matt said Daredevil found you. Is that right?"

"Yeah... he..." she eyed Matt, realizing that these two didn't know about his secret. "He found me in an alley and recognized me. I guess we must have met before..." she said quietly.

"Yeah, he actually saved you a few times." Foggy said, and Anna's eyes filled up with gratitude toward the pale man standing a few feet away from them motionless. He saved her?

"So... what happened, what do you remember?"

"Not much, really. I ran away from that slaughterhouse, and been living on the streets, hiding. But Matt told me I don't have to hide anymore..."

"Yeah, everyone is in prison now, you are all free." Foggy said happily.

"I'm sure things will come back eventually, just need some time. Now you are here, safe, and that's all it matters." Karen said, still hugging her, and Anna's tears finally started rolling down her face.

"Thank you, really."

The couple left shortly after, they had a meeting with a client to go through the details once again before their hearing on Monday.

Matt walked back to the kitchen and Anna followed him.

"So... you're not going to work today?"

"No... I stay with you. Unless you want to be alone..." He said, not wanting to go into details about him avoiding the office in the past months.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind you being around." She said carefully.

"Sorry, I forgot to refill the fridge. Would cereal be good for breakfast?" He asked guiltily.

"Yes, it's perfect. I'm not picky, didn't eat much while I was out on the streets obviously." She poured some in her bowl and used water instead of milk. And Matt did the same.

"So you are helping sick people?"

"Yes. And you are helping people in danger."

He nodded and ate some cereal and to his surprise he didn't have to force it to stay down this time. Eventually he finished the whole bowl in front of him.

"So... seemed like they didn't know about your double life?"

"Nobody knows, except you."

She nodded in acknowledgment, realizing how close they must were if he trusted her with a big secret like this. And only her. But then why his clothes weren't in the bedroom? Maybe there was something wrong in their relationship?

"Matt?" She started nervously, scratching her hand under the table.

"You don't have to be nervous, you can ask anything." He said gently and removed his glasses.

"Were we happy? I mean as a couple..."

His smile was warm and honest as his eyes moved to her approximate direction. "Yes, we were happy."

Anna smiled and relaxed to hear that. She studied his face for a while. "Is that true what Foggy said earlier? Did you really save me several times?"

"Yes." He said so quietly that she was barely able to hear. "And you saved me as well. We always helped each other." He said with a small smile then she saw the guilt washing over him as he clenched his fists on the table. "Except that last time... I was late..."

She noticed the pain in his eyes, and it hurt seeing it. "I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I know that it's impossible for one man to save everyone." Anna's lips turned into a smile. "And what I learned in these past few hours... I was someone who got myself into trouble a lot."

His features relaxed a little, and forced a smile on his lips.

Her eyes focused on his face, small wrinkles on his forehead, cheeks a little sharp and boney, his deep brown eyes... his lips... those looked very sexy... Supposedly she kissed these lips before... she thought about it for a minute, feeling her abdomen heating up. After a good five minutes she realized she's been staring him and turned away blushing, now watching his hands on the table. There were scabs on his knuckles, probably from the fighting he does as Daredevil. But damn, his hands were very manly.

What's wrong with you, Anna? Stop staring him like a creep! She yelled at herself in her head and quickly stood up to take care of the dishes. After cleaning the bowls and placing them on the drying rack next to the sink her eyes automatically moved back to Matt, who was still sitting at the table, deep in thoughts.

"Is everything alright?" She asked carefully, walking up closer to him and stopping at the opposite side of the round dining table.

"Yeah, I'm just wondering... so... I'm sure you don't remember, which is fine, I just... Foggy and Karen are getting married."

"Oh?" She said with a surprised smile. "That's great, right?"

"Yeah... the wedding is this Tuesday. So three days from now."

She smiled, an excited spark in her eyes. She didn't remember being at anyone's wedding before. "Are we.. are we going?"

"If you are ok with that, it's all up to you. No pressure and don't have to decide now. They're planning on a small wedding, so won't be too many people there, hopefully making it easier for you if you decide to come."

Anna smiled. "I would love to be there." She took a step closer, but still stayed by the table. "They seemed like very nice people."

"Yes, they are and we are close friends."

---

Matt got startled at night by Anna's yelling in the bedroom and quickly jumped up, ready to punch the intruder, when realized she was just having a nightmare.

"No! Dr. Moon! Let me go! Let me go!"

He leaned closer to her, placing one hand on her shoulder gently, not wanting to startle her. He remembered well how she sprained his wrist couple months ago when similar thing happened.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, just a bad dream." He said quietly and Anna sat up, ready to defend herself so Matt removed his hands and took a step back fast.

Slowly she realized where she was and calmed down.

"You were having a bad dream. Everything is ok."

"Matt?" She rubbed her eyes, identifying where she was and calmed down a bit. "It... it felt so real."

"Were you dreaming about Dr. Moon? You were yelling his name in your dream."

Anna widened her eyes. "Is Dr. Moon real? Was he the one who was experiencing on me?"

Matt nodded.

"He kept me in a laboratory, I was trying to get away, but couldn't. I was a kid in my dream."

"I think your memories are coming back slowly." He said it with some sadness mixed in with the relief he felt.

"Not sure how I feel about that... he hurt me and this dream felt so real..."

"I'm sorry. Try to go back to sleep, everything is fine now and you are safe."

"Matt... am I going to get many bad memories like this?" She asked carefully, and Matt just thinned his lips with an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry..."

She nodded with a big sigh and laid back down.

Anna woke up in the morning with a weird feeling and was trying to recall her dream from last night and focusing on the events. How did she get away from that lab? She remembered Dr. Moon was leaving her room, then later there was this other doctor who came in. Her eyes widened and covered her face as the man's lifeless body showed up in front of her eyes, laying on the floor in front of her. She took a sharp breath in, realizing it was her who did that to him. Then she saw herself running towards the door and unlocking it with the guy's keys. She escaped, she remembered now. Her chest tightened up from the disappointment she felt toward herself, she was a killer. So quickly climbed out of the bed and pushed these bad memories into a box deep inside her head, and locked them up for later to deal with them.

"So, Karen and Foggy called, they are asking if you would like to come down to Josey's tonight?" Matt asked later that morning. "Your friend, Tom will be there, too."

"You said Tom?" She asked with excitement. "Is he the Tom I think he is?"

"You remember him?"

"I.. I think so. He's my boyfriend, right?" Anna bit her lower lip. "Oh..." said nervously, realizing that Matt told her he was her boyfriend. She started scratching her palm. "Or maybe not anymore?"

Matt froze for a second. "Your boyfriend?"

"I'm sorry, I think maybe I got confused... I'm not really sure." She furrowed her brows, concentrating on the events.

Matt swallowed. "Don't be sorry. Yes, Tom was your boyfriend when you were younger. And that's... that's good your memories are coming back. Maybe it starts with the older ones first, like last night." He felt like got stabbed in the heart, but knew he shouldn't be. She just needed time and he had to be patient.

"Yeah, right?" She said happily. "I think they're indeed slowly creeping back in. By the way, I don't remember ever going out, so would be nice, now that I can." She smiled.

"Sounds good, I will let them know. How about if we go down and have some lunch?" Matt asked and she smiled. "We could go down to one of your favorite restaurants. We never ate there because you were hiding, but ordered from them a lot."

Anna laughed. "I would like that." She said blushing, not remembering any time when she went to a restaurant with someone. Or alone either.

The restaurant was busy at lunchtime and they settled down at a table. Matt felt a little nervous, like they were being on their first date, despite the fact that for her this most likely wasn't even a date. Anna opened the menu, then without reading it put it back down and looked up at his face instead.

"Do you know what was my favorite food here?" She asked, scratching her palm nervously. "If not, that's ok too, I just figured I'd try something I liked."

Matt laughed quietly. "Of course I know. You loved the chicken enchiladas here, with green salsa."

Anna's eyes brightened and her lips turned into a big smile. He really knew her. "I'll have that then."

He nodded and placed their orders.

"Did we like doing anything for fun?"

"We went out for walks on the rooftops, and we also trained together a couple times in the gym. And we listened to audiobooks together to relax. We didn't really have a chance to go out and try other things..."

"Wow... interesting... now I know why the rooftops were always so familiar. I used them all the time in these past months."

Soon the waitress was back with their food and Anna eyed the two plates hungrily.

"Yours looks good too." She said watching his plate.

"Chicken fajitas. Want to try?" He asked and she smiled and reached out across the table with her fork. "Hmm, these are delicious too. But I think you were right. I love the enchiladas the best." She laughed and turned her attention back to her food, and Matt couldn't help but laughed with her. He felt this happiness in his heart again, what he thought was completely lost. They got a second chance from life, and he was truly thankful for every moment. Both of them emptied their plates fast, exactly what expected from someone who hadn't been eating in the past two and a half months.

"So... how did we meet?"

"In a dark alley. You found me and saved my life."

"Hah..." She went into deep thoughts. "And what story we usually tell to others?"

Matt laughed again, she sounded so much like herself. Even without her memories she was still that same girl he fell in love with. "We met at our law office when you came in asking for legal help."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, probably much safer."

After they stepped in to the apartment he took his glasses off and before he could walk away she stepped up in front of him, studying his face for a moment, then her gaze locked into his brown eyes. They had so much love and care in them that she felt a shiver running down to her toes. She heard his breathing got quicker and deeper by her close proximity and her heart started beating faster by the fact that she had an effect like this on him.

"Thank you for lunch." She said quietly and those sexy lips of his turned into a soft smile.

The evening came fast, and Anna picked out a nice dress from the cabinet with tennis shoes and a coat. She decided to leave her long hair down, so just brushed it, and put a hair-clip on one side.

"You look beautiful." Matt smiled at her and hold his arm out. He was wearing one of his grey suits with a light blue shirt without a tie, looking loose fitting on his body. She hooked her arm in his and they started walking down the stairs, her pretending to lead him. He had his red glasses on and his cane in his right hand as usual.

The pub was just around the corner from their building, so the walk didn't take long.

"I don't remember this place." She said when they entered the crowded bar.

"We haven't been here together actually, because you were hiding. But don't stress about it, things will come back when they want to. Just relax and enjoy the evening."

She nodded and they walked up to their table, where the other three stood waiting for them.

"Anna!" Tom hugged her. "Oh my Gosh, I really thought I lost you, you don't know how happy we all are to see you!"

"Oh my God, Tom!" She hugged him back. "You look... older than I remember."

Tom laughed, but then Karen and Foggy joined in, and gave her big hugs as well. She blushed, feeling a bit uncomfortable being in the center of attention.

"So your memories are coming back?" Karen asked excitedly. "You recognized Tom."

"Yes, slowly. I started remembering a few things from my childhood last night." She said with a smile then turned to Tom. Matt noticed her heart rate increased and her face got flushed slightly as she looked at the other man. He recognized these signs as affection, and he wasn't on the receiving end this time. He swallowed, and reminded himself that this was just because she had memories of Tom as her boyfriend, and not him. She just needed time and everything will be fine. He needed to be patient. - he repeated it in his head.

"It's so good to see someone I finally remember. We were at the orphanage when we were young, right?"

"Yes, then we got separated when I had to leave Austin for several years, and finally reconnected here in Hell's Kitchen a few months ago." Tom said, keeping it short. They all agreed that they will try telling her details about her life in small amounts.

"Ok... and I assume I met you two at the same time, a few months ago?" Looking at Karen and Foggy, who were holding hands.

"Actually it was last summer, we work with Matt at our law firm, so we met you when you came to our office, asking for help."

Anna nodded, processing the information.

"Matt told me you're getting married this Tuesday!" She smiled at the couple and Foggy's smile turned into a proud one.

"Yes! Are you coming, right? It would be so good to have you there."

"I will be there." She said with a smile.

"Maybe, if you don't have plans tomorrow... would you like to come with me to the final dress fitting?"

Anna's eyes widened with joy. "Really? I would love to!"

Karen laughed happily. "Great, I'll come over at 11 and we walk to the store. It's not far from your place."

Anna smiled widely, she was really happy for them and this whole wedding was so exciting. She hadn't been happy since she remembered, and it felt really good.

"Would you like to drink something?" Matt asked her. She looked at the table, seeing beer bottles in front of the others, but the smell of it didn't please her. Had no idea what she liked before, but right now she only wanted one thing.

"Do you think I could get a soda?" She whispered it in his ear, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Of course." He smiled and left for the bar.

"Matt said Daredevil found you?" Tom asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. He found me in an alley... he saved this girl and I was there. He recognized me... then I just learned it from Foggy that he knew me."

Tom smiled. "That dude probably has a crush on you." He lowered his voice and leaned closer. "Don't tell Matt though... He saved you twice as much as I know, and looked seriously concerned and full of guilt when he arrived to the warehouse late and couldn't save you. Like he was totally out."

"Oh... I think you just imagined that, he seemed pretty normal when he found me." Anna lied, and felt the pain in her heart for Matt.

"Uhm..." Tom nodded smiling.

"So you were there too when I got kidnapped?"

"Yes, I was there... they took both of us."

"Oh..." Anna said with some sadness.

Karen put her hand on hers to comfort. "It's over now. We're all so happy you're alive."

Anna looked toward Matt, who was still at the bar waiting for getting helped out. "How was Matt doing while I was..."

"Not good. He barely talked to anyone, stopped coming to the office. This is the second time he left his apartment in almost three months. You mean a lot to him. We were seriously considering to reschedule the wedding, but he insisted us to keep the date." Foggy said. "Now I'm glad we listened to him, because you're here!"

Her heart warmed up, and she blushed red. She was so lucky in the past to be with him, when she remembered him. She wished that badly for herself to be there again, and wanted that life truly.

"Here." Matt placed the Coke in front of her, and his own drink next to it. Anna watched him surprised that he ordered the same for himself instead of alcohol, this small gesture made her smile.

"Have you visited the gym yet?" Foggy asked, and Anna looked at him confused. "Fogwell's?"

"I went to a gym...? Was I workout-aholic?"

"No, no..." Tom laughed. "But you came down there every day. I bought the place a few months ago and opened a Karate dojo there."

"Oh, really? Of course, I know Uechi-ryu."

Everyone looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Yes... you do." Tom laughed. "I taught her when we were young, but over the years she practiced and improved so much." He explained it to the others.

Her eyes turned big. "Wow... that explains a few things happened in the past two and a half months." She laughed. "I had no idea I kept practicing."

"So you were living on the streets? By yourself?" Karen asked worriedly.

"Pretty much, yeah. I'm not sure how, but felt like I knew what to do to survive. Maybe I have done this before or something, don't know."

"Actually, yes." Tom said. "Before you arrived to the orphanage I stayed, you lived on the streets."

"Jeez..." Anna shook her head. "Things I probably rather forget." She smiled and sip from her drink. "And how long you two have been together?"

"Two years now." Foggy said proudly.

"Two years and three months actually, but who counts?" Karen laughed, and Anna smiled. Must be nice. Her mind wondered... how long she was with Matt before she disappeared? She hadn't asked. But felt like he knew a lot about her. She looked at Matt, who was crunching his own drink in quiet.

"We met 8 months ago, well, it's almost eleven now, but only started dating a few weeks before you..." Matt replied, like he was reading her mind. Can he do that?

"Before I got kidnapped..." she finished his sentence, sadness in her voice. Why did they wait for so long to start dating? Was she against it? Or him? So many questions she needed to ask when they're in private.

"Do you guys want to play pool? The table is free." Foggy asked, and everyone cheered. The mood turned into a more relaxed one, and they had light conversation. Anna stepped next to Tom while waiting on their turn. She had to clear things up in her head about this man before it gets too late. She felt something for him what she wasn't supposed to, according to the present facts. And made her very uncomfortable.

"I remember the orphanage..." she blushed, whispering to him, so nobody else could hear it. "And we were together... like dating..."

Tom looked at her with surprise, seeing a look on her face what he'd been dreaming of seeing again in a long time. "Yes, we were dating for a few months."

"But now we're not... right?" She asked, stepping closer to him. She needed to know, if they loved each other back then, why they're not together now when finally met again after all those years?

Tom swallowed. It was tempting to tell her that he still loved her and they were still together, pull her close for a kiss. But he couldn't lie to her, he loved her more than that. And he couldn't do that to Matt either. It wouldn't do anything good in the end. She will remember the truth one day and she would hate him for lying to her like that.

"No, we're just friends." He forced the words out and she nodded. It was weird, and she felt confused and embarrassed by her own feelings. She remembered him, trusted him.

"Why?"

Tom laughed miserably. "Because your heart belonged to Matt."

She stood there frozen. Wow, she chose Matt over Tom. Why? She must have had a good reason, or multiple reasons for that. Her eyes shifted to the blind man talking with Foggy now, then back at the tall one in front of her.

"Thank you... thank you for being honest." She whispered and turned around, since it was Matt's turn at the pool table. So Anna moved next to him to clear her mind from Tom, and explained where the balls were, then helped him position the stick. When her fingers accidentally brushed over his knuckles, she shivered, and the image of them on the couch flashed into her mind. He was kissing her with so much passion she didn't know existed.

She shook her head, still tasting him on her lips, and before anyone noticed she forced herself to return to reality. Nervously cleared her throat and Matt raised an eyebrow at her, hearing her erratic heartbeat and sensing her increased temperature. She licked her own lips and took a step back to let him hit the white ball. Plus this helped her cool down a little bit. That image was extraordinarily, the feeling was so real and exciting, her abdomen was still on fire from the sensation. Anna thinned her lips, realizing she just found one of those many reasons...

She watched his movements, he took off his suit jackets earlier and his shirt's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing all the muscles. Supposedly he was her boyfriend, so she actually slept with this guy? Her mind started wondering how it would feel to touch his skin, run her fingers over those muscles on his arm. How would it feel if his fingers dug into her hair, pulling her closer to his body, then pushing her down in bed and climbing on top of her with passion.

"Your turn, Anna." Foggy said, and she emptied her head from the previous thoughts quickly. What's wrong with her? This flash proved that she was indeed with Matt, and it looked like she enjoyed it a lot. She was apparently attracted to him and looked like that was mutual. Her mind suddenly started questioning her feelings, as if she was really in love with Tom. It was confusing, and she wanted to scream.

"Yes." She said instead and hit the ball clumsily, barely clearing it. "Sorry..." whispered to Matt.

"Wait, we're not winning?" He whispered back at her.

"Well, you teamed up with a clumsy partner."

"I don't think you are the weakest link in our team... I would bet on the blind guy." Matt replied and Anna laughed.

"We're doomed."

"I will join your team the next round, maybe three of us will have better chance against Foggy and Karen. They are way too good." Tom said, and she smiled.

"If you want to experience the feeling of losing." Anna teased him.

They played two more rounds and decided it's late enough for everyone to go home. The three drank plenty of alcohol, and they were walking a bit funny. Thankfully they called a cab instead of walking home. They said their goodbyes and Anna hooked her arm into Matt's, and led him on the sidewalk toward their place, deep in thoughts. She decided she's going to keep this newly discovered memory to herself, at least for now until she figured out more about her own feelings.

---

The next morning Karen knocked on the door at 11am sharp and they walked to the store a couple blocks away.

"So Foggy and Matt, they are very good friends, right?"

"Yes, they know each other since College."

"Can I ask you a question?"

Karen looked at her blushing face. "Of course... you want to know something about Matt?"

"Is that so obvious?" She laughed nervously and scratched her hand.

"Is he a nice guy?"

Karen smiled. "Yes. He is very kind, patient, and understanding. He's a good man."

"I had the feeling that he's like that." Anna blushed and realized she started to develop feelings for him, but wasn't sure what was it. She barely knew him, but all the small gestures he did made her feel being loved. Suddenly she realized that she's been thinking about Matt more than Tom. How was that possible in such a short time?

"How were we?"

"You two were perfect together. And I believe still are. You seemed always understood each other and knew what the other think or want. From the ouside it looked like you have a very strong connection, the rare type. Matt barely opens up to anybody, but with you it was different."

"Then why I can't remember him?" She asked the blonde with guilt. "I just feel so bad about it."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Just be patient, don't force it. And enjoy your time with him. He is a very nice guy and maybe you will fall in love with him once again, like you did in the past, even without the old memories."

Anna nodded, still some guilt on her face, so Karen added.

"Oh, I would love to experience again those first few weeks with Foggy. So exciting and new. Our first date, first kiss, ah, just amazing."

Anna smiled. Yeah, the first few weeks of a relationship were always like that, maybe Karen was right, and she should just enjoy what she had and shouldn't force things.

Anna's heart started beating faster and her mind wandered to that memory of her on the couch with Matt while Karen went to change to her dress. The blonde just confirmed that what Matt told her yesterday about their relationship was true. Seemed like they loved each other and they were happy. Why couldn't she remember him? Other than that kiss, no new memories showed up. At least she had something now, some proof that he was indeed in her life. In a very intimate way... And maybe Karen was right and she will start having deeper feelings towards him yet again while slowly getting to know him even without the old memories. She noticed how her body reacted to his proximity, like it had better success remembering him, or maybe the chemistry between them never lessened.

Karen walked out from the fitting room in a beautiful white dress and Anna couldn't believe her eyes.

"Looks so beautiful, oh my Gosh, it's perfect on you."

"Is it?" Karen asked spinning around slowly to check it in the mirror from every angle. "I think I love it too!"

They both laughed and Karen walked up to Anna, holding her hands.

"Probably you don't remember, but originally we planned for you to be my bridesmaid. So wondering if you still... I mean I know you don't know me, but..."

"I would like to be your bridesmaid." She said honestly and hugged her.

"Let's pick a dress for you then!"

---

"Did you have a good time with Karen?" Matt asked her when she came home.

"Yes, she looked beautiful, you will see her tomorrow." She bit her lip. "Uhm... I will be her bridesmaid."

Matt smiled at her. "That's great... you were very excited about it in the past, I'm glad you will be there. They decided to have a small wedding with not much formality, but both of you wanted at least one bridesmaid there." He sat down on the couch nervously holding his phone in his hand. "I... might have something to help remember... us."

"Oh, really? What is it?" She asked with excitement and sat down on the couch as well, keeping some distance between them. The memory of their passionate kiss right here on this same couch was in her mind and she was a bit uncomfortable moving close to him, being unsure what would happen and how would she react.

"I'm not exactly sure... I can't see it." He replied with some sadness, then handed his phone to her. "Just the night before you..." he cleared his throat. "You wanted to take pictures of us together. You used my phone... they are somewhere on it."

Anna took his phone, and was eying the dark cracked screen for a minute before turning it on and navigating to the Photos. There weren't many, obviously he never took pictures. Her lips parted at the sight of the first photo. There was her, true happiness written on her face with a guy who looked similar to the one sitting next to her right now. On the picture his features were a bit different, not as sharp as now. He had a much healthier weight and his skin wasn't as pale. She suddenly realized how badly her disappearance affected him. On the photo he was pulling her close to his body with care and his eyes were shining bright from love. His hair was shorter and had two cuts decorating his forehead and temple. They both looked like the happiest couple she had ever seen and deeply in love. She carefully turned her gaze toward Matt, who was crunching his hands in his lap now and had all his muscles in his body tensed, waiting for her reaction. She wetted her lips and swiped to the next picture. They were laughing on this one, and on the next one, making funny faces and looking truly happy. Then she got to the last one and froze. They were on the corner of the photo, like the person who snapped it - probably her - wasn't focusing on the angle how she was holding the device, because she was busy with something else. Seeing herself kissing someone she didn't remember was a bit uncomfortable, and she wasn't sure what to say. Her heartbeat sped up, and felt her face heat up seeing how passionate their kiss was. Exactly like in that memory. She gave the phone back to Matt with pounding heart, feeling all guilty again about not remembering someone who was this close to her. She loved him apparently this much and still couldn't remember.

"We... looks like we indeed knew each other well..." She said, still blushing, wasn't sure what else to say. She needed to think. "When you said I can leave free whenever I want, you meant that, right?"

"Yes, of course. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah... I just need a walk." She said, and quickly added. "Alone. I will be back in a few hours, is that ok?"

"Of course. Here." He stood up and brought a set of keys to her. "Come and go as you please, this is your home."

Anna eyed the keys in her hand with surprise. She really had a home. "Thank you." She said with gratitude and put her jacket on.

She needed to think and was hoping maybe the cold fresh air would help her remember, and also wanted to check back on some of the places she went before, just to see if everyone was ok and healthy. She took the rooftops as always, running towards the bad part of Hell's Kitchen. It was just an instinct still, to stay away from people, and being up high above the city always made her feel safer.

Took her about four hours to check on three of the abandoned buildings where the homeless hid, and she slowly started walking home on the same rooftops with a smile on her face. She loved helping people, it always made her feel like she found her purpose and doing what she was meant to do. She had this power what she wanted to use for good. The lights of the city were beautiful from up here and she stopped for a second to just look around. Suddenly she felt the presence of someone in the shadows, and her muscles tightened, ready to fight.

"It's just me, sorry to startle you." Daredevil said quickly. "You were always good at noticing if someone was following you."

"Were you following me?" She asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Just in the past minute or so. I was out patrolling when heard you nearby, so figured I just follow you from the distance and make sure you get home safely."

"Oh..."

"Sorry, I know you wanted to be alone."

"Don't be." She smiled at him, walking up closer and stopping right in front of him. "It's nice to know that someone cares about me."

"I'm surprised you're still walking up here on the rooftops."

"I always do. Like it up here better than on the streets."

The vigilante smiled and took a deep breath in. "We walked these rooftops together a lot."

Anna tilted her head with a smile, but didn't say anything.

"Can I walk you home?" He asked and reached out with his hand.

She blushed, and put her hand in his, feeling the heat even through his thick glove. "That would be nice, yes."

They started walking hand in hand and she had a weird feeling that they have indeed done this before.

"So... did you have a good night out?"

"Yes, I needed to think. And also visited the buildings where I usually help sick people. I healed five kids and three women. And there was a guy there too, who got shot while he was trying to run away from two big men."

"That's a lot of healing, you must be very tired."

She laughed, shaking her head. "You really do know me. Feels like I'm getting stronger though as I use my power more and more often. But yes, tonight was a bit too much."

He stopped her and lowered his gaze with a smirk.

"What?" Anna asked, then suddenly felt his hands around her body, lifting her up in his arms. A loud and happy laugh escaped from her throat from the surprising action and she placed one hand on his strong shoulder and the other on his chest, feeling his heartbeat hammering. The warmth of his body felt good, and she relaxed in his arms. Her legs were definitely tired and she was grateful for being carried home. She closed her eyes, feeling his breathing on her neck and his muscles moving as he walked and jumped from rooftop to rooftop, and slowly dropped her head on his shoulder. After maybe fifteen minutes she felt him stopped and opened her eyes. They were in front of their rooftop entrance, and he slowly lowered her to her feet. She looked up at his masked face, then her eyes settled on his lips. She parted hers and shifted her body closer to him, eyes still glued on his hot and sexy mouth and realized her body was begging her to kiss this man. She recognized all the signs, she knew her face was hot, her heart was beating faster, she felt warm despite of the freezing temperature, and suddenly felt that burning pleasure in her lower abdomen. Her body remembered this man and wanted him. But was it just her body? She realized that it's coming from her heart as well. He was so kind to her, wanted her to be safe, carried her home when she was exhausted, he never got upset about her not remembering, he gave her space to figure things out, respected her. Suddenly realized she started having real feelings for him, much deeper than they should be for this short time they've been together yet again.

Daredevil's hand slowly started moving and he gently brushed her arms from her shoulder down to her hand, and she swallowed, feeling the shiver in her body. He leaned closer and for a second Anna thought he was going to kiss her, but then heard the door opening behind her. His hand guided her to step inside, so she cleared her throat and forced her legs to move. She turned the lights on and sat down on the couch exhausted. She watched as he removed his mask, then looked down to her hands in her lap, didn't want to make the mistake again and stare him. She jumped. There was blood on her jacket and on her right palm. She rubbed it quickly with her other hand and opened the zipper, realizing immediately that this wasn't her blood.

"You got hurt." She said, standing up and walking up to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, completely forgot about it. It's nothing serious, just a small cut. I'll take care of it in a bit."

"I can help."

"You're exhausted, and this is really just a small injury, isn't worth using your power on it."

Anna bit her lip. "You wouldn't lie to me about something like that, would you?"

"No, I promised you once that I will never lie about my injuries."

She tilted her head in surprise, sounded like they had some arguments about this in the past.

"Ok. Then I'm just gonna clean it, so it won't get infected. I saw a first aid kit in the bathroom. Take off your shirt, I'll be back in a minute."

"You really don't have to, it's nothing."

"You carried my heavy ass home, at least let me help you with this." She said seriously and turned around toward the bathroom before he started arguing again.

"Your ass wasn't that heavy.." he replied with a smirk and Anna unintentionally let out a short laugh.

She came back after a few seconds, noticing Matt was sitting on the couch with his shirt still on.

"Let me help you out of that."

"It's uhm..."

Her gaze lifted to his face, seeing a very nervous and ashamed expression. "What's wrong?"

"I just... don't want to freak you out..."

"You won't." She said and waited, her hands on her hips. Matt made a big sigh and pulled his black shirt over his head, revealing the fresh cut on his chest with an addition to countless older scars. The area around his ribs had a large blackened bruise, and the skin from his shoulder was scraped not too long ago, now it's healing slowly. Anna's lips parted in shock and she swallowed hard. Her eyes scanned through his naked upper body, all muscles under the several injuries, and his ribs were a bit visible due to his weight loss. So many old scars decorating his body she lost count of them. She wanted to touch his skin and run her fingers over the old wounds, but stopped herself as feeling her body starting to recognize the view in front of her and started to react in a positive way. She cleared her throat as the feeling deepened, feeling embarrassed by it and her face turned red as usual. Well, there was a half naked man in front of her, what else she would expect? She got busy quick with the first aid kit, searching for some alcohol and cleaned his fresh wound with the gauze pad, forcing her eyes on the cut only, and avoiding to touch his skin. She wasn't trusting herself that she would be able to stop herself doing something more if she did. After it was cleaned up, she carefully covered it with a gauze pad, and taped it.

"All done." She whispered and realized her hands were shaking as she pulled them away from him.

"Thank you." He said and quickly reached out for a hoodie on the couch and put it on. "Sorry about that."

"You don't have to. I'm not freaking out. And I want to help fixing your shoulder scrape wound and that blackened bruise on your ribs tomorrow. I have the feeling you also have cracked ribs."

His expression changed to a surprised one, he didn't expect anything like this from her.

"Thank you. Maybe after the wedding? I don't want you to be tired for the ceremony."

"After the wedding." She said with a smile, feeling good to be able to help him and appreciated how thoughtful he was.

---

Anna left in the morning to meet with Karen at their place and the guys met at Matt's apartment to get ready.

The girls helped each other with their hairs and makeups, and they dressed.

"You look beautiful, Karen."

"Thank you! Oh, I'm so nervous!"

"Everything will be fine. Ready?" Anna asked, handing her the nice bouquet.

"Let's do this."

They jumped into the cab and took the few minutes drive to the venue.

Karen was crunching the purple flowers in her hands and they nervously walked in to the back room where Karen's Dad was waiting on them with Matt. Anna's eyes scanned him right away, Matt had his usual glasses on and his cane was folded in his right hand. His hair was shorter than in the morning, similar haircut what he had on that photo.

"Is Foggy here?" Karen asked nervously.

"Yes, he's waiting for you inside, and he is very excited." Her Dad said, trying to calm her daughter down.

Matt stepped next to Anna and leaned closer. "You look beautiful." He whispered in her ears and she shivered as his breath tickled her skin pleasantly.

She blushed and turned her gaze down to her toes nervously. "Thank you. You look very handsome as well." She said quietly, forcing herself to look at his face. He did look very handsome and yes, her body was definitely remembered this man.

"Here..." she reached out and adjusted his collar and tie slightly. "Perfect." She smiled as she saw his smile first changed to surprised one, then his lips parted a little from her tender touch.

"Are you guys ready?" Karen's Dad asked and both are nodded, and Matt left to join Foggy inside as planned before.

Anna took off her coat and the thin purple bolero, carefully placing them on the bench, and after a few minutes she walked in to the large room where people were waiting patiently. Her dress was a silky pastel purple one, running down her legs, the end barely touching the floor, and the top ended above her breasts with a big cutout and thin straps on her shoulders.

Anna's eyes shifted to the front where Foggy and Matt were standing and the shiver ran down to her toes from the sight. Both Foggy and Matt were wearing black tuxedos with matching ties. Matt looked very hot indeed and she felt the goosebumps all over her arms as she slowly made her way to his direction. She noticed him stiffen and taking a sharp breath in when she entered the aisle and Anna unintentionally licked her lips.

She smiled, blushing as noticed Foggy poking Matt, whispering something to his blind friend, probably describing her to him, though Anna knew Matt already had a pretty good idea about her look. She walked up to Foggy's other side, across from Matt, and everyone in the room stood up as the familiar song started playing. Anna's heartbeat picked up the pace when seeing a smile on Matt's face toward her direction and her cheeks turned red as usual.

Karen's arm was locked in his Dad's as they started making their way along the aisle. She was wearing an elegant white organza dress. The top was tight fitting with a V-neckline cutout, and the bottom part had double layers and trailed behind her as she slowly walked up to Foggy with a smile on her face.

Karen stopped next to her fiancé, who was standing there amazed. The ceremony started with their vows, then the preacher was talking about life and kindness, understanding and accepting each other, and Anna's heart warmed up and she started feeling emotional. It was so beautiful and she started wondering about her relationship with Matt, how serious it was. Did they ever talk about marriage? Kids? Normal things like that? She had no idea what she wanted in the past. Or what he wanted.

After the ceremony Matt walked to her, holding his elbow out for Anna. She hooked her arm in it, feeling like this was one of the most natural things to do. She belonged to him, and it warmed her heart. Everyone walked up to the upper floor where the dinner and party was held. Matt leaned closer to her.

"I know I already said this, but it's never enough... You look amazing."

She smiled and blushed red, yeah, didn't matter how many times she heard this from him, he always had this effect on her.

The room was set up with a few large tables and quiet music was playing in the background. They sat down around one of the tables with the newly weds, their close family and Tom, and and the conversation was all about the two while the staff placed food in front of everyone. Matt stood up and made a toast, then Anna was listening to the stories and jokes and completely forgot about her issues and just enjoyed the evening. The food was delicious and everyone was full soon enough, and she giggled as Matt emptied his plate fast. It was good to see his appetite was back to normal.

Karen and Foggy looked like the happiest couple she'd ever seen, and Anna was watching them as they cut the white wedding cake together, hand in hand.

The volume of the music hit up by a notch and the freshly wed couple walked to the dance floor. Foggy kissed Karen and everyone cheered, then he hugged her around her waist, pulling her closer to start a slow dance. Slowly others joined as well and the floor got busy.

"Would you like to dance?" Matt asked Anna and she raised an eyebrow.

"You can dance?" She smiled in surprise, then bit her lower lip. "Do I know how to dance?"

"Come, let's find out." He stood up from their table and hold out his elbow for her to grab. She hooked her arm in it then Matt led her to the edge of the dance floor. She looked up at his face, and seeing his smile killed some of her nervousness. Her left hand slowly dropped from his arm, brushing over the muscles covered by his suit and interlocked her fingers with his. His warmth and rough skin felt good on her hand, and all of a sudden she froze from the contact. A realistic flash of memory showed up in front of her eyes and she wasn't able to move. They were next to the water, somewhere on the shore, she wasn't sure exactly where. It was dark, but she could see his form illuminated by the bright Moon. He was wearing Daredevil's outfit and was seriously injured, probably shot, laying in the sand and she was trying desperately to restart his heart. There was so much blood everywhere, he had no heartbeat and wasn't breathing and her body immediately started shivering from panic as her emotions from the memory took over her senses. She forcefully pulled her hand away from his as fast as she could, backing up a few steps from him, arms hugging her own body tight.

"Anna? Is everything all right?" Matt asked with worry, he had no idea what just happened and what did he do that scared her this much. Something seriously frightened her.

"You died..." she said, her body was still shivering like the temperature in the room was below freezing.

He furrowed his brows, realizing she must just saw the memory of them at the piers when he indeed died. She looked up at him, seeing the pain washing over his face.

"It's true...? she asked. "You really died..." she felt one tear rolling down her cheek, but wasn't sure why. It's not like she remembered what type of relationship she had with this guy, or anything like that, but the feeling of losing him hurt badly. She definitely had a strong connection with him in the past and she felt all the worries, pain, panic and fear from the memory in her heart right now.

"Hey... everything is ok now. See? I survived. You saved me.." he stepped closer and carefully put his hands on her arms covered by a lightweight bolero.

She shook her head and took another step backwards, away from him. She realized that some of the feelings weren't from the memory, but they were indeed hers. She only met this man four days ago, but already started to like him and the fact that he could disappear from her life just like that was horrifying. She thought Daredevil was a hero who could get hurt, but survived everything. Now she realized how wrong she was and how easily something like that could happen to him yet again. She needed space to process this newly discovered information, somewhere away from the people and the music.

"I'm sorry... I need some fresh air." She said and turned on her heels, grabbed her jacket from her chair on the way and walked toward the big glass sliding door at the end of the large room. Matt felt his heart thundering in his chest, and after waking up from his shock he hurried after her.

Anna was standing outside on the balcony, the cold New York night making her shiver and rubbing her hands over her own arms. She was pretty sure though that it wasn't the temperature that caused this shivering. She looked up at Matt who just stepped through the sliding door, closing it behind him. He was seriously worried and the guilt was noticeable on his face.

"Please tell me this was the only time you died. I don't think I will be able to handle another memory like this." She said, forcing another teardrop back.

He looked at her direction with guilty face, but didn't say anything.

"Oh... no..." she started backing up toward the railing.

"No, it's not like that. I was close to dying a few times, but never that close as that night."

Anna nodded, and let out the breath she was holding. She finally started having flashes of memories about the man in front of her, that made her happy, but at the same time frightened her. She had a feeling before that their relationship wasn't easy, more like full of complications and now she knew that suspicion was true.

She was seriously scared what else she's gonna find, what other bad things happened with them in the past. He was Daredevil, putting his life in danger every night, and as she learned her own life wasn't a fairytale either. She was hiding, kidnapped, kept in a laboratory, got shot and who knew what else. But she can't live like this, in this fog, knowing nothing about her past. Not knowing the truth was worse than anything else. She needed to face her fears and learn what exactly happened to her and especially to them as a couple.

She slowly lifted her head and her eyes settled on Matt's face. He was standing there frozen, forehead wrinkled in pain.

These flashes happened twice and she was trying to think hard what triggered them. First they were at Josey's playing pool and she rubbed her hand over his knuckles accidentally when helped him position the stick. And tonight, when her hand touched his. She lowered her gaze to his hands, holding tights fists next to his body without any movement. She hadn't touched his skin other than these two occasions. She kept her distance from him for a reason, because of the fact that he was her boyfriend, but still a stranger, making her uncomfortable to be that close to him. But apparently being that close was what she needed to remember.

"Can I ask you for something?" She asked with determination, crossing her arms in front of her own body.

"Anything." He said quietly, the worry and fear were still visible on his face and he was hoping she won't ask him to leave.

"Do you mind if... if I touch you?" She blushed red and Matt laughed miserably, finally relaxing his fists.

"Do I mind...?" he smiled with raised eyebrows, couldn't believe she actually had to ask that. He was craving for her touch. "No, not at all..."

"It's just... I remembered things when I touched your hand tonight. And back at the bar..." she rubbed her forehead in embarrassment about that intimate memory. "I... want to remember... even if it's painful... I really want to know everything. And seems like touching your skin triggers these memories, at least I hope that was it."

He nodded, and tried being as still as possible, waiting for her to do whatever she felt like.

She lifted her hand to her own mouth first, killing some of the nervousness as she bit her fingernail. Then took a step closer to him and slowly lifted her right hand up to his forehead to gently brush out a strain of hair from his eyes and running her fingers down to his cheek. There was that same pleasant shiver running through her body at the contact, like it was waiting for this moment forever.

She stiffened as an image showed up in front of her eyes. They were in some sort of boxing ring, fighting. But not for real, it was more like a practice, or training. He was very good, blocking her punches... and then she got cornered, and she felt her legs wrapped around his waist, his lips kissing hers with hunger. She felt his hot skin on her fingers, burning like fire.

She had to take a step back again, and she was panting heavily from the sensation. Wow, they definitely had a good chemistry. She looked at him, seeing the tension in all of his muscles, trying hard to keep him from moving.

Matt knew exactly what kind of memory she just saw, her body wasn't hiding its feelings at all. He needed all his strength to stop himself from reacting and stay motionless instead. Just sensing that she finally had feelings towards him made him wanting to close the gap and take her in his arms. But there was no way he's gonna take advantage of her now that she's trying hard to remember.

Since he didn't move, she narrowed her eyes, and stepped closer. Slowly reached up to his glasses and removed them from his face, looking straight into his brown eyes, seeing the same passion in them as in the memory. But he was still like a statue, trying hard to stay in control over his actions. She took another step toward him, closing the gap, now feeling his breath on her face, and saw his heart hammering hard in the vein that was running along the side of his neck. Her eyes unintentionally shifted to his lips and her heart sped up. Wonder what memories would come back from a kiss... if only a touch gave her this many... wonder if a kiss would feel indeed as good as in that memory she just saw...

She swallowed hard, sliding his glasses into his pocket, then placed her hands gently on his strong chest, fingers brushing over the muscles underneath. Her breathing changed to short and fast ones and very slowly raised herself on her toes. Carefully her lips brushed over his, barely touching them, then moved away a few inches fast, hesitating. The tension in Matt's body was at an extreme level and when she touched his lips with hers yet again he wasn't able to keep it in anymore. His hands moved to her arms, running up and down on them, one slid around her waist, pulling her in closer, while the other moved up to her cheek, fingers sliding into her hair, then slowly lowered his head and kissed her. The kiss started out slow and soft, but soon it grew deep and she gasped as the world stopped existing for her. Nothing mattered, just him. She fisted her hands in his shirt, feeling his strong body against hers, his tongue was exploring her inside, setting her on fire. She responded to his kiss and heard herself moaning in pleasure, wanting him so badly it hurt. She thought that kiss she saw in the memory was the best, oh she was so wrong. This right now was better than anything she could imagine.

Suddenly flood of memories started showing up in front of her closed eyes, all at the same time, uncoordinated, unorganized, in few seconds short flashes. She saw herself in a dark alley, finding the masked man behind a dumpster. Another flash of her getting grabbed from the back by someone strong. Matt jumping in front of her to save her from a car that was trying to hit her. She saw a short snapshot of her date with Matt. Then her dragging a bloody Daredevil up to her own apartment on the building stairs. She saw a man in military uniform stabbing Daredevil in the heart then slicing his neck. Their romantic walks on the rooftops. Then she saw him visiting her through her fire escape window; Seeing the vigilante being chained up to the ceiling, seriously injured. Her fighting for her own life in some dark sewer line. Her meeting Matt, Foggy, and Karen in their office; Their make outs in the gym and in the living room of Matt's apartment. Daredevil helping her escape from some laboratory. The lawyers helping her getting out of the drug business; Saw herself crawling in some hot and dark ductwork or something, feeling all suffocating. Moving to Matt's apartment to hide from the Italian cartel. Their first kiss, so passionate like this one right now. The final trial; Her waking up in some hospital bed all chained up. Her telling him her big secret. Saw Matt was almost dying, yet again; Her saving his life from some serious injury and learning the real truth about him being Daredevil. Saw herself running around in some sort of hangar searching for something important, feeling the panic. Saw Daredevil grabbing her wrist strong and punching her in the stomach, feeling the pain in her body. Her making out with Daredevil, touching his hot skin and them almost making love. Daredevil saving her life from a bullet. Daredevil saving her life again in the sewers. Tom and his dojo opening; Healing Matt and feeling the love what he felt toward her. Lucy, fake Lucy crying in the corner of the gym. Her and Tom's kidnapping; their effort to escape and her plan failing and her being shot, just to get rid of her body at that slaughterhouse.

It was too much, all the memories came at the same time in short snippets, making no sense. Anna had no idea what connected to what, why one happened, had no idea about the details or the back story of any of these short moments. It was too much, too confusing and she didn't understand a thing.

She opened her eyes wide, breaking their kiss and forcefully pushed Matt away from herself with her hands, panting heavily with eyes glued on him in panic. He stumbled backwards a few steps, eyes wide with confusion and hurt in them.

"Stay away from me!" She yelled while backing up to the railing, pushing her hands to her temples now. She just couldn't take it, it was too much, he was everywhere in her mind now and Anna felt like her head is going to explode. She was afraid what would happen if he touched her again, she needed some distance from him, the more the better.

His expression changed to an apologetic one immediately and lifted his hands up defensively.

"Ok... ok... I didn't want to hurt you." Matt said while keeping a distance, knowing nothing about what was going on in her head right now.

"Just... just leave me alone please!" She cried, the memories of him just didn't want to stop. He was talking to her now from multiple directions at the same time, making no sense. She needed more distance from him, Matt was everywhere. It was like a gate opened in her mind and everything was trying to push through at the same time. "Leave me alone!" She begged again loudly to the countless copies of Matt in front of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. Please, I..." The real Matt started apologizing, thinking that she was upset about him kissing her, when both of them got startled by an explosion in the distance. She turned her head toward the noise, seeing large flames and smoke far away in the dark sky. It was frightening as the flames lit up the surrounding area so bright it was blinding. To her relief though the sudden event stopped the memories and she was able to focus on what's around her. It was only one Matt standing in front of her now, in quiet thankfully. All the other hundreds of Matts were gone.

Matt's fists tightened and he tilted his head, listening to the noises, hearing the screams and pain in the very distance.

"Go!" Anna yelled at him, but he turned his head back toward her, guilt all over it.

"I'm not leaving you alone like this."

"I will be fine. Matt... go!"

"I'm so sorry, Anna... I lost control... I shouldn't have kissed you... I'm really..." He was feeling awful, he was weak giving in to his temptation. He should have been more patient with her, he felt like he took advantage of her and failed her, yet again.

"Matt! Go! Whatever happened there is bad, they need you."

He was still hesitant, so she added. "I will wait for you at home, and we will talk. This can wait. I promise. Now go!"

He growl in frustration as thinned his lips apologetically, then turned around to jump down from the balcony and disappeared in the darkness.

---

A couple hours after the explosion Vanessa Fisk was pacing around nervously in a large empty warehouse at the outskirt of the city, until the main door opened and a black van with no windows drove in. She eyed it with hope in her eyes as the back door opened, reveling a tall large man. The expression on her face turned into a big smile and she ran up to him.

"Wilson!"

---

Well, that's it for the end of this chapter. Anna finally started to get her memories back, but obviously other troubles rise at the same time. There's one more chapter left to wrap up everything, and as usual I'm trying to post it as soon as possible. Thank you for sticking around.