{Word count: 4182}

{Warnings: Talk of domestic abuse, rape, and murder}

2: 𝘼 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚...𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩

+

+

+

+

+

12 years ago

Hell's Kitchen, New York

Matt was lying in his bed, his hands running over braille letters in a book as the sound of clicking surfaced from his window.

Matt quickly listened, hearing the sound of your voice whisper from outside the window. He instantaneously had a smile grow on his face as he stood quickly from his bed, padding over to the door and locking it before he ran to the window, unlocking it and pulling it up.

"Hey there Murdock." You smiled as Matt peaked his head outside the window, wearing a large smile. "The nun posse asleep?" You questioned, making Matt chuckle.

"Yes everyone is asleep." He said, moving out of the way so you could slip through the window into his room. "But with how loud you where being out there I'm pretty sure you woke the entire neighborhood up." Matt chuckled. "Really? Swearing at a Catholic Orphanage?" He asked, pretending to be offended.

"Father, son, holy spirit, forgive me." You did the motion of the Catholic prayer jokingly. "There, all better."

You and Matt had been dating for about a year now. Even though you where young, you both knew you loved each other, and nobody could convince you otherwise. Call it puppy love, but you had known since you where young that soon or later you would end up with Matt Murdock.

Every night you would come visit-er-sneak in to see Matt at the orphanage. You would stay with him and talk for a bit about little things for hours, just enjoying the company of the other. Ever since you had gotten the acceptance letter to Columbia University, the majority of your conversation had revolved around your soon-to-be college life.

Tonight though was an especially exciting night. Tonight Matt turned eighteen, which meant he would finally be freed into the real world. Away from the orphanage for good, away from the Catholic guilt and shit, and into the real world.

"I thought you weren't gonna make it." Matt said as you plopped down on his bed, him following suit. "Your running pretty late." He said with a smirk, knowing his timely manner was always irritating to you.

"You forget this is also my birthday." You said as Matt wrapped his arms around you, "I had to pick up some stuff before I headed over."

"What kind of stuff?" Matt questioned suspiciously, making you reach into your bag with a smile.

"This." You said, placing the 'Birthday Grandma' crown on Matt's head. "They didn't have any more birthday boy ones and I figured you can't see it anyway." You shrugged. "So tonight your a birthday grandma."

Matt chuckled softly at your voice as he leaned back off his bed, reaching under it. "Well your not the only one who went all out." He said as he lifted the 'Birthday Bitch' crown from under his bed, making you laugh at the first sight of it.

"You know sometimes I wonder if you can see more then you claim." You said as Matt placed the crown on your head, leaving you both in birthday crowns in each others arms.

Matt smiled, "I just went out on a limb and figured that one suited you best." He shrugged, "What time is it?"

You looked down at your watch, "11:58." You put your wrist down, "Two more minutes and we're officially adults." You smiled.

"You know, you seem much more excited about this then I am." Matt said with a grin as you both faced each other, lying in his bed. "And your the one who isn't living in an orphanage."

"I'm happy for you." You admitted. "I know this place is hard to live in. It's just a constant reminder of everything that happened." You said, brushing your fingers over his face. "But, when we leave we won't have to worry about me getting caught in your room, so that's a highlight." You said, making Matt smile.

"Yeah, with how many times we've almost gotten caught, I'm surprised God hasn't struck me with lightning yet." Matt said, making you laugh. "Time check?"

"11:59." You said, putting your wrist back down as Matt wrapped his fingers in yours, placing your hand in the middle of you both. "We may not have a candle, but do you have a wish?"

"Isn't it wrong to say what it is?"

"I think if you share a birthday with that person then it's fine." You waved off the comment, making Matt smile. "But, for now just keep it in your mind. Just so we don't fuck anything up." You noted.

"True." Matt said, thinking for a moment. "Okay, I have mine. Do you have yours?"

"Yep." You nodded, just as you looked down at your watch. "3...2....1." You looked up at Matt. "Happy Birthday, Matty." You smiled.

"Happy birthday Y/n." Matt said, moving his hands to your back as he pulled you closer, moving his lips over yours feverishly as you cupped his face in your hands.

Matt pulled back momentarily, "What's your wish?"

You thought for a moment. "Maybe this year we should keep it to ourselves. That way we can make sure it really does come true." You said, wearing a small grin.

"I like that idea." Matt said, pressing his lips against yours again, feeling happier then he ever had before.

Present day

Hell's Kitchen, New York

Two days had passed since you had reunited with Matt.

Two days of trial talk, two days of annoying the shit out of each other, two days of speaking about how fucked up things had gotten after college.

Well, mainly for you.

You, Matt, and Foggy had spent every hour of the day inside the office of Nelson and Murdock. Police had granted you permission to leave the holding center only for legal purposes such as meetings with your lawyer, or other legal matters you had to attend to. Other then that, you where confided to the worlds smallest cell in a place you knew you weren't supposed to be.

But at the end of the day, you would take a small cell over any time spent with the living devil known as Matthew Murdock.

"These things hurt like a bitch." You complained, referring to the handcuffs you had on.

"Yeah well I don't really think they care much about the comfort aspect of handcuffs." Matt said, opening up your file as he practiced his opening statement in his head.

"You know, with how shitty you treat me, I'm surprised that good boy catholic guilt of yours isn't flaring up." You noted, looking over at Matt. "You wanna offer a prayer for this train wreck of a trial?"

Matt rolled his eyes at your voice, completely discarding your words.

Today was trial day. The day you and Matt had been looking forward to since the second you laid eyes on him again. You had a set plan, that you-er-mainly Matt had agreed too.

1. Say everything Matt told you to.

2. Don't fuck with anyone while on the stand.

3. Leave without a prison sentence.

It was a simple, yet effective plan to get you out of Matt's life for good.

"If it wasn't for the fact this case could help represent my firm, I would not hesitate to send your ass to prison." Matt said with an irritated and low whisper.

"That threat scared me almost as much as that discount Party City devil costume of yours did." You said sarcastically, making Matt roll his eyes.

"Are you serious?" Matt questioned with a low whisper as your words escaped your mouth rapid fire style.

"Tell me, where the devil horns a must when looking for a suit?" You questioned, cracking yourself up with your humor. "If you ask me, they're a bit much."

"What's she laughing about?" Foggy questioned, looking over at Matt.

"She's making fun of my suit." Matt whispered to Foggy.

"Specifically the devil horns." You pointed out, peaking your head in front of Matt to look at Foggy.

Foggy had a small grin fall on his lips, "They are a bit much." He admitted, sitting back into his seat wearing a small grin, making you laugh.

Foggy missed this. The three of you all together.

Out of the small group Matt called his friends, you where Foggy's favorite. You met in college after Matt became his roommate, leading to four years of friendship that nobody would ever suspect to fall apart.

When you and Matt broke up, you stopped keeping in contact with everyone. Marci, Foggy, you name it. When he got the call that you where in need of a lawyer, he made sure to keep the information of your name out of the conversation he had with Matt.

Was it jacked up to send Matt in alone with his ex girlfriend who he used to love? Yes, terribly. But, Foggy thought maybe it would bring him closure knowing that you had moved on. Or maybe, it would even cause things to go back to the way they where before.

But, from the way it was looking the idea of you two getting back together was out of his mind.

-++++++-

You had been in court the entire day, and to be completely honest you just wanted to be done.

You where mentally exhausted, tired of the lying from the prosecution team, and hungry. God, you where so fucking hungry.

"Ms. Y/L/N." The prosecution lawyer said as you sat in the stand. "Can you explain to me what these pictures are that we found in your apartment?" He questioned, handing you one of the pictures as the rest where projected for the entire room to see.

You looked down at the photo, placing it down on the stand. "This is one of the pictures I got for a case I was working on. It was a domestic abuse case involving your client, Mr. Jenson." You said as you looked up, "I never gave you permission to use these, let alone search my place."

"Well its apart of the job, so we had to." The lawyer shrugged, sounding a hint aggressive with you.

You where irritated with his manor, "And cliental discretion is apart of my job." You stated simply, "And if you expect me to respect the way you do your job, I'm expecting the same treatment back."

The prosecution team looked at the judge, who nodded before speaking. "Take the photos down."

You looked over at Matt who was wearing a hint of a proud grin on his lips, something you hadn't seen him have since you left your graduation ceremony years ago.

"The night those photos where taken, that was the same night that you where taken in by police after brutally beating Mr. Janson in his apartment." The lawyer said, placing his hands together in front of him. "Is that correct, Ms. Y/L/N?"

"Brutally beating is a bit over dramatic." You said.

"That night you went into his apartment, what was your intention?" He questioned. "Was it to stop him from whatever he was doing? Or maybe...maybe you had other intentions. Maybe your intention was to get rid of Mr. Janson for good."

Matt stood up quickly, pushing his chair back. "Objection your honor, speculation against my client."

"Next question Mr. Michaelson." The judge said.

"Is it true that you broke into Mr. Jenson's apartment that night?" He questioned.

"Yes that's true." You said without hesitation.

The lawyer scoffed. "You say that with such confidence." He said with a prideful grin. "Not everyone would be so happy about the fact that legally they are able to get charged with breaking and entering charges."

You felt heat raise in your body, "And you speak with such confidence for someone whos' client has been charged on multiple occasions for domestic abuse against their spouse." You paused, "Confidence runs out. Just like your clints bail money."

A loud gasp erupted through out the courtroom as Matt placed his hands over his face, knowing rule number two to your plan had just been ruined.

"She still has that fiery spirit." Foggy said with a small grin, peaking his head next to Matt's as he whispered.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure that's working out in our benefit right now." Matt responded back simply, turning his attention back to the stands.

"Oh come on, give her a bit of credit here." Foggy argued. "She's destroying this guy from the stands." He scoffed, "Maybe you should hire her."

Matt looked over at Foggy with a confused expression, "I have wanted to kill y/n more times then you could count in the last two days, and you expect me to work with her permanently?"

"I'm just saying." Foggy raised his hands defensively.

Voices called out through the entire courtroom, and people spoke amongst one another as whispers overtook the walls of the small room.

"Order!" The judge yelled, hitting the gavel on the wood of the table. "Mr. Michaelson please continue...with a different question." She said in a warning tone.

"Yes, your honor." He nodded before facing you in the stands once again. "When you went into Mr. Janson's home that night, can you describe to me what happened?"

You sighed, "When I walked in his wife was on the ground bleeding half to death, yet he still continued hitting her." You paused, "I went over to stop him and he started throwing punches at me, so I defended myself." You shrugged.

"Considering that you where breaking into Mr. Janson's home, don't you think the action he took would be considered to be self defense?" The lawyer questioned.

"Could be." You shrugged, "But that doesn't explain his actions against his wife. I was helping her, and I never laid a single finger on Mr. Jenson before he attacked me."

Mr. Michaelson went over to his table, lifting a file from the desk as he walked toward you again.

"Ms. Y/L/N, do you think that maybe your actions against Mr. Jenson could have resulted off your past history with domestic abuse?"

You felt your heart drop as he spoke. You quickly looked over to Matt who's head was cocked to the side, confused about what he had just said.

"No." You said quickly, "Next question."

"I would like to present this information to the court, your honor." Mr. Michaelson, lifting the file into the air as he brought it over to the judge.

"Granted." She said, just as the file was projected onto the screen.

"Next question." You said with more heat in your voice this time.

"Four years ago your sister was involved in the trail against Damion Phillips." Mr. Michaelson said. "He had been charged on numerous occasions for battery, and domestic abuse." He looked at you. "Now when your sister first met Mr. Phillips, she didn't realize that about him. Is that correct?"

"Next fucking question." You raised your voice.

"Did you know about this?" Foggy asked Matt, who's face was soft and concerned.

"No." Matt shook his head, "But by the way her heart is pounding if this guy doesn't change the subject she's gonna go ballistic on him." He said as he was about to stand up, getting stopped by Foggy.

"Matt there's nothing we can do." Foggy said with a soft voice. "We have nothing to object to."

"When your sister first met Damion at a bar, he claimed his name was Jeffrey Olsen. Jeffrey was nice to your sister. They got along very well, offered her a place to live, and they had that fairy tail romance. Didn't they?"

"This is irrelevant to the case, now take her fucking file off of that board." You said as you moved around, trying to free yourself from the hand-cuffs.

"Objection your honor, this is irrelevant to the case." Matt said as he stood up quickly, urgency in his voice.

"Overruled." The judge said, "Mr. Michaelson please continue."

"Now to you this wasn't just any ordinary relationship." He shook his head, "No, you knew something was sketchy about this guy. Hence why you started a private investigation case." He pointed, "You found out who this guy really was, and you confronted him. You told him that he needed to break up with your sister because you didn't want her getting hurt. Is that correct?"

"I did everything I could. I didn't want her knowing about who he really was." You said, your voice breaking. "They where engaged, she was happy with him, and I couldn't risk her thinking she could never be happy again because of this one bad situation. All I wanted him to do was leave without leaving a single mark on her."

"That night, you went home and went to sleep. But Damion on the other hand, he had other plans." He said as you shook your head, trying to drown out his voice.

"Your honor objection." Matt said, slamming his fist down on the table. " Badgering against my client!"

"Mr. Murdock, sit down." The judge said with anger in her voice, "Continue Mr. Michaelson."

"Your sister was involved in one of the largest domestic abuse cases in the state." Mr. Michaelson enunciated his words. "Beaten to death, raped, and worst of all...discarded into the river like garbage."

You stood up quickly, your hands still cuffed to the stand. Officers near you rushed at you, trying to get you to sit down.

"Don't ever speak of her like that!" You yelled, "Don't ever fucking talk about her like that! She was killed! You don't get to call her garbage you son of a bitch!" You yelled, getting taken by the arms as the officers uncuffed you from the stands, taking you off and away.

"I don't regret anything I have done to Mr. Janson!" You yelled, pulling back from the officers. "He can go to hell for all I care!"

"Shit." Matt said, just as he was grabbed by Foggy who was pulling him in the direction of you.

Just before he left the courtroom, Matt stopped right in front of the prosecution lawyer, who was wearing a sly smirk on his face.

"Not the first client you've had yell on the stands." Mr. Michaelson said, scoffing to himself. "You really do have a thing with these types of people, huh Murdock?"

Matt spoke in a low and raspy tone as a small smirk erupted on his lips.

"If you think that every trial is going to be as easy as bringing up a traumatic memory for someone and having them go on a rant on the stands, your fucked up." Matt said sternly, "All I gotta say is if she was to break out of those cuffs and go after you, I wouldn't stop her."

Mr. Michaelson's face grew nervous as the prideful smirk left his face.

"Talk tough all you want, but we both know you just about shit your pants when she stood up." Matt said, just as he walked off, following behind you as he pushed the doors open of the courtroom.

-++++++++-

"Three months anger management and house arrest, along with a..." Your eyes raised. "A $20,000 medical bill?" You put the paper down, "What the hell am I paying $20,000 for?"

"You broke his arm." Foggy shrugged as he stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed over his chest.

"That doesn't mean he needs a new one." You said, looking over at Matt as he began speaking.

"You need to take the deal." Matt said with his hands on his hips as he stood behind the table.

You scoffed, "Hell no." You said, looking between Matt and Foggy. "I wanna go back out there and fight to get that asshole sent to jail for attempted murder."

"You know it's not that easy, Y/n." Foggy pointed out, "Believe me I wanna get this guy put away too, but with what just happened It's extremely unlikely."

You didn't say anything, instead you just looked down and shook your head.

"Listen, I know that you want to win this." Matt said, his voice no longer filled with urgency. "But we can't." He stated simply, "The fact we even got a deal is a miracle."

"That asshole's lawyer just called my sister garbage." You said, staring at Matt.

"And I'll take care of that." Matt nodded, placing his hands down on the table as he leaned over it. "But for now, I need you to do us both a favor and sign this." He said, his voice low and soft.

You stared at Matt momentarily, before reaching over and taking the pen in your hand, scratching your name onto the piece of paper as you pushed it towards Foggy.

"Thank you." Matt said softly, with a bit of relief in his voice.

"I'll go take this to the judge." Foggy said, grabbing the paper from the table as he walked out the door, shutting it behind him, leaving you and Matt alone.

You both remained quiet, not saying a single word to each other. The A/C blared into the room, leaving a small chill on your skin, despite the heat that ran like a river in your veins.

"When you asked me at the station why I started this...vigilante life," You paused. "This is why." You looked up at Matt. "Because assholes like him, get away with this type of shit way too often."

"Y/n-"

"Don't." You spat. "I just signed a deal with the devil, Murdock." You shook your head scoffing, "All because you wanted your little firm to stay protected."

"I did it because your stubborn ass would get sent to jail if I sent you back out there." Matt said, placing his hands down on the table next to you. "You went off on a screaming rant about how you wanted Mr. Janson to go to hell."

"And? I do."

"This isn't a mock trial like in college, Y/n." Matt snapped as you tried to speak over him. "This is the real world. This is a real court case." You still tried to talk over him. "You will get yourself sent to jail if you keep that shit up!" He yelled as he pointed towards the door, keeping one of his hands on the table as your voice went mute.

You bit the inside of your cheek before you spoke, shaking your head.

"What's gonna happen when one day you realize you aren't always right?" You questioned in a low tone, "It's gonna be real hard for you to accept that won't it?"

Matt had a small smirk grow on his face, "Funny how your the one telling me that." He said as his face moved towards yours, the heat of his body radiating off you.

"Oh honey, I know I'm not always right." You said, wearing a prideful grin. "But It's real funny watching you try and save my ass for every bad decision I make."

Your faces where less then a foot apart, the heat of each of your bodies radiating off of each other as your chests rose and dropped with every breath you took.

"I don't have to save you." Matt shook his head as he spoke in a raspy tone.

"You don't have too." You agreed. "But you do it anyway." You cocked your head slightly as your hand moved to Matt's tie, pulling it down softly so he was closer to you. "Admit it, you missed this."

"Missed what?" Matt questioned, feeling the inside of his pants grow tight.

Your faces moved closer together, so you where barely even an inch away from each other.

"You know what, Matthew."

Your breaths moved off each others skin, the feeling of your hand on Matt's tie making everything you both used to do come back into his mind like a flooding sea of memories.

Your touch.

Your voice.

The heat of your skin.

All of it, made his again.

The door opened as Foggy walked in, holding the piece of paper in his hands.

"The papers have been delivered. The judge wants-" He looked up, seeing the closeness in you and Matt as your hand stayed on Matt's tie. "Oh?"

Matt pulled away quickly, adjusting his tie as he cleared his throat.

"What was-"

"What does the judge want?" Matt questioned, completely stopping Foggy from talking as he grew closer to him, adjusting his glasses on his face.

"She just want's us to sign this confirming the deal." Foggy said, looking between you and Matt as a sliver of happiness filled his body. "Is uh...is everything okay between you guys?" Foggy questioned knowingly.

"Oh it's just perfect." You said with a prideful grin, leaning back into your chair.

Matt signed the papers, placing the pen back in the pocket of his jacket.

"I'll go take these to the judge." Matt said, adjusting himself just before he began walking out the door.

You smiled to yourself once again as Matt left, knowing that even years later you still had a hold on Matt Murdock.

And he damn well knew it.

A/n- I promise this get's better lol.

The first two parts are always pretty slow just because I have to give a shit ton of back story information and stuff like that. I promise the next parts are going to be getting much more interesting.

Thank you all so much for reading! I will probably post a one shot that is unrelated to this one next and then post part three sometime soon when I finish it up.