VENGEFUL ✸ Matt Murdock

𝐓𝐖𝐎 , surprise.

[ CHAPTER TWO ! ]
surprise.

*note: this chapter and all going forward are in 3rd person POV*

A GIRL WAS RUNNING. The sound of hurried footsteps followed from behind her, and though she was tired and her feet ached, she refused to stop. Not when she was so close. She was ready to jump up onto the dumpster that she planned to be there--though, it wasn't.

She was trapped in a corner with a dozen cops behind her, their guns aimed at her. She had worked so hard to run, to take the right turns, to strategically dodge the bullets they had been shooting at her.

"There's nowhere to run. We have you cornered."

They had finally won.

She bit her bottom lip, silently cursing herself as she turned around.

The moonlight wasn't enough to light up her face, not when it was pitch black out and pouring.

She rose her hands above her head, smirking lightly as the man in the middle cocked his gun.

She took three steps backward toward the edge, looking back up to see the officers had also taken three steps toward her, sparing confused glances at one another as they pulled out their handcuffs.

Red Vengeance went to clasp her hands against the back of her neck, but instead, waved. "Maybe another time, fellas."

And with that, she fell backward, off of the edge and into the depths of one of the many alleyways of Hell's Kitchen.

Her ankle landed on a green rusting dumpster and only twisted just a little. 

She groaned lightly, cursing under her breath before sliding her hood back over her head, waving to the police officers who had been looking down on her, calling out orders to one another.

The woman began to take off, continuing to do what she seemed to do best--run.

She took various patterns of turns, remembering each separately and where it took her, drawing a map in her mind.

She looked behind her shoulder to see if they had found her yet, but they hadn't. Her body ached and her lungs begged for breath, but she refused to stop.

She saw the familiar restaurant that told her she was three streets from her apartment building and she was set.

She followed the lights of the city yet still kept her head low, making sure the mask covering the outline of her eyes stayed in the correct spot. 

Finally, she made it to her apartment building. She hurried inside, closing the door behind her as she slowed and caught her breath. With each step she took, the worse the excruciating pain that shot up her ankle got. 

She felt warm blood trickle down her forehead and onto her eyebrow, she'd assumed it was from hitting her head.

It was around midnight now. Meaning her family would be fast asleep. Thank God. 

She fumbled for the right key that would unlock the door to her apartment.

Selecting the correct one, she unlocked her door and slipped inside.

Fucking finally. 

"ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE OKAY?" Leo warned 

"Leo, I'm fine." She rolled her eyes before closing them completely.

"Clay, you're two inches away from stitches." He frowned at her, sliding his sleeves up to his forearm before fishing into his bag for gauze and rubbing alcohol.

"Exactly," She smiled sheepishly, though her eyes remained closed. "I'm fine."

"They had guns. They could have killed you." Leo slid the mask off of her eyes and onto the table next to them.

"I dodged their bullets--it was easy. They didn't know how to shoot a fucking gun." She reclined her head back and allowed the bones of her neck to crack, releasing the tension it had built up all night.

Leo grabbed her face and held it in place, right where he wanted it.

"You're bossy tonight." She retorted, a small smirk dancing upon her lips as she opened her eyes for a second.

"Your sisters wore me out." He wiped the dried blood off of the wound and around it, causing more blood to slide down her skin.

Before Clay could make a remark, she clenched her fist against the table, pain spiraling through her head as he poured the rubbing alcohol directly into the wound.

"Drink if you're going to be all squirmy."

Clay opened her eyes only to glare at him. "You're blocking the bottle, dipshit."

Leo rolled his eyes, moving out of the way slightly as he remained focused on cleaning up his friend.

Clay grabbed the bottle from behind him, leaning back into her chair as she went to take a sip.

"Quit moving," Leo muttered, but must have noticed the deadening glare Clay had on him immediately after saying it, because he raised his opposite hand in defense, "I'm kidding."

"Haha. Real funny." She took a long sip from the bottle, licking her lips as the burning sensation went down her throat. A feeling she had needed.

"Matt was asking about you," His eyes were still so focused, she looked over his features for a moment, searching for any sign of him joking--he wasn't.

"Yeah? Well," She drank again, "Good for him. Tell him to go to hell for me."

"That's rude."

That voice wasn't Leo's.

Clay's eyes moved to meet Matt's immediately.

Clay clenched her jaw at the sight of him before turning back to Leo, "Fuck me," She muttered under her breath before glaring at Leo, "Why is he here? In my apartment?"

Leo shrugged, "Well, he offered to take me out to drinks but I declined cause I told him I was babysitting your  sisters because you were at the club with your  girlfriend."

"Sloane and I broke up two weeks ago."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Leo questioned, genuinely concerned.

Clay shrugged, "She was a bore."

"Oh, I didn't think the girlfriend part was true," Matt spoke up from the doorway.

"Yeah, well, when your boyfriend leaves you crying in the rain and doesn't talk to you for four years, you sort of lose interest in men and shift to women." She smiled sarcastically, the bitterness clear in her tone. Looking back to Leo, "You never told me why he was here."