----
Still, Matt was glad to see Jessica stepping back into the light after everything she'd been through.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Matt."
"Nolan," he replied with a smile. "Just Nolan's fine."
They shook hands. Nolan did his best to hide any hint of suspicion. Despite being blind, Matt's senses were razor-sharp and borderline supernatural. The man had a sixth sense, mapping his surroundings with pinpoint accuracy based on the information his body absorbed.
In some ways, he saw more than anyone with working eyes.
"We're after the same target," Matt said, glancing at Jessica. "Why not team up?"
"If my client's cool with it, I'm in," Jessica said nonchalantly.
Nolan grinned. "The more the merrier." Daredevil… walked right into my web.
He had only intended to reel in one fish. Now, two had jumped into the boat.
---
That night, Daredevil appeared in full gear his iconic red suit cutting through the shadows. Nolan stayed in plain clothes. Jessica masked her face with a strip of black cloth.
"You're not going to cover your face?" Matt asked.
Nolan shrugged. "Not my style."
"Suit yourself."
Matt turned and vanished into the darkness like a ghost, flipping and vaulting across rooftops with a fluidity that defied his blindness. His cane, of course, was really a weapon.
Nolan followed closely, Jessica right behind them. The three of them quickly arrived across the street from a massive warehouse. Harsh floodlights lit up the entrance, flanked by high concrete walls topped with electrified fencing.
"They're probably inside, making the exchange," Nolan whispered. "How are we getting in?"
"There's a blind spot on the west wall," Matt replied. "We have three seconds to make it over undetected. Can you handle it?"
"Watch me."
They shifted position. The new spot was cloaked in shadows. Jessica leaped first, soaring through the air and landing behind the wall with ease. Matt followed, scaling the structure with practiced agility.
Just as he reached the top, a blur zipped past him.
Nolan.
He landed cleanly on the other side.
Matt had no idea he was already being studied his enhanced senses were impressive, but his physical limitations kept him from fully capitalizing on them.
'This kind of edge… is wasted on him' Nolan thought.
Matt landed behind them moments later, unaware he'd already been marked.
The trio crept to the warehouse's rooftop, peering down at the deal unfolding inside.
"Let's end this," Matt said without hesitation, then dove straight through the skylight.
Jessica followed.
Nolan smirked. 'Street-level heroes… always charging in headfirst. No plan. No finesse. Don't blame me for taking advantage.'
He dropped in after them, casually thumbing a button on his belt mid-fall.
THUD!
By the time he hit the ground, Matt and Jessica had already taken out most of the goons. Bodies groaned on the floor, clutching bruises and broken limbs.
Jessica popped open the crate between the two negotiating parties.
BOOM!
A shockwave ripped through the building the crate was rigged with liquid explosives. Jessica was thrown across the room by the blast, just as a shrill alarm blared throughout the warehouse.
"You're surrounded!" a voice bellowed with cruel amusement.
Klaue's silhouette appeared above. Helicopters hovered overhead as armed soldiers rappelled down, guns drawn and aimed directly at them.
Klaue spotted Nolan and grinned. "Well, well. Logan's brother, right? Perfect. Now I can bag both of you!"
"Damn it. It's a trap!" Jessica growled, struggling back to her feet.
Matt staggered. "That… that noise…"
His hyper-senses, usually a gift, were now betraying him. The layered, fluctuating frequencies flooding the warehouse scrambled his perception. He couldn't build a mental map of his surroundings anymore. He was blind truly blind.
"Get us out of here!" Jessica shouted. Her coat had been shredded in the blast, exposing skin and blood, but she didn't care.
She grabbed Nolan in one arm and Matt in the other. Klaue gave the order.
Metallic shrapnel ripped through the air in a hailstorm of gunfire and micro-missiles.
Jessica burst through the front gate, just as another explosion went off.
BOOM!
Fire lit up the night sky. Bullets tore through the chaos, piercing flesh.
Blood sprayed across Nolan's shirt. He shielded Matt with his own body.
"I'll be fine!" Nolan roared. "Use me as cover!"
"I'm good!" Jessica spat blood. The explosion had rattled her insides she could feel her organs crying out.
"I can't let you get hurt because of me," Nolan said softly. "Don't worry. I won't die."
Even in his disoriented state, Matt looked up. 'They're flirting… right now?'
"Move! Or we're not getting out of here alive!"
Reinforcements were closing in. Nolan discreetly tapped a second button on his belt Level Five of his emergency protocols now active.
Jessica gave him a look, sighed, and then slung Nolan onto her back like a human shield. Cradling Matt in a princess carry, she blasted off into the air.
"Hold on tight!" she called back.
At that moment, her lips brushed against Nolan's.
She blinked. 'Was that…?'
Nolan had passed out.
So had Matt.
Jessica looked down at both of them, breathing hard. "…You didn't want me to get hurt, huh?"
---
Nolan woke to soft breathing beside him.
Jessica was slumped on his bedside, fast asleep.
Looks like last night worked perfectly, he thought.
The whole thing had been a carefully staged performance:a play to win Jessica's trust. The idea of betraying her outright? Impossible. She was too powerful, too fast, and could fly. Any trap he set would've failed if she'd seen it coming.
Matt had been a lucky bonus. It gave Nolan a chance to test the modified frequency disruptor custom-built to exploit Daredevil's weaknesses.
The results? Excellent.
According to the comics and shows, loud noises were Matt's Achilles' heel. Nolan had gone a step further, adding shifting frequencies to overload his super-senses.
That's why Matt had crumbled last night.
Sure, in the long run, Daredevil might grow into a legend. But right now?
He was just a slightly enhanced human.
With the right intel and enough time, Nolan could dismantle someone like him without breaking a sweat.
----
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