A/N: hey guys, how's your summer been? I have a very loose plot for this story so it may seem like I'm all over the place right now but I want to make this into a long fic. And as per usual reviews feed the muse.
A sudden weight fell on Matt's legs, jolting him awake. He made to rise, his body already on the attack.
"Hey! Watch it!" A scratchy, high-pitched, but familiar female voice reached his ears and he realized Josie had decided to seat herself on his couch. Her legs were arched over his and her bottom rested in the space between his calves and the back of the couch. He sighed deeply and relaxed back into the couch as she rearranged the blankets she had dragged from his bed to cover them both.
"Morning, how are you feeling?" Matt pulled himself up to a seated position, his legs still stretched out beneath her own. Josie grasped the hand resting on his abdomen and opened his palm, gingerly placing the handle of a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "Thank you, but I should be taking care of you." Appreciatively, he accepted the cup of coffee and let the perfectly made brew warm his insides.
"I'm fine, a little dizzy, a little tired. Same old, same old." Her voice was still raspy and he could hear the way her vocal chords rubbed against each other uncomfortably.
"No temperature?" He asked listening to her steady heartbeat, she sighed and grabbed his empty hand, placing the back of it against her forehead.
"No temperature, Villy. Anyways, there's something more important I want to talk to you about. So... You and Claire, huh?" Matt rolled his eyes and withdrew his hand, he could feel the mischievious smile she was throwing his way.
"There is no me and Claire." She angled her body to face his fully, a disbelieving smirk on her face.
"Please, she dropped everything-"
"She dropped her groceries," Matt interjected.
"To come and help you. And, she's really pretty, but, then again, I don't think that really matters to you..." Josie trailed off and gulped her coffee, Matt couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him.
"No it doesn't, there just isn't an 'us', alright?"
"If you say so," Josie responded with an air of disbelief. "I did some searches on your laptop, don't worry I'm piggybacking the location feed of NYPD, they'll never trace it to you. Smith brothers are down for the count, which means Guillermo is hiding from Singh. Not to mention, none of the equipment is salvageable, NYPD pulled it all out of the water when they found the girls. It is currently 'classified evidence'." Josie pensively sipped her coffee.
"You don't sound happy about that," Matt placed his empty mug on the ground next to the couch and listened to her breathe.
"How likely is it that Singh has an inside person in the NYPD? He's here to take over the city, he has to have connections everywhere. That evidence... Its not going to last long, somehow it will mysteriously disappear and we will never see it again." Josie began to chew on her thumbnail as Matt sighed deeply.
"I can already feel how much I'm going to regret this..." he could feel Josie's gaze on him, an inquisitive air surrounding her. "If you desperately need that evidence... I'll get it for you."
"How?" She questioned him, clutching her mug tightly.
"You have your ways, I have mine."
"Brett. Good morning." Matt rose from the position he had taken at the corner of Sergeant Brett Mahoney's desk.
"Matt. What are you doing here?" Brett went behind his desk to hang his coat and put down his belongings, Matt decided to turn and take a seat in one of the squeaky chairs facing the desk.
"Foggy sends his love," Matt placed a paper bag of cigars on the desk. "I may have also slipped a pamphlet about the health risks of tobacco in there, at least, I hope thats what its about." He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner, Brett had never taken to Matt the way most people did.
"Uh, thank you. Now, what can I do for you?" Brett leaned forwards and Matt could feel his direct gaze. "I'm here to ask for a favour," Brett didn't respond, he patiently waited for Matt to continue. "Saturday night, sixty girls were found at the docks. They had been illegally transported to Hell's Kitchen on a boat. Today at 5 AM, NYPD dredged up the boat and all of its cargo. I want that cargo." Matt held his breath and prayed to the very Lord he feared scorned him.
"What? Are you insane, Matt? How do you even know about what happened at the docks?" Brett jumped from his seat and circled the desk to stand at the window.
"Word gets around?" Matt smiled wolfishly, he sobered quickly and looked in Brett's direction with seriousness. "Look I'm hoping to take on a case for one of the girls. She's hoping to make a human rights charge and accuse the handlers of torture. I need to see the evidence to see if she even has a case, all I'm asking is to see the evidence." Brett sighed, exasperated.
"There isn't much I can do, its classified evidence. I can give you clearance, for two days. You are not allowed to touch the evidence or request to move it, but you can look at it. Thats all I can give you." Brett scratched words onto a note pad before ripping the page out, folding it and firmly placing it in Matt's hand.
"Thats all I need, Brett. Thank you," Matt slipped the paper into his inner pocket and said his goodbyes before leaving for work.
As he entered his office and settled to begin a day of paperwork, Matt decided to share the good news with Josie.
"Hello," Josie's voice sounded the slightest bit off to Matt, but Matt decided she may still be under the weather
"I've got clearance, we've got two days to take care of that evidence."
"Thats fantastic, Matt!" She whispered into the phone and Matt could hear the sharp click of her cane as she walked.
"What do you say we head over there tonight? Less people around the less suspicious we'll look." Matt booted up his laptop and listened to the commotion of Foggy deciding to show up to work.
"Sorry, I can't, I'm already booked tonight. I'll get back to you later, alright?" With that she hung up on him, leaving Matt stupefied.
Foggy poked his head in Matt's door and offered him some doughnuts and coffee. The three of them crowded around Karen's desk while Foggy turned on the news, a habit he had developed during the Chitauri invasion. The voice of Andrew Singh spilled from the speakers and Matt had to repress a shudder.
"We are deeply saddened by the events that passed this weekend and ask that whatever money the public had hoped to donate to my political party this evening at my gala would instead donate the money to..." Singh's voice droned on and Matt almost didn't notice when Karen began to speak.
"Wow, she's gorgeous. I can hardly believe she's so young, she's absolutely stunning." Foggy absentmindedly nodded in agreement, his nose buried in a jelly filled doughnut.
"Who?" Matt asked.
"Andrew Singh's daughter, Anamika. She may even be out of your league, Matt." Foggy chortled as he teased Matt.
"Haha, very funny, Foggy" Matt rolled his eyes.
It wasn't until the very early hours of the next morning that Brett Mahoney called Matt to inform him about the chemical explosion that had wiped out the evidence locker.
