So I did that thing where I combined two short chapters into one. So today you essentially get 4 chapters with the other 2 that I've posted.
A bit of a content warning for the last quarter of the chapter, I don't want to ruin it for any one so I won't say more.
"You have zero proof of your accusations." Marci said cooly from where she sat beside Halina.
They were having their first of what was likely to be many meetings with Dopker. On the other side of Marci was the new Hollar representative, who looked less then impressed by the six men who sat across from them. They were trying to bully them into dropping the suit, claiming that Hollar was making up their slanderous accusations and that the failure was the result of poor engineering and craftsmanship by the Hollar personnel, not because of the product they had sold. Halina was inclined to believe that both companies were partly correct, shitty building and shitty product. She had emailed some of the pictures from the scene to her father, who had experience working in concrete structures and he said that they had no where near enough structural underpinning to support the floor. Someone had cut corners.
"And you have zero proof that we had anything to do with that structural failure." Growled Dopker's lawyer, a fifty something man by the name of Andrew Watson. Just like Hogarth, he was a complete shark.
Hollar had wanted the meeting to be held in their building, in their conference room rather than at one of the law offices. Why? Halina could only guess that it was to show off how wealthy they were, how much money they could afford to spend defending themselves. That's all the corporate world seemed to be sometimes, one big pissing match with one company constantly trying to one up the other. People delude themselves into thinking that once they left grade school, all the cliques and bullying stops in the adult world, but honestly, it could be a whole lot worse. There is always the office weirdo, the cool person, the loner, and the charismatic leader. The only difference is you just get paid better. Which is maybe the reason why most people find it more tolerable.
Their meeting had resulted in absolutely nothing, just three hours of bullshitting and posturing. Halina was beginning to wonder, as they walked down the hall towards the elevators, if Matt had it right. His pay cheque may be unstable and usually less than hers, but at least he slept well at night. Most of the people she'd help since she'd gotten her big fancy degree, had been complete and utter ass holes who didn't deserve her help. Her last case was one of the few that hadn't left her feeling like she'd bathed in shit.
"Oh, hello Halina." A voice said, startling her as Marci suddenly grabbed her hand.
It was Caleb. They had been standing in the elevator, on the way down when the elevator had stopped, halfway down, to let on a group of people. One of whom was Caleb. He tried to stand beside Halina, but Marci immediately shifted her to the side and stepped in between them.
"It's been a long time." He said looking around Marci.
Halina glared at him. "Not long enough." She growled.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that." Caleb said, smiling that smile. She used to find it charming, once, now she found it revolting.
"She doesn't want to talk to you." Marci sneered at him.
"I'm just trying to have a pleasant conversation with an old Harvard friend." He said, obviously trying impress Marci with his fancy degree.
"Well Columbia here, doesn't like you nor gives a rats ass about your Harvard education." Marci sneered, squashing his attempt to impress her.
A couple of people coughed a chuckle, making Caleb glare at her. He had always held his image to the highest importance. Marci glared back at him, not backing down. Halina touched Marci's arm; she didn't need for Marci to be caught in Caleb's crosshairs too.
"Why are you even in New York, Caleb? I thought you were living large in Boston." Halina asked trying to pull his attention away from Marci.
He smiled at her again and she felt like vomiting, once more. "I was but New York City has a better view. I couldn't resist." The elevator dinged and the doors open. "Ladies first."
Marci grabbed Halina's hand and pulled her out of the elevator, practically dragging her out of the building and towards the street.
"Why the hell were you talking with that ass hole?" She said trying to flag down a taxi.
"I told you Marci, I'm fed up with being afraid." Halina said. "And…I need to face my fear of him. That's the only way that I stop turning into blubbering mess every time I hear or see him. Dealing that shit in the bar made me realize that I'm not a scared little girl." Halina said as a taxi pulled up. "If its pretty much anyone else, I fight back. I don't quiver, I get angry."
Marci looked at Halina sadly as she climbed inside the cab. "Lina, I get it but he's dangerous."
"And you were trying to put yourself in his crosshairs." Halina countered, sliding in behind her. "He's incredibly vain and you poking fun of him in front of people, well nothing pisses him off more."
"Good. He needs be taken down a couple notches." Marci said.
"Besides, if Hollar keeps making us come here for our meetings, I'll probably have to face him again." Halina looked Marci. "I need to grow a spine around him and today, that was a first step."
"I'm just scared of you getting hurt." Marci said putting her hand on Halina's forearm.
"Don't be. Jessica's already got proof of stalking and she thinks he's doing dirty business too." Halina said. "He won't be out here much longer."
"Good." Marci said, somewhat angrily as the taxi drove off.
111
Halina looked up at the building, she was fairly sure this was it. She had come here last time with Marci but hadn't paid the closest attention to the address nor where they went. Suddenly a sign on a fifth floor window caught her eye. Alias Investigations. Now confident that she was at the correct building, she walked inside. Once on the correct floor, she walked down the hall and reflected on how different she had felt just weeks ago. It had been almost a month since hiring Jessica Jones, but she continued to tell her that she was on to something. Halina was continuing to stay with Matt, and even considered giving up her apartment all together and move in with him permanently. He liked her there, especially since he probably ate better with her around and rarely had to worry about lunch either. They were comfortable with each other, and they continued to share deeply personal things about themselves that no one else knew. It was nice, better then nice, but she didn't know how else to phrase it because amazing just didn't seem right either.
When the elevator doors opened, Jessica's voice was coming loudly from within her apartment, she sounded annoyed, but no voice responded back as she walked down the hall. Maybe on the phone? Halina knocked and a short while later, Jessica opened the door and immediately walked back into the apartment, leaving the door hanging open and looking annoyed as she sounded.
"How do you live with him?" She grumbled as she marched back to her desk.
"Who?" Halina asked then squeaked a little as someone stepped out of the doorway to the right of the entrance.
"Him." Jessica said as she sat down.
"Matt!" Halina exclaimed and wacked him hard with her briefcase making him smile as he took a sip of what smelled like whiskey.
"Sorry." He said as he stepped closer to her and kissed her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked once he stepped back again.
"I got impatient." Matt replied with a shrug.
"So you came here to grill Jessica?" She gave him a disapproving looking, not that he could see it but she hoped he could hear the irritation in her voice.
"Yeah, and I'm about ready to throw my desk at him. Asshole." Jessica growled. "He arrived shortly after I called you. I told him that if he wanted to know, he'd have to wait until you got here and gave me permission. I would think, being a lawyer, he'd understand that since you're my client, not him."
"I'm just trying to protect her, Jess." Matt said sounding annoyed now too.
"And so am I." Jessica said as she pulled out a file from her desk. "If you're so anxious to have this done with, then why don't you go pay him a visit. I'm sure he'd shit himself if he got piece of you angry."
"Oh, I want to, but Halina has explicitly told me that I can't." He took another sip, clearly still annoyed by her ultimatum.
"So, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen is being held at bay by his cock." Jessica said smiling sardonically at him, to which he replied with giving her the finger.
"Could you two stop talking about me like I'm not right here?" Halina sighed tiredly.
"Sorry." Matt said as he followed her to the two wooden chairs in front of Jessica's desk.
"I'm okay with him knowing, now that he knows about the investigation." Halina said as she sat down.
"Good, because your lawyer boyfriend may need pull his legal weight to look into things a little more." Jessica started, making Matt frown. "I understand he's good at weeding this kind of shit out." She handed Matt a couple of print outs that were surprisingly printed in braille, causing both of them to look at her in surprise. "I was planning on coming to you once I was done my conversation with your girlfriend." She said to Matt. "What do you see?"
Matt was silent as he ran his hand over the printouts, reading quickly and flipping through the pages.
"Where did you get this?" Matt said, as he was clearly thinking.
"You're not the only lawyer I know, just the only one stupid enough to stick your nose into dangerous shit." Jessica said, sitting back.
"And this dangerous shit has something to do with Caleb?" Halina asked.
"Yeah, but I think he's near the bottom of it though. Involved enough to get prison time but not involved enough to be useful to Matt."
"What does that mean?" Halina asked glancing at Matt who looked deep in thought then back to Jessica.
"I don't entirely know yet." Jessica said. "But they're moving exorbitant amounts of money between themselves and other shell companies. I also looked into that case you're working on for Hogarth, I think that prick was the reason that floor collapsed. He was the engineer who approved the plan. I don't know if it's intentional or incompetence but he's the reason those people died and were injured."
Halina frowned. "Probably incompetent. He wasn't a great student; I was surprised he even got a degree. I half wondered if his parents paid for him to pass, but I doubt he's the first rich kid to flunk classes. You think people would notice if parents were paying off the school to pass their children."
"Not if they are other rich people." Matt muttered. "If one is doing it, so are the others. This is becoming out of your depth Jess, just stick with investigating Caleb. I'll take care of this."
Jessica gave him a venomous look. "I might not be able to do fancy flips and fighting moves like you, but I can handle myself."
"Jess, this has a mafia feel to it, maybe even Fisk." Matt said, holding up the paper.
"Fisk's in jail and so what?"
Matt chuckled mirthlessly. "You think he isn't orchestrating shit from jail? He pretty much had all the guards in his pocket last time, managed to set up several FBI agents for blackmail while he was still in jail, bought a billion dollar hotel which he then tricked the FBI into transferring him to it and even paid some people to let out a life-sentence inmate without anyone knowing about it until well after the fact. Fisk might be limited as to what he can do, but he's likely still quietly stirring shit up. It's what he does."
"You really hate him, don't you?" Jessica asked watching him.
"For good reason. Jess, I'm serious about how dangerous these kinds of people are. They won't go straight at you. Especially knowing what you can do. They'll go after everyone you care about before they'll even think about coming after you. I'm telling you Jess, back off of this."
"And what about you?" Jessica asked, crossing her arms then pointed to Halina. "You've obviously got people whom you care about too."
"I'm better at being discrete then you." Matt folded the paper in his hands. "I won't be doing this through my office. I don't want Foggy and Karen to get dragged into this until the last possible second, and Halina has enough to deal with."
Halina looked at Matt, he looked grim. "Is that all, Jess?" Halina asked, deciding to move the conversation on.
"No. I also found this." She closed the folder and slid it across the table to Halina.
When Halina opened the file, she found a bunch of medical records. She started feeling sick as she started reading them. Three of the files were women, two had supposedly committed suicide, one died of a hit and run.
"Those women, were the girlfriends he had during and after you." Jessica said as Halina looked over the records. "All had previous signs of abuse and the one suicide was suspicious but they were never able to prove anything. The one that was a hit and run, the description of the car matches what Caleb was driving at the time but his car was conveniently stolen around the time and never recovered. Those women all tried leaving him and wound up dead. Then there's two partners from his previous place of employment, ended up drowning in a boating accident in which Caleb was the sole survivor."
"Jesus." Halina said as she stared at the file.
"An awful lot of people tend to die around this guy." Jessica continued. "I strongly suggest that you submit those files I gave you and press stalking charges. He's got a girlfriend right now, I'm going to go talk with her, maybe convince her to turn on him."
"But, if he has mafia connections…" Halina started as she looked over at Matt, whose jaw muscles were tightly clenched.
"He's not likely too tied up in it." Matt said, his voice betraying the anger he was trying to control. "They'll likely drop him like a rock if he gets into trouble with the law. Maybe we'll even be lucky enough that they'll take care of problem for us."
Halina looked at him surprised but it was Jessica who spoke. "Jesus, what happened to you? You used to be so against people dying, no matter what they did."
Matt didn't reply.
"So…" Halina started, trying to get her lawyer brain working. "If we can get an investigation opened on him, maybe they'll take another look at these cases, maybe find things they missed. Maybe even get charged with murder?"
"That's a big 'if' but it sounds possible. Where were these murders?" Matt asked.
"Most of them were back in Boston but the hit and run was here." Jessica said, watching Halina.
Halina suddenly felt sick. "That was four months ago! That means that that sack of shit has been here for four months?"
"Actually," Jessica said wincing as she looked at her sympathetically. "He arrived just weeks after you."
"H-has he been stalking me this whole time?"
Jessica shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I do think he came here to find you, probably hearing about you moving here through mutual friends, maybe? But he probably wasn't able to find you until you left with Hogarth, and you got your picture put up on her website. You always take a taxi home, so that's probably why he never found you until recently. He got your number from the new receptionist at Jeri's firm. I told Jeri about that; I believe she's been fired now."
"Yeah, she was fired a few weeks back."
"The poor girl is now his girlfriend." Jessica added.
"As much as her giving him my phone number pisses me off, I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone."
Halina was kind of surprised how she was responding the information Jessica was throwing at her. It freaked her out a little, sure, but she was mostly calm. Maybe it was because Matt was sitting right next to her or maybe she'd finally learned to at least control her fear of Caleb.
"I'll try and get her away from him." Jessica promised. "Are you going to file charges?"
Halina looked over at Matt. "I'll go with you." He said encouragingly.
"I guess." She said with a sigh.
"It's the right thing to do, Halina." Matt said, as he grabbed her hand.
Halina bent over and grabbed her briefcase from where she'd put it down as she stood. "I assume that is all."
"For now." Jessica said with a nod. "Tell them it was me who dug up that information, they'll come here to confirm everything, and I can point them in the direction of these other files."
Matt stood but didn't appear to be making ready to leave. "Aren't you coming?" Halina asked him when she started for the door and he didn't follow.
"Yeah, I just want a few words with Jess. Meet me by the elevator." Matt said, smiling at her reassuringly.
Halina frowned but nodded as she turned and walked out of the apartment. He was up to something, she thought as she walked slowly down the hall. Was he going to ignore her wishes? Was he planning on taking the information Jessica had found and beating the truth out of him? Matt had made such a dark statement earlier, and it concerned her. How far was he willing to go to protect her? Far, she thought, very far.
111
"Matt?" Halina asked as they walked down the street, hand in hand.
"What is it, beautiful?" Matt asked. He was clearly still thinking about the conversation they'd just had as he was fiddling with his folded up cane in his other hand.
"What did you talk about after I left the room?"
The muscles in Matt's jaw flexed for a moment before he answered. "Why does it matter?" He asked quietly.
"It matters if you're going to ignore my wishes." She said pulling him to a stop.
"That's not the plan…yet." Matt said wincing.
"Yet?" She exclaimed, her voice raising a few octaves.
"Babe." Matt said in a pleading voice. "He's murdering people and I'll be damned if you're next."
"We think he's murdering people; we don't know for sure yet." Halina hissed quietly so that the people passing by couldn't hear.
"And that's why I'm going to look into that hit and run." Matt put his hands gently on her shoulders. "I want as much information as I can get about that case and the others, before I confront him."
"Matt!" Halina hissed.
"Look, I'm not going to beat on him, okay." Matt said in a soothing voice. "I'm going to talk with him about those deaths, get him to confess what he's done. He might get punched a few times but that's it."
"Matt, that's illegal. Its coercion, admission under duress and that's inadmissible in court." Halina couldn't believe she was explaining this too him.
Matt rubbed his head irritated, obviously not appreciating having the law explained to him. "I know that, under normal circumstances. Daredevil, he's allowed different rules, he falls under the superhero act, and they can get away with that. But I'm going to try and avoid that, I'm planning on tricking him into confessing without resorting to violence." Halina looked at him, unsure what to think. "And besides, it's his turn to feel a little terror, isn't it?"
A smile flickered across her face. "Fine." She said with a sigh. "Just…keep yourself in check."
Matt kissed her on the lips. "I'll keep my anger under control, I promise."
They continued down the sidewalk, making their way to precinct fifteen. Once there, Matt approached the front desk and asked if a Brett Mahoney was working today. The desk Sargent confirmed that he was and pointed them in the direction of his desk. When Mahoney saw Matt walking towards him, he sighed in irritation and leaned back in his chair.
"What do you want, Murdock? I really don't need yours and Foggy's bullshit today." Mahoney said.
"Nice to see you too, detective." Matt said as he smiled at him wryly. "But this has nothing to do with me or Foggy but Halina here."
Halina suddenly felt nervous. Maybe she was wrong? Maybe they would laugh at her? Think she was ridiculous. Matt's hand touched her back as he turned his head towards her and nodded, likely hearing her heart suddenly picked up speed.
"Halina Jackson." She said as he offered her his hand.
"You look to be just as much a lawyer as this vulture." Mahoney said taking her hand and shaking it, though his voice softened.
"I am but I'm not here as a lawyer." Halina said, fiddling nervously with her briefcase.
Mahoney reigned in his sarcasm as he took in Halina's nervous twitching. "What can I do for you Miss Jackson?" He asked as he indicated a chair beside his desk.
"I'm being stalked by an ex-boyfriend." She said as she sat down.
"You sound certain." Mahoney said, gauging her.
"I am." Halina confirmed as she dug into her briefcase, for the file they had fetched from Matt's apartment that contained Jessica's photos of Caleb following her, and handed them to Mahoney. "I hired a private investigator to get proof on whether or not he was. I was right."
"Who's the PI?" He asked as he flipped through the photos, glancing up at Matt when he came across one of the pictures that had the two of them making out in front of the bar.
"Jessica Jones." Halina replied to which Mahoney grunted, apparently knowing who she was.
"Alright, tell me everything you know about him." Mahoney said, pulling out a notepad and pen.
111
"You did the right thing." Matt said as he sat across from her at a small bistro sitting just on the edge of Hell's Kitchen.
"I know, I just felt so exposed telling a stranger all that." Halina said looking down into her coffee cup.
"You told Jessica." Matt said softly.
"I know. It just…felt different, like she…" Halina sighed, not certain if she should say what she thought.
"Like what?" Matt asked, gently running his fingers up and down her forearm. It was incredibly soothing.
"Like she'd been through something similar." She said quietly.
Matt frowned. "That would explain a lot about her."
"How long have you known her?" Halina asked, genuinely curious. The way they interacted with each other; it was like they'd known each other a while.
"Honestly, not really that long. Met only a handful of times." Matt said smiling slightly. "Going through a life threatening event together, it bonds you, in a weird kind of way. She was really pissed at me for not telling her I wasn't dead."
Halina suddenly realized what he meant, although he'd still said a minimal amount about the whole thing, but she knew he'd been with three others, and he had mentioned her name when talking about it too.
"You don't seem to get along."
Matt laughed. "You can say that. We have a difference in opinion on…ethical issues. She doesn't agree with how I go about things, and I think she could be doing more with what she has."
"I see. Doesn't she tend to get in trouble a lot for roughing people up." Halina raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a different level." Matt said with a wince.
"Right." Halina looked at her watch. "Shit, I need to get back to work. I'll be home late."
She got up and leaned across the table to kiss him. "Let me know when you leave, please." Matt said leaning forward.
Halina smiled. "I always do."
111
"Miss Jackson?" Came a sweet feminine voice from the other end of the line. "This is Katie from Hollar United. I've tried to reach out to Miss Stahl, but she isn't responding to my calls."
"Yeah, Miss Stahl needed a day off." And it was eleven PM, almost everyone was at home. "What can I help you with?"
"There is some evidence we would like to have you see. Pivotal, evidence." Katie said.
"Okay, have it couriered over to my office, and we'll take a look." Halina said. She was planning on going home but she just had to answer the phone.
"We can't do that; the risk is too high. Could you come pick them up yourself?"
"It's late…"
"Please, Miss Jackson. It's really important you get them tonight." Katie pleaded. "Just come and get them so we can both go home."
Halina sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Fine. I should be able to make it there in about half an hour, maybe less at this hour."
"Excellent." Katie said briskly. "I'll let you in."
Halina glared at the phone then hung it up angrily. She was tired, she'd been reading over the files for Hollar all day and she had a massive migraine. More work was the last thing she wanted. She would rather be in bed with her man, at least for a little while. He'd usually be going out around this time of day, but he was likely going to wait until she came home. She sent him off a text, so he wouldn't worry, then shutdown her computer and grabbed her briefcase. She marched out the door, angry about having to still be out, working for a bunch of shitbags that were likely doing some very bad stuff. Not for the first time, Halina thought that maybe Matt had it right with his own firm. She'd lived poor her entire life, what was a little financial discomfort every once in a while if she could live with herself.
Once she was at the building, she was not greeted by Katie the receptionist and had to bang on the door so the security guard would let her in. She jammed the up button of the elevator in irritation and tapped her foot while she waited. When the doors opened, she marched through the doors and pushed the button for the correct floor. Once the doors opened, Halina stepped out into the dark office and stopped dead in her tracks as there was no one at the front desk.
"Hello, my beautiful Halina." Caleb said, smiling like they were still together, and he'd just given her an excellent surprise.
"It was you who called me here? Is there actually anything for me? Or was that a lie." Halina forced herself to breath slowly and forced down the fear that wanted to rise. "Where's Katie?"
"Sent her home and yes, it may have been a little bit of a lie." He said as he took a few slow steps towards her. "I just wanted to talk, and I knew you wouldn't agree."
"I'm going to tell the police about this." She warned standing her ground, refusing to scurry away.
"That's what we need to talk about, the lie you told them." Caleb continued to meander towards her. "I need you to take it back, drop the charges."
Halina slowly reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone. She had a recording app on the home screen, an app she sometimes used when recording interviews with her clients, with their permission of course. But if she could launch it, maybe she could record him and get him to confess to his misdeeds.
"There's nothing to take back, it's the truth." Halina said venomously.
"Take it back!" He said angrily taking an aggressive step towards her but stopped and took a deep breath. "Please. You'll ruin my career."
"Not if its untrue." Halina continued, as she hopefully unlocked her phone and tapped where the app should be on the screen. "If its untrue, then you can sue me, you know, for slander but you and I both know, it's the truth."
He glared at her as she felt the familiar short buzz that indicated her phone was now recording. Or so she hoped. "How long have you been stalking me, Caleb? I know it's been at least a month. I have pictures but how long before that?"
"I miss you, Halina. I just wanted to see you, that's all." He said soothingly.
"How long?" She demanded.
Caleb shrugged. "I never stopped watching you. Just because daddy forced you to move out of our apartment, didn't mean I stopped looking for you. I'd see you on campus, a lot, but you were always surrounded by friends and that place you were living at, had such high security. I couldn't get near you, and you changed your number. I lost track of you for a while, after you graduated. I heard you moved to the upper part of Boston, so that's where I went." Caleb scoffed. "That bitch lied to me. Found you on social media, though, but you never posted your location and rarely posted about anything, really. It was quite disappointed. I really love you, Halina; I just want you to come home."
This time Halina scoffed. "Home? Home is where you feel safe, protected. I never felt safe, living with you. Never. You are a monster who hurts people, who hurt me. You don't ever feel remorse about it either. I remember laying on the ground, completely broken and you just smiling at me."
"Don't be so dramatic. So, I lost my temper a few times, big deal." He said flippantly. "I doubt that blind man of yours is particularly gentle with you either."
"When Matt loses his temper, he goes for a walk to cool off. Like a normal person. He's never so much as raised his voice against me."
Caleb rolled his eyes. "You've barely been with him for a month, I doubt you've seen the real Matt Murdock. He is no different then me and I'm no different then any other man. The only difference is he probably would have harder time with you when you start squirming like a whore."
"I know Matt would never and has never, hurt a woman in his life. You can't say the same. You beat two of your girlfriends so bad, they killed themselves. Doesn't that make you feel anything?"
Caleb laughed. "You've been checking up on me? I knew you missed me too. It was their own fault, I gave them everything they could possibly want, but they were never happy. Sally was just so sad about the baby." Caleb rolled his eyes. "And so, what if I gave Linda a little…push, she'd have done it eventually anyways."
"And the hit and run? Funny how your car miraculously was stolen the same night that poor woman died."
"I never said it was stolen, I said it was gone. Mummy took it with her back to Pennsylvania, we have our own mechanic to maintain our vehicles. You can't take a Ferrari to just any Joe Blow around the corner, you know." Caleb to several steps towards Halina, now less then six feet away. "Come home with me, Halina. You're not like them, you're so much more beautiful than they were and an absolute cougar in bed. You've got so much fight in you."
Halina prayed to God that her phone was recording and what he was saying would be enough to prosecute him for murder. He hadn't out right said, 'I murdered them' but he'd certainly suggested that he had murdered at least two of them.
"So, what did those two men on that boat do for you to kill them?" Halina asked.
He rushed her so fast; she couldn't react fast enough and was slammed so hard against the marble wall that stood between the two elevators, that she saw stars. He had his arm pressed against her windpipe and her right hand pinned by her head.
"How do you know about that?" He yelled angrily.
"PI…found it." She gasped as she tried to push his arm back.
"They got in my way." He sneered in her face. "I want to keep you, Halina. Don't make me kill you. Come home with me and we'll forget all that you've said to me. We'll be happy."
"I…rather die." Halina wheezed then jabbed him in the eyes as hard as she could with the two fingers of her left hand.
Caleb screamed in pain as he dropped Halina and stumbled back. She dropped to her knees as spots danced before her eyes as she gasped for air. He reached down for her and grabbed her by the collar of her jacket; one eye closed as tears rolled down his cheek, but she threw an elbow and made contact with the side of his face, only angering him. He pinned her to the ground, belly down, as Halina tried to reach behind her and scratch his face.
"That can be arranged." He said, angrily as she heard the clinking buckle of his pants. "But first one last, lusty goodbye."
There was suddenly a weird sound as something struck Caleb in head, sending him stumbling sideways and to the ground. As Halina tried to regain her feet, she heard someone run by her and when she looked up, she saw a man dressed head to toe in dark red armour. He kicked Caleb viciously in the in head, and sent him sprawling onto his back. Daredevil. Caleb managed to recover somewhat and blocked a punch that was coming down at him, but Matt continued his assault relentlessly and Caleb was soon an unconscious doll in his hands as he continued flurry of punches. Halina pulled the phone out of her pocket and looked at it and cried out in relief. She'd caught it, she recorded the conversation. Meanwhile, Matt was still beating down on the unconscious Caleb.
"Stop!" She shouted desperately. "Please."
He halted instantly and knelt there, breathing heavily looking down at the now bloody and unconscious form of Caleb, fist dripping blood and still raised like he was thinking about continuing. Halina got shakily to her feet and walked over to him then knelt behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, putting her head on his back.
"He attacked you." He said angrily, breathing heavily and his body trembling with the rage he was feeling and barely containing it.
"I know and you stopped him." She said in soothing voice, although it now sounded slightly raspy from the damage Caleb had done to her esophagus. "You can't kill him, Matt. He isn't worth the damage to your soul."
"You are." He said bowing his head.
She let go of his waist then stood up, grabbing his still raised fist, and pulling him to his feet. She turned him to face her and looked up into masked face of Daredevil. She couldn't see his eyes, but she could see the set of his jaw and the white line of his pressed lips. She stroked his stubble covered chin then kissed him gently but for the first time, he didn't respond.
She looked at him sadly. "I don't want that. I would never ask for that." She held up her phone. "I got his confession, right here. He's going to go to prison. He'll suffer a lot more alive then dead."
"Is that why you came here? To get a confession?" He sounded angry and she didn't blame him. She shouldn't have never come here; it was incredibly stupid.
"No." She said, shaking her head. "The receptionist told me they'd found some important evidence against Dopker and like a fool, I believed her. I managed to activate my recording app while he was talking to me, trying to convince me go home with him."
"Play it." Matt was still tense, fists still clenched not really looking at her, despite being so close to him.
She stepped back, looked down at her phone and hit the play back button. They listened to the recording, a little muffled at first but it became clear after a few seconds, likely when she let go of the phone. It ended with the angry sound Matt made when he kicked Caleb in the head. Matt rotated his neck still tense and flexing his hands as he looked in the direction of Caleb, still unconscious and bleeding on the floor.
"Call the police." Matt said through gritted teeth, turning away. "I'll stay until they show up but then I'll have to leave."
"Okay." She said softly, very concerned with his behaviour.
Rather than call 911, she called Detective Mahoney directly as he had given her his cell number. She told him everything that had happened, except the part where Daredevil was her boyfriend, of course. He said he was off duty, but he'd be right there anyways, along with other officers. Matt paced the floored near Caleb while they waited, fists dripping blood occasionally, looking like a wolf wanting to finish the hunt and it concerned her. Matt had only gotten the new Daredevil suit a week ago and she had yet to see him in it. He looked so big and intimidating in it, he even had rather vicious looking metal plates over his knuckles.
"Are you angry with me?" She asked softly sitting in a desk chair rubbing her neck as pain began to intensify as the adrenaline began wearing off.
"No, not you." He said quietly. He paused, looked down at his hands then glanced at Caleb before looking back at her once more. "Do I terrify you? Like this." He asked indicating the Daredevil suit.
Halina shook her head sadly. "No but I am concerned about you. How you're behaving."
Matt put a hand over the mask's eyes. "I'm sorry…I'm just…I'm supposed to protect you."
"And you did." Halina said softly. "He barely touched me."
"Barely touched you?" He said angrily. "He nearly cracked your skull open on the wall then tried to crush your windpipe. I can smell the blood coming from your head, Halina. After you got him off you, he tried to rape you."
Halina touched the back of head, sure enough, there was blood. She hadn't realised it. It explained the woozy feeling she was having.
"Why are you here, anyway?" She asked. She didn't think he'd leave the apartment until she got home. "I'm grateful but…"
"When you texted…I just got this really sick feeling." He said walking towards her. "I knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to seem like…I don't know, paranoid. I thought maybe you'd think I was just being overbearing if I called you. Ridiculous. So, I came here as fast as I could, broke in through the roof entrance. I knew I was right the second I was on the roof; I could hear you two talking. I hightailed it as fast as I could down the stairwell."
Matt turned his head suddenly in a peculiar fashion, like he was listening to something, he obviously was.
"They're here." He said moving towards the steps. "We'll talk more later."
The elevator displays suddenly started counting as it first went down, then started counting back up again. Matt disappeared just as the doors open and four uniformed policemen stepped out, along with Detective Mahoney. Halina stood up slowly, hands in the air then pointed to the unconscious figure of Caleb. Detective Mahoney walked over to Caleb and looked down at his unconscious and bloodied form as one of the uniformed officers checked his pulse.
"We need an ambulance at this location." He said into his radio. "Suspect looks to be in critical condition."
"Definitely looks like Daredevil's handiwork." Mahoney said then looked back at Halina who just stood there staring at Caleb, uncertain what she was feeling. "Are you alright, Miss Jackson?"
"No, not really."
"Why were you here to begin with?" He asked walking over to her, his flashlight sweeping over her.
"I was working late; I got a call from the secretary here. Told me I needed to pick something up, so I came." Halina put a hand to her face as the gravity of the situation began to sink in. "I wasn't thinking straight, I guess, too many hours."
"Well, you're lucky Daredevil was in the neighbourhood. He's not normally known for being in this neck of the woods. Did he say why he was here?"
Halina shook her head. "No. Didn't say much of anything, just lingered until you showed up."
Mahoney's light stopped on her shoulder. "You're bleeding." He said looking at her collar. "And you neck looks like its starting to bruise. I'm assuming that's from Mister Armitt?" Halina nodded. "Do you need to go to the hospital? EMS?"
Halina shook her head. "I just want to go home." Halina held her phone out to him. "I managed to record most of the conversation. It should be enough to confirm my stalking charges and tact on some murder charges as well."
Mahoney looked at her a little surprised as he took the phone. "Murder?"
"Miss Jones found some information that made me believe that he may have killed a few girlfriends. He basically admits to two of their deaths and admits killing those two men on the boat."
"Jesus."
"She may also have more interesting information about the suit I'm working, that also has to do with him, but I can't disclose." Halina said looking at her left hand.
"Privilege, right." Mahoney said as he pocketed her phone. "Let's get you home, I'll take you myself." He said indicating the elevators.
Once she made it home, the terror and fear that she'd been suppressing had finally begun to catch up. Matt must've hightailed it home and had changed out of his Daredevil suit into sweats and a t-shirt and was sitting on the couch pretending to work when they arrived. When Mahoney had dropped her off, the two of them had a quiet conversation in the hall while she sat on the couch with her head in her hands. Tears had started to flow down her cheeks as she sat there, and she'd begun to shiver. She couldn't help but think about what Caleb was going to do to her if Matt hadn't shown up when did. Would she have been able to fight him off? It wasn't even the thought of him beating her that really terrified her, it was the thought of him forcing his way inside her once more. Violating her.
She jumped when Matt touched her shoulder, so startled, she wretched herself to the side and nearly screamed. Matt took a massive step back, hands held out, as he looked down at her worriedly. Whatever rage he'd felt back at Hollar United had completely left him as he looked down at his shivering, terrified girlfriend. The love of his life. He crouched down and looked her in the face with a pained expression of his own.
"You're safe now, babe." He said softly.
His face was blurred out as tears started falling in earnest and she held out her arms towards him, wanting nothing more then his comforting warmth and smell. He enveloped her in tight hug, rocking her back and forth as he spoke soft reassuring words to her as he stroked her back. After a time, he had picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, then helped her out of her work clothes and into a warm pair of pajamas then tucked her in and laid down with her until she fell asleep.