Thread: Hero Business [Defenders -- Sigr & Virginia]

Every strike and block. Each word and sentence. Her smile that she wore like a mask. Matt Murdock had been mulling over all those things and more since it happened, what could have been different, what could have he done in another way, but there was no going back. Even if at the end the choice had been taken from his hands by those he had started to consider allies, all the decisions that lead him there were his and his alone. And now Elektra was dead. Again. For good. Of course he tried to go back and check if it was true that there was no escape, but it was going to take months to dig the rubble of the Midland Circle out of that hole if they ever did. In those hectic days both Elektra and any means or knowledge to bring her back from the dead once more were lost. No matter how much he thought that the Hand had to be stopped, that they needed to be gone, it was painful if it also meant that he wasn't going to be with her again. Letting her go when she pushed him to kill opened a wound that never healed, being unable to save her from the Hand tore him to pieces, and getting the tiniest hopeful bit of recovering her just to let her die? Matt had been missing from church. Nor had he been in Josie's. He didn't want to answer Karen's questions, nor Foggy's endearing attempts to bridge the gap. And the one that dragged him out of that certain death? Some of them tried to reach him, but they had their own things to take care of. Luke and Claire were taking care of Misty with Danny's help, and the Rand golden boy himself had his own things to do now that the Hand was gone. Jessica... well, she returned to be Jessica, Matt guessed, so that was it. Without church or alcohol, without friends or comrades, Matt had only other two avenues of relief. And he hadn't been taking any cases. Fighting for the sake of fighting, Matt was taking care of the rabble that felt a power vacuum in the city, violence and that cursed scarlet suit, that devilish mask, becoming his refuge. Unaware of what time of the day it was, or even what day of the week for that matter, Matt knew himself well enough that such was a foolish path that had to stop somewhere, so one day that was nothing special nor meaningful, he finally managed to get showered and dressed in something that wasn't a crime fighting costume and went to his office. What for remained to be seen, he probably hadn't been receiving many cases if any, but even if it wasn't the same without Foggy there, at least had a little semblance of normalcy. Until she came banging the door against the wall. Jones Matt mumbled. He would have recognized her stride outside the door, or the faint hue of alcohol that sometimes seemed to envelop her like an intoxicating perfume. Matt could have bragged about knowing that something was wrong, as if her presence her wasn't obvious enough, but he didn't get to say much before she started barking at the empty office. It was so tempting to get out of a window and escape that he almost took that exit, but if Jessica came seeking help it had to be something important, something big. Jessica he said, appearing into her view from one of the side rooms. What to add? He wasn't going to whine about what happened, it would serve for nothing and she wouldn't care. What was she going to do, apologize for saving his life? A heavy sigh preceded his next words. Who's Malcolm? he asked honestly, having just met him in passing on those hectic days.