𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍 - the freaks with rights

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𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 hug from Foggy, and a 'be careful' from Karen, Olivia bid the two hopeful friends goodbye and made her way into the hallway, almost slamming into Misty who held a stern look on her face, one Olivia had seen many times after being dragged to the precinct alongside her most troublesome P.I.

"You were supposed to join us," Misty spoke as she crossed her arms and leaned her weight on one leg.

Olivia shrugged as she skirted her way around the officer. "Anyone would think you missed me, Mist."

"Ha! Never." The woman responded with sass before she grasped the wolf's bicep and pulled her along.

The two reached the room where the others were waiting; the Captain had his arms crossed as he leaned against his desk and Olivia could see the vein above his eyebrow double in size as they entered the room.

Jessica looked as bored as ever, Luke stood with a nonchalant expression on his face, though a small smile peeked through as Olivia rolled her eyes at the Captain when he rose a brow at her. And then there was Matt holding Jessicas arm lightly, playing his role as the innocent and blind lawyer. He too had a small smirk gracing his face, though that was due to the fact that he had heard the Hale speaking with Misty.

Olivia took slow steps as she joined her friends, nodding to Jessica's 'You okay?' before turning on her heel to face Misty and the Captain.

Misty paced in front of the quartet, eyeing each of them as she passed. "We've had no luck identifying the bodies we found in the warehouse with you. And though you two have colorful histories-" Misty dragged out as she looked between Jessica and Luke. "I have reminded the NYPD that we have no evidence..."

"Yet." Captain Strieber spoke. Olivia sniffed as she watched the man glance over them all, sure, Jess and Luke did have 'Colorful histories' as Misty so nicely put it, but that didn't mean that it was all bad. The Hale herself had been brought in a handful of times, though nothing ever happened as they had only ever brought her in for being with Jessica in the wrong place, at the wrong time, so she supposed she was in the middle. They seemed to trust Matt, somewhat. They weren't necessarily weary of Olivia herself either, but they definitely had their eyes glued to the P.I and Harlem's hero.

"...To suggest that you were responsible." Misty finished.

Strieber motioned towards Misty as he took a seat on the edge of a desk and folded his arms. "Now, I trust Detective Knight, and she says that, although you're being tight-lipped, the best way to proceed is to treat you as witnesses and not suspects."

Suspects? Olivia squinted and her nose scrunched up, the lot of them were found out for the count and they were suspects? A blind lawyer and a girl who had a hole in her stomach were suspects?

Misty nodded as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Her tone was much less condescending than her superiors which is exactly why Olivia preferred her. "You have information that can fill in the gaps. We need it."

Olivia brought a hand up to her forehead, wiping away the sweat that had gathered whilst her stomach churned, ah, not all of the wolfsbane had made its exit, how wonderful.

"Our task force has been tracking a mysterious crime syndicate for months. They move fast and cover their tracks and often with the blood of innocent people." Strieber pressed before Matt shook his head and stepped forward.

"Captain, my clients are exhausted and under emotional distress. I'm sure you can understand how much they need to go home."

The Captain placed a hand on his hip. "And, see, I'm not sure you understand-"

The Captain didn't get to finish his sentence, being interrupted by Olivia as she rushed over to the bin that was next to the man, emptying more black liquid into the plastic trash can with a groan. She stood whilst dragging a hand down her face and stared at the Captain as her eyelids became heavy.

"-You okay?" Strieber asked the woman as she leaned a hand on the desk in front of her.

Her head snapped to his as she stood straight. "I have been stabbed and poisoned, the poison is still inside of me, and yet here I am listening to this." She gestured to his person. "We do understand the severity of the situation, don't you dare think for a second that we don't." She paused as she let out a heavy, annoyed breath. "The criminals are a group called the Hand. They took Danny Rand, and no, we don't have a clue why."

"Look, when criminals feel like they're winning, they get sloppy," Misty spoke as she turned to her superior, her eyes dragging away from the mess that was Olivia. "This could be good for us."

Luke shook his head with a shrug. "No, not these criminals, they don't get sloppy. They just get more dangerous. It has to be us. We can take care of this."

"'We'? There is no 'we.' Vigilantes don't have jurisdiction. The NYPD does." Strieber scoffed.

"And what a fantastic job you've done." Olivia smiled sarcastically as she wiped her chin with her hand. "Listen, we just wanna talk to our lawyer. We might be freaks, but we still have rights."

Matt's lips twitched as her final words took a patronizing tone and he quickly jumped into the conversation to prevent the wolf from digging herself an even deeper hole, especially since the Captain's heart rate had increased. "Captain, before you make any calls, I would like to sidebar with my clients."

Strieber rolled his eyes with a mocking chuckle. "Oh, you can do that... After I book them for obstruction. And you."

"Just a word. In private. I would like to explain to them how best to cooperate in building your case."

Olivia rose a brow, impressed, the Devil certainly had a silver tongue. Strieber glanced between the four opposite him, and though his left eye twitched slightly, he begrudgingly agreed and slowly approached Matthew. "Well, I hope they like what you have to say. Otherwise, and I warn you, I'm putting you in a room with three super-powered people.

Matt nodded as he offered a half-smile. "Last I heard, Miss Hale is right, they still have legal rights."

Olivia cleared her throat as she turned away from the confrontation, a smile creeping it's way on to her lips and a laugh threatening to break out.

"You know what, son--"

"--Captain..." Misty quickly interrupted, gaining the attention of her superior as she dropped her voice to a whisper, one that both wolf and Devil could hear. "I think we should let them. Just trust me."

Olivia bit her lip as she waited for the Captain to speak, and fortunately for them all, he agreed and made his way back to his desk. Ignoring the 'Thank you, Captain' Matt had quickly uttered before grasping the arm Olivia offered.

The pair quickly followed after the others as Misty led them through the corridors. They turned into the room where all of their friends had been waiting and Karen quickly walked over, offering a tense small to the Hale before asking for a moment with Matt. With a sigh, Misty allowed it and ushered both Olivia and Jess inside, pulling Luke away for a moment.

Olivia took a quick seat on top of the table in the room, finally, her stomach had settled and her veins no longer burned with every breath.

Jessica dropped next to her with a thud. "You okay?"

"I think it's all gone."

"Thank God, because if you throw up that black shit one more time, I'm gonna throw up."

Olivia chuckled alongside Jessica as she leaned back on her hands and the room drifted into silence, allowing the Hale to catch the end of Matt and Karen's conversation, not that she had intended to listen.

"You were finally rebuilding your life." The blonde had sighed.

"Karen... This is my life."

Olivia understood where they were both coming from. Karen had to sit back every day and night and wonder whether Matt would come home covered in cuts and bruises or whether he would be found by some stranger dead in an ally.

And Matt, this was his life. He was a fighter and he wanted to help and protect people in any way possible. The wolf knew exactly how that felt, being willing enough to put yourself in the middle of the crossfire to save even just one person, it wasn't something you could just quit. Eventually the adrenaline, that feeling of someone's life being in your hands... it became addictive.

After a moment, the door opened and Matt made his way inside, his arms in front of him, keeping up the act of the blind lawyer, with a roll of her eyes, Olivia leaned forward and grabbed his calloused hand, bringing him towards the table.

Matt's lips quirked when he had heard the sigh the wolf exhaled and gave her an exaggerated nod of appreciation, to which she chuckled at.

Jessica looked between the two and let out a teasing hum. "Look at you, thick as thieves, is it because you have those God-awful matching shirts?"

Olivia clicked her tongue with a wink and pointed at the P.I. "Hey, at least we change our clothes."

"You got me there."

The three of them chuckled and quickly let out forced coughs as Misty opened the door. She eyed them all, catching the barely noticeable curves of their lips, even on Jessica's face, and rolled her eyes before closing the door after Luke stepped through.

Matt's face quickly sobered, his lips falling into a thin line as his voice turned serious. "We don't have a lot of time."

Jessica spared a quick glance towards Luke as the man took his seat next to Matt, opposite the girls. She hunched forward, leaning her elbows on her knees as she spoke. "Just so you know, if they're pressing charges, we're gonna want a lawyer who isn't you."

"That's not why we're here."

"You're right," Luke grumbled. "We're here because your ex almost killed every one of us."

Jessica nodded as she leaned back on her hands, sharing a look with Olivia. "Yeah, did she take Danny or did she kill Danny?"

"She took him," Olivia explained, her mind being able to picture the previous event clearly, even though she had been on the floor, breathing about as well as an asthmatic in a marathon. She felt terrible, the poor kid had been on the verge of death as glass was held to his throat, he was beaten up by Matt, knocked out by Olivia herself, tied up, watched his rescue party be taken down within minutes and then had been kidnapped. "She waited for me to go down on my own, enjoyed the show, and then took her prize with her..."

Matt could hear the guilt in her voice, lacing each word as they left her lips. She had been the last one standing and she hadn't managed to keep Danny from their grips, he could only imagine how much she was beating herself up for not being able to protect him. He quickly cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence. "Well, if what Stick said is true and they took him with them, we have to believe they'll keep him alive, they need him."

Luke shrugged as he remembered what had happened just moments before the three had joined them. "If anything, I think she saved him." Olivia furrowed her brows, gesturing for him to explain. "When you guys burst in, the old man was trying to slice him open."

"Well, he must've known what the Hand was planning on doing with the Iron Fist" Though his tone didn't betray him, his chemo-signals did; the distinguishable scent of sadness washing over him when Luke had spoken about Stick. She recalled when Matt had told her that Stick had taught him everything he knew and now, he was gone; just like his Father.

The Hale ran her tongue over her teeth as she looked at her companions, they just couldn't catch a break, could they? She cleared her throat with a blink as Luke questioned her.

"Do you know where she took Danny?"

The wolf shook her head with a sigh as she picked at the remnants of blood that still coated her fingernails. Though she didn't know where Elektra had taken Danny, her mind went back to the plans they had found, Midland Circle, everything Jess had researched and found led to there. And, well, the architect had planned on blowing it up, so obviously it was important. "No idea... But surely Midland Circle makes the most sense, the architect was planning on blowing it up?"

Matt nodded as he listened to the wolf, his hand drifted to his glasses as he quickly pushed them up. "Yeah, makes sense." He turned then cleared his throat, addressing Luke; "There's a structure, some dome-shaped thing. If they think Danny's a key, maybe whatever it is he unlocks, is in that structure."

"Oh, my God, this is the dumbest..." Jessica trailed off in disdain.

Luke nodded, catching Olivia's attention; were the two of them not on the same page as she and Matt, this is all they had, and it made sense. If there was even the slimmest chance that Danny was there, they owed it to him to get him out.

The indestructible man stood and laced his hands on his hips. "The question is, what are we gonna do about it? I mean, I just got out of jail." He paused before pointing a finger towards the lawyer. "They don't know who you are, Matt. They don't know what she is." He directed the last statement towards the Hale who sighed.

He was right, they didn't. And in all honesty, she didn't want them to know. So, if she had to run around with Jessica's scarf tied around her face, she would. Nothing was going to stop her from doing whatever she could to get Danny back, after all, she couldn't stop Elektra. It was her fault that Danny had been taken.

Before anyone could reply, the wolf and devil's heads snapped up, facing the door as someone approached and knocked their knuckles against the glass.

Jessica scowled at the sound, her voice rising in annoyance. "Jesus! Give us a minute!"

"It's not the cops." Both Olivia and Matt spoke in unison, the latter quickly jumping up and opening the door for Foggy.

Olivia offered the man a quick smile -one he returned- and brought her attention to her hands as Matt left the room. She could hear the two's quiet discussion; Foggy was worried, not just for Matt's safety, but for his reputation, after all, he was a lawyer. If the cops found out about who Matt was, found out that he was the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, each case he had worked on would be investigated, his career would be taken from him.

A small smile twitched at her lips as she heard Foggy tell Matt that he wouldn't stop him from trying to save the city. "And I'm not dumb enough to think I can try and stop you. I'm here because I'm trying to help you keep your two lives separate. So they don't lump you in with Mr. Bulletproof, Super Joan Jett and..." The man paused with a small sigh as he looked through the glass, making eye contact with the Hale who offered him a small smile of understanding. "...and Olivia, you understand?"

Olivia understood him, after all, the three still in the room had to walk on eggshells around the police because despite the fact that she and Matt were right; they did have rights, some people just... didn't agree. Matt deserved to do what he wanted, be it continuing his cases or putting on the suit, but even Olivia knew that he couldn't keep those lives completely separate. Matthew Murdock the blind lawyer and Daredevil the city's savior were the same person.

"That's what family's for." Olivia caught Foggy's final words as he hugged his friend, his brother. And that statement alone was enough to remind Olivia of the promise she had made to him and Karen. She wouldn't let them down; she couldn't afford to.

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17-05-2020