Hellcat

Chapter 44

We made it back to Matt's apartment without incident. Matt and I both showered before he made sure I didn't need stitches on the back of my head. And then we just sat on the couch, quiet as our minds raced around different things. I imagined he was thinking about Frank, and maybe even his decision that this one time, Frank's way was the right way. I was stuck on a lot of things. The warning from Gao, Frank's death, and my horrific past to name a few.

At least, I was thinking about that until Matt stood abruptly, moving to the window with slow, steady steps, head tilted like he was listening. "What is it?" I asked, sitting up a little straighter. "A car. I think it's coming this way," Matt explained in confusion. His lack of nerves made me feel less tense about it, but we both stood and headed downstairs anyway.

Once at the bottom of the steps, I pushed open the building door to see a car come careening around the corner, barely missing other cars as I swerved across multiple lanes. And then it crashed into a parked car right in front of us. I jumped in shock before jogging for the car, Matt following a bit slower. The man in the passenger seat was dead, but the driver had blood gurgling from his lips. "Hey, hey! We need some help here!" I started shouting as soon as I saw the man.

"She found him," the driver gasped through the blood. Glancing back, I saw Matt leaning towards the passenger window. "She found him," the driver repeated as if it was urgent. "What?" Matt called to the man. "She found Stick... and she's gonna kill him," he told Matt, blood causing him to pause as he choked it back. "Who?" I asked, coming to Matt's side. The man fought for air once more before revealing the name. "Elektra," he said before chocking on his own blood and finally dying.

Before I even had a chance to truly process what I just heard, Matt was running back into the building. "Wha – wait! Matt!" I called after him before taking off up the stairs. When I followed Matt into his apartment once more, he was already scrambling to put on his half dry suit. "Matt, what does that mean?" I asked as he tossed me my own suit. "Elektra is going to kill Stick. I have to stop her," Matt said quickly as I stripped out of my nice, warm clothes, and put on my cold, wet suit.

"How do you even know where to find them?" I asked, hurriedly shoving my feet into my boots. "I just do. Stay here," Matt snapped at me as I finished with my mask. He was already bounding up the stairs, ready to save his asshat of a mentor. But, I guess it was more about not letting another life be taken than saving it.

"Hey, I'm not gonna let you go alone," I snapped, rushing after him. He barely paused on the roof to spin back around on me. "This is my fight, not yours," he tried to tell me, beginning to turn away when I caught his arm and kept him facing me. "Hey, that's bullshit and you know it! We're a team. That means your fight is mine, and mine is yours. Otherwise, what's the point of having a partner?" I snapped at him.

Before I could even catch my breath, he pulled me to him and kissed me soft and deep, knocking what breath I had left out of me. It wasn't long before Matt pulled back, resting his forehead against mine. "She gets cocky. Use that if you have to," he said, finally conceding. I nodded before pulling back from him. "Then let's go stop her." Matt gave a small nod before pulling back and turning towards the edge of the building.

Matt knew exactly where to go, and I followed without question. But I knew that once we got there, this was really Matt's fight. I would help if he needed me, but Elektra was a part of his world that hadn't involved me until recently. I didn't know their whole story. I didn't need to. What I needed to know was that even though Stick was a complete ass, Matt still cared about him.

I could hear the punching as soon as we entered the building. From the many full bookshelves, I wondered if this was some kind of records place. But the where didn't matter. The why didn't matter. What mattered was that at the end of a section of books, Stick had Elektra on the ground, trying to push a sword down onto her throat and she had a piece of rope or cable wrapped around his throat.