This is my @daredevilexchangeâ pinch hit gift for @context-is-for-kingpinsâ! To fill the prompt âOnly those who will go to far can possibly find out how far one can goâ - T.S. Eliot. It also fills the âDamagesâ square on my @daredevilbingo card.
It follows on from my other gift, Desolation, although the two works can be read individually. Enjoy!
Read it on tumblr, or on AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139266)
Jessica wakes with her face pressed against the mattress. She opens her eyes and swipes her hair back from her face, the room sliding into hazy focus. Thereâs bright light scything in through the curtains and across her bare floorboards, making her squint.
Jess frowns, then rolls onto her back, the sheet twisting in her legs and impeding her progress, and she has to fight against it. Matt is lying on his back, hands clasped behind his head, eyes open and focused on some unseen middle distance. The light probably isnât bothering him, the asshole.
Matt snorts a laugh and turns his head to her. âWow. Am I that forgettable?âÂ
Jess shoves him away, half-heartedly, and flails her arm over the side of the bed. Her hand knocks the neck of a bottle, and it falls on its side with a hollow clunk, then spins slowly across the floorboards and under the bed. She groans, and disentagles herself from the sheet then stands up and crosses to the door.
She glances back to Matt, who has turned his face back to the ceiling. Heâs obviously still listening to her as she leaves the room to raid her desk drawer. Prize found, she pads back to the bedroom to see Mattâs now closed his eyes.Â
Jess drops down on the bed, jostling Matt, who grunts in protest. She leans up against the wall and taps the bottle against Mattâs shoulder, but he shakes his head.
She shrugs and unscrews the cap to take a swig of bourbon, then wipes the back of her hand across her mouth.
âYou know, I saw Nelson a few months back. He looked like someone had killed his cat.â She takes another mouthful of the good (bad, very bad) stuff. âOr his best friend.â
âFuck it.â He opens his eyes, sits up next to her and swipes the bottle. âAre we talking?â He drinks, and grimaces.Â
âSo did you go off to find Jesus, or something?â Matt cocks his head and pauses, considering, long enough that Jessica feels an urgent need to backpedal. âNo, forget I asked.â She reclaims the bottle.
âAny time you want to meet him,â he says with a slow smile, âLet me know.â
âYouâre an asshole.â
âSo Iâve been told.â
âI donât think itâs sunk in, yet.â
Theyâre quiet for a few minutes, Jess watching dust motes dancing lazily through the air. Mattâs listening. Heâs always listening, but he doesnât tell her what he hears.Â
Eventually, he takes a deep breath and says, âI didnât really plan anything, I was just surviving. Wasnât thinking far ahead.â He holds out his hand for the bottle, which is emptying quickly.
âI know. But I wasâŠâ Heâs looking more glazed than usual, lost in his head and sliding a thumb around the edge of the label on the bottle.Â
âTrying to be a hero?â
That startles a laugh out of him, and brings him back to her. âIâm no hero.â His face becomes serious again. âIt was more about doing what I could, when I had the chance.â
âYou almost went too far, once.â
He shrugs. âI survived. And you donât know until you try.â
âFrom what I hear, that fucked you up.â
He turns to her sharply, brows drawn. âWhat do you mean? You been looking me up? Again?â
âOnce I heard a rumour you werenât dead, I had to be sure.â She waves a hand, dismissively, then plucks the bottle from him. âDonât worry, Hornhead, I respected your privacy.â
She looks at Matt, still scowling, the way the light brings out amber in the stubble along his jaw, and feels a twist low in her gut. She should get curtains. Then he half-smiles, as though he knows sheâs looking, and it strikes her that heâs as naked as she is.Â
Jess takes another gulp of the burning liquor then pulls her feet in and rises onto her knees, lifting one leg and turning so sheâs straddling Mattâs legs. Thereâs a flash of mild surprise across his face, then he reaches for the bottle. While he has a drink, she reaches down and gently squeezes his cock through the sheet, massaging and coaxing it to attention. He jumps slightly, then leans back, the bottle in a slack hand. She swipes the bourbon again and drains the bottle before setting it on the nightstand. Then she frees Mattâs cock from the sheet, shuffles forward and presses the now-firm tip to her clit. Matt grunts in encouragement and cups her ass in his hands.
Jess leans forward with one hand on the wall above his head, the other seeking tingles of slippery warmth as she masturbates with his cock. Mattâs hands roam over her body, up and down her sides, cupping her breasts then squeezing at her hips. She slides him down, his tip just parting her labia and slipping in slightly, and he groans, his head lolling back and exposing the whiteness of his neck. She leans in and licks his neck as she strokes her hand downwards and gives his balls a squeeze, noting with satisfaction the twitch it produces.
âYou still wanna fuck me?â
âYes,â he pants. âGod, yes.â
âHow about I fuck you.â
She plays with him, with herself, some more, until sheâs filling up with warmth. Sheâs close, so close. All it will take isâŠ
Matt has magically produced a condom, from fuck knows where, and is holding it between two fingers. Jess snags it from him, rips it open and slides it on. Then she guides his cock, takes him deep inside her with one stroke and they both gasp. She leans down and he lifts his face to hers, meeting her part way, hungry for her and kissing her firmly, roughly. He cups her face in both hands as she ruts against him, fucking him hard. She pants harder, chasing the cresting wave until she groans and thereâs an explosion of pleasure, rippling through her as she surges again and again. Matt comes straight away, as though heâs been waiting for her, bucking and moaning in relief, and pulling a hilarous sex face. Jess collapses against his chest and they pant together as Matt strokes one hand down her back.
He laughs. âWhat brought that on?â
âDo I need a reason?â
He shakes his head. âNo.â
She lifts her head to look at him again, a sheen of sweat on his brow. Itâs not like she ever knew him that well, but sheâs never hated him as much as she made out. Now, in the daylight, she can see what she couldnât by night, the sparse greys at his temples, the deeper creases around his eyes. Whatever happened to him, whatever he doesnât want to talk about, itâs not her problem but she can see itâs changed him. Why should she care, anyway.
Mattâs stomach rumbles loudly, and they both laugh. âGot any food?â he asks.
âDo I look like someone who eats my five-plus a day?â He doesnât reply, just cocks a questioning eyebrow and she sighs and rolls off him, sprawled on the bed.
âSo, JessicaâŠâ he begins, then stops.
âDonât you talk for a living?â
He scrubs a hand over his face, and begins again. âI canât drink this much on an empty stomach. So, is going to get food with me something youâd like to do, or would you rather I fuck off?â
She considers the question. All her instincts say no, that theyâre both too fucked up to spend time safely together, that theyâll tear each other apart on their ragged edges. But maybe⊠Maybe the gains justify the damages.
âYeah, why the fuck not?â
And Matt smiles, slow and sweet.