Daredevil

January 16th, 2014

"Please, sit," Pepper said gently, gesturing to the chairs at the table.

"Oh, thank you," Matt said politely, Foggy leading him to a chair.

The two sat down, followed by Pepper and me.

"So, um," Foggy started. "You said you wanted to hire us for a case?"

"No," I said simply. "I want both of you on retainer. Working for me."

Matt raised an eyebrow at that. "And what exactly would that entail?"

"Well, let's see," I let out a breath. "You both left Landman and Zack recently right? Can I ask why?"

"Um," Foggy seemed nervous. "Well, it was more of a mutual agreement to leave, you understand."

"We had philosophical differences," Matt said, leaning forward in his seat.

"They were helping scumbag companies get away with killing people," I said simply.

Foggy and Matt seemed surprised at that.

"Stark Industries made some inquiries," Pepper said with a smile.

"Look, here's the thing," I rubbed at my nose, leaning forward. "I got some money while taking down HYDRA. Enough to set me up for the rest of my life. And I want to use it to do some good. So I'd like to share it with you. All I ask is that you use the money I give you to help people pro bono. Any expenses paid by me, from real estate, assistants, whatever you need. In return, you guys help the helpless, make sure people stay safe."

Matt seemed to raise an eyebrow at that. I wondered what the man who would one day become, or maybe already was, Daredevil was hearing in my heartbeat.

"What," Foggy seemed focused on something else. "What sort of retainer are we talking about?"

Pepper smiled, opening a folder and passing it to Foggy. She opened another, this one in braille, and passed it to Matt.

"One hundred thousand a month," I told them. "All I ask is that you guys do your work, keep Hell's Kitchen safe. Get me?"

Matt was surprised, his eyebrows high. Foggy looked like all his Christmas' had come at once.

"Why us?" Matt asked.

"Matt!" Foggy said, smiling nervously. "Should we really be asking this very nice man why he's willing to pay us so much?" Foggy chuckled, and I grinned.

"I simply wish to know," Matt said with a smile. "Why you want us, specifically? For that kind of money, you can hire far more experienced lawyers."

"Don't tell him that," Foggy mumbled.

"...When I first started doing the hero thing, I started in Hell's Kitchen," I said, leaning back in my seat. "Taking down drug dealers, pimps, thugs, thieves, anyone who had a reason to attack a person in the area, then I expanded to do the same for New York City. I did a lot of work there. And not just me, there's someone else, a vigilante who recently started doing the same thing."

Matt didn't bat an eye at that.

"I want Hell's Kitchen to be safe. And you two want to go to work there. I think, that in many ways, our interests align, Mr. Murdock. I think we can help each other."

Matt rubbed his chin for a moment. I think, for just a moment, he was considering saying no. Just for the hell of it, or cause it sounded suspicious as hell. I was leaning towards the later. In which case I would have simply put the money into something else.

Instead, he moved his hands across the contract, reading the braille for a moment, before nodding. "Very well, Mr. Schahed. I think we'd like some time to read this over?"

"Yes, we can, uh," I rose up. "We can meet again whenever you're available. Who knows, you might see me in Hell's Kitchen one night?"

Matt laughed. "Yes, I'm sure I will."

"Thank you again," Foggy said, grinning as he shook my hand, then Pepper's. Once done with that, the pair left, with Foggy's voice slightly echoing after the door closed behind him.

"I'm still not sure what you see in them," Pepper said. "I mean, they're both clearly smart, at least according to their grades and their work at Landman and Zack. But we do have more experienced lawyers."

"Just trust me," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Meantime, you should get ready."

Pepper smiled, then raised a hand. A second later, a purple gauntlet flew through the window to wrap around her arm. More armor pieces flew to land on her form until she was in the full armor of the Rescue unit.

"You changed the color," I noted.

"Red and black wasn't doing it for me," she said, as her helmet landed in her hands. She placed it on her head, the now purple and silver headpiece moving around to enshroud her. "Tony," she said, voice slightly altered. "You ready?"

"Since this morning!" Tony's voice said through our comms. A loud roaring sound came from the window, and Iron Man dropped into view to float in front of the window.

"Pepper, Dial," Tony said. "Shall we?"

I grinned and ran towards the open window next to Pepper. I leaped out of the open window and into the skies over New York. I fell for a while, passing windows and rooftops, the chilly morning winds rushing past me as the city streets came closer and closer. Then I tapped the Omnitrix and changed in a flash of bright green light.

"Astrodactyl!"

I pulled up at the last minute, about a foot over a yellow cab as people watched, and flew upwards in a quick burst of green star power. Pepper joined me, and we flew through the streets.

"Cutting it close, aren't you?" Iron Man asked as he flew down to join me.

"I've always wanted to do a Wronski Feint, now I can do it whenever I want, squawk!" I said with a grin.

"That really does look scary," Pepper noted as she twirled in the air, looking very graceful in her purple armor. The three of us went deeper into New York City, Tony and I on patrol, Pepper simply flying alongside her boyfriend.

A good way to start off the day.