New York City

New York City is the largest city of the state of New York and the largest metropolitan area in the United States.
==History==
===Ancient Times===
====Place of Power====
Thousands of years in the past, the mighty sorcerer Agamotto erected a sanctuary in a place of power where New York would have arisen, in order to create a mystical shield around the globe. He then left the sanctuary in the custody of his disciples.
===Steve Rogers' Childhood===
====The Promise====
In 1924, a young Steve Rogers, son of a soldier and a nurse, was playing with his toy soldiers, when his mother, Sarah, terminally ill due to the she contracted while in the hospital she worked, called for him.
Realizing the resemblance between him and his father Joseph, Sarah guessed his son would like to be a soldier just like his father was, but many people would tell him what he could not do due to his physical condition. However, Sarah reminded his son that although his body may look frail, it held a heart ten times its size, and made him promise that whatever his dream would be, he would use his head to avoid sharing the same fate as Joseph, a promise Steve would remember in the years to come.Captain America: First Vengeance
===Harry Houdini's Escape Act===
In 1925, performed one of his sensational escape acts at the Griffith Hotel, where he escaped from handcuffs, straight jackets and steamer trunks.
The tenants watched fascinated as Houdini performed his acts one after another, but despite everything, Houdini had to adhere to the strict code of conduct of the hotel, and was not allowed to ascend the stairs above the first floor.
===Market Crash===
Following the , orchestrated by Thomas Gloucester, the father of Wilfred Malick found himself so distraught over his financial losses that he jumped out of a window, killing himself. Malick became a poor kid, until he got taken in by Ernest Koenig, who offered Malick work at his speakeasy in exchange for a place to live.
===Meeting Bucky Barnes===
In 1930, Steve Rogers got involved in a fight against a group of bullies who demanded a toll for crossing Tenth Avenue. Despite his physical and numerical disadvantage, Rogers refused to pay, and the bullies started hitting him until another boy arrived and started defending him, as he was sick of watching those bullies stealing the money of little kids like Rogers.
Rogers helped his rescuer in the fight by hitting one of the bullies with a circular garbage can lid, and the bullies fled the alley. The boy was inspired to stand up to the bullies by watching a frail boy like Rogers do it, and introduce himself as James Buchanan Barnes, although his friend called him Bucky.
===Wilfred Malick's Delivery===
Ernest Koenig's speakeasy flourished during the Prohibition, and he catered an event hosted by Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. The morning of the event, Koenig sent Jimmy Bottles to the shut-down pharmacy Cut Rate Drugs to bribe police Captain William Dole to stay away from the party. However, at this event, Wilfred Malick was contacted by Viola, a member of HYDRA and a friend of his father's, offering him a chance to help the organization by delivering a key ingredient of the Super Soldier Serum. Malick took his car to a train track and got on, riding it to Hell's Harbor, where he made his delivery and became a respected member of HYDRA.
===World War II===
====Beginning====
In December 7, 1941, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were attending an art lesson, where Barnes was more interested in the model, when news erupted that the United States had entered World War II after a bombing over Pearl Harbor.
Rogers discussed with Barnes the need to enlist, as their country would need every available man to fight in the war. Barnes tried to dissuade Rogers given his frail physical condition, citing that he got winded just for taking three flights of stairs. Rogers asked Barnes to prepare him as a physical trainer, given his status as the three-time West Side Welterweight champion. Barnes, although worried about his friend, agreed to do it.
Four days later, Rogers started taking boxing lessons from Barnes at Goldie's Gym. Barnes' first lesson would be that there was no warm-up, while punching Rogers in the face. Barnes told him that given his physical weakness, he should stay always alert to avoid his opponent to take advantage.
Over the next few days, Rogers trained hard at the gym and running, getting confident enough to make his first attempt to enlist on Christmas Eve. A doctor examined him but Rogers was ultimately rejected, with the doctor advising him to look for other ways to help the country, such as drawing enlistment and war bonds advertisements due to his art training. Rogers was not discouraged, and while Barnes had been accepted into the Army, he was going to try again, getting a second opinion.
====Sewer Systems====
In 1942, Peggy Carter spent time in the New York City sewer system and learned how its storm drain system worked.
====Brooklyn Project====
Doctor Abraham Erskine, Howard Stark and Colonel Chester Phillips, members of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, oversaw the completion of the laboratory destined to house Project Rebirth, with Stark noting that it should be called "Brooklyn Project" instead, paralleling 's Manhattan Project in Los Alamos.
However, Erskine rejected the twenty candidates Phillips recommended as he wanted the power granted by his serum to fall in the right hands, with the agreement of Peggy Carter, who witnessed firsthand the result of the formula in a man like Johann Schmidt.
====Enlistment====
Young Steve Rogers tried to enlist again for military duty in World War II. Rogers was questioned about his family records, revealing the cause of death of his father and mother. However, despite his motivation, Rogers was rejected due to various health and physical issues, and the doctor responsible for his evaluation claimed that with the rejection, he saved Rogers' life.
Rogers attended a cinema, respectfully watching the advertisements about the work of the United States Armed Forces during the war. Another spectator complained about the advertisements, wanting the movie to begin, and Rogers' demands to show respect ended up in a fight in a nearby alley. Rogers, despite his physical disadvantages, was not afraid of the man, and tried to use a circular garbage can lid as a shield to defend himself.
Sergeant Bucky Barnes, Rogers' best friend, arrived in time to defend him and drive the attacker away. Barnes retrieved Rogers' latest rejection document, and warned him that lying in the enlistment form was illegal, before announcing that he was destined with the to England.
 
Howard Stark, owner and CEO of Stark Industries, sponsored an exhibition of future technologies, the World Exposition of Tomorrow, which Rogers, Barnes and their respective dates, Bonnie and Connie, attended. The Expo presented such inventions as Phineas Horton's Synthetic Man, and a prototype of a Flying Car by Stark Industries. Stark himself hosted the presentation of the Flying Car, an audience success despite the failure of the prototype.
Rogers attempted to enlist again during the presentation, leaving Barnes and the girls behind, but Barnes tried to persuade Rogers to not expose himself to such a risk. Rogers' strong moral convictions were the reason behind all those attempts to enlist, perceiving he had no right to stay behind when men were risking their lives fighting in the war, and Barnes, concerned about the well-being of his friend, asked him not to do nothing stupid until his return before saying goodbye.
Doctor Abraham Erskine of the Strategic Scientific Reserve overheard Rogers' conversation with Barnes about wanting to help in the war, and approached Rogers to evaluate his motives of enlisting, directly asking Rogers if he wanted to kill Nazis. Rogers' five attempts of enlisting, and his motivations to not kill anyone, but to help stop the war, impressed Erskine, and offered him his only chance to enlist.
====Project Rebirth====
Steve Rogers returned to New York City accompanied by Agent Peggy Carter of the Strategic Scientific Reserve to a secret laboratory, in order to become the first test subject of Project Rebirth. While on the way, Rogers went through his old neighborhood, remembering all the places where he had been beaten. Carter asked why he did not run away, and his answer was that if he had run, nothing would let him stop running. During the conversation, Carter realized that Rogers did not know how to talk to a woman, and Rogers confessed that that was his longest conversation, as he was both frightened and uninterested in women, as he thought he could wait for the perfect match.
Rogers and Carter arrived to an antique store, that served as the entrance to the laboratory. where Abraham Erskine greeted Rogers, and Colonel Chester Phillips attended Senator Brandt and Fred Clemson of the Department of State. Rogers prepared himself for the treatment; Erskine informed the assistants of his intentions with this project, to walk down the path towards peace, and explained the details of the procedure.
The procedure began, with Rogers being infused with many injections of Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, and Howard Stark activating a saturation of Vita Radiation over the subject. The process was extremely painful, but when Erskine ordered to stop the procedure, Rogers claimed that he could resist.
|Steve Rogers pursuing Heinz Kruger on the streets of New York
The procedure was successful, and Rogers emerged from the experiment taller and muscular. However, Fred Clemson revealed himself to be HYDRA agent Heinz Kruger; he murdered Erskine and took a vial of the serum. Although Carter shot Kruger, she couldn't stop him from fleeing. With his dying breath, Erskine reminded Rogers of the promise he made the night before, being a good person no matter what happened.
Carter continued shooting Kruger, and managed to kill his driver. Kruger was forced to change his vehicle and almost hit Carter, who was saved by Rogers before pursuing Kruger through the streets to Brooklyn piers, where Kruger took a boy as a hostage.
Kruger boarded the Fieser Dorsch and thought he had managed to flee, but Rogers was able to throw him off the vehicle, breaking the vial containing the last sample of the Super Soldier Serum. The assassin committed suicide via cyanide capsule before he could be interrogated.
Rogers was taken to the SSR facility to take blood samples in hopes of reproducing Project Rebirth, as Peggy Carter remarked that the secrets of Erskine's formula were lost with his death, and the only remaining traces of the formula were now in Rogers' genes.
Colonel Phillips demanded answers for the event from Senator Brandt, replying that the assassin infiltrated the laboratory with the senator. Howard Stark examined the submarine used by Kruger, realizing that its technology was superior to theirs. Senator Brandt then learned HYDRA's purpose from Phillips and Carter.
Phillips received new orders for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, to finish off HYDRA, and ordered Carter and Stark to move to London with him. Rogers volunteered to go with them, but Phillips ordered him to go to Alamogordo in order to being subjected to tests in order to recreate the Super Soldier Serum.
Senator Brandt offered Rogers another option, as his heroic persecution of Kruger in the streets of New York City was witnessed by many citizens and became a front page in the newspapers. He had potential as a public symbol.
====Captain America's USO Shows====
Rogers joined the and began touring the nation in a colorful costume as "Captain America", accompanied by a chorus named the Star Spangled Singers, New York being one of the many cities visited.
Rogers' shows included Rogers' speech about the role of the common citizen during the war, a dancing show by the Star Spangled Singers, feats showing Rogers' strength, a climatic moment when Captain America punched another actor portraying Adolf Hitler and the possibility of getting an autograph or a photo with Captain America.
Rogers' success during these shows led to the promotional movies and comics about "Captain America"'s adventures during World War II.
====End of the War====
New York City was among the populated American cities that Red Skull planned to destroy with his HYDRA Parasits. Captain America heroically sacrificed himself in order to prevent the plane from reaching its destination. Due to this and other feats during the war, Captain America became a role model for children all over the world, especially for the ones in his native neighborhood of Brooklyn.
===Toy Vault===
Howard Stark met Ida Emke at a charity auction and flirted with her, spending a weekend together. Stark even took her to the warehouse where he stored many of his prototype vehicles, in order to impress her, even offering to fly a plane with her.
Emke told him that he had drunk too many Martinis to fly a plane, but Stark assured that she would be perfectly safe, given that three of the planes were able to fly themselves. Emke continued to seduce him, making him reveal that he had another vault at his mansion as, unbeknownst to him, Ida Emke was actually a Soviet spy working for Leviathan and Johann Fennhoff.
===Acquisition Attempt of the Roxxon Refinery===
Howard Stark tried to purchase the Roxxon Refinery from Hugh Jones in January 1946. However, Jones refused given the affair that Stark had with his wife, that ended both businessmen's friendship.
===Theft of Howard Stark's Technology===
Leet Brannis was tasked by Leviathan to infiltrate the Stark Mansion and steal all the technology that was kept inside his vault, deemed too dangerous by Howard Stark to ever being used.
Brannis waited until a night with a powerful thunderstorm. It caused a power failure for two hours that deactivated all the alarms and he opened a hole under the vault from the sewers. Since the sewers were prepared to take stormwater to the river, Brannis put a raft under the vault and took all the technology to the sea, while opening a manhole in the opposite direction as a distraction.
Brannis followed the course of the waters until reaching a tide gate, and loaded the technology to a ship named The Heartbreak.
===Strategic Scientific Reserve Missions===
====A Day of Work====
Peggy Carter prepared herself for another day of work for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, checking the newspaper to read about Howard Stark's Senate hearings concerning the sale of his weapons in the black market. Carter drank a cup of tea, prepared her clothes and watered the plants in the apartment.
As Carter was about to close her bed, Colleen O'Brien, Carter's roommate, arrived from her job at a factory, complaining how ten women were released to be replaced by returning World War II veterans, even though the veterans were not experienced with the factory's work, as O'Brien had to explain to one of the veterans how to use a rivet gun.
Carter listened as she finished grabbing her things, returning O'Brien a blouse she took the night before. O'Brien taunted Carter once again with her reluctance to go on dates with men, explaining that there was a difference between being an independent woman and a spinster.
Carter dismissed the topic telling her to rest for the rest of the day, given that O'Brien was feeling sick, even thinking she had tuberculosis. Before Carter left, O'Brien reminded her that she would go to the cinema with her friends the following Saturday, and wanted Carter to accompany her.
Carter said she would try, but could not assure she would be free, as her work for the New York Bell Company, the cover used by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, kept her very busy. O'Brien was confounded that a job at a phone company was so important, even a matter of "life and death", to which Carter replied she had no idea.
====Chase of Howard Stark====
=====Manhunt=====
Peggy Carter arrived at the New York Bell Company Office, the covert Strategic Scientific Reserve facility where she worked in New York City following World War II. Upon arriving, she greeted Rose Roberts, one of the phone operators that maintained the cover of the office, who opened a hidden elevator to let her enter inside the office and complimented the hat Carter was wearing.
Chief Roger Dooley called all agents for a briefing, but ordered Carter to stay out and cover the phones. However, Carter called Roberts and asked her to redirect all incoming calls to the briefing room, so she could attend the briefing with the rest of the male agents.
Dooley exhibited a movie regarding Howard Stark's Senate hearings, as Stark had been accused of selling weapons to the black market and even to enemies of the United States of America. However, Stark had disappeared before the final day of hearings concluded, and he was not found in his houses or his offices. For that reason, Stark had been labeled as a fugitive.
Dooley appointed Jack Thompson as the leading agent of the operation, who proposed to freeze Stark's assets, including his planes. However, Carter objected to the accusations against Stark, something that Dooley had already foreseen. Carter explained Stark's role during World War II, and how he helped the country, refusing to believe he was a traitor.
Dooley disregarded Carter's opinions, sarcastically calling her to be just Captain America's "liaison", but now that the war had ended, professionals like them would decide over important things, and ended the briefing.
Ray Krzeminski made a chauvinist comment about Carter, prompting fellow agent Daniel Sousa to apologize to Carter. Krzeminski rudely treated Sousa, saying that he was not even talking to him, and taunted him due to his physical disability.
Carter approached Sousa, but instead of thanking him as he expected, Carter told him not to stand for her. Sousa disliked how the rest of the agents treated Carter, just as a secretary instead of as a fellow agent, but Carter assured she was capable of handling them, despite she was grateful for what he did, and shared his dislike for the treatment.
Thompson approached Carter to try to make her file some surveillance reports, saying that she was better with that. Carter asked Thompson what was he referring to, as if it was the alphabet, the only thing needed to file the reports, she would gladly teach him starting with "A".
Carter took the reports, and Thompson left, jokingly saying goodbye in three different languages with words starting with "A". Sousa felt sorry for Thompson, having heard that he lost his personality in Iwo Jima.
=====Old Friends=====
Peggy Carter went to have dinner at the L&L Automat checking the latest news about Howard Stark and how he had been branded as a traitor. Waitress Angie Martinelli, watching Steve Rogers' photograph in Carter's newspaper, commented how she once saw one of Captain America's USO Shows in Passaic, becoming impressed with his physique. Carter acted as if she had not personally met Rogers, to conceal her identity as an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Martinelli realized Carter was feeling depressed; Carter explained how her job was not as productive as it used to be, as during World War II she had a purpose and responsibility, but she had been relegated to lower functions. Martinelli compared it to her situation as an aspiring actress, as she had an audition that day, but she was not chosen.
Martinelli had to leave Carter, as a rude customer was complaining about the food. Carter asked about that customer, disliking how he was treating Martinelli, and she replied expressing her own discomfort, though she could not openly voice her own opinion while she was working.
Carter got up to take a piece of pie, but as she returned to the table, she found a note written in a napkin, asking her to meet in the nearby alley in five minutes. Carter tried to find who left the note, but she did not see anyone suspicious.
Carter exited the restaurant, where Edwin Jarvis politely greeted her and told her she would be coming with him. A car waiting for her at the entrance of the alley turned its lights on, and Carter, believing it was an ambush, quickly knocked Jarvis out. The car went to chase Carter through the alley, but she shot one of its wheels forcing it to stop.
The door of the car opened, and its driver turned out to be none other than Howard Stark, who apologized for not calling first and asked Carter if she had missed him.
=====Secret Mission=====
Peggy Carter and Howard Stark discussed the events that led to Stark being branded as a traitor to the United States. Stark explained how he kept his most dangerous inventions in a vault in the sub-basement of one of his offices, given that sometimes he could not help inventing them, but at least tried to control them not to be sold.
Stark found his vault had been breached as he returned from a Monaco the month before, and his inventions started appearing on the black market, and despite that was the truth, the United States Senate would surely blame him of staging the theft in order to make profit of the sale.
Stark noticed that Carter found that accusation plausible, though she replied she was simply considering all the angles. Stark went on to ask her a big favor, to help him track his inventions and clear his name, as given that the Strategic Scientific Reserve was focusing its resources in catching him, the actual culprit was still at large, and he needed someone trustworthy to help him.
Carter was not sure about the petition, given that she would become a traitor in order to prove Stark was not one. However, she knew that her skills were not being of use in her current job, as she was underestimated by her superiors, and he offered an important mission to stop a lunatic that tried to be the next Red Skull.
Stark asked Edwin Jarvis, who was driving the car, to turn off the lights and stop at the harbor, as he intended to leave the country to track some of his inventions that had been already sold in Europe, tasking Carter to find the ones that were still in New York City, especially the formula for Nitramene, a highly powerful explosive that could level an entire city block with a small quantity.
Given the power of the substance, only about a dozen of the active fences in the city would be able to deal with such item, believing in Carter's ability to find the right one. Stark offered Carter the assistance of Jarvis, his personal butler, who would help her in any way he could, and thanked her for her help before departing.
Carter went on to speak to Jarvis, advising him to introduce himself the next time he approached a woman in a dark alley, something he would try to remember if the concussion due to Carter's attack was not too severe. Jarvis gave Carter his phone number in case she needed him, asking her to call before 9:00, as it was the time he and his wife Ana went to bed.
Carter realized Jarvis was new to espionage, though he proudly replied how she caught the cook stealing the cutlery. Jarvis opened the car's door for Carter and asked what was she going to do now, to which she replied she was going to work.
====Nitramene Compound====
=====Black Market Dealings=====
The following day, Peggy Carter returned to the New York Bell Company Office, witnessed how Daniel Sousa was examining some pictures of Howard Stark in the same boat he used to escape from the city.
Carter, having agreed to help Stark clear his name, casually approached Sousa in order to learn about his investigation. Sousa was focusing in quickly finding Stark, given than most fugitive cases are solved in the first 72 hours, and investigated the possibility that Stark would try to leave the country in a boat.
Carter misled Sousa explaining that the only reason Stark would board a boat would be that he liked the girl that appeared in the photographs, as Stark could not even swim. Carter even told him a fake anecdote as how Stark tried to kiss her during the , and as she threw him into the , they needed to call frogmen to catch him and get him out of the water.
Jack Thompson organized a private meeting with Chief Roger Dooley and fellow agents Ray Krzeminski and Yauch, in order to brief them about the discovery of a fence trying to sell one of Stark's inventions, Spider Raymond, the owner of a night club named La Martinique.
Thompson explained what the requirements for their mission were, such as the dress code for the three agents that were going to infiltrate the club, and the support agents that needed to be stationed outside. Dooley offered to get backup from the police department, but Thompson refused, given that Raymond would discover them.
Carter entered the briefing with the excuse of bringing coffee to the agents, overhearing that Raymond had a taste for blonde women and money, and that Thompson only needed two men with sidearms to grab Raymond, his buyer and Stark's technology. Dooley asked Thompson if he did it such missions while he was in Okinawa, replying that only sometimes, as other times they actually brought a tank.
Dooley agreed with Thompson's plan, and then asked Carter why did she enter the briefing room, as it was only for field agents. Thompson asked Dooley to let Carter stay, as she may learn something from them, though Carter replied that she already learnt what she needed.
Carter requested a sick day, telling Dooley she was not feeling good due to "ladies' things", causing discomfort in all the male agents present. Dooley granted her the day, telling her to go shopping or doing whatever made her feel better. Carter thanked him for his understanding before leaving the room, wishing them to enjoy the coffee.
=====Night at La Martinique=====
Spider Raymond, the owner of La Martinique, oversaw the ambiance in his night club before going to his office, in order to discuss with Leet Brannis the sale of Nitramene, a formula developed by Howard Stark and stolen from his vault.
Raymond asked Brannis about the properties of the Nitramene and the rest of the content retrieved from Stark's vault, jokingly asking if 's number was also there too. Seeing that Brannis did not say a single word, Raymond went on with the transaction, offering him a deal for any other items he could possibly obtain, and Brannis abandoned the club.
Peggy Carter, undercover as a blonde lady, was offered to dance by one of the patrons attending the club, to which she politely refused, and went on to find Raymond. Carter approached one of Raymond's bouncers, asking him to see his boss, and being allowed entrance knowing Raymond's taste for blonde women.
Carter prepared herself for the meeting using a Sweet Dreams Lipstick, and entered Raymond's office, who was delighted by having a beautiful woman flirting with him; however, he tried to dismiss Carter as soon as she mentioned the formula for the Nitramene.
Carter flirted more aggressively in order to keep his interest, explaining that she had friends interested in buying the formula, and she even could offer him more than the buyer he surely already had could offer. Raymond told Carter that he was not carrying the formula, and went on to passionately kiss Carter.
One of Raymond's men entered the office to announce that someone was waiting for him, but seeing Raymond kissing Carter, the subordinate did not want to interrupt his boss.
Raymond lost consciousness due to Carter's lipstick, and she then searched for the Nitramene, opening Raymond's vault with her Pick-Lock Wristwatch. Carter was surprised to see that the Nitramene was not just a theoretical formula anymore, as it had been weaponized into a full bomb.
Carter called Edwin Jarvis at his residence, to inform him about the Nitramene and how it had been turned into a functional weapon. Jarvis left the dinner he was preparing for his wife and went on to look for Stark's notes regarding the Nitramene.
Jarvis explained that if the Nitramene had an orange glow, exactly as the sample Carter found was doing, it would reach peak volatility which could result in an implosion with a blast radius of 500 yards. The only way to prevent it from imploding was a solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate and acetate, that Carter already knew how to prepare.
Jarvis also warned Carter not to touch the core to the containment ring, as it would cause a core overload, and ended their conversation to attend to his wife; despite Carter telling Jarvis that the job they were doing had "after-hours requirements", so did his wife.
Agents Jack Thompson, Ray Krzeminski and Yauch arrived at the nightclub, and one of the bouncers quickly recognized them as members of the law enforcement, asking them if they had a warrant or had come to the club to socialize. Thompson asked if they could to both, as he was sure nobody would mind if the three agents took a look around the club.
The bouncer went to ask one of his colleagues to inform Raymond of their arrival, while a man in Green Suit noticed something was happening. As the tall bouncer entered Raymond's office, he saw Carter trying to leave and an unconscious Raymond. Carter quickly knocked him out before he could grab his weapon, and left the office, coming across the man in Green Suit.
Carter saw Thompson, Yauch and Krzeminski in the club, and avoided being discovered by accepting the dance that a customer proposed to her as she arrived.
In her office, Raymond regained consciousness and realized that the blonde woman had stolen the Nitramene from his safe. The man in Green Suit entered the office, and though Raymond tried to explain that the blonde woman had the Nitramene, the man killed Raymond and stole his agenda.
Carter avoided Thompson once again, and thanked the man for the dance, leaving the club in a hurry and taking a taxi from the Lucky Star Cab Company to return to her apartment.
Thompson, Yauch and Krzeminski stormed Raymond's office, finding his corpse on the floor, and realizing that they spent a lot of time changing their clothes. Thompson ordered to seal the exits of the club, but both Carter and the man in Green Suit had already left the club.
=====Neutralizing the Nitramene=====
Peggy Carter returned to her apartment, finding that her roommate Colleen O'Brien was inside instead of being at work as Carter expected. O'Brien explained that she was sent home due to having fever, and though she offered to give the bed to Carter as part of their agreement to share the bed, Carter refused and offered to make tea.
O'Brien realized that Carter was wearing a night dress, complimenting her appearance, and asked if she had gone out on a date. Carter told her she went, at least in a manner of speaking. O'Brien was proud of Carter, knowing that she was a woman deserving not to be alone and asked to tell her every detail the following morning.
Carter entered the bathroom to prepare a solution of sodium hydrogen carbonate and acetate using a combination of baking soda and vinegar, in order to neutralize the Nitramene sample that she stole from Spider Raymond. Carter carefully extracted the core of the device and sprayed it with the solution, effectively neutralizing the Nitramene.
However, just as Carter was about to have a drink to celebrate her success, she heard a noise coming from the bedroom, and quickly went to investigate what happened. Carter found the room had been searched, and when she approached O'Brien at the bed, she found her dead body with a shot in her forehead.
The man in the Green Suit that was at La Martinique emerged from the wardrobe, trying to shoot Carter and recover the Nitramene, but she managed to defend herself from him. During the fight, Carter saw a peculiar scar in the man's throat, and ended up throwing him through the window; the man was able to get up and escape.
Carter went on to check her friend's dead body and started to cry over her loss.
=====Grieving a Friend=====
Peggy Carter met Edwin Jarvis at the L&L Automat, to talk about the discovery of functional samples of Nitramene, though Carter was still mourning the death of her friend, Colleen O'Brien.
Jarvis apologized for appearing to be insensitive, as he asked if the apartment or O'Brien's death could be traced to her, but given that O'Brien used only her name and not Carter's on the lease, and nobody knew she was living there, it was highly improbable.
Jarvis went on to ask Carter about O'Brien, especially if she had any family, Carter knew that O'Brien lost a brother in Guadalcanal. Despite having met her friend only for a few months, when she needed a place to stay but did not know anyone in the city, O'Brien helped her.
Carter was sad, feeling that once again she had lost someone close to her, just like it happened with Steve Rogers. She was happy that Howard Stark asked her for help, struggling why nobody gave her any chance since World War II, so he took the chance that Stark gave her, but she thought she failed and that O'Brien's death was entirely her fault.
Jarvis tried to cheer Carter up, explaining that according to her war record, she was an excellent agent, and if her male colleagues failed to see it, it was entirely their problem. He also said that Carter was just trying to do the right thing, something she accomplished in his opinion, though they would not know if it was worth it until the job had finished.
Carter asked Jarvis where his wife thought he was, and he had invented an alibi of supervising the "extraction" of one of Stark's conquests, who refused to vacate his penthouse.
In order to continue their investigation, Carter thought the next step would be to learn the location of where the Nitramene sample was created, though she could not take it to her office for analysis. Jarvis then proposed to take it to a man that could help them with their investigation.
=====Analysis of the Nitramene Device=====
Edwin Jarvis took Peggy Carter to one of Stark Industries facilities in New York City to consult Doctor Anton Vanko about the Nitramene functional device that she stole from Spider Raymond.
Vanko analyzed the whole device, and concluded that it was made of a lanthanum carbon alloy, a compound very difficult to process due to its instability, which made Carter realize that it must have been created in the city.
Vanko informed her that only the Roxxon Corporation would have been able to produce it, given that during World War II, the other two refineries that could have produced it, one belonging to Franklin Chemical and the other to Eaglestar, had been closed by the United States Navy or had been converted to Diesel, respectively.
Carter realized that the Roxxon Refinery had about 200 acres, so it would take weeks to find any evidence of the Nitramene inside it. However, Vanko explained that even the Nitramene was not volatile, but it still emitted low levels of Vita Radiation, which gave Carter, who witnessed the effects of Vita-rays during Project Rebirth, an idea to narrow the search.
=====Memories of the War=====
Peggy Carter returned to the New York Bell Company Office in order to take Abraham Erskine's Vita-Ray Detector from the Project Rebirth files kept in the archive. However, Carter could not help check Steve Rogers' file inside the box, remembering her last conversation with him as she looked at his photograph.
Daniel Sousa entered the room, and as he saw Carter almost crying, he tried to leave the room unnoticed, but he unintentionally hit one of the shelves with his crutch. Sousa apologized for the intrusion, as he still had to fully learn how to control the crutch.
Carter assured she did not allow herself to get nostalgic often, so Sousa shared his experience during World War II, and how he was offered by the chaplain from the field hospital to send his effects to someone in case the worst happened. However, Sousa did not want to send his few belongings to his father, as he preferred to let him remember his life, and as it turned out, he did not die, even joking about his disability.
Carter tried to cheer Sousa up and bond with him, explaining that he was one of the lucky ones, as there were many soldiers that did not manage to return. Sousa silently nodded as he left the room.
Now alone again, Carter took the Vita-Ray Detector and prepared herself to raid the Roxxon Refinery.
=====Nitramene Retrieval Mission=====
The man in the Green Suit set up a Remote Typewriter inside his hotel room in order to contact the organization that tasked him with the recovery of the Nitramene from Spider Raymond.
The man informed them that Strategic Scientific Reserve Agent Margaret Carter obtained the device before he could arrive, and requested permission to kill her. The organization simply ordered him to complete his mission at all costs.
=====Destruction of the Roxxon Refinery=====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis went to the Roxxon Refinery to investigate the origin of the Nitramene device that Carter stole from Spider Raymond, as according to Anton Vanko, the Roxxon Refinery was the only place it could have been produced.
Carter realized the facility was heavily guarded, given that it was supposed to have temporarily stopped its production. Jarvis tried to accompany Carter, but she refused the offer, because of the danger it may pose and his inexperience with espionage and field missions.
Carter handed Jarvis a radio to maintain contact, and went on to infiltrate the refinery, climbing an electric fence and using the Vita-Ray Detector to locate the Nitramene, as it emitted low levels of Vita Radiation. She finally located the area where Leet Brannis was producing Nitramene, having enlisted Roxxon technician Miles Van Ert to help him.
Jarvis contacted Carter, but the noise of the radio alerted Brannis and Van Ert. Van Ert took a handgun and went to examine the source of the noise, but was knocked out by Carter using a Stun Light Device. Brannis ran to escape from Carter with one of the Nitramene bombs.
Carter shot to the ground in order to stop Brannis, but he ran to open a truck loaded with many Nitramene bombs. Brannis revealed a scar in his throat, and revealed a Voice Synthesizer that allowed him to speak. Brannis asked Carter not to fire again, and introduced himself as an independent businessman, not responsible for murdering people, as he just sold items to actual killers.
Carter asked about the man in the Green Suit who killed her friend Colleen O'Brien, as he had a similar scar on his throat. Brannis implied that the man in the Green Suit was his enemy and wanted him dead, but Carter swore to kill Brannis shooting to the Nitramene if he did not tell her the name of that man.
Brannis was not afraid by Carter's threats, as the man would kill them both if he was there, and ominously announced the arrival of Leviathan, who would introduce themselves soon, and create a future that Carter would not like.
Brannis threw the Nitramene bomb he had in his hand and quickly escaped using the Daisy Clover truck loaded with the rest of the Nitramene bombs. The Nitramene would implode in 30 seconds, so Carter quickly ran and called Jarvis to bring the car for escape.
The guards at the refinery started to shoot at Jarvis, who apologized to Howard Stark for the damage that the car was sustaining. Jarvis arrived at the access road of the refinery, and Carter quickly jumped over the car. Without stopping, Carter entered the car and prompted Jarvis to drive faster.
The Nitramene bomb finally detonated, with a blast that destroyed the whole refinery and an implosion that crushed the whole compound into a heavy ball of wreckage. Though they managed to escape, the car that Jarvis was driving was reached by the blast, and its bumper and license plate were fused with the rest of the material.
Carter and Jarvis exited the car and witnessed how the whole compound had disappeared, with Jarvis noting that the Nitramene actually worked after all.
Inside the New York Bell Company Office, Chief Roger Dooley and Agent Daniel Sousa discussed one of the leads in the investigation about Howard Stark, that would situate him in London.
Jack Thompson interrupted them to announce that one of the bouncers from La Martinique caught a blonde woman with the body of Spider Raymond, making her the primary suspect for the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Dooley ordered Sousa to answer the phone, so he could speak to Thompson about their next move. Thompson reminded him about deserving a promotion, as he had obtained the camera from the club's photographer, and Dooley ordered him to take the camera to the laboratory.
Sousa announced that the Roxxon Refinery had been destroyed, and casualties had not been evaluated yet because Port Authority could not even find the building. Wanting to see it by himself, Dooley ordered Thompson and Sousa to accompany him.
=====Double Secret Mission=====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis reunited again at the L&L Automat, having ordered a bottle of milk to write down the address of the factory given that a Daisy Clover truck was used to conceal a full cargo of Nitramene devices at the Roxxon Refinery the night before.
Carter congratulated Jarvis for his assistance, saying that his wife Ana would be very proud, though he seriously remarked his wife must never know what he was doing. Jarvis then offered to check Howard Stark's files regarding Leviathan, to see if he had any information about the organization.
Carter told Jarvis to get rest after witnessing the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery the night before, though he doubted he would be able to sleep for days.
The same rude customer that mistreated Angie Martinelli a few days before asked Martinelli to come to his table to complain about his meal, even claiming that he ate better in a prisoner of war camp during World War II. The customer even told her that her intelligence was not her best feature, inappropriately touching her as she retired his meal.
Carter, who witnessed the customer's behavior, approached him and asked about his meal. As the customer asked if she worked there too, Carter took a fork and pressed it into his brachial artery. Carter explained that he would lose consciousness in 15 seconds and even die in 90 if he started to bleed, unless someone comes to his aid, something unlikely, given his behavior.
Carter warned him to find another restaurant to eat, and to tip generously for his last time there. Martinelli realized that the man had begun to place money in his table, smiling with a bit surprise for his sudden change of behavior.
Carter left the restaurant, without noticing that Jarvis was outside in his car, talking to Stark on the phone, apologizing for not being able to be everywhere, and agreeing that Carter was an excellent choice for their plan, as she had no suspicions about anything.
=====Looking for Apartments=====
Peggy Carter started to search for another apartment following the death of Colleen O'Brien. Carter sat at the L&L Automat, being forced to hear The Captain America Adventure Program while she read the newspaper marking classified ads.
Carter, angered at the fictional portrayal of the events she lived, asked Angie Martinelli to change the radio channel, something that Martinelli was happy to do, as she auditioned for the role of Betty Carver and did not obtain it. Martinelli even made an impersonation of the character, reciting one of the lines of the dialogue, that Carter sarcastically remarked as "thrillingly realistic".
Martinelli realized that Carter was planning to move, given that she lost her roommate, without adding further detail, and Martinelli compared it to her first roommate, whom she lived with for six months until she suddenly engaged, married and ended up living in Armonk. She then started to analyze the different advertisements, explaining the lies hidden behind their fancy words.
Carter guessed Martinelli was suggesting something, and explained that one of her neighbors at the Griffith Hotel had recently moved out, and offered Carter the chance to move there, highlighting the attributes of the place, especially the fact they would be neighbors.
Carter not wanting to put anyone in danger given that O'Brien was killed just for living with her, rejected the proposal with the excuse of Martinelli would get tired of her, and explained she was going to see an apartment even it was too late, as it was "recommended" through a friend.
=====Night at the Penthouse=====
Edwin Jarvis received Peggy Carter at one of the residences owned by Howard Stark, as Stark insisted to lodge her there. Jarvis explained the decoration of the house and its many amenities, such as the service of fresh fruit and scones, or the presence of a private chef that would gladly prepare anything she ordered.
Carter refused the invitation, contending that given her attempt to clear Stark's name, living in his house would make her an accomplice. Jarvis explained that the house was not one of Stark's primary residences, as it was used mainly for his female conquests, and proposed her to at least see the master bedroom.
Carter was amazed by the bed, and could not help to lay down due to its commodity, being finally convinced to spend one night, much to Jarvis satisfaction.
Jarvis then informed Carter how Stark's files had no mention of Leviathan, and Carter could not find it either mentioned in the files from the Strategic Scientific Reserve. She had also tried to locate Leet Brannis and the man in the Green Suit through hospital records on laryngotomy patients, to no avail, guessing that both of them should have come from outside of the city.
Carter revealed her intention to visit the Daisy Clover Milk Factory as soon as it opened, in order to follow the lead of the milk truck used by Brannis to transport the Nitramene. Jarvis offered to take her to the factory, being ready with the car ten minutes before the opening of the factory, but Carter rejected his offer given that he had nearly been killed the last time he accompanied her to a potentially dangerous mission.
Carter opened the wardrobe and found it filled with women's clothes, including a negligee, that Jarvis excused as Stark's taste for theatrical elements during his romantic conquests. Carter grabbed a doctor's white coat that even included an stethoscope, that would be useful for creating an undercover persona to examine the Daisy Clover factory.
Carter accompanied Jarvis to the exit as he explained the last details regarding the house, such as the arrival time of both the maid and the florist, though Carter ordered him to cancel them both.
Carter bid farewell to Jarvis, though he blocked the door with his foot in order to insist that Carter allowed him to accompany her to her visit to the Milk Factory, but she dismissed him again, as a dairy hub would surely not be a dangerous place, and she would need to question the truck driver.
Due to Jarvis' insistence, Carter explained she would use the Vita-Ray Detector from Project Rebirth to analyze the trucks, as the one used to transport the Nitramene would still emit a measurable amount of Vita Radiation. To get rid of him, Carter told Jarvis that he popped a button in his attire, closing the door as soon as he moved his foot to check it and finally bidding him farewell for that night.
=====Nitramene Buyer Mission=====
At the Hotel Cosmopolitan, the man in the Green Suit communicated with his superiors from Leviathan through his Remote Typewriter, reporting that Leet Brannis had obtained the Nitramene that they were seeking to obtain. His superiors then answered that Leviathan was growing impatient, much to the man's annoyance.
Leviathan ordered the man to track Brannis and locate the Nitramene buyer, eliminating all opposition, so he used Spider Raymond's agenda to track a local Mob Boss that was one of the potential buyers.
The man in the Green Suit interrogated the Mob Boss, using small decorated credit cards to ask his questions. Given the man had killed everyone in the room and was torturing him with a knife, the Mob Boss swore he did not know Brannis, but had heard about the Nitramene. He confessed he had refused to buy it from Raymond, but also that Gino DeLucia would surely buy it.
The man consulted Raymond's agenda, finding DeLucia's address. Now that he had no more purpose, the Man killed the Mob Boss with a shot to the head and took the knife from his hand, cleaning it with a napkin that he promptly threw over another victim.
=====Inspection of the Daisy Clover Milk Factory=====
Peggy Carter arrived at the Daisy Clover Milk Factory disguised as a City of New York Health Department's inspector, claiming to have a high number of complaints as an excuse to examine all delivery trucks. She asserted her authority to the Foreman of the factory, that allowed her to inspect everything, fearing to be penalized.
Carter started to check the trucks pretending to perform a regular inspection, but she entered each truck without being noticed, in order to use the Vita-Ray Detector and locate the truck that Leet Brannis used to transport the Nitramene, as it would still have a Vita Radiation signature.
Carter was unable to find the truck, but she then realized that one of the trucks was missing. The foreman explained that a driver had been sick for two days, and as he used the truck to commute, the truck was not at the factory. Carter demanded to know the name and address of the driver, and though the foreman revealed his name to be Sheldon McFee, the address was unavailable.
Carter had enough information to locate the driver, and left the factory, not without ordering the foreman to put air in one of the tires of a truck while kicking the wheel.
=====Roxxon Refinery Debris=====
Chief Roger Dooley oversaw the transport of the remains from the Roxxon Refinery back to the New York Bell Company Office with Agents Jack Thompson and Ray Krzeminski. Dooley assured that the technology capable of doing that was extremely dangerous, and they needed to find it fast.
Krzeminski randomly asked if a magnet could have done that, but Thompson answered that the wood, stone and concrete that were fused with the steel and iron did not carry a magnetic charge.
Dooley was sure that Howard Stark was responsible for the destruction, and ordered Thompson to accompany him to the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters in order to learn Stark's potential reasons to destroy the refinery. However, as Krzeminski was about to accompany them, Dooley ordered him to stay and dismantle the remains of the refinery in order to find any evidence.
In the main office, Peggy Carter obtained Sheldon McFee's address, and was about to leave in order to investigate it when she saw Daniel Sousa reading the Racing Journal in the newspaper. Carter advised him to bet for Whitby's Prospect instead of Uncle Bob, the horse Sousa had marked. Intrigued, Sousa asked Carter how could she be so sure, but she replied she was not, that was the reason it was called "gambling".
Carter asked Sousa to cover for her while she went to investigate McFee's address, claiming she was leaving for personal matters, and Sousa gallantly agreed, but reminding Carter she would owe him one for that favor. A laboratory technician handed Sousa the photographs were taken in La Martinique, Spider Raymond's club, who hoped to find an image of the blonde woman suspect of killing Raymond, without knowing that Carter was that woman and she was not Raymond's killer.
Carter, hoping to examine the images to make sure her face did not appear, offered Sousa to help him, but before he could have any chance to examine them, Krzeminski appear to make Sousa help him with the debris from the Roxxon Refinery, while also ordering Carter to finish the transport reports and file them.
Sousa headed to the basement and locked the photographs inside his desk, and Carter seized the opportunity to enter Dooley's office and made an untraceable call to Edwin Jarvis, to make him dispose of the car they used to travel to the Roxxon Refinery, as the car sustained damage and would surely have been contaminated with Vita Radiation.
Jarvis tried to postpone the errand until finishing the laundry, but Carter seriously ordered to do it at the very moment. Jarvis then asked about the outcome of her visit to the Daisy Clover Milk Factory, so she explained that despite she did not locate the dairy truck, she learned the identity of its driver, who used to commute from Cedar Grove, New Jersey.
Jarvis offered to drive her to Cedar Grove, but she refused, as she first had to make sure the photographs that Sousa had to examine did not incriminate her.
=====Industrial Sabotage=====
Chief Roger Dooley and Agent Jack Thompson arrived at the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters to interview Hugh Jones regarding the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery, believing that Howard Stark might be responsible.
Jones ordered his personal assistant, Winston, to offer the two gentlemen a glass of whiskey, while he explained that he used to be a friend of Stark, sharing lunches at the club, Christmas parties and charity functions. Jones proposed a toast, and since Dooley noted that it was very early in the morning to drink, Jones ordered Winston with a gesture to put ice in their beverages.
Thompson drank a sip and asked Jones the reason why his friendship with Stark ended. Jones revealed Stark had an affair with his wife. Dooley acknowledged there was a big difference between an affair and industrial sabotage; Jones claimed that, for Stark, personal matters and business are all the same as long as it amused him and made him earn money.
Jones added another possible reason, that Stark wanted to buy the Refinery in January, but he refused, so its destruction 
and the fact that it had become a federal crime scene both benefited Stark.
Thompson asked Jones if he knew what kind of technology could have destroyed the refinery, but before answering, Jones tried to evaluate the possibility of being incriminated for industrial espionage by the Strategic Scientific Reserve if he revealed everything he knew. Dooley simply answered their interest in industrial espionage was low, and Thompson assured Jones they were not investigating him. Jones then revealed that some of his sources inside Stark Industries revealed the existence of Molecular Nitramene, a compound that caused a concussive blast followed by a vacuum implosion.
The effects of the Nitramene were consistent with the damage sustained by the refinery, and when Jones commented that the formula was developed based on Stark's work with Vita Radiation, it made Thompson realize they could find a lead using the research done by the SSR during Project Rebirth.
=====Retrieving the Photographs=====
Peggy Carter waited until the some personnel abandoned the main office to try to open Daniel Sousa's desk and obtain a series of photographs that could incriminate her.
Carter used a Brooch Key to try to open the drawer while being hidden under Sousa's desk, but got distracted when the phone in her own desk started to ring. As nobody went to answer, Carter tried to continue, but then Sousa's desk started to ring.
Sousa quickly arrived and answered the phone, finding Chief Roger Dooley on the other side of the line. Dooley asked about Carter, who was hiding under another desk trying to return to her own, and despite Sousa was unable to find her, as soon as he looked again, he found Carter acting as if nothing had happened.
Carter then answered the phone, and was asked by Dooley to locate something that could help them detect Vita Radiation. Carter informed Dooley that there was probably an item in the Project Rebirth files, and ended to conversation to retrieve it from the storage room and take it to the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters, telling Sousa that it was just another of the errands she was usually tasked.
=====Vita Scanning=====
Peggy Carter arrived at the Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters in order to deliver the Vita-Ray Detector that Chief Roger Dooley had requested. Hugh Jones, CEO of the Roxxon Corporation, was impressed with Carter's beauty, but he made an inappropriate compliment considering her just a secretary, to which Carter replied that her first name was "Agent".
Carter handed Dooley the Vita-Ray Detector and prepared to return to the New York Bell Company Office, though both Dooley and Jack Thompson asked her to stay in order to help them. Carter doubted their intentions, and sarcastically asked them if they wanted her for filing.
Dooley explained what they had discovered thanks to Jones, that the weapon used to destroy the Roxxon Refinery was Nitramene, and anyone that had been near it would have been exposed to Vita Radiation; they wanted to scan every member of Roxxon's staff given the chance one of the employee had been responsible for the destruction.
Jones doubted that any of his employees had been involved, but given that he had some spies hidden within the ranks of Stark Industries, the contrary case was probable too. Carter asked what would be her task, and Dooley explained she would scan the ladies, despite Thompson's volunteering as Dooley considered it would not be appropriate.
Carter went to the bathroom to use the detector on herself given that she was involved in the destruction, realizing that her wristwatch had been contaminated with Vita Radiation. Carter had to put the wristwatch into a trash can, and apologized to her grandmother out loud, given that she gave her the wristwatch.
Thompson and Carter analyzed every Roxxon employee, under Jones and Dooley's supervision, while Dooley checked the files about the staff. Carter recognized Miles Van Ert, one of the men that were developing the Nitramene at the Roxxon Refinery the night it was destroyed.
Seeing that the Vita-Ray Detector was not able to detect any sign of radiation in Van Ert's body, Carter had to think quickly of a way to incriminate him without confessing her involvement in the events.
Carter realized that Van Ert and the rest of technicians were wearing uniforms, and asked Jones if there was any place where they changed their clothes. Jones acknowledged there was a locker room for technicians tasked with handling hazardous materials.
Upon Dooley's request, Carter explained that Vita Radiation would be washed from a person's skin with a hot shower, but clothing was able to retain the radiation, so she suggested to analyze the clothes used by the employees that morning.
Dooley acknowledged it was a good idea, but Van Ert tried to escape, feeling he had been discovered. Thompson and Dooley ran after Van Ert, but Carter calmly asked Jones how to reach the front lobby.
Carter took a briefcase from a man, and used to hit Van Ert, who fell to the ground and was finally detained. She then humbly asked Dooley if she could be of any further assistance.
=====Interrogation of Miles Van Ert=====
Miles Van Ert was taken to the New York Bell Company Office of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, where Chief Roger Dooley explained the charges that had been brought against him, while leaving a carrot and a stick over the table.
Dooley explained that there were physical evidences that linked Van Ert to an act of industrial sabotage that would probably lead to a charge of treason, which could result in being condemned to the electric chair. Dooley offered the possibility of avoiding that fate if he gave him something in return.
Dooley compared fighting crime with fishing, as whoever obtained the biggest fish would win. As Van Ert was a "big fish", but there were bigger ones, Dooley offered him to reduce his sentence in exchange for the name of his employer. However, due to the pressure for solving the whole case, Dooley's offer would expire if he left the room, so he only asked for the name once.
Van Ert remained silent, so Dooley regretted that he did not choose the "easy way", and left the room with the carrot, but leaving the stick. Jack Thompson, who had been present during the whole conversation, grabbed the stick and advised Van Ert to bite it, before repeatedly punching him in the face.
Dooley went to the observation room behind a one-way mirror, where Daniel Sousa and Peggy Carter were waiting. Sousa commented that he would hate what would have happened with the carrot, and Dooley gave permission to Carter to leave the office for the night, as he thought a lady should not see what Thompson was doing to Van Ert.
=====Bad Neighbor=====
Peggy Carter went to the L&L Automat to wait for Edwin Jarvis, in order to travel to Cedar Grove in New Jersey and investigate Sheldon McFee, the usual driver of the truck used to transport the Nitramene.
Angie Martinelli approached the window to inform Carter about an apartment she found for her. Carter tried to dismiss her saying she was going to get late, but Martinelli read the advertisement, explaining its many virtues, and the fact that they would be neighbors if Carter accepted.
Martinelli started to realize that Carter's refusal to her offer of living in the same building was because of her, despite Carter simply claiming that she would not be a good neighbor for Martinelli. Carter did not tell her the actual reason, the death of her former roommate. Jarvis arrived and Carter bid farewell to a saddened Martinelli.
=====Following Leads=====
Jack Thompson finished his interrogation of Miles Van Ert, having obtained details such as Leet Brannis' name or the use of a Daisy Clover truck to transport the Nitramene.
Chief Roger Dooley consulted the to check Brannis' name, and was informed that there was no record of him having ever entered the country. Thompson assured that if it was an alias, Van Ert did not know his true name, as he had confessed everything he knew.
Daniel Sousa contacted Daisy Clover to obtain the identity and address of the truck driver, despite asserting that surely he was not the mastermind of the operation. Dooley was convinced that Brannis was the key to solve their case, as despite Thompson had pressed Van Ert, he did not know anything about Howard Stark.
Sousa obtained the name and address of the driver, Sheldon McFee, so Dooley enlisted Sousa, Thompson and Ray Krzeminski to investigate it.
=====Nitramene Buyer Mission=====
The man in the Green Suit tortured Gino DeLucia, a potential buyer of the Nitramene, and obtained Sheldon McFee's name and address from him. The man killed DeLucia once he confessed, having already killed the rest of DeLucia's associates in the room, and even leaving a briefcase filled with money untouched.
The man returned to his room in the Hotel Cosmopolitan, and informed his superiors that he located and killed the buyer, and was en route to intercept the Nitramene.
=====Tending the Wounds=====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis returned from Cedar Grove in New Jersey, following their unsuccessful attempt to retrieve a truck loaded with Nitramene, that resulted in the death of Leet Brannis.
Jarvis tended one of Carter's wounds that required suture, and she complimented his skills with that, something he attributed to sewing Howard Stark's zippers. Jarvis then assured Carter that she was fortunate that he ignored her instructions to leave her alone, as his assistance had decisive.
Carter sarcastically answered that she had no idea how she managed to survive before meeting Jarvis, an answer that Jarvis did not knew if it should attributed to arrogance or ignorance, though Carter acknowledged that probably it can be attributed to both of them.
Jarvis advised that Carter needed support, but she was concerned with letting people getting close to her, as that would put her in danger. Jarvis saw no sense in Carter's decision to remove herself from the world in to protect it, as nobody was capable of carrying the entire world on his shoulders.
Carter said that Steve Rogers was able to do it, but Jarvis denied that, as according to Stark, Rogers relied heavily on Carter herself, either for courage, strategy and moral guidance. Jarvis acknowledged the nobleness of her desire to help, but she would not be successful without support.
=====Interview at the Griffith Hotel=====
Inspired by Edwin Jarvis' words, Peggy Carter accepted Angie Martinelli's offer to move to her building, and the two women went together for Carter's interview with Miriam Fry, the landlady of the Griffith Hotel.
Martinelli greeted many of her neighbors, and then reassured how happy she was that Carter changed her mind and accepted her offer, though Carter was surprised that renting an apartment required an interview. According to Martinelli, the interview was just a formality, and she was sure that Carter would obtain the room.
Fry examined Carter's references, considering them to be "impeccable", especially the ones from Senator Palmer. Carter explained that Palmer was a dear friend of her father. Fry asked about Carter's limp, due to an injury she sustained the night before, but attributed it to a cobblestone in the West Village.
Carter's casual reference to the area was met with coldness, as Fry assured she never traveled below 23rd street, making Martinelli, who was coaching Carter's interview from behind Fry, change her gesture as a warning. Fry then asked Carter about her intentions to continue working for the New York Bell Company, though Carter, maintaining her cover, assured that she would quit her job as soon as she married.
Seemingly pleased with her answer, Fry explained the rules of the hotel, that included attire, behavior, curfew and, especially the banning of men above the first floor, without any exception. Carter answered that she understood the rules "perfectly".
=====Deflecting Suspicion=====
Chief Roger Dooley, Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa were discussing the photographs taken at La Martinique the night Spider Raymond was killed inside his own club. As Peggy Carter arrived at the office, Dooley asked her to approach.
At first, Carter feared she had been recognized as the blonde woman who was the main suspect of being Raymond's killer, but it turned that Dooley only wanted her to settle the bet the three agents have done, to see if one of the men appearing in a photographs was . Carter, relieved, casually answered that did not follow boxing, even though DiMaggio was a baseball player, prompting the Dooley to laugh.
Dooley entered his own office, still convinced that the man was DiMaggio, despite Thompson, who had been at the club that night, was sure that he was not, and paid Sousa for losing their bet. Carter was surprised that Sousa bet against her, but he said that was not sure of the outcome when he bet, as that was the reason it was called "gambling", paraphrasing something that Carter told him before.
Carter went to ask about the images, to check if he managed to obtain a clear image of the blonde woman. However, every image showed her back, and Sousa was unable to find any clear shot of her face, though he promised he would find her.
Meanwhile, at the basement, Ray Krzeminski dismantled the debris from the Roxxon Refinery, and managed to find the bumper and license plate of the car that Carter and Edwin Jarvis used to travel to the facility.
=====Investigating the Room 424=====
Chief Roger Dooley and Agent Ray Krzeminski went to the Hotel Cosmopolitan in order to follow a lead, as a key from one of the rooms was found near Leet Brannis' corpse.
Dooley asked the Building Manager about the man that had rented the room, but he could only reveal that the guest was a relatively clean but extremely silent man, and his usual visits only lasted for an hour. On their way to the room, they came across a prostitute that greeted Krzeminski, but he did not return the greet as he was on duty.
Dooley ordered Krzeminski to check the usual hiding places, despite the manager's complaints to be careful with the furniture. Krzeminski found cash and passports under different aliases that the Man in the Green Suit had hidden in the armchair. Dooley, on the other hand, inspected the unusual typewriter on the desk, realizing it was a lead for their investigation.
====Living in the Griffith Hotel====
=====Unwanted Visitor=====
Inside her new apartment at the Griffith Hotel, Peggy Carter consulted a code-breaking book disguised as The Complete Works of in order to investigate the meaning of the symbol that Leet Brannis drew during his last moments.
Carter heard a noise, as a man was climbing up the wall of the hotel, so she quickly grabbed her gun and pointed it at the man as he appeared at her window. The man, who introduced himself as Jimmy, was looking for his girlfriend, Molly Bowden, who lived in the next apartment.
Jimmy had mistaken Carter's window for his girlfriend's, and as he asked Carter if he could enter her apartment to go to Bowden's through the hallway instead of through the wall, Carter closed the window. Jimmy wished Carter a nice night, and went to the apartment rented by his girlfriend, spending the night with her.
=====Breakfast at the Griffith=====
Peggy Carter and Angie Martinelli went to have breakfast in the dining room of the hotel, where fellow tenant Carol complained about having powdered eggs for breakfast again. Martinelli joked with Carter saying that it was better than , a joke that Carter followed agreeing with her, but detailing that just barely.
Molly Bowden greeted her neighbors after spending the night with her boyfriend Jimmy at his apartment, despite it being strictly forbidden by the rules of the hotel. Carter, who knew that Jimmy had visited her, asked Bowden about her night. Martinelli was surprised to hear that, and Bowden excused her behavior saying that Jimmy was very persuasive.
Carol asked Carter if she had a boyfriend, but she explained that she was just married to the work. Martinelli seized the opportunity to inquire about Edwin Jarvis, having noticed their usual meetings at the L&L Automat, but Carter described him as a colleague.
Landlady Miriam Fry, noticing that Carter was about to leave, asked her to sit as she would like to speak to all the women that lived at the hotel. Fry started relating how performed one of his escape acts in 1925 at the hotel, fascinating the women that watched show, but even Houdini had to adhere to the strict code of conduct of the hotel, and was not allowed to ascend the stairs above the first floor.
Fry reminded the women of the rule of not allowing men above the first floor, and told Bowden to go to her room and pack her belongings. Bowden tried to apologized, but Fry desired that her last evening at the Griffith had been splendid. Fry wanted to make Bowden an example for the rest of tenants, explaining that like or , the building was impenetrable.
That comment gave Carter an idea about her investigation with the technology that had been stolen from Howard Stark.
====Russian Connections====
Chief Roger Dooley checked with Agents Jack Thompson and Ray Krzeminski the leads they have obtained regarding their case about Howard Stark.
Thompson managed to identify Leet Brannis' corpse, tracking him as a Russian citizen due to the amalgam in his teeth. The coroner who revealed that fact also explained Thompson that Brannis' scar in the throat was due to his voice box having been cut out, probably during World War II, as he served in the Soviet 478th Rifle Division.
Thompson explained the most unusual they managed to learn from Brannis. According to Thompson's contact in the United States Embassy in Moscow, Brannis died two years before, in 1944, during the battle of Finow in Germany. His entire division was exterminated during that battle, and Brannis was classified as deceased despite having survived.
Krzeminski obtained an image from the Man in the Green Suit through the fingerprints in the passports he found at the Hotel Cosmopolitan, and Dooley explained Thompson that according to the laboratory, the typewriter found at the hotel was a long-range transmitter, though its specific range had not been determined.
Thompson gave Dooley an idea, so he ordered Thompson to investigate the Man in the Green Suit through his contact at the embassy in Moscow. Krzeminski complained, as he wanted to investigate the man, but Dooley noted that he did not have friends in Moscow, to which Thompson joked he did not have friends anywhere.
Daniel Sousa informed Dooley that the license plate located within the debris from the Roxxon Refinery belonged to Howard Stark, and Krzeminski proudly remarked that he was the one who found the license plate. Sousa doubted that Stark himself used the car to destroy the Roxxon Refinery, but Dooley noted that somebody was surely driving the car, and he wanted to know his identity.
====Howard Stark's Car====
=====Arrest of Edwin Jarvis=====
Peggy Carter traveled to the Stark Mansion in order to investigate the vault that Leet Brannis was able to raid, stealing the dangerous inventions that Stark kept there.
Edwin Jarvis, who was still inside his private residence, was about to clear the table when his wife Ana told him to leave it, as she would take care of it. Jarvis noticed Carter outside the house; he and accepted Ana's offer so that he could attend to Carter, telling Ana that he would be outside in the garden.
Jarvis told Carter she should have called him before entering the estate, but Carter guessed that women wandering through through the property was surely something usual, something that Jarvis acknowledged.
Carter explained that her landlady helped to continue their investigation, because if they discover how Leet Brannis was able to break into Stark's seemingly impenetrable vault, maybe they could trace where he went from there, locating all the missing technology in the process. Jarvis noticed that Carter was not adequately dressed for that mission, given that the thief escaped through the sewers under the mansion.
Carter inquired about the night of the theft, but Jarvis did not notice anything unusual, given that a thunderstorm caused a power failure during two hours, and the combination of candlelight and rain made Jarvis quickly fell asleep.
Their conversation was interrupted by Agents Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, who had discovered the license plate of the car that Jarvis and Carter used to go to the Roxxon Refinery the night it was destroyed, and wanted to take Jarvis for questioning.
Jarvis attended to the two agents while Carter hid behind the door. Jarvis explained that Howard Stark was "indefinitely unavailable", though Thompson revealed that they were not looking for Stark, they came to speak to Jarvis himself, as they had found the bumper of one of Stark's cars usually driven by Jarvis.
Jarvis explained how he reported that the car had been stolen several days ago, pointing them to Detective Davis from the 19th Precinct in order to inquire more about the theft, and tried to dismiss the two agents.
Thompson blocked the door with his foot in order to further question Jarvis, given that the bumper of the car was found in a major crime scene, and despite Thompson threatened Jarvis to call a judge and obtain a warrant, Jarvis agreed on accompanying the two agents to maintain Carter's cover, even joking about going in the back of a car for the first time in years.
=====Interrogation of Edwin Jarvis=====
Ray Krzeminski tried to convince fellow agents Butch Wallace and Yauch to cover his night shift, given that Krzeminski had told his girlfriend that he would take her to a show that night, despite that fact that he was married.
Yauch told him to ask Peggy Carter, who was entering the New York Bell Company Office at that moment, though Krzeminski refused. He insisted that Chief Roger Dooley would not want a lady to work a night shift, and Krzeminski even believed her to be unable to make her own shift. Krzeminski scolded Carter for being late, though she taunted Krzeminski, asking if he would take his wife or his girlfriend to the show.
Jack Thompson took Edwin Jarvis to the interrogation room, and started thanking him for coming to the office to talk. Jarvis explained that probably everything they wanted him to say was probably already in the missing-car report that he filed for the Police Department.
To question Jarvis without being able to charge him for a crime, Thompson explained that the report was not available yet, as the Police Department was very inefficient in record-keeping, even more than the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
On the other side of the room, Peggy Carter joined Roger Dooley and Daniel Sousa during the interrogation, and told them that he recognized Jarvis as Howard Stark's butler from the file. Carter asked Dooley if he really believed that he had been involved in the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery. Though Dooley thought he was not the one responsible, he guessed that Jarvis could have driven a getaway car.
Thompson joked that many things had been stolen from Stark, first the bombs, now a car, and probably even a death ray; Jarvis then explained that the death ray had not been stolen, still being in Nevada as far as he knew. 
Thompson then showed Jarvis the images of Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov, explaining that both of them had been in possession of Stark's technology, but now they were dead. Jarvis guessed that meant the SSR had already found the thieves, but Thompson presented the hypothesis that they could have been working for Stark.
Sousa was surprised to see that Thompson had not punched the suspect in the first five minutes of the interrogation. Dooley was well aware that Jarvis, being a butler, could know very powerful people, and many lawyers could get involved to stop their effort to obtain information from Jarvis.
Carter asked about the stolen-car report that Jarvis mentioned, and Dooley explained that he was retaining it with the excuse that it had been lost in the system. Sousa pointed out that if the car was actually stolen, they would not have anything to use against Jarvis. Dooley said they had something else with which to threaten Jarvis.
Thompson continued with his interrogation, acknowledging that claiming the theft of a car was a usual move if the car had been used for committing a crime and lost its bumper during the process. Jarvis defended Stark from the accusation, but Thompson told Jarvis that he was directly accusing him, given that Stark was a fugitive.
Thompson acknowledged some of Jarvis' qualities that surely made Stark hire him, such as his intelligence and loyalty, something unusual for a man that had been charged with treason. Jarvis' face changed when he realized the SSR knew about that part of his past. Carter was also surprised to hear that about the man that was collaborating with her in clearing Stark's name.
Thompson, hitting the button to make Jarvis confess, guessed that the treason charges were dropped thanks to Stark, but his dishonorable discharge from the British Armed Forces was still on record. Thompson threatened to get Jarvis deported and wondered aloud how Jarvis would inform his wife about it.
Jarvis was visibly angry that Thompson wanted to involve his wife. He warned him to leave his wife out of the accusation. Thompson replied that it was Jarvis who dragged her into this mess when he broke the law for Stark. Dooley commented that Jarvis was about to give in and admit everything he knew. Carter retired to quickly devise a plan to let Jarvis leave without risking her involvement being made known.
At the main office, Krzeminski asked Carter to take his night shift, offering it as if it was him who offered her a favor. Carter simply ignored him and took a series of documents for Dooley to sign. Carter seized the opportunity to take the stolen-car report from the table along with the now-signed documents.
Thompson left the room and went to speak to Dooley, who congratulated him for the interrogation and prompted to continue pressing Jarvis using his wife. Thompson entered the room introducing Dooley, but at that moment, Carter arrived in a seemingly casual and unintentional way, explaining that she mistakenly took the stolen-car report.
Jarvis, knowing that with the report the Strategic Scientific Reserve was unable to retain him without charges, left the interrogation room, prompting them to contact one of Stark's lawyers for further questioning, and silently looked at Carter as a gesture of gratitude.
Dooley took Carter to his office and angrily scolded her for her mistake, that heavily hindered their investigation, and wondered why he had been ordered to accept her as an agent. Dooley praised Thompson's work, but it had been ruined by Carter. Carter apologized for her apparent mistake. Thompson said that an apology would not even begin to cover the harm done, and Dooley ordered Carter to get out of his sight.
====Arsenal Retrieval====
=====New Tenant=====
Peggy Carter prepared herself at her apartment to investigate the sewers underneath the Stark Mansion, but was interrupted by Angie Martinelli, who wanted to talk to Carter about their day. Martinelli entered Carter's apartment, and though Carter tried to apologize, she entered and started to talk about how tired she was after her 8-hour shift, and the little tips she earned.
Carter, who had been scolded at her job, said that the 50 cents Martinelli earned would have been an improvement over her situation, and Martinelli offered to share a bottle of Schnapps and a rhubarb pie with her.
Since Carter was trying to sneak out the Griffith Hotel, she refused Martinelli's offer saying that she was about to go to bed, but being relatively early in the evening, Martinelli prompted Carter to talk about her own day. Carter refused again, and opened the door to let Martinelli leave the apartment. Martinelli was very upset for the rejection, and sarcastically apologized for disturbing Carter.
In the hallway, Carter and Martinelli came across Miriam Fry, who was accompanying the newest resident at the Griffith Hotel, Dottie Underwood, and introduced her to the two tenants.
Underwood was excited with the ambiance of the hotel, and despite Martinelli's cold greeting due to her disappointment inside the room, Carter quickly that assured they were pleased to meet Underwood. Underwood recognized Carter's accent, and was excited to meet someone from England for the first time.
Fry explained that Underwood had traveled from her native Iowa to New York City in order to pursue a ballet career, something Fry appreciated due to the discipline it required, as opposed to the typical carefreeness and irresponsibility of regular dancers.
Still upset, Martinelli went to her apartment, and though Underwood apologized for the apparent interruption, Martinelli said that there was not much more conversation left between her and Carter. On the other hand, Carter wished Underwood a very happy stay at the Griffith, leaving Fry and Underwood in order to prepare herself for her mission with Edwin Jarvis.
=====Descent to the Sewers=====
Peggy Carter returned to the Stark Mansion at night, in order to investigate the vault and try to guess the method that Leet Brannis used to transport all the technology kept inside.
Edwin Jarvis received Carter, who asked him if he wanted to clarify some of the facts that were presented during his interrogation by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but Jarvis refused. Seemingly accepting the excuse, Carter prompted him to investigate the vault.
Jarvis explained that the hole in the middle of the vault made Howard Stark believed that Brannis used advanced technology to break into it, though Carter dismissed the theory, as according to her, Stark believed in the need of advanced to even the most mundane tasks.
Carter whistled to check the depth of the hole, and decided to descend using climbing equipment. Jarvis' skills with the equipment made Carter realized it was not the first time he had done something similar, and he confessed that he had visited the before World War II.
Carter tried to go back to the subject of Jarvis' treason charge, explaining that he was in his right to maintain his privacy, as a charge of treason out of context was not necessarily a what it appeared to be, comparing ir to her mission to clear Stark's name, that could have been considered a treason. Hoping her empathy would prompt Jarvis to talk about his own charge, she explained that she did not need to know the details, but Jarvis simply thanked her without explaining anything.
Jarvis went on to explain what the investigators hired by Stark had discovered. Given that the night of the theft an open manhole was discovered five blocks away from the mansion, the investigators assumed that Brannis used it to escape. Carter dismissed that theory, given that all the equipment that was stolen would weigh hundreds of pounds of equipment, and it would have been nearly impossible to carry it out of a manhole.
Carter realized the sewers took storm water to the sea, and the night of the theft it had been raining, so Brannis could have used a raft to float the equipment to sea, given the tide gate would have been opened to take the water into the river, so they followed the tunnels to see where did they take them.
=====Night Shift=====
Jack Thompson abandoned the New York Bell Company Office, leaving Agents Daniel Sousa and Ray Krzeminski for the night shift. Thompson handed Krzeminski what he managed to discover about the Man in the Green Suit, including his real name, Sasha Demidov, and some facts about his life that might sound familiar.
Sousa correctly guessed that, like Leet Brannis, Demidov was a Soviet soldier who reportedly died in 1944 during the battle of Finow in Germany.
Thompson congratulated Sousa, given that he would be the clever agent during that night shift, and wished them a good night. Krzeminski was proud for having found Demidov's passports, and told Thompson that the least he could do in exchange was to cover his shift, but Thompson left the office.
Sousa asked Krzeminski if he had asked Peggy Carter; Krzeminski explained that he indeed asked her, but she was not amused by the offer. Sousa sarcastically told him that surely he had asked in the polite and respectful way in which he always spoke to Carter.
Krzeminski gave Sousa advice to give up on whatever he was feeling for Carter, as no woman would be with a man like him after having met a man like Captain America.
=====Past Revealed=====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis navigated their way through the sewers. Carter was very comfortable with this, given that she spent a full week inside the sewers in 1942.
Carter, tired of insinuations, directly told Jarvis that she needed to know the facts about Jarvis' treason chargers in order to fully trust him as they were going to work and risk their lives together. Both Jarvis' honor and Howard Stark' trust in Jarvis were not enough for Carter, and she wanted to know the truth.
Jarvis started to explain how he served under a general before World War II. On his travels with the general, he met Ana, the girl who would become his wife, in Budapest. However, given that Ana was Jewish, when the war broke out her life was threatened, and Jarvis asked the general to use one of the several letters of transit he carried in his safe to ensure Ana's safety, but he refused to sign.
Jarvis explained how he forged the general's signature, earning a dishonorable discharge. Howard Stark, whom Jarvis met and befriended during Stark's business with the general, used his influence to save Ana and dismiss Jarvis' charge of treason. Due to that, Jarvis was extremely grateful to Stark, and become a loyal butler for him.
Carter asked if, as Ana obviously knew what Stark did to help them, she was aware of what Jarvis was doing to clear Stark's name. Jarvis explained that he was hiding his missions with Carter from Ana, given that as he may not always be truthful with Ana, he was always honest.
Carter and Jarvis arrived at the tide gate, guessing where Leet Brannis would have taken a raft full of volatile technology, but Carter realized one of the ships, The Heartbreak, was adorned with the symbol that Brannis drew moments before his death.
=====Investigating the Ship=====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis arrived at the in Manhattan to investigate The Heartbreak, the ship with the symbol that Leet Brannis drew moments before his death. Carter realized that, despite its dilapidated appearance, the ship was still connected to the electric system, and prepared to board it grabbing her handgun, and Jarvis asked if she had a spare weapon.
Carter and Jarvis boarded the ship, without realizing they were being observed by a woman disguised in a man's suit, and quickly located the technology stolen from Howard Stark. Carter went to examine the crates, and Jarvis warned her to be careful. Carter picked the first item she came across, the Constrictor, and Jarvis explained that, despite having been originally designed for back massage, it caused an involuntary and catastrophic muscle contraction that ended up breaking the bones.
Carter decided to call the Strategic Scientific Reserve for backup, but Jarvis advised her that she could not reveal that it was she who found the items. Carter refused to leave them in the ship so that anyone else could find them, or handing them to Jarvis due to the danger of being stolen again; though none of these possibilities was what Jarvis was suggesting.
To prove his point, Jarvis simulated the interrogation that the SSR would surely give her, explaining that Leet Brannis revealed their location during her private investigation with Howard Stark. Jarvis pointed that revealing the truth would not clear Stark's name, in fact, it would have the opposite effect, and Carter would be a suspect along with him.
Carter wanted her colleagues to respect her due to her efforts. Jarvis explained her colleagues would not respect her; they would only use the opportunity to disprove and discredit her. Jarvis acknowledged that the only way to clear Stark's name would be doing it from the shadows.
Carter, realizing that Jarvis was right, told him to call the SSR as an anonymous tipster, but warned him not to let Ray Krzeminski claim the merit, as Daniel Sousa was in the night shift, and she preferred that Sousa got the credit for her work if any should get it. Before leaving, Carter reminded Jarvis that Sousa knew his voice, so he should fake an accent.
=====Anonymous Tip=====
Edwin Jarvis called the New York Bell Company Office to inform the Strategic Scientific Reserve about the discovery of the technology stolen from Howard Stark.
Faking an awkward American accent, Jarvis told Daniel Sousa that the technology was located in The Heartbreak, a ship near the south side pier. Sousa, demanded to know how Jarvis obtained the number, but getting nervous, Jarvis politely bid his farewell and hung up the phone.
Sousa explained to Ray Krzeminski that they received an anonymous tip, and they should go immediately to investigate it.
=====Muscle for Hire=====
Peggy Carter waited inside The Heartbreak until Edwin Jarvis returned from calling the Strategic Scientific Reserve for reinforcements, but she was ambushed by Jerome Zandow, a man hired by Leet Brannis to guard the ship.
Zandow attacked and disarmed Carter, and started to taunt her now that she was seemingly defenseless. Zandow told them that Brannis had already warned that someone would come to take possession of the technology and he was not afraid to kill a woman; Carter told him she would not make it easy.
Zandow attacked Carter, who despite her skill and speed, was unable to overcome Zandow's brute strength. Zandow grabbed a metal pipe and started to strangle Carter, but Jarvis managed to ambush Zandow and hit him in the head. Zandow was not knocked out by the hit, and easily overcame Jarvis' attacks.
Zandow pushed Jarvis against a wall, and tried to use the metal pipe to strangle him. Carter grabbed one of Howard Stark's weapons, the Constrictor, and used it to easily break Zandow's arm, and subdued him with the metal pipe to knock him unconscious.
Jarvis noticed the car siren that meant the SSR agents were about to arrive, and prompted Carter to leave, even despite Zandow being a witness and possibly incriminating them.
=====Confiscation of the Arsenal=====
Daniel Sousa and Ray Krzeminski arrived at the docks to investigate the anonymous tip that informed them about the location of Howard Stark's technology inside one of the ships.
Sousa located The Heartbreak, and boarded it with Krzeminski, locating the stolen cargo and an unconscious Jerome Zandow. Sousa warned Krzeminski to be careful with the items, as he was too excited, thinking they would be promoted for finding them. Sousa was concerned that instead of discovering something, once again the solution was handed to them, but Krzeminski compared it to a Christmas gift and went to call Chief Roger Dooley.
Dooley quickly arrived with Jack Thompson and many other armed agents to take the technology into custody, unaware that they were being observed by a woman dressed in a man's suit. Thompson coordinated the operation, ordering to check every box and transport it carefully.
Thompson informed Dooley that the man found inside the ship, Jerome Zandow, was a sideshow performer at Coney Island that usually acted as muscle-for-hire. Dooley wanted Thompson to interrogate Zandow, as he wanted to know the reason why Zandow did nothing but wait while having a full arsenal in his possession.
Sousa informed Dooley that all the crates had been loaded up inside their truck, and Dooley ordered to take the technology as quickly as possible to the Strategic Scientific Reserve facility, custodied by two cars. Thompson volunteered to call their scientists to figure out the nature of all the technology, and Dooley asked them to drive carefully, as, with the precedent of the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery, the technology had the potential to sink the island of Manhattan.
Krzeminski was tasked with driving Zandow back to the New York Bell Company Office, and commented how Agent Thompson would submit him to one of his "special" interrogations. Zandow complained that he needed a doctor as his arm was broken, but Krzeminski explained that fixing it was futile given they would surely break it again.
Zandow asked if the English woman that attacked him was also working for them, but before Zandow could describe them, they were forced to stop by a traffic light and another car crashed into theirs. Krzeminski got out of the car to complain, but he was shot and killed by the woman that was previously observing them at the docks.
Zandow plead not to be killed, as swore that he had not told anything, but she killed him and left the scene, leaving the two corpses behind.
=====Mourning Ray Krzeminski=====
The whole personnel at the New York Bell Company Office mourned the death of Ray Krzeminski, leaving flowers in his desk. Peggy Carter, unaware of what happened, arrived at the office as usual, and saw how the phone operators were crying. Carter asked Rose Roberts what had happened, and she explained what happened the night before.
Carter entered the main office, where all agents were sad for the loss of their colleague, and watched the flowers in Krzeminski's station. Daniel Sousa, being a veteran of World War II, wondered if she too felt that same feeling during the war, that anyone could die any day.
Carter asked how it happened, and Jack Thompson explained that a professional killed Krzeminski and their witness, Jerome Zandow, probably having been watching them in the docks. Sousa felt guilty for answering the anonymous tip, as he knew that something was wrong, given that "concerned citizens" usually called the police, as the office's phone number was unavailable. Sousa promised to find the one responsible
Chief Roger Dooley addressed all the agents in the office, visibly saddened for the loss of one of his agents, and reminded the agents that Howard Stark was responsible for the death of Krzeminski, as despite he may have not pulled the trigger himself, it was because of him they were dragged into the investigation that ended with Krzeminski's life. Dooley informed the agents he wanted action plans in one hour, but also asked them to stay vigilant, as he did not want to lose any other agent.
Dooley went on to call Krzeminski's wife, while Thompson volunteered to call Krzeminski's girlfriend.
=====Mourning a Colleague=====
Peggy Carter went to the L&L Automat, still deeply affected by the loss of the colleague Ray Krzeminski, wanting to speak to her friend Angie Martinelli. Martinelli, still upset with Carter for the way Carter treated her the previous night at the Griffith Hotel, coldly treated her as another customer.
Carter asked her for the opportunity of telling Martinelli about her day if she had a moment, and noticing Carter's state, she told her she had plenty of time to talk to her. Carter explained that one of her co-workers died suddenly died that day, without commenting the details to maintain her cover.
Carter was even shocked for the way it deeply affected her, even despite she and Krzeminski were anywhere but close, given that he was always rude and disrespectful with her, but she acknowledged that Krzeminski was good at his job. Martinelli offered to do whatever was in her hand to help her, and Carter asked if she still had the bottle of Schnapps she offered to share the previous night.
Martinelli, wanting to help her friend, went to refill a customer, and then she would leave work to be with her.
====Howard Stark's Return====
=====Smuggled Goods=====
Edwin Jarvis went to a warehouse in order to pay a ransom to the subordinates of Otto Mink for a package Mink managed to smuggle into the United States. The smugglers counted the money Jarvis gave him, surprised to see $1000 bills that they had never seen before. Jarvis assured that they legal tender, and easier to transport than one-dollar bills.
The smugglers wanted Jarvis to pay $100,000 in addition to the $50,000 that they agreed, something he politely refused due to not being the amount previously agreed for the service. One of the smugglers told him that Mink did not smuggle any goods for free, grabbed his gun to threaten Jarvis, and explained that the extra $100,000 were not for the delivery itself, but for being silent about it.
Peggy Carter who had accompanied Jarvis to the warehouse, ambushed and defeated the three goons standing guard outside of the warehouse, and went to the room were Jarvis tried to deal with the smugglers
Jarvis, who complained again about the extortion, touched his ear and agreed to offer another $50,000. He pushed a button on his briefcase and offered it to the smugglers but was concerned that they would open it there in his presence. One of the smugglers opened the briefcase and a cloud of gas directly hit him, knocking him unconscious, while the other managed to evade it.
The remaining smuggler pointed his gun at Jarvis, but Carter pointed her gun at him and knocked him unconscious with a single punch. Carter sarcastically complimented Jarvis for his bargaining skills, and they went on to check their delivered goods.
They opened one of the containers to see Howard Stark playing pool inside, greeting Carter and Jarvis as his favorite foreigners. Stark asked if Mink's subordinates had blackmailed them. Carter pointed that Stark had a particular way of choosing his business partners.
Stark explained that Mink was just a black-market smuggler, but he managed to take him back into the United States. Stark already predicted that Mink's greed would lead him to extort Stark's emissary for more money, and he liked predictable and greedy people.
Stark grabbed a billiard ball and threw it toward Carter's direction. She quickly evaded it, and the ball hit one of Mink's remaining goons. Stark lamented leaving, being so close to winning that game of pool, and departed with Jarvis and Carter to one of his residences.
=====Change of Plans=====
Edwin Jarvis and Peggy Carter took a recently returned Howard Stark through the streets of New York City, heading to one of his residences. Along the way, Stark asked Jarvis and Carter how the two of them were getting along, and if they had enough familiarity to make Carter try Ana Jarvis' goulash, or to let her reveal Jarvis one of her physical feats.
Carter reminded Stark that every American intelligence agency was still looking for him, and asked him the reason for his return to New York City. Stark told her he would explain everything once they arrived to the penthouse.
Carter suddenly ordered Jarvis to stop the car though the residence was nearby; she explained that Agents Yauch and Henry of the Strategic Scientific Reserve were watching the penthouse's surroundings acting as bystanders, so they needed to take Stark to another place.
Stark claimed that the penthouse was his least-known property, as a dummy corporation owned by another dummy corporation was the one that held the lease for the penthouse. Theoretically, only Stark and Jarvis knew about it, besides Stark's female conquests such as and .
Carter reminded Stark that her colleague Ray Krzeminski was killed during the investigation of Stark's stolen technology and the Strategic Scientific Reserve blamed him, so it was sure they were working hard to uncover all of Stark's assets, including residences, bank accounts and corporations.
Carter decided to hide Stark at the Griffith Hotel, her own residence, despite her being unsure. Upon arriving, Stark recognized the establishment, and familiarly asked about Miriam Fry, and how she was.
=====Departure to Germany=====
Jack Thompson arrived at the New York Bell Company Office very early in the morning to find that Chief Roger Dooley had been working all night on the case regarding Howard Stark and the two Russian suspects.
Dooley explained he obtained the official report about the battle of Finow, where suspects Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov had been reported as deceased despite not having died. Dooley showed the report to Thompson, who pointed out that many words had been removed from it; Dooley explained that the officer who redacted it, General John McGinnis, had died a month before.
Thompson asked about the Remote Typewriter, and Dooley answered that, according to their technicians, it was sending and receiving signals, but they had not figured its destination yet, so Thompson proposed to send a message to their enemies.
Dooley revealed that he managed to obtain the identity of the German officer that, according to intelligence reports, ambushed the Russian division in Finow, Colonel Ernst Mueller, but he was going to be executed in two days accused of multiple war crimes. For that reason, Dooley was going to travel to Germany and talk to him before his execution.
Thompson was surprised that Dooley would travel so far to talk to a Nazi, and Dooley pointed the connection between Brannis and Demidov, who supposedly died in Finow, and Stark's technology. Besides, not even the government was willing to reveal the truth about the battle of Finow, so Mueller was one of the only remaining sources he had available.
Dooley appointed Thompson as acting chief of the station until his return, and Thompson wished good luck to Dooley, addressing each other as "Chief".
=====Dumbwaiter Trick=====
Peggy Carter managed to take Howard Stark into the Griffith Hotel through the laundry room in the basement, and told him to enter the dumbwaiter. Stark complained due to his hate of small spaces, and was concerned what would happen if the chain did not endure his weight.
Carter joked that she would never reveal that his body was in the bottom of a dumbwaiter shaft, and warned him that if Miriam Fry found them, they would be more comfortable in any place, including the electric chair.
As Carter closed the dumbwaiter, Fry arrived and surprised Carter, telling her that she was the woman Fry was most worried about of all the establishment. Carter considered it to be a discouraging sentiment, and Fry explained that her schedule appeared to be more of a woman frequenting taxi dance halls than those of a telephone operator.
Carter lied saying she was just doing her laundry, though Fry said that she had caught many intruders inside the dumbwaiter, making Carter acknowledge that that many women owed her virtue to Fry. Fry was always suspicious, explaining how Alice Shaw once tried to enter her room with a man, disguising him in a girdle and making him pose as her sister.
Being suspicious of Carter, Fry volunteered to accompany her to her room, walking together to the third floor. Along the way, Fry continued to explain how she had managed to catch women trying to sneak men inside the hotel. Fry, trying to explain her goal in helping women "govern their impulses", asked Carter if she was familiar with 's concepts of the id and the ego, and Carter maintained her cover asking if they were children's characters.
Carter was about to enter her room when Fry reminded her about her laundry. The two women went on to check the dumbwaiter, but they only found Stark's duffle bag. Fry was surprised, as she was expecting to see a man inside, and left Carter alone, reminding her the time it was.
Carter went on to check the dumbwaiter again, thinking Stark was still hiding inside, but she heard one of her neighbors giggling inside her room. Carter angrily knocked on the door, and Lorraine appeared to say Carter had just awakened her.
Stark appeared at Lorraine's door, half undressed and with a lipstick mark on his face, explaining to Lorraine that Carter was just his cousin, and introduced both women to each other. Lorraine noted that Carter's cousin looked a lot like Howard Stark, but Carter told her cousin was shorter, to which Stark pointed that he was better-looking.
Stark and Carter entered her apartment, and while he served some coffee, he casually told her how he would sausages, eggs and a couple of Bloody Marys, only for Carter to remind him that there was no room service at the Griffith. Carter prompted him to reveal the reason of his return and when he was planning to leave while she got dressed,
Stark explained that he was going to leave the country again and travel to Rio de Janeiro in three days, but he needed to know how many of his inventions had the Strategic Scientific Reserve recovered, and therefore determine how many were still on the black market.
Instead of asking Edwin Jarvis to mediate between them, Stark explained he came to give her a Camera Pen, photographing themselves with it. Carter was shocked that Stark risked everything to give her just that item, and took the pen to change her clothes inside the bathroom.
Stark told that it took him quite some time to figure out how to miniaturize the lens, and reminded her there was no need to change her clothes with the door closed, as they were just friends.
=====Acting Chief=====
Jack Thompson, assuming his position as acting Chief, gathered every agent inside the New York Bell Company Office to give what he thought was a motivational speech. He asked if anyone knew recently killed Agent Ray Krzeminski's middle name, and only Daniel Sousa knew it was "Walter". He then asked what was the most important part of his name, and though Agent Yauch answered with insecurity if it was Walter, Thompson said that the most important part of the name was "Agent".
Thompson explained that Chief Roger Dooley was gone to investigate a lead, and he was in charge during his absence, so he would not let any agent rest or return home until they managed to obtain any result. Thompson ordered every agent to form a single file to give them individual assignments.
Sousa asked Peggy Carter if she was not eager to see the assignment that Thompson would give to her, but she was sure he would task her with the lunch orders. Carter realized Sousa was leaving the office, and he explained he was going to investigate the anonymous call that informed them about the whole cargo of Howard Stark's technology, so he would try to obtain a fingerprint from the phone.
Carter tried to dissuade him, knowing that Edwin Jarvis was the one who called them, and told him that given it was a public phone, he would find a bacterial infection sooner than a valid fingerprint.
Thompson came out of the office, and asked him where he was going. Sousa answered that he was going to real police work instead of what Thompson was expecting him to do, and Thompson reminded him that he should assume Krzeminski's role, just before ordering Carter to take the lunch orders.
=====Laboratory Developments=====
Peggy Carter entered the laboratory to check how many of Howard Stark's inventions had been confiscated by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and distracted Alex Doobin, one of the scientists working at the laboratory, posing as if she was simply taking the lunch orders.
Carter casually asked about their research, and witnessed how one of the scientists' arm was burning with a green flame. Doobin pointed the research has been challenging, and Carter took the Camera Pen that Stark gave her to begin taking photographs of the different inventions.
While Carter continued to take photographs, Doobin told her how one the inventions, gave him a shock every time he pushed its switch, and how the shock ran through his arm into his skull, melting his glasses the first time he pushed it. Doobin wondered if that was its intended purpose, and acknowledged that Stark was either an ignoramus or a genius. Carter, who knew Stark very well, told Doobin that he was most likely both things.
The scientist's arm burst in flames again, this time with a blue flame, and Carter seized the opportunity to take the last photographs before leaving.
=====Investigation at the Pier=====
Daniel Sousa went to the pier in order to try to obtain a fingerprint from the phone that Edwin Jarvis used to tip the Strategic Scientific Reserve about the location of Howard Stark's stolen technology.
Two tramps, Frank and George, were playing cards in the pier and betting coins. Sousa approached the two men, who offered him to join their game for a nickel, but he asked them about the night where the Strategic Scientific Reserve confiscated Stark's technology inside one the ships docked there, The Heartbreak
George asked Sousa for a coin, only to reveal that he was not there that night, as he camped on 14th Street, but told him that Frank had been spending nights there for over a month. Sousa offered Frank another coin, but Frank told him to keep the money, as he was not going to cooperate with law enforcement, mistaking Sousa for a policeman.
Sousa told him that he just wanted to know what Frank saw that night, and when on to ask if he was the tipper who called them. Frank got angry and confronted Sousa, who evaded Frank's punch and used his crutch to knock Frank down. Sousa handcuffed Frank to take him into custody, and George guessed he had win that hand.
=====Smuggling Business=====
Otto Mink tuned up his Automatic Pistol while scolding his subordinates for not managing to obtain the $150,000 he wanted for smuggling Howard Stark back into the United States.
Mink's subordinates explained that Edwin Jarvis deceived them, as instead of coming alone with the money, he brought a girl. In order to make their story more believable, they started to lie saying that more than five men also accompanied them
Mink accused his smugglers of lying, and killed one of them with his Automatic Pistol, shooting until the weapon jammed. The other smuggler tried to leave the room, but the door was closed. While Mink fixed his weapon, the smuggler swore he was telling the truth, and revealed he overheard Stark calling woman "Peggy".
He volunteered to follow Jarvis and find the woman, the money and Stark. Mink was not interested in money anymore, saying that nobody crossed him while he shot to the smuggler's shoulder. The pistol jammed again and the smuggler offered to kill Stark and the woman.
Mink refused the offer, saying that he would take care of them, and killed the other smuggler shooting with the pistol.
=====Retrieving an Artifact=====
Peggy Carter returned to the Griffith Hotel in order to show Howard Stark the images of his inventions she managed to take. Carter was unable to find Stark inside his room, and realized that he was in another tenant's room.
Carter shouted in the hallway and Stark opened the door of Helen's room. Stark introduced both women to each other, saying that Carter was his cousin, and entered Carter's room again, with a visibly disgusted Carter.
They entered the bathroom to use it as a darkroom to develop the pictures she took with the Camera Pen. Carter realized the first pictures portrayed a woman, and Stark took the film, claiming the first photographs were not suitable for Carter's eyes.
Carter and Stark were interrupted by Angie Martinelli, who had come to pick Carter up for dinner. Stark acknowledged that Martinelli's voice was beautiful, but Carter warned him to stay away from her friend.
Carter shouted that he was not feeling good, but Stark prompted her to go and spend some time outside of her duties, as he was actually worrying about her. Stark volunteered to check the photos himself, and asked Carter to bring him something to eat.
Carter descended to the dining room and started to steal food for Stark, trying to conceal it as best as she could. However, Martinelli watched her stealing and started to take some for herself, advising Carter she could keep the rolls for an extra day if she put them on the windowsill.
Martinelli explained that it was very common to steal food from the dining room, for example Carol once stole a whole chicken, hiding it in a special pocket under her sweater that her mother knit for her, and Gloria had a compartment in her pocketbook. Dottie Underwood checked Gloria's pocketbook and was surprised by its content, asking her to make her one compartment to hold pickles.
Carter left the dining hall, explaining she was going to eat in her room and read the last five pages of the new novel.
Inside the room, Stark checked that all of his inventions had been recovered by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but he needed that Carter stole one of them from them. Stark explained that one of the particular inventions that cause large-scale destruction was still active.
Stark explained how he created the Blitzkrieg Button in order to conceal the city of London from German bombings during World War II, instantly creating a city-wide blackout once the device is activated. However, it worked destroying the electrical grids, so it would leave the area without electric energy for years.
Stark asked Carter to retrieve the item and deliver it to him so that he could disable the device, as it would take the tri-state area back to the Dark Ages if the device was activated in New York City. Stark gave Carter a fake device to swap it for the real one, as if she tried to explain what was its purpose, the government would try to use it. Stark asked her, as a personal favor, not to let him become the man who shut down New York.
Carter left the building to return to her office, with Edwin Jarvis waiting for her outside the building. Unbeknownst to them, Otto Mink had been following Jarvis to get revenge for being crossed when he smuggled Stark back to the country, and now he knew how Carter looked, and where she lived.
=====Interrogating a Tramp=====
Daniel Sousa returned to the New York Bell Company Office with Frank, a tramp that lived near the piers, intending to interrogate him about what happened the night that Sousa and Ray Krzeminski found Howard Stark's missing technology. Upon entering, Jack Thompson and other agents mocked Sousa, sarcastically remarking that he found Stark, and the reason the rest of them could not find him was his rough appearance.
Thompson then asked Sousa what was he doing bringing a tramp to the office, and Sousa explained that Frank may have seen something in the docks before the agents even arrived. Looking at Frank, Thompson assured the only thing he probably saw that night was a bottle of alcohol.
Sousa tried to bond with Frank over their status as World War II veterans, explaining how people clapped at him once in a diner when he had recently returned from the war. He thought people were clapping for because he served and came back alive, but when another veteran entered the diner and prepared to clap, Sousa realized they clapped for his injury, not for his service, the rest of patrons only clapped to relieve their guilt.
Sousa explained that he and Frank were not different, and Frank told him how nobody clapped for him when he returned from the war, and he lost both his wife and his job to other men while he was serving. Despite having similar "sad stories", Frank continued to refuse to talk to him.
Sousa entered the observation room behind the one-way mirror, where Thompson had been watching the whole conversation. Thompson told Sousa he would clap him, but he did not want to hurt his feelings, and order Sousa to release the tramp and join the search for Stark like the rest of agents.
Sousa claimed that Frank was a witness, he saw something at the docks, because he would say so if he did not see anything. Thompson compared Roger Dooley's efforts, traveling to Nuremberg to interview a Colonel Ernst Mueller moments before his execution, to his lead about a tramp.
Sousa continues trying to make Frank speak to him, but Thompson interrupted them, entering the room with a hamburger and a bottle of Roger Dooley's Scotch whisky. Thompson's interruption infuriated Sousa, who tried to make him leave. Frank was distracted with Thompson's food and drink, and Thompson even taunted him with their smell and taste.
Thompson ignored Sousa, and offered Frank the bottle and the hamburger in exchange of telling them what he saw at the docks. Frank immediately answered he saw a well-dressed man and a dark-haired woman, that entered the ship and left before the agents arrived, but he could not see their faces because he was far and hid once the agents arrived.
Frank ignored the hamburger and took the bottle, drinking as much as he could. Before leaving the room, Thompson told Sousa that not everybody returned from the war wanting a hug.
=====Lying Gestures=====
Edwin Jarvis took Peggy Carter to her office in order to retrieve one of Howard Stark's devices, and she asked him to park around the corner in order to quickly return to the Griffith Hotel once she managed to get it.
Carter asked him about the device, and noticed Jarvis was more nervous than usual, touching his ear as he did once he tried to deceive Otto Mink's smugglers. Noticing that something was wrong, Carter tried to learn more about the item from Jarvis, asking him if Stark took the risk of returning to New York City, maybe he was planning to use it to blackout an entire city.
Jarvis vigorously denied that accusation, and Carter went on to compare this device with Nitramene, that this at least would not hurt anyone if it was accidentally activated. Jarvis touched his ear again, and asked her to bring the device as fast as she could so that there was no need to worry about it anymore.
=====Night Infiltration=====
Daniel Sousa was angry that his witness Frank, one of the tramps that lived in the docks where Howard Stark's technology was found, was only a waste of time. Jack Thompson acknowledged Sousa managed to find a witness that the rest of the agents overlooked. However, Frank's information about a man and a woman were too general to be of any value, as Stark was known to be almost always with women around him.
Thompson explained something he learnt during the war, that not every won battle was an achievement. Sousa claimed that hearing the way Thompson fought, he was surprised there was any achievement left for him to obtain. Thompson said he just did what was needed to be done, but Sousa said that was all of them did.
Sousa grabbed his coat to leave the room, and Thompson asked where did he gained his prosthesis, guessing it could have been in Russia or in Italy, but Sousa simply said he gained it in his femur.
Peggy Carter entered the office and passed the room where Sousa and Thompson were talking, heading to the laboratory. She managed to find the artifact that Stark asked her to switch for a fake one, and quickly placed the fake device on its place.
Carter wanted to know the actual reason Stark was interested in the device, so she hid inside a storage room to open it. Nervously, Carter pulled the switch on the device, and instead of blacking out the entire city as Stark said, it revealed a vial of blood.
Carter hid inside the interrogation room to avoid being caught inside the office at night, but she did not realized that Thompson was still inside the room. Thompson asked what was she doing there, given that only men had to work at night, and she taunted him saying that she did not want to interrupt Thompson enjoying his promotion, as he was still with the bottle of whisky in his hand.
Thompson continued to discomfort Carter asking the reason she worked at the office. Carter answered that she worked to uphold democracy, but Thompson said that the rest of agents did more for that than to simply take lunch orders. Thompson was not stopped by Carter's clever answers, and told her that she was trying to hide something, but she did not manage to fool anyone but herself.
Carter thought that Thompson had discovered her secret, but what Thompson said was that Carter was trying to bypass the "natural order of the universe", that no man would ever consider her as an equal simply because she was a woman. Carter said she could always come to him to remind her what the truth was, and left the room.
=====Broken Trust=====
Peggy Carter returned to the Griffith Hotel with the artifact that Howard Stark asked her to steal from her office, and quickly entered her room to confront Stark about the artifact. She knew that Stark had lied to her about the item, as she found a vial of blood.
Shaken, Carter asked Stark about the content of the vial, and she diverted his attempts to hold back the truth, asking four times the same question. Stark realized she was angry, though she claimed that it was just curiosity, and wanted to hear the truth from Stark's lips.
Stark finally confessed the vial held a sample of Steve Rogers' blood, and Carter punched him in the face.
Otto Mink, having followed Carter to the Griffith, entered the lobby with a bouquet of flowers, posing as a suitor and wanting to see Carter and kill her for crossing him when he smuggled Stark into the country.
Mink approached Miriam Fry, saying that he brought the flowers for Carter and wanted to deliver them himself. Fry, applying the rules of the Griffith, refused to let him pass, and told him instead to left the flowers at the reception desk. Fry asked Mink if he was a delivery man or Carter's suitor, to which Mink replied that he loved her, hoping that would make Fry allow him to see Carter.
Fry wrote a note with Carter's room to deliver the flowers, and asked Mink his name and profession. Mink, who saw Carter's room number in the note, left the hotel to infiltrate it in another way, and Fry was not surprised that such a man was Carter's suitor.
In her room, Carter confronted Stark for having used her and lying to her. Stark said he was just wanting to protect her, as Rogers meant so much for both of them, and while Carter continued to throw his lies into his face, he realized he was wrong when he lied to her.
Stark explained he had the habit of lying to everyone, given he needed to do it since his youth to overcome his humble origins as the son of a fruit seller and a seamstress, to climb over a ceiling that stopped people based on their social class, religion or sex. Stark explained that lying was his natural instinct, but he was truly sorry for having lied to Carter.
Carter asked why he had Rogers' blood, and Stark said that he obtained it as he was one of the lead scientists on Project Rebirth, while other 11 vials went to the government. Stark asked if the Strategic Scientific Reserve knew about the vial, as the government had almost used their entire supply of blood, and they would not give back Stark's sample even if his name was cleared.
Carter was not sure that Stark deserved to have the blood, but he was sure it could contain the key to vaccines and medications, so despite Rogers' sacrifice to save them, he could still save millions of people. Carter thought Stark's only motivation for that was the money he would make with it, considering he was a greed, selfish and superficial man.
Carter reminded him how Rogers dedicated both his mind and body, and even his life to both the Strategic Scientific Reserve and the United States, but not to Stark's money. And she had made the same pledge that Rogers did, but she did not followed once she started to covertly work for Stark. Now, being reminded of what she aspired to be, Carter told Stark that, for her, he was as guilty of stealing his inventions as anyone else believed.
Carter left the room and ordered him to be gone upon her return. Stark wondered where would he go, given that he would get arrested, but she was less than concerned, as she told him to figure it out as the genius he was.
=====Next Door Killer=====
Otto Mink managed to infiltrate the Griffith Hotel through a ventilation shaft, and went to ambush Peggy Carter at her room. Before he could enter, Dottie Underwood came out of her room and was surprised to see a man in the hallway, asked him if she was lost.
Mink ordered her to return to her room, but Underwood asked him if she was looking for Carter. Mink then threatened her at gunpoint, and Underwood recognized the weapon as an Automatic Pistol.
Underwood changed her tone and claimed she wanted the weapon, and quickly attacked Mink, who had no chance to defend himself. Underwood effortlessly broke Mink's neck, and took the weapon for herself, hiding the corpse under her bed.
=====Chain of Lies=====
Edwin Jarvis approached Peggy Carter on her way to work, and explained he regretted how everything was handled and having lied to her. Carter took his apology as an answer to whether he knew the true content of the artifact or not, and told him that he had the habit of rubbing his ear when he lied.
Jarvis explained that both himself and Howard Stark truly respected her, and were probably the only men alive that held her in high esteem. Carter said that it looked like she could trust more the actions of men that did not respect her, as they, at least, meant something when they asked for it.
Jarvis sat at a shoe shiner parlor where Stark was hiding behind a newspaper, and explained to him that Stark underestimated Carter, so he tasked Jarvis to win Carter's trust back. Jarvis explained how during the last five years, he had been apologizing for Stark, but that time it had been hurtful for him.
As Jarvis left Stark behind, visibly brought down by Jarvis' complain, the man besides him asked him to borrow the sports section of his newspaper.
=====Return from Germany=====
Peggy Carter delivered the lunch orders to her co-workers while Daniel Sousa looked at the picture of the blonde woman that was related to Howard Stark's case, taking it from the board and painting her hair with a pencil.
Roger Dooley returned from his trip to Germany, and Jack Thompson jokingly asked him if he obtained something. Dooley explained that Colonel Ernst Mueller should have been hanged at that moment, but he revealed that there was not any battle in Finow, only Russian bodies ripped to pieces.
Dooley wondered who killed them, and debunked Thompson's theory that Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov killed them, as two men could not kill hundreds of soldiers, also wondering why they were listed among the dead. Dooley realized that maybe Brannis and Demidov assumed the identities of men who actually died in Finow.
Thompson showed Dooley one of the things he managed to discover, that the log at the Finow airfield showed that, one day after the supposed battle of Finow, a plane allegedly carrying Stark arrived there. Dooley asked Thompson to serve him a glass of whisky, as they had come across a conspiracy.
=====Secrets at the Griffith=====
At night, Peggy Carter returned to her room in the Griffith Hotel and turned the radio on at a high volume. She grabbed a hammer and opened a hole in the wall, in order to hide the vial containing Steve Rogers' blood behind the bricks.
Meanwhile, Dottie Underwood admired the Automatic Pistol she obtained from Otto Mink, while his corpse laid under her bed. Angie Martinelli knocked Underwood's door and asked her if she was coming to dinner, and Underwood answered she would meet her downstairs.
====Receiving a Message====
Roger Dooley spent the night at the New York Bell Company Office, trying to tie the loose ends relating every suspect in the case about Howard Stark. While he was alone, Sasha Demidov's Remote Typewriter started to receive a message, shocking Dooley.
====Soviet Connections====
=====Dottie Underwood's Morning Routine=====
Dottie Underwood woke up in her bedroom inside the Griffith Hotel, having dreamed about her childhood at the Red Room Academy in Russia, and began her daily routine of physical exercise.
Underwood went to her neighbor's Angie Martinelli's apartment to talk to her, but Martinelli explained she would not go to work that day.
=====Tourism in New York City=====
Dottie Underwood and Peggy Carter went to the L&L Automat together for breakfast before Carter entered her job at the New York Bell Company Office. Underwood cited her with the excuse of requesting help to know the city, but she had other plans for her meeting with Carter.
Underwood asked Carter the meaning of the word "ennui", something she heard from Angie Martinelli that morning as an excuse for not going to work that day, and Carter explained that it meant melancholy or sadness born out of tedium or boredom. Carter noted that despite those kind of comments, Martinelli's acting teacher did not consider her to be dramatic enough.
Underwood shared a piece of her baguette with Carter just as she did with her friend Anya at the Red Room Academy in Russia, insisting to share it as she could never finish her bread. Underwood asked Carter for a pen, explaining she wanted to convince Martinelli to give her a tour of New York City; she still got lost when she walked on her own, but she wanted to see its many landmarks.
Carter found a pen attached to Edwin Jarvis' business card, and started to think about him, while Underwood continued to explain how she wanted to see Central Park, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty. Underwood realized that Carter was thinking about other thing and called her attention.
Carter told her that what she wanted to see were tourist traps, because the way to know New York City, just like with any other place, was to talk to its people, but not the dishonest people that coated the city. Carter advised her to visit Brooklyn, though Underwood sadly said that she preferred to see the Statue of Liberty. Carter explained that the statue would not move from its location, but the spirit of Lady Liberty, what the statue actually represented, was found in the people.
Underwood was impressed with Carter's words, saying that she sounded like Captain America, something that Carter thought was not a bad thing at all. Underwood hit Carter's purse seemingly by chance, and quickly went to pick up all the content that fell to the ground, but keeping the key for Carter's room at the Griffith Hotel.
Underwood thanked Carter for her advice, and announced she was going to Brooklyn, but then she innocently asked how to go there. Realizing what Carter meant, Underwood told her she would figure out herself how to go to Brooklyn, and Carter wished her to have fun.
=====Regaining Trust=====
Peggy Carter approached a stand to buy the newspaper. Pete, the newspaper seller, sarcastically complimented the rainy morning, and Carter said it felt like her home. Pete asked her if she missed England, and she acknowledged that she missed something.
Edwin Jarvis, who wanted to talk to Carter, bought a copy of the Ledger in order to approach her. Noticing Jarvis behind her, Carter wished Pete a good day and left the stand. Jarvis asked Carter for just one moment, though Carter refused to speak, saying that he already had his moment, and if either he or Howard Stark had anything else to say, they should tell it to the Marines.
Jarvis explained that he tried to persuade Stark to tell Carter the truth, but she confronted him, as Jarvis could have told her the truth for himself, something that Jarvis thought not to be possible. Carter easily explained how Jarvis could have told her that Stark wanted her to steal Captain America's blood, coming to believe that Stark did not want her to simply prove his innocence, what he wanted from her was someone else to manipulate.
Jarvis told Carter that Stark greatly admired her, but Carter finished his sentence saying the only one that Stark admired was himself. Jarvis then described many of Stark's defects, such as being thoughtless, unreliable or arrogant, but he also considered him a good man.
Carter said that Stark used her, just as he was using Jarvis, though Jarvis seemingly had chosen not to see it. Carter said that Stark did not need her help, he needed a servant, something he already had in Jarvis.
Jarvis then compared the situation with the way the Strategic Scientific Reserve treated her. Carter confronted her, saying she was a federal agent, though Jarvis said that she did little more than fetching coffee, as her "colleagues" not only did not respect her, they are even unable to see her.
Jarvis asked her if she honestly expected her colleagues would change their minds, and Carter answered that she expected she would make them change their minds, leaving Jarvis alone under the rain.
=====Code Breaking=====
Peggy Carter entered the New York Bell Company Office and noticed there was more activity than usually, as if something important had happened. Daniel Sousa informed that Sasha Demidov's Remote Typewriter activated itself and an encoded message arrived, and a cryptographer from Arlington Hall was trying to decode the message, but had not been successful.
Inside the briefing room, Roger Dooley and Jack Thompson oversaw the work of the cryptographer, and as Sousa and Carter entered the room, the cryptographer began discarding methods to decrypt the message. Dooley and Thompson had already lost their patience with the cryptographer, who wanted to take the message to Virginia and decode it there.
Carter looked at the message and recognized it from her days at Bletchley Park as a one-time pad system. The cryptographer said that he tried the pad immediately, but Carter made clear that he did not account for the original message being written in Russian.
Dooley asked Carter to read the message, and began to decipher the message, that started with a set of map coordinates that Sousa determined to point to Belarus. Carter continued with the message, reading that it confirmed a purchase and the date of an exchange for the prototype of a Havoc Reactor purchased by Leviathan.
Sousa said that a leviathan was a sea monster from the old testament, but Dooley revealed it was a supposed covert Russian organization whose existence had never been confirmed and that, according to the rumors, it started to purchase weapons after World War II.
Carter asked for silence to concentrate, and finished reading the message, that assured a quantity of $100,000 would be paid to Howard Stark upon delivery of the item.
Thompson celebrated having proof of Stark selling weapons to the Soviet Union, and Dooley ordered Thompson to take a team to the coordinates and bring Stark to the United States. Dooley ordered agents Mike Li and Rick Ramirez to prepare for the mission, and Carter appointed herself to join them.
Dooley was surprised to hear that, though Carter assured that there was no one more qualified for the mission than her, so she would go to Russia.
=====Joining the Team=====
Jack Thompson complained to Roger Dooley for the possibility of letting Peggy Carter accompany him to a field into hostile territory, while Carter prompted him to look at her war record to find evidence of her capabilities. Dooley ordered them to stop and continue the conversation inside his office.
Carter explained that there were many chances that Leviathan would continue to communicate in code during the mission, so the team needed her skills as a code breaker, though she acknowledged they were not sure that Leviathan sent the message through the Remote Typewriter,
Thompson said that uncertainty was one of the reasons to not make his team babysit Carter during the mission. Dooley asked Thompson what he wanted to do with his team, and though she acknowledged the skills Carter displayed while decrypting the message, he stated he needed strong men during the mission.
Carter said that he needed someone who spoke the language, and though Rick Ramirez spoke Russian, she had been battling in Europe from three years, either in the Eastern front, the Western front and everything in between them. To further demonstrate her knowledge, Carter explained how the smell of herring in the air meant that the wind was blowing in from the Baltic, which would cause a snow storm that would kill anyone of hypothermia if he did not find shelter and build a fire in 30 minutes.
Dooley asked Carter to understand his position, as if she got killed during the mission, he would be the man who sent a woman to be killed in action. Dooley acknowledged her experience in Russia, but he already asked for a tactical team that knew the terrain. Carter said that nobody knew that terrain like she or the 107th regiment did.
Thompson joked saying that the 107th regiment knew Europe better that Europeans, and that he would surely request their assistance if he could. Carter asked Dooley if he would let her join the team if she managed to obtain the assistance of the 107th regiment, and Dooley agreed, being convinced that she would not manage to obtain it.
Carter left the office to make a phone call, and Thompson familiarly addressed to Dooley to convince him of not letting join him. Dooley marked very well his position as head of the office, telling him how the called directly at his house to ask him when was he going to deliver Howard Stark to justice, while through Nazi Colonel Ernst Mueller he discovered Stark's involvement in a massacre. For that, he was more interested in running an investigation that in Thompson's seeming crush on Carter.
Thompson focused on the mission, explaining he would on the Polish side of the Russian border to meet their tactical team. Carter entered the office and announced the 107th regiment would meet them in Poland having guessed Thompson's plan for being the most obvious plan.
Dooley, faithful to his word, told Carter to prepare for the mission, as the team would depart in an hour, not letting Thompson to voice anything about his decision.
=====Locker Room=====
Peggy Carter waited outside the Men's Locker Room to let Mike Li and Rick Ramirez change their clothes before entering. Jack Thompson jokingly told Carter she should head to Times Square if she wanted a peep show, and told her to change at the ladies' room.
Carter explained that the only ladies' room was downstairs in the lobby of the actual New York Bell Company agency, so she preferred to change inside a men's locker room than in a public restroom. Carter entered the locker room, where Mike Li and Rick Ramirez were already changing their clothes, and headed to the other aisle of lockers to change her clothes.
Thompson told Li and Ramirez to congratulate Carter for joining the team, and when Li asked Thompson if that was a good idea, he told them it was under Chief Roger Dooley's orders. Ramirez tried to tell Thompson they could not be responsible for a woman out in the field, but Thompson said that if he preferred to stay home, there were six agents wanting to take his place on the team.
Carter found her new Bulletproof Vest, and realized it was lighter than it looked. Thompson explained their technicians had recently designed it using a 10% titanium alloy, though he acknowledged that it had not been designed for a woman. Carter returned the mockery as usual, but Thompson said he wanted her to call him "sir" during the mission given his military rank. Carter further mocked him saying that he was only a Lieutenant Junior Grade, and Thompson acknowledged she was used to serve under a Captain. Carter told him that she was simply not used to serving with boys.
Daniel Sousa entered the locker room to give Thompson the full field report, including maps, weather report, charts, and the dossier files on their tactical team, though he recognized that Carter should have all the information they required about them.
Wanting to embarrass Sousa, Thompson asked him to retrieve his compass from a locker in the same aisle where Carter was changing her clothes; Sousa headed to the locker and witnessed Carter. Both of them were stunned when Sousa saw Carter in her undergarment.
Sousa noticed some marks on Carter's shoulder that seemed familiar, and Carter, wanting to him to leave, asked if there was anything else to say. Sousa wished her a swell trip, and left the locker room to return to the office.
=====Tying Lose Ends=====
At night, Chief Roger Dooley got ready to leave the New York Bell Company Office, realizing that Daniel Sousa was still there and he would probably not leave the office. Dooley asked him if he did not have a life, but Sousa explained that as an Agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, his job was his life.
Sousa asked Dooley what was he doing at the office, and Dooley explained he was going to meet a friend for a drink, as if he returned to his house, maybe his wife would not let him leave again.
Agent Yauch delivered Sousa a file he requested, Peggy Carter's personnel file, and started to check it, noticing that the file explained the marks he saw on her shoulder that morning were due a gunshot wound and a scapular fracture.
He compared them to the images of the blond woman connected to the death of Spider Raymond at his club, and realized the marks on her shoulder were identical to the ones Carter had.
=====Digging Out the Truth=====
Roger Dooley met one of his friend and informants, a former New York Times Reporter, in order to ask him about the Battle of Finow, promising him that anything he told him that he did not know would make Dooley to invite him to a glass of whisky.
The reporter explained that 247 Russians were massacred during the battle, though nobody took credit for it, not even the Nazis. Dooley told him that he already knew that, but he invited to the drink to make him continue speaking. The reporter explained that he wrote about the battle for , and he should have won a for it, but his editor killed the article as he got scared for implicating both the United States Army and Howard Stark in a Russian cover-up.
Dooley asked him what Stark did in Finow, and the reporter explained that Stark was there for the subsequent "clean up", though the general in charge of the operation was not thrilled about his presence. Dooley asked if that General was John McGinnis, and the reporter revealed how Stark even got into a fight with McGinnis despite he was twice his size.
The reporter did not know the reason for Stark hitting McGinnis, but he knew that McGinnis wiped the floor with Stark and he resigned a week later, and the following week Stark refused to sign Research & Development contract with the army, cutting all ties with them.
The reporter was not surprised to see Stark considered the public enemy number one, and despite Dooley told him they had evidence to frame him, his friend told him that he did not have the whole story, and the ones who did were keeping it to themselves. Dooley, who was being driven to learn the truth, told him they would not keep the whole story for long.
=====Altered Routine=====
Roger Dooley waited for Edwin Jarvis as he left the bakery, knowing that Jarvis did not alter his routine. Jarvis asked Dooley if he was there to threaten him with deportation again or if he had come to apologize. Dooley told him he needed to tell Jarvis something, and Jarvis insisted the thing he should tell him was an apology.
Dooley warned Jarvis that Howard Stark had many enemies, something that was so obvious that Jarvis sarcastically said he would alert . However, Dooley explained that one of Stark's enemies was United States Army General John McGinnis, who got into a fistfight with Stark in Europe during the spring of 1944.
Jarvis reminded Dooley that he wanted to tell him something, and Dooley said that he just had that question. Jarvis realized he was about to touch his ear as he usually did when he lied, and refrain from doing it while lying to Dooley, saying that he had never heard about McGinnis or the fistfight.
Dooley explained that every story had three sides, being only one of them the truth, so he asked Jarvis to tell Stark that he was now only interested in the truth, so he would like to hear Stark's side of the story, giving Jarvis a business card with a phone number where he could be reached 24 hours a day.
Dooley departed, wishing Jarvis to stay dry in the rainy morning, with Jarvis thinking about his next move.
=====Searching a Room=====
Dottie Underwood entered Peggy Carter's room in the Griffith Hotel and realized Carter had placed a string in her lock to know if someone entered the room while she was outside.
Underwood began to search for hidden things in the usual places, like under her bed, her books and her armchair. She finally found a false bottom in her chest of drawers, where Carter had hidden a box that contained the photos of Howard Stark's inventions confiscated by the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Underwood took one of the photos and left the box in its place, but she then realized that Carter had a photo of Steve Rogers in her boudoir. Underwood sat in front of Carter's mirror, began to imitate her voice and accent, and took her Sweet Dreams Lipstick to smell it.
Underwood left the room, placing the string in the lock to avoid raising Carter's suspicions, and returned to her room.
=====Childhood Routine=====
Dottie Underwood prepared herself to go to bed in her room at the Griffith Hotel. Before doing, she took a pair of handcuffs to tie herself to the bed, just like they did on her during her childhood at the Red Room Academy.
=====Return from the Soviet Union=====
Peggy Carter and Jack Thompson returned to the New York Bell Company Office from their mission in the Soviet Union, having lost both Agent Mike Li and Junior Juniper in action. Thompson explained that Li died honorably in action, and that it was his duty as commanding officer to deliver the condolences of the United States to Li's family.
Roger Dooley correctly guessed there was no trace of Howard Stark or Leviathan at the facility, but Thompson acknowledged that Carter was able to acquire information about Leviathan from Doctor Ivchenko, concerning their possible goal.
Carter emphasized that they managed to retrieve Ivchenko from a Leviathan prison, and he was wishing to cooperate with the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Dooley asked if Ivchenko thought that Stark was connected to Leviathan, and Carter explained that both Ivchenko and herself thought there was no connection. Thompson explained that maybe Ivchenko did not have all the information, as he was working with Stark's blueprints, so the there could be a possibility that Leviathan got them directly from Stark.
Dooley ordered Thompson and Carter to tell Ivchenko to enter his office while they were leaving, and complemented Carter for her good work, surprising a thankful Carter with the compliment.
Carter saw Daniel Sousa looking worried at his desk, and asked him why he looked like not having slept for two days when they were the ones who did not sleep during the mission. Sousa told her he was just have been worrying about them, and complimented her for her work during the mission.
Thompson asked Sousa if he wanted to come to a bar with the rest of the boys, as Sousa could invite Thompson for a drink for every Russian he killed. Sousa refused the invitation, as he needed to get some sleep, and surprised Carter inviting her too, as he owed her a bourbon.
Carter asked Sousa again if he did not want a drink, and he explained that maybe some other time, as he was worried suspecting that Carter was the blonde woman that was a suspect in the conspiracy regarding Stark.
====Search for the Female Operative====
=====Doctor Ivchenko's Revelations=====
Doctor Ivchenko explained to Chief Roger Dooley and Agents Jack Thompson and Peggy Carter how he was recruited by force into Leviathan, and how the organization was founded after to fulfill Joseph Stalin's desire, to make the Soviet Union become a leading power in the world.
The way Leviathan tried to make that was to collect weapons more powerful than those of their enemies and their allies, and they had managed to obtain mechanical and biological weapons. Carter asked if the young girl that attacked them during their mission in Soviet territory was one of Leviathan's human weapons, but Ivchenko explained her that his knowledge of Leviathan's operations was very limited, only knowing what he was told.
Carter asked Ivchenko about the facility where they found him, as it had the features to be a training facility, like shackles on the beds and classrooms. Dooley found hard to believe that Leviathan would train young girls as assassins, and Thompson agreed saying the Russians would want to train grown men to fulfill their goal, but Ivchenko acknowledged that women were often overlooked and could slip easily through a man's defenses.
Carter aggressively interrogated Ivchenko about the amount of girls in the facility and if they could have been deployed to America, but Ivchenko apologized, saying he did not know anything, wishing he could be of more assistance.
Dooley told Carter to leave the office, wanting to speak to her in private. Carter tried to persuade Dooley into letting her continue her interrogation, but he interrupted her asking her to shut up. Dooley congratulated Carter's work during the mission in Soviet territory, but he was still in charge of the operation, and wanted to know what Ivchenko had to say about Leviathan instead of caring about a little girl.
Carter told him that one of those grown up girls could have been Ray Krzeminski's killer, given that the firearm used to kill him was a Russian gun more suitable for a woman's grip due to its size. Dooley said that it was a thin evidence, but Carter explained that it could have also explain how Howard Stark was involved with it, as having been manipulated by a female operative could explain how Stark's vault gave credibility to his story of breaking into his vault.
Dooley told her that their conspiracy was much bigger than Stark, but Carter asked him something in return, if he still thought that Stark was involved with Leviathan. Dooley told Carter to investigate her hunch, shocking her and leaving her without words. Dooley noted how Carter could shut up when she tried, and told her to leave the office and investigate. Carter thanked him for the opportunity and headed to start her own investigation.
=====Common Goal=====
Angie Martinelli gave a performance of her audition for the play at the L&L Automat, being complimented by Esther, one of the customers, who clapped her performance.
Martinelli headed to the table where Peggy Carter was waiting, handing her a copy of key to Carter's room at the Griffith Hotel, explaining how difficult was for her to convince Miriam Fry to giving her the key. Carter thanked her, not knowing where he dropped her key, and complimented her performance. Martinelli said that the producers of the play called it the worst audition they had ever seen.
Carter told her that he was not ordering, as she was just waiting for a friend, and told her that one audition could not get her down. Martinelli said that it was the seventh time she was denied an opportunity, and after trying to become an actress for the last year, her father wanted her to join secretary school, and she was going to start the following week.
Carter was saddened to hear that, thinking that Martinelli had talent as an actress, but she said that she would have already became an actress if that was true. Carter noticed Edwin Jarvis at the door, and told Martinelli that they would continue the conversation that night. Martinelli understood the indirect, and left Carter alone to let her talk to Jarvis.
Jarvis told Carter that he was very pleased for having received Carter's call, but she told her that she still believed that they had never been on the same team, and they were just working towards a common goal. Jarvis considered it to be fair, and informed her that Roger Dooley visited him and his words made him think that the Strategic Scientific Reserve may had change their opinion regarding Howard Stark.
Carter told Jarvis that investigating Leviathan had become one of their major goals, but Stark was still considered a fugitive. Jarvis revealed that Dooley wanted information for what happened during a battle in Germany, specifically in the town of Finow. Jarvis said that he did not reveal anything to Dooley, but Stark visited Finow in 1944, and he began the construction of his vault shortly after his return. Carter asked Jarvis what Stark said about Dooley's question, but Jarvis had been unable to contact him.
Carter revealed the reason of his call, that the Soviet Union had been training young women as undercover operatives, and given Stark's major weakness were women, it was likely that one of the women that Stark had "entertained" during the last year was one of these operatives. Carter asked for a list of those women, but Stark seriously told her that probably there was not enough ink in New York to complete that list.
Carter then asked for a list of those women in the last six months, and Jarvis told her that it was possible, suggesting to start with the western hemisphere, both surprising and disappointing Carter.
====Last Applicant====
Dottie Underwood arrived to the street where the New York Bell Company Office was located, and infiltrated the building located just in front of it, choosing the office of Doctor Seth Honicky to watch the Strategic Scientific Reserve facility across the street.
Underwood entered the office, and Honicky mistook her for one of the applicants he had been interviewing to be his assistant. Underwood seized the opportunity, and let him believe she was one of those girls. Honicky explained that he almost gave up on seeing more girls, and she asked her if he was already closed.
Honicky explained that he gave his staff a long weekend to spend "extra time" with the applicants, and told Underwood to come so they could get started. Underwood locked the door and went to the room where Honicky was waiting for her.
Honicky interviewed Underwood complaining about other applicants, saying that most of them were only waiting that their future husbands appeared as a patient. Underwood smiled to gain Honicky's trust, and he continued saying that he was looking for someone with ambition, inappropriately touching Underwood's leg.
Honicky asked her if she was going the one he was looking for, but Underwood quickly grabbed his hand, breaking it, and punched him, placing him in his patients' chair. Underwood taunted him, saying she had never used one of the machines from the dentistry before, and killed Honicky using it.
====New York Penitentiary====
Daniel Sousa paid a visit to the penitentiary where Sheldon McFee had been imprisoned for his role in the theft of the Nitramene from Howard Stark. Sousa taunted McFee about his time imprisoned, even asking if he had already been stabbed, but McFee asked what did he want.
Sousa asked him about the woman that beat him and tied him to a chair the night he was arrested. McFee told him to be discreet about that, not wanting the rest of the inmates know that a woman easily beat him up. Sousa asked him if he could identify the woman, but McFee asked him what would he obtain in return.
According to Sousa, McFee would be condemned to serve for just six months, even being reduced to three in case he had good behavior inside the prison. McFee was not convinced for that, but Sousa reminded that he had been accused of transporting an explosive that could have destroyed the entire city.
Sousa told him it was a one-time offer, and McFee subsequently agreed. Sousa showed him a photo of Peggy Carter, and McFee quickly assured she was the woman that he encountered that night, explaining how she arrived to his house looking for Leet Brannis, and she subsequently left with him inside the truck loaded with the Nitramene.
McFee acknowledged that Carter was cute, and asked Sousa who she was, but he only answered that she was not who Sousa believed she was.
====List of Suspects====
=====Stark Special Bracelets=====
Edwin Jarvis took Peggy Carter to Howard Stark's favourite jewelry shop, where Albert, the shop attendant, explained her the characteristics of the special bracelet designed by Stark. Carter was surprised to see that Stark bought a bracelet to every women he had been with, and though Jarvis first tried to deny it, he quickly acknowledged that Stark considered the bracelet a parting gift to commemorate their time together.
Albert explained how highest quality diamonds and gold were used in the bracelet, so any girl would be lucky to wear on of them, offering Carter to try it on. She politely refused and asked him to see the list of women that had been sent one of the bracelets. Albert promptly gave them that list, being ready to help any friend of Stark.
Jarvis was surprised to see that the list was shorter than he expected, but Carter was puzzled to see how many women had Stark met. Carter began to disregard the well-known actresses, models and socialites from the list, given that they had been publicly established and would surely not be the Russian assassin they were looking for.
Jarvis explained that he would not dismiss , describing her eyes when he had to escort her out of Stark's villa as "the darkest gates to the abyss".
=====Visiting Howard Stark's Flings=====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis visited some of Howard Stark's former "romantic partners", as Carter hoped one of them would be a Soviet operative from Leviathan. Carter realized that Jarvis was not wanting to accompany her to visit the women, explaining that most times, Stark had ordered him to inform the women that Stark was not interested in pursuing a relationship beyond what they had, and those encounters between the women and Jarvis were often disagreeable and violent.
Carter told him that she only needed to see the women's wrists, as if her theory was correct, the woman she was looking for would have scars on her wrist from being cuffed to the bed, just like the girl she saw at the Red Room Academy. Jarvis said that she did not need him to see the women's wrists, but Carter acknowledged that, without him, it would be more complicated and less fun.
Three of the women they visited, Josephine, Thelma Crawford and Edith Oberon, were not fond of Stark, insulting him and believing he had just tried to buy them with a jewel. The three of them got so angry remembering Stark that they threatened him and slapped Jarvis in the face, while Carter looked their wrists to see that they did not have scars. Carter grabbed the arm of the third one, Edith Oberon, before she slapped Jarvis, but she instead kicked him in the ankle.
Jarvis acknowledged that Stark seemed to have an attraction to violent women, though Carter was sure they were less violent before they met him. Carter checked the list and saw their next stop was to visit Ida Emke, whom Jarvis remembered as a dancer that Stark met at a charity auction.
Carter checked the list seeing that her address was nearby their current location, so they left to visit Emke's apartment.
====Coded Messages====
Roger Dooley continued to question Doctor Ivchenko regarding the weapon that Leviathan was building, but he could not answer Dooley's question, claiming he only acted as a psychiatrist and he was not an engineer, but claimed that Leviathan probably stole the blueprints.
Dooley proposed a break and served a drink for him and Ivchenko, who noticed that Dooley was probably having troubles at home, given his office was prepared to spend the night there, with a blanket, a pillow and other personal items. Dooley dismissed it saying that it was simply the nature of the job, that might make him to stay at night in the office.
Ivchenko also noticed that, while the of Dooley's children was displayed, another one was facedown, assuming it was a photo of his wife. Ivchenko guessed that Dooley did not spend much time in his own bed, but quickly apologized for talking about personal matters.
Meanwhile, Dottie Underwood assembled a sniper rifle from Seth Honicky's Dentistry Office on the other side of the street, preparing to point at the New York Bell Company Office.
Dooley told Ivchenko not to worry about what he said, as it was simply that his relationship with his wife was so damaged that he did not even know where to begin. Ivchenko tried to change the subject of the conversation asking about the , and Dooley even told him to open the window to admire the landscape.
Underwood pointed at Ivchenko, who was still taking to Dooley about the buildings. Dooley even offered to take him on a tour through the city, and Ivchenko continued to look through the window, this time directly looking at Underwood, who started to communicate with him in Morse code with a flashlight attached to the rifle.
Ivchenko then sent back a message to Underwood, explaining that he needed more time to retrieve the weapon he was looking for, and ordering her to kill Peggy Carter. Underwood abandoned the office and returned to the Griffith Hotel, leaving Seth Honicky's corpse behind.
====Ida Emke's Empty House====
Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis went to visit Ida Emke's house, finding that nobody was inside. Jarvis wanted to leave, but Carter told him to stay on the hallway watching while she investigated the apartment. Carter found that Emke's mail was still on the floor and the apartment was empty, but she noticed markings on the bed from the handcuffs that the assassins trained at the Red Room Academy wore to sleep.
On the hallway, Jarvis came across a boy, and tried to persuade him saying he was an exterminator that has been called because a neighbor saw a cockroach. The boy stood on the hallway, making Jarvis to become increasingly nervous, and he tried to get rid of the boy saying his mother was calling to him, but he ended up giving him a coin to make him leave.
Carter left the apartment, explaining that Emke had already left it, but she was undoubtedly the girl they had been looking for due to the scratches on the bedposts. Jarvis found disturbing that the woman still handcuffed to the bed, and Carter ordered him to track down the owners of the building to ask them about Emke while Carter went to ask the neighbors.
Carter told Jarvis to meet her back at the L&L Automat, feeling they were close to their goal.
====Thralling Targets====
Roger Dooley explained Doctor Ivchenko how his wife Loretta cheated on him with a plumber from Hoboken while he was fighting in World War II. Ivchenko diagnosed that Dooley felt it more than as a simple betrayal, as it showed him his "inadequacies" despite being a high-ranking officer during the war.
Dooley complained to his observation, saying that he was not inadequate, the only one who was inadequate was the plumber that became Loretta's lover.
In the main office, Yauch delivered Jack Thompson the background check he asked for before, and had to correct him when he misspelled his surname. Yauch noticed that Dooley was spending too much time with Ivchenko, but Thompson said that Ivchenko was their biggest lead in the case against Howard Stark, and Dooley was just making sure to get everything he could from him.
Thompson asked Dooley if he was questioning Dooley's methods, but Yauch simply said that it was different from how Dooley usually handled those kind of thing. Thompson told him not to worry about Dooley, and treating Yauch as a simple errand boy, told him to brew a pot of coffee.
Ivchenko explained how he lost his wife and children to Leviathan as an example that Dooley had not entirely lost his family, despite he considered to be late to save his own family. Ivchenko told Dooley that he could not save his family with his current thoughts, so he should focus on the times when he was in love and happy with his wife.
Ivchenko began to hypnotize Dooley moving his ring using it as a pendulum. Dooley was not sure that thinking about that would help him, but Ivchenko continued to ask him to focus on his wife. However, Ivchenko's attempt was interrupted by Daniel Sousa, who informed Dooley he had something urgent to tell him, leaving Ivchenko alone in the office.
====Manhunt of Peggy Carter====
=====Procedure 791=====
Peggy Carter arrived at the L&L Automat to meet Edwin Jarvis, informing each other of their unsuccessful attempts to track Ida Emke. Carter noticed that the civilians were being evacuated from the automat, and recognized it as an arrest procedure of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Carter identified two of the remaining customers as Agents Messner and Reese from Washington, D.C., and asked Jarvis to block the front door so other agents could not enter inside. Carter casually addressed to one of the agents, and began to fight everyone inside, managing to knock them down while Jarvis locked the door with a chair.
Jarvis told Carter to leave through the back door while he knocked the last remaining agent, but Carter found that Jack Thompson was waiting for her in the alley. Thompson ordered her to stop and not make sudden movements, saying that the agents from Washington did not believe him when he said that Carter would be hard to grab.
Carter asked Thompson what was happening, and he explained how a witness recognized her to be the woman who was with Leet Brannis the night he died, and there was a photo of her at La Martinique the night Spider Raymond was killed. Besides, she was at that moment with Howard Stark's butler.
Jarvis tried to explain that there had been a misunderstanding, but Thompson ordered him to shut up. Carter told Thompson that all those evidence did not mean what they thought, so Thompson asked her to turn herself and explain everything. Carter told him she could not do that, and apologized before disarming and knocking Thompson out.
Carter told Jarvis to meet her at the Dublin House, as she needed to retrieve something from the Griffith Hotel. Jarvis tried to persuade him from going, as it would be the first place where they would look for her, but she tearfully revealed that she needed to protect Steve Rogers' blood.
Daniel Sousa appeared to arrest Carter under the charges of treason, espionage and aiding and abetting Stark, calling him public enemy number one. Carter tried to explain that there were things he could not understand, but noticing Thompson lying in the ground, he said that all seemed to be clear.
Carter knew that Sousa would not shoot her, and he asked her not to run, as if she did, he would know the charges were true. Seeing no other option, Carter escaped, apologizing to Sousa.
=====Peggy Carter Branded as Fugitive=====
Agent Yauch informed Chief Roger Dooley that Peggy Carter had managed to avoid the arresting attempt, who found hard to believe that a woman managed to defeat an entire team of government agents.
Dooley ordered all the men in the office to stand guard at the main bus and train stations of the city, and locate Carter, branding her as a fugitive who needed to be brought to justice. Dooley even threatened to demote the agents to simple grade-school hall monitors in case they failed.
Dooley noticed Doctor Ivchenko at the door of his office, and took him to another room, simply saying that it was not the right time to be wandering around the office. Dooley tasked Yauch to accompany Ivchenko and provide him with anything he would need, ordering Yauch to make sure that Ivchenko did not leave the room.
Yauch offered Ivchenko a coffee while he served a cup for himself, not having anything better to do, Ivchenko began analyzing Yauch, asking him if he was new in the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and Yauch said he was not, ironically adding that he was usually tasked with sensitive matters such as protecting the star witnesses.
=====Prosecution=====
Daniel Sousa tended to Jack Thompson as he recovered consciousness in the alley behind the L&L Automat. Thompson asked how Sousas lost Peggy Carter, saying that he could not chase her, and Thompson's performance was not something to be proud either.
Thompson still found hard to believe that Carter was a traitor, and asked him if he knew it. Sousa denied knowing anything about it until he found the evidence, saying that he had always suspected that Carter was hiding something, but nothing like that.
Thompson prompted Sousa to go the Griffith Hotel and investigate her room there, asking him to move faster as Sousa tried to follow Thompson's rhythm. The two agents boarded their car and headed to the Griffith.
=====Thralling an Agent=====
Doctor Ivchenko continued to observe Agent Yauch, who was uneasy with someone watching him like that. To gain his trust, Ivchenko asked if he was a middle child, surprising Yauch for managing to guess it, something that Ivchenko attributed to many years of experience.
Ivchenko continued analyzing Yauch, pointing how he was always eager to please, but he often felt to be ignored. Yauch told him that he could start a show with that ability. Ivchenko said that he would keep his thoughts to himself from then on, saying he only wanted to be of assistance.
Yauch was interested to know what Ivchenko wanted to assist with, and he explained how he had noticed that Roger Dooley was a busy, so it was difficult to get his attention and prove one's worth to him. Ivchenko offered Yauch to help him make Dooley notice his abilities, and Yauch agreed, being tired that Jack Thompson was assigned all the good cases.
Ivchenko told Yauch he should be as confident as Thompson was, beginning to hypnotize him saying he should focus on the things he should do to show Dooley how good Yauch was an agent.
=====Infiltrating the Griffith Hotel=====
Peggy Carter managed to infiltrate into the Griffith Hotel, heading to her room in order to retrieve the vial of Steve Rogers' blood from her room. Meanwhile, a group of agents from the Strategic Scientific Reserve headed by Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa entered the hotel, demanding Miriam Fry to reveal Carter's room.
Fry refused, saying she would not reveal information about a girl to anyone who asked, but Thompson took her documents and saw that Carter's room was 3E. The agents headed to Carter's room, and Fry complained saying that men were not allowed above the lobby. Fry even demanded to know their badge numbers and the name of their supervisor, but the agents ignored her.
Carter managed to take the vial from the hole he used to conceal it, but he could not escape as he heard the agents in the hallway, so she was forced to escape through the window. Thompson, Sousa and the rest of the agents found the room empty, so Sousa ordered to take everything to the office.
Fry was shocked to see the hole that Carter had carved in the wall, complaining that she knew that Carter was troublesome since she saw her, given that all the girls from the telephone company were all the same.
Sousa was sure that Carter was at the Griffith, unaware that she was just outside the window. Carter walked through the cornice and headed to Angie Martinelli's room. Martinelli opened the window having heard a noise outside, but Thompson knocked on her door, identifying himself as a federal agent and saying they had questions for her.
Carter told Martinelli that they were there to arrest her, so she closed the window and headed to the door to open. Sousa quickly entered the room, thinking that Carter could be hiding in the room, and Martinelli even mocked them for not looking like federal agents. Fry told Martinelli to take the agents seriously, as Carter was not who she appeared to be.
Thompson began to interrogate Martinelli, saying that according to Fry she was Carter's friend, but she dismissed it saying they were just friendly. Sousa asked her about Carter's job, answering they only talked about usual stuff, especially her complains about her male co-workers.
Martinelli covered for Carter in every question, saying that she strictly followed the rules of the Griffith, especially the curfew at 10:00 or the strict order not to let men pass the lobby, gaining Fry's approval for her answer. Sousa asked Martinelli when was the last time she saw her, and she began to improvise, making Thompson and Sousa feel uneasy when she began to cry, saying that Carter was going to be out to care for her sick grandmother, something that reminded her about her own grandmother.
Carter, who was hearing from outside the window, was surprised to see her friend applying her acting skills with the agents, who felt uneasy for watching a woman cry, and making Sousa and Thompson leave the room in discomfort. Fry complained about the agents behavior, having make a girl cry, but Thompson, tired of her complains, ordered one of his agents to take Fry to her office for her own safety. Sousa ordered the rest of the agents to search for Carter in the entire building, swearing they would find her if she was there.
Martinelli let Carter enter her room, who complimented her skills. In return, Martinelli revealed that she had been sure that Carter did not work at the phone company.
=====Complete Focus=====
Doctor Ivchenko, having fully hypnotized Agent Yauch, asked him to reveal where the weapons created by Howard Stark had been stored. Yauch revealed the weapons were in the laboratory, where their scientists were studying them, but given that Peggy Carter had been found to be a traitor, Roger Dooley ordered to lockdown the laboratory and forbid anyone except himself to enter the laboratory.
Ivchenko, seeing that Yauch could not help him to finish his goal, asked him to reveal the exits from the company in the map he had drawn, so Yauch pointed the best exits he could have. Ivchenko thanked him, and ordered him to do one last thing.
Having obtained Yauch's complete focus, Ivchenko ordered him to leave the room and retrieve his belongings as he would normally do for the end of his shift, heading to his favorite bar to order a top-shelf bourbon, enjoying it until he finished it, doing one last thing as he stepped outside the bar.
Yauch began to fulfill Ivchenko's orders, taking his belongings and abandoning the New York Bell Company Office.
=====One Last Drink=====
Agent Yauch, still under the thrall of Doctor Ivchenko, followed the orders he had been told to, and headed to his favorite bar to enjoy a bourbon. Yauch drank the bourbon, and left the bar to fulfill Ivchenko's last request.
Yauch stepped outside and walked directly into the traffic, being hit by a truck that killed him.
=====Arrest of Peggy Carter=====
Angie Martinelli contacted her brother to ask him to deliver a car for Peggy Carter, and she returned to her room to tell Carter the good news. Carter thanked her friend, who informed that he was going to continue pursuing her acting career given the talented performance she did in front of the Strategic Scientific Reserve agents.
Martinelli also complimented Carter's acting skills, who embraced her friend as a symbol of gratitude, and Martinelli asked her to explain what had happened someday. Carter told her that someday she would, and they asked each other to take care of themselves.
Carter left the room and came across Dottie Underwood in the hallway. Underwood acted as she was relieved to see Carter, as men were looking for her. Carter tried to get rid of Underwood, saying that she was about to leave and she would not join them for dinner given she had made other arrangements.
Underwood embraced Carter and wished her to have a great night, kissing her on the lips. Carter started to feel dizzy, and realized that Underwood was wearing her Sweet Dreams Lipstick. Before losing consciousness, Carter checked Underwood's wrists, realizing she had the scars indicating she slept handcuffed to her bed and was a member of Leviathan.
Underwood was about to kill Carter with a knife, but Agents Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa arrived, unaware that they had just saved Carter's life. Sousa ordered Underwood to stand back for her own safety, and she acted as if Carter had fainted in the hallway, saying that she had just found her like that.
Sousa checked Carter and realized she was totally unconscious, so he asked Thompson to help him move Carter. Thompson, not wanting to take any risk, handcuffed Carter despite she was unconscious. Underwood offered to call an ambulance, but they dismissed it, saying they would take care of her.
Sousa grabbed Carter's pocketbook, and they took Carter into custody, who was watched with surprise by her neighbors and with disapproval by Miriam Fry. Underwood joined the rest of the women as they watched Carter being taken into a car, standing beside Martinelli, who was worried about her friend.
=====Dottie Underwood's Departure=====
Angie Martinelli went to Dottie Underwood's room to take her to the lobby, where Miriam Fry wanted to talk to every girl about what happened to Peggy Carter. Martinelli's calls were unanswered, so he entered the room, finding it empty, as Underwood had left it right after Carter was taken into custody.
=====Peggy Carter Arrested=====
Peggy Carter was taken back to the New York Bell Company Office by Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa, who took her to Roger Dooley's presence. Carter said that he could explain everything, but Dooley did not even answered her, and Carter was taken to the interrogation room.
Carter told them that the handcuffs were not necessary, but Thompson assured that given she had sent three agents to the hospital, they were very necessary. Sousa confronted Carter with some of the evidence they had against her, such as the photo from the night Spider Raymond died, and the container for the vial of Steve Rogers' blood he had on her pocketbook.
Dooley ordered his men not go easy on her during the interrogation, so Sousa told her to start talking.
====Interrogation of Peggy Carter====
=====Wall of Evidences=====
Daniel Sousa began to interrogate Peggy Carter, confronting her with all the evidence that seemingly proved she was involved in the conspiracy regarding Howard Stark's missing technology. Sousa told her they had photos of her disguised as a blond woman at Spider Raymond's club the night he died, a witness that told them she took the truck loaded with Nitramene, and another witness that revealed she was at the ship where they found Stark's inventions.
Sousa even blamed her for the deaths of Spider Raymond, Leet Brannis and Ray Krzeminski, but Carter was hurt for that, asking Sousa if he honestly thought she killed Krzeminski, given that she mourned him with the rest of her colleagues. Sousa called that a performance, and he confronted her, being hurt for having her back during the last six months, while Carter was seemingly waiting to betray him.
Sousa prompted her to talk about the Blitzkrieg Button they found inside her pocket bag when she was arrested, but he remained silent about it. Calmly, Carter congratulated Sousa for assembling all the evidences against her, and she guessed that given he usually did not have the chance to handle an important case, he was trying to make the most of that opportunity. However, Carter warned they were wasting their time with her, given than a trained killer was free, and someone else was pulling her strings.
Doctor Ivchenko, who was watching the interrogation with Roger Dooley, praised Carter's lying skills, saying she maybe was even a pathological liar. Agent Jack Thompson entered the room to inform Dooley that Agent Yauch had died, being hit by a truck as he left a bar. Dooley lamented Yauch's dead, while Ivchenko, who had enthralled Yauch to commit suicide, said that he seemed to be a good man, while a little emotional.
Thompson asked what was Ivchenko doing in the room, and he explained that Dooley asked him to stay in case Carter began to speak about Leviathan. Dooley told Ivchenko that he did not need to explain himself, addressing to Thompson to ask if he had any problem with that. Thompson only said that it was unorthodox.
Ivchenko offered to wait in Dooley's office, saying that he did not wish to be a source of agitation, and adding that Carter would probably not say anything relevant. Dooley asked Thompson to take Ivchenko to the office, and then prepare for joining Carter's interrogation.
=====Cards on the Table=====
Roger Dooley, Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa continued to interrogate Peggy Carter inside the New York Bell Company Office, with each one of them approaching her in a different way. Thompson was confused given that her actions during a mission at the Soviet Union, where Carter saved his life, did not correspond with her being a double agent. Sousa was hurt, angry for having defended Carter while she was apparently a traitor, while Dooley was impressed by Carter's skills, having managed to fool every one of them, despite being trained agents.
Carter told Thompson that he could now hit her just like she did to him before, but he calmly told her that he did not want to do that, continuing to wonder the reasons she greatly helped them during their mission in Russia, even saving his life. Carter also defended herself from Sousa's attempts for making her feel guilty of Ray Krzeminski's death, saying she was not involved in that assassination or the theft of Howard Stark's inventions. Sousa then told her that Stark had managed to make her believe what he wanted, but she told him that she had never been involved with Stark in any other way than a friendship.
Thompson wanted her to admit that she had an affair with Stark, and it looked like he had now sold her out, and offered her to make a deal and reveal everything she knew about Stark to save herself. Carter told them that Stark was not the man they were looking for, but it looked like the Strategic Scientific Reserve was so blind regarding Stark's guilt that she had been conducting her own investigation.
Dooley told her that it was not entirely true, as they had realized there was a bigger conspiracy, so they had started to investigate other subjects. He asked her to reveal anything about the Blitzkrieg Button, the item she had in her possession when she was arrested, but she remained silent about it. Dooley then asked her about the Battle of Finow, but she did not know anything about it, given she was not involved in that particular battle during World War II. Dooley revealed that most of the people that was involved had died, except a few former Russian soldiers including Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov.
Carter confronted each of the men saying that they only saw in her what they wanted to see, telling Dooley that for him she was stray kitten left on his doorstep to be protected, for Thompson she was a secretary turned damsel in distress, and to Sousa she was a girl on a pedestal now transformed into a whore. She told them that they had been behaving like children, while the real threat was inches away from them while she was being arrested, and they should be looking for Dottie Underwood, despite she would have probably shed her alias.
=====Deal Refused=====
Jack Thompson told Peggy Carter that the deal he offered her before was no longer available, but Carter was not worried given she was not going to take it. Thompson warned her that Roger Dooley would soon order him to beat Carter into submission to make her confess, something he did not want to do.
Thompson told her to reconsider her position, given that she had already watched him do that, and she knew what he was capable of. Carter, not afraid by what could happen to her, threatened him telling Thompson that he also knew what she was capable of.
====Upcoming Baby====
Dottie Underwood went to a shop intending to buy a baby carriage to conceal a weapon as part of her new cover. The salesclerk praised her choice, while Underwood explained that it was not a gift, as the carriage for herself. The salesclerk congratulated Underwood, thinking she was pregnant, and offered her a blanket with the carriage.
Underwood agreed, asking for pink blanket while crossing her fingers, despite she did not even looked like being pregnant. Underwood uttered to herself that it was going to come sooner that anyone thought.
====Rescuing Peggy Carter====
=====Bell Company=====
Rose Roberts and the rest of phone operators at the bottom of the New York Bell Company Office where taking her usual calls as part of the cover of the Strategic Scientific Reserve when Edwin Jarvis entered the building. The phone operators were surprised to see a man they did not know inside the building, and Jarvis asked Roberts to help him.
Jarvis asked to see Chief Roger Dooley, but Roberts told him that she did not know who Dooley was while grabbing a gun concealed under her desk. Jarvis revealed he knew that Dooley was in charge of the Strategic Scientific Reserve inside that building, given that he had been there before for questioning.
Roberts tried to dismiss Jarvis, saying that they were very busy and only authorized personnel was allowed in that room, but Jarvis asked her just to call Dooley and told him that he was there with the signed confession of Howard Stark. The phone operators were surprised to hear that, and Roberts promptly proceeded to call Dooley, asking Jarvis to wait for a moment.
=====Signed Confession=====
Peggy Carter was taken to the briefing room, given that Edwin Jarvis had asked to see her before handling the Strategic Scientific Reserve the documents where Howard Stark seemingly confessed his crimes regarding his missing technology. Carter was surprised to see Jarvis, and Daniel Sousa said he had come to save Carter, while Roger Dooley asked Jarvis to talk about their deal.
Jarvis told Carter that the charade is over and Stark had decided to confess his crimes, including the fake theft of his vault, selling explosives and even the destruction of the Roxxon Refinery. Jack Thompson asked Jarvis where Stark was, and he said that by that hour, Stark should be flying over Greenland, while he was scheduled to land in Teterboro at 9:00 P.M. that evening.
Jarvis told Dooley that Stark's attorneys had the page with Stark's signature, that would be sent to Dooley as soon as he had agreed on his terms and had liberated both Carter and Jarvis. Carter was denied a chance to talk, given that she did not want to talk during her interrogation, and Dooley did not agreed with the terms of the deal.
Dooley did not fully trust Jarvis' words, asking him to deliver the signature page delivered before releasing anyone, and once Stark landed in the United States again, they would bring him to their facility and they would exchange him for Carter and Jarvis.
Jarvis agreed with Dooley's terms, who told the butler that he considered him to be repulsive, and ordered to take off Carter's handcuffs. Carter disagreed with the deal, saying that she would not have the chance to clear Stark's name if he made such a confession, but Dooley told her she was not going to clear anybody.
Jarvis told Dooley that they had a compromise regarding Carter, and Dooley said that while she would be free from prosecution, she would have to leave the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
=====Forged Confession=====
Daniel Sousa custodied Peggy Carter while she retrieved her personal belongings from her desk, telling another agent to watch her while she and Edwin Jarvis were in the briefing room. Jarvis noticed that it did not take long for Carter to clean her desk, asking if her personal belongings were just reduced to two notebooks and a file, while Carter pointed that the file belonged to the agency.
Jarvis explained that he panicked when she did not appeared at their meeting point, and she asked if Stark's confession portrayed her as a patsy that succumbed to Stark's charm. Jarvis acknowledged that was the gist for Carter's involvement, while Stark's motivations were explained by faking a bankruptcy of Stark Industries.
Jarvis asked for Carter's forgiveness, but she told him there was nothing to forgive, as he called for backup just trying to help her. Carter commented that she thought that Stark would not have the nobility to make such a confession, but Jarvis began to speak about the confession. Even before Jarvis explained anything, Carter realized that Jarvis forged the confession, and began t get angry.
Jarvis explained that he tried to call Stark for help but he began to panic when he obtained no response, and forged the confession to buy some time, given they were about to discover the real culprit, so with those few extra hours they would prove both Stark's innocence and Carter's competence.
Carter told him they then should disappear when Stark did not land in Teterboro as Jarvis said, as they would surely get a trial followed by a severe punishment, asking Jarvis if he had ever been hanged, something that Carter described as "quite unpleasant".
====Planning a Family Reunion====
Chief Roger Dooley called his wife Loretta upon Doctor Ivchenko's insistence, as he was seemingly trying to help him solve his family problems. Dooley apologized on the phone, this time not blaming his wife for all what happened between them, as he acknowledged he had been buried in his job since he started.
Dooley asked his wife for permission to go to his house to see her and his children, and just talk to her during dinner, saying he can sneak out of his office, ending their conversation telling Loretta that he missed her.
Ivchenko acknowledged that the conversation sounded fruitful, and Dooley was grateful for his assistance, saying he owe something to him. Ivchenko told Dooley he did not owe him anything, as he was just trying to help you.
====Doctor Unmasked====
Edwin Jarvis began to plan ways to escape from the New York Bell Company Office, but Carter was surprised to hear Jarvis talking about escaping a facility guarded by a large number of agents. Jarvis then asked if there was anyone who would listen to reason, but Carter answered that she had no friends left at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, in case she even had any before.
Carter then noticed Doctor Ivchenko communicating in Morse code through the window with someone in the building across the street, and grabbed one of her notebooks to write down Ivchenko's message. Jarvis read the Morse coded message, an order to prepare for evacuation.
Carter was surprised that Jarvis knew Morse code, something that hurt his feelings, but she went on to realize that Ivchenko had began to transmit a timetable for the next 90 minutes. Jarvis asked what would happen in 90 minutes, and Carter answered repeating Leet Brannis' ominous words, "Leviathan is coming".
====Peggy Carter's Confession====
Peggy Carter went to Chief Roger Dooley's presence intending to make a full confession to gain her trust and expose Doctor Ivchenko as a member of Leviathan. Carter told Dooley that Howard Stark's confession was fake and the signature had been forged, but she was now ready to tell him the full truth.
Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa joined Dooley at the briefing room to hear Carter's confession, where she began to explain how she managed to discover how the contents of Stark's vault were stolen and its location, feeling hurt for not being able to reveal that she managed to discover it, but at least letting Sousa take the credit of finding them. She explained that they left The Heartbreak just moments before they arrived, but she did not know what would happen to Ray Krzeminski, so she would have to live feeling guilty about that for the rest of her life.
Dooley asked the reason for telling them the truth, and she revealed she needed their trust to believe what she had to say about Doctor Ivchenko. Dooley and Sousa initially dismissed her claims, but she revealed that both she and Edwin Jarvis had seen him communicating in Morse code with someone in the building across the street, and something would happen in less than 90 minutes before something's going to happen. Dooley said that Ivchenko was a good man that had done nothing but help them, but Carter pointed that he had been there for just 48 hours, so they could not possibly fully know him.
Dooley found hard to believe that Carter had conducted her own investigation without anybody else noticing, and Sousa asked her why she did it instead of asking any of them for help. Carter revealed that the reason she conducted her own investigation was that nobody ever listened to her, and she managed to make it without any of them noticing was they ignored her unless they needed her for an errand.
Dooley told Carter that given the times she had lied to them, he was not believing her, but Carter revealed one more thing to gain their trust. Carter explained them how to open up the Blitzkrieg Button, revealing that the vial inside was actually the last remaining sample of Captain Steve Rogers' blood.
Carter explained how Stark was afraid that scientist would waste the sample attempting to re-create the Super Soldier Serum, something that Jarvis pointed was already done with the rest of samples, so ask them to forgive Stark for trying to protect what he called the greatest scientific feat of the 20th century.
Carter acknowledged that Stark did not trust her with it either, lying about the nature of the device to make her steal it with the excuse to protect the city. Carter did not have an answer to explain why she kept it, maybe she did it because Stark lied to her, maybe because she did not trust him with such an item, but she tearfully added that maybe she just wanted a second chance to protect Rogers.
====Trusting Carter====
Roger Dooley. Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa evaluated Peggy Carter's confession, and Sousa was convinced that she was telling the truth, though Thompson was not convinced yet. Sousa claimed that Carter had no reason to confess, given that she was almost free from prosecution, but Thompson pointed that Howard Stark's confession was not real.
Sousa considered Carter giving them Captain America's blood a reason to trust her, as they all knew how big was that for her. Thompson asked Dooley's opinion, and despite he said he did not trust Carter, he fully trusted Sousa's intuition, so he ordered both Sousa and Thompson to investigate the building across the street, while he would remain at the office and watch Doctor Ivchenko.
====Controlling Roger Dooley====
Chief Roger Dooley entered his office to watch Doctor Ivchenko while his agents checked the building across the street to investigate Peggy Carter's claims that Ivchenko was actually a member of Leviathan. Dooley asked Ivchenko to close the window with the excuse that it was simply getting cold, but Ivchenko watched the agents going into the building as he closed it, so he had to act quickly.
Ivchenko tried to talk to Dooley about his family, with the excuse of simply wanting Dooley's dinner with his wife to be a success. Dooley said he did not want to talk about it, but Ivchenko seized the opportunity to hypnotize Dooley, making him focus on the dinner he would like to have.
Dooley began to experience a vivid hallucination of one of his most fondly remembered family traditions, where his whole family cooked together, with his wife saying that Dooley's roasted chicken was a crowd pleaser. Dooley was able to realize for a moment that Ivchenko was close to the window, but he managed to fully convince Dooley to focus on his experience, praising his family and prompting him to enjoy that time with them, because they would need to do something very important after that.
====Russian Assassin====
Agents Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa lead a team to investigate Doctor Ivchenko's possible contact inside the building across the street from the New York Bell Company Office. Agent Corcoran checked the stairwell and saw nothing suspicious, so Thompson ordered him to cover the exits and call them in case he saw anything suspicious.
Thompson asked Sousa if he believed Carter, with each of them confessing they actually believed her. Thompson prompted Sousa to shot Dottie Underwood upon sight, as Carter believed she was had been trained at the Red Room Academy in the Soviet Union. Sousa thought Thompson warned him due to his disability, and told him he could handle himself. However, Thompson warned him out of true concern, having witnessed what one of the girls trained at the academy did to them, and believing a grown-up woman would be extremely dangerous.
Sousa realized one of the doors had been suddenly closed while he was in the hallway, the room to Seth Honicky's Dentistry Office, as Underwood realized Sousa was looking for her, and Sousa grabbed his gun to investigate. Sousa hid behind a corner and patiently waited until Underwood left the dentistry office, but she managed to see his shadow, and walked knowing Sousa would ambush her from behind.
Sousa pointed his gun at Underwood, who left her briefcase on the ground, but Underwood quickly disarmed Sousa with a kick. Sousa used his crutch as an improvised weapon to attack Underwood, managing to hold his own against her. Underwood threw Sousa to the floor, but he quickly retrieved his gun before she could attack him.
Underwood ran to avoid Sousa's shots, but she was surrounded in the stairs. Seeing no other exit, Underwood began to quickly descend the stairs by jumping and ricocheting through the handrails until reaching the ground floor. Agent Corcoran hesitated to shoot Underwood, being surprised to see her falling from above, and she seized the opportunity to kill him.
Thompson joined the pursuit, descending the stairs to find that Underwood was gone and Corcoran's body was lying on the floor. Thompson informed the rest through their radios that they had an agent down, but they were too late to prevent Underwood from escaping.
====Item 17====
Chief Roger Dooley, now fully enthralled by Doctor Ivchenko, went to the briefing room and took Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis to the interrogation room, under the excuse of telling them something but being unable to talk there as somebody could be listening to them.
Carter believed they had been compromised or something was found across the street, but Dooley pointed Carter with a gun and prompted her to stop talking, handcuffing both Carter and Jarvis to a table and locking them inside the room.
Dooley and Ivchenko went to the laboratory, where Dooley ordered the scientist inside to leave the room and go to one of the holding rooms, under the excuse of investigating their involvement with Peggy Carter's apparent betrayal. Given she managed to obtain the Blitzkrieg Button that was kept inside the laboratory, Dooley said that, in the best case, there had been negligence in dealing with sensitive materials, but in the worst case, they could be accused of espionage and treason.
Alex Doobin, the lead scientist, tried to explain to Dooley that he fully trusted all the scientist under his command, but Dooley angrily told them to save his reasoning for the interrogation room, and ordered the scientist to leave immediately.
Once they were left alone, Ivchenko expressed his admiration towards Dooley's commanding presence, but ordered him to help him locate Item 17, one of Howard Stark's inventions, kept in the laboratory. Ivchenko located a Stark Heat Vest, another item that he had previously heard about, and warned Dooley not to touch it, as it was more delicate than it looked.
Dooley finally found Item 17, and Ivchenko examined it to see that it was actually the item he had been looking for. Ivchenko went to the elevators to leave the office, thanking Dooley for his help, and asked him to hand the briefcase containing Item 17. Dooley hesitated, feeling that he should kept it, but Ivchenko continued to hypnotize him and Dooley left the briefcase on the ground.
Ivchenko gave him the Heat Vest, having previously ordered him to wear it, and prompted Dooley to focus on his family, as his work was not yet done.
====Escape from the Strategic Scientific Reserve====
Doctor Ivchenko waited outside the New York Bell Company Office, where Dottie Underwood arrived in a stolen car to evacuate him from the Strategic Scientific Reserve's custody. Ivchenko told Underwood that she was late, and she said that they had been compromised, something that Ivchenko found irrelevant.
Underwood asked him if they should proceed to the next phase of their plan, but Ivchenko told her that given Item 17 had been in storage for some time, they should test it before their plan. Underwood was concerned their cover had been blown, but Ivchenko was not concerned, as they would have to deal with other things before.
====Battering Ram====
Edwin Jarvis tried to ask for help while he was handcuffed inside the interrogation with Peggy Carter, who told him not to waste his time as nobody would come to help them, thinking that they could come to his assistance given he was barely known by the employees of the office.
Carter proposed Jarvis to use the table to smash the mirror of the interrogation room, as another room was behind it. As they were about to smash it, Jarvis stopped twice, first to ask what would happen if there was someone behind the mirror, and second to ask what would happen if the people behind the mirror was armed.
Carter and Jarvis broke the mirror, only to realize they were still handcuffed to the table. Jack Thompson entered the room to check what happened there, and Carter quickly asked him where Chief Roger Dooley was.
====Coming Home====
Roger Dooley, still under Doctor Ivchenko's thrall, had a vivid hallucination where he returned home for his dinner with his family, finding his son Emmett painting at a table, something his mother would not approve, despite Emmett put newspaper under it.
Dooley's wife, Loretta was surprised to see his husband at home earlier than expected. Roger told her he just wanted to see her, because he did something wrong in his office, letting the man they had in custody go, and he simply watched as he walked out of the building. Dooley told her that he felt like he should be at least angry or scared, but the only thing he wanted was to come home with them, asking for Loretta's permission to come.
Roger and Loretta kissed until Roger regained his senses and woke up from his hallucination.
====Sacrifice of Roger Dooley====
Roger Dooley woke up from his hallucination inside his office, as Jack Thompson was knocking on his door and Peggy Carter was crying his name. Dooley came out of the office, and Edwin Jarvis recognized the device he was wearing as a Stark Heat Vest, one of Howard Stark's inventions.
Jarvis asked everyone not to touch Dooley, while he asked if Ivchenko had managed to escape. Jarvis explained that the vest was a prototype for an armor that could double as a heat source in the winter months of the European front, and locking it ignited a self-sustaining battery with an experimental energy source that overheated to the point of explosion. Worried, Carter ordered to get the scientists to examine the armor.
While Dooley was suffering the effects of the vest, he explained how Ivchenko managed to hypnotize him and made him steal something from the laboratory, and also warned them not to let Ivchenko talk to them, as he would be able to control them if he started talking.
Alex Doobin examined the clasps of the vest but Jarvis warned him that they were locked, as it was the thing that activated the whole system, and trying to manipulate them would only speed up the reaction, and the vest itself was made of an alloy that Stark had created.
Carter proposed to pack Dooley with ice, as it maybe would cool the core, but Jarvis explained that would be futile, as the vest was designed to be impervious to outside elements including artillery or temperature. Doobin realized the heat was searing Dooley's skin, and Jarvis recognized that as a signal that the circuitry was in its final stages.
Doobin did not know what to do save Dooley, but Dooley said he knew what to do, and asked Thompson to help him stand up. Dooley took Thompson's gun and warned everyone not to approach him. Dooley asked Thompson to tell his wife Loretta to forgive him for missing dinner, and made Carter promise him she would catch the one responsible for it.
Dooley ran to one of the windows, shooting at it, and jumped through it to explode in the air and save all the agents from dying with him.
====Search for Evidence====
Daniel Sousa entered Seth Honicky's Dentistry Office, the place where Dottie Underwood had been communicating with Doctor Ivchenko, hoping to find some evidence that would help them know their next step, and he came across Seth Honicky's corpse covered with a sheet.
Sousa examined the briefcase that Underwood was carrying, with the sniper rifle that she used to watch Ivchenko as he communicated with her, and two of the messages that he sent, including an order to kill Peggy Carter, and witnessed how Roger Dooley jumped through one of the windows of the New York Bell Company Office and exploded in the air.
====Missing Item====
Daniel Sousa returned to the New York Bell Company Office to find out what happened, having witnessed an explosion from the building across the street, and Jack Thompson informed him that Roger Dooley had died.
Peggy Carter felt responsible for Dooley's death, as Ivchenko lured her to Russia knowing she would bring him to the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but Edwin Jarvis comforted her that it was not her fault, but Howard Stark's inventions'. Carter realized that Leviathan tasked Leet Brannis to steal a particular invention, and was worried that Ivchenko had taken Captain America's blood.
Carter, Thompson, Sousa and Jarvis went to the laboratory, finding that the vial was still inside its container, but they needed to find the item that Ivchenko took. Alex Doobin found that Item 17 was gone, and Jarvis was worried, given that he had no idea what the item actually did.
====Massacre at the Movie Theater====
=====Release of Item 17=====
Dottie Underwood entered a movie theater with one of the canisters of the Item 17 concealed inside a baby carriage. Some of the movie attendants began to complain for having a baby inside the theater, but a kind woman told Underwood not to pay attention to them.
Underwood covered her mouth and nose and released the gas contained in the canister, quickly abandoning the room. Doctor Ivchenko, who was waiting outside, locked the door with a crowbar to prevent anyone from leaving. Underwood asked him if she thought the gas would work, and Ivchenko expressed his faith in Howard Stark's inventions.
The attendants began to cough due to the effects of the gas, and they started to brutally attack each other, until everyone violently died due to the wounds they mutually inflicted themselves.
=====Discovery=====
A couple arrived to the movie theater, with the woman complaining that her husband's insistence to circle the block instead of paying in a lot would make them miss the start of the picture.
They were accompanied by a Movie Usherette, who found the room locked by a crowbar. Surprised by that, she opened the door, finding everyone inside dead in a massacre.
=====Investigation=====
Strategic Scientific Reserve Agents Jack Thompson, Daniel Sousa and Peggy Carter headed to a Movie Theater were the corpses of 47 men and women had been found savagely killed. Detective Prendergast of the New York City Police Department explained how they found the bodies of the attendants, with severe injuries such as their eyes having been removed from their cavities.
Carter was impressed by the carnage, and Prendergast told them that it was like if a monster managed to get in the theater, as he had never seen something like it. Sousa asked him if all happened inside the theater, and Prendergast took him there. Carter and Thompson went to examine the bodies, and she found that one of the victims, whose body was full of wounds and even bites, had a lock of hair in his hand, making Carter realize that the victims killed each other.
Inside the actual theater, Prendergast asked Sousa if government agents usually got cases like that, but Sousa assured him that they did not, being impressed with the massacre. Sousa began to examinate the room, finding many of the victims' belongings scattered on the ground, and he suddenly realized a baby carriage was on the room.
Sousa hurried to check if the baby was among one of the victims, but he was relieved to find it empty and without a single sign of violence. However, Sousa came across one of the canisters of Item 17, the gas that Dottie Underwood had released inside the room, and took it to examine it, finding that the logo of Stark Industries was printed on the canister.
Sousa inadvertently activated the canister, making the remains of the gas stored within it to directly affect him. Sousa began to cough and choke, so Thompson and Carter quickly headed to check what happened. Sousa began to strangle Thompson and while Carter tried to stop him, Sousa hit her and knocked her to the ground.
The police officers managed to knock him Sousa down before he could hurt anyone, while Thompson and Carter stared at each other in disbelief having witnessed what someone like Sousa had just tried to do.
====Fugitives====
Dottie Underwood and Doctor Ivchenko drove through the city, heading to the place where they would unleash the final stages of their plan. Ivchenko continued to be amazed by New York City, though as Underwood assured him it was like any other place, Ivchenko considered it to be a testimony of the strength and ingenuity of the United States of America.
Ivchenko claimed it was designed to be a beacon for all the world to envy, so Underwood realized it would then be even funnier to tear it down. A police car made its siren wail to make Underwood stop her car, interrupting their conversation, but as she was about to take her gun, Ivchenko stopped her, telling her to not bring attention to themselves.
Officer Pike stopped Underwood for simply missing a traffic light, and she, acting as an ingenuous woman, told him she did not realize she missed it, claiming she was only driving because her grandfather was blind in one eye due to a wartime injury. Pike believed her excuse and told her to be careful and get home safe, with Underwood thanking him.
However, as Pike returned to his car, he received a transmission with the report of an stolen vehicle, the one that Underwood was driving, having been stolen by an armed female whose description matched Underwood's appearance. Pike was about to take his gun, but as he turned around, Underwood was already outside her car, pointing at him with her own gun and smiling.
====Wake Up from a Real Nightmare====
Daniel Sousa woke up having being tied to a bed, and began to cough as he regained consciousness. He asked Peggy Carter, who had been watching over him, what had happened, but she wanted to ask him the same question. Sousa explained he felt like having swallowed a bag of shrapnel, and began to remember that, inside the movie theater, he was hit by a gas.
Carter told him that he indeed found canister, but then he attacked Jack Thompson. Sousa then remembered how he felt the desire to kill not only Thompson, but to kill everybody else, and he suddenly realized he hit Carter, beginning to genuinely apologize for it.
Carter dismissed the fact, saying that Sousa was not himself back then, and she asked him how was he feeling. Sousa explained he still wanted to kill Thompson, but no more than usual, making Carter smile.
====Howard Stark's Return====
=====Intended Target=====
Jack Thompson held a meeting at the New York Bell Company Office to explain the effects of the item stolen by Doctor Ivchenko, saying that their scientist had determined its a chemical compound able to induce psychosis upon exposure, something he personally witnessed when Daniel Sousa attacked him.
Thompson greeted Sousa as he entered the room with Peggy Carter, who voiced her surprise to Howard Stark had manufactured such a dangerous item. Sousa explained that he was hit by a small amount of gas, but according to their laboratory, Ivchenko had at least ten canisters of this gas, so he could potentially send half of New York City into a homicidal rage.
Carter wondered what was Ivchenko's motivations to make such a complicated plan that involved making them travel to the Soviet Union and bring him to the United States of America, so there should be something specific that Ivchenko was targeting.
Howard Stark entered the room at that same moment with Edwin Jarvis, saying that Ivchenko was targeting him. All the agents quickly grabbed their guns pointing at Stark while Thompson ordered him to get his hands up. Jarvis quickly complied, telling Stark that he had already warned him about that, but Stark simply asked what kind of welcome was that.
Sousa asked Stark how he had managed to infiltrate the office, and Stark asked him in return if he knew who designed the Strategic Scientific Reserve's security system. Sousa explained that it was the same system that protected the White House, and Stark added that they were both bad systems, and they should have hired him to design them.
Stark then looked at Carter, and told her that he knew she had missed him.
=====Bait-and-Switch=====
Howard Stark was taken by Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa to the briefing room, still considering Stark responsible for the whole investigated by the Strategic Scientific Reserve and formally placing him under arrest as Peggy Carter entered the room. Stark was not worried about that, and he even offered to help Sousa with his injury.
Thompson, angered by Stark's behavior, blamed him for the deaths of Roger Dooley and Ray Krzeminski, while Sousa told him innocent people inside a theater had also died due to him. Stark revealed he returned upon hearing about the Massacre at the Cinema Theater, and offered the a box filled with documents about the Battle of Finow.
Thompson did not care about it, but he then revealed how both the massacre and the battle were tied due to the use of the same substance, a gas called Midnight Oil. Carter asked Stark if he designed a poison gas, but he revealed that he did not intend to do that, as the United States Armed Forces tasked him with developing something that would keep soldiers awake for days.
Stark revealed how the gas failed and instead caused symptoms similar to sleep deprivation. such as anger, hallucinations or psychosis, to the point of aggressively attack other people. Sousa asked why it was used in Finow, and he revealed that General John McGinnis ordered to raid Stark's laboratory, taking the samples of the gas and all his research.
Stark explained how McGinnis ordered to use the gas on the Russians the following day to help them take Finow, but instead they slaughtered each other, so Stark flew there to see it with his own eyes. Sousa explained how they witnessed its effects inside the theater, and he experienced them himself.
Stark was surprised to see that Sousa survived direct exposure, as the gas also could cause asphyxiation, and Carter realized that was the reason Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov had been performed laryngotomy procedures. Carter guessed that Doctor Ivchenko was the man who saved them, finding a file about his involvement in the Battle of Finow that revealed his real name, Johann Fennhoff, and his background as a psychiatrist with a specialty in hypnosis.
Thompson realized that Fennhoff hypnotized Dooley to do his bidding, and everyone was at risk. However, Stark offered himself to take the risk, acting as a bait to capture Fennhoff, with the SSR setting the trap for him. Thompson agreed with Stark's plan, realizing they needed to make something public and real showy to make Fennhoff fall.
=====Final Preparations=====
Howard Stark prepared himself for his press conference, cutting his facial hair with Edwin Jarvis' assistance. who described his moustache as a "nest of spiders with very short legs". Stark also asked Peggy Carter for powder to reduce the shine on his face.
Carter voiced her worry about Stark's plan, considering it to be too dangerous, but Jarvis asked her not to waste her breath, as he had already warned Stark to no avail. Carter brought Stark a Bulletproof Vest for protection, but he quickly examined it and described it as junk, asking her to check his inventions.
Carter took Stark to the laboratory, where he got mad at watching his most dangerous inventions being inadequately treated. Stark began to change the place for some of them that should be kept in special conditions, such as darkness or cold. Carter then asked him what he hoped to accomplish with his press conference, as there should be other ways to capture Johann Fennhoff.
Stark asked her name three other ways, and he managed to find his own Bulletproof Vest, able to stops a 50 caliber round from 100 feet. Carter told him it would not be enough to protect him unless he planned to wear it on his head, but Stark told Carter he trusted her to protect him.
Carter realized Stark was only trying to punish himself for what he did, but Stark told her he was just trying to redeem himself. Carter told him she already had enough blood on her hands, so she did not need to have Stark's well. Stark told her she was one of the few people whose opinion he genuinely cared for, and what she told him the last time they saw each other made him think about what was he doing.
Carter told him that she was angry then, but that did not mean she wanted him to die, something he also agreed, but they both knew all what happened was his fault. Carter told him that General John McGinnis was the one who stole and used Midnight Oil, but Stark needed to fix the whole situation to be able to live with himself.
Carter told Stark he was mad, and he told him he was as mad as a hatter, before seizing the opportunity to steal the Blitzkrieg Button containing Steve Rogers' blood as Carter turned her back.
====Change of Plans====
Johann Fennhoff and Dottie Underwood arrived at Howard Stark's Warehouse intending to steal a plane to release Midnight Oil over New York City. A mechanic warned them it was a private property while reaching for his gun, but Underwood told Fennhoff that she would take care of him.
Underwood approached the mechanic as a naïve woman while Fennhoff waited inside the car, where he listened to the radio as the music was interrupted with a special news bulletin that announced Howard Stark's return as a hero, and that he was going to hold a press conference on the New York City Hall to announce a major breakthrough in the case of his missing technology.
Underwood, who easily killed the mechanic as Fennhoff waited, quickly returned to the car, prompting Fennhoff to enter the warehouse. However, Fennhoff explained that a new opportunity to develop their plan had arisen, with Underwood being surprised it all happened in the few moments she was outside the car. Fennhoff told her they would return to the city as their plans had changed.
====Kidnapping of Howard Stark====
=====Press Conference=====
Jack Thompson began a press conference at the New York City Hall to lure and capture Johann Fennhoff, where he announced that Howard Stark was innocent of the theft and sale of weapons to foreign enemies, and all charges had been dropped. Thompson continued to say that they owed Stark a debt of gratitude, as his assistance in their investigation had been invaluable. Stark told Thompson to call him a hero, so he publicly said that Stark was a hero for all Americans.
Peggy Carter, who was at the press conference to protect Stark, contacted Agent Comden to check if the rooftops were being covered, but as he informed her that all clear, she told him that she knew their targets surely were somewhere nearby.
Thompson continued announcing that Stark would work with the Strategic Scientific Reserve to bring those responsible for the crime to justice, and Stark told Thompson to add that they were humbled by Stark's genius, then changing the word to brilliance. Tired of Stark's interruptions, Thompson let him speak to the press, and the reporters began to ask if all his weapons had been recovered, though one of them even asked if he had been hiding at 's residence.
Stark began to defend himself from the charges he had been accused of, but he was suddenly interrupted by a gunshot coming from one of the nearby windows. Thompson ordered Edwin Jarvis to take Stark to the back alley where a police car was waiting for them. Carter managed to watch the shots coming from the hotel in front of the City Hall, and hurried to apprehend the shooter.
Jarvis and Stark hurried to the back alley, with Stark acknowledging his idea had been successful. Jarvis placed Stark inside the car and told the officer to take them to the Strategic Scientific Reserve facility. However, before Jarvis could enter the car, the officer left with Stark, and Jarvis suddenly saw two police officers dead in the alley, realizing Stark had been kidnapped in front of his eyes. Stark asked Officer Pike, who was driving the car, to stop, but Pike, having been hypnotized, told him that Doctor Fennhoff would like to see him.
Jarvis hurried and informed Daniel Sousa that Stark had been taken. Meanwhile, Thompson and Carter stormed into the hotel, finding a rifle rigged to fire itself, but nobody inside the room. Carter examined the rifle and realized it was aimed above the podium, so it was just a diversion. Sousa then informed them through the radio that Stark had been kidnapped and was in a police car heading west.
Stark tried to convince Pike to release him, offering him money, cars and even 's private number, but he continued to silently drive and take him to Fennhoff's presence.
=====Tracking Howard Stark=====
Peggy Carter and Jack Thompson began to analyze Johann Fennhoff's plan as he successfully managed to kidnap Howard Stark. Carter realized his original plan could not have involved to kidnap Stark given he was only announced to return that same day, and Fennhoff wanted to punish Stark with a fate worse than death.
Thompson acknowledged the Massacre at the Cinema Theater was just a test, so Fennhoff would surely target something bigger, guessing it could be anything, like the or the . Carter realized many people were carrying flags, and asked what it was. Thompson answered it was May 8th, and they both suddenly realized that it was the anniversary, and Fennhoff intended to attack Times Square with the Midnight Oil.
Meanwhile, Edwin Jarvis and Daniel Sousa managed to find the police car used to kidnap Stark, but they only found Officer Pike's lifeless body inside. Sousa informed about the car and Jarvis quickly acknowledged it was a bad situation.
Stark had been taken to another car driven by Fennhoff himself, where he was held at gunpoint by Dottie Underwood. Stark acknowledged that while he surely should be afraid for his life, something about her put him at ease. Underwood asked him if he did not remember her, reminding him that they spent a nice weekend together, but he did not, asking her if her name Alice. Underwood, angered by his answer, knocked him out hitting him with her gun.
=====Second Vault=====
Daniel Sousa interviewed the owner of a nearby coffee shop, who informed him that a blonde woman forced a man into a black Sedan, and that man matched Howard Stark's description. Witnesses managed to see the car heading west towards Lincoln Tunnel, and he informed Port Authority to stop them at the tolls.
Peggy Carter believing they were trying to leave the city and wondered their reasons, and Sousa acknowledged they may be wrong about Johann Fennhoff's target. Jack Thompson arrived to inform that despite his attempts, the celebration would continue as scheduled, and more than 100,000 people were already at Times Square, so they would not be able to evacuate even if they tried.
Carter explained that the Midnight Oil intended to be used to attack the city was designed to be deployed by air, so they had already shut down all the airports and private airfields in the area. However, Edwin Jarvis suddenly realized where Fennhoff had taken Stark, as if Fennhoff wanted to blame Stark for the attack, the most effective way would be to use one of Stark's own planes.
Thompson told Jarvis that all of Stark's planes had been confiscated, but he revealed that Stark had another secret vault larger than the one under his mansion to store some of his vehicles.
====Johann Fennhoff's Final Move====
=====Greatest Shame=====
Howard Stark was held hostage inside his own warehouse by Dottie Underwood and Johann Fennhoff. Underwood repeatedly hit Stark, who tried to remember her name, but failing, guessing she could be Lorraine.
Fennhoff greeted Stark, having heard of his genius and intelligence, regretting he dedicated himself to creating such horrible weapons as Midnight Oil. Stark tried to explain that the substance was not meant to be a weapon and it should have never been used, but Fennhoff acknowledged that it only existed because Stark created it.
Fennhoff asked Stark if he knew what it did, and Stark revealed how he saw it at Finow after the supposed battle. Fennhoff revealed he was present at that battle, witnessing the effects of Midnight Oil protected by a gas mask, but his comrades and his own brother were not so lucky. Fennhoff sadly explained how he found his brother savagely mutilated, and Stark tearfully and genuinely apologized, telling Fennhoff he had no idea of how sorry he was for that event.
Fennhoff revealed how Stark became his singular focus since that day and while Stark asked him to kill him if that was what he wanted to do, feeling that he probably deserved it, Stark asked him to spare the lives of innocent people. Fennhoff claimed that he had no intention of killing Stark; he was going to make him suffer.
Stark pleaded Fennhoff not to do it, and he asked Stark if he felt any guilt or remorse. Stark assured him he had those feelings, though Fennhoff acknowledged that someone like Stark could not things like kindness and empathy to cloud his vision. Stark claimed he was not a bad person, but Fennhoff assured him he was, as there was no other way to achieve such success. Others have paid the price.
Fennhoff began to hypnotize Stark to be consumed by his guilt, making him focus in believing there was a way to atone for his sins. Fennhoff told Stark to focus on the time and place that held Stark's greatest shame, and he began to believe he was searching for Captain America when he was lost in the ocean.
Stark had a vivid hallucination where he was informed that a signal from the Valkyrie had been picked up and Captain America had been located. Peggy Carter appeared in his hallucination, asking him to bring Captain America home. Fennhoff used this hallucination to order Stark to pilot a plane and make him release Midnight Oil on Times Square.
=====Stopping the Attack=====
Peggy Carter, Edwin Jarvis, Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson arrived to Howard Stark's Warehouse only to witness how Howard Stark departed using one of his planes, having been hypnotized by Johann Fennhoff to deploy Midnight Oil over New York City.
Sousa brought up the possibility of talking Stark down, as Chief Roger Dooley was able to overcome Fennhoff's hypnosis, and Carter asked Jarvis where the radio room was to contact Stark. However, in case she was unable, Carter told the men she needed one of them to pilot another plane to shoot Stark down in case she was unable to prevent him from attacking New York.
Sousa and Thompson told her that they had never flown planes before, but Jarvis assured that he had done it. Carter told him she could not ask that to him, but Jarvis assured that Stark would want to be stopped from harming innocent people by any means possible. Convinced by Jarvis' reasons, Carter ordered Sousa and Thompson to help Jarvis get off the ground.
=====Hesitation=====
Edwin Jarvis managed to board one of Howard Stark's planes assisted by Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa. However, Jarvis hesitated before taking off, and Thompson reminded him that if he did not leave at that moment, it would be too late.
Jarvis confessed that he indeed had flown planes before, but he had never shot a man down. Thompson reminded him that if Peggy Carter managed to find Johann Fennhoff and make Stark regain his senses, he would not need to shoot at Stark. Jarvis prayed Thompson was right, and took of with his plane to follow Stark.
=====Radio Room=====
Peggy Carter went to look for the radio room inside the warehouse, where Johann Fennhoff and Dottie Underwood where monitoring Howard Stark's transmissions, who believed he was flying over the Arctic searching for Captain America.
Carter was able to catch Underwood and Fennhoff by surprise, and though Underwood wanted to grab the gun she had concealed in her shirt, Carter told her to drop it pointing at her with a shotgun, and she complied when Fennhoff nodded at her.
Carter ordered them to move away from the radio they were using to contact Stark, and Underwood greeted her as if she still was her naïve neighbor, but she used the opportunity to disarm Carter with a kick and hit her, beginning a hand-to-hand combat that Underwood considered to be very fun.
=====Duel at the Warehouse=====
Peggy Carter and Dottie Underwood continued to fight on the radio room, with Carter cleverly avoiding Underwood's knife with a piece of cloth. Carter grabbed her arm, repeatedly hit her in the stomach and begun to choke Underwood with the cloth to buy some time and grab the radio from Johann Fennhoff, who was still talking to Howard Stark while the two women fought in the same room.
Carter quickly shouted at Stark, saying that what he was seeing was not real, but Underwood quickly recovered and threw Carter over a small table. Underwood grabbed a baseball bat from one of the walls and ordered Fennhoff to escape while she fought Carter.
Underwood began to reveal how she felt all her life jealous of girls like Carter, willing to do anything to be like them, but now, given her training, she could be anybody she wanted. Underwood began to attack Carter with the baseball bat, and despite Carter defended herself, Underwood gained the upper hand against a disarmed Carter, who fell to the ground while Underwood continued to taunt her telling her she would become an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Underwood claimed that she thought that Carter would be better, but she tricked Underwood into breaking a window with the baseball bat, and Carter seized the opportunity to kick Underwood off the window, making her fall to the bottom floor over one of Stark's planes.
Carter looked over the window and saw Underwood's seemingly lifeless body and covered in blood lying over the wing of the Mrs. Virginia.
=====Arrest of Johann Fennhoff=====
Peggy Carter contacted Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa to inform them that Johann Fennhoff had escaped from the radio room, but she would not be able to pursue him as she needed to stay there and talk Howard Stark down.
Thompson assured her they would capture him, and they separated to cover the front and back doors. Thompson warned Sousa not to let Fennhoff talk, as he would die like Roger Dooley did. Sousa returned the warning to Thompson before separating.
Thompson investigated the back of the warehouse, hearing a metallic noise while he investigated. He approached the main hangar, but as he examined a metal bar on the ground, Fennhoff ambushed him and hit Thompson on the back, knocking him on the ground. However, as Fennhoff was about to grab Thompson's shotgun, Sousa entered the hangar and ordered Fennhoff to freeze, and warned him he would shoot unless Fennhoff stepped away from Thompson.
Fennhoff began to talk, saying he was unarmed, and Sousa would not shoot an unarmed man, as he was a virtuous man, unlike Thompson. Fennhoff tried to hypnotize Sousa, talking to him about how the war injured all of them, and saying that Sousa was not the man he once was. Fennhoff claimed he had treated many injured soldiers to help them overcome their pain, and prompted him to focus on his own pain.
Fennhoff tried to convince Sousa saying how his colleagues saw him as a broken man, and how Carter would never value him for the man he was, as the only thing she felt for him was pity. Fennhoff told him they could change all of that if he just focused, and ordered to point his weapon at Thompson and pull the trigger.
Seeing that Sousa pointed his gun at Thompson when Fennhoff pointed at him with his hand, Thompson tried to talk Sousa down, telling him to not listen to Fennhoff. Sousa continued to approach them, this time pointing at Thompson, but as he reached Fennhoff, Sousa hit him with the back of his gun, knocking him down.
Sousa removed two pieces of cotton from his ears, and asked Thompson if Fennhoff said something, and both men started to laugh for the way Sousa managed to trick Fennhoff.
=====Redemptions=====
Peggy Carter contacted Howard Stark from the radio room, to convince him that what he was seeing was an hallucination that Johann Fennhoff put in Stark's mind, to make him believe that he was going to rescue Captain America. Carter tried to explain that Fennhoff wanted to make Stark to deploy Midnight Oil over civilians, but Stark dismissed her claims, believing he was flying over the Arctic, and seeing no civilians there.
Carter begged Stark to return, but Stark felt that Fennhoff actually helped him, having showed him how to bring Captain America back. Carter began to tearfully ask Stark to turn the plane around and talk about everything, as the situation reminded her the way she last spoke to Steve Rogers. However, Stark claimed he could not do that.
Edwin Jarvis contacted Carter to inform her that he had Stark's plane in his sights and they were just one mile from land, so he requested for permission to shot Stark down. Carter was crying and did not answer, but as Jarvis insisted, Carter told him that she needed more time to convince Stark. Jarvis told her they did not have more time, but Carter ordered Jarvis not to shoot until she told him.
Carter spoke again to tell Stark that Rogers died a year before, despite Stark's claims that he had found him ahead, and he could fix everything. Stark explained how he had created destruction his whole life, but Project Rebirth, or more accurately, Rogers, was the only thing he had done that brought good into the world.
With her voice breaking, Carter said that she knew how much Stark cared for Rogers, just like she loved him, but what he was doing would not bring him back; instead, it would make her lose Stark, the only person who believed in her, and she could not afford losing him, too.
Carter told him that Rogers was gone, and all of them had to move on and let him, despite it may sound impossible. Following a moment of silence, Stark regained his senses with Carter's tearful words, telling her how good Rogers was, and realized he was in a plane flying to Manhattan, asking her to explain everything once he landed.
Carter contacted Jarvis to inform him that Stark had regained his senses, and he felt very relieved for not having to shoot him down. Jarvis told Carter to inform Stark to follow him, as he would bring him home safe and sound.
=====Aftermath=====
Peggy Carter descended to the hangar to check Dottie Underwood's body, but she found that she had escaped despite the injuries she suffered from her fall, leaving a trail of blood. Meanwhile, Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson arrested Johann Fennhoff and prevented him from speaking.
Howard Stark and Edwin Jarvis safely landed on the warehouse, and Stark asked Jarvis if he would was truly willing to shoot him out of the sky. Jarvis explained that he thought it was what Stark would have wanted, but he made him clear that under no circumstance he want anyone to shoot or hurt him. However, Stark embraced Jarvis, saying that he was right.
Stark approached Carter, telling her he owed her another one, but Carter told him she had stopped counting how many things he owed her, before embracing her. Stark asked what would they do with Fennhoff, and she suggested to temporarily put him in a trunk until finding a permanent way of preventing him from speaking.
Jarvis asked what happened to Underwood, and Carter revealed that she had escaped, so they would probably see her again. Stark began to laugh, finally remembering her name as Ida, claiming that his mind was a steel trap. Carter and Jarvis stared at Stark in disbelief, as despite everything that happened to him, he was still thinking about women.
====Return to the Strategic Scientific Reserve====
Peggy Carter returned to the New York Bell Company Office, where all agents started to applaud and congratulate her for her good work in solving the case regarding Howard Stark's weapons.
Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson, who had temporarily assumed Chief Roger Dooley's duties, greeted Carter and clapped with the rest of agents. Thompson assumed she would stay at the Strategic Scientific Reserve, but she told him that she had not decided yet, as she only came to pick up her paycheck. Sousa told her they would keep the desk for her, just in case she wanted to return, and Thompson told him he was sure that Carter would be back.
Senator Walt Cooper entered the office asking for Jack Thompson, and congratulated him for saving thousands of lives of a potential attack over Times Square, believing him to be responsible for stopping Johann Fennhoff's plan.
Thompson looked at Carter while Senator Cooper continued to congratulate him, saying that both the city and the country owed him a great debt, and publicly announcing they needed more men like Thompson fighting for freedom and security. Thompson said that he just did what needed to be done, and Cooper said that he could get a congressional honor for the whole situation, and President Harry S. Truman wanted to thank him himself.
Sousa was angered to see that Thompson took the credit for what happened when it was Carter who solved the whole thing and prevented the attack, and told her that he was going to tell Senator Cooper and even President Truman what really happened. Carter told him that it did not bother her, but Sousa claimed that having saved Thompson's life to see him do that bothered him. Carter claimed she did not need a congressional honor, Thompson's approval or even the president's approval, as she knew her own value, and everybody else's opinion did not really matter.
Having calmed down, Sousa invited Carter for a drink, but she was surprised to hear that at 9:00 in the morning, but Sousa nervously told her to join him after he finished his shift. Carter told him that she may join him another time, as she needed to meet a friend. Sousa turned her back, disappointed for the rejection, and he missed that Carter was smiling at him.
====New Residence====
Edwin Jarvis took Peggy Carter and Angie Martinelli to one of Howard Stark's residences, that Stark offered as a residence for the two women. Martinelli was surprised to see the luxury of the house, and Jarvis explained it had recently been refurbished in neoclassical style.
Martinelli commented that though for Stark it could be one of his quainter residences, the entire apartment where she grew up could be fit in a single room. Jarvis continued explaining the features of the house, such as having six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a rooftop terrace for Al Fresco dining and a library with a collection of first editions.
Martinelli asked again if they truly live there for free, and Jarvis explained that given the incidents at the Griffith Hotel and the L&L Automat, Stark offered the residence to Carter and Martinelli as long as they required it. Carter told Martinelli that it was a bit far from the theater district, but she clearly stated that she could live with that.
Martinelli asked Jarvis if there was a phone to call her mother and explain everything, and she departed into the nearest when Jarvis told her there was a telephone in every room. Jarvis told to Carter that it was refreshing to meet someone who appreciated the finer things, and Carter added that she appreciated them, she simply did not want to know what happened in and on them.
Carter told Jarvis that he would surely be looking forward to peace and quiet following their missions together, or at the very least having both feet on the ground, and Jarvis acknowledged that many of his duties had fallen by the wayside, so he would start to handle them again, starting with a complete overhaul of the kitchen spices.
Carter sarcastically told him how fascinating that was, but Jarvis emotionally told her that he would be honored to assist her again at a moment's notice if she ever needed his services again, something that Carter sincerely thanked him. Carter asked him where Stark was, and Jarvis revealed he was negotiating the return of his designs from the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Carter hoped Stark built a better vault, though Jarvis revealed Stark actually intended to destroy all of them. Carter was surprised to hear that, but Jarvis assured her that Stark continued to believe that no government could be trusted with those inventions, especially the vial of Captain America's blood that he had concealed in his jacket.
Jarvis handed the vial to Carter, who emotionally asked if Stark was giving it to her. Jarvis told her that Stark believed the vial was lost when he was under Johann Fennhoff's control, so it was Jarvis who was giving it to Carter. Jarvis explained to a tearful Carter that while he owed many things to Stark, Stark was not the owner of Jarvis' integrity, and he was certain that Carter was the only person in the world who knew what to do with the blood.
====Moving On====
Peggy Carter went to the in New York City, where she bursted in tears remembering her lost love, Steve Rogers. She grabbed the vial containing the last remaining sample of Rogers' blood, and tearfully told him goodbye while she threw the blood to the water under the bridge.
===Zodiac===
Peggy Carter continued her work with the Strategic Scientific Reserve in the agency's New York City office, where she was set aside to code-breaking and analysis tasks by her chauvinistic boss, Agent John Flynn, underestimating her for field work for being a woman, as she was not given an assignment during her three months under Flynn's orders.
Flynn received word of the location of the Zodiac, a mysterious biological weapon, and sent agents Miller, Johnson and Wilkes to retrieve it. That same night, the agents returned to the office empty-handed, as by the time they arrived, the car transporting the substance was abandoned.
One of the Analysts at the office ordered Carter to make an analysis of a large number of transmissions between S.H.I.E.L.D. and G.U.A.R.D. for the following day, what would force Carter to spend the night working at the office. However, Carter already anticipated such an order, and handed the complete analysis to her co-worker.
Flynn informed Carter that he was going out for drinks with the rest of the agents, but instead of the expected invitation, Carter received an order to stay at the office and review a field report. While alone in the office, Carter received another call informing of the location of Zodiac, requesting three to five agents to retrieve the substance. Carter used the absence of her co-workers as an excuse to take the mission alone, and traveled to the location given, carrying a briefcase full of field gear with her.
At the entrance of the warehouse where Zodiac was hidden, Carter easily defeated two goons that tried to make her leave when they saw her approaching. The guard at the door, alerted by the fight, tried to shoot Carter, but she outsmarted him and ordered him to drop his weapon while pointing her gun to the head of the guard.
Carter handcuffed the guard and interrogated him about the location of Zodiac and the number of guards in the warehouse, and used him as a bait to defeat another two guards. Locating the room containing Zodiac and with another guard inside, she shot at the door and threw a gas grenade to either render the guard unconscious or make him exit the room.
Once the guard was unconscious, she entered the room wearing a gas mask, finding the vial containing Zodiac, although a large guard also wearing a gas mask caught her by surprise. The guard tried to strangle Carter, removing her gas mask, but she was able to stab the guard with a knife hidden in her briefcase before being suffocated, defeating the guard with a kick and leaving the warehouse with Zodiac.
The following morning, Flynn admonished Carter for her actions saying that the only reason that she was an agent was that people felt sorry for her after Captain America died. In the midst of his tirade, the office hotline rang with a phone call by Howard Stark. Stark told Flynn that Carter needed to go to Washington, D.C., as was going to run S.H.I.E.L.D. with Stark. Stark ordered Flynn to give Carter the news, and let her know how honored he was for bringing them.
Flynn uncomfortably gave Carter the news, and offered her to help carry her personal items out of the office. Carter refused the offer, saying that it had been demonstrated that as always, she did not require his help.
===Peggy Carter's Interviews===
In 1953, former Strategic Scientific Reserve agent Peggy Carter recorded an interview in New York City about Captain Steve Rogers, the World War II hero known as Captain America. Carter described a rescue performed by Captain America, where he was able to rescue a thousand men trapped by a blizzard behind the German line, and how Rogers fought his way through a HYDRA blockade.
Carter revealed in the interview that one of the men rescued in that operation later became her husband, as Captain Rogers was able to change her life even after his presumed death.
===Development of the Arc Reactor===
Howard Stark had a meeting with Anton Vanko, in presence of Maria Stark and Vanko's wife, regarding what they called 'The Unity Project', focusing in developing the Arc Reactor technology, as Stark hoped to change the future of humanity with this technology, while Vanko wanted to use the research to make money.
Over time, Vanko proved true to his intentions, selling the technology and other secrets to the Russian government, prompting his deportation, disappointing Howard Stark, who was convinced by Obadiah Stane to focus again in weapons development.Iron Man 2: Public Identity
===Tony Stark's Childhood===
In 1970, Howard Stark fathered a son, Tony, living together with him, her wife Maria and their trusted butler Edwin Jarvis in their mansion of New York. Howard was very strict with Tony; one of the examples of this severity particularly remembered by Tony Stark years later was an occasion that his father qualified as nonsenses and a waste of time spending his weekends playing at home. Tony started to hate returning from boarding school to his house the weekends, even despite Edwin Jarvis' efforts to comfort Tony.
Tony grew up to become a rebel teenager, who was lectured by his father Howard for his attitude and his immaturity despite his intelligence, who hoped that one day he could be able to tell his son about his real work, as Howard felt that his son needed to know that. However, Howard was not able to tell him, because both Howard and Maria Stark died that same day in a car accident.
===Birth of Marcus Daniels===
New York City is the birthplace of Marcus Daniels, born in 1972 who went to become a physics laboratory assistant under doctor Abner Croit. Daniels was exposed to a form of cosmic radiation called Darkforce, obtaining the power to absorb all types of energy.
===Wilson Fisk's Youth===
====City Council Campaign====
|Bill Fisk
Inside his small apartment, Bill Fisk built a series of signs promoting a political campaign to be elected to the city council. His young son Wilson aided him while his wife Marlene checked out their monthly bills.
Marlene then complained about the volume of the music that Bill was hearing, so Bill admonished Wilson about how quiet women were the ones always plotting things. Wilson then finished sawing a strip for his father's signs, but Bill got angry because he had cut it too short. Wilson apologized, but his father made his son call him "Sir", because he needed to give respect if he wanted it. Bill lowered his tone, and asked Wilson to cut the next strip longer.
Bill revealed that his reason to get into the city council was to gain money accepting bribes, as one of their former neighbors got elected and, within a year, managed to buy a house and move out of the neighborhood. Bill then told his son that New York City offered an opportunity for everything.
Bill then offered Wilson a sip of his beer. Though Marlene tried to prevent it, Bill said that his own father let him drink even before being able to talk. Wilson hesitated and looked at his mother, but his father ordered him to drink. Wilson then drank from the bottle, but he ended up spitting the beer. Marlene took the beer from Wilson's hands, with Bill telling her that she always worried too much.
Marlene then asked Bill how they were supposed to pay for all the signs and promotional material for the campaign; Bill assured her that everything was all right as he took a loan from Don Rigoletto. Marlene was worried to hear that, but Bill calmed her down saying that it was an investment, and as soon as he was elected to the council, he would pay it.
Bill scolded his wife, saying that he needed to take risks and put himself out there to obtain things. Wilson even repeated his father's words, and Bill seized the opportunity to say that their son was smarter than Marlene.
====Lost Campaign====
Wilson Fisk found Bernie Walker on the streets, knocking down the signs his father, Bill Fisk, used for a campaign to be elected to the city council. Wilson tried to make Walker stop, but he attacked Wilson, breaking his lip with a punch and calling him a loser, just like his father.
====Mother and Father====
Wilson Fisk returned to his house with a broken lip, having been beaten in the street by one of his neighbors. His mother Marlene calmed him down and offered him a piece of Zuppa, as even if he was not hungry, eating it would make him feel better, and Wilson offered to share it with her.
Wilson asked his mother if she thought what Bernie Walker had been saying was true, but Marlene told him that he should not listen to people like Walker; what he should do is block them out.
Bill Fisk, Wilson's father, entered the room, and asked Wilson what had happened. Marlene tried to make Bill stay out of it, but Bill then complained that Marlene was feeding Wilson too much, which would make him get even fatter than he was.
Bill insisted on asking about what had happened, and Wilson revealed that Bernie Walker had been knocking Bill's signs down; when Wilson told him to stop, not only did he continue, but he attacked Wilson, calling both Wilson and Fisk losers. Bill angrily ordered Wilson to get his coat, and then they went to look for Walker.
====Hard Lessons====
Bill and Wilson Fisk found Bernie Walker on the street breaking bottles with a baseball bat. After making sure that it was actually Walker, Fisk asked him if he had been knocking down the signs he used for his political campaign. Walker did not hide the fact, as the election was over; Bill asked him if that gave him the right to destroy other people's property.
Walker remained silent, and Bill taunted him by saying that Walker had very much to say in front of Wilson. Bill vented his frustration at not being elected onto Walker, asking if he believed it was his fault that people did not see what Bill had to offer. Bill even dared Walker to call him a loser to his face.
Walker denied having called him a loser, but Bill then asked if he was calling Wilson a liar. Bill asked Wilson if Walker had called him a loser, and Wilson nodded. Bill told Wilson to speak louder, and Wilson assured him that Walker had indeed insulted him. Walker said that he had been simply repeating his own father's words.
Bill then grabbed Walker's shirt and confronted him again, asking if he considered it funny. Walker tried to release himself, hitting Fisk in the process. Fisk lost his temper, and threw Walker to the ground when he tried to attack him with the bat. Despite Wilson shouting for him to stop, Bill hit Walker with the bat and kicked him, daring him to say something funny.
Bill told Wilson to come and then explained that people like Walker would want to keep him down and afraid, so he should show them that it would never happen. Bill ordered his son to kick Walker, and he tried to refuse. Bill told him not to look at him the same way his mother did, and ordered him again to kick Walker.
Wilson kicked Walker, who was groaning on the ground with pain, and Bill ordered Wilson to kick him again. Wilson complied, and kept kicking Walker while his father ordered him to do it harder.
====Murder of Bill Fisk====
Bill Fisk ordered his son Wilson to stare at a blank wall and think about the man he wanted to be until he came back from an errand, reminding Wilson that he was destined to be a king. Marlene, Bill's wife and Wilson's mother, asked Bill where was he going so late at night, but he simply said he needed to take care of something.
Upon Marlene's insistence, Bill revealed he was going to talk to Don Rigoletto about the money he owed, and Marlene scolded him for taking the money in the first place. Bill lost his temper and hit Marlene, throwing her to the floor, and grabbed his belt to keep hitting her, while blaming her and Wilson for his failures.
Marlene begged her husband to stop, but Bill ordered her to shut up while he kept hitting her. Bill continued to blame her, saying that everyone looked at Wilson and laughed at him. He blamed Marlene for not believing in him.
Wilson, who had been hearing everything and crying while looking at the wall, grabbed a hammer and ordered his father to stop. Bill taunted Wilson, asking him what he was thinking of doing with the hammer; Wilson put it down. However, as soon as Bill looked away to mock him, Wilson hit his father in the head with the hammer, knocking him to the floor, smashing his skull, while yelling the same words that his father yelled at him when Bill made Wilson kick their neighbor Bernie Walker.
Marlene rushed to embrace her son, telling him everything would be all right, while Wilson stared at the wall. Marlene told Wilson to get a saw, and proceeded to undress Bill's corpse, giving the cufflinks he was wearing to Wilson. Marlene covered Bill's body in plastic and cut him into pieces.
Over the following week, Marlene and Wilson carried Bill's remains hidden in bags to the river, while most people simply assumed that Bill had left the city due to his debts to Rigoletto.
===Matt Murdock's Youth===
====Dirty Money====
Matt Murdock watched on television one of his father's boxing matches against an opponent named Price. The commentators explained how Jack Murdock had dominated the fight but Price was able to overcome him, appearing as if Murdock was not even defending himself, until the referee stopped the fight and Murdock lost the match. Matt turned off the television and went to the kitchen and waited for his father to return home, falling asleep over the kitchen's table.
Jack returned home, waking Matt up as he closed the door, who ran to embrace him. Jack asked his son to be careful and to not get blood on his shirt. Matt told his father that he should have kept his gloves up.
Matt asked an obvious question about his father's injuries, and Jack jokingly answered that it certainly did not tickle, right before asking his son to get the first aid kit to treat his injuries.
While preparing to clean the wounds, Matt told his father that Price was a bum, but his father seriously told him that everyone who stepped into a ring deserved respect. Matt clarified that he was sorry that his father lost the match, and Jack asked him to be careful while cleaning the wounds.
Jack realized the injury would need stitches, so he asked Matt to get the Scotch, prompting his son to take a sip in order to stop his hands from shaking like the last time he had to apply stitches. Matt tasted the drink, and described it as it burning through his throat.
Now ready, Matt began to sew up the wound and his father asked if he watched the fight, given that Matt should have been doing his homework. Matt intended to finish it the following day before school, but his father insisted that he should finish that night.
Matt asked his father if he would have enough money for their landlord, Morris, so Jack showed him an envelope filled with money. Matt was surprised that his father got all that money for losing, and he explained that sometimes, even when getting knocked down, he could still win.
Father and son uttered a quote in unison, "It ain't how you hit the mat, It's how you get up". Jack then told his son to return to his homework. Matt jokingly asked if he could keep the bottle, and Jack was left alone in the kitchen, looking at the money and thinking about what he had to do to obtain it.
====Matt Murdock's Accident====
Matt Murdock, a young 9-year-old kid, witnessed a car accident in the streets of New York City. He ran to push an old man out of the road, saving his life in the process. However, the young boy was hit in the eyes by a chemical hazardous material that was slowly blinding him.
Jack Murdock, the boy's father, arrived at the place of the accident, looking for his son, and soon realized that his son had been affected by the accident. Jack rushed to Matt's side while some men were comforting him saying that help was already coming. Jack asked his son not to move while crying for help, and Matt was not aware of what just happened to him. Jack witnessed the full scope of the accident surrounding them, and the man that Matt saved told Jack how his son saved his life by pushing him out of the way.
Matt started to complain about how he felt his eyes were burning, and though Jack told him to close his eyes as he tried to clean the substance from his face, Matt soon realized he could not see anymore.
====Hospital Recovery====
Matt Murdock got up in a hospital room at Metro-General Hospital, with his father Jack by his side, following the car accident where Matt lost his sight. Matt was scared, crying out loud that he could not see, and even more because his now enhanced senses where overwhelming him.
Jack tried to calm his son, saying that he was by his side, and prompted Matt to touch his face so that he could feel his presence. Matt could not calm himself, and despite his father's efforts, he continued to shout that he could not see.
====Time to Work====
Jack Murdock returned to his house following a boxing match, and found his son Matt asleep over the table, as he had fallen asleep while waiting for his return.
Jack woke Matt up and prompted him to finish his homework. Matt told his father that he was tired. Jack answered that he should study in order to not be like his father, as Jack never studied and his life was very tough. Jack inadvertently told Matt to look where not having studied got him.
Jack quickly realized his words were not adequate, given his son had been recently blinded in an accident. Jack grabbed Matt's hand and made him touch his beaten face, asking him to get to work.
====Rigged Fights====
Jack Murdock was training at Fogwell's Gym while his son Matt paid attention to the fight. Murdock's trainer gave him advice on how to move while he was sparring, until he was knocked down and the bell rang, marking the end of the bout.
Jack approached his son Matt, who was reading in Braille in order to get used to the system. Matt asked his father about the sparring match, who explained that he had managed to tag his opponent more than once, but his opponent was faster than expected.
Jack then asked Matt what it was like to read in Braille, and Matt explained that each letter was a combination of six possible dots in a pattern, so it was necessary to feel what was there and what was not. Jack did not follow, so Matt tried to explain it with an example his father could understand about boxing, as sometimes the boxer could know where a punch is going to land before it's thrown. Jack said he clearly did not know, making both of them laugh.
Matt explained that he was starting to fluently understand Braille, although he still confused some letters with others. He explained that Braille was created in French, so letters that do not appear in French were added later.
Roscoe Sweeney and Sammy Silke entered the gym looking for Jack, who made a sign with his hand to ask them to wait while he was still speaking with his son. Jack then told Matt that in a couple of months he would be reading Braille faster than Jack could read normally, something that Matt claimed he already did. Jack then asked him to wait for him while he dealt with Sweeney and Silke.
Sweeney and Silke gave Murdock their condolences for the accident that caused his son Matt to become blind, but then started making inappropriate comments about having more sons. Murdock directly asked the two men the reason they wanted to speak to him, and Silke offered Murdock a match against Carl Creel.
Murdock was surprised that they had obtained a match against such an important opponent, and Silke attributed it to Sweeney's persuasiveness. Murdock was extremely thankful for such an opportunity, but then Silke explained that the fight was going to be rigged, and they would obtain a large sum of money if Murdock lost in the fifth round.
Matt overheard the conversation just as Sweeney and Silke believed it was a great opportunity for Murdock, but he then refused the offer. Sweeney could not believe that Murdock just refused. Murdock showed gratitude for what they had done for him, but explained that he had other things to worry about while looking at his son, Sweeney covertly threatened him.
Silke said that Murdock should think about his own family, as these opportunities would be good for his son, and Sweeney added that the money he would obtain would be the only thing he could leave him when he died. Murdock seemingly accepted, and repeated out loud the conditions of the rigged fight upon Silke's request.
====Being Murdocks====
Matt Murdock read in Braille a fragment of 's acceptance speech for the Liberty Bell Award as part of his homework. His father, Jack Murdock was impressed to hear it, as either Matt was actually reading the speech, or simply making it up was an impressive feat. Matt explained that it was from Thurgood Marshall, though his father believed that Marshall was the starting centerfielder for the Mets.
Jack opened a package that contained the robe and gear he was going to wear for his boxing match with Carl Creel. Matt asked how it looked, and Jack responded by saying it was really red. Matt asked for permission to touch it, and his father extended the robe so that Matt could touch the letters embroidered with his nickname, "Battlin' Jack Murdock".
Matt, impressed by the robe, told his father that the good thing about red was that the opponent could not tell how much he was bleeding, but Jack told him that he was not planning to get hit. Matt told him they were Murdocks, and they got hit a lot, but they always got up again.
====Change of Heart====
Jack Murdock was moved by the words that his son Matt said about the men in their family getting hit but always getting up, and decided to win his boxing match against Carl Creel although it had been rigged by Roscoe Sweeney to make Murdock lose so that Sweeney could earn a large sum of money.
Murdock went to Fogwell's Gym and phoned his friend Ed, a bookie, asking him to switch the bet he had placed, and to wager all his money on himself as winner by knockout against Creel. Murdock advised Ed to get the money from the bet as quickly as possible, and then give it to Lloyd Wagner, transferring it to an account at M&R Credit Union in his son's Matt's name.
Murdock also told Ed to lay low for some days after the fight, knowing it could be dangerous as the fight was supposed to be rigged and Sweeney and his associates would lose money for their bets. Ed asked Murdock if he could do anything for else for him, but Murdock simply said he had everything covered and there was no need to worry about him.
Murdock then phoned a woman and left a message on her answering machine. Murdock explained in the message that he was about to do something that could end very badly for him, telling the woman that his son Matt would need her more than ever. Murdock asked her to look after Matt, as he was a good kid, something that he did not get from his father.
Murdock got emotional, saying that things were better that way, and he wanted his son to hear people cheer for his father just once. Murdock hung up the phone and went to prepare for his boxing match later that evening.
====Boxing Match====
Jack Murdock prepared for his match against Carl Creel, getting into the ring with a crowd cheering loudly for him.
During the fight, Creel got the upper hand, hitting Murdock until he retaliated, cornering Creel and landing one punch after another. Creel seemed to be stunned, with the commentators admitting to not expecting a ferocious retaliation from a seasoned boxer like Murdock. Creel was eventually knocked out, and Murdock was declared winner.
Murdock's son, Matt, heard the whole fight on television, cheering for his father and feeling proud when he won the match.
Murdock ran to the locker room to get out the place fast to try to avoid the consequences from not throwing the match like Roscoe Sweeney asked him to do, but he took a moment to enjoy how the crowd was cheering for him at least once in his life.
====Assassination of Jack Murdock====
Matt Murdock woke up at the kitchen's table, where he usually waited for his father Jack to return from his boxing matches. The sound of what seemed to be a gunshot startled Matt, and he left the house to look for his father.
In the vicinity, he found two police officers cordoning off an area where a man had been killed. Officer Ray Peters tried to prevent Matt from entering, but his colleague realized Matt was blind, and let him enter upon hearing Matt say that the man that had just been killed may be his father.
Matt approached the corpse, and began to call for his father, touching his face to make sure it was him, and continuing to call for his father despite obtaining no response.
====Overwhelming Gifts====
Matt Murdock was placed in the Saint Agnes Orphanage after the death of his father. While living there, his heightened senses developed so much they frequently overwhelmed him, especially all the things he heard.
|Matt Murdock overwhelmed by sounds
One day, a man named Stick arrived at the orphanage, as one of the nuns was able to locate him, having heard about his work with special children. The nun explained that Murdock's problems were less severe at first, but they were becoming worse and causing him pain.
Both doctors and clergy had no idea of what happened to Murdock, and Stick explained he could help him, but not for free. The nun assured Stick that his father left a large inheritance, and Stick asked about Murdock's mother. The nun only said that she was not dead but it was another story.
Stick and the nun arrived at Murdock's bedroom, and he got rid of the nun by asking her to make his check out to cash. Stick then spoke to Murdock, saying that while everyone else believed the boy was getting worse, he was actually getting stronger. To demonstrate it, Stick threw his keys to Murdock, who easily caught them, and then told him to start with his training.
====Training Offer====
Stick took Matt Murdock to a park and bought a pair of ice cream cones to start asking him questions and evaluate if Murdock was worthy of being trained. Stick told Murdock to eat the ice cream and shut up while he asked some questions. Stick first explained that nobody felt sorry for him, because he was born very lucky.
Murdock sarcastically asked if he was; Stick reminded him to shut up. Stick asked the age at which Murdock was blinded, then commented that Murdock had the possibility of looking at movies, the blue sky and what was under girls' skirts for nine years that he did not have, as he was born blind.
Stick then told the boy that he was not killed by the truck that hit him during the accident, but just blinded by a chemical substance that burnt his eyes. At Stick's request, Murdock explained that, following the accident, he began to hear distant things, to sense the location and movement of things, but he was unable to see.
Stick explained that those abilities were called gifts that very few people had or deserved, and Murdock noticed he never thought of them that way. Stick blatantly called him stupid, and that being smart had nothing to do with being able to, for example, learn how to read Braille. For Stick, being smart was making the right decision at the right time.
Stick prompted Murdock to choose between spending his whole life crying and rocking until he slept every night, or digging deep and beginning to use his gifts to his advantage. Murdock was silent, and Stick complimented him for making a good choice.
Murdock explained that it was the first time somebody bought him ice cream since his father died. Stick then prompted him to use his gifts to taste it beyond the obvious vanilla flavour. Stick smelled the ice cream, and was able to notice sugar grains, vanilla beans and milk from three different dairies from two different states. Upon tasting it, he also noticed a few chemical substances and some dirt due to the ice cream vendor gardening that morning.
Stick began to ask Murdock about their surroundings, and the boy was able to know that a nearby dog was hungry and eager to eat the hot dogs a man was carrying. He also noticed a girl whose skin was hot and whose heart beating fast. Stick explained that it was because she was in love. He also noticed an old man that was dying, though Stick commented that he could do nothing about it.
Stick seized the opportunity to explain that the world was filled with bad things, so they needed to find a way to survive in it.
Murdock then asked for permission to ask a question, and then he asked how Stick was able to find him. Stick told him that the nuns at the Saint Agnes Orphanage thought it was their idea. However, he did not fully explain it, as he simply suggested that maybe that was one of his gifts, or maybe Murdock was lucky.
Murdock asked Stick if he was going to help him, but Stick offered to train him instead, to control his gift and to fight. Murdock told him that his father did not want him to fight, but Stick pointed that his father was not there, and he would need skills for the upcoming war, though he did not explain anything else about it.
Murdock then asked something he had not done earlier, as he noticed he did not even know his name, so he asked what should he call him.
====Stick's Training====
=====Time for a Change=====
Stick began to train Matt Murdock and teach him how to fight. During one of his lessons, Stick tried to spark Murdock's will to fight, grabbing his arm and hurting him. Stick prompted Murdock to stop him. He could not, so he told him to quit. Murdock answered that Murdocks never quit, but Stick threw him to the floor.
Stick told Murdock to beat him, but he just called him a bully. Stick reminded the boy that the world was full of them. He asked him if he was going to do something about it. Murdock started attacking Stick, but the man was able to the evade all of the boy's movements. Stick told him that his heart was not enough, and the he needed to control his rage.
Murdock believed that Stick considered anger a weapon. Stick clarified that though anger was a spark, rage was like a wildfire out of control, as useless as Murdock lying on the ground. Murdock tried to retaliate, but Stick knocked him down again and mocked him saying that he thought Murdocks never quit.
Murdock started to cry, blaming himself for the death of his father, as he had been paid for losing his match against Carl Creel, but his son wanted him to win, so he did and was killed because of it.
Stick told him that his father did not return and never would, and everyone had to pay for their own choices. Stick explained that maybe Jack Murdock fought for his son or for himself, but the only thing to be sure about was that he was gone. On the other hand, Stick was there for him. He prompted young Murdock to get up and start giving beatings instead of taking them.
As Murdock got up, Stick taunted him, asking him to show him that he was not wasting his time. Murdock attacked Stick, who ended up grabbing him in exactly the same way as before.
=====Final Lesson=====
Stick and Matt Murdock continued training, with Stick having taught his young student how to fight using a pair of wooden sticks. While they fought, Stick ordered Murdock to recite some of the lessons he had learned, such as the mind rules the body, the body is oneself's strongest weapon, and the connection between mind and body was that the mind controlled the body, the body controlled the enemies, and the enemies did not control anything by the time thy had finished with them.
Stick then reminded him that fighting was just the start and he needed to control his feelings by meditating, which would made him stronger, more focused and would allow his wounds to heal faster. Murdock asked if it was true that he could do that by meditating, and Stick told him that it was the reason he was still alive.
Murdock promised to learn, and Stick told him that the following day they would start training with knives. Before he left the room, Murdock offered Stick a bracelet he made from the wrapper of the ice cream that Stick bought him the day they met.
Stick squeezed the bracelet and coldly told Murdock that his training was over, as he could not help anymore. Murdock was shocked to hear that, and asked for a reason. Stick only told him that he expected too much of Murdock, and left New York City, not meeting Murdock again for 20 years.
===Matt Murdock's College Years===
====Roommates====
Foggy Nelson was inside his room at Columbia University trying to enroll in a couple of courses for his first year at the university. Matt Murdock knocked at the door and asked if that was room 312. Not paying attention, Nelson asked who Murdock was looking for, but he quickly apologized when he realized Murdock was blind.
Murdock hoped his blindness would not be a problem, and Nelson then realized that Murdock was his new roommate. They introduced themselves to each other, and Nelson recognized Murdock's name. He asked him if he happened to be from Hell's Kitchen. As they were both from the same neighborhood, Nelson happened to be familiar with the story about how Murdock saved a man that was crossing the street when he was a kid.
Murdock dismissed the fact saying that he simply did what anyone else would have, but Nelson called him a hero, especially because his eyes were removed due to the accident. Murdock clarified they were not, and Nelson was relieved because that would be freaky. Murdock was glad that Nelson did not treat him as if he were made of glass like most people did.
Nelson then pointed how good-looking a guy Murdock was, and seeing that Murdock was misunderstanding, he clarified that he would be able to attract a better class of girl with Murdock as his wingman. Nelson was sure that Murdock would help him to have possibilities with women he only dreamed of, comparing them to Maverick and Goose from .
They were interrupted when Nelson's laptop made a sound, as his request to enroll in Punjabi had been accepted. Murdock was surprised that someone was taking Punjabi and Nelson said that there were 130 million people speaking that language. Murdock believed there was another reason for enrolling, and he guessed Nelson was interested in a girl.
Nelson said doing that was precisely what he had been talking about, having no secrets between them like Maverick and Goose. However, Murdock stated that in the movie Goose died and he was married. Nelson considered those mere details.
Nelson then invited Murdock to a place he knew to get a cup of coffee, that happened to be usually filled with attractive women. The two new friends left the room and began a friendship that would last for years.
====Graduation====
During their last year at Columbia University, Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock went on to celebrate their upcoming graduation. They got drunk while doing so. While walking around on campus, Nelson took Murdock's cane and jokingly mocked him a little. Laughing, Murdock told him that most people called him "Matt Murdock" instead of "Blind Matt Murdock". Nelson said that he did not look like most people, and being unable to see him at that moment was a blessing.
Murdock was worried that they should be studying, but Nelson prompted him to take a night off, as he was going to graduate summa cum laude. Murdock told Nelson he would graduate with that honor if he had taken less nights off. Nelson said that despite that, they were going to be upstanding members of the legal profession.
Nelson then tried to highlight that fact in Spanish, a language that Murdock had studied, asking him how "lawyers" were said in Spanish. However, Nelson misunderstood the "abogados" and claimed they were going to be great avocados. Murdock began to laugh at the mistake, and told Nelson he should have taken Spanish with him instead of Punjabi just to chase a girl.
Nelson claimed Punjabi was the language of the future, and then admitted the girl he had been chasing was hot. Murdock dared him to say that in Punjabi, and after stammering a little, Nelson was unable to say a word in that language.
Nelson was also aware that Murdock took Spanish to be with a Greek girl, though Murdock tried to dismantle that theory by saying that if he had done that, he would have taken Greek instead. However, Nelson correctly pointed that the girl already spoke Greek, and asked what happened with her. Murdock explained that it did not work out, as often happened, but the only thing he was looking for in a woman was for her to be someone he liked listening to.
Nelson and Murdock sat in a set of stairs, and while Nelson proposed to rest a little before going to look for hamburgers and more drinks, Murdock preferred just the hamburgers. Nelson asked if he felt dizziness due to the alcohol while being blind. Murdock explained it was about equilibrium, not sight. Murdock began to explain that the spins for worse for him because of his enhanced senses, but stopped himself so that he wouldn't reveal his secret.
Murdock revealed he was nine years old when he first drank alcohol, as his father gave me a sip of Scotch so that his hands did not shake while Murdock stitched a wound he sustained during a boxing match that he lost.
Nelson was sure that his father would be proud of Murdock, as he did what he wanted, to study and not get into fights like his father did. Nelson revealed that his own mother wanted him to be a butcher. All his family was going to his graduation, as it was very unusual that a Nelson did not end up working in the fields of hardware or meat.
They began to talk about their future careers as lawyers, with Nelson wanting to gain money. Murdock asked if that was everything he cared about, and he said that no, he also cared about truth and justice, but there was nothing bad in gaining a couple of bucks.
Nelson told Murdock they would have fancy offices with steel, glass and chairs they would not know how to sit in. He proposed they start their very own law firm, Murdock and Nelson, Attorneys at Law. Murdock then said that Nelson and Murdock sounded better, as his hearing was spectacular. Nelson then continued with his earlier joke, and he told Murdock they were going to be the best avocados the city has ever seen. They returned to their room to sleep and prepare for another day.
===Returning Home===
As an adult, Tony Stark created the A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. as an homage to his faithful butler, and installed it in his father's mansion as what he called a force of habit, to feel the presence of Edwin Jarvis in the mansion once again.
===Obadiah Stane's Visit===
Obadiah Stane went to New York City for a Board of Director's meeting for Stark Industries to discuss Tony Stark's decision to end weapons manufacturing. At Stane's urging, the board claimed that Stark had post-traumatic stress. They agreed that Stark was not acting in the company's best interest. The board agreed they would push Stark out of the company. Stane recognized that Stark would be upset at the decision, so he brought pizza from the city and returned to tell Stark the news.
During one of the nostalgic visits to his childhood home, Stark received a petition from the United States Air Force to return to Afghanistan as Iron Man to clean a -infested desert.
===Stark Expo Opening Ceremony===
Tony Stark flew over New York City, only to land in the scenario of the Stark Expo and host its opening ceremony for a cheering crowd. Stark praised his own achievements as Iron Man, bringing the longest uninterrupted period of world peace. He talked about the purpose of the Stark Expo, the importance of their legacy, as organizations from all over the world would join efforts for the sake of a better future.
While displaying his father's opening for the Stark Expo made in 1974, Stark went backstage to check his blood toxicity, having discovered that the Palladium core of the Arc Reactor in his chest was slowly killing him.
Reporter Chess Roberts covered the event, informing that the Expo would be opened for a full year, and she would visit the pavilions, attractions and inventions presented to cover the news.
Stark abandoned the Expo escorted by his bodyguard, Happy Hogan, while attending fans, signing autographs and greeting Larry Ellison and Larry King, coming across a beautiful woman standing by his car. The woman turned out to be a U.S. Marshal, who was waiting for him to give him a subpoena for the Senate Armed Forces Committee in Washington, D.C., and Stark, upset for the inconvenience, departed for Washington driving his own car.
===Hammer Industries===
Justin Hammer took Ivan Vanko to the Hammer Industries Headquarters, having offered him an agreement of mutual collaboration to take advantage of the knowledge demonstrated when constructing the armor used to attack Tony Stark in Monaco. Hammer showed the multiple prototypes of an armor similar to the ones used by Stark as Iron Man. Vanko easily hacked Hammer's software, and stripped off the head of one of the armors, despite Hammer's warnings of its cost.
Vanko asked Hammer's intentions, that wanted to assure himself a position as the Department of Defense Primary Systems Contractor at the Pentagon for over 25 years, while humiliating Stark for his role in suspending his contract after revealing his attempts to create an armor before the Senate Armed Forces Committee Washington, D.C..
Vanko seemingly agreed with this plan, and for the next few days, he worked on improving Hammer's armors, transforming into Drones. Vanko managed to convince Hammer of the change as people may give problems, reluctantly accepting as he warned Vanko that the drones should be amazing.
Vanko was also secretly working in an improved armor for himself, and lied to Vanko saying that the Drones wouldn't be operative for the Stark Expo event, saying only a presentation would be available, but not a full demonstration. Infuriated, Hammer returned to his Headquarters, and given that Vanko didn't fulfill his part of the agreement, took away his belongings and confined him with two security guards. Vanko easily killed the guards, and called Stark, threatening him to destroy him just as Howard Stark destroyed his family.
===Battle at Stark Expo===
Justin Hammer hosted his own weapons demonstration at the Stark Expo, with the name "In Defense of Peace", an event attended by military and civilian authorities, including Pepper Potts as the new CEO of Stark Industries.
He seized the opportunity to criticize Iron Man for not sharing his technology with the rest of the world, and, in order to avoid the loss of human lives in the battlefield, he presented his new lines of Hammer Drones, each one representing a branch of the United States Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Adding that, despite this advancement, human presence would be necessary, he presented the War Machine Armor and its pilot, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes.
Tony Stark arrived at the Expo amongst a thunderous applause of the attending crowd, intending to evacuate the civilians in response to Vanko's threats, and to question Hammer about his collaboration with Vanko. Before he could obtain any response, Vanko remotely controlled War Machine Armor and the Hammer Drones to attack Stark.
Pepper Potts accessed the backstage to check the situation, overhearing that someone was controlling the drones from another location, hampering the technicians from regaining control of the situation. Potts' assistant Natalie Rushman, the undercover identity of S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff coerced Hammer into confessing the identity of the responsible, Ivan Vanko, and his location, departing to Hammer Industries Headquarters while Potts called the police.
Iron Man battled the armies of drones while avoiding War Machine's shoots to not harm his friend, while the drones started attacking the Expo to fulfill Vanko's desire of destroying Stark's legacy, endangering civilians in the process.
Happy Hogan accompanied Romanoff to Hammer Industries, and started fighting the first guard while Romanoff easily defeated the rest, clearing the path to Vanko's control room. Vanko, having been informed of the security breach, deployed the remaining drones and activated his own armor.
Romanoff found that Vanko was gone, rebooted the system to give Rhodes control of his armor, in time to avoid it killing Stark, and inadvertently let Pepper Potts know of Stark's disease. Nick Fury ordered Romanoff to hack Hammer Industries mainframe to check the developments made by Justin Hammer, in order to take the worthy technology and destroy the rest before the authorities arrived.The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
Iron Man and War Machine then got surrounded by the Hammer Drones, battling them until Stark unleashed a laser weapon that tore the drones in half. Romanoff warned them that another signal was approaching, and both Stark and Rhodes witnessed the arrival of Whiplash.
Vanko's new armor resisted all the attacks launched to him, and he gained the upper hand, managing to constrain Stark and Rhodes with the whips of the armor. Seeing no other way, Stark and Rhodes mutually attacked them other with their repulsors, causing an explosion right at the spot where Vanko was standing. Vanko activated the self-destruct mechanism in his armor and the drones, causing a series of explosions in the complex that almost killed Pepper Potts, rescued by Stark in the nick of time.
Potts and Stark started arguing in a nearby rooftop, with Potts wanting to resign from her position as CEO of Stark Industries, given the amount of stress she suffered during her first days. Stark thanked her for her help in overcoming a difficult moment for him, and the two finally kissed.
Rhodes, who was on the rooftop for the whole time, informed Stark that he was going to keep the armor despite Stark refusal, and departed leaving the couple alone.
===Cure of Bruce Banner===
Bruce Banner and Betty Ross traveled to Grayburn College in New York City, seeking the assistance of cellular biologist Dr. Samuel Sterns, a man who remotely assisted Banner during his attempts to find a cure for his transformations into Hulk.
Banner and Betty Ross found a road blockade near the entrance of New York, as the United States Armed Forces tracked Banner's conversations with Sterns, and figured out they would eventually meet. In order to bypass the blockade, Banner and Betty managed to enter New York in a small boat.
To avoid stressful situations for Banner and not trigger his transformations, they decided to avoid the subway and take a taxi instead. However, the taxi driver turned out to be very aggressive, and they had to continue on foot.
Betty Ross approached Sterns when he was exiting Grayburn College, and introduced herself as Elizabeth Ross, with Sterns recognizing her name as a colleague in the field of cellular biology. She then told Sterns that someone wanted to meet him, Mister Green, the online alias of Bruce Banner, a discovery that startled Sterns, as he had questioned the actual existence of a man with such a latent power inside him.
Accompanying Sterns to his laboratory, Banner and Betty learned that Sterns had developed a possible antidote, but he wasn't unsure if it could cure Banner's condition, or merely reverse an individual transformation. Also, an overdose of the antidote
could kill Banner.
Despite the risks, Banner agreed to test Sterns' antidote and was restrained to electrically induce his transformation, Sterns transfused the cure while Betty tried to calm a restrained Hulk, and he successfully returned to his normal self. Exhilarated by the success of the antidote, Sterns unconsciously revealed there had been previous tests for the cure, and when demanded to answer how was that possible, Stern showed a large that large supply Banner's synthesized blood samples with the intention of using it to enhance the human condition to the next evolutionary level.
===Birth of Abomination===
A large unit commanded by General Thaddeus Ross gathered around Grayburn College, with the intention of finally capture Banner while distracted. Appalled by what Sterns had done and fearful of Hulk's power falling into the wrong hands, Banner attempts to convince Sterns to immediately destroy the blood supply but is shot by a tranquilizer from one of General Ross' snipers.
Emil Blonsky entered into Grayburn College disobeying Ross' direct orders, and confronted Banner in order to trigger his transformation. Realizing that he has been cured, both Banner and Betty Ross were taken into military custody.
Major Kathleen Sparr started questioning Samuel Sterns about his capability of reproducing the project. However, Sparr was killed by a mentally unstable Blonsky, who wanted to obtain the power of Hulk for himself. Sterns was coerced into subjecting Blonsky to a transfusion of Banner's synthetic blood. Sterns warned him that the combination of the Super Soldier Serum and the gamma radiation in the blood would be an unpredictable combination that could turn him into an "Abomination". Blonsky, less than concerned about this, forced Sterns into administering the transfusion. As Blonsky mutated into a monstrous giant, he knocked Sterns aside and an irradiated sample of Banner's blood-derivative dripped into an open wound on Sterns's temple, causing his cranium to mutate and expand.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Natasha Romanoff, who arrived to witness how Banner was taken into custody, entered into Grayburn College to make sure that Sterns didn't have any material to research on Banner's condition, witnessing how Blonsky emerged transformed into the Abomination.
===Duel of Harlem===
In an attempt to attract Hulk, the now transformed Blonsky went on a rampage through Harlem. While military and police forces attempt to confront the Abomination, General Ross was informed that Hulk was set loose in the streets in the same helicopter Banner and Betty Ross were being transported to a detention facility. Realizing that couldn't be possible, General Ross ordered the pilot to return to the area.
Banner, realizing that he was the only one who could stop the Abomination, convinced General Ross to release him. He jumped from Ross' helicopter as it hovered over the city, hoping the fall will stimulate his adrenal glands into triggering a transformation. Banner's plan succeeded and a brutal battle between Hulk and Abomination began.
General Ross tried to help Hulk using his helicopter's weapons, but Abomination managed to catch the helicopter mid-air and make its pilot lose control. Hulk, enraged by seeing Betty Ross endangered, managed to subdue Abomination by strangling him with a huge chain, without killing him after a plea from Betty. Abomination collapsed at the feet of General Ross, while Betty approached Hulk, who was forced to flee the scene after saying her name.
===Mutation of Samuel Sterns===
During the battle between Banner and Blonsky, Natasha Romanoff made her way through Grayburn College to investigate Samuel Sterns' status, finding him changed by his contact with Bruce Banner's blood.
Sterns, announcing he now became much more than what he was before, requested Romanoff's assistance in fulfilling the future of power and influence he had foreseen, by gathering his work and eluding the authorities.
Romanoff was slightly shocked when Sterns correctly guessed she was Russian, and that faint traces of her accent let him know that she was born in what was once Stalingrad, but while Sterns was promising to give her whatever she wanted or whatever was taken from her, Romanoff shot Sterns in the kneecap and called for a cleanup team.
Romanoff, on the rooftop of Grayburn College to mark the location for the cleanup team, witnessed the explosions and destruction caused by Banner and Blonsky during their fight.
===Liberty Island===
A few days after the battle between Bruce Banner and Emil Blonsky, Betty Ross spent hours in wondering about Banner's status, and received a "Low Battery" warning from her camera, displaying one of Banner's photographs.
===Rent Control===
Armand Tully acquired a series of apartments all over New York City and rented them for tenants. One of those apartments in Hell's Kitchen was rented to Elena Cardenas, who became a loved figure among her neighbours.
===Construction of Stark Tower===
Pepper Potts announced in a press conference that, after all damage resulting from the Stark Expo incident had been repaired at the expense of Stark Industries, the relationship between Stark Industries and New York would make another step towards the future.
Potts presented the plans for an structure acquired by Stark Industries, that would be transformed into the Stark Tower, the first completely clean energy-powered skyscraper in New York City, hoping it would become a model for future development in the city.
During the press conference, Tony Stark called Potts to congratulate her and told her that he was waiting for having a date with a bottle of . Potts told Stark that she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and told him she assumed that he remembered their date was the following night. Stark replied that he obviously remembered, as he was in Malibu altering one of his armors.
A few months later, Stark helped in the construction of the tower, lifting the giant letters in the front of the building as Iron Man, when James Rhodes contacted him to learn about the Ten Rings, responsible of his his kidnapping in Afghanistan. Stark told him that his investigations after confronting them at Gulmira led to nowhere, as the Ten Rings operated in autonomous cells, and the highest-ranking operative in each cell had one contact in another cell, but not with the overall leader.Iron Man 3 Prelude
===Return of Captain America===
====Awakening====
Captain America awoke from his 70 years of slumber in what seemed a hospital room in New York City. Realizing that it was a ploy due to the radio airing a baseball game he attended in 1941, he escaped to the streets of modern New York City.
Confused for the environment, Rogers was surrounded in Times Square, where Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., explained that the reason for the ruse was to facilitate his transition to the 21st century after nearly 70 years of sleep. Rogers was saddened to realize that everything and everyone he knew was most probably gone.
====Recruitment====
Nick Fury approached Steve Rogers while he was furiously doing boxing training, experiencing flashbacks of memories about the events prior to his freezing. Fury talked about his sleeping problems, and Rogers answered about how the world had changed in his sleep.
Fury asked Rogers about his experiences with the Tesseract, informing him about how Howard Stark was able to retrieve it, believing it could be a source of unlimited and sustainable energy for the world.
However, the Tesseract had been stolen by Loki, and Fury wanted Rogers to be part of a response team in case of need. Fury warned Rogers that if he agreed to participate, he had to be updated about many things. Rogers answered that few things could surprise him, and Fury bet that he was wrong.
While Rogers was leaving, Fury asked if there was something about the Tesseract that they needed to know immediately, and Rogers answer was that it should have been left at the bottom of the ocean.
===Lighting of Stark Tower===
Tony Stark finished installing the last piece of an Arc Reactor in the undersea wiring near New York City thanks to his Iron Man armor, in order to disconnect the newly constructed Stark Tower from the general electricity network, becoming the first self-sustained building in New York.
Stark contacted Pepper Potts while returning to the tower to tell her that she could turn on the light. Stark witnessed how the Tower got lit, and entered inside to celebrate with Potts.
J.A.R.V.I.S. informed Stark that agent Phil Coulson was trying to contact him, but Stark dismissed the call. Potts checked the energy levels of the tower were stable, and discussed with Stark how the idea about Stark Tower came from the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest. Stark suggested Potts that she must attribute herself a 12% percent of the merit, and although he tried to justify himself, Stark realized the comment was inappropriate.
Coulson called Stark again, annulling J.A.R.V.I.S.' protocols, and although Stark tied to dismiss him again, Coulson appeared in the tower, where Potts greeted him on a first-name basis to Stark's surprise.
As Coulson explained that his visit was not based on Stark's status as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., he thought it had to do with the Avengers Initiative, even although that project had been discarded and Stark had been deemed as unsuitable.
Coulson handed Stark a tablet containing files about the other candidates of the Avengers Initiative: Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and Thor, about the Tesseract and about Loki. Potts realized that she must leave Stark alone to let him focus in the task handed over by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Potts asked Coulson if he could take her to to go to Washington, D.C., and asked how things were going with Audrey Nathan, his cellist girlfriend, and Coulson informed her that she moved back to Portland.
===Battle of New York===
====Prelude====
Loki, during his quest to conquer Earth, chose Stark Tower in New York City as the place to open his portal for the Chitauri with the Tesseract, in order to publicly beat the Avengers an assert his authority over the world. Erik Selvig installed the device he created under Loki's control in the rooftop of Stark Tower, connecting to the Arc Reactor sustaining the tower.
Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower and was informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that the Arc Reactor had been disconnected, but the Tesseract was already activated. Stark asked Selvig to turn off the device, but Selvig said it was too late for it, so Stark tried to attack the device. The barrier surrounding the Tesseract knocked both Stark and Selvig down, breaking Loki's control over Selvig.
Stark descended to the penthouse of the tower to deal personally with Loki. Stark entertained Loki while J.A.R.V.I.S. prepared the Mark VII Armor. Stark offered Loki a drink, menacing him of how he should be afraid of the Avengers, as he pissed each and every one of them.
Loki tried to control Stark, but as the Scepter touched the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest, the reaction was not the one he expected, and he couldn't control Stark. Angered by his failure, Loki threw Stark off a window, and he was saved in the nick of time by the Mark VII Armor launched by J.A.R.V.I.S., who attached to him before hitting the ground.
Iron Man went to confront Loki again, this time in the name of Phil Coulson, knocking down Loki with an attack of his repulsor gauntlets.
====First Waves====
A portal to the Sanctuary was finally opened, and the first waves of the Chitauri began arriving on Earth above New York City. Iron Man managed to destroy the first Chitauri that crossed the portal, but their number soon proved to be more than Iron Man could handle alone.
The Chitauri began spreading through the area surrounding Stark Tower and attacking civilians, while Loki beheld the destruction they were causing. Thor arrived and ordered Loki to turn the Tesseract off, or he would destroy it. Loki went to attack his brother, battling on Stark Tower.
Iron Man contacted James Rhodes in order to obtain his assistance during the battle, but Rhodes was in Hong Kong at the moment, telling Stark that even flying at supersonic speed as War Machine, it would took him an hour to arrive.
Black Widow contacted Iron Man, having arrived in a Quinjet with Captain America and Hawkeye, and they assisted Iron Man destroying many Chitauri Chariots that were following him. Loki hit the Quinjet with a shot from his weapon, and they were forced to land near the tower.
The Avengers witnessed the arrival of the first Leviathan, a gargantuan beast used by the Chitauri as both warship and assault craft. Iron Man used J.A.R.V.I.S. to find a weakness on the Leviathan, and asked Captain America if Bruce Banner had arrived.
Thor tried to reason with Loki, asking him if he thought that madness would end under his rule. Loki seized to opportunity to stab Thor with a concealed knife. Outraged, Thor went to hit Loki, seemingly beating him into submission, but Loki managed to flee in one of the Chitauri Chariots, leaving his scepter behind, and began mercilessly attacking civilians.
Captain America went to rescue the endangered civilians, while Hawkeye and Black Widow repelled the group trying to ambush them. Captain America asked the officers of the New York City Police Department, overwhelmed by the situation, to evacuate civilians and contain the destruction within a perimeter.
He then returned to help Hawkeye and Black Widow to defeat the Chitauri on the ground, being joined by Thor after he tried to destroy the Tesseract, and by Banner, who arrived to New York in a little motorbike.
Iron Man, who unsuccessfully tried to harm the Leviathan, approached to the point where the others have reunited, with the creature following closely, asking for Banner's transformation. Banner approached the incoming Leviathan, and revealed his secret to control his transformations, he was always angry. Banner, now transformed into Hulk, stopped the creature with a single punch, allowing Iron Man to kill it with a missile shot to one of its now exposed weak points.
====Avengers Assemble====
With the defeat of the first Leviathan, Loki ordered to send the rest of the Chitauri army and Leviathans through the portal. The recently assembled Avengers went on to contain the invasion, with Captain America acting as the leader of the team and establishing a strategy. Hawkeye would control patterns and strays from a roof; Iron Man would contain the hordes within the perimeter; Thor would obstruct the portal, slowing the Chitauri down with lightning; Captain America and Black Widow would fight on the ground; Hulk's only orders were to smash.
Hulk fulfilled his orders, jumping to the building and smashing every Chitauri he came across, while Thor used the as a giant lightning rod to strengthen his lightnings and shoot them directly to the portal.
Hawkeye oversaw the situation from his position while killing every Chitauri he could, often telling Iron Man where he was needed most, and giving him advice having realized one of the patterns of the Chitauri when they turned while flying.
Hulk went to engage with another Leviathan, while Black Widow realized that they needed to close the portal soon. Captain America helped her to jump on a Chitauri Chariot to quickly ascend to Stark Tower. The rest of the Avengers continued to battle the Chitauri, while Hulk was able to kill the Leviathan with Thor's assistance.
Captain America went to rescue a large group of civilians trapped by a group of Chitauri, that intended to kill them with a bomb. Captain America defeated the Chitauri, and the civilians were rescued unharmed.
Loki began following Black Widow, shooting at her to prevent her from reaching the Tesseract, but Hawkeye was able to shoot him and knock him down from his vehicle, landing on Stark Tower. Hulk jumped to Stark Tower, and while Loki tried to exert his superiority as a god, Hulk savagely beat him.
Black Widow approached the Tesseract, and Erik Selvig, now free from Loki's control, revealed that the Scepter was the key to close the portal.
====First Defeats====
As the battle continues the Chitauri begin to gain the upper hand. Iron Man entered the mouth of another Leviathan, provoking a series of explosion inside that managed to kill it, but he was ambushed by a series of Chitauri when he landed in front of the Shawarma Palace; Hawkeye, having run out of arrows, jumped from the building using his last arrow as grappling hook, crashing into a window of the building; Hulk was ambushed by a large group of Chitauri, who began shooting him, rendering him unable to move as he was surrounded by the explosions caused by the shots; and Captain America was shot with one of the weapons while battling a group of Chitauri alongside Thor.
====Nuclear Missile====
The World Security Council decided to send a nuclear missile and make it explode in New York City to contain the Chitauri invasion, and although Nick Fury strongly objected and managed to prevent a F-22 Raptor from launching the missile, another jet was sent.
Iron Man was informed by Fury of the incoming missile, and flew to intercept it. Black Widow was about to close the portal, and while Captain America ordered her to do it, Iron Man told her to wait, as he planned to send the missile through the portal.
Iron Man knew that move would most likely end up with his death, and J.A.R.V.I.S. suggested contacting Pepper Potts, who was unable to answer the call as she was worried about him, watching the news about the Battle of New York. Using all his remaining energy, Iron Man ascended through the portal with the missile, losing power and consciousness as the missile destroyed the Chitauri Command Center.
====End of the Battle====
All the Chitauri and the Leviathans were killed when their connection to the Chitauri Command Center was severed, and the Avengers waited a few moments for Iron Man to cross the portal back to Earth before closing it.
Seeing that Iron Man would not be returning, Captain America ordered Black Widow to close the portal using the Scepter. Iron Man fell through the portal in the nick of time, but Thor noted that he was not slowing down.
Hulk jumped and caught Iron Man, saving his life, and managed to wake him up roaring upon his face. Iron Man asked what had happened, and Captain America informed that they won the battle.
Stark suggested taking a vacation and trying at a nearby establishment, but Thor noted that they had not finished yet. Together, the six Avengers went to confront Loki, who surrendered and now accepted the drink Iron Man offered him earlier.
The Avengers then gathered at the Shawarma Palace, eating quietly being exhausted for the battle.The Avengers Post-credits Scenes
James Rhodes arrived at New York, being unable to arrive earlier as he was ambushed by a Ten Rings cell in Hong Kong, and was surprised to see that the "situation" that made Stark call him for help, and that prevented backup for him in Hong Kong, was an alien invasion.
Rhodes tracked Stark's signal, and entered the Shawarma Palace, where Stark invited him to pull up a chair an eat with them.
====Item 47====
Forty seven registered alien objects fell from the sky when the portal was closed, rendered useless by the destruction of the Chitauri Command Center. One of the Chitauri Guns fell into the laboratory of unemployed scientist Benjamin Pollack and his girlfriend Claire Weiss.
Pollack managed to repair the weapon and planned a series of thefts using it across the East Coast, starting just five days after the Battle of New York. The use of the alien weapon caught the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D., who sent agent Jasper Sitwell to retrieve the weapons and neutralize Pollack and Weiss.
====Aftermath====
The following day, interviews and parades were made in New York City and all over the world to document the reactions to the Avengers and the Battle of New York, with the public massively supporting their role in saving the world.
The Avengers reunited at Central Park to see how Thor returned to Asgard with Loki and the Tesseract, escorted by a large crew of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Erik Selvig and Bruce Banner stored the Tesseract into an Asgardian containment case while Steve Rogers finally witnessed how HYDRA's weapon went out of human hands.
Thor said goodbye to Selvig, and the rest of the Avengers saw the two Asgardians as they departed using the Tesseract, and later parted ways going to different places.
Tony Stark returned to Stark Tower with Pepper Potts, planning to transform the tower into the headquarters for the Avengers, adapting it to the needs of each and every member.
===Volunteer Firefighters===
An engine team with a dozen volunteer firefighters was dispatched to New York City from Wrigley, Pennsylvania, in order to help in the aftermath of the Chitauri invasion. Adam Cross, Frank Whalen and Tony Diaz, three of these volunteers, found a Chitauri Helmet, and decided to keep it as a souvenir.
===Recovery of Erik Selvig===
Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis traveled to New York City from Norway, with Foster complaining that if S.H.I.E.L.D. told her what was happening, she could have helped shut down the portal above New York.
Foster and Lewis arrived at a Veteran Affairs Medical Center, where they found Erik Selvig recovering from his experience, and Selvig warned Foster that she was in danger, as Loki was inside his head, and now Loki knew about Foster. Foster asked about Thor's whereabouts, and Selvig, confused and traumatized for the experience, pointed to the stars, with Foster realizing Thor was gone. Foster and Lewis promised to take care of Selvig.
Foster climbed to the rooftop, looking at the stars, realizing that although Thor was on Earth, he didn't even left a message for her. When Lewis tried to comfort her, Foster told that every thought in her last year was about finding Thor again, but now she felt all her work was for nothing, so she was done with waiting for him.Thor: The Dark World Prelude
===Therapy Session===
Tony Stark retold the story of his battle against Aldrich Killian to his friend Bruce Banner, detailing the story from the beginning in Switzerland. As Stark was wrapping the story and thanking Banner for listening, Stark realized Banner had been sleeping since almost the beginning of the tale.
Banner excused himself as he was not a therapist and lacked the necessary temperament for it. Stark ignored this comment and began telling more stories of his life, much to the dismay of Banner who went to sleep again.Iron Man 3 Post-credits Scene
===Gathering of Fans===
Following the Battle of New York, Stark Tower become a gathering point for fans of superheroes, including many cosplayers. They hoped to see one of the so-called Heroes of New York.
Skye, a member of the Rising Tide, approached Stark Tower once in cosplay, although she did not easily admit the fact when questioned about it.
===Kidnapping of Sana Amanat===
Steve Rogers returned to his old neighborhood of Brooklyn, accompanied by fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, in an undercover mission assigned by Director Nick Fury regarding a piece intel obtained regarding a plan to kidnap S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Sana Amanat.
To maintain their cover, Rogers invited Romanoff to taste the best milk shake of the city, in an establishment that has been open since he was a kid before World War II. However, the establishment was a front for a mercenary group known as the Cadre, the organization planning to kidnap Amanat in the area that same day, and the waiter recognized Rogers and Romanoff for their role in the Battle of New York.
The waiter contacted the headquarters of his group, who were monitoring the arrival of Amanat to the . The mercenaries decided to verify Rogers and Romanoff's identities using face recognition software, that confirmed the waiter's suspicions.
Rogers and Romanoff went out of the diner for a walk, coming across numerous members of the Cadre disguised as civilians, tasked with observing but not engaging the two Avengers. Rogers remembered his childhood, telling Romanoff stories as they passed through spots where he spent his days, such as his old flat, or a former news vendor, now transformed into a gluten-free organic wraps stand. Romanoff asked if the walk provoked him to remember unhappy memories, and Rogers asked that, although melancholic, he was happy to see the good use was making of his neighborhood.
As Rogers and Romanoff entered a small alley, the mercenaries of the Cadre in the street were ordered to take them out. They followed Rogers and Romanoff into the alley, but the two Avengers, now in full costume assuming their identities of Captain America and Black Widow, ambushed them and easily defeated them. Rogers tried to call Brock Rumlow for backup, but they both found that the communications in the area had been jammed.
|Captain America and Black Widow in Brooklyn
Captain America and Black Widow tried to ask a group of paramedics inside an ambulance to use their radio to make contact, but were attacked by them as they were undercover members of the Cadre. Other members, such as the organic wraps vendor they saw earlier, or mercenaries inside the surrounding buildings, also attacked Rogers and Romanoff, and while they defeated the ones on the ground, they were forced to use the ambulance to flee the scene.
More mercenaries blocked their way with a garbage truck, and they entered inside one the alleys to climb to the rooftops and get above the broadcast jammer. Rogers checked his communications to realize they were still within the jammer's range, but noticed that the antenna at the local radio station had an unusual aspect.
Rogers jumped from the rooftop, crashing through a window into the headquarters of the Cadre, and he started battling the mercenaries followed by Romanoff, who joined the fight as well. As Romanoff realized they don't need the backup anymore,
Rogers interrogated the presumed leader of the Cadre, who revealed that they managed to delayed Captain America and Black Widow long enough for Amanat's motorcade to arrive and kidnap her so that she would be forced into developing weapons for the employer of the mercenaries.
Another group of Cadre mercenaries attacked Amanat with smoke bombs to facilitate the kidnapping, and although Captain America jumped to the street to fight the kidnappers, one of the mercenaries managed to apprehend Amanat and flee the scene. However, the mercenary got lost in the alleys of Brooklyn, and Captain America took advantage of his knowledge of the area to ambush him.
The mercenary threatened to kill Amanat, but Rogers advised him not to do it, as she was the only thing that was keeping him from being attacked by Rogers. Amanat stomped the mercenary, allowing Captain America to defeat him with a single attack.
Amanat went to hold a press conference where she publicly thanked Captain America and Black Widow, and praised his neighborhood of Brooklyn as a place where immigrants from all over the world felt at home for decades, and where the best milkshakes on Earth are served.
===Project Insight===
In 2014, New York City was one of the intended targets of Project Insight, as Tony Stark, now living at Stark Tower was deemed a threat for HYDRA's plans. The Insight satellites marked Stark as a candidate along numerous other individuals in New York City. The city was not shot as Captain America and his allies were able to change the intended targets and stop HYDRA in time.
===Interviewing Glenn Talbot===
George Stephanopoulos interviewed Brigadier General Glenn Talbot from his studios at New York City about his efforts to dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA. Talbot answered Stephanopoulos questions, saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were fugitives that deserved to be punished, as they were at least partially responsible of what Talbot described as the greatest intelligence collapse in history, so it was their duty to the American people to hunt down the responsibles.
Stephanopoulos clarified one of Talbot's earliest statements, about having S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and weaponry contained in a secure facility, and asked if that fact meant that both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the HYDRA had been defeated.
Talbot, knowing that there were still both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and HYDRA operatives, informed Stephanopoulos and the public that S.H.I.E.L.D., as a corrupt institution, had been dismantled, and explained the situation with a metaphor, comparing the agency with a cut down tree whose roots had been pulled out, but he still wanted to throw it on a bonfire.
===Attack on the United Nations===
Brigadier-General Glenn Talbot of the United States Air Force was invited to the United Nations Headquarters in order to give a speech about the threat to global security that S.H.I.E.L.D. still posed.
Talbot described S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first public appearance, during the Chitauri invasion of New York City that he personally witnessed. He denounced the organization, saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. abused the public trust as it gathered super-powered individuals, garnered extraterrestrial weapons and technology and built facilities all over the world, acting without regular supervision.
Italian representative Adamo Dioli protested Talbot's words, asking for proof on his allegations against S.H.I.E.L.D. While Dioli was speaking, a group of mercenaries led by Marcus Scarlotti, and disguised as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, burst into the room and Scarlotti himself threw a Splinter Bomb to Dioli, which instantly killed him disintegrated his body.
As the other delegates fled in terror, security guards tried to stop Scarlotti and his mercenaries, but he easily killed them, too. Talbot witnessed how the mercenaries attacked the security guards while staying behind and prompting the delegates to escape from the room.
Talbot went on to help a woman who had fallen to the ground, an opportunity that Scarlotti seized to taunt him saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. was done hiding, and attacking him with a Splinter Bomb. Talbot was able to escape, but he broke his arm while doing so.
===Senator Ward's Confession===
Almost two days after the attack at the United Nations Headquarters, Massachusetts Senator Christian Ward came to the same spot in order to make a speech as part of the deal he struck with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Phil Coulson.
Ward began his speech with words of respect to the men and women who died in the attack, intending to reveal the truth behind the attack. Senator Ward acknowledged the difference between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, explaining their existence as two separate organizations, the first dedicated to law enforcement, and the other towards world domination, despite the public had been lead to believe they were one and the same.
Senator Ward went on to reveal that his brother, Grant Ward, was a traitor and operative of HYDRA, and promised to personally bring his own brother to justice and make sure he would be punished for his crimes. Ward ended his speech warning the world about the threat that HYDRA still posed.
===Internship at Landman and Zack===
====Defending Roxxon Energy Corporation====
A team of lawyers headed by Parish Landman was hired to represent the Roxxon Corporation. The team, that included interns Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, filed a countersuit against a man that had previously accused the company of serious damages to his health.
In a meeting with that man and his lawyer, Landman announced that Roxxon denied any culpability in the diagnosis, and that they were going to pursue damages in order to defend Roxxon's patents as the man shared details of his work in a plant in Londonderry regarding the extraction and refinement process.
The man was surprised to hear that, and tried to explain that the only person he told anything was his doctor so he could guess what has happening to him. Murdock, who was able to hear the man's heartbeat from across the room, realized the man was telling the truth.
The man and his lawyer, realizing they could do nothing against such a big law firm, asked for a minute to discuss how to proceed.
====Quitting the Firm====
Foggy Nelson returned to the room where he worked with Matt Murdock as an intern at Landman and Zack, to tell him that, according to one of their colleagues, the firm was going to offer them an actual job as they were finishing their internship.
Nelson was excited about the new job, as they would not intern in a broom closet anymore and they would have their own office as they dreamed in college. However, Murdock had a stern look on his face that Nelson recognized. Murdock revealed he had been reading his favourite fragment of 's acceptance speech for the Liberty Bell Award. Nelson already knew what meant, and Murdock began to read it again despite having done it in front of Nelson many times before.
Murdock asked if what happened with the man that was accused of damages by the Roxxon Corporation was right since the company caused him a terminal illness. Nelson greed that it was not right. However,according to the law, Roxxon was right in defending itself if the man had disclosed trade secrets. Murdock knew the man did not reveal anything to anyone else than his doctor, but he could not prove it, so Murdock simply stated he had a feeling. Nelson reminded him that "feelings" were not admissible in a court.
Murdock simply asked Nelson if he wanted to be a part of the system that protected corporations from people that needed help, and Nelson proposed to enter into Landman and Zack and become partners. Murdock already guessed that plan, and it would mean changing the system from inside in 10 or 15 years while driving to work in Bentleys.
Nelson tried to convince him, saying that other interns would kill for the opportunity they had. Murdock guessed those were the kind of people they should not be working with. Giving up, Nelson emptied a box, explaining that he was going to steal as many bagels as he could, as with Murdock as a partner, he did not know when he would be able to afford a real meal.
Murdock laughed, and promised they would get by. Jokingly, Nelson prompted Murdock to go and save the world, calling him Mother Teresa, and the two friends bumped their fists.
===Vigilantism===
Matt Murdock began to hear a little girl crying because her father abused her each night while his wife was asleep. Murdock tried to prevent that from happening and called Child Services. The investigation could not prove anything, as the mother did not believe that her husband was capable of that, and the girl did not have any mark, so the man was not accused of anything.
Murdock, knowing that the situation would continue, followed the man until learning his routine and waited until he was alone and drunk near the train tracks. Wearing a black bandage around his eyes, Murdock attacked the man, and easily knocked him down. Murdock angrily beat the man, warning him that he would know if he touched his daughter again.
The man spent the following month in a hospital, having to eat through a straw due to his injuries, and Murdock, knowing he helped the little girl, slept better than ever.
===Beginning of Nelson and Murdock===
====Drawing the Future====
Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock met at Josie's Bar to discuss what to do with their careers. They recently quit Landman and Zack to create their own law firm. Nelson noticed that Murdock had some bruises on his face. He tried to ask about them. Murdock simply said that he was fine, but Josie, the owner, pointed out that he did not look fine.
Nelson said that even Josie was worried about him, though she claimed that she did not go that far. Nelson told him that he should be more careful, because he believed Murdock's lie that he fell to the floor while taking out the trash.
Nelson then finished a drawing on a napkin, and asked Murdock to check it with his fingers. Murdock only noticed a napkin, and as he claimed it was the future, he had to clarify that it was the drawing of a sign for their law firm "Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law".
Murdock asked Nelson if he was sure about it, and though he claimed he was not, he trusted Murdock. Murdock said that Nelson sounded as if they were getting married, but Nelson believed that business partnership was more important than a simple civil union. He said they would be sharing everything with each other: thoughts, dreams, bills and debt.
Murdock said that there was no one else he would rather do that with than Nelson, a feeling they both shared. Nelson asked Murdock to raise his glass, as he was going to clink it for Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law.
===Armand Tully's Illegal Eviction===
====Eviction====
Over time, Armand Tully wanted to evict all tenants from his apartments, including Elena Cardenas, and offered each tenant $10,000 to leave. Cardenas and other neighbours refused the offer, wanting to stay in their homes.
====Fake Repairmen====
Elena Cardenas requested a series of repairs at her apartment and called her landlord, Armand Tully, to send a couple of repairmen to perform the repairs. Tully seized the opportunity to force Cardenas and other tenants from their homes, as he wanted to transform low rent-controlled apartments into condominiums.
Joseph Pike and Stewart Schmidt arrived posing as repairmen, having been hired through Westmeyer-Holt Contracting, and began to destroy the apartments with sledgehammers, damaging the whole building, and leaving the tenants without water or electricity for days.
Cardenas tried to denounce Tully to the New York City Police Department, but they could not do anything, so she was advised by Bess Mahoney to contact a pair of lawyers she knew, Nelson and Murdock.
===The Man in a Black Mask===
====Claire Temple's Emergency Shift====
Claire Temple began to work as a nurse at Metro-General Hospital, being considered one of the best nurses at the emergency shift.
Temple began to hear stories about a man in a black mask that was attacking criminals and defending innocent people, having to treat three robbers brought by police officers after the man in the mask attacked them to prevent them from robbing tourists. In the next few days, Temple also treated a young waitress that had been attacked by a man who tried to force her into an alley until the man in the mask rescued her, saving her life.
Temple began to consider that man in the black mask a good man, not knowing she would meet him in person a few weeks later.
She also began to cat-sit for a co-worker who had left for Oklahoma to visit a sick brother, having the keys for Apartment 412 and going there twice a day to feed the cat.
====Spiked Drinks====
Karen Page, having discovered a file detailing financial misconduct at her place of employment, Union Allied Construction, tried to gain help from Daniel Fisher, a co-worker from the legal department who had always been nice to her.
Page and Fisher met at the Three Roads Bar on 49th Street, where they had a few drinks, but she started to feel like she had been drugged as she tried to reveal what she knew to Fisher 
She did not remember what happened afterwards until she regained consciousness in the morning.
====Penance and Forgiveness====
Matt Murdock went to Clinton Church in order to confess his sins with Father Paul Lantom. Murdock started his confession apologizing for waiting too long since his last confession, and explained that his father, Jack Murdock, used to come there when Matt was only a kid.
Murdock explained his father was an old school boxer that lost more matches than he won, but he was strong and could take the hits of his opponents, to the point his opponents said hitting him was like hitting oak and sometimes his strategies were only to let them hit until they broke their hands. Murdock admired his father for the way he was never knocked out, as every time he was knocked down, he always got back up, and was always on his feet when he lost.
Murdock continued explaining that his grandmother was the real Catholic in his family, and she had a saying of her own: "Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the devil in 'em." Sometimes, Murdock's father displayed that in the ring, with a way of moving and looking that made his opponents afraid, and he seized the opportunity to trap them in the corner, letting the devil out. Murdock explained how he recently began to understand what his father felt, something he did not understand when he was a kid.
Lantom did not understand what Murdock was trying to say, and asked him to tell what he had done. Murdock put his glasses on, and answered he was not seeking penance for something he had done before, he was asking forgiveness for what he was about to do. Lantom told him that a confession did not work that way, and asked Murdock what was he going to do before he left the cathedral.
====Rescue of Kidnapped Women====
Turk Barrett and a group of Russian thugs brought a group of kidnapped women to the docks in order to take them out of New York City. The terrified girls screamed for help, and Barrett told them to shut up. He explained that given he was going to receive $1,000 for each woman, he would let them have a bucket inside the container where they would be transported if they were quiet, threatening them with a cattle prod in case they did not.
The girls continued to scream in panic, asking the men not to do it, and Barrett taunted them to continue screaming, as nobody would hear them at the docks. However, the woman witnessed a man in a black mask above one of the containers. As Barrett turned around to see what had caught the women's attention, the man jumped down and attacked Barrett, knocking him down.
The man in the mask easily defeated Barrett and the rest of the thugs, even breaking one of the thugs' leg. The man in the mask heard Barrett reach for his gun, and easily dodged his gunshots, climbing into one of the containers and grabbing the cattle prod that Barrett previously had.
Barrett got up to kill the man, being misled by his quick footsteps, and the man ambushed him, using the cattle prod as a throwing weapon to knock Barrett down again. The man took the weapon to throw it at another thug that had been sitting on a chair the whole time, making him fall to the water. He then addressed to the kidnapped woman in order to let them know they were free, telling them to head towards 48th Street staying in the lights and explaining everything to the first officer they came across.
Barrett tried to kill the man again while he was talking to the women, but he was able to dodge the gunshot and disarmed Barrett, hitting him on the face until he lost consciousness, breaking Barrett's nose in the process.
====Morning Phone Call====
Foggy Nelson called his friend and partner Matt Murdock, in order to remind him that they had an appointment with a real estate agent in 45 minutes. Murdock was still in bed at his apartment, tired of the fight he had against Turk Barrett and a group of thugs the night before, and Nelson mistook his groans for a women moaning in the bed.
Nelson inquired if there was somebody with him in, and asked if she was a paralegal they previously met. Nelson stopped before letting him answer, saying that he did not want to hear about it, but he immediately told him that he actually wanted to hear everything. Nelson asked what was she like, to which Murdock, in order to hide the truth, only answered that it was violent.
Nelson was amazed about the ease that his friend had to date women, and wondered that he maybe had to pretend to be blind in order to date the same women that Murdock managed to get. Nelson then jokingly lied to him saying that Susan Harris, the real estate agent they were about to meet, was not his type, as she was very homely, so there was no need to be charming to her.
Nelson lied further saying that Harris even told him that blind people were one of God's mistakes. Murdock, knowing that Nelson was lying to him, said that it was a horrible thing to say, and Nelson ended the conversation saying he had to go and bribe a cop. Nelson quickly assured it was a joke in case the NSA was listening to their conversation, but then he reassured he was going to bribe a cop.
Nelson then headed to meet Brett Mahoney, a police officer he knew since they were both 4 years old, in order to give him cigars for his mother Bess. Mahoney told him that given he was an officer of the law and Nelson was a defense attorney, they were supposed to be enemies, but Nelson told him that given they had been enemies since their childhood, it was not their respective career choices' fault.
Nelson simply asked Mahoney to inform him about anything interesting he may hear at his police station, as it was nothing immoral, and given than Nelson acknowledged how was not a particularly good defense attorney, for Mahoney, helping Nelson would be like helping himself.
Mahoney asked Nelson to stop giving cigars to his mother, and then acknowledged that Nelson was right, their current relationship had nothing to with their careers. Nelson cheerfully thanked him as Mahoney left.
====Acquiring a Law Office====
Foggy Nelson met with Susan Harris in order to visit an office that Midtown Property Solutions was renting in an area of New York City that was affected by the Battle of New York. Nelson and his partner Matt Murdock wanted to establish the place as the law office of the firm that they were creating together, simply called Nelson and Murdock.
Harris explained how the office had a reception area, a conference room and two offices, with one of them having a view of the , and that Nelson and Murdock maybe should decide which one would get that office with a coin toss. Murdock arrived at that very moment, telling her that Nelson could have the view. Harris realized that Murdock was blind, and she quickly apologized.
Harris introduced herself and went on to shake hands with Murdock, but he did not realized the gesture and simply introduced himself in return. Harris, feeling awkward by the situation, simply curtsied, and Nelson explained to Murdock what she had just done.
Murdock asked Harris to walk him around the space in order to examinate the office, and she continued to explain the features of the office. Harris told them that it had been barely touched by the Incident, making it available on the market, though some of the neighbors were not so lucky.
Murdock wondered the reason to call what happened in 2012 as "The incident", and Harris explained that it sounded better than saying that death and destruction were raining from the sky and nearly wiped Hell's Kitchen off the map. Murdock agreed, saying that it was shorter
Nelson asked if the owner enjoyed the view of cranes and scaffolding, as he felt that the price of the office was the one that they would have asked before the whole incident, but Harris assured that the current price was a quarter of what it used to be, as Hell's Kitchen was on the rebound, and in 18 months that would be the price asked to rent broom closets.
Murdock quickly assured Harris that they would rent the office, though Nelson, still not sure, said that they would discuss it, as he was not sure they could afford it due to their current clientele policy. Murdock explained how they had a disagreement over the direction of their law firm, as he believed they had to defend the innocent, and Nelson believed that, as the law stated, the word "innocent" includes everyone not yet convicted of a crime.
Nelson kept defending his opinion, given that in order to work as defense attorneys, they need actual clients to pay their bills, instead of waiting for an large amount of innocent people to come to their arms. Murdock said that at that point, he would only need one.
====Union Allied Corruption Scandal====
=====Arrest of Karen Page=====
Karen Page woke up in the floor in her apartment, being horrified that her colleague Daniel Fisher was dead besides her, and the knife used to kill him was in her hands.
Two officers of the New York City Police Department entered the apartment and ordered Page to drop the knife. Page was scared and claimed she was not responsible for Fisher's death, but the two officers ordered her to get on the ground and arrested her, taking her to the 15th Precinct Police Station.
Right after Page was taken to the Police Station, Officer Brett Mahoney called Foggy Nelson in order to hand him his first case for his newly established law firm, Nelson and Murdock. Mahoney quickly explained that Page had been found at the scene of an homicide, something that would be interesting, just as Nelson asked him.
Nelson asked Mahoney if the woman had been charged, but the assistant District Attorney had not made the call yet. Mahoney then informed Nelson of the name of the suspect.
Nelson and his partner Matt Murdock quickly arrived to the Police Station, where Detectives Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman took them to Page's presence. Nelson demanded to take the handcuffs off Page, and before she could ask Blake's question about the two men's identity, Murdock introduced themselves as Page's lawyers.
Murdock asked the two detectives to uncuff Page and leave the room, thanking them as they left. Murdock proceeded to introduce Nelson and himself, and asked her for permission to sit. Page remained silent, and Nelson interpreted her vague shrug as an answer.
Murdock offered Page to help her with her case, and Nelson asked her what happened. Page distrusted the two men and continued to be silent, so Nelson summarized the information they already knew. He explained that Page was found in her apartment with Daniel Fisher's lifeless body, and Murdock added that Fisher appeared to be the victim of a homicide, and Page was the only suspect.
Page broke her silence to ask them who were they, and Murdock friendly re-introduced themselves, explaining that nobody sent them. Page found hard to believe that they simply were Good Samaritans, but Nelson told her they only knew about her case because he had bribed the desk sergeant with a box of cigars for his mother, Bess Mahoney.
Murdock told her the purpose of accepting her case, as their law firm, Nelson and Murdock was brand new, so they were active aggressively pursuing new clientele. Page asked them how long had they been practicing law and, after checking the time, they told her that they have been attorneys at law for about seven hours.
Page was stunned to hear that they had never defended anyone before, and Murdock told her she would be their first client. Page explained she did not have money to pay them. Hearing that, Nelson wanted to leave, but Murdock came to an agreement, that given they did not have any clients, they could help each other by accepting the case.
Page started explaining that she and Fisher were co-workers at Union Allied Construction, where she was a secretary and Fisher worked at the Legal department. Page told Nelson and Murdock that given Fisher appeared to be a nice person, she asked him to have a drink with her, as Page found hard to meet people in the city.
Page continued telling how they met at the Three Roads Bar on 49th Street, where they had a few drinks, and the next thing she remembered was to wake up in her apartment covered in Fisher's blood. Page was aware that the story did not sound to be believable, but she assured that was what happened. Murdock paid attention and listened to Page's heartbeat, realizing that she was telling the truth, so he assured Page that he believed her.
=====Old Debts=====
Clyde Farnum was eating in a public park when James Wesley approached him and right beside him. Farnum was uncomfortable, and asked Wesley to move to another place, as there was plenty of room in other places of the park. Wesley then answered saying 28,597, the amount of money that Farnum owed local gangster Don Rigoletto, and realized Wesley should be one of his employees.
Farnum asked Wesley to inform Rigoletto that he would get the money, but Wesley said that Rigoletto had retired, and he was working for another employer who had acquired Rigoletto's books. Farnum then told Wesley that could tell the same thing to his new employer and was about to leave.
Before Farnum left, Wesley asked him to see something if he had a moment, using a tablet to show a live stream of Farnum's daughter, Tracy. Farnum was shocked to see her, and Wesley ordered him to call his daughter to demonstrate it was live.
Farnum called his daughter, watching through the screen as she answered, and he asked her if she needed anything. Tracy made plans for laundry and a movie for the weekend, but Farnum promptly said goodbye and hang up in order to see what Wesley wanted from him. Wesley pointed at a young man that also appeared on-screen, calling him only Mister Rance, and explained that his methods could be qualified as "unpleasant". Wesley asked Rance to wave at the camera, something he immediately did.
Farnum, fearing for the safety of his daughter, reassured Wesley that he would obtain the money, but Wesley explained that the small sum that Farnum owed Rigoletto was of little interest to his employer, and he was more interested in his position. Farnum, sighing, asked Wesley what did he wanted him to do, to which Wesley smiled.
=====Analyzing the Case=====
Back at their office, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson discussed how to proceed regarding their case with Karen Page. Nelson proposed to call his friend Gary Feinstein at the District Attorney's office, in order to know what they were planning to do. Nelson guessed that, with the right judge, Page could be free in five to ten years.
Murdock refused to accept a deal, and while Nelson was convinced that the case was clear, Murdock said she did not kill Daniel Fisher. Nelson explained that Page was the sole suspect, she was found at the scene, covered in blood, with the murder weapon and no defensive wounds, so every evidence pointed to her.
Nelson would consider any deal a gift they should take, as they would not want the case to go to trial. Murdock pointed that it was not them the ones who did not want the case to go to trial, as Page had not been charged yet, something that Nelson attributed to the fact they had 24 hours to lay charges against a suspect, and given it was the weekend, they would use every every second to collect evidence.
Murdock pointed there was already enough evidence, as Nelson just laid out, and there was something wrong with the case. Nelson finally said something he had been thinking since they got the case, that Murdock did not show the best judgment when beautiful women were involved. Murdock asked him how he would even know that Page was a beautiful woman, and Nelson answered that he always knew.
Nelson even told him that every time a beautiful woman was involved with them, Murdock would find her and Nelson would suffer for it. Murdock chuckled and agreed with him, but he also asked Nelson to back him with the case. Nelson then wondered who had killed Fisher if Page was innocent, as the case would need a culprit.
Murdock proposed to speak to Page again, and Nelson realized that maybe Page was not guilty, but that did not mean that she was telling the truth.
=====Assassination Attempt=====
Karen Page slept in her cell inside the 15th Precinct Police Station when Clyde Farnum entered the cell and attempted to strangle her. Page fought to break free from Farnum, and she pretended to stop breathing when he strangled her with the sheets.
Farnum apologized for having to kill Page, and she seized the opportunity to dig her nails in Farnum's eye, making him scream in pain. Page then cried for help inside her cell, and she managed to survive the assassination attempt.
A few hours later, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson arrived at the Police Station. Murdock demanded Page's immediate release to Detectives Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman, or else she would publicly reveal how she was nearly killed in police custody. Nelson, on the other hand, threatened them with a civil suit for the same fact.
Blake asked the two attorneys how they were sure that charges were not going to be pressed against Page, and Murdock cleverly answered that the period to charge her had expired four hours before. Nelson continued to make the two detectives uncomfortable wondering the reason the security cameras on the detention area went down right before the assault.
Murdock asked to speak with Farnum, but Hoffman told him that Farnum would be arraigned that very morning. Murdock then demanded the Page's release, threatening the two detectives not to make him ask it again. Hoffman whispered something at Blake's ear while Blake angrily looked at Murdock, and Blake agreed to call the Assistant District Attorney, threatening Murdock that, if he used the tone he just used again, he would attack him without caring about Murdock's blindness.
Nelson was surprised to hear that threat, but Blake and Hoffman left the room without saying anything else. Murdock realized the whole case did not make any sense, as there was enough evidence to charge Page, and realized that maybe there was more evidence, and someone else may have been at Page's apartment that night.
Nelson told Murdock that the evidence should have to be presented, but Murdock pointed that only in case Page had been charged, so if the assassination attempt would have been successful, it would have look like Page had hung herself in her cell, and the whole case would have been dropped.
Realizing Page was still in danger, Nelson hurried to get Page some clothes and get her out of the police station.
=====Conspiracy Unveiled=====
Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson took Karen Page to their office as she was released from police custody following an assassination attempt. Nelson offered Page a cup of tea he stole from the financial office next door, and the two lawyers asked Page how was she.
Page thanked them for getting her out of prison, though Nelson told her that did not mean charges would not be brought against her eventually. Murdock reminded her not to speak to anyone other than them about what happened the night Daniel Fisher was killed. Page lamented she did not have anyone to talk to.
Murdock asked Page if she had a place to stay for the night, but he refused to let her return to her apartment, explaining her that their priority was to keep her safe. In order to that, Murdock asked Page if she knew who was trying to kill her. Page said that, despite she did not know who, she knew the reason.
Nelson and Murdock set up a machine to record their entire conversation, and Page began explaining how she worked as a secretary in the financial department at Union Allied Construction, a company overseeing most of the government contracts for the West Side reconstruction following the Battle of New York. Due to that, the business had been transformed in the previous two years.
Due to her position as secretary for the chief accountant, Page had to coordinate the pension claims for the company, and she inadvertently opened a file meant for mister McClintock, her boss, that showed how the pension funds were designated to move large amounts of money through coded routing numbers.
Page continued explaining how she showed the file to McClintock, who told her that it was simply a theoretical model that they were trying, but as she knew something was wrong with it, she tried to gain Daniel Fisher's help, as he worked at the legal department and he had always been nice to Page.
Page explained that she only asked Fisher for a drink, but she realized that Union Allied must had people watching her, as she started to feel like she had been drugged as she tried to reveal what she knew to Fisher. The next thing Page remembered was that she woke up inside her apartment covered in blood with Fisher's body besides her.
Page started to cry as she said that Fisher was killed because of her, leaving a family, including a little boy, behind. Page wanted to get out of the office, but Nelson could not allow that. Page did not want to put Nelson and Murdock in danger, and despite Murdock assured her they could protect themselves, Page doubted they could be safe from the people that were after her.
Murdock offered to let Page stay at his own apartment, at least for that night, and he promised to keep her safe.
=====Personal Questions=====
Matt Murdock took Karen Page to his apartment as a way to protect her from the group that was trying to kill her to prevent her from unveiling a conspiracy regarding her former employers, Union Allied Construction. Murdock offered to order food while he prepared the bedroom for her.
Page realized the apartment was a little dark, and as Murdock was not used to switch the light on, he pointed where the switch was. Murdock asked Page if she wanted something to it, but she instead asked him for a shirt she could borrow, as the one she was wearing was wet, given it was raining outside, and
Page told Murdock that she did not want to put Murdock out of his own bedroom and she would use the couch, but he informed that his former guests had told him the couch was not comfortable. Page then suddenly realized the huge Xining Airways sign outside of the windows, but Murdock explained how he managed to obtain a huge discount for the apartment due to nobody wanting to live there with the sign.
Page then asked for permission to ask a personal question, something that Murdock was already expecting, directly answering that he had not always been blind. Murdock joked that the second recurrent question people asked him was how he managed to comb his hair, to which he answered that he simply hoped for the best when doing so.
Murdock explained that he got blind during a car accident when he was nine years old, and he managed to make it through. Page then asked if he remembered how it was to be able to see, something he did, but then he said that despite he was supposed to say that he did not miss it, as taught in trauma recovery, or that he should define himself for what he had, valuing his differences and making no apologies for what he lacked, he would anything to see the sky one more time.
Murdock then asked for permission to ask questions, to which Page nodded before realizing she should agree out loud, causing a funny moment between them. Murdock started wondering about what he would do if he was Page's superior, especially wondering why he would not try to kill her as a first choice. He realized that the assassination attempt was made due to his own intervention with his partner Foggy Nelson, as they appeared out of nowhere before Page could be dealt with, and then the assassination attempt was made to make it appear that Page hung herself in her cell.
Murdock continued thinking out loud realizing that the conspirators were trying to discredit and scare Page, probably because she may still have evidence. Murdock openly asked Page if she had Union Allied Construction file about the pension fund, something that Page denied. However, Murdock listened to Page's heartbeat, realizing it was faster than normal, something that indicated that she was lying when explaining that she did not kept any copy for herself. Murdock calmed her down, indicating that everything he correctly guessed was simply a thought.
=====Clandestine Meeting=====
Leland Owlsley, Madame Gao, Nobu Yoshioka and brothers Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov met at building under construction owned by Union Allied Construction in order to have a meeting with Wilson Fisk. While they were waiting, Owlsley complained about the cold temperature, suggesting to meet at the restaurant the next time, and joking that he could domesticate the Ranskahov brothers. However, as they were used to low Russian low temperatures, they answered that a day like that would be considered a balmy day in Samara.
Owlsley then stared at Yoshioka, who was dressed with only a suit and showed no sign of feeling cold, something that Owlsley considered unsettling. Madame Gao laughed and answered in Mandarin, making Owlsley to ask out loud if anyone spoke Chinese, especially Yoshioka, however, Anatoly pointed that Yoshioka was Japanese. Owlsley then told them that he already knew that, but he simply thought he could be the one who understood Chinese among them.
At that moment, the elevator arrived, and James Wesley entered the room. Owlsley was disappointed that Fisk did not meet them, and Wesley presented Fisk's apologies, especially to Madame Gao. The Ranskahov brothers briefly spoke to each others, and proceeded to abandon the meeting, saying that they would not deal with Fisk's lap dog, and making them feel insulted when Wesley ordered not to say Fisk's name.
Before the brothers left, Wesley informed them that Fisk would surely like to know the reason their cargo totals were lower than expected in their kidnapping business. They explained that Turk Barrett and their men were attacked at the docks by a man with a black mask. Owlsley mocked them for believing that, and when they approached him, Owlsley asked them to calm down, and acted as he believed the story.
Owlsley was even amused to see that another hero was active in New York City, as it was the destruction caused by heroes during the Battle of New York what allowed them to obtain large profits.
Wesley asked the brothers to tell him more about that man, and they explained how he managed to defeat Barrett and all their men as they were loading the kidnapped women into container. Gao asked in Chinese, and then Wesley translated it, if the man in the mask stole the women for himself, but the brothers explained that he simply let the women go.
Wesley found hard to believe that the man in the mask beat the men at the docks with his bare hands, scolding the brother for not being there in person. However, Wesley insisted that their margin of profit rose every time a hero acted, so they should not care at all. However, Wesley realized that this was different, and a lone vigilante hampering their operations would displease Fisk.
Vladimir insisted that Fisk should say those things in person, but Wesley ordered the brothers to deal with the situation. Anatoly then compared it to the whole scandal with Union Allied and Karen Page, making Wesley assure they were dealing with it. However, Vladimir found it hard to believe, as he had keep saying that they would handle Prohaszka for a while.
Wesley explained they were negotiating with Prohaszka, and Anatoly mocked him saying maybe they should negotiate with the man in the mask too. Owlsley tried to calm the whole situation saying that they all agreed the Union Allied scandal should be solved as soon as possible, making Wesley reassure that they were handling it.
=====Attack on Karen Page=====
Karen Page went to bed and Matt Murdock also went to sleep in the living room. However, Page was unable to sleep due to the recent events, and silently left the house to return to her own apartment. Murdock, who was able to hear her due to his heightened senses, followed her, but dressed with his black mask and attire.
Under the rain, Page arrived at her apartment, staring at the blood stain left by Daniel Fisher's corpse, and nervously recovered the thumb drive with the information regarding the Union Allied Construction files she had hidden in her bathroom.
However, just as she left the bathroom, she was ambushed by Rance, one of the men working for Wilson Fisk, who hit her until she was knocked down. Rance retrieved the thumbdrive from the floor, and went to stab Page with a pocket knife. The man in the mask opened the door and rushed to fight Rance.
A brutal fight began inside the apartment, breaking Page's furniture with no fighter gaining the upper hand against the other one. Page watched as both Rance and the man in the mask fell to the street through a window.
While knocked in the ground, Murdock remembered a memory of his childhood, with his father telling him he should get up and work hard in order to not end like his father. He also remembered how his father made him touch his face in order to realized how beaten he was after a boxing match. His father's words telling him to get to work still resonated, so Murdock got up in order to finish his fight.
Rance descended through the stairs and restarted the fight, almost being able to strangle Murdock. Murdock was able to evade Rance's knife and broke his arm, using the pain he suffered to distract him long enough to approach a nearby construction site. Murdock heard a chain hitting metal pipes, and quickly grabbed it to restrain Rance and knock him until he lost consciousness.
Tired from the fight, Murdock fell to the ground, but quickly got up to see Page staring at him in the street. Page asked who he was, but the man in the mask only told her that he would get the thumb drive he just retrieved from Rance in the right hands. Page told him that he could not take the information to the police and he could not trust anyone, so Murdock told her they would tell it to everyone instead.
In order to do this, the man left Rance along with a package containing all the information at the doorstep of the New York Bulletin Building.
=====Scandal Unveiled=====
James Wesley called Wilson Fisk, his employer, in order to inform him how were they proceeding in order to deal with the public revelation of the corruption regarding Union Allied Construction.
Wesley informed that Daniel Fisher's murder would be solved blaming Rance through DNA evidence, classifying it as breaking and entering into Karen Page's Apartment that went sideways, and Rance's records had been altered to make him appear as a repeat offender.
Wesley had also arranged Clyde Farnum's bail through their usual channels, with Leland Owlsley covering any financial exposure and McClintock would take the fall for everything that happened at Union Allied. Fisk was worried that McClintock could speak to the authorities, but Wesley assured he overdosed with pills less than an hour before their conversation.
Fisk asked how Rance could have been subdued, given that he was a professional, and Wesley informed that he was currently investigating it. Wesley then asked Fisk how to proceed with Karen Page, asking for permission to kill her along with the rest, but Fisk ordered him not to do it, given that everything Page knew had already been published in the newspapers.
Fisk also asked about Page's lawyers, the recently created law firm Nelson and Murdock, and though Wesley mockingly described them as "ambulance chasers", Fisk ordered to start a file about them for the future.
=====Hiring Karen Page=====
Karen Page prepared a meal for Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock at the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, in order to thank them for all their help cleaning her name from the charge of killing Daniel Fisher. She explained it was her grandmother's recipe, and she cooked it despite having promised to serve it only to her future husband.
Page even joked saying the recipe was filled with virtue, and Murdock followed the joke saying he detected a whiff of virtue. Nelson told Page that she should also thank the man in the mask, but Murdock quickly changed the subject of the conversation saying they were simply glad that Page fine.
Page noted that both Murdock and Nelson were the ones that got her out of the cell, but Murdock explained their job was easy when the client was innocent, and everything it took was for Page to tell the truth, but Page thanked they were the ones who listened to her.
Nelson reminded her that despite everything, they would bill Page for their services, as soon as they figured out how to make bills. Between laughs, Page offered to work for them, in order to thank them, so Nelson jokingly interviewed them for the job. Page highlighted that she would work for free, so Nelson and Murdock told her she was hired as their new secretary.
=====Matt Murdock's Training=====
Matt Murdock went to Fogwell's Gym, the same gym where his father trained during his boxing days, and asked the janitor to leave the lights off. Murdock began to train, just like his father trained there years ago, hitting a punching bag and letting his frustration go.
=====Moving the Pieces=====
All over New York City, Wilson Fisk's associates and employees dealt with the aftermath of the revelation of the Union Allied Construction scandal.
Clyde Farnum was killed in his house, making it appear as a suicide having shot himself in the head, and his corpse laid in the floor until his daughter Tracy found it and began to scream in horror. Rance was also killed inside his cell at the 15th Precinct Police Station, making it appear as he had hung himself.
Leland Owlsley transferred all the money related to Union Allied into different multiple accounts to make it untraceable, Madame Gao oversaw the production of the Steel Serpent heroin by the blind workers at her warehouse, Nobu Yoshioka discussed with members of his clan the plans he had over a particular block of the city, marked in a map with the symbols "Black Sky" in Japanese, Turk Barrett acquired a shipment of handguns, and brothers Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov kidnapped a boy while beating his father.
The man in the black mask was able to hear the boy calling for her father and asking for help, so he rushed in order to rescue him.
====Gun Smuggling====
John Healy and Turk Barrett met in alley as Healy wanted to buy a firearm for an assassination he had been hired to commit. Barrett showed him a case full of guns, picking one and smelling it, as he liked the smell of new guns that had never been fired.
Healy told Barrett he preferred a revolver, as they had no chance of jamming up, but Barrett assured him that his guns were the best ones availables, guaranteeing that the firearm would not jam. Barrett convinced Healy to buy it, despite the gunded ended up jamming when Healy tried to used it the following day.
====Assassination of Mister Prohaszka====
|Whitestone Lanes
Mister Prohaszka was bowling at one of the bowling lanes of the Whitestone Lanes establishment surrounded by his bodyguards, having made an arrangement with the owner to play whenever he wanted.
John Healy entered the bowling alley and friendly asked the girl at the counter for a pair of shoes and another lane. However, the girl told him that they are about to close. Healy pointed that Prohaszka was still playing, but the girl explained that he could bowl due to the arrangement made with the owner. Healy then asked for the possibility of joining him, and girl told him to ask if he wanted.
Healy approached Prohaszka, asking him to join a games, but Prohaszka tried to dismiss him by saying it was a private game. Healy insisted, saying that he really wanted to "throw some balls", making Prohaszka ask his bodyguards to remove him.
As the bodyguard approached Healy, he easily knocked them down, and took a gun to kill Prohaszka. Healy told Prohaszka that he had a bad attitude right before pulling the trigger. However, the gun jammed up, despite the man who had sold it guaranteeing it would not.
Prohaszka seized the opportunity to attack Healy with a bowling ball, making him drop the weapon, and the two engaged in a brutal fight. Prohaszka assumed Healy had been hired by the man who had been negotiating with him to run a distribution business in Hell's Kitchen, and Healy began to hit Prohaszka, even breaking his arm by trapping it in the polishing machine. Prohaszka did not give up and continued to try to defend himself, until Healy took a bowling ball and crushed his skull with it.
The girl in the counter, who had witnessed the end of the fight, called the New York City Police Department, and a dispatcher assured her that officers were on their way to the bowling alley. However, she escaped when she noticed that Healy had realized she was calling the police.
Before the police could arrive, Healy rushed to hide the gun under a pinball machine. Healy waited for the cops on his knees and, with the hands on his head, peacefully allowing them to arrest him, and voicing his right to have a lawyer.
====Permanent Reminders====
Karen Page tried to return to a normal life following the death of Daniel Fisher and gaining a new job at Nelson and Murdock. However, as she tried to return to her apartment, many things permanently reminded her the traumatic experiences she had suffered
Page tried to clean Fisher's blood out of a carpet, but she was unable to do it. Also, she noticed that one of the walls was dented in the place where Rance bashed her head into when he tried to kill her.
Due to this, Page preferred to stay at night at her new place of employment, the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, instead of returning to her apartment.
====Longest Night====
=====A Man in a Dumpster=====
A young boy named Santino went to take the trash out at night, but to his surprise, he found a badly injured man with a black mask inside the dumpster. Not knowing what to do, Santino ran and called her neighbor, Claire Temple, a nurse.
Santino and Temple took the man to her apartment, in order to tend the man's wounds. Before starting, Temple ordered Santino to return to his own apartment, lock the door and especially to not tell anybody what just happened, not even to his own mother.
Temple began to examinate the man, and quickly realized that his pupils did not react to light. Worried than the man's condition may be worse than it seemed, Temple reached for her phone in order to call for an ambulance, but the man regained consciousness and asked her not to call anyone. Temple tried to explain she was trying to help and he needed to go to a hospital, but the man claimed that the ones who did that to him would kill everyone just to get to him.
The man tried to get up and leave the apartment but, having lost too much blood, he collapsed in the floor.
=====Working Late=====
Karen Page was inside the Nelson and Murdock Law Office arranging some papers when she overheard Foggy Nelson singing out loud. Embarrassed by the situation, Page called for Nelson, asking him if he knew that she was still at the office. Nelson opened the door and asked Page if she had heard him singing. Page lied to him saying she did not, but Nelson jokingly told her she should have answered that she did while praising his singing skills.
Page said she simply took the lesser lie. Nelson then asked Page what was she doing still at the office, but as Page returned the question, he started to ramble about needing to work and generate revenue, while noticing that Page was also an important part of their law firm.
Page tried to justify her presence by saying she still had work to do, but as Nelson noted they did not have any clients yet, she said that their things were not going to unpack themselves. Nelson told her to go outside and have a life like the young people her age, though Page noted that she and Nelson were the same age, so he should be too.
Nelson blamed his reticence on being awkward and unfashionable, something that did not apply to her, so she finally confessed she did not want to return to her apartment. Nelson then said that they could not stay at the office, as they did not have enough money to keep the lights on past midnight.
Nelson suggested visiting a couple of bars, an offer that Page accepted, so he noted that she would fit at their law firm. Page also suggested to call Matt Murdock to join them, and as they left the office, Nelson agreed.
=====Night Off=====
The man in the black mask regained consciousness and Claire Temple asked him if he was going to listen to her in order to avoid collapsing on the floor again. The man asked where was he and who she was, and she answered that she had taken him to her apartment, given she pulled him from a garbage dumpster.
The man touched his face and realized he was not wearing his mask, so Temple had seen his face. Temple pointed that the outfit he was wearing sucked, to which he simply answered it was just a work in progress.
The man tried to move and groaned in pain. Temple warned him not to move, as he had at least two or three broken ribs, a concussion and a puncture wound. She also noticed that his eyed did not respond to light, and given he did not reacted to the notice, she assumed he was blind, or in worse condition than expected. The man joked, asking if he had to pick one of the two choices.
Temple asked him how he ended up beaten inside her dumpster while wearing a mask, but the man refused to explain anything in order to protect her. She then started to ask about the wounds, especially what looked like a knife wound on his side. Temple tried to convince to use X-rays, in order to analyze the internal injuries it caused, but he refused to be taken to a hospital.
Temple claimed it was her night off at the Metro-General Hospital, and she was not looking for someone to die on her couch. The man then asked if she was a doctor, but especially, he asked the reason to help him instead of calling the police as almost everyone would have done. However, Temple returned the answer he just gave her, by saying that the less each of them knew about the other, the better.
The man then asked her name, and she revealed it to be Claire. However, given he did not reveal his, she started to call him "Mike", as one of her ex-boyfriends had that name and was very good at keeping secrets.
The man thanked Temple for her help, and she prompted him to rest and stabilize, as they would figure out how to proceed later.
=====Backstory=====
The man in the black mask regained consciousness again, but this time he was almost unable to breathe, and started to suffocate. Claire Temple quickly examined him and determined that he had air in his chest that was collapsing his lungs, so she needed to puncture his chest to get the air out and relieve the pressure. Temple asked him to hold still despite the fact that it would hurt, and pierced him until the air got out and the man could breathe normally.
Following this episode, Temple wanted to speak with the man about what would happen in case he died inside her apartment, as she did not want to end up being imprisoned for helping him. The man explained the reason he was injured was that he tried to rescue a boy that had been kidnapped.
The man in the mask started to explain how a group of Russians started to run a human trafficking ring as the Italian mafia left the city, and how a boy was kidnapped from his car while his own father was beaten in front of him.
Temple was horrified hearing that, and the man explained how he tracked the Russians to a warehouse, thinking he found them quickly and easily. However he walked into a trap, and he was almost killed by them.
Temple asked if the kid was kidnapped just to get to him, and he explained that it was due to his actions, and that he had been heavily damaging the activities of these Russians. Temple was even more surprised knowing that the man was blind, but he cryptically explained that there were other ways to see.
Temple noted that if the man's goal was to hinder criminal activities, he was not very good at it, prompting the man to laugh, and the she asked if he managed to find the kidnapped boy. The man said that the boy was not even there, and he barely managed to escape due to his carelessness.
Temple wondered if those men were still looking for him, but the man remained silent for a moment. He then revealed that one of the Russians was in the building, going from door to door. The man in the mask was able to smell the Russian guy, and Temple began to look at him as if he was crazy,
The man revealed that there were things she did not know about him, but Temple said the only thing she knew about him was that he was very good at being beaten, something that the man claimed got from his father.
=====Detective Foster=====
The man in the black mask took a knife from Claire Temple's kitchen in case he needed it to confront the Russian that was looking for him inside the building, as he was already by Temple's neighbor's door. Temple tried to dissuade him, as he was heavily injured, and told him that she would get rid of the Russian without anybody being hurt.
The man in the mask hid behind a corner, and Temple, who quickly discarded the gloves she had been using to take care of the man's wounds, went to answer the Russian at the door. The Russian identified himself as Detective Foster of the New York City Police Department, showing a fake badge.
Foster asked Temple if she had witnessed anything unusual, explaining that a man in black mask had shot up a bodega on 38th street, and the owner put up a fight, so the man in the mask had been injured and left a trail of blood in the direction of the building.
Temple tried to act as if she did not know anything, telling Foster that she had not seen anything unusual, and Foster seemingly believed her and left. Temple told the man in the mask that there was no reason to attack the Russian guy, and acknowledged that he indeed was wearing too much cologne.
However, the man in the mask was able to realize that the Russian did not believe Temple, and he went to the stairs to prevent the Russian from informing his superiors. Just as the Russian was speaking on the phone, the man in the mask took an extinguisher and dropped it, hitting the Russian in the head.
The man in the mask realized there was someone else watching them, a young man scared for what he had just seen, and Temple looked at the floor above them to see that her neighbor, Santino, had just witnessed how the man attacked the Russian. The man in the mask asked if Santino had seen his face when he found him inside the dumpster, and then told Temple to get him and make him help them carry the Russian to the roof so that he could interrogate him without anybody hearing him.
=====Our Place=====
Foggy Nelson took Karen Page to Josie's Bar, a bar in Hell's Kitchen he usually visited with Matt Murdock. Nelson even called Murdock to tell him that he was taking Page there, believing he would be with a woman, and asking Murdock to leave her and go to the bar.
Page sarcastically told Nelson that he saved the best place for last, and Nelson agreed, acknowledging that the bar was a shithole, but at least it was "their" shithole. Nelson explained how despite the city had tried to shut the bar down at least six times, he had helped its owner, Josie with the liens, and as a result, they got to drink for free.
Josie served a drink to Nelson, while making sure that he was not drinking for free. Nelson jokingly answered Josie to agree to disagree. Believing they were on a date, Josie told Page she could get a better man than Nelson, but he clarified that Page was his employee and that was not a date. However, Nelson asked out loud if that was actually a date, but Page reassured that it was not a date.
Nelson continued to joke saying that he was starting to worry that maybe Page was in love with him, as she was always around his office. Page attributed it to being Nelson's secretary, but when Nelson insisted that she was always there, refusing to leave, Page clarified that she was a good secretary. Nelson then teased her, saying that Page lovingly stared at him when he was not looking, making Page laugh, and Nelson then said that it was a possibility, but he could not be sure as it was done when he was not looking.
Page then looked at the bottle they were drinking from, and realized there was something inside. Nelson examined it, and said he believed it was an eel, but they would need to reach the bottom of the bottle to find it out.
As they kept drinking, Nelson finally addressed the reason why Page was staying at their office until late, but Page asked him at first to leave it alone, but as Nelson insisted, Page explained how she had been unable to remove Daniel Fisher's blood from the carpet in her apartment, and the wall still have a dent where her head was bashed into by the man trying to kill her, and if it had not been for the man in the mask, she would be dead.
Nelson offered to call his cousin to repair the apartment, but Page said that she did not see the city, only its dark corners, only threats, even inside the bar.
Trying to calm her down, Nelson introduced many of the customers that were hanging out at Josie's Bar, such as Tom Belkin, the Road Captain of the Kitchen Hellions who organized the food drive in Thanksgiving; Rob Donohue, whose wife Mira worked at a dry cleaner around the corner from the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, or Clint Peterson, a criminal that had spent time in prison for larceny and distribution but who was trying to make amends.
Nelson then offered to be with her all night in case she did not want to return to her apartment, to which Page simply smiled before drinking another glass of alcohol with Nelson.
=====Choosing a Side=====
The man in the mask asked Claire Temple to examine Semyon's phone while he took the Russian to the roof above her apartment. However, the phone had been damaged when the man in the mask dropped an extinguisher over Semyon.
Temple was not sure of what they were doing, noticing that Semyon had a badge identifying him as Detective Foster of the New York City Police Department. Temple told the man in the mask that she only offered her help to a man that needed help, but she did not want to start an argument in front of Semyon in case he was just faking being unconscious.
The man in the mask assured her Semyon was not faking, but things like that were the ones that freaked her out. She explained that when she found him inside the dumpster, she did not thought he would be a blind vigilante with senses that allowed him to smell cologne at a distance through walls, and to hear if someone was unconscious or just faking it. Especially, she noted that he was also able to take large amounts of punishment and pain without complaining, but the man in the mask assured her that the last part was due to being Catholic.
Temple wondered if she would need faith to believe she had chosen the right side, but the man in the mask noted that she had already chosen a side since she found him and decided to take care of him. The man in the mask asked Temple the reason for doing it, and she explained that she was a nurse at Metro-General Hospital, and there she had heard stories about how a man in a black mask had attacked criminals and defended innocent people.
Temple explained that people was starting to hear about the man in the mask's activities, and she wanted to believe in what he was doing, but attacking that Russian man in front of her and taking him to the roof apparently to torture him was too much for her.
The man in the mask acknowledged she might be afraid, but if she gave in to the fear, men like Semyon would win.
=====Drunk Colleagues=====
Foggy Nelson and Karen Page went to retrieve Matt Murdock at his apartment in the middle of the night. A heavily drunk Nelson started to call out Murdock at the door, even saying he drank an eel in a bottle at Josie's Bar, making Page laugh.
Obtaining no response, Nelson asked Page to call out for Murdock, telling her to pretend he was not there despite having shout a moment before. Page also called out for Murdock, apologizing for shouting and telling him that she would not come to the door if she was him, right before adding that she also drank the eel.
Nelson added they were filled with eel strength and began to shout again, claiming they would stay awake until the sunrise and they would even go to the fish market. Having been awoken by Nelson and Page, Fran, one of Murdock's neighbors, came to her door. Upon seeing her, Nelson and Page apologized to her and promised they would be quiet, but Nelson also offered her to go to the fish market, as he was intending to buy a bluefin.
Fran angrily closed her door, and Nelson shout to Murdock that he was going to buy the bluefin, knocking at the door of the apartment one last time before leaving the building.
Now wandering the streets, Nelson realized they had two hours before going to work, so he offered Page to an auction at the fish market, as he considered arguing with at the marked a vital experience.
Page thanked Nelson for his efforts in comforting her, but she believed it was time to go home. Nelson told her he would never go home again, as now he believed that men were waiting behind every corner to harm them, and he started to give a speech about how they must remain vigilant despite the city would protect them.
=====Interrogating Semyon=====
Semyon regained consciousness to find himself tied in a rooftop, with the man in the mask and Claire Temple with her face covered by a white mask standing in front of him. The man in the mask explained him that he was going to ask questions, and whenever Semyon lied to him, he would be unhappy.
The man started asking about the location of the boy the Russians had kidnapped, and he immediately punched Semyon when he answered that the boy was dead. Semyon then told him that if the boy was not dead, he would be dead, as they only kidnapped him to attract the man in the mask.
Semyon revealed their plan to sell the boy like they had done with others before, and the man in the mask punched him again out of anger, despite knowing Semyon was not lying. Semyon then told him he did not know who they sold the children, and refused to reveal his location, arguing that even if the man saved the boy, they would just kidnap another one, and if the man killed Semyon to prevent it, another one would take his place.
Semyon taunted the man saying that they would be kidnapping and selling children as long as someone buys them, and nothing he did that night would change that fact. Semyon even told him to keep hitting him, as maybe the man gets exhausted first due to his wounds.
Temple, who had heard the whole conversation and was horrified, advised the man in the mask to stab Semyon in the trigeminal nerve to make him feel a great amount of pain without permanently damaging him, instructing the man to stab under the supraorbital foramen above the eye.
The man took a knife and held Semyon's head to not stab him in the eye. The man asked Temple how would he know if he found the nerve, and she simply answered that Semyon would tell him. The man began to stab Semyon, making him to scream in pain, to the point of having to cover his mouth to prevent anyone from hearing him.
The man acknowledged that Semyon was right about somebody taking his place if he was killed, but also warned him that whoever took his place would end being caught, and one of them would told the man what he needed to know. He also clarified that the reason he was hurting Semyon was not just to rescue the boy, but also because he enjoyed it.
The man then took Semyon to the cornice and threatened to throw him off the building, asking about the location of the boy for the last time. Semyon begged the man not to throw him, and revealed the boy was held underneath Troika Restaurant. The man took Semyon out of the cornice, but he then warned there would be men waiting for him, and even taunted the man in the mask saying that luckily, they would kill him before starting with the boy.
The man had enough, and threw Semyon to the same dumpster where Temple found him. Temple shrieked upon witnessing how the men threw Semyon, but she was not relieved when the man told him that Semyon was not dead despite the fall.
The man told her to pack her things and leave for a while without telling anyone, as Semyon would return if he woke up. Temple told him that Semyon had not seen her face at the rooftop, but the man explained that Semyon knew Temple was lying since she answered the door of Claire Temple's Apartment.
Temple revealed that she was cat-sitting for one of her co-workers who had just to Oklahoma in order to be with her sick brother, and the man asked her the address, as he may end up needing help with his wounds in case he survived the night.
The man thanked Temple for all he had done for him that night, but she told him that she did not believe him when he said that he enjoyed what just happened.
=====Rescue of the Kidnapped Boy=====
Members of the Russian gang lead by Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov took a boy kidnapped in the streets of Hell's Kitchen to the basement of Troika Restaurant, waiting for the opportunity to sell the children. The boy desperately wanted to return home with his father, but none of the Russians took pity on him.
The man in the black mask, having obtained the location of the boy from Semyon, one of the Russians, arrived at Troika Restaurant and ambushed the men inside, defeating each and every one of them despite having been heavily injured before.
The man fought at least eight Russians, using their firearms as blunt weapons, and using the narrow quarters provided by the hallway to his advantage. Two of them managed to momentarily surround him, but the man was able to shake them off. It took him longer than expected, as the man was exhausted while fighting the Russians, but he managed to knock all of them unconscious.
Once they were all defeated, the man removed his mask and entered the room where the boy had been imprisoned, asking him not to be scared, and promising him to take him home to see his father.
====Guilty Conscience====
Matt Murdock was sitting in a bank right outside Clinton Church when Father Paul Lantom spotted him. Lantom approached Murdock, recognizing him as Jack Murdock's son. Murdock was about to leave, but Lantom sat beside him, dissuading him by saying that he was bonded by the Seal of Confession, and anything Murdock said during the sacrament of penance would stay between them.
Lantom told him that even if he had confessed killing 10 people, he could not tell, prompting Murdock to ask if Lantom thought it was fair. Father Lantom did not answer, simply saying that that was how it was.
Murdock remained silent for a second before saying that he had to leave and go to work, though Lantom offered him a cup of coffee. Lantom explained that the donated him an espresso machines for the meetings at the cathedral, and he prepared a very good latte.
Murdock refused, saying that maybe another time. Lantom tried to reach him, saying that he seemingly had many things in his mind the last time he visited the cathedral, and offered him to have a latte for a second time. Murdock, not wanting to speak anymore, wished Lantom to take care of himself before leaving.
====Criminal Connections====
=====Old Contacts=====
Reporter Ben Urich met with one of his contacts, Silvio a former mobster, to gain some information of the current whereabouts of the criminal element in Manhattan, and more specifically, in Hell's Kitchen. Manfredi was pleased to see Urich, telling him that he had began to think that Urich had forgotten about him.
Manfredi began to speak about memories, and how he enjoyed the view of Manhattan when he was younger, feeling like a king, despite that Urich pointed he had bodies in the trunk of his car, something that Manfredi compared to .
Urich asked Manfredi about the rumour that he was leaving the city and moving to Florida, and Manfredi covertly told him that he wanted to avoid the same fate as Don Rigoletto, whom everyone thought he had retired, but had actually been murdered. Urich tried to make Manfredi explain more, and reveal if someone had been threatening him, but he reminded Urich their rules, that Urich explained what he knew and then Manfredi would maybe add something to it.
Urich explained that Russians mobsters had been attacked and their activities had been hampered, especially at the docks. Manfredi explained that Rigoletto had nothing to do with those attacks, so Urich asked who, but neither of them knew.
Urich told him that he had began to investigate, only to find that police reports and public records had been altered, but he recognized the pattern, so maybe there was a new player in town. Manfredi told Urich that things had changed, as in their times, if they had to kill a man, they sent flowers to his wife, but now mobster went and killed the wife too.
Urich realized that Manfredi knew something he did not want to tell him, but he dismissed Urich's question by saying that Florida was beautiful at that time of the year. Urich attributed his silence to the rules, but Manfredi told him there were no rules anymore.
Manfredi reminded that he would always be grateful to Urich for being the only reporter that covered the story about Manfredi's crimes and imprisonment without mentioning his sons, so despite Urich begged him to give him anything on the current situation, Manfredi asked him not to continue investigating it, as it was too dangerous.
=====Unexpected Client=====
Karen Page was checking a letter she had just received from Kirschner and Brown, the law firm representing what was left of Union Allied Construction after the company was dismantled. Foggy Nelson arrived at their office complaining about how much they drank the last night, proposing Page to skip the part that had to with an eel inside a bottle the next time they went out together.
Nelson asked Page her opinion about buying an actual sign for their door, instead of the piece paper they had at the window, but Page told him they should get clients first, as they could barely afford to pay her. Nelson was surprised to hear that, thinking that Page was working for free, but Page, not believing what Nelson had just said, clarified that she had been
Matt Murdock entered the door, and Nelson asked him if he knew that Page was not working for free. Nelson and Page then noticed a wound in Murdock's face, that he sustained the night before while rescuing a boy kidnapped by Russian mobsters. Murdock dismissed it, simply saying that he was not paying attention.
Nelson proposed Murdock to get a dog, but he refused. Nelson and Page told him that everybody loved dogs, but the conversation was interrupted by a doorknock. The three were surprised to hear that somebody was actually at the door, and Page opened to find James Wesley wanting to hire Nelson and Murdock as lawyers. Wesley asked if they could attend him without previously having booked an appointment.
Murdock, Nelson and Page took Wesley to their meeting room, where Wesley began explaining he represented a consortium with diversified interests, and sometimes they scouted for promising talent. Murdock asked why he was approaching them instead of a larger firm, and also asked Wesley's name. However, Wesley refused to give up his name, saying that he was employed by Confederated Global Investments, and that was the only name relevant.
Murdock then asked again the reason to hire them, but Nelson answered that they were able to provide the attention that larger firms were not able to. Wesley then said that his employer was a businessman with many interests in Hell's Kitchen, so two boys from that neighborhood who actually graduated with the best grades at Columbia University, cum laude and summa cum laude respectively, were the best option to work with in the neighborhood.
Wesley also revealed he knew that they were offered very lucrative positions at Landman and Zack following their internship, but they refused to create their own law office. Murdock, feeling that something was wrong with the whole proposal, tried to refuse, but Nelson tried to be more polite, saying that as they were still building their practice, they were very particular about their clientele.
Wesley assured he and his employer only wished their services to continue to be ethical and decent lawyers, giving them a check with a large sum, saying it was in exchange for simply their skills as lawyers and their discretion. Nelson was surprised to see the large sum they were offering, though Wesley noted that Murdock did not seem convinced, something that Murdock explained that it was just like Nelson had just said, they were particular about their clientele.
Wesley taunted them about Page's situation, who had been present during the whole meeting. Wesley asked if all their clients ended up working for them following being dropped off charges of murder, or that was just reserved for the pretty clients. Page was stunned to hear that, and Murdock asked her to leave the room and gave them a minute.
Wesley apologized, but Murdock promptly asked him how did she know about Page, given that she was never formally charged and nothing about the whole situation appeared on the press. Wesley told them that he had friends at the New York City Police Department, also revealing they knew about their connection to Sergeant Brett Mahoney.
Nelson then pointed they were digressing, and Wesley said he understood Murdock's concerns, so he asked the two lawyers to review one of their cases to make the final decision, something they both agreed. Wesley then told the pair they had 30 minutes to go to the 15th Precinct Police Station, where their client, John Healy was kept in custody, and handed them a file that contained everything they needed to proceed with their case.
Wesley then left the office, thanking Nelson and Murdock for their time, but it was Nelson who thanked him. As soon as Wesley closed the door, Nelson asked Murdock what his problem was, and Murdock said it was too suspicious that he did not even gave his name. Nelson said that maybe Murdock would not care about that if he could see the amount on their check, but Murdock then replied that Nelson would actually care if he could not see the money.
Murdock then left the office, intending to follow Wesley, and telling Nelson that he would meet him at the police station. He focused on the sound of Wesley's wristwatch and followed him until Wesley entered a car where his employer was waiting for him. Murdock could not continue further because one of the wounds he sustained the previous night had opened, and he began to bleed his shirt.
=====Accepting the Case=====
John Healy was taken to the 15th Precinct Police Station due to his participation in the Assassination of Mister Prohaszka. His employer chose Nelson and Murdock as Healy's lawyers, so Foggy Nelson arrived to the police station to begin interrogating Healy.
Healy explained that he only wanted to play at the Whitestone Lanes bowling alley, something that the girt at the counter would corroborate, but he ended up crushing Prohaszka's skull with a bowling ball. Healy claimed it was in self-defense after Prohaszka threatened him.
Nelson asked if the threats were verbal or physical, and Healy surprised him asking which one sounded better. Nelson was astonished bu the answer, and then Healy said the threats were both verbal and physical. Nelson continued with his questioning, asking about if Healy had met Prohaszka prior to their encounter at the bowling alley, something that Healy denied. Healy also added that he regretted the injurious consequences that his actions may have caused.
Nelson was surprised again to hear such precise legal vocabulary from Healy, assuming it was not his first encounter with the law. Healy simply said he had had issues in the past, but he was better.
Nelson then tried to explain that maybe they were not the right lawyers to represent him, but at that moment, Matt Murdock, Nelson's partner, arrived, apologizing for being late and telling Healy they would indeed represent him. Nelson was surprised again, this time by his own partner, who proceeded to ask Healy to explain everything to him from the beginning.
=====Newspaper Stories=====
Ben Urich called the health insurance company from his office at the New York Bulletin Building, wanting to request an extension for the amounts of days his wife, Doris could stay in hospital care. While he was speaking, Mitchell Ellison, Urich's editor, entered the office, but he waited until Urich hung up the phone, being dismissed, but the company was having to fill yet another new form.
Ellison empathized with Urich, mentioning how he had trouble with the insurance with his sons' dental care. Then, Ellison wanted to talk Urich about the news spread for the next week. Urich tried to convince Ellison about writing another spread about organized crime, this time involving operations in all of Hell's Kitchen from a single individual.
Urich tried to explain that he had been the first to realize what was happening, as this was tying not only recent crimes committed by Russian mobster, but the Union Allied Construction scandal. Ellison tried to convince to let the story go, as it was not profitable for the newspaper, and the only result they could obtain was to imprison some men in a white-collar prison.
Urich insisted, saying that not even the New York City Police Department was working on the case, but Ellison then ordered him to drop it, and instead write a story about Hell's Kitchen upcoming subway line. Urich said that they wrote something similar every year, but it was successful each time, so Ellison insisted again.
He even proposed Urich to take a poll in the streets, but then Urich confronted him by saying that there was a time where the reporters in New York Bulletin wrote news. However, Ellison tried to make him understand that their situation was not good, and every reporter had to work twice as they did, working from home or writing for blogs to hang on.
Urich seemingly agreed to write the spread, so Ellison advised him to make a visual article, offering him to call the Graphics section to make them add a chart. Before leaving, he also offered Urich to call the insurance company and help him with his wife.
=====Questioning John Healy=====
Matt Murdock continued his questioning with John Healy, reiterating that, being his client, whatever Healy told him or Foggy Nelson would stay between them. Murdock wanted to know the reasons that Confederated Global Investments wanted to hire them as lawyers and represent a murder suspect, as Murdock's true reason to accept Healy as client was to discover the identity of the man behind the criminal activities in Hell's Kitchen.
Healy clarified that he killed Prohaszka in self-defense, and Murdock then wondered if Healy could explain something about James Wesley, the man that hired Nelson and Murdock, but Healy refused. Nelson tried to make Murdock focus on the things that were pertinent to the case, though Murdock claimed it was just to build the defense, as Wesley could have been Healy's friend, maybe a witness, or maybe even his employer.
Healy insisted that the only thing he wanted that afternoon was to play at the bowling alley, so Nelson and Murdock asked about Prohaszka's motivations to threaten him, and if Healy provoked him, maybe unintentionally. Healy was tired of hearing them, and asked if their lunch break was going to happen soon. Murdock then coldly asked if he was afraid of what would happen if the case was lost, but Healy defiantly asked him the same question in return.
Nelson spoke to Murdock in private, and he then said that they should not defend a professional criminal such as Healy. Murdock then told him that it was Nelson the one who always insisted they needed real clients. However, Murdock had already decided, saying that they had already agreed to represent Healy, and they would let the jury decide.
Murdock proposed Healy to use the criminal procedure law 180.80, and led the District Attorney have more time to explore a plea, and to be honest with them to confront the within the confines of the law. However, Healy refused, saying he preferred to use the 180.80 date, to go directly to trial, reminding both Nelson and Murdock that it was not his first encounter with the law.
Murdock told him that he would need to testify, but Healy said he had faith in their judicial system and that Nelson and Murdock would do their jobs. Once it was all clear, Healy told them that the only thing they needed to know about Wesley was that they will receive the money from the check he gave them.
=====Removing Evidence=====
James Wesley went to the Whitestone Lanes bowling alley to retrieve the gun that John Healy had tried to use to kill Prohaszka, and that Healy had concealed under one of the pinball machines.
He found two men playing, and was told to wait for his turn. Not wanting to attract attention, Wesley left a coin on the machine, saying that he was next in line to play.
Wesley waited patiently, and then retrieved the gun, hiding it as he came across a pair of children right before leaving the bowling alley.
=====Defense Procedures=====
Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson returned to their law office to discuss the reason they accepted to represent John Healy, with Nelson being mad at Murdock for how he acted accepting the case unilaterally and then interrogating Healy as if they were cops.
Murdock simply said they had to accept some cases for the money, just like Nelson had always told him. Nelson acknowledged it was the first time ever that Murdock told him that he was right, and he had just discovered that he hated it. Murdock acknowledged that they needed to do things they could not be proud of, but Nelson reminded him that those things cannot become what they usually did. Nelson then said that they needed to make decisions together, and Murdock apologized for what happened.
They began to discuss about how to proceed on the trial. With the procedure they had chosen, the District Attorney would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Healy did not killed Prohaszka in self-defense, and they began to collect the facts that would help with their defense.
Nelson began to say that the girl at the counter was not present when the fight started, Prohaszka's men refused to give any statement, and Healy has plenty of wounds that could be attributed to the self-defense. Murdock then said that he would open the statements during the trial and then Nelson would sum up.
To follow their own investigation, Murdock then said they needed to cash the check given to them, and then have Karen Page investigate Confederated Global Investments. However, she was not at the office, and Nelson and Murdock wondered where could she be.
=====Non-Disclosure Agreement=====
Karen Page had a meeting at the Kirschner and Brown Building with a lawyer representing the interests of the former company known as Union Allied Construction. The lawyer offered Page a form where she would swear to never again reveal any information regarding Union Allied or its associates in exchange of not pursuing legal action against her.
Page was surprised that any legal action would be pursued against her, but as, according to the lawyer, she broke the non-disclosure agreement that every Union Allied employee had signed. Page tried to argue that she did it to expose Union Allied's criminal activity, but as she did not go to a law enforcement agency, and instead she revealed it to the New York Bulletin.
She claimed that she had nothing to do with the article that was published, but the lawyer knew that the file she had from Union Allied was the one that Ben Urich used as a source. Page was left speechless for a second, but then she claimed that Daniel Fisher had been murdered. Right before she was about to blame Union Allied for that murder, the lawyer interrupted her, assuring that all crimes related to Union Allied had been dealt with.
The lawyer offered Page to take the agreement to her own lawyers, but he was sure they would advise to sign it. He also offered a large sum of money, equivalent to six months' salary, to help Page with any stress regarding the situation.
She was offended by that, as what he was calling stress was actually an assassination attempt. The lawyer again denied any involvement in the attack or the responsible for it, but he explained that his clients felt it was their moral obligation to help Page rebuilding her life and moving on, something that she asked she could do as long as she kept silent.
=====Insurance Extension=====
Ben Urich went to Metro-General Hospital to meet with Shirley Benson, the hospital's administrator, and request an extension for the private room where his wife, Doris, was being attended. Benson told Urich that private rooms were very hard to keep, and that he was lucky that his insurance was still covering everything after all the time that had passed.
Urich did not want his wife to be in a communal room, as she needed attention, so he had already filled all the forms needed to request an extension. Benson told him that many things the insurance companies told by the phone were just so that the people who called left them alone.
Urich asked Benson to approve the forms, and she informed him that it was just a first step, with many more after that. She claimed that she could not fill every appeal as she had to run the whole hospital. Urich claimed that his wife was going to be cut off, and then Benson told Urich to go to his office.
Privately, Benson explained that his wife was not going to be expelled from the hospital, but Urich kenw what would happen, as she was going to be moved to a communal room, then to an out-patient facility and then she would be left without any kind of medical care. He was aware of the limits to both what Benson could do for him and what he could afford, but he applied a few days more to get better and go to their home.
Benson then signed a form that would grant Urich five more days, but she could not promise anything regarding the appeal. She also requested him to leave, as she was very busy with a measle outbreak, and her best nurse was not there.
Urich gave Benson a paper bag with cheese blintz from Benson's favourite place, and when she told him he should have started with that, he claimed that would be cheating.
Urich went to see his wife and Norma, one of the nurses, told him that Doris had a good day of rehabilitation, being up on her feet about half an hour, and she had asked about him. Urich entered the room, where his wife was sleeping, and stayed with her for a while grabbing her hand.
=====Building a Defense=====
In order to build the defense for their case representing John Healy, Matt Murdock proposed to use section 35.15 of the Penal Code, and then they would explain all the facts and leave the verdict to the jury and the statue of Lady Justice. Foggy Nelson seemed to be mad at it, but he was actually mad at their internet connection, claiming they needed a better Wi-Fi. However, Murdock told him they actually needed better everything.
Nelson was excited at the idea winning cases, becoming popular lawyers and making money, but Murdock reminded him that was not the idea behind Nelson and Murdock. He jokingly said they could to it just a little.
Karen Page entered the room saying that Wi-Fi was acting weird, and Murdock seized the opportunity to ask her if she had found anything about Confederated Global Investments, the company that hired them to represent Healy. She explained that it was a subsidiary of a holding company, which was also another subsidiary of another company until track was lost of their record. However, the funds of the check that James Wesley gave them were transferred to their account almost immediately.
Murdock told Nelson there was the money he was asking for, and Nelson asked Page to restart the router. Not knowing about her meeting with Kirschner and Brown, Murdock asked Page not to take more long lunches until they finished the case. As soon as Page restarted the router, Nelson was able to consult the practice insights for New York State Penal Law 35, and they studied it the rest of the night for their upcoming case.
====New York State v. John Healy====
=====Opening Statement=====
During the first day of the trial against John Healy, Foggy Nelson explained to the jury that, according to the laws of the state of New York, it was not required that Healy proved he was not justified in killing Prohaszka in self-defense as he claimed, instead, the prosecution must prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that Healy was not justified in defending his life.
Nelson was sure that the prosecution would not be able to do it, so he told the jury that the only verdict that can be achieved would be "not guilty". Matt Murdock congratulated Nelson for his speech, and the judge began to speak to the jury about the importance of the case.
Murdock heard the heartbeat of one of the members of the jury, as it was unusually fast, as if she was nervous, and then she heard James Wesley entering the room, hearing the wristwatch he was also wearing when Wesley visited their office.
=====Coercing the Juror=====
Matt Murdock, feeling that something was not right during the trial against John Healy, followed a female juror while wearing his black mask. The juror met with a man that was coercing her, who told her to hold on until the verdict, reminding her they had something she would not like to be revealed.
The man told the juror to leave, and as soon as she left, Murdock attacked that man, and though he tried to retaliate, Murdock easily grabbed him and asked what do they have about the juror. The man revealed they had a tape that she made when she was young, implying a pornographic video, that he was sure she would not like her sons to find.
Murdock threatened the man to get rid of the tape, hurting him when he refused. The man explained that he did not have the tape, and he did not even know who he worked for. He revealed that the only way they had to contact him was by turning on a light in a building, what would mean that he had a job.
Murdock then ordered the man to tell the juror to abandon the jury, alleging personal reasons, and making sure that she would not see him again. The man plead saying that he would be killed, so Murdock told him to leave the city that same night.
=====Closing Argument=====
During the second day of the trial, the judge granted a motion to excuse the female juror that had been coerced during the trial, alleging personal reasons, and she was replaced by an alternate juror. The judge then prompted the defense attorneys to make a closing argument, so Matt Murdock stepped and stood right in front of the jury.
Murdock remained silent for a while, listening to the jurors' heartbeats, and making John Healy to ask what was he doing. Foggy Nelson made a gesture to indicate that all was fine, but the judge prompted Murdock to begin.
Murdock began reflecting about morality and what was right or wrong. He did not denied the question that Healy killed a man, as he began to state facts that do not have moral judgment, as they were not there to judge Healy's intentions or if he was a good man or not.
The facts that Murdock began to explain were that Healy claimed he killed Prohaszka in self-defense, that Prohaszka's associates refused to make any statement about what happened, that the only witness that was not involved was a young woman who was frightened, who did not see the incident until after it had started, and that said that Healy had been pleasant and friendly before that.
Murdock reminded the jury that based on those facts, the prosecution had failed to prove that Healy acted in self-defense beyond reasonable doubt, as it was required to charge Healy according to the laws of the state of New York. Murdock finished his argument saying that according to the law, Healy must be acquitted of every charge, but that he would maybe face another kind of judgment beyond the walls of the court building.
=====Preparing the Penthouse=====
Wilson Fisk acquired an expensive penthouse in New York City, intending to use it as his home in the city. To make his house become a home for it, Fisk personally went to the Scene Contempo Gallery to acquire some art.
=====Car Ride=====
Leland Owlsley and James Wesley met to discuss the ongoing trial against John Healy. Owlsley wanted to talk to Wesley's employer, but Wesley excused him saying that he was "indisposed" with art, checking paintings for his penthouse.
Owlsley could not believe that excuse, and reminded Wesley that they lost both the tape against a member of the jury and their enforcer, but Wesley calmed him down saying that this juror was just a piece of the puzzle. Owlsley proposed to kill Healy just like they had killed Rance, leaving him hanging on his cell.
Wesley reminded him that not only Rance, but McClintock, Daniel Fisher and Clyde Farnum had died, and there had been too many people killed, which could leave a trail that may lead to them eventually. That was the reason Wesley wanted to solve that following the legal procedures.
Owlsley complained that Wesley had hired Nelson and Murdock, which were defense attorneys with little experience, but Wesley explained that the reason he hired them was that they were clean, unlike any of the corrupt lawyers that Owlsley could offer, something that Owlsley acknowledged.
Owlsley then complained about how the whole case was attracting too much attention, so he could not do anything to appropriate Prohaszka's for the moment. Wesley told him to prepare everything, and his employer would worry about the rest.
====Uncovering the Truth====
=====Moving On=====
Karen Page went to visit Jennifer Fisher, Daniel Fisher's widow, who was about to leave her old house and move to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Page tried to introduce herself, but Fisher already knew who she was, as his husband was found dead in Page's apartment.
Page clarified that nothing happened between the two of them, but Fisher was also aware of that, knowing how much her husband loved her, and refusing to help Page before even knowing what she actually wanted. Page was uncomfortable, as her former employer, Union Allied Construction, offered her a large sum of money in exchange for signing an agreement to never talk about the corruption scandal and what happened after.
Page asked Fisher if they had offered anything similar to her, but Fisher remained silent. Page reminded her that the people behind Union Allied killed her husband, they also tried to kill Page, and now they were trying to get away with it by just changing their name and signing some documents.
Fisher advised her to let it go, but Page was unable to do it, as it did not feel right. Fisher remembered that her husband said exactly the same a few days before being killed, as Daniel had found something wrong at work, and Jennifer had advised him to do something about it. Fisher regretted having said that, and now she was struggling with having to explain what happened to their sons.
Page told her that they had to pay for what they had done, but Fisher then told her that she had already signed the agreement, as the only thing that mattered to her was the wellness of her two sons, so she advised Page to do the same if she had anyone she cared about.
=====Resuming the Story=====
Ben Urich called Shirley Benson to personally thank her for all she had done to obtain an extension for the insurance care for his wife, Doris, telling Benson that he owed her one. Urich was so happy about the news, and began to reflect on his latest article, but he was interrupted by Karen Page, who knocked at his door asking for him.
Page told Urich that she had read his article, and when he asked if she was talking about the one about the subway line, she clarified that she wanted to speak about Union Allied Construction, revealing that there were many things more about that story in case he was interested.
====Verdict====
The trial was resumed, and while everyone in the room proceeded to seat as the judge, Matt Murdock listened to the members of the jury, realizing another one of them had an unusually fast heart rate, meaning nervousness. Murdock correctly guessed the jury were hung and had not reach a verdict.
The judge examined a note, and then she addressed to the jury to ask if she had correctly understood the note and they had not reach a verdict. The foreperson, the old woman whose heartbeat Murdock heard, ratified that the had not.
Foggy Nelson explained to John Healy what would happen next, as the judge would send the jury again to deliberate, and if they do not reach a verdict that second time, the District Attorney would retry the case. Murdock knew something was wrong, and the trial would not be fair, so he wondered if they would not reach it.
Healy, not realizing what Murdock tried to insinuate, congratulated him for his speech, so Murdock began to think what he should do next as the judge began to speak.
====Attack on John Healy====
John Healy was found to be non-guilty of murdering Prohaszka, and was released. 
The man in the black mask ambushed Healy in an alley, but Healy was able to evade the man's first attack and retaliate.
Both men fought and hit each other, with Healy grabbing a metal pipe as an improvised weapon. The man in the mask managed to disarm him, but none kept an advantage over the other. Healy was almost able to impale the man's head in a piece of metal that protruded from a fence in the alley, but the man managed to throw him to the floor.
Healy then grabbed a glass shard from a window that had been broken during the fight, but the man was able to place Healy's hands over his throat, and began to threaten him with stabbing Healy in the neck. The man began to question about James Wesley, who had hired Nelson and Murdock to act as Healy's lawyers, and especially, about the name of Wesley's employer.
Healy was not afraid of the man in the mask, and refused to give a name, until the man in the mask began to actually hurt him. Healy then revealed he worked for Wilson Fisk, and the man in the mask released him. The man ordered Healy to leave Hell's Kitchen, but Healy then explained that the price he would pay for revealing Fisk's name would be very hard. Fisk would find Healy and everyone Healy cared about and kill them to make an example.
Healy then told the man in the mask that he should have killed him, and called him a coward before impaling himself with the piece of metal. The man did not have time to react, and silently left the scene.
====Rabbit in a Snowstorm====
Vanessa Marianna, a curator at the Scene Contempo Gallery, realized that a man, Wilson Fisk, was staring at one of the paintings, that was called Rabbit in a Snowstorm. Marianna approached him and explained an old children's joke about holding a white piece of paper that actually was a drawing of a rabbit in a snowstorm.
Marianna asked Fisk if he was actually interested in the painting or just looking at it. Fisk answered he was interested while he kept staring at the painting, so Marianna proceeded to explain the reason of its price despite it simply looked like gradations of white. For Marianna, the price of a painting should not be measured by the artist's name, the skill required or the art itself, but for how did the painting make someone feel.
Fisk then looked at Marianna, saying that it made him feel alone. Marianna and Fisk looked at each other for a moment, and then Fisk began to look at the painting again, until he finally bought it.
Once he acquired the painting, Fisk returned to his penthouse and hung it in his bedroom, becoming the last thing he saw every night, and the first one he saw every morning.
====Messing with the Russians====
=====Bare Escape=====
The man in the black mask began to attack every Russian hideout he was able to found, severely damaging the operations run by the Ranskahov brothers. During one of these attacks, Anatoly Ranskahov barely escaped from the man in the mask, and he called his brother Vladimir
Anatoly demanded to speak to him despite one of their subordinates explained that Vladimir had ordered not to be disturbed. Anatoly managed to enter one of the Veles Taxi cab he owned, and escaped just as the man in the mask threw a corpse to the cab to attempt to prevent his escape, though Anatoly managed to escape.
=====Tending Wounds=====
Matt Murdock visited Claire Temple at Apartment 412 in order to get his latest wounds treated. While stitching him up, Temple noted that he had busy dealing with the Russians. Murdock joked that Temple should see the other guys, but she noted that she had already done it, as Semyon, the man he threw off the roof above her apartment, was in coma, something that Murdock had already heard about and was not upset for it.
Temple shooed away a cat from the counter, as she was allergic to them, even though she was at the apartment cat sitting for a coworker. She complained that she should only come to the apartment twice a day to feed the cat, instead of being hiding there from the Russians. Murdock asked her to stay there a few days more until he could make sure the Russians were not looking for her.
Temple advised Murdock to use body armor due to the amount of wounds he had that time, but he refused, saying an armor would slow him down too much to properly deal with criminals, though Temple pointed a bullet would slow him down even more. Murdock asked her if she was worried about him, and her only answer was another question, what would happen if she actually was.
Murdock said he could take care of himself, but Temple chuckled as she pointed that he ended getting there for being patched up frequently. Murdock said that maybe it was just because he liked the sound of her voice. Temple asked him what would happen if he came a night and she was already talking to someone, a thought that had already crossed Murdock's mind.
Murdock handed her a cellphone, and though Temple believed it was just a gift her, Murdock actually gave it to her as a means to communicate, as it had his number in the burner. Murdock then told her he would call next time he needed help with his wounds. However, Temple, who was actually worried about him, told him that if he followed that path, he was going to end being killed.
However, Murdock explained that things were complicated, and asked her if she had ever heard about Wilson Fisk. Temple did not recognize the name, and he explained that there were no public records or mentions in Internet about him. Temple told him that maybe the man who gave that name was lying, but Murdock was perfectly aware that he was not, as he could hear his heartbeat.
As Murdock got dressed again, Temple asked what was he going to find anything about him, jokingly suggesting if he was gong to punch whoever he could until finding someone who knew Fisk. Seriously, Murdock told her that, with the pressure, someone would break eventually, right before leaving the apartment through one of the windows.
=====Covert Take Over=====
Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov's subordinates worked at the Veles Taxi Garage preparing stolen cabs and painting them with the Veles Taxi sign, in order to use them for their drug distribution business.
James Wesley arrived at the garage to speak with Anatoly and Vladimir, and he remarked Anatoly's wounds as soon as he saw, despite he said that he had had worse wounds before. After jokingly advising to duck the next time, Wesley informed the brothers that Leland Owlsley had finished the needed procedures to transfer all of Prohaszka's holdings in the company Kitchen Cab to the one that the Russians control, Veles Taxi.
Anatoly asked Wesley to tell his employer that were grateful, but he answered that what his employer really cared about was the fact that the man in the black mask had damaged their operations again, and they had not stopped the man despite having promised to do so.
The brothers revealed that the man in the mask was questioning their men about Wesley's employer, by name, somehow having managed to discover it. Wesley said that it was one reason more to settle the situation, and that both Madame Gao and Nobu Yoshioka have expressed their disappointment towards the way this had been handled.
Wesley also revealed that there have been discussions behind their backs to treat the whole situation. Vladimir attempted to end the conversation, but he felt insulted when Wesley said their operation was weak. Wesley clarified it was not a personal matter, but their distribution directñy affected other business they were all involved in.
Wesley informed that his employer would help them with certain duties regarding their service, something that the Ranskahov brothers understood as an attempt to take over. Wesley then explained that, though their services were valuable, they needed help to provide them.
Vladimir threatened Wesley, ordering to tell Wilson Fisk, defiantly saying his name despite Wesley told him not to, to come in person to take over. Wesley then clarified that it was just an offer, not an order, and they needed to choose how to proceed. Wesley asked Vladimir to discuss it with Anatoly, and departed saying they would be in touch.
As Wesley left, Vladimir and Anatoly discussed how to deal with the threat and the man in the mask, with Vladimir assuring his brother that the only reason Fisk did not want anyone to say his name was to not acknowledge the fact that he was just a man.
They agreed to question Semyon, one of their subordinates that was in coma after investigating the man in the mask, going to the Metro-General Hospital to wake him up even if that meant killing him.
====Building a Story====
Karen Page and Ben Urich met at the Square Diner to discuss how to proceed in the investigation of all the framework that was behind the Union Allied Construction Scandal. Urich told Page that he had already heard similar stories about companies that got caught in a scandal, and they simply filed for bankruptcy and then restructured under a new name.
Page said that the people behind Union Allied killed Daniel Fisher and tried to kill her, though it was something Urich did not have clear at all. He asked Page about what happened that night, as according to Page, Rance assaulted her inside her apartment, and then a man in a black mask saved her.
Page assured him at was the truth, the man simply appeared despite she had never seen him before. Page also asked her that the way Rance died hanging himself in the cell was suspicious, as that was what Clyde Farnum tried to do to her, but Urich informed her that Farnum was dead, just like her previous boss McClintock, and it was an obvious pattern that all those deaths had been stages.
Page wondered the reason nobody was investigating it, but Urich reminded her how lucky she was for being alive, and advised her to move on, as it would not be the first time a company simply changed some papers to continue existing under a different name. Page then told him that all the hardware belonging to the company, from the machine to the office equipment, was being liquidated, and it would offer a trail.
In order to dissuade her, Urich thanked Page for the coffee, and told him that such a story must have credible sources, and he had investigated Page's past activities. Page told him that she had read every big story that Urich had published over the years, such as the one about the briberies at the Department of Veteran Affairs, toxic spills and the Teachers Union scandal.
She was especially impressed about how Urich was able to bring down the Italian mafia years ago. Page asked what to the reporter that wrote that stories, and he revealed that he had simply got old a much less stupid.
====Looking for Claire Temple====
=====Epinephrine Injection=====
Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov went to Metro-General Hospital where one of their men, Semyon, was in coma after being confronted by the man in the black mask. They intended to inject Semyon with epinephrine to wake him up, even despite it might kill him.
While they prepared the injection, Vladimir asked about Piotr, whom they have ordered to follow Wilson Fisk, and Anatoly told him that Piotr would call them as soon as he had something about Fisk. Anatoly was not sure about it, given that Fisk was a very cautious man, but his doubts made Vladimir angry.
Anatoly reminded Vladimir that during the three years they spent at Utkin Prison, he promised himself they would never lose again what they had, especially not to their own pride. Vladimir then reminded his brother that they agreed on everything when they had nothing. Anatoly sighed, believing they had lost their way, so Vladimir proposed to find it together.
Vladimir then injected the epinephrine right into Semyon's heart, who regained consciousness and began to suffocate until Anatoly remove the tube. Semyon breathed again, and the brothers asked him about the man who did that to him. Semyon told them he was the devil, and revealed there was a woman with him, revealing everything he knew before passing out.
Vladimir then told his brother to call Sergei, ordering him to go to the woman's apartment and find her.
=====Threatening Santino=====
Sergei and Dmitry, two Russians working for Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov, broke into the apartment owned by Claire Temple looking for her, knowing that she had helped the man in the black mask and she would know where to find him.
They found the apartment empty, as Temple had left in case the Russians were able to track her, but her neighbor, Santino, came to the apartment alerted by the noise. The two Russians threatened and hit Santino, and he tried to resist, until Sergei and Dmitry took him to the roof and threatened to throw him.
Santino ended up revealing Temple's current location, and the two Russians told him that if he spoke to anyone, they would return and kill his mother.
====Briefing====
James Wesley briefed his employer, Wilson Fisk, about his negotiation with the Ranskahov brothers. Wesley acknowledged that Anatoly seemed to be more willing to accept their proposal, and was less confrontational than his brother Vladimir.
Fisk was worried that an open confrontation against the Russians could be expensive for them, so he preferred to solve the whole situation quietly. Wesley informed him that they still had a reasonable time margin in case they dealt with the Russians quickly. Fisk assured him they would either one way or another.
Wesley asked how to proceed with the man in the mask, and Fisk assured him that if the Russians were not able to solve that, he would find another solution.
The car stopped in front of the Scene Contempo Gallery and Wesley was about to leave the car when Fisk ordered him to stay. Wesley tried to make him reconsider, but Fisk assured he needed to go alone, thankin Wesley for his services.
====Asking for a Date====
Wilson Fisk visited the Scene Contempo Gallery hoping to see Vanessa Marianna again, and she went on to greet him as soon as she saw him. Marianna asked him about Rabbit in a Snowstorm, the painting Fisk bought, and he was delighted to see that she remembered that.
Fisk explained that he hung the painting in his bedroom, and it had become the last thing he saw every night. Marianna noted that it was either very romantic or very sad, though Fisk preferred to think it was the first option. Nervously, Fisk said he wanted to thank Marianna for the painting, something she did not consider necessary but welcomed him in return.
Fisk then invited her for dinner, though she reclined the invitation saying that she was alone at the gallery that time. Fisk, believing she was not interested, told her that maybe another time, and was about to go. Marianna then surprised him, asking if he was not going to try anything else, such as offering to buy every painting, something that had already been tried before.
Fisk's answer was very clear, if a woman can be bought was not worth having. Marianna liked the answer, and told Fisk she liked Italian food, something that Fisk said that it was something else they had in common, before formally introducing themselves as Vanessa and Wilson.
====Auction House====
Karen Page visited an auction house where all the equipment that belonged to Union Allied Construction was being sold. Page tried to draw the faces of the people who were winning the different lots, hoping to identify them regarding the whole corruption scandal.
Ben Urich entered the room and sat right behind Page, telling her to stop without turning around. Urich, who was an expert at those kind of investigations, told Page that she would be easily caught, as he had already noticed two people that were in the room but not bidding for any lot.
Page, afraid for her safety, asked her what should she do, and he advised to spend an hour bidding in the different auctions and even winning one of the small lots. Urich told her to meet again at the Square Diner as soon as she finished, and left the room without giving Page the chance to ask him how did he managed to find her.
Page then followed Urich's advice, and gained a couple of old fax machines that she charged to Nelson and Murdock.
====Kidnapping of Claire Temple====
=====Breaking into the Apartment=====
Claire Temple fed her co-worker's cat, and began to suffer the symptoms of her allergy. While she was looking for the pills inside her purse, Temple heard a noise outside the apartment, and, worried that maybe the Russians had found them, grabbed the phone that the man in the mask gave her.
She looked through the door, but it turned out that an elderly neighbor was just passing through the hallway. However, Sergei and Dmitry, two Russians working for Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov, broke into the apartment.
Meanwhile, Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson left their office and prepare to go to their homes, while casually chatting about the decisions in their lives that made him become independent lawyers. They talked about their last client, Ed, an electrician who almost burned his house down in what he claimed to be an accident right after his wife left him.
Nelson thought about his life would have been if he had followed his mother's advice to become a butcher, or that maybe joining Landman and Zack maybe was the right path for them. Murdock reminded him that he hated his internship there, but Nelson acknowledged that he also hated not having any money.
Murdock reminded him that Landman and Zack would not have helped Ed like they did, but Nelson was thinking about the free bagels they had every morning and other amenities such as furniture and elevators. Murdock reminded him that they were doing good and making a difference.
Their conversation was interrupted by a phone call from Temple, though Nelson believed that Murdock had acquired a phone just for women. Murdock answered the phone, asking to hold on a second, and then wished Nelson to get home safe.
Murdock answered the phone, but he heard Temple grunting while the Russians were attacking and grabbing her. Murdock ran to the apartment, but the Russians managed to take Temple out of it. By the time Murdock arrived, the apartment was empty, and the cell phone was in the floor.
Enraged, Murdock grabbed it and then threw a chair against the wall. He tried to hear Temple through the window, but he was unable to locate them, as they were speaking in Russian. The only word he understood was Santino, the name of Temple's younger neighbor.
Sergei and Dmitry then informed the Ranskahov brothers that they managed to locate Temple, and they were heading to their hideout with her.
=====Familiar Face=====
Matt Murdock arrived at Claire Temple's Apartment hoping to find Temple's neighbor, Santino. Santino was inside, sitting on the floor and still afraid from the Russians that attacked him. Murdock asked him to calm down and took off his glasses, asking him if he remembered as the man in the black mask.
Murdock explained him that Temple had been kidnapped, and he needed his help, as the men who kidnapped her said Santino's name. Santino told him that he did not tell anything at first, but then they took him to the roof and threatened to throw him, and if he told that to anyone, they would return and kill his mother.
Murdock asked him if he knew where did they took Temple, something that Santino did not know, and then the young man apologized, as Temple was going to get hurt because of him. Murdock told Santino not to blame himself, as Murdock believed it was all his own fault, and then asked for any detail to help him find Temple.
Santino revealed that the two Russians got into a taxi, using the front seats as it the taxi was its own, and revealed that it was from a specific company, Veles Taxi.
=====Torture and Rescue=====
Claire Temple was taken to the Veles Taxi Garage under orders of Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov, in order to obtain any information that she may know about the man in the black mask. Her kidnappers, Sergei and Dmitry, tortured and hit her, but she tried to resist.
Sergei told Temple that Dmitry would stop hitting her if she revealed who the man in the mask was, but she told them that she simply did not know who he was. Sergei hit with a baseball bat, seemingly going to attack her, but he broke the window of the taxi right behind Temple, making her scream in horror. Temple, scared, told them that the man in the mask never told her his name.
Dmitry stopped Sergei from hitting Temple with the bat, reminding him that Vladimir had ordered them not to kill Temple until she revealed everything she knew. Sergei then told Temple that torturing her was not giving him any pleasure, but he had been ordered to do it, so he needed her to answer the questions, or he would break her piece by piece.
Suddenly, all the lights at the garage went off, and Sergei ordered one of his men, Mikhail, to check what happened. Mikhail was then attacked by the man in the mask, who had come to rescue Temple, and he easily knocked him down. Temple began to laugh and taunted Sergei, telling him to ask the name to the man in the mask himself now.
The man attacked and disarmed another Russian thug, and Temple hid under a taxi as soon as the Russians began to shoot blindly. The man continued to knock the Russians down until only Sergei was left. Sergei took Temple as a hostage hoping to escape, but the man in the mask ordered him to let her go.
Sergei threatened to kill Temple if he could not escape, but the man in the mask told him that if he did not put his gun down and let Temple go, he would never be able to hold anything with his hand again. The man then attacked Sergei, quickly liberating Temple and breakin Sergei's arm in the process. He also taunted Sergei asking him how it felt to be in pain and afraid just like Temple had been because of him, until Temple hit Sergei with the baseball he had been using.
Temple began to cry, and the man in the mask embraced her to calm her down, as he had rescued her and he was there for her.
====Terms of Collaboration====
Karen Page met Ben Urich again at the Square Diner once the auction she attended to investigate Union Allied Construction, and joined him while he was having dinner. Urich asked her if she followed his advice to win any of the items in the auction, and she explained that she won antique office equipment for a value of 3,500 that she had to charge to Nelson and Murdock, which would probably cause to be fired.
Page called the waitress and asked for a decaf in order to appease her nervousness, and then asked Urich how did he knew that she was going to be in the auction. He explained that he was not looking for her, and explained that when he told her to move on, he was saying it to protect her, not because he was not interested in the story.
Page then realized that her clue was right, and that former members of Union Allied were buying back all their equipment, so if they followed that, maybe they could find the man responsible for everything. Urich then asked her about his most successful articles that she claimed to have read, and explained that the man who alerted him about the toxic spills was found dead in the same river a month after the article was published, and the man who tried to help her with the Teachers Union scandal had to move to another state because flyers were published accusing him of being a pedophile.
Urich claimed that men underestimated what powerful and corrupt people could do to keep their power, and that he thought Page would not make that mistake after everything that already happened to her. Page then asked him about the woman who helped him with articles about the Department of Veteran Affairs, and Urich explained that her fate was the worst, as she ended up being married to a man that put his work above everything else and never appreciated her, himself.
Page tried to apologize, but Urich interrupted her explained how they should proceed from then on, so he forbid her from visiting his office and from telling anyone else about their investigation. Also, he told Page to sign the non-disclosure agreement, as despite she could never talk publicly about the whole scandal in case she signed it, Urich claimed he would not sign anything.
====Unconscious Men====
Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov returned to the Veles Taxi Garage with some of their men and found Sergei, Dmitry and the rest of their subordinates lying in the ground. Vladimir quickly asked to Sergei, who had just regained consciousness, and he told the brothers that it was the man in the black mask.
They were interrupted by Piotr, who called Anatoly to inform them that he had finally located Wilson Fisk at a restaurant. Anatoly tried to convince his brother that they needed Fisk's help, but Vladimir refused to bow down to him.
Anatoly then left, saying that he would go to meet Fisk and bow down for both of them, finally convincing him to accept the deal, while Vladimir stayed at the garage.
====First Date====
=====To a Better Place=====
Wilson Fisk and Vanessa Marianna met for a date at the Brasserie, an Italian restaurant in Hell's Kitchen. Fisk was visibly nervous during the date, something that Marianna noticed very soon. Before the dinner began, one of the waiters offered Fisk a glass of wine so that he could taste it and approve it.
Fisk admitted he did not know very much about wine, and that his assistant, James Wesley, was the one who recommended it. Marianna considered it to be delicious, and joked saying that maybe she should go on a date with Fisk's assistant. Seeing that Fisk did not understood, Marianna clarified it was a joke.
Marianna stated that it was obvious that Fisk did not go on dates too much, and he admitted that he had been preoccupied for a long time with other matters. Trying to break the ice, Marianna noted that the restaurant was a nice place, but she did not know about it. Fisk explained that it just opened a month before.
This prompted them to begin speaking about the city of New York, that Marianna believed it was changing, but not fast enough according to Fisk. Due to her words, Fisk noticed that Marianna did not grow in New York City, and explained how, during his childhood, he dreamt about living in a beautiful place far away from Hell's Kitchen, and his mother sent him to stay with relatives in a farm in the middle of nowhere.
Marianna wanted to know what made him came back, and Fisk explained that both time and distance made him realize that the city was a part of himself, and now he was determined to make it a better place for people like Marianna. she then proposed a toast, to a better place.
=====Interruption=====
|Wilson Fisk in Brasserie
Wilson Fisk and Vanessa Marianna finished their dinner, and Fisk convinced her to have dessert saying that they served an incredible Zuppa Inglese at the restaurant. Fisk revealed that it was his favourite dessert during his childhood. Marianna offered to split one, just like Marlene Vistain usually told him, and he ordered a Zuppa to the waiter.
Marianna revealed that milk chocolate has always been her downfall, but she was open to try new things that night and get out of her comfort zone. Fisk reflected upon how people usually got caught in the things they did or who they thought themselves they were. Marianna asked Fisk who he actually was, and he complimented her, saying that he was just a man enjoying her company.
Their date was interrupted by Anatoly Ranskahov who, despite James Wesley tried to stop, entered the restaurant and claimed he needed to speak with Fisk. Most of the customers in the restaurant approached Ranskahov, as it turned out they were Fisk's bodyguards posing as customers.
Marianna was shocked and she did not understand what happened, but Fisk took her saying they needed to leave. As Fisk passed by the door, Ranskahov tried to tell Fisk that he and my brother gratefully accepted his offer, but Fisk simply told him that Wesley would take care of him. Fisk then ordered Wesley to put Ranskahov in a car before leaving the restaurant.
====Office Equipment====
Karen Page returned to the law office of Nelson and Murdock to explain Foggy Nelson that he had bought office equipment in an auction. Page made Nelson promise he would not get mad, especially as she had already taken a fax machine to the office but other things like a printer, conference phones and a copier would arrive the following day.
Page then explained that she charged the equipment to the law firm, but she would pay it as she was planning to receive a sum of money. Nelson told her that there was no need to worry, and then proceeded to tell Page the story of how he reacted when he refused to become a butcher like his mother wanted.
====Reason to Continue====
Matt Murdock took Claire Temple to his apartment to take care of her wounds, making Temple notice he had some experience, especially for a blind man. Murdock revealed he used to help his father but instead of a vigilante, he was a boxer, though they both received a lot of beatings.
Temple slightly complained for the pain while Murdock tended one of her wounds, making him to apologize. Temple dismissed, saying that she had treated Murdock with worse wounds, but Murdock clarified he was apologizing for having got her into his crusade, as he started it believing the only one who would be at risk was himself.
Temple told him it was her own choice, as he did not ask her to help him when she found Murdock in the dumpster, something that Temple did because, according to Murdock, was a good person, and only got herself to being almost killed.
Temple then asked if it was worth it, or if he had a plan in his fight. Murdock doubted what to say, but he revealed that the only thing he wanted to do was to make the city a better place, but he was starting to feel that nothing was changing and he was making things worse.
Temple reminded him about the boy he rescued from the Russians and the rest of people he had helped, but Murdock wondered about the people that got hurt because of him. To make him understand her, Temple prompted Murdock to feel her heart, and explain what he could know with that.
Murdock touched Temple's chest, noticing that she was scared. Temple said it was true, she was more scared than in any other situation during her life, and she was not alone feeling that, but she told Murdock that he could improve things for all the people that were scared. As Temple called him "Mike" once again, Murdock revealed his true name, Matthew.
====Mixed Feelings====
Wilson Fisk took Vanessa Marianna to her home, and asked her if he would see her again. Still upset about what happened at the restaurant where they had dinner together, Marianna made up an excuse saying she should not date customers, so Fisk proposed to return the painting he bought from her.
Marianna refused his advances, saying she was not interested in gestures, his money, or what happened at the restaurant, she went with him on a date because she thought there was something different about Fisk, but she was not sure anymore that meant something good.
Fisk acknowledged that, as Marianna said during their date, he did not go on dates much, and apologized for what happened. However, he said that he enjoyed their time together, and told Marianna that if she did not feel the same, she would not ever see Fisk again.
Marianna remained silent and looked at Fisk for a moment, and expressed she did not how to feel before going to her house.
====Murder of Anatoly Ranskahov====
James Wesley took Anatoly Ranskahov in a car following Wilson Fisk's orders, and Ranskahov began to explain how they tried to learn the identity of the man in the black mask by kidnapping a woman that had helped him in the past, Claire Temple.
Wesley noticed that even after all the did, they were unable to obtain a name from Temple, and Ranskahov added that the man in the mask attacked before their men could finish interrogating Temple. Wesley acknowledged that Ranskahov did the right thing by reaching them, but he should have called them instead.
Ranskahov explained that he wanted to speak with Fisk in person and put the past behind by accepting his offer, and Wesley began to reflect upon what the past meant while the car stopped. He was interrupted by a phone call, as Fisk wanted to know exactly where Ranskahov was.
Wesley announced that Fisk wanted to speak to Ranskahov, and suddenly, Fisk opened the car and grabbed Ranskahov in a fit of rage, throwing him to the ground. Ranskahov tried to retaliate, but Fisk relentlessly punched him and threw him again.
Ranskahov grabbed a knife and tried to stab Fisk, but he did not managed to cut through his suit, as it was layered with a special material. Fisk broke Ranskahov's arm, and then shouted that he had embarrassed him in front of Vanessa Marianna, Fisk's date.
Fisk continued to punch and attack him, until Ranskahov was barely unable to move. Ranskahov begged for Wesley's help, who was still in the car, but Wesley did not even look at him. To finish him, Fisk grabbed Ranskahov and placed him in the car's door, hitting him with the door until he beheaded the Russian.
Wesley exited the car, and approached Fisk as he calmed down. Wesley offered his handkerchief for Fisk to clean his face, and Fisk asked him to contact Melvin Potter, and order a new suit for him. Wesley also asked what to do with Ranskahov, and Fisk ordered to deliver his corpse to his brother, Vladimir Ranskahov.
Wesley commented that would start a war, something Fisk was actually counting on.
====Seeing the World on Fire====
Claire Temple got up at Matt Murdock's apartment, where she had stayed since Murdock rescued her the previous day. Temple looked at the mirror and began to check the different injuries that the Russians caused when they violently tortured in order to learn Murdock's identity as the man in the black mask.
Temple then had a shower while Murdock cooked for breakfast for her, and she finished, she entered the kitchen wondering if Murdock cooked for every girl he brought to his house. Murdock jokingly answered that he only did that for the girls that kept him alive.
Temple wanted to know more about Murdock, asking if he had a job or if he was one of those billionaire playboys that she had heard about. Murdock told her he had a job, making Temple jokingly regret he was not a billionaire, and then he explained he was lawyer and had his own practice. Temple then wondered about the duality of being a lawyer by day and a vigilante by night, something that even Murdock had not figured how could work.
As Temple sat at the table to have breakfast, she complained for the pain, and Murdock noticed she opened one of the cuts on her back. Temple wanted to know how did he know something like that, and he explained that it was due to the taste of copper in the air.
Murdock began to check her back, and while the swelling around the wound was down, she had a hairline fracture in one of her ribs. That Murdock was able to notice something like that made Temple wonder again how did he do that, and he explained that he could hear her bones as she breathed, and a hairline fracture sounded like an old ship.
Then Temple asked how could he see so much despite being blind, with Murdock explained the true extent of his powers, how he was able to sense many things with his remaining senses, and many more such as balance, direction, changes in air density, vibrations, temperature variations and many more. According to Murdock, all those things he could sense formed what he described as an impressionistic painting, that made him see the world as it was on fire.
Temple then acknowledged that seeing only fire would make her want to hit people, and Murdock joked that he wished he knew he was hitting the right ones.
Murdock then asked Temple to stay with him at his apartment while he figured what to do now that the Russian mob knew about her, and she commented it was quite a way of asking a girl to move in with him. Murdock then kissed Temple, who returned the kiss. As they finished, Temple said she had been wondering if he was ever going to do it.
Murdock prepared to leave, telling her that he would get clothes for her. As he was putting on his tie, Temple asked why did he not go to the police and present evidence against the Russians, but due to his status as a vigilante, the police would surely arrest him. Temple then told him that trying to take down the entire Russian mob alone would probably get him to end in another dumpster.
Murdock then told her that he only needed to take down one man, Wilson Fisk, as he was the "head of the snake", and explained how the murder of a man named Prohaszka in a bowling alley was linked to Fisk, as Prohaszka owned a majority of the Kitchen Cabs company. Temple noticed that its taxis were being turned over at the Veles Taxi Garage where she was taken, so Murdock believed that Fisk hired John Healy, the man that killed Prohaszka.
Temple suggested that he may find a man that seemed to be the man in charge of the Russian mob, as Sergei, the man that was beating and torturing him, only stopped when he heard a name, Vladimir.
====Eliminating the Russians====
=====Headless Corpse=====
Vladimir Ranskahov tried to contact with his brother Anatoly once again, as he had been calling all night without obtaining any answer.
James Wesley entered the office, sending regards and gratitude from his employer due to the Ranskahov brothers having accepted his offer. However, Wesley told him they needed to discuss some details when he seemingly noticed that Anatoly was missing.
Vladimir was about to ask Wesley about him, as the last time Anatoly was seen, he was going to visit Wesley's employer, stopping right before saying his name, which made Wesley smile. Wesley then asked if he had a girl or boy he might be celebrating with, but prompted him to locate his brother quickly, as they needed to get their distribution back to acceptable levels. Their meeting was interrupted by Sergei, who announced that they had found Anatoly.
Anatoly's headless corpse was taken to the office, and Sergei explained they found him lying in a lot. Vladimir cried, regretting not having returned to Moscow like his brother wanted, and suddenly he found a black mask inside one his brother's pockets.
Believing the man in the mask had killed Anatoly to send him a message, Vladimir ordered all of his men to find the man and bring him his head.
=====Four Instead of Five=====
Wilson Fisk summoned his associates Leland Owlsley, Nobu Yoshioka and Madame Gao to a car garage, where one of the cars was being cleaned due to still having the remains of Anatoly Ranskahov. Owlsley wondered what was happening and the reason they did not meet at their usual place. Fisk arrived at that same moment, explaining that he had an opportunity for those willing to seize it.
Madame Gao began to laugh and spoke to them in Chinese, to which James Wesley translated she was happy to see Fisk. Fisk then apologized for both his absences and for summoning them in a rushed manner. Owlsley asked where were the Ranskahov brothers, and Fisk explained that they no longer a part of their organization, since he had beheaded Anatoly Ranskahov with the door of his car.
Yoshioka and Madame Gao voiced their displeasure, something to which Owlsley agreed, and Fisk only revealed that the reason to do it was just a personal matter. Owlsley asked how to proceed, as Vladimir Ranskahov would surely be angry about that, though Wesley explained that Vladimir believed the masked vigilante killed his brother, something that would distract him while they prepare to eliminate Vladimir.
Madame Gao asked how her product would be moved, and Fisk told her to keep sending deliveries to the Russians as if nothing had changed, and once they eliminate them, Fisk would assume their role. Owlsley asked if that meant that Fisk would have now the Raskahovs' share of the profits, but Fisk instead proposed to divide the whole profits equally among the four of them.
Yoshioka, Madame Gao and Owlsley ended up agreeing to Fisk's proposal, but Owlsley asked what would happen if Vladimir found the truth before Fisk was ready to deal with him. Fisk only answered that such a situation would be unfortunate for all of them.
Owlsley departed, saying that he was going to retrieve his stun gun just in case he needed it, and Yoshioka reminded Fisk the promise he made both to him and to those he spoke for.
Fisk then offered to walk Madame Gao to her car, making her ask if he wanted something, and Fisk revealed his intention to solve the situation as quickly as possible, asking for her assistance in dealing with the Russians.
=====Drug Delivery=====
Aslan and Piotr, two subordinates of Vladimir Ranskahov drove one of Madame Gao's blind drug runners, in one of their taxis. They asked the runner if he knew anything about the man in the mask, but they obtained no response.
As they arrived to their destination, they took the drug from the runner and went to deliver it while the runner waited inside the taxi. The man in the mask appeared before the taxi, but the runner seemingly did not notice him. The man in the mask attacked Aslan and Piotr, easily knocking them down.
Hearing the fight, more men appeared and began to shoot at the man in the mask, but they exited from the 
who tried to kill him but ended up unintentionally killing the drug runner. The man in the mask managed to knock them down, and then he went to question Piotr.
Piotr begged for his life when the man in the mask asked for Vladimir, believing that the man had beheaded Anatoly Ranskahov. The man did not understand what they were talking about, and Piotr said that everyone knew that the man cut Vladimir's brother's head.
Before further questioning, members of the New York City Police Department arrived, and the man in the mask was forced to flee to avoid being arrested, while the officers arrested Piotr and took him to the 15th Precinct Police Station.
====Tenancy Case====
Karen Page tried to start the printer and fax machine she bought for the Nelson and Murdock Law Office in an auction, but was unable to do it. Foggy Nelson jokingly advised her to be nice in case the machines finally took over one day. Page complained about being unable to make them work, and Nelson mentioned that the phones were not working either. Page revealed that rats had chewed through the main line, and a man from the phone company was already repairing it, while the exterminator would come the following Monday.
Matt Murdock entered through the door, and Nelson informed him about the rats. He added that he would never sleep at the office again, something that Murdock considered an upside. Murdock asked if either Nelson or Page had heard something in the news about a Russian having been beheaded, but they did not, being surprised that something like that could happen in Hell's Kitchen.
Their conversation was interrupted by Elena Cardenas, who was looking for Nelson under Bess Mahoney's references. Cardenas spoke with a broken English, mixing her words with Spanish, though Page, who had studied Spanish in high school, managed to understand her.
Cardenas began to explain, while Page translated, that she lived in a rent-control apartment owned by Armand Tully, who wanted to evict all tenants and transform the apartments into condominiums. Cardenas said that some men posing as workers, who destroyed the apartments with sledgehammers.
Page was unable to translate the last word, but Murdock, who had studied Spanish in college, easily understood and translated it. Nelson revealed that as Murdock studied Spanish, he studied Punjabi, so if the need arose, he would translate. Page offered Murdock to continue translating, but he refused, saying he liked listening to Page's voice.
Cardenas continued explaining that the men damaged the whole building, leaving them without water or electricity for days, and though they had tried to put the matter into police hands, they could do nothing about as it was a city issue, so they did not what to do.
Nelson checked the documents that Cardenas brought, and according to them, Tully had offered each tenant $10,000 to leave each apartment, and offered to pressure Tully for a better payout. Cardenas refused, saying that what they wanted was to stay in their homes.
In Spanish, Murdock told Cardenas they would everything they could, and Nelson would speak to Tully's lawyers. Cardenas was moved by their dedication and thanked Murdock for helping her. Page accompanied Cardenas to the door, and Murdock explained to Nelson what she just told to Cardenas-
Nelson complained, knowing that Tully's lawyers were Landman and Zack. Page thought that sounded impressive, and Murdock explained they were interns there. Nelson also told her that they were offered a great job there, but they refused to work for them and now they hated them.
Murdock said he was going to visit the 15th Precinct Police Station to check any complaints against Tully, while Nelson went to Landman and Zack. He refused to go alone, so Murdock asked him to take Page. She accepted, as she wanted an opportunity to see, as Nelson put, the sharks attacking him.
====Interrogation and Execution====
Matt Murdock went to the 15th Precinct Police Station where he was greeted by Brett Mahoney, an acquaintance of his friend Foggy Nelson. Murdock asked Mahoney about his mother Bess and revealed that one of her friends was their latest client.
Mahoney knew about the case, and asked if they were indeed to go after Armand Tully, a man who, despite his bad reputation, had not committed any crime that the New York City Police Department could act against. Murdock asked for copies of the complaints against Tully and requested a few minutes to speak with the different officers involved. Mahoney asked Murdock if he thought they could help Elena Cardenas, and Murdock optimistically answered that they could try.
As Mahoney went to find the complaints, Murdock sat in a bench and began to focus in the interrogation to the Russian man that he battled the last knight as the masked vigilante, Piotr. Detectives Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman were interrogating him in another room and that was the true reason of Murdock's visit to the police station.
Blake and Hoffman asked Piotr to explain what happened, as only the fact that he was found at a scene with a dead Chinese illegal immigrant and a backpack full of drugs would make him be imprisoned for 30 years. Blake even provoked him about the way h would get new tattoos in prison.
Piotr threatened the two detectives, asking if they knew who was he working for. Hoffman already knew that he worked for Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov, and he believed they were not worth any effort. As Blake and Hoffman were leaving, Piotr offered them another name to avoid being imprisoned, catching Murdock's attention.
The detectives told him that, in order to offer anything in exchange, the name would have to be big. Piotr told them about Wilson Fisk, and offered to tell them everything he knew for a deal. Blake mocked him and then uncuffed Piotr, and began to talk to Hoffman about a turn.
The pair organized themselves, and Hoffman prepared, to receive a punch from Blake. Piotr did not understand what was happening, and Hoffman began to shout that Piotr had taken his gun. Blake told Piotr that he should not have said Fisk's name, and mercilessly killed him.
As soon as Murdock understood what was happening, he got up and tried to prevent the gunshot, but he was unable to do anything about it, and froze while the rest of officers at the police station rushed to know what was happening and act accordingly.
====Lawyers Meeting====
Foggy Nelson and Karen Page visited the Landman and Zack Building to speak to the opposing lawyers in a tenancy case. Page was impressed by the building, commenting it looked like a place to buy a clone or a robot baby.
Nelson approached the counter, and announced his arrival. Marci Stahl descended to the entrance and greeted him, calling Nelson "Foggy Bear". Nelson was surprised to see Stahl there, as she had been working for Landman and Zack since Nelson and Matt Murdock left.
Stahl asked about Murdock, wondering if he had already left Nelson, and telling Page that Nelson had commitment issues. Nelson denied the statement and clarified that Murdock was just taking care of something else. Trying to end the conversation, Nelson said they had an appointment, but Stahl clarified that their appointment was with her.
Nelson was surprised that Stahl was Tully's lawyer, but she clarified that she was just part of the team, and since the rest of members were doing what she defined as "real work", she had been sent to deal with Nelson. Stahl even dismissed the importance of the case, saying that Nelson's client, Elena Cardenas, only had two options, to agree with the buyout or wait until an eviction.
Page complained that the workment that Tully sent acted illegally and busted the whole apartment, but Stahl said that they were making requested repairs, which never finished out of fear for their own safety due to the alleged criminals that lived there, such as junkies and drug dealers. Page got tired of the disrespect that Stahl showed to Cardenas, correcting her when she misspelled Cardenas' last name.
Stahl then tried to make her point, saying that trying to renovate that building was actually doing the city a favor, and explained that the case was Cardenas' word versus Tully's, and there too many similar cases pending throughout the city, so Nelson should urge her client to accept the offer.
Nelson calmed himself and then retaliated Stahl's arguments, saying that the reason they were trying to force Cardenas to accept was they had fear that she and her neighbors would find a way to gain their homes. Besides, the illegal and physical way of forcing tenants out of rent-controlled homes would mean that Tully would lose the condominiums he wanted to build, and Landman and Zack would lose Tully as a client.
Nelson then pointed that Stahl's strategy was to want Nelson think that they had no leverage when they actually had all of them, so he said they would meet again in a court, where Nelson would, according to his own words, absolutely dismantle Stahl.
Stahl, impressed with Nelson's arguments, said that he would have been a great lawyer at Landman and Zack and he should have never left. However, Nelson told her that she should have never started working there, as she was good when she still had a soul.
As they were leaving, Page asked Nelson about the "Foggy Bear" nickname, and Nelson revealed he used to date Stahl, much to Page's surprise, but Nelson simply hurried her to leave the building as soon as they could.
====Briefing and Recommendation====
James Wesley informed Wilson Fisk about the events at the 15th Precinct Police Station while on route to Fisk's second date with Vanessa Marianna. As Wesley explained, Detectives Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman were giving statements about what happened with a Russian prisoner that seemingly was able to take Hoffman's gun and Blake had to shoot, and Wesley added that their contacts at the Internal Affairs Bureau would dismiss the whole case.
Fisk was worried what could have happened if someone else was in the room with Piotr, but Wesley calmed him down saying that the only ones were working for him. Fisk wondered that would happen the next time, though Wesley pointed that Vladimir Ranskahov would not have any subordinate to say Fisk's name in a short term-
Wesley also recommended a wine, the '75 Brunello di Montalcino as a personal favorite for Fisk's date, something that Fisk profoundly thanked.
====Attack on Detective Christian Blake====
Detective Christian Blake went outside the precinct at night, waiting for an important phone call, but he was ambushed by the man in the mask, who quickly restrained him and incapacitated by grabbing his arm.
The man in the mask confronted Blake for killing Piotr, one of the Russians, during an interrogation. Blake claimed he did it because Piotr attacked Carl Hoffman, but the man pressed his arm, warning Blake that he would hurt him if he lied. The man knew that Blake killed the Russian for saying Wilson Fisk's name, and after being hurt again, Blake admitted that was the truth.
Blake then said that the man had also killed Russians, having beheaded Anatoly Ranskahov. The man did not deny it, simply saying that he wanted Anatoly's brother, Vladimir Ranskahov. Blake swore he did not know where Vladimir was, and the man noticed that he was telling the truth.
The man asked how Fisk was connected to the Russians, and the reason to kill Prohaszka for them. Blake mocked him for not knowing even that, and took the opportunity to try to reach for his gun. The man knocked Blake out, and took his cellphone that had just received a message.
====Blood of War====
Vladimir Ranskahov cleaned his brother Anatoly's corpse inside his office, until he was interrupted by Turk Barrett, who had announced he had discovered something regarding his brother's death. Sergei accompanied Barrett inside the office, and Barrett gave Ranskahov his condolences.
Barrett had learnt from one of his former cellmates at Ryker's Island that a big, bald and white man took his SUV to the chop shop in order to be cleaned, as its backseat was splattered with blood and brains. Ranskahov assumed it belonged to Fisk, and Barrett said that, according to his contact, Fisk seemed to be close to the man in the black mask.
Ranskahov then assumed that the man in the mask worked for Fisk, and he had been playing them since the man started damaging their operations. Ranskahov ordered Sergei to tell all their men to get ready for an assault with all the weapons they had, and asked Barrett to spread the word that he would pay 1 million to the person who could reveal Fisk's location that same night.
Left alone with Anatoly's corpse, Vladimir promised to honor his brother with the blood of war.
====List of Locations====
Matt Murdock returned to his apartment to enlist Claire Temple's help in examining the phone that he got from Detective Christian Blake, but Temple revealed that the phone was empty and had no number or contacts. Murdock told her that he heard it buzzing, and Temple located a list with four locations.
She began to read them, and Murdock recognized them as Troika Restaurant, the place he had rescued a kidnapped boy. He assumed that it was list of the different hideouts of the Russian mob led by Vladimir Ranskahov.
Temple asked where did he obtain that phone, and he answered that he got it from a cop. Temple did not mean that when she advised Murdock to go to the police, but he then clarified that the cop was working for Wilson Fisk, and he even killed one of the Russians inside the precinct.
Murdock was sure that he would find Ranskahov at one of the locations of the list, and got ready to go. Temple asked what was he going to do, to which Murdock replied that whatever it took. Temple was horrified with that answers, explaining that the day he told another Russian that Murdock hurt people because he enjoyed it, he did not and could not believe that, because if she believed it, that would mean that Murdock was not the man she believed.
Murdock said that he needed to be the man the city needed, but Temple told him that was simply an excuse. Murdock then asked if he should let them tear Hell's Kitchen apart, to which Temple answered that she had realized that Murdock's activities were important to many people he had saved, but she could not let herself fall in love a man that is near to become what he hated. Murdock simply told her that she was right and she should not, and left, while Temple started to cry inside the apartment.
====Second Date====
=====Honesty=====
Vanessa Marianna entered the Press Lounge Restaurant, having been invited by Wilson Fisk for a second date. Marcel, the maître, received her, and accompanied to Fisk's table, despite he was lone in the restaurant. Fisk got up as soon as he noticed that Marianna had arrived,
Fisk admitted he was not sure if Marianna would come, something even her was not sure about. Marianna then asked Fisk, who had reserved the whole restaurant for themselves, commented that she believed that Fisk did not like grand gestures, but the only thing he wanted is not to be interrupted again.
Fisk proposed to go to another place if she wanted, and Marianna asked what would happen if what she wanted was to leave the restaurant alone. Fisk revealed he would dine alone, as it had not been the first time.
Marianna then explained her reticence to date, as he had been been lied to before by men, including decent men that felt the need to be dishonest, including being dishonest about things that mattered. Marianna asked Fisk if he felt that need. Fisk's answer was that he did not like to be in public or to be questioned, but he allowed Marianna to ask anything, and his answer would always be honest.
Marianna then asked a simple question, what would they drink, so Fisk ordered Marcel the '75 Brunello di Montalcino, the wine that James Wesley chose for him.
=====Man with a Dream=====
Vanessa Marianna continued with her dinner with Wilson Fisk, telling him about the time she was seduced by a prince dressed in a white suit and an ascot, who sidled up to her, a word she loved, and told her that she was more beautiful than any painting in the exposition.
Fisk seemed to be shocked with the reveal that Marianna slept with him, to which Fisk replied that being such an attractive woman, he had already assumed she had lovers. Marianna told him that it was not what she asked, and then Fisk told her that he simply regretting not having said something like that the first time they met. However, Marianna told him that she was actually glad he did not.
Marianna then complimented the wine, though Fisk revealed it was his assistant, James Wesley who had chosen it. Fisk then explained that Wesley was actually more than simply an assistant, he was his friend. Marianna was surprised to hear that Fisk had friends, given that he said he was lonely when he looked at her painting at the Scene Contempo Gallery. Fisk clarified it was her painting, and then Marianna asked why did he felt alone. Fisk supposed it was the nature of his business, milking her inquire more about the business.
Fisk began to play with his cufflinks, and he revealed that we was trying to rebuild the city, and make something beautiful setting free its potential. Marianna pointed that he sounded like an artist, though he considered himself just a man with a dream, which Marianna said it was the very definition of an artist.
Marianna then asked about the cufflinks, having noticed he also wore them during their last date. Fisk explained they belonged to his father, and he now wore them every day to remember him, as he passed when he was a boy.
Fisk then asked for permission to ask a question, and as Marianna believed he had earned that right, Fisk asked about the gun she had in her purse. Marianna remained silent for a moment, surprised that Fisk had noticed, but then she admitted. Fisk asked her why did she think she would need a gun, but then she told him not to insult her as if he had no idea of who he was or what he really did.
Fisk explained that he told the truth about the change he wanted for the city, but he needed more than money and influence is, he needed force for making such change. Marianna then clarified that the reason she brought a gun was that she knew Fisk was a dangerous man.
Fisk asked if she wanted to leave, but she really wanted was a reason to stay. Fisk revealed that he had done many things that he was not proud of, having hurt people and going to hurt even more, something he considered impossible to avoid to fulfill his dream. However, he said that he had no pleasure in being cruel, as given that the city was not a caterpillar that would spin a cocoon and wake up as a butterfly, but something that would crumble and fade, it needed to die before being reborn.
Marianna then asked him if she was going to need the gun, and he told her that the safest place he could ever be was being by his side, so she took the gun out of his purse and gave it to Fisk.
During their conversation, Marcel, the maître at the Press Lounge Restaurant, made a call to Turk Barrett and revealed Fisk's whereabouts.
====Preparing the Attack====
Sergei informed Vladimir Ranskahov that Turk Barrett received a call that had informed about Wilson Fisk's location. Ranskahov ordered him to prepare their men, but also warned that nobody would touch Fisk, as he was his.
The man in the mask, who had been tracking Ranskahov in the locations that he obtained from Detective Christian Blake, managed to hear the conversation, learning where Ranskahov was located.
====Helping Elena Cardenas====
=====Late Night Visit=====
Karen Page and Foggy Nelson went to visit Elena Cardenas at her apartment. Cardenas was glad to see them, but Nelson and Page were shocked by her living conditions due to the damage that the apartment had sustained when the landlord, Armand Tully, hired men to demolish them, posing as repairmen.
Cardenas, who had to light her living with candles, asked if they managed to make Tully fix the apartment, and though they had not, Nelson proposed to help with everything he could to make repairs himself. Page was surprised by the offer, and Nelson explained he learnt a few things as his father owned a hardware store.
Page also reminded Nelson about his cousin, who could help as he was a drywaller, and Nelson said that Ed, an electrician they had helped in their former case, owed him a favor. They were also going to talk to the neighbors, and Nelson promised Cardenas they would take of her.
Cardenas was moved to the point of almost crying, and thanked Nelson fervently in Spanish.
=====Handy Repairman=====
Foggy Nelson managed to repair the sink and get water, greatly impressing Karen Page with his skills. Nelson admitted that hot did not work yet, but it was a start. Elena Cardenas was very grateful, and invited them to have dinner at her apartment.
Nelson tried to refuse, but Cardenas insisted, saying she would not admit a refusal. Nelson asked Page if she wanted to eat, and she said that it would be rude not to accept the invitation. Cardenas explained that she cooked a dish that her mother used to prepare in Guatemala, that she cooked for them as a way of thanking everything they were doing for her.
Page asked Cardenas where did she make the meal, given that she did not have gas at the apartment, but she revealed that she cooked in the apartment downstairs, as the neighbors took care for each other.
Cardenas looked at them, saying in Spanish that they made a wonderful couple, making Page laugh. Nelson, who had did not understand Cardenas, realized what she said, and asked Page if they could consider that a date. Page answered that it probably was, jokingly calling Nelson "Señor Foggy" just as Cardenas always did.
=====Enjoying the Date=====
Foggy Nelson told Karen Page stories about his college days with Matt Murdock during their dinner, such as the time he hid Murdock's furniture in another dorm room, making him wonder if he was in the right room when he did not find them.
Page found the story hilarious, wishing to have known Nelson and Murdock during their college days, but Nelson pointed they were much more interesting at that moment, as they had their own practice, and he was more dashing than while he was in college. Page then asked him for photographs, and Nelson realized he had talked too much
Page then finally asked something she had in her head all day. Before she could ask, Nelson jokingly answered that he did not kiss on the first date. However, what she actually wanted to know is how Nelson had dated Marci Stahl, given that she did not looked like Nelson's type.
Nelson explained that Stahl was different when they dated, or maybe she just did not realize, as Murdock usually got involved with the wrong girls, and maybe that was his time. Page then asked about Murdock's dates, and though he had never been with a woman for more than one or two months, he got to touch a lot of pretty girls on their faces, as Murdock always claimed it was his way of knowing how somebody looked like.
However, Murdock seemed to be able to know which girls where beautiful even before managing to touch them, something Nelson considered a real gift. Page asked if Murdock knew how Nelson looked like, and he said that he had an approximate idea, though he only let him touch his face once because it was weird.
Page then asked if Nelson had ever tell Murdock how did she look like, and though he did not, Nelson was sure that Murdock already had a picture of her in his head. Page then asked Nelson to touch her face, and though he said that he could actually see her, she just wanted to know how a blind man would see her.
Page proposed to do it to each other, and Nelson closed his eyes and began to touch her face.
====Bombing of Hell's Kitchen====
One of Madame Gao's drug runners arrived at the warehouse, announcing he had a delivery, and he was allowed to enter inside. Just as he entered, the man in the black mask attacked the remaining guard at the door.
Inside the warehouse, the Russians prepared their weapons to attack Wilson Fisk, and Vladimir Ranskahov asked Sergei, one of his subordinates, if the rest of their men were ready at the other warehouses. Sergei assured him they were ready and waiting for a call, so Ranskahov ordered him to make it.
Sergei noticed the drug runner, and wondered if they were expecting a delivery from Madame Gao. Ranskahov then saw the detonator in the drug runner's hand as he raised it, and tried to take cover before he activated it.
Outside, Murdock realized what was about to happen, and took cover behind the guard and the warehouse's door, while a large explosion destroyed the warehouse and threw him to the ground.
Other Russian hideouts were destroyed in a similar way, including Troika Restaurant, where the Russians kept some of the victims they kidnapped for their human trafficking ring.
Foggy Nelson and Karen Page were interrupted by a large explosion that broke the windows and threw them to the floor. Nelson asked Page if she was okay, but Page then that Elena Cardenas was wandering in shock, with a wound in her head, and shouting that the sky was falling again.
Page realized they needed to stop the bleeding, and another explosion occurred, shaking the whole building. Nelson told Page to stay with Cardenas, while he went to check if anyone else needed help.
Vanessa Marianna witnessed the explosion that destroyed some buildings in Hell's Kitchen from the Press Lounge Restaurant's window. By simply saying his name, she asked Wilson Fisk if he had anything to do with it. Fisk asked her if she had read about a boy who was kidnapped after watching his father being beaten, and then he assured that the men who did that would no longer infect the city. Marianna, watching again through the window, simply said it was good.
Fisk then told Marianna they should leave, as it was better she arrived home before the roads were closed. Marcel, the maître, informed Fisk that his car was ready. Fisk also gave Marcel an envelope, as way of thanking all he did for him that night, especially making the call. Marcel simply replied it had been a pleasure, as always.
Fisk then offered Marianna his hand, and they left the restaurant together.
James Wesley took Turk Barrett in a car and paid him for his services in misleading Vladimir Ranskahov. Barrett revealed that he ever liked the Russians, as they did not pay very well for the jobs they offered, though he also admitted that Ranskahov had offered a million dollars for giving up Wilson Fisk's location.
Wesley reminded that he had made the right decision by siding with them, as he would have been dead if he had not, and pointed that the fact that Barrett revealed Fisk's involvement in his brother Anatoly's death caused Vladimir to react predictably.
Barrett asked the reason for placing a mask in Anatoly's corpse and frame the man in the mask instead of killing them directly. Wesley explained that it took time and friends to arrange a blow like that one, so it was imperative to distract Vladimir.
Barrett acknowledged the effectiveness of the plan, and told Wesley he knew where to find him in case he needed something else from him.
The man in the mask recovered consciousness following the explosion, and he overheard Sergei and Vladimir Ranskahov, who had survived the explosion, trying to escape.
Ranskahov assured Sergei that, despite his injuries, he would live to see Wilson Fisk and the man in the mask pay for what they did. The man in the mask suddenly ambushed them, and though Ranskahov tried to shoot him, the man easily evaded the bullet and hit Ranskahov, in retaliation for what he did to Claire Temple.
However, he was interrupted when two cars of the New York City Police Department arrived, and three officers, including Officer Corbin, tried to arrest them. The officers ordered ordered the man in the mask to raise his hands and not to move, and proceeded to check the two Russians on the ground while they informed to central that they had their suspect in custody.
The officers kept threatening the man in the mask as they approached, so he seemingly complied and got on his knees. As one of the officers proceeded to handcuff the man in the black mask, Corbin ordered to kill the two Russians and leave no witnesses.
Hearing that, the man in the mask attacked the officers, and while they retaliated, one of the bullets they fired hit Ranskahov. The man knocked out the three officers, and then approached Ranskahov, asking him how bad was he hurt. Ranskahov tried to reach for a gun, so the man in the mask knocked him out too and carried him out of the scene.
Corbin regained consciousness, and seeing that both the man in the mask and Ranskahov were not there, he shot and killed Sergei, calling central to inform that two suspects had escaped on foot.
Ben Urich contemplated a board on his office at the New York Bulletin Building, where he began to establish connections between many events that happened during the last few weeks in Hell's Kitchen, such as brothers Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov, crimes of kidnapping and extortion, the shootout at Veles Taxi Garage, the Yakuza, the boy kidnapped in front of his father and subsequently rescued, the Chinese and the rise in heroin addicts, the Assassination of Mister Prohaszka, Clyde Farnum and Union Allied Construction. All of them were connected to a man sitting at the top, symbolized by the King of Diamonds.
Urich was interrupted by Mitchell Ellison's announcement that multiple explosions had struck all across Hell's Kitchen. Ellison began to distribute tasks, ordering Henricks to get a statement from the New York City Police Department and Taylor to call one of his contacts at the Public Works to see if gas or methane were the cause of the explosions.
Urich then asked the locations of the explosions, but Ellison was not pleased by the interruption. Urich simply told him it would help to know where should they go to cover the story. Ellison asked M. Caldwell for the list of locations, and began to read it. As he did, Urich realized the connection between all of them, and took his jacket to get to them as fast as he could, while saying that it was not gas.
Ellison asked him how could he be sure that it was not, and Urich revealed that all places that were hit were controlled by the Russians. Ellison tried to stop Urich from leaving, but he was unable to do it.
James Wesley received a call informing him about Vladimir Ranskahov's whereabouts, and then he explained Wilson Fisk that Ranskahov had escaped thanks to the man in the black mask, who was attacking Ranskahov but stopped Officer Corbin from killing him.
Wesley and Fisk deduced that the man was probably trying to make Ranskahov talk about Fisk, and Wesley also acknowledged that it was Detective Christian Blake's fault for letting the man get his phone with the addresses for the explosions. Fisk said they would deal with Blake later, as first they needed to contain Ranskahov. Wesley assured him that they would not escape the area.
Fisk was worried as Madame Gao trusted and helped him with the whole deal, and she would surely be disappointed that the situation had not been solved as promised. Fisk also told Wesley that he planned to tell her the truth, as lying to Gao was impossible, and their next move would be letting the New York City Police Department do their jobs, as he paid them for it.
Detectives Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman led a squad into the destroyed warehouse to learn about Vladimir Ranskahov's possible location. Blake found Ivan, one of the Russians, heavily injured and trapped under debris. Blake complained that the man in the mask knew he was right when he broke his arm, and handed Hoffman his flashlight to take his gun.
Blake approached Ivan and began to crush him with the debris and interrogate him about Ranskahov's whereabouts. Ivan told him he did not know, making Blake crush him again. Ivan swore he did not know and begged Blake to stop. Hoffman nodded as he believed that Ivan did not know anything.
Blake shot Ivan in the head, killing him, and ordered the rest of officers to do the same if they found anyone alive in the building.
====Hostage Situation====
=====Common Enemy=====
The man in the black mask took Vladimir Ranskahov to an Abandoned Building in order to avoid being caught by the New York City Police Department. Once he left Ranskahov in the floor, the man asked him not to move, as he had been shot.
Ranskahov started to threaten the man in Russian, but he was unable to understand, so Ranskahov blamed the man for killing his brother. The man claimed he was mistaken, as he was not a killer, not even against people who deserved it. Ranskahov then said that the man dropped Semyon off a roof and put him in coma, but the man in the mask clarified that he was still breathing.
Ranskahov then said that he found a mask in his brother's corpse, and when the man said once again that he did not kill his brother, Ranskahov accused him of being a liar. The man said that Wilson Fisk had made him believe that, as he was the one who destroyed his operations.
Ranskahov believed that the man in the mask was working for Fisk, but he refused, saying that it was another of Fisk's games. He also told Ranskahov to choose a side, as Fisk was trying to kill him and he was not. Ranskahov instead said he would choose his own side, but the man reminded that Fisk made sure that could not be an option.
Ranskahov asked the man what did he actually want, and when he answered that he wanted Fisk on trial, Ranskahov laughed at him, calling him a fool. The man reminded Ranskahov that he was bleeding out. Ranskahov then asked what would he gain if he gave the man what he wanted, but when the man offered him payback against Fisk, he refused with a foul mouthed counter-proposal before passing out.
=====Emergency Medical Services=====
Foggy Nelson and Karen Page took Elena Cardenas to Metro-General Hospital, as she had sustained an injury due to an explosion. As they arrived, Annika Pergament informed on TV about the whole event, though the authorities were officially unaware of their nature.
Claire Temple, who had recently reincorporated as a nurse at Metro-General, quickly examined Cardenas, who was still very scared, and calmed her down speaking to her in Spanish. Temple took Cardenas to give her stitches and examine her to discard she sustained a concussion. Page and Nelson told Cardenas they would wait for her.
Page was comforted seeing Cardenas would be fine, and Nelson was glad of having been with her, as otherwise she would have been alone during the explosion. Page watched the news report, and commented that the city looked like a war zone. Nelson pointed they should call Matt Murdock to make sure he had not been affected too.
Page noticed that Nelson was bleeding, and he said that it explained the stabbing pain he was feeling. Page urged Nelson to sit and wait while she went to look for help.
Meanwhile, Shirley Benson tried to organized the hospital, prioritizing the triage and coding of the patients, while coordinating their efforts with other hospitals and rerouting the casualties.
Benson noticed that Temple was there, and was surprised to see her, given that she believed that Temple had been involved in a car accident. Temple simply said she made a bad decision, and Benson greeted her saying it was good to have her back.
=====Rudimentary Stabilization=====
Matt Murdock called Claire Temple to ask her for help in stabilizing Vladimir Ranskahov's wounds. When she answered, Temple asked him if the explosions were a consequence of his attack against the Russians. Murdock told her that it was not his fault, and that probably she would not have to worry about them anymore.
Murdock explained that he had found a man with valuable intel, but he had been shot, so he needed her assistance, as he could not call the emergency services as the police were the ones who shot him. Temple asked him if he wanted her to go there in the middle of such a crisis, but what he wanted was guidance in stabilizing that man.
Temple explained that it was not as easy as it looked like, and after thinking about it a moment, she agreed. However, Murdock told her that she needed to know that the man he was trying to save was Vladimir Ranskahov, the same man that ordered her kidnapping. Murdock understood her frustration, but also explained the importance of questioning him to bring Wilson Fisk down, and saving more people like Temple.
Temple remained silent, and then proceeded to help Murdock, asking if the bullet had caused an exit wound. Murdock was able to locate the bullet inside Ranskahov due to its different temperature than that of the surrounding tissue. Temple then asked if there was a first aid kit, though Murdock explained he was in an abandoned warehouse.
Murdock began to examine his surroundings and described what he was to find, including a box of nails, broken glass, wood, duct tape, plastic sheeting and an old roadside emergency kit. Temple instructed him to use the flares inside the kit to cauterize the wound. Murdock asked if he should extract the bullet, but Temple explained that trying that would kill Ranskahov. So Temple explained Murdock that he should light the flare and hold it close to the skin until the entry wound sealed.
Murdock put Temple on speaker and proceeded to do as instructed. Ranskahov regained consciousness due to the pain and began to scream. Murdock had to restrain him and cover his mouth to avoid being heard, until the bleeding stopped and Ranskahov lost consciousness again.
However, a young cop, Officer Sullivan, heard the screams, and entered the building to investigate. Murdock noticed Sullivan had entered the building, and hung up the phone.
=====Honest Officer=====
Officer Sullivan entered the Abandoned Building to investigate an scream he had heard inside. He informed Central of his location and his motives to investigate, and began searching inside the building.
Sullivan came across an unconscious Vladimir Ranskahov, and ordered him to show his hands. The man in the mask ambushed Sullivan and told him that Ranskahov could not hear him. The man attacked him, and quickly disarmed Sullivan, choking him with his knee.
The man told Sullivan he would remove the knee off his throat so Sullivan could answer his questions, threatening him in case he did not. The man asked Sullivan who did he worked for, and Sullivan quickly answered that he worked for the City of New York. The man advised Sullivan to think about his answer, and repeated the question. Sullivan answered again that he worked for the City of New York, and that he had gotten the job just two months before.
Realizing that Sullivan was telling the truth by listening at his heartbeat, the man ordered him to call Central and explain it was a false alarm. Sullivan asked the man if he would let him free, and the man simply told him that he would do it eventually.
Sullivan called Central, but instead informed them that the man in the mask was inside the building. The man knocked Sullivan out, but the New York City Police Department was able to inform his units, and both Officer Pinski and Detective Christian Blake confirmed they were on route to the building.
=====Hostage Negotiation Team=====
Multiple members of the New York City Police Department arrived at the building where Officer Sullivan was being held hostage by the man in the mask. Officer Pinski tried to learn about Sullivan's status, but he was shut down by Detective Christian Blake, who announced that he would lead the Hostage Negotiation Team with Carl Hoffman.
Blake ordered Pinski to secure the perimeter to get rid of him, and then explained to all officers that nobody should enter or leave the building. As the officers left, Hoffman asked Blake if he actually thought the man in the mask was inside the building, and he said that, according to Sullivan, there was a masked suspect inside with a wounded civilian, who surely was Vladimir Ranskahov.
Hoffman said he was going to make the call, but Blake made him stop with a gesture, given that something was happening at the perimeter. Reporter Ben Urich of the New York Bulletin approached Blake and Hoffman, being surprised that the Internal Affairs Bureau had not assigned them to a desk position given the death of Piotr at the 15th Precinct Police Station. Blake simply dismissed him saying that with everything that happened that night, no police officer was in a desk.
Urich insisted, asking them for a statement, to which Blake simply said that the world was a shitty place, even mocking Urich saying he could quote him with that. Urich did not give up, asking about the , that according to Hoffman, where busy in the a building that collapsed.
Urich then asked about Officer Sullivan, knowing that he was trapped inside the building. Blake and Hoffman were surprised that Urich knew about Sullivan, and he simply said that he had been doing his job for a long time. For Blake, long enough to be a pain in the ass for them.
Urich claimed he was just doing his job, but Blake answered they were doing theirs, so he should stay back, especially in case the situation went sideways. Urich sarcastically thanked him for the advice, and promised to keep his head down. Meanwhile, Hoffman called James Wesley to brief him about the whole situation.
=====Problems and Opportunities=====
James Wesley received a call from Carl Hoffman briefing him about the situation at the Abandoned Building with the man in the mask, As he finished, Wesley told Hoffman to wait for instruction.
Wesley then informed Wilson Fisk that the man in the mask had been located at an abandoned building on 12th street, and had taken a young police officer as hostage, that was not on Fisk's payroll. Fisk asked about Vladimir Ranskahov, who according to Wesley was also inside the building, and Wesley clarified that both Hoffman and his partner Christian Blake have assumed control of the Hostage Negotiation team on scene and were waiting for the order to take the building.
Fisk gave the order, but Wesley then told him that there was a complication, Ben Urich, the same reporter that wrote the article about Union Allied Construction was there, and if he realized anything about their involvement it could be a problem.
Fisk ordered Wesley to call all of their contacts in the media, as he wanted everyone in the city to see what was about to happen during the hostage situation.
=====Interrogating Ranskahov=====
The man in the black mask handcuffed Officer Sullivan while Vladimir Ranskahov regained consciousness, and noted that the man had been busy meanwhile. The man informed that the building was surrounded by ten officers with four dogs, and more were coming.
Ranskahov asked how could he know, and the man only said it was a lucky guess. Ranskahov complained when the man dismantled Sullivan's handgun, saying they could have used it, but the man did not like guns. Ranskahov mocked him, saying his little stick was better.
Ranskahov then moved and felt the pain from his gunshot wound, and asked what the man had done to him. As the man revealed he cauterized the wound with a road flare to stop the bleeding, Ranskahov asked incredulously if he had burned him. The man advised him not to move, as the bullet was still inside.
Ranskahov told him not to expect to thank him, but the man told him he only saved him because he needed Ranskahov alive. Ranskahov mocked him again, as the man would not kill him but stand there and let him die, asking if that was the line he had drawn.
The man in the mask asked Ranskahov about Wilson Fisk, but Ranskahov continued to ask him if he thought he was different from Fisk or Ranskahov himself, warning him that how would become like them sooner or later. The man then reminded Ranskahov that Fisk destroyed his entire operation, and he had bribed enough cops to prevent him from going to prison alive, so he was Ranskahov's only option of getting out the building.
Ranskahov began to explain how Fisk's subordinate approached him and his brother and complimented, saying that his employer had taken note, and offered an agreement to expand. With that, Fisk offered them protection from the police, aid from politicians and access to Chinese heroin.
The man was not aware that Fisk was working with the Chinese, and Ranskahov mocked him again, telling him that he did not know anything and was snapping at scraps that fell from the table. The man wanted names and their connection to Fisk though Ranskahov explained that there was one man that could tie everything together.
Ranskahov asked the man if the name sound familiar, and mocked him for not knowing about him, explaining Shumway was 's accountant. Ranskahov then explained that Fisk's accountant handled the money for all of Fisk's associates.
Ranskahov began to digress saying he and his brother were going to rule the city, and his voice began to fade. The man approached Ranskahov believing he was dying, and Ranskahov caught him by surprise, attacking the man with a large piece of wood.
Ranskahov was able to knock the man down, saying that was the way he would die, but the man retaliated and both men fell to the basement floor.
=====News Coverage=====
Ben Urich witnessed how a television crew from WHiH World News arrived to the location to broadcast a live news report about the man in the mask as the suspect of the whole Bombing of Hell's Kitchen, having also taken a police officer as a hostage.
Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman mocked Urich, saying that his days had passed, but Urich was not worried, as television had been around for years without harming, and he still have a few good stories to tell, maybe even one where both detectives would appear.
Blake, who had mocked Urich the most comparing him to the dinosaurs when they witnessed the meteorite that destroyed them, said that the night was young, and nobody knew what might happen.
The TV reporter began her broadcast, informing viewers about the man in the mask and the other suspect in the bombings.
=====Worried about Matt Murdock=====
Foggy Nelson was taken to a room at Metro-General Hospital due to the injury he sustained during the explosion near Elena Cardenas' Apartment, and she was accompanied by Karen Page. While he was there, both Nelson and Page tried to call Matt Murdock, but were unable to locate him both at his cellphone or his apartment.
Nelson calmed her down saying there was no need to think the worst, but Page was very worried, believing that a blind man in a war zone would surely be endangered. Nelson told her that she did not know Murdock as good as he did, as sometimes he forgot that Murdock was blind due to how good he move around.
However, Nelson wanted to go and look for Murdock, saying that he was the closest Murdock had to a family, and he would d the same for him. Page stopped him due to his wound, saying that she loved that about them, and Nelson said that it would not be the first time he acted like an idiot.
Page reminded him that he had already played as hero that day and it was enough, so he needed to stay at the hospital wew he was safe. Page also kissed him in the forehead, and announced she would check that Murdock had not been brought in to the hospital.
Nelson called for her before she left, and told her that it had been a hell of a first date. Page smiled, saying she had actually had worse dates. As Page left, Nelson tried to call Murdock again, and hat to leave a message as Murdock did not answer.
=====Losing the Game=====
The man in the mask regained consciousness after falling to the basement, and told Vladimir Ranskahov that attacking him had not bee smart. Ranskahov replied that, at least, watching him bleed was fun, and that if everything was indeed a game, the man in the mask would be losing.
Ranskahov's heart stopped and the man in the mask removed his Bulletproof Vest to perform a cardiac massage, resorting to beat Ranskahov's chest to make his heart beat again, saying that he had not finished with him yet.
Ranskahov coughed and asked what had happened, and realized that the man had lied before, as he was unable to stand and watch him die as he had said before. The man said that he would not do that, at least, until Ranskahov gave him what he needed to stop Wilson Fisk.
=====Securing a Channel=====
James Wesley returned to the car where Wilson Fisk was waiting for him, and informed him that the Emergency Service Unit was en route to the Abandoned Building where the man in the black mask was trapped.
Wesley also handed Fisk a radio, and assured that Detectives Christian Blake and Carl Hoffman were clearing a channel for him.
=====ESU: Emergency Service Unit=====
Ben Urich witnessed the arrival of the Emergency Service Unit. Christian Blake approached them, and ordered to shoot anyone inside. As they entered, Blake ordered every officer to put their radios on channel five, maintaining radio discipline.
Urich took notes about what he saw, and approached Blake to ask what would happen next. Blake's answer was that maybe Urich would get a story worth printing.
=====Radio Conversation=====
The man in the mask began to examine the room to find an exit, until he located a sealed sewer entrance that he could use to escape the building with Vladimir Ranskahov. The man tried to open the manhole, but Officer Sullivan's radio received a signal.
Wilson Fisk was speaking through the radio, asking to speak to the man in the mask. Fisk covertly revealed his identity by saying that the man had been asking about him. The man dared Fisk to say his own name, but he prompted the man to do the sam, resulting in a silence.
Fisk began to speak, saying that both of them had many things in common. The man denied that statement, saying that they were nothing alike, as Fisk fed off the city like a cancer. Fisk replied that he wanted to save the city on a large scale, but the man replied that the people he had hurt would not understand that. Fisk said that the life was not a fairy tale and not everyone deserved a happy ending.
The man began to threaten Fisk, and though he dismissed the threats, he said that he admired what the man was trying to do, to change the world with nothing but desire, his own hands and the security that he was doing the right thing. However, Fisk warned the man that his part would end that night, and that the city he had just made explode would stop him.
The man told Fisk that nobody would believe that, but Fisk said that given he was hiding with a known criminal such as Ranskahov in the wake of the bombings, and holding Officer Sullivan of the New York City Police Department hostage, many people would believe it.
However, Fisk proposed an alternate path and asked if Ranskahov was still alive. Ranskahov insulted Fisk over the radio, so Fisk made an offer to the man, to kill Ranskahov. Ranskahov tried to reach for a piece of wood to use as weapon, while Fisk reminded the man in the mask what Ranskahov did to women and children, and asking if he knew how much Ranskahov enjoyed it.
The man removed the weapon that Ranskahov had grabbed, and said that the offer confirmed how important Ranskahov was, and that Fisk was worried about what the Russian might tell him. Fisk deduced that he had not told anything. The man angrily kicked a piece of rubble for slipping that information.
Fisk called the man a child playing at being a hero, but the man said that he was simply a man that decided to do something about people like Fisk. Fisk then said that it was his ideology what made the man dangerous, not the mask or his skills, but thinking he could make a difference.
While the man tried again to open the manhole, Fisk said that he was glad they could talk, and that he respected the man's conviction even if it was the opposite to his own. The man dared Fisk to keep telling himself that he had won, because it would be made to make him fall more satisfying.
The man also told him that even if his part ended that night, others would take his place and continue what he was trying to do. Fisk denied that statement, saying that the city would burn his image, and the only things he would inspire would be abhorrence and disgust.
To that end, Fisk ordered his subordinate James Wesley to give a kill order to an ESU Sniper that was waiting outside the building.
=====Sniper=====
An ESU Sniper took position in front of the Abandoned Building while the policemen on the ground coordinated the Hostage Negotiation team.
Ben Urich told Detective Christian Blake that they t did not seem to be doing hostage negotiating with the man in the mask. Angrily, Blake told Urich to back off again, but Urich, who was not intimidated, knew that it was all a farce, so he prompted Blake to give him actual answers.
James Wesley ordered the sniper to shoot, and his first bullet hit Blake. The sniper shot again, killing Officer Pinski, while Urich and Carl Hoffman rushed to aid Blake. Urich tried to stop Blake's bleeding, and told Hoffman to get an EMT quickly.
All the people that had been gathering at the scene fled, including the WHiH World News crew that was covering the story.
=====Ending the Conversation=====
The man in the mask, who heard the gunshots outside, asked Wilson Fisk over the radio what did he do, and his only answer was that he did what the man had forced him to do. Fisk said goodbye, believing they would not speak again.
The man called over the radio, but Fisk did not answer and instead ordered James Wesley to publish a tape showing the man in the mask attacking Officer Corbin and his men, and the man angrily threw the radio.
=====News Development=====
Claire Temple continued to help the injured from the bombings while the news reported about a shooting nearby the location where the man in the mask was seemingly cornered, where three members of the New York City Police Department had been gunned down.
Inside his hospital room, Foggy Nelson asked Karen Page to turn up the volume of the television while the news informed that the authorities had released a video showing the man in the mask attacking three police officers moments after the explosions.
Page recognized him as the man who saved her life, though Nelson told her she was lucky that the man did not kill her. Page was unable to understand how the same man would do something like these attacks and explosion. Nelson told her that, as a general rule, men who wore masks had something to hide, usually something that was not good.
=====Farewells=====
The man in the mask tried again to open the manhole to the underground tunnels, given that it was his only exit from the building, but he was interrupted by a phone call from Claire Temple, who was worried because the news were saying that the man had shoot three police officers.
The man told her that it had been Wilson Fisk. Temple, worried about him, asked what was happening, but the man began to hear radio transmissions indicating that the police had finally entered the building.
The man tried to spoke to Temple, and though she apologized for what she said the last time they saw each other, he said that she was right about him, and that he did not want her to be caught if something happened to him, wishing her to take care of herself in case they did not have a chance to talk again, hanging the phone without waiting for reply, though she still needed to tell him something.
=====Storming the Building=====
Members of the Emergency Service Unit entered the Abandoned Building through a backdoor and began to examinate the whole building floor by floor, heading to the second floor where Officer Sullivan had informed he was being held hostage.
At the basement, The man in the mask tried to open the manhole one last time, but this time Vladimir Ranskahov helped him, repeating what he said again, that the day he would die was not that. Together, they finally managed to open the access to the underground tunnels.
The ESU members found Sullivan handcuffed and alive, but informed Central that Sullivan was dead. Sullivan did not understand what was happening, and one of the ESU members killed him stabbing Sullivan through the neck.
=====A Way to Die=====
The man in the mask and Vladimir Ranskahov escaped through a series of access tunnels that were under the city, and though many of them have been sealed, they could find a way to go to the streets.
The man had to carry Ranskahov, as his wounds were too severe to allow him to walk alone, and they wre caught by two members of the Emergency Service Unit. The man pushed Ranskahov aside and attacked, dodging gunfire and managing to knock them down.
Ranskahov grabbed one of the weapons and pointed at the man, but he tried to dissuade him saying that five more men were coming and that all were working for Wilson Fisk. However, Ranskahov had no intention of shooting at the man, instead wanting to stay behind.
The man tried to convince him saying that if Ranskahov turned evidence Fisk, they could imprison him, but Ranskahov revealed that Fisk not only controlled the police, but the judges and everything else, so the only way to stop him was to kill him.
The man refused, claiming he was not a killer, but Ranskahov said that since he put on the mask, he had entered into a cage with animals, who would not stop fighting until one of them died. Ranskahov also reminded that Fisk would the man him the same he did to him, including harming and killing everyone he cared about, and asked if he would feel the same way in that case or he would do what needed to be done.
However, Ranskahov also revealed the name of Fisk's accountant, Leland Owlsley, telling the man that Owlsley would reveal what he wanted to know, but it would not be enough.
The man then opened a door and left Ranskahov behind, who stood up with the weapon and began to sing in Russian. The officers caught up Ranskahov and they engaged in a firefight, until Ranskahov was killed while the man n the mask left the area.
====The Black Sky====
=====Devil of Hell's Kitchen=====
At the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, Foggy Nelson read the latest article published by the New York Bulletin about the man in the black mask, now calling him "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen", and began to comment how he thought that he was a coward and he would remove the mask and punch that man in the face.
Karen Page defended the man, as what the newspaper had printed was just speculation, and she doubted that he was a terrorist like Nelson assured. Nelson then said that it was right, and the man could not be considered a terrorist because even terrorists had a cause and claimed responsibility, while the man in the mask only wanted to spread terror.
Nelson groaned as he moved due to the injuries he sustained the night of the explosions, na he claimed that the pain had downgraded to just agony.
Page asked Matt Murdock about his opinion regarding the man in the mask, and he tried to change the subject with a joke about baseball. Nelson smiled, but then asked Murdock if he did not think anything about it. Murdock said that the whole situation at Hell's Kitchen and the injuries that Nelson, Elena Cardenas and the rest of people who got hurt were the things that were pissing him off.
Murdock defended the man in the mask, saying that he should not be tried and convicted in the press, and they, as lawyers, knew that it was not how the law worked. Page then asked if Nelson and Murdock would offer to defend the man in the mask in case he was caught, and while Nelson refused, Murdock said he had the right to be defended.
Nelson was still resent because of both his and Cardenas' injuries, but Murdock pointed that he wanted to make sure that the right paid for what happened. However, Nelson then said the whole conversation was irrelevant, given that the New York City Police Department would surely shoot the man upon sight given that at least three officers were shot.
Page then said that they should be having more pleasant conversations at the end of the day, and then Nelson proposed having a Softball company team, making Page laugh and point they only had three employees, with Murdock adding that one of them was blind.
Nelson proposed Page to go and have a batting practice together. Page hesitated, so Nelson backed off the proposal, though she made up an excuse saying she had to something else, and said goodbye before leaving the office.
As she left, Nelson and Murdock commented about Page's refusal, and Nelson even pointed that Page kept a pepper spray on her keychain. Murdock said that everyone had secrets, though Nelson said he did not, even while he would like to have some. Nelson then asked about the girl of the burner phone, pointing out Murdock's gift to know a girl was hot even without seeing her.
Murdock revealed that their relationship did not work out, and then told Nelson he would stay at the office preparing their tenement case. Nelson said goodbye, and also that the girl was the losing something by not pursuing a relationship with Murdock, and then left the office.
Now alone, Murdock took some documents written in Braille about Leland Owlsley, and began reading them to know more about that man.
=====Secret Operation=====
Leland Owlsley secretly met with Nobu Yoshioka to update him on the financial status of an important operation that Yoshioka was preparing. Owlsley informed Yoshioka that all the funds have proceeded as requested and the arrangements from his agreement with Wilson Fisk would continue in an uninterrupted way.
Owlsley surprised Yoshioka when he asked what was he going to do with his shipment when it arrived. Seeing Yoshioka's face, Owlsley assured him that he was not just a simple pencil pusher, and he was able to learn many things by just looking at all the numbers. Owlsley even detailed Yoshioka's movement to clear the docks, keep the New York City Police Department away and bribe the comptrollers.
Yoshioka asked about the point of his words, and Owlsley privately expressed his concern that what happened to Anatoly and Vladimir Ranskahov could happen to any of them, and proposed an allegiance. Yoshioka refused, saying that if a man could not stand for himself, he should fall with the unworthy. Owlsley wondered the true meaning of his words, insulting Yoshioka as he departed.
Once left alone, Owlsley went to his car, but he was ambushed by the man in the black mask. Feigning surprise, Owlsley offered his wallet as if it was a robbery, but the man asked for Owlsley's employer. Owlsley lied, saying that he just worked for Silver & Brent. The man hit Owlsley, knocking him down to the floor, and he then revealed that he knew that Owlsley worked for Fisk, so he asked for records and proof.
The man got distracted by the sound of a cane tapping, and Owlsley seized the opportunity to grab his stun gun and attack the man in the mask, knocking hims down and escaping in his vehicle. Stick, the man in the mask's former master and the one whose sound distracted him, approached the man knocked down and asked if he was going to lie in the ground all night.
=====Return of Stick=====
Matt Murdock recovered from the effects of the stun gun that Leland Owlsley used against him, and was surprised to see Stick, his former mentor, standing beside him. Murdock asked what was he doing in New York City after 20 years of absence, and Stick revealed he knew about how Murdock's identity as the man in the mask has been branded as both a cop killer and a mad bomber.
Stick mocked Murdock for being defeated by an old man such as Owlsley, but then revealed his true intention for returning, saving everyone in Hell's Kitchen from a horrible death.
=====Ensuing Investigation=====
Karen Page secretly met with Ben Urich at the docks to discuss their investigation about the conspiracy regarding Union Allied Construction. Page updated Urich that her attempts to follow Union Allied's paper trail were fruitless, as the corporation seemed to be recreated as a large group of small companies. Urich explained that it was an old tactic, spreading the records to discourage investigation, something that Page compared to straighten out a bowl of spaghetti.
Urich suggested the possibility of letting it go, but Page said once again that she would not give up. Urich then explained that the job was that, the research and gathering of facts was a long, boring and complicated process that many times was not successful. Page pointed to Urich's pessimism, and he revealed that in his career, for each exposé he managed to get published, about a dozen were unsuccessful.
Page got Urich's point that she was new in these kind of investigations, and then asked about Urich's progress. Urich managed to tie the conspiracy with groups that seemed to represent both the and the , and the explosions that eliminated the Russians. However, as Urich pointed, it did not matter if he believed they were connected to Union Allied, as the only things that mattered where the ones he could prove.
Page then asked about the police officers that were shot especially if Urich thought that the man in the mask was responsible for it. Urich explained that he was right next of one of those men when he was shot, Detective Christian Blake, though they did not like each other very much, something that Page could understand from her experience while being arrested. However, as Urich did what he could to save him, he hoped that maybe Blake thanked him if he ever came out of the coma, and explained him what really happened there.
Urich advised Page to escape if she came across the man in the mask, and though Page claimed he saved his life, Urich pointed that the man may have been simply there to hurt someone else. According to his own experience, Urich believed there were no heroes nor villains, only people with different agendas.
Page realized that one of these agendas was to kill her, and Urich reminded her that if she was not careful, maybe they could try again. Page believed that the only way to feel safe again was to imprison the ones responsible for everything that happened, so Urichh encouraged her to keep investigating, as if the Union Allied scandal, the tenements case and the shootings of the police officers were connected, he would not only take it to his editor, he would probably win a .
Page was not discouraged, but Urich reminded her to be careful, as he would feel responsible for anything that happen to her. Page comforted him, saying she would be okay, and the people responsible would not win. Urich simply nodded, and then Page left his car, and Urich himself left the area.
=====Recruiting a Former Student=====
Matt Murdock took Stick to his apartment. The old master opined the place was a shithole despite the rent Murdock had to pay, and Stick soon noticed that a woman had recently been there. However, he was relieved that she would not return, as Stick considered things like women, the furniture or having an apartment as mere distractions.
Stick was also surprised to find that Murdock used silk sheets, but it was because cotton felt like sandpaper on Murdock's skin due to his heightened senses. Stick continued to disapprove Murdock's life style, but then Murdock said that he managed to made something of his own life despite Stick abandoned him.
Stick then admitted that he was proud of all the things Murdock did and what he became, but considered that all those distractions would lead to Murdock's death, as he was a warrior, and advised him to cut loose of everything, including women, comforts and his job, that according to Murdock, was not as fancy as Stick believed.
Stick asked Murdock if he had friends or other people he cared about, and when Murdock admitted he had two, Stick told him to abandon them for their own sake, as having ties with Murdock would led to his friends' suffering and Murdock's own death.
Stick considered relationships as a luxury for men like them, so Murdock asked if that was the reason Stick abandoned him when he was just a kid. Stick only said that he had his reasons, and then told Murdock he was still a kid, mocking him as if he was complaining about Stick's abandonment.
Murdock told him not to push the situation too far, and then Stick that he was only trying to teach Murdock how to stay alive. Stick then mocked about Murdock's father, Jack Murdock, saying that at least he got paid when he died. Enraged, Murdock attacked Stick, but the old man grabbed his arm in a way that Murdock had never been able to escape while he still was being trained by Stick.
However, this time Murdock was able to escape and retaliate. Not wanting to fight, Stick began to laugh and lowered his defense, noting that it took Murdock 20 years to learn how to escape from that move. Murdock noted that he had learned many things since Stick left, for example, that Stick was "a dick", something he himself agreed before asking for a beer.
Murdock asked the true reason of Stick's return, and he claimed that it was the war that he sometimes spoke about when Murdock was a kid. Murdock asked who he was waging war against, as he never explained it, and Stick revealed it was, mostly, against the Japanese.
Murdock told Stick he did not want him waging war with the in the streets of Hell's Kitchen, making Stick laugh for mistaking that organization with the Yakuza. Stick then explained that the man who was talking to Leland Owlsley was known as "Nobu", but what Stick did not want him, but the weapon he was bringing to New York City and would arrive at the docks that night. When asked, Stick only revealed that the weapon was known as Black Sky, the bringer of shadows, without detailing its true nature.
Murdock prompted Stick to say that he needed his help, but Stick twisted his words, saying that he needed Murdock to help himself, as given Nobu Yoshioka's relationship with Wilson Fisk, attacking Yoshioka would also hurt Fisk. Murdock was surprised that Stick knew about Fisk, but Stick only said that he knew many things, such as that the beer Murdock offered him sucked.
Murdock pointed the fact that after everything Stick just said about abandoning friends, he needed one. Stick said that he did not need a friend, he needed a committed soldier and not an idealist afraid of doing what needed to be done. Stick reminded Murdock that people die in a war, and then asked how many men had he killed while protecting the city.
Murdock remained silent, and Stick realized that Murdock had never crossed the line, reminding him that maybe someday he would need to kill to avoid being killed, and asked what he would do then. Murdock pointed that Vladimir Ranskahov asked the same thing recently right dying, but he was not the one that killed him.
Stick then prompted Murdock to help him me destroy Black Sky, as Fisk would be afraid of him because he had attacked the man that he was afraid of. Murdock made Stick promise he would not kill anyone, and he raised his hand and swore it, right before calling Murdock a coward.
=====Repairmen Identities=====
Karen Page visited Elena Cardenas at her apartment, bringing a bag of groceries for her. Upon arriving, Pages asked Cardenas about the injury she sustained during an explosion that destroyed a nearby building. Cardenas was simply grateful of being alive.
Cardenas asked Page how much she owed her for the food she brought and Page refused to accept her money. Cardenas seriously told her that she did not accept charity, so Page proposed Cardenas to pay her with information.
Page explained that she was working on a legal case, and Cardenas believed she was doing it with her handsome partner. Page thought Cardenas was talking about Matt Murdock, but she clarified that the handsome one was Foggy Nelson, as it was obvious for her that Nelson was in love with Page, and Cardenas believed that there was no man more handsome than a man in love. Page was surprised for hearing that, and apologized for mentioning 's name in her surprise.
Page then resumed the topic about her case, explaining that she was trying to make a connection between a construction company and the repairman that destroyed Cardenas' apartment. Cardenas advised her to ask her landlord, Armand Tully, as he was the one who sent the repairmen, but Page had been unable to find him as, according to his lawyers, he was on vacation.
Cardenas was enraged to hear that, given the conditions she had to live on, while Tully was on a beach. She quickly apologized to the image of that she had on her wall, and then she kissed the cross she was carrying on her neck. On the other hand, Page smiled, as she believed that insulting Tully was appropriate in that case.
Page asked for any receipts or papers she signed about the repairs, but Cardenas could not help her. However, she described the two repairmen, as one of them was bald and the other had a large tattoo on his arm up to his neck.
Cardenas was worried about the whole situation, but Page comforted her saying that the ones who did that to her were the ones that should be worried if she managed to find the connection. Page told her, with a vulgarism, that those men would be in a very bad situation, prompting Cardenas to ask Page how long had she used such language.
Page revealed it all happened since she got to New York City, and said goodbye, kissing Cardenas on her cheek before leaving the apartment, where Cardenas made the sign of the Cross once again.
=====Street Thugs=====
Karen Page was ambushed in the streets right after leaving Elena Cardenas' Apartment by Joseph Pike and Stewart Schmidt, the two men that posed as repairmen to try to evict Elena Cardenas by destroying her apartment.
Page tried to reach her pepper spray, but Schmidt grabbed her and prevented her from using it. The two men asked why was she talking to Cardenas, threatening Page with using her own spray against her for messing around with things she was not supposed to. Page kicked Schmidt and knocked him down, but Pike also threw her to the ground to prevent her from escaping.
Foggy Nelson arrived and hit Pike in the head with the softball bat he had been carrying around all day, knocking him unconscious. Page was both relieved and shocked to see Nelson, mutually asking what were they doing there until Nelson admitted she had been following Page because she was acting in a weird way and he was worried about her.
Schmidt tried to get up, and Page used her pepper spray against him, making him scream in pain. Page then told Nelson that she could take care of herself, though Nelson proposed to continue the discussion away from the two attackers.
=====Attack on Black Sky=====
Nobu Yoshioka went to the docks in New York City to supervise the arrival of Black Sky, a weapon that his organization was trying to smuggle into the country. Yoshioka took at least a dozen of heavily armed men to protect it, unaware that Stick and his former student, the man in the mask, were also there to destroy the weapon.
The masked man was able to distinguish a dozen of slow and steady heartbeats, and another one stronger than the rest, which Stick identified as belonging to Yoshioka. The masked man was also able to guess that the men were heavily armed with suppressed weapons to avoid being heard.
Stick handed the masked man a pair of wooden sticks that he used during his training as a child, and though he tried to refuse, he ended up accepting them. Stick ordered the man to take out as many men as possible while he destroyed the Black Sky, refusing to tell him how.
A container from Asano Robotics was being downloaded from a ship, containing the Black Sky, and Stick began to construct a bow to silently make a shoot.
The masked man started to attack Yoshioka's men, managing to silently take out at least four of them before the container was opened, revealing that Black Sky was actually a child. The masked man suddenly heard Black Sky's heartbeat, and while the bodyguards removed Black Sky's chains, the masked man realized that Stick was going to kill him.
The masked man rushed to deflect Stick's arrow even though it meant that Yoshioka's men discovered him. Yoshioka ordered his men to kill the masked man while he took Black Sky to a van to escape.
The masked man managed to defeat Yoshioka's men, but he found that Stick had already left. Unbeknownst to him, Stick managed to catch Black Sky and kill him. The masked man then returned to his apartment, knowing that Stick would be waiting for him there.
=====Catching Up=====
Matt Murdock returned to his apartment following the Attack on Black Sky, hoping to find Stick and ask him for answers, and Stick was already there waiting for him. Murdock threw back the wooden sticks that he was handed during the battle, and then asked why Stick did not fulfill his promise of not killing anyone. Stick simply said that he followed his mission, as Black Sky, whom he called a "thing", was not a child.
Murdock said he heard Black Sky's heartbeat, and it was light and fast, indicating he had not reached puberty. However, Stick told him that, if he had focused beyond his feelings, Murdock would have sensed its true nature.
Stick told Murdock that he was as blind as he had ever been, to which Murdock replied once again that he should have stayed and finished training him. Stick revealed the reason he left, as Murdock wanted a father figure from Stick, while what he wanted from the boy was a soldier. Murdock then guessed that they were both disappointed.
Stick tried to left and gave Murdock his farewells, but Murdock told him that he would not let his former master to find and kill Black Sky. Stick revealed that he had already killed him, as while Murdock was dispatching Nobu Yoshioka's men, Stick catched the van were Black Sky was being transported and shot an arrow to his heart.
Infuriated, Murdock attacked Stick over the living room and, at first, Stick gained the upper hand, taunting Murdock for his inability to defeat even an old man. Murdock counterattacked, but Stick knocked him down again. Stick taunted Murdock even more, telling him to get up with the same tone he used during Murdock's training, while kicking him.
Murdock grabbed one of the wooden sticks and tried to use it as a weapon against his old master, but he disarmed Murdock and used the stick against him until Murdock disarmed him. Murdock finally gained the upper hand, knocking Stick against the stairs, and when Stick almost choked him, Murdock jumped and flipped in the air to make Stick hit the floor.
Finally defeating Stick with two kicks in the head, Murdock warned him to get out of New York City. Stick began to laugh, saying that perhaps there was still hope for Murdock to become the warrior he thought he would be, saying it had been nice to catch up with him. Stick departed, telling Murdock that he could keep the wooden sticks as he would need them, and left him alone in his apartment.
Once left alone, Murdock found that Stick had left the bracelet that Murdock made for him as a kid, as Stick had kept it after all twenty years. Murdock could not prevent crying after realizing it.
=====Recruiting Foggy Nelson=====
Karen Page took Foggy Nelson to the New York Bulletin Building to speak with Ben Urich at his office. Urich was annoyed that Page revealed their investigation to somebody else despite he explicitly told her not to do it, but Page explained that Nelson was an attorney, and they would need one sooner or later.
Page told Urich that he could trust Nelson, and they showed Nelson their board with the possible connections between all the event that had been happening lately at Hell's Kitchen, all connected to a man at the top, represented as the king of diamonds.
Page told Nelson they had no idea who that man was, but Page believed he was also behind Union Allied Construction. Urich told them that there was someone else involved, the man in black, but Page firmly believed that he was not working for the king, as he helped her expose Union Allied.
Urich theorized that the king and the masked man were working against each other, so he wondered who would trump the other.
====Connections and Loose Ends====
=====Twisted Reflection=====
Wilson Fisk woke up in his penthouse from a recurring nightmare panting and covered in sweat, needing to stare at the painting Rabbit in a Snowstorm that he bought from Vanessa Marianna and was hanging in his bedroom.
Fisk then began his morning routine, cooking an elaborate omelette and having it for breakfast in the living room. He then went to the dresser, where he chose one of his many black suits and got dressed. He then open a drawer, revealing a collection of cufflinks, but Fisk chose the ones belonging to his father.
Once he got dressed, Fisk looked himself in the mirror, but instead of his reflection, he saw himself as a boy, covered in blood. Fisk then headed to the exit, still watching the image until he switched the lights off.
=====Ready for Work=====
Matt Murdock got up at his apartment following a fight he had with his former master Stick the night before. He quickly stitched a wound in his eyebrow and got ready to go to work.
=====Rules=====
Karen Page and Foggy Nelson began to talk about revealing their ongoing investigation of the truth behind the corruption scandal at Union Allied Construction to Matt Murdock, as Page was convinced that Murdock would not understand it.
Nelson tried to relieve some of the stress of the situation by being honest with Page, starting with telling her that he hated her coffee. Nelson then returned to the subject of their conversation, but stopped when he realized that Murdock was coming through the door of the office.
Page noticed the injuries that Murdock had on his face due to his fight against Stick, but he dismissed them and outrightly asked what they were trying to hide from him. Page was surprised that he heard them talking, and Nelson explained that Murdock was like a bat. Upon realizing it, Nelson quickly clarified that he did not mean blind as bat, but having their acute hearing. Murdock then explained that the fact that bats were blind was just a myth.
Page then revealed that they were investigating Union Allied, and Nelson was disappointed by how easy she revealed it. Murdock told her that she could not do that because she had signed a legal agreement to leae it alone, but Page clarified that she signed an agreement to never reveal anything in public.
Nelson also explained that she had a contact to reveal anything Page discovered, and one of the reasons to keep doing it is that the people behind Union Allied were trying to strong-arm people like Elena Cardenas, and evict them out of their houses to build condominiums.
Murdock asked what would happen if those people she talked about found what she was trying to do, and Nelson told him that they already took care of that. Page explained that the men that destroyed Cardenas' apartment attacked her the night before, but Nelson, who had been following her, prevented them from harming Page.
Murdock used that as a reason to try to convince them that the investigation would only led them to be hurt, but Page lost his temper, saying that she had already been hurt by them, and no matter how much they paid her to forget it, she would not let anyone else to suffer what she suffered just because she was scared.
Murdock, realizing the actual reasons behind all of that, asked who else was involved in the investigation, and they revealed that Ben Urich, the same reporter from the New York Bulletin who wrote the article about Union Allied, was their contact. Page then assured them that she trusted Urich as much as she trusted Nelson or Murdock.
Murdock then tried protect them by establishing a set of rules for the investigation, and the first one was that they would pursue the investigation through the legal system, as they knew it and would use it to their advantage. Page complained that it did not sound heroic, but Murdock clarified that he did not want them to be heroes, he just wanted them to be safe.
Page and Nelson agreed with the first rule, as Murdock did not give them any choice, and when page asked about the next rule, Murdock admitted he did not know yet, as he had been thinking about the rules as he was speaking.
=====Honor and Agreements=====
Wilson Fisk met with Nobu Yoshioka to discuss the fallout from an attack that Yoshioka suffered the night before despite an arrangement he made with Fisk. Fisk tried to make Yoshioka understand his position, but Yoshioka simply insulted it, and when James Wesley gave a more polite translation of his words, Yoshioka translated them himself to make his opinion clear.
Fisk assured that he fulfilled the guarantees he made to Yoshioka, by clearing both the docks and his path of police as he was a man of honor, and if the Black Sky was so valuable and rare, Yoshioka should have told him about its importance beforehand.
Yoshioka then asked Fisk if he would like to renegotiate their relationship, and realizing what he truly meant, Fisk quickly apologized to Yoshioka. Yoshioka said one last quote, and left the building slamming the door.
Once Yoshioka left, Wesley asked Fisk if he understood Yoshioka's last words, and Fisk explained that a threat such as that would be clear in any language. Wesley commented the need of teaching manners to Yoshioka, but Fisk ordered him to leave it alone. Wesley commented what would have happened to them if the Russians had spoke to Fisk in that way, and Fisk reminded him that these men were not the Russians.
Wesley argued that even the Russians contributed to their business, with Leland Owlsley's handling the financials, Madame Gao offering her product and Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov dealing with its distribution until their deaths.
Wesley then asked what was Yoshioka and his men's role, but Fisk simply said they were a necessary evil. Wesley showed concern of the way Yoshioka spoke to Fisk, especially in that moment when everything was following their plan. Fisk explained that in a situation like that is when they needed to be extremely cautious.
=====Late Night Callings=====
Wilson Fisk spoke to Vanessa Marianna through the phone from his penthouse, having a conversation about his past and revealing, among other things, that he spent most of my time abroad over the years in Asia. Fisk was interrupted by an important call from James Wesley, so he said goodbye to Marianna.
Wesley informed Fisk that Detective Christian Blake recovered from his coma, and their contacts in the media had briefed him that it would announced that same night. However, Blake had been unable to speak, as despite he had recovered consciousness, his injuries were too severe.
Fisk wanted Blake to be killed just in case he could speak, but Wesley explained that the New York City Police Department was protecting Blake in case the man in the mask tried to kill him. Wesley informed that they had two policemen loyal to them assigned at Metro-General Hospital, but none of them were at the door, so they could not do the job unnoticed.
Fisk then asked about Blake's partner, Carl Hoffman, and though Wesley told him that he could call, he also pointed that Blake and Hoffman were friends since even before going to the police academy. Fisk ordered to set a meeting with Hoffman that same night, as he would speak with him in person.
=====Companies Connected=====
Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page stayed until night at their law office in order to investigate anything related to Union Allied Construction, despite Nelson's complaints, who would prefer to go to the streets and interrogate people around. Murdock laughed at that, saying that he would be in intensive care after just five minutes in the streets, despite Nelson said he handled himself against Joseph Pike and Stewart Schmidt.
Murdock then found a lead about Confederated Global Investments, the company that hired Nelson and Murdock to defend John Healy, happened to be related to Westmeyer-Holt Contracting, a company with complaints for doing the same thing they did to Elena Cardenas.
Nelson wondered if Confederated Global was trying to force renters out of their tenements, and Page said that Cardenas' landlord, Armand Tully, surely knew something. Nelson proposed to track him down, but Murdock told him to do it using the phone, as it would be the second rule for their investigation.
Page then came across news that Detective Christian Blake had regained consciousness. Nelson commented that, while Blake was a "dick", he did not deserve a bullet from the man in the mask. Page told him that nobody knew what happened that night, but Murdock pointed that Blake might know it, and they would be very interested in what he had to say.
=====Friendship and Business=====
Wilson Fisk met with Detective Carl Hoffman in person to speak to him about their need to eliminate Hoffman's partner, Detective Christian Blake. Fisk explained that, while he understood and respected Hoffman's feelings and friendship with Blake, if Blake ever talked "out of turn", there would be consequences for both of them.
Hoffman said that Fisk already shot Blake, while James Wesley, who was also present, pointed that technically they paid someone else to do it. Fisk asked Hoffman if he knew the reason why they took such measures, and Hoffman, fearing for his own safety, assured them that he had been and would remain silent. Wesley said that they did not doubt that, as if they did, they would not been having that conversation.
Fisk then explained that information and knowing the actual facts could tip a balance between life and death, and Blake had not been careful with that. Hoffman tried to defend Blake saying that the man in the mask rendered him unconscious and broke his arm.
Fisk assured Hoffman that he understood and forgave that, but what he could not forgive is that they were not informed that the man in the mask had obtained the addresses of the Russians' hideouts, as he gave them to Blake, among others, to make sure that if any Russian survived the bombings, the cops that Fisk had on roll would deal with them. Fisk also added that thanks to Blake, the man in the mask was able to use them to locate Vladimir Ranskahov, and that Blake was directly responsible for.
Hoffman asked what would it take to do something that would lead to his own death, but Fisk said that it depended entirely of Hoffman himself. Hoffman also tried to explain that he and Blake were friends since they were kids, more than 30 years, but Fisk ultimately persuaded him by asking how much money would he want for dealing with Blake.
=====Assassination of Christian Blake=====
Detective Carl Hoffman went to Metro-General Hospital to visit his partner Christian Blake, who had recently wake up from a coma following being shot in the streets. Hoffman was stopped by Sergeant Brett Mahoney, who was guarding the door to Blake's room.
Mahoney casually pointed that Blake's recovery were good news, and Hoffman added that Blake had always been tough. Mahoney prompted Hoffman to sign the entry book, and examined the package that Hoffman was carrying, seemingly a meatball sandwich from one of Blake's favourite restaurants.
Once left alone in the room with Blake, Hoffman apologized for what he was about to do, and retreive a syringe from the sandwich to injected Blake with it. Blake regained consciousness and asked Hoffman what was he doing.
Hoffman panicked, but he was then ambushed by the man in the black mask, who quickly rendered him unconscious. While Blake started to find difficult to breath, the masked man approached him and explained that the substance that Hoffman injected him had already reached his heart and would die soon. However, he could make the man responsible for it pay if he told him everything he knew about Wilson Fisk.
As the monitor was beeping rapidly, Mahoney and the rest of officers outside tried to enter the room. The officers managed to enter the room, and only found Blake already dead and Hoffman unconscious on the floor, as the man in the mask had already left the room through a window.
=====Protecting Leland Owlsley=====
Wilson Fisk took Leland Owlsley to the workshop where Melvin Potter following the attack on Owlsley by the man in the black mask, so that Potter could build a reinforced suit for Owlsley similar to the ones Fisk always wore.
Owlsley complained for the noticeable bruise in his face that did not allow him to go to work at his office, and the fear he felt while the masked man was still on the loose. Owlsley explained how he had to tell his own son Lee not to come to New York City.
Fisk apologized for attack, but Owlsley then complained again to Potter, as he felt that the suit itched. Fisk assured him that the suit would protect him, but Owlsley was more concerned about its strange smell, asking Potter what was the suit coated with. Potter started to explain that the suit used a combination of polyethylene, glycol and silicate to form hydro-clusters when impacted by kinetic energy, but Owlsley dismissed him by saying that he used a 46 size.
Fisk told Potter that it would be all and thanked him for his services. As Potter left, Owlsley pointed that Potter was half an idiot, talking about his mental health issues, but Fisk assured him that it was the other half of Potter, that of a brilliant inventor, that counted.
Owlsley then returned to the subject of how to deal with the masked man, as he already knew who Owlsley was, and Fisk proposed to move Owlsley to a safe place and put six men on him as security. Owlsley proposed to be a dozen, as if the masked man did something to him, Fisk would lose lots of money. Fisk believed it was a threat, but Owlsley simply said that he was just stating something obvious, something he believed was not necessary with Fisk.
James Wesley entered the room and informed that Christian Blake had already been killed, but the masked man was able to incapacitate the man they sent to kill him, Carl Hoffman, and while he was unconscious, Blake had the opportunity to talk to him.
However, Wesley explained that Hoffman was able to frame the man in the mask for Blake's death, so nobody would be able to link Hoffman or Fisk to that death. Owlsley asked how much Hoffman knew about their operation, and Fisk assured that they were taking care of it. Owlsley warned Fisk that the situation was indeed being handled, but not by him.
=====Courtesy Visit=====
The following day, Wilson Fisk woke up after dreaming with some of the traumatic events of his childhood, and as usual, he stared at the painting Rabbit in a Snowstorm that he bought from Vanessa Marianna and was hanging in his bedroom.
Fisk began his morning routine, cooking an omelette and having it for breakfast in the living room. He then went to the dresser, where he chose another one of his many black suits and got dressed, choosing, as usual to wear his father's cufflinks.
Fisk was interrupted by a phone call by James Wesley, who informed him that Madame Gao had contacted them and wished to spoke to Fisk, and that she was actually heading to his penthouse. Fisk asked Wesley to meet him before she arrived, and Wesley told him that he was already heading there.
Gao arrived to the penthouse, and Fisk offered her a cup of tea that he served himself. Gao, speaking in Mandarin, approved the choice of tea, and Fisk explained that he chose it in his last visit to China. However, Gao explained that she did not meet them to have tea.
Speaking in English, Gao told Wesley that Fisk did not need him to translate her words. Fisk was surprised that she spoke English, but Gao revealed that she was able to speak all languages. Now speaking in Chinese, Gao revealed that she knew Fisk also spoke Mandarin since the beginning, but she did not revealed it as she thought Fisk was very clever for playing as a fool, and she needed to be clever too playing as she had not recognize it. Now speaking in Japanese, Gao asked Fisk if Nobu Yoshioka had guessed he was also able to speak Japanese, and Fisk answered that he did not believe so.
Wanting to speak with Fisk in private and no needing to maintain the charade, Gao asked Wesley to leave them, and Fisk complied, telling him to wait outside. Now alone, Gao revealed that both Yoshioka and Leland Owlsley were not pleased with the way their business had been managed lately, though Fisk assured her that everything was under control.
However, Gao told him that it was not, as she managed to discover where Fisk lived, one of his most guarded secrets. She even taunted him, saying that she did not discover it using bones and spells chanting under the moonlight, she discovered it because Fisk had become emotional and sloppy lately, exactly like the Russians in their final moments.
Gao did not want to hear Fisk's excuses, and she revealed she warned him out of courtesy because Fisk had always shown her respect. Gao ordered to restore order in his own house, or she would begin to deal directly with Yoshioka and Owlsley.
Gao left the room, thanking Fisk for the tea, and when left alone, Fisk could not control his rage and angrily knocked the table over. Wesley rushed into the room, and asked if he could do anything for Fisk. Fisk simply shout at him ordering to get out.
=====Shadows of the Past=====
Wilson Fisk looked at the windows of his penthouse for hours, until he was interrupted again by James Wesley. More calmed than the last time, Fisk told Wesley that he had not called him, but Wesley believed Fisk needed something. Fisk dismissed him, saying that he would have asked if he needed him, but Wesley was convinced that it was not always true.
Vanessa Marianna then entered the room, having been called by Wesley, and she asked him to leave them alone. Marianna then complimented Fisk's place, though she joked about the table that Fisk had knocked over earlier.
Fisk, trying not to pay his frustration with Marianna, asked her to go, but she told him she would leave only if it was what he truly wanted. Marianna revealed that Wesley was worried about him, and reminded Fisk his promise of always being honest with her.
Fisk revealed he was afraid, especially, of the way Marianna would look at him if he knew what actually happened. Marianna asked him to tell her, and Fisk began to explain how he had to kill his own father and what he did to conceal his death, being sent with relatives following that.
Marianna, visibly shocked, told Fisk that it was not his fault, as he did it to protect his mother, but Fisk then told her that he did it for himself, and he wore his father's cufflinks everyday to remind himself that he was a monster like him, cruel for the sake of cruelty.
Fisk asked Marianna he was a monster, but she simply said he was not. Fisk told her that it would not matter very soon, as people wanted to expose him because they did not understand the dream he had for the city, and want to destroy what he was trying to accomplish. Marianna asked him if he was going to let them do that, and Fisk simply answered with a blunt no.
====Out of the Shadows====
=====Rainy Meeting=====
Under heavy rain in the streets, Ben Urich called Mitchell Ellison about the latest story that his editor made Urich chase, that turned to be a man in a tinfoil hat. Urich was mad for having to research something like that, and told Ellison he would call him back, as he was in the street under the rain.
The man in the mask appeared before Urich, telling him they needed to talk, but first he asked if Urich believed everything they said about him. Urich revealed that it looked like he had been in the wrong places at the wrong time, but he had also heard the stories about the man in the mask helping people. The masked man assured he did not caused the explosion that killed the entire Russian mob, and that he did not shoot the police officers.
Urich then asked what he wanted from him, if he wanted Urich to write the masked man's side of the story, but what he wanted was to expose the actual responsible, who had been tearing the city apart, Wilson Fisk. Urich had never heard of Fisk, because he had always wanted to stay in the shadows, what made him dangerous.
Urich said that the masked man was similar, but he assured that the only thing he wanted was to protect the city, even despite they hated him. Urich then asked why it should be him, and the masked man told him that good people trusted Urich and he had faith in their judgment.
Urich quickly guessed that it all had to do with the scandal at Union Allied Construction, and that the man in the mask must have been the one that left Rance on the doorsteps of the New York Bulletin Building. The masked man revealed that Rance was surely connected to Fisk.
Urich told him that Karen Page, the woman she saved that night, was a good kid, and she still believed the masked man was a hero. The masked man simply told him that he was going on for people like Page. Urich asked what would happen if he refused, but the masked man told him that he would stop Fisk some other way, clarifying that he was not a killer.
Urich asked what he had about Fisk, and the masked man admitted that only pieces of information, such as that the Russians, the Triads and the Yakuza were funneling money through Leland Owlsley, a name that Urich recognized as a member of the Wall Street community. He also said that Detective Christian Blake gave Fisk up right before doing because of his partner Carl Hoffman, as they both worked for Fisk.
Urich said he could not print any of the information he provided as he did not have any proof or reliable source, only what he obtained beating people, but the masked man wanted to drag Fisk into the light, so people could know and stop him. The masked man assured he was the man at the top, and he would willingly bet his life on it.
Urich reminded the man that he was beating both their lives now, but nevertheless asked the man to tell him everything he knew about Fisk.
=====Day of Changes=====
As usual, Wilson Fisk woke up after dreaming with some of the traumatic events of his childhood, but when he was about to stare at the painting hanging in his bedroom, he remembered that Vanessa Marianna was sleeping with him, so he turned his attention to her, embracing her.
Fisk's morning routine was altered, as he had his usual omelette for breakfast, but he prepared another one for Marianna, who joined him after taking a shower. They went together to Fisk's dresser, where she chose, instead of the usual black suits Fisk wore, a grey one to symbolize a change in his life. To further symbolize that change, she prevented Fisk from taking his father's cufflinks, making him step aside, and chose another pair for him to wear in a special event for that day, adding a handkerchief to Fisk's suit as the last detail.
=====Fruitless Article=====
Ben Urich began to write an article meant to make Wilson Fisk's presence in New York City known to its inhabitants. He started the article with a saying: "You get what you deserve", that could not always be applied to everyone.
He began to write about how some people believe themselves to be above the rules that everyone else must follow, and how they did it hiding in the shadows, taking everything from anyone else until there is nothing left to take. However, Urich wanted to inspire people, saying that the people who suffered still mattered.
Urich began to write about unmasking the man in Hell's Kitchen that had been oppressing them covertly, from the shadows, and wanted to make him step for war if it was true that he had nothing to hide.
Urich suddenly noticed a press conference being broadcast live on WHiH World News, with Wilson Fisk, the same man he was trying to make public, stepping out to the light and announcing himself as a philanthropist wanting to improve the city. Due to this, Urich had no choice that deleting his article.
=====Wilson Fisk's Press Conference=====
Wilson Fisk organized a public press conference outside of the New York City Hall, assisted by James Wesley, Leland Owlsley and Vanessa Marianna, to announce his intentions of building a better future, a "better tomorrow", for New York City and its citizens.
Fisk announced that he felt a need to speak up for the city so that nobody should live in fear, especially blaming the so-called Devil of Hell's Kitchen for inflicting pain and suffering to its citizens, calling him a masked terrorist and psychopath together with others of his kind.
Fisk wanted for the citizens to stand up against those kind men and not bowing down to their coercion and intimidations, just like Owlsley recently did when he was assaulted. Fisk explained the assault was a message to him, a warning to stop in building his better future for the city.
He had begun to build it quietly and without attention, allegedly to protect the people close to him from being targeted by his enemies, who wanted a city drowned in poverty and crime, but he had realized the foolishness of that decision and wanted to rebuild the city without being afraid of the light.
Fisk prompted the people to join and resist the ones who wanted them to live in fear, publicly announcing his name and identity, while claiming that, together, they could make the city a better place.
=====Reactions=====
Matt Murdock heard Wilson Fisk's press conference at the New York City Hall, where he twisted Murdock's own words, and blamed his alter ego, the man in the black mask, for the crime and wave of terror the city was suffering.
Karen Page also heard that conference from the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, while Foggy Nelson listened to it while he bought coffee in a coffee shop. With that press conference, Fisk dismantled Murdock's attempt to bring Fisk into the light as a criminal, as Fisk announced himself as a philanthropist and a savior for New York City.
Enraged, Murdock threw his laptop to the floor, hearing how Fisk used Murdock's words to defend his own acts.
====The Devil====
Matt Murdock waited outside Clinton Church until Father Paul Lantom arrived. Lantom was pleased to see Murdock, saying that he had started to wonder if he would come to the church again. Murdock simply said that he had been busy, so Lantom told him that he would be inside in case he wanted to take confession. However, Murdock asked if it was too late to accept Lantom's previous offer of talking while taking a cup of latte.
Lantom prepared two cups of latte for Murdock and himself, and then asked Murdock what was happening, calling him by his first name despite Murdock had never introduced himself to Lantom. Lantom explained that he was easy to figure who he was, as there were people in Hell's Kitchen that still remembered his father, Jack Murdock, and what happened to his son while being a child.
Lantom also reminded Murdock that the seal of confession would still apply in that conversation, so Murdock went on and asked Lantom if he believed that the Devil existed, but not just as a mere concept, but as a real entity in the world among them. Lantom then told Murdock if he wanted a short answer or a long one, but Murdock said that he simply wanted the truth.
Lantom began to explain that when he was in seminary, he was more studious than pious, and more skeptical than most of his colleagues. In his studies, he concluded that the Devil was inconsequential, and just a minor figure in the grand scheme. Lantom based this hypothesis in the earlier meaning of the word "Satan" in the scriptures, which meant "adversary" and was applied to any antagonist. However, Medieval theologians reinterpreted many passages to be about a single enemy, the Devil, with believing that the reason was propaganda, to drive the people into the church out of fear.
However, all this changed when, many years later, Lantom traveled to Rwanda in order to help local churches in providing aid and sanctuary to refugees. Lantom became closer to the elder of the nearby village, named Gahiji, who had the respect of everyone, Hutu and Tutsi alike, having helped their village through famines, disease and other calamities.
Lantom explained how militias liked to force Hutu villagers to brutally murder their neighbors, but how nobody dared to raise a hand against Gahiji, being such a holy man. One of the militia commanders sent soldiers to kill Gahiji, ordering them to behead him in front of the entire village. But when the soldiers came, he did not try to fight, he only asked for a chance to say goodbye to his family, and in the end even the soldiers did not wanted to kill him.
The soldiers asked the commander for permission to simply shoot Gahiji and give him a quick death instead, but the commander wanted to meet him. The commander and Gahiji talked for many hours, but in the end, that same commander dragged Gahiji and his entire family out in front of the whole village and hacked them to pieces.
Lantom said that in that man, he saw saw the Devil himself. So in the end, Lantom's answer to Murdock's question was that he actually that the Devil walked among men, taking many forms. Murdock asked what would have he done if he could have stopped him from hurting anyone again, but Lantom asked how would have him stopped.
====The Second Coming====
Ben Urich went to the Nelson and Murdock Law Office to talk with Karen Page and Foggy Nelson about how Wilson Fisk's press conference changed the way they should investigate the events that were happening in Hell's Kitchen. Page and Nelson considered that nothing had changed, except by the fact they knew the identity of the "man in the top" that Urich believe was behind everything.
Urich, on the other hand, considered that everything had changed. He handed Page a copy of the New York Bulletin with Fisk on the front page, and pointed that Fisk stepped himself into the spotlight and had announced himself as a sort of savior for the city. Page proposed to keep investigating, but Urich had already did that, and internet went from having nothing about Fisk to be filled with stories about his past, being abandoned by his father and alone since his mother died.
Nelson believed that somebody must knew the truth, so they should keep asking. Urich told him that precisely that was the way of getting hurt, something that Matt Murdock, who was just entering through the door of the office, had been telling them, and pointed that maybe they would listen Urich.
Page introduced Urich and Murdock to each other, and Nelson explained that Murdock had proposed to pursue Fisk through the legal system. Urich acknowledged it was a safer way, though Page was disappointed of the way they were seemingly giving up.
Urich told her that the man in the mask came to see him the other night, and though Nelson did not trust him, Urich explained that he wanted the same thing as them, to expose Fisk. Urich handed Page some documents incriminating Fisk taken from a thumb drive the masked man gave him, including the facts that Fisk was responsible for the bombing and the attack on the policemen that were shot, or that Fisk had bribed half the New York City Police Department and they helped him take down the Russian mafia led by Vladimir Ranskahov.
Page did not understand why Urich did not make all those facts public, but Murdock pointed that it would be hearsay, as Urich could not print any fact without corroboration. Nelson continued to disapprove what the masked man said, given that he still believed that he killed Detective Christian Blake.
Urich explained that, according to the masked man, Blake's partner, Carl Hoffman, was the actual killer, probably following Fisk's orders, but Hoffman had either disappeared or been killed, so they could not do anything about him, shrugging to explain their lack of options. Nelson explained to Murdock that Urich had just shrugged, and Urich apologized to him.
Page asked if there was a way to tie the money from Union Allied Construction to Fisk. Urich told her that it may be possible, but according to the masked man, Leland Owlsley was in charge of Fisk's illicit financials, and he was protected by Fisk's security, so nobody could approach him. He also acknowledged that the same was applied to James Wesley, the man that hired Nelson and Murdock to defend John Healy.
Running out of options, Page tried to make them understand that nobody could erase their past, and there should be something that lead them to the truth. Nelson proposed investigating Confederated Global Investments, Wesley's employer company. Urich had already investigated it, and according to the , that company was Fisk's most important source of funds.
Murdock then said that if Fisk was connected to Confederated Global Investments, then he was also involved with Westmeyer-Holt Contracting, a company hired by Armand Tully to strong-arm his tenants out of their apartments. However, according to Landman and Zack, the firm that served as Tully's lawyers, he was on vacation in an unreachable island. Murdock proposed to investigate both companies nevertheless.
Nelson voiced once again his distrust about the man in the mask, but Page defended him once again, saying that the masked man did not either Urich or her, so she would choose him over over Fisk, and even praised his unusual combat abilities, making Murdock Smile. Nelson then asked why the masked man came to Urich instead of taking Fisk down himself, and Urich correctly guessed that the man knew there were some roads from which nobody could came back from.
====Ultimatum====
=====Setting the Trap=====
James Wesley briefed Wilson Fisk about his latest popularity polls, that showed Fisk's approval rising in political, ethnic and economic lines. Also, Wesley informed that they managed to fulfill the requirements so that his organizations would be tax-exempt according to , and also that Senator Randolph Cherryh asked for a meet with Fisk. Regarding this meeting, Fisk told Wesley to schedule it for breakfast, but reject the first place that Cherryh's staff members suggested.
Fisk asked about the situation regarding Detective Carl Hoffman, who, according to their sources at the Internal Affairs Bureau, had disappeared before giving his scheduled follow-up statement regarding the Assassination of Christian Blake at Metro-General Hospital. Fisk noted that they needed to put that subject behind them. Wesley assured that if Hoffman was still in New York City, they would find him, and if he was not, they would find him, too, but it would only take a little longer.
Fisk also asked about the man in the mask; Wesley explained that all members of the New York City Police Department were motivated to shoot him on sight, though the masked man was almost inactive compared to the previous weeks. Wesley theorized that maybe the masked man had given up; Fisk theorized that he may simply be choosing his targets more carefully.
Their conversation was interrupted by Nobu Yoshioka, who entered the room though Francis, the bodyguard stationed at the door, tried to prevent it. Yoshioka twisted Francis's wrist until Wesley dismissed Francis while speaking in Japanese. Fisk apologized to Yoshioka, as he did not know he was going to come.
Yoshioka did not care about Fisk's apologies, and said something in Japanese that Wesley translated as he did not care for the accommodations. Due to the difference between what he said and what Wesley translated, Yoshioka warned him that if he ever misspoke his words, he would rip out his tongue.
Fisk explained that Wesley was only trying to be polite. Yoshioka said that they did not have time for pleasantries, as he had come to force Fisk in solving the situation regarding the city block he was promised in return for his aid. Fisk said that one of the tenements in that block had been troublesome to vacate, so he offered one of the many city blocks he would have available in the near future. Yoshioka insisted that it had to be that specific block, but, given that Fisk had not guaranteed any specific block, he told Yoshioka he had to either be patient or choose another.
Yoshioka warned Fisk that he was bound and had people to answer to, so following the attack suffered at the docks their plan could not afford any other disruption, and prompted Fisk to do whatever he must do, and quickly. Fisk sought Wesley's advice, who pointed that Fisk was the legal owner of the building, so the subject could prove costly in terms of publicity even if carefully handled.
Yoshioka told Fisk that his organization would compensate him, and though Fisk appreciated the effort, he considered it unnecessary, and instead proposed Yoshioka to him in solving the situation regarding the man in the mask, that, given his determination and abilities, would require the aid of a specialist from Yoshioka's organization.
Yoshioka had a specialist with the needed skills in mind, but acknowledged that finding the masked man would be difficult given how cautious he had become. Fisk, having devised a way to drag him out, pointed that emotion could turn even the most circumspect man into a careless individual.
=====Keep Fighting=====
Foggy Nelson and Karen Page talked about Nelson's implication in their ongoing investigation, as Nelson seemed not to be as motivated as her. Nelson assured that if Wilson Fisk was indeed responsible for the explosions, the shooting of the policemen and even sending a man to kill her, then nobody would want to see Fisk getting what he deserved more than him, with the exception of Page herself.
Nelson simply clarified what he tried to explain, that investigating Armand Tully was a dead end. Matt Murdock stepped out of his office and asked about it. Nelson explained that he contacted his ex-girlfriend, Marci Stahl, who happened to be one of Tully's lawyers, and according to her, Tully had moved to an island that he bought with all the money that Confederated Global Investments paid for all the real estate holdings he owned in Hell's Kitchen.
Page said that was the link they were looking for between Fisk and the tenement case they were looking for, but Nelson clarified that the deal to sell those buildings happened that same morning. As Murdock pointed, whatever happened before that deal that made Fisk be the owner would fall on Tully and not Fisk.
Page proposed to go after Tully and make him confess about Fisk's involvement, but Nelson told her that Tully had traveled to an island without extradition agreement, so it was indeed a dead end.
Their conversation was interrupted by Elena Cardenas knocking at the door. Nelson greeted her with a catchphrase he heard on TV, but as Murdock explained, he had just asked in Spanish where the library was. Page invited Cardenas to come in, but seeing the look on her face, asked if everything was ok.
Cardenas explained that Fisk had offered them twice the money that Tully offered to move out of their homes and her neighbors are thinking about taking it. Murdock, knowing how dangerous Fisk actually was, acknowledged that maybe they should take it. However, Nelson asked Page to explain to Cardenas that she should stand firm as they promised they would help her and that was what they were going to do.
Page translated Nelson's words, making Cardenas to point how a good man Nelson was. Cardenas believed she could make enough of her neighbors to change their minds to make a difference, and told them she would continue fighting for her home. Nelson encouraged her, and Cardenas left the office saying how good people all of them were.
As Cardenas left, Murdock told Nelson he should not have encouraged her, as Fisk would not stop until he got all of their tenements. However, Nelson was confident that, given Fisk's public status on that case, they could request an injunction and find something in the deposition to deal with him.
Murdock claimed that a man like Fisk could not be defeated with a deposition, and it seemed that after everything that had happened, Nelson still did not get who were they dealing with. Page, who had suffered at Fisk's hands, claimed that Fisk was just a rich man thinking he could people to do everything he wanted, even standing at the New York City Hall with his associates as if he had already won. As she was saying that, Page showed Murdock a copy of the New York Bulletin, with Nelson reminding her that Murdock could not see it.
Page told Nelson and Murdock that they could not let Fisk get away with the tenancy case, and Murdock proposed applying an old principle from both law and war, to know your enemy. Murdock told Nelson and Page to keep investigating in order to find that potential tiny piece of paper or witness that may lead them to the truth, advising them to do it quietly and under.
Meanwhile, she was going to investigate the third person that stood with Fisk during his press conference, besides James Wesley and Leland Owlsley, a woman whom the press said Fisk seemed close with. Page read in the newspaper that the woman was Vanessa Marianna, an art curator at the Scene Contempo Gallery, so Murdock said that maybe it was time that he invested in art.
=====Blind Customer=====
Vanessa Marianna organized with the help of an assistant a guest list for an upcoming fundraiser event hosted by Wilson Fisk and, upon reviewing, she asked the assistant to make sure that Kyle Richmond was on the guest list, as he would probably not come, but he would surely get pissy if he was not invited.
Matt Murdock entered the gallery, and Wilson Fisk's security detail members quickly covered the exits, informing each other that a visitor was entering through the west entrance. Marianna approached Murdock like any other customer, and Murdock introduced himself, jokingly telling her that she must be wondering what a blind man was doing in an art gallery.
Marianna laughed, saying that she did not want to be forward with it, and Murdock lied his true motives to be there, posing as a simple customer, with the excuses that he wanted art for his apartment, as according to his guests, it was very austere.
Marianna assumed those guests Murdock talked about were women, something Murdock did not deny, and Marianna appreciated his answer, given that she considered the most important thing to appreciate art was honesty, though Murdock considered that sight helped. Marianna grabbed Murdock's arm, and began to walk him through the gallery, explaining there was something very intimate in experiencing art through someone else's eyes, a line he should use with his guests.
Murdock also explained that he was not sure about what he was after, something that Marianna considered a sign of art appreciation, as knowing it would mean that he treated art as furniture. Marianna told him that art should speak and move the person who contemplated it. She began to describe one of her favourite pieces to Murdock as a sea of tonal reds, which was the color of anger and rage, but also the color of the heart, of love and hope. According to her, the painting had the perfect balance between the two.
Murdock was not sure about that painting, as it may sound aggressive, but Marianna considered that it all depended on the point of view. Murdock tried to look for something less challenging, and asked Marianna if she had a man in her life. Marianna misinterpreted Murdock's words as an attempt to hit on her, but he explained he wanted to get inside the head of a man able to win the heart of a charming woman as her.
Marianna told him that he could ask that man for himself, as Fisk was just entering through the door. Marianna approached Fisk to greet him, and Murdock had to contain himself as he wanted to attack Fisk for everything he had done. Fisk asked if he was not interrupted, given that he went to the gallery unannounced as he was nearby, but Marianna said that he was not interrupting anything, in fact they were just talking about him.
Marianna introduced Fisk and Murdock to each other, and Fisk recognized Murdock's name as an attorney working on Hell's Kitchen, explaining he had heard about the work Murdock had done in the neighborhood. Murdock coldly answered that he was also aware of Fisk's own work. Marianna explained that Murdock was thinking of purchasing art and wanted the advice from a man of taste. Fisk, complimenting Marianna, said that his advice was simple, to buy whatever she recommended.
Murdock told Fisk they should not be talking, given that they now were on opposite sides of a tenancy case. Marianna was surprised to hear that, and Fisk explained that it was about the rental properties he acquired from Armand Tully. Fisk told Murdock he was sure that case would be settled to everyone's benefit, and began giving his usual speech about how the city had suffered from poverty and decay and now they had the opportunity to amend.
Marianna interrupted him, saying that Murdock was a customer and not a donor, and Fisk apologized for his words, stating that the city and its future were very important to him. Murdock told him that he felt exactly the same way, and thanked Marianna for her time. She asked him if he had changed his about what he came for, not knowing about his true intentions, and he simply said that he needed to consider the cost.
=====Assassination of Elena Cardenas=====
Elena Cardenas decided to stay at her apartment despite the offer made by Wilson Fisk, the new owner of the whole building. Upon Cardenas' made that decision, and being forced by Nobu Yoshioka, who wanted to obtain the specific block where Cardena's apartment was located, Fisk hired a junkie to kill her.
Jake jumped on Cardenas while she was fishing looking for her keys, and stabbed her multiple times, fleeing with her purse. An ambulance arrived quickly, but nothing could be done for Cardenas, who died in front of her apartment.
=====Spiritual Advice=====
Matt Murdock returned to the Clinton Church seeking Father Paul Lantom's advice, finding him in the church hall. Upon entering, the first thing Murdock did was to cross himself in front of 's image, and sat behind Lantom without saying anything.
Lantom explained he liked to have a moment at the end of each day alone with , and Murdock asked him to speak to Him in his behalf. Lantom asked Murdock how did he know that he was sitting right there, given Murdock could not see and Lantom did not make any noise, and Murdock, paraphrasing Lantom's words, asked if he wanted the short answer or the long one.
Lantom then told him that he was worried that Murdock may have done something foolish after the talk they had that morning, though Murdock told Lantom he had not done anything, yet. Murdock explained he went to visit a person close to the Devil, but not with the intention of hurting her, only to get to know that man better, about who he was or what it would take to do what Murdock felt he had to do.
Lantom asked what did he learn, and Murdock told him that there was a person who loved that man and would mourn his loss. Lantom pointed that very few things were absolute, and even was once an angel, so it was better to leave judgment and vengeance to , especially if murder was not in his heart. Murdock asked how could he know that, but Lantom pointed that Murdock was there, and that was a sign.
They were interrupted by a phone call from Foggy Nelson, but Murdock simply dismissed it, and resumed the subject. He explained that he knew his soul ws damned if he killed that man, but if he did nothing, many people would suffer and die.
However, Lantom explained that there was a very wide gulf between inaction and murder, and another man's evil would not make his actions good. It was something that many men had done throughout history, to use the atrocities of their enemies to justify their own.
Lantom told him that the question Murdock needed to ask himself is what was he struggling with, not wanting to kill that man but having to, or not having to kill him but wanting to. Lantom quoted the saying "Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is the righteous man who gives way before the wicked", though he could not remember the exact verse.
Murdock knew its meaning, that righteous men had a duty to stand up to evil, but Lantom said it was an easy interpretation, and another was that if a righteous man succumbed to sin, it was as harmful as if a public well was poisoned, because the darkness of an act such as taking a life would spread to friends, neighbors and the entire community.
Murdock asked what would happen if had already spread, but Lantom acknowledged that they would not be sitting at the church. Finally, Lantom voiced his belief that Murdock did not go to visit that woman for insight into how to kill a man, instead, he went looking for a reason not to do it.
=====Bad News=====
Matt Murdock returned to the office the following day. Upon arriving, Karen Page told him that Foggy Nelson tried to call him the previous night, but Murdock had turned off the phone, with the excuse that he was tired. Page asked how it went with his visit to Vanessa Marianna, though he simply said that he did not get what he needed.
Page then informed him that she and Nelson managed to identify the men that attacked her just outside of Elena Cardenas' Apartment as Stewart Schmidt and Joseph Pike, and not from booking photos, but from contractor's licenses.
Nelson entered the office and immediately asked Murdock where was he last night. Murdock told him that he went walking to clear his head, but Nelson said that every time Murdock did not answer his calls, he believed that Murdock had down through an open manhole or something similar.
Returning to the subject, Murdock asked who was Schmidt and Pike's employer, and it turned out it was Westmeyer-Holt Contracting, another of the multiple subsidiaries of Confederated Global Investments. Murdock believed that they managed to get something, and they press assault charges against Schmidt and Pike to make them talk about Wilson Fisk's involvement. However, Page had contacted Ben Urich, and according to his sources, Schmidt and Pike had disappeared, just like Carl Hoffman and Armand Tully.
Murdock was disappointed, as they had returned to having nothing on Fisk, but Nelson and Page wanted to surprise him, showing Murdock the new sign he had ordered for their law firm, Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law, just like the one he drew on a napkin the day they decided to start the law firm.
Murdock touched its letters, and pointed that the sign was a little small, though Nelson blamed it on building regulations. Page took a positive note from it, saying the sign was just like the firm, small but awesome. Nelson was more convinced than ever that they would make a difference, even if it did not feel like that many times, but they would use the law to make difference.
Nelson got emotional, saying that Murdock dragged him into building their own practice, and he would never be able to thank Murdock enough for it. Laughing, Murdock told Nelson that he would not let Nelson kiss him, and they embraced.
However, just when both Nelson and Murdock were about to leave and place the new sign, Page answered a phone call and was informed that Elena Cardenas had been assassinated, and their presence was requested to identify the body.
=====Identifying Elena Cardenas' Body=====
Karen Page, Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock went to the 15th Precinct Police Station upon Sergeant Brett Mahoney's request, in order to identify the body of Elena Cardenas, who had been brutally assaulted and killed. As soon as the medical examiner removed the sheet covering Cardenas' body, Page started to cry, and Nelson told Murdock that it was indeed Cardenas.
Murdock asked Mahoney how did it happen, and he explained that one of Cardenas' neighbors saw a junkie who had previously been seen in the building flee with Cardenas' purse, so probably he got into her while she was fishing looking for her keys.
Murdock told Page that maybe she should wait outside, but she wanted to know how did Cardenas die. Mahoney revealed that she was killed by multiple stab wounds, and though the ambulance arrived quickly, nothing could be done for Cardenas. Mahoney's mother Bess, a friend of Cardenas, had told him that all of her family had passed, so as they were Cardenas' lawyers in her tenancy case, perhaps they could tell him who was her next of kin.
Still crying, Page told Mahoney that Cardenas did not have anyone but them, and Nelson added they would take care of the arrangements for her funeral. Mahoney thanked them for doing it, and went to let the medical examiner know about it.
As they left, Page embraced Nelson while both of them were crying, Nelson looked at Murdock, who appeared to be unmoved, but he was actually trying hardly to contain his rage, only tightening his cane to let it go.
=====Mourning Elena Cardenas=====
Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdock and Karen Page went to Josie's Bar to mourn the death of Elena Cardenas, who had been brutally killed that same day. Josie, the bar owner, gave them a bottle of alcohol, and assured them she would bring more if they needed it.
Nelson reflected upon the fact that, when they accepted Cardenas' tenancy case, he and Page went to Landman and Zack, and Marci Stahl informed them there was a criminal element in the building, and workmen left without finishing repairs at the apartment because they feared for their safety, something that seemingly turned out to be true.
Murdock pointed that maybe it was a lie, as he did not think it had any logic, and it was hard to believe that there was a coincidence that Cardenas was killed just when she decided to stay in her apartment and fight for it, rallying the few neighbors she had left.
Page asked if he believed Wilson Fisk had something to do Cardenas' death, but they were interrupted when Fisk appeared on WHiH World News to speak about the murder. Murdock asked Josie to turn the volume up, and they heard an appearance where Fisk was asked by reporters about the event.
On television, Fisk explained that he did not meet Cardenas, given that he took possession of the building the day before, but he was aware of the reports that explained the tenement was unsafe, so he offered a substantial sum of money to Cardenas and her neighbors to help them relocate.
Fisk began giving a speech about how Cardenas' death was a symptom of the disease of fear that the city was suffering, fear of bombings, policemen being shot and a masked psychopath. Fisk began to covertly provoke the man in the mask, daring him to step out of shadows, and twisting the masked man's own words by saying the man would fail because people could make a difference together.
Page pointed that Fisk almost sounded like he meant his own words, but Murdock, knowing Fisk's true purpose with them, assured Page that Fisk actually meant them. Page, disgusted with the way Fisk used Cardenas' death for his own benefit, hoped that the murder would be traced up to Fisk, though Murdock was sure Fisk would expose himself in that way, and probably half of the New York City Police Department had been bribed.
Page hoped the masked man would deal with Fisk, though Murdock, wanting to know her true opinion, asked if she was religious. Page explained that her parents were, being that probably the reason she was not. Murdock then revealed he was a Catholic, though it did not help with things like Cardenas' death in days such as that.
Wanting to deal with Fisk as soon as possible, Murdock made up the excuse he had enough alcohol, and asked Page to inform Nelson, who had received a call from the funeral home, that they would meet again in the morning. Before he left, Page reminded Murdock that, if there was a who cared about manking, Fisk would get what he deserved. Murdock told her that he indeed believed it.
=====Faith Crisis=====
Matt Murdock returned to his apartment and struggled with the option of killing Wilson Fisk in order to avenge the death of Elena Cardenas. Murdock hesitated, but he ultimately opened a chest where, he kept hidden his costume and black mask under many of his childhood's mementos, including his father's last boxing robe and training gear, photographs, the first aid kit he used to stitch his father's wounds and Murdock's first Braille alphabet.
Murdock crossed himself asking for 's forgiveness for what he was about to do, and then he donned the black suit and mask and went to chase Fisk.
=====Junkie Assassin=====
The man in the mask went through the streets to chase the junkie that killed Elena Cardenas, attacking all the criminals he came across asking for any clue about the drug that the junkie left behind.
He was able to find Junkie Jake right after he injected himself with a dose of heroin; when the masked man first appeared before him, Jake believed him to be an hallucination. The man searched around and found many samples of heroin and a large sum of money inside Jake's pockets.
The masked man lost control when he found Cardenas' purse in the room. Knowing that Jake was her killer, he grabbed him and threw him across the room. Jake realized the masked man was real and panicked, lying when the man asked about the purse. The masked man knew he was lying, so he hit Jake again and threw him against some crystal bottles that were on the floor.
Jake begged him to stop because he was sick, but the masked man kept hitting him, especially after Jake lied again, saying he would confess who took the purse. The masked man warned Jake that he had hurt a lot of people that night to locate the man that killed Cardenas and he tracked him to that address, managing to smell his rotting teeth despite the many cheap menthols he used.
The masked man asked Jake who paid him, hitting him while asking if it was Wilson Fisk. Jake confessed that he did not know the names of the men who paid him, only that they took him to a warehouse on Pier 81. Jake also said that he did not want to kill Cardenas, but he did it because he needed more drugs.
The masked man ordered Jake turn himself in to Sergeant Brett Mahoney at the 15th Precinct Police Station, and if he did not do it, he would find him and nothing would stop him.
====Duel at Pier 81====
=====Ambush=====
The man in the black mask went to the warehouse where Junkie Jake, the man that killed Elena Cardenas, told him the men who paid him for the murder contacted them. The masked man spent a while examining the building and its surroundings, and believing it to be empty, entered inside.
He found a table with a large amount of blueprints for Hell's Kitchen Redevelopment Plans, but while he was examining them, he began to hear a slow heartbeat that, suddenly, got quicker and approached him. The masked man warned him that he did not come there for him, as he was looking for Wilson Fisk, but the ambusher, revealing himself as a ninja in a red garment, told the masked man that he was the one he had found.
The masked man recognized the ninja as Nobu Yoshioka from their previous encounter at the docks, while Yoshioka acknowledged he also saw the masked man with Stick, referring to him as the old fool, something Yoshioka was not expecting. The masked man claimed he was not part of Stick's war, but Yoshioka said that he aided Stick despite that, damaging him and causing "displeasure" while doing it.
The masked man asked Yoshioka if Fisk had sent him, if he had paid a junkie to kill a woman just to lure him into a trap, while Yoshioka simply acknowledged that the trap succeeded. The masked man then explained that he made sure that no one was inside the building, as he made that mistake once going against the Russians, but he was unable to perceive Yoshioka's presence given that he had slowed his heart and lowered his body temperature.
Yoshioka realized Stick had taught the masked man the ways of his organization, though the man once again said he was not involved with him. Yoshioka acknowledged that the man in the mask was a warrior, so he deserved a warrior's death.
Tired of the conversation, the masked man told Yoshioka that he had come to the warehouse looking for Fisk, but it looked like he would have to settle for Yoshioka. Yoshioka warned him that he had shown respect, so the man would be wise to return the courtesy. Taunting him, the masked man told Yoshioka that he would have to earn it.
=====Battle=====
Nobu Yoshioka began the attack against the man in the mask, throwing a series of that the masked man, was able to deflect with his wooden sticks. Yoshioka quickly approached him while throwing the weapons, physically attacking the man. Despite Yoshioka's superior skill, the masked man was able to hold his own, evading some of Yoshioka's attacks and managing to endure the others.
|Nobu Yoshioka fighting the Man in the Mask
The masked man was knocked to the floor more than once, but he quickly got up to retaliate, though Yoshioka blocked each and every of the masked man's attacks.
Yoshioka revealed a concealed weapon, a , that would allow him to attack the masked man from a distance. Knowing his disadvantage, the masked man threw one of his wooden sticks to deflect the weapon and quickly approached Yoshioka. Yoshioka redirected the weapon and aimed it at the masked man's face, who protected himself with his arms and suffered a deep cut.
The masked man attacked Yoshioka in close quarters, and despite Yoshioka managed to cut him in the chest and the back, the masked man was able to block and grab the weapon, trying to make Yoshioka release it. However, Yoshioka pulled the weapon's chain until he could attack the man, and threw him again to the floor with a kick.
The masked man, weakened by the injuries, tricked Yoshioka into throwing the Kyoketsu-shoge against a floor, making its blade to nail itself on the table. The masked man tried to benefit from having disarmed the ninja, but he quickly knocked the man in black again and retrieved the weapon.
The masked man tried to change his strategy, suffering even more cut deeps from Yoshioka, and began to make the ninja use his weapon to destroy some of the environment, such as making the lamps fall or opening a hole in a barrel full of gasoline, that began to impregnate the floor.
Yoshioka acknowledged that the man in the mask was a worthy opponent, so he considered an honor to claim his life, and saluted the man before resuming the attack. Yoshioka was able to inflict almost fatal wounds, especially with an attack that made the Kyoketsu-shoge turn around the masked man and stuck it in his stomach, dragging him through the floor.
=====Nobu Yoshioka's Death=====
The man in the mask was able to release himself from Nobu Yoshioka's grip, and with his remaining strength, kick him to knock him to the ground in an area covered by gasoline. However, Yoshioka easily got up, and while the masked man was still on the floor, unable to get up due to his injuries, Yoshioka told him that he had fought well, but it was not enough.
|Nobu Yoshioka is burned alive
The masked man got up and evaded Yoshioka's latest attacks to grab his wooden stick. He used the stick to deflect Yoshioka's Kyoketsu-shoge, and while trying to make it return, Yoshioka accidentally hit the lamp just above him. The lamp released sparks that ignited the gasoline and Yoshioka's body.
Burning in flames, Yoshioka desperately attacked the masked man, but he soon fell to the ground, dying from the burns, and his body began to be consumed by the flames.
=====Wilson Fisk's Arrival=====
Wilson Fisk entered into the Pier 81 Warehouse followed by James Wesley and Francis as soon as Nobu Yoshioka died during his fight against the man in the mask. The first thing Fisk did was to thank the masked man for dealing with Yoshioka, as he was becoming an issue.
The masked man realized that Fisk wanted him to kill Yoshioka despite being allies; Fisk explained that, in a perfect world, they would have killed each other, but it was not a perfect world, at least yet. Fisk pointed that it took the masked man longer than he expected to find that warehouse, but Yoshioka did not mind it, as he was meditating for hours.
Fisk admitted he found difficulty in meditating, as his mind would not quiet, being something that he considered a character flaw. He also explained that he found the masked man's flaw, an emotional weakness for children and women, and he assumed that it extended to the elderly, so he killed Elena Cardenas to use it as bait.
Fisk also told him Yoshioka forced his hand to solve the whole situation with Cardenas, so his options were limited, but he took no pleasure in killing her. Enraged, the masked man told Fisk he was going to kill him and Fisk, preventing his bodyguards from acting, taunted the masked man to take his shot in doing so.
|Murdock is beaten by Fisk
The masked man attacked Fisk, but due to his injuries, Fisk easily blocked the attacks and retaliated, punching him and throwing him to the floor. The masked man even tried to used Yoshioka's weapon to attack Fisk, but he was wearing a suit that protected him, so the weapon was only able to cut the first layer of cloth. Angrily, Fisk beat the masked man in the ground, punching him with all his strength and throwing him across the room, landing on a table.
Fisk cleaned the blood from his face, and voiced his disappointment on his fight against the masked man. Fisk then ordered Wesley to shoot and kill the man, but he managed to grab one of his wooden sticks and threw it against Wesley's handgun. The shot missed, and the masked man seized the opportunity to jump through a window, landing into the water, while Wesley and Francis tried to shoot him.
Fisk ordered Wesley to place men on the docks and shoot the masked man upon sight. Wesley, who in turn ordered Francis to fulfill Fisk's order, asked what to do with Yoshioka's corpse, and Fisk coldly told him to let him burn.
====Drunken Sorrow====
=====Culprits Must Pay=====
Foggy Nelson and Karen Page continued drinking at Josie's Bar to overcome the pain of losing Elena Cardenas. Nelson was heavily drunk, and asked Josie for another bottle, though Page told her not to do it.
Page, who was also very drunk, acknowledged that she had drunk enough alcohol, and Nelson had drunk even more, but Nelson justified that they were at a wake and drinking was what people usually did, because the true reason behind a wake sucked.
Nelson asked what would be a good toast in Spanish for the people that should still be alive, but broke in tears before even finishing the sentence. Nelson was extremely hurt, blaming himself for what happened to Cardenas, as he asked her to keep fighting, instead of taking the money like Matt Murdock said. Page asked Nelson not to do that, as it was not his fault.
Nelson then explained how Hell's Kitchen was a shithole when he grew up, but it had a heart, so he and Murdock studied law to help their neighbors and the people they we grew up with, so they could have the same opportunities as powerful people like Wilson Fisk. However, now he considered it to be lies they told themselves to go on living another day.
Page told him that she did not and could not believe that, but Nelson asked what were they we supposed to do against somebody who owned everything and everyone, and was able to do something like killing an old woman for his own benefit. Page told him to do the only thing they could, make them pay.
=====Truth Discovered=====
A heavily drunk Foggy Nelson went to speak to Matt Murdock at his apartment in the middle of the night, wanting to speak to Murdock about what they needed to do following the death of Elena Cardenas. Crying, Nelson told him that they needed to keep going and stop Wilson Fisk, making him pay for what he did to Cardenas and everything else.
Nelson heard a crash inside the apartment, so he rushed to the roof access and entered the apartment. He called for Murdock, saying that he had heard a crash that sounded as if he had fallen and could not get up. Nervously, Nelson grabbed Murdock's cane to use it as a weapon if needed, and warned that if there was any intruder he would deal with him.
The man in the mask emerged from Murdock's bedroom, and Nelson asked him what did he do to Murdock. The masked man was unable to answer, and fell to the ground due to being heavily injured. Nelson was about to call 911 to inform them about the masked man, but he decided to remove the mask and see who was behind it.
Nervously, Nelson lifted the mask, and shockingly learned that the so-called Devil of Hell's Kitchen was Murdock himself.
====Day of Truth====
=====The Truth About Blindness=====
Matt Murdock regained consciousness at the living room of his apartment, and began to groan in pain due to the extensive injuries he sustained the previous day. He checked the injuries, and then tried to get up, but Foggy Nelson, who was at the kitchen, advised Murdock not to do it, as he would not do it if he was Murdock. However, he acknowledged that maybe he would do it, as it turned out he did not know anything about Murdock.
Murdock asked Nelson if he stitched his injuries, but he revealed that it was actually Claire Temple who did it. Nelson explained that Murdock told him to call Temple after hitting him for trying to take Murdock to the hospital. Murdock apologized for it, as he did not remember what happened.
Nelson acknowledged that Temple was attractive, just as he had guessed before actually meeting her, but he was sure that Murdock already knew that. Very disappointed with his friend, and wanting to know the truth, Nelson asked Murdock if he was actually blind.
=====The Truth About the Gifts=====
Matt Murdock explained to Foggy Nelson how his enhanced senses allowed him to perceive his environment in a way beyond sight, comparing it to seeing the world on fire but without having actual sight. Nelson, wanting to know the whole truth behind Murdock's activities as the man in the mask, simply asked if he could see or not despite Murdock's explanation and placed his middle finger before Murdock's face, asking him how many fingers was he holding up.
Realizing that Murdock had been able to "see" his finger, Nelson told him that he had felt sorry for him all those years since they met, though Murdock said he had never asked for that. In turn, Nelson said he never asked to be lied to, as he believed they were friends, and despite Murdock told him they still were, Nelson was hurt that Murdock had lied to him since the day we met.
Murdock then asked if he expected to introduce himself by saying that he was affected by a chemical substance when he was a kid that gave him heightened senses, and revealed he did not even told his own father about it. Nelson pointed that he told it to Claire Temple, though Murdock said that the only reason he did was because Temple found him half dead inside a dumpster. Nelson said that Temple did not say anything about Murdock when she came to treat his injuries, though she seemed to be a nice person.
Nelson paused for a moment before asking Murdock if he was responsible for the bombings and the shooting of policemen a few days before, Murdock explained that Wilson Fisk was behind everything, and he was also responsible for his injuries together with Nobu Yoshioka, who happened to be some kind of ninja.
Nelson then asked him what did Murdock believed he was doing as he was supposed to be helping people as a lawyer, and though Murdock said he was actually helping people, Nelson told him that what he was could be only called as being a vigilante, someone acting outside of the law.
Their conversation was interrupted by a phone call from Karen Page, who called at Murdock's phone. Before he could take it, Nelson grabbed the phone, and Murdock asked him not to reveal his secret to her. Nelson realized that every time they had called him and he did not answered, either to invite him to come for drinks or to make sure he was okay during the bombings, he simply hit the ignore button as he was acting as the man in the mask.
Page then called Nelson's phone, and he answered, lying to her saying he was at Murdock's apartment because Murdock had been hit by a car. Page told him she was going to the apartment, but Nelson asked to stay at the Nelson and Murdock Law Office as there was nothing she could there, but he promised that he would call if they need anything.
Nelson was hurt for having lied to Page because of Murdock, and demanded to know everything regarding his activities as the masked man due to it.
=====Choosing Fate=====
In the morning, Madame Gao met with Wilson Fisk to discuss the future of their association in one of the rooftops of the Rockefeller Center. Gao was surprised that Fisk appeared alone without James Wesley by his side, but he guessed there was no need for a translator or pretenses between them.
Gao began with a tale from her village, about a snake who mistook an elephant as prey, and was found dead with its jaws clenched around the elephant's foot, betrayed by its own ambition. Fisk then asked if he was supposed to be the snake or the elephant of the tale, but Gao did not answer it.
Without answering, Gao commented that Nobu Yoshioka's death was unfortunate, and Fisk excused himself that he asked Yoshioka for a warrior to eliminate the Masked Man, and it was Yoshioka who chose to do it himself. Gao commented that Yoshioka shared a trait with Fisk, pride, but Fisk only said that what was done was done.
Gao asked if he had found the body of the man in the mask, and also warned Fisk that the Japanese preparing for what was about to come, as despite their current distraction, both their memories and their weapons were sharp.
Fisk asked if that meeting was just a warning about something he already knew, but Gao said that its true purpose was just a question, how long would it take Fisk's ambition to turn him against her. Fisk explained that Gao always possessed something the rest of their associates did not, his respect.
However, Gao noted how much he changed since he came to her with a dream for the city, as he was then a man with a singular focused mind, but now he was going in two directions because of his feelings. Fisk realized she only wanted to discuss his private life with Vanessa Marianna, but what she truly wanted was to discuss his fate.
Gao began to speak in English so that Fisk did not mistake my words, and explained that there was a conflict within Fisk, as a man could not be both savior and oppressor, light and shadow, and one side had to be sacrificed. Gao warned him to choose and do it wisely, or others would choose for him.
=====Denied Extension=====
Ben Urich visited his wife Doris at Metro-General Hospital, working in his notes until she woke up. Doris called Ben with their usual greet, where she said "Hello, gorgeous" and he answered "Hello, handsome".
Doris noticed that Ben was wearing a specific aftershave that she liked, and Ben was pleased that she remembered it. She went to ask if the doctors had said anything about their current status, and Ben explained simply told Doris that they believed she was improving.
Doris then asked Ben what was he working on, and he said the had been outsmarted by a story, however, knowing her husband, Doris told him he would figure it out as he always did. Ben pointed that there were things more important things than a job, and that he should be with his wife instead of chasing down leads.
Doris told Ben that being a reporter was not Ben's job, it was part of his identity. However, Ben told her that it may have been true 20 years before, when he was more fearless. Doris said that when they met, Ben was reckless and pushy, only thinking about making a difference and turning heads, and he certainly turned hers. Then, with the years and experience, Ben became more careful and wise, so his best work was still ahead.
Ben pointed that if she continued saying those things. Ben and Doris laughed and then they began to kiss. However, Doris suddenly stop and began to look at Ben as she did not know who he was. Doris then remembered who Ben was, and greeted him as if it was the first time he saw him for a while, having forgotten the conversation they just had.
Shirley Benson called for Ben, wanting to speak outside of the room, and announced that, despite she did everything she could, the insurance company denied his petition to request an extension, and Doris had to move out of the room.
=====The Truth About the Friendship=====
Foggy Nelson then checked the chest where Matt Murdock hid the clothes he wore as the man in the mask, and asked where did he get all those items. Nelson was surprised when Murdock told him he bought them on the Internet, as he believed that heroes, villains and vigilantes stitched their uniforms themselves.
Murdock jokingly told him that he never learned how to sew, but Nelson pointed that he learned how to fight, as he saw how Murdock moved in news footage after the bombings. Nelson guessed that Murdock's father, who was a boxer, did not teach him any of that.
Murdock told him that his father did not want him to fight, just like he had already told Nelson since they met, it was an old man named Stick who found him at Saint Agnes Orphanage. Murdock began to explain that Stick was blind, and shared his gifts, but Nelson interrupted him saying that a blind old man teaching him martial arts just sounded like the plot of .
Murdock continued explaining that Stick not only started his training, but he also taught how his blindness was not a disability, and he helped understand the full scope of his enhanced senses. Nelson asked him what was what he could do, and Murdock told him that it was hard to explain, and his senses allowed him to know things.
Nelson asked if he could read his mind or predict, and Murdock began to recite facts about Nelson that he perceived with his senses, such as he had not showered since the day before, that he rinsed his face in the kitchen sink, that he had onions for lunch two days before, that he was hungry and tired, or that as he was talking, Nelson's heart beat faster.
Nelson was surprised that he could hear a heartbeat, and Murdock explained that it helped to anticipate behavior, especially to know when someone was lying. Nelson realized that was the way he knew Karen Page was telling the truth when they first met her, but he was disgusted that he listened to heartbeats without permission, as it was weird and invasive.
Suddenly, Nelson realized that since they met years before, Murdock knew every time he was not telling the truth, and that he simply played along. Disappointed, Nelson told him that he would kick Murdock's ass if he was not half dead, and sadly asked him if anything had ever been real in their friendship.
=====Promotion Proposal=====
Ben Urich began to look pamphlets about different hospices for his wife Doris, as she could not stay longer at Metro-General Hospital. Mitchell Ellison interrupted Urich, wanting to know the reason why he handed to M. Caldwell the piece Urich was supposed to write about the fundraiser organized by Wilson Fisk. Urich then said that he had something else to do, something personal, without disclosing the situation with his wife.
Ellison then explained that Haverson, the editor of the Metro section, was going to leave at the end of the month because he wanted to spend time with his grandsons, and proposed Urich to accept that job. Urich considered himself a reporter instead of an editor, though Ellison said that he thought the same until he accepted the job.
Ellison also told him that the new job would also mean a raise and better benefits. Urich promised he would think about it, and Ellison asked him to tell him something in the next couple of days.
Once left alone, Urich evaluated the priorities of his life, staring at the board where he connected all organized crime events in Hell's Kitchen.
=====Passing the Torch=====
Karen Page tried to call Foggy Nelson again, as she was trying to inform him about a discovery she recently made about Wilson Fisk, but he was unable to contact Nelson. Upon entering the office, she realized there was a box on her desk, and right before she opened it, Ben Urich appeared and told her that hey were out of cream for coffee.
Page who was startled by Urich emerging from the other room, asked Urich how did he got in the office, and he told her that he simply entered through the front door because it was unlocked, and she needed to be more careful. She claimed that she was, showing her pepper spray
Page was actually about to call Urich, as she visited the county clerk's office while getting lunch and discovered something. Urich wondered if Page was not going to ask about the box that was on her desk, so Urich encouraged her to open it, revealing all of Urich's notes and articles regarding the story they were working on.
Urich revealed he was quitting, as despite he used to be like Page in his youth, he now knew when to stop. Page believed she had already convinced Urich on how important the story was, and asked if she needed to convince him again.
However, Urich explained that, although he still believed the story was important, it was not the most important thing to him right now, as the insurance extension for his wife Doris did not come through. He even researched about an hospice he could afford, but after making a few cals, he was sure he could not put his wife in a place like that, so Urich needed time to bring her home.
Page then asked him to go visit a nursing home that she had heard about in upstate New York, a simple ride that could change his mind, and that could hurt nobody.
=====Asking a Favor=====
Wilson Fisk and Leland Owlsley met at Fisk's penthouse while they prepared for a fundraiser that Fisk would host that evening in the Van Lunt Building. Fisk explained how the man in the mask killed Nobu Yoshioka, who was burned alive, and though Fisk assured he did not touch Yoshioka, Owlsley told him that making the man in the mask do it for him had the same result.
Fisk asked Owlsley to speak with Madame Gao, reassuring her everything was going fine. Owlsley believed that was a lie, and James Wesley, who was helping Fisk with his necktie, pointed that Owlsley had voiced many times how unsettling he considered Yoshioka to be, but Owlsley sarcastically pointed that, while he also considered Wesley unsettling half of the time, he was not lighting a match to burn him.
Fisk asked Wesley to bring the car and let Vanessa Marianna know they were on their way to the fundraiser. As they were alone, Owlsley voiced that everything was getting out of hand since Fisk started seeing Marianna. Fisk asked Owlsley if he had a son, despite knowing he had one named Lee, so Fisk assumed that in the past Owlsley met and fell in love with a woman.
Owlsley asked what did that have to do with what they were discussing, and Fisk told him that that everything. Owlsley pointed that Gao was right and Fisk had changed. However, Fisk said that a change was inevitable, for him, for New York City and for certain relationships.
Owlsley accepted Fisk's petition and agreed to speak with Gao. Fisk stated how he appreciated his support and Owlsley, sarcastically, stated that they were all together in the business, at least what was left of them.
=====The Truth About Killing=====
Foggy Nelson received a phone call from Sergeant Brett Mahoney, who informed that the junkie that killed Elena Cardenas had been found dead after jumping from a building. Nelson thanked Mahoney for calling him with the news.
As he ended the phone call, Nelson went to the living and updating Matt Murdock about the news, as Murdock told him that in order to hear something, he should concentrate and focus on letting the sound in. Nelson explained what Mahoney told him about the junkie, and asked Murdock if he killed that man.
Murdock said that he told the junkie to turn himself in to the police, but Nelson, who did not trust Murdock anymore, asked him if that was the truth, given that he could not listen to heartbeats. Murdock assured again that he did not kill anyone, it was Wilson Fisk covering his tracks.
Nelson asked Murdock if he ever went that far, and Murdock told him that he had never killed anyone, but admitted that she wanted to after what happened to Cardenas. Murdock explained that he went to a warehouse where Fisk was supposed to be, with the intention of killing him.
Nelson was disappointed, stating that it looked like it was not enough to be judge and jury for Murdock, he wanted to be also executioner. Murdock said he thought he did not had a choice, and Nelson asked what happened to his idea of going after Fisk through the legal system making the law work for them. Murdock said that, as they both should knew, sometimes the law was not enough.
=====The Truth About the Beginning=====
At dusk, Foggy Nelson stared at the window, thinking about what to say to Matt Murdock. Murdock noticed that Nelson wanted to say something, but he said that he did not want to. Murdock explained that Nelson's breathing changed whenever he was about to speak, though Nelson told him that was just showing off.
Nevertheless, Murdock prompted him to say what he needed to say. Nelson began to confront Murdock about the whole truth that he learned that day, blaming him for dressing in a mask just to beat people up. Murdock told him that it was not that simple and he already knew it, but Nelson told him that he did not know anything. Trying to understand Murdock, he summarized, starting with the fact that Murdock got his gifts when he was a kid, and asking how did he get from that to what he was doing now.
Murdock explained that, when he was a kid, he played a game during the nights while listening to the sirens he heard, and inventing stories for everyone of them, such as ambulances, robberies or fires. However, when he lost his sight and his senses developed, he realized how many sirens there were, and how much the city suffered every night.
Nelson asked if he had been acting as a vigilante since he was a kid, but Murdock revealed that, at first, he wanted to make his father proud and not to fight, blocking what he heard for years. However, it all changed one night a short time after they quit Landman and Zack, when he heard a little girl crying because her father abused her each night.
Although Murdock called Child Services, the man was very clever, as he did not leave any mark on his daughter, and his wife could not believe it and defended her husband. Murdock explained how he was the only one who could help that girl, and investigated the man's routine and attacked the man when he was alone, putting him in a hospital for a month, and feeling such relief that he had never slept better.
Nelson told him that it seemed that he decided it just one day, but to do what he did, Murdock should have continue training for years since Stick left him. Nelson guessed that justice was not the only reason that Murdock had to be a vigilante, that it maybe it was also an excuse to hit people and he could not stop himself. Seriously, Murdock told him that he did not want to stop.
=====Fundraiser Event=====
Wilson Fisk organized a fundraiser at the Van Lunt Building, and briefly addressed his guests stating his reasons why he, who was a man treasuring his privacy, was willingly subject himself to the public eye despite there were people who questioned him. Fisk, in turn, questioned whoever did not the same when his city was in such a time of need.
Fisk asked his guests' help to ensure that everyone affected by the recent attacks, and everyone who considered Hell's Kitchen his home, would see a brighter day. To finish, he thanked their presence and wished them to enjoy the evening.
Leland Owlsley, who was among the attendants, clapped resonated to Fisk's words, while James Wesley did it sincerely. Vanessa Marianna, who was beside Fisk while he talked, told him that the message has been beautiful, though Fisk complimented her by saying that the word "beautiful" was meant only for her that night.
Fisk began to shake some of his guests' hands, personally thanking them for their presence and donations. Owlsley approached Fisk, and commented that it was the first time he has been in a room with so many rich people since the days of the Junk Bonds. Fisk told him that he had been starting to worry about him, but Owlsley assured him that the favor he asked, speaking with Madame Gao, had been taken care. Owlsley then commented that he needed a drink badly, and offered one to Marianna.
While they were together, Senator Randolph Cherryh approached Fisk and complimented him for his speech, asking if he had ever considered a politics career. Fisk simply told him that he would left it to people like Cherryh, making him laugh and say that it was a good answer. Cherryh requested a moment alone with Fisk to talk about their zoning issue, so Fisk kissed Marianna and promised her that he would be back in a minute.
As Cherryh left, Marianna commented that she did not vote for Cherryh during the last election. Wesley commented that few people did voted for him, and Owlsley pointed that he still won and thanked it to astrological advice he got from Cornelius van Lunt, the owner of the building.
Right then, one of the guests fell to the floor, and Owlsley commented that some people could hold liquor. However, many guests began to lose consciousness and literally foam at the moat, a symptom of poisoning. Fisk ordered Wesley to get the car as they needed to leave, but Marianna lost consciousness, too.
Fisk ran and grabbed Marianna in his arms before she fell to the floor. Owlsley, who was calling for a doctor, threw the glass of champagne he was having without having drunk from it, and Fisk tried to make Marianna react before quickly taking her to the nearest hospital.
=====The Truth About the End=====
Matt Murdock cleaned the blood that was dripping from his most serious injury on his stomach. Foggy Nelson, teary-eyed and sitting in front of him, told Murdock that he was going to get himself killed, and even though Murdock claimed he could take care of himself, he asked what would happen to the rest of them.
Nelson said that he and Karen Page were a part of Murdock's activities without having a say in it, but Murdock said that if he gave up, nobody would stop Wilson Fisk. Nelson told him the law would, but Murdock then replied that it did not stop him for Elena Cardenas.
Murdock asked Nelson if he could have prevented Cardenas' death by putting a mask he would not have done it, and Nelson, crying, told him that it was not fair. Murdock replied that the world was not fair, so he was doing everything he could to make it a better place.
Nelson said that Fisk used those words, who actually were twisted from Murdock's own message, and confronted him over the fact that he even tried to kill Fisk, which was precisely the way Fisk solved his problems. Murdock acknowledged that he made a mistake, but Nelson told him that attempted murder was not a mistake.
Nelson asked Murdock if he had ever thought what would happen if he went to jail or died, as nobody would believe he or Page did not know about his vigilantism. Murdock began to cry, saying that the city needed him in the mask, and Nelson, while acknowledging that he may be right, said he only needed his friend, and that he would not have kept such a secret from Murdock.
Murdock told him that he could not know that, but Nelson, while walking to the door, told him that he indeed knew. Murdock called him and asked him to wait, but as he was unable to move, he could not prevent Nelson from leaving the apartment.
=====Packing=====
Having spent the whole day with Matt Murdock at his apartment, learning the truth about his activities as the man in the mask, Foggy Nelson went to the Nelson and Murdock Law Office to pack his things and leave the firm.
While there, he noticed the sign for "Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law" that he was supposed to place at the entrance, but instead he threw the sign to the trash can.
====Broken Relationships====
=====Poisoned Patient=====
A young kid watched a cartoon at the waiting room of Metro-General Hospital when, suddenly, a large group of security guards entered the room followed by Wilson Fisk, who was carrying an unconscious Vanessa Marianna in his arms, and James Wesley who called for a doctor.
Doctor Murray asked what happened and Wesley told him that Marianna drank something, but the doctor needed something more specific. Wesley pointed that it happened at the benefit in the Van Lunt Building and there were other people affected. Trying to appear worried, Leland Owlsley said that he had a glass in his hand, and asked to be checked, but the doctor did not pay attention to him and focused on Marianna.
Wesley informed Murray that Marianna had been unconscious for twenty minutes, and told Owlsley they went to that hospital because it was the closest ER when Owlsley called it a rat hole. Wesley also tried to calm Fisk, saying he had already contacted Doctor Rosenberg and was on his way there via jet.
The doctor treating Marianna noted that her pupils were sluggish and began to order how to proceed with her while requesting tests to know what happened to her. He also asked how many others were affected, and Wesley simply answered that maybe four or five. Owlsley insisted that someone should be looking at him, and the doctor promised to send a nurse for him.
The doctor began to carry Marianna inside to treat her, and Fisk wanted to go with her, but Nurse Schwab stopped him. Fisk yelled asking her if she did not know who he was, but the nurse told him that it did not matter, and that he should fill all the paperwork, but that they would update him as soon as they knew anything about what happened to Marianna.
=====Get Well Soon=====
Karen Page went to visit Matt Murdock at his apartment and began knocking on the door, waking him up. Page asked him to open the door, as she had been unable to contact Foggy Nelson ant there was nobody at the Nelson and Murdock Law Office.
Murdock opened the door and Page noticed the wounds on his face and body, pointing that Murdock looked like shit, though he claimed that he felt even worse. Page asked if they were going to sue the one responsible, and go after the owner of the car that hit him, as Nelson lied to her and said that Murdock was involved in a car accident. However, Murdock said it was his fault, and should have been more careful.
Page also realized that the apartment was also damaged, as Murdock had not cleaned up or repaired all the things that were broken when he fought Stick. Murdock opened a bottle of beer and began to drink, Page asked if it was not a little early for drinking, but Murdock said that it depended on the kind of day someone was having. Murdock offered Page another beer, but she refused.
Page then asked where Murdock was when the car hit him, something that Murdock believed did not matter, but Page knew that there was no car. She then asked if it had anything to do with Wilson Fisk, especially with the fact that Murdock went to visit Vanessa Marianna, but Murdock simply reassured it was his own fault and asked Page to leave the subject.
She then asked if somebody broke into the apartment, something he denied, but she then sarcastically said that then no one beat Murdock either. Murdock did not answer that, and simply gave another sip to his beer.
Page sat in front of Murdock and asked if he remembered the last time he was at the apartment, how she scared and terrified, but Murdock made her feel safe and able to trust him. Murdock pointed that she then lied to him by denying she had the pension file from Union Allied Construction. The reason she had for lying to him was that he did not want anyone else to get hurt after what happened to Daniel Fisher, because of what I was doing.
Knowing that Murdock would not give her any other explanation, Page revealed that she found an old misfiled archive at the county clerk's office, a marriage certificate for Wilson Fisk's mother, Marlene Vistain, date two years after the reports that Fisk altered said that she died.
Page explained that she went with Ben Urich to the Saint Bénézet Retirement Care facility where she was living, making Murdock worry because Fisk could have people watching for his mother and Page said she was careful, and that she did not leave her real name. Murdock told her that he should talked either to him or Nelson before doing something like that, but she tried calling them both, but none of them answered-
Page explained how Fisk's mother had some mental issues, but that she revealed that Fisk killed his own father when he was 12, bashing his head in with a hammer, and that his mother him cover it up. Murdock told her that, given Fisk was a minor then, it was not going to be enough to incarcerate him, but Page said that it was proof that Fisk had been lying and altering every file about his life.
Murdock then said that the words from an old woman with mental issues was not enough, and Page pointed that him or Nelson had not any better plan to deal with Fisk. Murdock asked if she spoke to Nelson, though she revealed that the last time was the day before on the phone, when Nelson covered what actually happened to Murdock.
Murdock told Page to return to their office and wait for Nelson and telling what she had found. He was about to ask her to tell Nelson something else, but then he told her to simply inform Nelson about what she discovered. Murdock also asked her to be careful, but she then said that he should follow his own advice.
Before leaving, Page handed him a balloon she brought as a "get well soon" gift, explaining it had a monkey on it, and Murdock grabbed it as Page let, letting it slip between his finger until the balloon rose to the ceiling.
=====Morning Grunts=====
Foggy Nelson was awakened by a phone call, and Marci Stahl, with whom Nelson spent the night, asked him if he had somewhere to be in the morning, while she prepared to go to work at Landman and Zack. Nelson simply grunted as an answer.
Stahl jokingly reminded him that he was not in the woods and grunts did not count as words, calling him "Foggy Bear". Nelson asked her not call him with that name and when she told him that she would call him whatever she wanted, Nelson asked her to do it with her inside voice without speaking. Stahl was impressed that Nelson was able to say something so rude, but he ruined it by apologizing.
She then asked Nelson if he was going to work, but he then explained that he was not going that day, and never again with Matt Murdock. Stahl pointed that Nelson and Murdock had been friends since she met him, but she did not care about what was happening between them.
Stahl kissed Nelson and then went to work, asking him to lock the door behind him when he left. Nelson simply rolled over on the bed, trying to sleep again.
=====Broken Down=====
Wilson Fisk spent the whole night waiting for any updates regarding Vanessa Marianna's condition, sitting alone and staring vacantly. Leland Owlsley told James Wesley that it was awful, as Fisk could not run his business like in such state, though Wesley told him it was not the time for that.
Owlsley told him that it was exactly the time, and asked him if he really thought that the people who poisoned the drinks really wanted to kill Marianna, something that Wesley acknowledged seemed unlikely. Owlsley pointed that even he was almost killed just to get to Fisk.
Wesley then asked Owlsley how his previous meeting with Madame Gao went, especially if she gave any indication that she was still unhappy. Owlsley acknowledged that she did not, at least he did not noticed any indication, and was sure that the Japanese were after the hit, especially after what happened to Nobu Yoshioka.
Wesley explained that they followed their original agreement with Yoshioka's men and had transferred the titles for the city they wanted, and they still believed that the man in the mask was responsible for his accident. Owlsley then theorized that the masked man could also be behind the attack; however, Wesley asked Owlsley to watch Yoshioka's associates' accounts, as any sudden shifts might give them indication that they were doing something.
Francis interrupted them and informed Wesley that three of the other guests that drank the same substance as Marianna had passed. Owlsley pointed how he that description, "passed", as it was an attempt to avoid the crude truth. Wesley assured him that Marianna would make it, simply because he had to.
Wesley then ordered Owlsley to reach out to Gao again, and ask her about her involvement in the attack, as he was sure that she did not do it. Wesley pointed that if she was not involved, they would her support, but Owlsley asked what would happen if she was indeed involved. Wesley simply told that it had been an honor doing business with him.
=====The City's Martyr=====
Matt Murdock called Claire Temple to help him treat his wounds, as he had reopened some of them while trying to figure out how much could he move. Temple advised him to rest and let his body heal itself, though Murdock explained he meditated for doing that, as it was something he learned as a kid and helped him to deal with the pain and to heal faster.
Temple asked him if that was the reason he was still alive, and Murdock told her it was either that or simply that he was a contrary son of a bitch. Temple also insisted that Murdock needed to ease up, and reminded her advice to use body armor.
Murdock explained he attacked Wilson Fisk at the Pier 81 Warehouse and he could not cut hm because he wore an armor in the lining of his suit that was light but tough. Murdock said he had never come across before something like that, and Temple reminded him that those were things someone obtained when he had all the money in the world.
Murdock invited Temple for a drink, but she simply refused. He noted that it was the second woman that refused his invitation that day, and despite Temple misunderstood his words, she told him it did not matter, as she had to leave and pack her belongings. Temple revealed she was going to leave New York City for a while.
Temple asked Murdock if he was going to miss her, and he asked in return what would happen if he actually would. Temple then revealed she did not think that she was going to see Murdock again, at least alive, after his last call the night of the explosions.
Murdock explained she left a message when it was over, but he did not what else to do, given that Temple did not want to move forward with their relationship. She reminded him what it could have been, but he pointed that only in case he stopped. Temple was aware he was not going to stop, and he said that not until the city if safe from people like Fisk.
Temple said that it meant he was never going to stop, as there would always be something it needed protection from. Temple remembered some words Murdock told her, that he was the man the city needed, but she believed he was also the man the city created. Murdock then apologized for being pulled back into his activities again, but she said that at least she got to see him shirtless again.
Murdock thanked Temple again for everything, knowing that it probably did not mean anything, and she promised to be there when he really needed her, but she could not promise anything beyond that. She then told Murdock that one of the few things she remembered from Sunday school was the martyrs, the saints and the saviors always ended the same way, bloody and alone. Murdock told her that he never said he was one of those, but Temple answered that he did not have to do it.
=====Apologies=====
Karen Page met with Ben Urich at the docks to apologize for lying to him to make him accompany her to visit Wilson Fisk's mother. Urich was mad at her, given than his wife Doris needed him, and Page lied to him as if she actually cared for his wife.
Page said that it was not fair, but she acknowledged that Urich was right, and she should have told him the truth, but she did not because she was afraid Urich might say no, which he acknowledged was what he would have probably said. Page justified herself that she was not working on a story, she was trying to help save people's lives, and now they have proof of the person who Fisk really was.
Page prompted Urich to print what they discovered about Fisk killing his father, so that everyone could know the truth. Urich said it was not that simple, given that Fisk's mother was an old woman with mental issues and those facts happened around 40 years before.
Urich then explained what would happen if he published that story, that Fisk would appear on television again saying that he lied about his past because he was just a scared kid trying to protect his mother, and maybe he would even let his mother appear beside him to make people sympathetic.
Page realized that if they did not do something soon, Fisk was going to win, though, according to Urich, there were no winners and losers. Hurt, Page told him that Elena Cardenas might disagree with that if she still could, given that she was killed under Fisk's orders, but then Urich revealed that maybe they did not need to do anything.
Urich then briefed Page about what happened at the benefit that Fisk organized at the Van Lunt Building, as despite the press indicated some guests had suffered from food poisoning, an unconfirmed source informed Urich that there was something in the drinks and there had been fatalities.
Page was surprised that something like that had not appeared in the news, but Urich was sure that Fisk had silenced it, which meant he had contacts in the media, probably even at the New York Bulletin. Page then asked what would be the reason for the attack, and Urich guessed that, following Fisk's public revelation, maybe his contacts and associates were less inclined to be out of the shadows. He also said that, if he had learned something during all his years writing about organized crime was that the man at the top always had enemies looking to tear him down.
=====Finding the Culprit=====
James Wesley brought Wilson Fisk a coffee while Fisk waited for news regarding Vanessa Marianna's condition. Wesley sat besides him and Fisk began to talk about the time he believed he did not need anyone to truly understand who he was, believing he was complete, but now all had changed since he met Marianna, not knowing what would he do if she died.
Wesley assured that she was now in Doctor Rosenberg's hands, who came from Hartford just to treat her, and they both knew how strong Marianna was. Wesley then informed him about Leland Owlsley's theory that Nobu Yoshioka's men may be behind the attack, but Fisk then remembered something Madame Gao told him, that he should choose a path or fate would choose for him.
Wesley revealed he sent Owlsley to speak with her, and when Fisk asked if she suspected she was involved, Wesley said that, until they knew for certain who was behind the attack, he suspected from everyone. Fisk asked him to find who did it, as he wanted to look in their eyes while he killed them.
Fisk remembered that he told Marianna the safest place for her was by his side, and while Wesley reminded him that it was not his fault, Fisk said that Marianna was lying on a bed because she was by his side. Fisk asked Wesley to make arrangements to sent her far from hin and New York City if she recovered.
Wesley was sure that Marianna would want that, but Fisk said that they did not get everything we wanted. Wesley pointed some of them deserved to, and then Fisk simply asked him to move the appropriate funds and to do it discreetly and by himself. As Wesley agreed and told him he would send the papers to Fisk's penthouse, Fisk thanked him for that, and struggling to find better words to thank him for everything, he deeply thanked him for a second time.
Doctor Rosenberg came to inform Fisk that Marianna was in an induced coma, but that she would manage to fully recover. Fisk thanked Rosenberg for treating Marianna, and then they went to let Fisk see her, while Wesley proceed to take care of Fisk's petition.
=====Demolition=====
Despite Nobu Yoshioka's death, Wilson Fisk had ordered to transfer the titles for all the buildings in the city block that the Japanese wanted, including the one where Elena Cardenas' Apartment was located, following their original agreement.
As the new owners, the Japanese ordered to demolish the buildings to follow their plans, effectively destroying Elena Cardenas' former apartment.
=====Symbol of Fear=====
Matt Murdock went again to Clinton Church, waiting inside until Father Paul Lantom arrived. Upon seeing Murdock, Lantom told him that the morning service had been hours before, and asked if he wanted to take confession, or maybe a cup of latte, but Murdock refused. Lantom casually commented that it was maybe for the best, given that he already had four cups that morning, and though it was decaf, it still had a bit of caffeine as there things too ingrained to be completely removed.
Lantom then asked what happened with the thing that brought him to the church last time and about the man he talked about. To Lantom's relief, Murdock said that he had not killed that man, but he admitted that he tried to. Lantom asked if he was disappointed for not succeeding or relieved for not doing it, but he did not answered
Murdock repeated what Claire Temple told him, that she believed if he did not, he would end up bloody and alone and Lantom asked if he actually believed that. Murdock explained he was not afraid of dying, but Lantom pointed that many people were not, instead, living was what scared them.
Murdock asked Lantom if he was aware of what he did, and who he actually was. Lantom assured him he did not have to worry, as he was under the sacrament of Penance. Murdock insisted, saying that was not what he was asking, and Lantom revealed he knew, telling him he was not an idiot; however, Lantom did not have a clue of how Murdock actually did it.
Murdock told him that it was due to the accident he suffered when he was a kid, and that he used to think that it was God's will, as He made each and every person with a purpose and a reason for being. Murdock asked why God put the Devil inside him, feeling it in his heart and soul trying to let out.
Lantom then told him that maybe he was being called to summon the angels of his own nature, and that could be the struggle he was feeling within him. Murdock asked him how to know that those angels and the Devil were not the same thing, and though Lantom was not sure, he pointed that the thing that drove people to the church faster than anything else was thought that the Devil was pursuing them.
Lantom even theorized that it may have been God's plan, by creating the Devil and allowing him to fall from grace, so that the Devil could become a symbol to be feared and warning mankind they needed to follow the path of the righteous.
=====Meditation=====
Matt Murdock returned to his apartment and began to meditate to heal his wounds. During his meditation he vividly relieved his fights against Nobu Yoshioka and Wilson Fisk, and how they hurt him and hit him.
As he finished his meditation, he went to the chest where he stored his black mask and clothes, and donned it to chase a criminal in the night.
=====Street Informant=====
The man in the mask went to the streets to chase Turk Barrett. Upon finding him, Barrett tried to escape, aimlessly shooting behind him, hoping to hit or dissuade the masked man. However, the masked man was able to reach Barrett when he jumped from a rooftop.
The masked man stepped on Barrett's hand to prevent him from reaching his handgun, and warned him that he was not in the mood. He even threatened Barrett, saying he would broke his leg if he tried to reach the knife on his boot, and that he would throw Barrett off the roof if he tried to grab the smaller gun he had behind his belt.
Barrett agreed to his terms and tried to get up, but the masked man hit him because he had not allowed him to get up. Barrett wondered why he was beating him, as he had not done nothing, and the masked man revealed he wanted information. After another punch when Barrett said he was not the public library, the masked man asked about Fisk.
Before allowing the masked man to finish, Barrett told him that he did not know where Fisk was, but the masked man wanted to know about the body armor Fisk wore. Barrett told him he did not know where to find it, so the masked man grabbed him and took him to the edge of the roof.
Seeing a dumpster, and knowing that the masked man had already thrown a man off a roof and into a dumpster, Barrett cried to the masked man asking him to wait, and revealed he knew the man that provided Fisk with his body armor, Melvin Potter.
=====Back to Business=====
Wilson Fisk stood besides Vanessa Marianna while she was in an induced coma to help her recover from the poison she drank. While inside her room at Metro-General Hospital, Fisk received a phone call from his mother, Marlene Vistain, but he could not answer it.
Fisk kissed Marianna and exited the room to speak with James Wesley. Wesley was attending a phone call, and interrupted it to attend Fisk, asking how Marianna was. Fisk told him that she had not woken up yet, and Doctor Rosenberg told him there may be complications. Wesley assured they would deal with them if that happened. Fisk also asked Wesley to return to call back to his mother and see what she needed.
Leland Owlsley arrived and asked how Marianna was, and asked to speak with Fisk. Fisk ignored him, and told Wesley that he did not wanted to be disturbed. Wesley asked Owlsley how his meeting with Madame Gao went, and he explained that Gao appeared to be deeply saddened and then she went on to quote a fortune cookie.
Wesley asked if she sounded sincere, but Owlsley could not tell given that she spoke in Chinese, and it looked the translator did not like Owlsley either. In the end, Owlsley said that Gao assured that she would stand with them if needed, though Wesley needed him to be sure. Owlsley said that the only thing he was sure sure about was that Fisk needed to get back to business, at least while there was still business.
Wesley assured he would return when he deemed it appropriate. Owlsley reminded him that whoever was behind the attack would not move on, and they would try again sooner or later. To get rid of him, Wesley told Owlsley to go home and rest, promising they call him if they needed him.
As Owlsley left, Wesley called Marlene Vistain, though she had to remind her who he was, explaining that he worked with her son, until she finally remembered him. Mrs. Vistain asked to speak with her son, but Wesley told her that he was indisposed and asked if he could help her. While explained what she wanted, Mrs. Vistain ended up revealing that a man and a nice blond lady with big blue eyes went to visit her. Wesley calmed her and promised to take care of them, while he also assured that he would tell Fisk to call her back as soon as he was free, wishing her a good night.
Wesley went to speak with Francis, and asked him for his handgun and the keys to the SUV. Francis asked if Wesley wanted him to drive, but Wesley ordered him to stay with Fisk, as he wanted as many men on him as possible. Wesley also ordered Francis to personally check everyone who wanted to get in or out of Marianna's room, asked him to tell Fisk he would not be long in case he asked for him.
=====Infiltration into Melvin Potter's Workshop=====
The man in the black mask infiltrated into the workshop owned by Melvin Potter through a trapdoor. He began to examine the items that Potter had inside, hoping to find a sample of the body armor worn by Wilson Fisk. The masked man came across some samples of cloth, until finding what he was looking for on a mannequin.
At that moment, Potter returned to the workshop, opening the shutter door and alerting the masked man of his return. Potter left a machinery piece he acquired and went on to grab a chocomilk, when he realized that the vest on the mannequin had been touched in his absence.
Potter turned around and saw the masked man behind him, so Potter warned him that he should not be there. The masked man asked Potter if he worked for Fisk, but instead of being intimidated, Potter attacked the masked man, managing to gain the upper hand in the initial attack when the masked man suffered pain from a recent wound in his stomach.
Potter hit the masked man's head against a table, and grabbed by his head, warning him again that he should not be here. Potter then threw him to the floor, but the masked man retaliated and they both exchanged blows, until Potter complained that hitting him on the face had not been nice.
Potter grabbed a saw blades from Kaxton Industries and threw it to the masked man, who easily avoided it, and then grabbed a hammer and tried to hit him with it. Potter ended up throwing the masked man on a table, and grabbed a chain to strangle him. Potter dragged the masked man through the workshop, but he managed to free himself and used the same chain to restrain Potter until he fell to the floor.
Potter began to cry, saying again that the masked man should not be here, and Fisk would be mad and hurt Betsy Beatty. The masked man, realizing the truth about Potter, asked who Beatty was. Potter explained that Beatty was a nice woman who helped him when he got confused.
Potter also explained that he worked there and no one was supposed to go unless Fisk brought them, and that he worked for Fisk, despite he refused at first because Beatty did not want him to work for such a man, so Fisk then threatened to hurt Beatty.
The masked man apologized and even empathized with him, saying that Fisk had also hurt people he cared about. Potter asked if Fisk forced the masked man to work for him, but the man revealed that he wanted to stop Fisk and prevent him from hurting anyone else, including Beatty.
The masked man then asked if Potter created a suit for Fisk with the material on the mannequin, and Potter revealed he created may, and that he used them to keep him safe. The masked man then asked to create something for him with the same material, promising in return to use it to get Fisk out of Potter's life so Beatty would be safe.
Potter asked if he wanted a suit, but he said he did not, as he wanted something very special, a symbol.
=====Drinking Alone=====
Karen Page went to Josie's Bar hoping to find Foggy Nelson there, and she indeed found him, drinking alcohol alone. As soon as she entered, Page grabbed Nelson's bottle and a glass and told Nelson he was a dick for ignoring her calls all day. He justified himself saying he was busy, but at least he heard the messages.
Nelson believed that the only thing Page had was a story from an old lady saying that Wilson Fisk killed his father with a hammer more than 40 years ago. Page told him that seemingly nobody realized that Fisk's mother was supposed to be dead, so it was a proof that Fisk had been lying.
Nelson warned that, dealing with someone like Fisk, that would not be enough. Page noted that Nelson sounded just like Matt Murdock, and when Nelson asked if she had talked to him, Page said that he even asked the same thing. Page explained that she visited Murdock at his apartment, and she asked Nelson what happened, given that she did not believed the story that Murdock had been in a car accident.
Nelson prompted Page to ask Murdock, but she revealed that she did, and the only thing Murdock told her was that it had been his fault, something that Nelson agreed with. Page asked what was happening between them, and why Nelson had not been at the office.
Nelson admitted that he and Murdock were going through a rough patch, and when she said that she had found the sign for Nelson and Murdock in the trash, Nelson admitted that it was a "very" rough patch. Page offered herself in case Nelson wanted to talk about it, and while he admitted he wanted to, he also said that he could not talk about it.
Page asked the reason, but just when Nelson was about to tell her, she said that if Nelson used the same justification that Murdock used, that it was complicated, she would punch him in the face. Angrily, Nelson slammed his fist on the bar, and said that it was personal. Page tried to calm him down, saying that she understood what he meant, but Nelson assured her that she did not.
Page then also informed Nelson that they had started demolishing the building where Elena Cardenas had Elena Cardenas' Apartment, reminding him that Fisk was still there and it would be nice if both Nelson and Murdock helped to do something about it before there was nothing left of Hell's Kitchen, leaving the bar without waiting for any reply.
=====Late Phone Calls=====
Karen Page called Matt Murdock and left a message on his phone, telling him that she had just seen Foggy Nelson at Josie's Bar, and asking him to make amends, as the three of them were supposed to be a team. She asked him to call her back, and hung up the phone.
Page then called Ben Urich, who was still at his office in the New York Bulletin Building. Urich answered sarcastically, saying that he already knew who she was when she identified herself due to the caller ID. Page guessed he was still pissed at him, but he told her that he was just tired.
Urich asked Page if she was okay, until Page revealed that Murdock and Nelson had a fight between them and she felt like everything was falling apart. Urich warned her that those things happened just when a story got interesting. Page asked him for advice of coping with those things day after day, and he said that he simply walked forward like everybody else.
Page acknowledged that Urich was not like everybody else, and he calmed her, saying that they all did what he could, and that sometimes that was enough. Almost crying, Page thanked Urich, and though he clarified he had not said that he was going to write the story, Page thanked him for being there and for caring, and asked him if they would talk the following day. Urich assured him they would, and then said goodbye.
Urich then continued researching old photographs hoping to find any clue about the story, and found an old image from one of the signs that Bill Fisk used during his brief campaign for the city council.
Meanwhile, Page returned to her apartment, and while she was fishing for her keys, an assailant muffled and kidnapped her.
=====Prayers and Promises=====
Wilson Fisk began to ask to Vanessa Marianna while she was in coma, explaining the reasons he could not pray for her to recover. He began to explain that he did not even know how to do it, as his father was not a religious man and his mother, while she wanted and even needed to be religious, she never found faith within herself.
Fisk also explained that he had seen religious people in movies and on television, and read about it when he was a child, trying to mimic words but realizing his sentiment was false and just an imitation of faith.
Instead of a prayer, Fisk offered Marianna a promise so serious that not would prevent him from keeping, that the people behind the attack that poisoned Marianna would suffer.
A short while after that, Fisk exited the room and requested a black coffee. Francis who was guarding the door, asked if he wanted something to eat, but Fisk refused. Realizing that James Wesley was not there, Fisk then asked where he was.
====Kidnapping of Karen Page====
Karen Page regained consciousness inside a warehouse, having been drugged and taken there by James Wesley. Wesley was relieved that Page recovered, having thought that maybe she would not recover, and stating that would have been a shame. Page tried to get up, but the drug that Wesley used made her feel dizzy, and Wesley sat her down again, while he sat in front of her to have a conversation,
Wesley revealed that, following the article about Union Allied Construction, he had asked his employer if they needed to deal with Page. They believed then that she had already done all damage she could, so they did not need to kill her, and instead, they offered her a legal agreement through a third party with a reasonable amount of money to make her finish her part. However, she then made a choice that ended up with her being in that warehouse.
Wesley sighed, saying that maybe it was the path they were destined to follow without being able to see it, but guiding them towards the inevitable. Page stated that she was not scared of those words, but Wesley then grabbed a handgun and left it on the table between them, saying that the weapon was the thing supposed to scare her.
Wesley then asked if he had Page's attention, but she did not even move, staring at the gun. Wesley asked to nod or something to make sure she had heard him, and then asked her what he defined as a simple question, if she loved the city.
Page then said that she had not been in New York City long enough, but Wesley explained that a few days or a week is enough time to form an emotional response towards a place, and loving something is simply just forgetting slowly the things that were disliked about it.
Wesley answered with honesty that he did not love the city, citing reasons like the crush of garbage on the sidewalks or the air that adhered to the skin. Page suggested him to move, but, laughing, Wesley said that he was there because he was needed, as Wilson Fisk loved the city in a way both of them never could. Wesley admitted that there were moments when even he struggle to understand it.
Wesley then revealed that Fisk loved the city almost as much as his mother, so Page finally realized that the reason for her kidnapping was her visit to Marlene Vistain. Wesley admitted that he was surprised that Vistain managed to remember Page, given that due to her condition, recent memories were volatile for her. Wesley guessed that Page had left an impression on Vistain, who described her as a nice blonde lady with big blue eyes, and a man who accompanied her, who Wesley guessed that was Ben Urich.
Wesley began to explain that Fisk loved his mother as he had said before, unintentionally calling him "his employer" due to force of habit, and guessed that Fisk would be disturbed if he knew she had found his mother and even went to visit her. Page realized that Wesley did not tell Fisk about the whole ordeal, as he explained that Fisk was preoccupied with other matters, and Wesley had decided to address the situation himself.
Page dared Wesley to kill her if he was going to do it, as she was tired of listening to him, but Wesley revealed that he had taken her there to offer her a job.
Page sarcastically asked if all of that was just to make her his secretary, though Wesley said that he had another position in mind. He began to list some of Page's qualities, such as resourcefulness, tenacity and the ability to convince others of following her way despite the repercussions it may had. He then explained in more simple words that he wanted her to convince Urich that she was wrong about Fisk, that he a good man, and then convince everyone else about the same.
Page said that he would rather die than do that, but Wesley told her that she would not be the first to die, as they would kill Urich, Foggy Nelson, Matt Murdock, her friends, her family and everyone else he cared about, and only when they were all dead, they would kill Page.
Wesley then received a call from Fisk, who wanted to speak with him, and Page, seeing that Wesley got distracted for a moment looking at the cellphone, seized the opportunity to grab the handgun. Wesley simply smiled, asking Page if she actually believed he would had put a loaded gun where she could reach it, but Page cocked the gun and asked in return if he really believed it would be the first time she shot someone.
Wesley tried to get up, but Page shot him once. Wesley looked at his chest, surprised that she had actually shot him, and Page shot him again up to six times. Page then realized she had just killed a man, and while Wesley's phone continued to ring, Page cleaned her fingerprints from the table and left the warehouse with the gun, leaving Wesley's body behind and the phone still ringing.
====Survivor's Guilt====
=====Getting Rid of the Evidence=====
Karen Page went to the docks right after killing James Wesley. Still crying for what she just did, Page grabbed the handgun she used to kill him and threw it to the water, letting it sink.
=====Alcohol and Nightmares=====
Karen Page returned to her apartment, having been kidnapped by James Wesley and escaping after managing to kill him. As soon as she got inside and locked the door, Page grabbed a bottle of whiskey and drank more than half of it while she cried.
Page got into the shower and frantically rubbed her body trying to clean herself, and grabbed the bottle before going to bed and trying to get some sleep. Page suffered a nightmare where Wilson Fisk had discovered that Page had killed Wesley and warned her that killing got easier the more it was done. Page woke up screaming, right at the moment where Fisk began to strangle her in the nightmare.
=====Awkward Reunion=====
Karen Page went to the office before dawn, being unable to sleep, and locked the door behind her. Still worried that Wilson Fisk managed to discover she had just killed James Wesley, Page looked through the window to make sure that nobody followed her, and did not notice that Foggy Nelson stepped out of his office.
Page was scared at first, and then asked what was Nelson doing there, but he simply told her that it still was his office. She pointed that it was also Matt Murdock's, and asked if the reason to be there so late was to avoid Murdock. Nelson then answered that he was not creeping around, it was simply that Page was too busy looking out the window to realize he was there.
Nelson then realized that Page smelled of alcohol, but she deviated the question reminding him that she found him drunk at Josie's Bar a few hours before. Nelson told her that it was the end of his night, and asked what happened to her after that. Page answered that nothing happened, but Nelson insisted, making Page remark that he sounded like he actually cared.
Nelson told her he did not want that what was happening between him and Murdock affected her, and Page apologized for having been so hard, saying that she had had a rough night. Nelson realized they should not drink, and Page added she was thinking about moving on to "hard stuff".
Following the joke, Nelson asked her to count on him if she was going to try narcotics, making Page laugh and point that he did not seem like the type of person who consumed them. Nelson confessed that he smoked a "doobie" once, though it made him drool. Page laughed again, saying that was not considered hard anymore.
Pages asked Nelson if he was going to return to the office, but he said he just needed to pick up some things, and went to back to his office, being uneasy with the question. When Page was about to ask him again, Nelson asked not to have that conversation at that moment, because it was not a good time. Nelson was not even sure there was going to ever be a good time for it, and that was the best answer he could give Page.
Page reminded him that, despite what was happening between him and Murdock, it would be nice not to be alone at the office all day. Nelson acknowledged something Page told him in the bar, that his situation with Murdock did not change what was happening with Fisk, so he was going to keep investigating, saying that he could not be allowed to kill people without punishment, so he was going to pay for what he did, just like Page said.
Nelson also asked Page for the files that Ben Urich gave them, obtained from the man in the mask, though he still had no idea what was he going to do with them. Page asked if he still believed the masked man was a terrorist, and Nelson said that, while he did not understand what he was, he did not believe the masked man was a terrorist anymore.
Right before leaving, Nelson reminded her that, while things were weird, she could call him whenever she needed him, promising to pick up the calls this time. Nelson even promised that everything was going to be all right. Page asked why he was so sure, and he simply said that he had to be.
Nelson jokingly advised her to stay away from alcohol and drugs while he headed to the door, and as he opened it, he came across Murdock, who was just about to enter into the office. None of them said anything, and Murdock simply step aside to let Nelson go.
As Murdock closed the door, Page commented how awkward had been that moment, but Murdock simply asked what was she doing at the office so late, or early, depending on the point of view. Page confessed she could not sleep, pointing it may be the only thing Nelson, Murdock and herself still had in common. Murdock apologized, and then, instead of clarifying for what he was apologized, he said that he apologized for everything.
Page offered Murdock a coffee, and told him that Nelson still blamed himself for Elena Cardenas' death. Murdock told her that it was not Nelson's fault, and Page said he should try telling him that. Murdock said that no speaking to each other was Nelson's choice, but Page reminded him that Murdock was also letting it be his choice.
Page started to feel it was a mistake coming to work at Nelson and Murdock, but she did not wanted to leave when Murdock asked so, saying that it had become her home, and Murdock and Nelson were the only good things in her life. Murdock asked her if something happened recently, but she only answered cryptically that the world fell apart.
====Mother's Keeper====
=====Out of Coma=====
Wilson Fisk checked his phone again to see if James Wesley had returned any of his calls, when Vanessa Marianna woke up from the coma and weakly called his name. Fisk smiled, happy for her recovery, and prompted her not to speak while he was going to get a doctor.
Marianna asked the reason for being in a hospital, and Fisk revealed that there was something in her drink at the benefit, saying it was his fault. He told Marianna that he should have known that somebody would attack him, and apologized for letting her be caught in the middle. Marianna laughed, saying that he was the one apologizing when somebody tried to kill him.
However, Fisk was more serious about it, being concerned that she almost died because of him, so he made arrangements to be taken out of the country when she was able to be moved. Marianna asked if Fisk was going to come with her, and assuming his silence meant he was not, she told him she was not going anywhere.
Fisk told her she needed her to be safe, saying he was selfish believing that there would be no consequences for obtaining everything he wanted, but Marianna told him she already knew that being with Fisk would be complicated, but she chose to do it and would choose it again.
Marianna then asked Fisk to find the ones behind the attack and make them understand that they could never take him away from her. Francis interrupted them knocking at the door, and though Fisk told him not to interrupt them, Marianna prompted him to go, as she was not going to leave. Right before leaving the room, Fisk promised her to make the ones responsible to suffer, and Marianna revealed she expected nothing less.
Fisk went from the room, and Francis apologized for the interruption, revealing that Wesley had been located. Fisk was surprised that Wesley had not returned then, and asked where he was.
=====A Friend's Corpse=====
Wilson Fisk went to the warehouse where James Wesley's corpse had been found, and he called Leland Owlsley to come over. Fisk looked distraught at Wesley's body until Owlsley arrived shortly after.
Owlsley asked what happened, and Francis began to explain that Wesley got a call the previous night while he was still at Metro-General Hospital, though he did not know who called Wesley. Francis continued, saying that Wesley asked for the keys to the SUV and his gun.
Fisk asked Francis why he let Wesley leave alone, but Francis simply was following his orders, as Wesley wanted as many men on Fisk as possible. Fisk brutally attacked and punched Francis in the face, enraged at the death of his friend, and stopping only when Owlsley reminded him that Francis only followed orders and had been loyal all the time. Fisk then stopped and order the rest of his men to clean Francis up, who was dragged outside by two men.
Owlsley pointed it looked like a second attack after what happened at the benefit. Fisk asked if Nobu Yoshioka's accounts were still active, and Owlsley informed him that though they still were, nothing had been touched since his death. Fisk then asked about Madame Gao, but Owlsley assured him that he still believed the Japanese to be responsible for what happened, as maybe they found out what happened to Yoshioka.
Fisk told Owlsley he could go, but before leaving, Owlsley reminded him not to lose sight of his goal before starting a war, as Senator Randolph Cherryh was about to cleared the zoning issues he needed to build his better tomorrow in Hell's Kitchen
Owlsley pointed it was a shame that not everybody would witness the goal, and Fisk simply ordered him to find who attacked both Wesley and Vanessa Marianna. Owlsley promised to investigate, and reminded Fisk that "wind blows the hardest the closer you get to the mountaintop".
Once left alone, Fisk kissed Wesley's forehead, and remembered that he got a call right before leaving the hospital, so he went to check his phone. Fisk discovered that the last call Wesley made was to Fisk's own mother, Marlene Vistain.
=====Alley Meetings=====
Ben Urich went to an alley to retrieve his car, where he was approached by the man in the mask, who jumped from the building and appeared right in front of Urich, surprising him, and making him point that he liked making entrances.
The masked man stated he needed information, but before giving anything, Urich commented that he had not heard about the masked man's activities as of late, and began to thought he had quit. The masked man assured he was still there, and Urich guessed that somebody had attacked him. The masked man then said they went the distance, an expression that made Urich laugh, as it sounded like a boxer and Urich already suspected who the man in the mask actually was.
The man acknowledged that Urich was always a reporter, and then showed him a package of heroin marked with a symbol. Urich told him that he had already seen it, and that he knew it was one of the purest heroin ever seen, nicknamed Steel Serpent on the streets.
The masked man took the heroin from the junkie that murdered Elena Cardenas, who was working for Wilson Fisk. He also knew, through Vladimir Ranskahov, that Fisk arranged access to the Chinese and their drugs for the Russians,
Urich stated that Russians had been wiped out, but the masked man was not interested in them, so Urich correctly guessed he was thinking about attacking the Chinese. The masked man believed that, without the Russians handling the distribution, a lot of money was available for whoever picked that task, and also believed that Fisk himself was doing it, as his plan for Hell's Kitchen was not cheap. Urich said that interrupting Fisk's cash flow may slow him down, but probably not stop him. However, The masked man said that such a blow would destabilize Fisk and maybe he would make a mistake.
Urich talked him about a story he was working on that maybe would help push Fisk over the edge. The masked man asked him to hold it in order to not endanger himself, reminding him what happened to Anatoly Ranskahov.
The masked man also asked about the leader of the Chinese, and Urich revealed it was a woman, though he did not knew her name or where to find them. The masked man told him that Piotr, the Russian that Christian Blake killed during an interrogation, was transporting a blind Chinese man carrying a backpack within his cab.
Urich had also seen blind Chinese men carrying backpacks, but had not imagined that they were carrying drugs, as people usually did not look at a blind man twice. Urich told him that he had seen around 51st and 10th, but during the day in the morning rush hour, so he advised the masked man that he may not be very discreet.
The masked man advised Urich to get a better coat, but Urich advised him in return to get a better outfit if he was going to keep acting as a vigilante. The masked man told him that he was working on it, but also gave him a more serious advice to watch his back, as Fisk was an animal and they were backing him into a corner.
=====Discreet Meeting=====
Marci Stahl went to Josie's Bar for a meeting with Foggy Nelson. While she was waiting, Stahl asked Josie to make her a vodka martini, but Josie refused and gave her a plain vodka.
Nelson arrived and apologized for his lateness, as he could not flag a cab, but the first thing Stahl did was to complain about what happened with her drink. Nelson told her that she should ask nice, but Stahl believed that paying nice should be enough. Nelson offered to get her a martini if she wanted, but what Stahl actually wanted was not to stay in the bar longer than she had to.
Nelson asked for Stahl's help, but the first thing she said upon hearing that was that she was disappointed because she had thought it was a booty call. Nelson asked her if she remembered the tenement case which made him visit the Landman and Zack Building, and Stahl remembered Elena Cardenas, not misspelling her last name again after having read what happened to her.
Nelson said that Cardenas' tenement was just one of the buildings that was targeted and there many more, maybe even hundreds across Hell's Kitchen. Stahl asked who was targeting them, and upon hearing that it was Wilson Fisk, she wanted to leave, given that Landman and Zack represented Fisk and she could not talk about about him.
Nelson then asked her for five minutes just to read some documents, and she agreed, saying it was because Nelson had been very good the last night they spent together.
=====Sources and Corroboration=====
Karen Page waited hidden until Ben Urich returned to his apartment, frightening him when the floor creaked behind him. Urich asked if everyone had to be sneaking around that night, given he was also frightened by the man in the mask when he appeared out of nowhere.
Page then asked Urich why he had not published the story about Wilson Fisk killing his father, but Urich repeated what he had told her before, that he would think about it. Page prompted him to publish it, but when Urich asked to talk about it the following day, she told him very frightened that she believed that Fisk knew they had found his mother.
Once inside the apartment, Urich offered Page a glass of scotch, and explained he had contacted a second source, Silvio, a man who knew Don Rigoletto and that had moved to Florida. Urich explained that if Manfredi remembered anything about Fisk's father's debts to Rigoletto, they could establish a connection and prove a part of the story. Page told Urich that they needed to do something right quickly, but Urich explained he worked for a newspaper, not an Internet blog, and he needed facts and sources.
Urich then asked how did she knew that Fisk knew they went to the Saint Bénézet Retirement Care, and she lied telling him it was just a feeling. Urich reminded that he had plenty of feelings over the years, and feelings were sometimes right and sometimes wrong.
Page asked Urich to trust her, as they needed to publish the story before it was too late. Urich prompted to publish it herself on Internet, but she was afraid that nobody would believe her as soon as they found the events from her past that Urich quickly found when he briefly investigated her.
Urich promised to check all his other sources, to write up the story and give it to his editor the following day and see what happened. Page thanked him for the effort, embracing him.
=====Doing the Right Thing=====
Marci Stahl read the documents that Foggy Nelson gave her, until she got distracted when he commented that it took her longer than the five minutes she agreed to spend. Stahl asked where did they obtained all those documents, and he explained that they found some of them while working with Matt Murdock on Elena Cardenas' tenement case, but they obtained the rest of it from The Devil of Hell's Kitchen.
Stahl was shocked that Nelson was working with that man who blew up half the city, but Nelson reminded that having read what was in those documents, the man in the mask was not responsible for it, it was Wilson Fisk.
Stahl told him that Fisk had appeared many times over the news trying to help this city, but Nelson asked if there was anything at Landman and Zack that did not feel right with Fisk. Stahl explained that Fisk was probably their most billable clients, along with Leland Owlsley at Silver & Brent, so she could lose her job just for sitting there with Nelson, and even get disbarred.
Nelson reminded her something he told Stahl when he went to the Landman and Zack Building to discuss the tenement case, that she used to have a soul, and pointed that it was not just a jab, but a reminder of how much she cared about the law and what was right before gaining her new status at Landman and Zack.
Stahl believed that what Nelson was asking her what end in a career suicide, but he simply asked her to trust him. Nelson believed that Fisk, Owlsley and anyone else connected with them were going to end up paying for what they had done, and then Landman and Zack would be questioned about how much they knew about it when they knew it, so Nelson offered it as a chance for Stahl to get out of that and take he soul back in the process.
=====Following the Drug Runners=====
Matt Murdock went to the address provided by Ben Urich in an attempt to track the blind Chinese drug deliverers and learn about the place where they stored their heroin. He waited on the streets, paying attention to his surroundings until he heard the distinctive tapping sound of the cane used by a blind woman.
Murdock followed the woman until he got into a car, recognizing it by the classical music playing on the car's stereo, and quickly climbed to the rooftops to follow it. Murdock jumped from rooftop to rooftop, managing to follow the car without being spotted, until it reached an alley.
Murdock witnessed how the blind woman was taken to a warehouse guarded by two men carrying firearms, and one of the knocked rhythmically to let the blind woman enter.
=====Such a Beautiful Day=====
Wilson Fisk took his mother, Marlene Vistain, out of the Saint Bénézet Retirement Care, as a precaution, given that James Wesley's last call before being killed was from her. Vistian wanted to stay there, as she had been treated well and she was brought a piece of Zuppa every night before going to bed.
Fisk, who had arranged things to take his mother out of the country to Italy, told her that they had the real kind of Zuppa there. Vistain was worried for not knowing Italian, as she would not be able to understand anything on TV. Vistain then repeated that people at Saint Bénézet gave her a piece of Zuppa every night, and she then commented what a beautiful day it was.
Fisk asked his mother again about James Wesley, having asked her about him on the phone, and after thinking about him for a while, Vistain remembered him as a handsome and well-dressed boy. However, she did not remember having talked to Wesley the previous night.
Fisk tried to make her remember what she talked about with Wesley when Fisk himself was busy to answer the phone, but Vistain forgot the whole conversation she was having with her son, and repeated once again what a beautiful day it was. Fisk realized he would not obtain any answer, and simply nodded to his mother's comment.
=====Multiple Calls=====
Ben Urich arrived at the New York Bulletin Building in the morning, wanting to see his editor to publish the story regarding Wilson Fisk and his father. Urich asked M. Caldwell if Ellison was in his office upon arriving, but she told Urich that Ellison's son had something at school so he would arrive later than usual.
Urich called Karen Page to brief her about the situation, as Ellison was at his son's school to hear him in a solo cello concert and there was a reception after that. Page asked if he had tried calling to Ellison's cellphone, and Urich told her that Ellison did not pick it up.
Urich asked her to be calm until Ellison got back, but also advised her to keep her eyes open, just in case, and Page returned the advice. Page then received another phone call from Matt Murdock and had to take it, so Urich promised her to call again as soon as he knew something.
Page then answered Murdock's call, and he told her that he had a rough morning and was not going to the office, while he cleaned the most serious injury he sustained during his duel against Nobu Yoshioka, that had opened once again.
Murdock also told her that he was working on something that might help them with the investigation regarding Wilson Fisk. Murdock asked Page to stay out of it until he knew for sure, and to tell Foggy Nelson to do the same. Page agreed to do it, and Murdock promised that everything was going to work.
=====Fired=====
Ben Urich tried to give Mitchell Ellison an article detailing how, according to his own mother Marlene Vistain, Wilson Fisk killed his father. However, Ellison refused to publish it and tried to stop Urich from insisting, saying that having heard his son in a solo concert had been one of the greatest moments of his life, and reading Urich's article had been the exact opposite.
In front of their co-workers, Urich tried to make Ellison understand that the story could expose Fisk, but Ellison was more concerned about a possible lawsuit from him, because Ellison saw no follow-ups or corroboration. He even disregarded Vistain's statement, as she was an old lady and probably she believed that was still the president.
Urich asked him to run the article as it would sell newspapers because it was sexy, making Ellison remark that Urich was sounding like a whore. Urich lost his temper, and said that he learned how to be a whore from Ellison. Despite being able to write important stories like the article about Union Allied Construction once in a while, Urich felt that most of the time working for the New York Bulletin now made him feel like wearing lipstick and a red dress.
Ellison did not return Urich's taunts, adn simply told him that he was suspended for the rest of the week. Urich simply asked Ellson to take another look at the article, feeling it was their responsibility to stop Fisk following the trail of bodies he was leaving. In turn, Ellison told him he should write a story about how Fisk was spending millions of dollars trying to save the city.
Urich then accused Ellison of being paid by Fisk, given that following the article about Union Allied, he had been unable to get one of his stories about the truth of the events in the city to print. Ellison told him that the reason for that was because his crime pieces were shit, just like the article about Fisk's father.
Ellison told Urich to forget about the suspension and ordered him to clear his office, as he was done trying to help him and fired him.
=====Cutting in Mid-Sentence=====
Leland Owlsley met with Wilson Fisk to inform him that his investigation had been fruitless, as he had been unable to find anything that related the Japanese to the attack at the benefit that almost killed Vanessa Marianna or the murder of James Wesley, saying that the Japanese were now like shadows in a dark room.
Owlsley believed that the man in the mask may be behind all of it, though Fisk was not sure, as the masked man did not use poison and guns. However, Owlsley acknowledged that maybe he had begun to do whatever it took.
Fisk ordered Francis to double the offer on the streets and to keep doubling it until someone talked about the truth. As Francis left, Owlsley asked Fisk if he truly trusted Francis after having beaten him, but Fisk explained that Wesley trusted Francis, and it was all that mattered for him.
Their meeting was interrupted when Wesley's phone Fisk received a call, Fisk simply told the caller that Wesley was not able to come to the phone, and asked what was the information meant for Wesley. Fisk thanked the caller and hang up the phone, quickly leaving the meeting and Owlsley behind.
====Infiltration into Madame Gao's Warehouse====
=====Surprise Attack=====
Madame Gao oversaw the production of the Steel Serpent heroin as usual while her blind workers prepared packages of heroin and put them in backpacks to be distributed across the city.
Meanwhile, the guard at the gate played a video game until he heard a noise outside. He grabbed his gun and prepared, but he heard the rhythmic knocking that served as password and opened the door. Upon exiting, he was ambushed by the man in the mask, who easily knocked him out and entered inside the warehouse, locking the door behind him.
The masked man silently attacked the guards, disabling them one by one, and then wandered through the production area of the warehouse. The masked man was able to perceive multiple blind men and women working with the drugs.
Madame Gao discovered him from the upper floor, and quickly ordered the blind workers to surround the masked man. He did not attack any of them, instead trying to make them understand that he was there to help them. However, they did not listen to him, and they surrounded the masked man, overwhelming him.
Madame Gao tried to escape, guarded by two men, but she was ambushed by the masked man, who had escaped from the blind workers and easily defeated Gao's bodyguards. However, one of the bodyguards shot to a highly flammable substance, and a fire was started that quickly spread across the warehouse.
The masked man confronted Gao, accusing her of having taken the eyes of her workers, but she explained that they had blinded themselves because they have faith, in something she cryptically described as being beyond the distractions of his world and as the masked man had taken that from them, they had nothing now.
The masked man approached Gao, ordering to tell him everything she knew about Wilson Fisk, but Gao hit him with the palm of her hand, sending the masked man across the room with a single hit, and disappearing afterwards.
The warehouse began to collapse, and the blind workers did not know where to go or how to escape. The masked man restrained one of the guards and used his gun to shoot at the pipes above the warehouse, so that water could began to fall over the fires. The masked man then ordered the guard to get the workers out of the building, and he followed the order, while the man in the mask escaped and climbed to a nearby rooftop.
=====Emergency Services=====
Firemen and members of the New York City Police Department arrived at the outskirts of Madame Gao's Warehouse, and started to help out the blind workers that were escaping from the fire.
Meanwhile, the man in the mask tried to escape from the scene, but he was ambushed by Sergeant Brett Mahoney, who ordered him not to move and show his hands before realizing who he was. Mahoney accused him of killing Detective Christian Blake and shooting the other cops while approaching the masked man, but he seized the opportunity to disarm him.
The masked man said he was not responsible for that, and explained that Blake and his partner Carl Hoffman were dirty cops working for Wilson Fisk, along with many others officers at the 15th Precinct Police Station. He stated that he was not the bad guy, so Mahoney asked what he was.
The masked man escaped without answering as he heard another car approaching, who informed that there was an officer down.
The New York City Police Department entered into the warehouse. Officers proceeded to investigate inside, only to discover that it was full of illegal Chinese immigrants and heroin.
=====Return to the Homeland=====
Leland Owlsley waited at a rooftop for a meeting with Madame Gao, getting impatient as she did not arrive in time. Gao apologized upon her arrival, saying she had detained by unfortunate events. Owlsley was shocked that Gao was able to spoke English, and she simply told him that the need for illusion had passed.
Owlsley asked if the sirens he was hearing had have anything to do with her lateness, and she explained that the man in the mask had attacked her operation and the heroin had been lost in the flames. Owlsley suggested to bring more heroin in, but Gao said that her interest had never been the heroin, and that had just been borne of convenience.
Owlsley told her to do whatever he wanted, as he could not care less, given that if Wilson Fisk found out they were behind the attack at the benefit, nothing would matter. Gao asked if Fisk suspected and reminded Owlsley that they knew the risks and rewards of removing Vanessa Marianna as a distraction.
Owlsley acknowledged they should have ordered to shoot her, but given that Fisk still believed the poison was meant for him, Gao told her they followed the correct path. Owlsley pointed that maybe it was, with the exception that Marianna was not dead, as she was stronger than they assumed.
Owlsley asked if Gao was behind the murder of James Wesley, but she did not know anything about, and Owlsley had to explain Wesley had been found dead in a basement. Gao claimed she was not responsible for that, given that Wesley had never shown her discourtesy.
Owlsley inquired what to do next, and Gao answered saying that the wheel constantly turned, and they must adapt to its position or be crushed beneath it. Owlsley did not understand what she meant, and Gao announced she was going visit her true homeland and reflect upon the future, as it was at a considerable distance farther than China.
Gao left saying that they would not speak again, and Owlsley was left alone saying that he had his own fallback and had already looked at his tea leaves, shutting up when he realized he was just speaking alone.
====Freelance Writer====
=====Last Visit=====
Ben Urich visited his wife Doris at Metro-General Hospital. She asked if the flowers that Ben brought were for her, and he told her that they were until he got a better girl. Doris laughed, telling Ben she could not get a better girl.
They kissed, and Doris correctly guessed it had been a hard day. Not wanting to worry Doris, Ben simply told her that he had had better days, making her acknowledge he had had worse days too. Ben smiled and sat besides his wife, saying that she was usually right, and then proposed to go to Paris like they had always talked about.
Doris asked if he wanted to run away together, or simply run away. Ben did not answer to that, so Doris told him that due to the time they had been together, she already knew that look in Ben's eye, and it meant that he had a story he needed to tell.
Ben told her that it was not that simple, but Doris pointed that telling the truth was never simple or easy, so that was the reason only the best really tried to do it. Ben confessed that Mitchell Ellison thought it was a pile of shit, and that, in the end, he was fired.
Doris was not worried, telling Ben he had never needed Ellison or the New York Bulletin, the only thing that he needed was a story. Doris proposed to use Internet to reach more than he ever could at the newspaper, encouraging to write because, as she said, the world needed Ben Urich to tell the truth any way he could.
=====Not Alone=====
Karen Page received another phone call from Ben Urich while he left Metro-General Hospital, to inform her about how he was no longer working for the New York Bulletin. Page assumed he quit, but Urich told her that it was not exactly the way it went, implying he had been fired. Page said she was sorry, though Urich told her not to be, as the Bulletin had not been the newspaper he fell in love with for a long time, but he was too stubborn to let it go.
Page asked if he really thought that Mitchell Ellison had been bribed by Wilson Fisk, and though Urich was not sure, he admitted that it would explain a lot of the things that happened there.
Urich revealed he was thinking about starting a blog although he hated them, but he had to acknowledge he could reach a lot of people using it and having the right story to tell. Page asked if he was going to write about Fisk killing his own father, and Urich revealed his intention of doing it that night. He was not afraid of Fisk taking legal actions against him, as he knew a pair of decent lawyers.
Page was sure that article would change everything, and Urich repeated the phrase he told her of how to keep going, "one foot in front of the other". Urich promised to send her the link for the blog as soon as it was finished, and then they would devise their next step. Page wished him good night and hung up the phone.
Page then sat on her desk until someone started to try to open the door of the office. Page was frightened, but then Matt Murdock called for her from outside, askind Page if she was inside. Page opened the door, and Murdock then asked if they were going to lock the door now.
Murdock told Page that it was late and she should go home, but then Page asked if they were just three people who did not even talk to each other. Murdock explained how a man he was close to once told him that he would have to push everyone he cared about away if he wanted to succeed. Page pointed out that it looked like Murdock listened to that advice. He confessed that thought he had not done it, but it turned out that man had a way of getting into heads.
Murdock revealed that he had a bad night, where he thought he had seen the bottom of humanity only for that pit to keep getting deeper. Crying, Murdock realized he could not continue alone. Page went to embrace him, promising he had never been alone, while he kept crying.
=====Murder of Ben Urich=====
Ben Urich returned to his apartment with the intention of writing a blog and telling the truth about what was happening in New York City, having been fired from the New York Bulletin for trying to do it. He checked one of his major accomplishments at the Bulletin, a framed front page of his article about the Battle of New York, and went to his office to start his blog.
As soon as Urich started typing, Wilson Fisk, who was sitting in the shadows of Urich's office, began to speak, saying he had mistakes and tried to learn from them, but it seemed that it was not enough. Urich was startled to see Fisk there, and told him to leave his house.
Fisk wanted to have a conversation with Urich before leaving, but Urich told him he would not believe anything he had to say. Fisk promised to be honest, but whether he chose to believe him, that was up to Urich, and Urich agreed to listen to him.
Fisk then apologized for thinking that Urich's days of being relevant were past, an apology he accepted right before telling Fisk once again to leave. Fisk was also aware that Urich had lost his position at the New York Bulletin, as he took precautions following Urich's article about Union Allied Construction to not be surprised by more exposés.
This confirmed Urich's suspicions that somebody working at the paper was also working for Fisk, something that Fisk claimed to be a product of learning from his own mistakes. Urich acknowledged he was not the only one to do that, but Fisk, knowing his intention of publishing the story on the Internet, asked if that would change anything.
Urich was sure that people would seek the truth, but Fisk said that the world had changed since their youth, and now it was preoccupied with banalities while the issues that mattered took too much time. Urich said that he had more faith in humanity, making Fisk point that also had it.
Fisk asked Urich one more thing, if he was alone when he spoke to Fisk's mother. Urich realized that Fisk's contact at the Bulletin had informed him about it, and lied saying that he was alone. Fisk then asked about James Wesley, but Urich did not understand the question. Fisk already believe that Urich was not behind Wesley's death, as he knew that Urich was a man of principle and conviction, something that Fisk even admired.
However, Fisk could not forgive Urich for going after his after. Urich asked Fisk how many times did he believe he had been threatened in all his years writing stories, but Fisk clarified that, for having brought his mother into that, he was not there to threaten Urich, he was there to kill him.
Before Urich could react, Fisk leapt on him and grabbed him by the neck and furiously strangled him. Urich tried to resist, but he could not match Fisk's brute strength, and Urich soon died. Fisk smiled and left the apartment, leaving Urich's corpse behind and stepping on a photograph where Urich appeared smiling with his wife, Doris.
=====Hijacked Investigation=====
In order to avoid being framed for the assassination, Wilson Fisk ordered to clean the apartment and remove any evidence. Fisk's men took all of Ben Urich's files and notebooks from the apartment and deleted all content from the hard drives in the computers.
Once the New York City Police Department tried to investigate the murder, forensics could not pull a single fingerprint from the scene, not even Urich's.
====Ben Urich's Funeral====
Many of Ben Urich's friends and family members gather for Urich's funeral, including his widow, Doris Urich, Matt Murdock, Karen Page, his former editor Mitchell Ellison, M. Caldwell and his contact Silvio.
Manfredi was among the pallbearers that carried Urich's coffin out of the hearse and placed it inside the tomb, while Father Paul Lantom officiated the funeral. Doris could not help crying when the coffin was taken despite her nurse, Norma, tried to comfort her.
Once the funeral ended, Page approached Mrs. Urich, who recognized her from the times his husband spoke to her about Page. Page was impressed that Ben talked about her, and Doris told her that Ben admired the way she would not let go something until getting to the truth. Doris even told Page that, if she and Ben would ever had kids, Ben would have wanted one like Page.
With her voice broken, Page told Mrs. Urich that she thought Ben's death was her fault, as she had pushed him into a story. Doris grabbed Page's hand, and told her that Ben never got pushed into doing anything, and that he was a reporter, that lived and died doing what he loved and what he had to do.
Norma told Mrs. Urich they should leave, and Doris told Page it had been nice to meet her. Page asked Doris if there was anything she could do for her. Doris said that Ben had taken care of everything, and then she clarified that he took an insurance policy years before, when one of his stories about toxic spills in a river turned to be dangerous. Doris could not help to cry again when saying that Ben had always taken care of her, and still was doing it even after his death.
As people began to leave, Page gave a stern look to Ellison, believing him responsible for Urich's death, and Lantom approached Murdock to ask was he holding up. Murdock, with serious face, told him that ike a good Catholic boy, something that Lantom understood as something bad. Murdock mourned Urich's death, saying that he was a good man that had died because he had not stopped what was happening to the city.
Lantom asked him not to put that burden and blame himself for Urich's death, as he had done everything he could, including things he should not have done. However, Murdock told him that despite that, there they were.
====Reminding a Promise====
Karen Page and Matt Murdock returned to their office following Ben Urich's funeral, with Page extremely disgusted by Mitchell Ellison's presence there, as she believed that Ellison worked for Wilson Fisk and had tipped him about Urich. Murdock reminded her that Urich did not have any evidence that Ellison had been bribed by Fisk, though she considered it made sense.
However, Page was even more disgusted by Foggy Nelson's absence, as he left a message implying he had something more important to do than going to the funeral. Murdock doubted that Nelson said anything like that, but she believed that was what Nelson meant. Murdock assumed all responsibility in what was happening with Nelson, though she believed that everyone shared the blame in a relationship.
Murdock asked Page to go home and get some rest, but she said she could not rest, as every time she closed her eyes, he saw Fisk killing her. Page wondered what would happen if Fisk ever discovered that she went with Urich to the Saint Bénézet Retirement Care and that she spoke to Marlene Vistain, Fisk's mother.
Murdock tried to calm her, saying they would deal with it if something like that happened. Page was concerned that Fisk's control of the media and the police would let him walk away unpunished, and acknowledged that Nelson was right that someone who had so much was very hard to stop. Murdock said that it simply meant that Fisk had more to lose than anyone else.
Murdock promised that he would keep her safe, just like when Fisk came after her due to exposing the corruption scandal at Union Allied Construction, and also promised that everyone who had helped Fisk or had taken money from him, would get what was coming to them, especially Fisk himself.
====Fall of an Empire====
=====Irregular Accounts=====
Wilson Fisk was distracted reviewing his accounts, and he did not hear Vanessa Marianna calling for him from the bed. Marianna then went to the living room, and sat besides Fisk, asking if there was anything interesting in the documents he was reviewing.
Fisk explained that he had ordered James Wesley arrange a transfer of funds to get her outside of the country. Marianna reminded Fisk that she would not leave without him, but he was not asking it, he was merely reviewing the transfer to move the funds back. However, Fisk observed some irregularities in the numbers, and decided to ask Leland Owlsley to review them.
=====Murder of Leland Owlsley=====
Leland Owlsley met with Wilson Fisk to update him on the status of his negotiation to move forward with Fisk's urban development plan, and informing that Senator Randolph Cherryh had managed to clear the last hurdles, though he requested an extra 10% of the profits. However, thanks to Cherryh, Fisk was allowed to build anything he wanted on his properties, and everyone they had needed to pay to achieve their plan had agreed.
Owlsley also told him that they needed to find a replacement for Madame Gao's heroin as a source of income, as without it they may have some monetary issues. Fisk asked what was said about Gao, and according to Owlsley, it looked like she had left the city.
Owlsley then commented that maybe Gao she was not an ally as they thought, and Fisk believed so, showing him the documents with the transfer of funds that he ordered James Wesley to perform the night before being killed. At first, Owlsley was offended as he handled the financials, but Fisk asked him to look at the documents, as there were irregularities in my accounts.
Owlsley handled the documents back to Fisk, telling him that those irregularities were normal, as he moved the money on a usual basis to keep the out. However, Fisk noticed that Owlsley's hand was shaking and that he was sweating, so he began to confess what he did.
Before letting Owlsley talk, Fisk assumed that Wesley found out that Owlsley was stealing, so he killed Wesley when he confronted him, but Owlsley denied his involvement in Wesley's death. However, Fisk correctly deduced that both Owlsley and Gao were behind the attack at the benefit.
Owlsley explained the truth, that the poisonings at the benefit were staged only to look like someone was trying to kill Fisk, but he was not the target, so Fisk tried to contain his own rage when he guessed that the target had been Vanessa Marianna. For Owlsley and Gao, Fisk had been distracted since he met her, and became emotional and erratic, so they plotted to kill her and make Fisk focus again.
However, given that the plan did not succeed, Owlsley decided to leave and take half of Fisk's assets for him. Enraged, Fisk told him if he really thought he could leave after what he did, and Owlsley warned Fisk that he had Detective Carl Hoffman as an insurance policy, having hidden and bribed him just in case. If Owlsley did not report every 24 hours, Hoffman would testify to the FBI and confess all of Fisk's crimes, even though Owlsley knew that Fisk would kill Hoffman before reaching witness protection.
Fisk realized that Owlsley's plan in blaming him and destroying his empire would also affect Owlsley, but he said that he had spent his entire life hiding assets overseas for people like Fisk, so Owlsley and his son would disappear into the system.
Owlsley even said he was going to be fair and take only half of Fisk's money, and that was as close as a win-win situation that Fisk would be. Thinking he had the advantage, Owlsley asked Fisk if he would agree, but Fisk did not and punched Owlsley, knocking him down to the floor.
Owlsley used his stun gun against Fisk, but he was able to overcome its effects. Owlsley stepped back frightened, and Fisk did not hold back his rage anymore. Fisk blamed Owlsley for hurting Marianna, and threw him through a hoistway, killing him. As he finished, Fisk ordered Francis, who had accompanied him as a bodyguard, to sweep the city, find Hoffman and kill him.
=====Moving Forward=====
Matt Murdock trained at Fogwell's Gym to let his frustration go as he usually did, but he stopped when he noticed that Foggy Nelson had entered the room. Murdock asked Nelson how he knew that Murdock would be at Fogwell's Gym, and Nelson told him that he already knew that he usually went there, though Nelson simply believed it was because Murdock's father was a boxer, but now he knew it had to do with Murdock's activities as a vigilante.
Murdock resumed hitting the punching bag, and then Nelson told him that he thought Murdock was going to be attacking criminals. Murdock revealed that he tracked Mitchell Ellison, Ben Urich's editor, as Karen Page believed he could have been working for Wilson Fisk and therefore be responsible for Urich's death.
However, Murdock explained he was unable to deal with Ellison, as his wife and son were waiting for him, so he would try again the following night, and then continued to hit the punching bag harder than before. Nelson noticed that Murdock had anger issues and even offered to talk about it, but Murdock refused claiming that Nelson was not his priest, and Murdock seized the opportunity to blame Nelson for his absence at Urich's funeral.
Nelson asked if Page was upset for it, but Murdock assumed all guilt in how his relationship with Nelson was estranged at that moment. Nelson silently nodded, and then he explained out loud the gesture he just did. However, Nelson then realized that Murdock could tell that gesture due to his enhanced senses.
Nelson explained that his absence was due to having received a call from Marci Stahl, who had been helping him investigate Fisk by copying files from Landman and Zack about Fisk and Leland Owlsley. Murdock confronted Nelson saying that Urich was dead for investigating Fisk, and now Nelson had involved his ex.
Murdock got tired of the people he cared about being killed by Fisk, and he was resolved to stop him before not having anyone else left to bury. Nelson tried to dissuade him, as the last time he confronted Fisk, he was left half dead, so the next time he confronted him as the man in the mask, Fisk could kill or Murdock could end up killing Fisk.
Murdock then asked what was he supposed to do, and Nelson told him to stop Fisk using the law, just like Murdock advised Nelson and Page to do. Murdock was surprised to hear that Nelson was considering working together again, as he thought that Nelson and Murdock were over.
Nelson explained that the thing he wanted the most was to regain his friendship with Murdock and make things between them to go back to the point they were before, but he did not know if they were going to be able to do it. Murdock told him that they could not return to what they were, but they could find a way to move forward, so they started working together again with the only goal of bringing Fisk down.
=====Police Contacts=====
Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson went to speak with Brett Mahoney at the 15th Precinct Police Station to check if he had any insight on recent events related to Wilson Fisk. Mahoney did not want to speak to them, given that things were bad enough in the precinct and he did not want to be with the two lawyers, especially if they give cheap cigars to his mother.
Mahoney informed them that the warehouse that was burnt days before was full of illegal Chinese immigrants and heroin, and that Mahoney had a run-in with the man in the mask while he was leaving the scene. The masked man had told him something that got him thinking, and Nelson and Murdock were aware that the masked man was working with Ben Urich, as they had worked with Urich too in the same story.
Murdock asked if they had any leads in the investigation regarding Urich's murder, but Mahoney could not speak about that. Nelson told him that Urich's story was about Wilson Fisk, who Mahoney acknowledged that, according to the masked man, had bribed half of the cops in the precinct, and though he was not sure, Mahoney had seen enough things to at least think about it.
Nelson told Mahoney that Urich found Marlene Vistain, Fisk's mother, who revealed something that Fisk would not want to be published, and Mahoney asked the two lawyers if they believed that Fisk killed Urich for it. In return, Murdock asked if that matched with one of the leads he could not speak about, but Mahoney told him that forensics could not find any fingerprint at the scene, not even Urich's despite it was his apartment, and all of Urich's files, notebooks and hard drives had either disappeared or wiped clean.
Nelson then informed Mahoney that Fisk's mother had also vanished, and there was no record of her at Saint Bénézet Retirement Care, the care facility where Urich found her.
Their conversation was interrupted by Officer Corbin, who got out of the precinct while speaking on the phone, and told Mahoney they were looking for him. Murdock paid attention to Corbin's phone conversation, and heard that he had been ordered to find Detective Carl Hoffman, who was being hidden by Leland Owlsley.
Meanwhile, Nelson and Mahoney kept speaking, until Mahoney ended the conversation, saying that he had said too much and he should get back. Mahoney even had began to think about quitting the New York City Police Department and move his mother to a warmer place. Before Mahoney left, Nelson told him it would be a shame, as he was the only they knew for sure was honest. Mahoney then reminded that, according to , honest cops were the ones that were shot in the face.
Once leaving the precinct, Nelson told Murdock that their visit was another dead end, but Murdock explained that he met Officer Corbin while using the mask, and that he heard from his phone conversation that Fisk's men were looking from Hoffman, who was being concealed by Owlsley. Nelson realized that Hoffman could expose Fisk's whole operation, and Murdock pointed that only if they found him before Fisk did.
=====Classified Documents=====
Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page went to work at the Nelson and Murdock Law Office, trying to look for any clue for the place where Leland Owlsley had stashed Carl Hoffman, using the documents form OWlsley and Silver & Brent that Marci Stahl took from Landman and Zack for Nelson.
They spent hours reading the documents, until Nelson interrupted them by saying that reading all that made him want to gouge his own eyes out, unlike a job as a butcher like his mother wanted for him. Nelson wondered the reason to become a lawyer, and Murdock reminded him it was to make money, making both of them laugh.
The whole conversation also made laugh, saying that was exactly the way it should be. Murdock asked if she was talking about Nelson's conversation about cured meats, but she clarified that she referred to Nelson and Murdock. More seriously, Nelson told her that at least it was a start.
To change the subject, Murdock asked Page if she had found anything, but she then said that there were thousands and thousands of documents. Page then asked how Stahl was able to get all of them out of Landman and Zack without anyone noticing, and Nelson pointed that she could be very distracting.
Murdock asked them to concentrate on the things pertaining to Silver & Brent, especially liens, development or property holdings, as they could give a clue of the place where Owlsley was holding Hoffman. Page pointed that Hoffman knew everything about Fisk's corruption, the bombings, the shooting of the cops so, as Nelson pointed, he would not only expose Fisk, but also clear the man in the mask's name.
However, Page was not sure that Hoffman would go against Fisk even if they managed to him find him. Murdock explained that there seemed to be friction between Fisk and his associates, given that he destroyed the Russians, the Japanese went underground, the heroin from the Chinese was destroyed in a fire and now even Owlsley was moving against him.
Page remembered a quote that Ben Urich told her, that nobody became the man on top without making enemies looking to him, and Murdock acknowledged that Urich was right. To change the sad subject, Page asked how did they found about Owlsley, and Nelson lied to her saying that the man in the mask had contacted them, with Nelson finally admitting that he was trying to do the right thing.
Nelson then sighed again while looking at new documents, saying it could take them a whole week to review all of them, and they did not even know if they were complete. Nelson even theorized that Owlsley may had not been using company funds to stash Hoffman. Murdock was sure that he did, as every man with financial privilege he had met would never use his own money if he could use someone else's.
Nelson proposed to call Stahl and ask if there was something they could use to narrow the search, but Page found something strange, a rundown of Silver & Brent's real estate holdings across State of New York that suddenly listed one property less the following day. Nelson pointed that maybe it had been sold that day, but Page checked the balance after the property disappeared from the record and it did not change, so if it was sold, that should have been reflected in the profit-loss.
Murdock then pointed that maybe someone tried to hide the fact that the property had been taken off the records, and without a shift in the profit-loss, maybe no one would notice. Page revealed that the property was located in Hell's Kitchen, so Murdock asked both Nelson and Page to keep looking through the documents in case they wrong, while he was going to the 15th Precinct Police Station to inform Brett Mahoney. Page proposed to just call him, but Murdock told her that maybe Fisk was tapping the police lines.
Nelson then went to speak with Murdock in private, knowing he was not going to the precinct but to check the property as the man in the mask. Murdock told him that Mahoney could not handle that alone, and that he knew how Nelson felt about what he did as the masked man.
Murdock told him that was one of the points law met reality, and if he did not put on the mask, they risked losing Hoffman and Fisk would win.
=====Killing Order=====
Wilson Fisk traveled inside his car and received a phone call informing him that Detective Carl Hoffman had been located. Fisk ordered to send the closest team to the location, and to leave no survivors.
=====Rescue of Carl Hoffman=====
A man went inside a warehouse where Carl Hoffman was being sheltered by bodyguards working for Leland Owlsley, taking them food from Marchioni's. They noticed that Owlsley had not performed his daily call, as without it, they had orders to drop Hoffman to the FBI. One of the bodyguards pointed that Owlsley still had eight minutes, but if he did not call, they could finally leave that warehouse.
A group of police officers lead by Officer Corbin burst into the place and quickly killed all the bodyguards, leaving only Hoffman alive. The officers surrounded a frightened Hoffman, and Corbin even taunted him before pulling his gun. Before he could kill, the man in the mask ambushed the police officers, and knocked them down while Hoffman had his eyes closed.
The masked man sat right in front of Hoffman, and offered him to decide between the opportunity to turn evidence on Wilson Fisk and set things right, or staying there and wait until Fisk sent more men to kill you. Hoffman told him that Fisk had bribed the cops and he would be dead before testifying, so the masked man told him to turn himself in to Sergeant Brett Mahoney, who was a clean cop and even knew a pair of lawyers that could not be bought.
Hoffman sarcastically thanked him for the tip and tried to leave, so the masked man punched him in the face. He told Hoffman that he would follow him to make sure he could reach the 15th Precinct Police Station alive, and he also warned him saying that if he tried to do anything else than turning in, Hoffman would wish that the masked man had never saved him from Corbin's bullet.
=====Lengthy Confession=====
Former Detective Carl Hoffman entered the 15th Precinct Police Station with his face still covered in blood, and approached Sergeant Brett Mahoney's desk, telling him he needed to make a statement regarding Wilson Fisk's multiple crimes. Mahoney contacted Nelson and Murdock and they arranged a meeting with the District Attorney by phone.
In the morning, Foggy Nelson and Matt Murdock, acting as Hoffman's lawyers, explained that their client wanted to be placed in protective custody and waive immunity, asking nothing in return, as Murdock stated that Hoffman regretted his involvement in Fisk's crimes, and his only goal was to unburden himself, in the eyes of and the state of New York.
Hoffman confessed that he received money to work for Fisk, and that many other people, including cops, lawyers, judges and even one senator had also done it. The district attorney asked him to start from the beginning, revealing names, dates and every detail he knew about it.
Murdock smiled at Karen Page, who was also in the room, finally able to see how Fisk was going to pay for his crimes.
Meanwhile, Hoffman began to explain that he and his partner, Christian Blake, were approached by a man working for Fisk 18 months before, and they both started to work for Fisk. Hoffman continued, revealing many details that ended up requesting the arrest of Fisk and many of his associates.
=====Arrest of Wilson Fisk's Associates=====
All over New York City, FBI agents were deployed to pursue and arrest Wilson Fisk's associates, as their involvement in Fisk's crimes was made public by former Detective Carl Hoffman.
Turk Barrett was caught on the streets, he tried to escape the federal agents that pursued him, but he was surrounded when a car blocked the way. Barrett tried to jump over it, but he was tackled and arrested.
Another group of agents apprehended the corrupt New York City Police Department officers at the 15th Precinct Police Station, including Officer Corbin, who was taken outside of the precinct handcuffed in front of his former colleagues. Corbin tried to resist and yelled as he was put into a car, while Sergeant Brett Mahoney, an honest cop that worked there, smiled.
A small group of agents stormed into the New York Bulletin Building, heading into the local section and asking everyone in their path to move. They proceeded to identify and arrest M. Caldwell, while Mitchell Ellison, the editor, looked surprised, and sadly realized that she may have been responsible for Ben Urich's death.
Parish Landman headed to the Landman and Zack Building in his car, parking it in his reserved parking place. Upon descending from the car, he was surrounded by FBI agents, arresting him for his association with Fisk's crimes. Marci Stahl, who was inside her car, watched as Landman was arrested, and could not help to smile for that.
Senator Randolph Cherryh was taken out of his residence by FBI agents, while a group of reporters waited outside asking him about the allegations that said that Cherryh had accepted payoffs from Fisk. Cherryh simply told the media that he had done nothing wrong while he was taken into custody.
=====Arrest of Wilson Fisk=====
Vanessa Marianna watched the news about the arrest of all people associated with Wilson Fisk, while Fisk made quickly made arrangements on the phone before being arrested himself. Marianna tried to speak to him, but Fisk interrupted her, warning that the FBI was coming for him.
Marianna proposed to leave, though Fisk was aware that it was too late to prevent his own arrest. Fisk asked her to do something for him, and explained his plan to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, FBI agents arrived at the building and headed to the penthouse. They started to bang on the door, speaking out loud to say that he had a warrant for the arrest of Fisk. Inside, Fisk asked Marianna if she had understood everything that he told her.
Fisk also gave Marianna an engagement ring, while the agents broke the door and entered inside. Fisk told Marianna that she was his heart while the agents told Fisk that he was arrested for racketeering and proceeded to explain him his rights. Fisk and Marianna kissed, and the agents had to separate them, pulling Fisk outside while he declared his love for Marianna.
Outside of the building, reporters were waiting for Fisk, and as he was taken into an armored car, they proceeded to ask Fisk about his involvement with Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov, his role in the Bombing of Hell's Kitchen, his opinion of Senator Randolph Cherryh that he would be exonerated, or the status of his "better tomorrow".
Fisk remained silent, and sat inside the armored car to be taken away.
=====Celebration=====
Matt Murdock, Karen Page and Foggy Nelson met at the office to celebrate how their efforts finally succeeded and Wilson Fisk was brought to justice. Nelson even claimed that now everyone knew what kind of person Fisk really was, and Page was proud that it was them who made it happen, and Murdock reminded her Marci Stahl's role too. Page acknowledged that maybe she was not as bad as she thought at first.
Murdock solemnly said what they accomplished in the office, but the most important thing was knowing that the people he cared about was safe, and that they could finally have some sense of closure for the ones they had lost. Nelson, Page and Murdock then made a toast for Elena Cardenas, Ben Urich and all the people that Fisk had ever hurt.
=====The Ill Intent=====
While Wilson Fisk was being transported inside an armored car began to speak about a story from the he had been thinking about lately. One of the guards tried to make Fisk shut up, but the other one asked the first one to let Fisk talk, as it would not change anything.
Fisk acknowledged that he was not a religious man, but he had read bits and pieces of the Bible over the years for curiosity more than faith. However, there was one story that greatly impacted, the , and began to retell it with great detail.
While reading the story, he thought of himself as the Samaritan of the story, who helped a traveler that had been attacked and left on a road needing no more reason to help him in any way he could that the traveler was his neighbor. Fisk then told the two guards realized that he had been deceived by his own true nature.
The guard asked what did that mean, and Fisk explained that he was not the Samaritan of the story, nor the people who refused to help the traveler. With a grim look on his face, Fisk said that he was the ill intent who set upon the traveler on a road that he should not have been on.
=====Mercenary Squad=====
The convoy transporting Wilson Fisk was ambushed by a squad of mercenaries who blocked the way over a bridge. Before the policemen guarding the transport could prepare, the mercenaries killed the driver of the armored car transporting Fisk to prevent an escape.
The officers started a gunfight against the mercenaries, who were dressed in tactical gear and managed to advance over the bridge, approaching the armored car. Inside the armored car, one of the guards asked for a situation report outside while Fisk remained silent.
Despite two of them were gunned down, the mercenaries managed to kill the police and FBI officers, even though the FBI agents informed their central and requested backup.
Once the mercenaries killed every agent and secured the perimeter, one of them approached the armored car and knocked at its back door. One of the guards inside threatened to kill Fisk if the mercenaries did not back away, but the second guard killed his colleague, as he was one of Fisk's men.
Fisk was liberated and taken into another vehicle. Right before leaving, Fisk ordered his men to take anyone who tried to follow him out.
=====Go Be a Hero=====
Matt Murdock, Karen Page and Foggy Nelson watched on the news that FBI transport carrying Wilson Fisk had been attacked and Fisk was about to be liberated. Page realized they had been idiots for celebrating and thinking that putting away a man like Fisk would be easy.
The three of them prepared to get out of the office before the streets were closed, though Murdock asked Nelson to get Page home. Page did not want to leave Murdock alone, but he used the excuse that he was going back to his own apartment and that he lived on the other side of town to leave alone.
Nelson went to speak to Murdock while Page waited inside a cab, trying to dissuade him from intervening in a heavily armed assault only with his black mask. Murdock asked Nelson to trust him, despite he was aware he had not earned his trust yet. Nelson ended up encouraging Murdock, asking him just not to get killed while being a hero.
=====New Suit=====
The man in the mask went to visit Melvin Potter at his workshop to retrieve the armored suit that Potter had created for him. Potter presented the suit, explaining that he had not enough time to get all the suit through the process, and as such, the black parts are the most reinforced ones, while the red parts might deflect knives or not depending on the angle.
The masked man touched the suit and thanked Potter, saying that the suit would be fine. However, before letting the masked man have it, Potter asked if now Betsy Beatty would be safe from Wilson Fisk. The masked man assured Potter that he intended to keep the promise he made to him.
====Duel of Hell's Kitchen====
=====Locating the Transport=====
Dressed with his new armored suit, Matt Murdock climbed to a rooftop, trying to listen to any radio signal or conversation that gave him a clue about Wilson Fisk's location.
He listened how the New York City Police Department advised all its officers to not approach Fisk if sighted, and instead notify the forthwith.
=====Package en Route=====
Wilson Fisk was taken to a warehouse to change the vehicle where he was being transported, and got inside a smaller van from Summerville Department Stores. The bodyguard travelling with Fisk called the extraction team on radio to inform that Fisk was en route, and their estimated time of arrival was of 18 minutes.
The bodyguard offered Fisk the radio, who used it to speak to Vanessa Marianna, admitting that it had been a difficult chapter in their lives, though Marianna said that all that mattered was that were going to be together. Fisk told her to leave if he was not with her in 20 minutes, saying that if that was the case, she could not prevent what would happen, but Fisk promised it would not be the end, only an inconvenience, as nothing would ever keep them apart.
=====Attack on the Van=====
Wilson Fisk was rescued from the FBI and taken into a van heading to an extraction point where he planned to leave New York City via helicopter with Vanessa Marianna. However, while travelling there, the van transporting Fisk was ambushed by Daredevil, the former "man in the mask", who threw one of billy clubs to the windshield. The driver lost control of the van and overturned.
Fisk got out of the van, and Daredevil jumped from a rooftop to the top of the van, telling Fisk that he was right in one of the things that he told him over the radio the night of the Bombing of Hell's Kitchen, that not everyone deserved a happy ending. Fisk was shocked and realized that Daredevil was the man in the mask.
Fisk's bodyguard shot at the van, hoping to kill Daredevil, but he easily dodged the bullets and descended to the ground to retrieve his billy club. Fisk seized the opportunity to run, and Daredevil threw his billy club against the van, making it ricocheted and hit the bodyguard, knocking him down.
=====Final Duel=====
Wilson Fisk tried to escape on foot from Daredevil, who had ambushed his transport. Fisk entered into an alley and tried to climb to a fire escape. However, he was unable to climb it, and before he could figure another way of escaping, Daredevil caught him.
Enraged, Fisk told Daredevil that he only wanted to make the city something better than it was, but now he had taken everything away from him. Fisk swore to kill Daredevil, but he taunted Fisk repeating the words he told him in the Pier 81 Warehouse, telling him to take his shot.
Fisk ran towards trying to tackle him, but he jumped, avoiding Fisk's attack, grabbing him and throwing Fisk to the ground. Daredevil started to punch Fisk's face while he was knocked down, until Fisk grabbed him and got up. The two fighters exchanged blows, and Fisk managed to get advantage of his brute strength to throw Daredevil against the walls, and tackling him successfully this time.
Fisk taunted Daredevil, and though Daredevil managed to evade his blows and throw him against a wall with a kick, Fisk grabbed a metal bar and started to use it as a weapon, hitting Daredevil in the head and chest. Daredevil's Suit allowed him to withstand the blows, and he grabbed his billy club to deflect Fisk's metal bar. Daredevil hit Fisk now with his own weapon, who started to bleed, and he managed to disarm Fisk.
Daredevil seemed to gain the upper hand, but Fisk grabbed him by a shoulder and started to repeatedly punch his face until he was disoriented. Fisk headbutted Daredevil and grabbed him, rising him above himself and throwing to the ground. He then grabbed Daredevil's billy club and repeatedly attacked him, as he tried to protect himself.
Fisk yelled while attacking Daredevil that the city did not deserve a better tomorrow, but to drown in its filth, and that it deserved people like Fisk's own father or Daredevil. Fisk kept hitting him, until Daredevil grabbed Fisk's arm and told him that was his city and his family.
Daredevil managed to get up and attacked Fisk, hitting him in the face until Fisk was so beaten that he could not get up. Fisk began to laugh, asking Daredevil if he really thought that anything would change, or that one man in a costume would make. Daredevil did not answer Fisk's taunts, and instead dropped his billy club to run towards Fisk, landing a final punch that knocked Fisk out.
=====Sad Departure=====
Vanessa Marianna waited for Wilson Fisk at the extraction point, intending to leave New York City together in an helicopter. Francis, who was personally guarding Marianna, received information that Fisk's transport had been intercepted and informed Marianna that they should leave.
Marianna waited a few seconds and took Fisk's engagement ring, placing it on her finger before boarding the helicopter and escaping from the city.
=====Final Arrest=====
Sergeant Brett Mahoney arrived at the alley where Daredevil and Wilson Fisk had fight moments after Fisk had been knocked out. Mahoney ordered Daredevil to show him hands while pointing him with his gun, and Daredevil repeated the words he told Mahoney when they met after the fire at Madame Gao's Warehouse, that he was not the bad guy.
Mahoney recognized Daredevil as the man in the mask, who explained that Fisk was a fugitive and he stopped him. Mahoney informed through the radio about Fisk's status and location, and then he put his gun down.
Daredevil retrieved his billy club and thanked Mahoney while he was handcuffing Fisk. As he ended, Mahoney asked Daredevil what was he supposed to call the vigilante in his report, but Daredevil, who still had not chosen that name for himself, climbed through the walls and left the area.
====A New Beginning====
Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page met outside of the office in the morning, and Page started to read the morning edition of the New York Bulletin with a front-page article detailing how "Daredevil" had collared Wilson Fisk, and she read out loud that Daredevil was now the code name used to refer to man in the mask.
Nelson, who knew that Murdock was actually Daredevil, jokingly told them that it sounds like he was going to jump over Snake River Canyon on a rocket cycle, making Murdock laugh. Page admitted that she thought the name sounded goofy at first, but was not that bad, and for sure better than "The Devil of Hell's Kitchen"; Murdock agreed.
Page commented how much had Daredevil changed since he stopped Rance from stabbing her in her apartment, as his costume was a serious upgrade. Nelson jokingly commented that he thought the horns were too much, making Murdock smile.
At that moment, Nelson finished placing the sign for their law firm on the wall, "Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law", and both Page and Nelson himself were glad that she had taken the sign from the trash can. Murdock touched the sign to read it, and repeated a joke from their college days, calling themselves "Nelson and Murdock, Avocados at Law".
Nelson laughed and Page asked what was it meant. Nelson said it was a long story, but he did not have time to tell it, as he had promised Marci Stahl to help her find a new job, as since most of the partners from the law firm where she had been working, Landman and Zack, were under indictment.
Page asked if Nelson and Stahl were back together, but though he denied it at first, he changed his answer saying that maybe they were while smiling. Murdock asked him to thank Stahl for them for her help in bring Fisk down, but Nelson reminded him that Fisk still needed to go to trial, and just getting a date could take a year. Page was worried about the time, but Murdock calmed her saying that Fisk was where he belonged, and that it was them who put him there.
Before leaving, Nelson commented again how good their sign was, and Murdock told him that all they needed now were clients. Nelson, having finally resumed his friendship with Murdock, told him that "one day at a time", and said goodbye to Page.
Being left alone, Page said that they should get back to work, but Murdock asked her about something in her voice that had been there for a while. He assumed that it would get better once Fisk was imprisoned, but it had not. Page noted that though imprisoning Fisk was good, it would not bring back Elena Cardenas or Ben Urich. It would not erase either everything they had been through or what they had to do.
Murdock agreed with her, telling her that he wished to change many decisions he had made, but nobody could change that so, like he told Nelson, the only thing they could do was to move forward together. Murdock offered Page his hand, and she smiled, gently taking it and heading inside the office.
====Daredevil====
Believing that stopping Wilson Fisk had not stopped crime in Hell's Kitchen, Daredevil climbed to a rooftop and began to listen to the city's cries for help. He heard a woman screaming, and rushed to her location to keep helping the good people in New York City.
===A Private Investigator===
During Daredevil's exploits, he had beaten up Turk Barrett who was later hospitalized and immobile. Jessica Jones was hired to find Turk and demand money for his estranged wife and kids. After pulling out his infusion and threatening him, Turk agreed to give his family money.
====Meeting at the United Nations====
At the United Nations Headquarters, General Glenn Talbot was giving a speech about his time fighting in the Battle of New York. He spoke about how S.H.I.E.L.D. led the world to believe they could trust them until they became infiltrated by HYDRA. The other ambassadors in the room met him with disbelief that S.H.I.E.L.D. is still functioning as an organization. Soon after this, an ambassador was attacked with a Splinter Bomb and disintegrated. Afterwards, and assault time burst into the room, killing multiple armed guards and politicians. They announced themselves as members of S.H.I.E.L.D. while they were secretly Agents of HYDRA.
After the attack happened, it was heavily televised and prompted S.H.I.E.L.D. to respond diligently.
====Return of Kilgrave====
=====New Assignment=====
Jessica Jones was approached by Bob and Barbara Shlottman, who hired her to help find their missing daughter Hope. Jones agreed, and during her investigation she met Luke Cage, the owner of Luke's whom she had previously spied on for a client. They formed an intimate relationship, despite Jones learning that Cage was related to Reva Connors, whose death she was indirectly responsible for. 
As she searched for Hope, she began to see a familiar pattern in the case. She realized that her former captor and longtime enemy Kilgrave, once thought dead, was actually alive and controlling Hope. Jones eventually tracked down and rescued Hope from a hotel where she and Kilgrave had stayed previously, finding the young girl in a trance-like state, confirming Jones' worst fears that Kilgrave was indeed still alive.
=====Parricide=====
Hope Shlottman was reunited with her parents shortly after, but as they began to leave, Hope pulled a gun and murdered her parents, still under Kilgrave's influence. She broke free from his influence shortly after, horrified at what she had done. Jones, who had previously thought about quitting the detective life and fleeing the city, decided to stay and fight Kilgrave. 
Jones was interviewed about the murders by Detective Oscar Clemons, who reveals that he obtained the photos she had taken of Luke Cage. Jones tries to convince the detective that Cage had nothing to do with the murders. Later, Jones meets Cage to explain, but Cage bluntly tells her that he no longer wants her in his life or his bar.
=====On the Trail=====
To be added
=====Ambush=====
To be added
=====Failed Capture=====
To be added
====Massacre at Central Park====
To be added
====Killing Kilgrave====
To be added
===Birth of Ultron===
To be added
===The Punisher's Wrath===
====Burren Club Massacre====
To be added
===Trouble in Harlem===
To be added
===The Devil's Castle===
To be added
===Harlem Snakes===
====Chasing Scarfe====
To be added
====Assassination of Cottonmouth====
To be added
====Diamondback====
To be added
===="Luke Cage'd"====
To be added
===With Great Power===
In Queens, a gifted young man named Peter Parker gained extraordinary powers, including superhuman strength, agility, and reflexes. Deciding to use his newfound powers for good, Parker began developing a synthetic web-like material with incredible tensile and adhesive properties. Donning a makeshift costume, he became a crime fighter known as Spider-Man.
===The Good Doctor===
At the New York Metro-General Hospital, neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange successfully removed a bullet from the skull of a patient who had been misdiagnosed with brain death. After the surgery, his colleague and ex-girlfriend Christine Palmer questioned whether or not he needed to humiliate their colleague Nicodemus West during the surgery, who had been responsible for the misdiagnosis. Palmer, fed up with Strange's arrogance, declined to accompany him to a speaking event later that night.
As he drove at high speeds through the city, Strange received a phone call from another colleague, Billy, who informed him of three potential surgeries that he could perform. He is dismissive of the first two cases, but takes interest in the third, looking at his phone to examine the patient's X-rays. Taking his eyes off the road, Strange collided with another car he had tried to overtake and spun out of control, careening off a cliff and crashing into the river below. The doctor was badly injured in the wreck and nearly drowned, but was rescued and taken to the same hospital he worked at, Metro-General.
Strange underwent eleven hours of surgery, which ended up saving his life. However, he had suffered massive nerve damage in his hands, dooming his future as a neurosurgeon. Despite surviving the crash and his colleagues' attempts at comforting him, Strange became cold and bitter as he recovered, lashing out at everyone around him and falling into a deep depression.
===Iron Fist===
====Return of Danny Rand====
To be added
===Search for a Cure===
Stephen Strange's recovery continued, but his depression and anger worsened. Having given up hope on any kind of modern medical treatment, he instead sought out a former patient named Jonathan Pangborn, who had made a seemingly miraculous recovery from injuries that had been deemed "untreatable." Confronted at a local basketball court, Pangborn tells Strange of a place called Kamar-Taj, where had been healed by a mysterious figure known as the Ancient One. Desperate, Strange spends the last of his money on a trip to Nepal.
===Kidnapping of Charles Hinton===
To be added
===Assassination of Mickey O'Hare===
To be added
===The Defenders===
To be added
===Avengers Civil War===
====Recruitment of Peter Parker====
In 2016, Tony Stark travelled to Queens and met May Parker and her nephew at their apartment. In a private conversation with Parker, Stark revealed that he knew Parker was the so-called "Spider-Man", and asked him to accompany him on his ordeal. Parker refused at first, but when Stark threatened to tell May about his secret identity, he relented and agreed to join Stark.
====James Rhodes’s Recovery====
To be added
===Homecoming===
====Back to School====
In late August, Peter Parker returned to classes at Midtown School of Science and Technology. He avoided practicing for the upcoming Academic Decathlon, claiming that he was too busy with the "Stark internship". After school, he went to see Delmar and his cat, Murph at Delmar's store, Delmar's Deli-Grocery. Afterwards he changed into his brand new suit in an alleyway and spent the evening web-swinging around Queens, stopping bike thieves and interacting with members of the public.
====Queens Community Bank Robbery====
Later that night, Parker spotted four masked criminals entering the Queens Community Bank. He confronted them and saw that they were wearing Avengers masks and touting very advanced weaponry. While he managed to stop the criminals from robbing the bank, a stray round from one of their weapons blew up Delmar's store, but Parker managed to rescue Delmar and Murph.
After foiling the robbery, Parker attempted to contact Happy Hogan about the weaponry used by the robbers, but Hogan was too busy assisting with the relocation of items to the New Avengers Facility from Avengers Tower, revealing that it had been sold.
====Exposed====
Returning to his apartment, Parker inadvertently revealed his secret identity to his best friend Ned Leeds, who had been waiting for him in his bedroom. Leeds was very excited to find out about this, but Parker pleaded with him to keep it a secret and promised to explain everything.
The following day, Parker discussed with Leeds the events that led him to gain his superpowers, including the spider that bit him in December of 2015. During gym class, after overhearing that classmate Liz Toomes may have a crush on Spider-Man, Leeds blurted out that Parker knew Spider-Man. The two were invited to Toomes’ house party later that night, and Flash Thompson, skeptical of Leeds' claim, mockingly asked Parker to invite Spider-Man to the party.
====First Encounter with Toomes====
To be added
====Staten Island Ferry Incident====
To be added
====Revelations====
To be added
====Ambushed====
To be added
====Hijacking====
To be added
====Crash on Coney Island====
To be added
====Stark's Offer====
To be added
===Return of the Punisher===
To be added
===Sorcerer Supreme===
====Siege of the Sanctum====
To be added
====Duel on the Astral Plane====
To be added
====The Mirror Dimension====
To be added
====Master of the Sanctum====
To be added
====Helping Thor====
To be added
===A New Case===
To be added
====Uncaged====
To be added
====Trouble in Chinatown====
To be added
====Return of the Kingpin====
To be added
===Infinity War===
====Attack on Greenwich Village====
=====Bruce Banner’s Warning=====
In 2018, Bruce Banner was sent via the Bifrost Bridge into the New York Sanctum, crashing through its roof and destroying the staircase. He then warned Stephen Strange and Wong about the coming alien threat. 
=====Recruiting Tony Stark=====
Tony Stark and Pepper Potts went on a date jogging in Central Park and discussed their relationship. However, they were interrupted when Stephen Strange arrived via a portal and asked Stark to come with him, as he was needed. Stark came only when Bruce Banner came out of the portal and reunited with him. Back at the New York Sanctum, Strange and Wong told Stark about the Infinity Stones and Banner told Stark about the threat they faced.
=====Arrival of the Black Order=====
An alien spaceship, known as a Q-Ship, then descended upon the city in Greenwich Village, causing panic and several car accidents on the street. On the bridge headed over to the , Peter Parker noticed the Q-Ship from his school bus and asked Ned Leeds to make a distraction so he could leave and get closer to the action. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, and Wong walked into the street and witnessed two members of the Black Order, Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian, walking towards them.
=====Battle of Greenwich Village=====
To be added
====Snap====
Later that day, New York City, like every city in the world, was affected by the Snap. The sudden disappearance of millions of people caused panic and mass chaos within the city.
===Post-Snap===
====Desolate City====
Throughout the next five years, New York City became a desolate city. Survivors began to form communities outside the city, including a makeshift marina by the Statue of Liberty at Liberty Island. Citi Field, which had been left unused as the Snap made the New York Mets stop playing, now held a therapy group formed by survivors, including Steve Rogers.
====Ronin's Mission====
To Be Added
====Kingpin's New Empire====
To Be Added
===Blip===
In October 2023, as a result of the Blip, the city's population was restored. However, chaos ensued from it, as people reappeared suddenly in occupied living spaces, streets, and other places.
===Post-Blip===
====A New Normal ====
To be added
====Flag Smashers' Political Ultimatum====
To be added
====Charity Events====
To be added
====Spider-Man's Identity Crisis====
To be added
=====Runes of Kof-Kol=====
To be added
=====Chaos and Calamity=====
To be added
=====Making Cures=====
To be added
=====Battle at Liberty Island=====
To be added
====Multiversal Problems====
=====Christine Palmer's Wedding=====
To be added
=====Gargantos' Chase=====
To be added
=====Clea's Arrival=====
To be added
====A Fresh Start====
To be added
====Clint Barton's Family Trip====
To be added
=====Black Market Auction=====
To be added
=====Hunt for Ronin=====
To be added
=====Clint Barton's Mission=====
To be added
=====Manhattan Bridge Escape=====
To be added
=====Christmas Festivities=====
To be added
=====Yelena Belova’s Attack=====
To be added
=====Return of Ronin=====
To be added
=====Battle at Rockefeller Center=====
To be added
===Titania's Visit===
In 2025, Titania went to New York City to attend wearing a green dress for the event. She took pictures of herself getting out of the car and posing. She was greeted by papparazzi, who all took pictures of her. She posted the video to her social media talking about how she would not miss it. She then posted the pictures she had taken with a caption saying that the city loved her.Titania on XTitania on Instagram
===New York City Skyline===
In 2025, Kamala Khan looked out at the New York City and imagined Carol Danvers flying over the skyline. Days later, Khan, on her plane ride home, flew over the Statue of Liberty.
===Alternate Universes===
====Run by the Enclave====
=====Hulk's Arrival=====
In an alternate universe, the Enclave used the Paragon Corporation to set up bases at key points around New York City and used the city's civilians to test weapons. Hulk fled to New York City from Brazil and came across an Enclave attack, fighting them off and saving the life of Rick Jones. Hulk's presence in the city was detected by the United States Army, who went to attack him while Jones recruited Hulk to help fight the Enclave. The military attacked Hulk, who fought them off and then fled to destroy one of the Paragon Corporation's labs. The destruction of the building allowed the army to find Hulk again, but Hulk managed to avoid them.
Meanwhile, Jones stole a tank from the Enclave, prompting the Ceres Sector to attack him. Hulk defended Jones as he made his way to a safe house. Jones then went and continued investigating. The Enclave led an assault on the city, which Hulk managed to stop while continuing to fight the Army. Jones then learned that the Enclave's Vulcan Center was planning to use Earthquake Bombs to destroy the city, so he and Hulk went to each bomb and disarmed them. They then went to the Jupiter Research Base and destroyed it. The Enclave then sent a Kyklops after Jones, but Hulk managed to destroy it and got Jones to safety. Jones thanked the Hulk and offered help if Hulk ever needed it.
=====Hopes for a Cure=====
Bruce Banner went to Samuel Sterns in hopes of curing the Hulk. Sterns mentioned needing data from the United States Army, so Hulk attacked their base and retrieved it for him. Sterns also told Banner to talk to Simon Utrecht, whose experiments seemed similar to the Project Gamma Pulse. Utrecht prepared to recreate the army's project as the Army went to arrest him. Hulk fought the army and destroyed Utrecht's antenna, causing Utrecht Laboratories to collapse. However, the experiment was successful, turning Utrecht and his companions into the U-Foes. Hulk fought and defeated the U-Foes before returning to Sterns' lab. Sterns noticed interference with his machines, so he sent Hulk out to get the signal jammer. Hulk stole it from the Army and threw it into the lake in Central Park while the Enclave stole a drum of Nanites from the army. The Hulk retrieved it and brought it to Sterns for the cure.
The Army established a stronger presence in the city and attacked Hulk, with Major Glenn Talbot insisting they kill Banner. They attacked the Hulk sonically, but Hulk managed to defeat the soldiers and destroy their transmitter. The Army blamed the damage on the Hulk. Talbot then ordered a missile strike on the city, which Hulk fled from. Jones managed to find the source of the computer tracing the signals, so Hulk destroyed it, ending the missile strike.
=====Enclave Attacks=====
The Enclave attempted to use the Minerva Sector's Energy Consumption Engines to drain the city's power, but Hulk managed to destroy them following a warning from Rick Jones. The Enclave then planted several chemical bombs around the city, which Hulk managed to stop by throwing them in the river before they could catalyze. However, there were several other smaller bombs placed throughout, which all went off, contaminating several areas of the city. Hulk fought the Enclave soldiers in the area, only for them to later return and place Energy Consumption Engines in the city, which Hulk also destroyed. Samuel Sterns then created a device to clean the air, which Hulk used to stop the Enclave's plot.
The Enclave then developed a mass Mind Control Device which they planned on using against New York City. Jones and Hulk managed to steal the data and get it to a safehouse despite the Enclave's forces, and rushed the data to Empire State University. Sterns was able to create a countermeasure to the mind control as the Enclave started using it to lure people toward their Energy Consumption Engines. Hulk destroyed the computers controlling the device, but the Enclave set up a second device in Times Square with Bi-Beast there to defend it. Hulk went to Times Square and destroyed the computers controlling the device, triggering an explosion which sent both Hulk and Bi-Beast crashing into the ground. Hulk ultimately defeated Bi-Beast.
=====Attacked by the Military=====
Following Rick Jones' suggestion, Hulk decided to use the press against Glenn Talbot. He caused damage to the city to attract the attention of multiple news helicopters and guided them to an army barracks. Talbot decided to go into hiding, but Hulk followed him and destroyed the secret base, prompting the military to fall back even further. They kidnapped Jones as a trap for Hulk, who managed to save Jones and get him to a safe place.
=====Recovering Stolen Items=====
Bruce Banner returned to Empire State University, where Samuel Sterns explained that a cure would not be possible without elevating Banner's gamma radiation levels. Sterns explained that the Enclave and United States Army had stolen the technology which Sterns needed, so Hulk resolved to get them back. He recovered all three items and returned them to the university, where the Enclave attacked in an attempt to steal them back. However, Hulk managed to fight them off.
=====Satellite Crash=====
The Enclave used an Earthquake Bomb to trigger an earthquake, which Hulk stopped. In an effort to stop Hulk, the Enclave placed Siege Turrets around New York. The army discovered the Enclave's activities and prepared to arrest them, but the Enclave started fighting back with the turrets. Hulk fought through both forces and destroyed the turrets. The Enclave then deployed their Lightning Satellite and attacked Hulk with it, so Rick Jones helped Hulk find the satellite dish it was connected to and destroy it. The dish crashed into Central Park and the Enclave went to retrieve it, but Hulk destroyed it and their forces before they could.
=====Protecting the Military=====
Bruce Banner left New York City to go to Culver University and retrieve the data from the original experiment. He returned and received a phone call from Betty Ross, warning him that the United States Army was planning to attack the base and asking him to protect Thaddeus Ross. The Enclave then attacked the Army in an attempt to steal the Hulkbusters' armors, but Hulk arrived and stopped them, fleeing as the military showed up. Hulk rescuing the Hulkbusters prompted the soldiers to suspect that Thaddeus was wrong in his pursuit of the Hulk. One of the Hulkbusters asked Hulk for help overloading an Enclave F-POD, which Hulk provided, destroying it.
=====Glenn Talbot's Vendetta=====
Glenn Talbot ordered his soldiers to steal a weapon which was being moved through New York City by Thaddeus Ross. Hulk stopped the soldiers and recovered the weapon, which he brought to Rick Jones to be destroyed.
Talbot kidnapped Betty Ross and brought her to Empire State University, where Hulk arrived and fought through the soldiers, destroying the generators which powered Ross' electrified cage. This gave Ross the opportunity to reveal her identity, ending the attack as the Hulkbusters went to explain to Thaddeus Ross what happened. Ross sent the military to surround Talbot, who donned a Hulkbuster armor and attacked. The military fought Talbot, when Hulk arrived and fought the armored soldier. Talbot attempted to blow up the suit to destroy the city and Hulk, but Hulk threw Talbot into the air, killing him but leaving the city unharmed.
=====Curing the Hulk=====
Hulk stole a Genetic Simulator from the Enclave for Samuel Sterns to test the cure he had developed for Hulk. The Enclave then deployed a bio-weapon in New York City, shocking the citizens as the Army attempted to protect people from its effects. The Army tried to keep everyone back from the infected building, when Hulk arrived and brought Sterns into the building. Sterns activated the cure within the building while Hulk fought the Army. Once Sterns ejected himself from the building, Hulk brought him back to Empire State University.
Sterns and Banner prepared with Betty Ross to administer the cure while the Army, including Emil Blonsky, watched. The Army suddenly appeared and took Banner and Ross away while Emil Blonsky forced Sterns to turn him into what Banner was.
=====Duel of Harlem=====
The Abomination started rampaging in the streets of New York City, which Bruce Banner and Thaddeus Ross saw in a helicopter leaving the city. In order to stop Abomination, Banner jumped out of the helicopter, triggering a transformation into the Hulk. Hulk and Abomination fought, and Abomination threw a taxi at the military's helicopter, causing it to crash onto the roof of a building. Hulk extinguished the fire on the helicopter before it could explode, and Abomination arrived to attack them. Hulk defeated Abomination, throwing him on his back and punching him repeatedly. Hulk then went around the city and destroyed the remainder of the Enclave's bases, ending the threat posed by the organization.
====Steve Rogers' Friendships====
In an alternate universe, Steve Rogers grew up in New York City alongside Bucky Barnes, who would often save Rogers on the several occasions he was beaten up. Rogers attended a cartoon movie, where a man heckled the newsreel of World War II footage. Rogers stood up to the man, who decided to beat him outside. Bucky Barnes then appeared and scared the man off, scolding Rogers for his most recent attempt to enlist at Bayonne. At Barnes' suggestion, he and Rogers attended the World Exposition of Tomorrow together along with Bonnie and Connie. Rogers found an enlistment center for the United States military and, despite Barnes' pleading, decided to attempt to enlist. Rogers met with Abraham Erskine, who admired Rogers' character and decided to give him a chance.
Rogers was selected for Project Rebirth and brought to the Special Scientific Reserve's Brooklyn facility. On the drive there, Rogers recognized the neighborhood they were in and the alleys in which he was beaten up. Carter admired Rogers' refusal to run away and brought Rogers into the facility. They underwent the experiment and were successfully, as Rogers' abilities became enhanced. However, Heinz Kruger stole the final vial of serum and killed Erskine, leaving with the serum. Rogers and Carter chased Kruger into the street, and Rogers managed to keep up even as Kruger drove away. Kruger reached Pier 13 and held a child hostage, jumping into the Fieser Dorsch. However, Rogers grabbed Kruger and threw him back on the pier, demanding to know who he was. However, Kruger swallowed a cyanide pill, causing him to die. Carter comforted Rogers, explaining that he was the only super soldier. Chester Phillips was upset by the development, but Senator Brandt signed Rogers up to help with USO shows.
====Time Heist====
In an alternate 2012, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, and Scott Lang appeared in an alleyway, having travelled there from the main universe through the Quantum Realm on their mission. They arrived as the Battle of New York was ending and Stark, Rogers, and Lang infiltrated Stark Tower, while Banner went to the New York Sanctum. Rogers stole the Scepter from HYDRA's soldiers, but was stopped by his alternate self believing him to be Loki in disguise. Rogers fought his alternate self, and ultimately defeated him, retrieving the Scepter. Meanwhile, Stark and Lang organized a plan to give the native Tony Stark a heart attack and retrieve the Tesseract, but these plans were interrupted by the native Hulk bursting into the room in a fit of rage. Loki then took the Tesseract and teleported away to the Gobi Desert. Meanwhile, Banner approached the Ancient One/New York Time Heist and asked for the Time Stone, which she was first hesitant to give, worried about the future of her own reality without the stone. Banner promised to bring the stone back to the moment they left it so their reality could continue to be accepted, and the Ancient One hesitantly agreed. The Avengers reunited and discussed the results of their missions, and while Lang and Banner returned to their universe, Stark and Rogers went to Camp Lehigh in 1970 to retrieve a new Tesseract.
====Nexus Event====
During her quest to gain vengeance against the Time Variance Authority, Sylvie Laufeydottir sent a Reset Charge through a Timedoor into New York City on September 24, 1001. The Reset Charge was then detonated, triggering a Nexus event and creating a branched timeline where, the company Qeng bought Avengers Tower, turning it into the Qeng Tower. The TVA then traveled to the alternate New York City to prune the timeline.
=====Sent into the Void=====
The ruins of NYC was present in the Void along with the Qeng Tower and New York Sanctum when Loki got pruned there by the TVA.
Two Narvas were briefly running on top of one of the building near the Qeng Tower.
====Loki's Conquest====
In an alternate universe, Loki led an Asgardian invasion of Earth overnight. The next day, he went to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City with the Einherjar to declare himself the ruler of Earth.
====Zombie Apocalypse====
In an alternate 2018, New York City was infected by the Zombie Apocalypse which had taken over the world. A small group of survivors managed to fight through the zombies and establish a hideout, although the Masters of the Mystic Arts from the New York Sanctum were infected. Bruce Banner was sent to New York City by the Bifrost Bridge in order to warn people that Thanos was coming, but found the Sanctum empty. He went to investigate and found the streets empty as well, when Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw attacked. Banner prepared to fight, but Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, and Wong arrived and turned Obsidian and Maw into zombies, causing Banner to realize what had happened. Hope van Dyne and Peter Parker then arrived and fought the zombies, rescuing Banner and bringing him to their hideout.
Parker showed Banner the introductory video he had made, and the group decided to follow a distress beacon coming from Camp Lehigh to help the people there, so they drove to the train station. While investigating the station, they were attacked by a horde of zombies and Happy Hogan was turned. However, Parker and Kurt Goreshter managed to activate a train and get the survivors out of New York and going to New Jersey.
====Age of Ultron====
In an alternate universe, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner developed an artificial intelligence named Ultron which was meant to protect the world while at Avengers Tower in New York City. However, the artificial intelligence determined that the only way to protect the world was to kill all of the humans on Earth. Ultron successfully hacked the defense grids of every country, destroying New York City and its inhabitants along with the rest of the world.
====Alternate Spider-Men====
=====Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man=====
In an alternate universe, Norman Osborn, a brilliant military scientist and founder of , experimented on himself with an experimental serum, developing a murderous alter-ego known as Green Goblin. Flying around on a glider and armed with Pumpkin Bombs, Green Goblin terrorized New York City, although he was stopped by Peter Parker, who had become New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Spider-Man continued to protect the city, defending it from his idol Otto Octavius, a scientist who had become fused with four mechanical arms and became known as Doctor Octopus. He also fought Flint Marko, a criminal who fell into a supercollider and gained the ability to manipulate sand, as well as his best friend , who tried to kill him and ended up dying in his arms. When he felt the need to be alone, Spider-Man would often perch atop the Chrysler Building.
=====Amazing Spider-Man=====
In an alternate universe, Curt Connors, a scientist at , developed a serum replicating the self-healing processes of lizards with the intent of regaining his lost right arm. However, while he regained his arm, the serum had several side-effects causing him to transform into a mutant lizard. While in Lizard form, he believed that he had achieved the next stage of human evolution and attempted to release his serum throughout New York City in order to transform everyone into humanoid lizards. However, he was stopped, defeated and ultimately cured by Peter Parker, who had become the amazing Spider-Man.
Spider-Man also protected the city from Max Dillon, an engineer at Oscorp who gained electrical powers after falling into a vat of experimental eels that Oscorp had developed. Calling himself Electro, Dillon attacked the city and attempted to increase his strength by absorbing energy from a power grid. However, Spider-Man caused the grid to overload, which resulted in Electro's demise. Finding himself responsible for the death of , Spider-Man became rageful. When he felt the need to be alone, Spider-Man would often perch atop the .
====Illuminati Assembled====
=====Founding of the Illuminati=====
In an alternate universe, Doctor Strange established the Illuminati in an attempt to protect the Earth and make difficult decisions for humanity. A headquarters for the Illuminati was established in New York City. The Illuminati became aware that Thanos was coming for them, so Strange went against the Illuminati's advice and used the Darkhold to find a way to kill Thanos. This triggered an Incursion, which the Illuminati stopped by destroying the other universe involved. Black Bolt killed Strange to protect the world from him, and a funeral was held in which he was honored as a hero. Strange was a commemorated with a large statue in front of the New York Sanctum, which Karl Mordo took over. Meanwhile, Christine Palmer agreed to join the Baxter Foundation and work for the Illuminati.
=====Arrival of an Alternate Strange=====
Doctor Strange and America Chavez landed in the Illuminati's universe while fleeing from the Scarlet Witch and began navigating New York City. Chavez went to find food and stole pizza balls from Pizza Poppa, who attempted to get her to pay. However, Strange enchanted Pizza Poppa to repeated punch himself for weeks and they kept moving. They came across a place which played people's memories, and Strange watched himself on a date with his universe's Christine Palmer. Strange wanted to move on, but Chavez quickly used the device to see her moms again.
Strange and Chavez reached the New York Sanctum, hoping to talk to the universe's native Strange, but instead learned that he was dead and came across Karl Mordo. Mordo greeted Strange and Chavez with open arms and gave them tea while explaining the danger that the Scarlet Witch posed if she attempted to dreamwalk into their universe. However, Mordo poisoned the tea and used it to kidnap Strange and Chavez so they could be brought to the Illuminati Headquarters.
Strange and Chavez woke up to find themselves being tested by the universe's native Christine Palmer. The Illuminati then agreed to meet with Strange, who was escorted to their meeting room by Ultron Sentries. Each member of the Illuminati introduced themselves, and the group explained to Strange the true history of his alternate self. Strange attempted to get the Illuminati to understand how dangerous the Scarlet Witch was, but the Illuminati were too focused on the threat which Strange posed to listen.
=====Illuminati Dissembled=====
While the Illuminati focused on Doctor Strange, Wanda Maximoff dreamwalked into her alternate self and went to the Illuminati Headquarters to get to Chavez. Maximoff fought through all of the Ultron Sentries which attacked her and approached Chavez, attempting to kill her. The Illuminati intervened and prepared to fight Maximoff, but she easily killed all of its members. She prepared to kill Chavez, but found that Christine Palmer had freed her and fled with her. Meanwhile, Professor X told Strange to protect Chavez, but Karl Mordo was not ready to let Strange go. Strange and Mordo fought, and Strange left Mordo trapped in the conference room while he ran and met with Palmer and Chavez. The three ran under the headquarters, pursued by Maximoff and escaped to the Gap Junction. The native Maximoff was freed from her alternate self's control and returned from the Gap Junction, rushing back to Westview to her children. Palmer was returned later by Chavez.
====Destruction via Incursion====
In an alternate universe, Doctor Strange attended Christine Palmer's wedding and became overwhelmed with sadness as he was not the one marrying her. He began dreamwalking into alternate versions of himself looking for a universe where he was happy, but could not find one. Driven to madness, Strange started killing his alternate selves, resulting in an Incursion which destroyed New York City and the rest of the universe. Strange remained in isolation in the New York Sanctum.
Some time later, an alternate Doctor Strange and Christine Palmer arrived in New York City while fleeing from the Scarlet Witch. Wanting to return to Strange's native universe and save America Chavez, the pair went to the New York Sanctum in an attempt to talk to the native Strange. Palmer stayed outside while the alternate Strange talked to the native Strange, who explained what he had done in triggering the incursion. The two fought for the Darkhold, and the alternate Strange overwhelmed the native Strange, resulting in the latter's death.
Palmer rushed upstairs to join the alternate Strange, who used the Darkhold to dreamwalk into the corpse of his alternate self's corpse and rescue Chavez. Meanwhile, Palmer defended Strange from the Souls of the Damned. Once the battle was won, Chavez came to New York City to return Strange and Palmer to their native realities.
====Earth-10005====
To be added
==Notable Inhabitants==
*Aisha Axton
*Abe Brown
*Amy Bendix
*Aaron Davis
*Abraham Erskine
*Anne Marie Hoag
*Alisa Jones
*Angie Martinelli
*Anatoly Ranskahov
*Alexandra Reid
*Albert Thompson
*Adrian Toomes
*Alex Wesley
*Andre Wilson
*Armand Duquesne III
*Armand Duquesne VII
*Bakuto
*BB
*Bethany
*Bristow
*Bruce Banner 
*Bucky Barnes (formerly) 
*Betty Brant
*Benjamin Donovan
*Brad Davis
*Bobby Fish
*Brianna Gelden
*Barry Hapgood
*Brett Mahoney
*Brigid O'Reilly
*Benjamin Poindexter
*Billy Russo
*Blake Tower
*Ben Urich
*Clair
*Char
*Cobbwell
*Clint Barton
*Christian Blake
*Carl Creel
*Carl Hoffman
*Curtis Hoyle
*Curt Connors
*Connie Lin
*Cole Miller
*Cindy Moon
*Charles Murphy
*Candace Miller
*Christine Palmer
*Chess Roberts
*Cornell Stokes
*Claire Temple
*Colleen Wing
*Chen Wu
*Donald
*Davos
*Darryl
*Delmar
*Domingo Colon
*Donnie Chang
*D.W. Griffith
*Dontrell Hamilton
*Donald Hooper
*Daisy Johnson
*Darius Jones
*David Lieberman
*Dinah Madani
*Danny Rand
*Daniel Sousa
*David Schultz
*Doris Toomes	
*Dottie Underwood
*Doris Urich
*Dorothy Walker
*Elena Cardenas
*Eddy Costa
*Erik Gelden
*Edwin Jarvis
*Eleanor Bishop
*Etta Lucas
*Elektra Natchios
*Erik Selvig
*Francis
*Felix Manning
*Foster
*Frank Castle
*Frank Castle, Jr.
*Farah Madani
*Foggy Nelson
*Flash Thompson
*Gillian
*Gilbert
*Grace Bennett
*Griffin Sinclair
*Gregory Sallinger
*Hirochi
*Hex
*Hernán Álvarez
*Happy Hogan
*Howard Stark
*Hugh Jones
*Harold Meachum
*Hope Shlottman
*Hai-Qing Yang
*Inez Green
*Isaac Lange
*Ingrid Mackintosh
*Josie
*Jackson
*José
*Jackson Brice
*Julie Barnes
*Julius Dell
*John Flynn
*Justin Hammer
*Jeri Hogarth
*Jason Ionello
*Jessica Jones
*J. Jonah Jameson
*James Lucas
*Jack Murdock
*Joy Meachum
*John McIver
*Jake Nelson
*Jonathan Pangborn
*John Pilgrim
*Joel Spurlock
*Jack Thompson
*Jack Duquesne
*James Wesley
*Kazi Kazimierczak
*Kyle
*Krista Dumont
*Kith Lyonne
*Karl Malus
*Karen Page
*Kate Bishop (formerly) 
*Kevin Thompson
*Leah
*Luke Cage
*Lucky (formerly) 
*Lisa Castle	
*Louisa Delgado
*Loud Jerk
*Leo Lieberman
*Leland Owlsley
*Lexi Raymond
*Louise Thompson
*Liz Allan
*Lonnie Wilson
*Lawrence Wilkins
*Lewis Wilson
*Morita
*Megan
*Murakami
*Mark Bailey
*Maria Castle
*Malcolm Ducasse
*Mariah Dillard
*Mitchell Ellison
*Miriam Fry
*Madame Gao
*Mac Gargan
*Maggie Grace
*Maria Hill
*Marion James
*Michelle Jones
*Misty Knight
*Missy
*Matt Murdock
*Megan McLaren
*Miles Morales
*May Parker
*Maya Lopez
*Maria Rodriguez
*Michelle Raymond
*Marci Stahl
*Mabel Stokes
*Maury Tuttlebaum
*Monica Warren
*Mary Walker
*Man on Bench
*Max Dillon
*Murph
*Nicole
*Noah Burstein
*Nick Fury
*Ned Leeds
*Nicholas Lee
*Natasha Romanoff
*Nandi Tyler
*Nicodemus West
*Nobu Yoshioka
*Norman Osborn
*Orville
*Oscar Arocho
*Oscar Clemons
*Otto Octavius
*Pam
*Phillip
*Peggy Carter (formerly)
*Pryce Cheng
*Paul Edmonds
*Pat Kiernan
*Paul Lantom
*Phineas Mason
*Paul Mackintosh
*Pepper Potts
*Peter Parker
*Priscilla Ridley
*Peter Stokes
*Patricia Wilson
*Ruben	
*Robyn
*Ryhno
*Reva Connors
*Rosalie Carbone
*Roger Dooley
*Rafael Hernandez
*Roger Harrington
*Raymond Jones
*Ray Krzeminski
*Ray Nadeem
*Rose Roberts
*Roscoe Sweeney
*Ray Schoonover
*Rafael Scarfe
*Russell Bishop
*Ruth Sunday
*Randy Vale
*Rocky
*Rocky
*Saunders
*Stick
*Strieber
*Shelby
*Sugar
*Sheldon
*Sowande
*Strieber
*Sally Avril
*Shirley Benson
*Steven Benowitz
*Sam Chung
*Stan Gibson
*Sarah Lieberman
*Stephanie Miller
*Seema Nadeem
*Sami Nadeem
*Steve Rogers (formerly)
*Samantha Reyes
*Shane Ryback
*Seymour O'Reilly
*Sam Stein
*Samuel Sterns
*Stephen Strange
*Sherry Yang
*Torx
*Todd
*Turk Barrett
*Tammy Hattley
*Tilda Johnson
*Theo Nelson
*Tony Stark (formerly)
*Tiny McKeever
*Tom Ridenhour
*Trish Walker
*Thembi Wallace
*Vido Arocho
*Vanessa Marianna
*Vladimir Ranskahov
*Wilson Fisk
*Wendy Ross-Hogarth
*Ward Meachum
*Wendell Rand
*William Rawlins
*William Lopez
*Will Simpson
*Willis Stryker
*Watcher Informant (temporarily)
*Yori Nakajima
*Zip
*Zach Lieberman
*Zaya Okonjo
==Layout==
New York City is composed of five different boroughs: , , , and , that have the same boundaries as a county of the state of New York.
======
====Neighborhoods====
*
*Iron Fist
*
*
*
*
*Daredevil
*
*
*
*
*Times Square
*
*
====Landmarks====
*10th Precinct Police Station
*15th Precinct Police Station
*29th Precinct Police Station
*4th Precinct Police Station
*93rd Diner
*Abandoned Building
*Abandoned Warehouse
*Abe Lebewhol Park
*
*Albert Thompson's Apartment
*Alexander Hamilton Bridge
*All Saints Hospital
*Andrew Brandt's Apartment
*Antoine Grier's Apartment
*Anvil Headquarters
*Anvil Training Facility
*Anwar Grocery
*Apartment 412
*Apollo Theater
*ARN Broadcasting Center
*ATF Field Office
*Avengers Tower
*Baskin-Robbins
*Bailey's Auction House
*
*Bayard Community Center
*Ben Urich's Apartment
*Benjamin Poindexter's Apartment
*Birch Psychiatric Hospital
*BLVD Bistro
*Bowery Savings Bank
*Brasserie
*
*Broadway Restaurant
*Burren Club
*Calderwood Auction House
*Carson Wolf's Residence
*Cassaro Gallery
*Central Park
*
*Cheng Consulting Management Offices
*Chikara Dojo
*Chris French Cleaners
*Chrysler Building
*Circo's Pastry Shop
*Claire Temple's Apartment
*Clinton Church
*Club Alias
*Cockroach's Casino Warehouse
*Coffee A Go-Go
*Cole Miller's Apartment
*Colleen O'Brien's Apartment
*Colon's Gym
*Columbia University
*Columbia University Medical Center
*
*
*Court Square Diner
*Cotton Club
*Crane Sisters' Tattoo Shop
*Crispus Attucks Complex
*Curtis Hoyle's Apartment
*Daisy Clover Milk Factory
*Danny Rand's Penthouse
*David Schultz's Apartment
*Delaney Hall
*Diamondback's Warehouse Hideout
*Dinah Madani's Apartment
*Dogs of Hell's Club
*Dontrell Hamilton's Apartment
*Dorothy Walker's Apartment
*Duncan + Dotter Design Office
*Duke's Pool Hall
*East Brook Building
*Eastern Regional Detention Center
*Elektra Natchios' Penthouse
*Elena Cardenas' Apartment
*Ellison Residence
*Elmore's Bar
*Empire State Building
*Erik Gelden's Apartment
*Esther Falb's Residence
*Fisk Residence
*Fogwell's Gym
*
*
*Franklin Deli Market
*Frank Choi's Furniture
*Frankie's Famous 24-Hour Pawnshop
*Frederick Douglass Hospital
*Genghis Connie's
*Genghis Connie's Too
*Ginny's Supper Club
*Goldie's Gym
*Golden Sands
*
*Grand Central Station
*Grayburn College
*Greenleaf Veterinary
*Greenpoint Pier
*Gregory Sallinger's Apartment
*Griffith Hotel
*GT Agrochemical Office
*Hauser's Bakery
*Harlem's Paradise
*Harlem Jets Practice Field
*Harlem Women's Clinic
*Harold Meachum's Penthouse
*Hell's Kitchen Club
*Hogarth Residence
*Hogarth, Chao & Benowitz Office
*Hogarth & Associates Law Office
*Holiday Residence
*Homeland Security Headquarters
*Hope Shlottman's Apartment
*Hotel Cosmopolitan
*Hotel Travel Inn
*Howard Stark's Penthouse
*Hudson Ferry Terminal
*Hudson Street Market
*Il Rosso
*Industrial Garments & Handling Facility
*Irie Taxi Garage
*Jack Murdock's House
*James Wong's Apartment
*Jarvis Residence
*Jeri Hogarth's Apartment
*Jessica Jones' Apartment Building
**Alias Investigations Office
**Apartment 6F
**Malcolm Ducasse's Apartment
**Robyn's Apartment
*Joe's Pizza
*John Raymond's Hideout
*Josie's Bar
*Joy Meachum's Apartment
*Jonas & James
*
*Justin Boden's Penthouse
*Karen Page's Apartment
*Kilgrave's Apartment
*Kirschner and Brown Building
*Kozlov Residence
*Krista Dumont's Apartment
*L&L Automat
*La Martinique
*Landman and Zack Building
*
*
*
*Linello's
*Love By The Sea
*Luke's
*Luke Cage's Apartment
*Luke Cage Heroin Warehouse
*Madame Gao's Warehouse
*Madani Residence
*Madison Square Garden
*Malus Residence
*Manhattan Bridge
*Marci Stahl's Apartment
*
*Mariah Dillard's Brownstone
*Mary Walker's Apartment
*Matt Murdock's Apartment
*McDonald's
*McFeeney's
*Meachum Residence
*Melvin Potter's Workshop
*Merlin Discount Furniture
*Metro Diner
*Metro-General Hospital
*Micro's Hideout
*Midland Circle
*Misty Knight's Apartment
*Mother's Touch
*Mount Calvary Baptist Church
*
*Muñoz & Sons Mortuary
*Murphy's
*Museum of Modern Art
*Nelson and Murdock Law Office
*Nelson's Meats
*Neptune's World Aquarium
*New York Academy of Medicine
*New York Bell Company Office
*New York Bulletin Building
*New York City Emergency Department
*New York City FBI Office
*New York City Hall
*New York Sanctum
*New York State Supreme Court Building
*New York University
*Niku
*Nonna's
*Northeastern Correctional Facility
*Nouvet Hotel
*Olive Tree Deli
*
*Patseras Residence
*
*Phoenix Bar
*Pier 22 Warehouse
*Pier 81 Warehouse
*Plaza Hotel
*Pop's Barber Shop
*Press Lounge Restaurant
*Punisher's Hideout
*
*Rafael Scarfe's Apartment
*Rand Enterprises Building
*Raymond Residence
*Red Rooster
*Red Fish Blue Restaurant
*Restaurant Orsay
*Riverbank Medical Center
*Robert Coleman's Apartment
*Rockefeller Center
*Roger Willis Children's Clinic
*Rosalie Carbone's Office
*Roscoe Sweeney's Mansion
*Rossmont Clubhouse
*Roxxon Oil Corporation Headquarters
*Royal Dragon
*Royal Hospitality
*
*Rudy's Bar & Grill
*Ruiz Bodega
*Russian Hideout
*Ryhno's Gang Hideout
*S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
*Sacred Saints Cemetery
*Sacred Saints Hospital
*Saint Agnes Orphanage
*
*Sally's Wig Store
*Scene Contempo Gallery
*Serena Grier's Apartment
*Seth Honicky's Dentistry Office
*Shady Acres Care Home
*Shane Ryback's Apartment
*Shawarma Palace
*Shirley Chisholm Complex
*Silver Lotus
*Slice City
*
*SoHo House
*Soledad Temple's Apartment
*Sonia's Apartment
*Sonny's Grocery
*Spurlock's Mortuary
*Square Diner
*St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church
*
*Stark Mansion
*Stars & Tykes Talent Agency
*Statue of Liberty
*Stephen Strange's Apartment
*Stirling Adams' Apartment
*Strategic Scientific Reserve New York Office
*
*Stylers' Grow House
*Sugardaddy's
*Thomas Moreau Concert Hall
*Thompson Square Free Clinic
*Three Roads Bar
*Times Square
*Tipsy Tilly's Bar
*Todd White's Apartment
*Train Diner
*
*Trish Walker's Apartment
*Trish Walker's Hideout
*Troika Restaurant
*Trouble in a Pair-of-Dice
*Tryon Public House
*Turk Barrett's Shop
*Tutto Ilgiorno
*Underground Fight Club
*UMD Urgent Care
*United Nations Headquarters
*United Palace Theatre
*Uptown Investments Building
*Uptown Theater
*Van Lunt Building
*Veles Taxi Garage
*Wai-Go Industries Warehouse
*Wall of the Chaste
*Whiskers
*Wilson Fisk's Penthouse
*WNEX Station
*Yakatomi Building
*Yang Mansion
*Yangsi Gonshi Chop Shop
*Yangsi Gonshi Warehouse
*ZCN Broadcasting Center
*Zoey Lyonne Art School
======
====Neighborhoods====
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
====Landmarks====
*Arthur Walsh's Residence
*Bay Ridge Rail Yard
*Barnes Residence
*Brooklyn Bridge
**
*Clinica Sonando
*Cocoon
*Coney Island
*Decommissioned CDC Facility
*Ebbets Field
*Fisk Shipping Yard
*Gwen's
*Gothic Renaissance
*Hand's Brooklyn Warehouse
*Izzy
*Irie Taxi Garage
*Kazan's Gym
*Nakajima Residence
*
*Red Hook Pier
*Rogers Residence
*Roxxon Refinery
*Strategic Scientific Reserve Brooklyn Facility
*Yardies' Hideout
======
====Neighborhoods====
*
====Landmarks====
*Adrian Toomes' Headquarters
*Citi Field
*Delmar's Deli-Grocery
*Delmar's Deli & Grill
*Denton Residence
*Hammer Industries Headquarters
*Happy Hogan's Condominium
*JFK International Airport
*LaGuardia Airport
*Korean Church of Asgard
*Lieberman Residence
*Long Island City Rail Terminal
*Lyonne Residence
*Midtown School of Science and Technology
*Mount Zion Cemetery
*NYPD Crime Laboratory
*O'Connor Residence
*Parker Residence
*Pete's Diner and Grill
*Prachya Thai
*Queens Community Bank
*Rand Enterprises Research Facility
*
*Saint Michael's Cemetery
*
*
*Stark Expo
*Toomes Residence
*Valhalla
*Whitestone Lanes
*Wilson Residence
======
====Neighborhoods====
*
====Landmarks====
*Graniteville Diner
*Rand Enterprises Chemical Plant
======
====Neighborhoods====
*
====Landmarks====
*
*
*
*High Bridge
*
*
*
===Other Landmarks===
*Blaskowski Residence
*Castle Residence
*Clive's Photo Studio
*Conservatory Hotel
*Eden Towers
*Edgecombe Funeral House
*Farm
*Fat Man Auto Repair
*Golden Tigers' Hideout
*Hattley Residence
*Howard Stark's Warehouse
*Jake Nelson's Apartment
*Jigsaw's Hideout
*Jonathan Pangborn's Workshop
*Lyndhurst Home for Boys
*Melvin Potter's New Workshop
*Nadeem Residence
*Philip Cabroni's Apartment
*ReadyQuick Check Cashing
*Riviera Psychiatric Institute
*Schoonover Residence
*Shirlyn Cesar Building
*SAC Imports Airport
*Stark Industries New York Facility
*Walker Residence
*Willie Dance Community Center
==Appearances==
Appearances for New York City
In chronological order:
*Captain America: First Vengeance (flashbacks)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Six
***New Life (alternate timeline)
**Season Seven
***The New Deal (alternate timeline)
***Know Your Onions (alternate timeline)
*Captain America: The First Avenger
*Agent Carter
**Season One
***Now is Not the End
****The Edge of Mystery (flashbacks)
***Bridge and Tunnel
***Time and Tide
***The Blitzkrieg Button
***The Iron Ceiling
***A Sin to Err
***SNAFU
***Valediction
**Season Two
***The Lady in the Lake
***Better Angels (mentioned)
***The Atomic Job (mentioned)
***Hollywood Ending (mentioned)
*Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Seven
***Out of the Past (alternate timeline)
***A Trout in the Milk (alternate timeline)
***Stolen (alternate timeline)
***The End is at Hand (alternate timeline)
***What We're Fighting For (alternate timeline)
*Secret Invasion
**Season One
***Betrayed (flashback)
*Iron Man (mentioned)
*The Avengers Prelude: Fury's Big Week
*Iron Man 2
*The Incredible Hulk
*Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (mentioned)
*The Avengers: Iron Man Mark VII
*The Avengers
**Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey (flashback)
**Hawkeye
***Season One
****Never Meet Your Heroes (flashback)
**Iron Man 3 Prelude (concurrent events)
**Thor: The Dark World Prelude (concurrent events)
*Avengers: Endgame (alternate universe)
**Loki
***Season One
****Glorious Purpose (alternate universe)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Four
***Broken Promises (flashback)
*Spider-Man: Homecoming (flashback)
*Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 (mentioned)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season One
***Pilot
***FZZT (mentioned)
*Thor: The Dark World (mentioned)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season One
***The Bridge (mentioned)
***The Magical Place (mentioned)
***T.A.H.I.T.I. (mentioned)
*Captain America: Homecoming
*Captain America: The Winter Soldier
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Two
***Shadows
*Daredevil
**Season One
***Into the Ring
***Cut Man
***Rabbit in a Snowstorm
***In the Blood
***World on Fire
***Condemned
***Stick
***Shadows in the Glass
***Speak of the Devil
***Nelson v. Murdock
***The Path of the Righteous
***The Ones We Leave Behind
***Daredevil
*Jessica Jones
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Two
***A Fractured House
*Jessica Jones
**Season One
***AKA Ladies Night
***AKA Crush Syndrome
***AKA It's Called Whiskey
***AKA 99 Friends
***AKA The Sandwich Saved Me
***AKA You're a Winner!
***AKA Top Shelf Perverts
***AKA WWJD?
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Two
***One of Us
*Jessica Jones
**Season One
***AKA Sin Bin
***AKA 1,000 Cuts
***AKA I've Got the Blues
***AKA Take a Bloody Number
***AKA Smile
*Avengers: Age of Ultron
*Daredevil
**Season Two
***Bang
***Dogs to a Gunfight
***New York's Finest
***Penny and Dime
***Kinbaku
***Regrets Only
***Semper Fidelis
*Luke Cage
**Season One
***Moment of Truth
*Daredevil
**Season Two
***Guilty as Sin
*Luke Cage
**Season One
***Code of the Streets
*Daredevil
**Season Two
***Seven Minutes in Heaven
*Luke Cage
**Season One
***Who's Gonna Take the Weight?
***Step in the Arena
*Daredevil
**Season Two
***The Man in the Box
***.380
*Luke Cage
**Season One
***Just to Get a Rep
*Daredevil
**Season Two
***The Dark at the End of the Tunnel
***A Cold Day in Hell's Kitchen
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Three
***Laws of Nature (mentioned)
*Luke Cage
**Season One
***Suckas Need Bodyguards
***Manifest
***Blowin' Up the Spot
***DWYCK
***Take It Personal
***Now You're Mine
***Soliloquy of Chaos
***You Know My Steez
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Three
***Among Us Hide... (mentioned)
***Chaos Theory
*What If...?
**Season Two
***What If... Strange Supreme Intervened? (alternate universe)
*Iron Fist
**Season One
***Snow Gives Way
***Shadow Hawk Takes Flight
***Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch
***Eight Diagram Dragon Palm
***Under Leaf Pluck Lotus
***Immortal Emerges from Cave
***Felling Tree with Roots
***The Blessing of Many Fractures
***The Mistress of All Agonies
***Lead Horse Back to Stable
***Dragon Plays with Fire
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Three
***Watchdogs (mentioned)
***Spacetime
*WHiH Newsfront
**Season Two
***WHIH Newsfront: The Cost of Saving the World (footage)
*Doctor Strange
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Five
***Rise and Shine (mentioned in a flasback)
*WHiH Newsfront
**Season Two
***WHIH Newsfront: The Avengers and The White House (footage)
***WHIH Newsfront Exclusive: President Ellis Discusses the Avengers (footage)
*The Defenders
**Season One
***The H Word
***Mean Right Hook
***Worst Behavior
***Royal Dragon
***Take Shelter
***Ashes, Ashes
***Fish in the Jailhouse
***The Defenders
*Captain America: Civil War
**Spider-Man: Homecoming Prelude
**Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey (mentioned in flashback)
*Black Panther (mentioned)
*Spider-Man: Homecoming
*The Punisher
**The Punisher
***3 AM
***Two Dead Men
***Kandahar
***Resupply
***Gunner
***The Judas Goat
***Crosshairs
***Cold Steel
***Front Toward Enemy
***Virtue of the Vicious
***Danger Close
***Home
***Memento Mori
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Three
***Ascension (newspaper)
*Doctor Strange
*Cloak & Dagger
**Season One
***Stained Glass (mentioned)
***Princeton Offense (mentioned)
***Colony Collapse (mentioned)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Four
***Meet the New Boss (mentioned)
***Broken Promises (mentioned)
*Jessica Jones
**Season Two
***AKA Start at the Beginning
***AKA Freak Accident
***AKA Sole Survivor
***AKA God Help the Hobo
***AKA The Octopus
***AKA Facetime
***AKA I Want Your Cray Cray
***AKA Ain't We Got Fun
***AKA Shark in the Bathtub, Monster in the Bed
***AKA Pork Chop
***AKA Three Lives and Counting
***AKA Pray for My Patsy
***AKA Playland
*Luke Cage
**Season Two
***Soul Brother #1
***Straighten It Out
***Wig Out
***I Get Physical
***All Souled Out
***The Basement
***On and On
***If It Ain't Rough, It Ain't Right
***For Pete's Sake
***The Main Ingredient
***The Creator
***Can't Front on Me
***They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)
*Iron Fist
**Season Two
***The Fury of Iron Fist
***The City's Not for Burning
***This Deadly Secret
***Target: Iron Fist
***Heart of the Dragon
***The Dragon Dies at Dawn
***Morning of the Mindstorm
***Citadel on the Edge of Vengeance
***War Without End
***A Duel of Iron
*Doctor Strange
*Daredevil
**Season Three
***Resurrection
***Please
***No Good Deed
***Blindsided
***The Perfect Game
***The Devil You Know
***Aftermath
***Upstairs/Downstairs
***Revelations
***Karen
***Reunion
***One Last Shot
***A New Napkin
*Cloak & Dagger
**Season Two
***Restless Energy (picture)
***Shadow Selves (mentioned)
***B Sides (mentioned)
***Blue Note (picture)
*Thor: Ragnarok
**Doctor Strange (concurrent events)
*Avengers: Infinity War: The Heroes' Journey
*Runaways
**Season One
***Fifteen (mentioned)
***Doomsday (mentioned)
***Hostile (mentioned)
*Jessica Jones
**Season Three
***AKA The Perfect Burger
***AKA You're Welcome
***AKA I Have No Spleen
***AKA Customer Service is Standing By
***AKA I Wish
***AKA Sorry Face
***AKA The Double Half-Wappinger
***AKA Camera Friendly
***AKA I Did Something Today
***AKA Hero Pants
***AKA Hellcat
***AKA A Lotta Worms
***AKA Everything
*The Punisher
**Season Two
***Roadhouse Blues
***Fight or Flight
***Trouble the Water
***Scar Tissue
***One-Eyed Jacks
***Nakazat
***One Bad Day
***My Brother's Keeper
***Flustercluck
***The Dark Hearts of Men
***The Abyss
***Collision Course
***The Whirlwind
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Five
***Rise and Shine (mentioned)
*Avengers: Infinity War
*Hawkeye
**Season One
***Ronin (mentioned in a flashback)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Five
***Option Two (mentioned)
*Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
**Season Seven
***What We're Fighting For (mentioned)
*Helstrom
**Season One
***The One Who Got Away (newspaper)
*Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (alternate universe)
*Hawkeye
**Season One
***Echoes (flashback)
*Avengers: Endgame
*WandaVision
**Season One
***The Series Finale (memory)
*The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
**Season One
***New World Order
***The Star-Spangled Man
***Power Broker (mentioned)
***Truth
***One World, One People
*Spider-Man: Far From Home
*Spider-Man: No Way Home
*Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
*Hawkeye
**Season One
***Never Meet Your Heroes
***Hide and Seek
***Echoes
***Partners, Am I Right?
***Ronin
***So This Is Christmas?
*Deadpool & Wolverine (alternate universe)
*Moon Knight
**Season One
***The Goldfish Problem (picture)
*She-Hulk: Attorney at Law 
**Season One 
***Superhuman Law (mentioned)
***The People vs. Emil Blonsky (mentioned)
***Ribbit and Rip It (mentioned)
*Ms. Marvel
**Season One 
***Generation Why 
***No Normal
*The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (mentioned)
*The Marvels
*Spider-Man 4 (unreleased)
*Loki
**Season One
***The Variant (monitor)
***The Nexus Event (alternate universe)
***Journey Into Mystery (alternate universe)
==References==
==External Links==
*
*
es:Ciudad de Nueva York
fr:New York
ru:Нью-Йорк
Category:Locations
Category:Cities
Category:The Incredible Hulk Locations
Category:Iron Man 2 Locations
Category:Captain America: The First Avenger Locations
Category:The Avengers Locations
Category:Iron Man 3 Locations
Category:Captain America: The Winter Soldier Locations
Category:Avengers: Age of Ultron Locations
Category:Captain America: Civil War Locations
Category:Doctor Strange (film) Locations
Category:Spider-Man: Homecoming Locations
Category:Thor: Ragnarok Locations
Category:Avengers: Infinity War Locations
Category:Avengers: Endgame Locations
Category:Spider-Man: Far From Home Locations
Category:Spider-Man: No Way Home Locations
Category:Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Locations
Category:The Marvels Locations
Category:Deadpool & Wolverine Locations
Category:Thunderbolts* Locations
Category:The Fantastic Four: First Steps Locations
Category:Marvel One-Shots Locations
Category:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Locations
Category:Agent Carter (TV series) Locations
Category:Daredevil (TV series) Locations
Category:Jessica Jones (TV series) Locations
Category:Luke Cage (TV series) Locations
Category:Iron Fist (TV series) Locations
Category:The Defenders Locations
Category:The Punisher Locations
Category:The Falcon and The Winter Soldier Locations
Category:Loki (TV series) Locations
Category:What If...? Locations
Category:Hawkeye (TV series) Locations
Category:Ms. Marvel (TV series) Locations
Category:She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Locations
Category:Secret Invasion (TV series) Locations
Category:Echo (TV series) Locations
Category:Daredevil: Born Again Locations
Category:Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (TV series) Locations
Category:WHiH Newsfront (web series) Locations
Category:Comics Locations
Category:Book Locations
Category:Video Games Locations