#heroicpaths

She was right— as he gently ran his fingers across her recently acquired stitches on her side, he had to admit it had made some decent progress on the healing front, though he still wasn't too happy about it. There wasn't much he could do, as much as he hated seeing Milla injured. He knew her too well to hope he could change her mind at all.

"I guess I should've warned you that being Daredevil comes with a lifetime of injuries guarantee," He joked as if she didn't know that already from the number of injuries he'd come home with over the years. "And not that I listen to that sort of advice, but you should really rest until that's fully healed. I promise I can handle things on my own for a couple of days until then."

Milla inhaled quickly even though the touch was ever-gentle, holding her breath and letting it out slowly. even without the sensitivity that makes cotton feels like sandpaper, his fingertips were calloused. Like a guitarist's against metal strings or a boxer without proper wraps — different lives he could have lived instead of the true reason. Milla didn't mind the touch, so long as it was from Matt.

Things came to her slowly - first, the fact that she was laying on a cold floor; then the throbbing pain in her head, which she assumed was the reason that everything was coming back to her in bits and pieces. The next thing that came to her was a sound, a loud, urgent cry - one that she knew better than almost any other sound. "Sophie?" Forcing her eyes open, Felicity pushed herself up on to her knees - swaying dangerously when the pain in her head intensified at the movement - and looked around. Laid on the floor behind her, crying her tiny heart out was her baby daughter. A relieved sob broke from the blonde's lips as she crawled the short distance and scooped the baby up into her arms.

"M-Mommy's got you, baby ... shhh ..." While soothing her daughter, Felicity checked the little one over the best she could, finding that she was at least uninjured. "It's okay baby ... it's okay ... " Cradling Sophie close to her chest, Felicity looked around again, finally beginning to take in their surroundings; the space was small, with a cold concrete floor and definitely not enough height to stand up. The bars in front of her, and the wider room outside of those gave her a sickening feeling - they were in a cage.

Suddenly, light brightened up the room around the cage, a loud clanging sound hit her ears as a door closed further off than Felicity could see; then the ominous sound of footsteps, and she was no longer alone.

@heroicpaths II “i’m awed, impressed, and a little bit scared of you right now.” (from gustave)

Flourishing her foil does Maelle twirl the blade thrice in hand before embedding the tip of the blade into the soft ground beneath her feet and leaning on the pommel, finally relaxing as the redhead can't help but smirk at her older brother's astonishment at her skills. "Thank you, I've really improved lately, haven't I?"

Beaming with pride does she flash Gustave a large toothy smile, a lighthearted chuckle leaving her lips as she picks up her weapon before bounding back to his side. "I learned from the best, you know." His shoulder received a playful nudge as despite her joy in her own abilities there is also a gratitude for the kind tutelage of her guardian.

@heroicpaths

She was still processing.

The truth had been revealed nearly twenty minutes ago, and honestly her head was so full of questions and revelations that it was pounding. What a lovely Christmas present.

But it explained so much. It answered so many questions that she had surrounding Matt Murdock's private life. Explained all those bruises and cuts, bruises and cuts she was horrified to see when he first stepped into the office. Yet at the same time there were still so many things she didn't know- that she needed to know. The basics had been answered. How. When. But the why...and the other details still needed attention.

"I don't..." Karen pauses, shaking her head then ran her hands through her hair. "Who else knows?" Her brows furrow. "....That woman in your bed- the man in the living room. H-He was blind too." Which Matt obviously knew. "T-They knew...they knew right? Who were they?"

          Matt sighs. This is probably the best he can expect, right? They both suck at dealing with emotions and he could only imagine how many of them Tasha is having to process at once. So ask him questions, get a sense of what had happened… yeah, that makes sense, and it’s probably the best he can expect from her for a while. 

          “We went after Danny Rand. He was the key for whatever the Hand wanted, so they had Elektra kidnap him and take him to Midland Circle. We got him out and destroyed whatever the Hand was after with the explosion, so… yeah, pretty successful.” Except for the part where he was trapped underneath the explosion which nearly got him killed, but he figured it would be better not to bring that up. 

          He wants to say he’s sorry and that he didn’t mean to put her through all of that but well– he already told her that, and he can only say it so many times before it starts to not mean anything anymore. “It’s my fault. I knew the bomb was going off, I told the others to go. I thought maybe I could save Elektra too, that I could reach out to whatever part of her the Hand hadn’t been able to get to.” Clearly, he hadn’t succeeded in that. All it got him was… well this. This situation they’re in now. And he knows it won’t speed up the process of Tasha forgiving him for disappearing for weeks letting everyone think he was dead, but it’s the truth, and there’s no point in hiding it from her. Especially if he has any hopes of things going back to the way they were, he knows her better than to hide things like this hoping it will never come up. 

     So her guess had been right. Electra was gone. That was... was that supposed to be a comfort to her jealous heart? Was she supposed to console him for his loss? Congratulate him on a job well done? Lament his wounds? Berate his foolhardy lack of self-preservation? Chastise him for his ever present goddamn need to save every person in the universe? 

                    Gods help me. 

     “So Danny is safe?” Fuck, really? “And you are too,” she amends. Her voice is just a touch warmer, because she really has missed him, and mourned him, and if she wasn’t so shaken by his existence right now, she’d probably wrap him up in her arms the way she once did so readily. He’s right there, after so long — it feels like years since she’s seen him (and he doesn’t even have the luxury of sight to reciprocate) — and all she can feel is guilt. How could she not have known that he was still alive? 

     But she’d lost too many people too often (killed too many with her own hands) to disbelieve the fragility of life. And Matt, despite everything, was fragile in so many ways. Resilient too, incredibly strong and brave, but with his conscience and selfless love for so many... 

     “Matty,” she whispers, suddenly overwhelmed. “I’m glad you’re home. I’ll be back in a bit but... I’m glad you’re alive.” You have to believe me, she doesn’t say. I need to get my head on straight but you have to know I love you. I’m sorry.