VENGEFUL ✸ Matt Murdock

𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 , 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓.

[ CHAPTER FOURTEEN ! ]

surprise visitor.

CLAY WOKE UP in a hospital bed.

Her eyes opened and she saw a bright light hanging over her head, and she groaned lightly as she covered her eyes. She watched as Leo got up from his chair in the corner and rushed over to her.

He kneeled down next to her bed and held her hand, while his other was resting on her cheek, "Hey," his voice was soft, and he smiled.

"What–why am I–Why–Why am I here?" She looked around the room, different medical equipment pieces scattered across the counters, "Where's Matt?"

Leo's features saddened.

"Leo? Where is he?" Clay tried to laugh, thinking he was just messing with her.

Leo only squeezed her hand, looking at the ground, "he–" Foggy walked in, two coffees in hand, and his face lit up when he saw Clay awake. He set the cups down on the countertop and walked over to Leo and Clay. Foggy kissed the top of Leo's head and grinned at Clay, "Well, hello," he greeted her, "how are you feeling?"

Clay ignored him. "Where's Matt?"

Leo let out a ragged breath, "He's not here."

Clay only looked at him with a puzzled look, "What? No, no," she managed a tired laugh, "we were on good terms. We were happy."

Somehow, Leo became more glum than before. "No, Clay. He," he looked away for a split second, "He refused to come here. We called him, so many times but he just—he's not coming."

Those were the last words Clay heard before everything went black.

"THE BULLETS WERE laced in poison. We're already going to need to remove her left leg if you want her to survive. She's going to die in seconds if we don't do this now!" A woman's voice. One she hadn't recognized.

"Please, there has to be another way—" This voice, she recognized. Leo's. She saw a little vision, one that showed her the bottom of Leo's face, and the sharp angle of his jaw.

CLAY'S EYES FLICKERED open, and she felt pain all over. She couldn't feel her left leg, though. She tried to move it but still didn't feel anything.

Leo got up from his seat immediately, joining Clay at her side. His eyes bloodshot and his hair messy.

Clay brought her hand up to his cheek and wiped the dry tear from his soft skin, "why were you crying?"

Leo rested his hand on top of hers and frowned, "I was worried."

She was now the one to frown. "Why?"

"You almost died, Clay."

Suddenly, the memories came back to her. Matt leaving, getting shot.

"What happened to my leg? Why can't I feel it?"

Leo gently took the blankets off of Clay, revealing herself dressed in a hospital gown, machine cords tangled and attached to her, and the long metal parts replacing her leg.

Clay's mouth fell agape, and she had to cover her mouth to contain the gasp that threatened to escape her lips, "I..."

IT HAD BEEN EIGHT weeks since Clay had woken up in the hospital. Thankfully, the poison had completely left her system, six weeks ago. Once the poison was gone, she was able to begin physical therapy, and since then she'd begun learning how to walk all over again.

Clay had a cane now. A long black piece of metal. And quite frankly, she felt stupid when she walked with it, but she knew she couldn't be stable without it.

She somehow felt foreign as she walked down the street, the street she had walked hundreds of thousands of times, the street that led to her apartment building--her home.

"Here," Leo offered his arm, his elbow pressed out, leaving a triangular loop; where Clay's arm would go. "Grab my arm." His eyes were so frantic, so worried. And he had such a tight grip on his cup of coffee that his fingertips began to whiten. Noticing his distraught figure, Clay linked her arm with his. And she exhaled a shaky breath as her foot stumbled, almost tripping her. Leo hurriedly grabbed her arm tighter, dropping his coffee to allow his right hand to be freed, he wrapped his free hand around her waist, holding her up and she momentarily cursed under her breath. Her jaw clenched as her cheeks colored lightly with embarrassment. "It's okay. Take it easy, Clay."

Clay didn't say anything. She was too shaken. She stared at the splattered coffee across the sidewalk, before Leo walked her up the stairs slowly.

WHEN THE DUO GOT upstairs and to Leo's room, the room was dark, the curtains closed and set up perfectly. A chill ran down Clay's spine, and she felt her stomach twist into knots as nothing but pure fear set in her. Someone was here.

Could it have been Fisk or his men? Here to kill her after figuring out her secret? Blurred thoughts of what could happen flashed through her head, the room was closing in on her, and-- a hand was on her arm. Her eyes darted to the hand, to see that it was Leo's. She went to meet his gaze but he was focused on something else, he looked just as confused as she. He didn't look nearly as scared, though.

A loud thump.

The noise echoed throughout his apartment, and they could tell it came from the very same room they were in. "Shit, shit, shit." Leo reached for the gun in the waistline of his jeans, while Clay grabbed the dagger tucked beneath her shirt, and flared it, as her back met Leo's and they circled around, waiting for the attacker to reveal themselves.

All of a sudden, the lights turned on, revealing a brunette woman. She had light freckles that danced across her cheeks, she had a defined figure, the skin-tight black turtleneck she had been wearing kissed her curves perfectly. The top was followed by a pair of high-waisted jeans. She had a silver chain necklace that hung just below her collarbone, her hair had been fixated into a ponytail, sleeked back, and tucked in perfectly except for two thin strands of hair that dangled over her face as she sat down.

"Relax," She rolled her eyes, you could hear the ease in her tone, how she wouldn't take anything you say into consideration. "I'm not going to hurt you," and with a single, swift movement of her hand--Clay's dagger was in her hands. "Just don't piss me off." her lips are turned into a smirk and she's now twirling the blade between her fingers as if she's done this a hundred times before and it takes absolutely no effort.

Leo cocked his gun, aiming it directly at her as Clay stepped back, staying behind Leo. "What do you want?"

The woman's eyes glinted, a playful tint shining as she said her next words, relaxing into her seat--which is a chair from Leo's living room--"I wouldn't do that if I were you," She stopped spinning the knife, and pointed it toward Leo, "When people underestimate my abilities," She chuckles, shaking her head lightly, "It never ends well."

Clay watched as the muscles in Leo's jaw popped, and the uneasy feeling in her stomach spread all throughout her body, and he slowly let his gun down to his side.

"You see," She sighed, looking directly at Clay, her knife now facing her. "Your apartment, right across from this one--yeah, I have 26 of my men surrounding it and there are even some inside,"--another chuckle.--"Your sisters and Claire," She brought her left leg and put it on top of her opposite, "They'll be dead in seconds. So," She shrugs, "Your choice."

Clay and Leo exchange skeptical glances before Leo gave her a small, reassuring nod.

"So, did Leo here tell you that Fisk was in jail?"