The Gods of Hell's Kitchen

"I'm the Goddess of Hell's Kitchen," Sage mumbled, watching carefully so as to gauge Sami's reaction. And it wasn't a good one as her jaw dropped open, her eyes glazing over with tears as hurt spread across her features.

"Why did you keep this from me? Who all knows?" she choked out, her hands wringing together in a way to comfort herself. Sage's heart broke at the sight of her best friend, her devastation heavy within her features.

"My sister, and now you."

"Not even Matt?" Sage shook her head as she reached down to take Sami's hand in hers. Pulling away from her friend, Sami shook her head, her shorter black hair moving side to side; there is no way in hell that her office job working best friend was one of the vigilantes wrecking havoc throughout their city.

Sage could see that her friend's mind was running a million miles a second, trying to process the six words that she had just told her, those six words like a bombshell on their lives and their friendship.

"Why did you...how have you been..." Her words fell from her painted lips in a jumbled mess, her mind running faster than her mouth. Covering her face with her hands, Sage watched as Sami began to bounce her leg up and down.

She broke her.

"I need air," she mumbled, pushing herself off the couch and quickly crossing the room. Sage stood in her living room, her chest feeling as if it was caving in.  She not only broke her friend, but that was probably the last time she would ever see her.

"Flower?" She could hear Matt's concerned voice, but it was far away, almost as if they were in a tunnel and he was calling to her from the other end. "Flower, hey come back to me.”

"Hello Matthew." She deadpanned, not looking towards him as her eyes fixated to the floor.

"Oh ouch. Matthew? Am I in trouble? What did I do now?" he joked, a low laugh rumbling through his chest. Sage smiled weakly as she leaned against him; all she needed was his arms around her.

Not saying another word, he understood what she wanted and pulled her close to his chest, hugged her tight. He slowly guided them to the floor as he felt her legs start to give up on her. Not once did he let go as her body shook with tears.

She cried for the possible lost friendship between her and Sami, and for her mother- a woman taken way too soon by these god damn gangs.

Her mind continued to replay that fateful night; how her and her mother had stumbled upon some sort of gang meeting or whatever. Her and Zaray were young, young enough to apparently be "spared".

But Sage had heard her mother be gunned down. In their own house nonetheless.

"It's okay Flower. I'm here for you. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Matt asked softly. She hadn't realized until that moment, but he had been running his hand through the ends of her hair and up and down her back, careful of the cuts but never questioning them. He was trying to comfort her in ways he knew she loved most.

"I've failed Matty. I've failed my sister, my best friend, my mother, you. Everyone I've ever loved because I had to go out and play hero and then not only lie but-" she cut herself off, not wanting to lose another friend to her ramblings.

She cared for him more than she could ever say. And if he were to leave her too....

"I don't wanna push you away. If I ever lost you-" her words were cut off as tears choked her once more. Feeling a warm hand on her cheek, Matt pulled her face upwards. Gazing into his red tinted glasses, she reached up and slowly pulled them off, admiring his beautiful empty eyes.

"The day you lose me, Flower, is the day I die," he whispered, his thumb dragging across the highpoint of her cheek.

Her heart hammered in her chest as his hand traveled from her cheek to the back of her head, not pulling her, but just enough pressure to silently tell her that he wanted it too.

"If I were to ever lose you, I'd lose my heart, Matty," she whispered, tears slipping from her eyes at the thought of losing him.

"Sage Hockley, I am begging you to kiss me. Please," he growled, his tone demanding and pleading at the same time. Smiling softly, Sage crashed her lips into his, a soft moan rumbling through her throat as she had only ever dreamed about kissing him.

She had always thought that when they would kiss, fireworks would explode within her stomach and butterflies would flutter within her chest. But she was calm, she felt at home as their kiss quickly became hungry for more.

"I've wanted to kiss you from the moment I heard you first said my name," he mumbled, resting his forehead against hers. Sage couldn't help but smile as the two of them tried to catch their breath, his hand once again on her cheek and wiping away any stray tears she didn’t know she had shed.

"I want to tell you what I told Sami but-"

"No buts. We won't discuss it then, especially if it makes you upset. Don't you have a home library here?" he asked , trying to change the subject. Nodding, Sage smiled as she seperated their hold on each other and took his hand in hers.

Leading him to her room, his senses were filled with comfort; her room smelled like old books with a hint of her perfume, and he could hear a small fire crackling nearby, the comforting scent of her favorite candle also filling the room.

"I have a bean bag chair...here," Gently placing her hands on his shoulders, the backs of his ankles were met with a soft chair covered in blankets. Falling into it, he heard Sage walk a few steps away, her finger dragging across the spines of hard and paperback books before she picked the one she wanted most.

"Come here Flower," he beckoned, hearing how she was starting to sit on her bed instead of with him. Moving his legs apart, he waited with his arms open for her to sit.

"Are you-"

"I'm positive, Flower."

Smiling to herself, she turned around and was careful so as not to crush him. Settling herself in his lap, Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer; he wanted her as close to him as possible, no space between them at all.

Smiling, Sage opened the book and rebroke the spine of it, "Chapter One."

~~~~

Matt insisted on sleeping over, claiming he was too tired to go home, But she obliged and allowed him to sleep on her couch. She loved the idea of getting to tuck him in, and he let her.

Pushing the blanket in around his body, both of them let out a playful laugh as she picked his feet up and tucked the blanket in under him, wincing slightly from her cuts as the movement pulled at the one on her stomach and back.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss?" he asked, trying his best to hide his smile as he moved his head towards her as she made way to the head of the couch.

"You're pushing your luck here Matty. But I'll allow a kiss," she said, laying a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Goodnight Matty,"

"Goodnight Flower," he mumbled, listening as she slowly made her way back to her room. Hearing the sliding door close, he pushed out a breath he didn't know that he was holding.

He kissed her, he finally kissed her. All the hours and days that he held back, unsure if she really felt the same about him as he did her; always convincing himself that she was flirting with him just for the hell of it, something to pass her time.

But she never pulled away or showed any sign of wanting their moment to end, but he still wanted to make sure she wanted to kiss him, or if she felt the pull just as he did. The pull to be with her was strong from the moment he met her; she never danced around the fact that he was blind, and always treated him like a normal human being, something he admired most about her.

He really fell in love with her the day that him and Foggy were grabbing a drink at Josie's, and Foggy described Sage as best as he could. From her long black wavy hair that framed her slender face, to how she has two perfect dimples that show each time she smiles.

Rubbing his face with his hands, Matt groaned as he thought back to the way he practically begged her to kiss him, how desperate he had sounded, like he was a child pleading with his mother for one more cookie.

But she had read him half of her favorite book before he realized it was getting late, hearing the shift change of the police officers a few blocks down, he almost pleaded with her to stay the night, promising he would sleep on the couch and not bother her. And she let him.

He felt as if he was on cloud nine, having finally kissed the girl he had been pining after for years, but he knew that this was just the start of it.

"Mom?"

Bolting upright, Matt's heart seemed to be beating out of his chest as he listened closely to where ever that had come from.

"Mom please wake up." It was Sage, dreaming about her mother. His heart broke as he tried to keep quiet; Karen had looked into it when he had heard her talking to her sister a couple months back, he noted that she had mentioned that she missed their mother more than anything and she wished she could see how far the pair had come.

"Mom please," her voice was louder, more urgent and pleading. Wriggling out of his blanket cocoon, he quickly made way to her bedroom, his heart breaking more as he listened to the way she tossed and turned, the lingering scent of salt in the air telling him that she was crying as well.

"Hey hey Flower wake up," he rushed into her room, gently grabbing her shoulders and shaking her in an attempt to wake her. "Please, Flower."

He hated how she continued to thrash about in his arms, her fan doing little to cool her hot skin as it swept the room. He felt as if his heart couldn't break more as she yelled and screamed for her mother, her cries reminding him of his own when his father died.

"Matty?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm here Flower." he whispered, pulling her into a hug as sobs wracked her body for the second time that day. Climbing into her bed, Matt held her tight as she tried to tell him what had happened to her mother.

"Matty it was all my fault. I wanted to go on a walk before bed. Zaray kept protesting but I insisted because I wanted to see the stars. We took our normal route and stumbled upon some gang members doing i don't know what. We were nine Matty!" she screamed into his shirt, her tears having already created a wet spot on the dark gray material.

"Mom tried to hurry us home and next thing I know, I woke up to her begging and pleading with someone but dad had walked out before I was born so I knew it wasn't him. I hear a loud bang and then silence. I waited, I waited to see if those men would come after me or Z, but they didn't. They left through the front door. I run out and see mom...with a bullet right between the eyes and-" she stopped herself, clutching onto his shirt as he held her close.

He knew what she was going to say next, and it sounded exactly as how his father had died. Matt held her tight, rocking her back and forth so as to try and smooth her. Matt was quiet as Sage cried in his arms, her fan finally helping to cool her down.

"Track suits and red wine, movies for two. We'll take off our phones and turn off our shoes," he sang quietly, having had heard the song on many mornings coming from her apartment.

"We'll play Nintendo, tho I'll always lose. Cause you'll watch the Tv while I'm watching you."

"But Matty you're blind," she joked, a sad laugh leaving her lips. Matt smiled against her hair as he continued to rock back and forth, not once daring to lay down in case he fell asleep.

"We'll watch The Notebook for the seventeenth time, I'll say it's stupid and you'll catch me crying." He could hear the way her breathing had slowed significantly, now even and not as labored. Planting a soft kiss to the top of her head, he started to move as slow as possible so as not to wake her, although his efforts were of no success.

"Stay, please," she begged, her words slurring together, heavy with sleep and sadness. Standing still, he silently debated with himself if this was a good idea or not; she was grieving in a way, grieving over the loss of her mother and friendship with Sami, and whatever else was going through her head.

"Please." she whispered again. Caving in, he figured Hell's Kitchen could survive one night without the Devil. Crawling under the covers, he allowed her to get comfortable before wrapping his arms around her.

He felt at home, and sleep was quick to consume him, but not before he made sure Sage was asleep and free of nightmares.

~~~~

He could feel the early morning sun shine down onto his exposed skin, the chilly morning air contrasting harshly with the warm sunlight.

Stretching, he shivered slightly as the cool air raised goosebumps across his exposed skin. Settling back down into Sage's soft bed, he draped his arm across her waist, pulling her closer to him. Last night continued to play over and over in his mind, from the way they had kissed and he had never felt like he belonged to anyone more than he did in that moment. To the way they sat for hours on end as he listened to her read.

And then there was her nightmare, his heart broke ten times over as he thought about how she had cried into his shirt, clutching to it like it was her lifeline. And she blamed herself for her death; he almost let a tear slip as he thought about how her sister and her had to look after each other at such a young age.

"Morning Matty," Her sleepy voice broke him out of his thoughts. Smiling, he pulled her closer and kissed the back of her head, too scared to try and kiss her again for fear that she had only kissed him due to her emotions.

"Good morning Flower."

"Breakfast? I make a mean pancake." she offered, already wriggling out of his grasp. Humming, Sage rolled over and grasped his face in her hands.  Nothing was said between them as they took each other in, her fan chilling their exposed skin. He could feel her leaning in, her lips ghosting over his.

"I now have a new way to torture you, Matt." she whispered, her lips barely touching his with each word she uttered. Confused, she pulled away from him with a groan of her own. Her lack of body heat chilled him to the core as his head fell back down unto her pillow; she was going to be the death of him.

He lingered under her sheets, taking in her apartment which was a harsh contrast compared to his. He loved the way that her candle lingered throughout her room, the flame long since died out. He loved how her bed was so soft and plush, unlike his own that felt like a bed of rocks some days.

And he loved being able to hear her cooking breakfast in the room over, the heavenly scent of pancakes and her humming a song he did know filling her apartment. He wanted this to last more than anything in his life, he wanted her.

Finally tossing the covers off to the side, he climbed out of bed and padded into the other room, her apartment the exact layout that his was. Her pancakes smelled of vanilla with a hint of cinnamon, the scent making him smile wider than he already was.

"Do you like maple syrup?" she offered. Nodding, he smelled the surgery substance fill the air just as she set the plate in front of him.

"Matt, I want to tell you what I told Sami." she said, sitting in her own chair next to him. Her tone was even, emotionless. He could hear the way her heart started to pick up; she was anxious and was trying her best to stay calm.

Reaching over to place his hand on top of hers, he gave it a squeeze before smiling in her direction. "Whatever it is, Flower. I'll never leave your side. Promise."

"C-can we do the thing that you said last night? Y-you tell me a secret?"

"Of course."

Taking a deep breath, he could hear the wind as her leg bounced up and down, her heart racing faster than normal. "Do you uh...do you know the Gods of Hell's Kitchen? Uh..they are um..they're all over the news." she stuttered out.

Humming in acknowledgement, Sage took one more big breath as she mentally prepared herself of what she was about to say. "I'm the Goddess of Hell's Kitchen. I'm Athena."