"Miss (Y/L/N), please tell us the events as they occurred on September 1st."

For anyone else, sitting on the witness stand of a courtroom would be an anxiety-inducing event, especially when being tried for a crime that they were accused of committing. But you sat cool and calm, your eyes on your lawyer as you spoke, trying to hold in a smile when he seemed to be staring back at you with his lips slightly parted and breathing erratically. You were far more composed than he was, and this time, Matt Murdock wasn't even the center of attention. The two of you had been working on what you would say today to defend your own actions, but for the first time since you had met, he seemed almost nervous.

"I was walking along 39th, around 10pm or so, and I heard a woman screaming from a nearby alley. As any self-respecting person would do, I followed the sound until I found her being attacked by a group of four disgusting and immoral men with remarkably tiny penises."

"Okay, that's more than we needed to know," Matt coughed out with a quiet laugh, breaking his trance. "What happened next?"

"Once I got their attention-"

"How did you do that, exactly?"

"I used more colorful adjectives."

"Right, of course," he nodded, deciding to not push for those particular details, "continue."

"I convinced them that they should let the woman go and take me on instead, and they were very willing when I played along with their ideas...at first. I was about to show them their mistake when some asshat in a red kitty costume showed up and took over. He seemed to think that I needed his help," you snapped, leaning back into the chair with a huff, crossing your arms in frustration. "I had it covered."

You heard a snicker from your defender's table, tilting your head enough to look around Matt to see Foggy with a wide smile growing and brightening his expression. When he noticed you looking back, he cleared his throat uncomfortably, pulling at his tie and looking away.

"I'm sure you did," Matt continued, trying to pull you back into the questioning. "Did you get a look at him at all? Were you able to see any identifying characteristics under his mask?"

At that moment, your mind began to scream at you, throwing you back into that moment in the alley at the sound of Matt's voice; it rang something very familiar to you. Something in the tone of it, or perhaps the intonation of his words caught you; whatever it was, you paid much closer attention to it now. "I never said he was wearing a mask."

Matt took a small step back, biting nervously on his lip, "um...I thought you did..."

"No, I'm sure that I didn't," you replied much more eagerly, leaning forward to grab the wooden rail in front of you that separated him from your reach. You read his body language and shift in mannerisms, realizing that he knew a lot more than you would have guessed. He was withholding information from you that you had asked him for several times when you met to prep for this trial. "You've seen him before, haven't you? You know who he is."

"Objection!"

"Sustained," the judge replied firmly. "Miss (Y/L/N), please, keep your answers within the line of questioning."

"Matt," you went on, ignoring the judge's order and talking over the incessant bang of the gavel next to you, "who is he?"

~~~

The second time that you would meet the man called Daredevil, you were determined to find out who the man under the mask was. It wasn't that you were baiting him, per se, but you sort of were. You had taunted a few criminals that you had crossed paths with in the past, leading them to meet you in an alley not too far from your first encounter with the masked vigilante. Once the fighting began, just as you expected, he appeared seemingly from out of nowhere to rescue the damsel who was in no distress.

"I was hoping that you'd stop by," you grunted between hits, dropping the first man to the ground in an unconscious heap, "we never got around to a proper introduction."

"That may have been the point," Matt replied, taking on two of the men at once with ease. "I'm not big on sharing."

"But I'm sharing this with you. I brought the fight to you, and that's the thanks I get?"

He stopped abruptly, dropping the second man at his feet and watching you finish the final assailant with a few more hits, "why would you do that? Why did you bring me here?"

"I thought it was time to make up for our indiscretion," you growled, spinning away from your target and moving behind Matt, jumping onto his shoulders with your legs wrapped around his neck. You twisted your hips and pulled your shoulders back to throw him off balance, tipping him back a few steps before he finally tumbled to the concrete with a small yelp of surprise. Before he could respond, you had his arms twisted behind him and his face pushed into the unforgiving ground with the heel of your hand. "I'm (Y/N). And you are?"

"I know who you are," he mumbled, trying to push you off of him.

"How?"

"I can read the news. Aren't you supposed to be on probation for the last time you played vigilante? I had to save your ass that time too."

"You didn't save my ass!" you hissed. "I was doing just fine until you stuck your nose into it! Who the hell do you think you are to call me a vigilante like it's a dirty word when you're doing the exact same thing? The only difference between you and me is that you're ready for Halloween!"

Taking advantage of the few precious seconds that you had him pinned, feeling that he was close to freeing himself, you moved the hand that pinned his face and grabbed the back of his mask, tearing it away before he could stop you. The sight left you in complete shock, releasing him immediately and stumbling back with wide eyes and your mouth agape as you stared at him, your mind unable to reconcile how the man in front of you could be the same man that you had recently come to know as your friend.

"Matt?!"

~~~

You ran away from him that night before he could say anything to you; he could have chased after you, but he somehow felt safe that you wouldn't give up his identity to anyone. He trusted you to keep his secret, at least for now, giving him a little time to talk to you first. Matt had called and texted a few times after the incident, but he didn't push beyond the next day, believing that if you wanted to talk, you would come to him.

After two weeks of staying away from the streets and Matt as best as you could, living with your head down and moving forward, you decided that you were finally ready to go back out and do some real work again. If you ran into Daredevil, you would deal with it. When he found you a mere hour later, finding you sitting on a rooftop as you waited, you fought the urge to run. He took slow and cautious steps towards you, his mask in place with raised hands to show you that he wanted nothing more than to talk.

"Can I sit?"

"It's not my roof," you scoffed, still keeping your eyes on the streets below, "do what you want."

"(Y/N), listen, I'm sorry. I know there's a huge hypocritical issue here, but I think you should know that I don't agree with what you're doing."

"That's rich."

"You're going to get hurt."

"And you're not?"

"That's not the point-"

"That's exactly the point!" you broke, standing to gain the upper position, looking down on him with your hands pressed firmly on your hips. "You're damn right there's a huge double standard here, and you're too wrapped up in wanting to be the hero that you don't see it. I don't need you to save me."

"No, that's not the point," he replied again, retuning your angry energy as he stood too. "You can handle yourself just fine, I've seen it. But that doesn't change the point that I don't want to see you get hurt like I know that you will be. One day you're going to take on more than you can handle, and I might not be there."

"I never asked you to be."

"You're infuriating," he mumbled, turning away. "Just stop, okay? Just stop doing this. Don't make me do something that I'll regret."

It was the first time that he had been the one to threaten you rather than some random thug or criminal, and you felt somehow betrayed by it. Even though he had pissed you off to no end, and even though you had called Matt your friend for a while now, you didn't think that he would go to threats to stop you. "Wait, was this why you took my case? Did you want me to get locked up so that I was under control?"

"No, of course not. Would've made it a hell of a lot easier though," he conceded quietly.

"Then what are you going to do-"

"I don't want you to do this because I care about you, okay?" he huffed, dropping his hands to his sides. "I don't want to see you hurt, and if I can keep that from happening, then I will. Even if that means doing something drastic. I would rather turn you in than to see you hurt, (Y/N)."

"That's...that's actually really sweet, Matt, but turn the tables for a second. What if I said those words to you?"

He stopped and turned his face away, letting the night air breeze over his skin to calm himself as he considered your words. "Yes, it's a double standard, I admit. Doesn't change my mind, though, and I'm being completely selfish, but I don't care. I've wanted to tell you how I feel since your trial ended, because before that would have been unethical. I thought that you'd stop, even with just probation, and that then I would have my chance. I've tried to be with someone in this line of business before and it didn't end well."

"So you think that because it didn't work once, it will never work?" you challenged, taking a step closer. "You're not even going to try? Although," you smiled, "you're really putting a lot of faith into my saying yes. You seem far too sure of yourself."

"You wouldn't?" he all but pouted. "I suppose I didn't think of that."

"Come on, Murdock," you grinned, gently tapping his cheek, "of course I would. Who could resist this face? But if you expect me to show up to our first date, then this discussion is off the table. If you like me, you like all of me, got it?"

"You'd make a good lawyer," he conceded with a reluctant smirk, "but then I know for sure that we wouldn't work. Lawyers are the worst."