It makes me sad how few people seem to be into Daredevil. Did you know that in Canada and the UK, it's next to impossible to find merchandise! Basically just some funko's and art. You can't even order it direct from Marvel. They don't ship to either country. Well, maybe when the finally release the new show, there will be new stuff available.

It was finally Friday, the only day Halina felt like she had time to go to the gym lately. Most of her co-workers often checked out early on Fridays because more often than not, they would all come in again on Saturday. This week was no exception. Halina had managed to go home, change into her gym clothes, check on her stew in the slow cooker and eat a light supper before finally setting out for Fogwell's. Halina had managed to get away unusually early, while the sun was still up, which almost never happened. The boys at gym had also called it an early evening on Friday's and were often gone by noon. Hopefully, today would be no different, she didn't enjoy cleaning while they were there. Rather than walking Halina decided that a good way to warm herself up and limber up her body was to jog the four blocks to Fogwell's. As she approached the front door, she was relieved to not hear the familiar sounds that generally came from an occupied gym but when she reached the top of the stairs, she noticed a broken pane of glass near the knob. When she opened the door cautiously, she found Matt Murdock standing near the boxing ring, looking startled by her sudden appearance, looking ready to fight.

"What are you doing here?" He asked testily, lowering his arms.

"I could ask you the same thing." She said eyeing him up. "You're the one who broke in."

He had black cargo pants on, black tactical boots, a green canvas jacket with sherpa lining and many pockets, a long with a dark blue ball cap over his messy hair and a several days old beard. In his hand was a duffle bag but not the one she'd seen him carry to the gym during their previous encounter. Whatever was in it, it didn't look like it was heavy, if there was anything in there at all. He also had a busted upper lip and bruises on the side of his face, and his knuckles also looked red and swollen. Wherever he'd been lately, it looked like he'd been through hell.

Halina studied him, his face didn't seem to show any sign of recognition. "It's Halina. Don't you remember me?"

His body language eased every so slightly. "Yeah, right. Ted was letting you clean this place in exchange for letting you box." He suddenly tensed up again. "Thing is I need this place for a few days, without anyone poking around."

"So, the Feds don't know about this place, then?" Halina asked, which was a mistake. His body language went from tense to dangerous animal in the blink of an eye. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. We have mutual friends apparently. Marci, Foggy and I work at the same firm. Well Foggy doesn't technically work there since he began running for DA, but I work closely with Marci. The Feds went to question her about you and Foggy, recently. That's how I know. Marci says you're innocent, though, and you aren't turning yourself in because you think that Fisk has the FBI under his thumb and will kill you at the first chance."

He paused a moment, like when he had when she'd met him the first time, like he was deciding on whether or not to believe her. Apparently believing her, relaxed a little.

"It's best you leave now; I'd rather not get another person involved." Matt said quietly.

Halina chuckled as she moved past him, slightly uncomfortable by aggressive behaviour but deciding he wasn't dangerous to her. "I'm pretty sure no one will suspect that I even know you, let alone think I have anything to do with Fisk. I've been here for a little over six months and I've only known Marci and Foggy for about four of those months. Besides, if I change my habits, wouldn't that make me seem suspicious? If they're watching me at all? Do whatever it is you need to do, I'm not leaving."

Matt made a frustrated sound but didn't move towards her as she walked into the locker room. After a few minutes, he appeared in the doorway of the storage closest as she began filling the bucket that she used to wash the floors. When she looked at him, he seemed a little calmer.

"Could you please leave?" He asked quietly.

Halina smiled slightly. "So, he does have some manners! And, ah…no. What will Ted think if this place is a stinking mess come Monday?"

"I doubted he'd notice." Matt muttered.

"Why do you want to stay here so badly anyways? It's not like there aren't a million other places for a man to get some alone time. Or were you planning on sleeping here? Do you not have anywhere to go?" She asked as she poured some cleaner into the water. Matt did not answer, just fidgeted irritably. "I guess all of your friends are out of the question, and probably your apartment…if you even still have one."

"Obviously." He muttered.

It made her sad, looking at him. The man she'd met six months previously seemed to have no trouble trusting her, or at least appeared to enjoy her company, and he'd even made her feel comfortable around him. Even though they were completely alone together. Something she hadn't felt in a long time around a man, and he obviously could be dangerous, if he wished to be. Quite frankly, it was easy for her to forget he was blind with the way he moved around. Now, though, he was extremely suspicious of her, probably believing her to be in line with Fisk or the FBI. He seemed so bitter.

"Look, I need to finish what I started but when I'm done, why don't you come with home with me? Spend a couple of nights. I got a really comfortable couch. And I'm a pretty good cook, if I do say so myself."

Matt's head tilted to the side as he looked at her. "Why would you do that? You talked to me for what? An hour? Less? If the FBI finds out…"

"I'm a lawyer too, I know exactly what I'm offering, and I know the repercussions. I'll just say you're my client or something and we were discussing your situation and next course of action. As to why, well the few times Foggy has mentioned you, he spoke very highly of you and he's very worried about you."

"Why do you care what Foggy thinks?"

"Well, that's a little harsh, coming from the guy's apparent best friend." Matt gave her an annoyed look, not appreciating her attempt at humour. "I care because Marci cares and Marci and I have become good friends. And…" Halina blushed as she looked away.

"And, what?" He didn't sound as harsh this time, when he asked her the question, perhaps sensing her embarrassment.

Halina stayed silent a moment longer, measuring her words so that she didn't make herself sound too pathetic. "Let's just say you left a rather…impactful impression, last time. I…I don't trust…men all that easily and you…made me feel comfortable. Last time. At ease. Hell, even when I mentioned the FBI, your reaction should've scared the hell outta me, but it didn't. I just get a feeling that I can trust you and the world has very few good men around. I figure I should help one of the few who're still around."

Matt looked at her somberly. "I appreciate that but like I said, I rather not get anyone else involved. I know for a fact that the FBI, are in Fisk's pocket and I'm pretty sure, they're using a fake Daredevil to pull the attention away from him, so he doesn't have people watching while he commits more crimes."

Halina frowned. "Who's Daredevil?"

Matt's eyebrows shot up so fast, she's surprised they didn't knock off his hat. "You've been in Hell's Kitchen for six months and you've never heard of Daredevil? Maybe the Devil of Hell's Kitchen?"

Halina looked at him questioningly. "…no."

Matt smiled ever so slightly. "He's a vigilante who looks after Hell's Kitchen. He played a part in Fisk's down fall."

"Why isn't this Daredevil doing something, then?"

"He is…I'm sure." Matt shifted a little uncomfortably. "He likes to do things quietly."

"Sounds like you know him."

"We've…met, handed my former firm some information. It wasn't actually him who attacked The Bulletin, that was one Fisk's men dressed up like him."

"For a guy who doesn't want to involve anyone else, you're telling me an awful lot." Matt didn't say anything as Halina smiled as she gently pushed past Matt. "Do me a favour and put those stinking towels into the wash. You know how use a washing machine, right?"

Matt looked at her then back to the small hill of towels sitting on the floor. A curious thing to see a blind man do. She was starting to wonder if he was really blind, though she assumed he could probably smell them. Surprisingly, he did what she asked and jammed the towels into the machine, put some soap into it and turned it on after feeling around for the switch. For the next half an hour she asked him to do things and he'd do them. "Lift this", "move that", "can you reach that for me?"

When it came time to leave, even though she had originally been planning on boxing, she pulled on her hoodie. It wouldn't be no where warm enough to walk in, but she'd survive. She turned around and looked at Matt where he stood, rummaging through the lockers.

"Are you coming? I've got some homemade potato stew sitting in the slow cooker. It should be close to being ready." Halina asked him, moving towards the door.

Matt looked at her, holding a tangle of skipping ropes. After a moment, he finally said. "Fine but only for a couple of nights. Hopefully this shit will be over by the end of the weekend."

She thought it a little odd, but he put the tangled mess into his nearly empty bag and slide his jacket over his skin-tight black shirt. She waited by the door, then they exited together with Matt once more hitting the lights, though this time they didn't bother locking up as the broken window made the task pointless. They had scarcely made it two blocks before Halina had begun to shiver, despite the still shining sun.

"Why didn't you dress warmer?" Matt asked as he shrugged out of his jacket once more and draped it over her shoulders.

"I ran there." She said as she stuck her arms into the sleeves and pulled the jacket tightly around her. "And I was planning on running back. I didn't think I'd need it.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Matt, with his hat pulled low over his eyes and head tilted down as he stuck his hands in his pant pockets and pressing his arms to his sides, trying to keep warm. His steps never hesitated, as they walked, and he avoided colliding into people better than she did and yet, when she glanced at his blue eyes, they wandered sightlessly. In some ways, he behaved like you would expect a blind man to behave, like the way he felt along the wall for the light switch, or the way he'd been feeling the skipping rope. Yet, he seemed to negotiate the street and buildings flawlessly. Maybe he was only partially blind? She wondered. It's not something you usually asked a person.

They walked into her building, up three flights of stairs then to the far end of the hall, where her apartment was located. She liked the location, being at the end of the hall. And being so close to the end of the building with the stairwell so close to her door, she had no neighbour across from her which meant no foot traffic unless someone was there to see her. Being a corner apartment, her other exterior wall faced a back alley that was normally quiet. On the other side of the alley was a business, so she didn't generally have people staring at her from across the alley and was often quiet during the night. It wasn't large but it had hardwood floors throughout and she had a separate kitchen and living area, though it was still open concept and flowed nicely together.

"Nice place." Matt said as she handed him back his coat.

"How can you tell?" Halina asked as she studied him carefully.

"It doesn't smell like rat shit and mold. That's an accomplishment for lower cost rentals in Hell's Kitchen."

Matt moved forward into the room as Halina flicked the lights on and walked into the kitchen while Matt ran a finger over the top file folder box that was stacked on top of two others beside her couch. There were folders stacked on the coffee table and various pieces of paper spread across it.

"Big case?" Matt asked as he thumbed a folder as he sat down.

"More like a pain in the ass case." She said with a sigh as she turned her slow cooker on high. "I have to defend a medical manufacturing company who sold faulty products which has resulted in injuries and a couple casualties."

"Ah, classic." Matt said as he leaned back, resting his head on the back of her couch. He looked exhausted. "Guilty as hell, I'm sure."

"Obviously." Halina said moved to her fridge. "Beer?"

"Sure, what the hell." Matt said sounding somewhat sardonic.

"Anyways, they're not even that big of a company but they seem to have the money keep on paying my firm and Hogarth isn't cheap." Halina said as she grabbed two bottles of beer, twisted off the caps, and walked into the living room.

"Then they are corrupt as hell too." Matt said taking the beer she offered him and taking a sip.

"Yeah, likely." She said with a sigh as she sat in an armchair not far away. "I keep advising them to settle while the number of complainants is still somewhat low, but they still think they can win, despite the fact that more and more people are jumping on to the bandwagon and bringing more and more damning evidence."

Matt frowned. "They must have an angle. If was it only a few people, I'd say they were trying to shut people up, but sounds like there is at least a reasonable amount of people. Unless…"

Halina cocked an eyebrow. "Unless, what?"

"Just a thought." Matt started. "But maybe they are intentionally running their business into the ground."

"Why would they do that?" Halina asked, trying to follow his line of thought.

Matt shrugged. "Trying to hide evidence maybe. By having people focus on the faulty equipment they sold, maybe they're hoping no one will notice some other shady deals they've been conducting. Probably criminal activity. Likely mob. I suggest you don't look into my idea. If I'm right, you may draw some unsavoury attention to yourself."

"Like you did." Halina suggested as she studied him once more.

"Yeah." Matt said as he exhaled.

They were silent for a moment, but after taking a deep breath, Halina caught wind of a smell, a sweaty man smell. Halina smiled slightly.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you smell…a little…ripe." Halina said to which Matt chuckled. "Its going to be at least another twenty minutes before the stew is ready. Why don't you take a shower. You'll have to get back into the same dirty clothes but at least you'll have a clean body."

"It's been a day or two since I showered. Left my former…accommodation rather suddenly." He said sitting up.

"The shower is to the right of you." Halina said pointing to a door that was slightly a jar. "There's clean towels in there."

Matt rolled to his feet, walked a few steps then looked back at her. "Thanks. I still don't think you should be doing this but…thanks."

"You're welcome." She replied softly.

When Matt disappeared into the bathroom, Halina walked into her bedroom and changed into slightly warmer and more comfortable clothes, putting on a comfortable pair of leggings and a long sleeve t-shirt, although she considered her pajamas as the sun began to set. She then went to the padded ottoman chest that sat at the foot of her bed and grabbed some extra bedding. When she returned to the living room, she set it down on the couch. Less then ten minutes later Matt stepped out of the bathroom, boots and sock in hand and hair still slightly damp as Halina was cleaning up her mess of papers.

"You know, I can't see the mess, right?" Matt said as he walked to the door and dropped his boots, with his socks stuck in them, beside the door.

Halina was quiet for a long time as she stacked her papers to one side of the coffee table and Matt returned to sitting on the sofa. After a moment she straightened up and looked at him.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked, trying to not sound accusing.

"What?" Matt asked confused, apparently forgetting his last comment.

"Are you sure you can't see my mess?" She clarified. "I'm not stupid and I don't assume to know what it's like to be blind, but I would think that most blind people can't navigate, unaided, as well as you do. Hell, you were stepping around people more easily than me! You just grab things like you can see them. I gave you next to no instruction as to where the bathroom was and walked right too it."

Matt sighed then rubbed his face. "Trust me, I'm completely 100 % blind. I just…my other senses are just really…sharp. Damn, I was so distracted…I…"

"Forgot to behave like a blind person is expected to?" She asked crossing her arms. "Look, I'm not trying to jam you up. It's just…strange, uncanny."

Matt didn't reply, just stared furiously at the ground.

"I'm not going to say anything to anyone." Halina said after a moment. "Nor will I ever try to blackmail you or whatever."

Halina could see that he was starting to get defensive again, like he expected something negative to come from her. She really didn't know what to do to make him trust her. Hell, she didn't know why she trusted him so much.

"Have you ever met someone and just immediately trusted them, without really knowing them?" Halina asked, after another long moment of silence, sitting down once more.

"Yes." He said after a moment's hesitation.

"Did you regret trusting them?"

Matt relaxed a little as he was apparently thinking. "No."

"I don't know why I trust you, Matt, I really don't but I do. And everyone has secrets, and everyone has their reasons for keeping them. I know I do and my reasoning for keeping them are probably irrational. So, I get why you might be cautious about not telling people about what you're truly capable of." Halina tucked her legs underneath herself as she looked down at the beer she had picked up and started picking at the label.

"I like to believe I've developed this sixth sense, one that can tell good people from the bad. You know, judge their character. A sense that has developed through some very hard lessons." Halina looked up and studied Matt. "I get a very mixed sense from you. On the one hand, I think you're incredibly dangerous, like you could be deadly if you wanted to be. Like there's this barely contained rage seething just below the surface. On the other hand, I believe Foggy was right about you. He said that you were 'highly intelligent, unfailingly kind and extremely protective of anyone you call friend'."

Matt face instantly morphed from cautious to remorseful. "He said that."

"He did." Halina confirmed. "Whatever demons you're fighting, both internally and externally, don't let them change a good man into a monster."

The remorseful look only intensified as Halina stood up once more and patted Matt on the shoulder on her way to the kitchen. She peered into her slow cooker, lifted the lid, and stirred its contents. Deciding it was ready, she turned to the cabinet behind her and pulled out two bowls, placed them beside the slow cooker then turned back to the fridge and pulled out a pair of buns. After heating them for a few seconds, she dished out a bowl of stew, stuck a spoon into it then carried it, the bun, and the container of butter with a knife, into the living room, setting them on the coffee table in front of Matt without comment.

When she brought her own food over, Matt was already sitting forward and was eating with some gusto. Either he hadn't eaten in a few days, or he really liked her stew. She hoped it was the latter. Halfway through his stew, Matt suddenly stopped and stared at it for a moment before looking up at her, frowning.

"Have you ever had someone you trusted for a very long time, keep a secret from you that was so earth shattering that it changed the way you looked at your life?" He asked quietly.

Halina wiped some broth that had dripped onto her chin. "Yes, but I doubt its in the same way you mean." Matt looked at her questioningly. "You lost your dad at a young age, and I lost my mom. I wasn't quite as young as you, but I was sixteen when she died."

"I was blessed with two really great parents. Some may disagree with that because of my dad's drinking problem and…because my mom killed herself. See, my mom and I, we got along so well. I guess maybe that's one benefit of having a mother so young. She was barely old enough to look after herself, let alone another person, so she wasn't particularly strict. Sometimes, it was more like having a big sister than a mom, but she was one hell of a hard worker. It was she who paid the bills and kept us fed, not dad. But I guess it was too much for her. She seemed happy, all the time. Always laughing. I had no idea that she felt trapped, that she was unhappy about her life."

"I'm sorry." Matt said softly.

"Like I said, its probably not how you mean but her keeping her misery to herself then taking her own life, yeah, it changed how I looked at life."

Matt rubbed his chin, obviously thinking whether he wanted to speak his mind. "I…I recently found out who my mother is." He started then paused obviously still weighing if he wanted to open up to her. "My father never told me anything about her just that she left. It turns out, I've known her at least since I was thirteen, when my dad died. And the one man I trusted after my dad died, the one man I'd let into my head, since I was a kid, knew who she was the entire time. She…she was one of the nuns who cared for me at the orphanage that I lived in, and I've been talking with her a lot recently, about some really…personal things, without knowing who she was to me."

Halina looked at him sadly. "What did she say when she told you she was your mom?"

"She never told me…I…overheard her praying. I left with saying a word." Matt looked down at his food and put another spoonful into his mouth.

"Oh, Matt, I'm sorry." Halina put her bowl down and went to sit beside him. "I know this won't make you feel better, but maybe she had a good reason."

Matt lunged to his feet. "How could she have…" He started angrily. "I n…she." He deflated once again and sat down head in his hands.

"No matter what her reasoning, its unfair to you. You didn't deserve to be left like that, but maybe, in talking to you, helping you, maybe she was trying to redeem herself." Halina said, rubbing his back gently.

She kissed Matt on the side of the head then stood up grabbed her dish and went to put her half finished meal in the fridge. Deciding that Matt need to be alone, Halina put the lid back on the slow cooker and decided to leave it for the night and deal with it in the morning.

"I know its still early, but I got to get up at 5 and head to the office, so I'm going to bed." She said walking over to where he still sat with his head in his hands. "Good night", she said putting a hand on his shoulder momentarily then walked off to her room and closed the door.