It took Gwen several minutes to realize the man in the red suit in front of her was one of Fisk's army of lawyers, in fact it was his first choice on his list of legal hitmen. Matt Murdock. Erica must have recognized him as well because her eyes narrowed. Gwen didn't know her stepmother was familiar with Fisk's organization. Gwen had dug deep with her spider-bot and hacking skills. He smiled again. As if sensing their discomfort and annoyance at his presence. He tapped his ear with his left index finger.

"Sorry, I might not have my eyes, but my hearing is exceptional."

Gwen went pale. Did that mean he overheard them? She didn't like any of this. Fisk must have sent him to toy with her before he murdered everyone she loved. Gwen nudged Erica out of the way with ease and grabbed Matt by the front of his suit and lifted him up with ease.

"Tell the Kingpin he knows the cost of coming after me and my family, my threats aren't so hollow anymore."

Matt seemed unphased and he straightened out his jacket, he chuckled as he did so.

"You give him too much credit, Ms. Stacy. He is still deluded into thinking you are his and his daughter's friend. He doesn't suspect you are the one who nearly killed his son. Oh wait, no that was Miles Morales, wasn't it?"

Gwen blinked a few times. How the hell did he know so much? He smiled.

"I can hear your heart racing, Ms. Stacy. Should I come in so we can discuss your father's predicament? Or would you rather beat me to a pulp like poor, dear, Detective Carter and you can deal with whatever overworked idiot the public defender's office can spare?"

Gwen was about to offer a third option which involved him on his butt Matt's after he went flying out their walkup's front door, but Erica put her hand on Gwen's shoulder.

"Gwen, he's right, we can't afford someone with his firm's resources."

Gwen looked at her.

"I can."

Erica shook her head.

"You can maybe afford them for a month. Mr. Murdock, won't you please come in, I'll pull out some iced tea."

Gwen stepped aside, she noted he had no mobility cane. There was something all kinds of off about the man, she couldn't put it into practical words but his posture, demeanor, every movement it was all wrong like he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Somehow, he didn't need to be guided to sit down at the kitchen table, nor did he need assistance finding the glass of iced tea placed in front of him. Gwen sneered at him across the table. She didn't care if he could actually see her or not. This was the man responsible for putting the trash back out on the street that killed her mother. He probably also bribed the cops and coroner to look the other way. She felt the symbiote yearning to get out and beat him to a pulp. Symbiote spiders were crawling across her hands. She didn't notice. Erica did though and dropped her glass of iced tea. Gwen glanced down at her hands and closed her eyes and focused on bringing the symbiote under control and getting its leash on it. She spoke.

"Aren't you employed by Fisk? I can't see his lapdog being allowed to help the one cop he hasn't been able to bribe… or is that what this is? A shakedown? We'll get you off this murder we framed you for all you have to do is... overlook a few things? My father will never go for that."

Matt took a drink from his iced tea. Erica was turning to find something to clean up the broken glass and iced tea when he glanced in her direction.

"Mind the glass, we wouldn't want you to need a hospital after the day they have had."

Erica looked where her foot was about to step, and she'd missed a nasty sharp piece sticking straight up. Erica looked at Gwen then made a motion with her eyes towards Matt as if to say, is this guy for real? Matt chuckled.

"No, Fisk doesn't own me, my firm is on retainer with his company and for his personal matters. The details of which I cannot discuss, of course. No, this is about you, Gwen."

As he spoke the last sentence his attention seemed to focus on Gwen. Erica's attention snapped to him immediately. Gwen wasn't her biological daughter, but she'd known her since Gwen was a baby. She was in momma bear mode all of a sudden.

"I don't like where this is going, maybe its time for you to leave."

Matt calmly took another drink from his iced tea. Then he looked towards Erica as if he knew exactly where she was. He pulled out one of his cards and obviously he did because the card was in a perfect position for her to take.

"Go to the station, Officer Stacy, I will join you and your husband after I've finished working out the particulars with Gwen."

Erica took the card and looked downright insulted.

"You think you can come into my home and talk to me like that? She's a minor you're not doing anything alone with her."

He kept his focus on Erica.

"Do you think that was a suggestion? A request? Go to the station."

Gwen glanced at Erica who looked like she was about to punt Matt out of the building, possibly a window, herself. Gwen realized he wouldn't be here if he didn't think he held all the cards and he definitely would not be speaking like that to Erica.

"I can take care of this, Erica. Please go and let dad know he's got a lawyer on the way."

Erica put her hands on her hips and was about to vehemently deny Gwen's request but Matt interrupted her.

"Your stepdaughter has defied Gods and demons. She's saved the world, I'm sure she can handle one, mostly harmless blind lawyer."

Gwen's spider-sense told her the man before her was far from harmless. He might be blind but he could see perfectly fine with some other sense. Erica tossed the broken glass in the garbage bin and finished wiping up the mess before leaving silently. Once she was gone Matt waited several minutes to continue. He looked at Gwen. Gwen cut him off.

"I'm not interested in helping you break legs as Spider-Woman so don't even bother trying."

He chuckled.

"No? Not even for your father's freedom?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Not even for his freedom."

He smiled.

"How about… for a solution to your synthetic symbiote problem?"

Gwen blinked a few times in disbelief.

"Oh, you thought I did not know every single little detail about you? I've known who you are for quite some time. You can hide your face, disguise your voice but your heart is still your heart, though it's a little off still… You can't hide your scent either."

He inhaled.

"I smell the fear on you, I hear the beat of your heart. The skitter of those little spiders as you fight to keep that synthetic alien goo from rending me limb from limb. You see Gwen Stacy, I know everything about you and made sure you encountered that goo. Getting them to ship it out, that was easy, ensuring you were infected with the synthetic symbiote that was the real trick."

He took another drink of his iced tea as Gwen stared at him.

"You did this to me?"

He smiled.

"I gave you a gift Gwen Stacy. Do you know, they're working on an antiserum to neutralize super-soldiers? If they hit you with that, you'd die. You have such interesting biochemistry. Cindy was over the moon when I gave her your blood sample. And make no mistake, you were the first target for SHIELD… or well… who they really are. So, you see, to save you I had to make sure you were infected. Now no one can take your powers away."

Gwen blinked at him in disbelief.

"How do you know all this?"

"Oh, it was trivial to sort out. Fisk asked me to investigate this new vigilante. Spider-Woman. You weren't very good at hiding yourself in the early days, but that is alright. I have watched out for you. Working directly for SHIELD? Do you know how hard it became to hide your true identity? Of course, I thought I'd lost you when you vanished from the concert… I'm glad you've come back to us."

She leaned forward.

"You know the villain usually monologues just before the hero stops them, right?"

Matt chuckled.

"But in this conversation who is the hero, and who is the villain? I defend people from our countries cruel, cruel justice system and you… beat people almost to death?"

He smiled.

"Of course, I'm also an assassin so who am I to talk?"

Gwen blinked at what he just admitted. She wished she had something recording.

"Why would you think I'd side with you?"

He smiled.

"Because your father is going to prison at the very least, and it will not be kind to him in general population. Then there is SHIELD and their shadowy suborganization. They would do anything to get their hands on that brain of yours and Spider-Woman. If they ever realized you were the same person… Oh, you need protection and you need it bad because right now SHIELD is the henhouse and the fox. More so, however, you and I are alike. I see a kindred spirit, in a manner of speaking. Of course, you try to pretend you're civilized like the rest of the world, but you're not. Inside you is a monster that just wants to hurt people, even before you had the symbiote. I'm just here to help you be true to yourself."

Gwen was shaking with anger at this point, her symbiote engulfed her.

"We are nothing like you."

He chuckled.

"We, is it now?"

Gwen forced Gwenom away. She sat in her bathrobe shortly afterwards with her fists clenched. He smiled.

"Ah good, so, let us talk deal, shall we?"

Gwen sighed he could blow up her entire life in one easy stroke. She figured she could play along until she found an out.

"Ah, there we go, you have finally reached the reality of the situation. I had predicted you would take longer. Apparently, your time with the God's has made you more of a pragmatist. That is good, it will take me less time to beat the idealist out of you. Well then."

He reached into a pocket on the inside of his jacket and slid a blood red burner phone across the table to her.

"I'll be in touch."

She glared at the phone, then him in turn.

"You didn't have to kill the detective."

He smiled as he stood up.

"Oh, I didn't have too. I told you we were kindred spirits. Now then, the first part of our agreement you can fulfill right now. I need a list of every single one of Fisk's logins. Don't bother denying it, I know you've had him under surveillance. I'm not sure how, you're very good."

Gwen wandered off and came back with a memory stick. She had a back up of course. She offered it to him.

"Everything is on that."

He took it and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"Good, good. Now, I'll see myself out, Gwen. Try not to run around as Spider-Woman, beating random strangers to a pulp. It is bad for your image. When I call you, I want to see control… none of this thuggery that is beneath us, you and I."

She looked up at him. After he said that something broke inside. She'd killed someone, someone she knew… It was different from some random troll… or dark elves.

"But you pointed them at my father."

He chuckled.

"No, dear Gwen, you have Fisk to thank for that. I suppose when he finds out I'm defending your father that will be problematic for our business relationship, c`est la vie… I'll let you know how things go at the station, I wouldn't expect him home any time soon, the evidence is… overwhelming and you leaving his DNA all over the Detective's body because your father cried into your costume so many nights… it doesn't look good. But I've gotten people off with worse. Don't worry, do as your told… I'll have him out in no time. Don't, well… who knows what delays I may run into."

He pulled his hat off the coat rack where he'd hung it and slipped it back on his head. He slipped out of the apartment door with a tip of his hat leaving Gwen staring after him. She was still in shock from the death of Loki, her father's arrest and now someone laying out how they had manipulated her from the start. Her own wrist started vibrating. She tapped and brought up the holo-display. It was Tony. She debated if she should answer it or not. It dawned on her as she stared at the holo-phone that it could even have Matt who'd arranged for her mother's death, her visit to Stark… her infection with Spider DNA. She shook her head. That was pure paranoia, she as a nobody before she got infected.