Recovery
Everything hurts.
Matt can hear the dull beeping of medical equipment around him. He reaches out, feeling to his left arm. His fingers brush over the rough surface of a cast, and Matt groans at the thought of being blind and visibly injured – he can already feel the sympathy radiating from random strangers in the street.
He swings his legs over the side of the bed. Reaching out, he feels like his right knee is swollen. He presses against it with his thumb, and a jolt of pain flashes through him. Shaking his head, Matt tentatively puts his feet against the floor. He’s barefoot, and the tiles underneath him feel cool.
He feels an IV in his arm, and he has to resist the urge to rip it out. Instead, he feels along to the pole and gently drags it forward on its wheels. It moves smoothly, and so Matt begins taking small steps forward. There’s an aching pain in his back, and remembers back to a flash of agony of getting shot.
Matt plods onwards, shuffling his feet in front of him. The IV pole get’s caught on something, and he roughly yanks it. There’s a door in front of him, and Matt reaches out to find the doorknob. It’s unlocked, and he easily escapes into the hallway.
“Mr Murdock, you should be resting,” JARVIS says from a speaker in the wall.
Matt wav s his hand in dismissal and continues his slow march. He holds onto his stomach slightly, reassured when he hears the gentle beating of his child’s heartbeat. He started hearing it s few weeks ago, and he finds it comforting to listen to. Frankly, he was worried that this physical onslaught might have harmed the baby, however it seems like Melvin’s suit did the trick, protecting the child from the trauma inflicted upon him.
A door opens up ahead, and Matt tilts his head towards the noise. The strong, steady heartbeat of Bruce Banner is unmistakable.
“Matt! You need to get back in bed,” Bruce insists, grabbing Matt’s arm to lead him back to his room. “I can’t believe you’re even up after all you’ve been through.”
“I’m a stubborn bastard, or so I’ve been told,” responds Matt with a grimace when another stab of pain shoots through his back.
“A stubborn bastard whose just had major surgery,” replies Bruce, forcing Matt back into bed. Matt doesn’t argue, especially since he knows the terror of getting on the bad side of Dr Banner, and also because he’s suddenly feeling incredibly drained. “Just go back to sleep for now. I’m going to call Clint and he’ll bring your partners over to see you when they can.”
Bruce pulls the blanket over Matt, who for the first time notices that they are his silk sheets from home. Inhaling deeply, he can still smell the scent of Foggy and Karen on them, and he lets himself relax. Bruce gives Matt a comforting squeeze on the shoulder before disappearing out of the door.
Matt rests his hands over his stomach, letting the sound of the beating heart within him bring comfort. He isn’t noticeably pregnant, and wouldn’t be for many months, but he is growing accustomed to the idea of his body changing over time. Yes, he fought hard to get his body the way he always wanted it, but he’s oddly at peace with the notion of changing his physical form to bring new life. He had never even considered having children before, but now it was thrust upon him, he couldn’t imagine giving up his child.
Over the next five minutes, Matt hears Bruce talking to some people on the phone. From the conversation, Matt assumes they’re doctors, as they’re discussing his recovery and whatnot. He hears a mention of the word ‘foetus’, however this doesn’t shock him as anyone who had physically examined him would see he was pregnant. It isn’t like he could have hidden it.
This brings him some sadness, especially because so many things have been taken away from him in the last few months. Telling other people about the baby was one thing that was his, untainted by others, however that choice has been relinquished. Bruce is discussing the pregnancy with a specialist, asking about recovery times and monitoring procedures, and so Matt instead starts trying to listen further into the Tower.
A conversation in the common room piques his interest, and he allows himself to become engrossed in it. From what he can hear, Steve and Tony are making breakfast in the kitchen, and they’re taking about Matt.
“I didn’t think he was a girl,” Steve says around a mouthful of Cheerios. Matt should be hurt by this statement, however the First Avenger is about a 100 years old, so it’s understandable that he might hold some prejudices.
“He’s not. I did some research,” Tony replies, bringing hope back into Matt’s heart. “He was born Madeline Murdock. He changed his name in college, completely reinvented himself, and has been stealth for nearly a decade.”
“Stealth?” Steve asks, still chewing.
“No one knows he wasn’t always Matt,” Tony replies. “Anyway, at the moment we just need to focus on getting Matt better before we think about the ramifications of this.”
“Would you still make him an Avenger?”
“We need to discuss with everyone else. Obviously, right now he’ll be unable to be recruited, so we’ll just leave the discussions until it’s necessary.”
Matt doesn’t know if he would join the Avengers. He’s used to working alone, however over the last month has become accustomed to having Clint and Natasha around. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to work in a group. It would certainly relieve some of the pressure he is under – Matt can’t imagine he’ll get time to be Daredevil every night when there’s a screaming baby at home, so maybe bring part of a team would mean someone else could take the responsibility of patrolling Hell’s Kitchen at night.
He obviously won’t be able to do that for the foreseeable future, and was actually contemplating asking Frank or Wade to take up his mantle when he became unable to patrol. However, with the support of the Avengers that may not be necessary.
Yeah, maybe he would be an Avenger. He can’t imagine people buying toys of him or kids wanting his autograph, though. He’s not a celebrity, and never would be, however he knows some Avengers also don’t get involved with all the PR stuff. Wanda, for example, is barely seen in interviews or press conferences. Tony, on the other hand, is the face of the Avengers and is constantly in the spotlight.
“JARVIS, can you tell Tony that I would consider a position in the Avengers?” Matt says to the room, feeling awfully silly at doing so.
“Of course, Mr Murdock.”
Matt smiles, letting himself fall into a dreamless sleep.