Thank you for all the feedback so far. I guess it must be a bit like being a stage comedian, hearing the laughter out there in the darkness of the club. It's hugely encouraging to hear a response, especially as this is my first venture into writing on this site. I have honestly grinned like an idiot, thankful for each kind comment and thoughtful review left so far.
Why did no-one warn me these kind of stories just grow? I've got nearly 20 chapters sketched out with even a stab at some plot, so bear with me as I crack on with it, I'm having a blast writing it up ;)
It should be pretty clear, I own none of the characters and again there are spoilers aplenty as this is set straight after the end of Season 2. Going to throw in a warning for swearing now too, as I've tried to keep the tone in keeping with the language used on the show.
Anyway, enough from me, popcorn to hand? Alright, let's get back to the action shall we?
"Foggy.. pick up.. pickup-pickup-pickup"
A loud familiar voice suddenly bounded through the earpiece "Hey, you've reached Foggy Nelson, you know what to do after the beep!"
Karen's breath exploded with frustration.
"Dammit, Foggy it's me... I've just... I've just spoken to Matt." Karen brushed her hair aside as she moved the phone around, adrenaline still coursing through her, enough to make her hands tremble. "He told me everything. Everything... I... I know. I know what he's been doing. Who he really is. Call me, soon as you get this... we need to talk. Call me"
She barely registered where her steps led, striding fast on autopilot from the office still in a daze. It wasn't until she found herself under the red neon glow of Josie's sign that she slowed to a stop in realisation. Her lips pressing into a thin line as she peered into the dim interior, but on this cold night the windows were thickly misted with trails of condensation, too clouded to see far inside.
Pushing her way through to the bar, scanning around wildly all the way, she called out hopefully "hey, you seen Foggy here lately?" Josie waved her over, eyeing her up and down, alarmed by the unusual tone of desperation. She'd always felt a little protective of the younger woman and something seemed horribly off. "Everything alright hon?" Karen just shook her head, wincing as she wrestled her emotions under some kind of control. She clearly wasn't, red rimmed eyes betraying her even in this grim light.
"I'm fine... really.. I just need to talk to Foggy" she sighed, glancing around as if he still might be hiding somewhere.
Josie leant back, drumming her fingers slowly on the counter, clearly ready to give those lawyer boys a piece of her mind if they'd been up to anything they shouldn't. "You sure you're okay?" She arched a brow, beckoning her over to an empty barstool.
Karen relented, shakily slumping down and resting her elbows on the bar as a tumbler of scotch was pushed calmly in her direction.
Grimacing she knocked back a hasty swig, the bitter taste coursing through her like an invigorating lick of fire, unsure of what to say, where to even start. "I've just... had a really shitty day, you know?" She flashed a faint smile, sniffing a little, slender fingers fidgeting around the edge of the glass. "Just one thing after another for a while now. I just... I just really needed to speak to him". Her voice trailed away as she lifted the scotch to gulp back another mouthful.
First everything with Frank, all the death and mayhem she had witnessed in his wake, all the very real threats to her life... Blood, shattered glass and visceral heart-stopping fear. And now one of the few reliable foundation pillars of her world had just shifted and crumbled a little with those two words. "I'm Daredevil."
Josie discreetly topped up her glass, waving away any hint of payment. This season could always be particularly rough for some, driving them to seek solace in solitude or the bottom of a bottle, she could understand that alright. "You take all the time you need hon... though, I've not seen him here since you all finally settled your tab?" She shot Karen a concerned look, usually the younger woman was so collected and confident, never any trouble at all as patrons went and therefore one she wanted to keep around.
"Good to see you haven't abandoned this place anyway" she offered Karen a rare encouraging smile. Turning away only when flagged down by another customer, slipping easily back into her usual tough demeanour with a growl of "yeah, whaddya want?"
Karen turned the glass around between her hands, watching the strings of Christmas lights refract and slide across the surface with each tilt. Her thoughts tumbling all over the place, scattering as randomly as the reflections. The bar became a distant blur around her as the scotch seemed to slowly magically empty of its own accord. Matt's the devil of hells kitchen. He's Daredevil. She'd had suspicions that something was up with him for some time now sure, but this?
Never this...
Swearing softly under her breath she closed her eyes, resting her head in her hands a moment, feeling an idiot for not seeing it, for not questioning harder. With a sigh she shot an accusing sidelong glance over to the pool table. Remembering Matt's easy laughter last time they had played a round. Remembering the electric, breath-taking journey home that followed. The tentative link of fingers as they walked hand in hand through the pouring rain...
With a shake of the head she recalled the softness of his kiss.
And all that time... It was just a whole string of lies, just shadows and smoke.
She practically leapt on her phone when it then finally rang. "Foggy?" She snatched it up, pressing it hard against her ear.
"Yeah... jesus, sorry, I was stuck in a meeting. Where are you Karen, are you okay?" His voice raced with genuine urgency and concern, he sounded far more flustered than she now felt.
"I'm at Josie's... I..."
"I can be there in fifteen, you okay to stay there?"
She peered at the door, as if Matt might suddenly walk into the bar.. hell, he potentially might? She quelled the lurch of panic, dismissing it as probably unlikely. She flicked a look to the dark windows, to the frosty night outside, would Matt be busy out there working already?
Huffing a breath she muttered "No, it's okay, I'll be here"
She lifted her hand, ordering two beers. "He on his way over then hon?" "Yeah Josie, thanks... I uh, I appreciate it" they shared a small fleeting smile, a nod, before Karen scouted out a table at the back of the bar, needing somewhere more private.
When Foggy finally arrived he looked smart, curiously out of place now in the rough bar. Sharp grey suit, long hair pushed back, slick and fresh from the new office. His open, worried expression was exactly the same as it always had been though. He took one look at her and without thinking, without any hesitation or guile, reached out to meet her with a tight hug which she sank into automatically, pressing her face into his shoulder, drawing a steadying breath.
"Woah... hey... you okay?" His words were soft, thick with concern "I'm sorry Karen... I'm so sorry."
She choked back a bitter laugh before pulling away "You sound just like Matt."
He held her at arms length, a broad hand on each shoulder, expression deadly serious. "I should have told you, I should have made Matt tell you a long time ago. It sucked not telling you, but I couldn't. Jesus... What the hell happened?"
The sting of her wounded pride dissipated a little when faced with the force of his genuine worry, his honest apology. Deep down a faint hiss of guilt whispered, tempering the fire of her anger and confusion, a reminder that she harboured her own fair share of secrets. A voice that she buried deep, unwilling to reason it out right now...
Sitting back down she peered across the table to him. "He called me over earlier, asked to meet.. back at the office? I didn't know what for..." she half shrugged, her voice calm and quiet "I wasn't sure I even wanted to go"
With a swig of beer she leant back, brow furrowed "He... said he had something to show me... something that I needed to see, then he just pulled out the mask and said who he really was"
Foggy shook his head slowly "Just like that huh?"
Karen peered at him, tilting her head to the side "Is it really true?"
He nodded once and both of them drank in silence for a moment.
Foggy eventually rested his bottle on the table, leaning forward. "You're pissed, I get it, you've got every right to be. I know I sure as hell was when I found out."
Karen arched a brow, leaning forward too "how did you find out?"
"The worst way... I found him half dead in his apartment. Bleeding out in that black mask." he ran a hand through his hair, it sounded ridiculous when said aloud in company, but then how often had he really had the opportunity to talk about it with someone else? "He'd been in a fight with a real actual ninja... got his ass royally kicked... he nearly died that night"
"So... that was the 'car crash' huh?" Karen peered at him shrewdly.
Foggy looked stricken, frowning at the flood of memories, muttering a low "yeah."
"And that was around the time you both fell out?"
"Yep, that about did it." Foggy's voice bounced back, sounding brisk, but the frown remained. "Thing is, I'm the closest thing to family he has and even I didn't know half of whatever the hell he got up to, even now I still don't."
"and all that time.. neither of you could tell me?"
Foggy had to wince at the broken resigned note to her voice, he could hardly bear to meet her eye, hearing her speak the accusation so softly. "I really -am- sorry Karen... I didn't know what else to do. One lie kinda just bred and led into the next. His sincere voice faltered "If it hadn't been for Claire that night, he -would- have died right there on the floor..."
Karen snapped her head up" ...and Claire is?"
Foggy paused, eyeing her from across the table as he leant back "You met her. Remember the nurse who helped us with Mrs Cardenas at the hospital? The night Hell's Kitchen up and exploded around all us? That was her. Claire pulled him out of a dumpster and stitched him back together. Guess she found out by accident... just like me."
Karen nodded, remembering that night vividly, her voice lifting in surprise "that was her?" a shadow of confusion knotted her brow, "then.. who the hell was that I saw in his bed the other day?"
He shrugged, splaying his hands wide "Like I say, I seem to know shit about his life lately"
Karen leant her chin in her hand, thoughtful and distracted as Foggy bought another round of beers.
"Thing I don't get.. is how does he actually do it?" she squinted up at him when he eventually returned from the press of bodies around the bar" How does someone just learn to flip around like that?"
Foggy took a sip, unsure whether to name Stick directly or not "Way I heard it" he shrugged "he was picked out, trained as a kid, guess it all carried on from there."
"Who the hell recruits blind orphans?"
"I know right? it sounds ridiculous, but you've seen what he can do... if he concentrates his... abilities" Foggy waved his hand around vaguely "He really can kick ass."
"But.. this is all insane.. borderline psychotic!"
"I know!" Foggy shook his head exasperated.
"But he's just one guy, he's just Matt!" Karen's tone was almost pleading "How do you cope with knowing all this?"
"I don't" Foggy shrugged with resignation, frowning "I rely on copious amounts of denial and panic. With a delicious side order of ill advised trauma first aid googling..."
The way his frown lingered though, told of genuine worries and the toll of sleepless nights. Eventually he looked away, his voice a hesitant murmur "I miss him..."
"Have you spoken to him lately?"
"No... he said we were better off without him. He seemed to really mean it..." Foggy seemed to deflate, his voice suddenly cracking with regret and anger. "We were gonna be the best damn avocados in the city, ever since Columbia, we were close. I thought we were like brothers... you know?"
Karen winced, getting a glimpse of the monumental kick to the gut Matt's revelation must have been for him, and the discovery made in such an intensely brutal and bloody way too. Finding him half dead... she couldn't help but wonder how she would have coped with that scene. Just how impossible had the situation been in the months that followed? Keeping it quiet, knowing every single time when Matt left the office that he might be putting on the mask, that he might potentially get himself killed, and to carry that worry, that burden alone.
"Jesus" Karen murmured softly, reaching a hand across the table, laying it gently on his forearm. "Foggy... It's not your fault... none of this.. none of this was your fault, okay?" She couldn't help but feel a burst of anger deep down for everything Matt had put him through. What he was putting them both through now...
Foggy brushed a hand over his eyes before taking a large gulp of beer. Blowing out a slow breath to steady himself. He hadn't intended to add his worries to hers tonight and mentally he kicked himself. Eventually he squinted across the table to her "I think.. I think you're the first person he's actually chosen to tell? Maybe that means something?" he tilted his bottle pointedly in her direction, mid-way to his mouth "worth thinking about huh?"
Karen grimaced, unsure of what to make of it, her eyes turning down to stare at the bottle, lost in thought. Unsure if she was ready to forgive such a parade of lies, what to make of it all.
"You know..." Foggy leaned across the table to interrupt her thoughts spiralling downward, looking deadly serious "I bet Alfred fucking hates Batman sometimes."
Karen screwed her face up in confusion, smiling at him lopsidedly "...what?"
He leant back and gestured expansively "Well... you'd think being a sidekick would be awesome, knowing someone who can do mind blowing shit. But being the one who cares about them, who patches them up, who waits up for them whilst they're out saving the day? it just fricken sucks. It's not like it is in the movies, it's stressful and shitty and you wonder if next time..." he tightened his hand around the bottle, Face falling back into a frown again "if next time will be the time you finally find them dead."
Karen squeezed his arm, knowing his breezy tone covered a genuine dread. "So..." she smiled softly "are you calling yourself the butler in this situation?"
"Hey.. whaaat? I could buttle like a beast!" He bristled with mock pride and they both shared a smile, grateful for the new depth of support from the other.
Foggy tilted his beer slightly towards the bar "hey... You remember what I said in here that time? I meant it... You're not alone Karen"
She nodded slowly in return "well, nor are you... now"
There was a clink of beer bottles as they quietly toasted the idea.
"Hey, he's a tough bastard... he'll be okay" Foggy dipped his head, peering at Karen intently.
"You sure about that?" she looked hesitantly back over to him, needing it to be true.
"I have to be... only way I can cope with all this"
Karen downed the last of her beer "Jesus... so what do we do now?"
"I have no idea, there's no guidebook for this. No sidekick 101, and trust me I've looked"
"Do we at least get tee-shirts?" she arched a brow slowly, tilting her head to one side.
Foggy smirked, finishing his own beer with a smile of appreciation. "Nope.. but we damn well should."
Maybe the next move, if there could be any, would have to be up to Matt.
Next chapter: Meanwhile with Matt...
(Do please let me know what you think of it so far and if you'd like to read more)