a/n: couple of things different.
this is based around s1 e4, but i'm
making a few changes since you know,
it's an a.u. asdfklasd, claire isn't the
one taken in this chapter.

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    IF MATT HAD GOTTEN CASSIE TO STAY THAT NIGHT, THINGS MIGHT HAVE PLAYED OUT A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY.

"Semyon... it's us. Anatoly and Vladimir. That's it, just breathe... and tell us about the man who did this to you."

"The Devil. The Devil."

"Did you see anything? Semyon? Anything that could help us find him?"

"He has a weakness. A woman..."

Cassie isn't home when the men pick the lock on her door. They trash the place, searching for a schedule, a clue, anything that might tell them where she is. After coming up empty, they inspect the door to make sure there's no damage that can be seen.

So that when she comes home, she doesn't suspect anything. Then they shut the door, and they wait.

It's a busy day at the gallery. No private bookings, which Cassie almost prefers, but a bunch of small parties, and everyone seems to have questions. She doesn't mind, she'll take any opportunity to talk about art.

But today, she's tired. After tossing and turning all night, she managed a semi-decent amount of sleep, 5 hours. It wasn't great, but it was better than nothing.

Penny, her knight-in-shining-armor, brings Cassie back a large coffee when she takes her lunch. But even that doesn't do much.

Realizing that she drinks so much caffeine that her body is now apparently immune to its affects, Cassie thinks to herself that maybe she should dial it back a little.

It's about 15 minutes before they close, when that man arrives again. Cassie finds it a little odd that he appears to be wearing an almost identical outfit to last time, all black.

He's staring at a random painting, when she finally decides to approach him. He was friendly enough, and she knows you can't always judge people simply based on their appearance.

"Enjoying the rabbit in a snowstorm?"

"You remembered."

"Of course. I spend so much time here, I know every piece like the back of my hand. If I'm being honest, it may have been one of my favorites."

The man chuckles, "then I'm sorry to have taken it away."

"Oh no, please, it makes me happy whenever a painting finds a home. Are you here to find another painting?"

He couldn't tell her the real reason he was there. The first time he'd been in the gallery, she had just been a stranger. He really did go there to select a new painting to hang in his bedroom. When he found out about her afterwards, he couldn't believe the coincidence.

He couldn't mention that he knew who she was, and that he was only there to ensure she didn't leave too late.

There were a couple of people roaming around the gallery when he first walked in, but he only needed to stare at them twice, before they got so uncomfortable that just a few minutes later, he could hear them talking amongst themselves, making an excuse to leave.

The men waiting for her, well, they didn't like to be kept waiting.

"Possibly. I also wanted to thank you, it was you that convinced me to purchase the piece. My apologies, I didn't even get your name last time."

"Cassie. And thank you—" she paused.

"Wilson," he gives her a sort of half-smile, glancing at the expensive watch on his wrist. "It's getting late, you close in just a couple of minutes so I'll be going now."

"Oh, okay. Well thank you again, and I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the piece."

As he exited the building, he thought it was such a shame that she had to be associated with him. If these were any other circumstances, he might've thought they could be friends.

"I think somebody has a crush on you," Penny laughs, playfully pushing Cassie on the shoulder. "Seriously he came in just to thank you."

Cassie couldn't help but roll her eyes. "People do that all the time."

"Alright, alright. But if he comes in a third time I'm going to say I told you so."

After insisting that Penny can go home, Cassie heads to her office to type out one final email. The showcase is in just over a week, and the planning is finally starting to slow down.

In the couple of days before it happens, there'll be lots of phone calls and email confirmations being sent out, but luckily for Cassie, she's finally caught up with everything.

When she gets back to her apartment, something seems off. She can't quite put her finger on it, so she brushes it off.

By the time she exits the bathroom after a nice steaming hot shower, Cassie is feeling a lot better. Still exhausted, but again, she's thankful that she doesn't have to stay up for a couple more hours doing any sort of preparation.

The plan is now in motion. A man knocks on Cassie's door, muttering under his breath about how he got stuck with this part of the plan. He likes to throw punches.

Just a few seconds later, Cassie looks through the peephole before opening the door. "Hi... can I help you?"

"S-sorry, I thought this was someone else's apartment." He shrugs before turning around and walking away, not saying another word.

The interaction seemed odd, but it did the job. Distracted Cassie just long enough that she didn't hear the man sneaking up behind her. He puts a hand over her mouth and whispers that it's in her best interest to keep quiet.

Immediately reaching out, Cassie grabs the first thing she can. Much like it was in Matt's favor that he grabbed a book to throw at the wall, it was in Cassie's favor that she'd grabbed a vase.

She swung her arm back, causing the glass to shatter over the mans head. He hadn't been expecting her to fight back, so he stumbles, eventually falling onto his back.

What had Matt said to her?

Cassie, they're... they're dangerous people. If I tell you, it'll just make things worse.

That's the first thing that comes to mind. But she doesn't understand why they're breaking in to her apartment.

She's of course unaware of the fact that The Devil carried around a small photo of her, tucked into his pocket. It was a stupid mistake, that Matt would come to regret. It raised a lot of suspicion, because they'd been following her for quite some time, and had seen her exit the offices of Nelson and Murdock.

But a tiny bit of luck had been on her side, and Matt and Foggy's too. They assumed that because she was Foggy's sister, that The Devil was looking into her for some unknown reason.

"That's it. Come here you little bitch!"

Cassie was so caught up in her thoughts, about if these could be the men Matt warned her about, that she hadn't even noticed the guy she knocked to the ground, wasn't unconscious.

She scrambled for a piece of broken glass, cutting her hand in the process. Doing her best to ignore the pain, she lunged forward and jammed the jagged edge into the mans shoulder, as he was reaching for an unknown weapon in his pocket.

He was blocking the door, so she got up and ran to the bathroom. Locking the door, she knew that all she did was buy herself a little bit of time. But God may have just been looking out for her in that moment, because her cell phone was still in the bathroom.

"Come on, fuck, please pick up please pick up..."

Elsewhere, Matt and Foggy were about to get into a taxi, when Matt's phone rang. He immediately put the speaker to his ear, and was thankful that the volume was low enough that Foggy couldn't hear the ringtone that was Cassie. Cassie. Cassie.

If she wanted to talk about what happened before the last time they parted ways, he didn't want Foggy to know.

"Hello?"

"Help me."

"W-what's wrong?"

"I— I don't know. There's a guy who knocked on my door and he left and I turned around and he— in my apartment and I think he has a gun and—"

The phone slips from Cassie's hand as the bathroom door is finally kicked down. Matt listens as Cassie scrambles for the phone, screaming for someone to not touch her, to let her go. When she screams again, Matt shuts the phone and begins running.

Fuck.

He's at her apartment less than 5 minutes later, but as soon as he opens the door, he knows he's too late. She's not there, and neither are the men.

Immediately, Matt rushes to her window and shoves it up as far as it'll go. He stands completely still. Listening, until he hears Cassie scream.

In the trunk, Cassie tries to scream again, to kick, to do anything that'll make noise. But it's no use. She was stabbed once, in the leg. And kicked and punched so many times that eventually, the trunk becomes silent as she falls unconscious.

When the trunk is finally opened, she's carried out and tossed onto the ground. The action jolts her awake, and as she gasps for air, shes grabbed by the throat and forced onto her feet before being slammed down onto a metal chair.

"You know The Devil."

"W-what?" Cassie coughs, drops of blood flying out of her mouth.

A man raises a baseball bat, and she ducks as he smashes a window of the car behind her.

"The Devil. Who is he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Cassie gasps for air again as the man once again puts his hand around her throat.

"You can answer my questions. Or I will begin to break you piece by piece, and by the time he comes, there'll be nothing left of you for him to find."

A punch to her ribs causes Cassie to let out another scream. Before the man can ask another question, the lights go out.

One by one, men fall to the ground. Bullets start flying, but after screaming so much, Cassie doesn't feel like she can cry out anymore. With what little energy she has left, Cassie tries to stand up and run.

But that pain in her leg is too much, so when she falls, all she can do is drag herself to the side of the car. Her hands are still bound together, but she's too weak to even attempt to bite through the tape.

Suddenly, she's grabbed by the throat again, pulled up to her feet.

"You'll be my ticket out of here. He won't kill me if I have you," a man whispers into her ear.

"Let her go." That voice sounds familiar, but Cassie's mind is too focused on the pain.

"I'm walking out of here."

"No, you aren't."

"I'm not playing with you, man."

"And you think I'm here to play games? I'm only going to tell you one more time. Let. Her. Go."

"I'll blow her brains out!" The man takes a few steps back, pressing the gun to Cassie's head.

"Put the gun down, or I promise you that you'll never hold anything in that hand again."

The masked man comes up from behind, knocking down the man holding Cassie. She stumbles forward, but is caught just before she hits the ground.

"Let me go!" She kicks and tries to scream, not knowing who is holding her.

"It's okay. I'm here, I have you."

"M-Matt?" His name barely comes out as a whisper. But now that she can listen a lot more clearly, she'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. We have to— hey. No, no no..." he can hear Cassie's breathing slowing down. "You keep your eyes open, okay?"

"What... I don't..." Cassie tries to form a full sentence, but her injuries have taken a bigger toll on her than she realizes, because everything goes black just a few seconds later.

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