Chapter 1
Thwang
Matt’s ducking away, the gash on his stomach spewing blood.
He could hear at least three other heart beats-not of the men he’d knocked out-who where definitely focused on him.
His breathing was ragged, suit cut and singed in various places. This was not how he had imagined his day would go. This was supposed to be a simple human trafficking case, not some secret face for loyal Hydra followers to hide behind. Matt winces as a nearby explosion disorients his world.
“Daredevil?”
Shit- Matt rolls a few feet over, hiding behind a metal shaft of sorts.
He barely misses being caught, the woman’s heart is steady and slow, one of somebody used the chaos of New York.
“I’ve lost him, anybody got eyes?”, someone answers, but Matt’s too busy trying not to bleed to death to pay attention anymore.
He staggers up, knows the woman isn’t looking and that his grunts are covered by the ongoing commotion nearby. He makes a run to where he can guess a pier is, it won’t be the first time he uses the Hudson to get away. There’s something metallic and reeking of gunpowder that hits the ground, Matt guesses it’s far enough away that the oncoming explosion won’t bother him. He guesses wrong.
Suddenly he’s laying on the ground and his body is racked with pain. Every bone hurts and he thinks he may cough blood, Foggy’ll be livid.
“I see him!”, shit, it’s a man now, heart weird and erratic and nothing quite like Matt’s heard before-there’s a hum in it that Matt doesn’t care to look more into.
He’s springing up, legs wobbly and head turning to where two heartbeats approach him, the now fire behind him heats his back.
He has two choices, can either try to fight while this injured, or test if Melvins armor is as good as he says.
Matt wastes no time in turning around and making a dash for the wall of flames that must be there; He prays that the alloy and padding of his suit can handle it.
“Shit, Tony, this guy’s crazy”, is the last thing Matt can make out before his hearing gives way to the volatile flames that are now engulfing him.
-
“You ran into fire Matt, you could have been burned to a crisp!”
Matt’s laying on his now blood stained sofa, “I know, Foggy, but I wasn’t, Melvins suit kept me mostly intact”.
“Yeah, mostly, if you count third degree burns and a sliced gut intact!”, Foggy’s in hysterics now.
“Fogs, I’m alive, I did what I went to do, and avoided getting caught- what do you want me to say?”, Matt can hear the way Foggy sputters before letting out an overdramatized sigh.
“Fine, whatever, but I’m not letting you patrol for at least a week- no Matt don’t you dare argue”, the fight dies on Matt’s tongue, “one week, that’s all I ask, then you can go back to being stabbed and dodging Avengers”
And Matt-Matt’s too exhausted to say anything more. He’ll admit he needs the rest, and time to meditate will help him heal, both physically and mentally.
-
Look, it’s not like Matt had intended to break Foggy’s rule, but his city never slept and so he didn’t either. He’s dressed in his black suit, it’s less obvious and Matt can’t afford to be recognized at the moment. That, and his red suit badly needs to be repaired.
He’d heard a mugging going on just a block away, and he’s been itching to punch something since his impromptu bed rest. He can handle a mugging, has stopped at least a hundred by now.
The cool night air feels good on the burn decorating his jaw, it eases Matt and makes him more sure of himself.
And he’s right about the mugging, his head may still be fuzzy and his moves sloppy-the smell of rotting eggs is distracting too-but the crook doesn’t put up much of a fight when he realizes who he’s dealing with.
Matt’s been aware of the near silent heartbeat tracking him, he whispers for the victim to go to Brett Mahoney, and stands tall as they scamper away.
“Who’s there?”, Matt calls out, not in the mood to humor any theatrics.
The smell of old food, those eggs especially, were tearing into his healing senses.
“How’d you know?”, the man steps forward, there’s an odd-quiet-humming coming from where Matt’s assumes his head to be.
Matt stays silent, his stomach aches and his stitches threaten to rip.
“Okay, silent treatment, fine”, he’s stepping towards Matt now, a swoosh of air lets Matt know he’s probably holding his hand out, “I’m Clint”
“What are you doing in Hells Kitchen?”, he growls, voice threatening and coarse. It’s still dry from the smoke and ash he had inhaled.
There’s a spike in the man’s heart, but quickly it settles and Matt can tell he retracts his hand.
“Right, well, I was looking for you actually- speaking of you, how are you not dead? I mean, Widow saw you run into a blazing fire-“, Matt cuts him off, “Unless you’re looking for a fight, I’d recommend you get out of my city”.
There’s a pause, Matt was more aggressive than he meant to be, “Sure, right, I’m leaving”, heavy foot steps tell Matt it’s true.
Once he’s sure the man-Clint- is gone, heartbeat far off and away, Matt lets himself relax. Those rancid eggs had given him a migraine, and he’s sure now that a stitch had torn. Foggy was gonna be pissed.
If Matt had extended his senses just a little, he’d have heard Clint rambling about ‘brooding’ and ‘probably a spy too’.
-
It’s been nearly two weeks, and Matt has Foggy’s permission to resume his nightly stalking. His red red suit is repaired and back in action, Melvin said he’d added a flame retardant lining.
His listening is extended to the borders of his kitchen, it’s mostly silent, a few dogs barking and some teenagers messing around.
An hour passes and Matt stands to take off, some men are attempting to have a kid buy drugs, when he hears an all too loud heart. It’s only yards away now, Matt knows they’re coming to him, he’ll deal with this nuisance first.
“What do you want?”, it’s nearly a bark, Matt’s patience is running thin.
“Daredevil”, greets the now familiar voice of Captain America. Matt would be excited if it weren’t for the fact that the hero’s heart is steadily speeding up and his muscles are tensing.
“Captain, what are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same, I heard you’d caught on fire?”
“Nothing I can’t handle, if you’re not here to fight, I’d like to ask you to leave my Kitchen”, there’s an edge to Matt’s voice, it’s a demand and Captain America knows it.
He seems to have frozen, if for only a moment, before his hand is twitching and Matt’s all too aware of the shield he holds. He moves out of the way before the Captain even tosses it at Matt, the metal lands flatly on the concrete roof.
Matt’s on him in an instant, he’s pissed off and not in the mood to be getting mystery-gravity defying metal thrown at him. He’s shoving Captain America, using his own mass against him, Matt’s 90% there’s an open dumpster below. The super soldier fall into it with a shout, and Matt’s off again, he has better ways to use his time and they certainly don’t include humoring Avengers.
-
Matt misses the days he didn’t have to worry about aliens or wannabe Gods or Hydra mutants in his city.
“To your left Steve!”, he faintly hears, it’s staticky and muffled, but Matt’s sure that was Black Widow.
There’s a loud metallic ring and Matt can smell the blood of the creatures they’re fighting. It’s sweet and thick and stuffs his nose in all the worst ways. Fifty odd-too fast and irregular-heart beats let him know he’s in for a beating, but he’ll be damned if he lets the Avengers protect his burrow. He can’t exactly make sense of what he’s punching, but they’re big and monstrous and Matt wants them out of his borough. The creatures flesh gives away under Matt’s fist, and he’s ducking another without even turning around. He kicks at its center, boot landing square in its soft chest, Matt’s noticed the aliens weak spots easily.
“He wasn’t even looking Nat”
He somersaults to the right, avoiding getting his head stomped in; Just barely, his knee is stomped on and he yowls in pain. His hands are reaching for twin clubs, and he uses them to propel himself upwards and onto the hissing monster. He beats its head in without pause and doesn’t stop till the thick blood is drenching his batons. By the way the commotion is dying down and how many bodies he can hear drop, the fighting is nearly done.
He’d estimated correctly, and having taken down ten himself, there can’t have been many left. His body is sweat soaked, legs quivering in over-exhaustion and his knuckles are split.
The obnoxious wiring of hydraulics and gears snaps him to attention, the heavy mass lands just a few feet away from him.
“Great job there, horn-head, you did swell at pummeling those Hydra monsters”, there’s only one person that cocky voice can belong to, and Matt’s not too fond of him.
“Stark”, it’s a growl really.
“Whoa there, boy, simmer down, I’m not here to fight”, there’s a loud hiss and suddenly Matt can smell sweat that isn’t his own and Starks voice is coming out clearer, “that was pretty impressive, for a vigilante at least, care to join us back at the tower? Bruce’ll look you over for injuries”
“I’m fine”, and it’s a half truth, while nothing is broken, his knee is shattered and he feels on the verge collapsing.
“You sure? We’re on 8th Avenue, the towers just 2 miles out”
8th Avenue, it’s the border of Matt’s kitchen and he refuses to step an inch out of it. He declines again, and before Stark can protest he runs. The pain in his knee nearly has him dry sobbing, but Matt can take it.
“As predicted, he won’t step foot out of Hell’s Kitchen”, Matt ignores that in favor of slipping through alleys and shadows to his apartment.
-
The next run in isn’t for months, most of the streets have been repaired and Matt’s just starting to feel secure again.
It’s nearing 5 a.m., if Matt has any hope of sleeping before work he needs to head in now.
The presence of a unwanted heart beat stops him in his tracks. He can hear that quiet humming, hones in on the archer and his breathing, the way his lips mutter whispers, the way his boots are growing closer and closer.
Matt smirk to himself, he won’t make catching himself this easy; He’s off, red boots pounding as he jumps from roof top to roof top.
“Shit, he’s moving, again”, there’s a clear annoyance there.
Matt’s slipping into an unlocked deli, he knows this city like Foggy’s heart beat. On the other side of the store, Matt stands against a wall and holds his breathe, waiting for the archer to realize he’s vanished.
“I lost him, again, this is getting ridiculous guys”
A murmur, “He can’t have just vanished,how’dhe give you the slip?”
Matt snorts, these hero types always underestimate him. He’s still a good few buildings away, and if the stories are true, Clint won’t hear him if he runs now. He decides against it, wanting to listen in on what the Avengers think of him.
“So, what, he can teleport too? The freaky predicting and super healing wasn’t enough?”
“He’s just a man, there’s no way we wouldn’t know if he wasn’t”
“Nat, no offense, but we have a God on our team, you think that Daredevil being some mystic being isn’t possible?”
Matt nearly gives himself away with the laugh he holds in. The Avengers thinks he’s superpowered and actively gossip about it, and for some reason that’s the funniest thing Matts ever heard. There’s no way Foggy will believe him, it’s too good to be true.
But, if they’re going to hunt Matt down and declare him a person of interest, he’s going to have fun with it. The grin on his face doesn’t leave the entire way to his apartment, ideas are being formed with every step Matt takes.
-
“C’mon Foggy, you can’t seriously expect I want to go to that obnoxious building”, Matt grumbles, sipping on his beer as his friend checks the now scarred stomach wound.
“I’m just saying Matty, could be good to have some back up- not that Danny, Jessica, and Luke aren’t great- but some real fire power wouldn’t hurt”, with a sigh Foggy’s tossing Matt’s shirt back to him and reaching for his own drink.
“Absolutely not, I fight for my city Foggy, all the Avengers are good for is property damage and insurance companies complaining”
Foggy let’s out a huff of laughter and the two continue to chatter about work and cases and how little sleep both get. Not long after Karen joint the duo in Matt’s apartment, and she nearly cries when Matt finally confesses to her what’s been happening. She scolds him for taunting Avengers, and then joins in with making jabs at the Avengers coarse methods of “heroism”.