Kate screamed.

I wasn't sure why that was surprising, really, I should have expected as much, but she did in fact scream when I turned invisible in front of her.

I'd recapped the entire story of the lab for her, conveniently leaving out the detail of my invisibility until the very end. Her only warning was a brief "I'm sure you're wondering what the machine did to me. Well..."

And then I'd disappeared. And then she'd screamed.

I stayed invisible so no one could see the panic that had surely flashed across my face in response to the unexpected loud noise from Kate.

Peter, though, who didn't need to see me to know I was startled, offered a sympathetic look in the direction of where he had last seen me before leaning back on the couch and glancing at Kate. "So, well, that was our day yesterday. How was your day?"

"I killed a spider-centaur abomination in Baldur's Gate 3," Kate said, sounding like she was still reeling. "And I played hide-and-seek with this creepy child named Oliver."

"I thought he was cute!" I protested.

Kate shook her head. "He had an invisible dog. That's not important. You're invisible. I — how — "

"Would it help if I touched you, or would that freak you out even more?" I asked.

Kate held out a hand, and I slapped it in a gentle high-five. She yelped, recoiling, but after a second, she tossed her head back and laughed.

"This is great! This is GREAT! Now the three of us can go out and — "

"The story's unfortunately not over yet," I said. "There's another vigilante out there already. I sort of... met him last night. And we need your help figuring out who he is. All we know is that he's a Catholic named Matt, and he most likely has super-vision."

"And that the suit you found belonged to him," Peter added.

"We think," I amended. "So, if it's not too much to ask — "

"On it," Kate interrupted, whipping out her phone and typing at light speed.

While she did that, I closed my eyes and transitioned back to being visible, just for the practice. I dropped back into my seat on the couch between Peter and Kate and cozied up to Peter, who twirled a lock of my ponytail around his finger.

"Damn, I can't access what I need from here," Kate said after a minute. "I'm going to need to head to my mom's place and use one of her computers. Anyone want to come with me?"

"I wanted to head back to the lab and try to get answers about whatever happened yesterday," Peter replied. "Cass? Which would you rather do?"

"Yeah, Cass, which would you rather do? In other words, who do you love more?" Kate asked.

I frowned. "I love you both equally. This is unfair. I'll go with Kate, though. I don't particularly fancy the idea of going back to the lab at the moment. I'm sure I'll have to go back, one day, but... not yet."

"Understandable." Peter held me extra tight for a moment before extracting himself out from underneath me and stretching his back out. "I'll look into the machine, and Wesley. And anything having to do with your brother. Do you remember anything that could help me retrace Carter's steps?"

"I don't think so, but — I can go through old texts of ours later, if you think that would help," I offered.

"I'll see what I can find today without that, then we can figure out what to do next," Peter replied with a frown. "I don't want you to have to do something as emotional as that for no reason. You two focus on finding Matt, I'll see what I can glean from Oscorp, and we'll reconvene later."

Kate saluted playfully and got to her feet. "Yes, sir!"

"What do you want us to do if we find Matt?" I asked.

Peter shrugged. "Whatever you think is best. I trust you."

"But — " I blinked at him. "You're the superhero here. You're the one who's done this before. What do you think is best?"

"Whatever you think is best is what I think is best," Peter said again. He smiled. "No need to look so scared. You've got this, okay? I trust you. Both of you." He glanced at Kate. "Try not to let her spiral into self-doubt and despair, yeah?"

Kate saluted again. "Easier said than done, sir, but I will do my best in your absence, sir."

"Thank you, sir, much appreciated, sir." Peter returned Kate's salute, then focused his attention on me once more. "Permission to kiss you goodbye, sir?"

I pushed myself to my feet and sighed even as I smiled at him. "Granted."

"Excellent, sir!"

Peter promptly grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me hard, then stepped back and saluted once again.

"Until this evening, ladies. Good luck."

He then turned on his heel and straight-leg marched back to his bedroom to change out of his pajamas and into something better suited (no pun intended) for a day at the lab.

"He's such a dork," Kate declared.

I sighed fondly. "Isn't it great?"

"Yeah, yeah, come on, lover girl, let's go find Matt."

Before I knew it, we were in Kate's childhood home. And by childhood home — well, childhood penthouse was a better descriptor. I was promised a room tour, but seeing as her mom wasn't home, we seized advantage of the opportunity and got to work immediately. Kate showed me how to work one of the databases while she dove into another, and after about ten minutes, Kate spoke up.

"It says here never to work with someone named Matthew Murdock, or his partner — "

"Sorry," I interrupted, "did you say Matthew Murdock?"

"Yeah, why?"

"And his partner's last name is Nelson, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, how do you — "

"I know that name. It has to be him."

"Really? You're sure?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The address is in Hell's Kitchen, I'm guessing?"

"Let me see... yeah, it is. Do you want me to send it to you?"

"No need. I'll go talk to him right now."

Kate looked surprised, by my nerve or initiative or what, I wasn't sure, but she looked impressed too. "You think they're open? It is technically a holiday."

"I mean, your mom's at work. My dad too, I'm guessing. Nelson and Murdock aren't federal employees. It's worth a shot."

"Alright. Do you want me to come with you?"

"It's okay," I said. "If I'm going to jump into this whole world of whatever it is we do now, I'm jumping into the deep end with both feet. Peter trusts me. I got this."

"Yeah, you got this," Kate replied with an encouraging smile and nod. "Well, while you do that, I'll keep snooping here. I'll see if I can find out why he's on that list."

With that, I pulled the directions to Nelson and Murdock up on my phone and put my AirPods in my ears so I didn't have to look at the map to guide me, since I figured turning invisible was my best bet for getting into the office undetected. Fortunately, it was lunchtime, so with any luck, they'd all be out for lunch and I could be waiting when they returned.

As soon as I left Kate's building, I ducked into an alley and turned invisible, then joined the throngs of New Yorkers hurrying down the sidewalk. The voice in my ears guided me to Nelson and Murdock, Attorneys at Law, and I only made one wrong turn before I reached my destination.

I peered into the windows before trying the door. Two people were inside, a man and a woman, but they appeared to be heading in the direction of the door, so I quickly positioned myself in a way that would allow me to enter undetected as they were leaving.

After another minute, they did open the door, the woman laughing at something the man had said. I held my breath and sucked in my stomach and slipped into the office just before the man turned around to flip the sign.

"No, seriously, I dare you to go grocery shopping with him sometime," the man said. "You'll get the best fruit you've ever had in your life at the cost of a ten-minute lecture about overly-processed foods. I don't know how he managed to keep his mouth shut in college, because he never shuts up about 'real food' now that we can afford it."

"Well, there's your answer: you can afford it now," the woman teased.

With that, the door shut, the man locked it, and the two went on their merry way.

I assumed one of those two was Nelson, since neither looked or sounded like Matt Murdock. I was tempted at first to poke around the office to try to find answers myself, but I decided against it, not knowing when they'd return or how kindly they'd take to a stranger rifling through their potentially-sensitive documents. I didn't trust myself to be able to cover my tracks — yet.

Kate was giving me martial arts lessons, maybe I could ask Peter for vigilante lessons. Then again, I supposed I was doing alright for myself, having successfully broken into an office on my first day on the job.

I crept deeper into the office until I found what looked like a room where they met with potential clients. With a shrug, I dropped into one of the chairs across from a somewhat-impressive desk and made myself comfortable. I didn't bother turning the lights on — I assumed a vigilante with super-vision led the lights off in his office for a reason.

After a minute, I turned visible, figuring it was only fair that Matt's co-workers with normal vision be able to see me too. I'd have to do a bit of explaining, but Matt would be able to vouch for me. Besides, they seemed nice enough.

I practiced the transition — visible to invisible to visible to invisible — several times while I waited for the lawyers to get back from lunch. It was a productive use of time, I thought, and kept me focused on something other than the growing apprehension of whatever answers awaited me when Matt returned to his office.

When I heard the sound of a key in the front lock, I hurriedly made myself visible again and turned over my shoulder in the direction of the door.

"Someone's here, by the way," a voice I recognized as Matt's said.

Before I could call out a greeting — I was planning on "Hey, Saint" — he appeared in the doorway.

Combed dark brown hair, red glasses, guarded expression, walking stick.

Oh. He was blind.

Oh. He was blind.

"What are you doing here, Little Daredevil?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning up against the doorway.

"How do you know it's me?" I demanded.

The man from earlier walked up behind Matt and peered at me. "Matt, you know this kid?"

"I'm nineteen," I said with a sigh.

Matt grinned. "Yeah, that's her. Again, what are you doing here, Little Daredevil?"

"Again, how do you know it's me?"

"The sound of your voice."

"I hadn't said anything when you greeted me. Wrong answer, try again."

"Lucky guess, then. I think you're the one who owes me an answer or two, though, kid," Matt said. "How did you get in here? How did you find me? Why did you find me? Do you need help?"

"I need... information," I replied slowly. "I was hoping you had it. You're on the Bishop Security blacklist for a reason, I'm guessing?"

That made Matt freeze in his tracks. "Foggy, Karen, come on in and close the door."

Matt crossed the room, walking stick remaining uselessly by the door, and sat down on the other side of the desk. He folded his hands and leaned forward, red lenses glinting in the bits of sunlight filtering through the cheap blinds. Foggy and Karen, the man and woman I'd seen earlier, came to sit on either side of him.

"I'm just now realizing how crazy this is," I said, face flushing. "Maybe I should just go — "

"No, no, it's okay." Matt shook his head. "Stay. We don't bite, I promise. Well, Karen does."

"He's kidding," the blonde woman said as she shot me an apologetic smile.

Foggy looked at her askance. "Is he?"

"Anyway," Matt cut in, "I suppose the first question I should be asking is who are you?"

"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked right back.

Matt cocked his head at me. "You're not a very trusting person, are you? I understand, and I respect it, but you have to realize that if I wanted to hurt you, I would have by now. I got you back safe last night, didn't I?"

"Last night?" Foggy asked. "Matt, she looks sixteen — "

"We didn't — " Matt and I started at the same time.

"I have a boyfriend," I grit out. "Matt helped me find him."

"In the middle of the night," Matt added. "She was lost. Our paths crossed."

Foggy nodded. "Alright, alright. Forgive me for knowing my best friend's a whore and being concerned."

Karen stifled a laugh and nodded when I looked at her in bewilderment.

I felt a bit of the tension in my chest loosen — they were just human, after all.

"Anyway, you seem like someone who cares a lot about the well-being of others," Matt murmured, leaning forward. "You were awfully worried about me last night, considering you were objectively in far more danger. And I understand, trust me, this isn't me passing judgement. You know now that I know what it's like to have a secret. A lot of secrets."

"Yeah, I guess you have a lot of secrets too," I replied.

Matt shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Yeah." His smile faded. "I understand that you think keeping your secrets protects you. Protects everyone else, too. But — learn from my mistakes. I kept secrets, and people got hurt because I kept secrets. I know you don't have much reason to trust us, we're relative strangers, but, well, you trusted us, or at least me, enough to come here in the first place. Help us help you. We can only protect you — and ourselves — if we all know what's scaring you."

"Well..." I steadied myself with a deep breath. "Okay. I... need information. It's only fair that I share a bit of my own first. I'm Cassidy Riddle."

Matt's eyebrows lifted. "As in..."

"Yeah. My dad's Tom Riddle. I don't exactly advertise the fact that he's my dad, generally speaking. It's just — my dad's the reason I'm in this mess in the first place, so I figured you should know."

"Noted, go on," Foggy said encouragingly, a little too eagerly.

I glanced at Matt, whose expression had resumed its guardedness.

"I don't really know where to start," I confessed in a whisper.

"Just start at the beginning," Matt said. "We really are just here to help, however we can. It sounds like you need it."

I looked down and set to work picking at my cuticles to avoid eye contact. Not that eye contact mattered much to Matt, who was blind, who didn't have super-vision after all, unless he did, and it was all just an act, but —

"I guess it really started for me on Christmas Day," I said. "I was having a great time with a classmate of mine, but when we went our separate ways for the evening, I got jumped. I would have been kidnapped if not for Spider-Man coming back then and there. I guess now's a good time to mention that we're together. Spider-Man's my boyfriend."

"Spider-Man's just a kid too?" Foggy asked.

I looked up just as Matt swatted him.

Foggy cleared his throat. "Right. Sorry. Go on, Miss Riddle."

"Just Cass," I said desperately. "Please."

"You got it, Just Cass," Matt replied with a soft smile. "Go on."

I nodded. "Okay. They all got arrested. Nobody talked. There was no trial. They all just accepted the charges of attempted kidnapping or assault or both. They all just stayed in jail. Nothing ever really came of it. I started taking martial arts lessons from a friend of mine, and Spider-Man's been on high alert, in case anyone tries anything again, but nothing happened until last week."

"The personal crisis you alluded to?" Matt inquired.

"No, actually, not yet. The same friend who gives me martial arts lessons was attending a charity gala at Bishop Security and accidentally stumbled upon a black market auction happening in the basement. In trying to escape, she donned a disguise that she found in a box in an unmarked office. Black shirt, black pants, black boots, and something that looked like a ski mask. She had to cut eye holes into it so she could see. Does that ring a bell?"

Matt shifted on his chair. "Yeah. Please continue, though."

"My boyfriend works at Oscorp. He was in the lab yesterday, running tests on the suit to try to learn more about both the suit and whoever had previously worn it, and I decided to pay him a visit. Before I could find him, though, someone recognized me and offered to show me the project my brother had worked on. I guess now's a good time to mention that my brother's dead, if you somehow missed the news last year, and I think he was murdered, but no one believes me. No one who can do anything about it, anyway. But that's — that's not really the point. Anyway, in a fit of grief-fueled foolishness, I followed him to the machine. The machine went off. The man disappeared. And — now I'm — " I sighed. "I guess that's not even that important. I'm fine. It's all of the events surrounding the machine going off that's odd. For starters, we could find no record of a James Wesley being a scientist at Oscorp — "

"James Wesley?" Matt interrupted.

I nodded. "He's the one who recognized me as Cassidy Riddle. He said he worked with my brother, and that everyone on that project worked for Norman Osborn and Wilson Fisk — "

"He said the name?" Matt interrupted again.

"Yeah, he — he did. I'm guessing that's bad."

"It's — puzzling. I don't know if I'd say bad. Yet." Matt sighed. "Sorry. I know that doesn't help much, if at all. It's just — " Matt sighed again. "We've been... trying to get something concrete on Wilson Fisk for a while now. His operation doesn't leave the shadows very often. He doesn't leave the shadows, almost ever. The mere act of finding out his name almost cost more than it was worth."

Foggy and Karen exchanged a look, and I wanted to ask, but decided against it.

"So — the fact that I know it — " I said instead. "He — wanted me to know it? Or, well, Wesley did?"

"From what we've gathered, Wesley is Fisk's lap dog," Karen piped up. "We've interacted with him quite a bit, unfortunately. We don't think he'd do anything that Fisk didn't want him to do. So... it seems like yes, Fisk wanted you to know his name, and he wanted you to know he was involved with whatever machine Wesley showed you last night."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but why you? You're just a kid. What makes you special enough to kidnap, special enough to see this machine, special enough to know his name? Do you think it's just your last name, or something more?" Foggy asked.

"I guess," I replied after a long moment. "Honestly, I — I don't know. And I don't know what my brother has to do with all of it either. All I know is that he had something to do with the project, and his contributions were somehow valuable, and I'll never get to ask him about any of this because he's gone and — " I cut myself off as tears crawled up my throat. "Sorry. That's not important right now. I just — I'm here because you're on the Bishop Security blacklist and your old suit was in their headquarters and I guess I wanted to know why. You don't have to help me. I think it'd be for the best if you didn't. I don't want anyone getting hurt because of my last name. But — now you know my secrets. Do with those what you will."

"I think I speak for all of us when we say we want to help you, Cass," Karen said. She glanced at Matt and Foggy. "Yeah?"

Foggy nodded. "Of course. Sounds like we're all on the same side anyway. Matt? She's been telling the truth, yeah?"

"Yeah, I think so." Matt drummed his fingers against the table for a moment. "Do you two mind digging up everything we have on Fisk? I want to talk to Cass alone for a moment, vigilante to viligante's-girlfriend."

"Are you okay with that?" Karen asked me.

"He's not the one who bites, we promise," Foggy added helpfully.

I glanced at Matt for a second before nodding. "Yeah. Okay."

With that, Foggy and Karen left, and I was alone in the dark room with Matt.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked yet again. "I hadn't spoken, and — you can't see me. Not now, and certainly not last night. Unless this is all just an elaborate front, and you do have super-vision like we theorized — "

"You're a bit of a germ freak, aren't you?" Matt interrupted.

"I — how did you know — "

"Soap. You smell very strongly of soap. You're not a fan of fruit or flowers, I take it. Hand soap, body wash, shampoo, it all smells like vanilla and oats and honey. No fruity scents, and nothing flowery either. It's unusual, maybe unique, especially for a girl your age."

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't know how I feel about you recognizing me from how I smell."

"It's not just that," Matt said. "You said the machine didn't affect you and you were fine, but I'm not so sure. I noticed something else about you last night, but the last thing I wanted to do was scare you more. I can't see, not with my eyes anyway, but every other sense is enhanced, to an insane degree. When Foggy asked me if you were telling the truth, what he was really asking me is if your heart rate increased at all, suggesting you were lying, or if it remained steady. It's something of an unfair advantage, I'll admit, but a lot of my success as a lawyer can be boiled down to how reliably I can tell if someone's lying or not."

"I told the truth," I said, suddenly painfully aware of how my heart was beating faster even as I said it. "I promise, I'm not lying right now, I know what you must be thinking, but I'm just an anxious person, I swear."

"It's okay. I gathered as much. That's not why I brought this up. I think the machine going off dealt more damage than you realize. You have an arrhythmia. I wasn't sure, last night, if you were just anxious or if it was a sign of an underlying problem, but now I'm worried that the machine did something to — "

"I've always had that," I interrupted. "It's okay."

Matt frowned. "'Okay' isn't the word I'd use."

"I'm a germ freak because I get sick easily," I muttered. "Something's always been wrong with me. That's nothing new."

Matt was silent for a moment. Waiting for me to elaborate.

I fidgeted with the sleeve of my jacket. "What's new is that people are paying attention to me. No one ever paid attention to me, not when Carter was around, and I was okay with that, more than okay with that. Now... he's gone, and I'm in the middle of... whatever this is. But I'm fine, it's all fine, it'll all be fine. I'm choosing to believe that. I... have to believe that."

"I understand," Matt said. "The desire for all of the suffering to mean something. To be... worth it."

"Yeah," I whispered.

Matt shifted in his chair. "Anyway, that's how I recognized you. I didn't see you, but I didn't need to see you. I could recognize you in other ways."

I fought the urge to laugh. No wonder he'd been so quick to insist he could see me even though I was invisible. He had no way of knowing I was invisible. For all he knew, I had been standing there, perfectly visible, in plain sight in the middle of Hell's Kitchen in the middle of the night in the middle of his human-trafficking-ring bust.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Matt asked. "I get the sense I'd be gathering a lot from your facial expression right now, if I could see your face."

"You met me twelve hours ago. Now I'm sitting in your office telling you that someone seems to want me for one nefarious purpose or another. You must think I'm insane, Saint," I replied.

"Maybe a little. But I understand you, so what does that say about me?"

I managed a smile. "Right."

Matt leaned back in his chair. "So in the past twelve hours or so I've learned your name, who your boyfriend is, every trauma that's happened to you in the last couple months, and all of your greatest fears, but I still don't know what specifically you're afraid of."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yeah, you do."

"No, honestly, I don't." I shook my head. "I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth. I don't know what you're asking."

Matt cocked his head at me. "You're not lying?"

"I'm not," I insisted desperately. "What do you mean? I think I've given you plenty of reasons why I should be afraid, why I am afraid. I don't know what you want me to say now."

"You've been remarkably calm about all of this... all things considered. Most people, if they were afraid of kidnappers lurking around every corner, wouldn't wander the city at night, even with a personal crisis, even with Spider-Man as a boyfriend, and they certainly wouldn't sneak into the office of a lawyer they may or may not have met on the streets of Hell's Kitchen the night prior, no matter how charming he may have been."

I snorted, but didn't object to his use of the word charming. He must have been, to get me to trust him so easily.

"I stand by what I said yesterday," I murmured after a moment. "You don't want to know me. I only told you what I did because your argument made sense to me. You can't protect yourself against a threat you know nothing about, so now you know who I am, and who's after me. Now you have all of the information you need to know that you should stay away from me. I only came here for information, and you said you'd help me with that. Once I have that, I'll go, don't worry, I won't stick around long enough to get you into any trouble. It sounds like you have enough of that without me."

"We want to help you with more than just information," Matt said. "You're nineteen, and I'm assuming your friends are too. I know you're dating Spider-Man and your other friend is a rich kid somehow connected to Bishop Security, but this is bigger than you three. And this is bigger than you, specifically, Cass, even though you unfortunately seem to be rather central to whatever's going on. Trust me, you'll be glad to have a couple of adults in your corner."

I shook my head. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt because they tried to help me."

"Anyone else?" Matt asked.

"Forget it," I whispered. I swallowed my tears, then said at a more normal volume, "Forget I said that. Just... please, all I need is the Wilson Fisk information, following the same logic you used to get me to talk to you. Once we know what we're up against, we'll be better equipped to deal with it. Deal with him. Deal with whatever all of this is."

"I understand you, really I do, but — "

Matt was interrupted by the return of Foggy and Karen, who only had time to drop the files off before going to meet with another client. Their information on Wilson Fisk wasn't as, well, informative as I was hoping it would be, because their firm had been blacklisted because they'd gotten too close to something they weren't supposed to know. They didn't know what exactly they weren't supposed to know, but the fact that they were close enough to the truth to be shut down and shut out was encouraging in its own way. It wasn't much. But it was a start. After I'd reviewed everything, I asked if I could come back by with my friends in the next day or two to look it all over together, since they would likely catch something I'd missed.

"Of course." Matt nodded. "I'd say it'd be an honor to see Spider-Man unmasked and in my office, but the mask doesn't make much of a difference to me, I'm afraid."

I felt my face begin to heat as a cheeky reply came to mind. "More for me, then. Don't worry, I appreciate his face enough for both of us."

"Happy to hear it," Matt replied, laughing.

"Well, thank you for the information," I said as I got to my feet. "I might be back — "

"Wait, wait." Matt slid his phone across the table. "The code's eleven twenty-eight. Put your number in there, and send something to yourself so you can call me if you need anything."

"Are we talking about needs of the lawyer variety, or of the vigilante variety?" I asked, eyeing the phone warily.

Matt waved a hand dismissively. "Either. Both."

There was a beat of silence as I input my contact info — leaving my name as simply "Cass" — and sent myself a text.

"What'd you send yourself?" Matt asked.

"Just the word 'Saint,'" I replied as I handed him his phone back. "So, Matthew 11:28?"

"You're asking about that, as opposed to asking about the fact that I use a phone with a touchscreen?"

"You go to great lengths to hide your blindness. I didn't think you'd want to be asked about it. So yes, I'm asking about your phone code. Matthew 11:28?"

"'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,'" Matt recited.

I snorted. "The King James Version? You really are Catholic."

"You recognized it. So you do go to church."

"Yeah." I shifted my weight, wrapping my arms around my waist. "It's — complicated, but — yeah. I'm no saint."

"Neither am I. I know all about complicated. It's okay."

"Your phone code is a Bible verse," I pointed out.

"So? What's yours?"

"My boyfriend's birthday."

"Oh."

"You're a saint, Saint," I teased. "I, on the other hand, am just a girl."

Matt grinned, which softened the tone of the "Shut up" he tossed my way.

"I do have one question," I said.

"No, I haven't always been blind," Matt replied, almost robotically.

I blinked. "I — wasn't going to ask that. It seemed too personal. Sorry. I was going to ask what your actual greatest fear is."

"And you decided that was somehow... less personal than asking if I'd been born blind?"

Matt's voice was light enough that I knew he wasn't actually upset, just curious, but I felt my face start to burn anyway.

"I just realized it can't possibly be darkness. Unless it is, in which case that's rather depressing and I'm sorry you're trapped in your worst fear all the time. If I lived my life able to see nothing but fire, I'd lose it, truly and properly and completely."

"It's good that you're not me, then," Matt said. "Someone asked me once what I see, and my answer was a world on fire. So no, I don't see darkness. I am afraid of the dark, though. If I see a world on fire, I see a way I can help. I can combat the fire, I can rescue people from the fire before it consumes us whole, I can see just enough to navigate the world in my own way. If it's just darkness... darkness is helpless. Stagnant and suffocating and full of secrets that I can't reach. I don't fear the darkness because of the darkness itself. I'm not afraid of the dark because of what could be lurking there. I'm my father's son, which means there's no room in me for fear when the world's on fire and there's something I can do about it. But I'm afraid of the dark because of what it would mean for me. It would mean I was helpless. Incapable of helping anyone, left with no choice but to need people to help me."

"It's a good thing you're not me, then," I replied weakly. "I've spent most of my life feeling helpless. There's only so much one little girl can do against a world on fire. I see it too — metaphorically speaking."

Matt was silent for a long moment.

The sting of rejection made me want to run, but I was rooted to the floor by embarrassment. I'd gone too far, said too much —

"You're not helpless," Matt said finally.

"You seem convinced," I muttered.

Matt shook his head and sighed. "I didn't hesitate on purpose. I was debating with myself, trying to be responsible. I was going to tell you to stay home and leave the fire to the firefighters, but you wouldn't have been content with that. I decided against the responsible decision in favor of what I think you want to hear."

"So you do think I'm helpless, you just didn't want to tell me what you thought I didn't want to hear — "

"No. I don't think you're helpless at all. I think you're capable of more than you realize, and I think you want to hear that. I think you need to hear that. Listen to me: needing help doesn't make you helpless, Cass."

It was then my turn to be silent for a long moment, turning his words over in my head, trying to choke out an intelligent response.

"I don't know if that's better or worse," I whispered. "What if I'm not helpless, what if I am capable of doing something good and important, and everyone's helping me, counting on me, but when the time comes, I do... nothing?"

"When the time comes, you'll rise to meet the challenge. That's where being a daredevil comes in handy." Matt offered me a crooked grin. "I wouldn't worry."

"But worrying is my greatest skill," I protested.

"Then you need a hobby. Go get a new greatest skill. What do you enjoy doing?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're not going to catch me handing out sensitive personal information like that all willy-nilly. Good day, Saint Matthew. Until next time."

With that, I turned on my heel and marched out of the office as the sound of Matt's laughter rang out behind me.

I whipped out my phone and fired off a quick text to my group chat with Kate and Peter.

Talked to him. He didn't have much, but it's a start. How are you two doing?

Kate, as always, replied immediately.

not much here either

i'll meet u at ur apartment

peter u can meet us there whenever ur done being a nerd

I chuckled to myself and pulled my AirPods out of my other pocket, jamming those into my ears so I could listen to music on the walk home. I had only gone half a block when my phone buzzed with a text from Matt.

Didn't realize anyone your age knew who The Partridge Family was.

I stopped dead in my tracks and typed out a reply.

First of all, that's spooky. Second of all, I've been called an 'old soul' my entire life. Third of all, don't you have a client? Fourth of all, that's spooky, again, I hate that you can do that.

Without waiting for a reply, I shoved my phone into my pocket and hurried away at double speed, silently cursing Matt Murdock and his powers of perception. It was bad enough being perceived to that extent by my boyfriend, but a relative stranger? Lord have mercy on my shy soul.

I reached the apartment in record time and started fumbling for my keys, but Peter let me in.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you were back," I said, yanking an AirPod out of my ear.

"I think they know something happened last night," Peter replied. "The lab was shut down today, no one was allowed in except for the highest-ups. I hope you had more luck than I did."

"Is he hot?" Kate called from inside the apartment.

I snorted as I tucked my AirPods away. "You will not believe everything I've learned in the last hour."

Peter closed the door behind me and locked it. "We're all ears."

"For starters, so is he, in a manner of speaking." I lowered myself cross-legged onto the floor. "He's blind."

"WHAT?" Peter and Kate burst out in unison.

"Yeah. He's blind. All of his other senses are, like, crazy heightened though. Like yours, Peter, but even more insane since he can't see. Anyway, Nelson and Murdock on the blacklist because they got too close to finding something that they weren't supposed to find. Apparently just the act of learning Wilson Fisk's name was almost a disaster."

"I've never liked him," Kate muttered.

I blinked. "You've met him?"

"Oh yeah. Big bald guy. Bad vibes. A bit smarmy for my taste, but he did let my dad take over the company when I was a kid, so... I told you he used to own Bishop Security, right?"

"I never connected those dots," Peter said, looking almost as stunned as I felt. "He kinda disappeared from the public eye after that, didn't he?"

"More or less. He's like an octopus. He kept one tentacle in Bishop Security, then spread his other tentacles out elsewhere. I never knew where, I was just a kid, but I'm not entirely convinced my dad knew either. Or my mom, for that matter, since she's CEO now. I..."

Kate's voice trailed off. She stared at the ground, shoulders slumping. When she spoke again, her voice was smaller than I'd ever heard it.

"I wonder if Dad got too close to something he wasn't supposed to know, too."

She straightened up, eyes alight once again.

"I need to find out. What else did they say, Cass?"

"To be fair, I did a lot of the talking," I admitted. "I didn't mention either of your names, don't worry. But I told them I was Cassidy Riddle, and I talked about Christmas, and the suit, and what happened yesterday in exchange for all of their information on Wilson Fisk. It wasn't much, but they said I could bring you two over there sometime, and we could look over all of it again."

Peter nodded slowly. "Okay. So what exactly did you learn?"

"The fact that I know Wilson Fisk's name is strange. He's very secretive about that specifically. They think he wanted me to know it. And James Wesley? Not a scientist at all. Just Wilson Fisk's lapdog. And you're right, Kate, about the tentacles. His fingerprints are all over the city, if you know where to look. They'd suspected the Oscorp connection already, but they were still... concerned, when I talked about what happened."

"Well, yeah, what happened is concerning," Peter said. He started pacing back and forth. "If I can't work the lab angle right now, I do have other options. I could try talking to Norman Osborn directly. Play dumb about what happened yesterday, ask what's wrong with the lab, ask if I can do anything to help. I've never really pushed the limits of what he'd let me know, I usually just do what I'm told in the lab — spider bite notwithstanding," he added with a sheepish grin.

Kate didn't appear to be listening, her brow furrowed as she glared a hole in the floor. "I want to talk to Nelson and Murdock. I think I could be an asset, with my access to Bishop Security, even though I don't have any fancy superpowers — "

"You're an asset, Kate," I interrupted. I scooted across the floor until I was in front of her, propping my chin on her knee and staring deep into her eyes. "Trust me. You're more important than you know. You're Kate Elizabeth Bishop, the best archer I've ever known, fearsome martial artist, smart and stealthy, a master of disguise and a champion of dogs everywhere. You don't need superpowers to be important. You got this ball rolling in the first place, after all. Without you, we would be no closer to figuring out what the hell is going on in this city."

"Thanks," Kate replied with a smile. "I guess you're right."

"Of course she is," Peter said. "Trust us, Kate, we need you. Let's go talk to Nelson and Murdock, all three of us, later this week. We can find a time that works for our class schedules."

Kate's phone was already in her hand before he even finished speaking. "I'll see if they have a number I can call to set an appointment!"

"I, uh, kinda have Matt's number," I piped up. I got to my feet and started filling my water bottle. "He said I could call him if I needed something. This isn't urgent, though, so maybe we should go about scheduling this the proper way."

"You didn't answer my question," Kate said without looking up from her phone. "Is he hot?"

"I — " I glanced at Peter, who seemed very curious about my answer. I sighed. "Yeah."

"Follow-up question. Is he single?" Kate asked.

I scoffed. "He's, like, thirty."

"I'm not above flirting with your dad," Kate pointed out, "so what makes you think Matt being thirty would be a turn-off for me? Found an email address, by the way. I'll send them an email from a secure browser later, just to make sure my tracks are covered as well as possible before the heir to Bishop Security attempts to seduce the top person on the blacklist."

I promptly choked on the water I'd been trying to swallow.

Peter laughed as he clapped me on the back. "There, there. I think you should go for it, Kate. Maybe you'd get more exclusive information from seducing him."

"All in a day's work," Kate said. She pocketed her phone and popped to her feet. "Well, I think today was rather productive. Good work, team. Cass, are you interested in resuming your martial arts lessons tomorrow, or do you require another week of bed rest?"

"I'll start easing back into it tomorrow," I replied. "Besides, I need to say hi to Lucky, if nothing else, and I can help with the essay due on Wednesday."

Kate sighed with relief. "I didn't want to ask outright for help with that. Thank you. I have most of it written, but you just make all of the information fit together seamlessly in a way that I just don't see."

I leaned back against the counter. "Well, let's hope I can do it again with all of this nonsense. Being able to turn invisible will only get me so far."

"Want me to swing you home, Kate?" Peter offered.

Her eyebrows shot up. "You'd do that? That's an option?"

"Sure, why not?" Peter shrugged. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"Oh, so you'll remember to ask her, but not me," I teased.

"I'm not afraid of heights," Kate said quickly. "I've always thought it looked so fun. I'm in."

Peter grinned. "In that case, Cass, I will be right back."

"Have fun, you two," I said.

Once they were gone, I retreated to the bathroom to take a shower, reshuffling my Partridge Family playlist with a sigh and eyeing my array of vanilla-and-oats-and-honey products with scorn.

"Curse you, Matt Murdock," I muttered to myself. Then, realizing I hadn't asked just how far his super hearing extended, I added an "I hope you heard that."

By the time I emerged from the shower, Peter was back, hanging upside down from the living room ceiling with a textbook in his hands.

"Just hanging out?" I asked.

"Have I mentioned how much I missed your awful jokes while you were sick?" Peter replied.

I reached past him for my water bottle. "They're back and better than ever. I'm going to go hibernate in bed."

"I'll let you know if I learn anything new and interesting about radiation. You let me know if you want company."

"Only if it's yours," I said sweetly, padding back to my bedroom and leaving the door open as I burrowed into bed and checked my phone.

I opened Matt's first, only to find that he'd replied with a cheeky little Don't worry about it :) that made me roll my eyes. I didn't bother replying to him before opening the dozen from Kate.

CASS

UR BF IS SO COOL

THAT WAS SO FUN

UR INSANE FOR BEING SCARED OF THAT

I'M NEVER WALKING HOME AGAIN

I'M NEVER WALKING AGAIN PERIOD

HE WILL BE MY UBER EVERYWHERE

MY SPIDER UBER

MY SPUBER

ew i hate that no i can do better than that

MY SWINGING UBER

MY SWUBER

I chuckled and told her I was glad she'd had fun. I was about to ask her if she had any tips for the next section of BG3 when a notification from my dad appeared.

My blood ran cold, as it always did when I saw his name, but I opened the thread anyway.

Hey, darling, can you call me when you get the chance? Nothing urgent, but it is important.

"You okay?" Peter called from the other room, surely noticing the sudden change in my heart rate.

"Yeah," I called back.

I was foolish enough to hope he wouldn't hear the way my voice trembled. He did, of course he did.

He appeared in the room a second later. "What's wrong?"

"Dad wants me to call," I said. "I don't — I don't want to give him the satisfaction of calling right away, but at the same time, the longer I wait, the more anxious I'll get, catastrophizing, wondering what he wants."

I pushed myself up to a sitting position and cradled my head in my hands as Peter lowered himself onto the foot of my bed.

"I'll be here, whatever you decide," he said.

I crumpled forward into him and let him hold me for a minute.

"I'll just call," I muttered. "I'm being silly. I shouldn't let them still have this much power over me."

Peter rubbed his hand up and down my arm. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm right here. You're okay. You're not being silly."

I reached for the phone and called him.

He answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey," I said, willing my voice to sound stronger and more emotionless than I felt. "You said to call?"

"Ah, yes!" Dad replied. "Yes, yes, I did. Good news! I wanted to tell you first, before a silly gossip magazine caught wind of it. My divorce with your mother was finalized yesterday morning, meaning I went ahead and finally proposed to Sam last night, and she said yes!"

Peter clapped his hands over his mouth, and I found it hard to stop myself from doing the same.

I scrambled for a response, finally settling on, "Congratulations, you must be excited, about both of those."

"Yes, it's all rather wonderful. Anyway, I called to officially extend an invite to the wedding, which will take place on the 28th of March."

"Oh." I glanced at Peter, whose brow was furrowed above the hands still clamped over the lower half of his face. "That's — I — " That's my birthday. I can't believe you're forgetting my birthday again. "You're going to try to put together a wedding in a month and a half? I've always heard those take a couple months to plan."

Dad sighed, sounding fond. "Darling, one day you'll realize just what our money can do. You were always rather limited in your understanding of how far we can go. But yes, the wedding will be the 28th of March, Sam had someone check to ensure it aligns with your spring break, which it does. You can come spend the whole week prior with us! I do believe Sam wants you in the wedding party."

"Great," I said weakly. "Where will the wedding be?"

"Sam said she's wanted to get married in Hawaii next to an active volcano since she was a little girl."

"Isn't she still a little girl?" Peter wondered under his breath, and I had to fight to contain my snort of amusement.

"I'll book your plane ticket at once," Dad continued. "I called to ask if you wanted a plus-one as well?"

"I — uh — one sec, let me ask." I made shuffling sounds to make it sound like I was walking down the hall and like Peter wasn't eavesdropping. "Say, do you want to go to Hawaii for a week?"

"I don't know if I can swing the whole week, with work, but I could certainly make the wedding," Peter said, looking unfortunately proud of himself for his awful joke.

"Surely we know someone who could cover for you," I replied. "Matt, maybe?"

Peter shrugged. "We can talk about it. I think Matt's buried in work up to his eyes right now, but maybe by March he can cover for me, if everything settles down."

"Alright." I picked the phone back up. "My boyfriend's not sure if he can make the whole week, but he said he'd love to attend the wedding, if nothing else."

"Boyfriend?" Dad echoed.

"You sound surprised," I replied flatly.

"What? No. No, not at all." Dad cleared his throat. "Does this boyfriend have a name?"

"Yeah. Peter."

"You can invite as many friends as you want, by the way. I trust your discernment. What about that Bishop girl? I spoke to her mother just this morning. Strictly business, of course, but she did mention that you were friends with her daughter."

"I'm sure Kate would love to come, yes. Did you need anything else?" I asked, still irked by his surprise at my having a boyfriend.

"No, I don't think so. Wait, one moment."

I could hear a female voice in the background. Sam, I assumed.

Dad returned to the phone. "Ah, right, Sam wants to know if you're feeling better after being sick all week."

"Yeah. I am. A little better. Thanks, Sam." I coughed a couple of times for theatrics. "I was going to take a nap, though, so unless you needed anything else...?"

"No, go rest. That was all. Feel better, darling. Good-bye now."

"Bye."

I ended the call and dropped my phone onto the bed, deflating with a sigh. "Sometimes I wonder if he calls me darling because he forgets my name."

"Is he really planning the wedding for your birthday?" Peter asked.

"Sounds like it."

"Dick move."

"Yeah. You get used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be used to it." Peter sighed. "So, I'm going to be meeting your family?"

"No, fortunately. My dad's an orphan. He told me to invite all of my friends just to try to fill his side of the aisle with more than just bored employees trying to suck up to their boss."

Peter wrinkled his nose. "Sounds like quite the thrilling occasion."

"And I'll have to wear a dress," I complained.

"Oh!" Peter's face noticeably lit up. "Really?"

"Don't get all excited, you're going to have to wear a nice suit," I retorted.

Peter looked disgruntled for a moment, then shrugged. "A worthwhile sacrifice. I've never seen you in a dress."

"Yeah, yeah, go fantasize about me in a dress elsewhere." I shooed him away with a wave of my hand. "I'm going to sulk and play video games now."

"Do you even own a dress?" Peter asked as he got off my bed.

"Yes, of course. Several."

"If you wanted help deciding which looks best, for the wedding — "

"I'll ask Kate," I finished for him, flashing a teasing grin.

Peter frowned. "You're not allowed to help with my suit, then."

"Fine by me. Kate would love to help you with that. She knows her way around a suit."

Peter's frown deepened. "I'm just so curious. I'm a scientist at heart. Trial and error, research, the scientific method — "

"Trial and error?" I interrupted. "You think I'd look bad in a dress?"

"No! No no no, I just meant — I could help you find the best one — I think you'd look good in anything you'd try on — "

"Hence why I'm going to ask Kate for help. She's objective. Brutally honest." I shook my head fondly. "You wouldn't be able to decide. You'd be no help at all."

"I guess you're right," Peter said with a heavy sigh. "It's not my fault that you're pretty. You'd look pretty in anything."

I raised my eyebrows and gestured to my pajamas, a worn red camisole and too-big navy running shorts. "Anything?"

"Yeah, anything," Peter confirmed. He hadn't even hesitated. He bit his lip and stepped closer to me, clearly warring with himself. "Or... nothing?"

"Why'd you phrase it like a question?" I challenged with an innocent lift of my eyebrows.

"I... got nervous?"

I smiled. "You're cute. Keep being cute and maybe you'll find out sometime."

This made him blush harder than I'd ever seen a person blush, myself included, and I laughed to myself as I pushed myself out of bed to kiss him. And then I found myself right back in bed a second later, pinned down by his lips on mine and his hands on my hips.

An unknown amount of time later, we realized the sun had set, meaning it was time for Peter to go.

"Can I come out with you sometime?" I asked. "Now that I'm invisible, I feel like I should."

"Of course," Peter replied with a nod as he frantically donned the suit. "You look cozy right now, so I'm afraid I must insist you stay here and stay cozy tonight, but yes, any other time you want to join me, we can figure something out. I don't know how that would work, exactly, but I'll think about it, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay. Be safe tonight, yeah?"

"Of course," Peter said again.

With one last kiss, he was gone. His absence had never felt so empty before.

I buried my head under the covers and felt myself sink into the silence, the darkness. Feeling helpless. Feeling heavy. Feeling as if I could sink beneath the weight of my potential, and the yawning emptiness between where I was and where I thought I could be. Feeling as if I could sink beneath the weight of Carter's potential, too. All he had been, all he could never be.