ilomilo

Matt's POV:

Something soft is touching his face, gentle, a shape of a hand, shaking, … Scared.

All he can taste is blood, salt and tears.

His body shudders from the touch and the hand moves away from his body.

A gasp.

“You… Alive?”

His tongue is plastered with blood.

All he manages is, “Hnng... ”

“Oh. My God. Oh my God. I thought,... I thought..."

He doesn't finish the sentence, but Matt has an educated guess about what he *thought*

"It's okay, you can say it", Matt tries to say but nothing comes out of his mouth.

But the kid seems to know what Matt's thinking, and he tries to change the subject,... "HEY, hey, you saved me, you… ”

Matt mutters under his breath, “Nice observation” but even to his own ears, it comes out as gurgling noises at best.

But the kid somehow picks it up, and just a hint of a smile crosses his face, and he breathily says, “Hey, I ain't buying this whole dying act, if you still can joke like that,”

The kid sounds… Hopeful, almost.

Like he just found a ray of sunshine in the dark, or a blanket in a freezing winter. Huh, Matt thinks to himself, only if he knew he’s a talking with the devil,...

He probably would want to run away as far away from him as soon as he’s out of here.

Matt must have said it out loud, cause the kid says, “Hey, do l look that selfish to you? I won’t just leave you like that, even if you didn’t save me l would still…”

Suddenly the world vanishes away from him, a violent wave muffling his senses, and Matt can't hear the rest of what the kid had to say. 

I can't see, I can't see, I can't see.

Matt's world turns upside down, and he feels like he's underwater, after a few violent shakes he seems to find the shore, aka his consciousness.

Matt realizes he must have passed out cause he’s once again met with a fumbling hand all over his body, and he can feel little drops of salt water on his face.

“Hey, hey, please don’t die, I’m… I’m scared, l… I… ”

And the kid wasn’t lying. He really was scared.

And Matt being Matt, he had to do something about it. He couldn’t just die in front of the kid and traumatize him for his whole life. He had a degree on self guilt & and his dying act absolutely wasn’t going to be passing along the trauma.

Matt hastily moved his hand, every single neuron protested against the little movement. Gritting his teeth he fumbled on his lower back, surprised to see his lower half is still attached.

He grasped on his pant’s pocket, because he couldn’t feel his legs for the life of him. One more surprise was waiting for him.The burner phone was still intact, thanks God for small mercies.

He patted the phone on the boy’s hand, and the boy in return looks at him dumbfounded.

Biting down a sigh he croacked, “9…11. Call, Get t’ h’ll …outta ‘ere”

Matt could literally hear as the realization sinked in the kid's bones.The boy just said more strongly, “Not. Without. You”

Stupid kids.

Gathering every last bit of strength, he says, “l'm a dead man, kid, just… GO,”. He weakly pointed a finger towards the men still lying on the floor and said, "More... might. Come. Back" 

“No, We are going to get out of here, and we’ll get you to a hospital, and everything… Well, may be not everything, because everything will never be fine, but you are going to be, and… I won’t leave your side until I properly thank you, and… And… ”

The kid was practically rambling now, just goes to show how nervous and scared he was, but Matt had no choice. He turned around and showed his side to the kid, trying to make a point.

“Does… This? Do…l? Look… Fix’ …able to…you?”

His voice sounded so weak even to his own enhanced ears. When the kid didn’t respond for a while, he feared the kid might have not even heard him.

He was going to try to open his mouth once again, when the kid said, more strongly this time, “Like I said, we are going to the hospital, and I ain’t leaving until you are 'fixed’, so you better be.”

Wow, Great! One thing worse than stupid-kids are stupid-selfless-stubborn-kids.

The kid reminded him so much of the younger version of himself that it scared him. The kid said every word with such precision and stubbornness, he knew he couldn’t convince him like that,... 

"I...I can't. No hospital. They'll kill everyone just to get to me, "

The kid was practically shaking now, with rage or fear?  Matt couldn't tell. Probably both. The kid gritted out, "...Who?" 

"The man who did this..."

Again, "Who...?"

Matt was so exhausted. "Fisk"

The kid was crying, jerking his head, trying to keep the anger under control. There was something about the kid that told him this probably wasn't the first time he was losing someone, that the kid was experiencing a déjà vu, that meant he might have lost someone before,...and he was determined not to repeat the pas.

"Ok, then."

Wow, Matt wasn't expecting it to be that easy.

"... I'm staying with you"

"W't the hell, kid," Matt growled and he surprised himself with how loud he shouted, it's like every word ripped itself apart from him... " I AIN'T F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G JOKING. GET- THE- HELL..."

The kid was crying, jerking his head, trying to keep the anger under control. There was something about the kid that told him this probably wasn't the first time he was losing someone, that the kid was experiencing a déjà vu, that meant he might have lost someone before,...and he was determined not to repeat the past.

Survivors Guilt, Matt realized.

"Hey, kid, you okay?"

"NOOOO, no, no, no...."

A cracking sound, the burner phone smashed in two, but the kid didn't stop at that. Heavy footsteps followed as he punched the metal wall, the wall bending, the impact echoing through the hallway. 

Matt flinched at the aggressiveness, the amount of anger shocking him, he did not expect it from the kid.

The kid look taken aback too, looking at his hands, then cluntched his head so tight, the sound of his heartbeat making Matt dizzy. 

"What just happened...?" The kid finally said.

"You... Tell me."

What Matt actually wanted to say was ~ Long story short: You smashed the phone, aka the only thing that could get you out of here. So, it's pretty safe to say you... got a death wish, and there's no way I can change your mind, so what can I say? I guess... Lie down beside me. It shouldn't be too long until the men who did this to you, come back with more buffy dudes. Let's wait for a quick death together,... And, oh, did I miss something? Woo, yes! You got super strength or some shit like that...

But he didn't say that because 

1. He could barely get one word of his mouth, his tongue was so heavy, his breathing was so harsh
2. He didn't want his last impression to be an asshole
3. He was genuinely worried about the kid, and the sarcasm could only work so much.

Finally the kid himself said, "I... I am sorry. I didn't mean to... break that phone, or the wall... I... But how?"

"A...nythig you w'na sha..re? Now... is the tim-" Matt tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace.

"I don't even know what just happened... I...I..."

"Dead man's... pr'mise. I'm gon'a tak' ya se-crete w- me in my gra..ve"

The kid was thinking something deeply. Probably weighing whether he should tell Matt about his super strength or not--- 

But he ultimately said after a long time, ..."Hey, you might not have to go to the grave tonight, after all..."

What now? What was he talking about? He crashed the phone, which meant he couldn't call 911. Matt certainly couldn't move or go to a hospital. So what now?

Suppressing a sigh, Matt said, "F'r the last tim' no F-R-E-A-K-I-N-G hos-pitals, and even if l co-uld,... I most def-initely ca...n't move"

"Yeah, but I think I can." 

Matt froze as the boy gently picked him up, careful not to further deepen his injuries. 

"Hey, put me... down. This ... Is... Embarrassing. What do you think you are doing? A shame-less sh'w of strength or s'me-thing?"

The kid just smiled in return, really truly smiled, and he was so proud, like he felt useful for the first time in his life.

Matt kept protesting anyway, cause damn you, he wasn't any less stubborn in any way. "I get it, l ... get it, you made it pret-ty clear when you bended the... wall, now, ... Put me down."

Instead, The kid took a step with Matt in his arms, and when he didn't falter, his smile just grew bigger, and he proceeded for gate, carrying Matt effortlessly, and appearing just as surprised at his strength as Matt is.

And Matt had to admit as embarrassing as this was, the idea of not dying in a bunker, alone was nice.

When the first fresh air of the city hit him, he felt like he was breathing for the first time in years. His city, his city... He sucked in some greedy airs, ignoring the pain the mere inhalation caused him. He felt dizzy, so he stopped fighting and let his head fall down.

He said very very silently, "Okay, let's... Let's say for the sake of your wounded ego, l... Let you carry me to wher-e-ver you're going, but what's after t'hat? No- no hospitals"

The kid replied just as silently, like he's telling him a secret, "I think I can find a way for that too." 

And Matt had no fight left in him, so he let the boy win this round of stubbornness, (cause damn you, he has done enough for one night), and like a good loser, promptly passed out into blissful ignorance.