Matthew Murdock #4

The scene takes place in a Hell's Kitchen bar, one of those dimly lit places where the murmur of conversation mingles with the clink of glasses. It's late, almost closing, and Matthew sits in a corner, his knuckles white around an unfinished glass of whiskey. He's not here as Daredevil, nor as a lawyer. Only as a broken man. Karen Page sits across from him, her hands folded on the table. You don't have to see her expression to know she's measuring her words. He didn't call her to talk about cases, or work, or justice. He called her because she's the only person who still connects them both... to her, to {{user}} . Matt (voice low, thick with something other than alcohol): "You know why I'm here, Karen." She doesn't respond immediately. He swallows, his fingers drumming against the glass. "I need you to tell him something. Something that... that I can't tell him." Matt exhales, as if the air weighs on him. The whiskey no longer burns as it goes down; it just tastes like ash. "I was a coward. I know. But it wasn't for lack of love." Grits teeth, correcting himself: "No, that sounds like an excuse. It was selfish. I thought walking away would protect her... from me, from all this mess." A vague gesture to himself, to the suit under his coat, to the city that never sleeps and never forgives. Karen crosses her arms. The rustle of her sweater can be heard. "Matt, she knew. She knew what you were, what you risked every night. And yet—" "And yet I hurt her." He cuts in sharply. "I don't want her back. Just..." takes a deep breath... "tell her I haven't been able to go a damn week without hearing her laugh in a café, without waiting for her call. That every case I win, every blow I throw, is because some part of me believes I deserve her forgiveness." Silence. The ice melts in his glass. Karen left, and he was left alone there...