MORTALA, daredevil

08

  MATT MURDOCK NEVER FEARED MUCH. He remembers when he was first blinded and how scary it was to live in a world of pure darkness. His dad was there to help him through it but after a while he wasn't. Then the fire came, outlining and illustrating the world around him, guiding him through life.

  When his dad died he felt scared. He was alone, no mother, no father, no one. He would scream every night in the orphanage but Sister Maggie would come rushing in and soothing his mind. One night she never helped to soothe him so he learned to do it on his own.

  Stick came along and taught him how to fight, how to navigate and how to deal with his senses. He helped teach how to be strong and agile. To Matt, Stick became like a father figure but Stick never thought of Matt was his son. Just a warrior in a war he never explained. Once again he was abandoned and once again he learned how to fend for himself.

  When he thought he found his soulmate until she placed his father's murderer in front of him and tried to make him murder him. She was perfect. She was adventurous. She felt like a new drug and he was addicted. Even though he wanted to give in to her, he kept his morals strong, he stayed stubborn even though the temptation burned in his veins. Begging and pleading. Whispering to him how much better life would be without the twisted man breathing. After he denied the temptation, she left him. She ran somewhere and never came back. Never explaining. Never returning to him. She left him.

  But now when he felt his stitch on his side reopen seconds before a new client knocked on the door, he felt a little terrified- well a little more nervous. Especially when the new client was the one who patched him up. A mysterious woman called Julie.

  He clutched his side, attempting to apply more pressure so the wound wouldn't bleed too much, and he moved his suit jacket to try and cover the bleeding. He heard her open the door and curiously walk inside. He knew she was probably looking around the office and looking for them but he decided to focus on hiding the Blood.

-

  YULIA DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK. The office was small and looked quite neglected. Electrical wires hung from the ceiling and the place definitely needed scrubbed from head to toe and new flooring- actually maybe new everything.

  A pretty blonde sat at a desk infront of her. She looked surprised by her, obviously not expecting a client. Getting over her shock, she stood up and walked towards Yulia. "Hello how can I help you?"

  "I'm looking for a Mr Nelson and Mr Murdock." Yulia gave a quick sweet smile. "I need their help. Kind of?"

  One of office doors opened widely and a man quickly appeared in the reception area(if that's what you would call it). His smile was bright and Yulia instantly knew who it was. Foggy Nelson, the man from the coffee shop on two occasions. "Julie! Thank you for coming!"

  "I should be thanking you, I was just going to ignore the problem until last minute but you have convinced me to sort it out."

  "I'm a lawyer, I am a great convincer." He joked causing both girls to smile.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw somebody open another door, probably another office and walk out. The figure gripped his cane in one hand and held slightly onto his other side. A bruise painted on his cheekbone. He spoke up, frightening Foggy and the blonde but not her. "I wondered when you would come by."

  Her face remained unaffected by his sudden presence and calm. "Well I had to check on you. Couldn't let a poor man suffer from a terrible burn because of me." The last part was untrue. She had let many poor men die by fire but for some reason she didn't want him hurt. She couldn't figure out why yet.

  Matt couldn't help himself. He really did try to not reply with the words but it just made sense. "No need to check up on me, I'm a big boy."

  The words clicked on Yulia's head. The side holding. The bruise. The mask covering his eyes. The man in the mask is a blind man. He is a lawyer, a best friend. He is Matt Murdock. Matt Murdock is the Devil of Hell's kitchen. She knew who he was but she wasn't going to expose him.

  "All big boys need somebody to look out for them though. Patch up those wounds of yours." She said, hinting to the previous night. Foggy and the blonde simply thought they were flirting- which they kind of were- but Matt knew the true meaning of her words.

  "Well its good a good thing you are my friend. I have been getting in a few accidents recently."

  "Yeah and you know what will help?" Foggy butted in, "A guide dog."

  Matt give him a knowing look, shutting down the suggestion instantly. "I'm not getting a dog."

  "Everybody likes dogs!" Foggy argued.

"Yeah, I like dogs." The blonde teaming up with Foggy.

  They looked to Yulia for help but instead of backing them up she replied with "I want a dog called Bug. Matt looks like a cat person though. "

  The others furrowed their eyebrows at the randomness of the comment but agreed with the last sentence.

  Foggy shook his head animatedly, remembering the relevance of Yulia's visit. "So how is the hypothetical man with the hypothetically broken toe?"

  "Eh, he hasn't tried to hunt me down and avenge his toe yet so that's a good sign right?"

  The blonde raised her eyebrows as her eyes widened. "Hold on, did you damage a man's toe?"

  Yulia sucked on her teeth and took a dramatic inhale.

  Now Matt decided it would be perfect to butt into the conversation. "Julie, did you?"

  "I don't remember doing it."

  "She broke a man's toe while drunk." Foggy confirmed for them.

  Matt and the blonde pulled shocked faces, one with a smirk and the other's mouth made the shape of an 'o'.

  "Was it atleast self defense?" Blondie asked.

  "Well like I said I don't really remember but I do vaguely. remember a group of man blocking the bar and I did really want a drink." She said, drawing out the last part like she was figuring out a riddle.

  "Wonderful, just wonderful." Foggy whispered but still loud enough for Yulia to hear. "Follow me inside and explain in detail what happened."

  Foggy led her to small room which must of been used to talk to clients in. Matt and blondie(who she later found out was Karen) joined them quickly.

  They went over the boring details- at one point Yulia zoned out and just sang some random Shakira song in her head- and they officially made her their client. Apparently she was their second paying costumer which was honestly pretty sad in her eyes. No wonder their office looks like a shit show.

  She wanted to talk to Matt in private, so she could find out why and how he was who he was but she knew she couldn't. Not now anyway. She would just hunt him down later if needed and interrogate him (in a nice way, not her usual route).

  She said her goodbyes to them and left to go back to work. Even when she visited her boss and got even more paperwork, she couldn't stop thinking about Matt. Who he was but also the feeling he gave him. What was he doing to her?