... free the hound

NOTE: This chapter is being posted as part of a double-feature, so to speak, so make sure you didn't accidentally skip the previous chapter!

"WELL?" MATTHEW asked impatiently, head tilting.

Artemis jerked his head, motioning to the four unconscious men behind them. "Not so sure I want them listening in on this."

Matthew paused, tilting his head. "They're all--hang on." He strode over to Jacket, lifting him by the collar of his shirt and delivering another swift blow to the head before unceremoniously dropping him. "They're all out. None of them are waking up anytime soon."

Artemis squinted at him.

"Just get on with it already."

He scoffed. "Calm down, would you? This is not as simple as you think."

There was a pause. Then, "Your voice changed."

Artemis hummed, inspecting his nails. "I can do all sorts of accents," he replied airily. "This is my natural accent, though I must admit, I am not a particular fan. People here do not often like Russians."

Matthew said nothing for a moment. "Did you work for Fisk, then? The Russian mob?"

Artemis scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Of course not. Why would I do something so stupid?"

"I know nothing about you; it seemed like a reasonable assumption when you breeze into town almost immediately after I dealt with both."

"Fair enough," he acquiesced after a moment. He tilted his head to the side, thinking.

Matt's jaw was set, his focus on the gun still holstered by Artemis's shoulder, inches away from his hand. If he reached for it-

Artemis sat on the floor of the ally, a muffled thump on the pavement as he landed roughly, his forearms resting on his knees. "I had a sister," he began suddenly.

Matt blinked. "What?"

He shrugged. "You said you wanted to know. I will tell you, Mr. Murdock, but the real question will be, how much are you willing to hear?"

Sighing, Matt nodded. "Keep going," he ordered.

"I was only a year older," he continued, looking up into the sky as though he were reading a book suspended before him. "I do not know if we were born orphans or given up by our parents, but we were in the custody of the Soviet government."

"The Soviet Union fell in the 90's," Matt protested, frowning.

Artemis laughed-a dry thing that held no humor. "Yes, but that does not mean their dreams fell with them. Factions remained in power, moving behind the scenes.

"When I was four, an my sister was three, we were put with a surrogate family in Ohio while our 'parents' fulfilled their mission."

Matt could hear a faint smile in his voice, the muscles in his face tightening.

"My sister and I were too young to know that it was all fabricated. Thought it was our real family. We were happy-even had an older sister; she took good care of us." His smile fell, and the air almost seemed to grow colder.

"After three years, the mission ended, and we were taken back to Russia, torn away from the only family we knew." He glanced back at Matt. "Have you ever heard of the Red Room, Mr. Murdock?"

Matt pursed his lips. "No."

"They take young girls, turn them into spies and assassins. Black Widows."

"... You mean-"

Artemis waved a hand, smiling tightly. "Yes, that kind of Black Widow. She was a product of that place, Natasha. But I knew her better as Natalia."

Matt tilted his head to the side, registering his words. "She was your sister."

"My older sister, yes," Artemis confirmed. He leaned back, laying his upper body on the concrete, his knees still bent over the curb. "They took both of them. Natalia escaped, but I knew-know nothing of Yelena's fate." Another humorless laugh. "I did not get to go along. Originally, they planned to recreate the Red Guardian-my pseudo-father and Russia's attempt at their version of Captain America, but it was ultimately... a failure." Muscles in his neck creaked as he turned his head. "I trust you have heard of Hydra?"

Matt stiffened. After the Helicarriers fell and the files were released, who hadn't? "Yes." He spent weeks pouring over the files, searching for information that could have been even marginally useful.

"I was handed over to them, in exchange for money and SHIELD secrets. They wanted to recreate their perfect soldier, and I was a blank canvas. A perfect opportunity. They thought they had done well, but I was too brash, too rebellious, and too much of a liability. They left me for dead. And I would have died had Natalia not found me."

Artemis paused, breathing in through his mouth, holding, then breathing out through his nose. Distantly, Matt realized he recognized the pattern-in for four, hold for seven, out for eight. He was trying to curb his emotions, to lower his heart that had been thundering since Matt's helmet came off. Matt pursed his lips but said nothing, listening to Artemis's heart rate slowly even out.

"She had only recently defected herself, and she was on her first mission for SHIELD when she found me," he continued once he caught his breath. "They took me in, trained me in a new way. I left when I finally realized I had only traded one cage for another."

"But SHIELD couldn't have been that bad," Matt said, frowning. "Or, at least not before... all that."

Artemis hummed, his eyes flitting, watching. "SHIELD was better than Hydra, sure. But good? Certainly not." He stood, grunting as he stretched. "They both asked me to kill; both burdened me with secrets. Once I found out I never even left Hydra at all? I could not stay," He grunted again, sitting up and arching his back; Matt could hear his muscles creak.

Matt ran his tongue over his teeth, tasting the bloodied air. "Do you regret it?" He asked eventually. "The killing."

"I would rather avoid killing if I can," Artemis admitted after a brief pause. "But I did not exactly have the luxury of morals under Hydra. SHIELD liked to pretend they did, but in the end, they were both the same."

Matt said nothing, tilting his head to the side.

"They called me Hellhound," Artemis continued, leaning back, his coat buttons clacking against the brick wall. "Never really liked it then, but I suppose it is fitting now." He offered Matt a grin that, admittedly, seemed fitting of a hellhound, all teeth; he could hear the way his unnaturally sharp canines scraped against his bottom lip. He let out another pained noise as he continued to shift, as though he couldn't find a comfortable position.

Matt blinked. "Are you... okay?"

He could hear Artemis raise a confused eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You always sound like you're in pain, but I never smell any injuries." At least, other than the obvious concussion he probably had and the bleeding scrape on his cheek from when Matt slammed into him, both of which he decided to overlook for the time being.

Artemis slowly turned his head to face him and blinked, once, twice. He sighed. "You know how weird that sounds, yes?"

Matt huffed, rolling his eyes. "Yes, and you're dodging the question."

"I am in pain," Artemis answered eventually. "Every day of my life." He laid back down, knees still bent, seeming to find solace on the cold surface of the concrete. "Hydra gave me a modified version of their Super Soldier Serum, but my body did not like it. I might have gotten the strength they wanted me to, but it came with consequences." He shifted again, arms outstretched past his head. "Chronic Pain Syndrome, they told me. My lifelong companion."

Matt said nothing for a while, mulling over the new information in his head. If he were being honest, he hadn't expected something this complicated; at most (and at best), he imagined a defected member of the Russian mob. Then, a thought occurred to him.

"I've gone through the publicized SHIELD files. I never saw your name in them."

Artemis laughed, but there was no humor behind the sound. "Come on, Matthew, you are smart. You said it yourself; my name is a lie. If you run from an organization that could be anywhere, you would be a fool to use your real name."

"And yours is?"

"Ah, no, sorry," he replied, not at all sounding sorry as his lips stretched into a grin. "You have gotten enough out of me tonight, Daredevil. I will not tell a soul about who you are if you do the same, trust me on that."

His heart echoed the truth of his words, and Matt exhaled sharply. "Fine. I'll leave it alone for now. But if I even suspect that you're a danger-"

"I know, I know," Artemis said, waving his hand dismissively. "I will be in the hospital, eating through a straw." He paused, tilting his head toward Matt. "So, super senses, then?"

"Something like that." After a brief moment of consideration, Matt held his hand out for Artemis to take, and after a second moment, he did. He hoisted the younger up to his feet, pursing his lips as Artemis stumbled. "You know you're definitely concussed, right?"

"I know, I know," Artemis said, waving him off. "I should be fine by the morning." With a grunt, he tried to walk out of the alley, but Matt kept a firm grip on his hand, putting his other hand on his shoulder to keep him steady.

Matt rolled his eyes, letting go of his hand to hold his shoulders. "You're hearing yourself, right?"

"Perk of the human experimentation; I heal quickly," he mumbled, clumsily patting Matt on the arm. "I told you, I will be fine soon. Besides, I have to go home; left my cat alone for too long."

God help me, Matt thought before sighing. "Let me walk you back, then. I already know where you live." When Artemis tried to protest, he added, "I'm pretty sure I contributed to your concussion, so I at least wanna make sure you get home in one piece."

Artemis was silent for a moment, swaying in Matt's hold. "Fine," he said eventually, squinting at him. Then, as an afterthought, "What about them?" His head nodded toward the men, still out cold only a few feet away.

Matt tilted his head. "I can hear sirens; the police are on their way. That girl must have called someone once she got away." He had been expecting Artemis to put up a bit more of a fight, but he certainly wasn't complaining. With a grunt, he adjusted his grip on Artemis until his arm was wrapped around his shoulder, supporting his weight. He was leaner than Matt expected, especially after watching him break bones so easily, but he was thankful as they started the trek to Artemis's apartment.

It wasn't a perfect end-it wasn't an end at all. Matt hadn't gotten all the answers he wanted, and Artemis still left an odd feeling in his stomach. But, begrudgingly, he couldn't ignore how much Artemis had told him when he didn't have to, how he had more or less bared his heart in the face of Daredevil's rage.

As they walked, Artemis shifted, trying to stand up all the way, but Matt kept his arm firmly around his shoulder. "I can walk," he said, and belatedly, Matt noticed that he didn't mask his accent when he spoke.

Still, he rolled his eyes. "You can," he agreed, "but I said I'd help you back."

There was a pause, and he could practically hear the gears turning in Artemis's head before he finally responded, "Thank you."

The rest of the walk to Artemis's apartment was silent, yet it wasn't uncomfortable. Though, on some level, Matt would never be able to fully relax while he wore his suit, he allowed some of the tension to leave his body as they walked.

"Of course," he said after a moment of consideration. "I told you--I look out for my friends."

Artemis laughed, but it sounded more like a huff. "Is that what we are?" He asked, repeating his words from only a few days prior, but Matt could hear the nervous undertone.

"I'm open to it," he said, "if you are."

They walked a bit in silence, and for a moment, Matt thought that would be the end of their conversation.

"I am."

Matt hummed, tilting his head as he kept an ear out for anyone nearby, but other than the faint sounds of people winding down for the night, he could hear little other than the breathing and footsteps of the man next to him as they walked toward Artemis's apartment.

♘

wc: 2.1k
status: edited

fun fact: Artemis doesn't like using contractions when he speaks. It's a character choice I've come to hate a little because it feels awkward sometimes, but, to be fair, so is Artemis.

hoo boy, this was a lot! i honestly wanted the reveal to happen later than this, but since i also wanted it to happen before i got into season two, compromises had to be made. but we should be getting into that pretty soon now!

now that i can finally discuss artemis's backstory more, this had originally stemmed from me wondering what would it be like if someone took the super soldier serum but it had consequences? some pieces of media involving superpowers, like mha, show how characters' powers are in some way limited or have consequences for overexertion, and i really wanted to play with that.

i hope this was a believable plotline and that y'all enjoyed it! see you next time!