Purgatory

The press-conference was in the end a whole week later, and it was more stressful than Matt had anticipated. He was still hurting, his movements were slow and careful. Sometimes his senses wouldn't work properly and he'd go deaf on one ear for some time. It was never for very long, but he couldn't shake the feeling of terror that overwhelmed him every time it happened.

And now he was sitting here, in front of dozens of reporters, who were yelling questions at him and the Avengers, who were all sitting next to him. Until Bucky slowly rose to his feet and let his eyes run over the crowd, deliberately hesitating on the faces of the louder people before moving on. Within seconds, it was dead silent in the room.

“Thank you.”, the assassin quietly said.

Matt frowned slightly. Of course he was glad that the noise had died down, but he couldn't help but notice the confused stares of Steve and Natasha at Bucky's initiative. Apparently this wasn't a habit of his and the lawyer wasn't sure why the other man would be nice to him. Or maybe he just didn't like loud noises.

Tony cleared his throat. “I think we all know why we're here today”, he started. “A week ago a certain vigilante was found heavily injured after a building fell on him.” He paused shortly to give the crowd time to murmur a few appropriate exclamations. “A … friend of his brought my attention to this matter and I took him in.” Again he hesitated. “He has met the team and is currently living in this tower, under our protection.”

Immediately every single reporter started yelling questions again, although they were carefully avoiding looking at Bucky. Eventually Tony pointed at one woman in the front; the others went quiet.

“Why do you think he's good enough for the Avengers?”

Matt sucked in a sharp breath. She was right, he realized. All the others were kind people, people who hadn't been breaking the law every night, people who were good. And he wasn't. He was a lawyer who went out at night, dressed as the devil, only so he could beat up thugs. Sure, it was a more or less noble motive, but that didn't change the fact that he was no better than them.

To his surprise, Bucky spoke up in his favour, voice quiet but strong, carrying the words through the room: “There is no difference between the Avengers and Daredevil. We only have the greater weapons.” He shot the lawyer a thoughtful look. “Although I think that he doesn't need them.”

For a few moments the reporters remained in silence. Then the woman spoke up again: “But don't you think that he's a little useless? I mean he doesn't use guns; what is he gonna do if there's another Alien invasion? Throw rocks at them?”

“Have you ever questioned Captain America like this?”, Bucky retorted. At the confused looks he got, he continued: “He throws his shield at people. Of course now you will say that he has greater strength, but that's beside the point. The point is, that both these men have the power and the courage to do something about the threats their city and their loved ones face. They have the ability to stand up against people like Wilson Fisk or Hydra.” He hesitated before he continued: “And now Matt Murdock is one of us. He isn't a vigilante any more. He's an Avenger and a lawyer and he does what's right. Always. So take your offensive questions and put em where the sun don't shine.”

After the conference was over, Matt caught up to Bucky, who was already waiting in front of the elevator. “Thanks.”, the lawyer said with a shy smirk. “For speaking up for me.”

The soldier gave him a soft smile. “It's the truth. People don't get to talk shit about you like this, Avenger or not.”

“Still.”

“We're a team now.” His smile widened, as he continued: “You're my teammate and I'll look out for you.” He did not say, that he'd do that either way, since he found that Matt was incredibly good-looking and smart. There was something about him that fascinated the assassin, although he'd probably never admit it. Besides, he was already in a relationship with Steve and he didn't even know if it was acceptable nowadays for several people to be in the same relationship at once. He also didn't know whether Steve would agree with that idea.

The vigilante didn't say anything either. And although he couldn't exactly see the other man, he was more than sure that he was absolutely beautiful. At least he smelled nice and his voice was low and soft and he moved with the same smoothness as a panther, strong but elegant. Of course he knew that he'd never have a chance with him, considering he was romantically involved with a certain rather hot Captain. Still, he could dream about it. Or maybe both.

The elevator opened and the two men stepped inside. For a few moments they stood in silence, both lost in thought, though occasionally glancing at the other. Then suddenly there was a loud shrieking sound and a lot of things happened within very few seconds: the elevator came to a rocking halt, Matt's still weak knees gave in and he staggered to the side, where he was caught by Bucky; they lost their balance and both fell to the floor, the lawyer straddling the soldier, both hands on either side of his head, while Bucky was holding Matt by his bare hips, since his shirt had slid up when he'd fallen down.

For a few moments they stayed like that, both frozen in shock, Bucky's eyes were blown wide open as he stared at the younger man; the touch of his hands on the lawyer's hips was light, but the feeling of Matt's skin against his own was burning, letting his emotions run wild.

Eventually Matt realized the position he was in, and quickly climbed off the other man, burying his hands in his pockets, face burning with embarrassment. He noticed that the assassin's heartbeat had sped up, although he couldn't be sure why. Was he angry? Or maybe he'd just been taken by surprise. Matt didn't even dare to think that Bucky had felt aroused because of their rather intimate position.

Matt cleared his throat when Bucky got up and awkwardly ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry.”, he said and adjusted his dark glasses. “I um … I suppose I haven't regained all my strength yet.”

Bucky breathed out a light chuckle. “That doesn't surprise me. I wouldn't have, either, after only a week.”

“I'm sure you would have, with the serum and all.” He gave him a smile.

“How do you know I was injected with it too?” Bucky squinted suspiciously. Nobody else had found out about it, yet. Sure, there were speculations, but nobody had ever seemed to be this sure of themselves. “It was never released to the public.”

“Oh, uh, I just … I'm sorry, this sounds weird.” He sighed. “I can smell it. Steve smells different from other people; there's something … chemical about him. You have the same scent.”

“Oh. Well.” Bucky tried not to think about how sensitive Matt's senses really were – he failed pathetically and chased train of thought after train of thought. “It's not that creepy, really.”

The lawyer raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean … we're all a little weird. You're just … another weirdo in a group of weirdos, so that makes you normal again.” The other man shrugged with a faint smile.

“Thanks.” An amazing argument, really. Matt was a little overwhelmed by that logic. At least that meant that he wouldn't get horrified looks whenever he said things like 'your heart's beating so loud I could hear it from the ground floor'. Also this conversation had successfully taken the attention off the subject of awkwardly falling on top of each other with following sexual tension.

Now they were just stuck in the elevator.

In the end they had to wait for merely half an hour. Then Tony called and announced that he'd have the lift fixed shortly. Matt and Bucky avoided talking for that time, since they kept running out of things they could say, resulting in an awkward silence with even more awkward stares.

“Steve?”

The super-soldier looked up from his book and turned his head to the left, to find a rather nervous looking Bucky fidgeting with his blanket. They shared a bed and it had become a habit of them to catch up on modern literature, media and slang, which mostly resulted in them reading for three hours straight. “What's up?”

“You know Matt, right?”

“... yeah kinda, I mean he's been living in the tower for like two weeks.” Steve raised an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”

“Well … you know how we talked about open relationships? And you said it'd be fine to … try … things?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Because me and Matt were stuck in the elevator earlier and I think I may have a crush on him.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily, before hurriedly saying: “Of course I still love you Steve, I do! I just … I like him, too, you know.”

Steve tried to hide how surprised he was, way too close to being hurt, really, by smiling at his boyfriend. Even though he'd known and loved the other man his whole life, he was still scared of losing him to another man. “It's fine, Buck. I mean he really is good-looking.” That wasn't even a lie, Steve genuinely thought the lawyer was absolutely stunning. However, he wasn't ready to accept yet, that he might, perhaps, possibly, also have a teensy tiny bit of a crush. “And he seems nice, too.”

“Are you sure??”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “You two can go and … I don't know, get to know each other and stuff, if that's what you want. I'm fine with it. I'd just like to know about it.”

“Yeah, sure.” Bucky's whole face lit up and he smiled widely at Steve. “You're amazing!” He leaned over and gave the other man a kiss on the lips. “I love you.”

Steve smiled back, the feeling of fear in his chest almost gone, replaced by the warm emotion of love in his stomach.

“Hey, um Matt?” Bucky awkwardly walked over to the lawyer, who was currently sitting on the couch, reading something in a book written in Braille. “Do you mind if I join you?”

The other man gave him a bright smile. “Sure.”

For a few minuted they both remained in silence. The only thing that indicated that Matt wasn't reading, was that his fingers weren't moving.

“So, uh,” Bucky finally begun, hoping the lawyer wouldn't feel the heat radiating from his cheeks. “What are you reading?”

“It's a law-book.”

“... really?”

“I may be a vigilante, but I'm still a lawyer.” Matt grinned at the soldier. “It comes in quite handy sometimes.”

“It does?” Bucky smiled back at him, inching a little closer.

“Oh yes, for example I can make great puns when I'm punching somebody.”

“That sounds incredibly … hot.” He was faintly aware that his heart was currently participating in a race and seemed determined to jump out of his chest. He was also aware that Matt could probably hear it.

The lawyer smirked. “I figured you might be into that.”

“Did you plan this?”

“No. But I wanted to find out where we're at.” Now he frowned slightly. “Now I'm even more confused, though. Are you not with Steve?”

“I am.” Bucky cleared his throat. “I uh I talked with him, though. We're still together and I love him very much. It's just that … that I like you, too.”

“I mean I'm not sure what he looks like, but I understand why you two ended up together. I mean you're perfect for each other.” Matt grinned. “Is it like an open relationship then?”

“Um … yeah.” Bucky had not imagined to be this easy. He really hadn't, but he was more than glad that it was turning out this well. The only thing better than this would be if Steve was to join them.

“Hm. Good to know.” The lawyer put aside his book and now fully faced the other man. With a cheeky smile, he asked: “Bucky Barnes, would you like to get dinner with me some time?”

They got Take-Out from a Thai-place and watched 'Tangled' on Matt's floor.