Chapter Text
Matt and Trish wait near the two boys, who are talking about beating up an older man. "They are young. We should just scare them a little."
"They are already afraid."
"Really?" It wasn't apparent in their heartbeats, but Trish is certain about it and she nods. "Then maybe we need to talk to them."
Matt silently walks up to them and just takes the baseball bat from one of the kids holding up a hand to show that he won't hurt them. "Easy…" The other one still takes a fighting stance with his friend fast moving behind him.
"I won't harm you, just heard you talk about beating someone up. You can't do that."
"We have to." With that the angry teenager starts attacking Matt and then backs away realising it's pointless. Trish then comes up next to him and smiles at them. "Can you tell us why? Maybe we can help."
While the boy with the bat just glares at them, his friend tells them: "The man raped Dan's girlfriend."
That shocks Matt for a moment, his hand is trembling a little and bile starts to rise up in him, but he suppresses his disgust. Something has to be done about this and since the boys are about to flee, he needs a different less intimidating approach this time.
When Matt freezes Trish can't help but recognise the intensity of his reaction. He sure must have beaten up some rapists, but even considering his emotional state at the moment, there could be more to it. Claire also seemed unusually concerned after she checked him over. The boys are about to run, so he gives them back the bat and takes down his hood. "Did you talk to a grownup about this?"
That she certainly had not seen coming.
"You don't get it. He IS a grownup."
"I'm a lawyer. I want to help." Matt takes a deep shaky breath and Trish raises her eyebrows, surprised.
"If that doesn't work I know someone who will beat him up."
Trish smiles at the boys and takes off her glasses as well. "Can you bring us to her?"
While they are walking around town Matt considers his options. If he is here as Matt Murdock it might be a little obvious if Daredevil is spotted as well. But he doesn't have the costume anyway, so that's that.
"We're not just beating the guy up?" Trish is a bit concerned. On the one hand, she's not sure Matt acting like Daredevil and just punching a problem to pulp right now would be a good idea. But Matt Murdock dealing with this as a lawyer after his reaction earlier might not be good either. He would have to listen to the girl's story and that after being the victim of intense torture himself recently. And he's also still blaming himself for what happened to him. She doesn't think he would tell the girl it's her fault, but those things do happen and if he makes her feel that way unintentionally it could ruin the girl's life.
Matt stoically walks ahead. He knows Trish is perceptive, so he tries to calm his nerves and shut off his emotions therefor she can't sense anything. "We need to make sure it's true and it has to go on his permanent record, if it's possible to prove it." He sounds more reasonable than he feels.
"You're sure you're the right person to deal with this now?"
Despite his efforts that still stings and anger rises in him. They both stop because he turns to her: "I've always been the right person to deal with this shit. I'm the only one who's heard stuff like this happening most of his life without consequences." That's when he swallows. "And now I also know how it feels. That's what you were getting at, isn't it?" It wasn't really, but she did have suspicions.
"I'm sorry." She takes his hand and starts massaging it lightly the way he used to do for her. It calms him down and he immediately feels sorry for snapping at her. "It almost happened to me at the orphanage as well actually."
That's another shocker. "Stick?"
"No, but he killed the guy before he left me…. I think. The bastard probably thought a blind boy wouldn't understand what was happening." Matt sounds almost casual about it now, like he always does when his childhood comes up.
"Well, I'm not unfamiliar with that kind of thing either, being a former child star and all..." Now that he didn't expect, but before he can say anything, she stops him: "You should know that I don't need pity. It was a long time ago. I'm worried about you right now."
He takes a deep breath and kisses her temple briefly, but really she would rather be comforting him right now. "I'm fine, promise. I have to do this." Maybe he has to and maybe he is the right person to do this after all. Trish thinks while Matt tends to obsess over his own weaknesses, somehow thinking of them as mistakes he should be above, he really never does blame others for theirs.
They suddenly realise that the two boys have also stopped. They are glaring at them and Trish smiles at the curious faces. "Let's go, a girl needs some heroes." They definitely heard him raise his voice before.
Matt tries to prepare himself for what will come next and gathers his thoughts. It's late in the evening and he has to talk to the parents first, but he's not sure how to explain where they met Dan. The boy knows the parents at least, so that's good and apart from still holding onto the baseball bat like he's prepared to defy the adult lawyer any moment he seems like a good kid, like it's the first time he actually does something like that. He's not very forthcoming with information, though, and still doesn't seem to trust them.
When they arrive at Tara's home, Dan finally agrees to let go of the bat. Matt explains to the parents that the boy came to him with concerns that Tara may have been mistreated and they are shocked to hear that, demanding to know the name of the alleged culprit immediately. Matt wants to talk to the girl first, but the parents insist to be in the room as well, which is understandable, but he knows it might be a problem, because the man is a relative of the family. He agrees anyway, knowing he'll be able to tell if the girl is just too afraid to mention the name.
And of course she doesn't tell them who hurt her, but Matt is sure that Tara is indeed a victim of repeated sexual abuse. He does not want to put any name in her head, though, because she just wants this to be over. So, he tells her, that they will talk again and explains to her what's going to happen and that she is going to be safe.
Dan later asks Trish about what he heard Matt say earlier while they were going to Tara's. "What happened to him? I thought it's only girls...?"
She sighs. "He was tortured for days before we got here."
The boy thinks about that, then his eyes go wide. "He is Daredevil, isn't he?"
"What?! No!" She completely forgot that it was all over the news.
At her reaction he's even more certain. "Oh shit, it's true! What is he doing here?"
"We're here on a holiday and he's blind! How could he be Daredevil? I really don't know where you got that ridiculous idea." Trish suddenly sounds a lot more convincing, but it is too late.
"Yeah, but he's not blind blind…. We noticed. I tried to fight him, remember? Shit, I fought with Daredevil! That is so cool!"
"You can't tell anyone! Please! If any more people find out…"
"Oh no, I wouldn't! Ever! He's my hero." There is a silence. "I'm so glad he's okay. Someone send me one of the videos they made and I didn't think before clicking on it. I thought, that's his end. They even raped him? Bastards."
Trish suddenly has problems breathing properly. "I'm trying to forget those videos. But I saved him."
The boy looks at her with confusion and new respect. "Then you're my hero, too." After a while: "It's a bummer that I can't tell anyone I fought with Daredevil…"
She chuckles. "Kid, I hate to break it to you, but you didn't fight him. I've seen him fight. You don't even know where to look once he starts flipping and kicking."
"Damn, that's awesome."
After that Trish is serious again. "But he is here as a lawyer now and we have to protect his identity. Understand?"
"Of course." Then he is silent for a moment. "Are you his girlfriend?"
Trish laughs. "I'm Hellcat." She lets a small bottle of water float over to drink. "And I love him."
His eyes go wide at that. "Then he's very lucky."
"No, he's really not. He's had a lot of misfortune in his life, way too much pain for a single person to endure. I only know one other person as tough as him." A bitter laugh escapes her. "But I'm trying to make up for it. I consider myself lucky to have him and that he is alive."
That's when the door opens and Matt enters looking at her accusingly, but also moved at the same time. "Trish, are you gonna tell everyone, now?"
"What? That I love you?" She smiles. "As I recall I haven't even told you, yet." She grins at his speechlessness.
"It's not her fault! I figured out who you are on my own." The kid who eyed him warily before now looks at the lawyer with pure admiration. Matt sits down next to him. "I'm protecting her and everyone else I love by wearing a mask." He shoots Trish a smirk after that indirect declaration and she smiles like a loon, pretending she didn't know already.
"Sure, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I'd do the same."
Matt shakes his head in frustration and takes off his glasses revealing a still nasty looking bruise that Fisk gave him. "You can't be like us. I was trained as a kid and we both have special abilities. You can't go out there beating someone up, because you think he deserves it. Go to the police."
"What? But what if they don't do anything! You expect me to do nothing?"
Matt sighs. "You have to try the legal way first. Talk to a journalist, if the person in question has too much power, maybe. It's the only way to change things in the long run, to change the system. I've learned that the hard way. You can find a better way to help, maybe."
The kid slumps. "You're not going to protect people anymore…?"
"No, I will do that, of course. I just have to be more careful and look at the big picture as well. Keep the people I care about safe, too."
"Did I hurt you earlier? I'm so sorry if I did!"
Matt smiles charmingly. "No, don't worry. I can take a lot more."
The kid blinks. "Did they really rape you…?"
Trish holds her breath shocked at the direct question.
Matt closes his eyes and says what he knows the kid needs to hear: "It can happen to anyone, really. I could not do anything about it. It's about having power over someone more than anything else."
"That's true." Trish thinks his eyes never looked that empty. She sincerely hopes he believes what he is saying. She can see his hand tremble again, but apart from that he appears to be quite calm.
"That was just one of the many horrible things they did to me. It wasn't even the worst." Matt thinks the worst probably was his friends being threatened because of him and seeing Elektra die again. The fact that he wasn't able to do anything about it all apart from giving them clues was killing him.
"But you laughed when they were torturing you. As if it was a joke to you..." Trish cringes. She can't believe how he is suddenly talking about all of this. But it figures that he would open up if it is helping someone else understand.
"You get used to pain and I didn't want to show them that they could break me. They needed me alive for five days and all I could do was keep the views up, so that they would stick to their plan until Trish here could save me."
"Damn." She can see Dan's desire to be a vigilante start to vanish. Trish just hopes he won't say something horrible to his broken hero. He came close a couple of times now and she clearly remembers some nasty comments people made about him liking it. Being chained up and beaten like some piece of shit.
Then something beautiful happens.
"Can I hug you?" Matt looks taken aback by the kid's quiet request and sad eyes. There might be some pity in there, but mostly she sees respect for the man in front of him who is less collected suddenly. Then Matt reluctantly opens his arms for a very gentle and careful embrace. "I wish I was as strong as you are." They know he isn't talking about fighting this time and Trish realises in this moment that Matt will get over this as unshed tears gather in his eyes.
He might carry it with him, but the man who in this moment takes comfort from a boy to teach him a very important lesson is already bouncing back. And what is one more issue to deal with? Abandonment and commitment issues they have in check at the moment. Guilt and martyr complex: There has been some progress there. If he'll now also have PTSD after being abducted, she can always ask Jessica for advice. And he could be a wonderful father one day if that is something he can see for himself.
Matt then gives Dan his number and tells the boy to call him if he ever thinks about beating someone up again. The beam that puts on the kid's face before he leaves the room makes him smile. He's glad he decided to do it the conventional way after all. It's not as satisfying as beating the man up, but he's sure Father Lantom would approve and he can't deny that Dan's hug did make some of the anger that was close to the surface melt away a little. Now they just have to see how the case goes which he is less optimistic about. But he's determined to see Tara smile as well.
"You were imagining me as a father just now, weren't you?" And by the smirk on his face she can tell that smug Matt is back already. Wow, how she did miss that part of him, as annoying as it could be, since he was too tired and depressed to be cocky after he was rescued. Now she is even thankful for the surprising change in his mood. They both want to avoid any mention of the scary elephant that just left the room with the boy. So, she decides to distract him with banter and she can tell that he appreciates it.
"Don't flatter yourself. If I ever have children I don't think they'll have a father who leaves me stuck at home in sleepless nights while he gets to have all the fun and fight crime."
"Would you prefer their dad to be a handsome and charming lawyer, then?" He smiles at her disarmingly. There is still some tension around his eyes.
"If that is really enough for him… maybe. But I doubt that."
"I don't know about that either. But what about their mom? Could she take it slow?"
"She would definitely kick ass between changing diapers or while doing it. She wouldn't need to touch them after all." That image makes him genuinely laugh.
"But wouldn't she appreciate a man who is basically a living babyphone and could tell when the baby is actually hungry and when he can let her get some sleep and take care of it by himself?"
Trish gasps. "Seriously? You… could do that?"
"Admit it: I'm a catch." That ego again.
"I never doubted that. You did." Trish smiles and raises an eyebrow. "Your senses are definitely appreciated, mostly." She steps right in front of him and he closes his eyes when she plays with the hair in his neck and kisses him softly. "I hate it when you tell me to go to the toilet, before we drive somewhere. It's disgusting that you know I should."
He hums, still enjoying her ministrations, but also slightly amused. "You would appreciate that if we had children."
"What's with you and kids today? Are you pregnant or something?" She laughs, then all color leaves her face. "Am I?!"
"No, no, no! Don't worry. I'm just joking around." He smiles sheepishly. "But if you think about it, we could make excellent parents. You'd know what they feel, I'd know if they lie…"
"And if we'd produce a sociopath anyway, you'd blame yourself." She rolls her eyes and he considers her for a moment.
"Trish, I think I found your weak spot, apart from my expert love making, I mean."
"You have NOT. I knew admitting to you that you're good - no, wait, I don't want to hurt your manly feelings again - amazing in bed was a mistake. Now I have nothing I can tease you with when you get cocky."
Except that he blushes again, so it still has some effect.
"You can try to tease me all you like. I never doubted that you enjoyed yourself, just that you were serious about me. But you, Trish Walker, independent and tough career woman by day and superhero at night, want to have kids. Plural." He's grinning like he figured out a dirty secret. Time to challenge him right back.
"Oh really? And why doesn't this freak you out?"
He shrugs at that. "We're just joking around."
Then a knowing smirk appears on Trish's face. "What if we weren't?"
"We'd be better at it than your Mom. Or Stick for that matter. Look, I know we're still getting to know each other. We're not there by a long shot, not just because of our night activities, but the idea doesn't scare me. I'm the man without fear, remember?" He swallows at how intense this conversation suddenly became, despite his attempt to lighten it up and Trish hugs him. Then she laughs. "This does not mean you're right, by the way. Just… you're full of surprises. You being fatherly just was… endearing."
"You'd be insulted if I said that about you being motherly, right? Just to check…"
She smirks. "I told you about my mom, right?"
"Right." He chuckles. "But you're different."
"You thought I was manipulative at some point." She did force him to train her after all, although she immediately felt bad about it. She still remembers the venom in his voice when he said that she got what she wanted. It was only after that that she realised she actually wanted to be with him more than she wanted to be like him. And at some point trying to protect him made her want to be even stronger again, so she had a good reason to be manipulative in a way.
"Maybe I was, too. I tried to seduce you so you'd forget about training with me." And of course, he used her insecurity about Elektra to push her away later, to protect her. But she saw through his act like she always did.
"I knew it! And I would have surrendered completely if you had made another attempt to seduce me after that whole distracting incident."
He gapes at her. "Seriously?!" Then he shakes his head laughing. "I was furious at you then." He kisses her temple, thinking of how they were fighting then. "We're so messed up."
"We should never have children."
"I'm thinking two or three." He laughs at her blush.
"I'm so glad you didn't lose your sense of humour over all this." And that the kid made him finally talk about some of the shit he went through. She could tell that the situation brought some of his more raw emotions to the surface and he was still a bit tense, but now she's hopeful that he is dealing with it in a healthy manner and not bottling stuff up too much. She can't even imagine what it must have been like to only talk about Daredevil shit with his priest. It's no wonder he sucks at opening up, really.
Matt knew he wouldn't be able to prove that the girl was raped by her uncle, so he had to tell her that she needed to be ready to talk in court. But he made damn sure people knew that it was true and that they were watching the creep. He was watching him. He gave her parents his card and told them to call him immediately if something happened or if they heard about another victim. They were horrified when they found out who it was, but his sister seemed less surprised, which gave Matt hope that it would be possible to prove the man's guilt some day.
A week later the guy was attacked in the street. The newspaper article did not mention that the man and the woman beating him up warned him to stay away from children after he refused to confess or go to therapy.
Back in Hell's Kitchen everything goes back to normal after a while. The Moranos keep Daredevil busy, but Matt Murdock leaves them alone, apart from gathering information, so his identity and his friends are as safe as they could be. His encounters with the clan continue to be strange and it kind of seems like Lenny enjoys fighting him and tipping him off about his competitors. Jessica tells Matt to be careful and not let himself get provoked, but it does not make him go easy on his enemies.
After months of paranoia about sudden attacks from Fisk everyone is finally able to sleep in their own bed again, without anyone watching over them. But sometimes Trish would stay at Matt's place or he'd be at hers after Hellcat and Daredevil have a night out.