(Ch 4)

Thanks for the reviews and watches y'all.

"And she just stayed there all night?" Foggy asked, the disbelief clear in his voice.

Matt nodded. "I even went back later to check." He was sure she'd stayed there all night drinking coffee and occasionally cheesecake, until they ran out. Then she had to find something else to order so they couldn't kick her out.

"I don't get it. Why doesn't she just go home?"

There was a brief pause as Matt took a moment to listen. The door. "That's what I plan to find out."

Foggy nodded and sighed and Matt left the office. He may feel less uneasy about their secretary if she would just tell them what was going on. After years of being friends with Matt he'd developed a nasty habit of assuming the worst and with nothing to either ease or confirm his worries... He just hoped Matt knew what he was doing.

Down in the main lobby Cassalie wasted no time getting comfortable at her desk to get a bit of sleep., as she'd been doing for the past few days. Only two more days, including this one, then she'd be free to go home and sleep in her own bed with only mild irritation rather then fear of physical harm.

"Cassalie."

She groaned and dropped her head into the desk with a thud. Five minutes. Not even in the building five minutes and they were already playing this tired game. "I'm fine, Matt." She muttered, a tad forcefully. A preemptive strike against his eminent questioning.

Matt lips tightened. She was already doing this? He hadn't even said anything to her yet. "No you're not." He argued. "I know you haven't been sleeping." She didn't respond to this, only made a displeased noise and took her usual desk sleeping position. "I know you haven't been eating properly." Still he got no response. "And don't think," He started again, her failure to give him so much as even and unconvincing 'I'm fine' was getting was affecting him more then it should. "that I'm not wise to the ba-" Her breathing and slowed as well as her heart beat. "Cassalie?" Nothing. Not even a twitch. She'd fallen asleep on him. Briefly he considered waking her up. Instead he sighed and let the strap of his cane hang around his arm to free up his hands as he moved around the desk. Gently he pulled her away from her resting place and lifted her away from the chair. He was careful not to wake her as he carried her up the stairs and past the offices, although she was so far gone he was sure it wouldn't have made any difference if he dragged up by one foot.

45 minutes later Foggy came back into the room after bidding farewell to a client. "Cassalie came in today didn't she?" He asked, having noted the empty desk down stairs. If she had gone from sleeping on the job to not coming in at all it may be time to have a word with Matt about her employment.

"Oh, yes. I put her to bed." Matt replied absently, not bothering to look up from one of his case files.

"Uh-upstairs?"

Matt hummed an affirmative. "She's asleep."

Foggy could have rolled his eyes. He could have guessed she was asleep if he'd put her to bed. "Did you learn anything?"

Matt shook his head. "She fell asleep before I could get anything out of her."

"I don't suppose you'll be satisfied with this will you?" There was a small tinge of hope in his voice but he knew it was misplaced when he saw the knowing smile spread across his friends lips. "No." Foggy sighed. "I didn't think so."

Cassalie groggily opened her eyes and gave a soft groan before rolling over under her sheets. Sheets she didn't immediately recognize. This didn't bother he at first. It always took her a few minutes to recognize where she was. Cassalie is, after all, a very slow waker. Waking always came to her in stages that usually lasted 15 to 20 minutes and it happened in stages. She lay there until she could form any sort of coherent thought, then she needed to wait until she could move her limbs without the sensation of moving through pudding, and by that time the sleep would have lifted from her mind enough for her to recognize the room as... not her apartment. Just as the panic began to creep in as she glanced around the room much too nice to be her own a familiar voice sound for the door.

"It's about time you woke up." Matt had been diverting a fraction of his concentration usually reserved for filtering out the important noises from the everyday sounds of the city to listening to her. He'd wanted to know the moment she began to wake up so he could greet her when she did so. "Just in time too." He continued, leaning lightly against the door frame. "Foggy and I were about to go to lunch if you want to come."

Cassalie blinked slowly at him. It took a moment for her to register what he'd said but when it click she couldn't help but sigh. "I'll buy, if course." He added, knowing she would be hungry after how long she'd been out.

"Wasn' out thah long." She muttered sleepily. "S'only lunch time."

"Of the next day." He added. "You've been out for a day and half."

"Why didn't you wake me up!" She cried, suddenly completely awake. A day and a half she'd missed of work. A day and a half she had completely inconvenienced both of them, especially Matt since this appeared to be his bed. Yet he was still making the same offer to her to lunch that she'd been rejecting since they met.

Matt raised a brow and fixed her with one of his blind, soul staring, looks. "Because you haven't slept properly in days."

"I can still do my job Matt!" Cassalie argued,

"Come on." He said, deciding not to argue with her. "We're getting Chinese."

"I'm not going. I'll just stay here and... do my job." The one she hadn't done for a day and a half

He sighed in frustration. Even trying not to argue with her was leading to an argument. Why couldn't he just except help and stop fighting him so much? "You can't tell me you're not hungry."

"I'll eat when I get home."

"Oh? So you are going home today?"

"I'm going home tonight. After work."

One step forward, two steps back. "Why don't you want to go home?"

Cassalie didn't answer him. She lay back down and rolled over so her back was facing him. This drew another sound of irritation form the already frustrated man. "Fine. If you're not coming with us, at least eat something. There's food in the fridge and- Cassalie look at me." It took her a moment to comply but she finally rolled over a bit a peered over her shoulder at him. Not that it makes a difference, she thought, he can't see it anyway. "You are not working today."

Several seconds passed of tense silence before Cassalie threw the covers over her head with a quite. "Fine." and resolved to go back to sleep.

She waited until she was sure that Matt was gone she crept out of bed and found her way to his kicthen where she proceeded to raid his fridge. He had, after all, given her permission to do so. If he wants to help her so bad, well here it is. She decimated his lunch meats, cheese and bread scarfing down several sandwiches, scrambled half of his eggs, and ate two of his apples before going back to sleep. Whether or not he noticed how much food she ate when he came back to check on her, he didn't say anything. She kept careful watch on the clock, waiting for 10. At 10 PM those men would be leaving and she would be free to return home. As if sensing that she was getting ready to leave Matt dropped her duffel

bag at her feet as she made her way to the door.

"You're going home tonight, aren't you?"

She didn't say anything. Just snatched up her bag and pushed past him.

"At least let me call you a ca-"

"I'm fine."

It didn't take her long to get home. Waiting outside was a Taxi she could only assume belonged to the men she'd been hiding form this whole week. There was no sign of them, though. This meant they were still here. If she was lucky she would be able to sneak into her apartment before they spotted her or she could hide in the alley until they packed up and left.

"Hey! Mutie!" Too late. She should have hid. "Where you been? We missed you."

She didn't say anything. Instead she shouldered her bag and kept walking, hoping that they would just let her push past with only a few jibes and drunken slurs. Not such luck when one of them grabbed her bag to keep her there.

"You know, you never answered my question last time, sweetie." One of them said. She'd never bothered learning any of their names but she did know she was particularly afraid of the one speaking. He seemed to have some kind of strange attraction to her which would be flattering if he didn't show it by tormenting her... or if he seemed less like the poster child for spousal abuse. "What's yer 'special mutie gift'?"

Cassalie didn't answer. They go through this every time. His friends trying to figure out what her power is. He didn't even know. She was real careful about that. Her downfall had been shaking his hand. That's what she gets for trying to be a friendly neighbor.

"I seen her yawn once." The neighbor spoke up with a nasty grin. "Unhinged her jaw like a snake." Maybe she hadn't been as careful as she thought.

"That true, darlin?" Cassalie turned her head away as he reached for her jaw only to be pulled back roughly by her hair. "C'mon. Open wide." His fingers dug hard into her jaw, she knew it would bruise, as he tried to force her mouth open in a way much like a vet forcing a dogs mouth open. She clenched her jaw and tried to pull away as he attempted to pry her jaws apart. It would have been easy to comply. To open up and bite down. She could take his whole hand if she wanted to, but fortunately the thought never crossed her mind. All of her focus was on nothing more then escape as she redoubled her efforts. Times like this she wished she had super strength or something useful. She gave a low whine as she found herself pinned by another one and shook her head in a vain attempt to dislodge the one currently trying to force his fingers in for mouth as the others laughed and threw jibes her way.

The hard pressure on her jaw disappeared suddenly. Instantly her muscles relaxed, the grip along with her clenching had caused more then it's fair share of pain. There was a loud thud a the man holding her fell away as well. She was vaguely aware of words being spoken and Cassalie looked up from rubbing her sore shoulders in time to see the Taxi taking off.

"Are you alright?" Instinctively she took a quick step back and prepared to fight this time. Instead of the evil neighbor or one of his gooney friends she found a man dressed in... what is that? Red leather?

"Yeah..." She muttered, still working her jaw. "I'm fine." She recognized him... kind of. Pictures of him popped up on TV from time to time. Fuzzy images close to those of alleged big foot sightings. "You're Daredevil... right?"

He nodded as a slight smirk spread across his face. Finally someone who didn't mistake him for Spider-man. "Do you live here?" He asked, looking at the building they stood in front of. It wasn't pretty but still in better shape then a lot of the buildings around the kitchen, though it could be worse.

"Yeah..." Even with half his face covered she could still tell what he was thinking by the way his jaws tightened. She'd learned a but about reading faces from observing Matt. His thought tend to make themselves known in small facial movements. Especially where she was concerned. "They won't bother me again for a while." She assured him quietly, looking down at the sidewalk. "They went home."

She seemed more willing to speak to Daredevil, Matt noted. She'd also lost the attitude. In fact she seemed almost submissive, something he wasn't used to seeing from her at all. Although whether it was because of the events that just took place or being in the presence of one of New Yorks many heroes he didn't know.

Cassalie felt fingers on her jaw again she jerked away but this time they didn't mean to hurt her so she forced herself to stay still. Gently he tipped her head back, making her look at him. "You're sure you're alright?"

She nodded. "Just a little bruised. I'm fine."

He regarded her a moment longer. There was no smell of blood and besides the rush from the fight he wasn't picking up anything that suggested the need for medical attention. "Alright." Finally he dropped his hand. "Stay safe- ...Miss." He said, turning to leave and hoping she didn't hear him trip over his words. Referring to someone you know as if you've never met them is harder then one might think.

Cassalie stood there watched him disappeared onto the rooftops above before pushing through the doors. It felt... odd. Being rescued like that. Kind of like a dream come true... or contracting a fatal disease. The kind of stuff heard on the news or through the grapevine all the time but that never actually seem to happen to anyone. Thought she was grateful it did or she may have more then just a few bruises on her face. With a sigh of relief she pushed open her door, ready to get a real nights sleep in her own bed for the first time in days.