THE DEVIL'S SHADOW ➖ M.MURDOCK/DAREDEVIL

V. STICK

THE DEVIL'S SHADOW
V. STICK
"YOU'RE GETTING STRONGER."

➖

HELL'S KITCHEN, 1989

THE SKY was dark and gloomy, the clouds dark grey, ready to start pouring down rain again after it had just rained less than 20 minutes ago. The sky made it seem like it was a sad day, a day that so many people felt on another level.

Both Ariel and Matthew felt that. It was the day of Jack's funeral, which had ended not long ago. The rain had belted down on them near the end of the funeral, which had cut it shorter than the usual time it'd go for.

Many tears had been spilt that day, more than someone could have thought possible. The two best friends were waiting to be picked up by Tony who had been away on business, so they could be taken home. Ariel's parents had decided to let the two spend the rest of the day with Tony to try to cheer them up just a little bit.

The sound of footsteps against the concrete could be heard from behind the two 9 year old's, as they sat by Jack's grave quietly. A hand rested on one of their shoulders, catching their attention quite quickly.

Upon looking up, Ariel found her uncle kneeling there behind them. A sad smile tugged at her lips at the sight of him, but she still got up nonetheless to hug him excitedly.

Without any arguments, Matthew rose from where he was sitting in front of his father's grave. Ariel reaches out for his hand, which he took a hold of tighter than one could imagine and followed them to the black SUV Tony had been brought in.

They all climbed into the back seat, with Tony telling Happy to take them to his and Ariel's happy place. It was the local ice creamy that they visited very regularly, to the point that you could classify it as their second home.

Upon pulling up to the destination, Ariel let a small smile tug at her lips. With Matthew's expression however, a muscle had not contracted to change even the smallest part of his expression.

Tony looked over at the two, noticing the two completely different expressions on both of their faces. Ariel was somewhat happy, while Matthew was still upset. But that was completely normal, as the young boy had just lost his father.

"Come on, let's go get some ice cream," said Tony.

Ariel nodded her head, following him into the shop with Matthew sadly following behind her after they climbed out of the black SUV. The doorbell rang out when Tony pushed the door open, and Matthew let out a small groan, covering his ears at the sound of the high frequencies running through his inner ear.

The three of them sat at the regular booth that Ariel and Tony would sit at, with Ariel and Matthew across from Tony. The three sat there quietly, waiting for the waitress to come over and take their orders.

Eventually, the waitress made her way over, smiling at the regular customers with a genuine smile. She had a note pad and pen in her hand, ready to take their orders.

"Hi, I'm Lisa. What would you like today?" asked Lisa.

Tony turned to the two of them, raising an eyebrow at them to indicate them to tell the waitress what they wanted. Ariel just grinned, looking up at the waitress.