Here's To Us *Damned Coda* Matt Murdock*

3) The sun, the moon, the truth

"I read what you said. You- I can believe I'm saying this. No doprdele. You- you're involved with a vigilante! Are you crazy?! I got that he saved you, but the way-" Vera opened her mouth in rush, because holy shit stop that train of thoughts right now, they were not about to talk about that, but he raised his voice to shut her up if needed. "-no, let me finish - the way you talked about him, I know you. You know who he is, worse, you care about him! Ježišimarja, Veroniko!"

Vera watched her brother in horror. His face was flushed, his words were heated, his fists clenched in his lap and the voice he was speaking in.... How did they even get here? How did he put- yeah, he knew her, sure, but was it really that evident? Could he simply know her so well he was able to tell she cared about the man who saved her only from her words, no emotions seen or heard, no context? Vera liked to think her relationship with her brother was rather good - once she had transformed from the awkward little sister and overcame the period of annoying teenage girl in puberty (and she wasn't that bad, okay), they were... good. They had some kind of weird understanding. But what the hell?

Petr was watching her expectantly, pointed look piercing her eyes. She couldn't fool him, could she?

"You're right," Vera exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air just slightly, more in a helpless gesture than an exasperated one. What else could she do? "You're absolutely right. Is that what you want to hear? Yes. I care about him."

"Big time," he added angrily and Vera huffed, looking out of the window to the dark.

"Yes, big time."

She could feel his gaze on her, seeing him frown from a corner of her eye. He was thinking. Her brother was smart, she knew that. Their parents were proud of him, just like they were of her when she got accepted and actually managed not to get kicked out of med school. They joked about it quite often, that they sometimes doubted Vera and Petr were even their kids. Well, Vera sure proved she was, when she dropped out. Anyway, the thing was that Petr was smart. He was very good at noticing small details, but he was able to take a step back and look at the big picture as well. Now, it was an ability Vera did not appreciate at all.

"Was he the reason you got hurt earlier this year too?" he asked after a while. Vera felt the air being knocked out of her chest, blood drained from her face. No doprdele. This wasn't happening. He didn't- what did he mean 'too'?

"It wasn't his fault I got kidnapped!" she burst out in reflex. It wasn't Matt's fault. Why did everyone assume it was?!

"What?!" he shot back.

"The-the cop who was involved in the kidnapping, the one against whom the trial was. It wasn't M-" She licked her lips, because shit. Sure, Macháčková. Tell him Matt's name. Just let the last puzzle pieces fall into place, solve it for him, spare him the work! "It wasn't Mike's fault."

"Šmarja, Verčo. Mike. I'm not even- you dodged the question. Was he the reason why you got hurt earlier this year?"

"No," Vera answered simply, aiming for firm voice. The word was so short and easy she might have even succeed. Petr ran his hand down his face, observing her with wide eyes.

"Pane bože- You're such a terrible liar! And now you're gonna tell me that the articles about him just stopped conveniently after that, right? Such a coincidence!"

"It wasn't his fault!" Vera exploded, jerking to her feet. Petr looked up at her, startled by her outburst. Dammit! Too emotional. "Not- not really, he- he tried to save me, okay? He tried, Jesus, he tried so hard. He wouldn't even sleep, he just kept watching me- and then he left, he left to keep me save from- from the people who did it to me-" she babbled, carefully eyeing Petr.