Peter meets Daredevil
'Thoughts' "Speech"
Peter’s P.O.V.
“Ned stop worrying, I’ll be fine”
“But Peter, are you sure about this? I mean I know you can take care of yourself but….”
“Come on, what’s there to worry about? It’s simple. Look I go into the warehouse, find the weapons these guys brought from the Vulture, kick some bad guys ass, call the police and ta-da I'm done. Absolutely nothing for you to worry about.”
“Except for the fact that we don’t know what these weapons do and not to mention that you’re in Hell’s Kitchen!”
This was true, Peter was currently web swinging his way through the nightime streets of Hell’s Kitchen. He was heading for the docks where a gang was apparently hiding out with some of the Vultures weapons. You see, a month ago Peter took down his first real bad guy The Vulture. The guy’s name was Adrian Toomes, he had been selling alien weaponry and flying around in a mechanised flying birdsuit (hence the name ‘Vulture’). Long story short, Peter caught the bad guy and saved Mr Stark’s tech from being stolen so all in all, y’know minus the ferry incident, crashing a plane onto Coney Island and having a building drop on top of him, Peter did a great job.
So now that Toomes was behind bars Peter and Ned had been searching for any of the tech Toomes had sold to people. Well more like Ned and him had been following rumours while Spider-man had been scouring the city. Two days ago Ned had heard about a gang in Hell’s Kitchen that uses weird weaponry so Peter thought Spider-man should take a look.
“I still don’t see the problem Ned. I mean I know this place has one of the highest crime records in New York but I do have superpowers and it’s not like it’s that bad.” Ok it was that bad, murder had definitely gone up since a guy called the Punisher showed up, but Peter had a responsibility to clear the streets of these weapons before someone got hurt.
“You’re kidding right? Look why don’t you just call Happy or better yet Tony Stark y’know Iron Man.”
“I’m almost there, plus it’s not like I haven’t tried to contact them but neither of them have replied to any of my calls since the whole ‘turning down being an Avenger’ thing, we can handle this on our own.” Peter didn't know if they were too busy or that maybe Mr Stark was mad at him because he didn’t join the Avengers. Maybe he just…. wasn't interested.
“But you’re in Daredevils territory! Dude what are you going to do if you run into him? What if he’s mad at you? What if he attacks you?”
Peter hadn’t run into The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen all night and he wasn’t planning to, the guy was terrifying. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen was the reason Spider-man had never entered this part of New York before, Peter did not want to meet the man criminals thought was Satan. He and Ned had been following the news about Daredevil since his first appeared in Hell’s Kitchen and most of the criminals he had taken down were left unconscious with broken bones. One guy even ended up in a coma. On the bright side he did take down Fisk.
“Look I'm here now I’ll see you tomorrow, remember Decathlon practise it’s not long till the next competition. Not to mention the fact MJ will murder us if we miss.” Saying this MJ will kill him anyway when he falls asleep during practise, it was currently midnight and Peter still had to get home after he had finished up here. He would just have to down several cups of coffee on his way to school and prayed it kept him awake.
“Ok fine, if you won’t listen to reason then at least get me Daredevils autograph when he beats you up.”
“Jeeez thanks for the support.” At that I hung up and stared my search around the docks for any signs of gangs or alien tech.
1 hour later
‘Shit shit shit shit shit’, was the mantra running through Peter’s mind as he dodged the blows headed his way.
Okay so recap. Peter had been searching the docks for a while now with no sign of any gang or weaponry, he was about to call it quits for the night when he finally spotted a light on inside one of the older abandoned warehouses. “What is it with criminals and warehouses?” Peter murmured to himself. While approaching the building Peter could see two men with guns standing outside the door to the building. ‘Well this looks promising.’ Was the last thought Peter had before leaping from the building he had been crouching on to the roof of the warehouse.
The windows where caked in dirt so Peter couldn't make out anything inside. Quietly he made his way around the rooftop in search of an alternate way into the building to inspect the inside. Focusing all of his attention on being silent and avoiding knocking anything over, Peter didn't notice the dark figure on the opposite rooftop silently tracking Peter’s movements and listening to the activities of the occupants inside the warehouse.
Peter came across a boarded window on the side of the old warehouse, after making sure his feet were secure to the wall Peter quietly pried the rotting wood away from the wall. Once he had removes several boards, Peter managed to squeeze through the gap he’d made. As the Peter’s small figure had disappeared through the gap, the mysterious dark figure had shifted their position to the edge of the opposite rooftop. After a quick moment the broad figure leapt from their position and rolled as they landed on the rooftop of the warehouse Peter himself had previously been only moments ago.
As Peter entered he kept to the shadows while crawling across the walls and ceiling, hopefully he would stay undetected by the occupants who were quietly chatting on the ground.
After scanning the room Peter crawled onto wooden support beam, not noticing the old rotted wood or the creaking of the bean as protest under Peter’s weight.
A singular light illuminated the room the men were occupying in a small closed of section of the warehouse. There was a metal table stood up in the centre of the room, it had several duffel bags on the top. Taking a closer look Peter could see it was one of the bags was filled with stacks of money. There was seven men in the room (counting the guards, that made nine bad guys in total) all chatting quietly or standing around listening in, even with his enhanced hearing Peter could only pick up bits and pieces. ‘Nothing useful’ Peter hadn’t quite got the hang of his enhanced senses yet infact he had been suffering from sensory overloads for a while now, it had gotten better since he first got his powers but were still painful.
Peter could see some sort of weapon on each, several men had knife handles sticking out of their trouser or jacket pockets, others had gun holsters attached to their belts slightly hidden by the men’s jackets. One of guys who looked like a pro wrestler that had his face squashed by a shovel had a crowbar across his shoulder with his arms hanging on either end.
But no sign of any alien tech.
‘Well this was a bust’, the rumour about the weapons was either fake or it meant Spider-man would be making another appearance in Hell’s Kitchen. ‘Great, even more reason for Daredevil to be mad’, Peter knew Daredevil was very protective of his city and was unsure what he would think of Spider-man making more appearances in the Kitchen.
As Peter continued observing two of the men moved to the table and opened several of the duffle bags. Focusing on the contents of the newly opened bags Peter could see that they were filled with small packets of white powder.
Oh.
Well it did explain why these guys were in the abandoned warehouse at this time of night.
Peter’s had uncovered a group of drug dealers. ‘Right, no problem’, Peter rolled his shoulders and checked his web-shooters, ’I can handle this no problem’. Peter’s original plan would still work with the added bonus of no laser beams to avoid. Peter braced himself on the beam getting prepared to make his entrance with a witty remark or a joke about bad guys using warehouses as their secret hideouts.
This is where things went downhill.
The old wooden bean gave one very loud creak before it finally gave out under the teenager’s movements. The beam broke away from the wall as Peter went tumbling to the ground.
The sudden movement made Peter yelp as he flailed his arms around. Before Peter could shoot out a web-line to save himself his back connected with the metal table on the ground.
The metal table dented and collapsed under the sudden force and weight of the teenage spider, the duffle bags gave little to cushion Peter’s landing as he lay sprawled on his back surrounded by packets of drugs, stacks of cash and seven very surprised drug dealers.
“Ow, owwowow……..okay, that hurt”. Peter let out a loud groan as he rose from his position on the ground. His head throbbed from connecting with the metal and as he moved his left shoulder Peter let out a small cry of, “Shit”, Peter grabbed his dislocated shoulder as he finished rising of the now cluttered ground.
As he took a look around at the aftermath of his graceful entrance, Peter saw that the beam he had been crouched on just moments ago was now laid across the floor of the room along with the now crushed metal table, bags of the white powder drugs and money stacks. As the disturbed dust finally Peter realised all nine occupants of the room (‘huh’, the guards must heard the noise) were staring at him. Getting over their surprise at the sudden interruption, none looked too happy to have their dealings discovered by a blue and red clad teenage hero.
“Oh….umm……heh….hi there guys…I was just..just having a look round, y’know, looking for your typical everyday alien weapons when I ummm…..fell and kinda just landed here and broke your table….”. ‘Smooth Parker like a bunch of criminals were going to believe that’.
Before Peter could formulate a plan or a new response Peter’s whole body tensed as his spidey-sense set off alarm bells in his head, ignoring he ach in his head and throbbing shoulder Peter dodged to the right to avoid the bullet aimed for his head.
Peter was not panicking, he totally had this – no problem.
After the first shot fired and Peter had webbed the barrel shut, all nine occupants jumped into action to attack the intruder. No one else tried to shoot him but it still left him dodging and flipping to avoid fists, knifes and the occasional swing of a crowbar. Thanks to his spidey-sense, Peter managed to avoid most of the continuous assault headed in his direction. He could only dodge so many hits with his head spinning and loss of his left arm (the flipping around had only made the pain worse). Peter couldn't web away using his right arm as he was too busy defending himself, while punching and kicking at the bad guys and the ceiling was too high up to reach.
As Peter tripped over the forgotten beam a loud smash echoed around the warehouse as a figure leapt through one of the windows shattering the discoloured glass and landing on a ledge that circled the warehouse. As the dark figure rose all Peter could make out was the newcomer’s dark silhouette, they were fairly tall and well-muscled and….was that horns sticking out of the figures head?
“Fuck!”, was the response of one guy as he clutched his bleeding nose where Peter had gotten a hit in. Each of the dealers were now sweating with a look of panic on their faces, “It’s the Devil!”, “He must be working with the bug” hey Peter took offence to that, he was an arachnid not a bug. Peter rewound a moment there, ‘Did the guy say Devil?’, the realisation passed through his head, ‘those were horns sticking out of his head’, the dark figure, ‘Daredevil’ his mind quietly supplied, threw a pipe? Stick? At the single overhanging light in the warehouse. With a loud ‘pop’, the white light burst plunging the room into darkness.
Peter could hear several shrieks around the room and ‘sniff’, was that pee? As Peter looked up from his position on the floor to where the shadow of the figure once was, all Peter could see were two shining eyes of Daredevils mask, they almost seemed to glow red in the dark. The eyes shifted and then, a loud ‘thud’ echoed the room as the figure jumped down, the dealers had once again been shaken out of their frozen state only to start shouting out for someone to turn on a light.
Peter at that point decided to remain on the ground clutching his injured arm, he couldn't see anything and all he could hear was everyone moving around. Cries of pain, the sound of fists connecting with flesh and bones cracking made Peter try to focus on where the fighting was going on as a single thought went through his head, ‘How could Daredevil see anything in the pitch black of the warehouse?’.
As unconscious body’s started to hit the floor Peter decided he wasn't needed and would be better of getting to higher ground and leaving Hell’s Kitchen as fast as possible. As Peter rose, debating what to do with his dislocated shoulder before he reached home, his spidey-sense gave a warning a second too late as a crowbar connected with the back of Peter’s head sending him crashing once again to the ground.
The previous pain that had been at the back of Peter’s head come back tenfold, the feeling made Peter want to both throw up and close his eyes. A loud groan left Peter’s mouth, somehow making the pain worse, as a harsh dizzy spell swept through his head. Peter slowly and gently brought a hand up to the source of the pain in his head until he came across a split in the back of his mask, feeling around Peter let out a soft hiss as he found a small gash that was oozing blood (at least, Peter guessed the damp feeling was blood).
‘That’s bad, that’s very bad’.
Peter still couldn't see anything in the pitch black but guessed that if he could it would all be blurred. Peter knew better then to close his eyes with a head injury, especially one this bad. Peter didn't know what to do, he definitely couldn't climb now let alone swing home.
At that point Peter heard one last pained grunt as a body hit the floor, ‘Huh, guess the fights over’, he had stopped paying attention to the fight as the ringing in his ears was being very distracting. Peter noticed his breathing becoming laboured as he could hear heavy footsteps approaching his position on the floor. As the footsteps stopped right in front of him, Peter held his breath as the figure crouched down beside him.
Still being unable to see anything, Peter flinched as a gloved hand was pressed against his neck, the figure stilled a moment before moving the hand to the wound on the back of Peter’s head causing Peter to whimper in pain. A moment….. then “Shit” Huh that’s not what Peter was expecting although he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to expect from a man that most criminals thought was the literal Devil.
Daredevil removed his hand before shifting his body as one arm came under Peter legs while the over snaked under his back. In one careful movement Peter was lifted and pulled into a broad chest. Peter was too exhausted to struggle against it, besides his spidey-sense had gone quiet. Although the movement was gentle it still made Peter’s head spin and cause a small groan to leave his lips, at this point Peter had all but forgotten his dislocated shoulder.
Daredevil started to make his way out of the warehouse with Peter cradled in his arms, at least that’s what Peter assumed considering they were still submerged in darkness.
The swaying motion was causing Peter to give in to the sleepy feeling that had overcome his body despite his minds protesting, Peter pressed his face against Daredevils shoulder. Dimly Peter thought he could hear Daredevil speaking to him, “Stay with me kid, don’t close your eyes, you have a head injury. KID……”, was it Peter’s fuzzy mind or did the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen sound worried? It didn’t make a difference as Peter finally succumbed to the gentle lull of sleep.
As they finally excited the warehouse the last thing Peter saw was Daredevils mask and his mouth that was still moving, trying to communicate with the now unconscious teen.
Matt P.O.V.
Matt had spent two days trying to track and locate a group of drug dealers who had been trying to sell to kids outside a local school.
There were always a number of dealers and drug rings in his city. The Devil of Hell’s kitchen had taken out a fair few over the years since his first appearance as the man in the black mask but there was always someone else to take their place.
This particular group had gained special attention from the Devil.
Two days ago
That morning at the office of Nelson and Murdock, Karen came in very distressed after hearing about an incident on the news this morning.
Matt’s first thought was that Karen was upset over something that had happened during Daredevils nightime activities and was preparing to lecture him about being more careful. Matt had no doubt Foggy would join in during said lecture to scold him, probably pointing out the fact Claire was out of town visiting her sick mother, so there was nobody to patch Matt up if he was seriously injured.
In the three days Claire had been gone Matt had managed to avoid any serious injuries. With the promise to Claire that Matt would be careful while the nurse was away, Matt kept to the smaller crimes and criminals of Hell’s Kitchen, walking (occasionally limping) away from fights with only bruises and cuts, nothing Matt couldn’t handle himself but it was only a matter of time before the blind lawyer got in over his head.
Ever since finding out about Daredevil, Karen and Foggy had teamed up against Matt and become a formidable team of mother hens, both now kept track of what Matt got upto at night through the news and inspecting any injuries each morning Matt arrived at the office. Luckily for him, Matt was only suffered from bruising after last night’s escapades.
Despite the slight irritation the mothering caused Matt, he squashed the feeling down. Foggy and Karen had finally accepted and supported Matt’s work as a nightime vigilante, if the mother hening helped ease his friends worry’s Matt would go along with it without complaint. Well, apart from the occasional sarcastic remark and winding Foggy up.
As Karen entered Matt’s office where he and Foggy were discussing a new case about a slumlord unlawfully evicting tenants form their apartments, she brought in her laptop with a news video open for them to listen to….
‘…..last night a sixteen year old boy was admitted to Hell’s Kitchen Emergency after overdosing on a yet unidentified drug. This is the third case only this week of a teenager overdosing on supposedly the same drug. Now recovering in the hospital sixteen year old, Tommy Dale, friends who first called the ambulance were interviewed by police. In their statement the teens said that they had brought the drugs from a man outside of their school. Police say this matches up with the other statement given by the other victims. Police have been unable to locate the alleged dealer. The one question running through parents’ minds now is ‘Are schools no longer safe for our children?’ Stay tuned for more information…….In other news, Spider-man….’
The office was quiet a moment before Matt tilted his head to the side as the corners of Matt’s mouth twitched up in a smile “And here I thought you and Foggy were trying to keep the Devil of the streets until Claire returned.”. As Foggy let out an exasperated groan, Karen continued “Look, I know me and Foggy have been trying to get you to ease up on the whole Daredeviling but this situation could get much worse. The police have no leads and the dealers all kept their faces hidden from the kids. It’s only a matter of time before a kid winds up dead on the street”. Matt took a second to think about it before, “I’ll start searching tonight, there must be somebody out there who knows about these dealers.”
“Great and once your're put the wrath of the Devil in these guys, call me so that I can check your injuries, like we’ve been telling you to do since Claire left.” As Foggy said this Matt could feel the disproving scowl Foggy was giving him.
And there was the mother hen, “I’ve been taking care of my injuries just fine, there is no need for me to wake you up in the middle of the night to look at a scratch.”
“You’re kidding right”, Foggy turned to face Karen, “he’s kidding right?”, Karen was now wearing a fond smile whilst Matt was doing nothing to suppress his grin.
“You Murdock. You are an animal when to comes to injuries” Matt could sense Foggy pointing at him accusingly, “You think taking care of your injuries is to lick them clean and ignore it.” Matt could now feel the shift of air as Foggy flailed his arms in the air.
Matt let out a deep sigh before agreeing. “Thank you, now that that is sorted we still need to plan this case….”. With that said, Foggy picked up the next file of evidence and Karen went to check her computer for any new emails. As Matt ran his fingers over several lines of brail, he contemplated on where Daredevil should start his search tonight.
Present
After interrogating several dealers and distributors in Hell’s Kitchen the night before, Matt had finely got a location out of a man after giving him a broken nose and dislocated shoulder.
The man said that this particular group had set up a hideout at the docks in an abandoned warehouse. Daredevil felt the man for the cops after giving a final glare and promise of another visit if the man did not confess his sins to the police.
A quick scan of the docks using his enhanced senses, Matt located several voices coming from one of the much older warehouses which Matt was sure was due to be demolished soon. Apparently a beam had fallen and almost killed one of the dock workers.
Matt was preparing to leap to the next rooftop to make it easier to reach the roof of the warehouse the voices were coming from. Before the Devil made his move, Matt paused as his enhanced hearing picked up on a strange noise, cocking his head to the side to focus and locate the noise again and just where it was coming from. A moment’s pause before……
Thwip-thwip thwip-thwip
Matt tensed when the unusual noise stopped as a figure landed on top of the roof he had been prepare to jump onto, ‘Wait….’, no, not roof. The figure had landed on the side of the building and was crawling up the wall, almost without a sound. Matt froze ‘That noise,’ Matt recognised that sound, on rare occasions whilst on patrol Matt had picked up that same noise just outside of Hell’s Kitchen, never entering though. Thinking back, ‘What was the name of the new hero Foggy said had appeared several months ago in Queens?’, Foggy had mention that the new hero could climb walls and swung around New York on webs.
‘Spider-man’, the red and blue (according to Foggy) hero had made his first appearance not long after Matt had been named ‘The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen’. After Foggy first mentioned the name, Karen had started following the spider-themed hero in the news. Spider-man had mainly been stopping bag- snatchers and muggers before he made an appearance in the Germany airport during the fight between Iron Man and Captain America over the accords. A month ago he had also stopped a guy named ‘The Vulture’ who had been selling alien weaponry to criminals.
‘What is Spider-man doing in Hell’s Kitchen?’ The hero had never entered Daredevils city before, to Matt’s knowledge anyway, so why make an appearance now?
Daredevil stayed in his crouched position. Focusing his enhanced senses, Matt started to assess the now identified hero while still keeping an ear trained on the occupants of the warehouse. He had a lithe figure with gangly limbs. Matt definitely had the height advantage and as he moved across the rooftop Matt noticed that the steps were unusually light for a figure his size. Listening to the hero’s movements, Matt frowned. The man’s bones didn’t have the same grinding noise that an adult would have, Matt could smell a cheap lemon shampoo and body spray you would usually only associated with teenagers. Finally Matt listened for a heartbeat, defiantly unusual and very distinctive – stronger and faster than a normal human ‘Hummingbird’ Matt thought best described it and…….
“What is it with criminal’s and warehouses?”, Matt tensed at the sound of Spider-man’s young voice.
Matt didn’t bother to reprimand himself on the string of curses that left his mouth.
Spider-man was a kid!
If this kid was over eighteen, then Matt was a saint.
What the hell was a kid doing running around New York risking his life stopping criminals? What the hell was a kid doing fighting Captain American in Germany?
Before Matt could dwell any longer about this new revelation, the kid, ‘kid’ Matt’s mind helpfully repeated, as if Matt could forget that particular fact, started climbing down the side of the building. Once the kid paused Matt could hear wooden boards being pulled away from the side of the building. Matt finally decided to leap onto the roof of the building neighbouring the one Spider-man’s figure had just disappeared into.
Gathering his bearings the Devil of Hell’s kitchen focused his senses onto the warehouse the drug dealers were hiding in. Matt decided he would confront the teenager after this was all over, hopefully to talk some sense into the kid and convince Spider-man to hold off for several years, at least until he was old enough to drink.
Including the two men guarding the door, there were nine members to the gang all of which was carrying a variety of weapons. Matt could hear the buzz of a single light in the centre of the closed off section in the warehouse seven men were occupying, along with several bags of money and drugs. The men were talking quietly about which school to hit next, Matt grit his teeth and clenched his fists as the Devil in him reared its head.
As Daredevil assessed the situation and planned how to deliver these criminals punishment, Matt heard a loud ‘creak’ before ‘crack’ then a wooden beam fell to the ground with a loud bang. A small figure tumbled down seconds after before crashing into a metal table in the centre of the room where it groaned and caved under the force.
After his senses recovered from the assault of noise did he focus them on the figure now trying to converse with the dealers, Matt could guess Spider-man had been standing on the wooden beam before it gave out under the new weight.
As Matt let out another string of curses, what was the kid doing? Matt had heard that the spider-themed hero talked a lot but what he heard was ridiculous. A shot fired inside the warehouse which sent Matt into action, leaping onto the warehouse roof Matt scanned the area for a way into the building.
Sounds of fighting spurred Matt on as he crashed through a window leading to a balcony of sorts above the room. All ten occupants of the room were now staring at Daredevil. Matt could sense the edge of panic radiating around the room now that the Devil had come to take penance for these criminal’s sins.
Matt focused on Spider-man’s figure sprawled on the floor clutching his left shoulder, eyes focused in Matt’s direction. Tilting his head Matt could hear the grinding of the bones in his shoulder, ‘Dislocated, probably form the fall.’
Before the criminals could organise themselves, Matt grabbed his baton strapped to his thigh before aiming it at the buzzing noise coming from the centre of the room. With a ‘pop’ the single light burst plunging the warehouse into darkness.
Once the battleground had been set, Matt let the Devil out to enact justice to these men who dared think they could escape punishment.
While the Devil started laying into whichever dealers got close, Matt took a second to locate the teenage superhero. The kid was rising from the floor when…..
‘Thwack’
A third string of curses, what would the nun’s at the orphanage think if they heard him now?
This time the kid didn’t rise from the floor.
Matt had to end the fight quickly before he could aid the hero. As the last of the thugs hit the floor, Matt took a moment for the adrenalin and Devil to ease now that all nine gang members were unconscious.
Matt tilted his head as a groan came from the injured teen across the room. Carefully, Matt made his way over to the young hero before crouching down and testing the boy’s pulse. As Matt placed his hand onto the teen’s neck, he flinched at the contact causing Matt to still. Matt only now remembered the kid probably couldn’t see anything, let alone who had approached him. When the teen made no further movement, Matt moved his hand to the back of the kids head only to discover a small gash. He could feel the blood pulsing around the wound, the amount of copper Matt could taste in the air suggested it wasn’t bleeding too badly but enough to cause Matt concern.
“Shit”, Matt now had to make a decision, he wasn’t about to leave an injured kid alone. A Hospital was out of the question, Claire was out of town and although Matt trusted Foggy, there was a good chance Matt would need to remove Spider-man’s mask to treat the head wound, despite Matt’s disagreement with a child vigilante his identity was not for Matt to reveal.
This left only one option.
Decision made, Matt gently scooped the kid into his arms, Jesus did this kid even eat, he barely weighed anything. Securing the kid against his chest, Matt started out of the warehouse, he’d call the cops later – the thugs weren’t going anywhere any time soon.
Briefly Matt worried why the teen wasn’t struggling at all against his hold, infact the teen was staring to go limp as his breathing got shallower.
Matt had to rouse the teen, “Stay with me kid, don’t close your eyes, you have a head injury. KID, you have to stay with me.”, again Matt cursed, it was no good, the kid had fallen into unconsciousness.
Cradling the kid to his chest, Matt made his way to his apartment. With one ear trained on the kid’s strong heartbeat, Daredevil darted through the shadows of the alleyways of Hell’s Kitchen.
Matt needed an easy way to reach the rooftops, he wouldn’t risk the kid because some criminal saw them and thought they could take on the Devil. Matt would defend the hurt kid with his life but he didn’t want to leave the boy defenceless on the ground if Matt had to fight any would be attackers.
Two blocks away from Matt’s building, he carefully scaled a fire escape with only slight difficulty, and minimal cursing.
Carefully navigating the rooftops, Matt had to backtrack several times. With his arms full Matt wouldn’t risk jumping over the larger gaps between buildings.
Finally reaching his rooftop, Matt made his way into his apartment.
As he descended down the stairs from the roof entrance the kid in his arms started shifting, it wouldn’t be long before he woke.
Once Matt reached his couch, he gently led the kid on his right side, being mindfully for the head and shoulder injuries. Matt walked to his bedroom to collect his oversized first aid kit before making a quick call to the police to let them know about the dealers. Grabbing a washcloth and bowl of water from the kitchen, Matt went back to his living room placing his gathered items onto the coffee table. Matt turned to the teen, Matt carefully removed Spider-man’s mask. He could make out a young face (‘too young’) with a mop of hair, hesitating only a moment Matt removed the cowl and gloves of his costume, hopefully the kid will be more comfortable if Matt revealed his own identity.
As Matt started to clean the gash on the kid’s head using the washcloth, the teen started to stir.
Nobody’s P.O.V
The first thing Peter was aware of when he awoke was that he was no longer in a dark warehouse. The second thing was that Peter no longer had a mask on. Peter went completely still when he felt something soft and wet gently touching the back of his head. Matt could hear the kid’s heartbeat increase as he tensed.
“Hey kid, you’re fine, you’re safe, I’m not going to hurt you.”, Matt didn’t know if the kid was even listening to him but he had to try.
As Peter became more aware he took in his surroundings, he was led on his uninjured side on an old leather couch in a large living washed in a purple light which seemed to shift. The deep voice that had spoken belonged to the man crouched in front of Peter, he was holding a washcloth stained with blood. The man was definitely older than Peter with red hair, the guy’s head was tilted to the side as if listening for something and his eyes looked unfocused staring straight ahead. His spider-sense was silent, he was safe for now.
“Kid? You okay?”, Matt tried again to get the kid to focus.
It was then that Peter noticed his discarded mask on the table next to a pair of red and black gauntlets and…’No way,’ Daredevils mask. Peter turned to the man, ‘Daredevil,’ and stared wide eyed.
Matt figured he had the teen’s attention now, he gave a small smile, “Glad you’re awake Spider-man.”
Peter was in Daredevils apartment, Peter saw Daredevil without his mask on, Daredevil had seen Peter without his mask on and was treating his head injury.
‘Holy shit!’
“Language.” Matt scolded with a frown.
Peter blinked, did he just…..? “……I said that out loud?” Did Daredevil just tell him off for swearing?
Matt gave a soft smile, “Yes, yes you did.” He then tilted his head, “How are you feeling?”
“Ummmm……..my head hurts….kinda and my shoulder.” Peter decided that if his spider-sense gave Daredevil the okay then Peter could trust him.
“You’re head wound stopped bleeding but it may need stitches and you’re arm will need relocating, you’re also covered in bruises and small cuts.”
Peter thought about his head, “I have a healing factor so my head should close up by itself fine, same with the bruises and cuts.”
Matt made a noise in the back of this throat “Can you sit up so I can finish cleaning the gash?”
Shifting his body, Peter rose to a sitting position on the leather couch. Matt put a steadying hand on the kids shoulder before dunking the washcloth in the bowl of warm, tinted water and finished cleaning the wound.
As Daredevil cleaned his wound, Peter stared at Daredevils face, something seemed of. His eyes hadn’t focused on him once since Peter woke up or looked at the injury he was cleaning, his eyes seemed to be unfocused and……..cloudy. Peter gaped, “You’re…..” Matt gave a soft smile, “Blind? Yes.”
“That’s awesome!”, Matt paused and raised an eyebrow at Peter.
“I-I mean not-not the whole being blind thing, cause well that’s not awesome, but-but the whole being blind and going out as Daredevil and being all badass and-and awesome and kinda terrifying is y’know awesome. So-so that’s what I meant not the being blind but it does actually link to the awesome part sooo, yeah that’s what I meant.”
Matt couldn’t help the small chuckle that leaves his mouth, Matt was very impressed Peter managed to do that in almost one breath.
Matt finished treating Peter’s head, dropping the stained cloth in the bowl and placing the disinfectant onto the table. “Okay, can I relocate your arm now? Pleas.”
Instead of an answer, Peter shifted around on the couch, placing his feet on the floor so he was now facing Matt and offered his injured arm.
Matt gently held Peter’s arm using his hands to assess the damage and how it needed to be popped back in.
Matt hesitated a moment before, “My name is Mathew Murdock but I prefer Matt.”
Peter thought about if giving his name, but it would only make it fair to Matt. “Peter. Peter Parker……that’s…that’s my name, nice to meet you Matt.”
Matt offered Peter a grin “Nice to meet you to Peter.”
“Alright, this is going to hurt but it will be quick, alright.” Peter nodded, ”I’ve dislocated my shoulder before and…and I know the whole ‘I’m going to count to three thing’ but then you do it on two instead of three so I’m not expecting it, except I will be expecting it cause I know about the whole ‘I’m going to count to …….. AAHHH!” Peter cut his sentence short as Matt had taken the time during Peter’s ramblings to position his arm before pushing it back into place in one swift movement with a loud ‘pop’.
Matt pulled back after checking Peter shoulder. “Better?”
Peter let out a breath, rolling his shoulder to relieve the ache that had settled in, “Y-yeah….thanks.” Matt nodded before rising to clear away his supplies before changing into sweats.
Peter brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as Matt settled into an armchair on the other side of the table.
Matt considered how to start the conversation before settling on an explanation, “I lost my sight when I was nine in a chemical spill,” Peter’s eyes fixed on Matt, “the accident took my sight but enhanced all my other senses. I can see with them, that’s how I can be Daredevil.”
Peter gaped, he really wasn’t expecting that, although Peter hadn’t expected anything that had happened tonight to happen.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I figured you had questions, I wanted to explain before I asked you a few.” Matt picked up on Peter’s raised heartbeat, he nodded his head hesitantly before thinking better of it, “Umm……okay.”
“How old are you?”
“Nineteen” Peter answered confidently.
Matt narrowed his eyes in Peter’s direction, Peter squirmed.
“You’re lying. You’re voice has cracked several times so far, you’re wearing body spray meant for teenagers and you’re heartbeat is young. So how old are you?”
Peter’s expression turned shocked, gaping he asked “……How did you know I was lying?”
“I told you, all my senses are enhanced, I can hear the change in your heartbeat when you lie, now answer my question.”
Aaaaand Peter was so dead.
“….fifteen.” Peter answered quietly.
Matt rubbed his face, he had hoped he was wrong “Christ.”
“Who knows about you being Spider-man?”
“Ummm…….my friend Ned, he found out by accident. Mr Stark, but I’m not sure how he found out and then there’s his body guard Happy who I guess found out because Mr Stark told him but I don’t think he cares much about it.” Peter shifted uncomfortably, “And there’s…..have you heard of the guy called the Vulture?” Matt nodded, he had a bad feeling of where the kid was going. “His name is Adrian Toomes, he….kinda…..maybe figured it out when I took his daughter to homecoming.”
Matt wanted to ask if Peter was joking, he really did, but he hadn’t lied yet. Matt noted Peter hadn’t mentioned any parents.
“Tony Stark knows you’re Spider-man?” it was more of a statement but Matt wanted to confirm.
At Peter’s nod of confirmation, Matt continued, “Was he the reason you were in Germany?”. Another nod, “Why?”
Peter moved so he was now sat cross-legged on the couch with his hands in his lap, Matt was beginning to realise that Peter had a hard time sitting still. “He…..he showed up at my apartment on day, told my-my Aunt he’d received my application to join his internship program at Stark Industries. But-but I didn’t send it and……and when I asked he said that he-he knew who I really was and that he needed my help to stop Captain America.”
Matt gave Peter an incredulous look, “You agreed, just like that, no questions asked?”
Peter rung his hands, “I-I said that I c-couldn’t cause I had homework but-but then he said he was ganna tell my Aunt about Spider-man a-and if she found out she wouldn’t let me do it anymore and there’d be crying and shouting and she’s been through alot and-and I didn’t want to worry her, so I just said okay…….then I was off to Germany stealing Captain Americas shield. Which was AWESOME.”
“So Stark blackmailed you?” Matt felt the devil stir, Stark had recruited an inexperienced kid to fight half the Avengers.
Peter’s heartbeat picked up and started gesturing with his arms, “No, no it-it….. he wasn’t…….he made me a new suit, it helps alot and-and I got to go on a plane for the first time and meet the rest of the Avengers, even y’know I had to fight some of them. B-but I Mr Stark said I did good even though Captain American dropped a walkway on top of me and then the giant guy knocked me out.”
Matt’s face darkened, Daredevil may be crossing paths with Tony Stark soon. The devil was raging at the thought of Stark dragging Peter into a pointless fight because Stark and Rogers couldn’t act like adults and talk.
Matt took a deep breath, he didn’t want to scare the kid, “Earlier, you said Aunt. Is she your guardian?”.
Peter’s shoulders slumped, “Yeah, she….ummm yeah. My parents died in a plane crash when I was five so I was raised by my Aunt May and Uncle Ben……but he errr……he died not long after I got my powers.”
Matt felt sympathy for the kid, he’d lost much more than Matt. “My father was shot when I was ten, went into an orphanage straight after.”
The room descended into quiet, both vigilante’s thinking of loved ones lost.
“Peter,” he looked up to Matt, “Why did you become Spider-man?” Peter shifted, “Why do you risk your life?” At first Matt thought it was because Peter wanted to be an Avenger, but now….there was something else, another reason.
There were a few more moments of silence, Matt thought Peter may not answer.
Peter looked straight at Matt, “It’s like what I told Mr Stark when he asked. When you can do the things I can but you don’t and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.”
Well shit. Matt wasn’t expecting that.
“I have these powers, I have a responsibility to use them to help people.”
And in that sentence Matt could hear the burden the kid was carrying. The kid didn’t owe the world anything especially after losing so much. Most kids who got powers at Peter’s age would use them for fun, cause trouble, but not this kid, this kid just wanted to help because he could.
Once again, the room descended into silence.
Matt rubbed his face and let out a quiet breath, when Matt had figured out Peter’s age at the docks, he had planned to confront the teen and convince him to stop. After having time to think and assess what Peter has said and everything Spider-man has done. Matt realised Peter wouldn’t stop now and Matt couldn’t stop him. But perhaps…….
Matt’s look turned thoughtful, “What powers do you have.”
Peter frowned with the sudden change, “Ummmm……..I can stick to things, super strength, I have this spidey-sense that warns me about danger and if I’m being watched. I’m insanely flexible, enhanced agility, healing factor, fast metabolism and all my senses have been, like dialled up to eleven but I haven’t got the hang of that one yet.”
Matt stood, starting to pace. Stark obviously wasn’t helping or keeping watch over Peter otherwise he would have had an uninvited guest by now. The kid needed training and someone to patch him up, someone he could go to.
Decision made Matt turned from his pacing to face Peter.
“Alright.”
Peter tilted his head, “Huh?”
“Would you let me help you? I can teach you how to fight, how to track down criminals, train you.”
Peter gaped, ‘Was he serious?’
“I can also help with your senses, when I first got mine I was being constantly overwhelmed with everything around me until I learnt how to use them. I can imagine school isn’t much fun.”
Peter stood up, a hopeful smile spreading on his face, “Your serious, you wanna train me? You’re not ganna tell me to stop.” ‘Daredevil is offering to train me, Ned is never ganna believe this.’ Peter was hurt when Mr Stark just up and left him again. Peter wanted another hero to talk to, wanted a hero who could teach him, wanted someone who could help with his senses.
Matt smirked, “I don’t think there would be much point, plus this way I can keep an eye on you.” Matt could feel Peter practically bouncing.
Matt almost fell as he found himself tackled as Peter hugged him. Once finding his balance, Matt huffed and wrapped his arms around the kid, a found smile taking over his face.
Peter pulled back after a moment, a thought passed through his head, “We have one problem, my ‘Stark internship’ finished since everything got moved to D.C. so it’s like ten times harder to come up with excuses I can tell Aunt May and we both have patrol at night.”
Matt leaned against the counter top with his arms crossed, a thoughtful expressing crossing his face. “Can you take new internships?”
“Yeah, school even helps find them to help students, there’s this whole sign up system set up. Why?”
Ohhh Foggy was going to kill him for this.
A devilish smirk crossed Matt’s face.
“Did I mention I’m a lawyer, I work at a small private firm, Nelson and Murdock.”
Matt was sure Karen would take his side.