This fanfic was inspired by something I read about the new Daredevil Born Again series, that it might be set during the blip/snap. It made me wonder what it would have been like if Matt Murdock had disappeared leaving Foggy and Karen grieving his loss. But I also wanted to include a chapter five years later, when they are all reunited again.
I'll probably also write a companion fanfic where Foggy and Karen disappears leaving Matt grieving.
Hope you enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated, thanks!
Chapter 1 - Matt Disappears
Foggy Nelson was buying avocados at the local store. Marci wanted to make guacamole. He wished he could share her enthusiasm for all things healthy but the only thing he liked about avocados was that they reminded him of Matt. Avocados at Law. He felt a twisting in his chest as he smiled sadly at the memory.
God, he missed his friend. Had it really been five years since he and Karen had watched him disappear right in front of their eyes? He would never forget that horrific day, or Matt's final words as his head had twitched in different directions, picking up so many things with those incredibly heightened senses of his that he couldn't seem to keep up. "Somethings happening," he had breathed hoarsely, and Foggy had detected raw fear in his friend's voice for perhaps the first time. "Something wrong…something…bad."
They had all been in his apartment so Matt hadn't been wearing his glasses and the last thing Foggy had seen were his eyes. They had always been so vacant before, despite his ability to see so much, but strangely, they seemed more animated, more alive, in those final few seconds as he had turned to dust.
And then Karen had started screaming. Unbeknown to them at the time, she hadn't been the only one. They were soon to discover that half of Earth's population had watched their loved ones disappear along with Matt. Foggy hadn't just lost his best friend either. His father had disappeared as well.
Foggy blinked back his emotions as he snatched up the avocados, angry at the Avengers for failing even though he knew that they had given their all in the fight against Thanos. Hell, half of them had disappeared as well, along with half of the universe. He wondered, not for the first time, if the outcome would have been different if Daredevil had been fighting alongside them. Matt's heightened senses might have picked up something about Thanos that the rest of the Avengers wouldn't have been attuned to.
He did the rest of his shopping, attempting a jokey exchange with Patty at the checkout though his heart wasn't in it, and walked back out onto the sidewalk.
He found himself hesitating as he stared into the throng of people rushing past him. Thinking about Matt made him want to return to his friend's apartment. He usually went with Karen, once a month, to raise a glass in his memory, and share stories, but Karen was with her father back in Vermont. They had reconciled a year after the snap and she returned occasionally for a long weekend. Actually, she would probably be on her way back now. He would normally wait for her but something suddenly compelled him to head out in Matt's direction.
Weaving his way urgently through the human traffic, he knew they should probably give up the ghost and stop paying the rent, but Matt's apartment was all they had left of him now. It was somewhere to go, to pay their respects, to remember the good times. Luckily, the rent was cheap and they both had good jobs now, so it didn't leave too deep a dent in their combined salaries.
Initially, Karen had even moved in, wanting to be there for Matt if he suddenly returned, but the advertising screen outside the window had eventually driven her mad, depriving her of what little sleep she could manage, and so she had been forced to return to her own apartment.
And so, they had left everything of Matts exactly the way it had been the day he had disappeared, pandering to a desperate hope that one day, just one day, he might return. He had survived having a skyscraper fall on top of him after all.
Their hopes had dimmed with each passing year though, and part of him knew they needed to finally accept that Matt was gone, gone for good, and move on, but it was hard, so hard, given the crazy circumstances of his disappearance. There had been no body to bury, no funeral to attend, no grave to visit, no closure.
He dragged a hand through his hair, knowing that they weren't the only ones. Half the world's population was struggling to move on, wrestling with the same lack of closure.
He was only about a block away from Matt's apartment when he heard a scream. It was concerning but not exactly unusual for Hell's Kitchen. But it was swiftly followed by another; a squeal of car tyres; shouting; a rather deranged laughing.
And then he slammed straight into someone who, a second ago, had not even been there.
The man blinked at him in surprise and then frowned. "Watch where you're going, buddy!"
Foggy ignored him, his eyes wide, heart racing, as more cries, more screams, more chaos ensued, as people were suddenly materialising back into existence. The irony was, they seemed less bewildered, less terrified, than the people that were already here.
Then it hit him like a ton of bricks and he gathered his wits and started to run.
Matt!
A moment later his phone started ringing. He knew immediately it would be Karen.
"Is it happening there!?" she gasped.
"Yeah, it's crazy!" he panted, already out of breath. "Where are you?"
"Home. I've just got back. Matt, Foggy, you've got to check on Matt!"
"I'm on my way there now! Dad will have mum and Theo, Matt will be alone."
"Oh Foggy. I'm sorry. I forgot all about your dad!"
"Don't worry about it. If what I think is happening is actually happening, I'll see him soon enough." Foggy smiled at the thought.
"Ok. I'm on my way too!"
"Just be careful! The streets are chaotic!"
Karen had already ended the call so Foggy rammed his phone back in his pocket and continued to battle his way through the pandemonium.
