Chapter 1 – I Flew Cross-country for This
Matt Murdock smiled when his phone announced the name of the caller: "Jennifer Walters, Jennifer Walters."
"Hey, Jen," he said, "what's up?"
"I'm coming to New York," Jennifer replied. "And, well, there's something, um, something you can do for me while I'm there."
Matt lowered his voice to a seductive whisper. "You don't have to ask, sweetheart. I know what I can do for you."
"No, it's not that, I mean, yes, that, too, but that's not what I meant."
"Um...OK. So what's goin' on?"
"The firm has a case in New York, and they want me to handle it."
"Some superhero in trouble?" Matt asked.
"No. And they're not sending She-Hulk, they're sending me, Jennifer Walters."
"About time," Matt muttered.
"Anyway, I'm not admitted in New York, you know, so I'm gonna need local co-counsel."
"And that would be me?"
"Exactly. You'll do it?"
"Of course. It'll be my pleasure – in more ways than one."
Jennifer laughed. "Mine, too."
# # #
A week later, Jennifer climbed the steps leading to the front door of the brownstone that housed the offices of Nelson & Murdock, Attorneys at Law, dragging an overstuffed suitcase behind her and carrying a large briefcase crammed full of files and flash drives. Halfway up the stairs, one of the suitcase's wheels hung up on the next stair. She lost her grip on the handle, and it went bumping down the stairs, all the way to the bottom.
"Shit!" she hissed.
When she looked up, Matt was standing on the stoop. "Need a hand, little lady?" he asked in an exaggerated New York accent.
"What d'you know? Chivalry isn't dead, after all."
Matt smirked as he passed by her on the way down the stairs to retrieve the errant suitcase.
As soon as the office door closed behind them, Matt gathered Jennifer in his arms and kissed her. She pulled him closer and felt something...hard pressed against her body.
"Someone's happy to see me," she quipped.
"You have no idea," Matt replied, before he kissed her again.
"Oh, I think I do." Jen stepped back out of Matt's hug and looked around the office. "Foggy's not here?"
"At a depo, due back any minute."
"So I guess we don't have time to..."
"Why, Ms. Walters, I'm shocked, shocked that you would suggest such a thing. This is a professional law office, you know."
Jennifer laughed and pulled him toward her to kiss him again.
Too soon for Jennifer's liking, Matt pulled away, tilting his head toward the office door. "Someone's coming...it's Foggy."
Matt was proved correct a few seconds later when the door opened, and a stocky man with light brown hair walked in. An older version of his photo on the firm's website, he was dressed in a rumpled business suit and carried a well-used briefcase. He spoke before she could greet him.
"Jennifer Walters! We meet at last. But you're so...so...petite!"
"You were expecting six-foot-seven and green?"
"Yeah, I kinda was."
"I'm here as Jennifer Walters, attorney at law, not She-Hulk," Jennifer explained. "I'd like to keep it that way, so I'm gonna try to keep a low profile."
"Got it."
"So – you must be Foggy," she said, stepping toward him and holding out her hand.
Foggy grabbed her hand and kissed it, then stepped back and bowed with a flourish. "Franklin Nelson, at your service."
Jennifer curtsied. "Jennifer Walters, at yours."
"You've already done something for me," Foggy told her.
"What's that?"
"Ever since you called, Matt's been in a good mood. He hasn't tried to bite my head off even once."
"Fog – " Matt interrupted.
"Don't try to deny it, buddy. It's some kind of world record. Even the criminals are saying Daredevil's gone soft on them. We have Jennifer to thank for that."
Jennifer laughed. "You're welcome." Then she turned to Matt. "So Matt Murdock has a dark side?"
"Foggy tends to exaggerate," Matt protested weakly.
Jennifer didn't think so. It came as no surprise to her that Matt had a dark side. After he went back to New York, she did a deep dive into him – and Daredevil. Some of what she found out was...disturbing. Criminals thrown off roofs or beaten so badly they ended up in the ICU. Unexplained disappearances, sometimes for months. But there was another side. Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of crime, sent to prison – twice. The people of Hell's Kitchen rallying to support Matt when Fisk's wife Vanessa alleged he was Daredevil. The $11 million verdict he obtained for a boy who was seriously injured by a toxic substance in the subway. As far as Jennifer was concerned, the dichotomy just made him more interesting – and, yes, more attractive, if she was being honest with herself. After all, she had nothing to fear from him; she was a Hulk.
"Really, Matt? That's all you've got?" Foggy asked.
Matt crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned but didn't answer him.
Jennifer decided it was time to change the subject. She looked around the office. With its worn carpet, well-used furniture, and walls that could have used a coat of paint, it was as different as it could be from her upscale office in Los Angeles. But none of that mattered. The quality of the lawyers occupying the office was what mattered.
"Whose office is this?" she asked, gesturing toward the apparently-empty office between Matt's and Foggy's.
"No one's," Matt snapped.
Jennifer glanced at Foggy, who gave a tiny, almost imperceptible shake of his head: don't go there. "Is it OK if I use it while I'm here?" she asked.
"Sure," Foggy replied.
Jennifer picked up her briefcase and carried it into the office. She set it down next to the desk and tried out the chair. It must have been used by someone tall; her feet didn't reach the floor. "It'll do," she announced.
"Let's get to work, then," Foggy said.
Jennifer shook her head. "Not tonight. I just flew across the continent. The case can wait until tomorrow morning."
Matt shrugged into his jacket and picked up his cane. "You ready?" he asked.
Jennifer laughed. "You have no idea."
# # #
It was only a four-block walk to Matt's apartment. As soon as the door closed behind them, Jennifer and Matt didn't have to say a word. They headed straight for the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind them.
Later, Jennifer snuggled close to Matt, resting her head on his shoulder. She sighed contentedly. "Well, that was definitely worth flying cross-country for," she thought. She didn't want to move or speak. She wanted to stay here forever, holding Matt and being held by him, feeling his skin next to hers and breathing in his scent.
Matt was the first to break their silence. "You know, I still haven't taken you to dinner."
"I thought this was dinner."
"Nope, just the appetizer. But we don't have to go out. We can order in. What's your pleasure?"
"Another appetizer," Jennifer thought. Aloud, she said, "Pizza. Real New York pizza."
"You're in luck," Matt said. "There's a place in the next block, just a hole in the wall, but the pizza's great. What do you like?"
Jennifer smiled. "I think I already got lucky. As for the pizza, anything that doesn't involve anchovies – or pineapple."
"You got it."
Matt got out of bed, groaning softly, and went into the living room to find his phone. He returned holding an armload of clothes and dropped them on the bed.
"Damn," Jennifer said, "do we have to?"
"Pizza'll be here in 25 minutes. We don't want to give the pizza guy a show."
"Right."
Matt didn't lie; the pizza was the best she'd ever had. Jennifer put away four slices before setting her plate down on the coffee table and finishing her wine. When she looked up, Matt was standing next to her, holding his hand out. "Time for dessert," he said, grinning. She took his hand and followed him to the bedroom.
After "dessert," Matt was restless. He was muttering to himself, but Jennifer couldn't make out any words. She was about to ask him what was going on when he rolled over, away from her, and slapped the top of his talking clock. "Eleven-o-three p.m.," it announced.
"Damn," Matt swore under his breath. He got out of bed, still muttering, and stalked out of the bedroom. Jennifer followed. He opened the closet under the stairs and pulled out a trunk. He opened it and set the upper tray to one side. Then he reached into the bottom of the trunk and pulled out something red: his devil suit. He turned to face her, holding up the suit. "I have to go out," he said.
"Now?"
"I don't want to leave you, but this is what I do, what I have to do. People are counting on Daredevil to be there when they need help." Matt turned and walked away from her, back to the bedroom.
As she watched him put on the suit, she cataloged his new and not-so-new injuries – a large bruise on his left side, blood oozing out from under a bandage on his right hip, a healing cut on his forehead, a row of recent stitches on his right shoulder, and too many scars to count.
"You're in no condition to go out and chase criminals, or whatever Daredevil does," she told him.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You've got a huge bruise on your left side."
"It's not so bad."
"It looks pretty bad to me. And I can tell it hurts when you move. "
"It's OK, nothing's broken."
"And you know this how?"
"If anything was broken, I'd hear it."
Oh. Right. His "really good" hearing. There probably was more to it than that, but this was not the time for that conversation. "If you say so. But what about the blood oozing out from under the bandage on your right hip?"
"Pulled a stitch. It's nothing. I've had worse."
"And that somehow makes it OK?"
He didn't answer her, just picked up his mask and gloves and turned toward the stairs leading to the roof.
"If you're going to do the Daredevil thing, then I'm coming with you," she told him.
"What happened to She-Hulk keeping a low profile?" he asked.
"It'll be fine. I'm just going to observe." She opened her suitcase and rummaged around until she found the suit that Luke Jacobson made for her. "You can't stop me, you know," she said as she put it on.
"I know. But if your green face is all over the tabloids tomorrow, that's on you."
Author's Note: This story takes place a few months after She-Hulk: Attorney at Law but before Daredevil: Born Again. I have not tried to figure out where it fits, or even if it does fit, in the Marvel/Disney timeline. The tone is a little darker than She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and a little lighter than Netflix Daredevil. I hope you will enjoy the story for what it is, an exploration of how Jennifer and Matt's relationship might have developed after they met in L.A.