Chapter One: Downtown

"Rise and shine, Mister Murdock…"

Matt allowed his eyes to open slowly as the monotone voice of his alarm clock echoed around the room. His sightless eyes remained still on the ceiling for a moment. Sleep had evaded him for most of the night, and he had tossed and turned as much as his aching and battered body would allow him to. He had slipped out of bed at different stages of the night and had gotten himself a glass of water, but mostly it was to keep his mind busy. His mind, he understood, was often his own worst enemy.

He wasn't even sure if he had slept. His body and mind were now always exhausted that he couldn't tell the different between quality sleep or no sleep. It was something that had occurred over time, with his extra-curricular activities taking up most of the night. He never felt like he should skip a night, knowing that the guilt would eat him away more than the tiredness would. He sat up on the bed and rested his back against the headboard, feeling the hardness of the wood slats against his bare back.

"Rise and shine, Mister Murdock…" the alarm sounded again and he closed his eyes.

"I'm awake," he said into the silence. His voice was thick with tiredness.

"Your next wake-up call will be tomorrow morning at six A.M."

He nodded, even though no one would pick up on it. He slipped out of bed, feeling the wooden floorboards beneath his bare feet. He traipsed towards the bathroom, where he parted with the shorts he wore and slid into the shower. He pressed his careful hands upon the buttons on the wall. Water cascaded down his body – just the right temperature, not too hot but not too cold – and he bowed his head underneath the water, feeling it bounce against the back of his head and run down his tight shoulders. The water eased the muscle soreness. He allowed the water to run down the length of his arms, run the course of his hand and down his fingers where they pooled for a moment before dripping down to puddle around his feet.

He dressed for work. His muscles protested and he took his time. He could hear the bustle and bustle of the streets outside already, with people already on their way to work and school. He could smell the faint aroma of coffee filtering through the air and filling his senses. He knew he would be drinking a lot of coffee just to get through the day. He never relied much on coffee before but with the long days and nights of being a man of law, it was required to have more coffee in their system than blood.

The walk to work was like any other. People parted like the sea when they saw him approaching, careful to not bump into him. He was aware of the beating of their hearts as they passed him by. He was aware of the footing of other people around him. He was aware of the vehicles around him, honking their horns and the tyres screeching. He allowed his hearing to become in tune to the conversations within the vehicles, the arguments between couples, the crying of children as they refused the idea of going to school. A smirk played on his lips.

He soon got to his office. He could hear the faint conversation between Foggy and Karen upstairs. They spoke about the date they'd gone on the night before – something that neither of them had told him about. He smiled at the thought of his friends spending time together away from him. He could see it happening before they could. The raised heartrates when in each other's company, the blush of their skin at the slight touch and the quiver in their voices whenever they spoke to each other had all been indicators that he had picked up.

He turned back to listen to the sounds of the street. They were familiar and comforting to him. He had spent all of his life in this city, and even though they knew nothing of who he truly was, he hoped the witch hunt would come to an end soon.

As he stepped into the building and closed the door behind him, the world outside descended into silence. The only sound he could hear was the increasing volume of the conversation between his friends which came to a stop as he opened the door to the shared office. With a smirk on his face, he made his way to his private office and closed the door behind him. He rested his stick against the wall and took a seat in his office chair. He allowed the sounds of the city just outside the window to rush back into his mind, and he took a deep breath.

Hell's Kitchen was his city. And he was always going to protect it with his life.

It was soon nightfall and the trio of friends rolled out of the office building. It had been a long day for all of them which saw many clients – old and new – stepping inside the office. Matt didn't want to admit that his head pounded with exhaustion. He noticed himself flagging halfway through the day; the words of the clients going right over his head. His lack of concentration seemed to go unnoticed by Foggy who had sat with him for most of the day.

"Shall we go to Josie's and drown our sorrows?" Foggy suggested.

Karen giggled for a moment before stifling a yawn. "As lovely as that sounds, my bed is calling me."

"But it's only…" Foggy glanced at his watch. "Wow, okay. It's pretty late even for me."

"I think, after today, we all need to go back home and sleep."

"Together?" Foggy asked, and Matt, though he was tired, noticed the blush stain Karen's cheeks. Silence filled the air around them, and Matt stood awkwardly as he realised the two of them staring at each other.

"Uh-hm," Matt coughed.

"I…I- we should go home alone?" Karen asked, the sentence more of a question.

"That sounds like a great idea," Matt said. "I'll see you both tomorrow."

"You want us to walk you home?" Foggy asked, his voice heavy with worry. Matt sensed it and shook his head. It had been something that Foggy always seemed to worry about; Matt's safety would always come up into question when he would return to work the next day with a black eye or a bust lip. Matt would tell him that he had been jumped and attacked. It was the easiest thing to tell Foggy, the lie running off his tongue without a second thought. He would sense Foggy stiffen in his seat as the guilt would engulf him. He knew he was lying to his best friend but he could hardly announce his identity when he still battled every day with living two very different lives.

"No, no, I'll be fine," Matt reassured. "You enjoy the rest of the night together."

He said this with a smirk. Karen blushed once more, and Foggy rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the woman he cared about more than anything from the corner of his eye.

"Be safe, kids," Matt said, turning around. He left them laughing behind him, as he took to the streets, his stick leading the way for him. He always enjoyed the nights of Hell's Kitchen more than the day. The day, for him, was too busy with the hustle and bustle being thick and heavy. The evening, the time he usually left work, had allowed himself to breathe easier; the heavy traffic, the pedestrians, the sounds, had all thinned out and it made it easier for him to walk the streets and not get himself tangled up in the web of people that would block his way.

The nights allowed him the space he needed to breathe. They were quieter, less busy and peaceful. Most nights – though they didn't happen all the time – would be spent on his roof with him listening to the city around him, taking in the new smells and sounds that filled the air. He would sit perched almost, waiting for any type of distressed signal or anything untoward. His head would move in the direction of the sounds, his hearing would narrow down on it and the map in his mind would be drawn out. He wouldn't give a second thought before he leapt into action.

But tonight, it was different.

Hell's Kitchen was strangely quiet. A part of him was slightly disappointed but the other part was relieved that he didn't have to fight. The city he belonged to had given him the night off, and he was grateful for that.

But then he heard it. The heartbeat he hadn't heard in a few years. The one he always searched for. The one he had missed checking in on.

He followed it as it trailed through the streets. It had caught him off guard. He never expected to hear it again but it was echoing throughout the streets; bouncing off the buildings and pulsating towards him. It was growing louder and louder, stronger and stronger, and he found himself following it. He moved from rooftop to rooftop, careful of his movements as his attention wavered and focused in on that. He always made sure it was below him; the sound of the familiar beat overtaking his own heartbeat that thumped inside his head. He was urgent, frantic even.

She came to a stop. His movements halted in response. She glanced around at her surroundings, and lifted her head up to the sky.

Even though he knew she couldn't see him, he still moved and hid. He noticed the jolt in her heart. It had only been there for a moment but he had picked up on it. But there was something different about her. The familiar scent of rose was gone. He furrowed his brow.

As she disappeared into a building, and her heartbeat immediately being masked by others, he reluctantly returned home. As he settled down to sleep, sleep took him as soon as his head touched the pillow and he only dreamed of her.