The Guilty Party
Part 3
It was Thor, carrying something with a faint but appetizing smell.
“I’m not a warrior,” Matt protested. “I’m just –“ He stopped to think about what he was and how he could explain it, and finished limply with, “trying to protect my city.”
“I have brought food,” Thor said, positioning a tray over Matt’s lap and removing one of two metal covers to release a full blast of the delicious scent. “Steak. You need meat after a healing.”
Matt hesitated. “Thank you, Thor, for the, ah, healing. I appreciate it. And thanks for the food, but I really have to get to my day job.”
“You must eat, truly,” Thor told him. “The healing takes the strength from your body, you must replace it. I myself can eat half a cow after a healing.”
“Really?” Clint asked. “Which half, front or back?”
Too hungry now to resist, Matt decided that any half of a cow sounded like a good idea. He found the silverware and cut a bite of steak. It was probably the best thing he’d ever tasted, and he didn’t know whether to roll it around on his tongue for a moment, or gulp it down and cut another slice. Gluttony won out.
“The middle half.” Thor sounded almost serious. “Or a pig, right down to the hooves. If you want some pork as well, fellow warrior, I can bring that, too.”
Matt swallowed his second bite, already slicing off more. “My name’s Matt Murdock, and no, this is fine, thank you.”
He could hear Thor’s frown. “You might need more than you think, it was a very powerful healing. I did not mean for you to be affected by the lightning from Mjölnir, but the ulardabr was already spawning and there was no time to get you away. I am sorry. Here, there is beer as well, to help build up your blood.”
The thought of beer made Matt’s stomach threaten to rebel, and he replied, “Uh … no, thanks.”
“Aww, beer. I used to like beer,” Clint said, echoing Matt’s thoughts. “Now I’ll never be able to drink it again without thinking of those outer-space vampire things. What did you call them? You-lardo?”
“Ulardabr,” Thor corrected him.
“Why’d did they have to go for the beer? Why couldn’t it have been, I don’t know, tequila or saki or something?”
“Beer has something in it that they need to multiply.”
“Hops? They could have gone to a brewery, bro, they didn’t have to break into a liquor store.”
“The beer must be brewed and aged and ready to drink,” Thor explained. “More than that, I do not know. I prefer to battle them, not study them. ”
“And sucking people’s blood? When they’ve already got beer?”
“Blood sustains them. Not just the blood of people. Animals also have blood, and insects, too.”
“Seriously, bro? Insects? Good luck getting blood out of an ant. Or a mosquito. Hey, that’d be a nice change, wouldn’t it?” He switched to a mock-Russian accent. “In Soviet Asgard, mosquito is bitten by you!”
Thor let the joke pass over him in dignified, or perhaps just ignorant, silence, but Matt grinned and stored it away to tell Foggy later. But the conversation reminded him, and he asked, “Speaking of blood, how is … the Black Widow?”
He’d arrived at her designation by the simple process of elimination; according to Foggy, all the other Avengers were male.
“Natasha?” Clint answered. “She’s fine. Thor used a healing stone on her, too; she’s probably still asleep.”
“She woke up a while ago,” Thor said. “I sent her a steak with Bruce.”
Bruce. Bruce Banner. The Hulk. Matt felt a slight punch in the gut at the name and the baggage that went along with it, but Thor was still speaking. “Matt, I must ask. Your reaction when I used the healing stone on you was not what I expected.”
Matt stopped in the act of feeling around his plate for more meat. “What did you expect?”
“It has always felt like a tingling to me,” Thor said. “And Natasha has said the same. But it seemed to hurt you.”
“Hurt?” Matt repeated. “That’s one way to put it.”
It had felt like Claire was stitching him up with a sewing machine, magnified a million times. Then he realized that was probably exactly what it was. “When I was nine, I got some chemicals in my eyes. That’s what blinded me. But my other senses were heightened. Enhanced. I’m really good at hearing and smelling and tasting, and sometimes I can feel more intensely, too. I probably felt all the healing going on in fast-forward.”
“Whoa,” said Clint, sounding exactly like Foggy, which made Matt smile. Then he went on, “So, bro, back there, you just heard the fight and thought you’d join in?”
“Basically.”
“And that’s how you knew where those you-lardos were. You heard them? Smelled? Tasted?”
“I heard them.”
“So, you’re not really a mutant? No offense, bro.”
“None taken, and no. I’m not a mutant.”
“I have an older relative who is blind,” Thor put in, “I thought I recognized the signs. But I have never seen him fight the way you do.”
“I had some training,” Matt admitted.
“It was very good training,” Thor said. “You are a very good fighter. I was proud to have you at my side, and grateful that you chose to use your enhanced senses to help us eradicate the ulardabr. In return, I offer you my abilities, should you ever need them, and healing stones for whenever you are injured. Even if I am not on Midgard, the stones will always be available, here.”
He held out a hand and Matt gripped it, giving Thor a polite smile. He couldn’t imagine Thor joining in Daredevil’s viglante activities. Superheroes like him didn’t care about the little people, the ones getting hurt on a nightly basis in Hell’s Kitchen because of other humans, not because of alien invasions and beer-guzzling vampires from outer space and things like that. And why waste healing stones on things that would heal by themselves in time? (Not that he didn’t appreciate not having to hobble around for weeks or even months.) Still, it was a nice offer.
“Thank you,” he said. His words were sincere, even if his smile wasn’t. “And thank you again, for the healing, and the steak, and everything, but I really have to get to work now.”
Setting the tray aside, Matt scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up. Even though he was no longer wearing his suit, he could still sense traces of vomit on himself. “You said I could shower?”
“If you do not eat properly, you will not have the strength to work,” Thor said. “You have not even finished one steak, and I brought you two. Come, sit down and when you are finished, I will fly you back to your place of work. That will be quicker than your automobiles.”
“Oh, g-d, please, no,” Matt protested, sidling towards the door he thought must lead to the bathroom. Then, in case Thor was offended, he quickly explained, “I was just telling Clint that I suffer from motion sickness.”
“What is motion sickness?” Thor sounded utterly baffled.
“It means that if you move too fast, like flying, you feel sick and you want to throw up,” Matt explained. “Like I did last night.”
“I thought that was because of the pain and the lightning.”
“That probably had something to do with it, yeah, but I really don’t think flying would be a good idea for me.” He even got nauseous in fast taxis, not that he was eager to admit that. To change the subject, Matt placed his hand on the doorknob. “Is this the bathroom, or just a closet?”
“Bathroom,” Clint informed him. “You’ve got towels and stuff inside, use whatever you want. Here, bro, I’ve got your clean clothes here.”
He picked them up from where he had deposited them when he came into the room and placed them in Matt’s outstretched arms. “Bro, you want a doggy bag for that extra steak while we’re at it?”
“Sure, thanks.” It really had been excellent meat, and he’d probably be hungry again once he got back to Hell’s Kitchen and away from the threat of transportation.
As Matt went into the bathroom, he heard Thor’s disapproving comment. “That steak is meant for a warrior, not a warrior’s dog.”
In the shower, Matt ran his hands down his thigh, feeling for any sign of the arrow wound. There was nothing, not even any scar tissue that he could sense with his fingertips. And as he washed the rest of himself, he realized that some of his newer scars had disappeared as well. So that was what Thor had meant when he’d apologized for the fact that the healing stone wouldn’t restore his sight. He wondered just how recent a wound had to be for a healing stone to work on it, then told himself firmly to stop dreaming.
Instead, he realized he’d have to talk to Foggy later about using any part of his name on the burner phone, let alone the entire thing, no matter how worried he was. But what could Foggy call him instead? He didn’t think his friend would actually call him Daredevil, or even Devil. DD didn’t sound right, either, more like a French girl’s nickname. Remembering how Foggy had come up with the name Hottie McBurnerphone for Claire made Matt shudder as he considered what Foggy might think up for him, especially now that his costume had horns. Maybe he and Foggy could compromise on something normal, like Mike. He could at least suggest it without either one of them cringing.
Go to Part 4
“I’m not a warrior,” Matt protested. “I’m just –“ He stopped to think about what he was and how he could explain it, and finished limply with, “trying to protect my city.”
“I have brought food,” Thor said, positioning a tray over Matt’s lap and removing one of two metal covers to release a full blast of the delicious scent. “Steak. You need meat after a healing.”
Matt hesitated. “Thank you, Thor, for the, ah, healing. I appreciate it. And thanks for the food, but I really have to get to my day job.”
“You must eat, truly,” Thor told him. “The healing takes the strength from your body, you must replace it. I myself can eat half a cow after a healing.”
“Really?” Clint asked. “Which half, front or back?”
Too hungry now to resist, Matt decided that any half of a cow sounded like a good idea. He found the silverware and cut a bite of steak. It was probably the best thing he’d ever tasted, and he didn’t know whether to roll it around on his tongue for a moment, or gulp it down and cut another slice. Gluttony won out.
“The middle half.” Thor sounded almost serious. “Or a pig, right down to the hooves. If you want some pork as well, fellow warrior, I can bring that, too.”
Matt swallowed his second bite, already slicing off more. “My name’s Matt Murdock, and no, this is fine, thank you.”
He could hear Thor’s frown. “You might need more than you think, it was a very powerful healing. I did not mean for you to be affected by the lightning from Mjölnir, but the ulardabr was already spawning and there was no time to get you away. I am sorry. Here, there is beer as well, to help build up your blood.”
The thought of beer made Matt’s stomach threaten to rebel, and he replied, “Uh … no, thanks.”
“Aww, beer. I used to like beer,” Clint said, echoing Matt’s thoughts. “Now I’ll never be able to drink it again without thinking of those outer-space vampire things. What did you call them? You-lardo?”
“Ulardabr,” Thor corrected him.
“Why’d did they have to go for the beer? Why couldn’t it have been, I don’t know, tequila or saki or something?”
“Beer has something in it that they need to multiply.”
“Hops? They could have gone to a brewery, bro, they didn’t have to break into a liquor store.”
“The beer must be brewed and aged and ready to drink,” Thor explained. “More than that, I do not know. I prefer to battle them, not study them. ”
“And sucking people’s blood? When they’ve already got beer?”
“Blood sustains them. Not just the blood of people. Animals also have blood, and insects, too.”
“Seriously, bro? Insects? Good luck getting blood out of an ant. Or a mosquito. Hey, that’d be a nice change, wouldn’t it?” He switched to a mock-Russian accent. “In Soviet Asgard, mosquito is bitten by you!”
Thor let the joke pass over him in dignified, or perhaps just ignorant, silence, but Matt grinned and stored it away to tell Foggy later. But the conversation reminded him, and he asked, “Speaking of blood, how is … the Black Widow?”
He’d arrived at her designation by the simple process of elimination; according to Foggy, all the other Avengers were male.
“Natasha?” Clint answered. “She’s fine. Thor used a healing stone on her, too; she’s probably still asleep.”
“She woke up a while ago,” Thor said. “I sent her a steak with Bruce.”
Bruce. Bruce Banner. The Hulk. Matt felt a slight punch in the gut at the name and the baggage that went along with it, but Thor was still speaking. “Matt, I must ask. Your reaction when I used the healing stone on you was not what I expected.”
Matt stopped in the act of feeling around his plate for more meat. “What did you expect?”
“It has always felt like a tingling to me,” Thor said. “And Natasha has said the same. But it seemed to hurt you.”
“Hurt?” Matt repeated. “That’s one way to put it.”
It had felt like Claire was stitching him up with a sewing machine, magnified a million times. Then he realized that was probably exactly what it was. “When I was nine, I got some chemicals in my eyes. That’s what blinded me. But my other senses were heightened. Enhanced. I’m really good at hearing and smelling and tasting, and sometimes I can feel more intensely, too. I probably felt all the healing going on in fast-forward.”
“Whoa,” said Clint, sounding exactly like Foggy, which made Matt smile. Then he went on, “So, bro, back there, you just heard the fight and thought you’d join in?”
“Basically.”
“And that’s how you knew where those you-lardos were. You heard them? Smelled? Tasted?”
“I heard them.”
“So, you’re not really a mutant? No offense, bro.”
“None taken, and no. I’m not a mutant.”
“I have an older relative who is blind,” Thor put in, “I thought I recognized the signs. But I have never seen him fight the way you do.”
“I had some training,” Matt admitted.
“It was very good training,” Thor said. “You are a very good fighter. I was proud to have you at my side, and grateful that you chose to use your enhanced senses to help us eradicate the ulardabr. In return, I offer you my abilities, should you ever need them, and healing stones for whenever you are injured. Even if I am not on Midgard, the stones will always be available, here.”
He held out a hand and Matt gripped it, giving Thor a polite smile. He couldn’t imagine Thor joining in Daredevil’s viglante activities. Superheroes like him didn’t care about the little people, the ones getting hurt on a nightly basis in Hell’s Kitchen because of other humans, not because of alien invasions and beer-guzzling vampires from outer space and things like that. And why waste healing stones on things that would heal by themselves in time? (Not that he didn’t appreciate not having to hobble around for weeks or even months.) Still, it was a nice offer.
“Thank you,” he said. His words were sincere, even if his smile wasn’t. “And thank you again, for the healing, and the steak, and everything, but I really have to get to work now.”
Setting the tray aside, Matt scooted to the edge of the bed and stood up. Even though he was no longer wearing his suit, he could still sense traces of vomit on himself. “You said I could shower?”
“If you do not eat properly, you will not have the strength to work,” Thor said. “You have not even finished one steak, and I brought you two. Come, sit down and when you are finished, I will fly you back to your place of work. That will be quicker than your automobiles.”
“Oh, g-d, please, no,” Matt protested, sidling towards the door he thought must lead to the bathroom. Then, in case Thor was offended, he quickly explained, “I was just telling Clint that I suffer from motion sickness.”
“What is motion sickness?” Thor sounded utterly baffled.
“It means that if you move too fast, like flying, you feel sick and you want to throw up,” Matt explained. “Like I did last night.”
“I thought that was because of the pain and the lightning.”
“That probably had something to do with it, yeah, but I really don’t think flying would be a good idea for me.” He even got nauseous in fast taxis, not that he was eager to admit that. To change the subject, Matt placed his hand on the doorknob. “Is this the bathroom, or just a closet?”
“Bathroom,” Clint informed him. “You’ve got towels and stuff inside, use whatever you want. Here, bro, I’ve got your clean clothes here.”
He picked them up from where he had deposited them when he came into the room and placed them in Matt’s outstretched arms. “Bro, you want a doggy bag for that extra steak while we’re at it?”
“Sure, thanks.” It really had been excellent meat, and he’d probably be hungry again once he got back to Hell’s Kitchen and away from the threat of transportation.
As Matt went into the bathroom, he heard Thor’s disapproving comment. “That steak is meant for a warrior, not a warrior’s dog.”
In the shower, Matt ran his hands down his thigh, feeling for any sign of the arrow wound. There was nothing, not even any scar tissue that he could sense with his fingertips. And as he washed the rest of himself, he realized that some of his newer scars had disappeared as well. So that was what Thor had meant when he’d apologized for the fact that the healing stone wouldn’t restore his sight. He wondered just how recent a wound had to be for a healing stone to work on it, then told himself firmly to stop dreaming.
Instead, he realized he’d have to talk to Foggy later about using any part of his name on the burner phone, let alone the entire thing, no matter how worried he was. But what could Foggy call him instead? He didn’t think his friend would actually call him Daredevil, or even Devil. DD didn’t sound right, either, more like a French girl’s nickname. Remembering how Foggy had come up with the name Hottie McBurnerphone for Claire made Matt shudder as he considered what Foggy might think up for him, especially now that his costume had horns. Maybe he and Foggy could compromise on something normal, like Mike. He could at least suggest it without either one of them cringing.
Go to Part 4