Chapter 39

Matt sat on the couch, contemplating his options. He couldn't exactly go out in the suit in his condition, but he didn't want to not search for Kasey. "I'm going to go look for her."

Claire gave him a look. "Like hell you are." She told him firmly. "If you go out there with your leg, you are seriously risking never being able to use it again." She told him seriously.

Foggy nodded at that. "Neither of us are going to let you go out like this."

The sound of rain starting slowly filtered in where they could hear it. It was light at the moment but wouldn't be for long.

The pitter patter of the rain against Matt's window filled the room. He thought about Kasey out there in the storm and sighed. "I don't have to go out as Daredevil, but I need to go try to find her. She's still healing, and she's aggravated at that. Both her and the city don't stand a chance."

Claire glanced out the window and sighed. "...Okay." She agreed reluctantly. "But!" She gave him a serious look. "We are doing it my way or you're staying here. Understand?"

Foggy looked at Claire and nodded in agreement. "We can at the very least look around in the car. You might be able to pick up on her as we look?" He offered.

Matt irked a brow in interest. Caught off guard, he inquired further. "Your way? So you guys aren't going to try and stop me, but instead join me?" He grinned, finding it almost humorous.

Claire nodded. "If it keeps you from destroying your leg and gets Kasey back into a safe place and out of the rain where she could get sick or worsen her wounds? Yeah." She agreed. "We'll do what we can and hope for the best."

Foggy nodded. "You think you'd be able to locate her even with the rain and in the car?" He asked him.

"It will be a bit harder than how I usually work, but I think I'll be able to find her. Her heartbeat is unique to her, and she still smelled like iron, even when she left." It was strange things that he could use to identify her, but helpful nonetheless.

Foggy nodded. "Alright. We'll try that then." He moved over to help Matt up again. "And we'll have to take the stairs carefully since this place doesn't have an elevator."

Claire sighed. "Right." She had forgotten that. "We'll make it work."

"I wish it did. Would make getting back here after a long night a whole lot easier." Matt looped his arm over Foggy's shoulders, standing up from the couch. Once again he favored his bad leg.

Claire came up to his otherside. "Here." She offered to let him lean on her as well. "It'll be easier this way."

"Thank you both." Matt slung his other arm over Claire's shoulders. His height made it easy to lean on the both of them. He began towards the door, wanting to get out there as quickly as possible.

They kept up with him easily, Claire snagging an umbrella and his cane on the way out. It took them a little bit but they made it down the stairs and out to Foggy's car. They let Matt sit in the back and both of them in the front.

"Any ideas where to start?" Foggy asked as he turned on the car.

Matt sat so that his leg didn't bend, laying it across the backseat of the car. He also kept his ear close to the window.

"She took off towards the west after the fight, so heading in that direction is as good as anywhere. Other than the corporation, however, I've no idea of any specific places she may be."

"Why would she go back there in the state she's in?" Claire asked, glancing back at him while Foggy drove west per his instructions. "She's in no position to do that..."

"One of the reasons she was so angry was that they didn't tell her that they had gone there. And who better to take her anger out on than the men who wronged her?" Matt spoke, juggling the conversation within the car and the sounds from outside it.

Claire took a deep breath. "On one hand, I hope that's the case and not on whoever she stumbles across. But on the other hand, they could catch her and we don't know where they're located." She pointed out.

"Let's just hope she's safe, and not killing anybody." Matt put it plainly. He knew what she sounded like, so he hoped to find her swiftly.

As they drove, they stayed mostly quiet so Matt could listen easier. As he focused to listen past the rain, a noise caught his attention.

Someone seemingly struggling against something and grunting as they tried to fight it. They'd hiss in pain every now and then too but it wasn't Kasey.

Matt furrowed his brows, listening to the struggle. As much as he wanted to ignore it, he couldn't. "Pull over up ahead. The alley to the right."

Foggy did as he asked while Claire looked back at him. "What is it?" She asked him, unsure of what he was getting them into.

"There's a struggle in the alley, I'm just checking to make sure it isn't her." So it was a small fib. But it could have something to do with her, maybe.

Claire took a deep breath but nodded as Foggy pulled over. "How exactly do you think we do this?" He asked him. "Cause we don't know what we're gonna walk in on."

"I'll go in first. I'll call out if somethings wrong, or if it's nothing. Someone needs to stay here and keep the car going in case we need to get out of there." Matt explained, formulating a plan for what he was about to do.

Claire fully turned to him. "On your broken leg, on slick ass concrete in the rain? Hell no you aren't." She replied before sighing. "Let me at least help you over there if you're gonna insist."

"I knew you'd say something like that." Matt sighed, but sprouted a small grin. He turned, opening the door closest to the sidewalk. From his pants pocket, he pulled out a familiar black cloth. How and when he got it there? Who knows.

Claire just stared at him before sighing, grabbing the umbrella, not bothering to open it, the cane she snatched on the way out, and went around to help him out of the car, pressing his cane into his hand. She helped him out and let him lean on her again, carefully helping him to the alley way, lowering her voice. "You might be able to use the umbrella as a support if you need it."

Matt heard her sigh, loud and clear, but chose not to comment on it. He was surprised, however, to find that she had grabbed his cane for him. He took the cane, holding it instead of tapping it in front of him. "Thank you again Claire." He made his way to the alleyway, pausing to listen for how many people were in it.

Claire nodded and waited just around the corner and out of sight.

He could hear at least two, maybe three heartbeats but only one seemed to be awake. The other two were slow from being unconscious.

Matt took a moment, lifting the black cloth over his head and slipping it onto his face. He picked up the cane, and kept the umbrella tucked tightly to his side, so that it was barely noticeable. He crept into the alleyway, straight towards the one who was awake.

The man was struggling, seemingly against the wall of the alley when he noticed the movement of Matt approaching and tensed up but, surprisingly, relaxed. Just a little. He was still tense but the way his heart raced calmed a bit from the spike it made.

He actually seemed somewhat relieved? "Wh-Oh geez." He watched him cautiously. "Look man, we already got our asses handed to us so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't add to that-"

Matt listened carefully to the man's heartbeat, and to the ones of his friends. It was pretty clear that they got an intense beating. He cocked his head to the side, towards the speaking man.

"What happened here? Who attacked you?" He questioned, but was afraid he already knew the answer.

"I don't know man." He replied, his heart beating truthfully. "Barely saw 'em at all. Those two were out before we could even try to figure out what was happening and stuck to the walls. Next thing I know is I'm pinned up against the wall and stuck here with this shit." He struggled against something again.

"I'd say one of them spider people but they've never been in Hell's Kitchen before..." He pointed out. "But I've only ever seen this shit tied to them. Their webbing or some shit like that?"

Claire took a quiet deep breath. Kasey.

Matt silently cursed to himself. So it seemed she really had gone on a hunting spree, taking her anger out on the dwellers of the alleys. Matt came over close to the man, pulling back enough of the webbing to free the man.

"Get out of here, call an ambulance for your friends." He ordered, touching the webbing. Definitely Kasey.

The man stumbled to the ground when he was pulled free, a bit surprised but nodded. "Y-Yeah. Thanks." He replied, pulling his phone from his pocket and quickly heading off to the nearest place to take shelter from the rain. He didn't notice Claire or the car, he did not care right now.

Claire watched him run off and peeked around the corner to look at Matt, but wasn't sure if the others were awake or not.

Matt could hear the heartbeats of the others, so he knew they were at least alive. He turned and limped back to Claire, shaking his head. "She's not here anymore, but she was. Roughed them up pretty good and moved on. We should keep looking."

She nodded and helped him back to the car, Foggy glancing at them. "What was it?" He asked.

"She was here but moved on." Claire replied.

Foggy sighed. "Which way?" He asked Matt once they were all in the car.

Matt slid into the car carefully and closed the door behind him. "She roughed up a group of adult men."

"I'd head the same way we've been going. If I'm right, she'll be leaving a trail leading right to her." Matt spoke.

Foggy took a deep breath but headed off again.

Claire leaned back in the seat. "I really hope she doesn't do more than that..."

"Neither do I. She could end up doing something she regrets." At this point Matt was truly worried for her. Not because of her being in danger or being the danger, but because she might ruin herself out there.

Claire nodded a bit at that as they rode, keeping an eye out for anything out of place before Claire tapped Foggy's arm. "Stop, I saw something in that alleyway." She told him and he pulled over.

"I think there was someone on the ground in there..." she told Matt, ready to help him again.

Matt let out a sigh, opening the door to the car. "I'll go and see myself. I don't want you putting yourself in harm's way. There's a chance that Kasey isn't targeting innocent people."

She hesitated but reluctantly nodded. "Okay just... be careful." She told him, concern in her eyes.

"Will do. I'll call out if I need you." He stepped carefully out of the car, leaning on the umbrella and gripping his cane in his other hand. He made his way carefully to the alley, keeping an ear out for any noise.

He could hear three quiet heartbeats. All unconscious from the sounds of it but he could smell the faint smell of iron from the blood but it was subdued from the water mixing with it.

Matt grimaced, the smell from the blood wafting up to him as soon as he entered the alley. Not finding Kasey, he returned briskly to the car, sliding into the back. "She's not here. Left behind three bloodied victims though. All alive, but unconscious."

"Shit." Claire swore before sighing. "So keep going?"

Foggy nodded. "Guess so." He took off once again, the rain starting to get heavier. "Geez... This is just gonna make it harder, won't it?"

Matt nodded, straining to hear past a certain point from the car. The rain began to cover most of the outside sounds like a blanket of white noise. "Let's keep going."

Foggy nodded and they drove for a while before Matt heard a loud cry of pain and swearing from up ahead.

"Pull over, quick as you can." If that cry was from a recent hit, he wanted to get out and investigate as quickly as possible.

Foggy gave a quick nod and pulled over as soon as he could, near where the sound came from.

Claire looked at him. "Call if you need us." She told him. "And try not to push it too much."

Matt gave a curt nod and got out of the car, making his way over to the origin of the cry. Once again he kept the umbrella tucked next to his leg and his cane armed in his opposite hand. His leg was beginning to hurt like the dickens, but he pressed onward.

It didn't take him long to find where the noise had come from as it remained consistent. Now that he was closer, he could hear about eight heart beats. Some slow, some faster. The smell of iron was much stronger this time.

One of them noticed him approaching and their eyes widened, swearing under their breath when they tried to move, which drew the other three people who were awake's attention, none of which could seemingly move without pain.

Actually, he could hear the way that when they moved, their bones rubbed or shifted wrong. Some just normal breaks but some of the unconscious ones sounded far worse with every shallow breath they took.

"Shit." One of them swore, trying to push to their feet but crumpled back to the ground due to the pain and the webbing tethering him to the ground via his left arm, their right one around their waist.

They could only warily watch him as all of them were tethered in some form or fashion.

Matt stepped forward, inching closer to them. He shifted his head, hearing the soft grinding sounds as the ones with broken bones tried to move. The wet ground he stepped on felt thicker, and he knew blood was mixed with the rainwater. Whatever Kasey had done here, she was beginning to go too far. She had dealt out broken bones and bruises like playing cards.

"The person who did this to you. Where did they go." He asked the one who had spoken. This was no doubt Kasey's work, considering eight adults were taken down and bound.

They looked a bit surprised, much like the other guy. "What?" They started to ask before quickly answering, "That little demon?" They chuckled but it sounded shaken. "We hardly even saw them." He replied.

Another nodded. "Came out of nowhere, no one could spot 'em. Tossed us around a bit and webbed us up but..." He glanced at the other four. "They lost patience or something and just beat the shit of them... Thought they were gonna tear 'em limb from limb for a minute there... Though I'm starting to wonder if that would've been better for them with what it sounded and looked like-"

Another agreed. "Y-yeah, but as for w- cough Where they went? Not really s-sure. Sounded like up the fire escape here?"

"Southwest maybe?" The last one agreed. "Really thought they were gonna kill us one at a time by the time they pinned us all down..."

Matt could tell just by the sound of the group's breathing and the way they moved that this beating was far worse than the last. From the sound of it, she was using her new invisibility ability to her advantage. He had to find her quickly before she did anything worse.

He pointed at the man he deemed the healthiest of the bunch. "Call an ambulance for you and your friends. They've got multiple fractures and breaks that need professional medical attention." With that said, he turned and returned to the car.

"We're heading south west next. She's getting more violent with each attack. I'm afraid she'll kill someone next." Matt frowned, fearing they wouldn't find her in time.

Claire and Foggy both looked concerned about this as Foggy quickly took off towards the direction Matt told him, keeping an eye out for anything as the rain poured down.

They weren't picking up on anything until they all heard the scream cutting through the rain, a bit further ahead.

And it was Kasey's voice.

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