Content Warning: Depression (only near the end)

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Peter's Pov:

I had stepped out of AP Calculus, which is my first block, when Finnley called. Although, when I hung up the phone, instead of walking back into the class, I made my way directly toward the nearest exit.

I am going to fix this. And I have a possible idea of how.

Recently there had been a new, and extremely violent, proclaimed vigilante who was mostly located in Hell's Kitchen. I made sure to stay updated on this person, who coined the name "The Punisher," and I also followed closely when he was put on trial. However, right now, the part that is sticking out to me as I recall this does not have to do with The Punisher, it has to do with his lawyers. Upon doing further research at the time, I discovered that his lawyers had just recently set up their firm, and clearly, as evidenced in The Punisher case, they are not afraid to take a risky case. This is what causes me to sprint out of the school, quickly change into my suit in an alleyway, and swing in the direction of Hell's Kitchen. AP Calculus is long forgotten.

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When I spot the small law firm located in a slightly sketchy office building I duck into an alleyway and change out of my suit, stuffing it at the bottom of my backpack once again before walking out and approaching the building, and walking up to their office. When I get to the door I pause, hearing shouting on the other side of it.

"Karen! The wifi is out again!"

"I know it is out, Foggy. How many times do I have to tell you? We can't pay for the wifi if we are still surviving off nothing but the pies from last month! Get some real clients and then we can talk about the wifi!"

I hear an exasperated grumble that is then followed by the person once again shouting from the other room. "I don't think we are going to be getting any clients for a long time. Definitely not with our faces plastered on the news right next to Frank's mugshot."

There is a pause of silence, that I then take as my cue to knock. It is completely silent for several moments, which I spend nervously rocking on my feet until eventually there is frantic shuffling just before the door is thrown open.

For several seconds, I stare at the man standing in front of me as he looks at me with wide eyes. "Uh, this is Nelson and Murdock, right?" I ask shifting on my feet.

"Yes. Are you a client?" The man with long, slightly messy blond hair and a wrinkled blue button-up asks.

"Yeah... I think so."

The man turns around and celebratory pumps his fist toward the woman standing at the other side of the room and not so discreetly  whispers to her. "Get the wifi." She only rolls her eyes.

Turning back around, he quickly ushers me inside. "Come in, come in. Would you like something to drink? We have, uh... we actually don't have anything to drink... but we have pies! Do you like pies?" He asks, clearly trying to play it up. 

"I-I'm fine, but thank you." I fiddle with my hands as he leads me to a separate room with a table and chairs around it.

Once we enter, he holds his hand out to shake and offers a practiced smile. "I am Foggy Nelson, by the way, nice to meet you."

"I'm Peter... Parker. Uh, I'm Peter Parker." I shake his hand before sitting down in the chair that he offers me.

Foggy sits down in one of the chairs across from me and leans back slightly. "My associate should be back shortly... hopefully." He whispers the last part to himself. "But we can get started now. So what brings you here?"

"I am actually here for a friend. They need someone to represent them."

He begins to write some things down as he speaks. "And what is their name?"

"Finnley Smith."

Foggy speaks absentmindedly without looking up. "Isn't that the kid that stabbed their caretaker?"

Shock crosses my face. "T-they didn't... she-"

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." He coughs awkwardly. "And would you be the one paying for this?" I am suddenly not so sure that I want this guy representing Finnley.

"Oh, I... don't necessarily have the money right now... but I am sure I can find a way-"

He suddenly interrupts me by standing up and ushering me out. "Nope, sorry, we don't do charity cases anymore. I need to pay for the wifi."

"Wait- no. I can get the money for you, please."  I rush out, desperately.

"Sorry kid, but no can do."

"But-"

Suddenly, the door opens and another man walks in and sets his walking cane off to the side. The man with wild brown hair and a seemingly recent black eye forming under his red-tinted glasses that I instantly notice perks his head up in our direction, putting on a smile as he does. "Who is this?"

I furrow my eyebrows, confused about how this blind guy instantly noticed me. "How did-"

"I was just showing this kid out, we need actual real paying clients... Sorry again, kid." Foggy quickly speaks up.

"Please, I promise you that I will pay you back in full, I may just need some time to figure it out. Please, we really need your help." I speak almost desperately, I don't know what else to do if this does not work.

It is silent for several long moments until the man with a light stubble speaks up. "I believe him."

"Matt... come on, we can't do this again." Foggy sighs.

"Nonsense." He smiles wide and offers his hand to shake. "I'm Matt Murdock." When I shake his hand back, he continues and gestures to the conference room. "Please step in and we can discuss the details." 

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After a little over an hour of speaking with the two lawyers, admittedly listening to them bickering with each other more than actually talking about the case, I leave. Although, we did make plans to meet tomorrow so that we can fully set up her defense. Now, I am making my way toward the Tower both for the internship and also to tell Finn the good news.

Once I finally make it to the tower, the first place I go is the lab, assuming that is where I will find Finnley. However, when I get there, it is oddly completely bare. The second place that I check is the common room, but the only person there is Mr. Stark, who is sitting at the dining table working on some small project.

"Hey, Mr. Stark Sir, do you know where Finnley is?"

Mr. Stark sighs heavily and doesn't even look up. "I don't know where she is, kid. Who even knows if they are in the building at this point," he says with an audible bitterness in his tone.

My eyebrows furrow due to his response and tone, confused as to what he means. I nod, getting the impression that Mr. Stark is not in the mood to speak more right now, so I step away, lost in thought.

However, as I begin to walk away down the hallway to try to search for Finn, my eyebrows now laced with slight concern, I nearly jump out of my skin when someone suddenly calls my name from behind me. I turn around to see Mr. Barnes standing in the kitchen, where I was previously completely unaware of his presence.

When I get over my short-lasting surprise, he walks towards me, speaking in a quiet voice once he is closer. "They are in their room," he says simply.

"Thanks, Mr. Barnes." I nod and then turn to go off in the direction of her temporary room here, but Mr. Barnes stops me once again.

"Peter, wait. Just... be gentle, they are not doing the best right now."

The concern in my expression increases and I nod ever so slightly. "Ok... thanks."

This time I really do leave and go off in the direction of her room.

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When I get to her room I pause in front of the door before knocking. I am not sure what I may find inside, but Mr. Barnes' tone did not help reassure me.

I lift my hand and softly knock on the door, but there is no response.

"Finnley? It's me," I say, but still do not get a reply.

After waiting a moment longer, I slowly open the door. When I look inside, the sight causes my heart to drop. Finnley is curled up in their bed, eerily still, and staring at nothing in particular. I sadly recognize this state and know it well. I have seen Finn like this several times, and I hate to see it just as much every time.

I sigh and walk inside, closing the door behind me. I go to the side of their bed, carefully sitting down on the edge, staring down at my hands as we sit in silence.

"Can... Can you tell me what happened? What set this off?"

I hear one of the subtlest sighs come from buried underneath the plush comforters. I then see her head move slighting, shaking her head.

I nod my head and after a moment decide to continue. "Is it alright if I just sit here with you? I don't want you to be alone."

They nod their head ever so slightly and I take that as enough of a response. I carefully move so that I am sitting next to them, even as she is curled up with her knees to her chest and her back to me, sitting on top of the covers with my back propped up against the backboard.

"I have some good news..." I pause as if I am waiting for a response, but I don't get one so I continue. "I found some lawyers that are going to represent you. They are a little... interesting... and their tactics may not be completely traditional, but I think they will be good. They seem promising enough. They said that they can come by tomorrow to build your case... Do you think you will be able to do that?"

After several long moments, Finnley eventually nods. We then sit in that silence for a while longer, I am just hoping that company, even if silent, will help. Although after several minutes of silence, there is still a question that I need to know.

"Finn, please... I just want to know how I can help... Did someone say something to you? Is that what caused this? You know how much I hate seeing you like this, I just want to help-"

She then cuts off my admitted rambling with an extremely quiet and tired voice, speaking for the first time since I got here. "Peter, please... I can't do this right now."

I nod. "Alright... sorry. Um, I am going to go get you some water. I will be right back."

She quietly thanks me in that same strained voice as I stand up and walk out of her room and towards the kitchen.

When I get to the kitchen, I find it and the common room attached to it unoccupied and instantly begin to fill up a water bottle. Now, I am not normally recognized as the mom friend, that is surprisingly Ned, but I will be damned if I ever let any of my friends be dehydrated, especially when in this depressive state.

Once I finish filling up the water I turn around, about to go back towards Finnley's room, but as soon as I do, I nearly have a heart attack for the second time today since I instantly come face to face with Loki who was standing behind me.

"Jesus Christ!" I shout as I put my hand over my heart and take a deep breath, trying to calm my breathing. "Sorry, Mr. Loki, I didn't hear you come in. Seems like everyone is sneaking around the tower today." I say with an awkward chuckle. 

"Peter." He nods in greeting. "How is Finnley doing?" He asks abruptly, and this is when I also notice the clearly worried expression on his face.

I shift on my feet slightly, looking down at my hands. "Uhm, they... they are not doing the best right now, but they will be ok."

Loki nods, seemingly lost in thought before he looks back up at me. "Is it ok if I take that to her?" he asks, gesturing to the water bottle in my hands. "I don't think Stark is in the mood to work on anything today, so you may just want to go home. I can check up on Finnley and make sure they are alright."

I consider it for a moment, but upon seeing how Finnley has acted with Loki in the past few days and how he has acted towards her, I think that it may not be the worst idea. After a moment of hesitation, I nod and hand the water bottle over. "Ok, just... please tell them to call me if they need absolutely anything. Also, be patient with them."

Loki nods and seems to think over his next words for a moment. "Of course, and Peter... thank you for caring about them and helping. You are a good kid." He speaks in a sincere tone that I had not heard from him before. Additionally, the look on his face causes me to purse my lips in a small sad smile as I nod and walk away.

I go home early, but the whole walk home I am worrying about Finnley. She doesn't deserve to go through any of this.

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A/n - So I have some good news and some possibly not-so-great news...

The good news is that Matt, Foggy, and Karen are finally here!!! And there will be much more content to come from them in the next several chapters and later on, because I absolutely adore that little gang.

The possibly not-so-great news is that life has been absolutely kicking my ass recently and it feels like it is beating me with a brick at every possible moment. SO... because of that, I have sadly not been able to write this book in a while and have been posting from my reserve of chapters that I had already written and this is the last chapter that I currently have. I promise that I am going to try to push through it and try to just speed write hopefully a few chapters this week, so that way I can keep on schedule with the posting. But if that is not able to happen, posts will be a little late or I may need to take a short break. But please know that I am going to try to do everything in my power to keep the chapters coming out every Friday, I just need life to give me a break. But don't worry, I do not plan on dropping this book though, I love these characters and can not abandon them, I just may need to get my shit together first.

With lots of love,

Your very exhausted author