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Chapter 18- One last shot
Wilson Fisk stood on the rooftop with Adrian Chase and Felix Manning.
They looked at a helicopter that was descending from the sky.
"Sir?" Manning asked.
"What?" Fisk asked him.
"Nadeem escaped", Manning said, "He's in the wind."
"Well then, you better find him, Manning", Chase said to him in an intimidating whisper, which did intimidate him.
"Nuke is back too", he said.
"I have nothing to ask it for now", Fisk said.
Chase then lead Manning away as the helicopter landed and out came Vanessa. She wore a black coat over her white dress.
She looked as beautiful as she had when Fisk had last seen her. Just as lovely and graceful. The part of Fisk that had been slumbering for over a year, as if it was in a coma, woke up again at the sight. Fisk felt the emotion that had escaped him for a while. Love! Pure, unconditional love.
The two now stood within inches of each other.
With a loving smile, she said, "Hello, Wilson."
The two then slowly hugged each other and stayed that way, not letting go, as if afraid it would separate them forever again. But as long as they were with each other, no power in the world could come between them.
Love was blind. But the one working against the lovers was also blind coincidentally. Matt, Oliver, Elektra, Slade, Roy, Frank and Foggy lead Nadeem, Seema and Sami into Mahoney's home with his help.
"Thank you, Mrs. Mahoney", Foggy said gratefully.
"Y'all ain't the only ones haunted by Wilson Fisk", she said.
Everyone had now decided to follow Foggy's plan. The plan was that he and Matt will represent Nadeem as his lawyer and he will expose Wilson Fisk and everyone else. Foggy managed to convince Blake Tower to sit with them and told him he would drop out of the race and even endorse him if he did this.
"Blake Tower", Foggy introduced, "Special Agent Ray Nadeem."
"We've met", Tower said.
"Before we begin, some ground rules", Matt said as the three sat down, "Our client will speak to you under terms of use immunity. He does not waive his Fifth Amendment rights."
"Special Agent, I should advise you that Misters Nelson and Murdock have their own agendas in this case", Tower advised him, "Conflicts of interest are not something you want in legal counsel."
Nadeem looked at them and said, "I trust them."
"Suit yourself", Tower said, "Mr. Nelson played his biggest and last card to get me here. So, what are you going to tell me?"
"He's going to tell you that Wilson Fisk has had people murdered, blackmailed federal law enforcement personnel", Matt explained to Tower, "And is currently taxing New York's criminals in exchange for protection from prosecution."
"And your client has personally witnessed these acts?" Tower asked.
"He did", Foggy said, "And he's prepared to testify."
"Now, before I agree to that, Agent Nadeem, why are you coming forward now?" Tower asked.
Nadeem then saw Tower giving him a pointed look.
"I hurt people", Nadeem said with a guilty sigh, "My pride hurt people. And I need to make that right again."
After a tense moment of silence, Tower finally said, "Okay. I accept the terms of use immunity. Tell me what you know."
Nadeem then narrated the entire thing right there to Tower.
"After the attack on my home I secured my family and came directly here", he finished.
"This is unbelievable" was all Blake could say.
"Believe it", Foggy said.
"I can convene a special grand jury today", Tower said, "Probably by 4:00 p.m."
"Great", Matt said, "Our offer is straightforward. Agent Nadeem's testimony in exchange for full immunity."
"He just confessed to being an accessory in how many homicides?" Tower asked pointedly as he got up.
"Cases you would never make in a million years without our client's testimony", Foggy pointed out as he got up.
"If this was a larceny case, or corruption, maybe", Tower said, "But he's a federal law enforcement officer", he gestured at Ray, "That looked the other way while class A felonies, homicides, were committed. Two men were murdered in front of him, and he never said a damn word."
"He didn't say a thing, because he was afraid for his family", Matt argued as he got up, "Fisk tried to kill them all last night, and Agent Nadeem is here today, telling you everything. Can you say you'd do the same thing, Mr. Tower?"
Tower had no answer.
"Our offer expires when you walk out that door", Matt said, "Full immunity, or we're advising our client to run for his life."
"Five years", Tower said finally, "On each count."
"No."
You can't do murder and walk."
"Come on, Blake, no jail time", Foggy requested, "You'll be the DA who took down Wilson Fisk, and the next stop on the Tower train is the governorship."
"Five years, on all counts", Tower said, "Final offer."
Matt put his chair back in place and holding out his hand said, "Thank you for coming by, Mr. Tower."
Tower walked away without shaking his hand, causing Matt to withdraw.
"Wait", Nadeem said, making Tower freeze in his tracks, "He's right. I did the crime. And I need to keep my family safe."
As Tower turned to look at them, he said, "I'll take it."
Looking at Matt and Foggy, he said, "It's okay. I'm good with this."
"Let me make a call", Tower said as he walked out.
Later, Nadeem called his son via the telephone in the gym, "Sami, there's something I need to talk to you about. You might hear some stories about me, some stuff that sounds like I did bad things. No, I didn't do them. But I didn't stop them from happening, either. And that's just as bad", he got very emotional and held back tears, "I was trying to keep you and your mom safe. That's all that matters to me. I don't care what people say about me, all I care about is what you say about me, and that you get to live the life that you want. I love you, kid."
Next day, Ray was sitting in the back of a van with Matt, Oliver, Elektra, Slade, Roy and Frank as it drove to the courthouse.
"I stepped off the path for a few weeks, and it destroyed my life", Nadeem said to them, "But you all, you step on and off the line all the time too."
"I have only one path", Slade said regretfully, "And I will stay on it."
"I am the lucky one who gets the best of both ways", Elektra commented with a smirk.
"I just returned to this life for this", Roy said, "I know I can't have it both ways."
"I can't either", Frank said, "So I will just have to continue like this."
"It complicates my life", Matt said.
"Mine too", Oliver said, "Right now, I'm trying to have it both ways. But a day will come when I will have to choose one."
"But your friends know who you are and what you do", Nadeem said.
"My life almost got them killed", Matt said.
"My life got some people I cared about killed", Oliver said with a sad sigh as he thought of Tommy, Moira and Laurel.
"We can't have it both ways either", Matt said.
"I'm sorry", Nadeem said to Oliver before saying to Matt, "I messed up, and no matter what happens today, I don't know if my wife's ever coming back. But all your friends keep coming back. How do you hold onto them?"
After a moment of silence, Matt said, "It's not me. It's them."
That moment, their vehicle stopped. Another car nearby was honking its horn repeatedly. That moment, Matt realized something was off.
He heard guns being loaded and yelled, "GET DOWN!"
All of them got down as the van was dented by gunfire from all sides.
"GET US OUT OF HERE!" Nadeem yelled to the driver.
Matt heard his heart stop beating.
"He's dead", Matt said.
"Fisk!" Oliver grumbled, "He knows about this."
"Take out your weapon", Matt told Nadeem, who complied.
"Fire through here", Matt said as he pointed to a hole.
Nadeem did and it hit someone.
Turning to Frank, he said, "You fire through those two holes."
Frank fired through them and it hit two people.
Ray then opened the door and ran out with his gun raised.
"Ray!" Slade called out but he didn't listen.
The side door opened as a corrupt agent aimed at them. But Matt was close to him. He punched him, elbowed him and slammed his head against the interior of the truck, knocking him out.
Ray saw one of the men Frank had shot groaning on the ground. As he moved towards him, someone snuck up on him. Oliver leapt out of the van's front mirror, shattering it. He leapt onto the agent and pinned him to the ground before punching him out.
The others got out of the van.
"You all pretend to lead me out of here", Matt said, "I will help you all."
As they 'lead' him forward, he said, "There's two in front of us."
The two men tried to fire but Frank and Ray gunned them down.
Matt then heard some keys rattling and an alarm beeping.
"All right", he said, "Up ahead, there's a way out. This way."
They then walked between some cars when Matt said, "Two o' clock."
As someone tried to fire at them from there, Elektra threw a knife which hit his throat, killing him.
Matt leapt at another person and slammed him into the ground. He then picked him up and slammed him on the mirror of a car, cracking it. He then dragged him down as the woman inside gasped while the pop music played over the car stereo. She saw Matt straightening his walking stick and wondered how a blind man could fight.
Oliver punched out another agent before snatching his gun and smacking another with it, knocking him out too. Slade slammed one on a car, knocking him out too.
Roy flipped to avoid being smacked by one's gun before sweeping his feet from under him and then kicking him out.
Two more tried to fire but Frank and Ray shot them down. They crouched behind a car as Matt said, "Bus. Take the bus."
They ran into the bus and hid inside as Matt whispered, "Wait for my cue."
An armed man passed the bus.
"Hello?" Matt called out like an actual blind man, "Hello? What's happening? What's happening out there? Hello? Hello?"
One arrived from the back door but Frank grabbed him and punched him hard before shooting at his feet, putting him down. Frank then shot him on the head and he was dead.
Another tried to enter from the front door but Oliver grabbed his gun and punched him before slamming his head against the bus, knocking him out.
As another walked in, Matt smacked him in the abdomen with his stick before smacking his legs, putting him down. Before he could get up, Matt smacked him on the face and he was out.
"Let's go", he said.
They walked towards the car Matt had heard.
"Oh shit!" Matt said on realizing what it was, "It's a cab."
"So what?" Oliver asked.
"I think I know", Frank muttered.
"Would love to hear about it", Elektra said with a smirk.
"No time to waste", Slade reminded.
"Yeah, so let's go", Roy said.
"I'll drive", Nadeem said.
They then drove to the courthouse.
"Hey", Karen said as she ran up to Foggy, "Where are they?"
"Late", Foggy said, "Why?"
"There's been an attack", Karen said as she panted, "People got shot a few blocks from here."
"Oh, shit", Foggy cursed.
"They're locking down the building", Tower said as he walked up to them, "I need to call my office."
"Hey."
They turned to see Matt, Oliver, Elektra, Slade, Roy, Frank and Ray walk in.
"We're here", Oliver said.
"What the hell happened?" Tower asked.
"Fisk knows he's going to testify", Slade said.
Tower tried to ask Ray, "Are you in any condition to-"
"Absolutely, yeah", Ray said as he panted.
"Let's go", Matt said as they lead him to the court room.
"Okay, here's the deal", Foggy said, "After you testify, Tower will take you for arraignment-"
"Then we'll bail you out", Matt finished.
"What about my family?"
"Spoke with Seema", Karen said, "They'll be on a flight to Delhi in the morning."
"It's not forever", Matt said, "Just until we get Fisk put away. And you'll get to say goodbye."
Ray said to them gratefully, "I don't know how to thank you-"
"Don't", Matt interrupted.
"Just go get Fisk", Oliver said.
Ray nodded and went inside.
The Bailiff later asked him, "You do affirm that all the testimony that you are about to give in the case now before the court will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? This you do affirm under the pains and penalties of perjury?"
Ray looked around at everyone in the courtroom. He knew this was the right thing to do.
"I do."
"You ready for this?" Ellison asked Karen.
"Uh", Karen sighed, "No."
"Okay, let's go. Come on", Ellison said.
They stood in front of the entire media.
"Hi, I'm Karen Page", she said as they all surrounded her, "I'm here to make a statement."
"Why didn't Daredevil and the Throwing Star Killer kill you?"
"Let her speak."
"We have all been lied to", Karen said to all of them, "All right? We've been manipulated by a sociopath who doesn't care about the truth or about who he hurts or about anyone other than himself. Last night, Wilson Fisk tried to have me killed because I know the truth."
Karen exchanged a look with Ellison, who had a proud gleam in his eye.
"The man who was wearing the Daredevil suit is not the real Daredevil", she continued, "He is an impostor who is helping Wilson Fisk take back control of New York's criminal underworld. At this moment, a grand jury is hearing testimony-"
"You seeing this?" an agent asked Dex as they both watched it on TV.
Dex simply watched it, no expression on his face.
"Okay", Tower said as he walked out with Nadeem, "Your client was very convincing. Keep him here until the indictment comes in."
"Don't worry", Foggy said, "We'll hold up our end."
"Good", Tower said, "I'm counting on it."
"Thank you, sir", Matt said as he held out his hand.
Tower shook it and walked off as Oliver also said, "Thank you."
"You okay?" Foggy asked
Ray adjusted his tie and said, "For a guy who's about to send his family away and go to prison?"
With a sigh, he said, "Yeah, I guess so."
"You did good, Ray", Matt complimented.
"You heard everything through the wall, didn't you?" Ray asked, "You know that's kind of creepy?"
"Try magic", Oliver said.
"Or resurrections", Elektra added.
"I heard a man standing up to Fisk", Matt assured him, "Your son will hear the same thing. And it'll mean a lot to him."
"I didn't know if we could get this done today, but we did", Ray said.
"No you did", Matt said, "So, thank you."
"You're a brave man, Agent Nadeem", Slade said respectfully.
"And we would like to apologize for what we said to you when we first met", Roy said.
"It's okay", Nadeem said, "So, what now?"
"Hopefully, you'll serve out your sentence in a minimum security prison", Foggy said.
"Will I do the whole term?" Ray asked.
"My guess is you won't serve the whole five", Foggy assured him, "Hopefully. Good behavior, you never know."
Matt then heard someone speaking from the other side of the wall. What he was speaking made Matt's blood run cold.
"Willie Young, 789 West 144th Street. Sara Torres, 612 East 78th Street."
"What the hell?" a female juror said in shock, "That's my address."
"Tom McGuinness, 707 Lovell Ave", he continued speaking, "I'm sorry, they made me memorize them."
"Oh, no", Matt cursed.
"Matthew? What's wrong?" Elektra asked in concern.
With a sharp exhale, Matt said, "The jurors. Fisk got to them."
Tower said on the news, "At this time, the grand jury has elected not to indict Wilson Fisk, but this office, under my leadership, will pursue every lead, every piece of evidence that leads us to uncovering the truth, wherever we may find it."
Fisk looked at the news channel and smirked.
The news anchor said, "We'll continue to cover this breaking news story as events unfold."
"Karen Page, this all started with you, didn't it?" a reporter asked the retreating Karen.
""Started"? What do you mean?" Karen asked.
"You leaked the grand jury story, and it was all a lie."
"No, it's not a lie."
"Is it a desperate attempt to boost readership for the failing Bulletin?" a man asked.
"Screw you, Jerry", Ellison said, "What's Fisk paying you, anyway?"
"Get out of here", he said to Karen.
The two of them ran off to his car.
Everyone tried to convince Ray to not give up but he was broken now. Everyone except Foggy went off to find Tower.
"Fisk is unstoppable", Ray said as he washed his face, "My family's never going to be safe."
"Don't talk like that, Ray", Foggy said, "I'm sorry."
"No", Ray said as he rose up, "I'm sorry."
He then punched Foggy out.
Later, Ray walked into his house. He looked at the camera. He knew that Fisk was watching so he gave a defiant smirk before opening the door and walking in.
Inside, he looked at old photos of him, his wife and his son. He lovingly touched a picture of his and Seema's wedding and then touched another of Sammy.
He then switched on his phone and started recording a video message, "Hey, beautiful. It's me. I'm home."
He turned the phone to the picture of their wedding and said, "You remember our wedding vows? "I love you more than life itself." I still do."
He then turned it to Sami's photo and said emotionally, "And, Sami, your name means "elevated." And that's what you did for me. Made my life better in the most unexpected ways. Elevate your mom now."
"An update, please, Mr. Manning", Fisk said to him, "And speak freely. I will no longer keep anything from Vanessa."
"Very good, sir", Manning said, "Agent Nadeem has been located. His testimony to the grand jury remains sealed and inadmissible but given its public nature, we should weigh the benefits of keeping him alive."
"Force Nadeem to stand trial for the murder of Agent Winn", Fisk said to Manning, "Turning the FBI against him and discrediting him in the press."
"My thoughts exactly, sir", Manning said.
"Wilson, what does Agent Nadeem know about your business?" Vanessa asked.
"A considerable amount", Fisk said.
"And is he determined to find ways to hurt you?" she asked, "To hurt us?"
"Yes."
"Don't you think it would be safer to remove the threat?" she asked him.
With a sigh, Fisk said, "Yes, I do."
"Oh", Chase said with a smirk as he walked in, "Very nice to see partners who actually support each other. My wife didn't support me the way you do to Mr. Fisk. You're very lucky to have her, Wilson."
"Thank you, Mr. Chase", Vanessa said with a smirk, "If Agent Poindexter is useful, perhaps he can help us with this problem."
Turning to Manning, she asked, "You'll let him know, won't you?"
"Yes, ma'am", Felix said before walking out.
Ray stood outside his house, a bottle in his hand. Hearing footsteps, he turned around.
"I hoped it'd be you", he said to Dex.
"Hi, Ray", Dex said to him, "Come on inside. Let's talk."
"Come on, Dex. We both know you're a better liar than that", Nadeem scoffed as he sipped his drink, "You want a private place to kill me."
"You're in a tough spot, Ray", Dex said, "I get that. It sounds hard. Really hard."
"When they're done with you, they'll bury you, too", Ray pointed out, "You know that, right?"
"I'm doing fine", Dex said as he took out his gun, "And you would be, too, if you hadn't opened your mouth."
"It's not too late to turn things around, Dex", Ray tried to reason with him, "Fisk and Chase manipulated you, just like they did me and Tammy and everyone else. I can help you cut a deal with the DA. We can take him down, you and me. Two federal agents like we were before."
Dex scoffed and said, "No, that's not gonna happen, Ray. I'm more than a fed now. I feel more myself than I have in my whole life. Fisk and Chase gave me that."
"As long as I'm alive, my family's at risk", Nadeem said.
Dex pointed his gun at Nadeem and said, "Let's go, Ray."
"I'm not going anywhere with you, Dex", Ray then sighed as he threw way his bottle, "Whatever you need to do you do it here."
Ray then suddenly brandished a gun but Dex fired first.
Then a figure leapt there and pushed Nadeem away. They both fell into the place where Nadeem had dug a pool for Sami.
It was Oliver.
"Ray! Ray!" Oliver called out. He looked at him carefully and saw some blood on the side of his head. The bullet had grazed it. Almost too close to the brain.
He looked up but Dex was gone.
"Thanks Brett", Foggy said as he got off the phone.
He looked at everyone sadly and said, "Ray's alive. But he's badly wounded. He'll need surgery."
Matt got up and angrily fuming, walked out with the others.
"Matt-"
"We tried it your way", Matt said.
"Now there is only one way left", Frank said, "And it's not yours."
"The system would have worked in a perfect world, Foggy", Slade said, "But this is not perfect."
"Nadeem almost lost his life", Roy said, "Now they need to be put down."
"Otherwise, more good men will be at risk" Elektra said.
They walked out and Matt slammed the door shut, leaving a dejected Foggy alone.
Ray survived! Yay!
How the good guys found out where Ray went will be revealed later. But I still think Matt would want to kill Fisk now as he escaped justice and Nadeem nearly lost his life.
Now the finale! I'm gonna add my own stuff to it.
Please review. I always appreciate your feedback.