Peter stared at Betty in utter silence. She grinned back at him, though she seemed a little confused at his mood.
Right. He wasn't supposed to actually know the people she was talking about. Don't act so shocked.
"So, your friend MJ," he began carefully. "The one you've talked about being so constantly aloof and people-hating, has a crush on Daredevil?"
Betty started in on another bout of uncontrollable laughter. "I know! Oh my God, the way I've seen her reject so many people's love confessions, and yet-" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Ned couldn't stop wheezing on Discord! MJ probably would've stabbed him if they were actually together!"
Despite himself, Peter began laughing along with her. Betty's good moods had always been infectious. Plus, knowing MJ the way he did, it was a little funny.
But when he started laughing, she laughed harder. And he laughed harder. So did she. And it became a vicious cycle of childish shrieking until the whole office was staring at them. Still, neither of them stopped.
After a good few minutes of back-bending laughter (and more than a few rude comments from everyone else), they finally began to catch her breath. Betty took a couple deep breaths as Peter wiped his hands over his face, letting out the last few chuckles.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds this utterly hilarious." Betty giggled.
"I mean, yeah. From the way you've spoken about this girl, she hates most people she comes across." He looked at her with a big smile.
"Yeah," Betty nodded enthusiastically. "And that tends to go double for heroes. Something about 'false paragons' and 'dangerous vigilantes.' But man, that girl cannot seem to get away from them. I can't tell you just how long she had a crush on Spider-Man."
Peter flinched. Luckily Betty didn't seem to notice, all of her attention being suddenly stolen by her coffee. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond, both as Spider-Man himself, and as someone who's worked for the publication that spends most of their time trashing Spider-Man. "Oh yeah?" He settled on.
"Uh huh. She became interested in him after he saved us in DC, and in the year after the Blip, she was practically obsessed. Hell, she and Ned pretty much talked about him nonstop after our trip to London. It was almost like the three of them were best friends." Peter gulped nervously as she took a sip from her coffee. "But after the whole Statue of Liberty thing, her feelings toward him turned kinda sour."
"But didn't he save her last night?"
"Ned said he was with Daredevil, yeah," Betty shrugged. "And that she was pretty speechless after Spider-Man got shot for her. Honestly, she barely said a word about Spider-Man. Probably trying to figure out her thoughts."
"Huh. Guess so," He hummed.
"Yep." She popped. Betty began fiddling with a gel pen. "Now, I have a question for you."
"Oh yeah? What is it?" Peter looked up at her curiously.
The mischievous grin appeared again, though this time it had a layer of seriousness on top. "Were you there last night?"
He blinked. "What?"
"Were you there last night? When Ned's house burnt down?" She asked again, setting the pen down and waking her computer up.
Peter watched her as her hands danced around the keyboard. "Why would you even ask that?"
She smirked at him. "Peter, it's my dream to be an investigative journalist. The truth is important to me. And I've finally convinced Jonah to publish something of mine on the Bugle's front page." She straightened her back, her confidence multiplying by the second. "And since I've got at least four primary sources on this particular story, I figured I'd run with it."
"Five?" He asked dumbly.
"Ned, his grandma, MJ, and you, Mr. Receptionist for Nelson, Murdock & Page, the law firm Ned's grandma hired." She said as though it were obvious. And it was, technically. That didn't mean Peter had to like it. "So, I'll ask one last time; were you present at the scene last night?"
Peter sighed, slumping in defeat. "No."
"Right. Do you know who was?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Like, from the firm?"
"Duh."
He released a bitter sigh. "I don't entirely know. I think it was just Ms. Page and Mr. Nelson." He called them by their last names. He didn't want to be so cavalier during this unexpected and intense interview, plus they sounded a bit better to him.
"Not Matt Murdock?" She continued on.
"Not that I'm aware of." Peter didn't see him. He certainly hoped Matt hadn't been there. The guy's blind; he wouldn't have been very safe in that kind of environment.
"Hm." She peered at the notes she'd taken. "Do you know where they would be now?" She asked without looking at him.
"Probably the office." He looked down at his phone. "Shit. I should actually head there now."
"Good! We can go together!" Betty chirped as she stood and began to gather her things.
Peter froze half way out of the chair. "Huh?"
Betty looked at him fondly as she slipped her jacket onto her shoulders. "I already told you, Pete. I'm working this story, and I need all the info I can get. So I need to talk to your bosses."
"I, uh, I'm not, Betty-" He tried. The words weren't forming in his brain.
"Come on, Pete," She stepped around her desk and grabbed him by the arm, tugging him towards the elevator. "I can't let you be late to your cushy new job. Not when I have to talk to your fancy-pants lawyer bosses."
Karen walked into the office with her head still buried in her notepad. Man, that Wong guy had been the best source she could've hoped for. As soon as Nelson, Murdock & Page shut its doors for the day, she was going to kidnap Peter, force feed him a half-decent dinner, and see if anything he knew corroborated with what Wong said.
Luckily, this wasn't the only thing she needed Peter for. Her PI work still beckoned her, and she needed someone good with a camera to help her chase after the Leeds' landlord. So their conversation would be somewhat diverse.
Either way, she was relieved she let the kid argue his way into a half day. Peter was going to be more of a help around the firm than she realized. Plus, it would probably be good to-
"Woah!" She yelled as she tripped over Foggy's legs. Literally. He was on all fours right in front of the door for some reason. "What the fuck, Foggy!"
"Shit, Karen!" He yelped. Foggy dropped the file he had in his hands and turned around to help her up. "Sorry!"
She let him take her by the shoulder and help her into a sitting position. She rubbed her hands together to soothe the sting of landing on them. "What's going on?" Karen demanded. She gave Foggy a hard look for a moment before remembering her notepad. Her head whipped around to find it, and she leaned over to grab it from where it fell.
"What's going on," Matt began explaining, practically appearing out of thin air. Stupid ninja training. "Is that we're due for a visit from the Punisher at some point today."
Karen blinked up at him. "Frank's coming today?" She scrambled to her feet, grateful she had the forethought to wear flats today.
In her periphery, she saw Foggy rolling his eyes and bending back over, pushing up his shirt sleeves as he began gathering scattered papers. Matt nodded once. "He and I spoke last night. I convinced him to come today, to prove to him that we didn't just abandon the city after the Snap."
Foggy stood, thumping his feet on the ground in obvious annoyance. He shoved the file he was holding into Karen's chest and stalked off into his office.
"I take it he's not happy?" She pressed her lips into a thin line.
"Is he ever?" Matt retorted quietly.
"Just because you can hear quiet shit that's quiet doesn't mean you are quiet, Matty!" Foggy grumbled loudly from his office.
Karen hummed, turning fully back to Matt. "So what's the plan?"
"Well, when he gets here, I think he'll want to see some evidence of what Fisk was up to the past 5 years and how you and I combated that. So if you could pull those files…" He trailed off, pressing a finger to his chin in thought.
"Okay. But what are you thinking long term?" Karen asked as she stepped around him and began towards her own desk. She dropped her notepad and took a quick glance at the file Foggy gave her.
Matt paused. "Huh?"
Karen shot him a funny look. "What do you mean, huh? We show him the files, talk it out. Then what?"
Matt's face was oddly blank. "Um…"
"You do know the next move, right?" She took a slow step towards him. "You didn't just rush into this, horns first, without thinking?"
Matt gulped, shrinking back from her a bit.
Karen scoffed. "You are unbelievable." She deadpanned.
"Well, look, I just-" Matt stammered uselessly. He held his hands up in some sort of fake defense. "We show him what we have, and you convince him to give us what he has. Then we figure out what's up with Spider-Man and go from there."
It was obvious from his nervous smile that he came up with that on the spot. Karen frowned harshly, knowing he could sense it.
That wasn't the only thing he sensed, apparently. "Is something wrong, Karen?" He looked concerned as she noticed the shift in her breathing pattern.
"Just leave it, Matt." She snapped, knowing that outright denying anything would make Matt and Foggy pester it out of her. And while Karen was good at keeping secrets, she also worked with the two most annoying men in New York City, and if anyone could draw info out of her, it was them.
Instead, she just ignored the look of confusion and sadness that flashed onto his face and dug into the filing cabinet behind her. It was where she kept the firm's most sensitive files, most of which had some kind of connection to either Daredevil or Fisk.
"I see someone's already been poking around in here." Karen huffed as she began rearranging what had been messed up. Luckily, it wasn't much, just files on the initial chaos of the Decimation, but still. It was rude to just go through her stuff.
"Well, we weren't exactly sure when you were coming in, and God forbid Frank got here before you." Foggy said flatly as he came into the room. Karen gave him a look as he scarfed down a chocolate bar from his emergency stash. He simply looked at her and gestured for her to speak.
She sighed. "What can I say? Busy morning."
"Anything we should know about?" Matt asked, quirking an eyebrow up at her.
"Not at the moment." She answered briefly as she pulled out some files that may be useful.
Foggy looked at her quizzically. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that what I was doing this morning is something I need to keep close to my chest for now." She replied without looking at either of them.
Matt walked up to her, his hands held out in a weak attempt to pacify her. "Karen, if something's going on, we need to help," Karen huffed and crossed her arms. He got the cue and took a step back, his hands still annoyingly held out. "If there's danger-"
"Matt, I get that you're worried, but I really need you to trust me on this one." She half yelled. "If it got to that level, of course I'd come to you, but for now, it's better that I work on this."
Foggy and Matt turned to each other, seeming to do that thing where they had a mental conversation. Honestly, there were some days that Karen thought they actually were, what with Matt's enhancements.
Rather than let herself get even more riled up, Karen just dropped her shoulders and continued pulling up relevant info on Fisk. Her phone dinged its text tone, and after a moment, during which she gathered a sizable stack of info, Matt and Foggy finally turned back to her.
"Look, Karen-" Matt tried.
"Let's just keep our eyes on Frank, for now." She shut him down as she reached for her phone.
"You might find that kinda difficult."
All three of them turned to find Frank Castle casually leaning against the door, the only hint of danger in him the dark expression he had on Matt, though he certainly had at least three weapons on him.
"Frank!" Karen greeted, pushing past the lawyers to give him a hug. "Good to see you! It's been-"
"Years, I suppose." Frank half smiled as he returned her embrace. He let go after a couple seconds, taking a half step back from Karen.
"I suppose so." She smiled back at him. "I see your fashion sense hasn't changed." She chuckled as she took in the dark jeans paired with an even darker jean jacket.
"What can I say? I'm still into the 2018 vet-with-C-PTSD look." He shrugged as he looked away from her. "Murdock."
"Castle." Matt replied quickly, stiff as a board.
Frank's eyes continued around the room. He jerked a nod at Foggy. "How are you doing, Nelson?"
The anxious sweat running down Foggy's head was enough to water all of the plants in the room for a week. He gulped nervously. "Not bad, Frank."
The room fell eerily quiet, and they all awkwardly stared at each other. Frank let out a long whistle as he shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, you guys got anything to show me, or was this just a play to save your own ass, Murdock?"
"No no, Frank," Karen butted in. She gestured to the generous pile she had amassed on her desk. "We've got plenty to share. As long as you're willing to reciprocate?" She raised a single eyebrow at him.
He moved slightly. To most people, it would read as annoyance, but Karen was familiar enough with Frank, as well as vigilantes and people with severe mental health issues, to know that it was more like acceptance. "Just show me what you've got."
Matt took a step back and next to Foggy as Karen led Frank over to her desk. She pulled the first file Foggy grabbed, a report on crime immediately after the Decimation. "Have you seen any statistics on anything about the last five years?" She asked as she handed the report over.
"Just what's available online." He muttered as he began leafing through it.
"Then it shouldn't be a surprise to find that crime of all kinds spiked massively in the immediate aftermath of Thanos' attack," Matt cut in. He was standing abnormally close to Foggy, and in any normal situation, Foggy would push him away. The Punisher must've been an exception to his personal space rule. "Petty, emotional, gang, organized, all of it got really bad really quick. The worst was the looting in the streets. Happened less than an hour after the world had been informed of what happened."
"So you were on your feet right away." Frank filled in.
Matt shrugged. "More or less. I was out that day, as soon as I was able-"
"But I tried to stop him." Karen added. Frank tilted his head at her. "The Decimation itself practically tore Matt apart. His super senses went haywire, he practically blacked out. I didn't think it was good for him to hit the streets so soon after he was physically immobilized by what happened."
"So that's your deal, huh?" Frank turned a flat look to Matt. "You can't see, but you've got enhanced hearing to make up for it?"
"Among other things, yeah. All my senses have been boosted, giving me the ability to map out my surroundings."
"Like a radar sense?" Matt nodded. Frank snorted. "If that's the case, why are you Daredevil and not Batman?"
"Do I look like I have enough money to pull that off?" Matt replied dryly. Foggy stifled a chuckle behind a harsh cough. Frank gave him a tight smile before turning his attention to another file Karen handed to him.
"This is organized crime data from the past six years, starting about a month before the Blip began. And this," She picked up another piece of paper from her deteriorating pile. "Is a collection of all crimes related to Wilson Fisk, specifically, combined with news reports about Hawkeye's activity."
"Did you really have to fight off an Avenger, Murdock?" Frank asked without looking away from the report.
"Fisk is a master manipulator. He got into Barton's head. If anyone would know that, I figured it'd be you." Matt shrugged.
Frank froze in place, every line in his body taking on a dangerous edge. He looked at Matt with the corner of his eye before fully turning to face him. "You wanna say that again, Murdock?" He challenged.
Foggy literally smacked himself in the face as Matt lazily smirked, taking a deep breath.
Karen smacked him in the face with a folder before he could say anything. "Stop doing stupid shit."
He gawked at her. "Karen, I-" He paused, his brow creasing in the way it did when he heard something off.
"Matt?" Foggy gently nudged his shoulder. Frank rolled his eyes and looked back down at the information in his hands.
When Karen turned to glance at them, Matt's face was white as a sheet. "What's wrong?" She raised her voice in alarm.
"I knew we forgot something." Matt mumbled.
"What did we-" Foggy stopped himself as realization dawned on his face. "Shit. Peter."
Karen could've punched herself in the face. She already had two emotionally stunted, dark and brooding vigilantes dampening up her office - not to mention Foggy's whole deal. Adding a third enhanced? That wouldn't be pretty.
Plus, Matt would definitely figure out that Peter's Spider-Man, and the whole situation would spiral greater her worst nightmares. "Fuck."
"Who's Peter?" Frank asked, seemingly half interested.
"Our new receptionist," Matt blurted as he reached for his cane. "I just heard him step off the elevator, chatting to another young woman. Foggy, you should-"
"No!" Karen yelled. All three men turned towards her in surprise. She cleared her throat. "I mean, no. I'll go shoo him off."
Matt tilted his head a little. "Karen, are you sure? Shouldn't you stay here with Frank?"
"It's just, I'm, uh, I'm way better with him. I'll make sure he isn't hanging around." She forced a smile. Foggy scrunched his eyebrows together, clearly about to say something.
"Nah, let her go." Frank shrugged. "Between the three of you, she's the only one with any social skills. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna flip out and try to kill you two in the minute she's gone."
Out of the corner of her eye, Karen saw Foggy deflating a little. Was he seriously worried about getting murdered if she left?
"Right. I'll, uh, I'll be right back." She said as she backed out of the room. As soon as she was in the main office, she quickly turned on her heel and bolted for the front door, practically slamming it shut as she came up in the hallway.
Peter was walking with a young blonde woman who was practically buzzing. They both stopped to look at her curiously, but the girl quickly recovered and rushed up to Karen.
"Ms. Karen Page!" She greeted, her tone somewhere between serious and excited. "Betty Brant, Daily Bugle. Can you answer some questions I have about last night?"
Karen stared at her dumbly. She glanced behind Betty's shoulder to look at Peter, who looked about as lost as she was. He simply shrugged helplessly at her.
"I'm sorry?" Karen asked, holding back a sigh. This day felt like it would never end.