1963-10-21 - Off-Limits
Summary: The sound of dismemberment brings Mystique and Daredevil together again. Probably for the last time.
Related: None
Theme Song: None
raven daredevil 


Nelson and Murdock is not open for business. There's even a sign. 'Closed Until Further Notice.'

Matt had scrapped Foggy's first idea; pen on paper, reading: 'Closed due to FUCKING VAMPIRES'.

Regardless, Daredevil is perched atop the mixed use midrise upon which apartments tower over the meager, ground floor law office. Cold rain pelts into his red costume, but he doesn't care. Twenty minutes ago, he'd beaten down a vampire attempting to break into the law office; others had come to suck his corpse dry, leaving behind a mangled and sunken shell on the curb outside the office.

*

Long. Long nights. The plans were slowly going underway, born out of a rash decision and a fist full of dollars and liquor. Her mind was an ever running clockwork. Running on little sleep; Raven didn't take to the rooftops but she kept in the shadows instead.

*SFNNNTK!*

It possibly could be the grossest sound that anyone could have ever heard. A twisting of a neck of a vampire who managed to get too close because Raven allowed it. As soon as those fangs touched her neck, that twist sent his head turning backwards, along with a draw of a blade and a tiny slice to open the juggular, and -tug-. It was too easy. Frighteningly easy. For even with a kick to the middle the spine itself retracts from the body as it flubbers and twitches limply upon the ground.

*THUMP*

The blue woman stares at her recent kill, her blade idly wiping against her leg as she sighs. This is a troublesome problem indeed.

*

SFNNNTK

RIP

THUMP

Daredevil grimaces from behind the mask; even that sound was troublesome. He leans forward upon his perch, eliminating sound after sound until a heartbeat and lung draws remain.

"Raven."

A slew of emotions. Memories flashing of recent events. Booze with Jessica and Longshot. The razor. The baths. Confession. Wait, that had been a nightmare. St. Anthony's he had tried to pray, but no, he had not given confession. An argument with Foggy and Karen over keeping the office closed. Anya. The vampires.

The killing.

Hell.

One grappling line later and he's on the neighboring rooftop, jumping, running and swinging to his new destination.

*

Raven sighs, leaning back against the wall, her booted heel toying with the blood that slowly pools at her feet. Any minute now, the body would dissolve into a mess of steaming flesh. And it was nothing new. None of this was new. Perhaps it was her trying to find some sort of soliditary or familiarity from the two years spent in Hell. Or maybe she was attempting to clean up Hell's Kitchen for the 'soon-to-be' takeover of the Kitch that she's planned. Still planning. A mutant Mecca, sister to Mutant Town yet with more benefits, much more safety..

Who in the hell could be safe in a shit place like this?

There were squeals at the end of the alleyway in the dark; eyes slowly lighting one by one to watch the lone woman toy with the remains upon the ground. She looks, her hand drawing up to dig through her red hair as she boosts herself from the bricked wall with her arms outstretched. She was -standing- in their brother.

"Are you sure?" She calls out into the darkness. "Are you sure you want to ride this train tonight?"

And through all of this? Raven's heartbeat didn't spike once.

*

There is movement in the darkness. A grunt, then two whizzing sounds. Those lights suddenly go out, paired with the crunching of two skulls.

Daredevil leaps from the darkness, a free fall. With a yank, one billy club comes free from its temporary home in a squelchy skull cavity, only to be flung at a fire escape. A loud *CLANG!* signifies its hook, then another noise rattles in the dark as he slows his fall. Boots on the wet ground, then the sound of metal released from metal.

"Wrong train," he answers. "This one's dead."

He pauses upon leaving the alley, looking behind at the two bleeding creatures. "Or at least, they will be."

*

The grunt. She could close her eyes and time the moves to the beat of her heart. There was a sigh, along with the shake of her head as she sheathes her blades, her fingers soon wiping away at the middle of her clothing and soon shook out. She did ask them! Was her thought. They probably were on advance as Daredevil had taken them out. But she wasn't moving back, she was moving towards the darkness, and if she had the ability? Her eyes would glow upon approach. Not that it would matter when it comes to Murdock.

"You're being incredibly messy." Raven comments, her fingers rubbing at the back of her neck to work out a kink there, and held. A tiny amount of affection within her wanted to reach out and hug the man who was her partner for two years.. but she didn't. She kept away.

"And it looks like you're getting back into the swing of your old life."

*

"You think it matters where these freaks are involved?" Murdock retorts. "I'm guessing you've seen them 'feed'. Nice and clean, as I imagine. They don't deserve the time for a clean kill."

Even as he speaks those words, there's an echo of irony in his mind. This is not him, but it is him. There's Matt Murdock on the left, and Daredevil on the right. He's somewhere in between. Maybe.

At mention of his old life, he scoffs. "What else is there?" he asks. "No sign of mob activity. I'm guessing whichever of them aren't dead, have gone to ground. Probably laying low in Jersey."

He stops a distance away. The streets are quiet, thanks to the curfew, and a brief reprise from the storms that plague Hell's Kitchen. Raven receives an upnod. "And you? Getting back into the swing of things?"

*

"No, it does not matter." She says carefully. "But you usually wouldn't leave them a chance to think. Quick. Dead. No chance to reach out for a hand or beg for the death they deserve." But she could empathize, there were questions on her mind as of late as to which was the real her and not. If she even should continue on this fool hardy plan or just keep moving.

"Consider that a good thing." She finally says, patting herself down in search of something, yet finding nothing, her arms drop. But his question of her getting back into the swing of things has her stepping closer, her hand reaching out to grasp his arm to try to lead him back into the dark of another alley. The body? Let them melt and fester alone.

"No. Yes." She admits, even if she has him or not, she'd be moving. "I can't sleep. I don't sleep." She frowns a little, not that he could see. "Sometimes I wish I was back there, because that place was -real-. How.." Her voice nearly cracks, but she clears her throat again. "..two weeks. And nothings changed."

*

"I slept," Matt offers. He doesn't resist her guiding him, going willingly and not putting up any kind of argument. It does bother him to a small degree, that someone knows of his secret. Then again, she's not the only one.

"Whiskey," he explains. "Cheap whiskey, in unhealthy volume. If you haven't tried it, let me assure you that it works, if you can stomach enough of it."

Once they've reached the darkness of the alley, he kindly removes his arm from Raven's grasp. "I swore the newsie was yanking my chain, 'til I had a friend verify the publication date. I lost track of how long we were in there, but…. it was much longer than two weeks. Two months." A pause. "I don't think it was more than two years. But, maybe?"

*

Whiskey, that was a thought. She already had Cain buy her a whole goddamned store worth of whiskey. "That stuff doesn't work on me anymore." She had the harder shit in Hellmouth. But.. as she listens, she leans back against the side of the building again, her head lowered, her eyes pressed to the ground as she gives a shake of her head. "I don't know, Matt. I simply just don't know."

There were stories shared during the time inside; she had told him everything under the sun under a fit of delirium. Leaving out the better parts of her brother but, she has a son. And there were regrets. He who knows her inside and out. She even told him about the supposed 'western' era that was a lot different than it was in the books.

"I know we were nothing to each other down there, and enemies out here. But I need to say this before I do anything else, or if I ever see you again after this. My crew? To them you're off limits. They won't touch you or yours. You treated me right.. when we were there."

*

"Well, don't go shooting dope or anything," he answers. "I understand that shit is dangerous. Probably knock your ass out, but…"

It hadn't been a one way street. She knew about his childhood, about his boxing dad; about his mother's murder and the traffic accident that blinded him. She knew about Stick, for Christ's sake. Nobody knows about Stick.

"I still don't really know what I'm doing here," he admits. "But you're fucking crazy if you want to go back inside that place. I hear rumors that someone might be able to shut it down. Suppose it's a good thing we got out when we did."

Raven's talk of her crew? That sobers the conversation. He turns to look her way; not a direct look, as he knows where she is but lacks the capacity for real eye contact. "Enemies?" he asks. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. Unless…"

Arms come up to cross against his chest. His tone becomes more firm, though he simply can't hide the level of trust they share. "What are you planning to do, Raven?"

*

"Dope? Noooo. I considered it." Raven said lightly. For once? She actually smiles, a little one since she's been out. "Dope and a lot of sex." She shakes her head then, her arms folding about her chest, foot kicked up which soon taps against the brick. "But you see what that place has done to us? -That- was real. It was raw. I knew what I had to do and I knew where I was going." She pauses, then smirks. "To a point. But I knew my path. Kill or be killed. It was fucking simple. This?" She holds her hands out now, gesturing at the world around them. "Not so much." But she sniffs at that, her hand drawn up to wipe at her nose. "But you're right. I -am- crazy. You came out better than I did, obviously." It was a bitter laugh, though.. they were getting down to the meat of things.

"At first we did.. that time in the police station, I wanted to blow the back of your head out if you didn't give me what I wanted.." But she sighs slightly, then takes those steps forward to cross the distance in between then. "I want Hell's Kitchen. Wanted. That was going to be our original goal. Swipe it from underneath the mobsters and cops feet. Usurp the devil who flights at night." Her fingers lift to flick at his chest, a playful gesture. "Turn it into a mutant mecca. So my people could be safe."

*

A small smirk. In Matt's world, sex never really made things better. Just complicated things. "There's not much morality to be concerned with when you're in hell," he agrees. "It's what you do afterwards. There are some circles who believe that Christ actually went to hell when He died. That He took on all of that so that we don't have to. I know that's a joke. I've been a Catholic my whole life, you know that, but… He didn't spare us, did He?"

He's waxing. He knows this, and he's going to let it rest. Her confession of wanting to kill him? Not surprising. He shrugs. "Lot of people want to blow my head off."

He turns to face her then, arms still crossed, only to separate them when he senses her going for that playful flick. That brings a rueful half smirk, but he listens still. "You people have the wrong idea about me. I don't own the Kitchen. Never have, not my play. The mob owns this place, and you want to know why the cops don't do a thing about it? Cause most of them are on the mafia's payroll. I only want the people who live here to be safe."

That smirk fades. Even though he can't see her, there's a sense that Matt is staring with conviction right into Raven's eyes. "Will they be safe, when you make your move? Or… will it be just like the mob? Live by our rules or get the fuck out?"

*

"You seem to mimic that remark well. The things you did made my toes curl." In reference to what? That was something that was only in between them. It could be the way that he fought, how he took down a demon.. Many different ways that could have been interpreted. "No. He didn't." She frowns a little. "Matt, if you could only see how ugly I truly am.. you would know that I'm a walking fault. A mistake that He made. So yes. No. I don't know. He didn't spare us. Any of us."

She sounded sad, and with a sigh, her hand draws up to rub along her face. Feeling the slight scaling there. "You're not showing us any different, are you, devil?" She asks. "You want everyone to be safe, yet you stalk the rooftops like the city is your lover. People turn to you. Look up to you. Watch and hope for you. This city is yours. And you are hers." She grins, but the smile falls. A flicker of darkness passes over her as she confesses. She couldn't hide the truth from him, he would be able to tell.

"The people? Yes. They will be safe. And our rules were going to be that. Yes." She frowns. "But.. I just want them here. I want them protected. I want the rules to be simple. Love us because no one else will." With his arms down, she takes another step forward, her arms lifting to draw along his neck to bring herself to hug him. "I changed my mind about the method, but I still want them here. Another safe haven, to live and to work. And then I'm gone. No more anomosity, you got me. Alright?"

*

The things he did are what keeps him from entering that confessional. He's not sure he could bring himself to vocalize it all.

"No, Raven, I'm afraid this city still belongs to the criminals. People with power. Money. Kennedy produces a great many lofty ideals, but down here, in the real world? It's all bullshit. People get arrested, so they post bail. They hire expensive lawyers and get house arrest, like it will keep them from breaking more laws." He draws in a deep breath, admitting something he believes to be true, but is still troubled at the conclusion he's come to. "The only messages these thugs understand are… broken jaws. Busted limbs."

Matt doesn't air an opinion on her strategy, not just yet. He does what the lawyer in him does best; he shuts the hell up and listens. It's amazing what people might say when you shut up and let them talk. He welcomes Raven's embrace, wrapping his arms around her back and holding her tight. There is an enduring silence before he responds.

"I stalk the rooftops because if I don't, the police will come after me. This whole thing I've created? It's a fabrication. An ideal. Something one wrong move and a blast of editorials could crush." He considers her self reflection and reaches a hand up to touch her neck, feeling the scaly hide beyond his gloves. With his enhanced sense of touch, it's almost as if the gloves aren't even there.

"I see how ugly you think you are," he tells her, indicatively running a finger along a few spiny outcroppings. "Raven, you're going to fight this fight until they wall the place off like some kind of internment camp."

*

"Iisus Khristos, Matt." Yes. During their time -gone-, Raven had at least taught him a few languages. Whether or not he remembers, it's all up to him. "Ty vse i pessimizma, popytaytes' videt' svetluyu storonu. Vashi razryvy serdtsa i poyet vse srazu, kogda vy deliver spravedlivost'." She smacks her lips. "Spravedlivost. But you know as well as I, broken jaws and busted limbs will keep them coming again. And again."

But he hugs her back, for she was rigid as she spoke, her body soon melting into the embrace with a need to tighten all the more. She missed this. In the nights when it was cold, his body is what kept her warm and made her remember home. "We've spent time being careful, we'll.. no. You'll be alright. Who we are and what we choose to take up is built on lies. Fortitude to keep going is what's needed. Claim this city. She's already got you."

She nearly draws back as he touches her face, however, her jaw working until it curls into a frown. She almost wanted to change, to shift into normal skin. But she doesn't. "I'm going to fight this fight Matt. But not here. Not in Hell's Kitchen. But promise me, if they do come, the mutants, you'll protect and help them just like you do everyone else. And I'll keep this war far away from here."

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