Found
It was all his fault. Everything was all his fault. He took one little nap and woke up to screams, and he knew in his heart that they belonged to Athena. He had pulled up his sleeve and ghosted his fingers over his watch, before his heart dropped into his stomach. 2:22 am.
Ripping his watch off his wrist, he threw it onto his bed before racing to his closet. Her screams tore through his heart as he raced to get his suit on, the clingy material doing its job and clinging to everything but what he wanted.
"Fucking HELL COME ON!" he yelled, frustrated as his pants were already button from the night before. Ripping them apart, he slid them on before sliding his mask on and racing for the fire escape.
He had to get to her before it was too late.
Racing across the rooftops, her screams stop and were now replaced by a man screaming, yelling as if he was getting his anger out over something...or someone.
Matt didn't stop running until he heard it all fall quiet, the man stopped yelling and any voices seemed muffled. He groaned as he stopped to listen, but he knew each second he stood listening, was a second wasted in getting to Athena.
A large van started up around the same area he had last heard Athena. Taking his chances, he raced after the cargo van, the sound of a faint heartbeat in the back was his only hope that she was still alive; but that heartbeat was slowly fading out, and it wasn't due to her getting further away from him.
"Hang on darling, I'm coming," he whispered to himself, pleading with her silently to just hang on a little while longer. He dropped down from the roof and waited in the shadows, listening as the men were quick in dumping her into a pile of trash.
His blood boiled as his knuckles cracked from under his gloves. "Hey!" he growled, stepping between the men and their van.
Matt wasn't going to waste another second with the men, driving his fist into the first one's face, he screamed as he fought with the henchmen. The second guy tried using his strength to hold Matt back back, pulling his arms behind his back in efforts of keeping him away from the first guy.
"YOU. COULD. HAVE. KILLED. HER!" he yelled, driving his fist into the first guy's face and stomach after kicking the second guy in the head, knocking him out cold. He had to stop himself from almost killing the first guy, his breathing now labored as he dropped his body towards the pavement.
Taking a few deep breaths, he could faintly hear Athena calling for her mother, his heart breaking even more as her heart rate began to slow even more.
She was dying.
"Goddess! Goddess holy shit! Stay with me love, please," he begged, tears brimming in his eyes, wetting his mask as he picked up her body. He had failed her, in every aspect of the word.
"Don't worry Athena, I know someone who can help us. Just stay with me, please," he begged.
And now he's here, sitting on top of Claire's building as she attempted to stitch up the woman he loved. His legs dangled over the side of the roof as the wind pushed them back and forth, his pants legs whipping in the cool breeze.
He couldn't save her, he had gotten to her too late. Pulling his mask off, he let the flimsy material flap in the wind, nothing but his fingers holding it back from being lost in the wind. He felt as if one slip up, dropping his mask or...letting her go...would ruin his whole life.
~~~~
"I hope Sage and Matt are okay," Karen whispered, the air between her and Foggy was cold and easy as the two of them poured over papers for a case. Humming, Foggy not once looked up from his papers, flipping them over and over as if he was looking for something crucial.
"Karen, we have hardly seen them in almost a month. At this point-"
"What? That they're dead?" Karen interrupted, her brows scrunching together as she looked to her friend. They couldn't be dead, there's no way. Sage was way too headstrong and Matt? Matt was a blind lawyer!
"No Karen. I wasn't going to say that they were dead. I was going to say that maybe they ran off together finally. Idiots realized their feelings for eachother overnight and ran off to Cabo," He laughed dryly. He didn't have to heart to say that he really did think that they were dead.
What other explanation could he have given her? The two were always returning with cuts and bruises, or god damn gunshot wounds, with poorly made excuses. There was no way in hell that the two of them weren't involved in something sketchy that could have gotten them killed
~~~~
"How's she doing?"
"Well, for the most part okay. Lost quite a bit of blood but no broken bones from what I can tell. But I can't really tell unless we get a full set of x-rays." Claire sighed, ripping off her latex gloves and throwing them towards the trash, the blue gloves falling short and landing next to the plastic can.
" No. No hospitals." Matt sighed as he ran a gloved hand over his face; she almost bled to death, all because he had slept in and wasn't able to get to her in time.
"Can I uh..." Matt dropped his head onto his chest, unsure of how to say what he was wanting to. Dropping to his knees next to the couch, he pulled his gloves off and held her hand in both of his. "Please please please, let my Goddess be okay. I am begging you, with every fiber of my being. I need her to be okay, please God," he whispered, his lips ghosting over her blood dried fingers.
"Mike, she has to-" Claire's protests were cut short as Athena started to cough, blood sputtering from between her lip as she tried to sit up. Pushing her upwards, Matt could hear Claire sigh quietly before she grabbed something and ran over to the pair.
"Devil?" Athena's voice was weak, tired, and almost confused.
"Hey Goddess." he greeted, a smiling coming across his lips as he kissed her hand once more.
"W...where am I? Where's my mom?"
"Your- your mom? Sunshine, your mother isn't here."
Athena could feel the lump forming in her throat, choking her and killing every part of her. It was real, her mother was there, calling for her before she almost rejected her. She could see the way her mother's hair was still wet from the lake, but also dry enough to be moving in the wind. Her own swimsuit was barely visible under her white cover up, the tea length skirt moving with the warm summer wind.
She could feel the summer sun beating down on her surroundings, the light bouncing off the lake and making the world around her shimmer with a bright heavenly light.
But none of it was real.
"I um... wait, have you seen my face?" She asked suddenly, panicking as she realized that her mask was no longer covering her face. Her identity now on full display for a stranger. Nodding, Claire handed her a cup of tea, the faint scent of mango floating towards her nose.
"Don't worry, I promise to not tell anyone. Your friend here," she pointed to Devil who was still praying under his breath. "is the same way. Won't even tell me his name." she laughed. Athena nodded and took a sip of the hot liquid, the tea warming her insides.
"Devil, I'm okay." she whispered, waiting for Claire to leave the room before she started to rub his hand with her thumb.
"I should have been there for you, Goddess. Been there to protect you, or at least help you. And I let you down." he choked out. Seeing him beat himself up about something that wasn't his fault broke her heart.
"I promise you, this is not your fault. I probably should have waited for you," she pushed out a dry laugh before taking another sip of tea. Matt smiled weakly behind their clasped hands.
Silence fell between the two, not a word said as they both became lost in their thoughts, when the thought of her sister flooded Athena's mind; she had to call her sister.
~~~~
"You were on the fence, Sage! Seventy hours and not so much as a text! I was ten seconds away from-"
"Zaray- I saw mom," Sage interrupted, her hand dragging across the counter as she moved towards the fridge. She hadn't eaten in days, and her stomach was crying for some sort of substance.
Her phone was dead silent, and Sage was worried her sister had hung up or the call had dropped. Pulling her phone away from her face, she saw that the timer was still ticking, Zaray was still on the other end.
"Sage, she's...She's been dead for years. You know that."
"No, you don't understand. I...I was at the lake house. And the birds were singing and and the uh...the life jackets were still dripping wet. Mom was there, on the dock, calling for me. And just before I took her hand, she told me not yet. And that it wasn't my time. And she-"
"Wasn't your time? Did you...did you die?" her voice came out in a whisper, sobs choking her voice enough that Sage could barely hear her. Sage sighed as she looked to her floors; she probably did die, or was on the brink of death. And she knows that her last thoughts were that she wanted to be with her mother once more- and not that of Matt and her sister.
A knock sounded at her door, causing her head to turn towards the sudden noise. She didn't want to leave her sister but she also didn't have the heart to answer the door.
"Sage Hockley if you don't...." It was Sami. She tried to act tough before her hardened exterior broke like glass. "Sage please. If you're in there...I need my soul sister. It's been days and I haven't gotten anything, not even a text. Please," she pleaded.
"I hear her. I'll let you go. But hey Sage...I love you,"
Sage swallowed the lump in her throat as best as she could; she fucked up, but she killed the guy who was working for Fisk, hopefully that sent the bastard a message. "I love you too sis." Hanging up the phone, she moved her hand along her counter, and then the wall before she was able to make it to her door.
"Holy..." Sami covered her mouth with her hands. Sage could see that she was shaking as she took in her injured state. "You...you're...are you hurt?"
"Sami, I have to tell you something. I can't keep this from you." she groaned, stepping to the side to allow Sami in. Her eyes went wide in horror at the sight of all the bloodied bandages and clothes spread throughout her apartment. At least a dozen or so takeout boxes strewn throughout the kitchen and kitchen table.
"Sage...how...what the fuck is going on?" Sami asked, her heel kicking a take out box, the cardboard sliding across the cheap floor. Sage let out a try laugh as she gingerly reached up to pull her hair back into it's bun. Dirt and blood still within her locks as she hasn't had a chance to shower in days.
"Sami you're gonna want to sit for this," Sage whispered, gesturing towards the couch. Looking to her friend, her browns scrunching together in worry.
"Do you want anything-"
"Sage, cut the shit. What's going on."
Taking a deep breath, Sage made her way to the far side of the living room towards the closet. Opening the big doors, she took a box out of the bottom and flipped it open. Pulling out her mask, she took one more breath before turning around, hiding her mask in her hands.
"Have you heard of the masked people of Hell's Kitchen?"
Looking to her friend, Sami nodded slowly. "Yeah. The Devil and people are calling her the Goddess of Hell's Kitchen as some reporter or witness or some shit heard the Devil call her that. Why?"
Opening her hands to reveal her mask, Sage took one more shaky deep breath, not once looking at Sami but rather one of the take out boxes on the floor. "I am the goddess of Hell's Kitchen."