END-GAME

Daisy had been sinking down her chair, not really speaking for a long while now. Her mind was filled with the scenarios running down, all of them sharing one thing in common: her getting in trouble.

Tony was in a similar position; tracing back all his actions, all the things he had denied and said yes to without a hesitation. He couldn't help but feel he was in the wrong here, on way too many levels to keep track of. Pepper had face-called him a few hours earlier, and he had talked to Morgan.

But not even her smiling face could manage to lift his spirits. If anything else, Tony felt even more torn by that. And it went far beyond Theo and Steve; Tony was a father now, a husband, a man with a family. His place wasn't in Belgrade, nor in Macao.

He'd been gone for over two months now. Away from home, away from his daughter and wife. Perhaps he'd slipped again; down the same old hole, prioritizing all the wrong things. The world versus his family. It wasn't an equal equation. And this was only one of the things that had been bugging him.

Wanda was in another room, looking over Pietro. She had specified that she held no interest in getting into that mess; not yet, at least. Pietro wasn't all that bad, but he had many broken ribs, even more bruises, and quite the pain to go along with them. So, he was to remain in bed, with Wanda by his side to make sure he wouldn't get up.

But Pietro had heard what had happened; and he was pissed.

Natasha hadn't talked to Steve yet. Although he was in the big living room – or something resembling one as much as possible, she hadn't made contact just yet. She'd been speaking with Bucky, for a long time now, in another room.

“I couldn't tell you”,he huffed out, trying to calm her down.

“Again with the lies”,she chuckled all so bitterly. “It's always the same with you, James... I guess some things never change”.

Bucky pulled his shoulders back. He took a deep breath, trying his hardest not to snap,all thing considered. He wasn't sure as to what to tell her to calm her down. Their relationship hadn't been the best, not for a good while now.

Still, he thought that after being blipped for five years, something inside her would have warmed up towards him. He hadn't thought to consider that while he was gone, she wasn't,and thus some things might have happened in the between.

Although he truly had hoped she could have let go of some things. But apparently, Natasha hadn't done so.

“This isn't fair”.

“And this is?”,she snapped, her tongue sharp. “You just never care to let me in.. Never did, never will”.

“This is about him, isn't it? It isn't even about Steve- Hell, Nat...”

Natasha raised her chin. Her jaw clenched, her teeth grunted. Now, she was angry. Mentioning Clint was one of the things where she draw the line on. She shook her head all so slightly, huffing out a bitter chuckle.

“Fuck you,Barnes”,said Natasha, and went out the door, leaving Bucky alone in that room,to tighten his fists even more as he watched her get out.

She went back to the room where everybody else was. And as soon as she walked in, all she saw was a room filled with dead people. People looking down, avoiding each other's glance, not speaking with one another.

People who were too angry, and too emotionally confused to say anything.

Peter had been sitting on the couch with his body crouched and bent, looking down. He didn't want to speak to anyone, and as a rare thing it was, he too had been letting his stubbornness and anger to get the best of him.

He just couldn't understand how Steve could possibly have the heart to do such a thing. To leave her just like that, seemingly not caring one bit about what would be left behind. He couldn't stomach it at all,especially after having seen Theo cry.

Surely, it wasn't mainly about Steve, but he too played quite the part on her outburst. Peter, being the man he was, couldn't understand such complicated things. If anything else, he thought things to be quite simple.

Marcus raised his glance, at last, to look at Steve. “Y' shouldn't have done this”,he said, breaking the heavy silence.

Steve merely raised his eyes to see him. He still didn't say anything. How could he- and what could he possibly say back to Marcus,he wondered.

Natasha snorted and walked across the room to sit by Peter, her arms crossed against her chest. Then, she stood up again. Steve was observing her as she went ahead and poured herself some vodka, picked from the top shelf a little over the couch. Then, she sat down again and sipped her drink.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping sound echoing throughout the room. Daisy got alerted and she immediately got her phone out,to check what had happened. Tony turned his head and knitted his eyebrows.

“Everything alright? Should we suit up- I'm really not in the mood, you know”.

“Uh...”,she pumped her cheeks, “..Yeah..no. No,there's no need”.

“What's wrong?”,Sam asked her.

Daisy put her phone back inside her pocket, and scratched the back of her head.

“I,uh.. I kinda forgot to tell ya,but.. Foggy Nelson called me yesterday in the middle of the night..”

“Who?”

Steve's body clenched entirely, his face stiff, although he couldn't hide his surprise. Nor his absolute displeasure.

“Matt Murdoch's partner..”,he murmured. “Why did he call you?”

“Uh.. To ask me about our whereabouts,and to uh..let me know that..”

As soon as she spoke, they heard some clicking sounds. The ones a cane would make upon hitting the floor,along with the tapping of someone's feet. All their heads turned around, as he walked inside right through the door.

“That he was about to come”,she said really quickly,pointing at him.

He wore a suit, as always, and his cyclical red glasses on.

Steve was the first one to get up, abruptly so. Matt could see his movements clear as the sky,and he expected as much. He smirked.

“What are you doing here?”,he asked, or to be more accurate, demanded to know.

“Your job, apparently”,he simple said. “Thought you'd taken a trip down memory lane. Nobody says it, but word goes out as you know”.

He sat down on the couch,placed his cane by him and leaned back. He could guess Steve's expression, and that smug smile on his face revealed as much. Natasha who was sitting on the same couch,crossed her legs and took a good look at him.

“Nat. Been a while”.

“What? You can tell me apart by my breathing patterns now?”,she snapped at him, and Matt arched an eyebrow.

“Actually, it's your perfume”,he said in a soft smile.

“Steve was still up, a few feet away from him, looking at Matt intensely. Peter scooched over, trying to be just a tad discreet while taking a good look at Matt. His eyes were wondering in between him and Steve, and although Matt couldn't see, his eyes looked as if they were taunting Steve quite a lot.

“She called you?”,Steve eventually asked, his tone austere.

“Yes..”,he sighed, his expression momentarily changing. “Turns out I was wrong to believe I had left her in good care”.

“Things are..-”

“I don't give a damned crap about what those things are. All I care about is what you've done , for her to be calling me in the middle of the night asking me to come to Belgrade as soon as possible”.

He interrupter Tony, not caring enough to turn his head towards him. He placed both hands on top of his crane,leaning forward. His face seemed calm, but his fury was quite apparent.

“This has nothing to do with you”,Steve said.

“Am I missin' something here?”,Peter whispered in Natasha's ear, and Naveen leaned in, sat on the couch's arm just to take a listen,since he was interested as well.

Natasha sighed, “..A lot”,she simply said.

“Is that so..”

“Yup. What you'd call an infield, I'm afraid. Still,nice to see you. Just send an email next time, 'll save you the trip- and the money”,Tony said.

“I was not speaking to you”.

Tony rolled his eyes and motioned his hand. He leaned back, choosing not to engage any longer. It wasn't as if he had the courage or the strength to do so anyway. Steve pulled his lips to a thin line.

“I think I'll see her now”.

“You wo-”

“Johnson?”

“Uh- Yeah?”

“Show me to her room, please”.

Steve took a deep breath. He turned his head and grunted his teeth, but in the end he didn't object again. Theo had called him, this was true since he was there. Despite how much Steve hated it, she had chosen to call him. To ask him to get there- to her.

Matt got up, and as Daisy did so, he reached for the exit of the room,waiting for her. She took a look back at them and shrugged, before taking the lead outside.

They walked in silence for a while, since Theo's room was very much away from the room they were in before.

“Think you'll actually do anything? Talk her into changing her mind?”,she then asked.

“No”.

Daisy stopped and pulled her face as she looked at him. “Huh? Then what-”

“Sometimes, Johnson, you only need some company. Words are overrated”.

“Rich- coming from a lawyer..”

Matt chuckled, and Daisy smiled all so slightly. After yet another turn, Daisy stopped. She looked at the closed door; Theo had had no visitors ever since she'd woke up, last night. She hadn't eaten, nor did she drink. She'd just stayed there, all by herself.

She slowly turned the handle, and chose very intentionally to close it immediately as soon as Matt walked in. Theo heard someone walking in, the cane's traces against the floor were enough.

She was crouched on the bed, facing Matt with her back, cuddling her knees under the sheets. She'd been crying all night long, through the aching of her new injuries. Theo felt his weight against the bed as he sat down, resting his hands on his cane as he was facing her.

She turned around and slowly raised her body. For a minute none of them talked; after all, it had been quite the good while since they last found themselves in the same room like that.

“You came”,she whispered.

“I did”,Matt smiled. “Will you let me see you first? It's been a long time after all”.

“It's been years.. I now have wrinkles..”

Her voice was coming out weak, but despite hating that, Matt made sure not to show her anything like that. He instead smiled a little and lowered his head. Then, he put his cane down, against the nightstand by the bed, and reached for her face.

“I really doubt that- but so do I”,he said and she couldn't help but smile all so slightly.

He touched her face, his hands very much gently. She flinched a little, since there were some fresh wounds on her cheekbones, and some grazes over her lower lip. Matt let himself take his time; he felt her scar down her eye. Her most recent wounds, the frames of her face.

He couldn't help but laugh a little. Surely enough, no wrinkle there other than the deep bags under her eyes, and her dimples. Her face – other than that, felt exactly like it did six years ago,when he last touched her.

He felt the warmth on her skin, over the dried up tears which soon enough came back to life. Theo trembled,trying hard not to be hear; Matt wiped her eyes a little, then pulled her closed. She leaned in, allowed herself to hide inside his arms.

“Do you think I'm cursed, Matt?”

Matt kissed the top of her head softly. “How could a creature like you be cursed,Theodora?”

She pulled her lips, as to say something to that, but in the end she couldn't. Matt was brushing her hair back, and much to his surprise he reached the same conclusion Steve had before him; Theo's hair weren't braided.

“I shouldn't have called you..”,she mumbled to herself mostly. Matt pulled away, as if for her to see him.

“Why? Too many feelings?”

Theo gulped down, her lips parted. She slowly pulled away further, but she was still close enough for Matt's hands to fall inside hers.

“You know the answer to that”.

“No.. as a matter of fact, I do not”.

Theo tilted her head to the side, her eyes wondering downwards for a moment. Her mouth seemed full, her face entirely stiff. Matt needn't a set of working eyes to get that.

“I loved you Matt”,she whispered all so quietly.

“I loved you,too”.

“Then why-”,she raised her voice, “Why the hell did you do that?”

Her eyes were watery again, but the harshness of her face indicated the feelings she was having were too mixed together. Perhaps it was a misguided anger,originated from all which had happened lately. Perhaps it was a plead to finally get closure- to figure out what exactly she had done wrong.

There was a pattern, shown in every relationship she had had before. And it was her, getting hurt beyond consolation, and eventually leaving. Eventually learning to let go, in a manner which meant only to fake it till she would make it. And she feared she might still be faking a number of things.

Matt raised his eyebrows a little. He seemed frustrated; perhaps to be having the same old conversation, or because it suddenly seemed as if she was evading the real problem : the reason she had called him in the first place.

“You never trusted me Theo,let's not fuck around here”,he said. “Maya was never the issue. I never cheated,you know that much”.

“Yes.. you didn't need to fuck her”,she said all so bitterly. “I could see it”.

Matt's lips parted for a second, his eyebrows knitted together.

“As I said.. who's the blind one here, Theodora?”,he said quietly. “Maya and I.. it never happened, even after you left. God knows I tried. Just for the sake of moving on, I did try.. Don't act as if you were the only one who got hurt there, Theo”.

Theo huffed out a bitter chuckle, “So.. it was just me being the paranoid girlfriend then. Good to know Matt”.

“No..”,he said all so quietly. “It was me making you feel unsafe. This wasn't all on you”.

She merely looked at him. Some part of her wanted to kiss him. To travel back in time, or to pick up where they were left, and go on from there. To hug him, to feel something completely in contrast as to what she was feeling right now.

Matt would be an awful liar if he was to say he didn't share that thought. But, to talk about such things now would be awfully selfish of him,all things considered, and he knew as much.

“What happened, Theo?”,he asked in a low,husky voice. “What did he do to you exactly?”

But Theo couldn't say anything. Suddenly, all the words seemed to mix together, all in one messed up word, too big for her to say in one breath. So, her eyes teared up and her nose wrinkled and her jaw got clenched.

Matt didn't ask again. He pulled her closer again, in a tight,warm hug. He brushed her back gently and kissed the top of her head softly.

As much as Theo hated being treated so delicately- she also liked it. She had been too strong for too long, and at the end of the day,she too was human. She too wanted and deserved some affection. She too wished to feel some love, not bound by musts and have tos.