Bound by Law (Matt Murdock x Reader)

26. Chasing Wind In the Dead of Night

Morning sun peeking through the windows of Nelson and Murdock greeted everyone differently. Karen was still upset about the auction thing, with a bored expression, pretended to be looking through the today's celebrity journal. After your words about her dealing with finances more carefully, she felt a little devil sitting on her shoulder, and telling that you were not going to play boss around her easily. 

You felt as if a mysterious force was staring at the back of the head, aware of every single twitch of your body, when in reality, that force was sitting right in front of you at his own table, legs crossed uncomfortably and nose trying to block the smell of Wesley's still evident scent on your jacket. The thought of Wesley kissing you made Matt feel sick, and he pressed his legs together again, creating more distractions for himself, although after yesterday's fights with the local criminals, he felt exhausted and hurt in every possible way.

You take a look around the room, as if checking yourself, but take notice if Karen or Foggy aren't sneaking behind your back in the main room. Matt takes notice of your sudden shifting, but can't fully comprehend of what is about to happen. With no one looking behind your back, you continue to pretend to finalize the documents of the last case, but truly, you go to search the internet for a particular person. Particularly annoying person who you wished to kick out of your life as soon as possible, because after all, he could be a slight threat to your past. 

A number of articles fill your computer's screen with pictures of the man in black, all rather blurry, which makes it hard to even take a wild guess on who could be under the mask. 'A threat to Hell's Kitchen?'; 'New hero or foe?'; 'The devil is lurking in the dark'; 'Police addresses the crime rate in Hell's Kitchen: is the masked vigilante doing what the force couldn't?' and various similar articles pop up, all about the same person - the devil of Hell's Kitchen and his nightly deeds. 

Your heart picks up a faster tempo, making Matt stop his work and listen to it. Why were you... Scared? He hears how your finger slightly trembles when clicking the mouse on the next article. Article after article, skimming faster as the similar content starts reappearing, you soon feel as if you're reliving those stories yourself, not reading the statements of the people who were somehow saved by Daredevil. Robbery, drunk men trying to follow women from the bar, human trafficking... Everything has been stopped by Him. With the crime rate still going through the roof of Hell's Kitchen corrupted police shelter, one man has been saving them all. And still it bothered you that he came to your apartment to warn you - a single unimportant figure in the mass, about one of your flings. And saved you from Benowitz's shady affairs... 

Your eyes suddenly widen and you sit there with the understanding finally dawning on you - he was the one who punched Todd and made him drop the charges on you. And got that junkie from Josie's arrested. It was all him - the Devil of Hell's Kitchen - lurking in the shadows and...protecting you? You weren't sure what were his intentions with you. Maybe he just wanted to save you from those small, uninteresting criminals, so he could get you all for himself and rip you apart piece by piece for what you did all those years ago. Maybe he was out thirsting for revenge...

Your heart was pulsing somewhere in your neck, making it twitch uncomfortably. Matt's eyebrows were once again transformed into a wavy line, and it bothered him so much that he couldn't figure out the cause of your accelerated heartbeat. He had to do something, had to make small talk, but about what? Awkwardly, he shifts in his chair, but you take no notice of it, staring into your computer screen with empty eyes. A minute passes and Matt clears his throat loudly, but remains silent. You look at him, right in front of you, and get a feeling of safety, the same one you always feel when you manage to find shelter from the heavy rain just before it starts pouring. At this moment, you were grateful that Matt and Foggy offered you a place here, not caring about the fact that you were rivals. Although the office was small and crowded, and this part of the city was literally suffocating from all the exhaust gasses and factories, and on almost every corner you could get robbed or killed, you felt grateful. Even to share one room with the man who you wanted to choke with your bare hands over a case just a couple of months ago.