It turned out that reporters were horribly vicious, Matt quickly realized after the fiasco when he rescued Tony Stark. They were relentless and eager—even more so when it seemed Matt wasn't going to speak to them. Not a week afterwards, annoyed at their constant badgering and worried one of them would wait for an opportunity a little too keenly and discover his secret, Matt gave in. Foggy had been delighted and took to reading out loud Matt's quotes out of the paper and off of online articles with glee.
But with Matt speaking out to the reporters—his story told—people calmed down and began to leave him alone. To Matt's surprise, once the chaos surrounding being recognized as the hero that saved Tony Stark died down, his life had once again fallen into his normal routine. Well, as normal as his life had been over the last year anyway. However, despite the general public growing tired of him and Matt's belief that Tony Stark would quickly grow bored of popping up unexpectedly, the opposite seemed to be true. Two whole months had now passed since the incident with the truck and still the billionaire was prone to dropping by without warning on occasion, always claiming to have been 'in the area' though Matt knew nothing in Hell's Kitchen would draw the man over on business. And even worse, he seemed to have taken Matt's dismissive attitude toward him as a challenge and seemed determined to win Matt's friendship. If nothing else, Tony Stark was persistent.
However, the gift he had given to Matt in replacement of his broken cane worked surprisingly well and when Matt told Tony that, the man had taken it upon himself to create a never-ending supply of increasingly creative accessibility aids. To be fair, some were actually innovative and had potential, but the vast majority were ridiculous and were entirely useless.
Foggy insisted after every new surprise visit or gift that Matt should take up Tony on his overtures of friendship, but even if he were inclined to take Tony up on his offer, Matt was worried that the closer he allowed the billionaire to get to him, the more likely that his secret identity would be exposed and that was something he was not ready for yet.
Excepting Tony's visits and surprises, the last two months had been surprisingly uneventful and a vague sense of anticipation and dread was beginning to settle over Matt as he waited for some new threat to arise. There was a void in Hell's Kitchen, and something would grow to fill it. It was only a matter of time before something happened, and on a cold Saturday night as he watched over the city, the first whispers of change began to reach him.
Matt had had a few vague feelings before over the past week when he was out during the nights that he was being watched, but there seemed to be nothing too out of the ordinary. Hell's Kitchen was by no means empty by night, and if there was someone lurking who didn't belong—who was taking an uncommon interest in him—Matt couldn't pick them out of the ambient noise of the night.
Matt had just taken out a pair of young men attempting to mug an elderly man in a back alley, binding them and alerting the police when, for the first time, Matt was absolutely certain that he was being watched. Slipping away as the police arrived, Matt relocated himself to a nearby roof and took deep breaths, steadying himself as he tried to hone in on whoever was stalking him. The noise of the police and a nearby intersection clouded his senses, but soon enough, the police carted away the muggers and some of the noise was silences. A sudden soft sound of the crunch of gravel on another roof suddenly snatched his attention and he focused in on where it had come from. A small smile touched his lips as he listened closer. He had found his watcher. They were hidden on a roof about two hundred feet from where he was now—around a hundred from where he had fought the muggers. Yet the spot would have had an excellent view of the fight, and he was still in the line of their vision. Upon more analysis, he came to the conclusion that they were crouching behind several electrical units on top of a three story building. If he had to rely on sight, it was unlikely he would be able to spot them, but now that he knew where to search, he could hear the echo of the heartbeat off the metal of the units. All the previous times he had thought to have caught a hint of the stalker, Matt had been unable to eliminate the possibility of some resident of Hell's Kitchen or a passerby, but there was no chance that someone hidden on a roof, watching, wasn't his elusive pursuer. Gambling that they wouldn't give up their position without the assurance that Matt had made them, he casually scaled a fire escape and slowly made his way toward the roof that the person was on, pretending to be watching a lone male walking the streets as he moved to give himself purpose to the person observing him.
As he moved, taking a roundabout path, Matt listened to the heartbeat of his stalker. He could glean little from listening. The heartbeat was controlled and calm as if the watcher was not on a mission to watch someone as dangerous as Matt had proven to be.
He paused one roof over, pretending to look down over the city and back at the man still walking the streets below, but instead focusing in completely on the person still in hiding on the next roof. He heard them shift and crouch down a little more before exhaling softly. Relaxing. They were convinced that he had not seen them, he inferred. Matt listened intently to take in everything he could about whoever was there. The heartbeat was still slower than most—a professional then in peak athletic form—as it sounded louder now that he was close. The breathing would have been silent to any but him. As he continued to build a better picture of his stalker now that he was near, he took in the general build and realized that it was a woman, slight and around average height. When she shifted he could tell she was heavy for her size—fit and muscled.
When Matt had discerned everything he believed he could without engaging her, he considered his options. Now that he knew her heartbeat and breathing, he would likely be able to pick her out again if she followed him, but it couldn't be certain that she was working alone. For all he knew, it could be a different watcher every night, and sooner or later one might be able to track him to his home or to Foggy. But confronting her had issues all of its own. She was clearly trained well and he could not be certain to have the advantage in a fight. However, she had only watched him thus far and if she had been out to kill, he likely would have already been drawn into a confrontation.
With sudden determination, Matt decided on a plan and leapt to her roof, still making no hint that he knew of her well concealed hiding place. As he passed, Matt suddenly spun, launching at her in an attempt to get a hold of her before she could attack, but before he reached her, despite having the element of surprise, she was on her feet, dancing just out of reach. While Matt quickly regained his balance from his missed grab, she landed two quick blows, a kick to the back which almost sent him sprawling followed by a swipe at his legs which did. Matt rolled to his feet smoothly, circling as he considered his opponent warily.
She was clearly waiting for him to make the first move, and when he did, she managed to turn his attack against him and once more he was sent tumbling, only experience allowing him to quickly end up back on his feet and ready to parry her rapid follow-up blows. More cautious this time, Matt launched another attack, predicting how she would try to use it against him and landing a solid hit to her ribs as he spun past. A puff of breath was forced from her and she spun away, considering him just as he considered her.
A quick and hard series of strikes was exchanged between the two of them, with her landing just a few more that Matt did. Still, neither came out on top and when they squared away again, each observing the other, Matt realized for the first time that she was grinning, enjoying herself. Her heartrate was elevated from exertion, but there was no fear there. She had passed on several hits that could have seriously injured him—just as he had passed on one or two that would have put her down as without knowing her intentions he didn't desire to injure her enough to need a hospital. A sudden realization hit him. She wasn't really fighting him to defeat him as much as she was sparring, testing his abilities and exercising his own. Matching her smile as he realized this, he engaged again.
Their battle drew on for a long ten more minutes before Matt found himself flat on his back on the roof, panting heavily and unable to immediately get back up again. "You're good." She acknowledged finally, her voice holding no malice. He was impressed and not a little jealous at the steadiness of her voice. Her speech not belying the exhaustion he knew she too was feeling. "Your style needs a bit of refining though." She offered her hand to him. Matt hardly hesitated before he accepted it and she pulled him to his feet. Matt took another moment to catch his breath.
Matt snorted. "The people I mostly fight are criminals who aren't trained—or at least not trained in the sense that you or I am trained." His mind suddenly flashed to Nobu. "I don't have much opportunity to spar with equals—even less so equals who don't intend to kill me."
"Not quite equals." She said, and he could hear the smirk in her voice. "I won." Matt laughed before considering her.
"Why have you been following me the last week?" He asked suddenly, wanting to get to the point of this whole business.
She paused in surprise. "You made me before."
Matt shook his head. "I knew someone was there, but tonight was the first time I was able to find you." After a few moments of her silence, Matt was about to question her more.
"Still, I didn't expect you to know I was following you. I admit that I was curious about you." She answered. "And there are many differences between rumors and media and the truth. I wanted to observe you in person."
He nodded at that, thinking over her answer. A sudden noise caused him to turn suddenly his attention focused a street over. A metal trash can had been knocked over, but it was only a raccoon. He turned back. To stop her from her silent observation of him, Matt changed directions of questioning. "Who are you?" Matt asked. "You have me at a disadvantage."
She was clearly amused. "Do you not have a guess?"
Matt considered everything he knew. It didn't seem that she was an enemy—at least she didn't seem to mean him any harm. She was good—maybe even better than Nobu was if she were to fight without pulling her punches. He was certain that if she had been fighting to kill she would have had more than a few opportunities during their fight. Taking into account that she thought he might be able to guess, Matt suddenly realized a very probable possibility. "Black Widow?" He questioned. She didn't have to verbally confirm it for him to know that he was right. The small, invisible tells of her body gave it away. "Was curiosity the only reason you have been following me?"
"Not only. For the moment we trust that you are doing good for Hell's Kitchen, and so long as you continue on in the way you have been, we are unlikely to interfere." She paused. "I have information you might be interested in hearing." She said quietly. "With the collapse of Fisk's network, there is a vacuum, and whispers have reached me that HYDRA might be slipping in in a few places. I haven't heard anything specific, and nothing has been confirmed, but I thought you should know."
Matt considered that for a few seconds. HYDRA was bigger than he had dealt with before—and probably more dangerous than Fisk had been. "I'll keep watch for them." He said, hoping her intelligence was wrong, but doubting it at the same time. If the Black Widow had heard that HYDRA was putting down roots in Hell's Kitchen, then she likely knew what she was talking about. A yell, several blocks distance caught his attention and he turned, listening intently. He was needed. "Was there anything more?" He asked.
"Nothing." Matt nodded and then turned to leave. She made no move to follow him as he contemplated the fastest way. "Good luck." She said finally before smiling slightly. "I might swing by some time to spar again."
"I'll find you." Matt said in return, prompting her to smile more widely at the challenge.
"We'll see." She said. Though Matt listened, she didn't move from the roof until he was over a block away, on his way to stop a fight that was beginning to escalate before it got too violent. Sirens alerted him that the police were already on their way to the brawl, and deciding that he had had enough for the night, Matt returned to his apartment and showered quickly before getting into bed, his clock telling him that it was almost four o'clock in the morning. With a groan, Matt pulled his blankets over him and closed his eyes, knowing that the morning would come far too soon for his liking as he sank into sleep.
AN: I'm always open to hearing suggestions for my stories, as even I rarely know where they are going. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read my stories. I hope you enjoyed it!