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The first time he meets the majority of the Avengers, they're not looking for him but trying to find their 'missing' teammates Hawkeye and Thor. Considering Matt can hear the voice he recognises as Hawkeye's yelling at a man answering to Thor in a nearby bar, he's reluctantly amused as he slinks into the shadows to eavesdrop.
'You're not worried, how are you not worried?' Tony Stark is saying, his light footsteps telling Matt he's not wearing the suit. But there's a hum of electricity that Matt can hear coming from the briefcase he's carrying so it's not far away. Matt grits his teeth at the thought of the damage that could cause in the still-fragile Hell's Kitchen.
The only woman with the team - must be Romonov - shrugs. 'He usually turns up eventually.'
'Then why are we searching for him?' Stark whines.
'Because it's been three days and we should know where our teammates are.' Matt tries not to wriggle in delight at the voice from his childhood. Captain America!
There's a fourth person walking with them, as short as Stark but with a heartbeat like thunder. Matt's sure that this must be the Hulk. Which is pissing him off a bit because this is his city and he'd appreciate if they kept the dangerous people out. It's been hard enough cleaning up the place without more accidental damage.
'Oh where the devil is he?' Stark snaps as they round the corner and Matt decides enough is enough. Time to get them the hell out of here- and hope they'll stay out. Carefully he slides into position above them.
'You called?' To his satisfaction Stark, Captain America and the Hulk jump. For a second, Hulk's heartbeat races but instantly calms. Matt is reluctantly impressed at his control. While Romonov doesn't jump, her heartbeat does.
'Who's there?' Captain America calls.
Matt smirks and slides into view. 'Heard you were looking for something in my city. Care to ask for help?'
Stark's heart is going nuts. So is Captain America's. 'And if we agree, what's in it for you?'
'You get the idiots in the bar down there out of here before I'm forced to do so myself,' Matt says with a shrug. 'I'm not fond of interlopers; you bring nothing but trouble.'
'That's it? That's all you want?'
Matt rolls his eyes, aware they can't see him, and steps back into the shadows. 'Just get them out of here before I do. You won't like my methods.'
There. Maybe that threat will be enough to keep them out of Hell's Kitchen.
('Holy shit, where'd he come from? Where'd he go? Do you think-'
'Just a man and his symbols you said.'
'The Devil isn't real, Rogers.'
'Maybe that's what he wants you to think.')
********
It's just Romonov and Stark the second time Matt runs into the Avengers. This time Stark doesn't have his suit with him - no briefcase and no hum - and it's the sounds of Romonov fighting to protect him that attracts Matt to their side in the first place.
Matt doesn't bother speaking when he slips into the warehouse, just throws his baton at the light bulb he can hear humming in the centre of the room. He's pleased when there's a chorus of groans and cries of fear at the sudden darkness.
He's even more pleased one of them is from Stark. 'Natasha, please tell me you have a light. I'm so stripped of tech right now it hurts. Physically pains-'
'If you don't shut up Stark, I'll shut you up.' Romonov sounds a touch stressed but Matt can taste the blood dripping down her head and he did effectively blind her too. A tiny part of him feels regret.
'Got a light!' one of the men yells. He must have time to turn it on before Matt makes it over because he screams when Matt's still a foot away. The scent of urine floods the room as Matt punches the man out.
Oh that thing again. As soon as it stops being useful, Matt is going to have a discussion with the criminals of Hell's Kitchen about the difference between reality and a symbol. Seriously. He's tired of being drenched in water (and ah, other things by terrified crooks) because people think he's the Devil.
The light - a phone by the sound of it - clatters to the ground and Matt moves onto his target. There's still two heartbeats that aren't Avenger heartbeats in the room.
Romonov seems to decide to leave it to him and moves to Stark's side. 'How badly are you injured?'
Matt can hear the movement of air as Stark shrugs. 'Been worse. What's happening? I can't see a damned thing in this dark.'
'Our resident Daredevil has it covered.' Matt knocks the last of the men out and moves quietly towards them.
'How the hell can he see?' Romonov is helping Stark to his feet and clearly ignoring the shift of fractured bone in her shoulder. Not that Stark's any better off.
'How can't you?' Matt deflects and taps at Stark's shoulder. 'I thought I told you to stay out of Hell's Kitchen?' But Matt takes some of Stark's weight, ignoring the soft sigh of Romonov as the movement of weight shifts her shoulder.
'Huh. Now we know where we are,' Romonov says, her heartbeat barely giving away the lie.
Matt sighs. 'Don't lie, it's annoying and I'd hate to waste time calling you out on them.'
Both Stark's and Romonov's hearts jump. They're surprised. But they don't say anything even as Matt helps them out of the warehouse and to the nearest business - Mrs Jones' pizza place. He disappears into the shadows as they call for help.
('How the hell did he know you were lying? He couldn't have been looking at you!'
'I do not know.'
'And for that matter, what the hell did he mean with the 'how can't you?' line?'
'Something interesting, I'm sure.')
********
The third time they meet it's almost a team up. Except Matt's busy trying to keep the human traffickers he's fighting away from the church where their victims are hiding with Father Lantom. So he doesn't actually pay any attention to them beyond noting that yeah, there's four people standing at the edge of church property just to gawk at him.
'Either help or go away,' Matt finally snaps before he has to flip over one man, landing behind him. For a moment the man has a clear view of the church but Matt reaches out and grabs the back of his shirt, pulling him away from the church. He registers the distant cry of a young girl - one of the victims must be watching the fight from the church.
'You look like you have it handled,' Hawkeye calls but his voice is strained.
'Then get the hell out of Hell's Kitchen.' With a well placed kick, Matt brings the second to last man down.
But then the last man starts to sprint for the church, causing another terrified cry from the girl watching. For a moment Matt freezes, caught in the choice between stopping that man and stopping this man and certain that whoever he doesn't pick will go for the church.
There's a twang of a bow, followed by a bloody cry of pain. It takes Matt a moment to assemble the picture his senses are providing. Hawkeye finally decided to step in and did so in the most painful way possible. Matt's a touch glad he's not the one Hawkeye put an arrow through; even if he doesn't actually use his eyes.
'Thanks,' Matt calls anyway as he finally gets enough of a hold to choke the air out of the man in his arms.
'Figured you wouldn't be able to get him and thought I'd help out.' Hawkeye's heartbeat is steady but the others' - Stark, Thor and Hulk now Matt bothers to focus - aren't. 'What did he do?'
'Human trafficking.'
Now Hawkeye's heart stutters. 'Now I wished I'd killed him - I didn't kill him, right?'
Matt checks. 'He's still breathing.'
'Why'd you get involved?' It seems Stark has finally found his - mechanical, must be in the suit - voice.
The accusation in his voice strikes at Matt. 'I could hear the screams, cries and prayers of the children they'd taken. How could I not? I may be a 'devil' Mr Stark but I'm not going to let children cry.'
Stark takes a shaking breath.'Oh Jesus-'
'Blasphemy,' Matt grits out, annoyed with this conversation. He can hear police sirens and Father Lantom reassuring the children Matt hid with him. He's not needed here.
Without saying another word, he turns and strolls into the shadows.
('Holy shit, Steve was right.'
'It is damning evidence, though I was led to believe the Devil was a figure of legend on Midgard.'
'So were we buddy.'
'We need more evidence.'
'To the lab, science bro!'
'Please don't call me that.')
********
Captain America's heart is racing which is confusing Matt. The Avengers and Matt have just fought off a horde of... well Matt's not sure but they weren't human and they weren't happy to be here. He'll have to ask Foggy for a better description when he next sees him which, knowing Foggy, will be when Matt gets home. He's been hovering a lot recently. It's... kinda nice actually, after the disaster that was that week.
Anyway. They've just fought off a whole horde of fast, angry human like things and Captain America's heart had barely changed but now it's just him and Matt on this roof, it's going nuts. If Matt didn't know better, he'd say Captain America was terrified.
Matt's about to ask what's wrong when the sounds of sirens break into his thoughts. He focuses. They're headed for- Oh come on, not that nut again. God damn it, who let him out? And how'd he find another flamethrower so fast?
'You alright Daredevil?'
There's a roar as Thomas McCready fires up his flamethrower. Again. Sometimes Matt wishes he was a prosecution lawyer so he can make sure the people he captures stay behind bars.
'Just an old friend,' Matt growls. 'I've got it handled. Nice to see you and excuse me.' Matt's across the roof and on the next one before Captain America manages to land. As he gets closer, he can smell the sulfur that is part of McCready's unique blend of flame.
With a deep breath, he forgets about Captain America's strange behaviour and focuses on his work.
('He said what was an old friend?'
'Someone... something who made flame and left the scent of sulfur.'
'Oh shit.')
********
The fifth time Matt meets an Avenger, Tony shoves a cross in his face.
Matt pauses, taken back. 'Why do you have a cross, Mr Stark? You don't even believe in God.' He's also sure they've come to Hell's Kitchen looking for him but why come down here just to shove a cross at him.
'You can tell that?' Tony's voice is soft over the pounding of his heart and the gears of the suit. Hang on... where the hell did Tony even have that cross?
'It's something I know.' Matt's too busy trying to puzzle out the cross to point out Tony as a younger man was... vocal, about his disbelief in religion. Very vocal. So vocal even Matt who didn't bother much with the gossipy bits of news shows, has heard about it.
'How'd you know we were here?' Romonov asks as she steps forward, drawing Matt out of his musing.
He smirks. 'It's Hell's Kitchen and you're not exactly subtle. But you didn't need to wander around looking for me.'
'Oh?'
'If you want me that badly just come here and call. I usually come when I'm called.'
Matt turns to go but Romonov takes a breath to speak and he pauses to listen. 'Daredevil or devil?'
He shrugs. 'I'll come for either.'
('How the hell did he know?'
'I do not know.'
'Also, did he just admit to being the Devil?'
'He didn't deny it at least.')
********
Matt figures it out the sixth time they cross paths, this time another fight together. They even manage time to plan; if Captain America calling out parts of the city they're to protect from the invading dinosaurs is planning.
Invading dinosaurs. Fuck magic, seriously. At least they're mostly raging around in Midtown but Matt's concerned some might slip into Hell's Kitchen. And so are the Avengers, judging by the fact this briefing is being held in Hell's Kitchen.
'Daredevil, you've got Hell's Kitchen. Clint I want you on the border with Midtown, cover Daredevil where he can't go.'
Matt blinks. 'I can't go?'
Steve shrugs, his heart racing. 'You don't leave Hell's Kitchen. We can work with it.'
For the rest of the extremely brief briefing Matt puzzles over Steve's comment. And adds it to the rest of the piles of weird things the Avengers have said or done to him...
'Oh shit,' he mutters as he punches out a dinosaur. 'Oh shit.'
********
'Foggy, the Avengers think I'm actually the Devil.'
For a long moment Foggy pauses, leaving the beer he'd been offering to a victorious Matt just out of his reach. Then he laughs, with no attempt to hide it. Annoyed, Matt snatches the beer off him and prowls over to Foggy's sofa to sit next to his discarded suit.
'Come on Matt,' Foggy says as he falls into the seat beside Matt. 'It is a little funny.'
Matt shifts. 'Just a bit.'
'There you go buddy! Smile!' Matt rolls his eyes at his friend but doesn't lose his smile as he takes a sip of beer.
'What should I do?'
Foggy shrugs. 'I just shrugged. You can either tell them you're not the immortal ruler of hell but then you're going to have to explain how a human does all you do.'
His heart is beating quicker and something clicks for Matt. 'You! You're the person who started the rumors I was actually the Devil.'
This time Foggy sounds sheepish. 'I just... made a few comments in strategic places. You know. A couple of minor rumors.'
'This is Hell's Kitchen! There's no such thing as a 'minor rumor'.' Matt pushes at Foggy, but he's laughing. 'You jerk.'
'Hey, if it keeps you alive, I'll do without complaint.'
Matt sighs, his good humour suddenly gone. 'Fog-'
'Nope. No apologies. Now, tell me all the amusing stories of the Avengers trying not to piss off the Devil.'
With a smile, Matt obliges.
*******
Six months.
It's been six months since Matt realised the Avengers think he's the Devil and they're still labouring under that impression. It would be extremely sad if it wasn't so hilarious. Matt's had to dodge holy water at least three times but otherwise they seem to have decided he's a benevolent demon and leave him alone for the most part. The lack of a body count is probably helping.
But being called 'devil' or Daredevil every single time they're in Hell's Kitchen is starting to get annoying; especially since they've started coming around a lot more.
Take now for instance. Hawkeye's prowling around the roofs of Hell's Kitchen and any other night Matt would be up there snarking with him just to hear his heart pound but he's had a bad night. Three stab wounds kind of bad night. While only one made more than a dent in the suit, it hit at the right angle and Matt's definitely going to need stitches. He's not in the mood to deal with idiot Avengers.
'Daredevil! You alright?' Of couse Hawkeye managed to pick Matt's roof to perch on.
Matt stumbles and manages to get to the door to his apartment. 'I'm fine.'
'Yeah... dude, you wanna try that again?' Hawkeye moves to his side and tries to support him. Matt shies away but not before Hawkeye touches the wound on his side. 'Oh man, you're bleeding.'
'I'm fine.'
'I didn't know you could bleed.'
Matt snaps. He's had enough of this and he's not going to die on his damned roof. 'Why not? I'm human aren't I?' With that he pushes the door open and half falls, half stumbles down his stairs.
Hawkeye follows, his pounding heart echoing in Matt's ears. 'Oh shit, oh shit. You're bleeding and you're human. Oh shit. First aid kit?'
Matt waves a hand at his bathroom as he manages to get himself to his sofa. He should call Claire but it's getting so hard to focus.
'Daredevil! Come on, stay with me.' With a huge effort, Matt manages to drag himself back to the room. Someone is fumbling at his suit, trying to get it off his chest.
It takes another huge effort but Matt leans forward and Hawkeye pulls it off. The wound on Matt's side throbs but Hawkeye's there, putting pressure on it and while it stings, Matt's sure the bleeding is slowing.
'How deep is it?'
'Deep enough. It's going to need stitches.' And Matt used the last of the thread in his first aid kit last month and never replaced it. Shit. At least there’s a sewing kit in his apartment or he’d be stuffed.
Hawkeye nods. 'Is ther-'
'The bedroom.' Matt nods towards his bedroom and moves his hands to cover Hawkeye's. Then Hawkeye removes his and it's Matt putting pressure on his wound.
He's gone for a longer time than Matt expects and as he kneels beside the sofa Matt hears something clink. 'What's that?'
Hawkeye holds something out but Matt's not able to focus enough to tell what it is. So he takes one hand off his side and grabs it, ignoring Hawkeye's angry hiss.
It's his rosary beads, the set he keeps beside the sewing kit in his drawer. They clink as he runs them through his fingers and Matt raises an eyebrow.
'Dude what are you doing? Pressure on your wound,' Hawkeye snaps. Matt drops the beads into his lap and puts his hand back on his side.
'I'm not the man who showed an injured blind man something and expected him to know what it is,' Matt snaps back, hissing as Hawkeye pushes aside one of his hands to start the stitches.
Hawkeye pauses mid-stitch. 'What?'
It dawns on Matt that he still has his cowl on. With a sigh, he removes it and reveals his unfocused eyes. 'Like I said, a blind man.'
'...Now I have even more questions but that can wait until you're not bleeding out.'
Matt huffed, a ghost of a laugh. 'Good plan.'
********
'You're human.'
Seated at a conference table in Stark's tower and in his civilian clothes, Matt feels a bit naked and defensive. So he's not too impressed at Stark's tone. 'Last time I checked, I was yes,' he says, managing to keep his tone mild.
'Human.'
'Yes.'
Stark goes to speak but thankfully Romonov interrupts. 'Tony, if you ask that again, I'll hurt you before Daredevil can.'
'It's Matt.'
There's a pause, then, 'Natasha.' Matt smiles and well, he hopes she smiles back. It's one thing he can't tell. She'd been the only one not to give her name when Clint dragged him into this room. 'You're enhanced.'
'My senses yes. But I'm still human. Not the Devil.'
'Yeah, we've been calling a devout Catholic the Devil guys,' Clint climes in.
Matt smirks. 'I know. It was hilarious.'
'I am relieved that you are not of the Hel that Midgardians believe in,' Thor thunders. 'I was informed that deals with such figures often end poorly and that whatever deal the Devil in Hel's Kitchen had made was too good to be true.'
'I'm... glad too?' Matt manages, thinking through the wealth of information in Thor's sentence. 'I didn't realise you thought it at first but well. Your team is not subtle.'
Steve shrugs. 'We're not supposed to be.' He passes over something - a crucifix - and Matt takes it gingerly. He traces the familiar figure on it before passing it back with a raised eyebrow at the test. 'Had to be sure,' Steve whispers so Matt can barely hear it.
'I hope this won't affect my working with the team?'
Clint laughs. 'You're kidding right? Now we're not going to be scared about being dragged to Hell every time we work with you! It'll make life easier.'
'Less fun though,' Matt smirks and everyone laughs.
'He's human!'
'Tony, shut up!'