Matt leaned back in his seat, continuing to listen intently to the prosecution's closing argument made against his client. By now, he'd already largely made up his mind regarding what he would say when it came time for him to give his own final address to the jury, but nevertheless, he sought to capture every word that his opposition within the courtroom, a young up-and-coming Assistant D.A, was saying, should he slip up and say something that he could directly refute when it was his turn.

In addition to this, Matt's enhanced sense of hearing also picked up the accelerated heartbeat of his client, who was sitting to his right. He could tell that the man was much more nervous than he'd been throughout the entire process. When he'd first met him, Mr. Lee was staunchly insistent upon his innocence, and Matt's same senses that had told him the truth before informed him right away what the verdict should be for this man: innocent. Now, however, as the proceedings were drawing to a close, he could sense the fear that was coming over the man, the fear of things not going his way, the fear of being taken from his two children that he'd so desperately wanted to provide for.

Reaching over, Matt put a hand on his client's shoulder to try and calm his nerves. He didn't always do this with clients, but when he did, he hoped that he conveyed what he truly believed, which was that it was all going to turn out alright. Granted, he knew that the final decision would not be in his or his client's hands, but the jury's. Even so, he felt confident of what the ultimate outcome would be, and as his client's heartbeat seemed to steady itself, it seemed he believed so as well.

Finally, the prosecution's speech ended.

"Would the defense like to give a closing statement as well?" the judge asked.

"Yes, your honor," Matt replied. "Thank you." He then slowly stood up, reaching for his cane and using it to help elevate himself. Though he knew his way around the courtroom, both due to his radar sense as well as his being there many times, he still used it to help him get around, always looking to ensure that his cover was maintained. When he knew that he was near and facing the jury, he stopped, raising his cane up to clutch its upper half in his right hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," he began, "I recognize that this is unusual, but I would just like to take a moment to recognize the speech from the prosecution. It sure was powerful, wasn't it? He spoke with so much passion as he sought to prove that my client, Mr. Lee, is guilty in the death of his former manager."

Matt paused, holding up his pointer finger on his right hand.

"But... did you notice what was missing from his argument?" he questioned. "Facts. Still, just for argument's sake, let's examine what the prosecution stated regarding my client. First, he said that my client bore ill will towards the deceased due to being fired by him, losing his livelihood and thus giving him motive. That's fair, but if that's the path we go on, we must also consider the other twenty-five hundred individuals who had the exact same thing happen to them. That's a lot of people, isn't it?

Second, the prosecution cited that Mr. Lee has a history of violence caused by drunkenness, evidenced by a past disorderly conduct charge. No one is denying that either; however, no alcohol was found in his system after his arrest, which I may remind you was very soon after the murder in question had taken place. On top of that, no alcohol was found in Mr. Lee's home, nor was there any purchasing of alcohol found in his financial transactions. On top of that, several members of his AA group voluntarily testified to his sobriety of five years."

At this point, Matt gave a brief pause, letting what he'd said so far sink into the minds of the members of the jury. He could hear most of their heartbeats slowing down slightly, indicating that they were starting to come down from the emotional hill the prosecution had led them on previously.

"Finally," he continued, "the prosecution stated that my client simply 'fits the profile' of who would commit such a crime. Not only is this an asinine slandering against my client's character as well as boxing Mr. Lee into a stereotype, but it is also simply untrue. You have heard the testimony of many of his former coworkers, his neighbors and others who've shared at length about the coworker, neighbor and father that they have observed him to be in ways inconsistent with that of a murderer."

At this point, Matt took another breath as he prepared to finish.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, emotion and a courtroom do not mix well. Nevertheless, that is what the prosecution has used, because they know that the facts do not point to Mr. Lee's guilt. No eyewitnesses to the crime have come forward, nor was anyone even able to properly verify that my client was even at the scene of the crime to begin with. There was, however, one eyewitness who testified that, as far as they could tell, Mr. Lee's last interaction with his former supervisor was a civil one. Therefore, based on these facts, which you have heard presented before you, my client must be acquitted of the charges against him. What you feel when you look at him, whatever you may think of, it doesn't matter. What matters, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, are the facts, because they point us to the truth."


"How do you make it look so easy?" Karen asked as they continued to stroll down the street back to their office.

"It's like I told you all those years ago," Matt replied, "the job is easy when your client is innocent. I'm just glad that other people more than just us were willing to listen."

"I'll say," Karen said. "That Assistant D.A. had me worried there for a moment."

"Yeah, well, I have a feeling that we won't have to worry about him again," Matt assured her. "I might have accidentally overheard a particularly stern conversation he had with his own boss after the court was dismissed."

"Oh," Karen said. "Well, I guess she wishes she could've taken on it herself."

"District Attorney Brock is one of the few D.A.s in office I've gone up against over the years that I respect," Matt explained. "It's just hard to find good help nowadays. Luckily for me, I don't have that problem."

"Oh, so that's all I am to you?" Karen teased, "just some really good help?"

"Well, I would think that your name being on the front of our office building would indicate otherwise," Matt retorted. "Also, if memory serves me right, I was the one who supported your name specifically being first as well."

"I mean, it does have a nice ring to it," Karen insisted, producing a light chuckle from them both. Silence then fell over them for a time as they continued making their way back, but there was an unease in the air between them as they did so, something unspoken that neither seemingly wanted to admit. Naturally, Karen was the one that alluded to it first.

"You know that he would have been really proud of you, right?"

Matt let out a light huff of air through his nose.

"Yeah," he replied.

Before either of them could say more, Matt's hearing and smell picked up on something, or rather someone, that made him pause for a moment, prompting Karen to do the same.

"What is it?" she asked. "Is someone following us or something?"

"No, nothing like that," he said. "It seems that we have a visitor back at the office though."

"Who is it?" Karen questioned.

"An old friend," Matt replied as he resumed his stroll. Sure enough, after another block or so, they arrived back at their office building where, upon entering, their secretary spoke up.

"Mr. Murdock, welcome back," she said as she came up to him. "How'd it go?"

"The way it was supposed to," he reassured her.

"Good," she said. She paused for a minute before lowering her voice as she continued. "There's someone here to see you. He says that he's an old friend of yours."

"Thank you," he replied. He and Karen then stepped away, heading to the room in question.

"Seriously, who is it?" she asked.

"You'll see," Matt replied.

Eventually, they entered the lobby/waiting area, where there none other than Peter Parker was waiting for them. A momentary silence filled the room, with no one seeming to know how to respond to the presence of the other.

"Hey, Matt," Peter finally spoke up.

"It's been a long time," Matt answered. He extended his hand for Peter to shake, the man accepting his gesture, gripping his hand as firmly. It was in this moment that Matt was reminded of the power his former ally possessed. Really, if he ever wanted to, Peter could break his hand clean off his arm without so much as breaking a sweat. The way he must have needed to hold back in everyday life was crazy.

"Returning from another successful case I take it?" Peter said, seemingly trying to make conversation.

"Fortunately, yes, this time," Matt replied. "Now, I'm guessing you didn't come to Hell's Kitchen just to visit an old friend?"

"I guess you really are a living lie detector," Peter said. "I'm actually here on behalf of my wife, or more accurately, her business partner."

"Wait, isn't your wife the one who runs the Madeline's clothing stores?" Karen asked.

"Yep," Peter confirmed. "Well, her and her best friend run it together. Unfortunately, Liz was arrested last night."

"On what charge?" Matt questioned.

"Money laundering," Peter answered. "The cops aren't sharing much, but from what M.J. told me, they seem to think that they have something serious on her. Anyway, if you're willing..."

"I'll need to speak to her first," Matt said, already being able to tell where the conversation was going. "We'll talk after that."

"Fair enough," Peter replied.


Liz strolled down the hallway as she was escorted to the visiting room, trying to refocus her mind. Her whole world felt as though it had been turned upside down ever since she was arrested the night prior, but now, she was preparing to meet with who she hoped would be the one who would take up her case and help her set the record straight. According to M.J, this individual was an old friend of Peter's, but she declined to say much else, though Liz presumed it likely had to do with the man's alter ego somehow.

Finally, they came to the room in question, where she could see M.J, Peter and a third individual who she guessed was the one she would speak with. The guard opened the door for her, everyone in the room turning to face her as she entered.

"Hey," M.J. said. "How are you holding up?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess," Liz said. "I'm guessing this is..."

Suddenly, it clicked.

"Wait, are you..."

"Matthew Murdock," he explained. "Mr. Parker here told me about your situation; I'd like to have a discussion with you to find out if I'm indeed the right person to handle your case, if that's alright."

"Yeah, of course," Liz said, her words coming out a little more enthusiastically than she'd imagined they would. She just had no idea that Peter's "old friend" was one of the most famous defense attorneys in the country!

"Mr. and Mrs. Parker, I'm afraid this is an attorney/client conversation, so we will need some privacy," Matt explained.

"Of course," Mary Jane replied, turning to Liz. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. M.J. and Peter then took their leave of the room, and Liz came around to her side of the table, with her potential attorney taking a seat on the other.

"Now, Ms. Allan," the man started, "as I understand it, you're being charged with facilitating a money laundering operation. I'm just going to ask you a few questions, so that I can get an idea of your side of the story."

"Okay," she replied, still feeling good about her chances so far.

"First off, do you have any idea why these charges might have been brought against you?"

"No," she answered. "This all just happened out of the blue."

"Is there anyone, maybe a business rival, who might want to tarnish your image or even put you out of business?" Matt questioned.

"Not to my knowledge," Liz said. "Mary Jane tends to handle a lot of the more public aspects of the job; I tend to handle the numbers side of things. She's never told me about anyone who would want to put us out of business or something like that though."

"Fair enough," Matt said. "Have you made any financial decisions, personal or business related to places or people that you have second guessed for any reason, perhaps due to feeling the other party wasn't who they said they were?"

The word was right on the tip of her tongue, but Liz found herself hesitating for a moment.

"No," she finally said. Matt took an extra moment; since he was blind, she knew that he couldn't actually look at her, so why did it feel like he was staring into her soul?

"Ms. Allan," he finally spoke up, "where's your brother?"

"Mark?" she questioned. "What does he have to do with this?"

"I spoke to the detective who arrested you prior to this little meeting," he explained. "She said that she couldn't tell me much, since I'm not officially your defense yet, but she seems to think that he may be involved somehow."

"I don't know why that would be," Liz reasoned, her mind spinning as she tried to keep her cool.

Matt then leaned in, folding his hands together on the table, his voice a little lower as he spoke.

"Ms. Allan, if I'm going to represent you, you're going to have to be completely honest with me. Any little detail could be the difference in preserving your freedom."

"I am telling you the truth," she insisted; it was taking more and more to keep playing it straight. "Mark couldn't have been involved in this."


"What's taking them so long?" M.J. questioned.

"I'm sure they're just discussing the details of the case," Peter reasoned.

"Do you think he'll represent her?" M.J. asked.

"M.J, don't worry," Peter said, coming alongside his pacing wife, rubbing his hands on her arms to try and settle her. "I'm sure that he'll..."

Before Peter could finish, the door to the room opened. Liz was escorted out quickly, not even bothering to say a word ironically enough. Peter observed the distraught look on his wife's face, and he suddenly found himself wondering if things had gone wrong somehow. It didn't take them long to ask, as Matt soon came out.

"So?" M.J. asked impatiently. "Are you going to help her?"

Matt let out a sigh.

"Mrs. Parker, to be frank with you, I think your friend is hiding something," he explained. "I think that there is someone that she is trying to protect, but I do not believe that she is a criminal. I don't know how this happened, but I believe that she was likely deceived into the position she finds herself in. I'll represent her, but I have a feeling that it might be up to you to get her to be honest with me. If she isn't, I might not be able to help her in the way she needs."

M.J. let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Don't worry," she assured the man. "I'll make sure she gives you everything that you need."

"Very well," he said. Matt started to walk out, but Peter put a hand to his shoulder, stopping him.

"M.J, could you give us a minute, please?" he asked his wife.

"Sure," she said before turning and heading out of the hall, leaving the two of them there. Once she was out of earshot, Peter turned back to Matt.

"Listen," he began, "I just wanted to say thank you."

"It's no problem," Matt explained. "It is my job after all."

"I don't mean just for this," Peter clarified. He didn't even need to say the rest for Matt to understand, his friend giving him a knowing smile, though it seemed there might be something more behind it.

"Well, sparing Fisk didn't exactly have the best of consequences in the long run."

Peter tilted his head, eyeing his friend curiously.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Matt turned his head for a moment, seemingly contemplating what to respond before finally doing so.

"Some other time."


Well, here he is! I know it took a while to get to him, but the good news is that there will be plenty more Matt Murdock from here on out! Thank you for your patience!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"Sing to God, sing in praise of His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before Him—His name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling." Psalm 68:4-5