All Roads Lead to Hell *Matt Murdock* (book three of Damned-3a)

8) The I-know-who-Daredevil-is club

The conversation with Terri was no fun. Her What the hell do you mean I need to go to the Harlem precinct?! was one of the most memorable sentences Vera had ever heard. Terri complaining about Vera calling her at half past eight on Saturday morning was another one. Vera spent about half an hour explaining her everything she knew and another fifteen minutes trying to convince Terri to come here, because Terri was refusing to believe she was in danger. Vera didn't want to do any of this ever again.

When she entered the common room where the police officers had prepared some drinks for them, she found Trish behind a computer, talking with some tall black guy with afro (which was making him even taller). Vera had bumped into him in the hall earlier while talking to Terri – before she had moved to the bathroom that was, because talking about ninjas when surrounded by cops was not a good idea.

The blond snapped her head to her, smiling widely.

"Hey!" Trish greeted Vera excitedly and Vera sensed a vibe of something she already knew she wouldn't like. Trish jumped from her chair, hugging Vera quickly and Vera just managed to blink and obediently hugged her back. Okay, what the hell.

"Hi. How— how are you? Not well, I guess, considering you have to be here..." Vera mumbled.

"Oh, please. We were just talking with Malcolm about how small the world is."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Jessica was... uhm, picking me up from a restaurant – you can imagine with her mannerism – and some guy attacked us."

Vera's eyes went wide. Jesus shit. No wonder Matt wanted to get Vera to the precinct as fast as possible; Jessica hadn't done it immediately and Trish had been attacked.

"Are you okay?" Vera blurted out, scanning her blond friend. She looked okay. And excited for some reason.

"Well, I am. Because Daredevil saved us. And Jessica has been bickering with him like they were old friends! He's pretty impressive, by the way."

Vera froze, watching Trish with mixture of horror and amusement. Of course Trish was smitten by Matt's fighting skills and she would be actually excited about the vigilante's appearance. And of course Jessica freaking Jones was already best buddies with Matt, Vera could imagine; with Jessica's snarky comments and wry sense of humour, they probably fit together perfectly. Plus, if he saved Trish's ass...

But Jesus, so he had gone to their apartment to change his outfit too? Running around in it in the light of day? Vera so, so did not like any of this.

"Wow. Good for you. I'm glad he was there." Mostly.

"Uh-huh. Malcolm? You wouldn't happen to have a chewing gum, would you?"

What?

"Uhm... no. Want one? I need to stretch my legs anyway..." he hurried, an honest smile on his lips.

Trish smiled at him gratefully. "That would be amazing. Thank you!"

"The vending machine is at the end of the hall," Vera offered quietly and Malcolm flashed her a tiny smile as well.

"Can I bring you something?"

Vera blinked in surprise, shaking her head with a quick 'thank you'. The moment he left the room, Trish's gleaming eyes locked up with Vera's.

"Say Matt thank when you see him, would you?"

That sentence knocked the air of Vera's chest. What? WHAT?!

"W-what?" she stuttered, blinking, her mind racing in cosmic speed, trying to come up with a way out of— oh, god, she could breathe again. "Of course. I guess Jessica told you Foggy passed her case to Matt and he sorted it out. Kinda."