Quietly sitting on the L train with a book in her hand, Maggie read Pride and Prejudice once again, her eyes moving left to right every minute or so as she soaked in every word. Her frizzy dark brown hair was braided on the right side and laid on her shoulder, going up and down as she breathed softly. It was the same routine she had fallen into after two years of leaving work a tired mess, read her book on the train, then getting off to go home to her little apartment and take care of her grandfather.
Finally the train reached Maggie's stop and she gathered her things in her crossbody bag, brushing off her scrubs and pulling her coat tighter on before getting up and getting off. Tugging her stray hairs behind her ears, she looked around the empty subway before making her way up the stairs and into Hell's Kitchen. It was a short walk home, her breathing turning into fog in front of her as she went.
It wasn't long until she reached her apartment building and scurried upstairs to her floor. Maggie let herself in with her keys and breathed a sigh of relief as she smelled coffee. "Grandpa, it's too late to be making coffee." Maggie muttered as she walked from the corridor into the apartment more, seeing her grandpa sitting in a chair as he sipped a beige mug. His white and grey mustache hairs were brown from the coffee as his equally brown eyes squinted at her from over the mug.
Once he got done sipping his drink, he pulled it back and made a grunting noise. "Ahhhh, poppycock! I could drink five cups and still be tired." Maggie shook her head at him as she walked over and inspected his colostomy bag.
"Have you been able to change your bag?" Maggie asked him as she kneeled to check it. Grandpa waved her hand away in irritation as she reached for it.
"Yes, yes, I did. Don't worry about little old me. Instead, worry about getting into the shower and getting clean." Maggie looked him in the eyes, her tired ones searching his for the truth as his hand reached out and laid gently on her cheek. "You look tired." He spoke softly as she sniffed a bit and looked down, breaking contact and getting back up.
"I'll be fine. I'm going to shower but you better make sure that your bag is truly changed before bed or I'll do it myself, Grandpa." Maggie warned before making her way towards her room, grabbing clothing, and then to the shower. Quickly scrubbing herself down in blistering hot water, she hopped out and braided her wet hair then got into her pajamas.
Maggie eventually made her way into the kitchen and started getting things ready for dinner. "You hungry for spaghetti?" She asked him as he groaned.
"I hate that stuff, we eat it so often." Maggie sighed lowly, the tiredness seeping out at she had the same argument with him that she had with every food she suggested.
"Let's call in pizza then." Maggie quickly gave up the idea on arguing with him as he grinned at her at that.
"Smart idea, Maggie darling." A small smile made its way to her lips at the warmth he exuded. Walking to the living room, Maggie switched off the kitchen light and sat on the couch, pulling a blanket over her legs before she pulled out her phone to call in the pizza.
"I got a pepperoni with black olives on it like you like it, Papa." Maggie told him as he hummed in acknowledgment, still watching his black and white shows on the screen.
"You know, I was going to be in one of these movies." Grandpa spoke, pointing to the screen. "But your grandmother told me if I wanted to run away to Hollywood to not come back. That woman really thought that if I went into movies, I'd never come back to her! Ha! A silly woman she was." He muttered.
"A silly woman indeed. You were head over heels for her." Maggie responded, saying the same thing she did every time he told her this story. Grandpa nodded in agreement at that, rubbing his chin in thought.
"I've told you this before, haven't I?" He asked, his voice somewhat low as his eyes moved to her and looked at her knowingly. Sometimes Grandpa would realize that he repeated the same thing, having a moment of clarity in the fog of his that was slowly becoming more and more prominent.
"Oh, only once." Maggie reassured him with a loving smile as he chuckled heartily.
"Why do you put up with me when you could be out doing something fun?" Grandpa asked her as she shook her head, rolling her eyes playfully.
"Pft, you're the most fun I'm gonna get. Don't ask silly questions like that, Papa. I love spending my time with you and making sure you're okay."
"And what about William? Don't you want to go be with him right now?" Grandpa asked and Maggie tensed up at the mention of it. That was another thing he repeated sometimes too. The mention of William's name made her stomach churn in upset but Maggie tried to school her expression and keep her voice even before responding. "Uh oh, did you two get into a fight? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up Darling."
Fight. His fists connecting to her cheek, blood running down her mouth. "I'm gonna grab a soda, are you done with your coffee?" Maggie asked, trying hard to change the topic and keep her mind off of any lingering dark thoughts. Grandpa stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding and holding out his mug for her to take. Maggie reached for it, and as she grabbed it, his hand laid down gently over hers.
"I love you, Maggie darling." Grandpa muttered quietly as she smiled at him.
"I love you too, papa." He then let go and Maggie turned around to take the mug to the sink, her smile melting off her face. The rest of the evening went by in a blur after that. Soon it was ten and Grandpa shuffled off to bed, telling her he was taking out his hearing aids for the night.
Maggie got ready for bed then, taking her time to lay out her scrubs for tomorrow, and looking at her schedule. When everything was in order and Maggie was about to get into bed, a knock sounded on her door. "Oh gosh." She sighed before going to the door and opening it. Standing there was Maggie's boyishly charming neighbor, Tom. Tom was around his thirties, had chocolate colored hair, with matching chocolate colored eyes, fair skin, a sharp nose with inquisitive eyes, tall, slim but with broad shoulders, and a dry sense of humor. He was always wearing a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of slacks with loafers, and a belt.
"Maggie, hey." Tom gave her a smile and she gave him a slightly forced smile back, hoping he would make this quick.
"Hey Tom, what's up?" She asked him softly as his eyes looked her over and to her pajamas sheepishly.
"Sorry, were you about to go to bed? I can come back." He apologized, scratching the back of his head. Maggie shook her head, feeling bad suddenly.
"It's fine, I was just going to go and read until I fell asleep, nothing exciting. Go ahead, what did you need?" She asked as he messed with his hands awkwardly for a moment before crossing them across his chest in resolve.
"Well I was hoping that maybe if you weren't busy, you and I could go catch a bite to eat this weekend." Tom's voice had a slight tremble to it and Maggie felt her stomach twist at the thought of rejecting his offer.
"Oh.. I-"
"You don't have to! I mean-" Tom stopped before collecting himself. "I realize you're busy, and taking care of your Grandpa is a full time responsibility so I get it." Guilt made its way through her and releasing forcefully through her nostrils, Maggie finally spoke.
"Let me see what I've got going on this weekend and I'll get back to you, okay?" Tom's whole face lit up like a firework at the fact that she hadn't out right said no this time and he nodded profusely.
"That sounds good to me! Well, I better get home and let you get some sleep, Mags. Sweet dreams." He told her sweetly before turning around and heading back down the hall to his apartment. Closing the door, Maggie turned back to go to her room with a sinking stone in her gut at her vague agreement to go out with him.
"You can always just tell him you're busy." She muttered to herself as she pulled back her covers to get into bed but before Maggie could, another knock sounded on the door. "What does he want now?" She groaned before making her way back to the door and swinging it open only for her eyes to widen at a man holding another man that was bleeding everywhere.
"Matt! What the hell?!" She snapped at him but quickly helped him prop up the other man that he was dragging with him. Matt was in his suit but had his mask held precariously in his hand, his dark hair swept to the side as he breathed heavily.
"I had no where else to bring him Maggie, I'm sorry." He whispered his apology as they dragged the man into the kitchen and leaned him against the kitchen wall. Running to the bathroom, Maggie grabbed multiple towels and ran back to the kitchen before laying them on the ground for the bleeding man to lay on.
"Who is this?" She asked Matt angrily, gesturing to the man as he glanced to her, the pain evident on his face. He had dark brown eyes, and a tan complexion, wearing a pair of dark colored jeans and a black long sleeve with a vest over it that had a skull painted on the chest. His face was covered in stubble, a rugged look to him as his hair was almost buzzed all off, just an inch or two on the top.
"I can't tell you." Matt's mouth formed a thin line as Maggie threw up her hands in irritation as a dry laugh made its way from her mouth.
"Of course you can't, and I bet you're wanting me to fix him up, hm?" She asked as he nodded helplessly, a slight smile on his beat up face.
"Kinda, yeah." Maggie stared at him blankly for a minute before groaning and going to grab her first aid and surgical kit. As Maggie kneeled beside the man to help him, reaching out to touch his wound and inspect it, his hand snapped out and grabbed her wrist hard. Maggie went rigid as he did so, all the color draining from her face as flashbacks took over her thought process for a moment. She was completely still as he held her wrist, and his eyes bore holes into her as she zoned out.
"She's trying to help you, let go." Matt's voice was firm as he spoke lowly to the man, leaning downwards to look at him.
When Maggie came back from the memories, her eyes met with the man's. His dark colored eyes seemed haunted, the pain mingled with whatever else kept him up at night and as he stared back at her, recognition swept across his face. In that moment, they both were aware of the fact that demons lurked in them and slowly, his grip on her loosened before he pulled his hand back completely. "I gotta inspect your wound.." Maggie rasped out after a moment, watching as he slightly nodded before getting to work.
It looked like a bullet had torn through his leg but had passed on the other side. That was a relief since it made things a lot cleaner without her having to get tongs to dig a bullet from a chunk of his thigh. "I'm assuming you were doing your usual vigilante bullshit, right?" Maggie asked Matt as she worked on sterilizing the wound.
"You know me too well, Maggie." She heard him say as she tried to keep her eyes from rolling out of her head.
"I only know so well because of your track record. So you dragged some poor innocent into your mess?" She asked as the man whose leg she was currently sewing, chuckled.
"He didn't drag me into anything. In fact, it was the other way around." His voice was rough and deep, commanding attention as he spoke. Maggie felt her heart thumping hard in her chest as he spoke, feeling uncomfortable at the reaction she was having from him.
"Look the less questions you ask, the better. I don't want you in the middle of this." Matt interjected after the other man stopped speaking.
"That's funny seeing as how I'm already fully involved by sewing up the bullet hole in Rambo's leg here." Maggie muttered as she focused on keeping the stitching straight. "If you wanted to keep me out of this, don't come to me for help when you get your shit rocked, Matt." Maggie snarked as she heard him sigh in aggravation. "Oh I'm sorry, I meant Daredevil." Sarcasm dripped from her tone as the man laughed a very genuine laugh seemingly because of her.
"I like this girl, red." He gave a half grin as Maggie's eyes quickly flickered up to look at his face before looking back down to his wound. "Name's Frank." The man introduced himself as Maggie hummed at him in acknowledgement.
"Maggie." She murmured back. After that, they lapsed into a tense silence while Matt paced her kitchen back and forth. "You're going to pace your way through my floor." Maggie commented as she finally pulled away after she cut the stitching. "Can I clean the cuts on your face?" Maggie asked Frank as he stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding.
"Where'd you learn how to do all this?" Frank asked as she tended to his cuts.
"I uh.." Maggie wiped one of his cuts with peroxide as his face was stone cold. "I'm a nurse."
"You flawlessly stitched me up with a little flimsy kit, and you're just a nurse? Seems like you got a lot of experience doing this." Frank's eyes bore holes into her as she kept focused on his wounds but felt herself getting warm with irritation.
"When you have a friend like this guy-" Maggie pointed her thumb back at Matt. "You become talented at quick fix procedures such as these." She responded flippantly. Finally Maggie pulled back as she looked at his face. "I'm assuming you don't want me to put my cute hello Kitty bandaids on your face?" She asked seriously before a small smirk made its way onto her face as Frank gave a small dry chuckle.
"No thanks, doc." Maggie nodded, then slowly got up and made her way to the sink in the kitchen to wash her hands.
"I assume you made sure you weren't trailed before you moseyed on down here, right?" Maggie asked, her back turned from them as she watched the blood wash off her hands and down the sink.
"Fairly certain no one was following us but we're sticking around for a bit to recoup before we leave so if anyone comes around, I'll deal with them." Matt tried to reassure her but that only stressed her out even further. With a sigh, Maggie turned around and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers.
"Alright. If you're sticking around for a bit, I assume you have time to clean up your buddies blood trail from the door to the kitchen."
"It'll all be sparkling clean before I leave. I assume I can use your cleaning products?" He asked as Maggie nodded.
"Go nuts." She responded wryly. "I'm going to bed because I have work in the morning." Maggie started towards her bedroom before stopping and turning around, pointing at Matt. "You owe me coffee for this, Matt."
"I'm not the one that was sewn up this time though so technically.." Matt gave her a cheesy smile as she rolled her eyes but chuckled.
"Then you owe me coffee instead, gruff and tough. Either way, it's getting paid for."
"Will do, doc." Frank muttered as Maggie waved with a yawn then turned around.
"Lock the door behind you when you exit." Maggie threw out as she went into her room, and shut the door before throwing herself onto her bed and closing her eyes. She slowly drifted off, hearing the slight sounds of shuffling around in the living room as she did so.
Screaming, a blood curdling shrill scream. It was coming out of Maggie's mouth as she held her leg that was in agonizing pain. William stood over her ominously, his gaze down cast as a shadow cast on his face. His face was contorted into a cold expression that terrified every part of Maggie as she looked around for anything to defend herself with.
With a gasp, Maggie sat up in bed and looked around wildly. She was sweating profusely but felt cold and shakily got out of bed, checking the time as she did so. The clock read 4:30 and so Maggie decided to get up and take a shower to fight off the cold that had seeped to her bones.
It was a surprise when Maggie walked out into the living room and the man Frank, and Matt still sat on her couch. They both glanced at her in surprise and she glanced back at them, equally surprised, all the while shivering. "Why are you still here?" She asked them bluntly, her eyes heavy as she spoke, her arms holding herself to try to keep warm.
"The people looking for us are still at it, they've been making rounds around your apartment building and a few other buildings nearby." Matt explained as she sighed.
"That's nice to know. I sure hope they're gone by the time I leave for work. And you too, preferably. I don't need my grandfather seeing you guys and getting all worked up."
"I'll make sure we get out of here before you wake up George.." Matt trailed off as Maggie's teeth began chattering and she cursed before walking over to the thermostat.
"You don't look so good, doc." Frank commented as he watched her closely from his position on her couch, his leg propped up.
"Right back at you." Maggie muttered in irritation before sighing. "Sorry.. I just didn't get good sleep. I think I may call in if only not to run into the goons that kicked your asses. My grandfather is bound to wake up soon, so I suggest you both go into my bedroom while I shower."
"Alright, we'll go camp out there for now. Thank you for this Maggie, I really appreciate the help." Matt told her genuinely as she shrugged, looking at him tiredly.
"You know I can't say no to one of my best friends. Besides, you helped me when I needed it." Maggie looked down for a moment at that, her thoughts far away. "Anyways, I'm going to shower." She told them quickly as Frank continued to watch her, his eyes glued to her the entire time she moved from her room to grab clothes and a towel, then to the bathroom where she shut the door and sighed in relief. His stare was too much to handle, as if he could see into her very soul.
[3rd person POV]
Frank laid on Maggie's bed, lounging on it with his hands behind his head as he stared at Matt who leaned against her wall, looking at the ground silently. "Have something you want to say, Frank?" Matt asked finally, his head not even moving towards Frank.
"How'd you meet big eyes?" He asked bluntly as Matt cocked his head then chuckled tiredly.
"You mean Maggie?"
"Mhm."
"Well.." Matt started. "She came to me for help with a legal situation regarding her then husband, and I helped her get her divorced finalized." Frank scoffed.
"Do you think I'm dumb? How does she know what you do, who you are?" Matt sighed at Frank.
"Look, why do you wanna know about Maggie so badly?" He asked as Frank shrugged as he averted his eyes.
"Just vetting her." He told him flippantly.
"One of my first times doing this, I got pretty beat up. She found me in an alley and helped me. She saved my life, really."
"So, she knew how to do this-" Frank pointed to his sewn up leg. "Before she met you then?"
"She's not military, or any kind of special ops, if that's what you're getting at." Frank stared at him silently and finally Matt crossed his arms. "She learned how to do it because she did it on herself a lot, okay?" Matt divulged with a sigh, his tone laced with irritation. Frank said nothing as he digested that bit of information Matt told him. "There's a reason I helped her with her divorce."
It was silent after that. As they sat in the silence, Matt suddenly pushed himself off the wall. "What's wrong?" Frank asked as Matt sighed.
"I have to go but those guys are still patrolling outside. Listen, I'm going to have to leave you here and go out the window. Tell Maggie I'll be back this evening but don't go anywhere or do anything until then, please."
"Wha- I can't stay here, Red!" Frank snapped out, sitting up. "I don't even know this lady, and I have a score to settle."
"If you don't, we're gonna get caught because of your injury. You're too slow to run, or fight. Until then you have to stay here and I have to go." Frank said nothing but growled in irritation before laying back down on the bed.
Matt quickly opened Maggie's window before expertly sliding out of it and going up, disappearing. It was silent for a bit until Maggie came back into her bedroom, looking around for Matt with her eyebrows furrowed. "He left. Said he'll be back later." Frank muttered as Maggie looked at him wildly.
"He left?! To do what?"
"Don't know, didn't ask. Those guards are still out there making rounds and whatever it is he had to deal with was urgent. I'd be slowin' him down with my injuries." Frank explained as Maggie sighed before flopping on her bed face first next to him, groaning. They stayed that way for awhile, laying motionless and Frank looked over to her only to see that she was asleep, her face peaceful.
Soon, Frank found himself fighting sleep, pulling some blankets at the end of Maggie's bed over himself then over her as well before closing his eyes.
[Maggie's POV]
Brown eyes glinting in sun light, staring at her intensely. The feeling of being engulfed in warmth was so strong, and a sense of peace fell over her.
Maggie startled awake as a knock sounded and her hazel eyes flew open just as Frank's did as well.
"Darling, do you want coffee?" Came her Grandpa's voice through the door.
"Sure papa!" Maggie shouted as Frank lightly smirked at her.
"Are you feeling okay? I heard you shuffling around early this morning and you didn't go to work!"
"Yes, I just didn't get good sleep! I called in already, don't worry. Give me a second and I'll be out there!"
"Okay!" Both Frank and Maggie were quiet as they heard his feet shuffling away.
"Papa?" Frank asked lowly with a slowly spreading grin as Maggie scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, he's my papa." She spoke defensively before pulling off the blankets on her side and getting up. "Are you hungry? I can bring you some food and coffee."
Frank sat up at that and nodded. "That'd be nice, actually. Haven't had a decent meal in a minute." He muttered as Maggie nodded knowingly.
"I'd imagine not if your life is picking fights with dangerous men." And with that, Maggie walked out as his eyes bore holes into her back.
"Maggie darling, who were you talking to in there? Was it William?" He asked as Maggie's face dropped for a moment before she schooled her features. Her Grandpa saw this and shook his head. "No, no, it's not him. I.. I think you and him aren't together anymore, isn't that right?" He asked as Maggie slowly nodded.
"Yes, you're right. We're not together anymore." Maggie walked towards the kitchen and started pulling out eggs and bacon from the fridge as Grandpa shuffled closer, turning on the stove burners for her and grabbing the pan.
"I'm sorry, Mags. I feel silly for forgetting." He murmured as she turned to him with a smile.
"Don't feel silly, Papa. You're fine. So what you forget sometimes? It's not a big deal and I'm here to remind you." Grandpa smiled sadly at her before giving her a kiss on the cheek as she started breakfast. He walked away and sat in his recliner chair as she put on the eggs and suddenly spoke.
"So then, who is in your room?"