If they wished for a fight, well they're going to have to deal with the goddamn costs.

"Stay back," I ordered the lawyer, approaching the wall next to the door.

These guards were armed to stop an escape, one they were expecting to happen from a vigilante targeting only exit point. Lifting my fist up and drawing back my arm, I glanced back one more time at Matt.

"Wait here until I come back."

Then I slammed my fist into the wall, throwing all of my strength into it and blasting the cheap drywall apart. Startled yelps greeted me when I clawed my way through to grab at the man beyond. His gun went off, peppering the walls and ceiling harmlessly before the weapon clattered to the ground. With one hand clenched into his shoulder, I yanked him closer me, using him as a shield against the other guard. With a grunt and yell, I lifted the man and threw him right at his buddy, causing both of them to fall into a jumble of limbs on the ground. The second man tryied to push off the groaning form while his fingers blindly scrambled for his gun. A few steps, one kick, and he as knocked out cold.

My leg hurt like a bitch, but I ignored it to instead grab at one of the abandoned rifle. It was while bending it beyond function that I heard the sound of what appeared to be a blind lawyer in the process of not doing what I told him. The way he stumbled through seemed more from disorientation than from his inability to see. Had I not seen those unfocused eyes, I would think he was bullshitting his blindness. Still I watched the way he moved and how he exaggerated his effort to find and pick up the gun from the floor only to smoothly remove the cartridge from the piece. There was experience in the way he disarmed that weapon.

"Didn't I tell you to wait?" I said as I marched back to Matt, yanking the gun from his hands to bend it apart.

"Yes, but I didn't find it necessary."

"Necessary my ass. In case you haven't realized, but you're going to walk your blind ass straight into some bullets if you don't do what I say."

"Don't worry about me, I can keep up."

"Not with the way you're stumbling."

"I'll manage."

"Fine," I snapped, grabbing him by the jacket. "But don't bitch if you get hurt."

Matt didn't speak, choosing to give me a nod.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, half tempted to pull out my flask for another swig. Instead, I considered out situation. If Matt was right about this place and these guys were geared up to fight a vigilante, then the best course of action would be to call for help. Someone other than Daredevil could be enough of a surprise to throw them off a bit. Calling for help it was and then we could buckle down somewhere where they either couldn't find us or couldn't break through. Or somewhere where they couldn't use their guns on us. Without their guns, I could deal with their bullshit no problems. That still left having to find a place to defend ourselves. Yeah, I'm not that lucky.

One step at a time then. Call for help, keep ourselves alive, and bust out at the first opportunity. The next question would be who to call? Cops were an option, but risky. A dirty cop would fuck us over, especially if these guys were organized and powerful enough to pay one off. The other option would be Luke, but I'm not sure if I want to drag him into this mess, even if this was his fault. Still, I didn't have a lot of time, so a call to—

"Fuck," I growled, hands searching through my pockets for my phone. Assholes must have taken it when I was still disoriented from that stupid taser. That means no backup.

Fucking great.

"What is it?"

I began to walk, catching Matt off guard at the sudden motion when I grabbed him and dragged him along, "Nothing, we're going."

"How are we getting out?"

"Stairs. There should be a fire escape down the hall."

"Bad idea, they'll have men in the streets below guarding every corner around this place."

"You got a better idea?" I snapped, stopping just short of the door and turning so that I was face to face with Matt.

I watched the odd way his head twitched side to side, eyes flickering along as if he could see beyond the building. After a few seconds of this he offered, "The roof. I doubt these guys are smart enough to fully cover it against Daredevil. They're thinking he'll come from the back alleys, not the building next over."

"You want me to jump the both of us across rooftops?" I asked with some surprise. Most people would be insane to be comfortable with a plan like that, not that I hadn't been questioning his sanity.

Matt nodded, giving me a slight smirk when he gestured to the demolished wall down the hall, "I gather you are quite capable of such feats."

"Then let's go."

I pushed through and onto the fire escape beyond, taking it slow to make sure Matt could keep up. He was unsteady with hands groping for the railing and feet knocking into the first steps, but once he got started, he climbed like it was second nature. I kept up a decent pace, climbing faster with each step until we were scaling the scaffolding at a speed that would put any normal person a little breathless. I wanted to get out quick, before they found their guard dogs knocked out in the hallway, but I couldn't deny a slight curiosity and a need to sate my hunch with some facts. Sneaking glances at Murdock revealed plenty.

Just as we were about to reach the top, I was stopped by an iron grip at my ankle. Looking down, I was met with the sight of the lawyer, one hand holding me still while his other arm wrapped around the railing as he leaned as far back as he could manage. His head was tilted, with unfocused eyes staring out to the adjacent building and ears towards the sky. Moving his head ever so slightly, he stayed silent for a few seconds longer.

"What is?" I asked, reading the tense way in which he held himself and the tightening of his fist around my ankle.

"They found out."

That's when I heard it, the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs below us. Cursing, I made to go up the last flight of stairs, however the lawyer hadn't released his hold. "Let go."

"There's a veritable army up there."

"And what happens if we go down? I'm sure that'll end well."

"No, they sent most of their firepower down there."

"How—"

"Not our main concern. Keep going and don't worry about me if you want to make it out of here. Just focus on the first opportunity of running."

The seconds that ticked by was too much of our precious little time before I finally said, "Fine."

We were moving again and I kept myself low, peeking over the edge and spotting every single one of these bastards. I saw two armed with pistols while the rest held a mismatch of crowbars and spiked bats, totally their numbers to twelve men. The more dangerously armed were too close for me to make an attempt at reaching the other building without getting one or both of our heads blown off. I needed to knock those two out, but that meant leaving the lawyer exposed. Shit.

I'm out of time. Hope I'm right about this.

I leapt forward, rushing the closest guy before he had enough time to aim and fire his weapon. Ignoring the screaming pain of my leg, I swung my arm, catching the gun with a backhand even as the guy's finger tightened around the trigger. A blast this close to the gun made me wince, but it shot into the air and gave me a good enough opening to rip the weapon from his grip. Slamming a fist into the man's chest, I sent him flying backwards before crushing the pistol into a piece of twisted metal. Another shot rang out, this time the bullet found its target by burying itself into my left shoulder and leaving me gasping.

Staggering, I used the rush of adrenaline to throw the now useless gun in the direction of my shooter. It was enough of a distraction to stop him from firing again while I rushed in and rammed my shoulder into his abdomen. A pain filled gasp was all he could do before my fist nailed him in the chest. A cracking sound signaled bones breaking as the man fell to the ground. A yell caused me to snap my head up, in time to see the next one running towards me with a crowbar held over head. My arm burned furiously, matching the pain in my leg, but I tried to force myself steady to meet this next challenger.

Out of nowhere, the broken half of a bat went flying and hit the guy in the head, knocking him out instantly. Rather than check who threw it, I focused on the four other men running straight for me, one stepping over bodies of his fallen friends. When the first of the bunch reached me, I caught the swing of his bat with my right hand, shoving it away to drop the same hand down onto his shoulder. When he didn't quite fall, I curled my fingers into his shirt and hefted him in the air, using my other hand holding him by the waistband of his jeans to steady his weight. Unable to stop the shout at the protest of my shoulder, I tossed him at his other two buddies.

They all fell down like bowling pins, and the fourth man stumbling on top of the mess of limbs when he couldn't quite get out of the way, giving me a small respite. A little ways away I spotted the lawyer, hunched over and swaying more than ever as he faced another just as fatigue man. At their feet were two other men while the rest of the thugs watched me with wary and calculating glances. When Murdock jumped into a spin, using the momentum to kick his opponent in the temple, I knew it was time to go. By the way they were starting to hang back, these guys were just wasting time for the rest of their friends to join them. Fuck sticking around.

I launched myself away, gritting my teeth against the pain as I grabbed Matt and wrapped my injured arm around his waist as he wrapped his around my neck. Breathing heavy against my ear, I didn't care to warn him or give him a chance to talk before I threw the both of us off the nearest edge of the roof, shots ringing out after us from two who finally reached the top of the fire escape. We were lucky to have avoided more injury, but not enough for the neighboring building to be close enough for a smooth landing.

Instead, I slammed into the wall, the upper half of my body bending over the edge, My right arm shot out, scrambling for purchase as we slid off, catching the small lip of the roof. This time I screamed, my injured shoulder felt like it was on fire as I hefted Murdock and allowed him to heave himself up. Once safe, he turned around to offer a hand, pulling me up with a groan of his own before falling to the ground next to me. Together we laid still, trying to gain our breaths.

More shots sailed above us.

Shit," I growled as the both of us pressed down flat.

"We need to keep going," Matt panted next to me, already crawling forward. "Think you have enough in you for a few more blocks?"

"Fuck no, but I don't have much of a choice do I."

"Unfortunately, but if we get out of here, I know someone who can take a look at those injuries of yours."

"Okay, right, let's get this over with. Don't fall behind," I snapped as I bent my knee and flattened my foot to the ground.

"That's a nice thing to say to a blind guy."

"Yeah, and we already established I'm not an idiot, so don't waste my goddamn time telling me your disability is actually affecting you. Ready?"

"Yeah."

Then we sprinted forward, more gunshots erupting when popped into view. Good thing they couldn't seem to get in a good shot, because I already felt like hell. Plus, with how long it was taking for anyone to show up here, they were taking the long way over. By the time we reached the other side, those assholes already gave up on trying to kill us.

I considered the distance between us and the next building, not happy about the gap but thankful that it was not as wide as the previous one I jumped. Grabbing Matt, I launched us over again, the landing far better when I wasn't in as much of a hurry.

After a few more rooftops, right as bone deep exhaustion began to settle, Matt stopped. I watched the way his head twitch to the side for a second as his breathing began to slow. In a low tone, as if he was afraid of being over heard, he said, "I think we lost them."

"Finally," I sighed, too tired to care about his freakish ability to know this crap. "So how about this friend of yours. Do we need to go somewhere specific to meet with them?"

Matt shook his head, swiping a hand through his sweat and blood soaked hair. "No, she'll be upset if we try to reach her at her work or home."

"Then we'll go to my place and call her."

"You sure it's a good to potentially lead these people to where you live?"

"No, but can't think of any other place. They know enough about you to know where you drink, I wouldn't be surprise if they knew where you live. And personally, after a night like this, I can use a drink."

I sat in my chair, doing my best to avoid looking at my bandaged leg while leaving my arm limp and resting against my lap. My other hand was busy tipping a bottle of Jim Beam against my lips. Alcohol did wonders to dull the pain, it would do for now until this nurse friend of Murdock's finally got here and checked out the newly made, unwanted holes in my shoulder and thigh. To the side, sitting on the couch with his head leaned back and eyes closed was Murdock, who had been quiet since we first got back to my place. By the way he sat there, I could tell he was waiting for my questions about tonight. More specifically, how he managed to fight and keep up with me without something as important as sight. A slight knock brought my attention to my door.

Really, I shouldn't be surprised. Not with all these puzzle pieces falling perfectly in place. Still, while shocking, I couldn't deny that the sight of Claire's displeased face was a welcoming one.

"This is an interesting development," the nurse noted after I beckoned her to step inside. Standing before my desk, she shifted her duffle back and crossed her arms. By the scrubs she still wore and the darkened skin beneath her eyes, she appeared to have just left her shift at the hospital. "It's always something new with you, isn't it?"

Matt directed his blank stare towards her as he said, "I appreciate it really."

"I'm sure you do," I interjected, receiving both their attention. Leaning back in my chair, swinging my legs up to cross them on top of my desk, I ignored the pain in favor of my best no-fucks-given smirk. "I mean, the personal nurse of the Daredevil is likely to have seen some crazy shit."

"You figured it out." There was a distinct lack of shock in his voice. Damn, that wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping it would be.

"Seemed simple to figure out seeing some of the shit you did tonight. Claire here only confirmed it all. What was that you mentioned to me last time I saw you, about a certain friend of yours?"

"You two met before?"

"Briefly," Claire answered this time as she began to help Matt out of the tattered remains of his suit. "She and a friend of hers needed help and it seems I'm the only one who attracts you type of people. What's wrong with you?"

She caught onto the way I winced when I moved my leg off the desk and set the bottle down. However, Matt beat me to the answer. "She was shot twice. You should check her out first, she's in worst shape."

"Like hell I am. You were the hostage, not me."

The nurse shook her head as she turned her attention towards me, exasperation coloring her voice as she muttered, "Christ."

I reached for the phone, not caring about the grumbling from Claire as she tried to inspect my wounds. With the hostage situation solved, I knew there was one person who would be happy to hear the news. No one commented when I slid a folder out from the desk drawer, read the number written on one of the pages, and began to dial. By the way Murdock turned his head, I had a sneaking suspicion that he would be able to overhear my conversation. As for Claire, she kept focused on my leg, armed with a forceps and a challenge in her eye that dared me to complain. I lifted a hand for her to wait, mostly so I didn't have to divide my attention between a conversation with Karen and not cursing in pain from having a bullet dug out.

A click signaled Karen finally picked up, but the silence on the other line left me confused. Looking towards Murdock and noticing the furrowing of his brow, I decided to go simple. "Hello, Karen?"

No answer.

"Karen, you there? Are you okay, hello?"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little miss sweetheart. It's so good to hear from you again!"

I shot upright, focused on the man I least expected to answer my call. "What the hell you do to her?"

"Nothing so far, which really is quite generous. I don't like people poking into my business, Ms. Jones, and while I tolerated your earlier snooping, I only allowed it for a purpose. Ms. Page here really should have kept her nose where it doesn't belong, much more painless for her that way."

Fingers dug into my desk, cracking the wood beneath as I snarled out, "Let. Her. Go."

"No, I have a much better use for her. See I don't know how you shitheads managed to escape, but I doubt you did so without outside help. If you happen to be with our devil friend, I suggest you let him know he has until midnight tomorrow to meet me at the warehouse where he fucked up my brother."

"And if I don't know the guy?"

"Well, we'll see how many of my buddies sweet Karen here could service before she's nothing but a corpse. Then we'll have a round with those lawyers and you until Daredevil decides to spoil the fun."

With that, he hung up, leaving behind a deafening silence.

"Damnit," Matt growled, slamming his fist into the couch.

For once, I agreed with him.

AN: Thank you to everyone who read/favorite/followed/reviewed.

Until next chapter.