Matt got out of the cab and unfolded his cane, making his way through the busy sidewalk and into the lobby of Avengers Tower.
"Excuse me, sir? Can I help you?" a young man behind a desk asked.
"Uh, yes. I'm here to see Tony Stark," Matt answered, straightening his tie.
"And you are?"
"Matt Murdock." Matt resisted a smirk when the young man's heart jumped.
"Mister Murdock, of course! I'll let him know you're here and he'll be right down."
"Thank you." Matt stood, listening and feeling, getting a sense of the room. It was big and open and, except for the reception desk and the man behind it, empty. He got the sense that visitors weren't really welcome, that there was a lot more to this place but not for just anyone. He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound and vibration of the elevator coming down, and the doors swished open a few seconds later.
"Matthew!" Stark cried, approaching Matt with an outstretched arm that wrapped itself around Matt's shoulders as they walked. "I knew you'd come! Why didn't you call? I would've sent a car."
Matt shrugged. "I tried calling, but I couldn't find your number. No Tony, no Stark-"
Stark let out a chuckle. "Oh, yeah, I put myself in there as Iron Man. Sorry 'bout that. You ready for the grand tour?"
"As ready as I can be," Matt replied as they stepped into the elevator. He wanted to ask if the other Avengers were there, but didn't want to seem too eager. He still wasn't completely sold on the whole thing, and he didn't want to give Tony the wrong idea.
After a few seconds of silence, Stark said, "You'll get to meet some of the others. Not all of them, mind you, but most of 'em." The elevator slowly came to a stop and the doors slid open. Stark walked out and Matt trailed after him. "Here we go, the main floor. We've got a lounge area and bar over to the left. It's where I came up with the name Avengers. It's also where the Hulk smashed a war-hungry maniac into the very expensive tile, but that's patched up now. The rest of the floor is mostly labs, plus a server room."
Matt nodded. He could hear a heartbeat other than Stark's and his own coming from somewhere down the hall. "Who's here?"
"What's that?"
"I, uh…" Matt trailed off, suddenly embarrassed. He swallowed. "I can hear someone else's heartbeat, down the hall. I was just wondering who it was." He could feel Tony watching him and he willed himself not to blush.
"You are extraordinary, aren't you? You're gonna have to explain just how it is you do what you do at some point. For now, though, we'll go say hi to that heartbeat you heard. If I had to guess, I'd say it belongs to Dr. Bruce Banner. Come on!"
Matt folded up his cane and followed Stark down the gently curving hallway for a little ways before they turned into a large room that smelled like chemicals and flame and hummed with the sound of several computers.
"Bruce!" Stark cried happily. "This is the prospective recruit I was telling you about."
"Mr. Murdock," Banner said. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Bruce Banner. Hope you're not too disappointed if you don't get a chance to meet the Other Guy."
"The other guy?" Matt asked, and he was sure that Stark and Banner exchanged a glance.
"The Hulk," Banner explained. "Big green monster?"
Matt felt his eyebrows climb up his forehead. He'd never imagined that the Hulk might be someone other than the Hulk. "Right! Foggy told me about you. Big and green or not, it's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Banner." He held out his hand and he could feel it in the handshake; it was firm, but not too firm, carefully measured, like Banner himself.
"Please, call me Bruce," Banner said. "Tony told me about the accident you had as a kid. I've been looking into it, trying to figure out exactly what it is that blinded you, but the information on what happened...What I can access is pretty vague. Is there anything you can tell me about that day?"
"Uh...Wow. It hadn't really occurred to me that there was much to know." Matt was taken aback. He hadn't thought about the accident in a long time. What the chemical was and where it had come from and was headed had never really crossed his mind. "I mean, it blinded me, but you know that. But I think it's also what made me the way I am now; my other senses are...heightened. A lot. I use them to create a mental picture of my surroundings. It's why I can fight. I can hear heartbeats, can use them to predict when someone's going to make a move. I can feel the air moving when a fist or a foot comes at me, I can smell the metal of a gun, can hear a finger tighten on the trigger…" He trailed off as the other two stared at him in wonder. Stark moved suddenly, and something sailed toward Matt's head. He ducked to the side at the same time as his right hand flew up and caught the object, which revealed itself to be a stress ball.
"Tony!" Bruce said in a disapproving tone. Stark just laughed.
"Impressive, Murdock. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you can do. We should get going, there's a lot to…" Stark hesitated before adding (somewhat sheepishly), "Observe."
Matt smiled. "You can say 'see,' I won't be offended. It was nice to meet you Doctor-er, Bruce."
"Nice to meet you too, Matt. Hey, if you don't mind, I'd love to ask you some questions later on if you have a minute."
The eagerness in his voice almost made Matt shy and he nodded. "Sure, of course."
"Come on, Murdock!" Stark said, impatience in his words and the way he bounced on his toes.
Matt gave Banner one last smile before following Tony back to the elevator, surprised when it started moving down. "Where are we going?"
"The upper floors are boring. Lodging, some kitchens, a few media rooms, a dozen-ish more labs...nothing important. Downstairs, though, in the underground floors? That's where all the fun shit is. I'm talking Olympic size pools, multi-level training decks, fully functional gyms, a boxing ring-the works and more! Just like Bruce and I like to spend time in the labs doing important work, the others spend most of their time training." He scoffed. "Bunch of nerds."
The elevator came to a halt and the door swished open, and as they stepped out Matt was assaulted with a strong but not entirely unfamiliar mix of smells-gym mats, canvas, blood and sweat...For a moment, Matt was a kid again, back in Fogwell's learning Braille as his dad trained. The memory had been a painful one, once, but now it just brought a small smile to Matt's face. The smile grew when he heard someone pummeling the shit out of a punching bag.
"Steve!" Stark called, and the blows stopped.
Matt drew in a sharp breath. Unless the archer's name was Steve, Matt was pretty sure he was about to meet Captain America. He'd been learning about the man in school since before he was blind. Hell, one of the essay questions on his honors history final was about Steve Rogers. It was the best essay score he'd ever gotten.
He suddenly felt very nervous.
Steve sauntered his way over-no, sauntered wasn't quite right. Saunter implied ego, and there didn't seem to be any ego. Meandered? Matt was still trying to figure out the right word when a voice broke into his thoughts.
"Hi. I'm Steve Rogers."
Matt couldn't contain a smile as he shook the super soldier's hand. "Matt Murdock. Wow. It's, uh...it's an honor to meet you."
Steve let out a small laugh. "You know, I was actually thinking the same thing. It was amazing what you did, standing up against someone like Wilson Fisk. And I'm not just just talking about Daredevil. What you did as Matt Murdock was just as incredible."
Matt scrubbed at the back of his head, willing his cheeks not to turn red. "Thanks. That's really nice of you to say."
He heard a scoff from Stark. "Alright, that's enough fangirling for one day. There's more to see around here and Cap is clearly very busy."
Steve sighed a very small sigh that Matt was sure Stark didn't hear (and that he sensed was probably a regular occurrence). "It was good to meet you, Mr. Murdock. Regardless of whether you decide to stay, I'd love to talk to you more sometime."
"Me too," Matt managed to get out before Stark was guiding (practically dragging) him away.
"We should find agents-sorry, former agents-Romanoff and Barton in the next room. It's a favorite of theirs-three levels of holographic landscape that changes every day, plus virtual enemies that are programmed to behave differently with every use. It's next-gen stuff, really keeps 'em on their toes." Stark said this all very proudly, and Matt had to hold back a snort.
Matt hummed and nodded. "You know," he said, turning his face toward Stark. "That all sounds great, except I'm not sure how'd I do against opponents with no vital signs."
Stark scoffed. "Oh, don't worry about that. I built a state-of-the-art training facility for a few of the local police precincts, and they pay me back by practicing with the team on occasion." He punched something into a keypad by the door and it swished open. Matt followed him into the room, and once again found himself surprised. It was a lot bigger than he'd thought, and he could hear the sounds of a fight-but only half of it.
"Hey!" Tony called, hitting a switch and filling the space with the barely noticeable hum and heat of lights. At the shout, the pseudo-fighting sounds stopped and the two interrupted agents made their way down from the upper levels to the now open doorway.
"Is this the guy?" the man-Barton-asked, sounding equal parts excited and skeptical.
"Matt Murdock," Matt said, and Barton let out a sound.
"Wow. I mean, I thought you'd be taller."
"Clint!" hissed the woman who had to be Romanoff.
"Ow!" Barton cried, and Matt guessed he'd just gotten an elbow to the ribs. "Seriously though, I've got at least three inches on the guy, maybe four."
Romanoff sighed and addressed Matt. "Just ignore him. Lord knows that's what the rest of us do."
"Hey!"
"I'm Natasha Romanoff. And this idiot is Clint Barton. Since Stark and Banner can't fight to save their lives unless they're in a flashy metal suit or turned into a green rage monster, you'll be doing most of your training here with us, and maybe Steve on occasion."
Matt smiled. "Well, I'm not sure I'm even gonna-"
"What do you mean I can't fight to save my life?" Stark interrupted. "The first time you saw me I was boxing with Happy, and I have come a long way since then."
Matt was both shocked and delighted when Romanoff stepped around him and promptly flipped Stark onto his back. Barton laughed while Romanoff helped the billionaire back to his feet.
"That wasn't fair," he griped. "I wasn't ready!"
"That's kind of the point," Barton said, his voice bordering on gleeful.
"Exactly," Romanoff said, a smirk in her voice.
"Did you just agree with me?"
True to her word, Romanoff ignored the archer. "So you're Daredevil, huh?"
"Yeah," Matt answered at the same time that Barton said, "You did, didn't you! The last time you did that was in Rio."
"Do you even remember Rio? You got concussed so badly on our last day there that I had to carry you to the extraction point. And quit interrupting, it's rude."
"I'm gonna go hit the showers, anyway. Nice to meet you Matt! Sorry about the height comment. At least you're still taller than Tony!" He jogged away laughing, and Matt was reminded of Foggy. He suspected the two of them would probably get along swimmingly if they ever met.
"He's lucky I don't kick his ass," Stark muttered under his breath.
"Even I would have a hard time doing that. He may be a jackass but he's a good fighter, and stronger than he looks," Romanoff said.
"Well I'd be in the suit, obviously."
"Wouldn't that be cheating?" Matt asked, a smile playing at his lips. Romanoff let out a laugh and Stark gasped.
"Cheating? Me? That's it, you're no longer invited. Romanoff, do me a favor and see the gentleman out."
Matt laughed. "I'm not uninvited."
"Oh, and what makes you so sure?"
"Your heartbeat. It's too steady."
"Listening to my heartbeat is definitely cheating. Well, unless you have any questions, comments, requests, that really does conclude our tour. Do you?"
"Do I…" Matt hadn't really been listening to the last part of whatever Stark was saying. He'd been too busy observing Romanoff. He got the sense that she had a lot of secrets, and that she was very good at hiding them.
"Have any questions, comments, requests?"
Matt did, actually, something that had been bothering him since the start of all this. "If I decide to do this, what do I tell Karen? Or anyone else who's not in the know? Because I can't be like you guys. I can't let the whole world know who I am. It would ruin my career. It would put every person I love in danger...I can't just stay here in the Avengers Tower. Hell's Kitchen is my home. Everyone I care about is there. I'm not gonna give that up, not for anything."
(He would later encounter something he would give it up for.)
(He would be tempted.)
(He would be too late.)
"Relax, Murdock. We're all very good at keeping secrets. Tell Karen and anyone else who asks that you're...I dunno, part of a study I'm conducting in order to develop technology to aid the visually challenged."
"'The visually challenged?'" Romanoff repeated.
"It sounds more sensitive that way. Doesn't it Murdock?"
"Honestly? You can just say blind people," Matt answered, earning him one of Stark's signature scoffs.
"Well obviously I can't trust your opinion. I'm taking you back to the lobby. Happy'll drive you home so you don't have to call a cab again."
Matt frowned. "He really doesn't have to do that."
"Oh please," Stark said. "Cabs are disgusting. Do you know how disgusting cabs are? Absolutely revolting. I simply won't allow it."
"I mean...I guess if you insist," Matt muttered before turning to Romanoff. "It was nice to meet you, Ms. Romanoff."
"Please, call me Natasha," she said, giving him a quick handshake.
"Alright, Natasha," Matt said before following Stark to the elevator. He gave one last wave before the doors shut. Neither of them spoke the whole way up, and Stark hardly said a word as he guided Matt out to the car where Happy was waiting.
"K, Murdock," Stark said as Matt sat in the car, the seats of which probably cost more than Matt's apartment. "Take a few days to think about it. If I haven't heard from you by the end of the week, I'll know what that means."
"You got it," Matt answered. He was sure he would need the few days, but it turned out only to take the length of the car ride for him to know. As soon as he got up to his apartment, he called Stark.
"Murdock. Did you leave something at the tower? I can have Happy look for whatever it is. Happy!"
"No!" Matt said quickly. "No, I didn't leave anything! I, uh...well, I've decided."
There was a beat before Tony said, "And?"
"I'm in."
xxx