Matt Murdock

“Exactly!  All these people, they all have families, they all need help too.   It’s just as big and important to them.”   Plus the big things had an extra element of danger.  Oh he wasn’t afraid.  Spidey took plenty of risks and got hurt in the day to day stuff.   Yet, he didn’t want to leave his aunt alone if something took him away for far too long.   She’d worry.

“You sure?  You are breathing pretty hard.”   He couldn’t resist the bit of teasing.  Starting to really bounce around adding in flips and somersaults up high over DD’s head.

“The Avengers, as important as they are, don’t clean up after themselves enough.” He hadn’t had any major grievance towards them - at least not before the Accords. That had been all about the big-ticket heroes in the media, but had made life absolutely hellish for the average street hero.  “Don’t you worry about me, kiddo.” Daredevil reached out to grab him and attempt to pull him back to the ground. “Worry about yourself.”

          The divided cloak flutters in the wind as the man carefully veers his attention away from the streets beneath the rooftop edge, peering over his shoulder as watchful eyes take in the other’s guarded stance. The opaque swirls within the rounded dome make it difficult to discern Beck’s features ( not that it matters for Murdock ) - he’s smiling to himself but it doesn’t filter into his voice, expression soon growing sombre with a hushed expulsion of warm breath.

                     “𝕀 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕝’𝕤 𝕂𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕟’𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕. 𝕀𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕣 𝕕𝕚𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞, 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕨𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕤.”

“Well that’s...depressing. Although if Hell’s Kitchen always suffers that way, it must always have its defenders as well. I confess, myself, I’m struggling to get my head around the existence of ‘other dimensions’ - but I had hoped there’d be one where we could all put our feet up and have a cup of coffee in the absence of organised crime.” Except, what would he do in that world? Just be a lawyer? No wonder it doesn’t exist, because it’s so very unlikely.

*********

“Really? Because I can hear your breathing and heart-beat from here.   Sound like you are getting a real work out and will have to stop eventually.”   His body moved away from the bows to keep them inside of an invisible circle, making it more difficult for Daredevil to pin him into one place.

“Also, totally one of the good guys.   Just trying to look out for the little guy.”  The Avengers took care of the big stuff, but someone needed to watch the streets.

“This isn’t too far off from my usual nightly workout, kiddo, so I wouldn’t worry.” He was, however, going more or less through the motions at this point. As not to waste their energy if a genuine threat did arrive. A kind of faux-sparring.  “Well, quite. We can’t all go round fighting aliens and robots, now, can we? Someone’s got to pick up the pieces, once the big guns go back to their tower.” 

“Was that on your word of the day calendar? I didn’t realize one studies for the SAT even after,” Pinching the bridge of her nose as she looked around at her goons that were keeping the building secure.  “Tell your little devil boy to stay out of my business or else I won’t be so kindly.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve met people pulling off stranger combinations.” Her mind briefly flickered to Brigid. Was a cop-slash-vigilante that much different? “And I don’t think being a lawyer excludes someone from being physically fit.” This seemed like a losing argument, but when had Tandy ever been one to back down easy regardless of that? “Seems fine.” She shrugged. Truthfully, she could have things covered here fine on her own (well, her own with Ty) if there was trouble anyway. “Couldn’t I just be curious?”

“Occam’s Razor: the simplest explanation is the best one. I know it’s a strange world. But that’s usually as good a rule of thumb as any.” He also knew some strange combinations of people, although he was very aware that he and his friends were the exceptions to the rule. “Curiosity’s not a crime, so of course you can. I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t check.” Her heartbeat and breathing seem steady enough that he’s content she’s telling the truth.

          “𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕦𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕪.” Their darkened surroundings do little to hide the scorn within his voice, modulated syllables heavily weighed down. “𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕖. 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕦𝕟𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘.”

“Insecurity is creating a whole new image because you can’t handle the fact that I BEAT YOU!” He knows that to be true. Because if he could get a read on the wannabe-mastermind’s location, his days would be numbered. “And I’m gonna enjoy doing it again.”

‘ when I break the rest of the bones in your body, i’ll do it unarmed. ’