The air of Hell's Kitchen was crisp and cold, the December air settling in as snowfall became frequent in New York. Matt didn’t like the snow, it messed up his senses, meaning he couldn’t go out as the devil tonight. Foggy enjoyed snow days for this singular reason, more time with Matt is all he ever wanted.
The law offices of Nelson Murdock and Page were currently snowed in, the ice making it too dangerous to travel to their respective apartments. So they ordered a sleep in at the office, making sure no one left until it was safe enough to. Matt decided to use the extra office time to catch up on some work he missed last week because he was recovering from an injury Karen has yet to be told about. Karen had gone away for a month and came back yesterday. She was greeted by the news that Matt and Foggy had gotten together that past week. She was too stunned and happy for them to question why they had gotten together. She also was just informed today that Matt missed work because of another Daredevil injury, she didn’t push because it was a common occurrence. It started to bug her though, she didn’t know why he was injured or how the two lawyers even became boyfriends. Karen didn’t like being kept in the dark, and soon the inevitable came to fruition, and she began the push for an answer.
“ How did you two even get together? You never told me” Foggy sat still for a bit, fiddling with the beer he was holding. Matt perked up in his office, obviously overhearing the question posed by Karen.
“Uh well, it's kinda a long story” Foggy’s answer was vague and didn’t please her.
“Don’t give me that, tell me, or I'll pry it out of you” Karen persisted.
“Ugh, fine I’ll tell you” Foggy turned towards Matt's office “ Matt I know you're eavesdropping, get in here” Matt arose from his desk and made his way over to where the pair were sitting.
“Why are you so interested in Karen?” Matt said as he sat down next to his boyfriend.
“Because you two are my best friends and I care about you, so it's only obvious I would want to know why you two started dating”
“Okay but I did warn you, it is a long story” Foggy said
“It's not that long babe… it's just-” matt paused “ dramatic”
“ fuck yeah its dramatic”
-
Matt was bleeding out, fast. His entire body ached and with each step the pain only grew faster. His side was burned to hell, the smell cursing his nose. Burnt flesh was definitely not a fun smell. The red hot flashes of pain coursing through the injury came fast and often, only leaving him a second of bliss before scorching hot pain shot through his entire body. His face was bruised and broken. His noise, although not broken, was gushing blood causing it to fill with the smell of copper, dulling his sense of direction. His head was throbbing, with his hearing going in and out, causing Matt to run into walls, trip on ledges, and cause extra collateral damage.
The worst of is with his stomach, he had been sceward straight through his abdomen, and fuck it hurt. The pole still sat within him, it was thin, sharp, and short, only poking out a bit on his back and stomach. The pole had missed his vital organs but that wasn’t going to stop it from killing him
“Im going to die” he thought, he had started losing hope he would make it to his apartment. In his condition, he’d be lucky to make it within 2 blocks. He didn’t even know where he was anymore. Matt stopped running and just sat on the roof of the building he was on, resting his back on the fire escape.
He began to think, which wasn’t a good thing when it came to him. His mind drifted to words not spoken and actions not taken. Matt had a lot of regrets, regrets that will never be resolved because he was dying. He began to drown out the world and tried to focus on pinpointing where he was. He listened to the voices in the building, the smells of the food the families were cooking, tuning in of the gossip of a couple of teenagers on the third floor. He listened and smelt his surroundings, trying to gauge any sort of familiarity. He was met with nothing.
Matt then listened to himself, assessing the damage. Broken ribs, 3rd degree burns, a pole resting on his colon, yep it's official, Matt had outdone himself. He wished he could say he at least stopped the guy, but dex was still out there. He was probably almost as injured as Matt, but he would live, and Matt would die.
He sighed. Giving up, he let in all the voices around him, becoming a kid again. Every hurt, he couldn’t move, his ears were clogged with sound, and he had given up.
“ What would Stick say if he could see me now?” Matt chuckled at the thought, his face then shifted into a frown. Tears welled up in his eyes, he would never see Foggy or Karen again. He would never hear one of their jokes, or listen to another one of their lectures. God, what he would do for a lecture from Foggy right now.
“Foggy”. Matt snapped back into reality, he listened closely once again at building he was on.
“ Damnit Matt, when will you learn to organize your work”
“Holy shit” he mumbled. Matt was on Foggy's building, and the realization hit him fast. He sprung up from his sitting position, and hopped onto the fire escape, Foggy was on the 5th floor so it didn’t take long. Matt slowly opened the window, trying his best not to startle Foggy. Foggy was positioned at the coffee table in the living room Matt opened the window to.
“Foggy” He said weakly. Foggy quickly turned his head, his face morphing into shock and fear when he saw Matt leaning on the window for support.
“ Holy shit, Matt, what the hell happened” Foggy ran to help the man through the window, grabbing onto his waist and hoisting him in. Foggy was not met with an answer, only a man in a devil suit looking up to him, Matt motioned towards his head.
“Helmet” is all he mustered. Foggy yanked the helmet off his head, revealing Matt's face in full. Matt was facing towards Foggy, with a pitiful look on his face. Blood covered his nose and lips, and his cheeks were flushed red, most likely from exhaustion. Foggy then met his unseeing eye, stained red with soft tears forming and begging to fall.
“Matty-” Foggy was cut off, Matt had moved his body with the remaining energy he had left, and kissed the other man. The kiss was sudden and desperate, with the love of years of pining put into it. It took Foggy a minute to process what just happened, before kissing back. Matt's left arm moved to the nape of Foggy's neck, gently pulling the man in closer, while his right hand rested on his side. Foggy reached Matt's hips, being weary of his injuries.
The two men pulled away from each other, silently standing facing the other. Foggy was breathless, the last thing he had expected to happen today was to be kissed by his best friend. Matt leaned in to try and join their lips once more.
“ Matt, wait, what the hell is going on? Why did you kiss me?” Foggy said, stopping Matt from closing the distance between them.
“I'm dying.” Matt's words pierced Foggy's gut, and caused his heart to sink. His heart began to race and his eyes wandered Matt's body, and was met by the pole impaling the man. Foggy's face contorted, blood was gushing out of Matt's body, far too much. Matt was right, he was dying.
“What-” Foggy began to speak but was interrupted by Matt.
“ And I love you, I didn’t want to die without telling you” Foggy began to panic, tears manifesting themselves in his eyes. He surveyed his options, trying desperately to think of something. He couldn’t treat Matt's wounds, all he had done before was force himself to learn how to stitch. Claire briefly popped up in his mind, he quickly shook the thought away, she wasn’t equipped to handle this in his or her apartment. The option was the hospital a block away.
When Foggy found out Matt was Daredevil, he wished he lived closer to a hospital, so if he needed to, he could take Matt there. When he bought his new apartment, he chose the one closest to a hospital, and that decision was finally paying off.
“Your not dying, not after years of pent up feelings were just validated” Foggy slid his right arm to Matt's back, before crouching down and using his left to reach the under of Matt's knees, effectively picking him up.
Matt began to panic, if he was brought to a hospital in full Daredevil gear and no mask, he would be endangering Foggy and Karen. If his enemies found out who he was, everyone he cared about would become a target to torture him.
“Foggy, no hospitals” Foggy had barely made one step before Matt's protest, he stopped briefly to scold him.
“Fuck no, a hospital is the place you need to be right now” Tears were staining Foggys face now, his eyes in a permanent state of furrow.
“My face, you'll '' Matt had to pause to gain the energy to finish his sentence “ be in danger, everyone will” Foggy stared at Matt's face, worry was written all over it. He hated how selfless he could be.
“Fine.” Foggy moved to where he had set down Matt's mask. He crouched down to grab it, making sure to keep Matt stable in his arms. “ Then put this on, and i’ll threaten to sue the doctors if they even think about taking your mask off”
“But-”
“You are not protesting me saving your life Matt” Foggy said sternly. He handed the helmet to Matt, and made a beeline to the door. He raced towards stairs, slamming open the door. Each step he took was quick and filled with panic, but he made sure to keep himself stable so he didn’t fall.
Once he made it to the first floor, he sprinted towards the nearest exit, ignoring the weird looks from the people collecting their mail. Once he made it out of the building, he didn’t bother waiting for a cab, his adrenaline was too high for him to even think about stopping. People in the streets stopped and stared at the scene. When people realized it was Daredevil Foggy was holding, they didn’t yell or complain, they instead moved out of the way.
Matt listened in to the whispers and chatter around him. He heard people pondering what happened to him and to his surprise, praying he would make it to the hospital and live. Matt’s eyebrows furrowed, and a smile crept onto his face. He never thought people would wish for his safety.
Foggy was stopped abruptly by a middle aged man.
“Dude what the hell, get out of my way”
“Your not going to make it to the hospital you're going to, there's construction” He then pointed to a car, presumably his. “ I can take you to Metro General. '' Foggy met the man's eyes, he thanked the man and got into the car.
“ Is he lying?” he whispered to Matt, low enough to where the Man couldn’t hear him. He had realized he just got into the car, forgetting that as Daredevil, there would be people who wanted to kill him and would use his weakness to do so. Matt nodded a no, causing Foggy to relax.
Matt rested along the back seats, laying his head on Foggy's lap. Foggy was holding his head and hand, trying to soothe him. Foggy turned away from looking at Matt's face, towards the Man.
“ Why are you helping us?” Foggy asked. The Man was silent for a second, as if reminiscing.
“ He saved my wife” he paused for a moment before continuing with his story “ She was walking home from work because her car broke down, and we only live a couple blocks away. I told her not to, because it wasn’t safe to be out alone at night, especially as a woman. She said it was fine and that she didn’t want to waste money on getting a cab, so I didn’t push further. She ended up getting jumped by this guy wanting to rape her, but before he could even try Daredevil hears her screams for help and beats the shit out of the guy.” Foggy stood stunned, he knew Matt saved people but to hear a stranger talk about him with such gratefulness in their voice.
“And another thing” he continued “ My wife called out to Daredevil that day, and ever since she told people that Daredevil watched out for women like her, for people like her in the Kitchen. I promised that day that I would help Daredevil in the same way he helped my wife”
“Mellisa” Matt said weakly “ I remember her, she-” Matt grabbed something out of his right pocket, and he held up a business card “ she gave me a card to the flower shop she owned and told me that if I ever needed any flowers, that I could get some for free” The Man glanced at the rearview mirror and smiled at the sight.
No words were spoken the rest of the ride, once they arrived Foggy thanked the Man and stepped out of the car. He grabbed Matt by his underarms, and awkwardly pulled him out and back up into his arms. Foggy went to close the door when Matt spoke up.
“ Tell her I say hi “ The Man paused and nodded while smiling ear to ear.
“ I will”
Foggy closed the door and ran straight to the hospital's entrance. He was met with shocked stares and murmurs forming in the waiting room. The receptionist stood shocked, trying to process the man holding New York's first vigilante in his hands.
“ Please someone help, he’s bleeding out fast” Foggy pleaded. The receptionist didn’t waste a second paging a doctor and getting a gurney. Two nurses ran towards Foggy, rolling a gurney with him. They asked Foggy some questions as they hoisted Matt onto it. They began to roll him towards the emergency room, with Foggy following in hot pursuit. One of the nurses, a woman with blonde hair and pale skin, reached for Matt's helmet to take it off. Before Foggy could protest, the other nurse spoke up.
“Don’t you even think about it?” She said, staring daggers into the womens eyes.
“But we need it off to identify him and check for head trauma” the blonde said in protest.
“ No, if his mask is taken off and his identity is revealed he would be putting his friends and family at risk, speaking of which” she turned towards Foggy “ I want you gone, I will make sure no one identifies you for your safety. I can tell you care about him, but if someone finds out who you are, whether or not you are friends with this man, you are being put in danger” Foggy wanted to protest, he didn’t care if he was put in danger, but then he thought about Karen. If anyone connected any dots, they would go for her too, so he nodded and moved to leave.
“ Please make sure he’s okay” He said before leaving, and as he did so he checked the ladies name tag. It read “ Montgomery”. He made sure to remember it so he could thank her later, and offer her free counseling, even though he wasn’t much of a pro bono guy.