Chapter Four

"I have a question for you."

Isabelle turned her attention towards her brother as she twirled spaghetti around her fork. She smirked as she saw the red stain from the sauce around Foggy's mouth. Foggy rolled his eyes at her reaction and wiped his mouth. "Shoot."

"I want to know why you're here," Foggy said carefully.

Isabelle stilled, the fork with spaghetti wrapped around its metal prongs remained inches away from her face. Foggy understood that the question would have to be brought up sooner or later, and he needed to know as much as she was willing to tell him. Something had obviously happened. He had been aware of the bruises that stained his sisters face, and even though they were now fading, they still remained burned in his memory. It scared him to know that she had ran away from something and had come to him.

"I know it's been a couple of days now since you arrived, but it scares me," Foggy continued. "It scares me to see my little sister with bruises on her face. It scares me to see my little sister so scared to answer her phone. Are you in trouble? Has Jason hurt you?"

"I'm really tired," Isabelle whispered. "I'm going to go to bed."

"No," Foggy said sternly. "We've danced around this conversation for days now. I'm your big brother. You used to tell me everything. Open up to me, Issy. You can talk to me about anything."

Isabelle watched him for a few moments. She desperately wanted to tell him everything but she was scared. She wasn't sure how he would take the news, let alone keep it a secret from their parents.

"I don't want this to travel to mom or dad," Isabelle said. "I don't want them to know this yet. I want to tell them myself."

"Sure," Foggy said, nodding. "Of course."

Isabelle took a deep breath. "He beat me. A lot," she whispered, aware of her voice beginning to fail her. "When he did it the first time, I thought that would be it. That he'd lost control that once and it wouldn't happen again. He was angry, frustrated with work. Even though that isn't enough reason to do such a thing. Then it became frequent. Every time he became angry, he would vent that anger through violence… towards me. I wanted so desperately to believe that it would be the last time, but it never was."

"I would spend most of my time hiding the bruises," Isabelle continued. "Covering up as best as I could. For months, he would beat me every night. And every time he was done, he would apologise and wrap me up in his arms as if he was my comforter, and tell me how sorry he was. I questioned him one night about why he does it, and he told me that he didn't know and that he would get help for it. But he never did," Isabelle said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "And then something happened, and he found out. And he became so angry that he was like a rabid dog and I thought… 'This is it. This is how I die'. He choked me so hard, I passed out. And I woke a few hours later to an empty house. And I knew that it was my time to go. I packed everything I could quickly not wanting to be there when he came back and… here I am."

"Isabelle…" Foggy sighed. He was in shock. The news had hit him like freight train and he quickly realised just how unprepared her was at hearing her reasons for being in New York with him. "I'm so sorry… I should've known-"

"-No," Isabella shook her head. "There was no way you would've known it was happening. Just like mom and dad have no idea."

"I'm gonna kill him!" Anger surged through Foggy's veins at that moment.

"No, you're not," Isabelle said. "You're too pretty for prison."

"How can you still joke when this has happened to you?" Foggy asked.

"I have to," Isabelle said. "What else can I do? Cry? I've done that. Be angry with myself? I've done that. Joking helps ease the situation. It's what us Nelson's do best. Make light of a dark situation."

"Can I ask why he did it this time?" Foggy asked.

Isabelle took another deep breath. "I had an affair. I found comfort in another man. I was wrong to do it, but it happened."

Foggy nodded. "I'm so angry… I just want to find him and hurt him the way he hurt you."

"There's also something else…" Isabelle began but was cut off by a loud knock at the door. It was a strong, solid knock and it sent ripples throughout Isabelle's body. She knew that knock. It was a knock that she was sure was strong and violent enough to break down the door. It petrified her when he hid from him, when there was nowhere else to go but to put all her weight against it and hope that he wouldn't be able to get in. He always did.

Isabella jumped from her seat. "It's him. He's here."

She backed away from the counter. Foggy furrowed his brow as he grasped onto the situation. He had only met Jason a few times, and all those times, he seemed like a nice guy. Like a guy he could enjoy a beer with. But now, he was the guy who had beat his little sister up to the point where she feared for her life. Watching her react in the way she did unnerved him. His sister was a strong woman, and to see her almost cower in fear was a shock to his system.

As the knocking continued, Foggy took a deep breath and moved towards the door and peeked through the peep hole.

And there he was.

Jason was stood outside his apartment. He had found her.

"Hide," was all Foggy said as the harsh knocking continued.

"Don't open the door, Foggy. Please… promise me," Isabelle said urgently.

"I won't, I promise," Foggy whispered.

Matt was on watch that night. He had returned to his apartment with the intention to do some paperwork, but part of him couldn't wrap his head around seeing Isabella again. It had been years since he had last seen her but she hadn't changed a bit. He knew her secret, and it was clear as day that she hadn't confided in Foggy about it. He knew it wasn't his place to say but he knew it wasn't something she could keep to herself forever.

After a few hours of staying on the same page of his paperwork, he slipped into his costume. He could feel himself becoming impatient. He wanted to be out there, he wanted to be protecting his city from any potential danger, and being stuck inside doing paperwork wasn't going to help him curb that want.

He found himself sitting on the top of his building. He could hear sirens in the distance from a few blocks away, as well as a few people on the street moving from bar to bar. He was aware of the life within the streets. The streets vibrated with heartbeats and chatter and he smiled at the peaceful city for once.

But it was then that he heard it in a direction he was used to protecting. A shrill pounding filled his senses and he furrowed his brow as he tried to recognise the sound. It was coming in direction of Foggy's street. Matt moved swiftly through the night, moving quickly along the rooftops as the distance between him and Foggy's apartment decreased.

He heard Foggy trying to calm Isabelle down as the pounding continued. It was deafening and relentless. He was aware of the fear within Isabelle's heart. She was petrified. He was able to pick up on another person at that moment.

A man. Six foot three. Two hundred and thirty pounds. He recognised his scent. It was familiar, and he tried to analyse his memories. He had met this man before, and it was at that moment that he remembered. The fear radiating off Isabelle, the way her heart beat furiously in her chest, the salt in the air from the tears streaming down her face.

He had found her.