True to his word, Matt hadn't gone out that night, actually making it to drinks on time. Busyness at work ended up keeping him in the next few nights as well, and by the time that Wednesday evening came, Matt was anxious to begin searching Hell's Kitchen for any sign that the Black Widow hadn't been mistaken. Slipping into his suit, Matt climbed out the fire escape and worked his way in toward a high roof towards the center of Hell's Kitchen. It was one of the better vantage points in the city.
Once he was settled in Matt took a deep breath and let the noises of the city wash over him, not filtering anything for the moment, but trying to catch every sound he could. His heart began to race as it overwhelmed him, but Matt tried to force himself into a calm and began filtering. First he focused on ignoring the sounds of the innumerable cars and buses that were going about even at the late hour. It took him a few minutes before he was able to accomplish the proper focus that Stick had so long ago drilled into him. The noises of the streets—the rumbling of engines, blaring of horns, and the screeching—faded away and he was left with every other noise filling the city. It was just as overwhelming as before if not more as now rather than white noise the multitude of cars had provided he heard the overlapping of thousands of voices, the scrabbling of rats and stray cats and the other city animals, and the various other noises that made up the night. He forced back the beeping of stoplights, the noise from animals and televisions and the general buzz of the electrical and heating systems of the buildings.
It had been about half an hour since he had come up to the top of the building and finally Matt had narrowed his focus to only include the voices and heartbeats of the people in Hell's Kitchen. He took one step further and narrowed out those voices and heartbeats that seemed to belong to infants and small children before finally beginning to pick out voices and listening—searching for any mention of HYDRA, but also for any grouping of people in the night who might be a part of the shadow organization.
Hours passed with no whisper of anything that pointed to HYDRA, and at around three in the morning when a headache was beginning to build steadily, Matt called it a night and slipped through the dark back to his apartment and went to sleep.
The next week passed similarly. Every other time he went out as Daredevil Matt dedicated himself solely to listening and seeking out HYDRA, but learned nothing. It was on the Tuesday after his fist night out listening, that a different sound caught his attention—one that he had been waiting for.
The slow, steady heartbeat and quiet breathing had been committed to his memory, and Matt slipped down from the building and began working his way across the city to wait. She had just barely entered Hell's Kitchen, but how he had been listening had caused him to notice her appearance almost immediately. Picking a good spot, Matt settled into an alley along her pathway. She would have passed him by without notice—not having expected him so soon, but Matt stepped out of the shadows and she spun, ready for a fight.
Matt smirked at her, amused that he had caused her heartrate to spike, though he could sense no other sign that she had been startled. "Black Widow." He greeted softly. "I told you I'd find you."
She was silent for a few moments before speaking. "You can call me Natasha. You're good. How did you find me? I just got here."
"I know." Matt admitted, but was unwilling to give away his abilities. He was grateful when she didn't press him, simply giving a soft laugh. He was surprised she had given him permission to use her name. He knew it of course—it had come out in the events surrounding the fiasco with HYDRA, but he hadn't presumed to call her that.
"The others will laugh at me if I tell them. It's not often that someone manages to sneak up on me." She glanced around. "Let's move out of this alley. We are pretty conspicuous even without your costume. Why red?"
Matt shrugged. "I like red. And it's easy enough to keep hidden. No one ever looks up." She nodded, acknowledging his point. "I know a quiet place." Matt said before climbing onto the roof, a bit of mischief filling him. "Keep up." He had a definite advantage as they climbed and leapt across the roofs of Hell's Kitchen. He was familiar with the path he was taking, and despite her other skill and competence in following, it was obvious enough that she didn't often travel by rooftop. When he arrived at his destination—a roof of an empty office building that was hard to see from any of the surrounding buildings—Matt stopped, his breath coming heavily. The Black Widow was about ten seconds behind him and landed on the roof lightly before stopping to catch her breath as well.
"Hawkeye would like you." She commented flatly. Matt smiled. "That wasn't really a complement." She commented dryly and he grinned widely. A few minutes later when they had both caught their breath, Matt took the time to focus his listening on the city again. It was becoming easier to do each day and taking less of his concentration—he could do it without thinking though the more he concentrated the more he could take in. At the moment, he limited his focus to the surrounding blocks. "I'll know if anyone notices us."
He was surprised when she took him at his word before realizing that she had probably concluded that he had abilities beyond the norm for humans, even if she wasn't sure what his abilities were. And he had read about her in the data release when HYDRA had made themselves known. He wasn't sure how much of the information about her was true—he doubted even SHIELD had had the complete story of her life—but from what he had found he knew she had a dark past before SHIELD and the Avengers. And she was a spy. It wouldn't surprise him if her ability to tell if someone was lying rivaled his own. The observation reminded him to consider his words carefully to ensure that he didn't give himself away by mistake.
"What have you found?" She asked suddenly, breaking the silence between them.
"I haven't found anything suspicious yet." Matt said. "I've been out searching for anything that could be connected, but nothing so far. Have you heard anything more?"
She nodded. "They are definitely here, though I think it is a small number right now. Stark has managed to electronically trace some money here—though we didn't get anything narrower than Hell's Kitchen from the trace. HYDRA has been quiet. It's worrisome. We don't know what they are planning."
Matt sighed. He had been hoping for something more. The sounds of a fight caught his attention for a moment before he dismissed it. It was the typical bar fight and nothing he needed to see to. He realized that some tell must have given away his flicker of attention because Natasha was suddenly watching him with intent curiosity. "I realized the other day that I should have some way to contact you or the others. If I find something concrete it would be good to have backup."
"Do you have a phone for this?" She asked.
Sliding his phone out, Matt considered it for a moment. It was a relatively new burner phone and the only call on it had been one to Claire. Deciding it was unlikely to give too much away, he tossed her his phone. She began entering a few numbers. "I entered the numbers under the first letter of our codenames. I gave you mine, Hawkeye's, Captain America's, and one that would be picked up my JARVIS, Stark's AI. On the chance that none of us answer, he will and can get you in contact with someone." She tossed his phone back and he slipped it away. I hope you don't mind me sending myself your number as well." He shook his head. He had noticed her doing it, and it would be easier if she could contact him over phone anyway. "Is there any time I shouldn't call—that someone else might accidently pick up?"
"No." He answered. "If I'm somewhere I wouldn't want anyone to see me answer I'd either leave it behind of have it on silent."
She nodded, walking a few steps over to sit down against the wall of the roof's stair access. Matt considered it for a few moments—wondering if she actually felt like sitting down or if it was some test to see if she could figure something out about him—before sitting against the AC unit several feet away, stretching a bit. If she was planning to stick around a while longer it would be good to stay and try to establish a bit of trust. "If you find HYDRA don't engage them alone." She commented quietly. "They are dangerous—more than anyone else you might have faced. If they beat you, they might do worse than kill you." Matt was curious. There was something hidden in her voice. Her warning wasn't a general one, but one that had its roots in something that had happened to someone. She glanced over at him with consideration. "I was asked to convey a request for a favor from the Captain." Matt paused curiously, turning his attention to her. "If you hear any mention of the Winter Soldier, let him know. Even if it's just in passing."
"Sure." Matt agreed easily. That wouldn't be any more difficult that what he was already doing. He wondered who or what it was that Captain America was looking for, but could tell from the tone of Natasha's voice that asking wouldn't get him any more information than he had already been given. "Anything more you hear of HYDRA in Hell's Kitchen let me know as soon as possible. Any information can narrow down my search and I can find them faster."
As silence fell between them, Matt could tell that she was considering him intently even if she wasn't really looking at him at the moment. She was trying to figure him out—not who he was but what he could do. He wondered what she was guessing, but didn't want to ask, knowing his reaction to what she was thinking if she answered was liable to give away more than he wished to. After a few more minutes of silence, she spoke again.
"I'll be away for the next week or two, possibly more. Hawkeye might come in my place if we find anything." Matt nodded, grateful for the warning. He knew the least about Hawkeye. As soon as the information had been dumped, pieces of it started being erased. Anything someone found and stored or shared had been everywhere, but a lot seemed to somehow disappear, and Matt—along with everyone else—had suspected Stark. A lot of the missing information seemed to be about the Avengers and Stark Industries in general, but there was a lot of other information to disappear as well. He knew that Hawkeye went by the name Clint Barton and that he had been an assassin and spy, but no one had been able to find much more than that. It had been in SHIELDs records that Hawkeye and Black Widow had been partners—going on missions and undercover together. He was likely as observant and talented as she was. Matt made a mental note to pay attention. It didn't seem like Natasha was particularly intent on figuring out who he was, but an unexpected tail to his apartment could expose his identity.
Matt suddenly pushed to his feet. He wanted to spend at least a little while longer listening tonight, especially now that he had confirmation that HYDRA was in Hell's Kitchen. Black Widow stood as well. "I'll see you around." She said with a small smile. Matt returned her smile before taking off toward his usual spot to listen, a pit of worry in his stomach as he what exactly HYDRA wanted in Hell's Kitchen. He knew he needed to find them as quickly as possible before they could set too deep of roots.
AN: I still have only a general idea of where this series is going so if anyone has any ideas or things they would like to see, let me know, because I always love fresh ideas. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can find the time.