𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐍𝐄 - the taking of pain

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𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 Jessica had exited the church doors, Olivia had drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep; her neck fell at a horrid angle and her arm was still outstretched and resting just a centimeter away from Matt's.

Olivia had always been someone who fidgeted until she fell into a deep sleep, at that point not even the dead could wake her. Her mind never followed her body; it never rested and even as she lightly slept, still aware of each sound around her mind taunted her and showed her flashing images and scenes of the troubles in her past.

As a particularly bloody scene passed her by her arm twitched and her fingers ghosted Matthews's broken skin. Without her consent, the black veins that stole his pain appeared once again and crawled up her arms.

Her breathing became erratic as the pain reached her heart. The feeling of taking someone's pain wasn't something you could forget; it hurt unlike any other type of pain; it was a distinct feeling. Her blood would feel like ice inside of her body, it felt like razors traced her veins as they turned into that unmistakable shade of ebony.

Her cold fingers once again twitched and forced the black veins to crawl higher; the pain made her choke on a gasp as she jolted herself awake. Sweat was beading down her forehead as she pulled her hand away and cradled it to herself, cursing her weakened body for having a mind of its own.

Within a few minutes the sound of her erratic breaths and Matts hoarse ones were interrupted as the door was slowly opened and a creak sounded out.

"You're awake already?" Sister Maggie tutted with a shake of her head. "You need rest, Olivia."

The nun made her way over to the wolf and carefully placed a rucksack on the floor, at the foot of the wolf's freshly cleaned bed. "Jessica brought you some things whilst you were sleeping, she didn't want to wake you."

"Thank you. I uh- I seem to have no control over my body." Olivia huffed as she ran her tongue over her chapped lips. "I took his pain whilst I was sleeping, that's what woke me up."

She could see the nun's brows pinch together in confusion, not that she blamed her of course, she had never fully explained what she was.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you come to have these abilities of yours?" Sister Maggie questioned as she took a seat on the bed, her interest piqued and her attention on the woman dressed in bandages.

The wolf fiddled with the ring on her finger and sucked in a breath. "I was born with them."

"Really?"

With a nod, she continued. "Yeah, uh, I'm not entirely... Human."

The wolf watched as the nun opened her mouth in search of something to say before she finally settled for a shocked laugh. "Not entirely human?"

Olivia searched her mind for the best way to tell her that she was, in fact, a werewolf and not a human. Though, unsurprisingly she couldn't find anything to say that would sound even mildly comforting. 'Yeah I have claws and fangs', Nope. 'I'm a bedtime story you use to scare children', Also no.

"I'm a uh, a werewolf?" The woman cringed lightly as her words came out sound like more of a question than a statement. Though the look on Sister Maggie's wasn't quite what she expected; yes, she was shocked, that much was obvious, but she wasn't scared.

"A werewolf huh? A man who flies in an iron suit, a super soldier, Norse god... But a werewolf? That one certainly is new."

"Well, when you put it like that I fit in quite well, I guess."

"No, you don't." The sister spoke as she shook her head, a small smile growing on her face. "They may save the world, but they only think about the bigger picture; you, him and your other friends, you think about the smaller picture which is just as important. You don't fit in with them because you think about individuals, not just the world as a whole."

"I-" Olivia was stunned. She had expected the woman to cower in fear or tell her to leave as most would after finding out that a monster sat opposite; but the Sister told her that she was important, that she helped people. "-Thank you."

"I mean every word." The Sister confirmed before she clasped her hands together, resting them on her knees as she leaned forward in interest. "Now, what exactly can a werewolf do?"

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Olivia had spent the better part of two hours explaining the abilities and perks that came with being a werewolf; everything from super strength and hearing to taking pain and having fangs and claws. She had told the Nun that she came from an entire family of wolves, that it ran in the Hale blood, and that she cherished being a creature of stories... It was something personal, something that kept the memory of her deceased family alive.

Olivia had opened her laptop to show the intrigued Sister pictures of her family; spanning from pictures she had taken of old polaroids to images from the previous few years. She didn't notice it herself, but Sister Maggie could see the small flicker of light that sparked inside the wolf's brown eyes each time she clicked on a new picture; a light the nun hadn't seen before.

The Sister paid close attention to every detail the wolf told her; it wasn't often a chance like that came around. The wolf's smile was contagious and as Sister Maggie listened to the Hale describe her uncle; she couldn't keep her laugh contained when the statement 'I think he'll kill me if I beat him at another card game.', came out of the wolf's lips.

Sister Maggie could see as plain as day how much the younger woman cared for her family and friends; the chuckles and content sighs that fell from her mouth were a testament to that.

She couldn't have felt more at ease that her son had surrounded himself with the women's company; not that the Nun had any intentions in telling the young wolf that Matthew Murdock, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen was her son, after all, Matthew wasn't aware of the fact himself.

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Weeks passed and with each day that came, Olivia took it upon herself to grasp the devil's hand and steal his pain away; he was getting better within just a week his breathing had evened out completely, the wheezing sound at the back of his throat was no longer present and by week two the man would no longer wince with every breath.

The man had been showing signs that he had been getting better, after all, he would drift in and out of consciousness, giving Sister Maggie the time to feed him and give him water, and yet, he never remembered or spoke.

It was slow, much slower than the wolf would have liked; but he was getting better and that was all that mattered.

Of course, by taking his pain it meant that her body was only just barely healing itself; her ribs were healed after two weeks and her broken arm had slowly begun to piece itself together again, but the aches, pains, and dark bruises still stained her body and skin.

Over the weeks Olivia had been visited by Jessica numerous times, the P.I always brought her alcohol, clothes and even brought her pain killers... what? She didn't know if they would work or not. The onyx-haired woman has also abided Olivia's request to bring her a new phone; Olivia paid for it, of course.

With each visit, Jessica would ask the wolf about Matt, because though she wouldn't verbally admit it, she did worry about the devil.

Jessica eventually told Olivia that Malcome had become an... apprentice if you will, helping and researching cases; filling Olivia's spot. The P.I seemed sheepish and hesitant when she spoke about Malcome assisting her as if she were afraid that the wolf felt she was being replaced; that is until Olivia grinned,

"You better tell him that if he wants my room as an office; he's got it, he deserves it.", and she meant it. The man had been through so much and had helped both herself and Jessica through things that others wouldn't.

The Hale's were a family that had no shortage in money; Olivia had wanted to buy her own place for a long time; giving her room to Malcome was the perfect way to finally get her ass in gear to do so.

In all honesty, whenever Jessica wasn't there to occupy her time, Olivia felt useless. All she did was read the books Sister Maggie would leave on the foot of her bed or call her family; almost praying that they had experienced some action so she could get some second-hand excitement. Though she did have to admit that she would have gone completely crazy if it weren't for Sister Maggie; the woman would breeze into the room at the same time every afternoon to check on her wounds, redress Matt's and have a conversation with the girl.

They found each other interesting, they each had such different walks of life; Sister Maggie had devoted herself to God, she prayed and healed, whereas Olivia was a monster that went bump in the night and had spent her entire life fighting to live. They were opposites and yet they enjoyed each other's company; though the Sister would raise a brow each time the wolf used the Lord's name in vain and Olivia really did try to stop, the nun wouldn't scold her; knowing it was ingrained as it was in many people but she had to commend the woman for trying to show respect to something she wasn't entirely educated in.

It was a waiting game and though Olivia wasn't the most patient person in the world, she still waited beside the devil, in the hopes that he would wake.

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It had been just over a month since Olivia and Matt had been brought to the church and all the wolf had received was kindness. Every morning she and Sister Maggie would have a cup of herbal tea and a small conversation before Olivia would hobble back to the room were Matt rested and proceed to take more of his pain.

In the afternoons she would read or call Jessica, Derek, and Peter, making sure to check on them and make them aware of how she was doing. Jessica had her hands tied with a rather time-consuming case and so Olivia would call to make sure she was alright or to see if there was anything she could do or research from the comfort of her rickety bed.

Now, on this particular and rather boring day, Olivia found herself resting on the chair beside Matt's bed and slowly making her way through one of the books Maggie had offered to her 'Wolf Hall' was the book whose pages she carefully made her way through; she had never heard of it and yet there she sat more immersed in the life of Thomas Cromwell than her surroundings which is exactly why she didn't notice Matt's heart rate accelerate, nor did she notice his fingers twitch by his side.

She continued to read the politically charged plot, her fingers lighter than ever as she flipped the paper pages; careful to keep it in the pristine condition Sister Maggie had given it to her in. Only when a sharp gasp rang out, did her head snap up.

Her hair fanned around her as her head twisted in Matt's direction; she scrambled to her feet, ignoring the book as it fell to the floor, as Matt bolted upright, his unfocused eyes were blown wide as his hands clawed at his chest, begging for the erratic breaths to calm themselves, "Where are they? Where are they?"

As if knowing his next move, Olivia grasped his arms, "Matt! Matt, it's Olivia, calm down." She tried but the man continuously twisted in her grip.

The outburst of noise had made its way to Sister Maggie's ears and she darted towards the room at the sound of Olivia's panic yells. As she swung the door open, she could see the wolf struggling to keep the wounded man in his bed; her bruised arms were shaking and her face showed signs that she was in pain and yet she never let her grip falter. Just as the Sister was about to intervene Olivia's voice fell low and a wave of comfort washed over the room at the wolf's soft tone.

"Matt, it's okay. You're okay, we're okay. Please- please calm down."

Huffs continued to leave his throat in a rush but as he focused on her voice, he stopped twisting and eventually stilled in her grip. "Oli- Olivia?"

"It's me. I'm here."

"Where is she?"

Olivia faltered as she let him go, she knew who he was asking about; Elektra. "She- I don't think she got out Matt"

He didn't seem to register her words, instead, his breathing became heavier and his shaking hand came up to cup his ear, "My right ear... I can't..."

Olivia didn't know what to do, her gaze flew towards the door and a look of desperation was sent toward the Sister who gave a short nod and rushed over. Olivia moved to the side as the nun took her place, trying her best to keep Matt from standing, though the man didn't listen to reason and began to topple over; only to be caught by Olivia who groaned at the pain that erupted in her arm as his weight collided with her and sent her to her knees.

The Sister shook her head in exasperation as she kneeled next to the two, "Damn it, Matthew."

Olivia slowly lowered the man to rest his head on her lap, relieving the strain in her arms. But the vigilante clawed at her legs, "Now I can't see. I can't see."

He continued to mutter those same three words and the wolf's heart broke at the sound of his voice; he sounded scared and desperate... He sounded terrified as if the accident that had taken his sight had only just happened.

The wolf sucked in a breath and exhaled sharply as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slipped back into an unconscious state. The room was still for a moment and Olivia took the small opportunity to calm her breathing before she slowly tore her hazy eyes away from the devil's face and over to Sister Maggie's who looked as heartbroken as the wolf felt.

With a harsh swallow, she placed her arms under Matt's and began to lift, before looking towards Sister Maggie, "Help me."

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25-07-2020