Matt knew that he wasn't going to get much sleep, but he had to admit that functioning on two hours sleep seemed impossible. Charlotte had woken up just before he had and he'd heard her moving around the bedroom, getting dressed to go and open the gallery. Matt had kissed her quickly before she'd fled for work, urging for him to come home at a reasonable hour and not go off crime fighting again. Matt had gotten up after she'd gone, knowing that he had to go into work. He had to admit that his body was aching after the previous night. He had bruises and cuts on his face that he'd have to explain to Foggy and Karen. He guessed the one good thing about being blind was that he could pass it off as having tripped.

For some reason though, instead of heading to the office, Matt found himself sat on the bench outside the church. He could feel the sun on his skin when it broke through the clouds and the branches of the trees. It was warming and almost helped him to forget for a brief moment. Closing his eyes, Matt swore that he was about to fall asleep again before he heard footsteps approaching him.

"Matt Murdock."

Matt recognised Father Lantom's voice and he was about to make a move to go. He knew what he'd talked about with Lantom when he'd been to confession. However, Lantom just sat down on the bench beside him.

"It's alright," he assured him. "Seal of Confession. Anything you said during the sacrament of penance stays between us. Could've killed ten people and I couldn't tell anyone."

"Does that seem fair to you?" Matt wondered from him.

"It is what it is," Lantom just replied to him.

Matt knew that there were things he wanted to get off his chest. There were things he was struggling to come to terms with and a part of him wondered why, whenever he felt this way, he ended up going back to the church where he'd been raised. But he couldn't do it, not today.

"I need to get to work," Matt said, reaching for his stick that he'd set at the side of him.

"Yeah," Lantom agreed. "I could do with a cup of coffee first though. Chamber of commerce donated one of those fancy espresso machines for meetings and stuff. I make a heck of latte if you're interested."

Matt's lips quirked at that and he couldn't blame the man for trying. "Another time maybe."

He moved to stand up, cane in his hand and glasses firmly on his nose. He began to walk away, but Lantom spoke once more.

"Seemed you had a lot on your mind last time you were here," Lantom commented and Matt stood still, back to him. He wasn't sure what to do. A part of him did want to go back inside and talk about what had happened the night before. A part of him wanted to confess what he'd done and how he'd longed to do more. "Sure you don't want that latte?"

"Take care of yourself, Father," Matt said and Lantom just watched Matt walk off, wondering just what was going on in that man's mind. His mind turned to Charlotte as well and he hoped that the two of them were okay. They'd been joined at the hip when they were in the orphanage and he only hoped that perhaps they'd found some comfort in each other considering their childhoods hadn't exactly been filled with love.

…

Matt walked into the office to the exclamations that he'd expected from Karen and Foggy. He'd assured them that he was fine, promising them that he'd just tripped and had been stitched back together pretty well by Charlotte. He didn't need them knowing about the bruises underneath his seat. He hoped that his wounds were holding together, but he wasn't sure if they would last the day. The pain in his stomach was growing, but he tried to forget about it.

"You know what, you need a dog," Foggy said to Matt. Matt chuckle and placed his bag down on the chair by his office door.

"I'm not getting a dog," Matt said to him.

"Everyone loves dogs," Foggy replied.

"I love dogs," Karen agreed.

"And I bet Charlotte loves dogs. She strikes me as a dog person," Foggy said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Speaking of, how is your better half? We haven't seen her in a while."

"Yeah, and I owe her an apology for crashing at yours," Karen tacked on. "Does she like perfume? Or how about books?"

"She's got a mean sweet tooth," Foggy said before Matt could interject and get in between the two of them and their conversation. "Has he told you how he takes her cheesecake from Jenny's home every Friday night? They used to go there all the time when they were younger."

"I'll get her something sweet then," Karen said and she bent down at her desk to make a note.

"While Lottie does have a sweet tooth," Matt agreed, "you don't need to do that Karen. She's fine about the whole thing, trust me. Lottie's…she's very understanding," Matt said. That was putting it mildly. He didn't tell her how she was more understanding than they'd give her credit for.

"I want to," Karen said determinedly and Matt decided it wasn't worth arguing over.

Before Foggy could keep going on about him getting a dog, however, a noise echoed through the reception of the office. Foggy frowned.

"Was that a knock?" he wondered.

"Someone's at the door," Matt said.

"Our door?" Foggy checked. It wasn't as if they were used to clients.

"Uh…Karen?" Matt urged from her when he sensed no one was moving.

"Yeah, right," Karen said quickly and she moved to open the door to reveal a man stood there in a smartly dressed suit with glasses on his face. He smelled of expensive cologne and Matt could tell that his shoes had been recently polished. He had a folder underneath his arm and an expensive watch on his wrist.

"Hi," he said. "Do you do walk-ins?" he wondered.

Matt froze for a second. He recognised that voice from somewhere. He tried to think where from, but a part of him was intrigued. They had never had walk-ins. No clients knocked on their door. And now there was a man in an expensive suit who had shown up and wanted their business? Something felt off. Foggy glanced to his partner and saw that Matt remained emotionless and so he took the lead, being the charming one. He guided the man into his office, asking him if he wanted a tea or coffee. He declined, however, sitting down on one side of the table.

Karen sat to the side with her own notebook and Foggy sat between her and Matt with his own pad of paper open.

"I'm going to cut right to the chase here," the man said to them, "I represent a consortium of diversified interests in the private sector both domestic and international. From time to time, we scout the landscape for promising talent to put on retainer."

It was then when it came to Matt who this man was. He was the same man who had threatened Charlotte months ago. He was the one who had drove her around the City and warned her to stop poking her nose in her husband's business or things could get ugly for her. This man had threatened Matt if she didn't stop her prying. He already knew who Matt was. Why was he here? What did he want? Was it related to Charlotte? She'd gone to Jonathan's the night before. What if Jonathan had said something to him?

Matt's mind was a whirl of thoughts, but he tried to focus as best as he could.

"Retainer?" Foggy wondered, spinning his pen in his hand and almost sounded gleeful.

"Why are you approaching us and not a larger firm, Mr…?" Matt trailed off, wondering if he was going to get a name out of this man. He could almost feel Foggy's eyes glaring a scorching mark into the side of his face.

"Confederated Global Investments is my employer," he said.

"It's not what I was asking," Matt replied.

The man chuckled at his comment. "It's the only name relevant to this discussion, Mr Murdock," he retorted and Foggy nudged Matt under the table with his foot. Did he not understand that they were a law firm with no money?

"Oh," Matt said. "So, why us?"

"Obviously, the larger firms aren't able to provide the same hands-on attention that we pride ourselves on at Nelson and Murdock," Foggy answered instead, clearly trying to make up for Matt's abrupt questioning. Karen, however, shot him a cautious look. A part of her wasn't convinced that this offer was what it appeared on the surface.

"That's a fair question," the man agreed. "I'm here because my employer does extensive business in Hell's Kitchen and who knows it better than two local boys who graduated from Columbia Law cum laude and summa cum laude?" he asked and Foggy smirked, but Matt was even more on edge than. He wanted them to know that he'd done his research into them. That scared Matt more than anything.

"Us, the summa part is politics," Foggy said.

The man chuckled. "You set up shop right here in your backyard despite the fact that both of you were made a very lucrative offer from Landman and Zach where you interned."

"You've done your homework," Matt said.

"My employer expects no less."

"Then forgive me for being blunt," Matt replied.

"Blunt is a strong word," Foggy quickly added on.

"In my line of work, I find it refreshing," the man said.

"What line of work is that exactly?" Matt wondered.

"What my partner is trying to say is we're still building a practice," Foggy said, "so we're very particular about our client list."

"I assure you, all my employer wants is for you to continue to be ethical, decent men…good lawyers. And for that, for nothing more than your exceptional skills and your discretion," he laid a piece of paper on the desk, "you'll be fairly compensated."

Foggy took the envelope and opened it up, looking down at the numbers that jumped out. His eyes widened and he stammered over his words. "Uh huh," he said. "It's…it's fair…that's fair."

"Your partner doesn't seem convinced," he said.

"Like Foggy said, we're particular about our clientele," Matt replied.

"I'm curious about your clientele," the man said and his tone turned slightly smarmier. "Do they all end up working for you after you get them off for murder or just the pretty ones?"

There was an awkward silence then and Matt could sense Karen's discomfort as her pules began to race. He didn't need her to stick around for this kind of conversation. He wanted to protect her after she'd been through so much. "Karen, can you give us a minute please?" Matt asked.

He listened as her chair scraped on the floor and she picked her pad up and left the room without another word, closing the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset anybody," the man declared.

"How did you know about Miss Page's situation?" Matt enquired. "She was never charged and there was nothing in the papers."

"I have friends on the force," he replied. "And I hear I'm not the only one."

"I think we might be veering off the subject," Foggy said.

"I understand your concerns, Mr Murdock," he confirmed. "Perhaps you should review one of our cases before you make a decision. Peace of mind and whatnot."

"That's a fantastic idea," Foggy agreed. "Matthew?" Full name. Matt knew he was in hot water.

"Yeah, what harm can it do?" Matt said, calling the bluff.

"Excellent," he replied. "You have…38 minutes to get to Precinct 15."

"What? Now? What's the case?" Foggy wondered.

"Everything you need is in this file," he said and slid it towards them. Foggy remained seated and opened the file, ready to get to work. But Matt, on the other hand, stood up as the man also stood. "Thank you for your time," he said and headed to the door. Placing a hand on the handle, he paused and threw his head over his shoulder, looking to the blind man in the corner who was reaching for his cane. "How's Charlotte doing these days?" he questioned and Matt's jaw locked in place as he struggled to find the words to reply. Now he knew that this man was dangerous. "I knew her when she was married to Jonathan. She always seemed like such a sweet girl…it's horrible how her name's been dragged through the mud with the divorce and what not. I read that she was dating you now."

"I try to keep my personal life and work life separate."

"Yeah," he chuckled. "And how's that working out for you?"

"Could be better," Matt replied.

"Well, it must be nice for the both of you to be together after all those years apart. I can only imagine the bond you have, what with meeting in the orphanage."

Matt hated what was happening. He hated that Charlotte was being dragged into this.

"Well, send her my best," he said and left the two partners alone.

Foggy frowned. "What was that about?" he questioned Matt.

"Remember that guy who threatened Lottie when we were at Landman and Zach?" Matt checked with Foggy and his partner drummed his fingers on the table.

"When I found out that Uptown Girl was your ringtone for Charlotte?" Foggy checked.

"Yeah, that time," Matt said. "That was him. He was the one who threatened her and warned her against releasing the photos of what Jonathan had done to her. There's something dodgy going on and you know it. He wouldn't even give us his name, Foggy."

"You wouldn't care if you could see the zeroes on this cheque," Foggy said.

"Yeah, well maybe you would if you couldn't," Matt retorted. "I'll meet you there."

"Meet me there?" Foggy echoed and Matt headed towards the door. "Where the hell are you going? Matt?"

But there was no stopping him. Matt was already on the way out of the office.

…

Matt had been late to the precinct. He had tried to following the man who had come to their office, but he hadn't found anything else. Instead, he'd heard a car drive away and he knew he couldn't follow it. He knew for sure that he couldn't follow it when he felt his side and the blood that had soaked through his shirt. Matt had no idea what he was walking into at the precinct, but Foggy had been there already. Walking into the room, Matt knew that he had to take the case, no matter what it was. He needed to take it to find out who that man was working for and what was going on in Hell's Kitchen. Foggy clearly hadn't been happy when he'd said that they'd take the case. The interview he'd done with Mr Healy, the client, clearly hadn't put him at ease that working with the man was the right thing. Mr Healy had been arrested for killing someone with a bowling ball, but there seemed to be no self-defence there. He also seemed to know legal jargon a bit too well for Foggy's liking.

Matt knew that Mr Healy must be someone very important. Why would a global investment firm pick up the tab for someone on a murder charge? Matt had tried to link Mr Healy and the man who had visited their office, but Healy wasn't saying anything. Whoever he was, he was clearly some kind of professional criminal.

"Matt, a word please?" Foggy urged from his partner.

The two of them stood up and moved into the corner, whispering under their breaths.

"We should not be doing this," Foggy said to Matt.

"You're the one saying we need clients."

"That's not a client. It's a shark in a skin suit," Foggy hissed back and Matt knew he was on edge. "You pegged this at the office. Let's just let it go."

"We're gonna try this case and let the jury take it from there," Matt decided.

"And Charlotte?" Foggy questioned. "If this links back to her somehow then what about her?"

"Nothing is going to happen to Lottie," Matt said confidently.

Matt hoped that was true. He kept telling himself it was. And so he went to Mr Healy and told him that they should waive criminal procedure law 180.80 to give the DA more time to explore a plea. However, Healy hadn't gone for that. He wanted a trial. He wanted a jury and Matt guessed that was because he'd be able to get off. He imagined that the case would be rigged and Matt wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part in that. How would the trial be rigged? Would it be through juror intimidation? Would it be through bribery of the judge? Matt wasn't sure and a part of him didn't want to find out, but he'd agreed to take the case to get closer to whoever was going to pay them.

Heading back to the office with Foggy, Matt suspected that his partner was still annoyed with him. Opening the door, he expected to find Karen there, but instead he knew it was Charlotte without her saying anything. He could smell her perfume.

"Want to tell me what the hell is going on with you?" Foggy questioned from Matt. "First you decide we're taking the case unilaterally and then you cross-examine the guy like we're playing bad cop-worse cop."

"Everything alright?" Charlotte wondered, moving out of Matt's office, heels clicking on the wooden floor.

"I think your boyfriend has lost the plot," Foggy said to her and Matt moved towards her, hand going to her hip and bending down to peck her quickly on the lips. She moved a hand to his chest and her eyes flickered over the cuts on his face that he was trying to hide behind his glasses. "He's got us representing some career criminal."

"We need to take the case to keep the lights on," Matt said, turning back to Foggy. "You were right about that."

"For the record, he has never said I've been right about anything before," Foggy said.

"He can be a stubborn mule when he wants to be," Charlotte agreed and Matt wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling a need to hold her close against him. Charlotte wondered what had gotten into him, but she didn't complain. "So…what's going on?"

"We have a new client," Foggy said. "He killed someone with a bowling ball, but he claims it was self-defence and he was provoked."

"And you don't believe him?"

"The guy is a career criminal. I don't think he's telling the truth," Matt said, "but there's a reason why we're taking the case and I…well…" he trailed off and he realised that he had to tell Charlotte what was going on. "Foggy, can you give us a minute?"

"I'll be in my office," Foggy excused himself from the situation.

Matt nodded and walked into his own office with Charlotte. Closing the door, he left his stick by the door and Charlotte leant against the edge of his desk. Folding her arms over her stomach, she cocked her head. "What's going on?" she wondered from Matt.

"You remember that guy who threatened you? Dressed in a smart suit and drove you round Hell's Kitchen and warned you not to release the photos of what Jonathan had done to you?"

"Unlikely to forget that, Matty," she said.

"Well, he came to our office today," Matt said to her and Charlotte's brows arched on her forehead.

"What? Why? Did he threaten you?" she asked, worried for him.

Matt shook his head and stood in front of her, hands going to hold onto her forearms. "No," he said quickly to her, wanting to put her at ease as best he could. "He came to us and wanted us to take this case. He gave no reason why, but he said he worked for Confederated Global…so why would a global investment firm want to protect some guy accused of murder?"

"Because he works for them?" Charlotte suggested.

"Precisely," Matt agreed with her on that point.

"But…Confederated Global…that name was on a bunch of documents in Jonathan's office," Charlotte said. "I never really knew what was going on and I never really got a chance to snoop around, but that name is familiar…so Jonathan is involved in all of this."

"Looks like it," Matt agreed with her. "And the man who was here…you don't know his name?"

"He never gave it to me that day," Charlotte said with a shake of her head. "But I imagine Jonathan might know-"

"-Absolutely not," Matt interrupted her. "We're going nowhere near him again, Lottie. You definitely aren't going anywhere near him."

"I know," Charlotte confirmed for him. "Just…this is all a bit weird. I never wanted to drag you into what's going on with Jonathan's business. I don't want that for your or Foggy."

"Hey, listen to me," Matt urged from her, a hand going to her cheek and stroking it softly. "You haven't dragged us into anything, alright? We got involved in this on our own accord. Whatever is going on…we'll get to the bottom of it. I'll get to the bottom of it."

"By the day job or the night job?" Charlotte wondered from him.

"By whatever means I can," Matt said.

Charlotte didn't know if he realised that made her worry more than anything. She wrapped her arms around his waist and that was when she felt the wetness on his shirt. Frowning, her nose wrinkled and she pulled back, pulling the lapels of his jacket open and seeing the blood stain there.

"Jesus, Matty, you're bleeding," she said. "You need to go to the hospital."

"I'm fine, honest, I've stopped now," Matt said.

"It needs cleaning…just…let me see," she urged from him and Matt knew she wasn't going to relent. He just took hold of her hand and she followed him to the bathroom on the other side of the corridor. Matt didn't complain as she made him sit down on the closed toilet seat. Charlotte tried not to be too snobby, but the bathroom did feel grotty and the sink was covered in grime. She tried to rinse it as best she could before filling the basin with cold water.

"Sit still," she urged from him and he shrugged out of his jacket, leaving it behind him.

"Yes, ma'am," he said and she swatted his thigh as she tugged his shirt out of his trousers and began unbuttoning it from the bottom. Matt let her part the material and she shook her head as she saw the wound that had dried blood around it. "You know, if I knew all it would take would be me getting beaten up for you to want to rip my clothes off then I'd have done this a while ago," he said, trying to lighten the tone, but he sensed that he'd had the opposite impact. Charlotte didn't laugh. She just reached for the towel over the radiator and dipped it into the water, wetting it and running it along the wound, washing away the blood. "Sorry…it was a joke…a terrible one, I guess," Matt said to her and he knew that.

"I…what Jonathan said last night," Charlotte whispered. "Does it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?" Matt questioned.

"That we haven't slept together?" Charlotte wondered from him. "That I…I don't know when I'll be ready for that."

"No," Matt said firmly. "Lottie, no. Don't ever think that."

"I mean, I do want to, Matt," Charlotte said. "It's just that there's still a lot that I need to work through and I'm not sure how long that's going to take me to do."

"You have no reason to apologise. Ever," Matt stated. "What we have means more to me than anything and if you think that I would ever become frustrated…not want you…because we're not having sex…well…that's never going to happen."

"Sorry. I know there's other things going on right now."

"What have I told you?" Matt asked, stroking her cheek and picking her up from the floor. He tossed the towel into the sink as Charlotte perched on one of his legs and he tucked her hair behind her ear. "You come first. You always come first."

Charlotte said nothing to him, but she did kiss him, letting her mouth linger against his and enjoying the feeling. Closing her eyes, she felt him keep his pecks gentle, nose brushing hers. He pulled back after a final peck and Charlotte let him twirl a strand of her hair around his finger.

"I do want to, you know?" she said to him. "One day."

"Only when you're ready," Matt assured her. "But it'll be on your terms, sweetheart."

"You know, if it wasn't for the vigilante crime fighting, you might just be the best boyfriend in existence," Charlotte whispered against his lips, pecking him once more. Matt chuckled against her mouth.

"I'll take that," he said to her. "Anyway, what're you doing here? I thought you were working late?"

"I was, but Vanessa insisted I leave early," Charlotte replied. "She has some special VIP client coming in looking at art. He requested that the gallery close early so that he could brows in private. She said she could handle it so I came here, but I guess that you'll be working late on this case."

"I'll try not to be too late," Matt promised her. "Who's this VIP guy anyway?"

"No idea," Charlotte said. "He didn't give his name."

Matt didn't press her. At the time he had no idea that he was going to be the man who would cause them so much hassle in their lives.

...

A/N: So, not sure if anyone is reading/following this, but if you are then I'd love to know your thoughts!