Chapter 4

10th January 2015, Matt's Apartment - Hell's Kitchen, NYC

"I don't have much in the way of food," Matt said as he opened the door to his apartment, "but there's a Thai place on the corner. If we order now, it should get here by the time I make up the bedroom for you."

Rose stepped inside. The space was dimly lit, with a wall separating the entrance from the main living area.

"It's a little dark in here," she observed before immediately feeling stupid for her comment.

"I never…uh…light switch is on the wall to your left," Matt replied, setting his keys down on the small table near the door. "So, uh," he sighed, "want some food?"

"Uh, no, I'm not..." Rose glanced down at her clothes, still feeling the aftermath of her time in the jail cell. "Would you have a shirt I could borrow, maybe? This one's a little wet, and I'm a Hellions fan."

Matt chuckled, the tension momentarily breaking. "Then don't tell Foggy. Let me grab something for you."

"And, really, I can't put you out of your bedroom," Rose called after him as he moved toward his bedroom. "I'll be just fine on the couch."

Matt paused at his bedroom doorway, turning back with a slight smirk. "From what I understand about my living room, that might not be true."

Rose turned to the window, finally taking in the full view. Outside, the massive billboard dominated the skyline, casting vibrant purple and blue lights across the entire apartment.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed.

"Went up a year ago," Matt explained, returning with a folded shirt. "I'm told the co-op nearly rioted, some oversight from the developer's agreement." His lips quirked in a half-smile. "Upside is, nobody wanted it and I got a corner apartment at a hell of a discount."

Matt handed Rose the shirt, their fingers brushing momentarily.

"Thanks," Rose said. She hesitated, glancing down at her current clothes, then back at Matt. Despite knowing he was blind, the awareness of his heightened senses gave her pause. She wasn't entirely sure what he could perceive. Not to mention how vulnerable she still feels, changing in front of anyone.

"Is there a bathroom where I can change?" she asked.

"Just over there, second door on the right," Matt replied. "Right next to the bedroom."

Rose nodded and headed to the bathroom. Once inside, she quickly changed into Matt's shirt, which hung loosely on her smaller frame. It was soft, so very soft. She wondered once again the extent of his senses. Was touch heightened as well? She inhaled the smell of it—it smelled like him, like soap and a hint of sandalwood cologne, and something that was entirely him.

Her cheeks warmed. She was behaving like a schoolgirl with a crush.

She folded her own shirt neatly, leaving it on a chair in the bathroom. Taking a moment to collect herself, she returned to the living room.

Matt waited patiently. Rose studied his face, that strong jaw with a hint of stubble, the profile she'd first encountered while half-covered by a mask. It wasn't just that he was attractive, though he was—he was a very attractive man. But it was more than that. There was something so charming, so charismatic about him. It was impossible to look away from him when he was inside a room—he commandeered all attention, whether he realized it or not.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. "You seem a little flushed." He had a shit-eating grin on his face.

She flushed deeper. "Yes…yes, I'm fine." She cleared her throat. Then she realized what he just said. "You can feel that? How much can you sense, exactly?"

Matt just shrugged, grin still firmly in place.

"Matthew Murdock, huh?" She said, just to change the subject. "Just as I was getting used to calling you Mike." She shook her head. "I have to say, a defense attorney wasn't what I pictured for your day-job. Lawyer by day, vigilante by night. The hell does that work?"

Matt chuckled. "Yeah, I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"So…does your partner know that you dress up in black pajamas to beat up criminals at night?"

Matt's smile disappeared. "No, no. He doesn't know. And I'd like to keep it that way."

Rose nodded. "He won't learn it from me."

Matt's smile returned but it was softer, gentler. "I know." He gestured to the coach in the center of the room. She took it for the invitation it was, sitting down. He followed suit, leaving a few inches of distance between them.

Rose studied his face still covered by those red, round glasses. "Can I ask a personal question?"

"I haven't always been blind," Matt answered, clearly deducing what her question was going to be.

"I guess that's what everyone wants to know."

"That or, 'How do you comb your hair?'" Matt quipped.

Rose laughed. "How do you comb your hair?"

"Honestly, you just... you hope for the best," Matt responded with a genuine smile.

"How did it happen? If you don't mind me asking…"

"Car accident. When I was nine," Matt replied, voice carefully neutral.

"Must have been rough."

Matt went quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah," he admitted softly. "It was. But I made it through."

"Do you remember what it was like? To... to see?"

"I, um... Yes, I remember." Matt took his glasses off, turning them around in his hands.

"I'm sorry…I'm being nosy," Rose said softly.

"No, no, it's okay…" Matt chuckled, though there was little humor in it. "You know, I'm supposed to say I don't miss it. That's what they teach you in trauma recovery. Define yourself by what you have, value the differences, make no apologies for what you lack." His voice grew more earnest. "And it's all true, for the most part, but it doesn't change the fact that I... I'd give anything to see the sky one more time."

Seconds passed in silence, the neon lights from the billboard washing over them in waves of color.

Rose hesitated, then asked what she'd been wondering since realizing who he was. "Was it... was the accident that gave you your abilities? Your heightened senses?"

Matt nodded slowly. "It was a chemical spill. I pushed an old man out of the way of a truck, and the truck crashed. Some chemicals splashed in my eyes." His expression grew distant with the memory. "They blinded me, but they also... changed me. All my other senses were heightened. Far beyond what's normal."

"How do you… I mean, you're blind but you see… so much. How does that work?"

"I guess you have to think of it as more than just five senses. I can't see, not like everyone else, but I can feel. Things like balance and direction. Micro-changes in air density, vibrations, blankets of temperature variations. Mix all that with what I hear, subtle smells. All of the fragments form a sort of impressionistic painting."

"Okay, but what does that look like? Like, what do you actually see?"

"A world on fire. That's the best way I can explain it."

"Wow…that's… that's truly incredible." And it was. Her gifts—if they could be called that—were mundane by comparison.

Matt tilted his head slightly in that way she'd come to recognize. "What about you? Were you always this way? The speed, the strength..."

Rose shook her head. "No. I was in a car accident too, when I was 11. With my uncle, aunt, and cousin." Her voice remained steady, matter-of-fact. "We were returning from a trip to the Bronx Zoo for my cousin's birthday when a truck hit us. They died in the crash, but I survived." She paused briefly. "When I woke up in the hospital, once I got better, I realized I was... different. Stronger, faster, with better agility and balance. And able to heal faster than normal."

"I'm sorry about your family," Matt said quietly.

Rose nodded. "It was a long time ago."

"Certain wounds never properly heal."

"Yeah…but I wasn't really close to my relatives. They…hum…let's just say we didn't get along and leave it at that."

Matt frowned but didn't pry. Thankfully. She wasn't in the mood to explain the truth about how her relatives treated her. Perhaps one day.

She looked around his apartment, then back to him. "I should thank you properly. For taking my case, for believing me when no one else would... for letting me stay here. Not many people would stick their neck out for a murder suspect they met only a few days ago."

"Not many people would help a bleeding masked man they found in their garbage," Matt countered with a slight smile. "I guess we're both a little unusual in our choices."

"I guess we are," Rose said with a chuckle.

Then his expression turned serious. "Rose, I know you weren't completely honest earlier at the office."

Rose's eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"

"When you said Daniel didn't give you the file," Matt explained.

Rose sighed. "You're right. Daniel didn't actually give me the file, but he did tell me where to find it right before we were drugged." She leaned forward. "He made a copy of it on a USB drive. He hid it in a vent in his bedroom. I was planning to retrieve it."

"And you think whoever killed Daniel knows you might have this information?"

"They must suspect that I have the file or, at least, know where it is," Rose said. "It's why they framed me instead of just killing me outright."

Matt nodded slowly. "I can go get it for you. It would be safer—"

"I should be the one to go," Rose said, her tone matter-of-fact. "It's me they'd be watching. We can set a trap."

Matt leaned back, considering. "You realize you'd be walking into danger."

"That's the point," Rose replied with a slight shrug. "They see me searching the apartment, they'll make their move. Meanwhile, you..." She gestured to him. "Well, you do what you do best."

When Matt nodded, clearly willing to listen, she continued, "I play the helpless civilian, you swoop in if someone comes to finish the job and then we get the evidence we need." She tapped her fingers against her knee. "And no one needs to know what I'm really capable of."

Matt was silent for a moment, his jaw working. "I don't like putting you at risk."

"Says the man I helped when he was torturing a fake police detective," Rose countered with a wry smile.

Matt's frown deepened, clearly not thrilled with the idea. "It's risky."

"No riskier than taking on a bunch of Russian traffickers," Rose pointed out.

A small smile tugged at Matt's lips. "Fair point." He stood, pacing slowly. "Once we have the drive, what then?"

"We expose them," Rose said firmly. "We take the evidence to the New York Bulletin. Make it public so they can't bury it again."

Matt nodded. "It's a solid plan. But we'll need to be careful. These people have resources, connections."

"I know," Rose said quietly. "But I have to do this. For Daniel. For his son."

"Alright." Matt reached out, his hand finding her shoulder with unerring accuracy. "We do it together."

10th January 2015, Daniel's Apartment - Hell's Kitchen, NYC

Rose approached Daniel's apartment building, her heart steady despite the danger.

She knew Matt was nearby, following her movements with his heightened senses.

The police tape across Daniel's apartment door hung limply, partially torn down. Rose ducked under it, using her trusted lockpicking set to unlock the door. The apartment was dark and still, the metallic scent of blood lingering in the air despite the police having processed the scene.

Rose flicked on a light, making no attempt to hide her presence. She began a methodical search of the apartment, starting in the living room and making deliberate noise—pulling out drawers, shifting furniture—ensuring that anyone watching would notice her activities.

After making a show of searching the living room, Rose moved to the bedroom. Daniel had told her the USB was hidden in a vent near the floor on the east wall. She spotted it immediately and knelt beside it, pulling a small multi-tool from her pocket to remove the screws.

As she worked on the vent, she heard the sound of the front door being quietly opened. She continued working, pretending not to notice.

The floorboard in the hallway creaked. Rose allowed herself to startle slightly but didn't look up. The second screw was proving stubborn, resisting her efforts.

"Come on," she muttered under her breath, feigning frustration.

A shadow fell across the doorway. Rose whirled around with convincing fear on her face.

A man stood there—tall, broad-shouldered, with close-cropped hair. He pulled out a knife and slowly walked toward her.

"Who are you?" Rose exclaimed, scrambling backward.

Before the man could reach her, the window shattered as Matt crashed through it in his black mask. The two men fought fiercely, exchanging brutal blows, the combat spilling out of the bedroom and toward the living room.

Rose quickly turned back to the vent, removing the final screw and retrieving the USB drive. She secured it in her pocket just as she heard glass breaking again—Matt and the other man had crashed through the window onto the fire escape.

Rose rushed to the window, watching as the two men tumbled over the railing, falling to the ground below. She quickly made her way down the fire escape; it was pouring rain and she was drenched in seconds. Matt had managed to subdue the man with chains around his neck.

"Is he out?" She asked.

Matt nodded. "Did you get the drive?"

"Yes."

"Good," Matt said. He was drenched too, and his lip was split and bleeding. But he didn't seem truly harmed, just bruised. "Go home. I'll bring the drive to the Bulletin."

10th January 2015, Matt's Apartment - Hell's Kitchen, NYC

Back at Matt's apartment, Rose sat on the couch while Matt paced slowly across the living room, still in his vigilante outfit bar the mask. It was late enough that it was early. Dawn was less than an hour away.

"Once the Bulletin publishes the story, Union Allied won't be able to sweep it under the rug."

"Whoever is behind it, they're just going to create a new front company. This isn't over."

Matt stopped pacing and turned to look in her general direction. "I know. But it's a start."

Rose nodded. It was a start. "Thank you, Matt. For believing me. For helping me."

"You don't have to thank me," Matt said. "I would have done it for anyone." There was something in his expression and tone that told her he was teasing her. Although, to be fair, from what she'd learned of him, he would have done it for anyone.

Rose chuckled. "Way to make a girl feel special." She stopped laughing but her smile remained. "I guess we make a pretty good team."

Matt's lips curved into a smile. "I guess we do."

"Once the news breaks, the people behind Union Allied will know I'm still a threat."

"We'll deal with that when it comes," Matt assured her. "In the meantime, Nelson and Murdock could use a skilled investigator."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Are you offering me a job, Mr. Murdock?"

"Consider it... mutually beneficial," Matt replied.

"And what about your partner? What will he think about hiring the woman who was just the prime suspect in a murder case?"

"Leave Foggy to me," Matt said. "Besides, once the story breaks, your name will be cleared."

Rose considered the offer. She never thought of working for a law firm. She usually didn't like lawyers, as a rule. But Matt was different, and not only because of his nighttime activities. And, even if she didn't know Nelson well, she could tell he was a good guy as well. "Alright," she finally said. "You've got yourself an investigator."