(The Beach/Photograph - Delialah El-Atwi)

After having coffee with Matt and Foggy, Danica said her goodbyes and headed to the Ruebin's museum to see about the job. When she got there she had a pleasant talk with the Director Tom who complimented her directness coming in and offered her the job, starting next Monday. Feeling accomplished with herself, Danica then made her way over to her Father's, feeling excited about seeing him.

As Danica knocked on the door, she heard some shuffling and then the door slowly opened. "Danica!" Her Father exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across his salt n pepper bearded face. He then wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight hug.

"Hi Papa." She murmured into his shoulder as he held her tightly.

"Oh Danica, you're here." He said softly then pulled back. "Wait- you're here! I thought you were going to let me know when you got here so I could pick you up." Danica shrugged with a grin.

"I decided to surprise you instead. I thought it'd be more fun that way." She told him as he shook his head.

"You could have been kidnapped by the cabby who picked you up or anything. But, I do love surprises and this is certainly the best I've had in awhile." He relented.

"That's why I surprised you. And also, I'd never get kidnapped." She told him as he led her inside. When they got inside, he went into the kitchen and turned on the stove top and grabbed his kettle.

"I'll make us some tea." He said as she nodded then he motioned to her scar. "What happened? You never mentioned getting injured and that's a nasty scar." Danica sighed as he asked but decided to just tell him the truth.

"Well, speaking of getting kidnapped.." Her Dad's eyebrows raised significantly at that, his eyes widening slightly.

"You're joking me.." He mumbled as she grimaced at his face.

"It was right after Mom's funeral. I didn't want you to go into over drive, you were already dealing with so much, grieving and I didn't wanna add to that." She explained as he slammed his hands down on the counter, making Danica jump in surprise.

"They cut your mouth wide open, Danica!" He yelled, the lines in his forehead creasing with barely concealed rage before he put both of his hands on his face for a moment before looking at her. "That scar is from your mouth to your ear and I wasn't there for you. I was close to losing you too and I didn't even know it because you didn't tell me." Danica looked down at the ground, guilt filling her.

"Papa.. It wasn't like that. I wanted to but I just couldn't. Your face at the funeral was one I never wanted to see again and I thought if you knew and you came, and saw me in the condition I was when it happened.. Well I couldn't stand to ever see that face again, it was already seared into my brain." She whispered, swallowing harshly as memories flashed behind her eyes of his face almost hollow. Her Dad's shoulder sagged at hearing that as he leaned back for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I should have been stronger for you that day but I just.. I didn't think it affected you so much. Still, I would have done anything if I had known you were hurt. You're all I have left after your Mom and Travis. Protecting you is my top priority."

"But I'm safe now. I'm here." Danica told him softly as he looked at her then sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before speaking.

"You're right but.. I'm not happy about this. I know you didn't want to worry me but sometimes you just can't keep it to yourself. You don't have to be strong and carry it all yourself and I promise you that next time something happens, I'll be there wether you like it or not young lady." Danica nodded solemnly as she walked into the kitchen, standing near him. He stared at her with his arms crossed, as if searching for something before slowly loosening up, his hands falling to his sides with a sigh. "I just want protect you."

"I understand and I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be this upset but it was silly of me to not expect you to be." Danica apologized as she grabbed his hand and squeezed. They were both quiet for a while, neither of them making eye contact but just standing in each others presence.

"I want to ask questions about what happened but I.." Her Father trailed off, his face pained. "I don't think I can handle hearing it. I'm sorry if that makes me weak, it's just if I have to imagine you in whatever scenario it is I might just fly off the handle and you just came home. I want this to be happy for you."

Danica swallowed thickly, her eyes welling with tears as she rubbed them away. "Jeez my eyes are like water fountains lately." She mumbled, shaking her head as Dad grabbed her and hugged her again.

"I'm sorry Dani, I'm so, so sorry. I'm over here just yapping about how it makes me feel and you're the one who went through it. It's okay, darling." He murmured as he kissed the top of her head.

"It's not that." Danica croaked out. "I just hate seeing you upset, it kills me."

"Don't worry about me, I was being a baby." He pulled back and looked at her. "No more sadness, you're here and that's what matters. We've got catching up to do and tea to drink." And that's just what they did. The rest of their time together was pleasant, talking about how things had been for both of them and sipping on camomile.

"And so I basically told him that I wouldn't let life pass by waiting on him and that was that. I blocked his number afterwards to maintain my own peace." Danica finished explaining to Her Dad as he nodded.

"As you should. He wasn't worth it if he couldn't make the effort to take off of his work for one day to come see you." He told her. "You deserve someone willing to move mountains for you."

"Maybe not mountains." She chuckled. "But.. I did meet a really sweet guy yesterday when I got in. He's my neighbor and Foggy's best friend slash law partner." Danica told him as he hummed in curiosity.

"I thought you were Foggy's best friend?" Dad asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Well I've been gone for a long while and we've only communicated through text for the last few years. He was bound to have another best friend."

"I suppose.. Remind me again, how old is Foggy? I know you two went to high school together but if my memory serves me correctly, you were bumped up grades in middle school to high school." He spoke, stroking his beard in thought.

"He's 33 and I'm 28. Yeah, Foggy was so mad that he had to deal with me at first. His Mom was always making him watch out for me since we lived in the same neighborhood." Dad grimaced as she said this.

"I remember her, very loud woman. Abrasive too. Every time your Mom and I would come home from work she was always at our door with those damn meatloafs." Danica laughed at that, holding her stomach for a moment.

"Mom was always telling you to be pleasant and just take the meatloafs and then that one time she saw you throwing it out and-" Dad groaned as he threw his head back at the memory.

"God, your Mom threw me under the bus and none of you even ate the meatloaf's either! I'll always remember Foggy's mom saying 'It's sad you don't know what a good meatloaf is!' Like lady, no one could stand your meatloafs." He laughed as he said it and Danica grinned.

"I miss those times."

"Me too." He told her as he sighed. "But you said that man you met, Foggy's friend, was nice? What's his name?" Dad asked her curiously, sipping his tea.

"His name is Matt and he's blind but he's extremely capable, honestly if he didn't use a cane I don't think you'd even be able to tell that he was." Danica explained with a smile as Dad wiggled his eyebrows at her with a silly grin then.

"Impressive! So you like him then, hm?" He asked knowingly as Danica coughed awkwardly.

"Papa, I met the man yesterday." Dad shrugged one shoulder then the other up and down like he used to do when she was a child, smirking as he did so.

"So? That's how it works. You meet someone and it goes from there." He spoke as she sighed.

"I'm not looking for a relationship right now though. I just got out of one."

"You say that now but it's always when you're least expecting it! Trust me, I would know. When your mom and I met, I had just sworn off relationships forever but look how that went." He joked, pointing to her as she giggled.

"I don't know, we'll see.. But I've got to get going home for now. It's getting late and I wanna be there before it's completely dark." She let him know as he nodded his head in agreement.

"You're right, it'd make me feel better too if you were at home before it was super late. Let me call you a cab." Dad pulled out his phone then and made a call before getting up as she did too, giving her a brief hug. "I'm glad you're home, Danica the Brave."

Thirty minutes later, Danica was heading up the stairwell of her apartment and when she reached her floor, she stopped in front of Matt's door. Should I knock? She thought as she shifted from foot to foot. Finally gathering the strength, Danica knocked on the door.

For a moment everything was silent but then she heard shuffling and Matt opened the door but his cheek was bruised and Danica frowned. "Hey, what happened?" She asked as Matt smiled abashedly at her.

"I missed a few feet on the door earlier at work. Sometimes it happens, should have had my cane to avoid that." Danica narrowed her eyes at his explanation, not quite believing him.

"You must have ran into the door pretty damn hard."Danica muttered as he nodded.

"I was in a hurry so ya know.." Matt drifted off for a moment before changing the topic. "What can I do for you, Danica?" He asked. Danica looked at his bruise for a moment before deciding to drop it as she spoke.

"I was just going to say thank you for making me feel so welcomed on my first night and morning back to NewYork. I didn't know what to expect coming back at first but I actually ended up being happier then I have in a long time." Matt smiled at that.

"I'm glad I could put you at ease. It seems like things have been pretty hard for you in the last few years and you deserve to be happy and I wanna make you happy some more if I can." Matt leaned against his door as he talked to her and Danica couldn't help but gravitate towards him.

"Mr. Murdock, does flirting just come naturally for you?" Danica asked in a low tone as Matt shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not all the time.. but for some reason I can't seem to stop with you." He spoke softly as she blushed.

"Lucky me then." She murmured as he took a step towards her then stopped, cocking his head for a moment and then stepping back. Danica instantly deflated and felt a sharp sting of rejection but swallowed it down, immediately feeling her walls rising. This is so stupid, you just met this man yesterday. Don't get your hopes up.

"I just forgot I had to do something but I would like to continue this tomorrow morning. Come by before I go to work and have breakfast with me?" He asked hopefully and Danica found herself unable to say no despite her inner monologue.

"Okay, sure. What time?" Danica asked casually, trying not to seem too excited.

"8:30, what do you like?"

"Anything, I'm not picky." Matt nodded before he quickly leaned in and kissed her cheek, catching her by surprise.

"I can't wait. I'll see you soon." And before Danica could say anything else, he closed the door and she was left blinking rapidly, feeling like she had whiplash from that interaction.

"What just happened?" She asked to herself before shuffling to her apartment only to realize she didn't have a bed to sleep on. With a groan, Danica turned back around and down the stairs. Not wanting to get another cab, she just looked up where the nearest store that sold air mattresses was and started walking that way. It was dark now but Danica didn't mind much, figuring if she made haste it'd be fine.

It took about 20 minutes and finally she was at the store, going in and perusing the isles before finally finding an air mattress that came with an electric pump. As Danica grabbed it, she also snatched up some candy on her way to the front and quickly paid, grabbing her bag and walking out.

As Danica made her way back, she hummed a song lowly under her breath. NewYork at night was pretty, the lamp lights giving off a glow that she had once been familiar with. Even at night, things were still somewhat busy, people going in and out of places, some walking down the street opposite of her.

After a little bit though, Danica realized someone was trailing behind her. Not one, but two people and she felt anxiety pooling in her stomach. You've got the knife in your bag. She reassured herself but still felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. Eventually they started speeding up, so she did too and then without a moments hesitation, Danica booked it down the street, her high heeled shoes hitting the pavement hard as she ran.

They rapidly closed in, taking advantage of the fact that she was wearing heels. Danica swiftly dropped her bag and spun around, delivering a solid punch to one of their heads. The blow landed, causing them to stagger backward. However, the other assailant lunged at her, grabbing her arm tightly. In response, she sank her teeth into his forearm with all her might, drawing blood. "You bitch!" he yelled, forcefully retracting his arm.

Spitting out the blood from her mouth, Danica braced herself as the second attacker approached once again. She attempted to step back, but it was too late as he seized her by the hair, causing her to scream. "Let me go!" Danica shrieked out, feeling panicked trying to yank herself back to no avail. Determined to defend herself, she headbutted him, resulting in a sickening crack emanating from his nose. He stumbled and fell to the ground, while the other assailant struck her hard with an open hand, momentarily causing her vision to blur.

It's just like before, oh god. Danica's thoughts were wild and panicked before remembering she had her knife. Just as Danica contemplated reaching for it, someone intervened, pulling the man away and delivering a solid punch to his face, again and again until he was bloodied. They then proceeded to relentlessly knee him in the stomach before forcefully hurling him into nearby trash cans. The remaining attacker scrambled to his feet and, instead of waiting for his companion, swiftly fled the scene. The man who had come to Danica's aid left the other assailant unconscious on the ground. Holding the side of her face, Danica turned her gaze towards her rescuer.

"Are you okay?" He asked gruffly and she slowly nodded, still somewhat dazed from the blow, shaking slightly.

"Y-yeah." Danica mumbled as he walked closer to her. She tried to calm down then but the memories from the night she was kidnapped were resurfacing, and she felt like she was having a hard time getting a grip on reality at the moment.

"Are you sure? Looks like he got you pretty good." The man pointed to her cheek that was now slightly swollen as Danica looked the man over. He was rugged, with a strong and chiseled jawline, accentuated by a hint of stubble. His piercing, intense eyes, framed by thick eyebrows, held a depth that drew her in, keeping the memories at bay.

Standing at an impressive height, his physique was sculpted and powerful. His broad shoulders and well-defined muscles hinted at just how physically capable he was. The man's dark hair added to his rugged appeal, falling effortlessly across his forehead and framing his face with a touch of untamed allure, making Danica's heart skip a beat.

"Hey? You good? You're zoning' out on me." As he said this, Danica snapped back to reality and nodded.

"Oh um, yeah. Yeah I'm good. Thank you for helping me, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't." Danica told him but the man wasn't really paying attention, instead looking over her injury.

"You're gonna wanna ice that, it'll take down the swelling. You might have a bruise for a day or so but it will fade quick." The man told her. "You were handling them pretty good before I showed up. You fight?" He asked.

"Not really, I just was taught to defend myself. I've had something similar happen like this before." She explained as he nodded, eyeing her scar.

"Is it how you got that?" The man questioned, pointing to the scar.

"Yep. It feels like I've talked about this scar more in the last day then I have since I got it." Danica laughed but it was a dry, hollow one.

"They call that a Glasgow smile, it's a torture method." He explained as Danica slowly grabbed her bags from the ground.

"That's what the hospital told me too." Danica stuck her free hand out to him then. "Thanks for saving me, I'm Danica Kravitz. You are?" She asked as he eyed her hand for a moment before slowly shaking it. His hand was huge compared to hers and warm as well, heating up her cold ones. They were also calloused, indicating he worked with his hands a lot.

"Pete Castiglione." He introduced himself, and Danica couldn't help but wanna hear his gruff voice talk more to her. Chill out you horn dog. She thought to herself. "Lemme walk you home, it's late." Pete told her.

"Oh thank you but I don't wanna take up anymore of your ti-"

"It's fine, wasn't doing much of anything important anyways." He insisted and finally Danica relented.

"Okay, well thank you."

"Mhm." Was his only response as they started walking. For a little bit they walked in silence before finally he spoke again. "Your name, it means morning star. Did ya know that?" Pete asked as Danica blinked at him in surprise, not expecting that to come out of his mouth.

"Um I knew something similar, yes. She was a day star that was assumed to be the suns younger sister in mythology. How'd you know?" She asked him as he shrugged.

"Had someone close to me that was into mythology." He answered vaguely.

"My parents were heavily into mythology, my mom especially. She used to read to me bed time stories about Gods every night before bed time."

"Sounds like she's a good mom." Pete responded as Danica smiled sadly.

"Yeah.. She was." Danica looked down for a moment as they were engulfed in silence once more. Eventually they stopped at her building. "This is me." She told Pete as he looked at her with an indescribable look on his face.

"This is your apartment building?" He asked like he couldn't quite believe it. Danica nodded in confusion.

"Yep, just moved in yesterday. Why?" Pete shook his head.

"No reason. Have a better night, Danica." Pete told her before walking away.

"Thank you. Uh, hey!" She called and he turned around.

"Yea?" Pete asked as he stopped.

"Wanna get coffee sometimes? As a thank you for ya know, saving me." She told him as he slowly walked back over.

"You don't gotta do th-" Danica interrupted him this time.

"I want to. Here, hold on." Danica put her bag down as she fished through her purse and pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper, writing her number down. "This is my number. If you ever wanna get coffee, just call." She stuck it out between two fingers and Pete looked down at it then back to her face before grabbing it from between her fingers.

"Thanks." Was all Pete said before putting it in his pocket.

"Goodnight, Pete." Danica smiled softly to him before grabbing her stuff and walking up to her door. Pete watched her walk over to it before finally he once again turned and walked away. As Danica walked up to her apartment once more, she took a quick glance at Matt's door and then went through her own.

Quickly Danica showered then got into some pajamas before airing up her mattress and laying on it, finding it hard to close her eyes and finally when she did, her dreams were filled with the face of Matt Murdock and Pete Castiglione. When Danica woke up, she stared at the ceiling. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" She murmured to herself before swiftly getting up and getting dressed.

Quickly, 8:30 rolled around and she was at Matt's door, knocking. Danica stood there for about two minutes and knocked again but again, no answer. "This is embarrassing." Danica muttered before leaving her apartment to go find herself a bite to eat.

As she did, Danica called Foggy. "Hello?" Foggy asked groggily as she started ranting to him.

"Your friend kind of just stood me up." Danica told him in irritation as she walked down the street.

"Oh. Fuck. Ummmm, how? You're talking about Matt right?" Foggy asked her nervously.

"Uh-huh. He asked if I wanted to have breakfast at his apartment this morning and I knocked multiple times but no one answered. And that's fine if he didn't wanna have breakfast, I totally get it but he could have, I don't know, let me know? And before you say it, this wasn't even a date. Just two friends of a friend getting to know each other over breakfast." Danica felt herself over explaining, trying not too act like she cared which was failing spectacularly.

"See I wasn't going to say that but now that you're saying that it leads me to believe that you were thinking that." Foggy told her as she just sighed in response. "Sorry sorry, not the best time to joke. But seriously, he probably just had something come up or maybe he slept in. Hell, he might even be at the office. He's a workaholic."

"Yeah well, still doesn't feel very good." Suddenly her phone started ringing again and she pulled it back from her face to look at the number before talking to Foggy again. "Hold on, I'm getting another call."

"Okay, I'll just talk to you later. I'll give Matt a call too and see what's up."

"Okay, talk to you later." Danica hung up quickly and answered the call from the unknown number. "Hello?" She asked.

"You still up for coffee?" It was Pete and Danica was thoroughly surprised, thinking he wouldn't actually ever call her.

"Yeah! I mean, yes of course. Right now?" She asked.

"Unless you got something else to do on a Saturday morning."

"Nope, where do you wanna go?" She asked and an hour later, Pete and Danica were sat across from each other, Pete holding a black coffee in his hands and Danica sipping on orange juice. It was quiet as Danica looked down at their menu for a few minutes while excruciatingly aware of the man sat across from her.

"I have to say, I'm a little surprised you called." Danica told him as her eyes finally flickered up from her menu to look at him only to make eye contact with him as he seemingly had been staring at her the entire time, his face unreadable as his eyes felt like they were piercing through her soul.

"Figured why not, was hungry anyways and wanted to see how you were doing after last night." Pete told her casually as a waitress walked up.

"Hey guys, we know what we want?" She asked them with an easy smile.

"Can I get an omelet?" Danica asked as the lady nodded and wrote it down.

"And you?" She asked Pete.

Three eggs over easy, some bacon, and some sourdough toast." Pete rattled off before taking another sip of his coffee.

"Coming right up! And can I just say, you two are such a lovely couple." Before either of them could say anything, the lady walked away. Danica blushed as she looked down with an awkward cough before sipping on her orange juice as he let out a light chuckle before sipping on his coffee.

"So like I said, how ya feeling from last night?" Pete thankfully didn't say anything about the comment the waitress made, instead continuing there previous conversation as Danica shrugged.

"It was scary, but if you hadn't come then they probably would have had my handy dandy knife in their abdomen. They were probably luckier then I was that you came to save me." Danica told him as his stoic face finally broke into a half smile as he chuckled.

"Good to know. You carry that around with you everywhere?" Pete asked as Danica nodded.

"Yeah. Call me paranoid but you can never be too ready to fight for your life. I've got a constant reminder of what happened when I wasn't ready so.." Danica raised two fingers to shakily feel the scar before she balled her hand in a fist as embarrassment overtook her from her tremors, putting her hand in her lap then as she glanced at Pete who just watched her casually.

"That's a smart way to think, I'm the same way." Pete sipped his coffee then. "You got me kinda curious about who exactly a pretty gal like you pissed off to get that kinda torture." He said as he looked at her, his intense brown eyes staring at her as if they were trying to figure out all of her secrets.

"I was just in the wrong place I guess. Some people snatched me up and asked me about a guy they saw lurking near my old apartment. I didn't know who they were talking about and I tried to tell them but they didn't believe me and.." Danica made a cutting motion with her face as Pete shook his head.

"And did the bastards who did it get what was coming to them?" He asked, his voice gravely and tone darker then before.

"Actually, they did. The man who they wanted information on came straight to them and killed them all."

"Good." Was all Pete said as the waitress finally came back with their food.

"Enjoy you two!" She told them cheerily before walking way again.

"Is that why you moved?" Pete asked as Danica shook her head.

"Uh, no actually. I broke up with my boyfriend of two years and decided I wanted to come back home to change things up. I was living in the UK for the past six years."

"Must have been an ugly break up if you moved countries." Pete muttered as Danica shrugged.

"I hadn't seen him in two months so it didn't hurt much. It was almost like I was single at that point anyways. What about you though, Pete?"

"What about me?" Pete asked her as he ate his food. Danica took a small bite of hers before speaking again.

"Girlfriend? Or boyfriend?" She asked as he chuckled and shook his head.

"Definitely no boyfriend. And no, I was married but not anymore." Danica looked down as he said that.

"I'm sorry, that must be hard. Divorce is never fun."

"She died, actually." Guilt immediately made Danica's stomach churn in upset and she no longer felt hungry.

Oh God, I put my foot in my mouth. I am so sorry." She apologized profusely as he put his hand up to stop her.

"It's fine, you didn't know. Rather not talk about it though." Pete told her quietly as Danica quickly nodded her head.

"Of course." And then again, they were sitting in silence. Danica didn't even bother to eat her food, moving it around her plate as she internally kicked herself for being so stupid.

"You don't gotta feel so bad." Pete finally reassured her as she looked up at him. "You looked like you just killed a puppy."

"Oh sorry. I just.. I get it. It's never easy to talk about people you've lost." Pete nodded in agreement but said nothing.

"You know you got a look in your eye, a look I'm familiar with. Loss, hurt, it does that to ya." Pete searched her face as he said it and Danica swallowed thickly, feeling an invisible knot in her throat as he said that.

"Yeah, it does." Danica agreed and suddenly Pete reached his hand across the table and gave her hand a brief squeeze.

"Thanks for asking me to get breakfast. I've got to go but uh, I'd like to do this again." Pete gave her a small smile and she nodded, giving him a smile back.

"I'd like that."