BEING ALIVE

RESURFACED

Leo couldn't care less what had happened to him. His first priority was Madeline. It had been the two of them against the world since he was five, and honestly, without her the world just might win. He scoffed at the notion. Being codependent on a twelve-year-old girl was childish. The only person who should be codependent on a twelve-year-old girl is another twelve-year-old girl.

But there he was, unable to think straight without Madeline judging his every move. Leo tried his best to remember more of that night, but apparently, that was not how this kind of thing worked. He sighed and got out of the twin bed he'd been sleeping in for as long as he could remember. The sunlight peaking through the blinds was a comforting sight. Imagine what Madeline would say if she knew I was still afraid of the dark.

He picked up the clothes he was wearing the night before off of the floor and opened up the blinds, letting some light in to get a better look at them. The sweatshirt was not a sweatshirt at all. It looked like a hooded jacket, zipped all the way up. The fabric was thick, stiff, and black, obviously protective rather than practical, and there was a patch on the shoulder. It was still all black, but Leo could see the impression of a small handprint on the rubber patch.

He stared at it for a while before stuffing it in the backpack by his bedside. next, Leo rummaged through all of the pockets of the cargo pants he'd been wearing. All he found was a burner phone and a little piece of paper that read

Friday, 15
pier 98
midnight
report

Leo stuffed the phone and the piece of paper in his bag as well before rushing out of the apartment, down the stairs, and out onto the sidewalk. He turned to the nearest person, a man in a suit and tie. "Excuse me, sir, could you tell me what day it is?"

"It's Friday, the fifteenth." The man said, sounding considerably alarmed. Leo cursed, and he hoped it was only in his head. He knew what he was doing that night. "Do you need the year too?"

The teenage boy couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "Um, no. Thanks, I-" He took one more look at the man in the suit and his eyes widened. He was holding a cane and wearing opaque red glasses. I just stopped a blind man on the street like a crazy person. "Oh my god you're blind- I mean I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, really." He said, though he tilted his head a bit and asked, "Are you okay though?"

Leo hesitated. "Yeah, no, I'm fine. Totally fine." He began to walk back towards the apartment building. "Uh, have a nice day!"

Whatever this 'report' was supposed to be, it was that night at midnight. And Leo was just stupid enough to go.

---

Matt let go of the cold, half empty bottle of beer, still feeling the condensation on his hands. He absentmindedly pushed it towards Foggy then wiped the cold dewyness off on his sleeves. "Want it?" He asked innocently. "I don't wanna drink too much tonight."

Foggy let out a heavy sigh, but took the bottle anyway. "Is it cause you have to walk home, or because you have to go back out later?" Matt could feel the disapproval radiating off of his friend. Things had been strained since Nelson and Murdock had closed its offices. Better than it was when they were working together, but still strained. Everyone always says 'never live with your best friend' but sometimes Matt wished someone would have warned him about the 'never open a law firm with your best friend' rule. That would have been insanely useful just over a year ago.

"I think you know."

"Wish I didn't."

"Something weird's been happening. Really weird." Matt said. "I'm sure you seen some of it on the news."