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…...

"Matt…Matty?"

Matt grinned in amazement and leapt down towards the back entrance, pulling Foggy into a big hug. "Foggy! I knew you'd come back!"

Foggy hugged his friend back before sighing, "You've already down so much for me…but I need your help again."

"Anything!"

Matt's face fell when he heard two more heartbeats near the door….one of which was very familiar. "I've brought my friend here…." Began Foggy, "…He was shot by some cops and now he's wanted….just like me. I knew he'd be safe here…please?"

Matt nodded before waving in the general direction of his room, "Come on, up here!" He showed them to where his bed was and listened as Foggy and the unknown male placed Foggy's friend on the bed.

"Foggy?" groaned the man.

"Ssh Brett…you'll need to stay here until you can move without the help of Andres the Giant here!"

Matt heard the clanking of bottes before Brett spoke again. "Great, I could use a-AAAAH! SHIT FOGGY, what the hell!"

"It needs disinfecting Brett! Now hold still so I can stitch this up….you're lucky it was a through and through….That family owes you their lives. You're either the single bravest cop out there…or the stupidest."

"Ex-cop remember? Fuck! I feel so lucky right now!"

"You could have died Brett, so stop whinging!"

Matt frowned. These two were close…perhaps too close. He sighed wearily as he turned away from the scene…he knew he wasn't Foggy's type.

"Matt…" It was Foggy, "…Matty are you okay?"

"Yes."

"You don't sound it buddy." Matt could hear the confusion in Foggy's voice.

"Well I am, okay!?"

Matt heard Foggy frown, but before the man could say anything else there was the sound of a car pulling up outside of the cathedral. "Stick's here…" whispered Matt frantically as he ran towards the back entrance, "…quickly, go down the South Tower stairs!"

"Matt…." Foggy sighed, "…please be careful, and please don't let anything happen to him!"

Matt nodded, dodging Foggy's oncoming kiss as he headed back up the stairs. "You should go…be careful."

…

Once they were gone, Karen began to panic. "Quick, we've gotta stash the stiff! Somewhere Stick can't hear his heartbeat!"

Matt dragged Brett from his bed and began to pull him towards the west side of his room where there was a table. One the west of the cathedral was a few clubs so at this time of the night, it was quite loud…loud enough for one heartbeat to be lost in the sounds of the music. After stuffing Brett under the table and placing a cloth over it to hide Brett fully.

A few minutes later, Matt heard Stick enter his room, "S-stick! I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be coming today!"

"I'm never too busy to send some time with you….I've even brought something special with me today."

When there was no sign of Matt going anywhere, Stick coughed pointedly. He smirked as Matt began to panic, breaking plates and cups as he tried to get everything set out.

"Is something wrong Matthew?"

"N-No…"

"Oh but there is…I can hear your heartbeat remember boy!"

Matt continued to shake his head in denial.

"You're not eating boy!"

At this Matt hurriedly shoved the food in his mouth, his ears still carefully focused on Brett's heartbeat...which was still steady thankfully. Apart from the occasional moan of pain, which Matt covered up by coughing, Stick seemed none the wiser.

"Something…smells different about this room…"

"Different? I don't know what you mean Sir…"

"It sort of smells like…meat. A lot like that butcher's boy!"

Matt sat there in silence, panicking as Stick's heartrate increased. "I know you helped him to escape!" yelled Stick, slamming his fist on the table, causing Matt to fall backwards in shock, "And now all of Hell's Kitchen is burning because of you!"

Matt winced, "H-he was kind to me…"

"You idiot! That wasn't kindness, it was cunning! He's a gypsy, gypsies aren't capable of real love! Think boy! Think of the man who killed your Father!"

Matt's breath stopped in his throat as Stick grabbed him by the shirt. They remained in this position for a few minutes until Stick cleared his throat. "But what hope could a poor boy like you have against his heathen ways…no matter, he will soon be out of our lives and then you will be free."

"What do you mean?"

"I know where the gypsy hideout is and tomorrow morning, Fisk will send a thousand men after them!"

Stick left the room and headed out of the cathedral. A few minutes after the coast was clear, Matt heard Brett groan and get up from under the table. "We need to find the Court of Miracles. If Stick gets there before us-are you coming?"

Matt sighed wearily, "I can't…"

"I thought you were his friend!"

"Stick's my master! I can't disobey him again!" Matt turned his back on the ex-cop who growled.

"He stood up for you! You've got a funny way of showing it!"

Silence.

Brett threw his good hand up in the air, "Well I'm not going to stand by and watch Stick and Fisk massacre hundreds of relatively innocent lives!"

Matt listened to Brett leaving the cathedral before turning back around. He was immediately met with the stony silence of his three friends. "What?! What do you want me to do? Walk into the court and rescue the 'damsel' from the jaws of death!? He already has his knight in shining armour and it isn't me!"

Matt sighed wearily, "Stick was right…Stick was right all along. I'm tired of trying to be something I'm not…" He ran his fingers gently over the palm lines of his left hand before reaching under his shirt and pulling out the necklace that Foggy had given him. He ran his fingers over the band until he was tapped on the shoulder by Karen and handed his red mask.

He sighed again, "I must be out of my mind!" He growled as he grabbed the mask and headed out of the cathedral…the quick way. He dropped down in front of Brett just as the man was exiting the main entrance. "Brett!"

"AAH!" gasped Brett in shock, grabbing the part of his chest where his heart was.

"I'm coming with you."

"Glad you changed your mind…"

"I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for him!"

"You know where he is?"

"No…" Matt pulled the necklace out from his shirt and handed it to Brett, "…but he said that this will help find him"

Brett grinned, "Excellent…what is it?"

"I don't know…"

"Okay…well maybe it's in code. Latin….French maybe?"

"When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand…" whispered Matt as he reached out to grab the necklace from Brett.

"What?!"

"It's the city!" cried out Matt excitedly as he ran his fingers over the woven patterns.

"What are you talking about?!"

"It's a map….look, here's the cathedral, and then the river and this right here must be-"

"Look, I've seen maps before and-"

"I've lived in the streets for ten years so I know what the city looks like!"

"This isn't a map!"

Both men took deep breaths as their argument got a little loud. Brett rolled his eyes and sighed, "Okay, you think it's a map…whatever. But if we want to help Foggy, we have to work together! Truce?"

Matt thought for a second before nodding, "Okay, truce!" He slapped Brett on the back, causing the ex-cop to yell in pain as the gunshot on his shoulder became all too clear again.

"Sorry…" muttered Matt as they both headed off in the direction of the mysterious symbol.

"No you're not…"

…

The 'map' led them to the cemetery where a large grave stood, the symbol on the map clearly engraved on the headstone….well clear to Brett anyway.

Matt frowned, "Here…are you sure?"

"Hey, it has the symbol on it! Maybe there's an inscription near it which will tell us more…give me few-" Brett was interrupted when Matt removed the large stone which covered the main part of the grave, "Yes, or we could just go down there…down the creepy stairs."

They both climbed into the grave and headed down, with Brett still holding his flashlight tightly. Matt groaned as the smell of sewage reached his nose, "Is this the Court of Miracles?"

"Offhand, I'd say it was the Court of Ankle-Deep sewage…we must be in the old sewage systems. Cheerful place…." Brett chuckled, "…kinda makes you wish you'd got out more often eh?"

Matt shook his head, "No way…I just want to warn Foggy and then get the hell out of here before I get into any more trouble!"

The smell of the sewage was far too over-powering for Matt, he could barely focus on anything else except the horrible scent.

"Speaking of trouble…" began Brett, "…we should have run into some by now."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, a guard! A trap!" Suddenly there was the sound of glass shattering and Brett sighed, "Or an ambush…"

Suddenly there was an increase in heartbeats and the pair of them were grabbed and had their hands tied behind their backs. A very familiar Russian voice made itself known at that moment.

"Well, well, well…what have we here?!"

"Trespassers!"

"Spies!"

Brett and Matt began to protest, "We're not spies you-MMPH!" "You need to listen to-MMPH!"

"Don't interrupt my brother!" scolded the older voice, "You're very clever to have found our hideaway, unfortunately, you won't live to tell the tale!"

"Maybe you've heard of a terrible place where the scoundrels of Hell's Kitchen collect in a lair?

Maybe you've heard of a mystical place called the Court of Miracles, hello! You're there!

Where the lame can walk!

And the blind can see!

But the dead don't talk! So you won't be around to reveal what you've found!"

Brett and Matt found themselves being carried off as the brother's creepy mantra continued,

"We have a method for spies and intruders, rather like hornets protecting their hives!

Here in the Court of Miracles, where it's a miracle if you get out alive!"

The pair were carried onto a stage where Brett was alarmed to see two nooses hanging from the rafters.

"Gather around everyone!..." called out the older brother,

"…It's good 'noose' tonight!" finished the younger one.

"It's a double header! A couple of Fisk's spies!"

"But not just any spies! His loyal Police Captain and his bell-ringing henchman!"

Ropes were placed around the pair's necks and at that moment, Matt was glad that he couldn't see

"Justice is swift in the Court of Miracles! We are the lawyers and Judges all in one!

We like to get the trial over with quickly, because it's the sentence that's really the fun!"

"Any last words?" asked the older one, chuckling as both Brett and Matt tried to protest behind their gags, "Ha! That's what they all say!"

"Now that we've seen all the evidence-"

"Wait I object!"

"Overruled!"

"I object!"

"QUIET!"

"We find you totally innocent, which is the worst crime of all…so you're going to hang!"

Brett and Matt tensed as they waited for the floor to drop out from underneath them.

"WAIT!" Foggy burst through the crowd and climbed up on the stage as both Brett and Matt sighed in relief. These men aren't spies you idiots! They're on our side!"

"Well why didn't they say so?!"

"WE DID SAY SO!" yelled Brett and Matt as their gags were removed.

"This is the cop who saved the baker's family…" explained Foggy as he untied the pair, "…and Matt helped me escape the bell tower!"

Brett stepped forward, "We came to warn you! Stick and Fisk know where you are and are planning to attack at dawn!"

Matt heard the worried whispers of the crowd as Foggy tried to reassure them, "Then we shouln't wait any time just standing here! Grab everything and let's go people!"

The crowd dispersed and Matt could clearly hear the sounds of packing and people grabbing what they could.

"You shouldn't be walking!" scolded Foggy to Brett, "You took a huge risk coming here…I know we don't seem grateful but we are, honest."

Matt turned away from the pair, not wanting to show Foggy how the two of them affected him. He was quickly span back around, with Brett still talking to Foggy. "Don't thank me Foggy, thank your boyfriend here…"

Matt stammered for a bit, but Foggy's next words stopped him in his tracks, "Brett, you didn't even give me chance to ask him!"

"Hey buddy, if it were up to you, it would be years before you plucked up the courage! I think poor Matt misunderstood our relationship."

"Oh crap Matty! I'm sorry!"

Matt found that he couldn't say anything, so Brett continued to speak. "Anyway, whether or not he is his boyfriend….we never would have found this place without him!"

"Nor would we!"