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spectacled-renegade-writes · 8 months

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An Early Start - Chapter 5 - Danny Phantom

Ao3: Here | Chapter 1: Here

Ao3 Description: The accident that turns Danny half-ghost happens when he is four years old and leaves him trapped in the Ghost Zone. Clockwork finds him and takes him in to raise. But what happens when Clockwork sends Danny back to the human-world ten years later when a permanent portal appears?

Chapter 5:

As the years passed, and Danny grew from a child to a tween, he slowly grew much more reserved within himself. It was hard to explain but… being alone with your thoughts for so many years… it was practically inevitable, how jaded he grew. Nevertheless, Danny still enjoyed his life. He enjoyed learning, reading, the deep conversations he had with Clockwork, who he now considered a father, and visiting the far reaches of the Ghost Zone.

After Danny perfected the art of his ice powers, Clockwork finally agreed to teach Danny the layout of this world, and the dangers within it. However, only when the day came that Danny knew his way around by heart, did Clockwork finally give him permission to explore on his own. It was a new kind of freedom that Danny relished.

Still, he should have been more aware of the dangers.

It started during a peaceful outing when he was eleven. Danny spent less and less time at home and more and more time in the deepest depths of the Ghost Zone, exploring every nook and cranny. But one thing always remained constant. He always returned home. Without fail. So, when he didn’t, it wasn’t difficult for Clockwork to figure what went wrong. But the boy always was one to learn by doing, and he knew the boy would return home, so Clockwork waited. It was about time this happened.

Danny found himself in a place he’s never been before. Excitedly, Danny pulled out his own makeshift map of the Ghost Zone, sat on a rock, and began to add to it. The air here seemed stale in a way he couldn’t really describe, and it seemed desolate as if abandoned, rather than life that never was. Though it did not affect him, he became aware of the chill that surrounded air. It almost seemed… haunted. Danny thought back to Clockwork’s lesson on irony.

Nevertheless, he persevered. After drawing what he could see, he moved forward, beyond the gray fog which lay ahead. It seemed almost like a barrier, in a way, but Danny was easily able to breach it.

The sight before him once he reached the other side was nothing short of fantastical. He found himself greeted with a large village, a large moat and an even larger castle. It felt like he fell back in time and got pulled to a whole new world all at once; fantasy and history come to life. It was truly a sight to behold. Yet… despite that, it also felt bleak… and grim. Almost despondent even, and it wasn’t long before his presence there became known.

“Who dares trespass on my domain?!”

The sight which appeared before him was a creature even more fantastical than the castle he was greeted with. Appearing from smoke and flame a dragon larger than any ghost Danny has ever encountered rose to the sky. The force of its large, purple wings flapping in the wind nearly knocked him back but he steeled himself and stood his ground… or rather his place in the sky. Yet, despite himself, Danny felt intimidated. For a single masochistic moment, he relished the feeling. Growing up as Clockwork’s ward left him with a certain kind of immunity in the Ghost Zone. But, seeing the rage in the dragon’s dilated, red eyes quickly extinguished those feelings. “I’m… Danny.”

“Danny?”

He cleared his throat. “Yes. Danny… Phantom.” He didn’t know why he said it. He has never been referred to with such a name before. But, for years now, he has felt more ghost than human, and he can’t remember the last time he has been referred to as Fenton either. After all this time that name felt foreign to him, separate. So, Danny Phantom.

“Well, Danny Phantom,” The dragon spit. “You have trespassed on my domain and for that, you must perish!” It wasn’t a moment later that the dragon charged. Danny dodged out of the way but the dragon whipped its head back, opened its mouth, and shot a large burst of fire at him. Danny reacted quickly and shot out his own blast of ice. The two attacks met in the middle and for a moment, struggled to gain the upper hand. But, the dragon won, and his flames melted the ice and hit Danny square in the chest. Danny yelped and went flying back, hitting the wall of the castle and sliding down to the ground. The dragon charged toward him and Danny quickly reached up and shot an ecto-blast from his hands. The attack did not slow the dragon in the slightest and in one fell swoop, he scooped Danny in his claws, shoved him against the wall, and slammed him to the ground.

“Please,” Danny begged. It was perhaps the first time since he was four that he felt such raw fear. “I didn’t mean to trespass. Please, just let me go. I promise I’ll leave and never return.”

“It is far too late for that, child.” The dragon snarled. “You are here and you must pay.” Either this ghost has never heard of Clockwork before, or cared not of his reputation and power. “Now, prepare to burn!”

Danny did not want to die. He wondered, not for the first time, if he fully died, lost his human half, would he disappear completely, or would his ghost half remain? It was a question that plagued him for years now but was the only question he never asked Clockwork. He feared the answer. Now, here he lay, trapped in the claws of a monster, about to learn that answer.

No. No! Not yet. It couldn’t end like this. It couldn’t! Not yet! Danny screamed, something as guttural and primal as his overwhelming fear. A sound of anguish and terror ripped from his throat. Everything he was and everything he feared, nothing and everything all at once. He could not accept this death, not for anything. Before he knew what was going on, the feeling of simultaneous power and weakness overwhelmed him, and the dragon tumbled backward, letting out a screech of its own. Black dots danced before Danny’s vision but he knew he could not stop now. With the last of his remaining strength, ignoring the way the familiar rings of white light surrounded him, he pushed off the ground and flew through the air. With a cry, he breached those gray clouds once again and escaped the fantastical land he’d stumbled upon. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the familiar sight of the Ghost Zone he knew.

Danny came to at the tower. His home. Clockwork’s home. He felt fuzzy but there was no moment of confusion, no moment where he tried to remember what happened. He knew what happened. Danny rubbed his throat. He was unaware such a wail was a power he possessed. He wondered if Clockwork knew. Somehow, he knew he did.

“So, Danny Phantom, huh?”

Danny sat up properly and looked around. They were in Danny’s room at the top of the tower, a room Clockwork gave to him as his own many years ago, and saw Clockwork staring out the ceiling length window, fiddling with the scepter he always carried.

“If you knew, why didn’t you help me?” Danny asked. He watched as Clockwork moved on to rewind another cog.

“Because I knew you would make it out,” he finally turned to face Danny. He had that ever present all-knowing smile on his face. “And if I came to help you… it would be many years before you discovered the new power you possess.”

Danny mulled that over. In another world perhaps he’d be angry at Clockwork for this. And perhaps in this world he still couldn’t help but feel just the slightest bit annoyed. But, he’s also known Clockwork for years. So, he was more aware than perhaps any other ghost that every single one of Clockwork’s actions, or lack thereof, had a purpose. Danny didn’t respond.

“This… ghostly wail, as I know you call it, is a very powerful and very destructive attack. As I am sure you are aware of by now?”

Danny nodded.

Clockwork hummed. “I trust you know to use it responsibly.” Gracefully, he floated from the window to the entrance of the room at the stairs. “Now, rest, little one.”

~~~~~~~~

Ao3 Notes: Thank you so much for your support/continued support! Have a lovely day/night!

#an early start au #danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #danny phantom fanfic #danny fenton #clockwork #prince aragon #lost time #renegade writes

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clownnotes-png · 4 months

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CG! Diluc and Regressor! Albedo

Note: I haven’t met Albedo yet in genshin so I apologize if he’s out of character ! I just read up on him for this (he seems so silly)

Albedo was stressed beyond belief, he usually didn’t come down to Mondstadt because of all the people - usually only traveling down when few people would be around such as the evening or dead of night.

Yet today was different. He decided that for once he’d go down and meet with Sucrose and his other alchemical colleagues; they were all lovely friends to him and understood his reclusive reasons.

A few days prior while Sucrose was up running around with him on Dragonspine she had mentioned how there was going to be a small get together with all the local alchemist to discuss their progress and share insights.

How could he miss that!?

So now, Albedo is sitting at a corner booth in the winery, feeling as if all his nerves were on fire. Social interaction was probably worse than he remembers. What do people normally say? How do they correctly drink? Is there a wrong way to? How does it feel like Razor of all people understands humans more than he does.

Thoughts piled on top of each other leaving Albedo overwhelmed from his own mind - alchemy made sense. You simply had to place liquids and objects correctly together, follow a clear cut path, and you’ll get your desired response.

People are unpredictable. There’s intricacies upon intricacies that don’t add up and they’ll always misunderstand something. So he avoids people who he cannot predict.

“It’s been lovely, but I fear I must go. Sucrose, if something pops up I need to know do you mind passing along the message?” Albedo slid out of the booth as he spoke, carefully dusting off his clothes - people did that, right?

“Of course! I’ll see you on Dragonspine soon, okay?” Sucrose smiled, her smile was always so warm. It reminded albedo of the potions he mixes.

Diluc had watched from the bar, carefully drying the glasses he had washed. Normally he people watched to make sure drunken guests didn’t cause ruckus but today there was someone new.

Albedo was down off the snow covered mountain and shaking, the boy never shook even in the sheer cold, he was always perfectly bundled and near a fire yet here he seemed like a leaf. Something was off and Diluc had a bitter taste; he watches over his guests despite how little he knew of them.

“Take over the bar for me will ya?” Diluc tossed a towel over his shoulder and sat the keys down on the counter for his number two to take. “I got an issue to resolve.” With that Diluc was off, quickly following behind Albedo.

Mondstadt in the moment felt humongous to Albedo, the roads twist and turned leading for his head to pound and fog. He couldn’t remember which way led to the gates and at this point he was about to figure out how to scale the walls.

Albedo just wanted out. He wanted to tranquility of snow, fireplaces, and mitten covered hands. Those were all so comforting to Albedo, it felt like home - the only home he truly had.

Crumpling, Albedo grabbed his head trying to force the fog to clear so he could remember Mondstadt simple U-shape layout. “Hey, ‘Bedo is everything okay?” With caution Albedo looked up, trying to will his voice to speak to the person and confirm everything was totally fine.

Diluc. Albedo had heard of him a few times, he knew the man was kind but didn’t go out of his way to interact with people all that much. Were they the same? Both preferring isolation to the complexity of people.

That didn’t seem right as right now the red head was crouched in front of him, looking too comforting for someone who didn’t like people. Maybe the fog was the cause of this. Why was he so foggy?

“Diluc? Where’s..gates. Need t’a go home.” Albedos words were spaced out and slurred but he got the message across. Later he could question why he couldn’t seem to speak right, later he would overthink this communication block, right now he just needed tranquility.

“I don’t think I can let you go home buddy..you seem a little spacey and I’d rather not let us lose you to the cold.” Diluc held out his hand and did his best to force a small smile. He wasn’t the best at comfort, having always been around Adelinde who knew him and all his brash ways. Right now though, Diluc needed to be of comfort. He could tell what was going on in Albedos head, he’d gone through it himself so many times.

The first is always scary if you don’t know what’s happening.

Albedo carefully took Dilucs hand. Neither knew how things would go, neither were sure if everything would be okay but for now Albedo had Diluc to help him.

Diluc had carried Albedo back to the winery on his hip, at first the blonde had tried to walk by himself yet after nearly eating gravel a few times Diluc calmly explained how it it was simply too dangerous.

Now, both men were back at the winery and Diluc was left to fret over the boy (and his rash decision making). “Hey ‘Bedo, is there anything that will make you more comfortable here?” Diluc washed out a small cup with a lid, unsure of how old Albedo currently was - and if he was even fully regressed right now.

Speaking of, Albedo sat on the couch in the next room over lightly chewing on his thumb. The world had seemed to have gotten bigger in mere moments, at first he could have handled it but now since feeling so. Safe? Comfortable? What was the word - regardless, due to Diluc watching over him the world had expanded.

Suddenly Diluc was in front of Albedo, holding a lidded cup with a straw, “Hey buddy, let’s get a drink and stop chewing on that thumb okay?” Albedo hummed and reached out for the cup, gently holding on to it with both his hands. It was cold, something that comforted him and reminded Albedo of home.

Both boys worked in silence, albedo trying to make sense of everything while Diluc tore open a package and tugged out a matching pacifier and teether - he wasn’t sure which would be preferred .

When offered a choice between the two, Albedo seemed to contemplate before reaching out and carefully grabbing the pacifier. Almost as if there was a wrong choice.

“Oo, I enjoy those as well when I’m like you.” Diluc reached out and raked his fingers through Albedos hair, careful to not mess up the boys hairstyle. “Now, I’m gonna offer you three choices just hold up a finger for the first, and so on okay?”

Albedo nodded, his fingers intertwining and tugging on each other. Multiple choice, he enjoyed questions like those it was easy to rule out which was correct.

“Okay, which would you like to do. One: we can watch a show, two: I can read you a story, three: we can take a nap.” Diluc held up a finger with each one, helping Albedo keep track of which one was which.

The question was mulled over by the boy before he held up two fingers then added a third. “Re’ed then nap?” The words came out slightly muffled due to the pacifier but Diluc was able to deduce them.

“We can do that kiddo, cmon let’s go find a story.” Diluc crouched down, counting to three before he lifted Albedo into his arms. “Wanna play multiple choice for the story too kid?” With that both of them were off to the mini library that was was kept at the far end of the manor.

#this ended up longer than I meant #oh well!#fandom agere #genshin agere #🍼 kye writes #🥮kye answers

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grumpy-zane · 1 year

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In which a Man is Misplaced -- Ft. Dareth in the departed realm

(This writing takes place in the same AU as the past EMs showing up in ninjago.)

[Part 2 ] - https://at.tumblr.com/grumpy-zane/in-which-a-man-is-misplaced-ft-dareth-in-the/1wvx49m7z5qy

Midnight hour was approaching at Laffys bar. Dareth had little downtime to notice as he made his rounds to chit-chat and take orders.

Outside the wind had picked up and pressed against the doors and windows, howling through the streets and funneling through every nook and cranny. The cold air felt nice in the hot old building, especially in the kitchen were grease and fire crackled.

"Two fries, an onion, 3 colas, a sunset," Dareth stepped back around the bar to fix up the drinks. He worked around the other employee, informing him of the order before setting him off to deliver them and slipping into the kitchen.

Immediately, the cold air hit him as he faced the damp brick wall. He blinked a few times before turning around to head back in. "Wrong door, hey Marte since when did we get a-" he paused as the room read him.

Jazz music rang through his ears as people sitting around smaller circular tables glanced up at him from their quiet conversing. Beside him sat the bar, where it always has been, yet the woman working was beyond unfamiliar. Even the setup was strange, but the layout of the building was exactly as he remembered.

Dareth eased himself onto one of the leathery stools as the bartender stood at his attention. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know where I am, would you?"

She smiled, "Of course suh, this is Fauna Laffys Bar and Dive."

"Um," that was the name of the establishment long before he owned it. A fire had burned down the building before the serpentine wars, taking several people with it. Afterwards it was rebuilt, but without the owner the building was named colloquially and it had stayed that way ever since.

It was at that moment he noticed the somewhat charred features of the customers and bartender before him, a cold chill harrowing down his spine. "And you are?"

"Why I'm Fauna Laffy. Can I get you something?" She asked.

Dareth's head swam, "water?"

She snorted as she grabbed a glass, "pleny a' that outside, best I can do is put a few ices in to spice it up. Never seen ya 'round here before, how'd you go?"

He caught the cup as it slid across the wood, the contents in it swirling with an unnaturally green hue. "How did I go?"

"Yeah. Parker over there an' I went down with the building, did something happen again?"

"Y-you mean, died??"

Fauna laughed, "Oh no you didn't go in your sleep did ya? No wonder you look so confused wakin' up in the dead land, poor thing. And so young too..."

A pit dropped in his stomach. Him? Dead? “No, no I didn’t...I must have fallen asleep somehow, or- or this is a joke of some sort, yeah...” he mumbled as he scanned the room once more, “I was just in Laffys, in ninjago city, I just was! How could I have..”

“Well you still are,” Laffy interrupted, “You’re still here in the city, just now you’re in the realm of the departed. Really it in’t that hard to integrate as people think. Why you’ll see what’s familiar to ya.”

“B-but this isn’t the Laffys I know a-and I never knew you or him or her or-”

“suh?”

Dareth shot up and shook his hands, “I need to go-”

The crowded street shifted in surprise as he clamored out the door. The dark green hue of the land coated every surface present in the red sun’s light. The city, submerged in a false blanket of water, was divided between the streets and the high-rising scrapers that broke through the waves. Undead gloom escaped from the vents and subway tunnels in bouts of thick fog that clung to the ground. Beyond the rippling ceiling he could make out more buildings that floated unnaturally by any means necessary, their hues basked in warm golds.

Dareth scrambled into a sprint as he took off down the street. He dodged and weaved around beings of all origins, dashing out into the road and turning it into an orchestra of horns. Looking up made his head spin, looking down made him feel sick, and any other direction lead him further into a panicked state. “I am dreaming!” He shouted as he panted, “I have to be!”

But as he stopped and leaned against a lamp post to catch his breath, the saltiness he tasted on his lips as he licked them told him anything but.

Certainly, however, this was not the departed realm. From the stories and movies he knew it wasn’t supposed to be like this, especially not so green and murky. It was a happy place, a place that everyone wound up in eventually. “Yeah, this is just another world-ending event,” he said, “Just like normal. Just another normal day in Ninjago City... I just need to get home and relax and wait it out.”

The apartment complex near the docks where he resided had seemed to have had some redecorating. Many potted plants and small trees decorated the outside windows, spreading vines up the side and around trellises in a controlled fashion. A variety of flowers were in bloom, though Dareth found himself disappointed in the lack of scents they were giving off.

“Whatever apocalypse is happening, at least it looks good,” he mused as he walked up the stairwell to his door. Opening it, he came face to face with an old woman and her 8 cats. “How did you get into my apartment?”

“Your apartment? Can I help you?” She asked, her cats meowing.

“Yeah, I live here, and I would like to relax. See my key fits in this lock,” Dareth said.

The woman huffed, “Relaxing is for the old! A young man like you should be working! Why, what kind of a fool thinks he can relax in a city hmm? Your bet is to get out of town. Good day,”

The door was shut on him, leaving him bewildered by the predicament. “Get out of town, why didn’t I think of that?”

The buildings became older the farther away from the ocean he went. Gradually they tapered shorter and shorter, the colours on their walls becoming more lively and vintage with dated trimmings and fixtures. A clock-tower stood up above the roof line, marking the destination many went to when they needed a vacation from the chaos: the train station. And what luck that was for him that the train was in.

Once more he weaved through the crowd, skipping over the ticket station completely and heading straight to the first conductor he saw. “Excuse me, when is this train leaving?”

His dirty blonde hair swirled around his face as he looked down over his circular glasses, “The next train is leaving shortly. My name is Favrile, may I help you get a ticket?”

“Dareth, and sure,” Dareth smiled, scratching his head. Most of the passengers and tenants moved at a normal speed, unphased by the submerged land around them. “You know I’m kind of surprised people seem so calm. Normally there would be, you know, more pushing?”

The conductor handed another luggage container from the side compartment off, “Why do you say that?”

“Crazier stuff has happened to the city sure, from a giant snake to the spider guy to stone warriors, but all of this is the most wild thing I’ve seen in a long time. I mean, water you can breathe in, floating buildings, a red sun- its all pretty out there.”

Favrile blinked and dusted himself off, “No it’s all pretty normal ever since the cursed realm melted. You must be pretty new to being dead?”

“Oh on I’m not dead, I’m just um, it’s just another normal day in Ninjago?”

Favrile stared through him, “You’re in the departed realm, you have to be dead. How did you even get here otherwise?”

He hummed and picked at his fingers, “Um, I was just trying to fill out an order for a few customers... And then when I looked up, I was here.”

“That’s not...” He fixed his glasses before tapping his chin. The hair swirled around his face as the gears in his head turned over. “Could it be related to the event..? No.. maybe?”

“The event? What event?” Was this not an event enough?

The train whistle sounded off marking the departure. The door hissed shut and snap-locked as the wheels spewed steam from their hydraulics. Favrile let go of the railing and signaled a thumbs up to the head conductor, waving them off before grabbing Dareth’s hand and pulling him into the punch-card office.

“What event, what happened?” he asked again, eyeing the multitude of marked wooden drawers.

Favrile pulled his card out of the rack and punched out, “It was yesterday or two days ago. There was an event where a whole bunch of elemental masters left the departed realm. Something about a lotto and ‘making it fair for everyone’. You must have gotten mixed up in all of that somehow. Slipped in here somehow without dying.”

Panic once more chased his hands up his jacket ends. "So, am I stuck here? Forever?"

Favrile eyed him, "It sure seems that way huh?"

"Oh no, no no," Dareth sobbed and pressed his palms into his eyes, "no, no I'm not ready, I didn't even do anything, I just got mixed up again I didn't even try this time...worst part is I wasn’t even able to say goodbye to anyone..."

Now it was his turn to play with his suit, the conductors hands squeezing the buttons down his sternum. It wasn't fair, even though it was supposed to be, at least in the words of the FSM who ran the lotto in the first place.

And since when did the FSM have the authority of this place to deem what is and isn’t fair? Since when did he have any authority over whats wrong or right in any realm? Crossing that guy always seemed to be trouble, however, but he had done it once before...

The conductor cleared his throat, "Dareth."

"Mmmyeah?" He wiped his face.

"You don't belong here, you belong in Ninjago, you're here by someone else's mistake. So we're going to get you home, it's only right."

"How?" He sniffed.

Favrile smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder, "with a will, there's a way, and I know a guy that lives exactly that."

#ninjago #dareth

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hollandorks · 1 year

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saved

matt murdock x original female character

chapter five

Summary: Fleeing from an abusive relationship, Grace St. James goes to the only place she still has a friend: Hell’s Kitchen. She’s forced to live in her car and beg for a job from the law firm Nelson, Murdock, and Page all the while making sure her past doesn’t catch up to her. Enter Matt Murdock: cocky, handsome, and willing to let her live with him for free until she can afford to get a place of her own. Grace is drawn to Matt in a way she’s never been drawn to anyone, causing sparks to fly as they inevitably grow closer and closer.

a/n: Have I been rewatching the show in the background for like the fifth or sixth time while I write this? Maybe. Anyways, enjoy this nice long chapter while I go back to googling layouts of Matt’s apartment...

Series Masterlist

word count: 5498

That night, she dreamt of red glass eyes and bruised knuckles and calloused fingertips.

Matt’s POV

“–just had to go and stick your nose in it,” Foggy was saying. He was using what Matt thought of as his court pose where he tried to look intimidating.

He’d been ranting at Matt for ten minutes straight, the entire way back to Matt’s apartment, all the way up the stairs, and through the front door. They were supposedly going to do paperwork, but instead it seemed like his best friend was going to lecture him on the finer points of being a vigilante and all the reasons why saving their new coworker had been a bad idea.

“Foggy,” Matt said tiredly as he dropped his glasses on the kitchen table and set down the files he’d brought from the office.

“What?” Foggy said, but there was no venom in it. He’d been ranting for so long he was breathless. Matt hadn’t been able to get in a single word.

“What was I supposed to do?” Matt asked. He put his hands on his hips and raised his eyebrows at his friend. “Let her get mugged? Besides, how was I supposed to know it was her?”

He’d been asking himself the same things since the night before and all throughout the day. He could hear the little shifts in Grace’s posture all day as she rubbed at what was undoubtedly an aching head. He could still smell the adrenaline still clinging to her skin the moment she’d stepped into the office, could the smell of blood from where her knees and knuckles had been scraped, where her head had a small cut.

“I heard her scream, and all I knew was that someone was in trouble,” Matt said. The soles of Foggy’s shoes scuffed against the hardwood faintly as he began to pace. “And even if I had known it was her, I was still going to help. Foggy, they were going to–” He had to stop before he said the words. Rape her. He’d smelled the arousal of those men. They had been planning to hurt her in more ways than one. Matt had to wrestle the white-hot rage back into the box in his mind that was reserved for the devil. He had to remind himself that he’d already taken care of it.

Foggy groaned. “I know but–it complicates things, having her so close to all of this. Especially since she’s the only one in the office who doesn’t know! I’m just...worried.”

Matt made a face. Foggy had a point. “I know, I know. But I also couldn’t–I mean, come on Fog, she begged me for a job. And those bruises–”

“I know,” Foggy said and then sighed. Matt smelled a hint of coffee as the air around him was disturbed. “I know.”

“We’ll just have to be careful,” Matt said. He scrubbed a hand through his hair as Foggy made some sort of face at him.

“I hate secrets,” Foggy muttered to himself. A normal person likely wouldn’t have heard the words.

“Now come on, I thought we were going to get some work done.” Matt tapped a finger on top of the file folders he’d placed on the table.

“I thought that was code for bro time,” Foggy said with a soft groan. “Like, hey Foggy, let’s go finish this paperwork at my apartment while we actually get wasted on shitty beer and talk about wedding planning.”

Matt raised his eyebrows again. There was a small hitch in Foggy’s breath, a little jump in his heart rate, at the words wedding planning. “Wedding planning?”

A long pause. Foggy’s slightly chapped lips stuck together as he opened his mouth and then closed it again. His heart was definitely beating faster. There was a note of anxiety in the air too, a slight moisture as his palms began to sweat.

Matt simply waited with crossed arms. It was best to let Foggy gather the courage to speak sometimes, to wait patiently while he pulled his thoughts together or worked himself into a frenzy enough to speak. Or both.

It all came spilling out at once. “Marci is…I love her, God I love her, but she’s a bride-zilla, Matt. Can I sleep on your couch? Please? If I have to look at another damn color swatch I’m going to scream.”

Matt couldn’t help it. He laughed. “I’m sorry.” And he was. He stepped around the kitchen table and went to grab two beers from the fridge. He popped them open and tossed the caps over his shoulder into the sink as he held one of the bottles out to Foggy. He heard another mumble, this time about him being a showoff. “Let’s get wasted on shitty beer and talk about wedding planning.”

It was funny how quickly Foggy’s heart settled back into its steady rhythm. Matt liked to think that was why they were such good friends. Foggy was always able to wrestle his feelings into something more manageable, more cheerful. He was so good, so utterly pure, and was always working towards being in a good mood. In college, on his bad days, Matt would listen to Foggy talk about nothing, to his steady heart, and it would be an anchor for him in the midst of whatever storm. It still was. Foggy was the bedrock of their friendship and their firm both.

So he grinned at his friend, clinked their beers together, and ignored the paperwork on the table. For once, he’d enjoy a few hours of them simply hanging out. No work, no vigilante business, nothing between them.

–

Hanging out with Foggy didn’t stop Matt from going out as Daredevil that night. Or from going back to the alley where he’d saved Grace.

The scent of her still lingered in the air. That subtle perfume, her fear, her blood.

But overpowering it all was the scent of the three animals who’d attacked her. Their sweat, their lust, and above it all, their fear and their blood.

Matt settled into the same calm he felt before a fight even while something within him snarled at the thought of those men hurting her. He made himself breathe in the scent of them. Made himself differentiate each from the other.

And then, when he had all of the subtle differences between the three men mapped out, he hunted.

He didn’t find them that night.

At work the next day, Friday, he breathed in Grace’s subtle but intoxicating perfume. Listened as she brainstormed website and social media ideas with them. He felt the air move when she did, stirring up subtle whorls of her scent with every small movement she made. The scent of fear and adrenaline was gone, washed clean by a shower that he could still smell on her skin.

He told himself he was only focusing so much on her to ensure that she was okay.

He hated that those men had almost hurt her so badly, that he almost hadn’t gotten there quick enough. Anyone else, and he would have been able to forget it more easily. But the reminder of his almost-failure sat barely more than ten feet from him for hours, the faint scent of her blood in the air when her scraped knees split open again.

He hunted that night, too.

And the next.

It was Saturday night when Matt finally figured out that two of the three men had ended up in the hospital. The third had been arrested.

The devil within him settled some. None of them would be hurting anyone for a while. And now that he had them marked, had them mapped out and imprinted on his brain, he would know if they ever tried to hurt someone in his city again.

It started to rain as he headed back home. The city was oddly quiet for once, and he desperately needed sleep. A night going to bed earlier than normal called to him like a siren. He swore, even from blocks away, he could smell the familiar silk of his sheets in his apartment, calling him back home.

And then he heard it.

A voice that was becoming as familiar to him as Foggy and Karen’s was, swearing like a sailor as the rain turned into a downpour.

“No, I’ll be fine!” Grace shouted to someone. “It’s dry inside, I just–Shit! Thanks though!”

Matt paused on a rooftop not too far away.

“–careful. Come inside if it gets too bad, alright? Don’t be stubborn.” A male voice, vaguely familiar to him for some reason.

“You got it. Goodnight!”

The slamming of a door. A car door opening.

Even with the rain and even from the roof, Matt could smell the concentrated scent of Grace that came on a wave when the car door opened. It slammed shut again. He could hear more muffled cursing from inside the car. It almost made him smile.

There was the noise of a zipper, long and loud, and a lot of shuffling. She was moving something that sounded heavy.

Matt frowned, head tilted to better hear. Without thinking, he was already moving closer, honing in on her. What was she doing out so late and in the rain? It smelled like–like food. Something Italian, maybe, but organic. To his sensitive nose, it smelled delightful. His stomach gave a distant rumble of hunger as he moved even closer. A restaurant.

A date, maybe?

Matt turned to go. He really shouldn’t be eavesdropping on an employee, a coworker, and especially if she was leaving a date.

But then he realized the car had never started.

There was a muffled yawn and the sound of fabric moving gently across skin. A blanket. A muffled thump that sounded like…a pillow being fluffed?

Matt hopped from one roof to the next, body on autopilot as his mind struggled to make sense of the sounds he was hearing. He tasted the air again but the rain was washing all the scents of Grace away. She was definitely in a car though, he was certain of that. She was parked in an alley between buildings, next to another car, just outside of the restaurant.

He was now standing on top of that restaurant. From the vibrations beneath his feet, he could tell that there was an apartment above it, directly below him. Two people inside. No, three. A man, a woman, and a baby. The woman and baby were asleep and the man was moving around quietly.

The longer Matt stood there, the stranger it seemed. Grace was sitting in that car and hadn’t moved. From the sounds of her breathing, she was settled, comfortable, but not asleep.

He was soaked to the bone but he still didn’t move.

Then it clicked as Grace yawned again.

What was it the man had said?

Come inside if it gets too bad, alright?

Matt knelt quickly and tugged off a glove. He pressed it to the rooftop and expanded his senses outward to better map the small apartment. Two bedrooms. Cramped. Full. Small couch, small armchair, small table, small everything.

He stood again and crouched at the edge of the roof. He could hear a soft video of some sort playing through Grace’s laptop as she yawned again. There was a shift, more fabric on skin, the slide of her wet hair on something that really did sound like a pillow.

Matt’s heart stuttered and restarted as it hit him.

Grace was living in her car. She knew the people in the apartment, which was much too small for her to also live in, and was living in her car.

He quickly thought back to every interaction he’d had with her the previous week. Begging for a job. The bruises. The mention of a fresh start. The call with her mom. The new phone.

Grace had left her old life behind for some reason, and she was living in her car.

Matt’s chest ached at the thought.

Why was she living in her car? He couldn’t fathom it.

Did she need somewhere to stay?

Matt started shivering as the wetness from the rain finally sank deep into his skin. He had no idea how long he’d been on that rooftop. The sounds from Grace’s laptop had stopped and her breathing had turned deep and slow. She was asleep.

She was asleep in a car.

Matt headed home with his mind whirling. He at least needed to get out of the wet suit and into something dry. Then he could go back, maybe check on her.

But no, that was crazy. Right? She knew the people inside that apartment, she had to. The man had told her to go inside if the storm got too bad. But Matt was pretty sure there wasn’t even a scrap of space on the floor where Grace could sleep in an apartment that small. So they were looking out for her, even if they didn’t have room for her.

He slipped through the rooftop door into his apartment, shedding pieces of the suit as he went. He started pacing, bare feet slipping in little drops of rainwater he’d tracked in as he went back and forth across the hardwood floor.

Matt went to where his cell phone sat on the coffee table.

“Text Foggy,” he said to it. “Do you and Marci have space for someone to crash? Hypothetically.”

Even though it was late, past one in the morning, Foggy called immediately. “Matt?” he said in a harsh whisper. “Are you alright? Do you need a place to crash?”

“No, I’m okay,” he said. He realized, too late, how it sounded. “I’m fine. Do you, though?” Rain pounded against the panes of his windows. He tried to tune out the sound. If he focused too much, it’d become like white noise and drown out even sounds within the apartment.

“Listen if you need to crash here that’s fine, but you might want to…lose the suit first,” Foggy said, still whispering. He shut a door, then spoke a bit louder. “Though I have been telling you we should tell Marci–”

Matt held back a sigh. “Foggy, no, I don’t need a place to crash. I’m at home right now. Answer the question.”

“Uh. Okay, then. Hypothetically, no, we don’t have space. And factually, we don’t have space. There’s wedding stuff everywhere, man. I have to clear off a space just to sit on the couch and I get scolded for even doing that. I eat standing up like some sort of animal.” More rustling noises. A fridge opening and shutting. A crinkle of plastic.

“Right. I should have remembered that from your…therapy session the other night.” Matt grinned at the memory of Foggy, tipsy as can be, waving his arms and waxing poetic about color swatches and flower arrangements and different fonts for invitations. Even as stressed as his best friend was, Matt had been able to tell how happy he was at the thought of marrying Marci.

“What’s this about, anyway?” Foggy’s mouth was full as he crunched loudly on something.

“I…” Matt debated telling him. But he didn’t want to speak too soon. What if it was just temporary? What if Grace didn’t actually live in a car, but something had happened where she had to stay there for a night or two? Stranger things had happened. And besides, that made more sense than living in a car did. “It’s nothing. Go to sleep, Fog, it’s late.”

Foggy continued crunching on his late night snack, then snickered. “Oh I’m just refueling.”

Matt groaned. He stopped his pacing to shudder at the thought of what Foggy might be refueling for. “Gross. Nevermind. Goodnight.”

Foggy laughed again and bid him goodnight.

Matt texted Karen next. Same thing–she called him almost immediately.

“Everything okay?” she asked a bit breathlessly.

“I’m fine,” Matt said. He was weirdly touched, for a moment, at how much his friends cared. How they were so concerned for him that they called him in the middle of the night after a weird text. He smiled to himself. “I just…I’ll explain when I figure it out. But do you?”

“Have room for someone to stay?” Karen asked, thankfully taking his word that he was okay and skipping right to her answer. “I…no. Not really. I’m actually staying at Ellison’s for the next couple of weeks, they’re fumigating the building starting Monday. But I mean after that…my couch is big enough I guess, but that’s about it.”

Matt hummed and thought through it. His couch was big enough, too, and he had plenty of floor space to add more furniture. “You could have stayed with me,” he said a bit belatedly.

Karen laughed. “Thanks for the offer, but Ellison has a whole guest bedroom with an en suite bathroom. I might actually move in permanently, to be honest. Ask him to adopt me.”

It was Matt’s turn to laugh. “I thought he already had?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Karen grumbled good naturedly. “No offense, though–your apartment isn’t exactly…”

“Furnished?” Matt said. He started pacing again. “Welcoming?”

“Both,” she said with another laugh. “It’s a bachelor pad. Wait–are they fumigating your apartment too?”

“No, nothing like that. I’ll tell you when I figure it out, like I said. I don’t…it’s not my place to–”

“I got it.” The warmth in Karen’s voice made his chest ache. He really did have good friends, he thought. “You sure you’re alright though? Really?”

“I’m great,” Matt said, and for once it was the whole truth. “Really. I��ll let you get back to…whatever it was now. Sorry for bothering you so late.”

“No problem. Goodnight, Matt.”

“Goodnight, Karen.”

Matt hung up, having accomplished nothing. Well, he had done one thing–he’d affirmed that he absolutely didn’t deserve his two best friends. Not at all.

Despite his exhaustion, Matt didn’t sleep much that night. He kept jolting awake and listening for signs of trouble. He told himself he was watching out for Hell’s Kitchen at large. But his ears kept turning in one direction in particular, listening for one voice among many.

She slept in her car the next night, too.

Grace’s POV

Grace had never known that the idea of a weekend could be so…daunting.

Friday after work, she went back to the restaurant. She’d promised to babysit Max for Ryan and Jess while they worked, since Jess’s mom was out of town and Ryan’s parents had colds. That, at least, kept her busy until late Friday when she crashed in her car. Max was a good baby, but her nerves and fear kept her on edge the whole night. Time flew, and it was closing time at the restaurant before she knew it.

Saturday and Sunday though, were an entirely other issue.

She had no living space of her own. She couldn’t just watch TV or clean or do laundry while doing both. She couldn’t nap on the couch or make a snack whenever she wanted.

She did go to a laundromat and clean her clothes, packing them back into a suitcase when they were done.

Two hours down…too many to go.

Grace sighed and resigned herself to having a not so great weekend. The idea of sitting cooped up in her car more than necessary made her crazy.

First she decided to take a walk around Hell’s Kitchen–September was ushering in perfect weather for being outdoors, and she wanted to take advantage of it. That led her to a new cafe and a long lunch where she mostly sat and watched people come and go.

Then she looked up self defense courses, especially ones with classes on the weekends. That should help keep her busy, too. She observed classes at two different places and paid in cash for a month at one.

Ten hours down….still too many to go.

She ended up having dinner with Ryan and Jess.

She discovered that, the more she got to know Jess, the more she liked her. The woman said anything and everything that popped into her head, most of it hilarious, the rest of it strangely insightful. She was grateful to them in more ways than one, and was finding them to be fast friends.

It was at the end of dinner that the rain came.

Jess and Max had gone to bed while she and Ryan talked and did the dishes. It was late–really late–but Ryan had shown no indications he wanted to go to bed. Maybe it was to keep her inside longer, maybe he just wasn’t tired.

“You could stay on the couch if you want,” Ryan said a bit guiltily as thunder rumbled and the noise of the rain pattered against the windows.

They both glanced at the couch, which would be tiny and cramped for anyone save Max.

“I’ll be fine in the car, I promise,” Grace said. She actually meant it. The rain would probably act as a nice bit of white noise and help her sleep. She used to be a deep sleeper, but not anymore. Now, every noise woke her and the cramped space of the car only made it harder to sleep unless she was absolutely exhausted.

Ryan walked her down the stairs. He handed her an umbrella.

“Take this, at least.”

She flashed him a smile and opened the door, only to be met with a certified flood of water. She cursed colorfully, so long and varied that Ryan laughed.

“Are you sure about this?” Ryan said. “Want to stay inside tonight?”

“No, I’ll be fine!” Grace half-shouted over the rain as she darted outside with the umbrella. “It’s dry inside, I just–Shit! Thanks though!” She’d stepped in a puddle up to her ankle.

“Be careful. Come inside if it gets too bad, alright? Don’t be stubborn,” Ryan said, looking every inch the dad he was for once. Grace had to smile at him.

“You got it. Goodnight!”

Ryan waved at her before slamming the back door closed as she ducked into the car.

At least it was dry inside, she thought as she wrestled with the umbrella and her now-soaked shoes from the front seat. She dug out some pajamas from a suitcase and managed to change in the cramped space. She wrestled the suitcase back into its spot for the night and then she shuffled into her makeshift bed.

She yawned. It was getting late. And she still had a whole goddamn day of being bored ahead of her.

She slid the blanket over her shoulders, suddenly chilly because of her wet hair. She punched her pillow to fluff it a little and opened her laptop to check the weather for the next day.

Rain, rain, and more rain the meteorologist said in the video she watched.

Great.

Grace fell asleep to the sound of the storm overhead, not knowing that the devil of Hell’s Kitchen had stayed until she’d fallen asleep.

–

After a brutally long Sunday in which Ryan and Jess finally took pity on her after lunch and invited her to “hang out” and then “babysit” but in reality keep her busy, Grace made it to work on Monday morning.

The sun was finally trying to peek through the clouds and the offices of Nelson, Murdock, and Page welcomed her with the scent of fresh brewed coffee.

Grace stepped inside and inhaled deeply.

“Morning, Matt,” she called softly as she settled her stuff at her desk. With the weak morning light filtering through the windows and coloring the place a weak yellow, it was almost homey. Grace paused and stared outside for a moment. It did feel like a home already, even after less than a week. Maybe it was a side effect of living in her car or maybe it was simply that her three coworkers made the place seem like a home.

“Hey,” Matt said from the kitchenette, already pouring two cups of coffee. One plain black mug with cream and sugar, one chipped mug with black coffee. He held the mug out to her as she stepped closer.

“Shouldn’t I be the one making coffee for you every morning?” she mused as she took a grateful sip. Maybe that was part of why it felt like a home, too–she was greeted by coffee every morning and had her own mug. “Isn’t that the job of a secretary?”

“I thought we hired you as an office manager,” Matt said, but his voice was distant. He was frowning slightly. “I think you should come live with me.”

Grace spat a mouthful of coffee back into her mug. Her gut instinct was to crack a joke. “Why Mr. Murdock, you sure work fast. Not even going to take me out first?” But her face was blazing hot. Why was he telling her she should come live with him? Had she heard him right?

The tips of Matt’s ears were pink. “Why didn’t you tell any of us you were living in your car?”

Grace had to lean back against the wall for support as the world tilted beneath her feet. “How–How did you know that?” Her heart went wild in her chest. Her palms dampened as she suddenly grew nervous. Had one of them followed her? They kept offering to walk her home, after all.

Matt set his cup on the counter and held his palms out as if to placate her. “It doesn’t matter. Is everything alright, Grace? Are you in trouble?” His expression was utterly serious, made more severe by the dark red tint of his glasses hiding his eyes from her.

Grace couldn’t breathe for a second. Yes, she was in trouble. A lot of trouble. She heard the jingle of chains and smelled blood for a moment before she got herself under control.

“I just…don’t have a place to live,” she said in an embarrassingly small voice. “You need money and references and stuff to rent and–and I don’t have any of that. I’ve never…rented from anywhere before. I don’t have credit or anything and–” Calm down, she told herself firmly. Matt Murdock definitely didn’t need all of those details.

Matt seemed to soften. “Then come stay with me,” he said softly. “Rent free. Just until you can get your own place. No strings attached.”

She wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Too stunned to speak, she simply stood there, cradling her coffee in her hands like a lifeline.

Matt’s shoulders went taut. “I know–I know it might not be…appropriate. But I have space. Foggy and Karen don’t. Karen’s apartment is being fumigated and she’s staying somewhere else for two weeks, and Foggy and his fiance don’t have extra room right now either.”

Was Matt…nervous?

Grace couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Matt Murdock knew she was living in her car and was immediately offering her a place to stay.

Her brain started to catch up to things and she wondered if she should maybe be thinking about how inappropriate it might be to live with one of her new bosses.

But all she felt was…touched. Embarrassed, sure. She was, after all, a grown ass woman who had never lived on her own or done any of the shit that came with that. And she was living in her car, basically homeless, and one of her bosses had found out.

Yet here he was, offering her a place to stay.

Besides, she thought distantly, he was blind. No way for him to be a creep if he could peep at her, right?

She realized the silence between them had stretched out way too long. He was waiting for an answer, a rebuke, something, anything.

“I–” she started to say. And then, to add insult to injury, tears pricked her eyes. A place to stay. A bed. A living room. A bathroom that didn’t involve running ten feet down an alley and up a bunch of stairs to get to, along with the threat of potentially waking a sleeping baby. “I–” Her voice cracked. She cursed softly. “God, Matt, you don’t have to do that,” she finally said. She didn’t want his pity, as tempting as it was.

“I don’t mind,” he said, still standing so utterly still he might as well be a statue. “I want to. Let me help you. I’m sorry if I overstepped, but–I want to help.”

Grace rubbed at her eyes. “That would–God, that would be really, really nice.” Her voice cracked again. “My friends–they don’t have room but they did have a parking pass for me, so–”

“Good morning, office!” Foggy called as the door banged open. “Matthew, if you don’t stop hiding the good coffee from me and sharing with literally everyone else, I will sue your pants off!”

Foggy paused in the threshold of the kitchenette with his hands on his hips. “Hi Grace. Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for accepting the good coffee. But this sneaky bastard–” He seemed to realize that there was undeniable tension in the air. “Uh. I’m just gonna–”

“It’s okay, Fog,” Matt said, and she could tell that he was still waiting for her to reject him.

“So, funny story,” Grace said as she turned to face Foggy. Better to get it out there, avoid any more weirdness and awkwardness. They were best friends after all–if Matt hadn’t already told Foggy about her living in a car, it would inevitably come up. “I’m kind of homeless right now.”

Foggy’s mouth dropped open in a comical expression of shock. “You–what? Homeless?”

Grace pushed on despite the heat in her face and the sweat on her palms, making her grip on the coffee mug precarious. “I live in my car outside of a friend’s apartment for the moment. And I kind of don’t have credit or a rental history which will make it hard to get an apartment so…homeless. For now.”

Foggy stared at her for a long moment. Abruptly, his expression cleared and he pointed an accusing finger at Matt. “This is why you were texting me.”

Matt looked…guilty. “Ah…maybe.” He rubbed absently at the back of his neck.

Foggy snapped his fingers. “Grace St. James, I want you to know, Karen and I would totally put you up if we could. But Marci, my fiance, has completely taken over our apartment with wedding planning stuff. I barely even have a place to stay. And apparently Karen’s building has rats. Or cockroaches. Something.” He flapped his hand like it was all inconsequential. Grace was touched that he was immediately jumping into offers of somewhere to stay, breezing past the fact that she was homeless.

“I offered her my place,” Matt said softly. Grace flushed all over again.

“Oh! Well, as long as you don’t mind the place looking like it was decorated by a blind guy, it’s actually a nice apartment. Oh, and the neon sign is a thing too.” Foggy was talking too fast for her to keep up.

Matt sighed. “Foggy, she hasn’t even–”

“Well, seeing as how I currently live in a car, pretty much anywhere is a step up.” She flashed a grin even though Matt couldn’t see it.

“Unless this goes against like…our employee agreement?” Foggy said, suddenly uncertain. He was still clinging to his coat and bag like he had been when he’d come into the office. “Wait, nevermind, we wrote that, we can rewrite it. Unless you think it’s weird?”

“Foggy,” Matt said sharply.

Foggy stopped talking a bit sheepishly. “Sorry, Grace.”

Grace smiled reassuringly. “No, it’s okay. It’s a little weird, I guess? I mean, Matt barely knows me. I could be a serial killer for all he knows. But I would be…really grateful to not sleep in my car.” She turned to Matt. He’d finally unfrozen and grabbed his coffee. “I don’t want to put you out, though.”

“You wouldn’t,” Matt said so quickly and vehemently she believed him. “Stay as long as you like.”

Foggy clapped his hands together once. “It’s decided then. And, Grace, we can always call in some favors to find you a place.”

“I didn’t realize we had favors to call in,” Matt said with a raised eyebrow.

Foggy waved his hand again. “I’m sure we do.”

“It’s settled then,” Matt said, ignoring his friend. “We can get your stuff after work, yeah?”

It turned into a conversation about parking and permits and Foggy insisting he was going to help. Karen even offered to help when she came into the office and was caught up on everything. Grace patiently explained that she didn’t really have that much stuff. They still insisted.

It was only after they separated that the full impact of what Grace had done hit her.

She was moving in with Matt Murdock. Handsome Matt Murdock, who’d already saved her once with the job. Matt Murdock, who was saving her again with a place to live, even if only temporarily.

Matt Murdock, who really was…really good looking.

Grace had a feeling she was in more trouble than she thought.

Next Chapter

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