𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 - the healing

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𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐍 early morning; cold and bitter and yet the sun still shone and illuminated the heavy flow of the city beneath it. Nobody in the church could have anticipated what they were going to find behind the door that rang out with seven rapid knocks. The knocks echoed through the quiet hallways and filtered into the room that Sister Maggie had been tucked away in.

After the third knock had rung out and the Sister had laid down her book, a small plastic bookmark peeking out above the pages, she rose to her feet and dusted herself off. Her brows furrowed as the knocks became faster and shouts and pleas joined them.

Without hesitation, she grasped the skirt of her habit to prevent herself from falling and quickly made her way out of the room and towards the doors. She heaved them open and was met with the concerned face of a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties, his eyes showed panic and the sister immediately let her face soften in hopes of calming the man. "Are you alright sir?"

The man shook his head as his eyes glanced between herself and the vibrant yellow taxi that had been haphazardly parked on the curb. "I think- I think Father Lantom should see this."

Sister Maggie felt her brows raise but nodded nonetheless and quickly made her way to Father Lantom's office. After a single knock, the Father called her inside and rose from his chair. He watched closely as the Sister kept herself under the doorway, her eyes flicking in the direction she came. "You seem to have a visitor."

The Father frowned, he had not been expecting anyone, but either way, he wasn't one to keep somebody waiting and immediately followed the Sister to the front entrance.

The older man, Brian, met the Father's eyes and held out a shaky hand, "Father Lantom? Brian Williams."

Father Lantom nodded as he clutched the man's hand and gave a swift shake before Brian opened his mouth once again, his words a small jumble as he hurried to explain. "I found- well-" He sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "I think it's best I show you."

The Father and Sister Maggie followed after the man as he led them to his taxi. The Father's face took a breath as his eyes noticed the small smudge of blood near the back doors handle. His eyes slowly moved upwards and to the window and he couldn't help but want to recoil at the sight of the two battered bodies.

Brian heaved a breath as he clutched the door handle and pulled. His hands were visibly shaking as he turned his head from the two bloodied bodies. "He said to bring them here, do you know them?"

The Father nodded slowly as his eyes traced the man's body, Matthew Murdock. The boy he had helped to raise, the man that he tried to guide. The woman, however, looked mildly familiar but he couldn't quite place who she was, though it didn't matter, if she was with Matt then the Father had no quarrels with her presence.

Father Lantom shifted his gaze towards the Sister and could see the conflict within her eyes, no matter, they had to help them as fast as they could. "Mr. Williams, would you help me get them inside?"

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Father Lantom, Sister Maggie, and Brian had eventually managed to heave the two heavily beaten bodies into a spare room. Blood spilled on the freshly scrubbed wooden floors and dirtied each of their clothing but neither of the three even spared a glance; they were far too focused on saving the people in their arms.

The moment the two bodies were carefully placed on the beds that sat less than a couple of meters apart and Father Lantom pulled Brian to the side, and explained what the beaten man had done for their city; of course, Brian knew the man in the mask was 'Daredevil' but now he had seen the face beneath the horns. Father Lantom didn't even get the chance to swear the man to secrecy; Brian had cast his eyes to the broken man and the woman not far from his side, just knowing that she too had helped their resident vigilante.

Brian, not that many people would think it, also recognized the woman. Now the blood and hair had been removed from her face he could see her better; she was the one who associated herself with Jessica Jones. The one who had convinced the P.I to help his son with a case. His gaze turned determined as it traveled back to the Father. "Their secrets are safe with me, I swear it."

The Father was beyond relieved and thanked the man for his kindness before slowly guiding the man out of the room, through the building and towards the entrance. "Mr. Williams, thank you."

Brian chuckled as a small blossom of pink rose to his cheeks. "He's helped our city; saved my son and granddaughter actually, it's the least I could do. When they wake, tell them I said thank you for whatever it is they risk their lives for, tell them that I will keep their identities safe and I hope they recover quickly."

Father Lantom smiled, the crow's feet at the edge of his eyes wrinkling further as he digested the stranger's kind words. "I will tell them every word; you saved our hero's and that makes you a hero, Mr. Williams."

Pride bloomed inside of Brian as he shook the Father's hand one final time before stepping out of the door the Father held open for him. "Have a good afternoon, Father Lantom."

"And you Mr. Williams, and you."

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The room was drenched in a metallic smell but the dutiful nuns ignored the heavy scent as they did their best to make their new occupants comfortable. Sister Maggie could barely move her gaze from the man dressed in black and yet the moment her eyes settled on the woman properly she couldn't quite contain the small gasp that escaped her lips.

"Sister?" One of the younger nuns spoke up, her face was grim as she slowly cut open the shirt adorning the woman's body and revealed the multitudes of rocks and stones embedded within her flesh and the copious amount of blood that had soaked her shirt and skin. "What do we do?"

Sister Maggie's face hardened as she approached the bedside and peered at the woman's face that was turned to the wall, a surprisingly soft look painted across it. Like Father Lantom, she too recognized the woman from the news and knew that the woman was fortunate enough to not only possess strength but also the ability to heal; they needed to remove the rubble to allow her body the time to heal. "We take them out and we clean and dress them as we would the rest of her wounds."

"But Sister-"

"Now."

The younger nun sighed and nodded before moving her shaking hands above the woman's exposed back and settled them on the biggest stone. If the poor girl had to describe it, one would shudder; it was sharp and jagged and even larger than her own hand, well, the part that she could see was. Her hands wrapped around the chunk of rock and she began to pull.

The second the rock budged even the slightest bit the wounded woman's eye's snapped open and revealed a vibrant, glowing blue; one which made Sister Maggie take a small step back in shock. Before the Sister could warn them that the woman was awake, the younger Sister continued to pull and a pained scream, no, a pained roar slipped through the woman's lips that halted all movement in the room.

No one dared to move an inch as all eyes gravitated towards the woman on the bed; her breaths were heaving and blood was spilling from the disturbed wound on her back; coloring the bed a deep crimson.

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Olivia honestly thought that waking up on the side of a river, soaking wet, being pelted by rain and slowly bleeding out was one of the worst experiences in her life. But, of course, the world had to prove her wrong and force her out of her unconscious state with the feeling of someone playing tug of war with one of the many painful pieces of a building that was protruding from her.

Before she knew it, her eyes had snapped open and a frightening sound had left her mouth; she could tell the other occupants of the room were confused and very much scared; she could hear their hearts beating louder with every second.

Slowly her eyes returned to their normal color as her breathing began to slow. Her eyes slowly lifted at met those of an older nun; her face was weary and yet soft as if she felt sorry for the state the wolf was in but was still cautious of her.

The nun stepped forward and slowly kneeled beside the bed. "I'm Sister Maggie, who might you be?"

Olivia exhaled and winced as the movement disturbed her broken ribs. "Olivia Hale." She paused as her reeling mind slowly processed what had happened and her eyes began to widen. "Is... is Matt-"

"He's-" The Sister paused as her eyes shifted to look over at the other bed. Her eyes were littered with sadness as she tore her eyes away. "He's here."

The wolf swallowed; she had many questions like how she had gotten there, who had found her and most of all: how the hell did they get out alive? But for now, she needed to focus on healing; she knew for a fact that her body was far too exhausted to begin the healing process which meant the women around her would need to pull each and every rock from her bloodied skin, clean each and every small cut and scrape and wrap her in bandages.

Slowly the wolf shifted and managed to turn her head away from Sister Maggie and face the younger nun, before she could speak, however, her eyes caught sight of Matthew and the nuns that were steadily rushing around him. She felt guilty, but there was nothing more she could have done to get them out; she did what she could and they made it, barely, but they did make it.

It was a task, but she managed to tear her eyes away from the sight of his beaten body and make eye contact with the nun whose hands were still hovering above her back. With a small swallow, she nodded. "Do it."

The nun shared a quick glance with Sister Maggie who nodded for her to go on. With a quick exhale she pulled and the bed groaned as the Hale dug her claws into the mattress and clenched her teeth; trying to eliminate the rumble that was bubbling up her throat.

Each of the nuns winced and recoiled after the biggest rock was finally freed from her skin, blood flowed freely from the gaping wound and Olivia couldn't contain the cry of pain that broke through her clenched teeth. Her breaths were coming out as pain-filled gasps and multiple times she almost choked on the air flowing through her lungs.

The nun who had pulled the rubble from her skin gave her a small look of sympathy as she watched a few tears dribble down her cheeks and cause a split in the dirt and dust that coated her face. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No," Olivia spoke, her voice cracking as it traveled through her hoarse throat. "My body won't heal if they're still there, get them out, please."

And so, the nun continued, with the help of Sister Maggie. The day felt as if it were a year-long, she could feel every small movement, every tug and pull. The wolf had almost entirely forgotten what it felt like to have a wound cleaned and stitched, and she could safely say that she did not miss it, not one bit. The alcohol burned her skin and the needle didn't exactly feel comfortable either, but she toughed it out and tried her best to stay as still as she could whilst the nuns worked vigilantly to patch her up.

By the time day turned to dusk her body was aching and burning, she was almost wrapped entirely in bandages and one of her arms was in a makeshift sling after the nuns deemed it broken. She was beyond tired and yet she pushed herself; she felt restless and uncomfortable as she laid on her front, avoiding from damaging her back any further. Now, it may have been a bad idea, who knows? But the wolf felt a small spark of energy as she rested and immediately directed it towards her spine; willing it to heal itself.

Something that would have normally only taken about twenty or thirty minutes to heal took eight hours. It was around four in the morning when she felt the final bone shift painfully into place and she slowly used her arm that was in relatively good shape to heave herself up and onto her knees. Her broken ribs protested but even so just sitting up made her feel ten times better.

Her head slowly turned as Sister Maggie approached her. "I've heard that you have healing abilities, though seeing somebody heal an almost shattered spine is still quite the shock."

The Hale let out a hoarse laugh as she shifted her body to face the nun. "It comes in handy."

"I can see that." The Sister smiled before her eyes narrowed as she caught the woman wince. "How are your ribs?"

"Broken. I can feel them shift every time I breathe, but I don't have the energy to heal them yet."

"You'll heal in time. Your body is incredibly resilient."

Olivia hummed before her gaze slowly made its way over to Matthew who was lying still and covered in bandages, his chest barely moving. She strained her hearing and the sound his heart was making made her swallow, the usually fast-paced and adrenaline-fueled beating that echoed inside of his ribcage had been reduced to a small and weak thump here and there. She was worried that in a moment or two it would stop entirely. "His heart..."

Sister Maggie frowned and her head tilted slightly as she questioned the woman. "His heart?"

"I can hear his heart, it's-" She sighed as she waited for another thump. "It's weak, barely beating."

Concern and fear filled the Sister's body as her eyes latched onto him; she wasn't entirely surprised, he was in awful shape and though Olivia had been worse, she had strength and healing on her side.

Olivia could move her stare from the man, her eyes followed his chest as it rose and fell slowly before she quietly spoke. "Sister? Would you mind lending me a hand?"

"You should rest, Olivia."

"I can help him."

Sister Maggie paused as she thought over the woman's words, how on earth could she help him? Though she did have abilities that no human should have and throughout the night she would catch the woman's saddened gaze resting on Matt's form. She looked... guilty?

The Sister nodded and made her way to the side of Olivia's bed and wrapped a careful arm around the woman's waist as the Hale gripped onto her shoulder to help keep herself up. The chair beside Matthew's bed was less than a meter away from Olivia's but the wolf knew she would collapse before she even managed to stand.

Olivia sucked in a pained breath as she was lowered into the chair, her eyes closed as she tried to breathe through the pain inside her chest. Once Sister Maggie was sure the woman was okay, she took a seat on the Hale's bed and watched with curious eyes as the woman extended her arm and laced her good hand with one of Matt's bruised ones.

She was careful, her fingers ghosting his instead of gripping on, as she leaned back into the chair her eyes fluttered shut and slowly the veins in her hands turned black and began to spread up her arm; almost immediately Matt let out a small sigh of relief as the pain in his body was lifted. Olivia gasped as a wave of pain hit her and quickly let go of the hand she was holding as she panted and the black veins in her arms slowly faded.

"What did you do?" Sister Maggie whispered as she watched the remaining coal-black disappear from the women's arms.

Olivia turned with a tired smile, her breath escaping her as if she had run a marathon. "I took some of his pain."

A small smile broke out on the Sister's face as she watched Matthew's chest rise and fall a little faster. "You are full of surprises, aren't you?"

The wolf let out a breathless laugh as she lightly shrugged. "That's me."

The Sister's face softened as she looked over the Hale's face. "You care about him."

Olivia scanned Matt's face; she did care for him, even though the two hadn't known each other long and even though a threat or two were shared they seemed to click. They fought together well, they were able to joke with each other even in a life or death situation and she could remember how heavy her heart had been when she thought the ceiling back at Midland Circle would kill the pair of them.

"I do, yeah. We haven't known each other long but I suppose trauma and near-death experiences make you care for someone." She paused as she let out a light chuckle before turning back to the Sister who had listened with a small smile. "Would you- do you have a phone I could borrow? I really need to make some calls."

The Sister nodded as she rose from her seat and dusted herself off. "I'll go and get it for you." Before the woman could leave the room, however; she turned back and pointed a stern finger and the woman who was slowly sinking into the chair. "Rest."

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12-07-2020