Hell to Pay (Daredevil x fem!reader)

Chapter 14 - An Uncanny Resemblance

"Open up Jess," you call out, knocking on her front door. You take notice of the new window on her front door, it looks good. Well, it would look a lot better if the door was properly on its hinges.

You sigh, and push in the door, which simply swings open. Either she hasn't gotten a lock since the last time you were here, or she broke it again, both probable explanations.

Her office is surprisingly tidy, bar the empty bottles of whiskey scattered around. You peek into her bedroom, she's still fast asleep. "Get up."

She groans, throwing a pillow at you in an attempt to get you to leave, which you pelt back at her head. "Y/n?"

"You called me last night, remember?"

"Oh, right," she grumbles, rubbing her eyes as she lazily clambers out of bed. "So what do you need my help with?"

"Give me a minute, will you?" she saunters into the kitchen, grabbing a cold slice of pizza from her practically empty fridge. 

"Still a pinnacle of health?"

"Still a smart-ass?" she retorts, as she sits down at her desk, kicking her heels onto the counter.

You crack a wry smile, "How've you been, Jess?"

"Eh, you know how it is," she replies dismissively.

"No, I don't Jess. Because you never answer my calls. The only indication I've got that you were still alive was that phone call last night."

"Ok, ok, I get it. Now can I talk to you about the actual reason I called you?"

You give her a frustrated stare, before sitting down opposite her. "I'm all ears."

"I got a call from this total whack job of a mother, Shirley, who's four year old Sarah went missing."

"You deal with these cases all the time, what do you need me for?"

"I'm not done yet," she says abruptly, and you give her a gesture to continue. "Anyway, Shirley said she couldn't come to my office, that she was in danger-"

"From the same people that took her daughter-"

"Jesus Y/n, shut up and listen would you? But yeah, the same people. She told me to come to her house. Now usually I don't do home visits, but something felt off."

She pauses to take a bite of her pizza, as you roll your eyes impatiently.

"So I went to her house, and- You know what, you can probably guess the next part."

"She was gone too," you say exasperatedly, your arms crossed.

"Bingo. The house seemed normal enough, really messy though, yet it smelled like bleach. You see what I'm getting at?"

"Someone who's really messy wouldn't randomly have washed their floors. You think something happened to her?"

"Uh huh," she nods, spinning her laptop around to you. "See here, there's a similar case like this in Queens. Cops don't care, think a mom and dad just took her daughter on a trip."

"You're saying these are connected? A bit of a stretch, no?"

"It might seem like one, but these parents made a phone call almost exactly twelve hours before they went missing. Which is the same amount of time it took for Shirley to go off the grid."

You have a strange gut feeling, that something terrible is going on here. And your gut isn't wrong, well most of the time.

"And look at this," she opens up another tab, another almost identical case in Brooklyn, "Another girl, Beth, around the same age."

"And is this all local, just in New York?" you inquire, as you look at Shirley's facebook.

"That I know of," she shrugs, finishing her pizza as you scroll through the photos.

"You said she was four, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Isn't that really young to be winning an under ten's spelling bee?" you turn the laptop back around to Jess, the picture showing Sarah holding a trophy more than half her size.

Jess furrows her brows, as she searches for something else, before facing the screen towards you again, "Here, the girl from Queens. Only five, and already a tennis prodigy. Wait, and Beth won a statewide karate competition."

You stare at the photos, racking your brain. "So the girls go missing, probably child trafficking. But the parents, why would they bother with them? They already got the kids, and left without a trace."

"I don't have a clue," Jess sighs, "God, they're so young too. They probably won't even remember their parents."

"Probably," you mumble back, the entire situation feeling all too familiar. 

Of course, it's not the same thing. Whatever creeps are doing this, chances are that they've never even heard of the Red Room. Still, it's eerily similar.

"You alright there? Y/n," Jess waves her hand in front of your face. You hadn't even realised you zoned out, "Yeah, fine. Do you have any leads? Any other kids?"

"Not yet, but I'm waiting for a new parent to speak up like one of these did. Hopefully we can get there before the other guys do."

"Solid plan, but I don't like the idea of waiting around for another girl to go missing."

"Me neither, but what other choice do we have," Jess responds, sounding equally torn up about the whole matter. She turns around suddenly, peering out the window.

"Jess? What is it?" you inquire, as she shuts her blinds almost immediately.

"We're being watched, I can feel it. Someone must have traced Shirley's call to me," she stands up against the wall, positioning herself next to the window.

"That's ridiculous, they would've killed you way before now," you get off your seat, rolling across the floor to the other side of the window.

"Unless they knew I'd be harder to take down, I don't really keep my powers a secret."

"You sure as hell don't broadcast them either," you add, taking your handgun out of the waistband of your pants.

"Do you just carry one of those all the time?" she glares at you as you cock it.

"Nope, just when I'm visiting you," you riposte, "Look, they're not after me, I'm going to go up to the roof to get a better angle."

"That's a terrible idea Y/n-"

"What, would you rather we both wait here like sitting ducks? Hide, I'll be back in a minute," you interrupt her, heading out the door. You take the stairs to the rooftop, and cautiously push the door open.

Instead of going straight out to the edge, you head towards the fire escape on the left side of the building. You make your way down until you're just above the roof of the next building over.

You jump down, tucking and rolling to break your fall slightly and slowly stalk towards the edge. As you peer around, you spot someone positioned on top of the building opposite Jessica's.

More importantly, you notice what they're wearing. A black mask, one that you've seen many times before. You take out your phone and quickly call Jess.

"False alarm, I was the one that was followed. And I know who it is."

"Y/n, the trained assassin, didn't realise she was being tailed?" Jess quips.

"Yeah, yeah, I have to deal with this. Call me if you get any updates on the case."

"Ok, thanks for the help by the way." She hangs up with no notice, like usual, as you hop back onto the fire escape and head down.

"Matt, I know you can hear me right now, and I'm pissed. So either you come meet me at my apartment, where we can have a civilised discussion, or I can chase you down. I highly recommend the first option."