Rose.
Rose clipped on her earring, completing her outfit for the benefit. She was now wearing a dark navvy blue dress with a sweetheart neckline that finished above her knees, gold jewellery and black heels. She grabbed her clutch and then headed down stairs where Stacey was standing in the kitchen.
"You look nice." The girl smiled.
"Thank-you. I'm not sure what time I'll be back, I have to drop by a friends place afterwards."
"Alright. I have something to show you before you leave." Stacey said, grabbing her handbag and pulling out an A4 envelope, sliding it across the bench to Rose.
She pulled out what was inside to see a filled out membership form. "You got him to sign up." Rose stated.
"I did." Stacey nodded with a proud smile.
"Well done. I'll file this tomorrow."
"What's next?" The girl asked, wanting another task.
"Let me think on it." Rose stated before they said their goodbyes and she went out to her car, driving off down the road to where the dinner was being held.
Rose was sat at a table with Vanessa, Fisk, Wesley, Leland and two other members of the high-class society, a married couple no less. The dinner went by with idle chitchat, Fisk selling his campaign to the other two guests that were rather high up on the food chain and probably strategically seated at his table for this reason. It was then time for dancing, apparently, no doubt more Vanessa's doing than Fisk's.
Vanessa and Fisk of course went to dance as well as the couple while Leland went to get more alcohol, leaving Rose and Wesley at the table.
"Well." James rose from his chair and then held out his hand to Rose who cracked a smile, at first thinking he was joking.
"I don't dance." She stated calmly, leaning back in her chair to look up at him.
"It's a social event, Rosalie. It's only right to blend in. Unless, of course... you don't know how to." He stated which of course got her to sigh in frustration, rising from her chair and taking his hand, a need to prove that she could setting in. "You haven't given us the documents for your take over of Veles Taxi, yet." Wesley informed as they began to dance along with the other pairs in the room. Not the type of dancing you see at the club, but proper formal dances, the gentlemen leading.
"Hmm. Well, I guess I'm being cautious."
"Of what?"
"I can't help wondering if the only reason you want me to take over from the Russians is because Wilson Fisk the TV star and spokesperson of the people can't be placing his name on a company that was once owned by the Russian mob. It may send the wrong message. And if the people would think that of him then what's to say they won't think any differently of me?"
"I admire the way your mind works, Rosalie... despite your temper." He added. "I know swaying you won't be all that easy either, so... think on it some more, but... don't take too long."
"Mind if I cut in?" The voice of Leland broke them apart.
Wesley narrowed his eyes in confusion as Rose raised her eyebrows, but nonetheless, let the man take over as James went about his way and Rose suddenly wished she was back dancing with him, knowing that Leland probably wouldn't have anything good to say.
"I don't get it." He commented after a few moments of silence.
"What's that, Leland?" Rose sighed.
"You. Your men are loyalist sycophants that would do anything you asked. If you told them to jump off a ten-story building then they would probably do it. The Russians trusted you more than anyone else, you almost had Vladimir wrapped around your finger..."
"I wouldn't go that far." Rose cut in, but Leland still continued.
"Nobu respected and trusted you to an extent, Gao likes you..."
"Just likes? That's sort of a let down after the rest."
"The entirety of Hell's Kitchen thinks you're their little darling." He still ignored her commentary. "You're even working you charms on Wesley and succeeding more every day, your end game being Fisk, no doubt, especially considering Vanessa has already warmed to you."
"What's your point, Leland?" Rose insisted sternly, growing impatient.
"A woman who is respected, loved and trusted by everyone... shouldn't be, not in our line of work. Tell me, is there anyone in this world that you truly care for?"
"And if there was, why would I tell you?" She asked bitterly. "How's your son, Leland?" Rose then asked. In truth she couldn't care less and he knew that. It was just a way of getting him to shut up. She knew who the one person that he loved more than anyone was. It wasn't a threat so much as a warning.
"Good." Was his only reply accompanied by a hard glared and a stiff smile, silencing the rest of the conversation.
Foggy.
"You run around dressed like a moron, beating people up!" Foggy yelled.
"It's not that simple and you know it!" Matt yelled back as loud as he could without aggravating his wounds.
"No! I don't know shit. Not about this. I mean, how... okay, so you get these whatever-you-call-them when you're a kid. How do you go from that to what you're doing now?"
"When I was a kid, before the accident... I'd lay awake at night listening to the sirens. I liked to put stories to them. Trying to figure out what they were for, ambulance or cops, robbery or fire. I don't know, just a stupid game, but after I lost my sight, after my abilities developed, I realized how many sirens there actually were... how much this city suffered every single night."
"You've been running around doing this since you were a kid?" Foggy asked.
"No. I... I tried not to fight... to make my dad proud. To... to block it out; the sirens, the pain, the fear, all... strangling Hell's Kitchen. For years I buried my head and turned away. Then one night... right after we quit Landman and Zack... I heard it."
"Heard what?"
"A little girl... crying in her bed, in a building down the block. Her father liked to go to her room late at night... when his wife was asleep."
"Oh, Jesus." Foggy shook his head.
"I called Child Services... like you're supposed to, but the mum, she wouldn't believe it. Said it wasn't true and the dad... he was smart. He made sure what he did, how he did it, didn't leave a mark. The law couldn't do anything to help that little girl... but I could. I knew his routine. Waited til he was alone... He spent the next month in a hospital, eating through a straw. And I never slept better."
"You say all this, like... one day you'd just had it with how things are... but to do what you do, you had to keep training, all those years since that Stick guy, knowing you would do something like this. Maybe it isn't only about justice, Matt. Maybe it's about you having an excuse to hit someone. Maybe you just can't stop yourself."
"I don't want to stop." Matt said softly.
Rose.
"There are those that question why a man such as myself, a man who treasures his privacy, would willingly subject himself to the public eye." Fisk had began his speech, the crowds gathered around him as he stood on the podium with Vanessa at his side. "I question the man who wouldn't step forward when his city, his heart, is in such a time of need. With your help, we can ensure that everyone... that was affected by the recent attacks, and all who call Hell's Kitchen their home, will see a righter day. I thank you, and please enjoy your evening."
Rose sighed and clapped along with the others as Fisk joined the crowds.
"What was the largest donation that's been made tonight?" Rose asked Leland, knowing he would have been taking the checks.
"Around 200 thousand." He answered.
Rose nodded and then left to take up a seat at a table, pulling out her check book and doubling the highest donation before ripping it off and leaving to find Wesley, handing it over as Fisk and Vanessa were on their way to join the two.
"Very generous." James commented.
"Anything to help the wonderful people of this beautiful community fight against this disease ridden filth." She shot back with a smile as Wesley returned it tightly, obviously sensing the sarcasm underneath.
"I haven't been in a room with so many deep pockets since the junk bond days." Leland stated as he, Fisk and Vanessa all congregated around James and Rose. "So, does anybody need a drink as bad as I do?" Leland asked.
"Yes, please." Vanessa answered.
"Why not?" Rose whispered, half wishing it was something a little stronger than champagne.
"It was a hell of a speech, Fisk. You ever think about running for office?" The Senator came over, shuffling his way into the group.
"I'll leave that to people like you, Senator."
He chuckled and nodded, "That's a good answer. You, um... got a minute to talk about that zoning issue?"
"Yes, of course." Fisk nodded and then turned to Vanessa. "Be right back." He placed a kiss on her cheek and followed the man away.
"I didn't vote for Senator Cherryh last election." Vanessa said once they were out of ear shot just as Rose went to take a sip of her drink.
"Nor did I." Rose said, lowing the drink before taking a sip.
"Few people did." Wesley stated.
"But he still won. He said it was because of the advice he got from Van Lunt and his crackpot astrologer, if you can believe that."
"Van Lunt?" Vanessa asked.
"Yeah, he's the guy who owns this mausoleum." Rose answered again interrupting her before she could take a drink and looking around at the room they were standing in.
"Ask me, has more to do with Cherryh having his fingers in all the right holes." Leland added.
"And by that he means the Mayor's wife among others, not networking and friendships." Rose added, bringing the glass up to her lips.
"It's a form of networking and friendship." Leland commented as Rose smiled going to take a sip, but was shoved forward by someone stumbling behind her, splashing some of the drink on the ground as she grabbed hold of James' arm and he helped steady her.
"Somebody can't hold his liquor." Leland commented, utterly indifferent to the man that had now collapsed right beside them, people running to help. Rose was about to do the same, keeping up the cover of, as Leland had put is, Hell's Kitchen's little darling when a woman a few metres away also collapsed.
"What the hell is this?" Leland asked just as another man fell.
"Wesley, get the car. We need to leave... now." Fisk said, joining them once again, but before James could make a move Vanessa dropped her champagne, the glass shattering upon impact. "Vanessa!" Fisk called, running to her and catching her before she fell, foam bubbling at her mouth.
"Christ! Somebody get a doctor here!" Leland yelled. "Somebody get a doctor!" He then looked down at his glass and dropped it drawing the conclusion, much like a few people around had, that it was the champagne.
Rose looked down at her own just before it was taken from her hand and placed on the nearby table.
"Did you drink any?" James asked.
"No." Rose shook her head. "We need to get her to a hospital." Rose stated, moving on. "Go get the car, I'll ring them ahead and warn them." James nodded and then took off.
"Vanessa! Vanessa!" Fisk was yelled, trying to get her to open her eyes.
"Fisk!"
"Vanessa!"
"Wilson." Rose grabbed his arm to catch his attention. "James went to get the car, we should meet him out there."
He nodded and then lifted the woman up before powering through the crowds, Leland and Rose following as she pulled out her phone and dialled the number to the closest hospital.
"Hi, my name's Rosalie King. I was at a charity event this evening and several of the guests have collapsed of suspected poisoning. I'm on my may to your clinic currently with one of the victims and I need you to be prepared. I would also recommend you send out a few ambulances." She gave them the address and didn't offer any room for arguments.
"What happened?" The doctor asked once they made it to the clinic. Everything had been prepared.
"She drank something." James answered.
"What did she ingest? I need you to be specific." The doctor persisted.
"I have no idea."
"It was something in the champagne." Rose added. "There were others, at least three, maybe more by now."
"Uh, I had a glass in my hand. Do I need to be checked out?" Leland asked.
"How long has she been unconscious?"
"Twenty minutes. Maybe a little longer." James answered.
"23." Rose cut in after she had been keeping track.
"Place is a rat hole." Leland stated.
"It was the closest ER." James shot back. "I reached out to Dr Rosenberg. He's on the jet." Wesley said to Fisk.
"Pupils are sluggish. I need an intubation tray, stat! Let's start 1000 cc's of Ringer's lactate to KVO until we know what's going on."
"Are you sure someone shouldn't be looking at me?" Leland cut in.
"We'll have a nurse come check you out." The doctor stated before they began to wheel Vanessa away.
"I'm coming with her." Fisk insisted.
"Sir, we can't have you in there." The nurse tried to push him back.
"Don't you know who I am?"
"Doesn't matter. Fill out the paper work. We'll update you on her condition as soon as we know anything." The nurse finished before leaving with the doctor.
Rose looked down at her clock. "I have to go." She stated.
"What?" James turned to her.
"I have to go." She repeated.
"Stay for while. At least until the nurse comes to check on Leland, you should..."
"I'm fine. Let me know how it goes." She stated before walking out the door and catching a cab back to the benefit where she had to pick up her car and drive to Matt's.
Foggy.
"You're gonna get yourself killed if you keep this up. You know that, right?" Foggy asked, now sitting back down in the chair.
"I can take care of myself."
"What about the rest of us? Me, Karen, Rose... we're a part of this now, because of you. And we didn't get a say in that."
"What do you think's gonna happen if I give up now, Foggy?"
"Who's going to stop Fisk?"
"Oh, I don't know... the law?"
"Tell that to Elena. If you could have put on a mask and prevented what happened to her... you telling me you wouldn't have?"
"It's not fair, Matt."
"We don't live in a world that's fair. We live in this one. And I'm doing everything I can to make it a better place."
"'A better place.' That kind of sounds like what Fisk keeps saying."
"Don't say that. Don't twist it around." Matt shook his head.
"You tried to kill him, Matt. You told me yourself. How is that any different than the way he solves his problems?"
"I made a mistake, I know that." Matt tried to reason.
"Misspelling 'Hanukkah' is a mistake. Attempted murder is a little something else. You ever stop to think what would happen if you went to jail? Or worse? You really think that anyone would believe that I didn't know what you were doing? That Karen didn't know? What about Rose, huh? With the gym and the competitions, what she does, they would at least rope her into it, especially after what happened to her father." He stated. He wasn't wrong. They'd probably think she was getting revenge for what happened; the robbery in the gym gone wrong that was never solved.
"This city needs me in that mask, Foggy." Matt said, his voice breaking.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe it does... but I don't. I only ever needed my friend. I wouldn't have kept this from you, Matt. Not from you."
"You don't know that." Matt shook his head before repeating it quietly once again. "You don't know that."
"Yeah, I do." Foggy nodded before heading for the door.
"Foggy... wait." Matt tried to stand, but his wounds prevented him. "Foggy." He tried again, but the front door opened and closed, leaving him alone.
Just as Foggy ripped open the main door to the building and powerwalked through it he slammed right into a woman.
"Sorry, I... Rose." Foggy took in who it was. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see Matt..." Rose stated in confusion as Foggy should have known full well.
"Oh, right, yeah. How was the event?"
"Eventful." She stated.
"Well, you look nice." Foggy complimented, gesturing to her dress.
"Thanks. How's Matt?"
"Go see for yourself." He nodded over his should as Rose gave him another strange look before they said their goodbyes and she went upstairs.
Rose.
Rose knocked on the door first, calling Matt's name before turning the door handle, discovering that Foggy had left it unlocked.
"Matt?" She called again, walking down the corridor. There was nothing she could do to prevent her heart from pounding in her chest. She had managed to push back everything she had discovered that day during the benefit, but she couldn't now. It was her singular thought and his wounds would be the last piece of the puzzle one she'd confirmed they weren't in fact from a car.
"In here." He called back as she exited the corridor and he came into view, sitting upright on the edge of his couch wearing a grey tracksuit top and matching pants. His face was bruised and grazed in accordance to a crash, but it wasn't enough. She had to see the rest.
Rose took a weary step closer to him, her eyes scanning him like daggers in an almost threatening way as she stepped closer, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor. Matt shrugged it off as worry for his injuries and shock over the "accident".
"How are you feeling?" She asked, the words verging on empty, but Matt's thoughts were still to focussed on how things had ended with Foggy to concentrate all that much on her slow steps, calculating eyes and the almost cold feeling to her voice.
"Better." He stated.
She finally made her way over to him and sat down in the middle of the couch. "Let me see." She insisted.
"What?"
"I highly doubt the car only hit your face, Matt." Rose stated, lifting her hand and running it across the redness over his right cheekbone.
"It's okay, really." Matt tried to argue, not wanting her to see the full extent of the damage.
"You know I'm not going to take no for an answer." Rose stated, almost harshly, but not quite. Matt did, however, pick up on that, his head inching a little in her direction as his eyebrows scrunched together the slightest bit. "Please, Matt... let me see." Rose continued, now softening her voice.
Mat sighed and looked away a little before leaning against the arm of the chair for support as he began to unzip the hoodie. Once it was undone, Rose scooted forward brushing the sides of it away from his torso. There were two cuts that had been stitched on either side of his chest plus multiple bruises and a couple smaller lacerations that were more like scratches, but on the right side of his stomach was a white patch, covering the worst of the wounds. Rose's hands were shaking as she peeled of the tape and folded it back showing a much deeper cut that would have been the reason for his lack of movements.
Rose's breath hitched as she stood from the chair and took a step back, lightly shaking her head as tears stung her eyes, threatening to fall.
"Oh god." Her voice cracked.
"It's not that bad. Just from the glass..."
"No." Rose stated firmly, shaking her head. "It's you..." She breathed. "Oh god, it is you." She said a little more loudly this time, but only a fraction, looking away and out the window, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Rose... what are you... I was hit..."
Her head snapped back to him, "YOU WERE NOT HIT BY A CAR!" She yelled. Her heart felt like it was about to lurch out of her chest as her stomach coiled and she felt nauseated. "That's not from a crash, Matt!" Her voice was still loud, but not as it was before. "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick." She whispered, more to herself as she turned her back and took a few steps away from him.
"What do you know, Rose?" He asked. His initial reaction would have been to ask if Foggy had told her anything, but he had heard their conversation outside.
"I know that you're going to get yourself killed." She whispered, now turning back.
"How do..."
"I'm only going to ask this one, Matty." Rose stepped forward and knelt down in front of him. "No. I'm going to beg... please... stop this."
Matt was silent, taking in her words and the realisation that she knew the truth. How she had drawn that conclusion, he didn't know, but she did.
"I can't." He stated, not fighting the truth anymore, there was no point and it would only make her angrier. Her heart pounded in her chest as she shook her head once again.
"The Russians, Nobu, Leland, what happened tonight... you can't stop it all." She whispered the last part.
The mention of the Russians and Owlsley he could have shaken off, they were all over the news being wrapped up in the business with the mask... between the bombings and Leland's assault. He had no idea what she meant by what happened tonight, but Nobu... that wasn't a name she should know.
"Nobu." He echoed curiously. "What happened tonight?" He then asked, deciding to get one answer at a time.
"Someone poisoned the champagne at the benefit, presumably to get to Fisk, but Vanessa drank it. She's in hospital now. A few others collapsed, but I don't know what happened to them, I was helping Fisk get Vanessa to the ER."
"Fisk... Rose, I told you to stay away from him and this is why. It's dangerous. You're going to get hurt."
Rose scoffed, getting to her feet once again. "I'm not the one who's half dead."
"Where did you hear the name Nobu?" Matt then asked.
"You said it yourself the other night, Matt. I know a lot of people. You came to me, dressed as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and questioned me about Fisk because you thought I would know him and you were right... I do. I know more about him than what I let on, then what you know. Vladimir and Anatoly... Nobu... Leland, Wesley, the Chinese." She listed. "Hundreds of others. You can't get anywhere in this city without knowing some of them. I have connections, people who come to the fights at the gym, I hear things, my men hear things, Freya has new stories to tell from the club and bar every night." She wasn't going to completely give herself up, more or less play it off as helpless bystander, being sure not to tell a lie. "Everyone in the high society of Hell's Kitchen knows something. I told you how I met James Wesley and through him I met Fisk. The Russians were regular betters at the gym, every fight they'd place a bet, mostly Anatoly. You think that most of the customers who come to the gym to watch men beat the crap out of each other, putting money on it, are good people? In this neighbourhood?"
"Why didn't you say anything?" Matt questioned.
"And what? Get stabbed to death, shot on the street, beheaded, blown up?!"
"You need to stay away from them." Matt stated.
"No, Matt. You do." Rose insisted.
"Rose, you need to listen to me..."
"No! You need to listen to me! You don't know all the facts."
"And you do?"
"I know more than you!" Rose yelled.
"Why did you draw the conclusion that it was me in the Mask? Foggy found me half dead in the costume and he still hardly believed it." Matt stated, confirming that Foggy now knew the truth, which explained his odd behaviour.
"I didn't know for sure." Rose whispered. "I've had my suspicions, but I did my best to ignore them. At first I just thought you had an informant to keep tabs on your clients and whether or not they were innocent."
"Why did you think that?"
Rose took in a deep breath before answering. "You asked about Anatoly. You asked if we had heard anything about a Russian getting his head cut off in Hell's Kitchen. It wasn't common knowledge, still isn't."
"That was it?"
"That was it."
"26 years and you still surprise me." He mumbled.
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
"Good." He breathed.
"Wish it was going to stay that way." Rose said under her breath, barely audible.
"If it wasn't common knowledge, then where did you hear it?"
"Vladimir." Rose stated and then sighed, taking a seat on the couch opposite Matt. "He came to the gym after the last competition asking if Anatoly had stopped by. He couldn't get a hold of him and thought that maybe he had come to see the fight he'd placed a bet on. The next day they found his body in a side ally."
"You were close enough to him for him to tell you that?"
"I was dropping off Anatoly's winnings... I saw the body."
"And you didn't..."
"What did I say, Matt?!" Rose yelled again, jumping out of her chair. "What have I been telling you since you took this tenement case?! Why do you think I've been so worried about it?! These are dangerous people! They have no morals! You want to know why they think that they can get away with anything by buying people off or killing them? Because they can!"
"Look, Rose, I understand if you're scared of them, but this has to stop."
Rose scoffed once again, looking away. "I'm not going to explain everything for you, Matty. I can't." Rose walked back over to him. "But you're going to find out. It's inevitable now." She whispered more to herself before once again lightly shaking her head and kneeling down in front of him for the second time. She picked up his hands and ran her thumb over the top of them before taking in a shaky breath. "I am so sorry, Matty." There was more sincerity in her words than she had ever used before, the first genuine tear in... well she didn't know how long, escaping and running down her cheek.
Her voice had been barely a whisper, but he heard and when she looked up at him his blind eyes were staring blankly right into hers. It wasn't often that he looked directly at someone, but occasionally he did. Rose didn't know that he could just see her face in a red flaming blur and he could sense the single tear that had fallen and landed on the sheet that covered his legs. This caused some of his own, a sense of what was coming next.
Rose reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, gently brushing her thumb under his tearing up eye. "You're the only one who has been there for me throughout my entire life... and I love you for it. More than anyone." She whispered the last sentence, another tear falling.
Rose didn't want to tell him the whole truth. She didn't want to watch the change of love to disgust on his face. She knew he would find out now. He already had his suspicions as it was... at least he did now. It wouldn't be long before he learnt everything and when he confronted her about it next, she would be prepared, she would not falter, but she could not do it in this moment. Rose stood and leant down to place a kiss on his cheek before going to leave.
"Rose." Matt said quickly, stumbling out of his chair with an agonising grunt of pain that caused her to quickly turn back and steady him. He began to stand up straight, now a little taller than her as his own hand ran down his cheek before he pulled her back to him to return the kiss, this time on her lips. "Please, don't go." He pleaded once they had pulled back, barely an inch.
Another tear and light shake of her head as her hand brushed his jawline. "Goodbye, Matty." She replied and this time he let her go, slipping out of his arms as his own tears finally began to fall, listening to the door open and close before he sat back down on the couch.
Matt knew it wasn't just a 'goodnight' goodbye or a 'I'll see you tomorrow.' He knew then that she was more wrapped up in everything than just a passing observer or contact. The goodbye was not a final goodbye, but it was a farewell to whatever it was they had. It was a goodbye to their friendship that had changed into something more. And now it was over.
Ta-daaaa :)